Chapter 36: “Little one, where did you come from?”

Lin Chao was lost in the cave abode.

Faintly, he seemed to hear Luo Qi calling for help.

But beside him were only two crimson walls. This hall was like a maze. No matter how he walked, he always ended up back in the same place, unable to find the way out.

Immortal Venerable Yuanqing was, after all, a Mahayana Realm cultivator. Within the entire Tianchen Realm, her cultivation base had reached the pinnacle of perfection. How could the arrays she set up be broken by mere Inner Disciples like them?

Lin Chao wore a worried frown. Just as he was about to give up, he heard a scream again.

This time he heard it clearly. It was indeed Luo Qi’s voice, and it was very close.

Lin Chao quickened his pace. After rounding another corner, he suddenly froze.

A woman was walking straight towards him.

Although she was dressed as a man, one could tell at a glance she was a girl.

She wore a natural smile on her lips. Her eyes were especially beautiful, as if hiding an autumn lake. Gazing into those eyes, one felt that she saw only them, bearing a look of deep affection and unwavering devotion.

Lin Chao’s heart raced. In his several hundred years of cultivation at Fuyun Sect, he had never felt this way before.

Eldest Senior Sister was also stunningly beautiful, like a celestial being, but her temperament was too cold, and her cultivation base was too high. Aside from Senior Brother Ling from the Main Peak, which male disciple dared to harbor any improper thoughts?

“This… this Miss!” Lin Chao couldn’t resist in the end. He took the initiative to approach her. “Are you lost too?”

Bai Jin was carefully observing the structure of the crimson walls. Everything in this Immortal Abode was novel to her.

Especially since the Protective Arrays in each palace were different. She had even encountered two Jade Beasts guarding a hall earlier and exchanged a brief round with them.

A world in a flower, a bodhi in a leaf—perhaps that was the idea.

Truly, every step brought a new sight, encompassing the myriad forms of nature. It was fascinating.

Bai Jin was immersed in the ever-changing scenery, wandering and reluctant to leave. She hadn’t expected that when she came back to her senses, a male cultivator would approach her.

Lost?

She blinked.

The Qingqiu Fox Clan possessed an inherently strong sense of direction. Although she couldn’t break the array set by Immortal Venerable Yuanqing, she could find a way out much faster than ordinary cultivators.

She discreetly sized up Lin Chao.

The man had plain features and wore the attire of an Inner Disciple of Fuyun Sect.

As he spoke to her, a suspicious blush crept up his cheeks, and the veins on his neck bulged, showing his nervousness.

Oh ho.

This is a bit interesting.

Bai Jin’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly. As if she had been dazed for half a day and suddenly came to, she recoiled half a step in seeming fright and spoke, her tone laced with unconcealed panic: “Wh-Who are you?”

Lin Chao immediately felt chagrined. His words had been abrupt and had offended her.

“Miss, don’t be afraid, I’m not a bad person.” Lin Chao explained lamely, even pulling out his Waist Token as proof. “I am an Inner Disciple of Fuyun Sect, named Lin Chao. Perhaps, Miss, you could team up with me? We could look out for each other.”

Bai Jin put on an innocent, naive expression. “Fuyun Sect is a major Immortal Sect. You must be very powerful, right?”

Lin Chao felt himself floating from the praise. Blushing, he scratched the back of his head. “I’m, I’m alright, I guess.”

“You’re so kind.” Bai Jin said, trying her best to sound sincere. “Walking here alone, those Stone Lions at the palace entrances actually moved! It was really terrifying!”

Lin Chao’s protective instincts were ignited by Bai Jin’s seemingly frail and helpless appearance. A sense of responsibility surged up. He gripped his sword and thumped his chest, assuring Bai Jin: “Miss, rest assured, with me here, you don’t need to fear those Stone Lions anymore!”

Bai Jin was amused by his demeanor and thought to herself: Men everywhere are all the same.

After all, even her Elder Male Cousin—His Highness the Crown Prince of the Qingqiu Clan, Tushan Yu—was no exception.

Bai Jin couldn’t help but sigh for Tushan Yu’s romantic prospects. Looking again at this male disciple from Fuyun Sect, with that silly, foolish, self-deluded look, which girl would be blind enough to fancy him?

Yet, not a trace of her inner thoughts showed on her face. Bai Jin played the part of a little white rabbit, ignorant and naive. “Which way should we go now?”

Before her words faded, Lin Chao heard another scream.

This time, Bai Jin heard it too.

She tilted her head, puzzled. “What was that sound just now?”

“Ahem!” Lin Chao cleared his throat. “It might be some Rogue Cultivators who accidentally triggered a trap and are being chased by a Stone Lion. We should stay away!”

Bai Jin suddenly understood. “That makes sense. Then let’s leave this place quickly!”

Lin Chao nodded decisively. “Alright!”

Without further hesitation, he took the lead, guiding the way.

In the courtyard just a wall away, Luo Qi was hanging upside down amidst the vines, covered in whip marks all over his body.

He had been shouting for an hour straight, but no one ever came. Now his throat was raw, his voice hoarse and barely audible.

“Junior Sister Bi! My dear aunt! Please spare me, I’ll never dare do it again!”

Luo Qi was convulsing all over, tears and snot streaming down his face in genuine repentance. “I’ll take a detour whenever I see you! If I ever speak rudely again, I’ll cut out my own tongue! I beg you, let me go! I really can’t take it anymore!”

Bi Lan finally, magnanimously, stopped her hand. But she still didn’t untie him. She asked instead: “How many times have you done things like before?”

Luo Qi couldn’t stop sobbing. Hearing this, he didn’t understand what Bi Lan was referring to.

“What thing? Which one?”

Bi Lan’s voice was cold: “Bullying Junior Sister Yan. How many times have you done that sort of thing before?”

Luo Qi caught on. He shrank his neck and didn’t answer.

“No?” Bi Lan raised the whip, scaring a shudder out of Luo Qi.

Afraid that if he hesitated a moment longer, the whip would land on him again, he strained his ruined throat to argue hoarsely: “We… we didn’t do it just to make fun of her on purpose!”

“It was her own bizarre behavior! A Mortal, clearly unable to cultivate, yet still occupying the resources of Tianzhu Peak! She often made our Tianzhu Peak lose face in front of the other peaks!”

Bi Lan grew angrier the more she listened. Luo Qi’s words also jabbed at old scars in her own heart.

“So what?! She’s a Mortal, so she deserves to be bullied by you?!”

If even a single person on Tianzhu Peak had treated Yan Zhao well, how could Yan Zhao have fallen to such a state?

Luo Qi heard the fury in Bi Lan’s tone. His mind snapped awake.

He regretted it.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Bi Lan was beyond furious.

Another flurry of whip lashes landed randomly on him.

“My dear aunt! You and Yan Zhao are both my aunts! Stop hitting me! Wuwuwuwuwu!! I’m sorry! I was wrong aaaaaah!!!”

“!?”

Both women in the pavilion were stunned.

After a moment, the red-robed woman’s eyes suddenly sharpened. She pressed a hand to the zither strings. “Who are you?!”

Yan Zhao tilted her head and answered, “Yan Zhao.”

“Yan Zhao? Is that your name?” The red-robed woman was instantly suspicious and turned to look at the other woman beside her. “You have a Younger Sister?”

The white-robed woman was also bewildered at this moment. “No, I only have one elder brother.”

The red-robed woman was relentless. “But her name is Yan Zhao!”

“So what?” The white-robed woman was perplexed, but clearly, the top priority was dispelling the red-robed woman’s doubts. She reasoned, “Everyone in the world with the surname Yan can’t possibly be my younger sister, right?”

It was somewhat reasonable. The red-robed woman temporarily suppressed her shock and anger, looking back at Yan Zhao.

Yan Zhao didn’t understand what they were arguing about.

She sat down across the table and picked up the dish.

The small Fruits were sweet and sour, truly delicious. She ate them one by one.

The red-robed woman’s two elegant eyebrows knit together, quite puzzled by Yan Zhao’s behavior.

Beside her, Yan Yuanqing shifted from propping her cheek with one hand to cupping her face with both.

This was the first time she had encountered someone so instantly familiar and without any sense of being an outsider.

But somehow, she didn’t dislike it.

“Hey.” She called to Yan Zhao, her voice gentle. “Little one, where did you come from?”

Being able to silently enter her cave abode and arrive at this small courtyard was already surprising. That they hadn’t even noticed how long Yan Zhao had been standing nearby was even more so.

Yan Zhao heard the voice and raised her head, meeting Yan Yuanqing’s eyes.

Those eyes were gentle and soft. Meeting Yan Yuanqing’s gaze, Yan Zhao felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring.

The sensation of tearing within her soul, ever-present since she was small, was completely soothed at this moment. Yan Zhao experienced a lightness she had never felt before.

Yan Zhao was quite willing to answer Yan Yuanqing’s question.

She said, “I don’t know.”

Even as she spoke, she didn’t stop eating.

Yan Yuanqing couldn’t help but warn her: “This kind of Wine Fruit will make you drunk if you eat too many.”

Before the words finished, Yan Zhao’s body tilted, and she collapsed beside the table, fast asleep.

Before falling, she managed to insist on eating the very last Fruit.

“And you say she’s not your younger sister?” The red-robed woman found irrefutable evidence, pointing at Yan Zhao’s flushed cheeks. “She looks so much like you!”

Yan Yuanqing appeared thoughtful.

The red-robed woman pressed, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“I can’t quite explain it, but I feel something is strange about this.” Yan Yuanqing replied, turning to look at the red-robed woman. “Look, this child is clearly still a Mortal.”

The red-robed woman finally noticed that there was indeed no fluctuation of Spiritual Qi around Yan Zhao.

How could a Mortal accidentally trespass into an Immortal’s Cave Abode?

Yan Yuanqing looked at Yan Zhao’s clean, youthful face. Finding her features familiar and amiable, she said gently, “Ah Yin, there must be a reason for this.”

“In that case, let’s cast a Divination.” Nangong Yin brought out six Copper Coins and glanced at Yan Yuanqing. “Let’s calculate exactly what relationship you have with her!”

Yan Yuanqing was helpless. She raised her chin towards her. “Go ahead and divine.”

After all, an upright person has nothing to fear from a crooked shadow.

Nangong Yin snorted coldly and casually cast a divination.

The result shown by the divination was…

Mother and daughter.

The pavilion suddenly fell silent.

After a brief silence, Nangong Yin flew into a towering rage, jumping up and down. “So, Yan Yuanqing! You actually have a daughter?! I was truly mistaken about you!”

Yan Yuanqing had also seen the divination result. Snapped out of her shock by the outburst, she was instantly panicked and flustered.

“Ah Yin, let me explain! I really don’t!”