Chapter 293: Both Ends of the Spacetime Portal Sealed Shut

Ah…… Qing Lan Jie, we've both been through this, we know she's bottling up her distress, the more she does this, the more it worries us—there's nothing we can do…… we two just keep an eye on her.

Mm, during this time try to keep her company as best we can.

……

In the study of the Great Mystic Palace.

"Your Majesty, it's time to eat." the attending eunuch brought in some food and reminded him softly.

Xiao Qidi didn't even lift his head, "I'm not hungry."

The attending eunuch said, "You came back this morning and haven't eaten anything since…… even though you're young and strong, you should still take care of yourself…… how about having some dinner?"

"Dinner?" Xiao Qidi startled, "Is it already evening?"

The attending eunuch replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Xiao Qidi set down the memorial in his hand and lifted his gaze to the window.

Sure enough, it was already dark.

His cheeks were tight, he asked in a low voice, "Have you sealed the storeroom I ordered?"

The attending eunuch answered, "Reporting to Your Majesty, it has been sealed shut as per your order."

"Hmm……" Xiao Qidi withdrew his gaze and said softly, "Place the meal here, you may withdraw."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The old eunuch respectfully set down the tray, backed out of the study, and as he closed the door, he furtively glanced at Xiao Qidi with worry.

This morning, His Majesty suddenly ordered that all doors and windows of a certain storeroom in the palace be sealed shut, forbidding anyone from approaching or opening it.

This move is truly incomprehensible.

Moreover, although His Majesty's expression seemed unchanged, he had not eaten anything since this morning, and the memorial he held remained the same the whole time.

This is enough to prove that something is disturbing His Majesty's state of mind.

However, as the attending eunuch who serves His Majesty's daily needs, he dare not speculate rashly.

"Ah……" the attending eunuch let out a low sigh and stood watch silently outside the study.

In the study, Xiao Qidi picked up the meal carefully prepared by the palace chefs, took a small bite, and couldn't help but frown.

The palace's meals now use ingredients, seasonings, and cooking tools sent from the modern era, and even the chefs have learned many dishes.

Even though they're practically indistinguishable from modern food, at this moment eating it feels like chewing wax to him.

Xiao Qidi rose somewhat irritably, rubbed his temples hard, trying to drive away the figure that had been haunting his thoughts all day.

"Xiao Qidi, Xiao Qidi……" he muttered through gritted teeth, "Everyone says they never want to see you again, yet you…… you still have your head full of thoughts about people! As the mighty King of Daxuan, how have you fallen so low!"

Suddenly, his heart felt as if struck by a heavy hammer, hurting so much he could barely catch his breath.

He clutched his chest, trying to take a few deep breaths, but the pain did not ease.

Agitated and distressed, he leapt out the window, vaulted onto the roof, and began to run aimlessly.

After a moment, Xiao Qidi stopped his steps, only then realizing he had unknowingly arrived at the storeroom he had ordered sealed.

He hesitated slightly, but still jumped down from the roof, stood before the storeroom door, and stared blankly.

Indeed, the storeroom's doors and windows were tightly sealed with sturdy planks and copper nails.

Inside, there was exactly the Time-Space Gate that Ning Jinli had originally opened.

This morning, after falling out with Ning Jinli, he angrily returned here from the factory's small warehouse, and then issued the order to seal this storeroom.

At the same time——

Ning Jinli returned to the factory.

She went on a shopping spree with Ye Zhiqiu and Su Qinglan all day, buying who-knows-how-much stuff, all of which she took to Su Qinglan's villa.

Ye Zhiqiu and Su Qinglan even cooked themselves, saying they would prepare a big meal for her.

Before the dinner was ready, she alone made a trip to the factory.

Although there was nothing special going on at the factory, she still came, telling Ye Zhiqiu and Su Qinglan she was coming to inspect.

Without even realizing it, she walked into the small warehouse.

The factory's scale had long since expanded, many areas had been renovated, but this spot was kept as she wished.

As soon as she entered the small warehouse, she saw a cell phone on the ground.

Sure enough, it was the phone she had given Xiao Qidi.

"Fine…… you've tossed my phone here, you really don't want any further contact with me, do you, bastard!" Ning Jinli rushed over and wanted to stomp the phone to pieces.

But after lifting her foot, she hesitated and didn't bring it down.

She wrestled with herself for a while, then picked up the phone, unlocked it, and the screen showed a photo of her and Xiao Qidi together.

She opened the phone's contacts—only her number was listed, and in other messaging apps, it was just her alone.

She involuntarily opened the messaging app and scrolled through the chat history.

As she read, her heart throbbed with sharp pain, so intense she could barely breathe; memories of the past flooded her mind, and tears gradually blurred her vision.

"Xiao Qidi…… you bastard……" Ning Jinli wiped her tears, clenched the phone, and strode into the spacetime portal behind the small warehouse's back door.

In an instant, she arrived in the storeroom of the Great Mystic Palace.

Because this storeroom housed the Time-Space Gate, it had been emptied long ago and became their exclusive place for crossing between worlds.

"Bastard, you really left me behind! I…… I'll bite you to death!"

Ning Jinli assumed an angry posture and walked toward the storeroom door.

Just as she reached the door and was about to push it open, a shout came from outside: "Who goes there?!"

She hastily held her breath and pulled back her hand.

Outside, several patrolling Palace Guards hurried forward, lanterns in hand.

Xiao Qidi turned his face sideways and gave a casual glance.

The Imperial Guard only then realized it was their own His Majesty, and hurriedly paid their respects.

"May I have an audience with His Majesty!"

"Please forgive us, His Majesty; we did not know it was you here…"

Inside the storeroom, Ning Jinli heard the words and couldn't help but be startled.

Xiao Qidi has arrived?

Could it be… he actually also wanted to go find her?

Otherwise he would have no reason to come to the storeroom in person, and specifically this one.

Thinking of that, the anger in Ning Jinli's heart eased a bit, and even the corners of her mouth involuntarily lifted slightly.

Humph, since that's the case, if he behaves well later, she'll just give him a way out…

Just as she was happily pondering, Xiao Qidi spoke coldly from outside the door, "You all patrol carefully; if a half nail falls from the sealed doors or windows of this storeroom, I will take you to answer!"

"Yes, His Majesty!" the Imperial Guard replied.

Ning Jinli was suddenly startled.

Sealed doors and windows?

Xiao Qidi… he sealed this place?!

What does he mean by this!

The anger that had subsided a second ago surged double in an instant, striking Ning Jinli's Heavenly Spirit Cover, making her body tingle, as if an invisible giant hand were gripping her throat.

In the blank moment, she almost thought of kicking the door to pieces!

But reason kept her from acting on the thought.

She immediately turned, without looking back, and rushed into the Time-Space Gate, instantly returning to the small storeroom.

Snap!

She crushed Xiao Qidi's phone in her hand.

"Fine, fine, fine! Xiao Qidi, that's what you're doing, right!" Ning Jinli trembled with anger, "If you can seal that side, I can too!"

Without a second thought, she pulled down the rolling shutter of the small storeroom's back door.

But that wasn't enough to vent her anger.

She immediately rushed to the adjacent storeroom, hauled in a heap of steel plates, grabbed high‑strength construction screws, picked up a power drill, rolled up her sleeves, and got to work!

In no time, the storeroom's back door was tightly sealed with steel plates in every direction.

The plates were stacked several layers, all reinforced with construction screws.

At this strength, even Ning Jinli herself couldn't break it open in any short time.

"Done, work's over!" Ning Jinli clapped her hands, baring her teeth at her "masterpiece," "Anyone can do this! Xiao Qidi! Don't even think of coming through here!"

Then she left, still fuming.

On the other side, after sending the patrolling Imperial Guard away, Xiao Qidi stood at the storeroom entrance, agonized repeatedly, and finally couldn't hold back, prying off a few pieces of the heavy wooden board on the door.

He then reached in to push open the inner door, looked around, and slipped in like a thief.

"There's no way… Ning Jinli, I'll save face and give you another chance; if you still treat me that way, I will… truly ignore you!" Xiao Qidi said with a composed face, muttering as he quickened his steps toward the wall where the Time‑Space Gate stood, and plunged straight in.

Clang!

Xiao Qidi's face slammed solidly into the rolling shutter.

The familiar sensation reminded him of that earlier door‑crashing memory.

"She… she closed the door?!"

"How absurd! How absurd!"

Xiao Qidi's anger flared, and he swung both palms forcefully.

Bang!!

The rolling shutter burst open in response.

But as soon as he tore the rolling shutter apart, he immediately saw another exceptionally hard barrier.

"You sealed it with steel plates too?!" Xiao Qidi felt his vision go black, and the surge of anger in his heart almost blew his Heavenly Spirit Cover away!

"Alright, alright, alright! Ning Jinli! You really are something!"

Xiao Qidi clutched his chest, staggered out of the Time‑Space Gate, his face pale, exited the storeroom, and in one breath restored all the wooden boards and nails he had just removed to their original state.

He silently swore in his heart that any future step into this place would make him a dog!

In the days that followed.

With Su Qinglan and Ye Zhiqiu by her side, Ning Jinli roamed everywhere carefree, as if she truly cast all unhappiness behind her.

Sometimes, whether Su Qinglan or Ye Zhiqiu intentionally tested or unintentionally mentioned Xiao Qidi, she would nonchalantly say, "Xiao Qidi? I don't know anyone by that name!"

Meanwhile, Xiao Qidi devoted himself around the clock to state affairs, overseeing every detail; the court ministers were forced into frantic overtime, new policies were continuously drafted and dispatched throughout the Daxuan Realm.

In the blink of an eye, several months passed.

During that time, Xiao Qidi never set foot in that storeroom again, and Ning Jinli hadn't even gone to the factory.

Hundreds of ministers in the Great Mystic City were so busy they nearly fainted, and Su Qinglan and Ye Zhiqiu were also about to collapse from constantly accompanying Ning Jinli on endless shopping sprees.

Once more, Ning Jinli almost bought out an entire newly opened luxury store, and after returning to Su Qinglan's villa, Ye Zhiqiu led her into the garden.

"I say… daughter…" Ye Zhiqiu's expression was complicated, holding her hand, speaking earnestly, "How about we take a break? I suddenly feel we could just stay at your godmother's place, watch TV, tend to plants, that would be fine…"

Ning Jinli replied, "It's fine, Mom, we aren't short of money."

Ye Zhiqiu pressed her forehead and said, "I know we're not short of money; the Ning Family Group's enterprises are thriving, the income they earn can be spent at will, not to mention your own businesses' profits are dozens of times the Group's… Even if you donate half of the profits to society as you wish, it's still more than enough; money truly isn't an issue, but… sigh, the body can't endure it."

"Huh?" Ning Jinli's face showed tension, "Mom, did you stop cultivating after returning here? Your body can't handle it so quickly? Come, let me transmit some Internal Strength to you."

Ye Zhiqiu laughed helplessly, "It's not me! Although I've only skimmed the Tian Xuan Heart Method, and I have indeed been a bit lazy since returning, I'm still far stronger than ordinary people; I'm talking about your godmother…"

"Then I'll use Internal Strength to supplement her," Ning Jinli said, "And for now, let's not have godmother accompany the two of us on walks."

Ye Zhiqiu said: "I occasionally secretly give her a bit of Internal Strength; that's enough. Her body being a bit strained is actually trivial—mainly, your condition is not right, and she worries."

Ning Jinli pursed her lips, "Not right? What's not right?"

Ye Zhiqiu looked at her eyes, "Daughter, honestly tell me, what exactly happened between you and that kid?"

Ning Jinli shifted her gaze elsewhere, "I don't want to bring it up, and there's no need to; it's all in the past."

"Really all in the past?" Ye Zhiqiu asked.

Ning Jinli said firmly, "Yeah, it's all in the past, really."

A deep resignation flashed in Ye Zhiqiu's eyes; after thinking, she didn't pursue the question further.

"Mom, I won't go out from now on, I'll just stay here," Ning Jinli said softly, "When Dad has free time, call him over to hang out, okay?"

Ye Zhiqiu breathed a sigh of relief, "Yeah, okay."

Ning Jinli suddenly blurted out, "Mom, you say... do you and Dad still have a chance to remarry in the future?"

Ye Zhiqiu calmly said, "Do you think my divorce from him has any impact on our respective lives?"

Ning Jinli pondered, "It seems... there's no impact, except that you two are no longer husband and wife; otherwise everything seems normal, but..."

"That settles it," Ye Zhiqiu said with a smile, "Everything's fine, so don't stir up this remarriage nonsense. Besides, I no longer have those feelings I once had for him..."

Ning Jinli let out an "oh," then drawled, "The other day I seemed to see Dad holding hands with a woman going to a restaurant."

Ye Zhiqiu's expression shifted slightly, "When? What kind of woman? Which restaurant?!"

Ning Jinli didn't answer, just looked at her eyes.

After three seconds, Ning Jinli couldn't hold back her laughter.

Ye Zhiqiu narrowed her eyes, "Dead girl, you're lying to me?"

Ning Jinli laughed heartily, saying, "Someone just said they no longer have those feelings for him—tsk tsk, who knows who lied first..."

"Dead girl, I'll beat you!" Ye Zhiqiu raised her arm.

"Pfft!" Ning Jinli made a funny face, turned and ran off.

"Xiao Li!" Su Qinglan hurried to the villa's backyard garden, "Xiao Li, someone's looking for you!"

The mother and daughter who had been chasing and playing stopped their steps.

Ning Jinli asked, "Who... is looking for me?"

Ye Zhiqiu interjected from the side, "Could it be that Xiao Qidi kid?"

In an instant, Ning Jinli's eyes involuntarily lit up.