After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

On the way back, Cang Yao walked very slowly.

She looked down at their clasped hands, a slight smile playing on her lips, and occasionally rubbed Lin Chu's fingers with her thumb.

As she approached the village entrance, she suddenly stopped.

"Lin Chu."

"Um."

"You just said—you knew from the beginning that I was a demon, so why weren't you afraid?"

Lin Chu glanced at her and said, "You're pretty."

Cang Yao was stunned for a moment, then her face flushed red, and she raised her hand to punch him: "I'm serious!"

Lin Chu smiled and took the hand that was punching her: "Seriously—so what if you're a demon? You cook for me, do my laundry, grind ink for me, go to the market to buy vegetables, and learn how to pickle radishes from Aunt Wang. Which of those things you do is something a demon would do?"

Cang Yao lowered her head and remained silent, but she gripped Lin Chu's hand even tighter.

After a while, Lin Chu spoke.

"Cangyao".

"Um?"

We're leaving the day after tomorrow.

Cang Yao stopped in her tracks.

"The day after tomorrow? Why so soon—"

"Didn't Lord Zhou say that I should come to the capital half a month earlier to visit his residence?" Lin Chu's voice was calm. "I also wanted to come earlier, since I'll have to leave sooner or later anyway, so it doesn't matter whether I leave early or late."

Cang Yao nodded and said, "Then I need to get ready and pack my things."

"You don't need to clean up."

Cang Yao looked up at him.

Lin Chu stopped and turned to face her: "In your current state, you can't keep up. The journey alone takes so long, and you're sleepy all the time. How am I supposed to take care of you?"

"I can do it—"

Lin Chu raised her hand and tapped her on the forehead.

"What are you going to do? You'll just be sleepy anyway." He looked into her eyes. "This trip will last for several months. If you're always this sleepy, how will you keep me company? Hmm?"

Cang Yao opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She knew Lin Chu was telling the truth.

These past few days she's even fallen asleep while picking vegetables. If they were really on the road, bouncing around in the carriage all day long, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

Then Lin Chu will have to take care of her instead.

"But—" her voice trailed off, "I don't want to be separated from you."

"Who said we should separate?" Lin Chu ruffled her hair. "Go back to Longting and go into seclusion."

"Seclusion?"

"Your teacher said that you are in this state because your cultivation level has reached a certain point. You just need to go into seclusion to break through, and you won't feel sleepy anymore after you break through."

Cang Yao pondered for a moment.

She vaguely knew that this seclusion would probably take some time, but she had no idea exactly how long.

She thought to herself, "That's fine. I can go into seclusion while he's away. I guess I'll be out of seclusion by the time he returns with his academic achievements."

Unlike last time, I don't have to wait by the stream every day.

She's gone into seclusion this time, so he's waiting for her.

Thinking of this, Cang Yao's lips curled up again: "Then you should come back soon."

"Um."

"Don't linger on the way. Come back as soon as you're done with the exam."

"it is good."

"You promised me."

Lin Chu reached out and ruffled her hair again: "This time I'll wait for you. When you come out of seclusion, I'll be standing by the stream waiting for you."

Cang Yao smiled, her eyes crinkling.

Cang Yao was also busy for the next two days.

She locked herself in the east room and spread a piece of fabric on the bed.

It was light blue, similar to the color she used when she made his first piece of clothing.

This time, however, her skills had improved a lot. She was no longer like she used to be, where she could embroider even a simple character like "初" (chu) crookedly.

"Sis, aren't you asleep yet?" Xiaoxiao poked her head out from under the covers and yawned.

"Sew a little longer."

"It's already past midnight."

"Soon."

Cang Yao sat under the oil lamp, head down, sewing stitch by stitch.

The stitches are very close together, and each stitch is perfectly straight.

As I was sewing, my eyes started fighting each other again.

She blinked hard, and when she got really sleepy, she would scoop up a ladle of cold water and splash it on her face or take a piece of ginger and chew it. Then she would take a deep breath and sit back down to continue sewing.

As dawn approached, the clothes were finally sewn up.

She held it up and examined it carefully in the light coming through the window.

The stitches are dense, the waist is just right, the neckline is crisp, and a small "初" character is embroidered on the inside of the neckline—this time it is no longer crooked, but each stroke is firmly pressed.

She folded her clothes and placed them next to her pillow, then lay down and went to sleep.

The next day, she started packing Lin Chu's belongings again.

Change of clothes, books, dry food, water pouches, etc.

Xiao Xiao sat on the porch, watching silently.

She was holding a chicken leg, but hadn't eaten a single bite.

Cang Yao poked her head out from the kitchen: "Why aren't you eating? It won't taste good if it gets cold."

Xiao Xiao lowered her head, took a bite, chewed it, and said nothing.

On the morning of the third day.

Before dawn, Cang Yao got up.

She wasn't sleepy—maybe because Lin Chu was leaving today, or maybe because she was nervous.

She checked the bundle again, touching each item to make sure nothing was missing.

"The food for the journey is on top of the bundle, wrapped in blue cloth. I've put thick clothes underneath, the kind that won't wrinkle, and a water pouch too—" she muttered as she tied the bundle tightly.

Lin Chu stood to the side, wearing the new dress she had just made.

"Remember to write when you get to the capital. Stay in a nice inn, don't skimp on the money. Don't stay up late before the exam, and drink plenty of hot water—" She suddenly stopped, realizing that she seemed to be becoming more and more like Aunt Wang.

Lin Chu smiled and said, "I understand."

"besides--"

"What else?"

Cang Yao thought for a moment and realized that she had already said everything she could think of: "Anyway, just come back soon."

The sound of horses' hooves came from outside the courtyard gate.

It was a carriage sent by Magistrate Sun. The carriage was marked with the government's insignia. The driver was a middle-aged man in his forties with a very dark tan.

Two mounted guards followed beside him, each with a sword at their waist.

Mr. Chen stood up, leaning on his bamboo cane, walked to the carriage, and gave the driver a few instructions about the journey.

Then he turned around and looked at Lin Chu.

His lips moved, but in the end he only reached out and straightened Lin Chu's collar, just like when Lin Chu first went to take the exam six years ago.

"Go ahead," he said.

Just as Lin Chu was about to turn around, Cang Yao suddenly rushed up and hugged him tightly.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, buried her face in his chest, and her strength was so great that Lin Chu took a small step back.

Lin Chu lowered her head and reached out to hug her back.

Her shoulders were very thin, and her fingers gripped his shirt so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

I held her for a while before letting go. She looked up, her eyes red-rimmed.

"Come back and marry me soon."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was steady, as if she had poured all her reluctance into those few words and then presented them to him neatly.

Lin Chu gave her a deep look and nodded.

Little Xiao had already hidden in the corridor at some point.

She squatted in the corner, head down, wiping her eyes vigorously with her sleeve, wiping and wiping, but she couldn't get them clean no matter what she did.

Lin Chu walked over and squatted down in front of her, reaching out to pat her head: "Little darling, remember our promise, take good care of your sister."

Xiao Xiao bit her lip and nodded vigorously.

Mr. Chen stood under the eaves, leaning on a bamboo cane, his back slightly hunched.

He watched Lin Chu climb into the carriage, watched Cang Yao stand at the courtyard gate watching the carriage's back, and watched Xiao Xiao squat in the corner secretly wiping away tears.

He sighed, turned around, and walked into the house.

The bamboo cane tapped against the bluestone slab, making a thumping sound.

The horse-drawn carriage rumbled onto the dirt road leading out of the village.

Cang Yao stood at the gate of the courtyard, watching the carriage drive further and further away until it disappeared behind the big locust tree at the entrance of the village.

She raised her hand and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Then he sniffed and turned around.

"Xiaoxiao, let's go have breakfast." Her voice returned to its usual light and cheerful tone.

She nodded slightly but didn't say anything.

She lowered her head and went into the kitchen to bring out the bowls and chopsticks.

Cang Yao served two bowls of porridge, placing one in front of Xiao Xiao and holding the other herself.

The two of them quietly drank their porridge, neither of them saying a word.

The courtyard was quiet. There was no sound of Lin Chu turning pages or pacing around. Only the wind rustling through the bare branches of the locust tree.

Xiao Xiao held the bowl, drinking slowly, her gaze passing over the rim of the bowl and landing on Cang Yao's face.

She was unusually quiet today, but Cang Yao didn't notice—she just assumed that Xiao Xiao was a little unhappy because Lin Chu had left.

Last night, Xiaoxiao sat alone in the yard for a long time.

That day, after Lin Chu returned from the stream, he called her to the corridor.

He told Xiao Xiao everything he had said to Ao Tianxin—Cang Yao's seclusion this time was not an ordinary seclusion; it would last anywhere from a dozen years to several decades.

Xiao Xiao was stunned after hearing this.

She's a clever little turtle, so she knows what that means.

"So your sister doesn't know?"

"I don't know." Lin Chu's voice was very soft. "If she knew, she wouldn't go. You know her personality better than I do."

Xiao Xiao kept her head down and didn't say anything.

Lin Chu took out the white jade bottle from her bosom and placed it in her small hand: "After I leave, find some time to give this to her, and she will enter deep seclusion."

Xiao Xiao looked down at the small bottle in her palm, her fingers slowly tightening.

The jade was cool to the touch, but her fingers were even colder.

Lin Chu chatted with her for quite a while.

Finally, she reached out and patted the top of her head: "Take good care of your sister." Xiao Xiao nodded vigorously.

The carriage traveled on the official road for almost an hour before leaving the territory of Qinghe Village.

The sky was overcast and gray.

Lin Chu sat in the carriage, leaning against the wall. He reached out and touched the small "Chu" character inside his collar, his finger pausing on it for a moment.

The sky outside the window grew increasingly overcast, and finally a few snowflakes landed on the car window.

Snowing.