Returning to Haicheng once more, Lin Wan let out a long breath of relief. The events of just a single day had left her feeling as though entire lifetimes had passed.
She quickly composed herself, looking Lu Zheng and the three women up and down. “Shall we head home first to change clothes, or use an illusion spell for disguise?”
“Changing clothes would be better. It feels more convenient,” Lu Zheng said with a smile.
As he spoke, he had already taken a pair of jeans and a hoodie from the bedroom wardrobe and changed into them in a few swift movements.
Then he removed the hairpin, gave his head a gentle shake, and his long hair fell away in strands. Only a little over an inch remained, styled into a neat, energetic short cut.
The fallen strands ignited in mid-air, turned to green smoke, and vanished without trace.
Lin Wan stared, dumbfounded. “Do you do this every time you cross over?”
“I used wigs at first, then illusion spells. In the end, this feels more comfortable and natural. It’s no trouble anyway,” Lu Zheng said with a nod.
By the time Lu Zheng had nearly five hundred years of cultivation, he could already control hair growth at will.
If he deliberately withheld spiritual energy from it, the hair became ordinary. Cutting one crop and growing another placed no burden on him at all.
“Do we need to do the same?” Liu Qingyan asked softly.
“You certainly don’t. Long hair is perfectly common for women, and yours isn’t excessively long,” Lu Zheng replied.
Even in ancient times, people did not refrain entirely from cutting their hair. They simply did so infrequently, ensuring it remained suitable for tying into buns.
Thus, when let down, Liu Qingyan’s and Shen Ying’s hair reached exactly to their waists. Si Lingxi’s was longer still, and even more striking.
“Let’s go home first, change into some of my clothes, then head to the mall for proper shopping,” Lin Wan said with a laugh.
“Isn’t this your home?”
Lin Wan shook her head and shot Lu Zheng a sidelong glance. “This is the flat Lu Zheng rented to avoid me. Our real home is in another building in the same complex.”
The three women therefore used illusion spells first, returned to Lu Zheng and Lin Wan’s spacious top-floor flat, and changed outfits under Lin Wan’s guidance.
Liu Qingyan wore a dress with a light cardigan.
Shen Ying chose jeans and a hoodie.
Si Lingxi opted for leggings and a batwing top.
All three had waist-length hair and looked more like models than actual models, more like stars than actual stars.
They opened the door and stepped into the lift.
Lu Zheng explained, “This is called a lift. It’s used for going up and down in tall buildings…”
Si Lingxi nodded to show she understood. “Another tool powered by electricity, designed for high-rise structures. I never imagined you could build buildings this tall.”
“Reinforced concrete construction, with deep enough foundations,” Lu Zheng said. “The Industrial Revolution made large-scale steel production possible, so modern society depends entirely on steel and energy.”
Si Lingxi nodded again. In truth, she had never encountered a social system like this, so she had no particular opinions to offer.
“Ding!”
With a soft chime, the lift stopped at the ninth floor. Lu Zheng quickly caught Shen Ying’s arm as she started forward. “Not yet. Someone from another flat on this building is getting off.”
The doors opened, and a small, chubby boy wearing glasses walked in. He looked up and found four stunning beauties staring straight at him.
The boy had never faced anything like this. He turned at once to face the doors, hands awkward at his sides, eyes fixed on the reflective metal surface while sweat beaded on his forehead.
Then he heard a light laugh from behind him, and his nerves tightened further.
The lift reached the ground floor. With a cheerful ding-dong, the doors opened, and the boy bolted out without a backward glance.
Shen Ying could not help smiling. “That boy was rather amusing.”
His footsteps sped up even more.
“Shall we get out too? Isn’t this the ground floor?” Liu Qingyan asked. “Though the little button you pressed is still lit. The one that boy pressed went dark.”
“We’re going to the basement car park,” Lu Zheng explained. “That’s why there’s a minus sign. These are numbers, by the way…”
“I know. One to nine. I’ve seen them on clocks at home,” Shen Ying said with a smile.
As they chatted, the lift reached basement level one. They walked to Lu Zheng’s Dongfeng Fengshen.
Lin Wan pressed the key fob; the car lights flashed once. She handed the keys to Lu Zheng. “You drive?”
“Of course!” Lu Zheng said with a nod.
Lu Zheng took the wheel, Si Lingxi sat in the front passenger seat, and Lin Wan settled in the middle rear, leaving the window seats for Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying.
“So soft, and very smooth. What animal’s fur is this?” Liu Qingyan asked, running her hand over the seat.
Truth be told, because Liu Qingyan’s true form was a fox, Lin Wan had always avoided mentioning anything fur-related in her presence, yet Liu Qingyan herself had raised the subject.
“It’s cow leather, I think. Most leather goods are made from cowhide,” Lin Wan explained.
Moments later, Si Lingxi copied Lu Zheng and fastened her seatbelt. She watched him press a button; the dashboard screen lit up with colourful lights, the engine roared to life, and the car began to move.
“So this is a car. Truly marvellous, and far more comfortable than a carriage, though the space is a little cramped.”
By this point Lu Zheng had driven out of the car park. Liu Qingyan pointed out of the window. “Lu Lang, why not buy one of those and modify it?”
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan followed her gaze and saw a bus.
Lu Zheng fell silent.
“That’s a bus,” Lin Wan explained. “It’s mainly for carrying lots of people to and from work. Cities have so many people and cars that if private individuals drove vehicles that large, traffic would grind to a halt. Big vehicles also use far more fuel, which would be wasteful.”
“There are larger private cars, though,” Lin Wan added, turning to Lu Zheng. “I really think you should get an MPV now. Before, when it was just the two of us, the Fengshen was fine, but it won’t do any more.”
Lu Zheng nodded. “We’ll look when we have time. No hurry.”
He had now reached the main road. Cars streamed past in both directions, shops lined the streets with goods spilling out, and pedestrians bustled everywhere.
Lu Zheng’s flat was in the city centre, so the moment they stepped outside, the noise and energy were overwhelming.
“So lively. Far busier than Tonglin County, or even Yizhou Prefecture,” Liu Qingyan remarked.
Tonglin County was only a small place of forty or fifty thousand people, and Yizhou Prefecture had barely two hundred thousand. How could they compare with Haicheng?
Before long, Lu Zheng pulled into Fulong Plaza, their usual spot for shopping and leisure.
“We often come here,” Lin Wan said. “It’s all-in-one shopping, dining, entertainment. You can watch a film, visit the cat café, and a whole day disappears.”
Shen Ying nodded enthusiastically, and together with Si Lingxi and Liu Qingyan, she gazed at the strangely shaped mall building.
