Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 19

Although Lin Mianmian had already prepared herself, and although she knew the person who opened the door would most likely be that pretty female immortal who had somehow looked wronged one moment and a little angry the next, she still could not help taking half a step back when Yuan Zhaoyang opened the door with her lips pressed tight and her almond eyes slightly narrowed.
Hm… A-Bai should clearly be the one who angered her. Why do I keep feeling guilty?
Lin Mianmian took a deep breath, lowered her head, and copied the way Ying Fu had cupped his hands when speaking to Yuan Zhaoyang. “May I ask… is Perfected Le here?”
The thick fragrance had smoked Yuan Zhaoyang so badly that even her reactions were almost half a beat slow. She froze for a moment before realizing who Lin Mianmian meant by Perfected Le. Behind her, in one corner of the wooden house, there seemed to be something hopping around and thumping against the floor.
Oh. Yuan Zhaoyang remembered now. Earlier, when she had thrown A-Bai back in after the rabbit tried to escape, she had used a fairly high-level sound-silencing talisman. No wonder there had not been even one complaint while the rabbit ate meat.
“…”
Lin Mianmian kept her head down and could not see Yuan Zhaoyang’s expression. After waiting a while without getting an answer, she had no choice but to gather her courage and ask again in a low voice, “May I ask, Perfected Le…”
“Oh. She is not here.” Yuan Zhaoyang ignored the hopping sounds behind her that sounded as if they were about to smash through the wooden floor. The heart-clearing mantra ran wildly through her mind, but on the surface she still had to look calm and kind. “Do you need something? You can tell me.”
Hm. I actually do not want to listen. I only want you to hurry up and stay far away from me, but that kind of thing is really hard to say out loud! I also cannot coldly chase you away and make you hate me. That would not help my later research! So please just say it is nothing and leave quickly, meow!
Not here, my foot! That pile-driver sound inside clearly sounds like a rabbit hopping around, right? A Core Formation rabbit is bouncing that hard, and you are not afraid the house will collapse? Let A-Bai out! I am so anxious! Waiting at the door!
Of course, Lin Mianmian, who had no cultivation and poor aptitude, did not dare say a single word of that.
She could guess that A-Bai must have angered this female immortal before. With Lin Mianmian’s current status, even if she talked until her mouth went dry, she probably could not save that rabbit. If she angered this female immortal for nothing, never mind the rabbit, she might not even get help from one disciple. Then things would only become more troublesome.
Lin Mianmian quickly explained Tian Xiaoyu’s situation. Then she very sincerely asked Yuan Zhaoyang to send one Five Elements Sect disciple over to say a few words to the Tian couple. It would not take that disciple much time.
Yuan Zhaoyang was not very interested in mortal family matters, but because the person speaking was Lin Mianmian, she did not interrupt. After listening, she asked in confusion, “You are already a disciple of the Five Elements Sect too. Why do you not go?”
“This disciple has poor aptitude and no cultivation yet. I am afraid I cannot convince the Tian family. If I make the Tian family cause a scene instead, it will not only hurt Tian Xiaoyu, it will also shame the Five Elements Sect…” Lin Mianmian always felt that, with no cultivation and such poor aptitude, she was not enough to be Tian Xiaoyu’s backing. If the backing could not hold, it was better not to lean on it.
“You… care a lot about your aptitude.” Yuan Zhaoyang felt that she was almost able to run the heart-clearing mantra backward now. Wonderful. But experimental materials still had to be comforted properly. If one lost hope halfway, that would not be good.
Lin Mianmian was about to shake her head, but Yuan Zhaoyang seemed to have already reached a conclusion and did not need her answer. She continued on her own.
“Do you know this? You tested as having a spiritual root and entered the Five Elements Sect. You are already different from them, immortal and mortal apart. Even if you have no cultivation right now, even if your aptitude… hm… is not excellent, you have still stepped onto the path of cultivation. That is a world they can never enter. Perhaps you now only have the strength of a little girl in her teens, but once you reach the Five Elements Sect, in no more than a few months, you will draw spiritual energy into your body. Then you will be someone they can only look up to and never reach.
“Even if we do not speak of the future, just look at the present. The three words above your head, Five Elements Sect, are enough to make them respect and fear you. From the moment you entered the Five Elements Sect, you were no longer a helpless child. You became a disciple of the Five Elements Sect. Anyone who wants to look down on you must first think whether they can bear the result of looking down on the Five Elements Sect.
“The Five Elements Sect is your sect, your backing, and your shield. Never mind that the Tian family are mortals. Even here on this square, anyone who dares bully you is bullying the Five Elements Sect. As long as you do not do evil, the Five Elements Sect will always stand before you.”
Yuan Zhaoyang spoke with such righteous force that not only the children behind her inside the wooden house, who had come to test their spiritual roots and aptitude, but even Tian Xiaoyu, who had already given up the path of cultivation, felt encouraged and full of heat.
Only Lin Mianmian still lowered her head slightly.
“…You.”
Yuan Zhaoyang sensed it. After she finished those words meant to encourage Lin Mianmian, the rich scent around her, so thick it had almost been killing her, suddenly faded by a lot. It was about as faint as when Yuan Zhaoyang had been here and Lin Mianmian had been in the west of the city.
Why? Why would this happen?
The fragrance had clearly faded. Yuan Zhaoyang felt less uncomfortable, and she could slow the heart-clearing mantra by a couple of lines. Yet she still felt… as if her heart had suddenly emptied a little, as if something had gone missing.
No. Those feelings could wait. The girl before her mattered first.
Yuan Zhaoyang squeezed her right hand, hesitated, then reached forward and lifted Lin Mianmian’s chin. With a light pressure, she made Lin Mianmian raise her head.
The moment their eyes met, Yuan Zhaoyang froze.
It was not because her fingertips had gone slightly numb again after touching Lin Mianmian. It was because of Lin Mianmian’s eyes. That wooden look, that disappointment, and that faint trace of mockery. What was going on?
“You… do not believe it?”
You do not believe the Five Elements Sect will become your support? You do not believe the Five Elements Sect will protect you? Then why did you join the sect?
Yuan Zhaoyang swallowed the rest of the words. Even if those were Lin Mianmian’s true thoughts, she could not say them out loud. The Five Elements Sect was a very united sect. If these words spread to the ears of others in the sect, they would likely look at Lin Mianmian differently. Such poor spiritual-root aptitude was already hard enough for Lin Mianmian. If she also had to carry the label of not trusting the sect…
Lin Mianmian had not expected the female immortal before her to suddenly reach out. Her chin itched slightly. Before she could feel surprised by the sudden warmth there, her head was lifted without warning.
Although Lin Mianmian worked at once to scatter her memories of the bases and her link between them and sects, when she heard Yuan Zhaoyang say, “You do not believe it,” she knew Yuan Zhaoyang had still seen through her.
In the apocalypse, with so many bases, staying in one base meant being loyal to that base. That was a very basic agreement.
Then in this cultivation world, joining a sect must be even more like that.
Knowing that Yuan Zhaoyang had seen through her made Lin Mianmian nervous, but also a little relieved. She had joined the Five Elements Sect and met these people as if fate had pushed her forward. Then… was fate now going to push her away?
“It is fine. I will make you believe.”
Yuan Zhaoyang’s voice sounded in Lin Mianmian’s heart.
Lin Mianmian, who was still looking into Yuan Zhaoyang’s eyes, widened her own. The female immortal clearly had not opened her mouth, yet Lin Mianmian had heard her voice. Oh… no. It was more like the voice had sounded inside her heart.
Lin Mianmian’s shocked and confused blank look seemed to please Yuan Zhaoyang.
Lin Mianmian saw the female immortal press her lips together and smile faintly. Then that voice sounded again in the bottom of her heart. “This is voice transmission. Only you can hear it. If you do not believe, it is fine. I will make you believe that the Five Elements Sect can be your backing.”
What? How? Why?
Was she not supposed to be expelled from the sect because their values did not match?
Lin Mianmian’s mouth hung half open. But faced with Yuan Zhaoyang’s smile, she could not say even half a word.
Hm… When she is not angry, she is very gentle… Is her personality this extreme?
“All right. Tell me how you want to frighten the Tian family. Do you like the idea of many fireballs suddenly falling from the sky? Or four fire walls rising from the ground to trap them in the middle, and then filling the space inside the walls with flame? Or making a cage of fire? One that can grow larger and smaller? I tried that when A-Bai misbehaved before. It was rather fun.
“If you do not like using fire, we can use metal, but the sight might not look as fierce as fire. After all, our final goal is not to hurt them, right? Oh, how about this? We lift them into midair with metal, then drop metal balls from the sky while shooting darts from the ground into the air. Hm… is that too similar to the fire method? I usually fight in a practical way. If we talk about using spells in showy ways, A-Bai is better…”
Yuan Zhaoyang seemed a little ashamed that her ideas were not rich enough, but soon said firmly, “A-Bai is not here, so you can make do with me. Do you have any good ideas? Actually, aside from fire and metal, I know some wood, water, and earth spells too. They are just not as refined as the first two. But if we combine them, maybe the effect will be better?”
Wait. How was that not fierce? It was way too fierce. How was that making do? Lin Mianmian almost wanted to kneel.
Facing Yuan Zhaoyang, who grew more and more excited as she spoke and whose eyes were almost shining, Lin Mianmian could not help silently mourning for A-Bai for three seconds. It all sounded so familiar. It gave her the feeling that A-Bai had often been played with like this.
“I… think…” Lin Mianmian opened her mouth with difficulty. Then the hem of her robe was tugged.
Lin Mianmian turned back. Tian Xiaoyu, standing beside her, was not only pale. Even her lips were almost white.
“Cough… Actually, we only need to tell the Tian family not to rush to take Xiaoyu home. There is no need to trouble Perfected Yuan so much. How about… Senior Brother Ying or Senior Sister Zihui…”
Lin Mianmian naturally understood how Tian Xiaoyu felt right now. Even if Tian Dali and Madam Cui had pushed Tian Xiaoyu again and again, hearing that her parents would be tormented like this would surely be hard for her. Hm… though Lin Mianmian herself did feel a little satisfied listening to it.
Yuan Zhaoyang was focused on helping Lin Mianmian handle this matter properly and making Lin Mianmian believe the Five Elements Sect could protect her. Now that her interest had risen, how could she accept refusal?
“You do not only want to keep Tian Xiaoyu here. You want her to marry that noodle-cooking boy outside, right? I understand what you mean. Do not worry. I will have someone bring them to the Five Elements Sect’s area before I act, so there will be no hidden trouble.”
Yuan Zhaoyang waved her hand and directly rejected Lin Mianmian’s suggestion to switch to someone else for the job.
Lin Mianmian: “…”
Actually, you did not understand anything, did you?