Lan Ling'e dreamed a dream.
In the dream, she was taken as a disciple by an old immortal, who brought her back to his immortal abode, where she met a handsome senior brother who leaped out of the water...
Uh, this wasn't a dream at all. It had just happened moments ago.
Half-awake, Lan Ling'e heard her master's voice again. But this time her master sounded quite fierce, a far cry from the kindly old immortal in her memory.
"Wretch! Your wings have grown, have they! Now you dare to scheme against your own master!"
Then Lan Ling'e heard that warm, refined voice:
"Master, please calm down. Your disciple is only guarding against trouble before it happens. And since I happened to need to practice the Water Escape Technique, I set up this thief-guarding arrangement and went to cultivate in the lake.
I didn't know you would suddenly return today, Master, and I failed to remove it in time. Please forgive me, Master."
The senior brother spoke slowly and unhurriedly, making one unconsciously want to hear more.
Then Lan Ling'e heard her master heave a long sigh.
By the bamboo bed, the old Daoist clapped his hands and complained, full of helplessness: "I'm telling you, Changshou, this is inside the sect. What use is this kind of arrangement to you?
And guarding against thieves? Our Little Emerald Peak is almost at the point of changing the character for 'emerald' to the character for 'poor'! What thief would deign to visit us!"
Changshou?
So the senior brother is called Changshou?
What a simple Dao name, and it reveals the senior brother's simple, honest, and beautiful wish.
Lan Ling'e suddenly realized that although she could hear what was happening outside, she couldn't open her eyes at all. Her eyelids were very heavy, and her body had no strength.
The senior brother spoke again, his voice so warm that it gave her the feeling of... Mother.
"Master's words are somewhat biased. It's not as if there's no danger within the sect.
In recent years, competition among the peaks has grown fierce, and the elders of the sect don't really care about such matters. Since I am the only disciple of this lineage—oh no, one of only two—a necessary degree of caution is still required.
Originally, our Little Emerald Peak had a low presence within the sect and no real backing. Who knows, someone might want to seize our little patch of land and scheme against us in secret."
Just after the senior brother finished speaking, the old master complained again:
"Our Immortal Crossing Sect has strict rules. How could such a thing possibly happen?
Enough, enough! Your master has no more words for you! All day long you spout crooked reasoning, yet I don't see your cultivation rising any faster!
Wait here until Ling'e wakes up. Take your master's token and bring her to the main peak to register her name, receive her official disciple identity token and monthly allowance!
Really, this infuriates me!"
The old Daoist swept his sleeve and rose from the bamboo chair. Probably the effect of the medicine had not yet worn off, for he stumbled again, making the old Daoist's face turn red with embarrassment.
"This infuriates me!"
"Master, be careful."
"Hmph! Your master will go into seclusion to comprehend the supreme Dao!"
Daoist Qiyuan stamped his foot hard, and his form transformed into a wisp of green smoke that vanished from the thatched cottage.
In the blink of an eye, a clattering and clanging sound came from the neighboring thatched cottage—clearly the Dao master, having dispelled his spell, had once again lost his balance.
"Alas..."
The young man standing before the door let out a faint sigh.
Accompanying this sigh, the child lying on the bamboo bed opened her eyes a sliver and saw the figure bowing his head in thought.
The senior brother is really tall.
"Master's foundation is still too weak. His soul-force is insufficient, and I fear he won't be able to withstand the tribulation of becoming an immortal."
What did these words all mean...
Drowsiness swept over her again. Lan Ling'e unconsciously closed her eyes softly. Soon she heard footsteps growing clearer.
Although she was only nine, her spiritual intelligence had awakened early, and she was born into a powerful mortal family in the human world. Having studied etiquette since childhood, she already had a vague, half-informed understanding of many matters.
A lone man and woman in such a situation, with a strange man constantly drawing near—to Lan Ling'e, this went against propriety.
But if it were her own senior brother, who from now on would be like a real elder brother to her, then it seemed... no matter.
"Junior sister Lan, I am your senior brother, Li Changshou.
Right now I'm relieving the effect of the Soft Immortal Powder. If you can hear me, please don't take me for a pervert. I am a man of sound values.
Uh, what nonsense am I muttering? She's only just begun to cultivate; how could she withstand the medicine's effect."
Pervert? Values?
These special cultivation-circles terms are so hard to understand...
The senior brother really lives up to being a qi-refiner!
Lan Ling'e tried hard to respond, so as not to seem too rude before her senior brother, but she had not the slightest bit of strength. Only her mind was active.
Suddenly, she felt a large hand gently place itself on her forehead. Wisp after wisp of cool, refreshing energy poured in from her forehead and instantly flowed through her whole body, making her feel extraordinarily comfortable.
The senior brother was treating her injuries...
For some reason, Lan Ling'e's mind grew somewhat flustered. Her thoughts drifted up to the clouds, hazy yet real.
Li Changshou looked at the little girl lying flat on the bed and furrowed his brow in thought.
Although his master had talked for a long time about wanting to take another disciple, and he had fully mentally prepared himself to welcome a junior sister or junior brother, there were still a few matters he was quite concerned about.
Might as well take the opportunity to examine her soul.
Li Changshou released a wisp of cool energy and gently touched the source of Lan Ling'e's living essence.
Mm, her soul and body are perfectly harmonized, with no sense of incongruity. She probably wasn't body-snatched.
Her aptitude seems quite good too—the affinities of Water and Wood. The only question is her temperament.
At the junior sister's age, her personality should already be formed. I hope she's not the type to stir up trouble everywhere...
Still, judging by her looks, she might grow up to be a beauty. From ancient times, beautiful women have been sources of calamity. This could be a flashpoint of conflict that I'd best try my best to avoid.
Let me check if she's hiding something like a demon seed.
Mm, this check is also very necessary. Although the probability is low, one can't rule out such a small possibility. Guarding against trouble before it happens is always a good thing.
At the same time...
Huh?
Feeling the large hand leave her forehead and begin to glide slowly over various places, the slumbering Lan Ling'e's little face flushed slightly.
Se-, Senior brother...
Isn't this a bit too...
Not there!
Soon, Li Changshou nodded. After his meticulous examination, the junior sister should have no problems—she hadn't been body-snatched, hadn't been planted with a demon seed, hadn't been afflicted with gu worms or curses, and truly was a good seedling for cultivation.
Entry examination, officially passed!
Next was sketching out the training curriculum for the junior sister. This, too, needed to be well prepared.
Best if the junior sister wasn't the type to stir up trouble, so that the probability of him incurring karmic entanglement would remain about the same as now...
Li Changshou sat by the bed, somewhat lost in thought, then laughed at himself and murmured:
"Still, I think I understand now why so many people in my past life were lolicon.
So adorable—who can resist?"
Loli... con?
Adorable?
Past life?
Lan Ling'e didn't understand, but felt that her master was indeed right about one thing: the senior brother was a bit odd.
Perhaps the cool energy had taken effect. Lan Ling'e's strength had recovered a tiny bit, and she couldn't help trying to open her eyes. Her little mouth parted slightly, letting out a soft hum.
Her vision went from blurry to bright. Lan Ling'e finally saw her senior brother up close. It was indeed a face with sharp features that grew more handsome the longer one looked, even more handsome than the guards beside her mother.
It was just that the senior brother's expression right now was somewhat... nerve-wracking...
The senior brother's eyes are so frightening!
Gulp!
Lan Ling'e swallowed. She looked weak, helpless, and pitifully endearing.
Then the young cultivator seated by the bed asked in a faint voice: "You... heard all that just now?"
Lan Ling'e was suddenly panicked and replied in a trembling voice: "N-, no... mm..."
What's wrong with the senior brother? Did I do something to upset him? With an expression like that, is he displeased with me somehow?
"Senior brother..."
The young man beside the bed slowly rose, looking down at this exquisitely carved little girl. His gaze was briefly hesitant, but soon he said in a low voice:
"Look at me.
Whatever I just said, tell no one about it."
"Oh, okay," Lan Ling'e replied in a small voice, her cheeks bright red, somewhat at a loss.
Then she watched her senior brother shake his head, slowly rise, walk to the window, and stare off into space.
His name was Li Changshou. When he had taken the master as his teacher all those years ago, on his own insistence, he had kept the two characters "Changshou" in his Dao name.
And Lan Ling'e's guess wasn't far off. Li Changshou simply wanted to live longer, ideally living as long as Heaven and Earth.
At this moment, Li Changshou was recalling the information he had leaked while talking to himself just now.
The biggest giveaway should be those two characters, "past life."
Oh no!
In all these hundred-odd years, he had guarded against everything under the sun, yet he never expected to reveal his secret before the newly arrived junior sister! It was also because he'd kept the secret buried in his heart for too long that he couldn't help talking to himself!
Turning to glance at the little girl on the bed who was trying to sit up, Li Changshou stroked his chin.
After all, it really might be necessary to silence her—to silence her!
On the bamboo bed, Lan Ling'e, who had struggled to sit up, happened to catch a glimpse of her senior brother's cold, dark gaze and couldn't help shivering...
"Senior brother?"
"Whatever I said just now—you must never tell anyone!"
"Mm! Ling'e will remember!"
"Never tell anyone, including Master!"
"Okay, senior brother..."
"Good. Then swear an oath first, in the name of the supreme Dao!"
"Uh? Uh..."
In the slanting sunlight, the little girl sitting on the bed gradually had her forehead covered in black lines. Under the supervision of the senior brother coaching her from the side, she raised her little hand and began to recite the thousand-character-long oath that took all kinds of situations and preconditions into account...
The Dao Oath.