Chapter Seventy-Three Has Something

  She thought Zuo Xiao Yao was surprised that she would be in her house, and the middle-aged woman who sat down on the bed laughed softly and replied: "This is my home. My husband and his father met you at the river mouth, where you fainted, and since there was no one around, they brought you back. My maiden name is Fang, my husband's surname is Xu, and he is the third brother in line. I think you are about the same age as my husband Xu, so just call me Auntie Xu San!"

  It wasn't that she was directly 'thrown' into someone's home, but rather that this family had 'picked her up' and taken her in, giving her a place to rest when she was at the mercy of others. Zuo Xiao Yao felt a bit grateful. "I'm not much younger than you, so please call me sister-in-law. Thank you, Permit Three's wife, for taking me in. My name is Xiao Yao, and I was traveling with friends when we encountered misfortune. Luckily, I managed to escape and met your kind family, who took me in and prevented further misfortune. In the future, I will definitely repay this kindness!"

  She looks like she's only in her thirties, but due to her poor living environment, she may look older than her actual age. She is about the same age as Zuo Xiaoyao in reality, and if you count the years she spent in the Purple Boundary Realm, she is even much "older" than him. Although she doesn't want to be called an old lady, Zuo Xiaoyao also doesn't want to pretend to be young, so he decides to call her Aunt Fang on his own initiative.

  It can be heard that Xiaoxiao Yao's words are cautious and sincere, but Fang Shi is a bit uncomfortable. "Whatever you call it, Xiao Jie... niece, really... don't have to be so polite, our family is all rough people, if the hospitality is not good enough, please forgive us! By the way, look at me, once I start talking, I won't stop, my niece has been unconscious for so long, she must be hungry. I'll go prepare dinner now!"

  After finishing speaking, she stood up and was about to leave. Just two steps away, she hesitated and turned back to say: "During the few days that Miss Xiao was unconscious, I didn't dare to move because I didn't know how to...how to undo her clothes. The doctor said Miss Xiao just had a bit of weakness and didn't need treatment. Now that Miss Xiao has woken up, why don't I help Miss Xiao change into new clothes after dinner, and then call the doctor over to take another look?"

  In today's society, how many people are ill but dare not go to the hospital? The cost of treatment is so high that it can lead to bankruptcy and debt. I believe this won't be an exception here either. Fang's family was already extremely poor, with nothing but bare walls at home, and no decent belongings. Where would they find the money to repeatedly invite doctors for her? For this family, even the doctor's consultation fee is a huge expense. Therefore, Zuo XiaoYao could very well understand Fang's hesitation, and at the same time, was grateful for her kindness. "Thank you, sister-in-law, it's not necessary, I'm just a bit hungry now, after eating something later, I should be fine, thank you for your concern!"

  Fang Shi quickly walked to the row of jars behind the door, lifted the lid of one of them, and put the dozen or so eggs from the basket she was carrying into the jar. Smiling, he replied, "No trouble, no trouble, Xiao Jia's sister will wait a bit longer, dinner will be ready soon!"

  Put the eggs away, neatly covered the jar lid, Fang Shi then carried the remaining five eggs in the basket out, and didn't forget to close the simple door.

  Her mind was slightly moved, and although her spiritual power was weak, she could still open the storage bag and take out a silver hairpin that she had bought earlier. Xue Xiao Yao already had a plan in her heart, and at this moment, she was extremely grateful that she hadn't put all of her things into the Purple Yuan Boundary Space. During her previous journeys to complete tasks, she had casually placed some small, exquisite gold, silver, and jade items purchased from the mortal world, as well as some elixirs, books, and jade slips bought from shops in the Cultivation Realm, into her storage bag.

  Although she has temporarily lost her cultivation and cannot recover it by re-cultivating for the time being, and cannot even use the three treasures of Zizun, with these things around, Zuo Xiaoyao is not afraid that she will be unable to survive in this unfamiliar environment. After all, her storage bag contains not only a lot of clothing and daily necessities, but also the Bu Gu Dan that can replace food, which she never forgets to prepare. Moreover, although her spiritual consciousness is somewhat weak, it can still be used, and its coverage range has been reduced to less than 30 meters, slightly larger than the coverage range after being avoided by the divine sea after taking the Kaishen fruit, but far from the range after advancing to the foundation stage in the early period.

  Because the spiritual consciousness is still barely usable, Zuo Xiao Yao firmly believes that she can recover her cultivation. To know that, as a subsidiary power of mental force, as long as one cultivates to strengthen their mental force, or like some special people who are born with strong enough mental force, they can use spiritual force differently. Spiritual consciousness is mainly composed of soul force combined with spiritual force.

  Only when the spiritual orifices are opened and the divine sea is expanded can the spirit consciousness leave the physical body, although it is also dominated by the power of thought, but itself will only grow when the physical body's divine sea expands, the soul's power strengthens or the spiritual cultivation increases.

  Now that Ling Shi's spiritual power is still usable, it proves that there is still spiritual energy left in her body, it's just that it can't be called upon. This is probably also the reason why she didn't experience any discomfort after running the mid-term foundation-building technique in her body. After all, if she were really an ordinary person, practicing the mid-term foundation-building technique so recklessly would likely lead to a situation where the spiritual energy wildly rushes into her body and causes her to die from exhaustion. Thinking about this, Zuo Xiao Yao couldn't help but reflect on herself inwardly, feeling that her previous actions had been somewhat too reckless, fortunately nothing went wrong this time.

  From Fang's cautious movements when putting the eggs in the basket earlier, Zuo Xiaoyao was quite certain that this bowl of sugar water and egg package was extremely precious for this family. Looking at Fang's sincere face, although she wasn't hungry after eating several strings of grapes within less than half an hour ago, she didn't want to disappoint Fang's kind intentions either.

  After sincerely thanking, Zuo Xiao Yao picked up her chopsticks and was about to take a bite of the steamed egg when she saw that the originally closed door had been pushed open by a narrow slit. Two pairs of sparkling eyes were staring at the bowl in her hand, one of them couldn't help but put their fingers in their mouth and suck on them.

  Noticing Xiao Yao's sudden stop, Fang Shi couldn't help but feel a little strange. Following her line of sight, she immediately spotted the two small figures who hadn't had time to withdraw their heads. Her face slightly embarrassed, she stood up and opened the door, saying "What are you two doing here? The guests are having dinner. Don't disturb them, Er Ni, quickly take your brother to the river mouth to see if the cows are not in the pond!"

  As she spoke, she was about to drive the two children away. The taller girl with double buns couldn't help but retort, "Mother, my brother and I just came back from the river mouth not long ago. It's hot, and the cow has been staying in the water tank all along!"

  "Mother told you to go, so listen, next time I'll make delicious food for you and Sanwang, hurry up, if you don't listen, mother will..."

  "Is this your sister's child? He/She looks really good!"

  Turning her head, she saw that Zuo Xiaoyao had already walked to the door. Fang Shi was somewhat worried and furrowed her brow: "Little sister, you'd better hurry back to bed, your body isn't well. You should prioritize rest and not get out of bed, it's nothing serious for a child like this!"

  Xiao Yao smiled and bent down to pass the bowl forward, while also picking up an egg with her chopsticks. She looked at him warmly and said, "Go get another bowl and chopsticks, we'll divide it and eat together, okay?"

  The little boy's eyes widened with envy, and the little girl immediately turned around and ran to the back. Fang Shi, whose eyes were dimmed, couldn't stop her, so she could only look at Xue Xiao Yao with an awkward expression: "Sister, don't be so polite, this is for you to take care of your body, there's nothing good at home, just this... Share it with them to eat, it's really a bit...".

  Do you know what Fang Shi means? Seeing the big eyes of a little boy around six or seven years old looking at her filled with small heart and expectation, Zuo Xiao Yao couldn't help but soften in her heart, interrupting Fang Shi's words "Sister, what are you talking about? They're young, it's when they should be growing their bodies, so they should eat more good things, right?"

  Zhi dao zuo xiao yao zui hou de yi ju shi zai wen ta, xiao nan hai shuang yan yi liang de dian zhao xiao nao da "en!"

  Translation:

  Knows that Zuo Xiao Yao's last sentence was asking him, the little boy's eyes lit up and nodded his head "En!"

  Xiao Xiang looked at the little boy with a warm smile, seemingly very satisfied with his answer. Fang Shi had no choice but to give up and let her distribute the eggs in the bowl, giving one and a half to the girl and the little boy each, while she ate two herself, not disappointing her own kindness and also benefiting her two children.

  It's a pity for parents all over the world. Fang Shi is her own mother, how can she really think that her children eating something good is a waste? It's just because they are too poor at home, and it's already difficult to get enough food and clothing. Where would they dare to let their own people eat away the source of their family's wealth - eggs? So, they only gave them to Zuo Xiao Yao to eat, not only because of her kind and enthusiastic nature, hoping that Zuo Xiao Yao could recover soon, but also perhaps with some other thoughts in mind.

  Smiling as she watched the two children leave hand in hand, still reluctant to part but also satisfied, Fang Shi came over from the kitchen where she was cleaning up dishes and asked her if she wanted to take a bath and change out of her current clothes. Xiang Xiao shook her head, taking out a simple yet elegant silver hairpin with only simple floral patterns carved on it, "Let's deal with that later, fortunately I had put this hairpin away in time, sister-in-law can take it to exchange for some silver money, and help me buy some new clothes, ordinary styles are fine, if there's any leftover, you can handle it yourself!"

  Looking at the silver hairpin that was ordinary in Xiao Yao's eyes, but in front of her, it was the best thing she had ever seen, Fang Shi's emotions were somewhat agitated. Not only did she shake her head repeatedly, but also unconsciously raised both hands to wave "No, no, such a good thing, please keep it well, Miss Xiao doesn't need to worry. I have a set of beautiful clothes that I haven't worn yet when I get married, let's give them to Miss first. As for the money, don't worry about it, we still have some at home."

  Gently smiling, she pulled up Fang's hand and put the silver hairpin into her palm. Xue Yaoyao's expression was sincere: "Sister-in-law, don't worry about these things, they're just external objects, not worth anything. You can take them, do as I say, otherwise, it will always be a disturbance to you all here, and I will also feel uneasy in my heart. Besides, you know that I'm not in good health, I need to nourish myself, selling this, if there's any extra, we can buy some food with it, let everyone supplement their bodies!"

  "This... isn't good, is it?!"

  "It's supposed to be this way, don't worry too much, sister!"

  Miss Fang's face flashed with 90% worry and 10% joy as she saw the silver hairpin being put away, and her gentle words of advice also made Left Xiao Yao feel a bit better. Although there was a hint of disappointment hidden within, it was mostly relief. Emotionally, she had secretly hoped that Miss Fang's enthusiasm and kindness were genuine, but her rational side told her that emotional debts were the heaviest burdens in this world, and any pure emotions were too precious, so precious that they could easily become the biggest obstacle to a cultivator's progress.

  Now that it's been confirmed that the other party has ulterior motives and can be satisfied with some benefits, this is a fortunate event for Zuo Xiao Yao!

  PS: Thanks for the support from book friend 91853901, there will be a second update, and I'll try to post it before 8 pm!