Juzi, during her wandering, encountered some ill-intentioned people and was saved by Ji Yingying, who then brought her back.
"Let's go," Ji Yingying nodded gently and spoke to Juzi in a detached tone.
Her personality was extremely cold, even somewhat heartless; except for Lu Jingming, she barely interacted with anyone else.
After all, her past experiences had long since turned her into a cold-blooded killing machine, with many human emotions gradually fading away.
Lu Jingming also found Ji Yingying's personality troublesome, but for the time being, there was nothing he could do. He could only hope that, with time, subtle influences would slowly change her.
Although Ji Yingying was indifferent, perhaps because Juzi owed her her life, Juzi trusted her more.
She didn't say much, just quietly followed behind Ji Yingying and left.
…
Time flew by, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During these three days, Lu Jingming never sought Juzi out, nor did he let her leave.
And today was the day Zhang Lexuan and Keqing returned from their trip.
When they set out, they boarded an airship with a large team of over a hundred people, making for quite an impressive scene.
But now, only three people had returned.
Jingliu slowly landed with Zhang Lexuan and Keqing.
The moment Zhang Lexuan saw Lu Jingming, a hint of delight flashed in her eyes. Like a bird returning to its nest, she pounced on Lu Jingming without hesitation.
She stretched out her arms and tightly hugged Lu Jingming, as if afraid he might suddenly disappear, unwilling to let go for a long time.
"Sister Lexuan, it's been a while. Did you miss me?" Lu Jingming asked softly, with a warm smile.
"Mm."
Zhang Lexuan just responded softly, breathing in Lu Jingming's scent, replenishing the little brother energy she'd missed for a whole year.
"Ying ying ying ——"
The pink-haired fox leaped into Keqing's arms, perhaps because they came from the same world, and the little fox was especially close to Keqing.
"Welcome home, Teacher, Keqing!"
Lu Jingming comforted Zhang Lexuan, then looked at the always eye-patched Jingliu and the cat-eared Keqing.
"Mm, looks like you didn't slack off while I was away."
Sensing the aura emanating from Lu Jingming, Jingliu smiled slightly.
Lu Jingming smiled. He knew well that in this world, strength was everything. Even though he could summon people like Jingliu with his real power, if he were too weak, he'd be a liability—which he didn't want.
Besides, to fulfill his ambitions, strength was required. Being weaker than his wife? Wouldn't that make him a freeloader?
Although in his past life, the doctor said he had a weak stomach and could only eat soft things!
To celebrate Zhang Lexuan and the others' safe return, Lu Jingming gathered everyone in the residence and sent out invitations to all the important figures in Haiyuan City, holding a grand banquet. It was both a welcome party and a networking event for Haiyuan City.
The news set the whole city abuzz. The nobles and merchants were all excited at the chance to get closer to the City Lord's Mansion—an opportunity no one wanted to miss.
However, only a select few were qualified to attend.
Lu Jingming also wanted to use this chance to meet the various figures he usually only heard about through Changli. As a young city lord, he'd never formally appeared at such an event.
The banquet was held at the mansion's spectacular seaside villa.
The moment the nobles and merchants of Haiyuan City stepped inside, they were stunned by the unimaginable building before them.
The villa's style was completely different from their traditional mansions—it incorporated advanced soul tool technology, with every detail exuding uniqueness and luxury, giving them a strong visual and emotional impact.
Amid their amazement, they grew curious about the villa.
But when they heard it cost over a hundred million gold soul coins to build, most immediately gave up hope.
In Haiyuan City, only the wealthy City Lord's Mansion could afford such an expense; even the most powerful Title Douluo families couldn't reach this level of wealth, let alone families whose strongest members were merely Soul Sages.
At the banquet, Lu Jingming politely greeted each soul master family and sect representative but didn't intend to chat much.
It wasn't that he looked down on them—he just wasn't good at this kind of socializing. It was better to let Changli handle it.
At this moment, something else caught his attention.
Near the dessert table, two adorable little girls were completely absorbed in a battle with the delicious sweets.
Lu Jingming smiled as he watched their cute behavior, pushing his strawberry cake toward them and softly asking, "Is it good? There's more here."
"Mm, it's delicious! Better than what Mom makes. Thank you, big brother."
The two identical little girls with silky blue hair answered in unison. Their crisp, soft voices seemed to have the power to heal, and Lu Jingming couldn't help but be immersed in this innocence.
"What are your names?" Lu Jingming asked the identical girls with a smile.
Don't misunderstand—he wasn't a lolicon. He just found these two little ones rather remarkable.
They looked even younger than him, yet were already one-ring soul masters.
Such talent made them top geniuses in Haiyuan City.
Of course, if you counted himself, Zhang Lexuan, and Keqing, that'd be a different story.
"My name is Lan Susu, I'm the older sister." The little girl with blue bangs covering her right eye answered crisply while taking another bite of strawberry.
"My name is Lan Luoluo, I'm the younger sister, but I was only born one minute after my sister." The other, whose bangs covered her left eye, immediately added, clearly a little indignant that being born one minute later made her the younger sister.
Hearing this, Lan Susu lifted her little head proudly.