Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Don’t care about these details!”
“Is this a problem with the details?” Lonemoon exploded. This body type clearly meant trouble. How could she bring this child back? “No way, I don’t agree!”
“Why not?”
“Must I really explain?” He glared at her. “Let’s not talk about how much trouble she would bring us. Her spirit root is naturally weak – she’s not fit at all to practice with her body. How can she train with the others? She can even forget about making it as a body cultivator…”
He paused mid-sentence, as if recalling something. Lonemoon turned to glance at the child, then at the green-robed Barbie in the Sect. Wait a moment. Why was he thinking about body cultivators as the standard in the sect? Did he not intend to break the curse of body cultivators in Invincible Sect? This was the perfect chance!
Water-elemental spirit roots were not suitable for sword cultivation, but it was suitable for Dan cultivation, talisman cultivation, beast training and spell training as well. A natural Yin-type body might be troublesome, but the immortal realm was not as bad as the mortal realm – lacking in immortal Qi. What’s more, they had Cheater Shen with them. She could take care of the child.
So… For the sake of making change in the sect, he would have no choice but to accept this child!
“Child, are you willing to train in spells and arrays?” He quickly added, “I’m telling you first – we don’t have people who are proficient in these things in this sect. You have to count on having epiphanies on your own!”
The girl paused and glanced at Shen Ying. Hesitantly, she answered, “If I learn… can I stay?” All she wanted was to remain with Divine Immortal.
“Of course.”
“Yes!” She nodded her head eagerly. “I’ll learn!”
“Alright, if that’s the case, I won’t object any further.” Lonemoon turned to look at Shen Ying, his mind preoccupied with how he should begin to train the child. He could not let her get influenced by the other disciples. Suddenly, he asked, “Oh yes, what’s your name?”
“Name…” The child pondered for a moment and lowered her head. It has been a long time since she used her name. After she turned three, everybody around her started to refer to her as “Jinx”. Later on, after her parents said that they had something to attend to and never returned, she stopped being addressed by her name altogether. She could only vaguely remember what people used to call her. “Mother… I think she called me… Tong… Little Tong?”
“Oh, what’s your surname then?” Lonemoon picked up the teacup in front of him.
“Surname… surname…” She thought long and hard. It was a long time before she finally answered, “Xuan… My last name is Xuan!”
Pui…
Lonemoon spat a mouthful of tea out immediately. His expression darkened significantly.
Holy shit!
Xuan! Tong!
He stood up at once and grabbed the girl by her arm. He took two big strides toward Si Yu, swung the little girl at her and shouted, “Throw her down the mountain!”
Everyone: “…”
——————
Lonemoon looked at the foodie who had been burying her head in a bowl of food. He laughed mirthlessly until Shen Ying glanced up from her food. Then, he said, “I’m giving you a chance to explain yourself.”
“Er…” Shen Ying pursed her lips. She had no choice but to set the bowl in her hands down on the table. She began to scratch her head. “I mean… If I said I did not know that she was your female lead in the beginning, would you believe me?”
Lonemoon replied, “Ha! Ha!”
Why did she call him his female lead?!
“I really didn’t know.”
“Then why did you invite her to stay!” Lonemoon felt like he was about to explode from the anger. “Do you know how troublesome the male and female leads are? We went to so much pains to get rid of the male lead, and you turned around and brought the female lead back here.”
Shen Ying sighed and said, “She’s just a girl.”
“Just a girl my ass. She’s just a girl now but she wouldn’t be in future.” The more Lonemoon thought about it, the more worried he got. “She’s the female lead! Do you understand that? I said this before: The male and female lead are a very troublesome duo. Whoever associates themselves with them would get into trouble. We need to get as far away from them as possible. Look, in a span of just two days, our sect has already lost three arrays, four weapons and five talismans. She’s only staying in the yard temporarily and a pit has already mysteriously dug itself there. As she grows up according to the plot, who knows who else might die because of her…”
“Father Niu!” Shen Ying suddenly interrupted him. She stared directly into his eyes and said, “Besides being a little unlucky, what wrong did she do?”
Lonemoon hesitated. He rebutted, “In the plot, she’s the female-”
“What about now?”
“Now?” He paused again. “Now, of course… nothing has happened.”
“So you want to pronounce her guilty even though nothing has happened?”
“But…”
“Is the plot really that important?”
“It is… right?”
“Why?”
“Must I really explain this?” Lonemoon asked, exasperated. “It tells us what’s going to happen in future. Of course-”
“Oh, then are you sure that the plot really does tell us the future?”
“Well, of-” He paused mid-sentence, as if recalling something. Wait! I think… the plot isn’t that accurate . According to the novel, the male lead should also be only a child at this time. The female lead could not be appearing now. It was also not said in the novel that the male lead was Celestial Emperor Chen Ge. It seemed… Ever since Shen Ying turned up, the plot became a mess.
“Father Niu…” Shen Ying sighed. “If this child was not the person in the plot, would you keep her?”
“…” Lonemoon was at a loss for words, because he knew the answer was yes.
“You said you wanted an explanation. Let me give you one, then. I met this child by chance. She was a child who… was bullied and abandoned by everybody around her. I felt so much pity for her, so I decided to give her some help. It’s that simple – there’s no other explanation. As for how she might turn out in future, I truly don’t know. But before anyone does any kind deed… must they really do a thorough check if the person they’re helping will cause any harm in future?”
Lonemoon had no answer. He really was biased against the male and female lead because of the plot. Even though he knew the plot was vastly different from the facts before his eyes, he still greatly despised the people in the plot. All because of a future which he had no way of being certain about.
“You keep saying that they’re the male and female leads of the novel, but you’re the only one who’s really living within the novel.”
“…” Lonemoon stared blankly at thin air. Suddenly, he felt a chill in his heart. Reflecting upon himself, he found that it true… Neither Shen Ying nor Yi Qing seemed too bothered by the plot that Lonemoon claimed to know. He alone… was obsessed with avoiding the calamities in the novel, even though several events in the novel had yet to happen. He alone was stuck in the novel, unable to escape from it. Suddenly, he felt like he had just been clubbed with a stick – all the illusions and imaginations he had in his mind were suddenly knocked right out. For once, he was seeing clearly.
“What’s more…” Shen Ying leaned back against her seat and became a lazy lump of mud once more. “If that little shortie is really going to grow up, as you said, into a love-crazed female lead, then we could always… break her legs!”
Lonemoon pursed his lips and frowned. “Can you be serious for just three freaking seconds?”
“Huh? I’m dead serious.” She always had been.
“Give it a rest!” Out of habit, Lonemoon rolled his eyes at her, but a hint of a smile tugged at his lips. “This time… I’ll let it go. If you want to be kind, go ahead. I’m washing my hands off this!” After he finished speaking, he tossed a bag over to Shen Ying.
Shen Ying caught it instinctively and opened it. The bag was filled with immortal stones, glittering in the sunlight. “Father Niu… Are you keeping me?”
“Pfft!” He cast her a disgusted look. “Who in this Invincible Sect is not being kept by me?”
“Oh.” That’s true . “Then this is…” Shen Ying was shocked at the sudden riches she acquired.
“Your allowance for the next two months!”
“Huh?”
“I’ve gained an epiphany.” He could not stop himself from grinning, for he had just broken through a barrier in his heart. “I am going to go through the Heavenly Tribulation.”
“…”
“What is this look? Your disciple can go through epiphanies every day, but I can’t?”
“Er…”
“Return me the immortal stones!”
“Congratulations, Father Niu! I’m happy for you, Father Niu! Father Niu, you’re blessed beyond measure and you will live as long as eternity!” Shen Ying exclaimed as her grip on the bag tightened.
“Get lost!”
