Linzhou City

Su Qing carried the child and soon returned to the place where they had previously encountered the attack.

However, when Su Qing arrived, she found that the corpses that had been scattered nearby had all disappeared.

There was even the faint, lingering sound of Sanskrit chanting echoing in the air.

Su Qing couldn't help but twitch her lips. That girl had actually buried those people and even performed rites for their souls.

Thinking of this, Su Qing turned her head to look at the dozens, perhaps a hundred, earthen mounds by the roadside. If nothing else, the bodies of those people were inside.

Looking at those mounds, Su Qing thought to herself, "In the future... this stretch of road will probably have a 'charming tale' attached to it."

Well, what 'charming tale'? It was just that there were so many graves that it would likely scare many people.

However, this didn't have much to do with Su Qing...

Su Qing didn't want to scold Ao Yiyi for this.

Lost in thought, Su Qing stepped into the carriage.

"We'll head toward Linzhou City next," Su Qing said calmly. At the same time, she didn't forget to perform a quick divination with her fingers, adding, "It just so happens that Linzhou City is on our path forward, so it's on the way."

Ao Yiyi nodded slightly upon hearing this, but looking at the girl in Su Qing's arms, she was filled with doubt and confusion.

"Sister Su... what's the deal with this child?" Ao Yiyi truly hadn't expected this.

Su Qing had gone out for a short while and actually brought back a child who looked less than a year old.

She didn't find it a burden; she was simply curious about where the little girl had come from.

Beside her, Hu Lin'er was equally perplexed.

Since Ao Yiyi had already asked, she didn't speak, but she watched Su Qing with a face full of curiosity.

Su Qing naturally knew the two would be confused...

So she had already thought of how to explain it.

In fact, Su Qing had no intention of hiding the truth...

Her hesitation was merely to find a simple way to clarify things for them.

After Su Qing gave a brief overview of the situation...

The two understood.

"So that's how it is... that lady truly was a pitiful person," Ao Yiyi said, shaking her head.

Su Qing nodded and said, "Indeed, quite pitiful..."

As Su Qing spoke, she handed the child to Hu Lin'er to hold.

She said, "Since no one has any other objections, we'll settle on this for now. We'll head to Linzhou City, and after we deliver this girl, we'll consider our next steps."

Ao Yiyi nodded without objection, while Hu Lin'er looked at the sleeping infant in her arms with a hint of helplessness. She had never looked after a child before!

But since the person had been placed in her hands...

She naturally had to treat the child well.

After all, it was a task Su Qing had given her.

After handing the child to Hu Lin'er, Su Qing told the horse outside to depart... and the horse pulled the carriage forward once more.

However, this time, Su Qing and the others finally had a definite direction.

With an extra person on the journey, Su Qing and the others didn't feel bored... they even felt a bit busy.

After all, taking care of a child less than a year old was somewhat troublesome.

Moreover, Su Qing couldn't completely be a hands-off manager. Since Hu Lin'er had no experience, the only one with experience raising a child was Su Qing herself.

Fortunately, though it was a bit of a hassle, they were all cultivators. At the very least, they wouldn't do a poor job of looking after the little one.

And so.

Su Qing and the others spent a few slightly busy days.

In the blink of an eye.

Su Qing and the others were nearing Linzhou City.

It was noon that day.

Su Qing sat in the driver's seat of the carriage, soaking up the sun while watching the distance...

Before long, city walls appeared before her eyes. On the city gate, several grand, flowing characters read 'Linzhou City'.

Seeing the walls, Su Qing let out a long breath.

After several days, they had finally reached Linzhou City.

She had originally thought this stretch of road wouldn't be too long.

In the end, it had taken several days.

"We've finally arrived... soon we can send that little one off," Su Qing sighed helplessly.

Although the addition of the little one had made their journey a bit livelier, it had indeed added a lot of trouble.

Therefore, Su Qing hoped to quickly deliver the girl into the hands of her family...

After all, she couldn't continue her travels with a baby.

Thinking of this.

Su Qing stretched her limbs.

Then, she drove the carriage through the gates of Linzhou City.

However, Su Qing encountered a bit of trouble when entering the city...

The inspection this time was quite strict... which caught Su Qing a bit by surprise.

Fortunately, Su Qing and the others still entered the city smoothly.

Firstly, they truly had no issues, and secondly, as cultivators, a small spell was enough to slip through unnoticed. Even if there were other practitioners among the guards, they wouldn't be able to detect anything.

Their levels of power were completely different.

After entering the city.

Su Qing drove the carriage through the bustling and prosperous streets.

In her heart, she was thinking about the inspection.

"If it's not because of some great thief in the city, then it's likely that a war is about to break out, right?" Su Qing thought. "But I'd guess it's the latter... mortals always love fighting. They like it even more than cultivators."

Su Qing had originally thought the world of cultivation would be full of schemes and constant fighting...

But in reality, the world of cultivation was relatively peaceful. Most of the time, everyone was busy cultivating and wouldn't bother fighting for no reason.

Unless some special circumstances arose.

On the other hand, the mortal world truly saw frequent wars... from what Su Qing knew, there were quite a few.

Thinking of this, Su Qing shook her head slightly and muttered to herself, "Forget it, it has nothing to do with me anyway... let's just deliver the person first!"

Su Qing drove the carriage and soon arrived at an inn.

It was noon now...

And it was time to eat.

So, finding food and lodging was done all at once.

After eating, it would naturally be time to deliver the child.

Inside the inn.

The waiter quickly brought food to Su Qing and the others... their clothing and aura didn't look like that of commoners, so the waiter naturally didn't dare to be negligent.

"Thank you... by the way, waiter, I'm a bit curious. You must have lived in this city for many years, right? Answer a few things for me."

Su Qing knew that if she asked directly, the waiter might not answer honestly, so as she spoke, she casually placed some tip money there.

The amount wasn't huge, but it was enough to tempt the waiter.

The waiter threw his sweat towel over his shoulder and glanced at the other busy people.

Then, with a face full of smiles, he said, "Of course, of course. What does the lady wish to ask? As long as I know it, I will tell you everything without reservation. However, I must remind the lady that I am just an ordinary waiter, so I might not know a great deal."

Though the waiter was greedy, he wasn't a fool.

He was just a regular waiter, not an information broker; he couldn't possibly know everything.

The lady before him clearly had an extraordinary status and seemed to be fishing for specific information...

So he had to give a disclaimer first to avoid failing to satisfy her and bringing trouble upon himself.

At that point, forget the tip; he might even get a beating.

After all, these people didn't look like folks you'd want to provoke!

Su Qing didn't find the waiter's words strange...

She simply nodded and said, "I naturally know you can't know everything. I just want to ask a few casual questions. Just tell me what you know, and that will be enough."

Hearing this, the waiter finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He hurriedly said, "I will tell the lady everything I know."

Su Qing didn't look at the waiter, but poured herself a cup of wine and then asked, "Tell me, is there a Su family in this city?"

Su Qing's question made the waiter pause for a moment. For a second, he didn't know why Su Qing was asking...

But he quickly stopped overthinking it...

After all, no matter why she was asking, it had nothing to do with him.

He just had to do his job.

He quickly nodded and said, "There is indeed a Su family in the city, though I don't know if it's the one the lady is asking about."

"If there are no other Su families in Linzhou City, then it should be the one I'm looking for." Su Qing nodded slightly and continued, "Did that Su family lose a daughter in the past?"

Hearing this, the waiter thought for a moment, then nodded and said:

"It seems there was such a thing... I remember when the Old Master Su learned of it, he immediately went to the County Magistrate and even said he would pay to suppress the bandits. Later, the Magistrate did send troops, but after they were defeated, they never went back, and the young lady was never found."

"Oh? Where were these bandits located?"

"Right near Linzhou City, of course! I remember it was at Wuzhi Mountain, sixty li outside the city. However, that place is easy to defend and hard to attack, so the master wasn't able to wipe them out. But it did deal them a heavy blow; they've been much more restrained in recent years." The waiter recalled as he answered Su Qing's questions.

Su Qing nodded slightly upon hearing this, thinking to herself, "They suppressed the bandits in the wrong place... no wonder they never even saw her."

After a moment, she asked again, "I see, what a pity... and after that? Did anything happen to the Su family?"

Hearing this, the waiter rubbed his chin, seemingly recalling the rumors he had heard.

After thinking for a short while, the waiter replied:

"I heard that after that failed attempt to suppress the bandits, Old Master Su was overcome by grief and fury and suddenly died... because that young lady was said to be his favorite daughter. Failing to wipe out the bandits and having no news of her made him exceptionally angry and anxious, and then he just passed away."

"After Old Master Su died, I remember his eldest son took over as the head of the Su family."

"The current Su family, though without the old master, has developed very well under the leadership of the Young Master Su. The Yexiang Tower across from our inn is a property of the Su family!"

"But they never went looking for that young lady again."

"Perhaps they thought she was already dead?"

"It makes sense. A young lady like that falling into the hands of bandits... if she didn't become a chieftain's lady, she'd likely be killed after they grew tired of her."

As he spoke, the waiter looked at Su Qing and the others and quickly apologized.

He was afraid his harsh words might offend them.

Su Qing didn't have any particular reaction to this; she just nodded slightly and said, "So that's how it is... that young lady truly was unfortunate."

"I think it's quite pitiful too... sigh, one can only say the world is too chaotic these days," the waiter sighed and said. "It barely gives people a way to survive. By the way, lady, I heard that a war is coming soon, though I don't know if it's true..."

Su Qing raised an eyebrow but didn't care much, only saying, "Whether it's true or false, it has nothing to do with us anyway."

The waiter quickly nodded and said, "But if a war really breaks out, you ladies should be careful as well."

"Thank you for your concern..." Su Qing didn't say much else, only stating, "Alright, I've asked all I wanted to ask. You can get back to work."

The waiter didn't dare say more or ask questions; he bowed his head and left.

After the waiter departed.

Su Qing ate her food while pondering a few things.

At this time, Ao Yiyi asked, "Sister Su... do you think the head of the Su family will accept this little girl?"

Su Qing raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't know."

"Then what if they don't accept her? Will we have to keep traveling with her?"

Su Qing shook her head slightly and said, "I haven't thought that far yet... but we don't know if they'll accept the child, so we can't draw any conclusions for now."

Ao Yiyi nodded slightly and stopped asking.

She felt that Su Qing must have considered those possibilities and thought about what to do next.

The reason she didn't want to say it was simply because she hadn't made a final decision yet.

Regardless, she wouldn't say more...

In any case, she would listen to Su Qing.

Whatever choice she made, she would accept it.

Su Qing and the others took their time with lunch.

Once they finished, they booked a few Heaven-grade rooms and left some of their belongings there.

Then, they took the girl to find the Su family.

The Su Family Manor wasn't hard to find.

Even without using divination, Su Qing could find it just by asking pedestrians on the street.

The Su family was clearly a very famous presence in Linzhou City, the kind of wealthy family that every household knew.

Before long.

Su Qing and the others arrived at the entrance of the Su Family Manor.

Su Qing held the child in one arm and knocked on the door of the manor with the other.

In a moment, a servant stepped out from the vermilion gates...

He first gave Su Qing and the child in her arms a haughty look, then said coolly, "Does the young lady have some business?"