Chapter 1368 - 1364
At this moment, Mo Zhi only felt that clinging to Yun Ran’s thigh back then was the smartest decision she had ever made.
Yun Ran quickly returned to the stronghold. As usual, she glanced at the place where she had originally been staying; she hadn’t really held out any hope.
Unexpectedly, she actually did notice something different.
To the naked eye, the courtyard still did not exist, but Yun Ran sensed a faint ripple in the air, which meant that the courtyard’s concealment effect was about to disappear.
Clearly, there were over a hundred people in the stronghold, yet along the way, Yun Ran did not run into a single person.
She didn’t know why, but in this stronghold, with such an obvious fluctuation in the air, no one but Yun Ran seemed to notice the change here.
"Yun Ran actually came back so fast?"
Azure Dragon was sitting in the courtyard drinking tea; the moment Yun Ran returned, he sensed it.
He looked at the sky. From when Yun Ran went out till now, it had only been the short span of two quarter-hours—this was a bit too fast.
They hadn’t even decided yet whether to agree to the conditions Yun Ran had raised earlier.
Yun Ran didn’t stop where she was, nor did she go check when that air fluctuation would disappear.
She headed straight toward the courtyard where Azure Dragon and the others were.
At the gate stood several familiar faces as always; if one didn’t know their identities, they’d really think these people were so idle they came here to be Door Gods.
"Immortal Master!"
Again the chorus of voices in unison, and this time, the words finally didn’t feel so awkward in their mouths.
Yun Ran gave a reserved nod, as if she really were that so-called Immortal Master.
Yun Ran didn’t need to push the door; it opened on its own. In the courtyard, there was only Azure Dragon—neither the Bald Monk nor the Young Prince were there.
She didn’t even need to think about it to know they must be secretly making preparations because of the conditions she’d提出 earlier.
Azure Dragon put down the teacup in his hand, a timely hint of confusion appearing in his eyes.
"Fellow Daoist Yun, you came back so soon. Is there something important you haven’t finished saying?"
Yun Ran was not polite. She sat down directly and poured herself a cup of tea. The fresh fragrance of the tea slipped straight into her nose.
She had to admit, the people of the Divine Hall really did enjoy good treatment. This top-grade tea simply didn’t exist on the open market.
"Good tea."
After taking a sip, Yun Ran exhaled a single comfortable comment.
Azure Dragon wasn’t in a rush; he patiently waited for what Yun Ran would say next, right up until she downed two more cups.
Only then did she drawl, "The timing’s changed. For that mission you mentioned before, what’s the soonest we can leave?"
Azure Dragon had thought Yun Ran was here to make more demands—he’d never seen anyone open their lion’s mouth wider than she did.
But he only froze for a brief instant before giving his reply, in a way that let no one detect any shift in his emotions.
"We can leave anytime. However, as for the conditions you提出 earlier, we haven’t completely finished discussing them on our side."
Since Yun Ran was the one bringing up changes, him taking the chance to raise some objections to her conditions wasn’t a problem, right?
Yun Ran waved a big hand. "The conditions aren’t important!"
That magnanimous attitude made Azure Dragon’s chest suddenly feel tight for no reason, making Yun Ran look carefree and unconcerned, while he, in contrast, seemed like some petty fool fussing over every little thing.
In just these few brief lines of conversation, Azure Dragon once again experienced how Yun Ran truly knew how to jab straight into a person’s heart.
"Alright, I’ll have people make arrangements right away. Fellow Daoist Yun, go pack your things. At the latest, we’ll set off in one quarter-hour!"
Having achieved her goal, Yun Ran immediately stood up and turned to leave.
Azure Dragon: ...
It seemed he really had spent too long up in the mountains and was completely unused to how people in the lowlands handled things.
Dragon Spirit was still sitting with eyes closed, deducing how to move from merely integrating his newly obtained power to wielding it with full mastery.
When he sensed Yun Ran had returned, he snapped his eyes open, a touch of curiosity flashing in them.
"Why did you come back so fast?"
Could it be that something had gone wrong with Ginsengfruit and the others? But that shouldn’t be the case.
Without giving Dragon Spirit the chance to guess, Yun Ran spoke directly. "We’re getting ready to set off now."
"This fast!"
The words burst out of Dragon Spirit in shock.
"The situation’s changed. We’re leaving early."
For something to make Yun Ran change her mind about taking the time to knock them for a hefty sum, it clearly meant the situation was more than just "changed."
"Alright, I’ll pack up now and meet you in a bit!"
The courtyard Dragon Spirit had been living in originally wasn’t this one. The only reason he hadn’t left all this time was to freeload off Azure Dragon and the others’ Array.
Now that they were about to leave immediately, he naturally had to go back to his own place and bring everything he’d left there.
Dragon Spirit left at a brisk pace, while Yun Ran stayed put, waiting.
Her fingers moved quickly, calculating something.
Just now, while she was talking to Dragon Spirit, she had carefully examined his face, clearly intending to calculate some things about this mission from him.
But as she calculated, her fingers obviously slowed down.
"Why is it just a hazy gray again—I can’t calculate any further?"
Although Dragon Spirit’s Divine Soul and his current body were not originally a pair, making it hard to calculate anything too precise,
the two had been fused for so long that there was at least some connection. In theory, she should have been able to calculate at least a few clues.
Yet now, Yun Ran could only see a gray haze. When she tried to push the calculation further, it felt as though something was blocking her.
Once might be an accident. Twice definitely wasn’t.
Yun Ran stopped her hands, but in her heart, a bad premonition rose—this mission’s difficulty far exceeded anything she had ever faced.
Back when she and Xuan Chu peeped at the Heavenly Dao and were counterattacked, it hadn’t been as troublesome as this.
"Should I just bail halfway?"
She muttered under her breath. Yun Ran didn’t feel that running halfway through would be anything shameful. After all, her little life was what mattered most.
Just as she thought that, a familiar ripple in the air spread out again.
Yun Ran’s attention was immediately drawn; she stood up and looked in the direction of the courtyard where she’d once stayed.
She didn’t think this was a coincidence. Most likely, Chi Yao had something to discuss with her.
About half of that quarter-hour had already passed. If she went to see Chi Yao now, it would be a bit tight, but still doable.
For everyone else, this amount of time was a period of racing against the clock in a flurry of activity.
As she walked the path again, it was no longer as empty as before. Many people hurried back and forth, carrying loads of things.
Even so, Yun Ran’s ferocity had already sunk deep into their hearts. The people rushing about, upon seeing her, still respectfully made way, not daring to bump into her in the slightest.
If anyone else saw this scene, they’d probably think Yun Ran was some sort of Bully.