Mu Yunran gazed at Lu Qingran’s radiant smile and nodded blankly.
The nearby Clearcloud disciples said nothing. None seemed surprised that Senior Sister Lu intended to bring along a beggar child of unknown origin.
The dark-skinned male disciple glanced at Hu San on the ground.
“Senior Sister, what should we do with them?”
The sinister talisman their enemy had used was reason enough for the four Clearcloud disciples not to release them lightly.
Remembering her master’s instructions, Lu Qingran drew a small slip of paper from a pouch inside her sleeve.
“Go!”
At her command, the paper spun into the air. Before everyone’s eyes, it transformed into a paper tiger.
The tiger opened its enormous jaws and swallowed Hu San and his surviving brothers.
The system was frightened senseless. Mu Yunran’s eyes widened in shock.
Lu Qingran paused as she returned the slip of paper to her sleeve. Realizing that Mu Yunran had probably never seen such a thing, she stroked the child’s hair and asked apologetically, “Did that frighten you? I’m sorry. Big Sister wasn’t thinking of you.”
She gathered Mu Yunran into her arms, gently stroking the back of her head and patting her back.
Poor nutrition had left Mu Yunran so short that she barely reached Lu Qingran’s chest. Being comforted this way made her feel like Lu Qingran’s daughter. She shifted awkwardly, her cheeks growing warm.
“I’m all right. I’ve just never seen anything so strange before. I wasn’t afraid.”
Lu Qingran stopped and looked into her eyes. When she saw no fear there, she smiled and nodded.
“Good.”
After erasing every trace of the battle and retrieving the treasure from the statue, the four disciples took Mu Yunran and flew toward the Clearcloud Sect.
Three days later, the group arrived at the foot of Crimsoncloud Mountain, where the sect was located. A disciple guarding the mountain blocked their path.
“Fellow disciples, please show your jade tokens.”
Lu Qingran and her companions handed over the tokens that proved their identities. Only after the guard checked each one did he return them. These tokens were extremely important. Losing one would bring considerable trouble.
Mu Yunran silently studied her surroundings. The sect’s home looked much like those described in most cultivation stories: mountains, water, and drifting mist. Only the clouds above the summit stood out.
She looked up at the crimson clouds and thought their color was quite beautiful.
After putting away her jade token, Lu Qingran glanced down at Mu Yunran, who was still staring at the sky. She took the child’s hand and smiled.
“Do you like the clouds here?”
“Mm-hm.”
Mu Yunran followed obediently beside her.
Lu Qingran looked down at her from time to time, wondering where the child should stay.
The mountain path was level and easy to walk. When the birds and beasts in the woods noticed the travelers, they slipped behind the trees and secretly watched the group pass.
Mu Yunran looked around with growing interest. Unlike ordinary wildlife, the creatures of Crimsoncloud Mountain did not fear people. In fact, they seemed to enjoy observing them.
Behind one tree hid a snow-white bird with garnet eyes. When it noticed Mu Yunran staring, it tilted its little head in confusion. Then it flew into the open and boldly let her admire it.
Perhaps it decided that was not enough. It turned several circles on the ground, stretched its wings, and cocked its head as its tiny garnet eyes met Mu Yunran’s.
Mu Yunran walked slower and slower, fascinated by the fearless bird. Newly arrived in a cultivation world, she could not tell whether it was ordinary wildlife or one of the spirit beasts common in stories. She became so absorbed that she stopped without noticing.
Lu Qingran had been holding her hand and naturally felt the moment she stopped. She motioned for her junior disciples to continue, then leaned close and softened her voice.
“Do you like it?”
Mu Yunran returned to her senses, looked up at her, and nodded.
“Its eyes are so pretty and unusual. I’ve never seen such a beautiful little bird.”
Her innocent expression softened Lu Qingran’s heart. She could not resist pinching the girl’s cheek.
“It is special, and not only because of its eyes.”
Lu Qingran beckoned to the bird.
It chirped twice, turned its small head away, and ignored her.
Lu Qingran laughed and shook her head in mild frustration.
“It’s a garnet bird, a kind of spirit beast. This little one is fairly friendly, but it chooses its people. If it likes you, it will fly to your shoulder without being called. If it dislikes you, you can call a thousand times and it still won’t look at you. My case is unusual. I can’t tell whether it likes me or not.”
“What do you mean, Big Sister?”
“Whenever I pass this place and have no urgent business, I stop to see whether it’s here. If it is, I call it just as I did now. It comes to me about three times out of ten and ignores me the other seven. So I can’t decide whether it likes me. What do you think, Yunran?”
This was the first time Lu Qingran had called her directly by name. It sounded strangely intimate, as if they had known each other for years rather than days.
Mu Yunran lowered her head and considered the question seriously. When she looked up again, complete sincerity filled her dark eyes.
“It must like you. You’re gentle, kind, and so beautiful. How could a little animal dislike you?”
Lu Qingran stared at her in surprise, then covered her mouth and laughed.
“What a sweet tongue you have.”
Heat crept into Mu Yunran’s cheeks. *Did I take the act too far? Would a child this age really talk like that?*
Then she remembered that she was supposed to be a beggar. A beggar child who could not flatter people would have starved long ago.
Instead of answering, she changed the subject.
“Big Sister, may I try? I want to know whether the bird will like me.”
Lu Qingran naturally would not refuse the child’s request.
“Of course.”
Garnet birds were friendly spirit beasts. As long as no one harmed them, they would not attack humans first. Lu Qingran had no concerns for Mu Yunran’s safety.
Mu Yunran turned toward the bird, which was preening its feathers, and extended one small hand.
“Garnet bird, come here,” she called in a clear, childish voice.
The bird paused. Lu Qingran saw the reaction and could not help growing nervous. She knew how peculiar this one’s temper was. It looked down on most of the people who lived here. Such a picky creature might not respond to an unfamiliar child.
Lu Qingran was about to comfort Mu Yunran when the garnet bird spread its wings and flew toward her.
It chirped as it came, sounding unmistakably delighted.
Lu Qingran stared in surprise. She had lived here for more than ten years and had never seen this bird greet a stranger so warmly.
It landed on Mu Yunran’s hand and chirped several happy notes. Then it rubbed its little head against the finger Mu Yunran offered, behaving with great affection.
Mu Yunran was both surprised and delighted. She had not expected one call to make the adorable creature cling to her.
“What a good little bird.”
She gently stroked its feathers. Although no animal had ever approached her like this before, her touch was careful enough that her inexperience did not upset it.
“Look, Big Sister. It likes me.”
Mu Yunran lifted the bird before Lu Qingran, unable to hide her joy as it continued enjoying her touch.
The system watched from one side. *Host looks no different from an ordinary child now. My brilliant actress can play any part perfectly! With a host like her, my future is bound to be bright.*
“Yes, I see.” Lu Qingran put aside her surprise. “If this little one likes you, Yunran must be an adorable and lovable girl.”
She reached out to pet the garnet bird. The creature, which had been perfectly docile a moment earlier, opened its eyes and disdainfully twisted its head away from her hand.
Lu Qingran’s hand froze in the air. The moment was painfully awkward.
She coughed softly, withdrew her hand, and looked up the path.
“It’s getting late, Yunran. I’ll take you to meet my master so he can arrange somewhere for you to stay.”
Whether Mu Yunran ultimately stayed or left, she first needed to spend a night on Crimsoncloud Mountain. Lu Qingran thought of the recruitment gathering held once every three years and planned to speak with her master. She hoped he could find a way to let Mu Yunran remain.
Although she had met the girl only days ago, she felt an unusual closeness to her and wanted this adorable child to have a good home.
Mu Yunran tapped the suddenly ill-behaved bird on the head and gave it a mildly reproachful look before releasing it.
The garnet bird fluttered its wings and watched Mu Yunran and Lu Qingran depart. Only after they vanished from sight did it return to the tree and chatter with the other birds.
All along the path, the forest’s creatures watched the pair with curious, searching gazes.
Several avian spirit beasts besides the garnet bird even flew out to interact briefly with Mu Yunran.
Lu Qingran observed this with growing curiosity about the mysterious child. The avian spirit beasts had never “welcomed” her so warmly when she passed through these woods. Nor did any of the fellow disciples she knew possess a nature that spirit beasts loved.
Her master had once told her that the vast world contained every kind of wonder. People who attracted the affection of spirit beasts had appeared in the cultivation world before. Every one of them had eventually followed the path of a spirit-beast cultivator. More than a century ago, one such genius had even founded a sect that accepted only disciples of that path. It remained active today.
Mu Yunran’s gift was a blessing. In a world where the strong preyed upon the weak, becoming a cultivator offered more choices than remaining an ordinary person. Cultivators usually ignored mortal affairs, but exceptions always existed. Plenty took pleasure in slaughtering mortals or using them for acts the righteous path could never accept.
Lu Qingran did not want this sweet, innocent child to meet such people. She wanted Mu Yunran to remain happy. Ideally, the girl would stay in the Clearcloud Sect and live as a carefree young disciple.
When she realized how far her thoughts had gone, Lu Qingran silently laughed at herself. Her fellow disciples were right: she truly liked meddling in other people’s affairs. She had known this child for only a few days, yet she was already planning her whole future.
The two continued upward. With some distance still left before the summit, Lu Qingran stopped and extended her hand.
Mu Yunran gave her a questioning look but obediently placed her hand in Lu Qingran’s palm.
Lu Qingran tightened her grip and pulled the child into her arms.
“There is still some distance to the summit, but ordinary people cannot walk this part of the path. A member of the Clearcloud Sect must guide them. Yunran, no matter what you see, don’t become too startled. Don’t be afraid or shout. Do you understand?”
Mu Yunran nodded. “I understand. Don’t worry, Big Sister.”
Lu Qingran smiled and patted her back. Her other hand formed a seal in the air, releasing a ray of blue light from her fingertip. The light struck an invisible barrier and sank into it.
Ripples spread through the air where it vanished. In the next moment, the scenery transformed.
Mu Yunran’s eyes widened, but she remembered Lu Qingran’s warning and did not cry out. She composed her expression, put on the innocent curiosity of a child, and cautiously studied her surroundings.
Everything had changed. They now stood at the summit, on white steps suspended in midair. Mu Yunran could not tell what they were made from, but they seemed sturdy. The stairway climbed higher, with nothing along either side to keep a traveler from falling.
Several other mountains rose nearby beneath the purple-red sunset. As in the outer world, crimson clouds drifted around their peaks. White cranes circled through the hazy mist, calling from time to time.
Mu Yunran looked up with interest. *Are the white cranes in a cultivation world true immortal cranes?*
Lu Qingran saw her curiosity but offered no long explanation. She merely said, “This is the Crimsoncloud Immortal Realm.”
Holding Mu Yunran, she crossed the floating steps and landed on the summit at the other end.
Mu Yunran looked at the trees, then at the sky. The immortal realm seemed almost dreamlike: a purple-red heaven, one tree after another covered in pink leaves, and several cultivators now approaching them.
Every one of those cultivators, male or female, wore pale-pink gauze beneath a white outer robe. Their hair ribbons, ornaments, and belts all belonged to the same pink family.
*Xie Tian is absolutely obsessed with pink.*
Recognizing the newcomers, Lu Qingran released Mu Yunran and bowed to the middle-aged man at their head.
“Disciple Qingran greets Master.”
The man acknowledged her and helped her upright. A smile softened his normally stern features.
“What matters is that you returned safely.”
He examined her from head to foot and relaxed only after confirming that she was not badly hurt. It was not that he distrusted Lu Qingran. His prized disciple simply had a long history of lying about the seriousness of her injuries.
All four disciples sent down the mountain had returned alive, which should have been cause for joy. But after he briefly questioned three of them about what had happened, he could no longer feel at ease.
“This is not the place to talk. Qingran, return to the Sword Intent Hall with me and tell me everything there.”
Only then did Lingyunzi turn his attention to Mu Yunran. His gaze softened, and he asked warmly, “Little girl, who are you? What’s your name?”
The disciples behind him exchanged glances, all thinking the same thing: their master’s old habit had returned. Whenever he saw an adorable child, he became talkative.
They looked at Lu Qingran, then at the bewildered Mu Yunran. Every one of them had the feeling that their master was about to raise another child.
Mu Yunran knew only that this man was Lu Qingran’s master. If she wanted to stay, she first needed his agreement.
She used every advantage of her childish appearance. Her face became innocent and lovable as she answered honestly, “Uncle, my name is Mu Yunran.”
“What a fine name. Little Yunran is a very polite child too.”
Ever since finding Lu Qingran more than ten years ago, Lingyunzi had been unable to watch a child suffer and simply walk away.
Before Lu Qingran could ask him to let Mu Yunran remain, compassion had already stirred in his heart. Smiling, he patted the top of the child’s head and quietly used his spiritual energy to examine her.
At once, Lingyunzi’s expression changed.
