Three Months

The night passed both quickly and slowly.

For Su Qing, the night flew by...

But for Chen Nianxin, it dragged on forever.

Early the next morning, Su Qing stretched her limbs and walked out of her room to breathe the fresh air. Her face showed no signs of fatigue. Although a night of such exertion inevitably left her a bit tired, she felt relatively fine. At worst, she could just find some time to rest during the day.

As Su Qing was stretching and clearing her head, she happened to see Chen Nianxin sitting by the flower bed in the courtyard, looking exhausted as she fiddled with a small flower. She didn't just look tired; there was a distinct air of grievance about her.

Seeing Chen Nianxin looking so worn out, as if she hadn't slept at all, Su Qing couldn't help but feel curious.

She walked over and asked, "Why do you look like you didn't sleep? Can a Six-Eared Macaque like you actually suffer from strange-bed syndrome?"

Su Qing didn't know the real reason for Chen Nianxin's lack of sleep. She didn't truly think the monkey was suffering from a change in environment—though she couldn't rule it out, the possibility was low. She only asked to goad the girl into answering for herself.

Hearing the voice, Chen Nianxin instinctively looked up at Su Qing and retorted, "No, I don't get strange-bed syndrome!"

As a Six-Eared Macaque, such a thing was naturally impossible. Mentally, she was quite resilient. Aside from being a tiny bit lacking in certain specific areas, she was invincible in every other way—or so Chen Nianxin believed.

Seeing that Chen Nianxin didn't directly answer her question, Su Qing asked, "Then what was it?"

"Because..." Chen Nianxin started to answer, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the memories of last night's noises flooded back. A wave of shame rushed to her head, making it impossible to speak. In the end, she just turned beet-red and remained silent.

To her, the matter was simply too shameful and awkward to mention. Of course, in reality, if she had actually said it out loud, the one who would end up embarrassed would likely be Su Qing. However, due to her total lack of experience and her shyness regarding such matters, Chen Nianxin missed her chance.

Su Qing raised an eyebrow at her reaction. She couldn't understand what could possibly make the girl blush so hard she couldn't explain. After pondering for a long time, Su Qing finally reached a conclusion.

Perhaps it was the reality of being a prisoner that had kept Chen Nianxin up all night, and she found it too difficult to talk about today? After all, if such a sudden change happened to Su Qing, she would probably lose sleep and find it hard to discuss as well. One day she was the lawless Six-Eared Macaque, and the next she was someone's prisoner, forced to wear a collar and live under threat. Who could take that easily?

However, while Su Qing understood these things, she had no intention of letting Chen Nianxin go. The girl still needed to undergo her education and reform! If she let her go, wouldn't she be someone who took payment without doing the work? She didn't like being that kind of person.

Once she had rationalized it this way, Su Qing didn't bother bringing it up again. She yawned, moved her body a bit, and said to Chen Nianxin, "Fine, don't tell me if you don't want to! Since you're up, you might as well help out. I'm about to start cooking. Since you're just idling around, come stoke the fire for me! I won't ask you to actually cook; I wouldn't trust anything you made."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not worried about poison. I just think your cooking would definitely taste terrible."

As she spoke, Su Qing turned and headed toward the kitchen.

Chen Nianxin felt a surge of dissatisfaction. She was someone who could fight Sun Wukong to a standstill, yet now she was being treated like a fire-stoking maid. How could she not feel resentful? She gritted her teeth and shot Su Qing a hateful glare.

But that was all she could do. She couldn't curse her, and she couldn't fight her. What else was there? In the end, she could only huff inwardly, nod obediently, and follow Su Qing.

She had no way to refuse. She was a prisoner under restraint. If she didn't want to suffer, she had to act submissive for now. Furthermore, in Chen Nianxin's eyes, Su Qing was a very dangerous person. Dangerous in terms of her sexual orientation, and dangerous in terms of her abilities. After all, she was a woman who could make other women pregnant! Who knew if the punishment for disobedience would be a beating or... something else?

Worst of all, she couldn't use a single shred of her magic right now. She was barely stronger than a mortal. With her current strength, she couldn't resist; she might not even be able to survive the other woman's 'exertions.' Even if her power wasn't sealed, she was no match for Su Qing; she would just be slightly more durable during a beating. For the sake of her purity and her own well-being, it was better to be obedient for now.

As for anything else, she would have to plan for the long term. She didn't want to be a prisoner for the rest of her life. Even if the chance of escape was microscopic, she couldn't give up.

Su Qing didn't know what was going on in Chen Nianxin's head or how much internal drama she was experiencing. She simply led her into the kitchen, taught her how to stoke the fire, and then went about her cooking. During the meal, she observed Chen Nianxin's expression of utter astonishment. Even from a distance, it was very clear. She was curious about what Chen Nianxin was thinking, but she didn't have mind-reading powers and wasn't bored enough to ask. She just continued eating.

In the days that followed, Su Qing continued her daily routine. Life in the Changbai Mountains remained the same. The presence of one extra person didn't make things particularly unusual; it just added the 'education of Chen Nianxin' to Su Qing's schedule. It was another bit of fun added to her otherwise peaceful and somewhat dull life.

As for the young ones like Yudie and Su Ying, they didn't change much either. Although Yudie had asked many questions when Chen Nianxin first arrived, she soon went back to her usual play. She would even proactively look for Chen Nianxin to play with her. Most of the time, Chen Nianxin refused to play with Su Qing's daughters, fearing that Su Qing would use it as an excuse to cause her trouble. Besides, as an old soul, playing with a bunch of children felt a bit strange.

Of course, there were times when she couldn't refuse, and she would end up accompanying them under Su Qing's watchful gaze. While Su Qing didn't fully trust Chen Nianxin, the monkey was actually even more distrustful and wary of Su Qing. She was the one who felt she had to be careful at every moment.

In truth, Su Qing didn't mind her playing with Yudie and the others, as long as she didn't say anything weird to them. Furthermore, to be fair, although Chen Nianxin was quite old, she looked so young and small that she didn't look out of place among the children at all. It almost felt like she belonged there. And when she stood with the other little ones, Su Qing noticed that Chen Nianxin was actually the most 'impoverished' in the chest department among them all. It was truly a pity. While one shouldn't say bigger is always better, being essentially the same front and back was indeed a bit too much.

On another front, Su Qing's education of Chen Nianxin was proceeding step by step. Although she still didn't have a formal plan—teaching haphazardly whatever came to mind—she was at least doing it. And it seemed to have a tiny bit of an effect, even if it wasn't obvious. Regardless, Su Qing was doing what she promised; she never said she had to achieve brilliant results in a short time.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Chen Nianxin had lived in the Changbai Mountains for three months. By this time, she had completely adjusted to life there. Although she was still not allowed to leave the courtyard, her purity remained intact, and she hadn't been subjected to any inhuman treatment. On this point, Chen Nianxin had to admit that Su Qing wasn't someone who enjoyed abusing others; to a certain extent, she was actually quite kind.

Nevertheless, Chen Nianxin remained highly wary of Su Qing, never daring to relax. Three months was too short for her to let down her guard.

Su Qing could see Chen Nianxin's state of mind, but she didn't particularly care. She had never expected to win the monkey's trust so easily.

One day, after giving Chen Nianxin another round of nonsensical education, Su Qing left her to her own devices. She walked out of the courtyard to the edge of Heaven Lake to ponder other matters. Specifically, she was thinking about the items she had received recently. The Buddha had given her many good things, most of which were treasures that could be used to refine a clone. Su Qing was considering refining a third body.

However, while she could control two bodies with ease, adding a third might not be as simple. She had made quite a fool of herself back when she was first learning to divide her mind. Thus, she was hesitating over whether to go through with it.

"Hmm... maybe I should look for a Mind-Splitting Method first," Su Qing muttered to herself after a long silence. "I wonder if such a technique even exists in this world. If not, would I have to create one myself? Creating an entire technique just for one clone seems a bit excessive."

Su Qing stroked her chin, looking out at the beautiful scenery of Heaven Lake. "Forget it. I'll put the plan for the next clone on hold for now. I'll wait until I find a Mind-Splitting Method... Without one, trying to precisely control three bodies with just my own focus would be too difficult."

It wasn't that she couldn't do it, but it would require a massive amount of time and energy, and she was feeling a bit lazy. If she could find a shortcut, there was no need to struggle.

While the Changbai Mountains remained stable, life in Linzhou City also continued as usual—mostly. Su Qing noticed that lately, the streets were filled with people carrying luggage and many others with worried faces. Su Qing sat in her infirmary with Coal Ball curled up and sleeping on her lap.

She looked up at Li Yichou and asked, "By the way, Yichou, do you know if anything big has happened lately? It feels like... people are a bit panicked."

Li Yichou looked slightly surprised. "Miss, you don't know?"

"I really don't," Su Qing shook her head. "You know my situation lately. I'm basically always sitting here; how would I know what's happening outside? The patients who come to see me don't chat about those things either. Besides... the number of patients has dropped significantly lately!"

Li Yichou sighed. Her mistress sometimes knew everything in the world, yet other times she seemed to ignore everything outside her own door.

"The front lines have been defeated," Li Yichou explained. "Although the fighting hasn't reached us yet, everyone is worried that it might."

"I see... I thought it was something major," Su Qing said calmly. "There are still two large cities standing in front of Linzhou City. It's unlikely to reach here."

"Actually, it's only one now. The other has already been breached."

"Oh! No wonder people are panicking!"

"Aren't you worried, Miss?"

"Why should I be?"

"What if they actually fight their way here?"

"With me here, who could touch this infirmary?"

"Miss... you really are as confident as ever."

"I'm just stating facts," Su Qing shook her head. "Anyway, there's no need to panic. Let nature take its course. If they really fight their way here, we'll just leave."

"I thought you planned to stay here forever."

"What are you thinking? If a war starts here, I won't be able to do business. Why wouldn't I leave?"