While Lu Meihui was searching for the spirit qi sweet spot, Li Shan was experiencing something completely different. He was in a state of floating, in his mind it only took a moment for him to familiarize himself with this but it actually took 3 days. He finally could think for himself again instead of drifting.
Ah... What is this..? Lady Lu Meihui? Are you there? Where am I..? This place... it looks very beautiful. Ah, I feel like I'm about to leave. Will I ever see this place again..?
For the next 2 days, Li Shan began to drift a bit differently. He completely regained his witts and was very confused. What is this? Why am I being transported through these places that don't seem like real places? Once I get out of here, I must ask lady Lu Meihui.
As time went by, his resolve only grew stronger. He did not waver and after a month when he woke up, he felt stronger than he did before experiencing flight.
Lu Meihui, of course, knew when he was about to wake up so she worked even harder in searching. But it seemed her prediction was off a little. She knew Li Shan was about to wake up soon but she didn't expect him to wake up immediately. The steady flow of Li Shan's spirit qi leak stopped which caused a few reactions. First was the ambush of many spiritual beasts who could no longer locate the target. Lu Meihui swiftly took care of the few that had spotted them before realizing what Li Shan's pause in leaking spirit qi showed her. She had expanded her radar to find a surplus of spirit qi instead which would be easier to find and faster to locate instead of looking over every surface area of the mountain. She thought she had looked everywhere but she overlooked her and Li Shan's location. Now that he had stopped leaking she finally noticed the pure spiritual energy beneath them. Ah, how lucky! We won't even need to relocate! After comprehending all this, which only took a moment, she turned her attention back to Li Shan.
"How was your first enlightenment?"
"Huh? Th-that was enlightenment?" Li Shan had no idea what this was.
"I'll also explain this to you when we settle down." Huh. I sound like we're going to get married or something... Well, not like I mind. I don't want this boy to be anyone else's in the future so maybe marriage isn't that bad. Wait! We're still kids! I shouldn't chain him down to me right now. Life is all about freedom, I should let him do as he pleases, or else I'd be no different from those people.. Anyhow,
"I've already found us a perfect area!"
"Huh... Where?"
"Hmm... About a mile below us."
"..."
"..?"
"Wh-what???"
"What's the matter, Li Shan?"
"Er.. well... Why beneath us..?"
"Because I can sense a rich source of spiritual qi below us."
"A-ah... Please explain to me what spiritual qi is later."
"Don't worry, I plan to teach you from scratch, now hold my hand."
"///" Without a word and with a face of a blushing bride, Li Shan did as Lu Meihui instructed. He held her hand and followed her when she backed up a bit. As she raised her hand to where they were just standing, Li Shan felt all of his senses scream danger.
"Ah-! Lady Lu Meihui, um if you don't mind answering... what are you doing?"
"Hm? Feel free to ask me anything at anytime Li Shan! Also, I'm about to blow a hole right through the mountain to open up an entrance for us."
"A..ah, I-I see..." Although Lu Meihui phrased it like it was nothing, she needed to utilize all her spirit qi to pull this off. If she had enough spiritual energy she could blow a hole with a flick of her finger, but with the minuscule amount of spirit qi she has now, she must not only muster all her energy but also use it in a wise manner.
BOOM!!
With all her spiritual energy evaporating from her body, Lu Meihui felt very fatigued. Luckily she didn't use her spirit qi like a fool and still felt very awake. For Li Shan, the explosion brought him hope. Hope that maybe one day he'd be able to do something as powerful as that! To Li Shan who had never seen something like that in all his life, he respected Lu Meihui even more. To Lu Meihui this was but a small trick, at least for her past body. Now, though, she had to put her everything into it so she would not faint. Moving on and trying to feign nonchalance, Lu Meihui ushered Li Shan down.
"C'mon, let's jump down. The corpses of those spirit beasts should cushion our fall."
"Ah, miss lady Lu Meihui why were there so many monsters around us anyways?"
"I'll explain later, for now, cut out the 'miss' and let's go!" With them still holding hands, Lu Meihui dragged Li Shan with her down the hole. As she expected, the spirit beast's fur broke the impact of their fall and they were unharmed. Still, from the debris from the explosion and the dust from the impact of the spirit beasts falling down, Lu Meihui and Li Shan were covered from head to toe in dirt and dust. Lu Meihui didn't want to use her spirit qi to clean them and wanted to conserve her energy after exerting so much strength. Lu Meihui heard running water and dragged Li Shan towards it. As they walked, Lu Meihui thought now was a good of a time as any to initiate small talk.
"Did you bring a change of clothes?"
"Ah, yes Lady Lu Meihui."
"How old are you? I'm 8." She could tell after inspecting her body's bones.
"I'll be 10 this year."
"When's your birthday?"
"It should be in a few months."
"Tell me when it's close." Since he didn't ask about mine, he should know and I should ask later and feign amnesia.
"Yes, this one will report when his birthday is around the corner." Li Shan realized he should speak more formally with Lu Meihui. Although he wasn't taught any manners, he tried his best.
"I told you to drop the formal talk, I've abandoned my title so we're basically of equal status Li Shan. I'll allow you to address me as 'lady Lu Meihui' but that is all, please respect my wishes, Li Shan."
"Ah! I'm sorry, you told me before and I still went against your order..."
"It's alright Li Shan, people learn from mistakes and I hope you will too." Lu Meihui laughed a bit under her breath. This boy was so polite and cute, he definitely won't embarrass me in the future. As they walked a few more steps they entered a small lake connected to a river with two separate sides divided by a large wall. How strange, Lu Meihui thought, this seems man-made... Lu Meihui didn't want to think about it too much and wanted to get clean first.
"Ah, we've arrived, since we're covered in dirt, let's take a quick bath."
"Yes alright, lady Lu Meihui."
"I'll be on the other side so yell out when you're done."
"Alright, um, also thank you for taking me with you! I've already experienced so many things I never would have if I had stayed at the mansion... so uhh thank you lady Lu Meihui!" How cute!
"You can repay me in the future Li Shan, right now all I've done is broaden your horizon. Wait a little longer and once I teach you everything, then you can truly thank me."
"Ah! Yes, lady Lu Meihui! I'll um, I'll go take a soak now." With that Li Shan turned away and walked towards one of the small ponds while Lu Meihui walked towards the other. As she slowly lowered herself into the water, she realized this water was very rich with spirit qi.
I wonder if this is what's been absorbing all the spirit qi in the surrounding area... On closer inspection, however, Lu Meihui found that this water was not the reason. It was simply spirit water, it wasn't very high quality, however. But it was good enough for Lu Meihui to feel rejuvenated when she stepped out. She couldn't cultivate now since she'd need to fall asleep but with how her senses were on high alert, Lu Meihui predicted that there is most likely a better area to cultivate. Though that didn't make the spirit water useless. Perhaps she could use it to fortify and enchant weapons. But that was for another day.
As Lu Meihui got dressed she scanned the area, she remembered what she planned to do the second she found a place to settle. All the mirrors in the mansion were tinted yellow and were of low quality. With ice, however, she would be able to examine herself better. Lu Meihui didn't want to risk lowering the quality of the spirit water further so she accumulated vapor in the air that didn't contain spirit qi to merge and become enough water to fit in a palm. She expanded the water very thinly before freezing it. Now, she could clearly see her reflection.
Lu Meihui was indeed beautiful. She had smooth skin and if it changed, Lu Meihui could brew a concoction to retain its smoothness. Lu Meihui had small hands that were a little chubby, like a child's. Since she was so young, there didn't seem to be any blemishes or crookedness on her hands. She remembered in her last life she had injured her hand once and since she used it before it properly healed, it had grown crooked. After looking over her skin and hands, she moved to the rest of her body that she wasn't very familiar with. Lu Meihui was of average height, for a child. Her old body was very short since as a kid, she spent all her time in a library instead of outside. Luckily this Lu Meihui wasn't too tall for her age or she would have trouble adjusting in the future. Her proportions were that of an average person and she didn't seem to have any disabilities. Lu Meihui was a bit thrown off when she didn't notice anything off with her new body. She thought this Lu Meihui was dead and that's how her conscience and soul are in this body. But there weren't any wounds so Lu Meihui thought it was an internal injury caused by an unnoticeable disease. Still, she became even more grateful for these turn of events. It was very convenient though suspicious. But as strange as it was, Lu Meihui couldn't find any faults within herself and chose to simply accept it and move on.
Now, her face. Lu Meihui herself found it pretty but this body was also far too young to tell. Li Shan was already 10 but Lu Meihui was still 8. She'd have to wait a few years before making a sound judgment. She had very large eyes, as children do, and slightly pink cheeks. The one thing that was a bit concerning was this Lu Meihui's body, she was very thin. Even before Lu Meihui starved herself for a week, her body was very weak and frail. After eating until her hunger went away and resting an abundant amount did she regain some blood in her face. But she didn't die from hunger, Lu Meihui could tell she ate, but only the bare minimum. Lu Meihui couldn't figure out why and chose to push the matter aside and perhaps ask Li Shan later. It wasn't probable he knew, however, since he was one of the lowest of low servants if he had to endure physical abuse from other servants. Li Meihui reminded herself again to get some revenge for Li Shan, doesn't matter who did it as long as revenge was served.
Feeling a bit more energized after a small conference in her head, she spread her qi all over the cavern like before and began searching. However, it seemed like there was only one single path to go so she retracted all her spirit qi and decided it's better to just go through the rooms normally. She could just make entrances to rooms she cared about later to rooms she needed so she'd have to go through them all anyway.
As Lu Meihui was lost in her thoughts, Li Shan's call snapped her out of it.
"Lady Lu Meihui, I'm done, how about you?" Oh, he's done, Lu Meihui hurriedly called back while dying and dressing quickly and neatly.
"I'm almost done, give me a few moments." Lu Meihui emerged from the other side in a new outfit. Her previous outfit was a small and cute pink dress made of high-quality cotton. She mostly wore that during her stay in the mansion, but now she wore a small white dress with blue as an accent color that was made of silk. It wasn't as high quality as the pink dress but she felt more comfortable in the white and blue dress. She seemed more lady-like and mature now with the less childish style. Li Shan's clothes didn't look too different from his previous outfit. Dressed from head to toe in a dark brown color that was very low quality. Lu Meihui took one look at Li Shan before clicking her tongue.
"Aiya, I'm afraid these clothes won't even last a month... I'll have to get you some better clothes soon."
"Ah, lady Lu Meihui, that's not necessary. This is enough for a servant like me..."
"Don't be like that Li Shan, you're my personal guard and servant now. You also deserve the same kinds of things I have!" Although in Li Shan's heart he was worried if that would be allowed, the feeling of being able to stand alongside as Lu Meihui in that way took over.
"A..ah. Then I'll have to trouble lady Lu Meihui to provide for me, but in the future please allow me to provide for you!"
"Then I'll wait for that day to come, Xiao Shan!"
"Xiao Shan?! Lady Lu Meihui I don't think that... that is...."
"Do you not like your nickname that your lady graciously gave you?" Lu Meihui made some puppy eyes to get Li Shan to agree. A dirty trick with referring to herself as his lady.
"Th-that... Then, I'll have to only allow lady Lu Meihui to call me this..."
"Why don't you give me a nickname too? Since I want us to be on the same level, you shouldn't be calling me lady Lu Meihui. We live together now so I believe it appropriate."
"Ah... Erm, I- I will think about this later. For now, lady Lu Meihui, please begin teaching me." Ah, Lu Meihui thought, this boy seems very excited to be educated. For a second, Lu Meihui saw the same eagerness in Li Shan in her younger days. The same kind of eagerness that fueled her for years while she locked herself in a library desperate to learn about the world she was in.
Lu Meihui smiled, "Then, why don't we begin by looking for a suitable room to use as a classroom?"