96: leave

A month passed, the weather began to cool, and the sweltering heat receded.

At night, the Lu family sat together for dinner.

Today was Lu Xuan's last meal before his departure. The few who were unaware of the situation were still very cheerful, while Su Jing and Lu Jingan, who knew the truth, had no appetite at all.

At the dining table, several people were congratulating Lu Xuan on his success.

"Father, Qing Yan toasts you. I hope Father wins from the start and smoothly breaks through to Great Grandmaster."

"Good!"

"Father, I also toast you. I hope Father's martial arts cultivation rises steadily like sesame flowers on a stalk."

Zhao Ya also congratulated Lu Xuan.

The rest of the family also toasted Lu Xuan one after another.

"Ugh—"

At that moment, Shen Qingyan suddenly felt a wave of nausea.

"What's wrong, Qing Yan? Are you feeling unwell?"

Lu Jingan asked with some concern.

"Stretch out your hand."

It seemed as if he had thought of something.

He then placed his hand on Shen Qingyan's wrist.

Over the years, he had not only read medical books thoroughly but also frequently disguised himself to save people everywhere to improve his medical skills; he was a master of the Four Diagnostic Methods.

"Flowing smoothly like pearls rolling on a plate, slippery under the fingers... has your period come this month?"

Lu Xuan's face lit up with joy, and his eyes were filled with anticipation as he looked at Shen Qingyan.

"Father, not yet. It's already more than half a month late!"

"Hahaha, God bless my Lu family."

"Father, could it be...?"

Lu Jingan was somewhat delighted and yet a bit incredulous.

"Yes, Qing Yan is pregnant."

Lu Xuan stroked his beard, feeling extremely happy.

He hadn't expected to see the appearance of the Lu family's third generation before he left, which allowed him to feel completely at ease.

"I'm going to be a father?"

Lu Jingan was still in a daze.

"Congratulations, Sister!"

Zhao Ya was the first to react and hurriedly offered her blessings.

"Qing Yan should pay more attention to resting from now on. Stop your martial arts cultivation for now and continue after the child is born."

"As for your father's side, wait until three months have passed before notifying him; it will be more stable then."

"I will follow all your arrangements, Father."

"Shen Shishi's medical skills are good; you can ask her to come and help with your conditioning."

The whole family gathered around Shen Qingyan, listening to Lu Xuan's instructions.

At the hour of the Rat, the moon was dark and the wind was high.

Lu Xuan prepared the mask he had made and pressed it onto his face.

After some further dressing up, the handsome and mature man instantly transformed into a plain and ordinary farmer.

"Father!"

Lu Jingan was waiting in front of Lu Xuan's door.

"Qing Yan's pregnancy today is truly an unexpected joy; I am very gratified. If it's a boy, call him Lu Mingyuan; if it's a girl, call her Lu Minglan."

"Father, take care!"

Lu Jingan bowed deeply, while Su Jing hid in the room, not daring to come out, her face already covered in tears... Lu Xuan left West Mountain Village and headed all the way east toward the Imperial City.

The next morning, before dawn, he entered Pingze along with the commoners heading for the morning market.

He ate a bowl of lamb organ soup by the roadside, just like more than ten years ago before the Lu family had made its fortune. When he came to Pingze County on that winter day and ate a bowl of lamb organ soup with chili oil and a flaky pastry, it had warmed him for the entire day.

He did not stay in Pingze County but instead found a carriage company and boarded a carriage bound for the prefectural city.

The prefectural city was neither too close nor too far from Pingze.

Moreover, although the carriage company provided a carriage, it was drawn by a packhorse, taking Lu Xuan a full day and night to arrive.

However, he was in no hurry; he wanted to use the mundane atmosphere of the world to wash away the aura on his body and completely blend in with ordinary people.

Yunzhou Prefecture, the stronghold of the Prince of Zhennan.

At the city gate, looking at the majestic city walls, Lu Xuan stopped to watch just like other first-time visitors.

Meanwhile, the surrounding commoners looked at Lu Xuan and the others with the eyes of those looking at hicks and country bumpkins.

Entering the heavy city gates, a dense commercial atmosphere rushed toward him.

The prosperity of the prefectural city was incomparable to Pingze County, which could not even hope to catch up.

Like an ordinary commoner, Lu Xuan tightened the bundle on his back and followed the flow of people.

He found an ordinary small tavern and sat down.

"What would the guest like to eat?"

The spot Lu Xuan chose was toward the back of the first-floor hall.

"I'll have the braised mutton, a stir-fried vegetable dish, and two catties of noodles."

"Alright, coming right up."

Lu Xuan drank his tea by himself.

"Have you all heard?"

"What?"

"I heard that the heir to the Prince of Zhennan, the young lord Zhou Lichuan, has now broken through to Late Stage Qi Refining!"

"What? The young lord has only been practicing for ten years and has already reached Late Stage Qi Refining? Doesn't that mean there's hope for Foundation Establishment?"

"Of course. I heard that for the young lord's sake, the Prince of Zhennan brought out a five-hundred-year-old Spirit Medicine, hoping the Foundation Establishment Immortals on Jade Emperor Mountain would take him as a disciple."

"However, those Immortals did not agree. In the end, it was the Qingxu Sect that took him in."

"Qingxu Sect? What kind of Sect is that? Why haven't I heard of it?"

As soon as that person spoke, his mouth was covered by the person opposite him.

"Do you want to die? That Qingxu Sect is a Golden Core power. Do you know what Golden Core means?"

"How do you know so much? Is a Golden Core power something you can even inquire about?"

The person next to him looked incredulous.

"Hehehe, I bought the information with money, of course. There's plenty of such news in the Qiushui Lake Market."

"A few days ago, I went there for a bit of fun. Tsk tsk, I even encountered a fairy."

That person winked and began to boast.

"So it was the Qiushui Lake Market. I thought it was some inside information. Haven't there been plenty of rumors coming out of there over the years?"

"Nine out of ten are fake, and the last one is only half-true."

"Hahahaha."

The people around them burst into laughter, not taking it seriously.

That person's face turned red with anger as he glared at the fellow who had debunked him with an unfriendly expression... Lu Xuan listened to these pieces of information while eating.

"Autumn Water Lake, I've heard of it before; I can go and take a look later."

"But before going, I can check out the Immortal Fate Pavilion in the prefectural city to see if there are any good items."

After finishing his meal, Lu Xuan stayed the night.

He had placed all his important belongings into his Luck Space, which spared him the inconvenience of carrying them.

The space was currently bare; except for a few medicinal herbs, everything else had been harvested by Lu Xuan.

During his days at home, he had turned all those herbs into decoctions, pills, and other cultivation resources to leave behind.

All these things were handed over to Su Jing for safekeeping, though Lu Jingan was also aware of it.

"This prefectural city is indeed different; even ordinary people talk about Cultivators as if they are very common."

In Pingze County, ordinary people basically wouldn't talk about Cultivators in their daily lives. One reason was that they didn't dare, and the other was that the Cultivators in Pingze and the commoners seemed to exist in two different worlds, rarely appearing among ordinary people.

Not to mention having a gathering place for Cultivators like Autumn Water Lake open to them.

For the next few days, Lu Xuan wandered around the prefectural city, checking items at Immortal Fate Pavilion and trading in the black market.

It wasn't that no one tried to rob him seeing his low cultivation, but they were all dealt with by Lu Xuan.

"I'm afraid the truly useful things in this prefectural city have all been collected by the Prince's Mansion; everything else is fake."

"It seems it's time to take a trip to Autumn Water Lake. I wonder if my First Level of Qi Refining cultivation will allow me to enter that Cultivator market."

Lu Xuan was somewhat expectant.