Wait a minute, where is my master?

"Little Taoist?"

Outside Xuanxu Temple, a clear and slightly hesitant female voice rang out.

Upon hearing this greeting, Jin Xu temporarily shifted his attention from the glazed book page in his hands to the outside of the temple, only then did he realize that they had already arrived at the north gate of Shangjing City.

The source of the female voice was none other than the patrol leader in charge of the night watch, Kui Lei, who had coincidentally come to inspect the area.

"We've arrived at Shangjing, let's go out first."

The little Taoist told the Old Dean and Yu Yaoer, among others, then took the lead in walking out of the temple with the glazed book page.

Once everyone was out, Jin Xu waved his sleeve towards the temple behind him, and the Xuanxu Temple floating in mid-air instantly shrank to the size of a small figurine and obediently flew into his palm.

"I said this temple looked familiar; it's indeed the little Taoist's cave."

Jin Xu saw Commander Kui speaking while leaping down from the city wall, gracefully landing in front of them.

"Commander Kui, long time no see. What brings you here?"

"Oh, I just happened to be patrolling here. Are you little Taoist and your companions going to that formation in the Gobi north of the city to heal Senior Guan Ling?"

As the leader of the patrol who also covertly carried out the responsibility entrusted by Xia Yunzhao, gathering information on Jin Xu's daily life, Kui Lei naturally knew that besides recovering the Origin of various realms, Jin Xu was also busy with something else.

"Yes, we're going to heal Senior Guan Ling."

"How did it go?"

"The result... was fine. However, Commander Kui, you'll need to remember to arrange for more people responsible for cleanliness in Shangjing City when spring starts next year."

Jin Xu originally planned on notifying the Great Xia Dynasty through Xu Qian, but now that he had encountered Kui Lei, it saved him a special trip.

"Arrange for more cleaners?"

Commander Kui sounded puzzled by the little Taoist's remark, her tone clearly conveying confusion.

"Next spring there will be a lot of willow catkins!"

Little White, who had deeply suffered from his "parents' love", suddenly interjected.

"Willow catkins?"

This statement only made Commander Kui more confused.

"There are no willow trees inside or outside Shangjing City. Even on Longevity Mountain, which is closest to the city, most of the plants are pines, cypresses, and globose holly. Where does this talk of willow catkins come from?"

Seeing Kui Lei becoming more and more befuddled, Jin Xu quickly opened his mouth to explain.

"Cough, it's because we had some accidents while healing Senior Guan Ling, so now the eight thousand li desert north of Shangjing City is filled with three-zhang tall Serenity Willows."

"Pshaw, it's just some Serenity Willow, a mere eight thousand li... Wait a moment! Little Taoist, how much area did you say is filled with Serenity Willow?!"

Commander Kui initially waved her hand dismissively, thinking it was a trivial matter, but mid-sentence, she suddenly realized what he said and stared at Jin Xu with wide eyes.

"Cough, eight thousand li."

Feeling slightly embarrassed by her gaze, the little Taoist repeated in a weak tone.

"Sss~~~"

After he finished speaking, he saw her take in a sharp breath of air before she confirmed with him again.

"Little Taoist, are you certain that it's all Serenity Willow over those eight thousand li?"

"...Yes, it's all Serenity Willow."

For some reason, Jin Xu felt that Commander Kui's expression at that moment somewhat resembled that uncle from... what's his name, Ma something Mei.

However, after he confirmed again, Commander Kui suddenly whooshed off towards the northern part of Shangjing City, even calling out from mid-air, "Little Taoist, you all go ahead with your important tasks. I'll go check out the Gobi Desert."

"???"

The little Taoist had four question marks popping up over his head, somewhat baffled, he turned around to look in the direction Commander Kui had fled, then said to the people beside him.

"What's gotten into her?"

"Hmm… I bet Sister Kui is especially scared of willow catkins, so she went off to chop the tree down!"

That was Little White's reply.

Yu Yaoer, however, shook her head solemnly and said, "No, Little White!

"I bet Sister Kui has never seen a willow forest that stretches for eight thousand miles, so she couldn't wait to go and join the spectacle."

Jin Xu decisively chose to ignore the remarks of the two women, turning his gaze to the venerable Old Dean of Qingmu Academy.

"Serenity Willow is an extremely precious spiritual material in the Nine Provinces Realm. Due to its unique characteristics, such spiritual objects, unless under special circumstances, simply do not breed offspring.

"So, Commander Kui is probably rushing to confirm its authenticity."

After hearing this explanation, Jin Xu felt it was very likely, but when he thought of the cause behind the creation of the eight thousand mile willow forest, the corners of his eyes twitched involuntarily again.

"Alright, let's hurry into the city first."

The little Taoist shook his head and decided to hurry back to his residence first, to use the restorative items he had prepared long ago to speed up the recovery of the Big Willow Tree.

However, as he took his first step, a pale pink gleam suddenly leapt over the queue at the city gate and flew towards the outside of the city at breakneck speed.

"Excuse me, excuse me. It's not my fault if I bump into you, oh, little Taoist, what are you doing here? Hey, Old Dean, you're here too."

Along with the pale pink light came a voice that was incessantly chattering.

Even though the light greeted Jin Xu and Yan Chu, the motion of its feet did not pause for a second as it brushed past them and quickly fled towards the north of the city.

"Was that... Mr. Mei just now?"

Jin Xu looked back at the Old Dean with a bemused expression, only to find that the latter's eyes also flashed with confusion.

Before the Old Dean could speak,

a blue and a green streak of light also swiftly fled from within the city gate.

"Little Taoist, Ancestor."

Mr. Song and Mr. Zhu greeted them first, then asked urgently whether anyone had seen Mei Shouyi.

"He went that way!"

The enthusiastic husky pointed energetically towards the north.

Upon seeing this, Song Xili was about to utilize his escape technique to give chase again, but before he could launch his magic, the Old Dean spoke up to stop them.

"Wait, what happened in the city? Why are you two chasing after Little Mei?"

After exchanging glances, Song Xili said to Mr. Zhu, "You explain the situation to the Ancestor. I'll go after that scoundrel."

With that, he transformed into a green light, and with great speed, activated his escape technique.

Meanwhile, the remaining Zhu Chuanren bowed to the Old Dean and said.

"Ancestor, it's my negligence for not keeping a close watch on Mei Shouyi recently.

"Somehow, he learned from some ancient text how to neutralize the No-Talking Talisman, and he actually dissolved the three No-Talking Talismans he previously placed on himself.

"And in Shangjing City recently, because of the research on setting up the Nine Provinces' Protective Array, there have been many junior disciples from the Four Great Immortal Sects and the Kunlun Immortal Palace, right?

"Unexpectedly, that damn Mei Shouyi has been using the pretext of a bet to perform the Truth-Telling Skill on these younger disciples over the past period, thereby collecting lots of gossips within the sects, wanting to sell them to Tingfeng Building for a reward!"

Old Dean: "What!?"