In Qingyin Pavilion, in Ling Luoyi's room, Ling Luoyi sat by the window, and a maid was kneeling and reporting.
"Master, your subordinate has sent the message back." The maid's reply was stiff, without a trace of vitality.
"Well done, you may leave."
"Yes."
The maid raised her head, her eyes hollow, not like a living person.
The moment the maid turned, her eyes returned to normal, arousing no suspicion from others.
Ling Luoyi looked at the maid's retreating back and smiled with satisfaction.
The Wei family's death warriors were very useful to her.
With a thought, Ling Luoyi entered the Fengxi Realm.
Standing outside the ancient tree, she extended her divine sense, took out the jade bottle, which was already full.
Ling Luoyi also carefully examined the fruits. They would be ripe in about half a month.
Returning to the small building, Ling Luoyi began to refine medicine for the two guards.
The deprivation of vitality did not affect their lifespan. Therefore, even though their appearance and bodies had turned into those of old people, their lifespan had not been consumed.
So, to cure them, it was only necessary to replenish the vitality that had been deprived.
However, their remaining vitality was only enough for them to live for less than four years. They had been living like this for three years. If they hadn't met her, they would have died in a few more months.
Replenishing vitality was difficult to obtain, Ling Luoyi chuckled lightly.
They were truly lucky to have met her. The Hongmeng Divine Tree in her Fengxi Realm bore Hongmeng Fruits, which were the best medicine for replenishing vitality. However, this batch of fruits was reserved for Xiao Fengxi, so she could only give them the dew from the Hongmeng Fruits.
An hour later, Ling Luoyi returned to her room in Qingyin Pavilion.
"Lanyue, go and call Mei Ran and Tu Bai."
Lanyue was waiting downstairs. Hearing Ling Luoyi's command, she quickly responded, "Yes, Miss."
Ling Luoyi went downstairs to wait. Half an hour later, Mei Ran and Tu Bai arrived.
"Your subordinate greets Miss."
"Rise." Ling Luoyi handed them the two pills she had refined and said, "This is for you."
The two took them.
Tu Bai looked at the two pills and asked with some doubt, "Can this cure us?"
"How could it be?" Ling Luoyi laughed, "You know your condition. Your vitality has been almost completely deprived. No one knows how terrifying the deprivation of vitality is better than you. How can one pill replenish your lost vitality?"
"Then what's the use of this pill?"
"This pill can replenish one-tenth of your lost vitality." Seeing Tu Bai's doubtful look, Ling Luoyi said, "You should also know that vitality is very difficult to replenish. You should be grateful if you can recover one-tenth."
"Thank you, Miss."
The two took the pills, and their effects quickly took hold. They looked at their noticeably younger hands, unable to hide their excitement. Mei Ran even shed tears.
"Go back and cry if you want to cry. Remember, you are here to be my guards. If you do not perform your duties properly, I can turn you back into your previous state at any time."
"Your subordinate understands."
*
The Song family. Ling Luoyi thought it was time to visit after being back for so long.
The wife of the Song family patriarch had just recovered her health. After handling the affairs of the mansion, she had intended to visit the Ling family, but unexpectedly, Ling Luoyi arrived.
"Aunt." Ling Luoyi bowed.
"Lu'er is here, please sit."
Ling Luoyi sat down and said, "I should have come to see you when I heard from my eldest cousin that you were ill last time, but it was too busy at the mansion, so I could only come to see you now. Has Aunt's health improved?"
"Don't listen to your eldest cousin's nonsense. Aunt just caught a chill and a cold, it's not as serious as he said."
"Has Aunt been well in recent years? Have you not been affected by the Ling family?"
"Aunt is fine. Your uncle has not treated me poorly just because the Ling family is not as prosperous as before. Moreover, now that you are back, because of you, the Song family dares not look down on me."
"So you were still affected by the Ling family."
"Lu'er, your uncle and I were married through a family alliance, so it inevitably has some impact. Please don't blame them."
"Aunt, I understand." Ling Luoyi knew that there were people who flattered the powerful and bullied the weak everywhere, and she had seen them before.
Ling Luoyi took out a yellow crystal card and said, "Aunt, I heard from my second uncle that you have been using your dowry to subsidize the Ling family all these years. Please take this and buy back whatever can be bought back."
Song family matriarch Ling Yue did not accept and said, "Lu'er, Aunt has no shortage of money. Please take it back. The Ling family is in need of money right now."
"Aunt, didn't my eldest cousin tell you? The business of the Ling family's pill pavilion has always been prosperous, and I have also received many orders, so the Ling family is not short of money."
"But Lu'er, the profession of a alchemist is inherently expensive and time-consuming. With so many orders, the cost of medicinal materials alone is a huge sum. So, please put it away, or ask your three aunts to redeem their dowries. They have also sold quite a bit of their dowry."
"Aunt, the aunts' dowries were redeemed long ago. This is prepared for you, and there are other things too. Please take it."
Ling Luoyi stuffed the crystal card into Ling Yue's hand and, before she could refuse, took out two storage rings.
"Aunt, one of these two storage rings is for you, and the other is for uncle. I met you briefly last time, but I wasn't prepared, so please help me deliver it."
Ling Yue did not refuse. This was Ling Luoyi's way of showing her attitude to the Song family.
A few years ago, because of the Ling family's decline, some people in the Song family wanted to replace her as the matriarch. If Song Jingshan had not strongly refused, it might have happened.
And in the days since Lu'er returned, she hadn't visited her, leading some to suspect that the Ling family might abandon her.
Today, Lu'er came, which dispelled their doubts.
As the aunt and niece were chatting, a young and beautiful woman ran in.
"Mother, Mother!"
"Yun'er, slow down!"
Ling Luoyi also looked over. This woman bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Ling Yue, and it was obvious at a glance that they were related.
"Yun'er, weren't you out playing with friends? Why did you come back so soon?"
Because Ling Yue had been ill these past few days, Song Qingyun had been taking care of her.
Today, Ling Yue had recovered, and Song Qingyun's friends had come to invite her out to play. She had only left for less than half an hour, and Ling Yue was a little curious.
"Mother, I heard someone from the Ling family was outside, so I came back immediately." Song Qingyun adjusted her breathing and said.
Ling Yue breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Ling Luoyi over, saying, "Yun'er, this is the only daughter of your eldest uncle. You haven't met her yet. Lu'er, this girl is my daughter. Although she is the same age as you, she is one month older than you, so you should call her cousin."
"Hello, cousin."
"Hello, Eldest Cousin."
"Yun'er, coincidentally, Mother is a little tired. Why don't you take your sister around?"
"Mother, are you alright?"
"Mother is fine, just a little tired from talking."
"Aunt, there are some pills in the storage ring prepared for you to nourish your body. Please take one and consume it."
After Ling Yue recognized the storage ring as hers, she took out the pill Ling Luoyi mentioned and consumed it. Her body quickly felt relaxed.
"The effect of the top-grade pill is indeed good."
"It's good that it's useful. Then, Aunt, please rest if you're tired. It's fine to have Cousin here."
"Okay. Yun'er, Lu'er hasn't been back long and has no contact with other families in the city. You can take her to meet your friends."
"Mother, I know."
"Go."
"Eldest Cousin, let's go."
Song Qingyun took Ling Luoyi's hand and left.
Ling Yue watched the sisters leave harmoniously and felt relieved.
It seemed that these two sisters had no estrangement.
Ling Luoyi looked at Song Qingyun, who was quite lively in the courtyard, suddenly become calm after stepping out of the courtyard gate, and felt a little emotional. These children from noble families couldn't even possess their true selves.