Luo Jianmin's family was having dinner when they heard someone knocking on the door; He Yujuan put down her chopsticks and went out.
Upon opening the door and seeing Luo Jiansen with three others, He Yujuan was taken aback, "Why have you all come?" It was just a five or six-minute walk between the two homes, but Luo Jiansen's family rarely dropped by theirs unannounced.
"Sister-in-law, we came to call Luo Shu and the others back home," Wang Liying said with a smile. Since Luo Jianmin was the head of Luo Family Village, she always held great respect for He Yujuan as the sister-in-law.
"Luo Shu and the others are already gone; they're not at my place," said He Yujuan.
"Gone? When did they leave?" Wang Liying asked anxiously.
"They left not long after they arrived."
"Where did they go? Do you know?" Wang Liying thought about the one hundred yuan potentially slipping away and became even more anxious. She had to find Luo Shu and bring her back immediately, then summon Second Fool to come and propose, taking that wretched girl Luo Shu back with him.
"Someone saw them take a car to town; when I heard the news, I went to your place to tell you, but no one was there," said He Yujuan. At first, she thought Luo Shu was just joking, but when someone mentioned seeing the Luo sisters taking a car to town, she realized they had indeed left.
"What? They went to town? How is that possible?" Both Wang Liying and Luo Jiansen were in disbelief. Taking the car costs money; where would they get it?
"No wonder Luo Zheng hasn't come back yet today," Luo Daya said, her face showing sudden realization. However, her heart was filled with joy; she wished they would never return so that the house would eventually belong to her and her sister.
Luo Erya's eyes darted around before she spoke, "Big sister is right; they must be together. Dad, Mom, why don't we go to town to find them tomorrow?" She knew her mother had already taken one hundred yuan as a down payment from Second Fool's family, and her mother had promised to buy her new clothes once she received the remaining one hundred yuan. Besides, if Luo Shu and her brother returned, she wouldn't have to do any chores. As for the house, she wasn't worried; with her mother around, it would sooner or later be theirs.
Luo Jiansen kicked the door in anger, "A bunch of heartless beasts, I must have been cursed for eight generations to have raised them. Let's go! We're going home."
Wang Liying hurriedly followed him, "Jiansen, don't be angry, we'll go to town first thing in the morning to find them. Even if we can't find Luo Shu and the others, Luo Zheng has to go to school, and we'll just wait there. I refuse to believe we can't find him."
Luo Jiansen's face was grim as he nodded.
Luo Daya and Luo Erya exchanged glances, their faces revealing a schadenfreude smile. They too wanted to follow tomorrow—for how could they miss such an exciting scene?
Luo Zheng belched, rubbing his belly, "I haven't eaten so much in a long time, I'm stuffed." In the Luo Family home, being fed was good enough, let alone being full.
"From now on, I'll make sure you're stuffed every day; I'm going to fatten you up nicely," Luo Shu said with a laugh. Thinking about the moment Lu Hanmo saw her arm, she felt a bit embarrassed. But she was determined to surprise him next time they met.
"Sis, will we live like this from now on? Won't Dad and the others come looking for us?" Luo Shan asked, worried. Everything that happened today felt somewhat surreal to her. She feared all this was just a dream and that once she woke up, she would still be in that same home.
"Don't worry, if they come looking, I'll send them packing," she assured. The family was indeed trouble, but for now, she lacked the ability to leave this place. This era wasn't like her previous life; one had to have a letter of introduction to go to a big city. Moreover, their household registration was still with the Luo Family, so she had to find a way to separate their household registration from that of the Luo Family.
"Xiao Zheng, does your school have a back door?" Luo Shu turned to ask Luo Zheng. She and Luo Shan were living here, and the Luo Family would certainly not be able to find them, but Luo Zheng had to go to school, after all.
Luo Zheng nodded, "Sis, are you worried they'll come for me? Should I take a few days off tomorrow?" His studies were excellent, so a few days off wouldn't affect him much.
"Yes, Xiao Zheng, take a few days off first," Luo Shan agreed.
After some thought, Luo Shu said, "Alright, you stay at home tomorrow, and I'll go ask for your leave." She wasn't afraid of Luo Jiansen and the others; she just didn't want to confront them yet and bring trouble to Aunt Chen and the others.
In the still of the night, as the sound of even breathing filled the air, Luo Shu sank her consciousness into her space.
She arrived at the edge of the Spiritual Spring and undressed to enter it. The Spiritual Spring possessed automatic purification properties; whether drinking from it or bathing in it, it was extremely beneficial for the body. However, she had divided the Spiritual Spring into two pools—one for drinking and the other for bathing.
In the center of the Spiritual Spring, Luo Shu closed her eyes and began to cultivate according to the Spiritual Pivot, a technique passed down by the Luo Family. Currently, she didn't have a trace of Inner Qi in her body, and only by opening up thirty-three meridians would she be able to generate Inner Qi.
Time passed slowly, and the Spiritual Spring around Luo Shu began to churn, turning into wisps of mist that seeped through her skin, slowly flowing into her meridians.
The pain of forcibly opening the meridians was like countless needles piercing her simultaneously. Cold sweat oozed continuously from her forehead as her body trembled with agony. But Luo Shu had no intention of giving up; she bit down on her teeth and persevered.
Time was indiscernible, but eventually, Luo Shu felt a sweetness in her throat and "Puh!" a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from her mouth.
Slowly opening her eyes, Luo Shu let out a long breath. She had opened five meridians during this session of cultivation. Although she was still far from opening thirty-three meridians, she was quite satisfied with her progress.
Feeling someone pushing her, Luo Shu's thought moved, and her consciousness returned to her body.
Opening her eyes, she saw Luo Shan and Luo Zheng looking at her anxiously. She smiled slightly, "I'm fine." As the words left her mouth, she detected an unpleasant smell. What was that smell? Could it be?
Hurriedly lifting her hand, she saw a layer of black filth and was momentarily dumbfounded. It seemed she needed to buy a house sooner rather than later. Now that she had opened five meridians, some impurities had been secreted from her body; as she opened more meridians in the future, more impurities would be secreted.
"Sis, I've already boiled water for you," Luo Shan said, pointing to the hot water bottle not far away. In truth, she had been roused by that smell and, upon waking up to find a layer of black dirt on her sister's face, had rushed to the kitchen to boil water.
However, by the time the water was ready, her sister had still not awakened, and her body kept oozing cold sweat and black dirt. She and Xiao Zheng could only keep wiping it off her, planning to take her to Jimin Pharmacy for medical treatment once daylight came.
Luo Shu looked outside, noticing the bright daylight, "You two go out first. We'll talk after I've washed." She blamed herself for being careless, forgetting that even if she cultivated with her consciousness, her body would still react.