Chapter 25: Identity – Wife, I’m Scared Part 1

Without Feng Yingbo causing trouble, their journey became much smoother.

Mistlongevity Village was not far from Imperial Peak Mountain to begin with. The two horses had also been fed beast essence pills by Feng Jin, which changed their constitutions, making their speed far faster than that of ordinary horses. This shortened their travel time considerably. They arrived at Mistlongevity Village around noon. Feng Jin and Feng Yingbo, who sat outside the carriage, were the first to spot the village’s boundary marker.

Feng Jin let out a surprised “Eh?”: “Elder Shen, Sect Master, Eldest Senior Sister, it looks like Mistlongevity Village is holding a wedding.”

Bo Xuenong lifted the carriage curtain and glanced out the window.

Sure enough, every household in Mistlongevity Village had hung up red silk and red lanterns. The red silk fluttered in the wind like cascading glows of sunset, a beautiful sight.

What was strange was that the village was eerily silent, without any of the bustle expected from a wedding. Looking around, not a single person could be seen.

Bo Xuenong tapped her earlobe, and a faint white light flickered on her fingertip. Her hearing was amplified several times over, and she finally picked up some sounds.

They were not sounds of celebration or joy, but intermittent sobs.

The sobs were fragmented and numerous, coming from many people.

Bo Xuenong lowered the curtain, her brow furrowing. “Master.”

Shen Yanting shook her head at her. Bo Xuenong understood that Shen Yanting had heard it too and obediently shut her mouth.

She sat shoulder to shoulder with Shen Yanting, both watching Fu Aoqing, whose brows had lifted in delight.

Fu Aoqing did not possess such a technique. She had not heard the overlapping low whimpers and had not noticed anything unusual about the village. She was immersed in the joy of a wedding taking place: “I wonder whose family is holding the wedding? Do I know them? If I do, we could go ask for a cup of wedding wine.”

Feng Jin stopped the carriage outside the village and turned back to respond to Fu Aoqing: “Sect Master, the people you knew from before are probably long buried in the earth by now.”

Fu Aoqing was a golden core realm cultivator. Seven hundred years of life seemed brief and insignificant to other cultivators, but to mortals with lifespans of merely a century, it was an eternity.

Though Mistlongevity Village still stood, the people Fu Aoqing had known were long gone.

Feng Jin spoke the truth, but it was rather harsh.

Even someone as straightforward as Feng Yingbo felt that Feng Jin’s words were too blunt. She reached out and knocked Feng Jin on the forehead: “If you can’t speak properly, then act like a little mute.”

Fu Aoqing had a good temperament. Earlier, when Bo Xuenong had suspected her of upsetting Shen Yanting, she had been annoyed for a moment but soon forgot about it.

She certainly would not hold Feng Jin’s honesty against her now. She stopped Feng Yingbo, who wanted to scold her disciple: “It’s fine. Little Jin didn’t say anything wrong.”

She said that, but the delight on her brows instantly faded, replaced by a touch of sorrow.

Fu Aoqing glanced out the carriage: “Senior Sister Shen, how about we give them a gift and ask for a cup of wedding wine?”

She withdrew her gaze and smiled: “Maybe I’ll catch some wedding luck and live a bit longer.”

“Good.”

Shen Yanting agreed without surprise. It was not for Fu Aoqing’s wish, but because of those sobs—they needed to go in and take a look anyway.

Naturally, Feng Yingbo and the others had no objections.

Shen Yanting casually pulled out a gold ingot from her storage bag and tossed it to Fu Aoqing: “Sect Master, here you go.”

Fu Aoqing caught the gold ingot and pondered for a long while before saying, “Junior Sister Feng, you shouldn’t call me Sect Master anymore. Since we’re pretending to be mortals, we should change our forms of address and identities.”

Fu Aoqing’s gaze swept over the others, and she touched her face. A sly smile suddenly crept into her eyes: “Here’s an idea. I look the oldest, so I’ll be your mom, and all of you can be my daughters. I absolutely don’t mean to take advantage of you.”

“…” Without that last sentence, her words might have seemed a bit more credible.

Cultivators did not age easily. As their cultivation advanced, their lifespans extended dramatically, and the rate of aging slowed. After reaching the nascent soul stage, their appearance ceased aging entirely.

Some cultivators who were extremely particular about their looks rushed to break through to nascent soul, while others used Youth Preservation Pills to halt their appearance at their most satisfactory phase. Thus, the higher the talent and the faster the breakthroughs, the slower the aging. Some sect ancestors with exceptional gifts looked extremely youthful even at death.

Fu Aoqing had only reached the golden core realm and had not yet halted her aging. If not for the Youth Preservation Pill Shen Yanting had given her, she would look like a frail old woman by now. However, Shen Yanting had only joined the Imperial Serenity Sect five hundred years ago and could not have given her the pill earlier. Among their group, Fu Aoqing indeed appeared the oldest, around forty or fifty in mortal years, with faint, not very noticeable wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.

Her proposal to be their mother was clearly meant to take advantage, but Bo Xuenong could not refute her since Shen Yanting had not spoken yet.

Feng Yingbo was the first to respond enthusiastically. She stuck her head into the carriage and rubbed her hands excitedly: “Then I’m the second oldest, so I want to be… uh, your little mother.”

Feng Yingbo’s words were cut off halfway as Feng Jin covered her mouth. She indignantly pulled Feng Jin’s hand down a bit and managed to finish her sentence.

Her intention to take advantage was even more obvious!

Bo Xuenong pursed her lips and stared at Feng Yingbo’s delicate and fragile face: “Elder Feng, you look pretty young.”

Thinking of Feng Yingbo’s appearance reminded Bo Xuenong of something odd. Feng Yingbo had excellent talent, but she had only started cultivating at thirty-five and often did farm work in her mortal family, making her look a few years older than her peers. Though she cultivated quickly, her appearance was not particularly youthful. After one trip out for training, she not only returned with a child in her arms but also looked much younger, even her skin had improved greatly.

Bo Xuenong still remembered this largely because Fu Aoqing had pestered Feng Yingbo for years about her youth preservation formula, but got nothing in the end. Feng Yingbo always claimed she did not know.

For anyone else, it might have seemed like they were hiding it, but with Feng Yingbo, she probably truly did not know. Even Shen Yanting eventually said Feng Yingbo had likely stumbled upon some fortunate encounter by chance.

When Bo Xuenong came back to her senses, Feng Yingbo had been deprived of her right to speak. As the oldest among them, Shen Yanting felt that having one person take advantage of her seniority was enough—she could not allow a second.

She sealed Feng Yingbo’s mouth with spiritual power and said coldly: “I’ll be the elder sister, and you’ll be the younger sister.”

Shen Yanting glanced at Bo Xuenong, who had snapped out of it, and patted her head, softening her voice a bit: “Xuenong will be a younger sister too.”

Bo Xuenong nodded hurriedly, afraid that if she was too slow, Shen Yanting would think she disliked the role.

Shen Yanting was pleased with Bo Xuenong’s acceptance of her arrangement. She turned to Feng Jin, who had no role yet: “Little Jin too…”

“No! Jin’er has to be my daughter!”

Feng Yingbo did have some skill. She actually broke free of Shen Yanting’s spiritual power binding on her own and immediately voiced her protest.

Bo Xuenong roughly guessed why Feng Yingbo was so emotional and insistent.

Shen Yanting and the others did not know, but Fu Aoqing stopped stroking her skin and rolled her eyes at Feng Yingbo: “Do I look like someone who could have such a big granddaughter?”

“You do!”

Fu Aoqing wanted to take advantage, but not to elevate her seniority that much. She half-knelt in front of Feng Yingbo and pinched her soft white cheek: “Where do I look like it?”

“Jin’er is still little.” Feng Yingbo ignored her. She dodged Fu Aoqing’s hand, hugged the silent Feng Jin beside her, and said firmly: “She can only be my daughter. If you’re not willing, then I won’t acknowledge you as my mom either.”

Fu Aoqing narrowed her eyes: “Feng Yingbo, something’s off with you.”

Feng Yingbo’s face stiffened, but she still clung to Feng Jin: “No matter what you say, Jin’er can only be my daughter.”

Feng Jin’s mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out.

Her eyes were extremely complex, with a hint of expectation but mostly cold detachment and resolve. Suddenly, she pushed Feng Yingbo away and crawled further into the carriage.

Feng Jin had always been terrified of Bo Xuenong, yet now she reached out and hugged Bo Xuenong’s leg: “I’ll… I’ll make the arrangements… Sect Master will be my grandmother, Elder Shen my mom, Master my little mother, Eldest Senior Sister my little aunt, and Xiang Yu my eldest aunt.”

After saying that, she did not dare look at Feng Yingbo. She lifted her delicate head slightly and looked at Shen Yanting and Bo Xuenong: “Eldest Senior Sister, Elder Shen… is that… okay?”

Bo Xuenong read the plea in Feng Jin’s eyes.

Feng Jin, who always avoided her like the plague, was actually begging her. Though puzzled, Bo Xuenong inexplicably nodded.