Chapter 360: The thousand dao city 29.

"You two should come inside. There is tea."

Ning Shuyue walked behind her.

"She means you should rest."

Qinghe looked back. "Tea is part of resting."

Ning Shuyue sighed. "You are impossible."

"And you married me anyway."

Ning Shuyue’s expression softened immediately.

Mo Yuxin quietly looked at Su Yubing.

Su Yubing whispered, "Do not start copying them."

"Why?"

"You already do that enough."

Mo Yuxin smiled.

They went inside.

The tea room belonged to the smaller eastern residence where Luo Qinghe was staying temporarily as a guest of the Battle Maiden Sect. It was modest but comfortable, with wooden windows overlooking a small courtyard. Several medicinal plants grew beside the wall.

Qinghe poured tea for everyone.

"I am sorry you two had to see that tonight."

Su Yubing shook her head. "You do not need to apologize for someone else’s actions."

Qinghe smiled.

"I like you."

Ning Shuyue sat down beside her. "You have known them for less than two days."

"I know enough."

Mo Yuxin immediately said, "I like you too."

Qinghe laughed.

Ning Shuyue looked at Mo Yuxin.

"You are really direct."

"It saves time."

Su Yubing took a sip of tea.

"She says that, but she can spend half an hour deciding which cake to buy."

Mo Yuxin frowned.

"That is important."

Qinghe laughed again.

Even Ning Shuyue smiled.

It was the first easy moment anyone had had since the convoy attack.

After tea, Luo Qinghe asked Su Yubing to help inspect the medicine storage room. Su Yubing agreed immediately.

Mo Yuxin wanted to follow.

Su Yubing looked at her.

"You can stay here."

Mo Yuxin looked disappointed.

"Why?"

"Because I will be twenty steps away."

"That is too far."

Qinghe almost choked on her tea.

Ning Shuyue glanced at her wife and quietly said, "They are worse than us."

Qinghe nodded solemnly. "Much worse."

Su Yubing took Mo Yuxin’s face gently between her hands.

"Go with Ning Shuyue. Look at the formation damage. Then come find me."

Mo Yuxin immediately became obedient.

"Fine."

Su Yubing kissed her cheek.

"Good wife."

Mo Yuxin smiled like she had just been rewarded with the greatest treasure in the world.

Ning Shuyue stared at them.

"I understand why everyone thinks you are strange."

Mo Yuxin calmly replied, "She kissed me."

"I saw that."

"Then you understand."

Ning Shuyue looked at Qinghe.

Qinghe covered her smile.

"Just let her be happy."

The two couples separated.

Mo Yuxin followed Ning Shuyue toward the eastern formation hall.

The formation damage there was far worse than what they had seen on the convoy.

Several spiritual pillars were cracked.

A central array had stopped functioning entirely.

Three smaller formations were drawing energy from the same source because their original channels had been cut.

Ning Shuyue stared at the mess.

"We have been trying to fix this for months."

Mo Yuxin walked around the array.

"Why did you not rebuild it?"

Ning Shuyue gave a tired smile. "Because rebuilding the whole thing would require materials we do not have."

Mo Yuxin crouched beside one of the pillars.

"The materials are not the problem."

"What is?"

"The design."

Ning Shuyue frowned.

Mo Yuxin touched the pillar.

"Someone altered the channel. The formation is trying to send energy backward."

"That would cause the collapse."

"Yes."

Ning Shuyue stared.

"Can you repair it?"

Mo Yuxin nodded.

"Yes."

"How long?"

"A few breaths."

Ning Shuyue thought she had misheard.

"A few what?"

Mo Yuxin stood.

"Breaths."

She lifted one hand.

The spiritual energy around the formation changed.

There was no explosion.

No huge display.

No complicated hand seals.

Mo Yuxin simply touched three points on the formation in sequence.

The cracked pillar lit up.

The broken channel repaired itself.

The central array hummed.

One of the smaller formations flashed and began operating normally.

Ning Shuyue stood completely still.

Mo Yuxin dusted her hands.

"Done."

Ning Shuyue stared at the restored formation.

"That formation was built by a Formation Grandmaster."

"I know."

"It took three elders nearly a month to identify the problem."

"Oh."

Ning Shuyue slowly looked at Mo Yuxin.

"You repaired it in ten seconds."

Mo Yuxin shrugged.

"It was broken. I fixed it."

Ning Shuyue did not know what to say.

After a moment, she laughed quietly.

"You really are strange."

Mo Yuxin looked toward the door.

"My wife says that too."

Ning Shuyue smiled.

"You love her very much."

Mo Yuxin’s expression softened immediately.

"Yes."

There was no hesitation in the answer.

Ning Shuyue understood.

"Then I trust you."

Mo Yuxin looked back at her.

"Good."

Meanwhile, Su Yubing and Luo Qinghe had reached the medicine storage hall.

The shelves were almost empty.

Qinghe tried to hide her concern, but Su Yubing noticed.

"How much did you have before?"

Qinghe answered honestly.

"Enough to support the sect for several months."

"And now?"

"Maybe four weeks."

Su Yubing frowned.

Qinghe opened a cabinet.

"This is the biggest problem. Our most basic healing medicines are almost gone. The disciples can fight, but injuries are becoming expensive."

Su Yubing examined the bottles.

Several were clearly diluted.

Qinghe sighed.

"We started reducing doses weeks ago."

"That is dangerous."

"I know."

Qinghe sat down.

"Sometimes I feel like I am trying to hold the whole sect together with a few bottles of medicine and a wooden spoon."

Su Yubing laughed softly.

"A wooden spoon?"

"It is surprisingly useful."

They talked for a while.

Su Yubing learned that Qinghe had not originally planned to live at the Battle Maiden Sect. She had met Ning Shuyue when they were young and had eventually stayed because Shuyue’s sect was collapsing. Their relationship had become complicated because both women had worried that admitting they were together would create problems with their families and sect elders.

But after years of hiding, they had stopped caring.

Qinghe spoke about Ning Shuyue with an affection that was impossible to fake.

"She pretends she is cold. She is actually terrible at being cold."

Su Yubing smiled. "I noticed."

"She once stayed awake for three nights because I had a fever."

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TO BE CONTINUED.