Still sitting on the picnic blanket, Maomao stretched lazily like a cat that had been napping under the sun, let out a little yawn, and briefly rubbed her calf muscles where she could feel the aftermath of her "morning exercise". Her legs were still trembling a bit.

"Haven't been running like that for quite a long time,"

she thought.

"My muscles will probably be sore tomorrow. After all, I'm not a trained sword fighter like a certain someone."

The "certain someone", for his part, was currently still running around happily between the trees, enjoying his temporary freedom.

"I wonder when he'll finally have enough..."

Musing about for how much longer Jinshi might still run like that, the apothecary leaned her back against the apple tree's trunk and took a few deep breaths, realizing that it had been quite a while for her as well since the last time she had breathed fresh air and felt the warmth of the sun on her skin.