The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 16 The Soul of Another World
When Lu Chengjing woke up, the person who had taken half of his straw mat had already left. A thin blanket was tucked over him, and it was so tightly sealed that it was airtight, yet it still kept a bit of warmth.

There was a familiar white porcelain bottle next to his head. He reached out and picked it up, staring at it for a while before becoming lost in thought.

Shang Wan, who had just arrived at the clinic, rubbed her burning ears. Who was talking about her?
"You're back." Geng Hao, sporting two huge dark circles under his eyes, stood up from beside the hospital bed.

He struggled all night about whether to run away or not. Thinking of Shang Wan's words before she left and her light-footed skills that made her run like the wind, he finally decided not to run and honestly took out ten taels of silver to pay for the medicine.

He was quite happy to see Shang Wan return.

Shang Wan was all prepared to catch him, but she didn't expect Geng Hao to be so honest. She had only mentioned the tracking gadget casually, but she didn't expect him to actually believe it.

She walked closer and glanced at Niu Baoqing. "Why hasn't he woken up yet?"

Geng Hao said, "He woke up once half an hour ago, but when he heard that his mother and younger brother had died, he fainted again."

Shang Wan sighed helplessly, "Couldn't you have told him later? At least ask who the murderer is first."

Geng Hao: "No need to ask, the first thing he did when he woke up was shout that Yang Rang wanted to kill him."

"I bought steamed buns, soy milk, and fried dough sticks. Let's have breakfast first." Shang Wan invited him to eat over there. "There are more constables patrolling the city now. Staying in the clinic will get you caught sooner or later. Grab the medicine and you two can find another place to hide."

Geng Hao took a bite of his vegetable bun and mumbled, "Where are you hiding?"

"Tian Mansion".

"Cough cough..." Geng Hao coughed, staring wide-eyed at Shang Wan, "Where did you say?"

Shang Wan remained calm. "There's an abandoned courtyard in the Tian residence, not far from the West Corner Gate. It's usually deserted, making it the perfect hiding place."

She saw it from the roof yesterday. The yard was in a corner, in a remote location, overgrown with weeds, and seemed to have been abandoned for a long time. It would be fine to store some food for two days.

Geng Hao wasn't stupid; after thinking about it for a while, he felt that hiding in the Tian residence might actually be a good idea.

As the saying goes, "the darkest place is under the lamp," so surely Tian Sheng wouldn't suddenly order someone to search his own house, would he?

After the two had breakfast, Geng Hao carried the still unconscious Niu Baoqing on his back, and Shang Wan led them into the abandoned courtyard of the Tian family mansion.

Shang Wan helped tidy up the bed for Niu Baoqing to lie on. While Geng Hao turned his back to put out the dry food, she dripped two drops of spiritual spring water into Niu Baoqing's mouth. Then she pulled off his belt, unfolded it, and tied his mouth tightly to prevent him from waking up and shouting and attracting the servants of the Tian family.

Geng Hao felt it wasn't enough. He pulled down the curtain, his face covered in accumulated dust. He spat it out, took the curtain, and tied Niu Baoqing's limbs to the bedposts, making a tight knot.

"So that the kid doesn't get excited and reopen his wound."

Shang Wan raised an eyebrow. "You're quite good at making excuses. You're just worried that the person will run away."

"Keep an eye on him. When he wakes up, ask him if there's any poison left in the wine. I'm going out for a bit."

Geng Hao looked up: "Aren't you going to wait for him to wake up?"

"Something urgent has come up." Shang Wan waved her hand. "You guys hide well and don't come out. I'll be back in a bit."

After she finished speaking, she disappeared in a flash without waiting for Geng Hao to reply.

Geng Hao muttered to himself, "Aren't they afraid I'll run away?"

"Why don't you try running it?" Shang Wan suddenly returned, carrying a large teapot.

Geng Hao jumped in surprise and quickly explained, "No, no, I just said it casually. I didn't run away last night, did I?"

Shang Wan gave him a cold look and handed him the large teapot. "It's fine to light a small fire in the house during the day, just don't make too much smoke. There's a well in the yard, so you can boil water yourself when you're done drinking."

"Okay." Geng Hao took the large teapot, feeling inexplicably moved. Shang Wan really left this time, heading straight for Qingchi Temple on Tianlu Mountain outside the North Gate.

Qingchi Temple is a century-old temple that occupies almost the entire mountaintop. Its incense is so strong that the top of Tianlu Mountain is shrouded in smoke all year round, giving it a feeling of being a celestial mountain.

The strong smell of incense made Shang Wan sneeze violently.

She rubbed her nose, jumped down from the treetop, and landed beside a small pond. There were three stone turtles standing by the pond, which looked somewhat like the one Shang Wanshun had brought home.

She was just about to ask a monk where Master Kong was when she saw a little monk with a round head running towards her, panting.

Before the young monk could catch his breath, he asked, "Female...female benefactor...is your surname Shang?"

Shang Wan nodded.

Seeing that he hadn't come to the wrong person, the young monk immediately smiled and said, "Grandmaster Uncle has been waiting for Benefactor Shang for a long time. Please come with me."

Shang Wan stood still. "Little monk, I need to speak with Master Kong urgently. Where is he now?"

The young monk looked up at her and said, "My grandmaster's Dharma name is Liaokong."

Shang Wan was slightly surprised. How did Master Liaokong know she would come?
She smiled and asked the young monk to lead the way.

The young monk led Shang Wan to the back mountain, and they stopped at the edge of a cliff.

The mountains are shrouded in mist, and on the edge of the cliff, a green pine tree with a canopy like a hat stands, with a stone table below it, on which sits a pot and two cups.

A bald monk wearing a jade-colored robe sat beside the stone table. His back was to the two people, so his face could not be seen.

The young monk stepped forward and said, "Grandmaster, Benefactor Shang has arrived."

Liao Kong turned around, first dismissing the young monk, then nodded to Shang Wan and pointed to the opposite side of the stone table, "This is some rough tea from the mountains, please have a taste, benefactor."

Shang Wan walked over and sat down, picked up a teacup, and her gaze fell on the young and handsome face outside the empty space. She thought to herself, "Does even monks in this world look so devilishly handsome?"
This master looked to be only in his early twenties, which was completely inconsistent with the title of "Grandmaster Uncle" that the young monk mentioned.

Shang Wan drank half a bowl of tea, but apart from the strong tea flavor, she couldn't taste anything else. Thinking she should ask for help, she still said, "It's delicious."

"Your Excellency possesses remarkable wisdom." Liao Kong smiled, his features ethereal and compassionate.

Shang Wan: You can tell she has talent just from two words? How come she doesn't know she has talent?

She placed the purple bamboo flute on the stone table and got straight to the point: "Lu Chengjing was imprisoned for taking the blame for someone else, and he asked me to ask the master for help."

"With such a benefactor as you, Benefactor Lu will surely be able to turn misfortune into good fortune."

Liao Kong picked up the purple bamboo flute, examined it for a moment, and then brought it to his lips to play. The clear and melodious flute music echoed in the mountains, like ethereal fairy music.

Master Liaokong's flute music is priceless, but Shang Wan didn't appreciate its value.

She didn't understand why the monk opposite her had suddenly started playing the flute. Although it sounded nice, could he please not play the flute when they were discussing serious matters?

She tapped on the stone table. "Master, I don't object to you pursuing art, but time is of the essence. Can we talk about business first?"

The melodious flute music stopped abruptly. Master Liaokong put down the purple bamboo flute and gave her a deep look.

"It is truly interesting that Benefactor Shang is a soul from another world, yet he shows no reaction to this requiem from me."

(End of this chapter)