After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by a Crazy and Beautiful Villain - Chapter 41.1

Song Linlin leaned back, her eyes full of disbelief as she looked at the person opposite her. She deeply suspected she had misheard, or perhaps the other person was playing a joke on her.

Does a normal person really have such a casual name as Zhang San?

At the same time, she couldn’t help but size up Zhang San. Her attire didn’t look cheap. The young girl looked fair and delicate, not like a child from an ordinary family.

If she were a child from an ordinary village named something like Li Goudan (Li Dog Egg) or Wang Ergou (Wang Second Dog), Song Linlin could understand. After all, people living in the countryside in this world didn’t have a high level of education and couldn’t come up with profound names.

Coupled with poverty, children were prone to dying young, so a “cheap” name was given with the hope that they would be easy to raise. Only when the child came of age would a nicer name be chosen.

But the girl in front of her now…

No matter how Song Linlin looked, she felt that this girl’s parents wouldn’t give her such a name.

“You…” Song Linlin deliberated for a long time, still finding it hard to speak. She tentatively asked, “Is that your real name?”

“You’re not just making up a name to fool me and mess with me, are you…”

Zhang San looked at her, pouted, and retorted with some dissatisfaction, “Why would I lie to you? My grandfather gave me my name. The character ‘San’ (Three) represents the meaning of ‘three generates all things.’ I’ve been called Zhang San since I was a child.”

“Uh… alright, it was my ignorance then.”

Although she said that, Song Linlin still couldn’t help but look at her with a strange gaze. Since this person’s grandfather could come up with such a peculiar name, what was her grandfather called?

Song Linlin forced a serious demeanor, yet she couldn’t suppress her curiosity. She looked at Zhang San, softened her tone, and asked, “Fellow Daoist Zhang San, I wonder if I might know the name of your esteemed parent?”

Zhang San didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t a big secret and could be easily found out with a little inquiry, so she readily nodded and said, “Of course. My grandfather’s name is Zhang Hengyi (Zhang Constant One).”

This name sounded much more normal and had some potential deep meaning. However, upon hearing the name “Hengyi,” Song Linlin still couldn’t control the twitching of her lips. A bizarre thought surfaced in her mind. Although discussing other people’s names repeatedly was impolite, Song Linlin couldn’t suppress her curiosity.

So, she cleared her throat twice, looked at the trees planted nearby, and pretended to be casual as she asked, “Then what is your father’s name?”

“Hmm, my father’s name is Zhang Yun’er (Zhang Profound Two).”

Song Linlin immediately fell silent, sitting upright in her seat. She forcefully suppressed the urge to laugh wildly, going through all the sad things she had ever experienced in her life to keep from bursting out laughing in front of Zhang San.

This entire family—the grandfather is One, the father is Two, and the child is Three. This naming convention left Song Linlin speechless. And why were the first two names actually quite good upon first hearing, but by the time it got to Zhang San, the style had suddenly changed, becoming so simple and crude?

Following this naming logic, Zhang San should have also been called Zhang Something-Three to match the other two.

“If you have a younger brother or sister later, would they have to be called Zhang Si (Zhang Four)?”

Song Linlin spoke, but couldn’t stop herself from wanting to laugh. Fortunately, Zhang San didn’t mind. She propped her hands on the table, cupping her face, and said, “Our family has always only had one child; we are single-line transmissions for generations. But if there were to be another, Grandfather planned to name them Zhang Daoyun.”

“I see…”

Song Linlin smacked her lips, unsure if she felt it was a pity or a relief that the next child escaped the name Zhang Four. She stood up from her seat. Most people had already left the morning lecture area; only Song Linlin and Zhang San remained. Song Linlin patted Zhang San’s shoulder and said:

“Get up. The morning lecture is over, and everyone is almost gone. We should leave too.”

“Oh, okay.”

Zhang San stood up and followed Song Linlin out of the area. Along the way, she curiously looked around. This was the first time she had been so far away from her own sect, and she had come to the Xuan Yun Sect.

On the small path of the sect, Song Linlin walked ahead, observing Zhang San beside her. This girl seemed interested in everything along the way. Song Linlin passed through here every day to attend the morning lecture and was long accustomed to the surrounding scenery. She wondered what was so captivating about it now.

Could it be that Zhang San wasn’t a disciple of the Xuan Yun Sect? Otherwise, these places would be passed frequently. Only disciples entering the inner sect for the first time would look around curiously as she was doing now.

“Zhang San, are you not a disciple of the Xuan Yun Sect?” Song Linlin asked casually.

“Mhm.”

Zhang San nodded. “I am not from the Yingzhou region. This time, my grandfather was responsible for escorting the sect disciples to the Mirror Moon Secret Realm in Guanzhong. I secretly tagged along behind him, but he still found me.”

“Grandfather won’t let me go to Guanzhong. And because we happened to pass through the territory of the Xuan Yun Sect midway, he told me to stay within the Xuan Yun Sect for the time being and come back for me after the Mirror Moon Secret Realm ends.”

Speaking of this, Zhang San couldn’t help but sigh. She had managed to sneak out of the sect with great difficulty and originally wanted to go with her grandfather to Guanzhong to see the excitement. The Mirror Moon Secret Realm was about to emerge, which was a huge event. At that time, a large number of cultivators would definitely gather in Guanzhong, and the major sects would also converge.

It was a pity that after she ran away, she thought her grandfather would surely take her, but he unexpectedly left her alone in the Xuan Yun Sect. This made Zhang San quite regretful.

However, she didn’t feel like rebelling. Zhang San had never been so far away. Since her grandfather wouldn’t take her to Guanzhong, staying in the Xuan Yun Sect was better than being sent back to her sect.

Song Linlin nodded, roughly understanding the situation in a few words. The summary was that the child was playful and didn’t want to stay in the sect all the time. Hearing that the Secret Realm was about to open, she also wanted to join the fun.

As for Song Linlin, she was not interested in such lively places. With many people, there was bound to be resource competition and danger. It was safest for her to stay inside the sect.

As for the Yingzhou region, it referred to the general name for the large area including the Xuan Yun Sect’s sphere of influence. Similar to the name West Sea, this area once belonged to the territory of the Ying Kingdom a long time ago. Unfortunately, the Ying Kingdom had perished in the great battles of ancient times, so this region was named Yingzhou.

“The morning lecture is over. Where are you going now?” Song Linlin turned and asked Zhang San.

“I don’t know either.”

Zhang San was unfamiliar with this place. Now that her grandfather was gone, no one required her to cultivate. She genuinely didn’t know what to do for a while, so she could only ask Song Linlin, “What about you?”

“Me?”

Song Linlin rubbed her chin. She really didn’t know what she was going to do. The previous twenty-something days were all spent busy with sect missions. She was somewhat tired of this work, and Song Linlin didn’t plan to take any missions these days.

So what should she do now? Cultivation? Forget it. Song Linlin lacked motivation for that. As for other things, she couldn’t think of anything. Song Linlin thought for a long time and realized she didn’t even have a single hobby. In her free time, she could only go home and sleep.

“I’ll just go back to my place…” Song Linlin couldn’t think of anything to do, so she could only say this. “Where do you live? I’ll take you back first, and then I’ll head back.”

“Okay.”

Zhang San nodded. She was indeed planning to check out her accommodation first, but she ran into Song Linlin on the way and went to the morning lecture with her.

She said, “I live at the Purple Garden Residence.”

Song Linlin understood. She knew this place, which was specially reserved for outside visitors.

It wasn’t far from here, and the environment there was also very good. Many wisteria flowers were planted outside the building, and it looked quite beautiful from a distance. However, Song Linlin never had a suitable reason to go in and look around before.

Now she had a legitimate reason to check it out.

Song Linlin immediately said very enthusiastically, “Great, I’ll take you there!”

The two walked together in the direction of the Purple Garden Residence. It was still early, and Song Linlin was not in a hurry to go back. Since Chi Qianning didn’t ask her what she was up to every day, it didn’t matter if she returned a little later.

When they reached a quiet area, where few people usually came, a small river appeared in their sight. Crossing the stone bridge, the Purple Garden Residence was on the opposite side.

Song Linlin looked at the buildings in front of her. This place was clearly not for one person. She turned to Zhang San and asked, “Which room are you staying in?”

“Hmm…” Zhang San thought for a moment before saying, “It should be the third one.”

Song Linlin then led her to find the third house in the row. Pushing open the main door, there was an elegantly landscaped small courtyard inside, and the living quarters were further in: one living room, two bedrooms, a washroom, and a kitchen. The whole area was not small, at least better than where Song Linlin lived.

“Wow, this place is really nice,” Song Linlin said.

This house had clearly been vacant for some time, but it was still spotless. It seemed someone regularly came to clean it. The plants in the courtyard were also meticulously pruned.

Song Linlin sat down on the soft couch in the living room, leaning against it without any ceremony. Zhang San sat on a nearby chair, taking out her personal belongings one by one from her Qiankun Ring (Cosmic Ring).

The items she took out were all placed on a nearby table. Song Linlin propped up her head and watched. First, she took out some small bottles and jars. Song Linlin didn’t know what was inside, but she was too lazy to ask.

Until Zhang San somewhat laboriously pulled out a large item—a bronze cauldron radiating a faint green light. Patterns were carved on the body of the cauldron, and a Yin-Yang Taiji symbol was imprinted in the center.

Looking at this half-person-tall object placed on the floor, Song Linlin became interested. She got up from the soft couch, immediately went over to Zhang San, walked around the object once, and then squatted down to observe it up close. Only then did she look up and ask, “What is this thing?”

Zhang San gave her a strange look, seemingly unable to believe that someone wouldn’t recognize this item. Her tone was odd: “You actually don’t know? Haven’t you seen it before?”

“Uh… I really haven’t seen it.”

Song Linlin felt she was being scorned, but she was just a low-level Core Formation disciple. Wasn’t it natural that she hadn’t seen much of the world?

“Alright.”

Zhang San shook her head. It seemed Song Linlin really didn’t know. She slowly explained, “This is an Alchemy Furnace. I didn’t think I would be left in another sect when I left home this time. I only have a few spare alchemy furnaces in my Qiankun Ring. The one I usually use in my sect is much better than this.”

“An alchemy furnace?” Song Linlin was surprised. She looked at the furnace, then at Zhang San. Song Linlin couldn’t help but open her mouth wide and ask in shock, “You can refine pills? You are an Alchemist?!”

It was no wonder Song Linlin reacted so strongly. Alchemists, like Formation Masters, were very rare professions. The probability of an ordinary person becoming a cultivator was less than one in ten, and the probability of a cultivator becoming an alchemist was even smaller.

To become a qualified alchemist and successfully refine pills, the alchemy apprentice must have basic sensitivity to fire and wood element spiritual power and be able to constantly perceive the changes in the pill inside the furnace.