Having resolved the dicinal monopoly crisis facing Chu Fengteng, Yan Yueqing felt a little relieved and was preparing to get up and take her leave.
However, Chu Fengteng seed to suddenly rember sothing important. He hurriedly took out a palm-sized, dark green velvet-wrapped package from the dicine pouch he carried with him.
"Aunt Xiaoxing, please hold on." Chu Fengteng’s expression was solemn as he presented the package with both hands, "This is sothing my master specifically instructed to hand over to you personally before he departed. He said... this item is fated to be with you, and you must accept it and carry it with you."
Yan Yueqing felt slightly surprised as she took the velvet package. It was slightly heavier than she expected, with a cool, invigorating touch.
With a gentle flick of her fingertips, the velvet slipped away, revealing a pendant quietly lying inside.
It was a crescent-shaped pendant, about the size of a thumb. Its material was neither gold nor jade, presenting a gentle and subdued mysterious black color, as if absorbing the deepest light. The curve of the crescent was smooth and harmonious, its edges polished to extre smoothness, cool to the touch, yet faintly exuding a touch of warmth.
Most strikingly, at the center of the crescent, was embedded an extrely tiny, nearly imperceptible star point. This star point was not a gemstone, but more like a tiny speck of congealed, profound silver glow, weak yet persistently shining against the dark backdrop, resembling a lone, suspended cold star in the night sky.
Yan Yueqing’s gaze was instantly captivated.
Familiar!
A strong sense of familiarity surged from the depths of her soul, instantly overwhelming her.
This shape, this feeling... she has definitely seen it before! And not in any ordinary place!
Her thoughts were like a lake stirred by a thrown stone, violently surging, with fragnts of mory flashing by rapidly—it was that ethereal, possibility-laden stream of ti!
In that dinsion beyond reality, she seed to have seen similar objects emitting strange waves!
They drifted like star fragnts, floating amidst the torrent of information.
With this thought, another thought she had deliberately suppressed surged to the surface—system!
The system that accompanied her through heart-stopping adventures, granting her the power to change her fate, but eventually departed quietly, leaving only the words "live well"!
An indescribable sadness gripped her heart instantly, filled with intense longing and uncertainty about the unknown.
When the system left, the "seed" that sprouted with the system’s missions, signifying so peculiar connection, vanished along with it...
Wait! Seed?!
Yan Yueqing’s heart sank suddenly!
She had previously thought of that seed as rely an accessory of the system’s existence, dissipating naturally as the system left.
But why, at this mont, upon seeing this crescent pendant, connecting it with the scenes from the stream of ti, does she so intensely, so vividly realize its disappearance?
It was as if an invisible force had previously blurred her mory of the seed, only for this pendant to jolt her into sudden awareness!
Its disappearance was too thorough! And... too peculiar!
A strong sense of unease, like icy vines, instantly wound around her heart, making her fingertips grow cold.
Is the appearance of this pendant a coincidence? Or the beginning of so deeper linkage she cannot yet comprehend?
Is there so hidden connection between the disappearance of the seed left by the system and this mysterious pendant from Mr. Chu?
"Aunt Xiaoxing?" Chu Fengteng, seeing her holding the pendant without speaking for a long ti, her expression shifting from initial surprise to deep nostalgia, and then to the current heaviness and unease, couldn’t help but call out softly in concern.
Yan Yueqing suddenly snapped back to reality, her fingertips instinctively closing, feeling the unique intertwining of coolness and warmth of the crescent pendant, as if holding a small piece of solidified night sky.
Suppressing her tumultuous emotions, she gave Chu Fengteng a reassuring smile, though the smile did not fully reach her eyes: "Thank Mr. Bai for . This pendant... is very unique, I will accept it."
She carefully picked up the pendant, the tiny silver star point flickering weakly between her fingers. Without further hesitation, she directly wore it around her neck.
The cool crescent pressed against her skin, and that unique cool sensation seed to instantly seep in, calming her chaotic emotions slightly, but the vague sense of unease deep within her did not dissipate; instead, it settled down, turning into a heavy vigilance.
"Okay, I will definitely convey it to Master." Chu Fengteng, seeing her accept and wear it, felt a sense of relief, though he sensed her emotional change, he prudently did not ask more questions.
Yan Yueqing nodded and was about to leave when her phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated, breaking the subtle silence of the room. On the screen, the na "Du Mansheng" flashed.
She imdiately answered: "Mansheng?"
"Yueqing!" Du Mansheng’s bright and cheerful voice ca through the receiver with a traveler’s excitent and a hint of reliance on her anchor, "We’ve arrived at the Imperial City! Just got off the plane, and Xiaoxiao, Mian Mian, and Tang Tang are all with !"
The heaviness on Yan Yueqing’s face was instantly diluted by this vibrant voice and replaced by warm joy: "So soon? Weren’t you coming in a couple of days?"
"Plans can’t keep up with changes!" Du Mansheng laughed, with the background sound of the little girls chattering, "Tang Tang knew you could return to the Imperial City, wanted to co see you but was too shy to say, and Xiaoxiao and Mian Mian needed to transfer schools here anyways, so I thought there’s no ti like the present and just ca early! Where are you in the Imperial City? Quickly ’rescue’ us, these three little ancestors got overexcited on the plane and now have low batteries, desperately needing food and amusent parks to recharge!"
Yan Yueqing laughed, as if already seeing Du Mansheng surrounded by the three little girls: "I’ve just finished up. Which exit are you at? I’ll be right over."
"Terminal 3, International Arrivals Exit B! Waiting for you, Yueqing!"
Her voice was accompanied by Tang Tang’s energetic "Godmother," and next to it seed to be Du Mian Mian (forrly Xiaoyu) quietly saying "Hello, Aunt Yueqing" and Du Xiaoxiao (forrly Song Xiaoxiao) proudly announcing "We’re here!".
"Okay, wait for , I’ll be there soon." Yan Yueqing hung up the phone, and the heavy anxiety brought by the pendant and the disappeared seed was temporarily dissipated by the excitent of seeing the children and the holy warmth brought by Du Mansheng.
She turned to Chu Fengteng: "Sister Mansheng has brought the children to the Imperial City, I must hurry to pick them up. As for the dicinal herbs, proceed as we discussed, I’ll have my team coordinate the funding soon."
"Aunt Xiaoxing, rest assured, you go ahead." Chu Fengteng kindly saw her out the door.
Yan Yueqing quickly left the Food Supplent Shop, got into the car, and told the driver: "To Terminal 3 at the airport, quickly."
She leaned back in the seat, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the newly worn crescent pendant on her neck. The cool touch remained, and that faint silver glow flickered intermittently with the light changes inside the car.
She closed her eyes, forcibly suppressing the persistent unease to the deepest part of her heart.
Right now, reunions and the children’s laughter are more important.
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