The group traveled for another afternoon, the further west they went, the more desolate it became. By eight in the evening, they still hadn't found a place to rest.
They continued for a few more kilometers before finally setting up several tents in a dilapidated house not far from the roadside, its roof half-rotted. They would have to make do with this for the night.
Su Muqing took out the cooking tools and ingredients. Then, saying she needed to communicate with her master, she went into her tent alone.
Lu Yuzhi and the others were used to it. Ever since they learned she had a master, she would spend some time alone almost every day.
The space had already undergone significant changes. Since leveling up to four, not only had its area expanded several times, but a lot of spiritual energy had also condensed within it.
Every time Su Muqing absorbed this spiritual energy, she felt as if her body were charged with electricity. Her inner strength was also being refined to be purer.
The space could accommodate a total of five fixed dimensional trading partners, and she now had four. She could trade anytime, anywhere, without having to constantly think about it and worry about wasting trading opportunities.
Her contribution points had now increased by over forty thousand and continued to rise daily. Leveling up to five required a hundred thousand contribution points, but she wasn't planning to upgrade the space for now.
This was because she had discovered that as the space upgraded too quickly, the spiritual energy absorbed into her body became more difficult to control. As they say, you eat rice bite by bite and walk step by step. It seemed being too eager for success wouldn't do!
The spiritual fields were already piled high with harvested crops. She had traded a lot of spiritual field produce with Ding Mo before. As a result, Ding Mo later told her that there were many substances in those grains and vegetables that science couldn't explain.
Later, Su Muqing found out from 217 that the crops produced by the spiritual fields contained a large amount of spiritual energy. Especially after leveling up to four, the spiritual energy in the produce was even more abundant. Therefore, Su Muqing no longer traded spatial produce indiscriminately.
Fei La had now fully grown. It was truly round and plump. Its size was several times larger than that of an ordinary large dog. To avoid attracting attention, Su Muqing rarely took it out of the space once it had grown too big.
Seeing Su Muqing approach, Fei La rushed over and bit her pant leg, refusing to let go. It stared at her with teary eyes.
Su Muqing crouched down and asked, "What's wrong? Do you want to go out and play again?"
Fei La released its mouth and barked "Woof woof woof" at her. It even nodded humanely. Su Muqing patted its head, "Alright! I'll take you out after I'm done, okay?"
After dealing with the daily matters in the space, Su Muqing took some more meat and greens grown in the space and went out with Fei La.
As soon as they emerged, before Su Muqing could even pull the tent zipper, Fei La began to charge out wildly, barking "Woof woof woof" as it went.
As expected, Su Cuiping and the third brother, who were cooking, heard the dog's barks. They all dropped what they were doing and ran to Su Muqing's tent. They pulled open the zipper and let Fei La out.
Fei La was overjoyed to see familiar faces. It ran around them in circles, sniffing each person. Then it went to the little bun and nudged his belly with its head, wanting to play.
Seeing them having fun, Su Muqing decided to start cooking. Lu Yuzhi patted Fei La a couple of times and followed her to help with the cooking.
"Is your master doing well?" Since the bounty incident, Lu Yuzhi had been looking for opportunities to talk to Su Muqing alone. Sometimes, he didn't even know what to talk about.
"My master? He's doing fine! What's wrong?" Su Muqing looked at Lu Yuzhi, who was constantly circling her, and felt that he had been acting strangely lately.
He always found topics to talk about, but when she asked him what was wrong, he couldn't explain.
"Nothing, I was just asking," As expected! Lu Yuzhi gave her the same answer.
That evening, they stir-fried some pork slices, some space-grown greens, fried a few eggs for everyone, and cooked a large pot of noodles. The taste of the food went without saying; meal times were always the happiest part of the day for everyone.
The third brother was on night watch. Around eleven o'clock at night, Su Cuiping went outside the tent. For some reason, perhaps something she ate, she felt unwell and had to go to the restroom repeatedly. In the end, she couldn't sleep at all.
The third brother saw Su Cuiping sitting on the doorstep, lost in thought. After hesitating for a long time, he finally mustered the courage to approach her and strike up a conversation. "It's so late, why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I can't sleep. I don't know how my parents and brothers are doing now." Su Cuiping had initially felt excited about being able to travel around and play.
But now, after nearly ten days, the initial excitement had worn off, and she began to miss her parents. She hadn't been separated from her parents for so long since she was a child.
"Have some. With Huo Xin and the others at Justice Mountain, Uncle Village Chief and the others will definitely be alright." Seeing Su Cuiping looking dejected, the third brother took out a handful of chocolates from his pocket and offered them to her. Mu Qing said that eating something sweet when you're in a bad mood helps a lot.
However, when he took out the chocolates, a handkerchief also fell out. Su Cuiping, with quick hands, picked it up. She also squeezed it lightly.
Huh! It seemed like there was something wrapped inside the handkerchief? Before the third brother could stop her, Su Cuiping had already opened the handkerchief. Inside was a pair of delicate and small butterfly-shaped silver earrings.
"They're so beautiful! Who are you giving these to?" Su Cuiping dangled the earrings and asked the third brother with a gossipy expression.
"Uh, uh... These, these are for... It's, I want to..." Seeing the earrings Su Cuiping was holding, the third brother wanted to take them back. But he felt it would be too rude.
His face instantly flushed red. He stammered incoherently, unable to say anything clearly.
"What's wrong? You don't know who you're buying a gift for? Or perhaps you don't know her name?" Seeing the third brother anxiously pacing back and forth, scratching his head and stomping his feet, Su Cuiping said.
"Never mind, if you don't want to say, then don't! I see you're about to suffocate yourself! Here, I'll return your things to you, and I'm going to sleep." Seeing the third brother getting more and more anxious, so much so that even in the dark, she could see his flushed face. Su Cuiping quickly wrapped up the item and shoved it back into his hands, then prepared to go back into her tent.
"They're for you!" Seeing Su Cuiping had already stepped one foot into the tent, the third brother finally managed to say the words completely.
Su Cuiping stood there with one foot raised, balancing on one leg by the doorway. She couldn't decide whether to go in or retreat.
The third brother extended his arm, his palm open towards Su Cuiping's back. "I bought these specifically for you. I like you..."