Chapter 5748: Driven Away
Qiao Sen subtly shook his head, responding to his sister's affectionate touch, appearing quite obedient. He was currently very interested in how to improve his cultivation. Though young, his talent was remarkable. Aside from cultivation, he genuinely had little interest in anything else. As for the woman just now, he had even less interest. In short, he certainly wouldn't like anyone who could upset his sister.
The girl rescued by Qiao Mu was named Li Si Niu, reportedly a refugee from Li Family Village. Recently, the Sky-Null Star had seen most of its zombie puppets cleared out. The ecological environment and national production were gradually recovering. Consequently, many villagers were choosing to return to their former residences. Li Family Village was separated from Qiaotou Village by Kulian Mountain. Qiao Qiao, when she was young, had visited that village a few times; it was considered one of the more economically prosperous villages in the area.
This Li Si Niu was said to have fled an arranged marriage. Apparently, she was very dissatisfied with her fiancé, so she fled overnight, crossing mountains and valleys, originally intending to go to Qiaotou Village. Unexpectedly, she ended up stumbling around in the dark, running to the lakeside behind the mountain, and accidentally fell in.
Qiao Mu and her group rescued her. She wasn't ungrateful, but she was also quite frustrated. The people on this ship clearly looked like they were either rich or noble, with handsome men and pretty women. But everyone seemed very unfriendly to her, treating her without any pleasantries. Besides ordering her to do things, no one bothered to talk to her. Sometimes, when she tried to casually strike up a conversation with someone, they would ignore her. Many of the young, handsome men looked at her as if she were a plague, quickly scattering.
She pondered over it, concluding that Madam Mo must be secretly causing trouble! After two days on this large ship, she had basically figured out their relationships. Everyone on this ship followed Madam Mo's lead. She had offended Madam Mo on her first day, which was why no one wanted to talk to her; everyone treated her like a maid, completely ostracizing her. The most hateful thing was that Madam Mo had a very cold disposition. If she didn't do her tasks well, or failed to complete assigned duties, Madam Mo wouldn't even give her food. For example, on her first day, she made two mistakes while working, resulting in no breakfast or lunch. For dinner, she was only given two white steamed buns to gnaw on, which was simply outrageous!
In Li Si Niu's eyes, Madam Mo was a completely unreasonable demon king. She desperately wanted to leave, but first, they were on water, and she couldn't possibly jump in. Second, every time she thought of the chubby, rustic fiancé her family had found for her, she felt a thousand and one dissatisfactions.
A Grand Revelation
One day, Qiao Mu and her group landed. Qiao Mu openly stored the Crimson Azure Wave back into her Fish Orchid Star, not bothering to hide it from Li Si Niu. This action left Li Si Niu utterly dumbfounded. She stammered, unable to help but ask, "Madam, this boat?"
As an ordinary person on Sky-Null Star, she had seen cultivators before and witnessed others' inner worlds. But typical cultivators' inner worlds could only hold dry rations, personal clothing, and similar items. She had never seen anyone who could store an entire large ship! Li Si Niu's mind simply couldn't comprehend it. She couldn't imagine what was happening. With her limited perspective, she naturally couldn't grasp the concept of a portable spiritual domain.
Qiao Mu, of course, was too lazy to explain to her. This person was now accustomed to acting as she pleased, even in places like the Upper Three States. She could open her star domain whenever she wanted. What if someone was envious? With her current cultivation level, everyone in the Upper Three States had to bow down to her, let alone in a place like the Lower Star Region's Sky-Null Star. Could it be that someone in this lower star region would become envious and jealous of her star domain and then try to steal it? Impossible!
That's why everyone wants to climb higher, persist in cultivation, and aspire to that supreme position. This is the reasoning: once a person reaches that position, they can do as they please, looking down upon the heavens without fear. Regardless of what others thought, Qiao Qiao was now accustomed to doing things her own way.
Li Si Niu was naturally angry that Qiao Mu ignored her. However, she certainly dared not act recklessly. Two days of interaction had made it clear to her that this Madam Mo was a person of her word. Cultivators with such high cultivation levels were not to be provoked by a mere ordinary person like her.
However, seeing Qiao Mu's immense ability to store such a large ship entirely within her inner world with her own eyes, Li Si Niu's heart developed a hint of admiration for Qiao Mu.
Along the rest of the journey, Li Si Niu kept trying to ingratiate herself with Qiao Mu, but Qiao Mu continued to ignore her. Holding Mo Lian's hand, she walked towards Qiaotou Village. Fu San, Wushuang, Duan Yue, and Feng Chen walked intermittently, looking around.
Li Si Niu tentatively asked Qiao Mu, "Madam Mo, those people I saw on the ship before, were they all...?" She was truly dying of curiosity. Didn't they say that an inner world could only hold inanimate objects? Why could this Madam Mo store dozens of living people, along with the ship, inside her inner world? This was too incredible! Were those people not suffocating, sealed inside the ship within Madam Mo's inner world? Could they even breathe normally? Li Si Niu was utterly baffled.
Qiao Mu, however, coldly glanced at her. She felt that this Li Si Niu talked too much. Ever since she saw her store the Crimson Azure Wave into her star domain, this person had been incessantly chattering, constantly trying to pry into her affairs with indirect questions. She was truly tactless and incredibly annoying.
"Alright, you can go now," Qiao Mu impatiently waved her hand at her.
Li Si Niu, however, was stunned, then somewhat overjoyed. "Madam, you mean I can go? What about... that slave contract?"
Qiao Mu sneered, looking at her. "Just go when I tell you to. What's with all the nonsense?"
Back on the lake, Qiao Mu wouldn't have bullied an ordinary person with no mystic energy whatsoever. Nor would she have truly thrown her back into the water to fend for herself. Now that they were ashore, they could naturally go their separate ways and have no further dealings. This Li Si Niu had simply worked for two days on the ship from beginning to end. Wasn't that her due obligation? They had even saved her life! Considering that, Li Si Niu had gotten an extremely good deal.
Qiao Mu impatiently glanced at her. "What? Do you have something else to say?" Why was she still hesitating and deliberating when told to leave? Such a restless creature.
"Madam, Madam Mo, we, we can be considered master and servant who met by chance..."