The noble lady did not scold the young maid for her complaints. Instead, she lovingly caressed the baby carriage, unable to put it down.
She marveled, "I've never seen such a design for a baby carriage before. Who would have thought that such a small Border City would have such an exquisite item? This is…"
As she spoke, her gaze was drawn to a corner of soft fabric peeking out from the folded part of the carriage.
Curious, she unfolded the carriage a bit more and immediately saw two sets of tiny clothes neatly folded inside.
The noble lady took out the clothes and examined them carefully, feeling slightly surprised.
She gave the young maid a reproachful look and said, "You, still saying it's not worth it! Look how thoughtful that young lady is. Not only are these two little outfits uniquely styled, but their craftsmanship and fabric are also top-notch. If I had known earlier, I should have given her more silver."
The young maid leaned over to see the two sets of little clothes and instantly set aside her previous dissatisfaction with Tang Qing'er. She couldn't put them down, turning them over and over in admiration, praising them repeatedly.
Seeing that they were not far from the town, Tang Qing'er decided not to take out another baby carriage.
That item was too conspicuous. After all, both she and her daughter were dressed in tattered clothes, hardly resembling a wealthy family.
Pushing such a carriage would inevitably attract unnecessary attention.
If she encountered someone with ill intentions, they wouldn't come to do business with her like that lady had. Instead, it would only lead to unnecessary trouble.
She still tightly wrapped her son in the tattered bedsheet and held him in her arms.
With one hand holding the child and the other leading her daughter, she quickly walked into Sifang Town.
It was already afternoon, and the town was not particularly lively. With thirteen taels of silver—a "fortune"—in her pocket, Tang Qing'er's first priority was to improve the appearance of herself and her children.
She took her daughter straight to the town's clothing shop and spent five hundred wen to buy a clean set of fine cotton clothes for each of them.
She then spent another hundred wen to buy a soft summer swaddle for the baby.
As for the tattered clothes full of patches and smelling of mildew, she didn't hesitate to give them directly to a beggar by the roadside.
Checking the sky, she decided to rent a house the next day. For the night, she resolved to find an inn to settle down, as she still had things to do in the evening.
Having made up her mind, she asked the clothing shop owner for directions to the only inn in town.
With her two children in tow, she went straight to the inn. Xiao Er saw the thin woman walking in, holding one child in her arms and leading another by the hand.
Although she didn't look particularly well, she was dressed in brand-new fine cotton clothes. Xiao Er warmly greeted her.
"Are you here for a meal or lodging, young lady?" Tang Qing'er replied, "Lodging. How much for a superior room?"
Hearing that she wanted a superior room, Xiao Er became even more enthusiastic. "To answer the lady, a superior room at our humble inn costs one hundred wen. Hot water is provided, and breakfast is included!"
Tang Qing'er nodded and followed Xiao Er to the counter to pay.
After completing the check-in procedures, she was respectfully led by Xiao Er to the second floor.
The room environment was quite good, and the bed and bedding looked clean.
After dismissing Xiao Er, Tang Qing'er gently placed her son on the bed.
Finally, she could catch her breath. This body had been through a lot all day and was truly exhausted.
She also let her daughter lie down to rest while she herself sat cross-legged and began circulating the Wood-Element Supernatural Ability within her body.
As the Supernatural Ability flowed slowly through her meridians, the hidden and visible injuries on her body that had not yet fully healed began to repair rapidly.
Half an hour later, Tang Qing'er slowly opened her eyes, feeling refreshed and invigorated, with all her fatigue swept away.
Her gaze swept across the room and landed on a somewhat wilted potted plant on the windowsill.
Tang Qing'er walked over, her fingers twitching slightly as a gentle green energy quietly emanated.
The previously listless plant instantly perked up, its stem rapidly growing taller, its leaves unfurling, and even sprouting tiny flower buds. Satisfied with the effect, Tang Qing'er stopped.
She thought to herself that she needed to find a way to upgrade her Supernatural Ability as soon as possible, but there were no Crystal Cores in ancient times.
The only way was the most tedious method: repeatedly exhausting her ability, recovering, and exhausting it again to slowly level up.
Thinking of this, she felt somewhat frustrated, but suddenly her eyes lit up. She remembered that there seemed to be a mutated plant in her space.
When she had stored it away, it had already developed Spiritual Intelligence. She wondered if it was still there. She entered her space with her body and began searching.
After rummaging for nearly half an hour, she finally found the dusty flowerpot hidden behind a pile of clutter.
Inside, the nightmare vine was wilted, its slender vines curled up, and the hooks on its stem had lost their usual luster.
She remembered clearly how troublesome this little convolvulaceae creature was.
The dimethyltryptamine it secreted could weave the most realistic illusions. Back then, she had exhausted all her mental energy to subdue it.
But who would have thought that just a few days after bringing it into her space, she had crossed over.
Tang Qing'er condensed a strand of shimmering green energy at her fingertip and gently covered the vine with it.
The next moment, a miracle occurred!
The strand of green energy seemed to be the key to life, instantly absorbed completely by the nightmare vine.
The slender vines visibly thickened, unfurled, and shot upward wildly, growing to half a person's height in the blink of an eye.
At the top of the vine, a small flower bud rapidly formed, swelled, and then burst open with a "pop."
The shape of the flower was extremely bizarre, with layers of petals in a dark, mysterious purple hue.
And right in the center of the flower was embedded a palm-sized, exquisitely beautiful little girl's face!
The girl's long eyelashes fluttered, and a pair of crystal-clear eyes slowly opened, filled with the drowsiness and confusion of someone just waking up.
She looked at Tang Qing'er, pouting slightly, and said in a soft but slightly reproachful tone:
"You finally remembered me? I thought you were going to leave me forgotten here forever and ever."
Tang Qing'er quickly waved her hands in apology, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!
When I brought you into my space that day, I genuinely wanted to become battle partners with you, but… sigh."
She briefly explained her crossing over to another world.
After hearing this, the nightmare vine's face showed not a trace of blame but instead an uncontrollable joy, her voice even rising a few pitches:
"Really? That's great! Quick, quick, take me out to see!
I've finally escaped that ghostly place full of monsters! I succeeded, yay yay yay!"
Tang Qing'er was completely baffled. She scratched her head and asked in confusion:
"What do you mean… you succeeded?"
"I was never a creature from your world to begin with," the girl's face turned slightly in the flower's center, her voice carrying a hint of pride.
"I come from a higher plane and had already cultivated Spiritual Intelligence long ago.
It was only by accident that I fell into your world, which was full of zombie monsters."
She paused, her gaze at Tang Qing'er growing a bit more sly:
"Actually, I let you capture me on purpose. Otherwise, with your meager skills back then, hmph…"
After saying this, she proudly lifted her delicate chin.
"I saw long ago that you had the potential to travel between different worlds.
Did you think your space just happened to follow you here?
It was me, this vine, who spent half of my origin power to imprint the soul mark of the space on you!"
Then, sounding somewhat dejected, she added: "Losing half my power, I could have taken human form before, but now I can't.
So now I'm essentially your space spirit, completely bound to you.
You need to work hard to upgrade the space. Only when the space energy is abundant can I return to my peak state."
Tang Qing'er was stunned by the series of explosive revelations from the nightmare vine.
It took her a while to digest the information before she hesitantly asked, "You mean my space can be upgraded?"
The nightmare vine rolled her eyes: "What do you think?"