After My Thoughts Were Read, My Master Led Me to Change My Fate - Chapter 9

Once the medicinal ointment had fully melted into her muscles and bones, Ran Fanyin carefully screwed the lids back onto the jars and detailed the use of the remaining containers one by one. She watched her little apprentice put them away, then pinched the clothing on Ning Songwu’s body and said impatiently, “You’ve worked up a sweat; change out of that. Once you’re done, come out and play Go with this Master. You should know how, right?”

Ning Songwu hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

$$text{[The book says that Elder Ran’s Go skills are unbeatable by anyone, and that she only made slight improvements after many years of hard practice, but compared to her other abilities, it is still… her biggest weakness.]} $$

$$text{[So why did Master suddenly want to play Go?]} $$

Ran Fanyin’s ear tips, hidden beneath her silver hair, flushed red then paled. “Why is this book writing nonsense about things it shouldn’t, instead of writing what it should!”

She straightened her expression and said, “Why are you still not changing your clothes?”

Ning Songwu tugged at the clothes she was wearing and whispered, “Master, I’ve always been curious, who washes the clothes that are taken off?”

Elder Ran rested her head on her hand, looking bored. “I have spiritual creatures that I’ve raised. Since I’ve kept them for so many years, I’m not the type to crave repayment. It’s quite alright to let them help with the washing and cooking.”

“No matter how good the Cleaning Spell is, it’s not as good as hand-washing.”

Ning Songwu nodded again, her face still bearing the frostiness of the early morning. She stumbled away, her legs trembling slightly.

She heard Ran Fanyin laugh, which was very unkind!

“That’s too much!”

$$text{[Draw a circle to curse the person who laughed at me…]} $$

Elder Ran stopped laughing—or, more accurately, she stopped the sound of laughter—but the smile in her eyes was truly difficult to erase. Ning Songwu’s pitiful appearance was truly amusing.

The thought of her little apprentice’s face showing no expression while she was inwardly grumbling and complaining made it even funnier.

Ran Fanyin: I generally don’t laugh, unless I can’t help myself.

She shifted position to lean in another direction, but her mind was calculating. This ability to hear inner thoughts must have a distance limit. When she was playing Go in the Luo Yun Palace, she heard things vaguely, in fits and starts, and this was only a small distance.

“I will find an opportunity to measure exactly how long this distance is in the future, just to be prepared.”

Ning Songwu quickly emerged wearing a light green robe. Her closet had been stuffed full by Ran Fanyin, but she would rather die than touch those red, pink, orange, or yellow robes in this life.

As someone who only wore black and white in the modern world, wearing blue and green was already a huge breakthrough. Red, pink, orange, and yellow could be left to Luo Sheng.

Fortunately, the book probably mentioned that Ran Fanyin was very good at business. Even when Lin Yuxue was still on the peak, she never lacked for food, clothing, or expenses. Elder Ran gave her enough money to spend lavishly, even allowing her to raise the bid all the way at the auction house to snatch a set of top-tier defensive magical artifacts.

Although that top-tier defensive magical artifact was excellent, Lin Yuxue was clearly ripped off. Others were increasing the price by one hundred at a time, but she insisted on arguing with increases of ten thousand. “She was utterly stupid.”

The person holding the Go piece mused inwardly, $$text{[There are still a few months until the auction for that top-tier defensive artifact mentioned in the book. It seems to be before the New Year’s Eve next year. I can try to grab it then.]} $$

Ran Fanyin silently noted down this time point for her little apprentice. She would remind Ning Songwu then. After all, the time nodes and artifacts written into the book should not be ordinary items.

This was their current plan: following Ning Songwu’s inner thoughts, they would either destroy or change all the key time nodes mentioned in the book. In short, they would not truly allow the foreseen tragedy to occur.

Ning Songwu watched her Master place a piece, and she froze.

$$text{[Should I tell her that this piece will certainly be captured if placed here…]} $$

$$text{[Is Master going easy on me…]} $$

$$text{[Yes! She must be going easy on me!]} $$

She secretly looked up, meeting Ran Fanyin’s languid, emotionless beautiful eyes. She struggled for a moment, swallowed the words she was about to say, and cleared her throat twice.

$$text{[My maternal grandmother said my chess skills are bad enough. Waaah, thank you, Master, for letting me win.]} $$

Maternal grandmother.

Ran Fanyin’s phoenix eyes flickered slightly.

It seemed her little apprentice’s family life was quite complete in her original world. A surge of unexpected apology climbed up her heart, and the look in her eyes toward the little girl softened even more.

Ning Songwu endured it for a moment, but truly could not bear it any longer. “Master, could I teach you how to play Go…?”

As she looked up, she met the woman’s phoenix eyes. The fleeting tenderness made her think she had seen wrongly, but Ran Fanyin was indeed looking at her.

She was slightly distracted. Ran Fanyin nodded. “Alright, you may.”

Junior Apprentice Ning immediately focused her mind and looked back at the board.

“Hmm, saving Master’s Go skills is more important right now.”

Once the height of summer had passed, the autumn rains came, lingering and continuous. Morning Mist Peak had many flowers, plants, and trees. By autumn, a cold wind blew, changing their colors and spreading a dark red across the entire mountain.

It had been over four months since she arrived, and Ning Songwu felt that her whole being had become much healthier. Sleeping at ten and waking at five every day, she had grown accustomed to a life accompanied by the morning sun. She exercised in the morning and cultivated in the afternoon. Her days weren’t rushed, yet they felt somehow much more fulfilling than her life in the modern era.

In the modern world, she was clearly busy every day, but busy without purpose. Later, she simply locked herself to her bed board and stopped being busy, instead becoming so idle that breathing was all she did. When she opened her eyes, the sun had already passed the window of her dorm, and when she closed her eyes, the moon hung high in the sky.

She couldn’t exactly say what kind of life she liked, but her gradually improving mental state and body told her that early sleeping, early rising, and regular exercise were indeed very important.

A few days ago, Ran Fanyin replaced the wooden sword she used for practice with a long silver-iron sword. It was sharpened, faintly gleaming with cold light in the sun. Although it was a mortal sword, it was a rare treasure among mortal swords.

She was now proficient in a basic set of sword moves. Her cultivation had also progressed significantly, reaching the late stage of Qi Condensation. Overall, things were developing prosperously.

One day, almost as soon as she finished retracting her sword, dark clouds drifted over. The autumn rain fell, wrapped in tendrils of cold air. Ran Fanyin had anticipated this, and sat in the small pavilion with a cloak draped over her shoulders.

“Come over,” the woman called softly, accompanied by a few light coughs.

$$text{[It seems that Master’s body is indeed not entirely consistent with what was written in the book. The book described her as strong and healthy, rarely ever falling ill.]} $$

Cultivators are inherently strong, and they have spiritual power to protect their bodies. If one is frequently ill, it can only mean they were born with a congenital deficiency or have a chronic ailment in their body. However, the Ran Fanyin in the book had neither of these, which slightly differed from the person she was seeing now.

“Why is it different?”

Ning Songwu thought, walking slowly. The hair and clothing that had been dampened by the rain were wrapped in coldness. Before she got close, two wisps of fire energy shot out and enveloped her. Only after the moisture had evaporated did the woman let her sit down.

“Give me your hand.”

She obediently reached out her hand, her gaze lingering for a circle before finally settling on the woman’s slightly furrowed brow.

Ran Fanyin was already fair-skinned, and now, with the cold wind blowing on her, the color was even paler. With her silver hair contrasting, her complexion was like snow. Her slender fingers rested on Ning Songwu’s wrist, cool and crisp.

Her body must be unusually weak. It wasn’t very noticeable on warm days, but it became apparent when the cold rain lingered.

“You can choose a time to build your foundation in the next couple of days. Your cultivation speed is not only unaffected by the Celestial-grade Spirit Root, but it has also increased significantly after incorporating a suitable cultivation method,” Elder Ran said calmly, withdrawing her fingers. She leaned back languidly in the chair, her frail body hidden beneath the cloak. “Take a trip to Green Leaf Peak, by yourself.”

“While you’re at it, please fetch this month’s medicine for this Master.”

Ran Fanyin had already given instructions, so when Qin Siyue saw the familiar white and gold color scheme, she knew where the person came from. She handed the pre-prepared medicine to her. “The box contains the elixirs you need for Foundation Establishment. The bundle next to it is Ran Fanyin’s medicine. There is nothing else.”

The girl pursed her lips and gathered the courage to ask, “What is the situation with my Master’s body?”

“Her body itself has no issues; the problem lies with her heart and lungs,” Qin Siyue stopped what she was doing, considered for a moment, and said, “She has a congenital deficiency. Her heart meridian is naturally weaker and more prone to illness than others, and it is very fragile, unable to withstand wind and cold. Therefore, a cold breeze makes her fall ill more easily than ordinary people.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? Is there a way to cure it?”

“Since it’s a congenital deficiency, it can only be maintained through conditioning. There is no method for a complete cure,” the woman replied flatly.

Ning Songwu, carrying a heavy heart, flew back on the back of the Vermilion Bird and felt that something was amiss.

Logically speaking, when transmigrating into a book, while the plot doesn’t necessarily have to follow the original trajectory, the character settings shouldn’t change, right? From the moment she easily replaced Lin Yuxue and became Ran Fanyin’s disciple, she had an inkling that something was wrong. Now, Ran Fanyin’s character setting had undergone such a huge change…

A subtitle flickered, and a line suddenly appeared: [Plot development is for reference only; you may attempt to deviate from the plot.]

Ning Songwu: “What?”

“Plot development is for reference only??”

“Your transmigrator cheat is far too casual!”

$$text{[Damn it! Now all the plot I know has become ‘for reference only’? New account, don’t mess up.]} $$

[Character ending is confirmed; the ending setting will not be violated.] The subtitle flickered again, as if it had come to life.

This was the most useful moment for this “cheat” in the past four months.

$$text{[Then can the character ending be changed?]} $$

[Yes, please strive to live on.]

$$text{[Why didn’t you prompt me before?]} $$

[The opportunity had not arrived.]

$$text{[Can I go back then?]} $$

The subtitle flickered and disappeared.

Ning Songwu was so angry that she quietly cursed, “What a rubbish system, what a rubbish book, what a rubbish fate.”

Ran Fanyin was half-asleep and groggy, leaning on the recliner. When her little apprentice’s voice sounded in her head, she knew the person was back.

She braced herself to sit up, roughly calculated the distance, and outlined the approximate effective range of the inner voice.

“It is not very large.”

She thought, shifted direction, and nestled back into the chair. Figuring it would take a moment longer for her to return, she leaned there, dazed, and quickly drifted toward sleep again.

The footsteps, which had been audible, softened when they saw her groggy state. The medicine packet was gently placed on the stone table, and a slightly cool hand rested on her forehead for a moment.

Next to her ear, the crisp voice of her little apprentice, laced with anxiety, sounded. “Master, you have a fever.”

Ran Fanyin weakly hummed in acknowledgment, turning her head to escape the hand on her forehead. “Did you bring back all the medicine?” Her voice was slightly hoarse.

“I brought it back. Which ones are for reducing the fever?”

“You need not worry; you should go and cultivate.”

“Master!” Her hand was suddenly seized. She slightly opened her eyes. The girl in a white robe with a high ponytail was full of worry.

$$text{[How can such a strong person exist?]} $$

$$text{[I can’t let her catch a cold breeze next time.]} $$

$$text{[This body is too weak.]} $$

$$text{[Will it turn into pneumonia? Hiss, do they even have the concept of pneumonia now?]} $$

$$text{[…]} $$

In her mind, the girl’s voice floated hollowly, mingling with the ethereal figure before her, slowly engraving itself into the woman’s eyes and melting into her heart.

The overwhelming emotion was captured in two words: concern.

And it was very sincere concern.

The woman closed her eyes again and said hoarsely, “Carry me back to the room. Someone will come to prepare the medicine shortly.”

Ning Songwu bent down and formed a hand seal, steadily picking up the person whose body was completely limp. Spiritual power formed a shield to block out moisture, enveloping both of them and isolating them from the lingering cold mist after the rain.

She was utterly focused on her footsteps and completely failed to notice the person in her arms silently turning their body inward, trying to hide deeper.