After My Thoughts Were Read, My Master Led Me to Change My Fate - Chapter 23

Inside the Water Mirror, two figures one representing ice and the other fire were still locked in combat. A white mist swirled around them, and the clanging of their sword blades rang out softly as they clashed.

He Lan rested her head on her hand, watching until she was nearly asleep. Bored, she remarked, “Why is little Songwu only defending and never attacking? Children who are too well-behaved don’t get the best rewards.”

“She isn’t usually like this, though.”

Qin Siyue said calmly, “Not quite. Look at her footwork; she simply doesn’t want to get entangled in this struggle.”

While the various elders were analyzing the battle with great fervor, the Master herself the person actually in charge was yawning repeatedly. She looked even more exhausted than He Lanmianmian.

She had been giving her young disciple extra training for half a year now; she knew exactly what level the girl had reached. Moreover, this little girl loved to mutter her thoughts in her heart, providing what was essentially a live text-and-voice broadcast of the entire fight.

The effort of trying to peer through a layer of misty water to watch a battlefield was too tiring. She wasn’t going to do it.

Ning Songwu hadn’t lied; she really wasn’t very good at cooking.

Lightning and fire were naturally both complementary and conflicting. Many years ago, when she still couldn’t control the lightning surrounding her body, every time she got close to Lin Xinran while she was cooking, the flames would suddenly surge and flare up for a moment. Afterward, the meal in the pot would be burnt to a crisp.

Just like her and Lin Xinran a pair of bickering friends.

Later, as her cultivation gradually improved, the lightning was drawn into her body. However, her interest in learning to cook had passed. Whenever she approached Lin Xinran again, she would be kicked away, leaving her with no further opportunity to learn.

It wasn’t until she lived alone that she learned to make a few simple dishes. However, she had never dared to attempt challenging ingredients like chicken, duck, or fish.

As it turned out, buying two fish had been the right move; she indeed ruined the first one.

The phone rang twice, followed by a girl’s questioning voice. “Hello?”

“Miss Ran.” Ning Songwu’s voice was low. Suppressing the slight disappointment in her heart, she asked, “Last time, you asked me what was wrong with that smile, and we discussed it for a long time. So today, I want to ask you: how do you cook this fish?”

Hearing someone hailed by everyone as a “goddess” ask such a question so seriously was actually quite funny.

Ran Fanyin let out a soft huff. “Are you in a hurry?”

“Why do you ask?”

Miss Ran had rarely held the upper hand in their interactions, and her voice was now tinged with a bit of pride. “If you’re in a hurry to eat, I suggest you order takeout first, because the second fish will likely be ruined by you as well. If you aren’t in a hurry, I can record a video for you. You should be able to learn from it.”

The hand of the person picking up the second fish paused slightly, her voice rising a bit. “Will you be appearing in the video yourself?”

“Hmm?”

“Is it guaranteed that I’ll learn it?” Ning Songwu leaned against the headboard, closing her eyes to rest and regulate her breathing.

For her, when her mental state was decent, rest wasn’t that important. The comfort brought by a night of meditation was no less than that of sleep.

Furthermore…

She touched her phone screen; it lit up and dimmed, but remained unchanged.

Yet, what she was waiting for was precisely a change.

She cultivated the Path of the Mortal Realm. The moment she stepped onto this path, she was destined to enter the world of red dust and experience all kinds of human emotions.

One could say that while other people’s paths led upward to eventually transcend the world, hers was born to lead downward to eventually enter it.

This also granted her relative convenience. For instance, cultivators usually tried to avoid “Karma” to prevent it from affecting their Dao heart, but she feared none of it, walking freely through the mortal world instead.

However, while she walked freely, she didn’t just pick up any Karma. Her innate distrust of others kept her at a distance. There was a reason she had been called a “cold beauty” by many for years.

But this strand of Karma that was Ran Fanyin was one she had actively sought out.

For some reason, whenever she saw that small, round face, she felt a slight sense of familiarity. Especially this child’s aura—it was very familiar, though she couldn’t remember where she had seen it. It was very kind and not at all unpleasant.

In fact, it felt as though threads were winding into her heart and lungs, tightly entwining her.

At this thought, the person who was currently regulating her breath lazily opened her eyes. A white light flickered in her pupils, vanishing a moment later along with the dancing specks of starlight around her. The room grew much dimmer as a result.

She pressed her phone screen again—still no movement.

It made sense; it was already the early hours of the morning. Miss Ran had work, so she should be asleep by now.

She turned off the screen, slid down onto the bed, rolled over loosely to look out the window, and gave a faint sigh.

The person who was “long asleep” had actually just finished a rehearsal and was preparing for an official take.

This was a scene of a night walk and a heart-to-heart talk. The female lead, having suffered a breakup, came to find her. The two of them would walk in the night breeze, complaining about the male lead.

It wasn’t difficult, but it required many camera angles, so several takes were needed.

He Xi rubbed her arms and leaned gently toward Ran Fanyin’s side, asking, “Fanyin, don’t you think it’s really cold?”

“It’s okay. Maybe you’re wearing too little? Let’s get through this take quickly.”

“Right! This river breeze at night is truly freezing.”

Hearing the person beside her sighing twice in a row, Ran Fanyin felt it was strange. She touched her own arm it wasn’t cold; in fact, her arm was quite warm. But He Xi’s arm truly had a layer of goosebumps. Before filming started, she raised her hand to help cover and warm the other woman’s arm.

He Xi let out a questioning sound.

“Aren’t you cold? My hands are warm, let me warm you up.” The girl had no sense of the “smiling without showing teeth” etiquette; her dimples were deep as she gave an exceptionally silly smile. Combined with her round face, she looked even sillier.

He Xi returned a warm smile.

In terms of status, Ran Fanyin, who already had some popularity, was certainly more influential than her. But Ran Fanyin had said that this second female lead role suited her better—it was a bit “silly” and fit her face shape. Since the female lead role held the title of “beautiful as a flower,” her round face wasn’t quite right for it. In the end, she chose the second female lead.

He Xi couldn’t quite put it into words, but she truly liked this person and admired her.

He Xi lowered her voice. “Fanyin, I know a plastic surgery place. It’s very fast, and the post-op results are good. Do you need it?”

“Huh?” The person who was zoning out to get into character was startled. She looked around, and seeing no one, she asked back, “Why ask that? Is there something on my face?”

“Didn’t you refuse the lead role because you felt your face shape wasn’t right? It’s such a pity…”

Ran Fanyin giggled and patted her shoulder. “You can’t think like that! If I do that, wouldn’t I miss out when I encounter a character that needs a small round face? Also, these words…” Her voice dropped even lower. “You must never tell anyone else.”

“…Alright.”

Ran Fanyin smiled and withdrew her hand. The director saw they were ready and called everyone to begin.

Only He Xi felt somewhat…

Cold.

A cold that pierced to the marrow.

So cold she felt a bit dazed.

“Xie Xiaoxiao, get ready.” Ran Fanyin habitually called out her co-actor’s character name. The person called was stunned for a moment before following along.

“Xiaoxiao, ah, don’t cry, don’t cry.” Li Ling felt that the more she spoke, the harder the little girl in front of her cried, as if she intended to flood the river. It was a bit of a headache, but she could only keep her hands moving to wipe away the tears.

“Ugh, Ling’er, am I really that terrible? He just picked up his suitcase and left. I clearly didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Don’t cry, tell me slowly. I’ll be your advisor.”

“You’re so good to me.” Xie Xiaoxiao turned and directly embraced Li Ling, her hands crossing behind Li Ling’s neck. This wasn’t in the script, but it seemed quite appropriate here. It must have been added by He Xi on the spot. It felt pretty good, and the director didn’t call for a stop.

Ran Fanyin thought to herself as she embraced her back, her voice soft: “Xiaoxiao, you’re not allowed to cry for that scumbag anymore…” She was fully focused on delivering her lines, completely unaware that the hands hugging her had stiffened. In the next instant, the director called “Cut,” and He Xi pulled away several steps, clutching her chest.

Ran Fanyin was bewildered. “What’s wrong?”

“He Xi, the movement you added was great. Why did you suddenly stiffen?” The director shouted from a distance, telling the two to find their state and continue in a moment.

“He Xi, are you okay? Chest pain, or…?”

“I’m fine, I held you back.”

“Ah, what are you talking about, ‘holding me back’? Take a rest, we’ll do another take in a bit.”

“Okay.”

He Xi endured for a moment before asking, “Fanyin, are you wearing some kind of accessory?”

“An accessory?” Ran Fanyin looked around blankly, then remembered the small sachet hanging around her neck and took it out to show He Xi.

“Who gave this to you?”

“A friend gave it to me!”

Her eyes brightened significantly, but she still withheld the friend’s specific details.

“Oh… could it affect your image?”

“Would it? I hid it very well. Don’t worry, girl! Once you’ve rested, let’s try again.”

“Okay.”

This time went much more smoothly, and the following takes were also successful.

So successful that no one noticed an extra person in the tree nearby.

Ning Songwu had hidden her aura, standing on a branch, looking down indifferently at the filming site.

Just now, the sachet she left with Ran Fanyin had moved. Only someone like her—a spiritual cultivator—could trigger the sachet’s self-defense mechanism.

Fortunately, Ran Fanyin had been obedient and carried the sachet with her, allowing Ning Songwu to arrive so quickly.

Only…

Ning Songwu narrowed her eyes, scanning the area, but found no trace of the spiritual cultivator. She simply crouched in the tree to watch Ran Fanyin film from a close distance.

This little creature was indeed very spiritually gifted. In a mediocre production like this, her natural aura easily overshadowed the others.

She had checked earlier; the little creature’s role was the second female lead, and the person acting with her was likely the female lead.

Not as spiritually gifted as the little creature; the acting is too obvious, Ning Songwu judged in her heart.

After a few more takes, the night’s work was finished. The crew members greeted each other, and several actors who had stayed up until this hour said their goodbyes and left the set.

The assistant handed the phone to Ran Fanyin. Exhausted to the point where she could barely open her eyes, Ran Fanyin pressed the screen to do a quick scan. If there was no important information, she would wait until daylight.

The profile picture of “White Snow and Scorching Sun” was sitting there, waiting for her to check it.

“Teacher Ning actually replied to me this late!” Ran Fanyin whispered. Her sleepiness faded a bit. Looking at that single word “Okay,” a subtle emotion rose in her heart.

Even the director had been rejected, yet Teacher Ning had made time for her.

It was only the third day they had known each other—could she already receive such preferential treatment from Ning Songwu?

As the night deepened, she finally felt a bit of the cold. Her fingers were trembling as she went to press the screen. Before she could, a hand with distinct joints and slender fingers pressed down on her wrist. Looking along the arm, she saw a person who definitely shouldn’t be wandering around this late appearing right there.

“Teacher Ning, why are you here?”

Ning Songwu raised her hand to stop her words, turned to look at the assistant, and said softly, “Don’t speak yet. Is this your assistant? You may leave first. I will see her back shortly.”

The assistant struggled for a moment, then nodded and left.

“Hold your breath.” Ning Songwu’s voice grew cold, making Ran Fanyin’s heart tremble. She subconsciously followed the request and held her breath.

Being held by the wrist like this, Ran Fanyin’s hands—which were somewhat numb from the cold while holding the phone—gradually regained warmth and mobility.

“Don’t move.” Ning Songwu’s other hand pressed down on her fingers, but there seemed to be static electricity between them, giving her a small zap.

She had experienced quite a bit of static tonight. Earlier, when she embraced He Xi, there was also a zap at her chest.

It was probably because she had been wearing too many synthetic fabrics lately.

Teacher Ning also seemed to have been zapped and quickly took half a step back.

Ning Songwu did not have mind-reading powers, nor was her full attention on Ran Fanyin. She stared at her fingertips for a moment, did a silent calculation, and then looked up, flashing a gentle smile again.

“Sorry about that. Making you do something so mysterious the moment we meet.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. But Teacher Ning, it’s after four in the morning, why are you…?”

“I slept too much during the day and couldn’t sleep. I heard your crew was here, so I came.”

Ms. Ning “Lying-without-blinking” calmly explained.

“Is Teacher Ning going back then? It’s so late; driving isn’t safe.” Ran Fanyin asked sincerely, her round eyes staring at Ning Songwu, full of emotion and devoid of artifice.

“I won’t go back. However, can you still hold on? Accompany me inside for a moment.”

Ran Fanyin checked tomorrow’s schedule—all in the afternoon and evening—and nodded. “Okay, let’s go together.”

The director was still packing up, though his movements seemed a bit sluggish. It wasn’t until Ning Songwu approached that he noticed someone had come. It took him a moment to realize it was the person who had just rejected him on WeChat.

“Teacher Ning, hello. Oh, it’s really cold by the river at night,” the director said, and several men beside him chimed in.

Ning Songwu’s expression cooled, but she still reached out and shook hands with them one by one, drawing away the cold energy from their bodies.

The change in temperature wouldn’t be noticeable immediately, but at least they wouldn’t be targeted by small demons tonight.

“Director Wang, hello. Is there anyone else ahead?”

“He Xi seems to be sitting alone in a daze. Her state wasn’t great tonight; she might be thinking about how to improve for tomorrow.”

“Are you coming with me?”

The mentioned Miss Ran was a bit dazed from exhaustion. She took a moment to react before nodding.

“Then follow me closely.”

“What?”

The two unrelated questions left Ran Fanyin confused. Before she could say more, the person on the other end of the phone slowed their breathing. “I’m not in a hurry. I can eat frozen dumplings, but I want to learn. Please, Miss Ran, do not hesitate to teach me.”

Ran Fanyin knew that this time, the smile lacked its usual sense of distance. She couldn’t see it, but she just knew.

She looked down at the braised fish pieces that were almost ready to be served, thought for a moment, and asked, “How do you want to eat it?”

“Braised fried fish.”

“Fine, wait a moment.”

“Can we live stream it?”

Ran Fanyin scanned the messy kitchen and said firmly, “No.”

After hanging up, she counted another thirty seconds. When the braised fish on the stove was ready, she plated it, put the pot in the sink to soak, took the finished fish out, and pulled the second fish from the fridge.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Li Ke’er asked.

Ran Fanyin stared at her thoughtfully for a moment, then beckoned with her finger. “Come here and help me record a video.”

“I’m very hungry.”

“Teaching someone how to cook.”

Li Ke’er’s eyes flickered. “Ning Songwu really asked you? Wow, you really are something! Buying this fish wasn’t a waste after all.”

“I told you, she’s someone who would shed tears for Lin Qingchen as well.”

“You shed tears for many of her characters. If the acting is good, it’s worth crying over.”

“That’s different.”

“Of course it’s different. You’re a ten-year veteran fan; she’s just your partner for the next project.”

Under the sound of rushing water, the used kitchenware was quickly washed and put away. Ran Fanyin gave the kitchen a quick, simple tidy-up to ensure everything within the camera’s view was presentable. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief, change into a clean apron, and turn to respond to the person she had been ignoring.

“Come, camera operator.”

“You really only use people when you need them.”

“That’s not how you use that phrase.”

“I don’t care.”

The following filming process was very quiet, with only Ran Fanyin’s calm explanations and some ambient kitchen noise.

The sunlight traced an outline around the person in the apron, making her glow in the frame.

After filming and editing, there was half an hour of video. By the time she sent it over, it was already 3:30 PM.

At this hour, surely no one hasn’t had lunch yet?

Ran Fanyin ignored the person looking at her with quite a bit of resentment.

At 5:00 PM, Li Ke’er left with her suitcase. Before leaving, she poked Ran Fanyin’s head and sighed: “You really aren’t right. If something’s up, tell your best friend.”

“Don’t worry.” A brilliant smile appeared on the small round face, showing twelve teeth, her eyes curving into slits.

She was fine.

She knew it.

She just had some slightly inappropriate thoughts, but she could control them.

At 7:00 PM, she sat on the bay window reading a book. A lamp was tied to the installed guardrail, glowing gently without straining her eyes.

The phone vibrated a few times. She picked it up; it was a message from Zhao Siping, but the source was Ning Songwu.

She looked at the content, and her breath hitched for a moment. A while later, she replied: “Do you think it can be posted?”

Zhao Siping’s response was fast. “Yes, just monitor the follow-up public opinion.”

“Then post it.”

Three minutes later, the third life-sharing post of the month appeared on Ning Songwu’s Weibo. The first was a “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant she ate at in City B; the second was lightning she photographed in Xincheng; and the third was at her home—the content was a serving of braised fried fish pieces.

“@RanFanyin, thank you Teacher Ran for your guidance. Finally learned this dish [Yay].”

A minute later, Ran Fanyin appeared in the comments: “It is my honor to be able to help Teacher Ning. (Well-behaved.jpg)”

Ran Fanyin swiped out of Weibo and switched back to WeChat, staring fixedly at the message Ning Songwu had sent to Su Yue.

“Since we’re considering using the CP (Couple Pairing) to hype up Double Dreams, and Miss Ran just helped me out a bit today, it shouldn’t be a problem to post a Weibo to thank her, right? [WeiboContent.jpg]”

Using the CP to hype up Double Dreams?

Fine.

Since I’m one of the investors’ people, of course, I’m willing.

Ran Fanyin pursed her lips, feeling inexplicably lost.

The braised fried fish Ning Songwu made this time could only be described as having “decent presentation,” but as for eating it… that would require some courage.

After taking the photo, she looked at the plate of fish for a while, sighed, stood up, and threw it away.

She didn’t want tomorrow’s headlines in the Mortal Realm and the Cultivation Realm to be identical: Ning Songwu Poisoned by Her Own Cooking.

She had clearly followed the steps in Ran Fanyin’s video. Could it be that her nature truly clashed with these things?

At this moment, Ning Songwu was unusually idle. she was about to breakthrough. Since there were still six months until her next long holiday, she had to suppress her cultivation for half a year to avoid any problems during the breakthrough process. Therefore, she didn’t need to cultivate intensely during these six months; circulating her Qi once a day was enough.

She exited Weibo, swiftly switched to her “alt” (side) account, and started browsing.

Under her Weibo post, most of the comments were from fans encouraging and praising her. Occasionally, someone would comment that she had been posting so frequently lately—had she already used up next year’s quota?

Not used up; next year has next year’s posts.

She clicked into the “Super Topic” area. Someone was discussing her relationship with Ran Fanyin, and it had reached the front page.

“They only just followed each other a while ago. How did they get to the point of cooking lessons so quickly? This progress is too fast, right?”

“Maybe they knew each other before and just hadn’t followed each other yet?”

“Sigh, I don’t know if Teacher Ning knew Teacher Ran, but the fact that Teacher Ran has been a ten-year fan of Teacher Ning is something all of us old fans know.”

“Whose old fan are you? Don’t just go around making connections!”

“Heh, you don’t believe it? Look at the screenshot!”

The screenshot was Ran Fanyin’s “Following” list. She was at the very bottom. Below her was the “New User Guide.”

In other words, she was the very first person Ran Fanyin followed after registering on Weibo?

Afraid the image was fake, she personally went to check Ran Fanyin’s following list.

It was real.

A certain smugness in Teacher Ning’s heart was satisfied.

She went back to the previous post and looked at the next reply.

“Don’t you know how much this can be manipulated? Maybe Ran Fanyin unfollowed and refollowed just to make it look like this.”

Teacher Ning reported that comment.

This Weibo post only had this many comments for now. She exited and continued scrolling. She saw a few scattered comments:

“Am I the only one who thinks this is a great ship?”

“They’re both women, don’t ship them randomly.”

“I even ship Lin Daiyu and Voldemort; are they supposed to be together too?”

Lin Daiyu and Voldemort?

Ning Songwu was stunned. What kind of combination was that?

She clicked into that person’s homepage. The video page was full of bizarre pairings—something about the Festering Desire sword and the Skyward Blade…

What kind of magical nonsense was this!

Did their interaction attract this kind of person?

Teacher Ning rarely stared at the screen in deep thought.

Was this what Xu Yueping didn’t want to say?

They would attract people like this?

But Teacher Ning silently clicked “Follow.”

She wanted to see what kind of creative work someone with such a strange mind could come up with for this CP.

Casually, she clicked “Share” and sent the link to this magical homepage to Su Yue and Ran Fanyin respectively. Su Yue seemed busy, but on Ran Fanyin’s end, the “Typing…” status flickered a few times before falling silent.

It was so long that she had browsed Weibo for a good while longer before Ran Fanyin finally replied.

“Teacher Ning, so you have this kind of hobby?”

Ning Songwu: ?

Weren’t you my ten-year fan?

Can’t you see my intention?

Ran Fanyin hadn’t failed to see it, but her thoughts had gone astray.

She had also seen that “great ship” comment on the homepage, but before she could think about it, she saw the “Lin Daiyu and Voldemort” in the comments.

She knew about this pairing it was a famous crack-ship.

But…

Looking at the string of magical CPs on the video page, Ran Fanyin’s romantic thoughts born from Ning Songwu sharing a Weibo link—evaporated completely, turning into deeper contemplation.

Teacher Ning, what do you mean?

Does it mean this CP is just as magical (bizarre) as this list?

But seeing Teacher Ning’s cheerful appearance, it didn’t seem like she was disgusted.

Ran Fanyin typed and deleted, deleted and typed. After a long time, she finally sent out one sentence—

“Teacher Ning, so you have this kind of hobby?”

You really couldn’t tell!

She suddenly felt like she had broken out of character!

The tiny sprout of her “dream girl” heart was crushed.

Ning Songwu, naturally, didn’t know Ran Fanyin was having such an internal crisis. Looking at that line of text, she suddenly felt she should say something to explain, but even after searching through over six hundred years of memories, she didn’t know what to say.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. After thinking it over, she sent one sentence.

“See you Wednesday.”

See you at the MV filming site on Wednesday.

Without waiting for Ran Fanyin’s reply, Su Yue finally finished her work and replied: “I won’t comment on your hobbies, but think about what to do with this photo.”

The photo was of the two of them at the supermarket this morning. Li Ke’er had been conveniently cropped out, leaving only the two of them looking at each other through their masks.

It looked good, but… it wasn’t right.

How were they caught on camera again?

And this time, it wasn’t sent to the managers; it was posted directly online following the trending topic, sparking a wave of discussion.

It looked like fan behavior, but clearly, it wasn’t.

Ning Songwu sat up straight, her brow furrowed slightly.

The person who had completely recovered her strength stood up and lifted her long sword again, letting out a cold laugh. “Regardless, you did save me once. In a moment, I will send you back to the side of the Wolf Beast. No need to thank me.”

Ning Songwu’s expression changed completely. Ignoring the pain in her body, she scrambled up and ran, heading straight for the direction of the Twin Snow Sword.

Chaosfrost was very strong, but she remembered the Twin Snow had a spirit. If she could quickly conquer this sword, the sword spirit holding the blade might be able to help the current her resist Lin Yuxue.

This woman had such a cruel heart. Just minutes after saving her, she had turned against her and wanted to kill her again. She blamed her own lack of experience and momentary lapse in judgment she had actually forgotten to disarm her.

But that question just now…

Before she could think further, the place where the treasures were kept was already in sight. However, the scene… was truly terrifying.