Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 336 Lingbo Reappears

The carriage swayed and wobbled forward.

After traveling for about an hour, Lin Chen suddenly opened his eyes, lifted the carriage curtain, and looked out.

The official road is flanked by rolling hills covered with pine trees. When the wind blows, the pines rustle like waves.

He watched for a while, then lowered the carriage curtain.

Lan Fenghuang asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Lin Chen shook his head, a slight smile playing on his lips: "It's nothing."

After saying that, she leaned back on the cushion, closed her eyes, and pinched Lan Fenghuang's leg.

Lan Fenghuang glared at him but didn't say anything.

Lin Chen closed his eyes, lost in thought.

Although he couldn't detect anyone with his divine sense, he knew that the woman was still following him.

It started the day I came down from the snow mountain and has followed me all the way to now, neither too close nor too far, always hovering on the edge of my consciousness, like a shadow.

It meant no harm, and didn't get close; it just hung there at a distance.

Lin Chen tried several times, deliberately slowing down, and she slowed down as well.

She speeds up too.

I followed him the whole way, always maintaining that delicate distance.

In the evening, the group stopped in a small town.

The town was pitifully small, with only one street; it would take less than half an incense stick to walk from one end to the other.

Both shops were closed, their doors covered in dust, looking like they hadn't been open for a long time.

There weren't many people on the street, only a few stray dogs rummaging through the trash in a corner.

There was an old man selling wontons on the street corner, still setting up his stall.

The fire on the stove was burning brightly, and the water in the pot was bubbling and steaming, with white mist rising and dissipating into the twilight.

Lin Chen got off the carriage, walked over, and sat down in front of the stall:

"Uncle, a few bowls of wontons, please."

The old man looked up at Lin Chen and chuckled.

"Alright, please wait a moment, sir."

She quickly made the wontons, glancing at Lin Chen's outfit as she worked, her eyes lighting up, but she didn't say anything.

Soon the wontons were served. The soup was clear and bright, the wonton wrappers were so thin you could see the filling inside, and they were topped with scallions and dried shrimp. They smelled delicious.

Lin Chen took a bite and nodded: "Not bad."

The soup is fresh and delicious, and the filling is substantial, no worse than those in the big restaurants in Beijing.

The old man chuckled beside him, rubbing his hands together. "Sir, you must be from out of town?"

"Yeah, just passing by."

The old man cooked another pot of wontons, chatting as he worked:

"Our place is a poor, remote area, and not many people usually come here. Today is quite lively, first a girl came, and now you've all arrived."

Lin Chen paused for a moment with his chopsticks: "Miss?"

The old man nodded, glancing across the street.

"Yes, she's very beautiful. Wearing white, she looks like she stepped out of a painting."

In my sixty years of life, I have never seen such a beautiful person. She just ate a bowl of wontons here and gave me a silver ingot.

I told her we didn't need that much, but she wouldn't listen, just put it down and left.

As the old man spoke, he took out the silver ingot, examined it from all angles, and exclaimed in amazement.

Lin Chen's lips curled into a slight smile. "Which way did she go?"

The old man pointed to the other end of the street: "Over there, we've been walking for a while now."

Lin Chen nodded and continued eating his wontons.

Yao Yao leaned closer and whispered, "Husband, is it that woman from the Snow Mountain?"

Lin Chen ignored her, finished the wontons in his bowl, drank the soup, put down the bowl, wiped his mouth, and stood up.

"Let's go."

The girls got up and headed towards the inn at the other end of the street.

When he reached the street corner, Lin Chen suddenly stopped and glanced at the other side of the street.

The other end of the street was deserted, not a soul in sight, except for a few fallen leaves swirling in the wind.

The setting sun painted the street a dark red, and the houses on both sides looked pitch black, which was a bit eerie.

Lan Fenghuang asked softly, "Husband?"

Lin Chen withdrew his gaze and smiled, "Let's go."

He put his arm around Lan Fenghuang's waist and swaggered forward.

Yao Yao muttered something under her breath. Lan Fenghuang turned around and glared at her. Yao Yao stuck out her tongue and stopped talking.

late at night.

The inn was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of insects coming in from outside the window.

Lin Chen lay in bed, unable to sleep.

With his eyes closed, his consciousness slowly spread out, like an invisible net, silently covering the entire town.

At the east end of the town, under an old locust tree, a person was standing.

Dressed in white, with long hair, she was quiet and still, like a jade sculpture.

She leaned against the tree trunk, looking up at the moon in the sky. The moonlight shone on her face, making her glow white and so beautiful that she seemed unreal.

A gust of wind blew by, causing her clothes to flutter before falling back down.

Lin Chen's divine sense lingered on her for a moment.

She didn't move, as if she hadn't noticed, and continued to look at the moon.

But Lin Chen knew she had noticed—her breathing had changed slightly, becoming very light and faint, something an ordinary person wouldn't be able to detect, but he had.

He didn't withdraw his divine sense, and just openly "looked" at her.

She didn't hide; she just stood there and let him "see" her.

The two were separated by an entire street; one was lying on the bed, and the other was standing under a tree, neither of them moving.

After a while, Lin Chen withdrew his divine sense, turned over, hugged Liu Shengxue closer, and continued to sleep.

The team continued their journey early the next morning.

As they left the town, Lin Chen lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at the other end of the street.

The other end of the street was deserted, with only the old locust tree standing alone, its fallen leaves scattered by the wind.

He smiled and lowered the carriage curtain.

The carriage continued forward, and after traveling a short distance, Lin Chen suddenly spoke:

"Wait a minute."

Yan Da reined in his horse: "My lord?"

Lin Chen jumped down from the carriage, dusted off his clothes, and glanced back at the town.

The women followed, and Yao Yao asked curiously, "Husband, what's wrong?"

Lin Chen ignored her, put his hands in his sleeves, and slowly walked towards the east end of the town.

He walked a few steps, stopped, turned around, leaned against a tree trunk by the roadside, took out a wine flask from his pocket, and took a swig.

Lan Fenghuang followed and stood next to Lin Chen, glancing towards the town:

"Is she still there?"

Lin Chen nodded, took another sip of wine, and handed the wine pot to Lan Fenghuang.

Lan Fenghuang took it and drank a sip, wincing from the spiciness.

After waiting for a while, a person slowly walked out from behind the old locust tree at the other end of the street.

Dressed in white, with long hair and beautiful features.

She stood under the tree, looking at Lin Chen, her face expressionless, but there was a very faint smile in her eyes.

A gust of wind blew by, and her clothes and long hair fluttered together, just like she had stepped out of a painting.

Yao Yao muttered under her breath, "I knew she had feelings for her husband..."

Liu Shengxue glanced at it, then looked away, her face expressionless.

Liu Sheng Piaopiao hid behind her sister, peeking out half of her head.

Lin Chen leaned against the tree trunk, arms crossed, glanced at Ling Bo, and smiled:

"Aren't you tired after following me all this way?"

Lingbo didn't speak, she just looked at Lin Chen.

After a long while, she spoke, her voice clear and cold, like melting snow:

"You know?"

"Nonsense!" Lin Chen scoffed lightly.

"You followed me all the way from the snow-capped mountains, over two hundred miles. If I still didn't know, then Wu Xiu has done nothing."

Lin Chen paused for a moment, then said, "Speak, what is it?"

Lingbo paused for a moment, then said, "There's something I want to ask you."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow: "What is it?"

Lingbo looked at him and said, word by word, "Do you believe in fate?"

Lin Chen paused for a moment, then smiled:

"Fate? I believe in it! But I believe in myself even more. What, you want to tell my fortune?"

Lingbo didn't answer, she just looked at Lin Chen.

That look was a bit strange, like looking at someone you've known for a long time, or like looking at a complete stranger.

Lin Chen felt a little uneasy under her gaze and touched his nose: "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Lingbo withdrew her gaze, looked down at the ground beneath her feet, and remained silent for a long time.

The wind blew and messed up her hair, but she didn't care.

After a long while, she raised her head, looked at Lin Chen, and suddenly said:

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Lin Chen was stunned.

Yao Yao stared wide-eyed from behind, Lan Fenghuang was also stunned, and Liu Shengxue frowned slightly.

Lin Chen opened his mouth: "Wait for me?"

Lingbo nodded.

Lin Chen frowned slightly: "Why are you waiting for me?"

Lingbo didn't answer, she just looked at Lin Chen.

That look in his eyes, how should I put it, was like looking at someone he had been waiting for for a very long time, and finally found them, but didn't know what to say.

She stood there, her white dress fluttering, as beautiful as a painting.

But there was something indescribable in his eyes, neither joy nor sorrow, but a kind of... relief.

Lin Chen looked at Ling Bo for a long time, then sighed and handed her the wine pot:

"Want a sip?"

Lingbo looked at the wine pot but didn't take it.

Lin Chen didn't mind, took it back and drank a mouthful himself.

He leaned against the tree trunk, gazing at the distant mountains, and said slowly:

I don't know who you're waiting for, or why you're waiting for me.

But if you have nowhere to go, you can come with me. I don't have many other skills, but I'm good at taking care of women. You won't be bored with me.

Lingbo looked at Lin Chen, a glint of something flashing in her eyes.

She remained silent for a long time, so long that Yao Yao thought she wouldn't answer.

Then she nodded slightly: "Okay."