Jian Ruyan whispered to herself, then got up straight away from the bamboo bed, opened the door, and walked out.
As she stepped out of the room, her gaze fell on the spot in the courtyard where the Alchemy Furnace used to be placed.
But at this moment, there was neither an Alchemy Furnace nor any figure there.
It seemed that Mu Jinyu and the others had long since stopped the alchemy process.
Jian Ruyan's Divine Sense swept over the area for ten miles, but she did not see any trace of them.
The other bamboo houses nearby had been protected by Mu Jinyu with Restrictions to block the probing of Divine Sense, so Jian Ruyan's Divine Sense could not penetrate them.
Jian Ruyan frowned slightly, wondering whether Mu Jinyu and the others had started their cultivation or not.
Uncertain, she walked to Mu Jinyu's room and gently knocked on the door.
"Knock knock knock!"
Three soft raps.
Soon, the door opened, and Mu Jinyu walked out.
Seeing that Mu Jinyu was staying in his own room instead of cultivating with Gu Xiyan and the others, Jian Ruyan breathed a sigh of relief.
If he had gone to another room to cultivate with someone else, it would have been inappropriate for her to disturb him.
"What's up?"
Mu Jinyu opened the door and, seeing that it was Jian Ruyan, curiously asked.
As he spoke, a light shone in his eyes as he realized why Jian Ruyan had come. He said, "Just a moment."
Jian Ruyan's face was slightly flushed, struggling with how to ask Mu Jinyu for his dirty laundry, intending to wash it for him; when she saw Mu Jinyu's realization, she opted not to speak.
She also felt somewhat embarrassed and annoyed. Although she hadn't planned on breaking her promise, seeing Mu Jinyu so eager for her to do his laundry still made her quite displeased inside.
Soon, Mu Jinyu went back inside his room to fetch something and came back out. He said, "Here, take this."
With that, he handed Jiang Ruyan four or five large porcelain jars.
Jian Ruyan paused for a moment and then realized that these must be his day's achievements, containing various Elixirs suitable for her cultivation!
Jian Ruyan did not refuse, accepting the porcelain jars, and then said hesitantly, "I didn't come for the Elixirs. I came... to honor the bet... "
"Honor the bet? Oh...
At first, Mu Jinyu was a bit confused when he heard Jian Ruyan's words, as his mind was a bit cloudy from a whole day of working on Elixirs, but then he remembered the bet they had made in the morning.
An amused smile spread across his face as he said, "All right, then. Just wait here a moment."
Mu Jinyu had completely forgotten about the morning's bet, his mind fully occupied with Alchemy, and hadn't expected Jian Ruyan to actually keep her word so faithfully.
But since she insisted on washing his clothes for him, he was willing to let her do as promised.
Quickly, Mu Jinyu returned with an exquisitely packed box and walked out.
He handed the box to Jian Ruyan, saying, "Here, take this to wash."
"What's this?"
Jian Ruyan received the box, her expression a blend of dumbfounded and bewildered.
She remembered that when Wen Rou and the others washed Mu Jinyu's laundry, he had not packaged his dirty clothes so nicely.
Could it be...
Inside this box, all there is are Mu Jinyu's stinky underwear, socks?
Jian Ruyan's face suddenly turned ugly.
But she was someone who kept her promises, even if Mu Jinyu had really stored a bunch of dirty underwear and socks for her to wash, to humiliate her, she would still wash them.
When Mu Jinyu saw Jian Ruyan asking the question, her face turned ugly and he didn't understand where her mind had wandered off to, he said, "Why don't you just open it and see for yourself what it is."
"Oh," Jian Ruyan responded with a stiff movement to open the box.
Upon opening it and looking at the contents, Jian Ruyan was stunned.
Contrary to her expectations, instead of dirty underwear and stinky socks or other dirty, smelly clothes, the box contained a clean, white dress with the tags still attached.
The craftsmanship was very delicate, and it was very beautiful.
Was this Mu Jinyu's clothing?
"What is this?" Jian Ruyan lifted her head to look at Mu Jinyu, her pretty face showing no delight at receiving a gift, instead giving Mu Jinyu a weird look, "Your women's clothing?"
"What women's clothing of mine? Do you think I'm a pervert who likes to wear women's clothes?"
When Mu Jinyu heard Jian Ruyan's words, he was amused by her and lightly knocked on her head, saying speechlessly.
"Oh?"
Jian Ruyan's head was knocked by Mu Jinyu—it didn't hurt—and hearing his explanation, the sense of horror in her heart dissipated.
If the Dragon King had a penchant for wearing women's clothes, Jian Ruyan would be afraid to continue staying in the Dragon King Hall.
Then, Jian Ruyan frowned in dissatisfaction and said, "I lost, and I'm supposed to wash your clothes, yet you're asking me to wash someone else's?"
In her opinion, this beautiful dress would belong to one of Mu Jinyu's wives.
This guy was too hateful; she could accept washing clothes for him, but he even had her washing clothes for Gu Xiyan and Wen Rou.
Did he really think she was a laborer?
When her brother came back, she would definitely have to explain everything to him and have him properly discipline Mu Jinyu, this bastard!
Mu Jinyu, upon hearing Jian Ruyan's words, looked speechless and said, "Can't you tell that this dress has never been worn? I just bought it yesterday, okay? It was originally a gift for you!"
"A gift for me?" Jian Ruyan, upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, finally understood that the dress was not meant for Gu Xiyan or Wen Rou, but for herself.
She looked at Mu Jinyu with a strange expression and said, "What are you giving it to me for? I don't want it."
Saying this, Jian Ruyan attempted to return the dress to Mu Jinyu.
Mu Jinyu did not take it, explaining, "It's not like I specifically bought it for you. Yesterday, when I went to the auction to buy Alchemy and the Alchemy Furnace, I saw a lot of jewelry and clothes, so I bought a pile of them. I had already divided them up for my wives yesterday. This dress was prepared for you yesterday, but I came back late. Fearing you were asleep, I thought to give it to you today..."
"Is that so? But I still don't want it..." Jian Ruyan listened to Mu Jinyu's explanation, also recalling Wen Rou coming back holding lots of things.
At that time, Gu Xiyan and the others had asked Wen Rou what those things were. Wen Rou said they were gifts from Jinyu, but they couldn't be opened until Mu Jinyu came back to open them for them.
She hadn't thought much about it at the time and hadn't realized that among those things was something for her.
Mu Jinyu, impatiently, said, "Just accept it. What's wrong with that? I see you keep wearing the same few clothes. If you weren't Ah-Xiang's sister and were just one of my subordinates, I wouldn't bother, but you are Ah-Xiang's sister after all, and I cannot neglect you. Otherwise, when Ah-Xiang comes back and sees you in rags, blaming me for not taking good care of you, won't I get scolded?"
"Oh." As Jian Ruyan listened to Mu Jinyu's gruff tone, she imagined Xiang Mantang scolding him in her mind, and inexplicably felt quite pleased. She blinked, thinking whether she should set him up.
Mu Jinyu saw her intent and warned, "Don't think about setting me up, eh. I've given you Elixir and clothes, I haven't treated you badly."
"Hmph." Jian Ruyan snorted and disdainfully said, "Purposely tricking me into washing your dirty clothes, then plotting to make me wash your clothes for a month, and you still dare to say you haven't treated me badly?"