Zhu Zi Kingdom

Regarding money, Chen Chaoyan naturally dared not accept it. But for just some dry rations, she accepted them without much burden. After all, dry rations were quite important for the journey ahead... Although she could catch game or pick wild fruits, it was always better to have some proper food. So, Chen Chaoyan accepted them and sincerely thanked Yellow Brow.

“There's no need to thank me; it's just a bit of dry food,” Yellow Brow said, maintaining the demeanor of an elderly Buddhist monk. “The journey to the Western Heaven is not easy; please be extra careful.”

Chen Chaoyan nodded upon hearing this, clasped her hands in a salute to the abbot, and said, “Thank you, Abbot. We understand.”

Seeing this, Yellow Brow said no more. He nodded, bidding farewell to Chen Chaoyan, Su Qing, and the others.

Su Qing and the others left the Little Great Thunder Monastery, continuing their journey towards the Western Heaven.

After Su Qing and her companions departed, Yellow Brow let out a sigh of relief. He had finally seen off Bi Ling Yuanjun Azure Spirit Sovereign... If she hadn't left soon, he truly worried that his subordinates, lacking common sense, might have made a move against Su Qing and the others.

“Next, I just need to wait for the Holy Monk to arrive,” Yellow Brow thought, shaking his head slightly. With a wave of his hand, he closed the temple gate.

Su Qing and the others continued their journey. Time flew by, and before they knew it, scorching summer had arrived. Su Qing's group had also left the wilderness... They were now on a main road, where they occasionally saw travelers.

The group walked on like this. Suddenly, they spotted a city in the distance. Su Qing smiled upon seeing it and said, “That must be Zhu Zi Kingdom ahead.”

Chen Chaoyan heard this and cupped her hand over her brow, shielding her eyes from the blazing sun, to look into the distance. She indeed saw a city. However, they were too far away to clearly read the name written on the city gate.

“Godmother is truly amazing; can you see it clearly from so far away?” Chen Chaoyan tilted her head, exclaiming.

Su Qing gave a helpless smile, shook her head, and tapped the silly girl's head.

“I'm leading the way; how could I not know where we've arrived?”

“But weren't there some places on the road that Godmother didn't recognize either?”

“But I don't forget everything! You silly girl.” Su Qing sighed softly, shook her head, and said, “Alright, alright, let's go! There's no point staying here. Let's enter the city!”

Chen Chaoyan gave a silly laugh, then nodded and followed Su Qing towards the imperial city of Zhu Zi Kingdom.

Before long, the group reached the city gate, crossed the bridge, and entered through the triple gates. Once inside the city, they took a brief look around and couldn't help but marvel at what a fine imperial city it was.

Its gate towers soared high, battlements lined up neatly. The six streets and three markets were filled with goods, and thousands of households bustled with thriving businesses. It was indeed a place for emperors, a grand capital of heavenly abundance!

“It's rare to enter a city; before we exchange our travel documents, let's spend a couple of days enjoying ourselves here! It'll be a good rest. We've been travel-stained and exhausted from the journey. Mother, what do you say?”

After entering the city, Yudie couldn't help but say this to Su Qing, seeing how prosperous the imperial city was.

Su Qing turned her head and glanced at her. Seeing this, Yudie grabbed Su Qing's hand, shook it, and pleaded coquettishly, “Please, please~ Just one or two extra days of fun!”

Su Qing gave a helpless smile, reached out, and ruffled the girl's hair, saying, “I didn't say I'd refuse you; I was just calculating the time.”

“Calculating the time?”

“Yes, counting the days, the Dragon Boat Festival is in a few days. It would be good if we celebrated the festival here before leaving!” Su Qing smiled and said, “I've never experienced the Dragon Boat Festival in a foreign land before! What do you think?”

Seeing Su Qing's reply, Yudie was naturally overjoyed and immediately hugged Su Qing, giving her a kiss.

“I knew Mother was the best!” Yudie said with a beaming smile. “But the Dragon Boat Festival! It's been so long since I've celebrated it~”

Su Qing nodded slightly.

Chen Chaoyan, hearing this, also couldn't help but nod, saying, “Speaking of which, we haven't participated in any festivals at all on this journey! We've just been diligently rushing along.”

“Since that's the case, then perfect! Let's celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival here!” Su Qing said, chuckling.

Jingyue, however, said with a bewildered expression, “A festival... I don't think I've ever celebrated one.”

“Don't you celebrate festivals at Wuzhuang Temple?”

“No, we don't... Cultivators naturally practice with pure hearts and few desires. Although I am a common person with a mortal heart, everyone at Wuzhuang Temple doesn't celebrate festivals, so naturally, there was no need for me to.”

Liu Jingyue said, stroking her chin, “Speaking of which... I don't even know many festivals.”

“Is that so~ Then this Dragon Boat Festival will be your first time, right?” Su Qing looked at Jingyue with a playful smile and joked, “That means your first time will be with me.”

Liu Jingyue apparently didn't catch the slight innuendo in Su Qing's words; she merely nodded and said, “Probably? But celebrating my first festival with Sister is quite nice.”

Su Qing couldn't help but chuckle when she saw that Jingyue hadn't understood anything.

“It's good that you think that way!” Su Qing stretched and said, “Let's go! We should find an inn first!”

The group naturally had no objections. They followed Su Qing, wandering around the city... Soon, in no time at all, they found a decent inn.

The inn's environment looked quite good. Staying here for a few days would be a treat, not uncomfortable. After paying, Su Qing fed a medicinal pill to the white horse, then handed it over to the waiter, asking him to lead it to the stables.

After all, a horse couldn't possibly follow them everywhere.

Beside her, Jingyue noticed Su Qing's action of feeding the white horse a medicinal pill. She couldn't help but feel a little curious. She asked, “Sister Su Qing... what did you feed that white horse?”

Su Qing heard this, smiled faintly, and said, “Some medicinal pills for cultivation.”

“Ah? This?”

Seeing Jingyue's bewildered expression, Su Qing explained, “This little fellow has gained some spiritual intelligence after traveling with me all this way, so I thought I'd see if I could cultivate it into a demon horse.”

“Sister, you're truly idle.”

“It's boring just walking on the road! One has to have something else to do.”

“So when did Sister start feeding her medicinal pills?”

“Hmm, last month? It was a spur-of-the-moment idea.” Su Qing smiled and said, “As for whether it will yield any results... I don't know, but I'll just keep raising it and see! What if it succeeds?”

“I see... Indeed, Sister, you are quite idle,” Jingyue said, glancing at her and unable to resist adding another comment.

Su Qing chuckled, patted her shoulder, and said, “Let's go! It's almost mealtime; we should order some dishes to eat.”

Hearing Su Qing's words, Jingyue pouted, then followed Su Qing back into the inn.

The group took their seats and ordered some dishes. Because Chen Chaoyan was with them, Su Qing didn't order entirely according to her own preferences. She also ordered quite a few vegetarian dishes.

Chen Chaoyan, Yudie, and Jingyue, being quite chatty, ate and chatted, soon drifting into another topic.

Su Qing, meanwhile, quietly ate her meal, not lecturing them with rules like “do not speak while eating.” After all, one should enjoy their food.

As Su Qing ate, she suddenly heard conversations from the table next to them.

“Have you heard? Soon, for the Dragon Boat Festival, His Majesty will leave the palace to watch the dragon boat races, and it's said he'll bring the Golden Palace Empress too!”

Another person continued, “Of course I've heard... I've never seen what His Majesty looks like! Now we'll finally get to.”

“I also heard that the Golden Palace Empress is incredibly beautiful, like a Heavenly Immortal.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, now that's a feast for the eyes.”

Su Qing listened, finding it rather uninteresting. Was a king coming out to watch a competition really worth so much excitement?

However, as she listened, Su Qing noticed something interesting... The Golden Palace Empress hadn't been captured by Sai Taisui yet?

Thinking of this... Su Qing's brow subtly arched; she seemed to have realized something amusing.

She put down her bowl, and while picking up some food, quietly performed a divination. It wasn't bad to not calculate, but once she did, she indeed divined some interesting things.

This year's Dragon Boat Festival would likely be quite a spectacle.

“But speaking of which... if this happens, then the place where the Golden Palace Empress is captured won't match the original story, will it?” Su Qing couldn't help but think. “Oh well, with my intervention, there are already so many places that don't align with the original story. One more won't make much difference.”

However, even though Su Qing had divined this event... she had no intention of meddling. It wasn't that she worried about disrupting this tribulation. After all, with the words of Buddha and Maitreya Buddha, she no longer needed to be overly cautious in her actions.

The main reason she was still unwilling to intervene... was simply laziness. She was merely passing by. Furthermore, the empress wouldn't suffer any great harm after being captured. She wouldn't lose her chastity, nor would she lose her life.

After all, the empress also had the assistance of a powerful individual... If she didn't interfere, there wouldn't be any major problems.

Thinking this, Su Qing withdrew her hand and continued eating.

After lunch, there was still some time in the afternoon. Su Qing and the others naturally planned to explore the city. The capital of Zhu Zi Kingdom was so vast and prosperous... Since they were staying for a few days, they naturally needed to have a good look around.

Otherwise, what would be the point of staying in Zhu Zi Kingdom?

As for exchanging the travel documents, there was no rush... The king's incident wouldn't happen for a few more days! Going tomorrow would be the same... Su Qing never spent much time on this matter.

Moreover, whether she followed this procedure or not wasn't particularly important to her... It was merely a slight observance of mortal rules.

The capital of Zhu Zi Kingdom was exceptionally prosperous... and there was no shortage of unique local delicacies along the way.

Although Chen Chaoyan was a Buddhist practitioner and couldn't eat meat, the world's delicacies weren't limited to just meat. So, after only turning down one street, the girl's mouth couldn't stop eating.

Su Qing looked at Chen Chaoyan's cheeks, puffed out like a little hamster's, and couldn't help but find it amusing. She said, “You girl, pay a little attention to your manners! You're a Buddhist practitioner, after all. How have you been cultivating Buddhism for so many years without becoming more demure?”

This girl had always been like this... On the surface, she appeared so quiet and elegant. But once you spent some time with her, you'd realize... she was just good at pretending. It truly lived up to the old saying: a leopard cannot change its spots.

Chen Chaoyan heard Su Qing's teasing, swallowed the food in her mouth, and said, “Why be so restrained in front of Godmother! Besides, who says cultivating Buddhism means you have to be quiet and demure? In our nunnery, there are many senior and junior sisters just like me.”

Su Qing heard this and couldn't help but purse her lips. This girl really knew how to talk. There was no one like her in their nunnery!

Just as Su Qing was about to retort, the girl continued, “And Godmother, we've traveled so hard all this way; now that we finally have a rest, we definitely need to relax and get some good rest!”

Su Qing pinched the girl's little cheek and said, “It's not just me here! Aren't there so many strangers around? Aren't you even going to pretend a little?”

“What do strangers have to do with me? I'm only good with Godmother!” Chen Chaoyan said, as if it were the most natural thing.

Su Qing gave a helpless smile, truly at a loss with this girl. But, jokes aside, Su Qing didn't actually dislike the girl's personality this way... In fact, being cheerful was good.

After all, cultivation only spoke of having a pure heart and few desires, not of becoming a cold and emotionless person. Moreover, having such a lively companion by her side made her feel more vibrant.

After cultivating for a long time, it was easy to lose oneself.

“Suddenly, I feel... that fun-loving people like Taishang Laojun and Lady Chang'e might find cultivation much easier.”

Thinking this, Su Qing couldn't help but smile helplessly. Then she patted Jingyue, who was waiting for her lamb skewers to be grilled, and said, “Looking so serious!”

Jingyue glanced at her and said, “Secretly learning!”

... Su Qing was speechless for a moment. If she really wanted to learn cooking, she should ask her! Why watch someone grill skewers? Besides, what was there to secretly learn about grilling skewers?

Su Qing shook her head and started talking about other things. Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Su Qing had already spent the afternoon playing with Chen Chaoyan in the city.

And the group, tired from playing and having had enough fun, returned to the inn to rest. They had a very happy day... Yudie was also very satisfied. Only Su Qing felt a bit tired... How to put it? Playing was also tiring.

The next day, early in the morning, Su Qing led the horse and took Chen Chaoyan to the yamen. They needed to see the king to exchange their travel documents, so they naturally had to go through the yamen... After all... he was a king, not someone you could just meet directly. The procedures had to be followed.

Exchanging the travel documents took Su Qing quite a bit of time. By the time everything was done... it was already afternoon. And with that, there was naturally no more time left for fun.

So, that day passed just like that. Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, several more days had gone by. During these days, Su Qing and her companions had a great time in the city... They thoroughly explored all the worthwhile places.

And after these few days... the Dragon Boat Festival had arrived.