Chapter 211: Chapter 210: Senior Sister, What Are You Doing Here?

Su Qi walked over to Duan Qiao’s side. She curiously asked Jiang Zuo, "Does it mutter to itself every day?"

Jiang Zuo shook his head. "I don’t know. I’ve never heard it."

Duan Qiao was dumbfounded. "..."

’Where was I muttering to myself? I was clearly having a heart-to-heart with Xiaohong.’

’Besides, who would dare to keep bothering that menace?’

’What if I accidentally get eaten?’

At this moment, Shiba jumped into the water and swam around for a bit.

Then, some words appeared on the surface: Hello, Mistress.

Her attention caught by Shiba’s dive, Su Qi stared at the water in surprise. "These two fish are this incredible?"

’It’s one thing for them to be sentient, but they can even write.’

Su Qi then asked, "Do you have names?"

Shiba swam two laps, and then more words appeared on the water: My name is Shiba, and the one beside me is Shi Qi.

Su Qi was taken aback, then asked, "Shi Qi?"

Jiang Zuo asked, "Is there a problem?"

"The Holy Land is missing a Yin Yang Fish that was also named Shi Qi," Su Qi said.

Jiang Zuo’s expression nearly darkened. His mood wasn’t entirely stable, and he’d forgotten about that detail.

Shi Qi and Shiba, who were still in the water, were also startled.

’It’s over, it’s over! We said the wrong thing! We’re dead!’

’Even a fool would know that he’d altered their appearance to hide their identities. Now it seemed they’d exposed themselves.’

But before Shiba could explain, Su Qi added, "But I’ve seen the other Shi Qi, though. It didn’t look like this, and besides, these two aren’t Yin Yang Fish.

If only they were. We could just return them.

If I earned some merit for that, maybe Master would come back."

Su Qi’s voice turned a little melancholic as she spoke.

Her master had been sealed. Although the sacrificial ritual was ongoing, Qing Yue had granted her and Jingyue leave as a special consideration.

After all, they had been through quite a lot.

This was especially true since Su Qi still carried the Misfortune Coin, making it highly probable that she was connected to everything that had happened.

And a Saintess needed to recuperate. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The sacrificial ritual had been disrupted, and the vulnerability in the array remained. The Yin Yang Fish were helping with all their might, so for now, the ritual could barely proceed even without a Saintess present.

Once the permissions were restored, however, it would be impossible to continue without a Saintess.

The one who had actually damaged the permissions was the Ten Thousand Leaves Immortal Spirit. Otherwise, even with their power, Jiang Zuo and Golden Armor wouldn’t have been able to break through the array’s permissions.

In short, the Saintess’s absence didn’t have a critical impact on this particular sacrificial ritual.

Hearing this, Shi Qi and Shiba froze. ’Does this mean we could have gone back if we’d just said we were Yin Yang Fish?’

’Did we just miss something?’

’The turning point of our fishy lives... did we just miss it?’

Jiang Zuo, however, frowned. He didn’t remember his aunt ever getting into trouble.

He then asked, "Something happened to Auntie?"

Su Qi nodded, her voice tinged with grievance. "Master broke the Holy Land’s rules for our sake. She’s been sealed for a thousand years."

Jiang Zuo froze. ’A thousand years?’

’That really is a long time.’

’But there’s nothing I can do right now. If I become powerful enough in the future, perhaps I can help.’

’Fortunately, she’s only sealed. And from the way Su Qi’s acting, it must not be too severe. Otherwise, she’d be crying in my arms right now.’

Afterward, Jiang Zuo and Su Qi started heading home. On the way, they bought some snacks and also picked up some apples for Sweet Potato.

Su Qi had wanted to buy something for Duan Qiao to eat, but Duan Qiao was an Artifact Spirit and didn’t need food.

As for Shi Qi and Shiba, Su Qi bought fish food. The sight of it made the two fish frown.

’So, when the time comes, are we supposed to eat it or not?’

’If we don’t, will we get boiled?’

Their fishy lives were starting to feel hopeless.

"Your luck is almost too good, isn’t it? First you find Sweet Potato, and now you’ve picked up three more weirdos. Is your luck just exploding this year?" Su Qi said to Jiang Zuo, teasing Sweet Potato as they walked.

Sweet Potato was almost fully recovered now, a cute little duck.

Jiang Zuo, carrying a bunch of bags, replied casually, "If my luck wasn’t good, would I have been able to marry you?

When we first sat together, you were constantly trying to switch seats, but in the end, things just kept happening to prevent it.

Until finally, you were the one who didn’t want to sit anywhere else."

"That’s not true!" Su Qi retorted excitedly. "I just felt sorry for you, sitting all by yourself. Besides, I was behind on my homework and needed to borrow yours.

Who liked you back then?

Who liked sitting with you?"

Jiang Zuo didn’t say anything, just gave a casual nod.

’Whatever Su Qi says, goes. There’s no point arguing about this.’

’Besides, they’d been together for so many years. Why was Su Qi still acting like a young girl about this? What was there to get hung up on?’

’What’s wrong with just admitting it?’

’Is she afraid of being teased?’

’A woman’s heart is an ocean of secrets.’

At that moment, Su Qi suddenly exclaimed, "Honey, look! A tofu shop! I used to come here all the time with my senior sister to eat stinky tofu. It’s delicious—a family recipe passed down for generations.

Er, no, that’s not right. The owner has been alive for hundreds of years, so the recipe is authentic.

Let me take you to try it!"

Su Qi then pulled Jiang Zuo toward the little streetside shop, leaving him no room to refuse.

But the pile of bags in his hands was a nuisance. He really wished he could just stuff them into his spatial ring.

’Speaking of spatial rings, I’m reminded of the Equilibrium Box. That seemed to belong to Jiu Xi.’

’Which means it belongs to Su Qi?’

’Did I steal something from my own wife?’

’Did I scheme against my own wife?’

Jiang Zuo had a feeling he was walking down a path to his own doom, and getting further and further along it.

’Looks like I’ll have to be more careful in the future. It’s highly dangerous if my Cultivation doesn’t surpass Su Qi’s. I’d better leave myself an escape route.’

’Mm, if worst comes to worst, I’ll just refine a Nine Revolutions Soul Reviving Pill to ensure my own safety.’

Then Su Qi pulled Jiang Zuo into the small shop. As soon as they entered, Su Qi saw a young woman in the corner shouting, "Boss, another two orders of stinky tofu!"

Jiang Zuo recognized the woman. It was Su Qi’s senior sister, Saintess Jingyue—also known as Jingjing.

Su Qi, of course, saw her too. Her expression darkened. "Senior Sister, aren’t you supposed to be resting and recovering?"

Jingyue paused, then said in mock surprise, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder, you know. Shouldn’t you two be at home... tending to important matters, instead of running around here?"

Su Qi: "..."

’There are so many people here! Can’t she stop talking about such embarrassing things?’

Su Qi then asked, "Did you sneak out again?"

Jingyue replied with a perfectly straight face, "I came here to calm my nerves. With Master’s misfortune, I’m just not feeling right."

Just then, the middle-aged owner brought over the tofu and said, "Young lady Jingyue has already had several servings. She doesn’t look very frightened to me."

Jingyue: "..."

Su Qi led Jiang Zuo to Jingyue’s table and sat down, then said irritably, "You promised you’d be resting."

Jingyue shrugged. "I’m fine. This is a perfectly good state to be in. I’m just eating some tofu, so don’t give me a hard time."

Then Jingyue pushed a serving of tofu toward Su Qi and Jiang Zuo. "My treat. Don’t be shy."

Su Qi pouted but didn’t say anything more in the end.

Jiang Zuo, of course, had nothing to add. He picked up a piece of stinky tofu with his chopsticks and took a bite.

The moment he tasted it, Jiang Zuo froze. The tofu didn’t smell foul, but it had an incredibly distinct flavor.

’More importantly, this flavor is so familiar... I’ve had this before, in my past life.’

In his past life, in his quest to eat the meat of a Duoling Dog, he had specifically sought out various chefs. One of them knew how to make this exact kind of stinky tofu.