Yun Hu rushed forward to hug Zhuang Hao, and cried and wailed some more, while furiously patting Zhuang Hao's back.
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao, who appeared close to vomiting blood from being patted so heavily, and felt some sympathy for him in his heart.
"Brother, why are you crying like this? Did someone bully you?" Yun Que asked, walking out with her hands on her hips.
"I wasn't bullied." Yun Hu said, sniffling and wiping the tears on his face.
Yun Que said unhappily, "So why are you crying?"
Yun Hu Yang clenched his fists and said in a loud voice, "Sister, I broke through, I'm a third-level martial artist now."
Yun Que said sternly, "Brother, you can't always lie to people like this just so you can trick them into giving you good food to eat! If you keep on doing this, you better watch out or I'll give you a good beating!"
Qi Shaorong: "…"
Yun Hu blushed and said with embarrassment, "Sister, I'm not lying to you, it's really true this time."
Yun Que stuck her hands on her hips and looked at Yun Hu with a fierce expression, "That's what you said last time too."
Yun Hu looked at Yun Que nervously, and he was brimming with anxiety.
Yun Hu suddenly thought of something and somewhat enthusiastically said, "Sister, wait!"
Yun Hu ran to a tree in the yard, raised his fist, and punched the tree. The tree exploded with a boom and turned into a thousand broken fragments of wood.
Yun Que watched this scene and said with bright eyes, "Brother, you didn't lie! You really broke through."
Yun Hu scratched his head and said shyly, "Yes, I didn't lie, I really succeeded this time."
Yun Que looked at Yun Hu and said, "Brother, you finally succeeded."
Yun Que suddenly thought of something, and a look of horror crossed her face. Yun Que abruptly let out a shrill scream. Yun Que's scream was extremely harsh and ear-piercing, and Qi Shaorong was so shocked that he stumbled backwards a little.
���Brother, you destroyed our only jujube tree. We can't eat dates anymore."
Qi Shaorong: "…"
Yun Ping held his pipe as he slowly walked out of the house, and said with a smile, "It's just a jujube tree, we can always plant another one."
Yun Ping looked at Yun Hu and said with gratification, "Not bad, not bad. A-Hu, you've finally made some progress!"
Yun Hu scratched the back of his head and smiled foolishly
"Brother, haven't you been unable to break through all this time? How did you suddenly succeed now?" Yun Que asked in confusion.
Yun Hu pushed Zhuang Hao forward and said, "He guided me. I couldn't break through before, but the little thief corrected some of my movements. Good fortune comes when the mind works well, after all, and I successfully broke through."
Yun Que looked at Zhuang Hao a little guiltily, and some bewilderment flashed in her eyes, "You…"
Zhuang Hao smiled and said, "I've seen my previous master training using a similar method before. It's just a case of the blind cat stumbling across a dead mouse."
Yun Ping said, "No matter the process, it's good as long as you can get the mouse in the end."
"Little friend, thank you." Yun Ping clutched Zhuang Hao's hands tightly.
Zhuang Hao, "You're welcome…" Looking at the grateful old man in front of him, Zhuang Hao felt a little weird in his heart.
Li Country.
"Chen Yuan, is there any news about the Young Master?" Mu Tingxuan asked, staring at Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan shook his head and said, "No!"
Chen Yuan couldn't help feeling his scalp tingle as he was stared at by Mu Tingxuan's clear eyes. After Qi Shaorong went missing, Mu Tingxuan had already asked him this question no less than a hundred times, but he really didn't know anything.
Yi Fan looked at Chen Yuan and said unhappily, "Doesn't your Chen Family specialize in buying and selling information?"
Chen Yuan's eyes widened and said, "Hey, don't talk nonsense! Since when has our Chen Family ever specialized in doing that! Even if our Chen Family does have access to many sources of information. we're in Li Country right now! Our Chen Family doesn't have a lot of power or resources here."
Mu Tingxuan was full of worry and said, "Who knows how the Young Master has been doing lately."
Chen Yuan looked at Mu Tingxuan and said, "Don't worry so much, try to relax a little."
Mu Tingxuan glared fiercely at Chen Yuan and said, "We don't have any news about the Young Master at all, and you actually want me to relax."
Chen Yuan awkwardly shut his mouth. He was trying to be nice!
Mu Tingxuan looked at Chen Yuan's appearance and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I spoke a little too harshly.."
Chen Yuan smiled and said, "It's okay. I know it's only because you're so worried about Qi Shaorong."
There was a knock on the door.
Mu Tingxuan looked at the door and said, "I'll see who it is."
Mu Tingxuan opened the door and saw Mu Xingzhi standing there, "Sorry, I don't want to talk to you about Mu Family's matter right now."
Mu Xingzhi smiled bitterly and said, "I didn't come to you to talk about Mu Family. I know you're worried about Qi Shaorong's safety, and I happen to have some information here."
Mu Tingxuan suddenly raised his head and looked at Mu Xingzhi. .
Mu Tingxuan clenched his fists, lowered his head, and was silent for a while before saying, "Come in."
Mu Xingzhi looked at Mu Tingxuan's expression and didn't keep him in suspense, "When Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao traveled to the outskirts of the city that day, their whereabouts were leaked, and as a result, they were stopped by Feng He."
Mu Tingxuan nodded and said, "I know this."
It's been so many days, after all, and Mu Tingxuan did manage to get his hands on some information. For example, after Feng Yuan recovered, he felt that Feng He's actions during the period when Feng Yuan was sick were too unacceptable, and that Feng He had overstepped his authority. So, after Feng Yuan recovered, he both overtly and secretly worked on suppressing Feng He's power and influence.
Feng He was probably angered because of this and blamed it on Qi Shaorong, so he stole the Business Alliance's God-Imprisoning Ring and used it on Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao. Currently, Feng He seems to have been taken into custody.
"I heard that Feng He used the God-Imprisoning Ring."
Originally, Mu Tingxuan had trusted Zhuang Hao's ability very much. However, after he found out that Feng He used the God-Imprisoning Ring, Mu Tingxuan was a little uncertain about it now. Under the effects of the ring, anyone below the saint level would have their magic restricted. Although Zhuang Hao was very powerful, he's only at the eighth level. If he really lost his magic became an ordinary person, how could he possibly fight against Feng He!
Mu Xingzhi took a deep breath and said, "One thing you can be assured of is that Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong should still be alive."
Yi Fan looked at Mu Xingzhi and asked, "Senior, how do you know that?"
"I asked around and heard that after Feng He was arrested, he said that Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao had been teleported away. There were indeed signs that a teleportation spell had been used at the scene. Zhuang Hao had probably activated the spell at the most critical moment."
Chen Yuan clapped his hands and said, "That's right, Zhuang Hao, that guy, is very resourceful. He'd never give up that easily."
Mu Xingzhi looked at Mu Tingxuan and said, "Although both Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao are alive, they're magic should've been restricted by the God-Imprisoning ring. We still don't know where those two are right now, but many people have been sent out to look for them."
Mu Tingxuan's expression became much calmer as he listened to Mu Xingzhi's words, "Young Master has already escaped calamity, so he'll definitely survive."
Mu Xingzhi nodded and said consolingly, "With Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao's abilities, it's only natural that they can turn their misfortune into a blessing."
After Mu Xingzhi finished saying all he had to say about Qi Shaorong's situation, he left.
Chen Yuan looked at Mu Tingxuan and said, "Tingxuan, your father actually cares a lot about you, right?"
Mu Tingxuan glanced at Chen Yuan coldly, and Chen Yuan couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
"Young Master and Zhuang Hao, who knows where they were teleported to. We don't know how they're doing right now either."
Chen Xuan scratched his head and said, "Without any magic, I wonder what kinds of things Zhuang Hao will do."
In the forest.
Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao were each carrying a basket as they followed Yun Que into the forest to pick wild herbs.
"Now, I'm going to teach you two some tips on picking wild herbs."
Yun Hu suddenly spoke up, "You two should listen carefully! This is useful information to know. You have no strength and no skills, so you'll have to work hard to improve yourselves in other areas."
Qi Shaorong: "…"
Zhuang Hao: "…"
Yun Que cleared her throat and said proudly, "When you're picking wild herbs, first you must know which ones are suitable to be picked. You can't pick the ones that are too tender, and you can't pick the ones that are too old. You need to pick the ones that are just right…"
"Many things in the wild are poisonous, so you'll need to pay a lot of attention. The easiest trick is to not pick the ones that look too nice. The brightly-coloured plants are usually the ones with the most problems. Of course, that's not to say that there aren't any problems with the plainer-looking ones either…"
"When picking wild herbs, be careful not to only focus on one area, or there might not be any wild herbs growing there anymore…"
As soon as Yun Que's started talking, her words poured out in a steady flow. Qi Shaorong felt like yawning as he listened. Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao, who was right next to him, and found that Zhuang Hao's expression was very calm, as if he had simply resigned himself to fate.
Yun Que continued talking enthusiastically for about an hour, before she finally stopped.
Yun Hu looked at Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao and tried to put on his most dignified appearance, "You two weren't listening properly!"
"No, we were." Zhuang Hao said calmly.
"Then you come to repeat it again." Yunhu straightened his back, speaking righteously.
Everytime Yun Hu accompanied Yun Que to pick wild herbs, Yun Que always liked to make Yun Hu recite all the facts that he knew about picking herbs. However, Yun Hu was a bit brainless and could never remember it, so he'd always receive a scolding. Now that Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong were with them this time, Yun Hu felt like their positions were finally switched.
Zhuang Hao glanced at Yun Hu and repeated everything that Yun Que had said word for word.
Yun Hu's eyes widened and he looked at Zhuang Hao, saying, "You… You listened very carefully!"
"Only a little." Zhuang Hao said.
Yun Que looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "You have a good memory!" He managed to repeat everything that she said without missing a single word, it couldn't only be because he had listened carefully.
"My memory's okay." Zhuang Hao said lightly.
Yun Hu secretly glanced at Zhuang Hao. He had originally wanted to see Zhuang Hao embarrass himself and get scolded by his sister. As a result, Zhuang Hao was too good, Yun Hu couldn't help feeling a little awkward.
Yun Que gave Yun Hu a fierce look and said, "Brother, you should be more like him, he remembered everything after only listening once. You've been lectured by me so many times, yet it always goes in one ear and out the other."
Yun Hu smiled and said, "Sister, you know that I have big dreams for the future. I will become a peerless hero one day, and a hero like me won't need to waste any time on picking wild herbs, so it really doesn't matter."
Yun Que snorted softly and pretended to be annoyed, "You're shooting your mouth off again."
Yun Hu thought of something, and asked Zhuang Hao, "Hey, you have a highly retentive memory, right!"
Zhuang Hao paused and said, "You could say that."
"You, you have such a good memory yet you still became a thief. If I were your father, I wouldn't hesitate to punish you for your mistakes [1]." Yun Hu said sternly.
Qi Shaorong: "…" Yun Hu, this guy, actually wants to be Zhuang Hao's father. He really did have big dreams
Footnotes:
Punish you for your mistakes: "Place righteousness above loyalty to one's family"一 meaning to be ready to punish one's own family if justice demands it.