After My Thoughts Were Read, My Master Led Me to Change My Fate - Chapter 47.2

Landing on the snow, the girl in white gauze quickly transformed into a massive divine beast and burrowed into her cave.

Ran Fanyin was still looking around, letting her divine sense scan the area for signs of any living person, when she saw the giant beast emerge slowly from the cave, holding a girl in its mouth.

The girl was still grinning foolishly at her.

“…” Upon seeing Ning Songwu retrieved completely unharmed, Ran Fanyin suddenly realized a problem she had overlooked for a long time.

If Ning Songwu had truly encountered any danger, her heart meridian would ache. If she encountered a life-threatening danger, such as her spiritual energy going utterly berserk, she might be in so much pain she couldn’t straighten her back.

And right now, she was purely…

…Lost in her own concern.

She had even overlooked such a straightforward issue, rushing over so recklessly, ignoring her own physical state, her own emotions, and the fact that the quarrel they had had days ago had not yet been resolved.

[Master, you don’t need to risk yourself to put on a show. What if that villain tries to sneak an attack right now?]

[After all, in the text, Feng Hua is really targeting Master. I don’t know why.]

[Feng Hua’s goal must be the core of the Heaven-Slaying Array! If the core is destroyed, the Cloud Ascent Sect and all the regions behind it would lose their protection. As long as the Demon Race overcomes the Heaven’s Endowment Immortal Sect, they can drive straight in, all the way to the coast.]

[No wonder, no wonder she kept “accidentally entering” various secret realms. Because she was looking for the array core!]

[No wonder, no wonder…]

Little Peach politely knocked on the door. After a voice inside bade her to enter, she wobbled in with a teapot.

Mother said these two older sisters are very, very important people, and she must entertain them well.

Little Peach tapped her chin. “More important than the Immortal Master?”

Chun Hua smiled and pinched the little one’s ear. “The Immortal Master is the immortal who saved us from fire and flood. The two older sisters are noble people who ensure we have enough to eat and warm clothes. Which one do you think is more important?”

Little Peach had no concept of being saved from fire and flood. She didn’t feel that what the Immortal Master taught them had saved them in any way. Instead, it had made many aunts and uncles age a lot, and even her younger brother had grown up very quickly. Only a few aunts who refused to cultivate were still young, and only a few children still looked about her age.

How is that saving people? Isn’t that murder?

The little one shook her head. “I think the sisters are more important.”

Chun Hua curved her eyebrows, bent down, and patted the little girl’s head. “Then shall Little Peach take the tea over?”

“Yes!!” The little one’s eyes lit up at the thought of seeing the two beautiful sisters. She temporarily forgot that she had arranged to play kick-the-stone with her friends and skipped off happily with the teapot, wobbling along to find the two sisters.

Little Peach thought: I hope I can see the face of the sister with the hat this time, hehe.

Unfortunately, the sister wearing the white hat was sitting properly, still wearing the hat. It was the sister in the green robes who came to greet her.

Why wear a hat indoors?

Mother said wearing a hat indoors means you won’t grow tall.

Oh, the sister is very tall, half a head taller than the other sister. It seems she doesn’t need to grow any taller…

Sigh, I can’t see her face. What a pity.

Little Peach pouted.

Ning Songwu took the teapot, poured three cups of water, and gently helped Little Peach sit on a chair, stroking the little one’s head. “Little Peach, how old are you this year?”

She half-squatted in front of Little Peach, a rare extremely gentle expression on her delicate face, very different from her usual demeanor.

Little Peach’s attention was completely focused on the person in front of her. She didn’t notice Ran Fanyin, sitting on the other side, lifting half of her veil and silently watching Ning Songwu’s side profile, which was bathed in soft light.

She could always detect a sense of contradiction in her disciple—very young, but sometimes very mature. She was actually a child who liked to be lazy, yet she always took all these responsibilities upon herself. She had so many thoughts in her heart, yet she spoke less than a tenth of them, and her words often contradicted her thoughts.

Little one, how did you grow up to be this way?

Ran Fanyin lifted the white veil with one hand and propped her chin on the table with the other. She squinted slightly, quietly watching Ning Songwu tease the little girl.

The adult and child chatted face to face. Ning Songwu seemed very skilled at dealing with children. She occasionally managed to make Little Peach giggle for a long time and stick out her tongue at the older sister.

“Sister is a bad person, always making Little Peach laugh.”

Ning Songwu took the opportunity to hug the little one, swaying with her hands clasped together, and asked softly, “How old is Tian Ci this year? He’s so tall, why is he a younger brother?”

“Tian Ci is four years old. I can’t tell the sister, Mother won’t let me.”

“Sister will perform a little magic trick for Little Peach. Then Little Peach will tell Sister, okay?”

Little Peach firmly shook her head, jumping straight out of Ning Songwu’s arms, waving her hand. “Sister should rest early. Please don’t ask.”

“Wait, Little Peach, Sister won’t ask anymore, but Sister will show you a magic trick.”

Ning Songwu chased after her, hooked her arm around the child’s shoulder, and a small ice person instantly appeared in her other hand, dancing on the spot.

It was crystal clear, radiating a chilling coldness.

Little Peach was stunned. “Sister, is Sister also… an Immortal?”

“The Immortal Master before could make stones dance. Sister can make ice dance. It’s amazing! Can Sister teach me?”

“Hmm… but Sister still doesn’t know many things. Peach, will you tell Sister, okay?” Ning Songwu’s eyes drooped slightly, looking extremely pitiful.

Ran Fanyin chuckled inwardly. Such a little clever trickster.

Little Peach tightly clutched the hem of her skirt, pursed her lips tightly, and after struggling for a long time, said, “Then the sisters must promise not to tell anyone else.”

After receiving repeated assurances, Little Peach finally spoke. “Mother said that about two years ago, an Immortal Master passed through our village, built some kind of anti-whatever, and left a set of cultivation methods for the village chief, saying it could strengthen the body, grant longevity, and allow us to protect ourselves.”

“But everyone who practiced it grew old, and Grandpa Village Chief aged a lot, but no one has died. It seems their lifespans really did lengthen. Many people stopped practicing, but they are still aging. Since they won’t die anyway, they’ve just accepted it.”

Little Peach stammered out the story, then nervously stared at her toes, twisting her ankle anxiously.

Wuwu, Mother said not to tell. It shouldn’t cause trouble, should it?

Forget it, telling stories to the Immortal Sister should be fine.

She secretly glanced at Ran Fanyin.

This sister must be very powerful too.

Ning Songwu’s tone cooled slightly. “Did Little Peach practice?”

Little Peach shook her head but didn’t want to speak.

Ning Songwu asked no more. She raised her hand and condensed an ice bracelet onto the little girl’s wrist, carefully regulating the temperature. After briefly explaining how to use it, she watched the little girl run out, cradling the bracelet as if it were a treasure. She slowly let out a breath.

[I am sulking. I am here. Can’t you tell?]

[Darn it, even if it’s just for the sake of investigation, she shouldn’t be so intimate. Darn it.]

[Moreover, being so close, if Feng Hua has any malicious intent, there’s no way to dodge it.]

[I am sulking. I am here. I am here. Do I need to be even colder for you to notice?]

After the earth-shattering frost and lightning just now, all the clan elders in the Ning Manor who were in seclusion were alarmed. However, as Cheng Yunhuan said, it would take at least one zhuxiang (time needed for an incense stick to burn) for them to emerge and rush over. By the time they arrived, the few of them had already sailed away from Wind Island and were heading toward the mainland.

The escape truly caught the Ning family and the four great families completely off guard, which is why the first half of their flight went quite smoothly. Once on the boat, Cheng Yunhuan transformed spiritual energy into a water paddle, propelling the boat forward at high speed. Luo Sheng, biting her lip, swiftly drew defensive talismans, covering the entire boat with layer upon layer of defensive arrays.

Inside the cabin, Ning Xiujie sat leaning to one side, supporting Ning Songwu, who was lying in her lap, still somewhat restless even in her unconscious state. Her fingers brushed aside the wisps of hair that might disturb the little girl’s breathing, and she softly hummed a tune she had learned from Kyushu at some unknown time.

Liu Ruoying sat nearby, using her vitality-rich spiritual energy inch by inch to treat Ning Songwu’s superficial injuries, forcefully suppressing her urge to sigh.

Ning Xiujie saw right through her, turned her head, and said softly, “It’s alright. If you want to sigh, then sigh.”

Liu Ruoying forced a smile and said, “Senior Sister has too many secrets, and my skills are insufficient. I can only barely alleviate many of the injuries. We’ll have to wait until we get back for my Master to look at her.”

“You’ve done an excellent job,” Ning Xiujie said gently. “I can feel the spiritual energy in her body gradually stabilizing. She should wake up soon. You are very capable. Don’t underestimate yourself.”

What a gentle Senior.

So gentle that Liu Ruoying felt a little embarrassed.

Yet, this extremely gentle Senior suddenly reached out a hand, pulled her over to sit down, and said in a very soft voice, “I also wanted to take this opportunity to ask you a few things about Little Wu. How has she been these past few years?”

Liu Ruoying frowned slightly and tentatively asked, “I apologize, Senior, but I have an impertinent question…”

“Go ahead?”

“Senior Sister Ning… I occasionally heard my Master mention that she seems to be more closely related to a Grand Array. So… is she truly your child?”

Ning Xiujie was neither hurried nor annoyed, slightly lowering her chin. “She is.”

There was no need to look at deeper layers, no need for any admission or denial.

She is.

No matter what her core was, no matter what she was truly related to, since this child came with such a heart, she was her most precious child.

Liu Ruoying breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Alright. Senior Sister… she grew up in the town outside the Cloud Ascent Sect. People in the town said that when she was little, she would often climb trees alone and sit at the top, looking at the moon. Perhaps she was missing her family.”

Seeing that Ning Xiujie had no intention of interrupting, Liu Ruoying selectively recounted some past events. Gentle mist filled the eyes of the beautiful woman. When she heard something amusing, she merely patted the still-unconscious person’s cheek, saying “You’re so clumsy” with a mix of helplessness and annoyance, but without any hint of blame in her eyes.

During a break when Liu Ruoying stopped to catch her breath, Ning Xiujie asked, “What about her Master? What kind of person is Fairy Ran Fanyin?”

She already had a rough guess in her heart. After all, just now, everyone was unable to stop the rampaging little God of Slaughter. No one’s voice could get through, yet the weak voice that came from the jade pendant, which was even inaudible to them, fell perfectly into Ning Songwu’s ears, settling her down.

“Is Fairy Ran’s body still very unwell?”

Just now, the conversation in the jade pendant was completed by someone else, who sounded like Elder He Lan.

After Ning Songwu calmed down, the group finally let out a sigh of relief. Luo Sheng scrambled over and picked up the jade pendant, hearing He Lan Mianmian’s voice transmitted within: “Ah Sheng, Ningning, Little Liu’er, how are things on your side? Can you leave?”

“Master, we’re alright here. We’re leaving immediately.”

“Why are you speaking?! Ah Sheng, where is Ningning?!”

Luo Sheng looked at the person who was a mess, with tightly closed eyes and a pale face. After a moment of thought, she simply picked her up, taking the lead to clear the path, running wildly toward the coast. As she ran, she recounted everything that had happened that day. When she spoke of Ning Songwu’s spiritual energy going berserk and her original sword intent evolving again with extreme lethality, He Lan Mianmian cried out in surprise, repeatedly asking when it had happened.

“Not long ago, no more than half a zhuxiang.”

An eerie silence spread. Fortunately, Ning Leyan had previously guided them through the shortcuts, and they reached the shore at high speed, where a ship was waiting.

As they stepped onto the ship, He Lan Mianmian’s deliberately lowered voice came through. “Come to Fengling Abyss. Ye Wuchen’s people will meet you. Be careful of Ye Wuxin’s people.”

“More details when we meet.”

Luo Sheng agreed. But she didn’t know that on the other end of the jade pendant, He Lan Mianmian held the jade pendant with a complicated expression, looking at the person who was equally paper-white, having just spat out a mouthful of blood, and sighing incessantly in her heart.

Judging from Ah Sheng’s account, the moment Ran Fanyin spat out that mouthful of blood was precisely when Ning Songwu’s spiritual energy rampage reached its peak.

She had long known that there must be some deeper, unknown connection between the two of them. After all, the fact that Ning Songwu could solve a problem they had struggled with for hundreds of years was already incredible.

But for the connection to be this deep was beyond her imagination.

She didn’t know whether this bond was good or bad for the two of them.

He Lan sighed imperceptibly.

“Senior Sister, you’re awake.” She said, helping Ran Fanyin sit up.

The woman lightly rubbed her reddened eyes. “You didn’t cry, did you?”

He Lan choked, turned her head, her side profile slightly red, and mumbled, “Who is a crybaby like Cen Ran?”

Ran Fanyin smiled faintly and said, “Ning’er and the others, where have they gone?”

He Lan slapped the edge of the bed. “Senior Sister! Can’t you be concerned about your own health?! Why did you spit blood when Ningning’s spiritual energy went berserk?”

Ran Fanyin was rarely scolded by the cat, momentarily stunned. Suppressing the smile at the corner of her lips, she said, “It’s likely because my injuries were healed by Ning’er’s spiritual energy. There must be a connection.”

“Is that really true?” He Lan looked at her suspiciously, then shook her head vigorously. “Whatever. After we get back this time, Senior Sister, you must go into secluded cultivation. Seclusion until the Grand Competition five years from now. Your old and new injuries combined are too frightening. You wouldn’t believe it, but that demon healer just now took your pulse, and his face instantly turned white. He tremblingly asked me if you were even alive…”

As she spoke, her eyes became red and hot again, tears that she couldn’t hide even by turning her head away. She simply transformed into a kitten on the spot, pouncing into Ran Fanyin’s arms, muttering, “My face was even whiter than his, Senior Sister…”

“Mhm, I’m here. You and Ning’er are both clingy.”

“I was here first!”

“…What is there to argue about? She is Ning’er, you are Mianmian. You are equally important regardless of who came first, right?”

The cat instantly transformed back into a human, pressing against her chest, looking up at Ran Fanyin with blurry, tearful eyes, pouting, “Senior Sister, please don’t involve yourself in danger again, okay? I really… you are my only family.”

A soft warmth spread out from within her heart, slightly soothing the heart that was already overburdened by the spiritual energy surge. Ran Fanyin smiled warmly, pinching He Lan’s face. “Mhm, I understand. Cen Ran is next in line.”

“Of course…” He Lan paused. “Never mind. I just contacted Ah Sheng and the others. They are heading toward Fengling Abyss.”

The woman stared worriedly outside the door. Although she couldn’t see anything here, she urgently hoped to catch even the slightest piece of news.