Chapter Eighty-Three: Taking Up Residence in the Su Family Manor’s Ink Garden

Worth mentioning, Luo Changning, by some chance, bought a mute flower from an old woman’s stall.

With the mute flower in hand, opening the vocal passage was an easy matter.

After returning to the inn and washing up, Luo Changning could hardly wait to stuff the mute flower into his mouth. A fierce, peppery flavor instantly filled his mouth.

In less than a cup of tea’s time, his throat began to itch uncomfortably. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He had once read about the mute flower in medical texts and knew what effects it would have after being taken, so he was not worried. He settled down and slept peacefully.

When he awoke the next morning, Luo Changning knew at once that his vocal passage had been opened.

Once the vocal passage was open, he could send his voice to a chosen person, while others would be unable to hear what he said.

He only needed to speak, and even the faintest sound could be heard by someone twenty meters away.

Moreover, once opened, the volume of his voice could reach dozens of times its usual level, so loud it could shake the ears. At a certain level of cultivation, a single roar could even shatter mountains.

Of course, that was a feat only an innate martial artist could achieve.

Now Luo Changning had fully opened all seven apertures, and the twelve principal meridians as well as the Conception and Governor Vessels had all been unblocked. He now needed only a single opportunity to rise to the innate realm.

After restoring their strength, the group continued on toward the Southern Miao Route.

At the same time, Su Meng took the message-propagating gu from the spatial jade toad. The one in her hand was the mother gu, while the child gu was kept by an elder of a collateral branch of the Su family.

So long as they remained within a certain range, they could exchange messages.

By taking out this gu, Su Meng meant to inform that elder that they were returning to the Southern Miao Route. It was not that she wanted the collateral branch to come out to receive them; she simply wanted the elder to send people to tidy up the Su family estate.

After all, they had been away for a full thirteen years, and the place needed proper repair and arrangement. Broken things had to be fixed, and every corner cleaned before anyone could live there again.

The Southern Xiang Route bordered the Southern Miao Route, and by land it would take at most three days to reach the Su family estate. Even if three days were not enough to finish everything, arranging a few rooms for the four of them would be more than sufficient.

And so they traveled with pauses and stops, and on the third day at noon, Luo Changning and the others finally arrived at the main gate of the Su family estate.

As expected, a large crowd was waiting at the entrance, all from the Su family’s collateral branches. As for how many truly welcomed their return, and how many were merely putting on a show, that could not be known.

Luo Changning did not care that much. They would simply meet each move with a corresponding countermove.

After all, bloodline was there for all to see; a collateral branch could never become the direct line. Great aristocratic families cared most about bloodline. Unless they were shameless and despicable, the collateral branch could never press down upon the direct line.

“This must be the young master. Truly a handsome and extraordinary young man—one can tell at a glance that his future is boundless, haha…” said a middle-aged man with a full beard and side whiskers, smiling.

After exchanging a round of hollow pleasantries with the crowd, Su Meng tactfully expressed that she wished to rest, and the people of the collateral branches were shrewd enough to take their leave.

At last the place grew quiet. Luo Changning let out a long breath and began to look over the Su family estate.

As expected of a century-old clan of medicine and gu arts, the grounds were vast, yet everywhere there was a restrained luxury and an ingenious layout.

So this was the Su family estate where his mother had once lived?

Luo Changning could not tell what he felt at that moment. He only knew that he felt no sense of belonging here at all. It was utterly unfamiliar.

When Su Meng and the others had left the estate back then, they had dismissed the servants and guards within it.

So at this moment, the Su family estate seemed somewhat empty. Such a grand manor had only the four of them, and thus carried a touch of solitude.

Qing Gu asked, “Miss, should I go to the slave market and buy a few honest servants and maids?”

Though Su Meng preferred quiet, she also knew the Su family estate was far too large to be managed by Qing Gu and Zhong Bo alone, so she nodded in silent approval.

“For these little matters, Granny, you may decide for yourself.”

Qing Gu also knew Su Meng had no wish to deal with such tedious affairs, so after answering, she went to prepare supper.

The servants the collateral elder had sent earlier to clean up the estate had already been dismissed by them, so dinner would still have to be made by Qing Gu. Fortunately, the kitchen had already been tidied until it was neat and spotless, with rice, flour, seasonings, and fresh meat and vegetables all properly stocked.

Su Meng also took everyone’s luggage out of the spatial jade toad, and each of them went to sort through their own things.

Su Meng still stayed in her former boudoir, while Luo Changning chose the “Ink Garden,” the courtyard closest to Su Meng’s.

Pushing open the door to the main room of Ink Garden, Luo Changning looked at a room more than five times larger than the one he had once had in the Su family’s little courtyard and could only sigh inwardly at the decadence.

The room had already been cleaned thoroughly, not a speck of dust remaining.

Luo Changning placed his luggage on the daybed and then used his inner force to light the candles within.

Though Luo Changning’s eye apertures were already open and he could see in the dark, he still preferred the atmosphere of flickering candlelight. It gave him a warm sense of belonging.

The pillow and bedding had been changed for new ones, but Luo Changning was nostalgic by nature and still took out the set he had used in the Su family’s little courtyard; the new set was set aside and left untouched.

After putting his clothes into the rosewood wardrobe, he closed the door and went to the main hall for dinner.

The hall was truly vast, and with only the four of them seated there, it felt especially empty.

Because they had traveled for days on end, everyone was tired. Qing Gu only made a table of light, simple dishes, and it was quickly cleared away.

After bathing back in Ink Garden, Luo Changning lay down on his new bed.

Though the bedding and pillow were old and familiar, and he was used to sleeping with them, this was still an entirely unfamiliar place, and he could not quite get used to it.

So Luo Changning gave himself a little respite and did not continue sitting in meditation to cultivate. Yet however hard he tried, he could not fall asleep. His mind was full of the people in Qingyang County—Ma Xuee, Xiang Yinglong, and even that greedy great bear of a fool, all of them deeply missed.

Luo Changning could not help thinking that if he was already like this, then how much must Sister Xuee miss him? Perhaps she would even be unable to eat the things she loved most.

With a soft sigh, imagining Ma Xuee puffing out her cheeks in clear displeasure, Luo Changning could not help but smile.

As he smiled, that pair of clean, bright eyes surfaced in his mind again—the eyes that belonged to Yun Ruoyi.

What was that young boy doing at this moment?

Was he still at the Bai residence?

And did he, like Luo Changning, think of him often and long for him?

At the thought, Luo Changning’s mood sank all at once.

Heh...

Perhaps he had long since forgotten someone like him. Perhaps he was the only one who kept thinking of him like this, unable to help himself.

Lifting a hand, he gently knocked his own head and decided to sleep in peace, no longer dwelling on such things.