Chapter 204: Tomorrow Is a Day Off

They ate the grilled meat with great satisfaction, and even Pan Xiaohei ate quite a bit.

When night fell, the main gate of Fanxi Courtyard finally opened, and Li Wenying and the three people with the cat stepped out, their bellies full.

Only Si Dao came to see them off; Zhang Liuzhen, usually humble and courteous, did not come to bid them farewell.

Those secretly watching Fanxi Courtyard immediately began speculating: had Zhang Liuzhen's condition worsened, or improved?

Was the earlier spiritual energy fluctuation caused by him?

Now he's nowhere to be seen—could he still be in deep meditation?

Li Wenying escorted Pan Yun and the others back to Fengqi Courtyard, then turned and went down the mountain to meet his master, the True Person; but soon after, he sneaked back into the academy and slipped into Fanxi Courtyard, after which he never emerged again.

"Trying to cover up the truth—it's clear Zhang Liuzhen's injury is improving. Are they trying to divert our attention to Pan Yun? Hmph, does he think we're fools? Pan Yun only just broke through; how could she possibly cause another spiritual energy disturbance now? If you're going to misdirect, better to point at Li Wenying."

Zhang Zhengchang frowned and asked: "Can you find out what Li Wenying and the True Person discussed?"

"When Li Wenying arrived, he sent away all the attendants around the True Person; no one knows what they talked about."

After a moment's thought, Zhang Zhengchang said: "Have someone keep watch on the True Person's movements."

If Zhang Liuzhen's meridians have truly recovered and he can advance further, won't the True Person do something?

The True Person did nothing at all; after his disciple left, he simply had a basin of hot water brought, soaked his feet, and went to bed.

A disobedient son and a rebellious disciple—they're using him as a shield; he won't help them.

A cultivator with unclean senses, who doesn't restrain desire but lets greed run rampant, acting disgracefully in old age—he's a shame to the Zhang family…

The True Person sat up on his bed, furrowed his brows, thought for a moment, then extended his left hand and sharply slapped it with his right, muttering: "To contract, one must first expand; to weaken, one must first strengthen; to discard, one must first promote; to take, one must first give—this is called subtle clarity."

He repeated this twice, convincing himself, then called out; the acolyte immediately entered.

The True Person said sternly: "Go to the storage hall and bring me the purple sandalwood box I brought back from Jingcheng."

The acolyte bowed and lit a lantern, heading to the storage hall that very night.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned with the box; the True Person kept the box and dismissed the acolyte.

Though only the acolyte and the two storage hall guards knew of this, by the second half of the night, the news had been discovered by those with intent.

"What's inside that box?"

"They say it's the Continuation Pill the True Person requested from the palace."

"Would the Continuation Pill help Zhang Liuzhen?"

"If his meridians have cleared the poison and regained some function, then yes, the Continuation Pill would truly help."

Those lurking in the shadows grew tense—if Zhang Liuzhen truly recovers, what's left for them? What's the point of all they've done these past years?

At this moment, who still cares about the genius of Mount Sanqing?

Pan Yun is a genius, but she's only nine years old—she might not even survive to adulthood; wasn't Zhang Liuzhen once a genius too?

All eyes turned to Fanxi Courtyard; everyone was certain the spiritual energy disturbance that day had been caused by Zhang Liuzhen.

Even Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jingle couldn't resist going to Fanxi Courtyard to seek out Zhang Liuzhen.

Of course, by now it was the next day.

Zhang Liuzhen did not see them; instead, he had Si Dao block them at the gate: "Young Master is in seclusion and will not receive visitors in the coming days."

Zhang Ziwang: "What about Li Wenying?"

Si Dao: "Master Li is guarding Young Master and cannot leave. If you two have messages, please tell me—I'll deliver them for you."

Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jingle exchanged glances, their eyes brightening with hope, shining like stars.

At that exact moment, the True Person's trusted Guanshi arrived with a box and handed it to Si Dao: "This is from the True Person for Young Master—quickly take it inside."

Si Dao quickly took it, glancing at Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jingle.

Zhang Ziwang waved urgently: "Go quickly."

Si Dao shut the door.

Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jingle grew even more delighted, turning to the Guanshi.

The Guanshi was also a Zhang family member; he bowed to Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jingle, then withdrew without further pleasantries.

The True Person had always been like this—distant from Zhang Liuzhen; his attendants were the same, never treating Zhang Liuzhen with special warmth just because he was the only son.

Had it not been for the True Person's noble character, treating everyone the same, they might have suspected Zhang Liuzhen's parentage—or that the True Person had a secret illegitimate child outside.

Only after Zhang Liuzhen's accident six years ago, when the True Person flew into a rage and summoned every renowned physician for him, did they realize: the True Person did not dislike this son—he simply had this nature; no matter how much he loved him, he would never show it openly.

Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jingle both assumed Zhang Liuzhen's condition had improved, especially since the True Person had sent something special; they returned, elated.

They also noticed people were watching Fanxi Courtyard.

This annoyed Zhang Ziwang: "Since the exams are over, let the instructors post the results quickly—they still need to travel; it's better to let them leave sooner."

Lin Jingle said: "I'll urge them."

The academy's holiday dates were never fixed; after returning home, Zhang Ziwang cast divination and announced: "On the eighth day of the tenth month, an auspicious day, Tianma day, favorable for travel, peace, and harmony—this is the most propitious day of the entire month. Therefore, the academy will dismiss students early on the morning of the eighth day of the tenth month, and all students are ordered to leave the academy for travel."

Lin Jingle seized this as authority and pressured every courtyard to submit student results immediately.

Oh—the eighth day of the tenth month is the day after tomorrow, meaning they only had today and tomorrow to submit the results.

Half of today had already passed; the entire academy erupted in chaos, though only the Yuanzhu and instructors of each courtyard were busy—the people quietly watching Fanxi Courtyard had mostly dispersed.

Pan Yun watched all this, stunned: "How brilliant is Zhang Yuanzhu—he's truly ruthless. Earlier, he quietly incited Zhu Zifang against me; now, with one divination, he's cleared Fanxi Courtyard's crisis—tsk tsk tsk…"

Seeing Miao Zhen asked: "Little Master, what should we do?"

"What else can we do? Of course, pack up and get ready to leave," Pan Yun's eyes sparkled. "Brother Zhang has done this much for us—everyone's watching him; if not now, when?"

Of course, they still had to wait for the results.

Before leaving, Pan Yun decided to carve the jade tablet's space array for Seeing Miao Zhen.

So she told Seeing Miao and Miao to pack their luggage and get extra steamed buns, baked cakes, and buns from the kitchen, while she sat in meditation, adjusted her state to perfection, took out Seeing Miao Zhen's jade pendant, and began carving the array lines.

Today's her was no longer yesterday's her.

Yesterday at dawn, she had needed to drain all her Yuan energy from her meridians just to carve the space array; today, she didn't need to—she didn't even need to wait for the peak spiritual energy of Fengqi Courtyard at dawn.

She effortlessly drew out the Qi from her Upper Dantian, captured the spiritual energy, and sealed it into the jade tablet.

After completing this spatial array, her Upper Dantian still held a thin layer of Qi—she had not exhausted it at all.

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Pan Yun's consciousness sank into the jade tablet; after confirming the array was stable, she withdrew.

She stood up, placed her hands on her hips, and burst into laughter. "I'm truly a genius—I didn't even enter the First Marquis, yet I perfectly carved a spatial array."

Pan Xiaohei glanced at her lazily. "You carved one yesterday. Today you've already got one foot in the First Marquis. What's so remarkable about carving a spatial array?"

"You don't understand. Yesterday I drained every last bit of Qi from my body—I was so weak a cat could've killed me. But today is different. Here," Pan Yun patted her belly, "there's still Qi! This means, even if I encounter a Wu Lin expert, I can fight back with full force!"

Having enough strength to defend herself was extremely important to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun happily picked up the jade tablet and went next door to find Seeing Miao Zhen.

She pushed open the door and immediately saw a table piled high with food—but no one was there.

Pan Yun froze.

"Little Master Aunt!"

Pan Yun immediately turned at the sound and saw Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He carrying a full armful of food.

She quickly stepped aside to let them pass. "I asked you to prepare dried rations for the journey—what is all this?"

Miao He answered confidently, "This is our journey rations."

Pan Yun pulled a roasted chicken from a paper bag and waved it. "This is dried ration?"

Miao He snatched it back and grinned at her. "We can't just eat steamed buns and mantou—we need some dishes too."

Seeing Miao Zhen said, "We thought since we all have space now, we should treat ourselves, so we prepared extra food."

Pan Yun: "How did you get so much delicious food? Did the canteen give it to you?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Just pay. The old senior who serves us meals really likes Miao He. When we mentioned it, he took us into the kitchen to pick."

Seeing Miao He's round, plump face and sweet talk—constantly praising their food—made the cooks very happy. So when Seeing Miao Zhen pulled out silver, they immediately prepared everything for them.

Pan Yun: "So all this is…"

Miao He: "We ordered it! They've been cooking since morning!"

Pan Yun couldn't help but give them a thumbs-up. "How much did it cost?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Not expensive—two taels."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow. "So many chickens, dried fish—what's this? Braised meat?"

Pan Yun sniffed the rich aroma and swallowed hard. She flipped through the items. "Three bags of braised meat, plus roasted chicken, steamed chicken, and all these mantou, shaobing, and buns—for only two taels?"

Miao He grinned. "The head chefs said the academy's holiday came suddenly, and the kitchen had already prepared chicken and duck meat for mid-month, so they only charged us for the raw ingredients."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Actually, they just love Miao He—they made it for her for free."

Pan Yun looked at Miao He's baby fat cheeks and couldn't resist gently pinching her face. "I love her too."

Pan Yun handed the jade tablet to Seeing Miao Zhen and taught her to blood-seal it.

Yesterday, Seeing Miao Zhen had watched Miao He blood-seal her space. She had secretly practiced extending her consciousness, so the moment her blood touched the tablet, she immediately sensed the space within—and instantly formed a connection with it.

After exploring her space thoroughly, Seeing Miao Zhen opened her eyes, glowing with excitement. "Let's divide the food—everyone put their favorite dishes into their spaces?"

Miao He nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes!"

Both turned to look at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun waved her hand. "Go ahead!"

Including the two missed chapters from yesterday, her debt has reached fourteen.

(End of Chapter)