CHAPTER 363: CHAPTER 338: UNUSUAL BEHAVIOR

Yu Xiaolian was quite puzzled, "Then why did you agree to let me go north? You should have stopped me the moment I set out!"

Su Jingchen snorted, saying, "You act on your own whims!"

Yu Xiaolian glared at Su Jingchen, "How so? Next time, if you have an opinion, speak up sooner.

And also... Don’t keep things from me. How have you been contacting my brother all along?"

Su Jingchen explained, "We don’t stay in close contact, just correspond once a year, at most."

Moreover, their correspondence was only a few brief sentences, even if seen by others, it wouldn’t reveal much.

"Your brother said that the people of the Witch Clan, apart from him, are not trustworthy, including Miao Yingyao. In the future, keep your distance from her." Su Jingchen felt it was necessary to give Yu Xiaolian a heads-up. She might foolishly consider Miao Yingyao as a future sister-in-law if Miao Yingyao suddenly showed up.

"Miao Yingyao is not trustworthy? But she’s my sister-in-law!"

Su Jingchen whipped the horse’s rump, "She hasn’t married your brother!"

Yu Xiaolian furrowed her brow, "What happened?"

Two years ago, when she saw Miao Yingyao, she said she would marry her brother upon returning. How come they haven’t married yet? Her brother truly dragged Miao Yingyao into being an older unmarried woman.

Su Jingchen pondered for a moment and decided to speak truthfully, "According to your brother, when Miao Yingyao returned from Luocheng, she told her parents about your matter. Your uncle, Miao Chengwang, and the elder, Xi Qishan, upon hearing that you were alive, wanted to bring you back to the Witch Clan to be their new Saintess. Your brother knew what their intentions were and resolutely opposed them. However, since a large part of the people within the Witch Clan supported welcoming back the host of Longevity Gu to restore the past glory of the Witch Clan.

Your brother, although fighting alone against the majority, secretly eliminated both the elder Xi Qishan and Miao Chengwang, the leading figures, and completely tore apart any possibility of marriage with Miao Yingyao.

Now, the Witch Clan of Linzhou has split into two factions. Miao Yingyao took some people and left Linzhou. It’s said she went to join Miaojiang over there."

Yu Xiaolian was stunned.

Unexpectedly, Qi Yunfan went to such lengths to protect her.

Qi Yunfan killed the elder and Miao Chengwang, thinking he would lose the support of most of the Witch Clan!

Miao Yingyao was Qi Yunfan’s childhood sweetheart and fiancée. Qi Yunfan killed the person who would have been his father-in-law, proving his ruthlessness.

However, what qualifications did Yu Xiaolian have to call Qi Yunfan ruthless? What he did was all for her protection!

"So... what did my brother say about the green woolly wormwood?" At this moment, Yu Xiaolian had already recognized Qi Yunfan as her brother in her heart.

Her brother truly cared for her.

Su Jingchen said, "Your brother told me the green woolly wormwood grows at the peak of Snow Mountain and blooms once every ten years, with a very short flowering period. Very few people have seen it.

Moreover, the Witch Clan of Miaojiang sends experienced individuals yearly to travel to and from Snow Mountain in search of green woolly wormwood. Ordinary people don’t even have the qualification to compete with the Witch Clan, as no one can endure the bitter cold of Snow Mountain, ideally for years."

Only the Witch Clan is impervious to the cold and can persevere in the snow huts at the mountain’s peak year-round, living on simple and monotonous food delivered by their tribesmen, solely to harvest and freeze the green woolly wormwood at the first sign of blooming.

"Then why did you agree when I said we should go to Miaojiang?" Yu Xiaolian asked.

Su Jingchen said, "The green woolly wormwood needs to be boiled with the Immortal Powder from Miaojiang to solve the Longevity Gu, so we’re bound to go to Miaojiang sooner or later."

Su Jingchen thought about the Immortal Water being made from hundreds of insect eggs and suddenly felt throat-tightening; it was better not to let Yu Xiaolian know about that.

"What is Immortal Powder?" As expected, Yu Xiaolian asked.

Su Jingchen’s expression remained unchanged as he calmly replied, "It is a unique antidote of the Witch Clan from Miaojiang, said to cure a hundred poisons."

Yu Xiaolian hurriedly said, "Then this thing is hard to come by; those people at Miaojiang surely treasure it dearly."

Su Jingchen said, "Indeed, it’s hard to come by, and it’s not any easier to obtain Immortal Powder than it is to harvest green woolly wormwood."

The two arrived at Jingchu City’s gate, showed the gate guard Su Jingchen’s fake road permit, and smoothly entered the city.

They found the largest inn to stay in, not expecting only one upper room left.

Su Jingchen said to the shopkeeper, "I’m okay with staying in a standard room!"

The shopkeeper shook his head, "There are no standard rooms left, only a large shared room. How about it..."

Yu Xiaolian tugged at Su Jingchen, "One room it is!"

Su Jingchen glanced at Yu Xiaolian, feeling his face flush for some unknown reason.

Although he very much wanted to share a room with Yu Xiaolian, he had promised Yu Changhe that he must keep his word as a gentleman, unyielding as a stallion.

"Shopkeeper, I’ll take the shared room!"

The inn attendant led Yu Xiaolian and Su Jingchen to the second-floor upper room by the Tian character and then left.

Yu Xiaolian casually tossed her small bundle onto the bed, then started to speak to Su Jingchen, "The bed is big enough for two people. If that doesn’t work, I’ll sleep in the space, and you can take the bed; go downstairs and cancel the shared room."

The shared room was full of all sorts of itinerants, all with stinky feet smell. When they came to Luocheng with Mr. Sun and Mr. Sun, these people never lacked shared room experiences. Although Yu Xiaolian didn’t sleep there, she had seen what the shared room looked like. When the door opened, the smell of stinky feet hit you.

"No problem!" He promised Yu Shu to uphold the gentleman’s decorum.

If he were to share a room with Yu Xiaolian, he feared he would overthink, spending too much time pondering and unable to sleep.

Yu Xiaolian took control with her assertiveness, "I don’t care; I don’t want you picking up the stinky feet smell. You must sleep here, and I’ll sleep in the space at night."

Anyway, even though she rented a room, she despised the inn’s quilt’s lack of cleanliness, always going to sleep on her small attic’s mattress once the night was quiet. Since she spent money on an upper room, there was no reason to leave it empty.

Faced with the domineering Yu Xiaolian, Su Jingchen had to comply, going downstairs to cancel the ten-silver shared room fee.

The innkeeper refunded Su Jingchen with a meaningful smile that left Su Jingchen baffled.

Su Jingchen returned and found Yu Xiaolian sitting at the table, "Are you hungry? Shall we call for room service or eat out?"

Yu Xiaolian stood up, "I’ve been hungry for a while. I saw a big restaurant when we were coming over. It should be great. Let’s go eat there."

The two wasted no time, swiftly heading downstairs in search of food.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, they found the private rooms were full, and the two could only sit in the hall.

Yu Xiaolian ordered six dishes at once, all greasy meat dishes. Over the past few days, they passed through small villages and towns, so encountering such a large restaurant meant indulging to satisfy cravings.

But isn’t it strange how many people there are in Jingchu City!