«I’m so mad! So mad!»

This wasn’t in an inn, but rather within a four-courtyard mansion that Huang Rong had outright purchased with a generous amount of gold.

A young girl in a moon-white long skirt sat on a swing, her lace-patterned white silk legs swinging beneath her. Her delicate face was filled with relentless disdain.

«How can that guy be so stupid? He’s learning the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms so slowly. When is Hong Qigong going to teach him the Dog Beating Staff technique or other skills?»

From her arms came the soft cooing of a baby, and Huang Rong immediately dropped her anger and replaced it with a smiling face, gently rubbing her cheek against the chubby face of little Long’er.

«Good Long’er, I wasn’t talking about you~»

«Yaa… guyaa!»

Little Long’er laughed gleefully, swinging her tiny hand and smacking it onto Huang Rong’s face.

A moment later, beneath the tree in the courtyard, a spatial portal opened. Xuan Yuan   stepped out with ease, the hem of his Great Sun celestial  robe fluttering.

Now that Li Mochou and Mu Nianci weren’t around, and Nuwa was off in another world’s Zishan, only Huang Rong remained by Xuan Yuan  ’s side, and she had grown increasingly bold.

«Everything is going well, over in Zishan. With Nuwa watching over things, the city-building efforts at the mountain base are proceeding smoothly.»

«Although many refugees arrive daily from neighboring counties, Pei Xiu has been opening the granaries to distribute food. The doctors in Xiangyang City have also been summoned to treat cholera using Nuwa’s methods.»

«Nuwa, borrowing my name, had the Ling Maiden Feng Yunqu spread the original cement formula. Though we can’t yet build reinforced concrete structures using steel, bamboo can substitute for rebar.»

Don’t underestimate bamboo — before the widespread use of steel-reinforced concrete, low-rise buildings used bamboo-reinforced concrete, which was quite viable. In fact, some shoddy construction using steel couldn’t compare to well-made bamboo concrete buildings.

Now that Xuan Yuan  was traveling back and forth between two worlds, he made a trip to Zishan every day to ensure things went smoothly there, and then returned to Baoying City to patiently wait for the celestial  miracle of Donghuang to further ferment.

Although the Xuangguang Pendant hadn’t reacted yet, he believed that time wasn’t far off.

Mu Nianci and Li Mochou had also been sent to Zishan a few days earlier, where Nuwa helped them undergo a round of physical enhancement.

Huang Rong snuggled against Xuan Yuan  ’s side, listening attentively to the updates from Zishan while occasionally teasing Little Long’er.

Once he had finished speaking, Huang Rong pondered for a bit and then offered some improvement suggestions based on the current situation, pointing out oversights with sharp accuracy.

Xuan Yuan   often had the illusion that Huang Rong was his external brain. With her around, he didn’t even want to think for himself.

Finally, Huang Rong spoke about the situation on her end.

«Brother Xing, once I found Hong Qigong, I took advantage of the time he was teaching his disciple and recorded the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.»

«It’s just that his disciple is too dumb. He’s been learning forever and still hasn’t mastered it. Who knows when he’ll start learning the Dog Beating Staff technique?»

«No rush.» Xuan Yuan   took Huang Rong’s hand. «Rong’er knows that when I practice martial arts, the commotion is too big, so I can only train after returning to Zishan. Not to mention, we haven’t even started on the martial arts we got from Shaolin and Quanzhen.»

«But Brother Xing learns anything in one try!»

«It’s getting late. Brother Xing must be hungry, right? Rong’er will go prepare a meal. Brother Xing, take care of Long’er for now.»

By the time dusk fell and Huang Rong had prepared a sumptuous dinner, Li Mochou and Mu Nianci finally returned.

With the ceremonial carriage, it wasn’t hard to travel to the Jin capital, relocate Yang Tiexin and his wife’s remains to Niujia Village, and return to Baoying all in one day.

As soon as she returned, Mu Nianci didn’t even have time to speak. Her face turned pale, and she rushed to the side, clutching the wall and dry-heaving.

«What’s wrong with her?» Xuan Yuan   looked at Li Mochou.

The girl looked completely bewildered and shook her head. «I don’t know!»

Huang Rong thought Mu Nianci was sick and went to check on her, but after observing for a moment, Xuan Yuan   suddenly realized, «Motion sickness?»

«‘Motion sickness?’»

Xuan Yuan   briefly explained, and only then did Li Mochou understand such a thing existed.

She hurriedly helped Mu Nianci and apologized, «I’m sorry, Sister Mu! It’s all my fault!»

«It’s… it’s fine, Sister Mochou,» Mu Nianci weakly shook her head and then bowed deeply to Xuan Yuan  , «Young master, I’ve shown you such a disgraceful side…»

«Let’s eat first. Were your foster parents properly buried?»

Mu Nianci bowed again, gratitude all over her face. «My foster father and mother are now buried and at peace. From now on, I am the young master’s maidservant, and for any task, I shall never—blegh!!»

Xuan Yuan  : «……»

Li Mochou: «……»

Huang Rong: «……»

Gazing upward, then pausing thoughtfully, Xuan Yuan   said quietly, «Mochou.»

Xuan Yuan   gave her a side-eye. «From now on, no more reckless driving.»

Li Mochou thought about it, turned her eyes, then shuffled over to Xuan Yuan  ’s side with a pitiful look.