The rice seedlings, which had been so withered they looked as though they would dry up and die at any moment, seemed to come back to life instantly after receiving a few drops of spirit spring water. They became lush and vibrant in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, Su Qingran finally let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, those fifty copper coins hadn’t been wasted.
Su Qingran was absolutely not cut out for farming. Back in the apocalypse, her space hadn’t contained any spiritual farmland, so she had no idea how crops were supposed to be planted. In the end, she simply dug a series of shallow pits and planted the wheat seedlings one by one in the spiritual field beside the spirit spring.
Soon, two baskets of millet wheat and half a basket of rice had all been planted.
“This isn’t difficult at all. I’ll just come back every day and water them with a little spirit spring water.”
Perhaps because she had just drunk some of the spirit spring water herself, her body was brimming with energy. She didn’t feel tired in the slightest.
Oh no. She had been busy for so long that it was probably already getting dark.
The thought startled Su Qingran, and she hurriedly left the space.
Her space was still too low-level. Whenever she entered or exited, she could only appear within a one-kilometer radius of where she had originally gone in.
If she wanted to travel to entirely different locations through the space, she would need to level it up.
Fortunately, the spiritual energy in this world was fairly abundant. As soon as her space arrived here, it had automatically advanced to Level Two.
A Level Two space could sustain itself through the spiritual energy contained within it, creating a continuous cycle.
As long as no creatures that consumed excessive amounts of spiritual energy entered the space, it would never collapse.
To upgrade the space further, however, she would need Space Stones.
In her previous life, Su Qingran had searched for a full ten years and found only a single Space Stone.
It was because of that stone that she had been able to integrate her entire shelter into the space and bring it along with her.
Those fools had probably never imagined that the shelter she painstakingly built had already become connected to her space.
As long as Su Qingran disappeared, her shelter would disappear as well.
Once they discovered the truth, they would probably cough up blood from sheer rage.
After all, the supplies stored inside the shelter didn’t belong solely to Su Qingran—they belonged to an entire team.
Su Qingran chose a location as far away as possible from where those two people had died. After making sure no one was around, she emerged from her space.
Damn it. The sky was already getting dark.
She needed to find an inn near the Pei Residence as quickly as possible. Tonight, she had something very important to do.
Meanwhile, at the Pei Residence…
“I’m asking all of you—where exactly did Miss Su go?!”
Pei Xingzhou’s normally handsome and refined face was twisted with anger.
Beside him, Li Qiuju, unusually, didn’t dare say a word.
She shot Wen Yuyan a meaningful glance. She didn’t want to irritate her son herself, so she pushed someone else forward instead.
Truth be told, Li Qiuju was dissatisfied no matter who married her son, Pei Xingzhou.
The only reason she favored Wen Yuyan was because the girl was obedient, easy to control, and also her niece. That’s why she had been trying to match the two of them together.
Receiving her aunt’s signal, Wen Yuyan reluctantly stepped forward.
“Cousin, you didn’t see what happened today. When the servants tried to stop Miss Su from leaving, she threatened them with the stick in her hand. No one dared get close to her.”
“Exactly!” Li Qiuju quickly chimed in. “Look at the servants she injured today. Some of them still haven’t woken up yet.”
Pei Xingzhou rubbed his forehead with a headache.
His former mentor had once told him that a true man should focus on establishing himself in the world and not become overly entangled in domestic affairs.
Ever since his mother brought Wen Yuyan into the household, however, he felt trapped in endless household disputes every single day. It was utterly exhausting.
“I don’t care what Su Qingran did. As long as she’s the granddaughter of the Pingyang Marquis, nothing can happen to her while she’s staying at the Pei Residence. If anything happens to her, how am I supposed to stand in court in the future? If I become known as someone who breaks his promises, who would dare entrust me with important responsibilities?”
As he spoke, he stared directly at Li Qiuju.
He had already guessed that Su Qingran had torn up the marriage contract so decisively because she had suffered countless grievances in the Pei Residence.
Previously, he had suspected that his mother had been trying to “teach her rules” and had likely done many things that Su Qingran disliked, which was why the household was constantly in chaos.
At the time, however, Pei Xingzhou had felt that if Su Qingran was going to marry him, she couldn’t continue living as extravagantly and indulgently as she had in the Pingyang Marquis Residence.
Having his mother teach her some proper rules and train her to become a suitable daughter-in-law of the Pei family seemed perfectly reasonable.
He had never expected things to deteriorate to this point.
Su Qingran had torn up the marriage contract without the slightest hesitation.
It looked as though she truly had no intention of marrying him anymore.
The entire Pei Residence searched for her throughout the night.
Little did they know that Su Qingran was already inside the estate.
Originally, she had planned to stay at an inn near the Pei Residence.
Then it occurred to her that, given Pei Xingzhou’s personality, he would certainly send servants out to look for her in order to avoid public criticism.
Since everyone was busy searching for her, wouldn’t tonight be the perfect opportunity to empty out her dowry?
Sneaking to a secluded corner on the outer perimeter of the Pei Residence, Su Qingran immediately entered her space.
Anywhere within a one-kilometer radius, she could teleport directly through the space.
When she emerged again, she discovered that she had arrived inside Pei Xingzhou’s courtyard.
Her dowry should be hidden somewhere here, right?
That shameless man.
He had somehow managed to dress up the act of swallowing an orphan’s inheritance in such righteous-sounding words.
The Pei family was so poor that Su Qingran simply couldn’t believe Pei Xingzhou was noble enough not to covet her dowry.
At this hour, the courtyard was completely silent.
After confirming that no one else was around, she quietly slipped into Pei Xingzhou’s room.
Her dowry consisted of more than a dozen large chests.
Surely they wouldn’t be hidden in his bedroom, would they?
At the very least, they should be stored somewhere with more space.
The Pei family really was dirt poor.
Just look at Pei Xingzhou’s room—even it was incredibly shabby, without a single piece of decent furniture.
What a pauper.
An absolute pauper.
After searching the room, Su Qingran finally found the marriage contract between herself and Pei Xingzhou inside a small box.
Just as she was about to take it, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
If the marriage contract disappeared, wouldn’t she become the prime suspect in the theft of the dowry?
Li Qiuju and Wen Yuyan were always looking for opportunities to make trouble for her.
Why not let them take the blame instead?
Having figured it out, Su Qingran put the box back exactly where it had been.
Her dowry definitely wasn’t here.
As her gaze swept across the room, she suddenly noticed a tiny door hidden behind a large cabinet.
The cabinet concealed almost the entire doorway.
Without careful observation, no one would ever notice it.
After moving the cabinet aside, Su Qingran discovered that several large locks had been fastened onto the door.
For her, opening such locks was child’s play.
She took out a universal lockpick from her space.
A series of clicks rang out.
Within moments, every lock had been opened.
Her space might not contain much food, but it was filled with every imaginable miscellaneous item.
After carefully pushing the door open, Su Qingran slipped inside and immediately closed it behind her.
The tiny room was pitch black.
She couldn’t see a thing.
Taking out a flashlight she had prepared beforehand, she shone the beam around.
Sure enough, she spotted the dozen or so dowry chests her grandfather had prepared for her.
But…
Were there really this many boxes?
Whatever.
The more she took, the more she profited.
Without even bothering to inspect them, Su Qingran swept everything into her space.
In the blink of an eye, the secret chamber had been completely emptied.