Idle?

Su Qing looked at Jingyue’s disgruntled expression and could only offer an awkward smile.

Although she was the one who brought up the matter, she was also the one who couldn’t elaborate on it.

Ultimately, it was still her fault.

Su Qing found it difficult to explain further, only thinking helplessly, “It seems I’ve once again become the riddler I despise the most!”

Regarding becoming a riddler...

Su Qing didn’t actually want to be one.

But unfortunately, there were many times when she genuinely couldn’t speak clearly, so she was forced to play the part of a riddler.

“My apologies~” Su Qing said.

Jingyue, however, rolled her eyes in exasperation and then said, “Alright, hurry and listen to the old Earth God’s report! I’m going to attend to my own matters. What I know, the Earth God also knows, and he’s even clearer on some things than I am, so there’s no need for me to listen with you.”

Su Qing smiled and nodded at this, then said, “Alright, alright, I’m going now!”

Su Qing knew this topic could be concluded.

So, she proceeded with her original plan to find the old Earth God and hear his report on recent matters.

The old Earth God, seeing Su Qing approach, stopped resting with his eyes closed.

During this time, the old Earth God had more or less organized his thoughts.

So, after Su Qing arrived and they chatted briefly about some idle topics, he began to report on recent affairs.

Su Qing did not interrupt, simply listening quietly to everything.

As she listened, time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, an hour had gone by.

Su Qing finally finished listening to everything the Earth God had to say.

Although the old Earth God spoke at length, the summary was that with the recent development of Flower-Fruit Mountain, more and more problems had begun to emerge.

The most serious among them was perhaps the inevitable conflict between humans and demons.

Although humans and demons coexisted quite well on Flower-Fruit Mountain, conflicts were still unavoidable.

After all, those not of our kind are bound to be different.

This thought was ingrained in every race.

Therefore, even in this place where humans and demons lived in relative harmony, there were still discordant elements.

And among those most affected were perhaps the children of humans and demons.

Just like the children at the foot of the Changbai Mountains back then.

This was indeed a headache.

Because the people here actually disliked beast-eared girls!

Alright, that was off-topic.

However, this discord would definitely require a long time to resolve.

And if it wasn’t handled well...

It could become a hidden danger for the entire Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Su Qing rubbed her temples and said, “These things require our effort, but we cannot rush them. If anything is rushed, it will surely backfire.”

The old Earth God naturally nodded at this, saying, “I understand Yuanjun’s words. Please rest assured, Yuanjun, I will certainly not rush things.”

“That would be for the best.” Su Qing nodded in satisfaction, saying, “I trust you. Also, it’s been hard on you these past few years that I haven’t visited.”

“Yuanjun trusts me and entrusts the affairs of the entire Flower-Fruit Mountain to me; it is my honor. Hardship is nothing,” the Earth God shook his head and said.

Su Qing likewise shook her head, saying, “You’ve given so much; I should naturally give you some recompense.”

What kind of recompense, Su Qing hadn’t quite decided yet.

But the necessary promises certainly couldn’t be omitted.

Making promises, after all!

If one wasn’t even willing to make promises, that would be a bit too much.

The old Earth God heard this and did not refuse.

After all, who wouldn’t be happy about a salary increase?

If someone wasn’t happy, they were definitely faking it.

And there was no point in faking it in front of Su Qing; it was better to agree straightforwardly.

So, the old Earth God agreed very quickly.

However, this left Su Qing a bit bewildered.

She had expected some back-and-forth!

Who would have thought the old Earth God would agree so readily?

But Su Qing didn’t show it, only smiled and nodded, saying, “Since that’s the case, it’s settled then. As for how to increase your salary, I still need to think about it a bit.”

That wasn’t quite accurate; more precisely, it was about what to give.

Fortunately, the old Earth God didn’t seem to mind much.

He smiled and agreed.

Afterward,

the old Earth God didn’t intend to disturb her further.

He simply said, “Since I have finished reporting everything I needed to, I will not bother Yuanjun any longer and will take my leave.”

Su Qing nodded at this, saying, “Hmm, you go back first then! I’ll come find you before I leave tomorrow.”

The old Earth God nodded, respectfully bowed to Su Qing, and said, “Then this subordinate bids farewell.”

Su Qing did not speak again.

And the old Earth God, seeing this, turned and left.

After the old Earth God left.

Su Qing stood up and stretched. After listening to an hour of work reports, Su Qing was also a bit tired.

“Since you’re done listening, go take a bath. The water is already hot, so you can just undress and go in.” Jingyue was not asleep at the moment. Seeing that Su Qing had finished her official business, she walked over and said to Su Qing.

Although Jingyue was exasperated by Su Qing being a riddler, Su Qing was still her Big Sister Xiao Qing no matter what, so she naturally couldn’t treat her poorly.

Su Qing nodded naturally at this, then her eyes darted around, she crossed her arms, and asked with a smile, “Undress and go in? Should I undress here? Wouldn’t that be a bit… inappropriate?”

Jingyue raised an eyebrow at this, saying, “Big Sister Xiao Qing… what unclean thoughts are you having again? We haven’t reached that point yet!”

Su Qing blinked, not hiding the bewilderment in her eyes. She asked with a smile, “Aren’t you the one? I was just jokingly asking if I should undress here before going, how did you jump to unclean thoughts? Besides, that kind of thing isn’t unclean at all~ it’s just a biological instinct!”

Hearing this, Jingyue froze, her face unconsciously flushing.

Then she glared at Su Qing and said, “Big Sister Xiao Qing, are you going or not?”

Su Qing smiled and nodded, saying, “Of course I’m going to take a bath! After all, if I don’t bathe, I always feel tired.”

Jingyue pouted, her face red, and walked behind Su Qing, then pushed Su Qing towards the bathroom, saying, “Then Big Sister Xiao Qing, hurry up.”

“Oh right, will you peek from outside the door?”

“I don’t have such hobbies! And Big Sister Xiao Qing, please don’t make such jokes, I’m really going to get angry.”

“Alright, alright~ Can I go by myself then? You don’t have to push me.”

“…”

In the end, Jingyue didn’t let go of Su Qing, still personally pushing her into the bathroom.

And after Su Qing entered the bathroom, she couldn’t help but smile.

Honestly, teasing Jingyue was quite amusing.

‘But Jingyue wouldn’t really have feelings for me, would she? Probably not? Her feelings for me should just be ordinary sisterly affection…’ Su Qing shook her head, then took off her dress and went to soak in the bath.

Bathing was a very comfortable thing.

Su Qing didn’t want to waste such time.

While bathing, Su Qing also didn’t forget to think about the old Earth God’s matter. Since she had promised more recompense, she definitely had to think carefully about what kind of recompense to give.

Thinking while bathing, Su Qing quickly figured out how to give it.

“Then I’ll give these; they’ll also help his cultivation.” With a plan in mind, Su Qing could fully enjoy her bathing time.

Time passed quickly.

An entire night went by in a flash.

The next morning.

As planned, Su Qing woke up early.

After getting up, Su Qing first went to find the old Earth God.

At this moment, the old Earth God was already up, moving official documents that needed to be reviewed to the study.

Seeing Su Qing arrive, he put down what he was holding and bowed to Su Qing.

Su Qing waved her hand and didn’t waste words, simply informing the old Earth God of the specifics of his salary increase.

The old Earth God was very satisfied with Su Qing’s decision, so he naturally had no objections.

In fact, for the old Earth God, any salary increase was fine; the amount was secondary.

After all, when he was a mortal, the emperor rarely gave anyone a salary increase.

Most of the time, it was just a meager amount.

As for those wealthy officials...

That was just because there was a lot of fat to skim.

And him?

He was too incorruptible.

So he naturally didn’t skim any fat.

He was utterly poor.

He probably wouldn’t have had a few silver coins even if he died.

But he didn’t regret it.

This was his bottom line as a person.

And his own choice.

So there was nothing to regret.

In short, meeting a superior like Su Qing now was already very fortunate.

Su Qing didn’t care what the old Earth God thought; seeing that he had no objections, she waved her hand and left.

She didn’t chat idly with the old Earth God.

After all, the old Earth God still had many things to do.

Chatting with him would only disturb him.

Rather than doing that, it was better to leave quickly and do her own things.

Anyway, there was nothing to chat about.

After leaving the old Earth God’s place.

Su Qing found Jingyue again.

She had promised Jingyue that she would explore the town on Flower-Fruit Mountain.

So she naturally couldn’t break her word.

And so.

Su Qing and Jingyue went together to explore the city.

During this excursion, Su Qing was not only enjoying herself but also intended to personally observe the situation here.

After all, hearsay was just hearsay; it was always better to see with one’s own eyes.

It was a pity that time was limited today; otherwise, Su Qing would definitely have stayed longer to fully understand the situation.

Rather than just taking a cursory tour of the streets as she did today.

However, even with a cursory tour, Su Qing noticed many less-than-ideal aspects, just as the old Earth God had reported to her earlier.

“It looks like it’s really quite troublesome.” Su Qing rubbed her temples, thinking helplessly, “I hope the Earth God can truly handle it well?”

Su Qing wouldn’t stay on Flower-Fruit Mountain indefinitely, so she naturally couldn’t do too much. Therefore, she could only entrust this matter to the old Earth God.

After touring the streets.

Su Qing decided not to stay any longer.

Instead, she prepared to return to the Northern Continent.

This was something planned from the beginning. Unless something special interrupted her, she would definitely stick to her original plan.

Moreover, there were indeed still some things to do in the Northern Continent.

She still needed to provide disaster relief!

She couldn’t just keep wandering around Flower-Fruit Mountain.

When Su Qing decided to leave, Jingyue didn’t say much.

She simply watched Su Qing depart.

After Su Qing left.

Jingyue sighed softly, saying, “She’s gone again… I wonder when we’ll meet next.”

Thinking this, Jingyue chuckled and muttered to herself, “I’m being silly; although the Northern Continent is far, for cultivators, that distance isn’t long at all. I can just go see her then… I just wonder if Big Sister Xiao Qing will remember to come see me again.”

For Jingyue, she could naturally go find Su Qing anytime.

But if possible, she still hoped Su Qing would take the initiative.

After all, it was also a matter of attitude!

Jingyue shook her head at the thought, then turned to attend to her own affairs.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Su Qing had already returned to the Northern Continent.

After arriving at the Daoist academy, she didn’t go to her bedchamber but went directly to find Liu Xixi.

“Yuanjun?” Liu Xixi looked at Su Qing with a slight surprise, saying, “Yuanjun left yesterday, why are you back so soon?”

Su Qing briefly explained the situation, then said, “I came back to handle today’s matters first, and then I’ll depart for disaster relief.”

Hearing this, Liu Xixi had no objections, only saying, “However, I never knew Yuanjun was also the Mountain God of Flower-Fruit Mountain. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Su Qing smiled at this, shaking her head and saying, “It’s nothing special, and I haven’t spread it around, so it’s not surprising you didn’t know. Give me my official documents! I’ll take a look.”

Liu Xixi nodded, not saying much, simply handing the documents to Su Qing.

Afterward, both of them became busy with their respective tasks.

However, Su Qing didn’t have much work.

In just a moment, she had nearly finished reviewing everything.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy, so she read quickly and just needed to approve them.

And after finishing the tasks at hand.

Su Qing was done for the day.

“Then I’ll be going! Please bear with it for a few more days; I’ll be back after I finish handling the matters in the disaster-stricken areas.”

Hearing Su Qing’s words, Liu Xixi nodded without looking up, then concentrated on her own work.

Seeing this, Su Qing smiled and then departed on her cloud.