After serving as acting sect leader for many years, Lingyunzi had mastered the art of hiding every emotion. Whenever he chose, no one could learn a thing from his expression.
The result of his examination shocked him, but he composed himself so quickly that no one noticed anything wrong.
He had meant to investigate the child’s background and let her remain if it was clean. Now, he changed his mind.
With a gentle expression, he said, “Little girl, the Clearcloud Sect holds a recruitment gathering once every three years. Anyone who passes the tests can become a disciple. Would you like to join us?”
He had not said that the child could stay—only that a recruitment gathering occurred every three years. Everyone present understood his meaning.
Lu Qingran found it regrettable, but her good-tempered master never went back on a decision once made.
Mu Yunran did not mind. The Clearcloud Sect was not a place that accepted just anyone. This middle-aged cultivator had already shown her kindness, so she would not push her luck.
According to the plot, she was destined to enter this sect and become nameless cannon fodder. She had no reason to worry that the Clearcloud Sect would reject her.
“Then I’ll work very hard and earn a place as a Clearcloud disciple.”
Mu Yunran looked directly into Lingyunzi’s eyes. Her dark gaze sparkled with innocent hope for the future.
She was becoming ever more skilled at playing an obedient, sensible, lovable, innocent, and ambitious child. Even the invisible system beside her was beginning to forget that it was all an act.
The little orb spun several times in the air while continuing its private complaints about its host.
Lingyunzi liked the girl more by the moment. Unable to let such a well-behaved child keep wandering, he ordered a disciple to find a trustworthy family in the village nearest Crimsoncloud Mountain. They would foster Mu Yunran for the next few years.
“Don’t be afraid, good child. Follow my disciple down the mountain and live with that family for a while. If you work hard, I am sure you will become one of us.”
Lingyunzi affectionately stroked Mu Yunran’s head.
She blinked. In some ways, Lu Qingran truly resembled her master. Both of them loved patting her head.
“I understand! Thank you, Uncle!”
Mu Yunran turned to Lu Qingran and hooked the young woman’s little finger with her own.
“Big Sister, I’ll come back for you. Then we can play together again.”
*I still need to come back and secure your protection, after all.*
Lu Qingran crouched until they were at eye level and curled her little finger around Mu Yunran’s.
“Then it’s a promise between us. A pinky promise—no changing your mind for a hundred years. Big Sister will wait for you right here. I won’t go anywhere.”
“All right. It’s a promise.”
A breeze swept fallen leaves around the two as they sealed their agreement.
Mu Yunran remained at the Clearcloud Sect for two days. On the third morning, Lu Qingran and the disciple who had found her a foster family escorted her down Crimsoncloud Mountain.
During those two days, the system issued no missions, and Mu Yunran gathered little useful information. She was allowed to visit only the small courtyard reserved for guests and the Body-Training Ground, a broad field where disciples of the Sword Intent Hall practiced every morning.
While watching them train, she had specifically asked the system whether the male lead was among them.
The system reminded her that the story had not begun yet. The original male lead had not joined the Clearcloud Sect.
Without him, Mu Yunran could not put her plan into action. But there was no hurry. She could spend the time winning affection from the heroine and her future fellow disciples instead.
Whenever Lu Qingran and the others rested, Mu Yunran appeared and made her presence known. With her adorable face and innocent manner, she won the fondness of several future senior sisters, senior brothers, and elders.
She was tiny, yet she knew how to repay kindness. Sometimes she poured Lu Qingran a cup of water. At other times, she washed fruit or carried snacks to someone else, all to thank the people of the Clearcloud Sect.
As a result, every older disciple she had befriended came to see her off. Even Lingyunzi, the extremely busy acting sect leader, made time to attend.
Mu Yunran waved farewell. She truly felt reluctant to leave and could not help marveling at how goodhearted these people were.
*How badly will they hurt when the original male lead deceives and harms them in the future?*
Lu Qingran held Mu Yunran’s hand all the way to the foster family’s door.
The plain, honest-looking couple accepted Lu Qingran’s payment and signed a contract with her.
Only when everything was settled did Lu Qingran return to Mu Yunran and gently stroke the top of her head.
Mu Yunran was no longer the filthy child from the stream. On her first night at the sect, Lu Qingran had worried about leaving her alone. She came to bathe the girl and stayed beside her through the night. At bedtime, she treated Mu Yunran like a very young child, patting her back and telling her a story until she fell asleep.
Mu Yunran had never received such care. In the darkness, her small face had flushed with shy astonishment.
She had no memory of her parents. Even the woman who cared for her at the orphanage had not known who they were. That woman told young Mu Yunran that she had been found beneath a large tree across the road from the orphanage. At two years old, still unable to walk, she had sat blankly beneath the tree holding a small note.
That note told them the slow, quiet child’s name—Mu Yunran—and her age.
The orphanage spent more than half a year searching for her parents without success. At last, her caretaker accepted that Mu Yunran was another abandoned child. After cursing her heartless parents for several days, the woman completed the necessary paperwork, and Mu Yunran became the newest child at Sun Orphanage.
Life there had not been easy. Mu Yunran seemed less intelligent than the other children. Although she was pretty, no one wanted to adopt a child they thought was mentally impaired and whose face showed little emotion. The orphanage was understaffed, and caring for every child properly already took all the workers’ strength. They had no spare time to tell everyone bedtime stories.
Mu Yunran neither knew how to charm people nor clung to anyone. It was easy for others to overlook her.
She lived alone in a shabby little room for more than ten years. Only when she entered university did she finally move out of the orphanage.
Remembering Lu Qingran’s tender care, Mu Yunran stepped forward and hugged her.
“Thank you, Big Sister. I’ll behave. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Lu Qingran knew she would behave. She also knew that the couple were good people. Even so, she could not stop herself from giving more instructions.
“If you need anything, tell Uncle and Aunt Tian. They accepted Master’s money and signed a contract with me, so they are responsible for caring for you properly. Don’t worry about the cost, and don’t deny yourself food, clothing, or anything else you need. There is more than enough money. Do you understand, Yunran?”
She whispered into Mu Yunran’s ear so quietly that no one else could hear.
Mu Yunran patted Lu Qingran’s back, a smile entering her eyes.
“I understand. I’ll do everything you say. If you’re truly worried, you can come visit whenever you have time.”
Mu Yunran did not want to part from such a good big sister either. She hoped to see her often.
But the road of cultivation was harder than climbing to heaven. How could Lu Qingran have much free time? She had needed to plead with her master for the chance to escort Mu Yunran down the mountain today.
Still, she could not bear to disappoint the child, so she smiled and agreed.
As they released each other, Lu Qingran secretly pressed a small pouch into Mu Yunran’s hand beneath her sleeve.
Mu Yunran tilted her head in confusion. Lu Qingran merely smiled and winked.
Understanding, Mu Yunran quietly squeezed the pouch and guessed it contained money.
This was money that Big Sister Lu had given her in secret. It had nothing to do with anyone else. Besides copper coins, Mu Yunran felt something else inside. She asked the system to scan the pouch and tell her exactly what it held.
There were more than ten copper coins, a paper swallow, and a note.
Once every matter had been settled, Lu Qingran finally yielded to her junior sister’s repeated urging. She left the fenced earthen house and started back toward the Clearcloud Sect.
Mu Yunran watched her retreating figure, and an inexplicable panic entered her heart. She bit her lip and hesitated, then ran after her.
The farming couple were happily admiring the pieces of silver they had received and did not notice that the girl was already a dozen steps away.
Mu Yunran stopped, cupped one hand beside her mouth, and called, “Big Sister, you must come see me! I’ll work hard until I can stand beside you!”
Lu Qingran turned and smiled.
“I’ll wait for you.”
Mu Yunran remained where she was, watching until Lu Qingran disappeared. Only then did she follow the couple into the house.
Uncle and Aunt Tian were honest people. Now that they had accepted payment, they had no intention of mistreating Mu Yunran. They were naturally kind and simple, but they also understood that they were ordinary mortals.
How could powerless people without spiritual roots oppose immortals? Even government officials did not lightly offend cultivators. Common folk like them knew it was best to avoid trouble. If they cared properly for the child entrusted to them, then one day, when she grew into a young immortal, they could take pride in having helped her.
The couple believed that goodness brought good rewards. Only by living kindly could a person hope to meet a good end.
And so Mu Yunran remained with them.
They prepared a small private room with everything she might need.
“If you don’t mind, child, this can be your home,” Uncle Tian said. “My wife and I share the family name Tian, so you can call us Uncle and Aunt Tian. Tell us if you lack anything, or if there’s something you like to eat.”
He set a plate of corn cakes on the newly made wooden table.
“Are you hungry? Have some. If you want anything else, just say so. Your Aunt Tian cooks quickly.”
Aunt Tian nodded. “Immortal Lu gave us more than enough money, so don’t be shy. By the way, child, how old are you?”
As she spoke, Aunt Tian placed a cushion she had made on the bed and pointed to the pillow.
“I made this soft pillow for you. Village people usually sleep on hard ones, and I worried you wouldn’t be accustomed to that. Try it. If it doesn’t suit you, I’ll alter it.”
Mu Yunran had never known parental affection and was not used to their warmth. She smiled awkwardly but politely and answered Aunt Tian’s questions one by one.
“I’m ten years old. The pillow feels wonderful. I’m sure I’ll sleep well on it.”
After trying the pillow, she sat at the table and bit into a corn cake.
“I was just getting hungry. This is fragrant and sweet—it’s delicious. Thank you, Uncle and Aunt Tian.”
The couple saw how obedient and thoughtful she was, and how adorable her smile could be. Their fondness grew. After so many childless years, an already well-behaved child had suddenly entered their lives. How could they not like her?
They waved away her thanks.
Then Aunt Tian made a puzzled sound. “Child, are you truly ten?”
Only then did Uncle Tian understand what had seemed wrong. He too looked at Mu Yunran in surprise.
“Yes. I’m ten.”
Aunt Tian hurried over and lifted her from the chair.
“Goodness! How can this child possibly look ten?”
She knew a little of Mu Yunran’s past. Looking at the thin, undersized girl—far shorter than other ten-year-olds in the village—made her heart ache.
She and her husband desperately wanted a child but had none. Yet someone else had abandoned this tiny girl, leaving her exposed to wind and hunger until she survived by begging. What parents could throw away such a blessing?
Aunt Tian set Mu Yunran back in the chair.
“Little Ran, keep eating. Auntie is going to make you a proper meal and put some strength into you!”
Before Mu Yunran could object, she hurried out, muttering, “I’ll feed this child until she’s strong and tall! Honestly, what sort of parents could do such a thing?”
Uncle Tian had no objection. He told Mu Yunran to eat, then left to buy meat from Butcher Zhang.
On her first day in Tian Family Village, Mu Yunran ate an especially lavish dinner.
Afterward, she tried to help clear the bowls but was pushed back into her room by Aunt Tian.
“Little Ran, Auntie has already found a teacher who can teach you to read. You can begin tomorrow. I know you’re going to try to become a little immortal in three years, but immortals must know how to read too, don’t they? You can’t go there unable to recognize more than a few words and let people laugh at you.”
Mu Yunran had never imagined that she would transmigrate into a xianxia novel only to be sent back to school. She was speechless.
She obediently agreed and closed her door. She had not forgotten the pouch Lu Qingran had given her. Now that she was finally alone, she could examine it. She had spent the whole afternoon wondering what the note said.
Mu Yunran drew the pouch from inside her clothes and studied it properly. An ice-blue lotus was embroidered on the pale-pink cloth, and a cord of the same blue formed a slipknot at the opening.
“This lotus is lovely. I wonder whether Big Sister Lu embroidered it.”
She loosened the knot and took out the note. By the light of an oil lamp, she read its single line:
*The paper swallow can carry your voice. In an emergency, it can also save your life.*
The simple message warmed Mu Yunran’s heart.
She was unlikely to face mortal danger in a place like Tian Family Village. Even so, Lu Qingran had worried and prepared for every possibility.
Mu Yunran clenched the note, fell backward onto the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“System, why do you think the heroine is so good to me?”
I thought she’s seven years old