002 The High Immortal Is Online
Her Majesty, the Queen, was Gu Qing, and Gu Qing was Her Majesty, the Queen.
This was the contact name Qin Ren had privately given his older sister, who was in grad school. It was meant as a jab.
He still remembered what Lu Shuren once said: “One may choose not to answer anyone’s call in this world; Gu Qing’s, however, is likely the only one that is unacceptable not to answer.”
Ever since the day they became sworn siblings in the orphanage, relying on each other to survive, Qin Ren had almost never missed a single one of her calls, except in special circumstances.
This time was no different.
“Hello?”
“Qin Ren.”
Although the girl’s voice on the other end of the line was very pleasant, her tone was somewhat cold and indifferent.
Qin Ren was already used to this.
“What’s up, Sis?”
“Qin Ren, I just received a text message. It’s a verification code, sent by mistake.”
“A verification code… sent by mistake?”
Wasn’t it perfectly normal for a phone these days to receive a few misdirected verification codes every day?
“Qin Ren, do you know what kind of verification code it is?”
Of course, Qin Ren didn’t know. He was just about to ask.
“It’s a registration text from Zhen’ai Wang.”
Gu Qing remained indifferent, though her speech quickened slightly.
“Zhen’ai Wang, a dating website. Qin Ren, was it you? Did you autofill my number when you were registering on the computer at home?”
“Me? Dating?”
Qin Ren let out a scoff. He’d been wondering what the big deal was.
It seemed that regardless of blood ties, all older sisters in the world were the same, never hesitating to assume the most gossipy things about their own little brothers…
“Sis, you know me. First of all, when it comes to this whole dating thing, I actually…”
“You still haven’t answered me.”
The cold voice began to rise in pitch.
“Sigh, I was just getting to that. As they say…”
“Stop being so cheeky!”
The fact that Qin Ren still had the mind to joke around seemed to be the last straw, and a soft nasal tone finally broke through, unable to be hidden.
“So tell me! Was it you who signed up or not?!”
“…”
Judging from over a decade of experience, Qin Ren knew Gu Qing was probably genuinely anxious, so he quickly adopted a serious tone.
“Of course not! Sis, if I…”
“Mr. Qin.”
“?”
Just as Qin Ren was explaining, Bai Jie came down from the second floor, still wearing her professional eight-toothed smile.
“Since you’re sticking with your choice, then I hope what I just said was unnecessary. We’ll meet again if fate allows.”
“Oh… oh, yes, if fate allows…”
Qin Ren shook the hand Bai Jie extended, blinked twice, then his eyes gradually widened. He immediately cupped his hand over the phone’s mouthpiece.
“Sis, don’t misunderstand! I swear! That was just… Hello? Sis? Gu Qing! Qing’er!”
Beep, beep, beep—
The line was already dead.
…
Meanwhile, far away in a classroom in Mingxin Building at Jiaotong University.
A somewhat petite figure leaned against the window, her hands clasped before her stomach, tightly gripping an old, white Vivo phone. Her slender fingers repeatedly tapped the loose volume key, betraying a strange agitation.
“Liar…”
The word seemed to escape her lips in a whisper. Her eyes, looking through a few soft strands of lifted hair, gazed at the white birches by the distant sports field. They were slightly out of focus, shimmering with a thin layer of moisture.
And he swore…
Heh.
Back in college, didn’t he also swear he wouldn’t get a girlfriend…?
“What’s wrong, Gu Qing?” From outside the classroom, a middle-aged woman with flowing, wine-red hair walked in, holding a stack of documents.
“Nothing.” The figure by the window turned around. “Professor Zhang, I’ve finished the analysis. I sent it to you on QQ. Please take a look.”
“Mm, alright.”
The woman sat down. As she opened QQ, she secretly glanced at the student before her with a puzzled look.
Strange…
Why does it sound like someone’s sniffling…
Does the kid have a cold?
——————————
On the other side, near Longhu Residential Community.
“Damn it! That woman, Bai, is a real jinx! I curse you to run into A-Bin the moment you step outside…”
After leaving the Fengya Teahouse, Qin Ren made a trip to the supermarket. He was now walking out of Walmart, large beads of sweat rolling down from his forehead and blurring his vision, making his already melancholic eyes seem downright depressed.
“And that damn cat… eats more than I do every single day…”
He was carrying a large bag of cat food and dried fish, forced to act as a manual laborer on his rare day off.
Braving the scorching sun, he finally made it back to the entrance of his residential community. By now, his craving for air conditioning was like ants crawling all over him.
“Little friend, don’t run around, you might fall and hurt yourself.”
The security guard at the community gate was very amiable. Qin Ren glanced up and saw him apparently trying to persuade a little girl who was rushing into the crowd, attempting to force her way through the entrance gate.
“Hey, damn it! She bites!”
Things weren’t going smoothly, it seemed. A commotion arose, and the guard was grimacing, clutching his white-gloved right hand.
Through the sweat dripping from his eyelashes, Qin Ren vaguely saw a small figure in white crouching down, slipping through the entrance gate, and dashing into the community.
Heh, what a brat…
He snorted inwardly, then his stomach suddenly rumbled. Only then did he remember that he hadn’t eaten anything since finishing his overtime last night until now, almost one in the afternoon.
Man is iron, food is steel. Qin Ren, carrying his bags, went to a nearby vegetable stall and bought a bundle of dried noodles. After he was done, he entered the community and went up to the 17th floor where his apartment was. There, Qin Ren was stunned to find a lump of something in front of his door.
It was black and white, curled into a ball, like a giant tangyuan with its filling exposed.
“…”
Qin Ren moved closer and poked at it. The tangyuan moved.
It turned out to be a person, squatting.
Jet-black hair, pure white clothes. A figure of about thirteen or fourteen years old stood up, rubbing their eyes.
…
This was an exceptionally pretty little girl.
Her facial features were remarkably delicate, and her figure possessed a soft, symmetrical grace rarely seen in someone her age. Long black hair cascaded down to her slender waist. Her white dress was of an ancient style, embroidered with a ring of hollowed-out, pale silver patterns that sparkled dazzlingly.
And even more dazzling was the glimpse of slender, fair calves revealed beneath the hem of her dress.
Qin Ren had only seen legs like these twice in his life.
Once in a dream, and once in a video game cutscene.
…
Someone from the same floor?
Qin Ren recognized her as the little girl who had forced her way through the entrance gate earlier. But for her to appear here, could be a neighbor’s child?
Qin Ren looked down at the little girl’s bare, fair, and tender feet.
“Hey, where are you from?”
The little girl didn’t answer the question. Instead, after warily sizing up Qin Ren and the cat food and dried fish in his hands, she asked him a question in return.
“Are you a foolish mortal?”
“…”
Her first words and she’s already a full-blown chuunibyou.
Qin Ren wasn’t sure if the emphasis of the question was on “foolish” or “mortal.” After some consideration, he replied:
“I am a not-foolish mortal.”
A flicker of suspicion crossed the little girl’s eyes, as if she found it incredible that a not-foolish mortal could exist in this world.
“Then are you an arrogant mortal?”
“No, not that either.”
As Qin Ren said this, he subconsciously touched a faint, white cross-shaped mark on his collarbone.
Hmm, the Stigma isn’t reacting…
Looks like she’s not a Demonic Scion.
Not a Demonic Scion, but she’s not speaking like a normal person either…
He recalled that several xianxia dramas had been very popular recently. Children were easily influenced by television, and the one before him was probably a prime example.
“Little friend, you…”
“Little friend?”
Qin Ren’s presumptuous tone seemed to displease the little girl. Tearing her wavering gaze away from the cat food and dried fish, she lifted her chin haughtily.
“You’re the little friend. How dare a mere mortal like you look down on this eminence?”
This eminence?
He didn’t expect her to have the themed speech patterns down so well. Qin Ren was momentarily taken aback.
“Hmph hmph~”
The little girl seemed very pleased with Qin Ren’s reaction. She placed her little hands on her hips and, for some reason, started to look smug.
“Let’s put it this way. A mere human like you should call me ‘Great-Grandmother’ upon seeing this eminence~”
“…”
“How about it? Want to try calling me that~?”
“…”
Qin Ren’s face instantly darkened.
A brat, through and through.
“Little brat, where are your parents?”
“Born of heaven and earth, I have no father or mother.”
Quite filial, I see.
“Alright, alright, hurry up and go home.”
Qin Ren was running out of patience.
“If you keep running around barefoot, I’m going to call the police.”
?
The little girl blinked strangely, surprised by Qin Ren’s mention of “calling the police.”
As expected of a foolish mortal.
Why would anyone have such a strange fetish?
However, this was also an opportunity. She furrowed her soft, delicate brows, seemingly contemplating some difficult matter.
Qin Ren paid her no mind. He inserted his key into the lock, but before he could turn it, the little girl seemed to have made up her mind and suddenly tugged on the corner of his shirt.
“Alright!”
“?”
“If you want to hold me, then hold me!”
“???”
The brave tone carried a trace of timid, milky air, which made Qin Ren pause.
“Mortal, don’t you want to hold me tight? This eminence can allow you to hold me, but on one condition. You must let me enter your… your…”
She glanced at Qin Ren’s security door.
“…enter your Grotto-Heaven.”
“Grotto-Heaven?”
“Yes.”
The little girl mumbled, still a bit confused.
“To think a mortal would also have a Grotto-Heaven. Although the spiritual energy is thin, it’s truly amazing…”
“I think your brain is even more amazing.”
First “mortal,” then “this eminence,” and now “Grotto-Heaven” and what… “spiritual energy?”
So this kid plans to play out the whole act with him?
Qin Ren couldn’t help but check the Stigma on his body again. After confirming once more that she was definitely not a Demonic Scion, he started to get a headache.
“I’m asking you, are you going home or not?”
“I want to.” The little girl nodded. “But this eminence doesn’t know how to get back.”
Lost?
Qin Ren took out his phone and opened Baidu Maps.
“Alright, tell me, where’s your home?”
“Myriad Demon Continent, Flowing Cloud Sect.”
“Myriad Demon Con…”
Qin Ren typed three words, then his fingers paused. He cleared the search box.
“…”
His brow furrowed tighter and tighter. He stared at the little girl for a while, and Bai Jie’s words from noon gradually surfaced in his mind. Slowly, an ominous feeling began to rise within him.
“Hey…”
“Hm?” The little girl tilted her head.
“Are you… from this world…”
“Nope. I already told you, this eminence is from the Myriad Demon Continent.”
The little girl became smug again, proudly placing a hand on her soft, puffy little chest.
“And this eminence is not human. This eminence is the most revered High Immortal of the Flowing Cloud Sect, da~”
