How come the celestial technique I stole is so powerful?!-Chapter 255: Dowry of 388,000

Miao Ruolan experienced Zhou Xi’s feelings.

She infused Zhou Xi’s New Year with an element of warmth in her own way.

A heap of New Year goods prepared for Zhou Xi.

Even the detective agency’s little car was left for Zhou Xi.

She rode her electric bike back to Huashi Bridge.

Zhou Xi stood at the detective agency’s door, watching her silhouette gradually fade away on the street, the cold wind moistening her eyes...

At this moment, in the distant Luoba State, the Alpine Mountains.

The same cold wind blowing through.

The same ice-cold scenery.

On a mountain peak, a withered tree, a young lady in white mink coat, quietly standing under the tree.

She gently stroked this withered tree as if touching a deceased relative.

With a soft, tearing sound, the withered tree cracked open.

Poof!

The cracks grew more and more...

A gust of wind blew, breaking the tree piece by piece...

The lady in white lightly waved her hand, the tree scattered, disappearing as if it had never existed.

The lady slowly turned around, slowly walked down the mountain, and slowly entered a small wooden house.

She was Catherine.

She was also Saintess Qian Ling.

This was her ancestor land from an unknown number of millennia ago.

This withered tree was actually her lifebound tree.

If she lives, the tree doesn’t wither.

If she dies, the tree withers.

This tree had been withered for a thousand years.

A thousand years withered without falling.

Representing her death not ending...

And today, she returned from calamity.

The withered tree finally completed its life...

However, no one knew, this lifebound tree was reborn in another place.

This place was within Saintess Qian Ling!

Yes, as the withered tree turned to ashes, a small seedling sprouted within her.

In the previous life, the lifebound tree was planted between heaven and earth, receiving nourishment from the Heavenly Dao.

In this life, the lifebound tree is planted within her, receiving nourishment from the human Qi...

These are two different choices.

The small wooden house stood in the gust of cold wind.

As the door opened, the north wind swirled, making the curtains rustle.

Saintess Qian Ling lit a fire and boiled some water, slowly raising the indoor temperature.

She sat down, poured tea from a bamboo tube she carried, and brewed herself a cup.

Western aristocratic ladies generally don’t like tea.

They prefer to drink coffee.

Previously, Catherine was like this too.

But Saintess Qian Ling is different, she doesn’t drink coffee, she prefers tea.

Moreover, when she tastes tea, she’s more elegant than the literary ladies of Daxia’s Jiangnan.

This was a habit she brought from an unimaginably distant past.

Sitting on the mountain peak, savoring a cup of fragrant tea.

The Immortal Path is above the clouds, while the mundane world remains in the cup...

She’s been back in Luoba State for over half a month now.

She couldn’t fit in.

Even though her blonde hair and blue eyes clearly marked her as similar to the people around, her heart didn’t belong to these lands.

Comparatively, she felt herself more suited to the East.

The people on that side of Daxia Country have black hair and black eyes, they aren’t her kind, yet their language, their customs are more familiar in her life.

The ancient Spirit Clan and the last civilization, whether in scripts or language, are directly connected to the ancient East’s Daxia Country, despite some changes, the lineage is unmistakable.

Perhaps it’s simply because Daxia Country’s civilization has never been interrupted.

If in the modern world, one could find something vaguely connected to the time she grew up in, it would undeniably be in the mysterious East...

The purpose of her return to Luoba State was to activate her lifebound tree.

Now that this mission is complete, should she head to the East?

This is a soul-searching question Saintess Qian Ling asked herself facing the Alpine winds...

If she goes, then where?

It can only be Fengcheng!

Why?

It’s because of her Tao...

On Lao Mountain, that companion once again touched her and stimulated one of her gates with True Qi.

Honestly causing her Tao heart to be greatly agitated.

Indeed, making her feel a sense of shame.

But, the effect was undeniable...

She truly grasped the profundity of the Law of Life.

This trace of profundity was so precious to her.

In modern society, Spiritual Energy is completely nonexistent.

Restoring her cultivation is nearly impossible...

Yet this Life Law is an unfathomable mystery in nature, holding the profound possibility of rebirth from despair...

That person might be the only chance she has to find a cultivation opportunity...

What is he doing now?

Today is already the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month.

The Daxia New Year is approaching.

It seems the time before New Year’s isn’t suitable; perhaps after spring begins, when spring arrives, I’ll seek you out!

Even if this search is bound to test her Tao heart, it seems there’s no other better way...

Shifting the sight back to Fengcheng...

Miao Ruolan rode her electric bike and returned to her hometown at Huashi Bridge.

Along the streets, she already felt the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

There were noticeably more pedestrians.

Returning home, several farmhouses that had been closed all year had their doors opened, the courtyard cleared of weeds, with a roaring fire; those who went out to work had returned.

The small village seemed to be thriving.

But Miao Ruolan had learned a lot over the past year and knew this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Why?

It’s very simple logic, if making money outside was great, the end of the year would be the busiest time, workers returning home would be delayed, typically arriving around the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth lunar month.

Returning early this year was a counter-proof that money outside wasn’t easy to earn.

Indeed, as her car passed the familiar pond, she heard the villagers conversing: "Second brother, how much did you earn this year?"

"Don’t even mention it... just had a big fight with the wife over it. How about you?"

"I’ve come to terms with it! Took 500 yuan when I left, and brought back the same 500 yuan! My wife says I didn’t earn a cent all year, but I think managing to eat and drink for free and loaf around for a year wasn’t too bad..."

"You can afford to think that way since you have no burdens at home," the second brother said. "If I had a daughter, I might be content too, but I ended up with a boy. We as a generation haven’t achieved much, so we have to rely on hard work for money, always hoping the next generation will have prospects. Without some money, a son can’t even find a bride... this damned world makes having daughters seem better; look at Hui Yan from the east, she got a car worth over thirty thousand!"

"Huh? Got another car? Didn’t she buy one last year?"

"Who could say? She thought last year’s car was too low-end, so she swapped it..."

"A young girl, graduating from high school, changing cars like she changes clothes, where do you think that money..."

"Neighbors know better than to speak out... this damned world!!" The second brother threw his cigarette to the ground, stomping on it several times...

Miao Ruolan pedaled past the pond without looking sideways.

She could hear the chit-chat of the village clearly.

She actually saw Hui Yan, with a crowd around her new car, everyone praising it.

Hui Yan looked like a proud little peacock, accepting everyone’s admiration while glancing at Miao Ruolan with immense confidence and pride...

This Hui Yan was Miao Ruolan’s classmate from childhood.

She started dating in middle school, always proud in front of Miao Ruolan because she was pretty, and as long as she was with Miao Ruolan, Miao Ruolan was always the ugly duckling.

Now, it seemed it was still so...

Because she got herself a new car this year while Miao Ruolan was still riding her electric bike from three years ago.

Miao Ruolan entered the courtyard, the house was quiet.

She stepped inside and was surprised.

Her parents were there.

Her brother Miao Jun was there.

Her father was smoking, the ash on his cigarette was long, and he hadn’t flicked it off. As Miao Ruolan entered, his hand slightly trembled, and the ash fell.

In front was a blazing stove, everyone’s faces looked somber.

"Dad, Mom!" Miao Ruolan called out.

"Why are you back in broad daylight today?" Mom asked.

"We’re on vacation!" Miao Ruolan replied.

"Vacation so early?"

"Yes... what are you talking about? Why is everyone so serious?" Miao Ruolan placed her scarf on the rack and moved a chair closer to the stove.

"It’s about your brother’s marriage?" Mom sighed lightly, "The girl from Xiangmu River has agreed, but the bride price is 388,000 yuan, isn’t that demanding?"

"What? 388,000! She dares to ask for that!" Miao Ruolan said, "Does she have any concept of money?"

"Who could say?" Mom replied, "388,000, who from a normal family can afford that? We could barely gather 100,000, and we’d have to borrow for the wedding expenses. Zhi Gang, couldn’t you possibly advance some of your salary?"

Dad’s hand trembled with the cigarette: "Advance salary? At fifty-something earning 3,500 a month, even if I could advance it, for how long? The migrant work changes year to year, neither employer knows where we’ll be next year, how could they advance it? Perhaps we should go back on it... we are too poor to afford such a costly bride."

"Don’t speak nonsense!" Mom said, "It’s tough for Jun to find a girlfriend. He’s over thirty, and waiting a few more years, even finding a second wife could be hard. Even if we have to sell everything, we need to get the bride!"

"Selling everything, you sell! You sell, the whole house is yours, you sell; sell me too, see if I’m worth those 388,000!" Dad snapped angrily.

"Why get angry with me? If you..."

An argument arose over the marriage.

Miao Ruolan became anxious, "Dad, Mom, don’t argue... I’ll pay! I’ll pay, okay?"

The room fell into silence.

Mom stared at Miao Ruolan in surprise...

Dad and brother were also staring in surprise...

Miao Ruolan took a deep breath, "Mom, you asked about the earnings from my detective agency, and I never gave you the truth just because, somehow, the money from the detective agency didn’t feel like mine. The work didn’t feel worth that much, yet little Su... little Su insisted on giving me..."

"How much did he give you?" Mom asked cautiously.

"... Not much, just enough for the bride price!" Miao Ruolan said, "How about I transfer it to you."

On the spot, she transferred 388,000 yuan to her mom.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel