Chapter 614: Chapter 603: My Daughter Is a Vicious Supporting Female Character 3
Anning calmed her mind to cultivate, and in cultivation time is imperceptible; sometimes meditation could last half a year or even a year.
She gradually improved her cultivation, and by the time she was able to break the array, she herself didnât know how many years had passed.
When Anning finally managed to exit the array one day, she no longer felt any joy.
She walked around a cave and then went down to a nearby villagerâs home to ask about the current time, only to find out that she had spent about twenty years in the cave.
Initially, Anning thought once she exited the array, she would rush to report to the authorities, send Zou Huai De straight to jail, and then leave with her daughter and take good care of her so that she wouldnât tread her past lifeâs path.
But she hadnât expected that just breaking the array had taken her twenty years; by now, Jingjing had already grown up, and even if Anning wanted to report, so many years had passed without evidence. The police would not accept her case.
The real difficulty was the identity she should present herself with.
Keep in mind, Zou Huai De and Liu Yue Mei had been spreading rumors that Anning had eloped with someone. Moreover, Zou Huai De was now a successful person, with the Zou Group holding billions in assets, and Liu Yue Meiâs family also had significant backing. If Anning made a sudden appearance, those two would probably find ways to suppress her to death.
Although she wasnât afraid, she needed to clear her original identityâs name and stand above those two individualsâthat deserved some serious thought.
Anning went back into the cave and thought for a while, then returned back into the array.
She was going to lay out a plan.
Inside the array, she set up a smaller array that allowed one to enter a Different Space for learningâthe time ratio between inside and outside the array was ten to one, and the learning efficiency inside the array was also exceptionally high.
Having perfected this array, Anning gathered some medicinal herbs from the valley and also on the mountain; thereafter, she began alchemy.
In this manner, after a monthâs time, Anning finally concocted some physical strengthening elixirs and some cognitive enhancing elixirs.
She took these two bottles of elixirs and descended the mountain.
There is a Lingshan in County N, hidden among the vast mountain ranges. Since ancient times, Lingshan has been surrounded by legends, said to be where Immortals ascend to heaven. Many historical figures from ancient times in County N were related to Lingshan.
In modern times, Lingshan has become a scenic tourist attraction drawing numerous visitors.
This noon, tourists continuously visited Lingshan, many feeling the climb strenuous and preferred taking the cable car.
A tour guide leading a group to Lingshan, including elderly and families with children, wanted to take the cable car. While the guide was counting the numbers, suddenly someone exclaimed, "Look over there..."
Many people turned toward the sound.
They saw, on the flagstone-paved mountain pathway surrounded by lush greenery, a woman in her early twenties, dressed in ancient attire, slowly walking towards them.
From a distance, this womanâs graceful demeanor was unparalleled; without even looking at her face, one could feel she must be an extraordinary beauty.
However, as the woman came closer and everyone saw her stunningly beautiful face, everyone couldnât help but be moved.
To describe her faceâit wasnât that her features were flawless or beyond reproach; maybe her lips were a bit thick, or her eyes not perfectly shaped, but, oddly, such features combined together turned out to be exceptionally attractive.
Even the most eloquent people couldnât come up with words or phrases adequate enough to describe the womanâs beauty; they could only agree that she was beautiful.
She appeared as if not from this mortal world but a fairy descended from the ninth heaven, making everyone feel refreshed and serene, yet without harboring any blasphemous thoughts.
As the woman approached the crowd, those near her felt a wave of coolness. Though it was early summer, and even in the mountainâs embrace, a hint of heat could be felt, the place where the woman passed felt as if bathed in a gentle, refreshing spring breeze.
The woman stopped, looked around, then chose a spot to sit, took out a cloth from her bosom and spread it neatly, then pulled out a handcrafted cloth bag.
She opened the bag and started laying out various items on the spread cloth.
These items were all handicrafts, including small houses woven from grass, little animals carved from wood, and some small toys for children.
The craftsmanship was exquisite, although only in natural wood color, without any artificial coloring, they carried a distinctly antique charm.
As the woman arranged these small items, an elderly man who loved collecting folk artifacts approached and inquired, "Young lady, are you selling these items?"
The woman smiled: "Yes."
The old man squatted down to pick up a pen holder carved from bamboo to examine it closely, and he couldnât help but exclaim in amazement.
It turned out that the pen holder was engraved with a painting and accompanied by two lines of poetry.
The painting and the poetry both held Grandmaster Level skill.
The lines of the painting were simple, yet the artistic conception was profound; itâs not only about the poetry, but the calligraphy alone was far superior to todayâs calligraphy masters.
The old man looked at it and couldnât bear to put it down: "Miss, how much for this?"
The woman glanced at the pen holder: "No fixed price, take it if you like."
She meant that these items had no set price, and the buyer could pay whatever they felt it was worth.
This put the old man in a difficult position.
If he were to really estimate, just this pen holder alone would be worth any amount of money, but he sadly did not bring enough cash.
"Just give what you think is appropriate."
The woman seemed to have noticed the old manâs difficulty: "I am just in a bit of trouble temporarily and need to exchange this for money, just give me enough for some travel expenses and to afford a few meals."
The request was indeed not too demanding.
The old man pulled out his wallet, counted the money inside, and asked his son for some as well, ending up with about two thousand dollars in total; he gave it all to the woman.
The woman did not refuse but took the money and pointed to the items on the ground: "Pick another item as a bonus."
The old man was delighted and indeed picked another small trinket.
Once his transaction was complete, some young people also started to choose.
Couples were playing around, and the girls liked the items. Plus, since the woman did not demand a fixed price, the boys would buy to win the girlsâ hearts.
Some youngsters took out their mobile phones and asked the woman if they could make a WeChat payment.
The woman frowned: "What is WeChat?"
It seemed this woman might have come from some secluded mountain; she didnât even know what WeChat was.
With no choice, everyone had to pay in cash. Those without cash borrowed from friends, and those who couldnât borrow ran to staff to exchange money.
In no time at all, the woman sold all the small items she brought.
She picked up her bag, and in just a blink of an eye, she vanished without a trace.
If not for everyone still holding the items they had just purchased, they might have thought they had just dreamt the whole event.
This woman was Anning.
After coming down from the mountain, the first thing Anning thought of was to make money.
She didnât have a single penny on her, and she disdained the idea of stealing othersâ money, so she had to rely on her own skills to make money.
Anning first found some grass and wove some small items to exchange with local villagers for some food, then borrowed a carving knife from a family to carve things.
She stayed in the small mountain village for several days, helping with chores in exchange for food and shelter during the day, and making items at night. After a few days, she left two items for the family and departed.
Her village was quite close to Lingshan, and Anning wanted to exchange things for money, so she went to the tourist-heavy Lingshan.
Having sold her carvings, and made quite a sum of money, she didnât think about other ways to make money.
After coming down from Lingshan, Anning first found a clothing store to buy a new set of clothes, then asked for directions to the city, went to the bus station to buy a ticket, ate a meal at a roadside stall near the bus station entrance, and then took the bus to the city.