Shen Ningning was sad for quite a while after Mo Lingwei left.
However, the thought of him reuniting with his family also made the little girl happy for him.
'If I ever get to reunite with my own mother and father, I'll be just as eager to rush back into their arms.'
The Jade Pendant Mo Lingwei had left her was especially important to Shen Ningning.
She went straight into the Immortal Realm and carefully placed the Jade Pendant on an empty shelf where she kept her medicinal herbs.
'That way, I won't accidentally lose it!'
However, when Shen Ningning went in to check the next day, she discovered that Mo Lingwei's Jade Pendant had vanished without a trace!
"How could this happen!" Her face turned deathly pale as she frantically searched the area, circling it several times.
But it was nowhere to be found!
'No one but me can enter the Immortal Realm, and it's not like the Jade Pendant grew legs and ran off!'
When she realized the Jade Pendant was truly gone, she sat on the ground and burst into tears.
"I'm so stupid... I lost my brother's Jade Pendant."
She wiped away her tears with her small hands, filled with self-reproach.
Just as Shen Ningning happened to glance up, she saw that the door to the rear hall, which had always been locked, was now cracked open.
She froze for a moment, then pushed herself to her feet and walked toward it.
As she drew near, she caught the fragrant scent of earth after a rainfall.
Shen Ningning pushed the door open with her small hands, and the sight that greeted her left her stunned!
Before her lay plot after plot of perfectly square, fertile land.
They were divided into sections, with some plots containing black soil, others yellow, and some even red.
A sign hung in each distinct section.
But Shen Ningning couldn't read the words on them yet.
She walked forward in a daze. Suddenly, from the blue sky and white clouds overhead, came the rumble of distant thunder.
Not two seconds later, huge raindrops came pouring down.
Shen Ningning quickly ducked back under the eaves for cover.
She watched in astonishment as the rain watered the fertile soil, making it glisten.
A moment later, the rain stopped.
The sky cleared, and lazy white clouds drifted by once more.
An idea popped into Shen Ningning's head, and she quickly wiped her tears away.
She turned and pattered back into the hall where the herbs were stored, grabbing a random seed.
The little girl then buried it in the soil and waited.
She leaned against the doorframe. After a moment, thunder rumbled in the sky again!
Sure enough, another downpour began!
After the rain passed, a small, vibrant green seedling had sprouted from the very spot where she had planted the seed!
"Amazing! It grew so fast!" Shen Ningning was utterly astonished.
This phenomenon confirmed her suspicions about the Immortal Realm.
'It turns out my Immortal Realm doesn't just have ready-made food and herbs.'
'I can also plant and harvest things at incredible speed.'
She had watched Uncle Qin farm before and knew how hard it was. You didn't just have to water and fertilize; you also had to weed and deal with pests.
But her Immortal Realm seemed to skip all those complicated steps!
'All I have to do is wait for the harvest!'
She just didn't know how long it would take for the seed to fully mature.
Shen Ningning made a note of the hour and left the Immortal Realm.
Thinking about the vanished Jade Pendant, the little girl still felt a bit dejected.
'Does my Immortal Realm have to eat Jade Pendants to grow?' she wondered, cupping her chin in her hands, her little face etched with worry.
'Next time I see him, I'll have to apologize!'
「It was now afternoon.」
Grandma Qin had taken her medicine and was asleep on a pile of hay.
The Black Wolf King returned and nudged Shen Ningning's hand with his nose.
"Hmm? Langlang?"
The Black Wolf King let out a soft growl.
Shen Ningning immediately followed him outside. "Where are you taking me?"
Without any fuss, the Black Wolf King lowered his body, and the little girl obediently climbed onto his back.
Then, girl and wolf raced off into the deep forest.
「About fifteen minutes later.」
The Black Wolf King stopped and lifted his head, gesturing for Shen Ningning to look ahead.
Shen Ningning looked over and instantly gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.
Before her stood an abandoned old mansion, nestled deep in the mountains!
The dusty entrance, the decaying plaque, and the crumbling eaves were severely damaged.
But even so, from the sheer size of the residence, it wasn't hard to imagine its magnificence when it was first built.
Shen Ningning took a few small steps inside. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere.
The Black Wolf King followed at her side, explaining with a series of soft howls.
It turned out that the mansion had been built fifty years ago for a high-ranking official's retirement.
But it seemed his family had run into some trouble and left in a great hurry.
No one knew this grand residence was even here.
When Shen Ningning was younger, she had only heard Grandma Qin mention that there was a haunted house in the back mountains and that she should never go there.
Besides, with so many wolves on Wolf Mountain, people stayed away.
The Black Wolf King licked Shen Ningning's little hand.
Wolves, by nature, live in caves.
But he couldn't bear to see the little girl sleeping on piles of hay with the pack, breaking out in red rashes.
So, he had found her a home.
Shen Ningning looked all around, her head spinning with boundless joy.
The mansion was old and worn, but thankfully, most of the roof tiles were still intact.
Aside from the dust, the basic furnishings were still inside.
"Langlang! This is wonderful! Let's clean this place up together, then we can bring Grandma and the rest of the pack to live here."
The Black Wolf King nodded enthusiastically.
That was exactly what he had in mind.
Shen Ningning couldn't wait. She rolled up her sleeves, picked up a broom that had fallen against the wall, and began to sweep the dust from the courtyard.
The Black Wolf King, for his part, used his mouth to carry bits of debris and toss them outside the mansion.
But there was so much dust that after just one sweep, Shen Ningning was choked by the cloud that rose into the air.
"COUGH, COUGH!" When the dust settled, her little face was covered in grime.
Even so, she giggled with delight.
「For the next three days.」
She and the Black Wolf King left before dawn each day and only returned after dark.
Eventually, the Black Wolf King even called on the rest of the pack to help.
Since Grandma Qin hadn't fully recovered, she stayed behind in the Wolf Cave, cooking for Shen Ningning and the pack.
With the pack's help, they finally managed to clean out the front courtyard and two of the main buildings.
She even found a letter under one of the beds.
But it was ancient. The rice paper had yellowed with age, and the writing was faded. Most importantly, she couldn't read it.
Still, Shen Ningning carefully stored it in her space.
'Once I learn to read, I'll definitely be able to understand it.'
What surprised the little girl even more was that the mansion also had an abandoned study!
An entire wall was lined with bookshelves.
She pulled out a book and tried to read it.
Wolf Three sidled up to the little girl. Eager to please her, he also pretended to read, placing a paw on a book.
Shen Ningning caught him out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help but laugh. "Wolf Three, your book is upside down!"
The other wolves let out a chorus of howls, as if they were all laughing at him.
Wolf Three silently swished his tail, then lay down and covered his eyes with his front paws in embarrassment.
Just as the little girl and the wolf pack were sharing a laugh...
Suddenly!
A distant howl echoed from far away.
It was the howl of the patrol wolf the Black Wolf King had left behind to watch over Grandma Qin.
The Black Wolf King shot to his feet, and the eyes of the entire pack instantly turned fierce.
Hearing the mournful, pleading sound, the little girl's expression changed. She immediately dropped the book.
"Something's happened to Grandma! Langlang, we have to go back, now!"