The First Senior Sister Is Weak and Helpless - Chapter 10

Fu Yan reached out and supported her. “No need for formalities.”

After saying that, she checked her pulse once again. “You may practice seated meditation to absorb spiritual energy every night at the Hour of the Rat, but you must absolutely not come to the cold spring again anytime soon.”

“Your body currently cannot endure such deep chilling energy. If you continue, you might incur lingering chronic ailments.”

Mu Yao gradually recovered somewhat and bowed respectfully. “This disciple understands. Many thanks, Senior Uncle.”

Feng Yang raised a hand and knocked her on the head. “Why did you rashly go into seclusion by yourself? If I had not returned, you might have perished today.”

Mu Yao listened earnestly to her reprimand. “This disciple understands. Next time, I will definitely not do this again.”

“Alright, do not scold her anymore. After all, her breakthrough came so suddenly, and she likely did not expect it before entering seclusion, merely wishing to suppress the fire spiritual energy inside her body.” Fu Yan spoke up to defend Mu Yao.

“Master.” During their conversation, Mu Yao suddenly heard a soft, sweet voice carrying a thick nasal tone.

She turned her head toward the little junior sister trapped within Feng Yang’s barrier. Although she could not see little Ah Jiu, she could still sense her presence.

“Why is the little junior sister here too?” As she spoke, Mu Yao walked toward Ah Jiu’s direction.

“Your little junior sister begged me to bring her here to find you. She missed you terribly.” Feng Yang shook her head and said.

Mu Yao walked over to Ah Jiu’s side, and Feng Yang withdrew the barrier. Ah Jiu still had tear stains lingering on her face and immediately threw herself into Mu Yao’s arms.

Perhaps because she was too excited, combined with the fact that Mu Yao’s body was currently weak, the moment the little one rushed over, Mu Yao, who was squatting on the ground, reached out to catch her and was directly knocked over.

Seeing the senior sister she had knocked down, Ah Jiu instantly grew flustered and at a loss once more. “What is wrong with Senior Sister?”

Seeing that she looked on the verge of crying again, Mu Yao extended a hand to her. “Will Ah Jiu help Senior Sister up, please?”

Ah Jiu obediently pulled her up at once, and Mu Yao used a little leverage to squat back down.

“Senior Sister currently has no strength to pick Ah Jiu up.” Mu Yao gently wrapped her arms around the little one and said tenderly to her.

“Is Senior Sister’s illness very serious? Can Master not cure it either?” The little one asked in a low, dejected tone.

Feng Yang coughed lightly with a trace of embarrassment. “Master’s cultivation is still somewhat insufficient.”

“Little Ah Jiu, cultivate well. Perhaps in the future, you will be able to cure your senior sister’s illness?” Fu Yan squatted down, patted her head, and said with a smile.

She had only spoken casually, but Ah Jiu nodded very earnestly. “Ah Jiu will definitely work hard.”

Mu Yao chuckled softly and rubbed her chin against the little one’s shoulder. “That will not be easy.”

Afterward, Mu Yao released Ah Jiu. Her body was cold, making her unsuited to hold the little one for too long.

“Since you cannot mobilize your cultivation and spiritual power right now, you had better not stay in the Jiexue Pavilion all day long.” Fu Yan said before turning around to leave.

Once she walked away, Ah Jiu reached out and took hold of Mu Yao’s hand. “Senior Sister, Ah Jiu will take you out to play.”

Hearing her say this, Mu Yao paused briefly, but still agreed.

Ah Jiu held Mu Yao’s hand, and even thoughtfully warned her where to avoid obstacles. For someone so tender in age, she was certainly considerate.

Feng Yang followed the two of them, asking Ah Jiu along the way. “What does Ah Jiu want to learn? How about becoming a sword cultivator like Master?”

The little one thought for a moment, then shook her head very resolutely. “No.”

Feng Yang choked for a moment. “Why? Sword cultivators are the most formidable people in the entire world.”

“Liars.” Ah Jiu continued to shake her head.

“Then what does Ah Jiu want to learn?” Seeing her being so stubborn, Feng Yang asked instead.

“I want to be like Senior Sister Nanyou and Senior Uncle.” Ah Jiu tilted her head to look at Feng Yang and said very earnestly.

“Why? An alchemist cannot fight across the world as an invincible opponent.” Feng Yang was puzzled. Why were the disciples she took in, aside from Mu Yao, all refusing to touch a sword? Her second disciple had gone off to study talismans, her third disciple had returned to the fox clan to study musical instruments, and now her youngest disciple actually wanted to do alchemy.

“Why would Ah Jiu want to fight people?” The little one asked in bewilderment.

At this moment, the three of them had just reached the main gate of Xiaoyao Peak, preparing to continue toward the Jiexue Pavilion.

Suddenly, they saw a figure slowly walking in through the entrance. The newcomer was a woman dressed in light yellow martial attire with a gold headband across her forehead. Her eyes were a striking golden yellow, and several braids were woven into her hair, hanging down in front of her chest.

“The little junior sister probably still needs to learn how to fight people. Otherwise, once she leaves the sect, given the little junior sister’s talent for tearing houses apart, being beaten up by others will likely be the norm,” the woman said expressionlessly.

Afterward, she pulled out several bills from her robe, along with an abacus, and calculated: “Junior Uncle Feng Yang, the total compensation is ten thousand high-grade spirit stones. This includes the repair costs for the damaged sect buildings, medical expenses for injuring other disciples, and fines for violating sect rules. Please inspect them, Junior Uncle.”

Feng Yang took the bills with a skeptical expression. “This cannot be right. Ah Jiu is only four years old, and she cannot even cultivate yet. How could she possibly damage sect buildings and injure other disciples?”

“Whether it is true or not, Junior Uncle will know at a glance. The little junior sister’s first offense occurred less than a month after Eldest Senior Sister entered seclusion, when she tricked a junior brother into accompanying her to steal sect spirit fruits. That junior brother broke his leg out of sheer nervousness and had to recuperate for half a year.”

“The second offense was sneaking into the Spirit Beast Garden, which caused the spirit beasts to panic and nearly stage a mass escape.”

“Let me look. I will see for myself.” The more Feng Yang listened, the more preposterous it sounded.

She then lowered her head to look at the bill, where the ins and outs of every single charge were written with absolute clarity.

“Master previously asked Junior Uncle Fu Yan for compensation, but Junior Uncle said the little junior sister is not her disciple and told us to come look for Junior Uncle Feng Yang when you returned.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Yao lightly pinched little Ah Jiu’s hand, then lowered her head slightly to face her. “Did you do all of this?”

Ah Jiu felt a bit guilty and lowered her head. “I was not doing it on purpose.”

Hearing this, Feng Yang developed an even worse headache. She massaged her temples and resignedly retrieved ten thousand high-grade spirit stones from her storage ring.

“Here, take them.” After handing over the spirit stones, Feng Yang pulled out some medicinal pills and spiritual herbs. “Give these to the injured disciples as compensation.”

Jin Zui took them and thanked Feng Yang. “This disciple thanks Junior Uncle on behalf of my fellow senior sisters and brothers.”

“You are welcome,” Feng Yang said with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

Jin Zui was the sole disciple of Tianqing Sect’s administrative civil cultivator, and she was also a golden leopard. Having nearly died in a forest years ago, she was rescued and raised by Wen Liu, who even taught her how to take human form.

In fact, Mu Yao had once felt during her youth as though the entire sect possessed some sort of tradition of picking people up.

Because upon careful counting, it seemed that every single disciple of her generation had been picked up.

Later on, after learning certain matters concerning the sect, Mu Yao finally understood that without doing so, they could hardly recruit any disciples. After all, they were a sect exiled by the cultivation world, forbidden from speaking the sect’s name outside. Doing it this way meant no one would truly know what the Tianqing Sect was, and perhaps to the juniors of the current cultivation world, they did not even know such a sect existed.

Once Jin Zui left, Feng Yang turned around and stared sternly at Ah Jiu. “Explain to Master what all of this is about.”

Ah Jiu lowered her head, twisting her hands together, not daring to speak.

Feng Yang’s stern silence still carried quite a bit of intimidation.

Mu Yao did not interfere. She knew the little junior sister was fully capable of pulling off such antics, seeing as the little one had been turning Chengfeng Pavilion upside down on a daily basis ever since she was tiny.

Ah Jiu cast a plea for help toward Mu Yao. Though Mu Yao clearly could not see, she still seemed to sense the little one’s burning gaze.

“Do not look at your senior sister. Your senior sister just came out of seclusion, her body has not recovered, and she still has to worry about you.” Feng Yang’s words confirmed for Mu Yao that the little one was indeed staring right at her.

“Senior Sister is a bit tired. Ah Jiu, you can talk properly with Master.” Mu Yao patted her head, then turned around and walked away without the slightest hesitation.

If Master could give this little troublemaker a proper scare, that would actually be a good thing.

Mu Yao considered herself incapable of managing her, and furthermore, since the little one was far too noisy, Mu Yao hoped she could quiet down for a bit.

That day, Ah Jiu made a full and frank confession to Feng Yang, recounting every single incident.

Each event gave Feng Yang a massive headache. How could someone so young possess so many schemes?

She brought a junior brother five years her senior to roast fish. Could the fish in the stream flowing right through the entire sect be roasted? Those were precious Wenyu fish painstakingly cultivated by the Sect Master from the outside world at great expense. Yet this little rascal had gone ahead and roasted them straight away. Viewed in this light, Jin Zui coming only to collect compensation was already showing immense restraint.

“The book says Wenyu fish are delicious, and nobody said they could not be eaten.” Ah Jiu muttered with her head lowered.

“The sect rules explicitly state that any creature living within the Yongmu Stream is strictly forbidden from being consumed!” Feng Yang was so furious she was ready to smoke. “Did nobody teach you?”

“I was taught, but I did not remember.” Ah Jiu lowered her head. “Master, Ah Jiu was wrong. Ah Jiu will remember from now on.”

“And what about sneaking into the Spirit Beast Garden?” Feng Yang asked, suppressing her temper.

“An ice spirit ran inside, and I just went in to help Senior Sister Nanyou catch it.”

“Under no circumstances is anyone allowed to enter the Spirit Beast Garden without permission. Could you not ask the senior brothers and senior sisters guarding the garden?”

“I did not remember.” Ah Jiu whispered in defense.

“What do you remember?” Feng Yang looked at the disciple before her. Just a moment ago upon first meeting her, she had thought her youngest disciple was quite obedient, caring for her senior sister, knowing a great deal despite her tender age, and showing exceptional intelligence.

Now it appeared she was certainly intelligent, but obedience was entirely wishful thinking on her part.

“The little white bird in the Spirit Beast Garden is exceptionally pretty! Master, can I catch one to raise?” Ah Jiu seemed to recall something and suddenly asked with spirited excitement.

Feng Yang massaged the bridge of her nose, telling herself that her disciple was still young and she must not lose her temper.

“That is the world’s last surviving Chongming bird. You certainly dare to dream.” Feng Yang could not help exhaling a breath of turbid air, feeling that she must not ask any further questions or she would be angered to death.

“For all your offenses combined, go run thirty laps in the bamboo forest. Starting today, wake up at the Hour of the Rabbit every single day and run thirty laps.” Feng Yang commanded rigidly.

Ah Jiu wanted to say something else, but seeing Feng Yang’s gloomy expression, she had no choice but to obey and leave.

Feng Yang found Mu Yao, who was currently resting. “Why is your junior sister so relentlessly troublesome at such a young age?”

Mu Yao simply poured her a cup of tea, then said leisurely, “Master need not worry. There will be times when Master gets an even bigger headache in the future.”

The little one had known how to use loud wails to win sympathy and attention even as a toddler; this personality had been that way since childhood.