The yellow-haired boy crouched beside her, holding a deep drag of smoke before slowly exhaling.
Yin Shu, her throat itching from the smoke, lowered her head further to avoid the rising fumes.
If she didn’t want to cause trouble for her mother, she would have fought back long ago.
Meanwhile, inside the shop, Tang Ximo picked up her packed skewers and walked out, circling around to the back alley.
Since she had things to do, she wouldn’t eat in the shop; it was just right to snack on the way.
Tang Ximo stood silently at the mouth of the alley, her sharp eyes coldly watching the five girls and boys surrounding Yin Shu by the garbage pile.
With their backs to the alley entrance, the group didn’t notice Tang Ximo’s expression growing increasingly icy.
Just before they could act, Tang Ximo casually waved her hand, freezing them in place, unable to move.
Yin Shu, who hadn’t felt them strike, squinted her eyes and looked up, stunned to find them standing motionless.
Sensing something, she noticed Tang Ximo watching her with interest from the alley entrance. Her stubborn, cold gaze met Tang Ximo’s through the gaps between the others.
The stubbornness and coldness faded, but there was no trace of pleading or compromise in her eyes—only an admirable resilience.
A glint flashed in Tang Ximo’s eyes as she thought to herself: She’s different from the others, an interesting little girl.
[Mission Triggered: Host must recruit ten new students for Taichu Cultivation Academy within five days. Progress: 0/10. Reward: One Spirit Vein.]
The voice of Little Golden Dragon echoed in her mind, and Tang Ximo lowered her gaze in surprise.
Bringing two fingers to her brow, she opened her Ethereal Celestial Eye, its golden pupils gleaming.
Yin Shu, 16 years old, Supreme-Grade Fire Spirit Root.
With such talent, no wonder the mission was triggered. In that case, wouldn’t it be a waste not to recruit such a perfect student delivered right to my doorstep?
A faint smile curled at the corner of Tang Ximo’s lips as she stood at the alley entrance, her expression one of confident determination.
Releasing her control over the group, she spoke with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “Kids, if you don’t stop now, you’ll be breaking the law, you know?”
The purple-haired girl, still gripping Yin Shu’s clothes, turned in confusion, immediately spotting Tang Ximo standing unexpectedly at the alley entrance.
The green-haired boy glared at her fiercely, while the yellow-haired boy re-lit his cigarette.
With an air of indifference and arrogance, he commanded Tang Ximo, “None of your business! Get lost!”
Hearing this, she didn’t get angry, but her gaze gradually turned icy. Ill-mannered brats are neither cute nor sensible.
Her lips parted slightly as invisible Spiritual Power transformed into Puppet Threads, quietly piercing the limbs of the five. “Is that so?”
“Roll!”
With that single commanding word, the five stiffly turned and rolled out of the alley like mindless puppets.
Covered in grime, Yin Shu looked up, her mind blank as she watched them actually rolling on the ground.
Only one thought filled her head: This older sister who helped me has the powers of a deity.
Taking a step forward, Tang Ximo crouched in front of the girl.
In a light, casual tone, she said, “I see you have excellent potential. How about coming with me to practice Cultivation?”
The stubbornness and coldness in Yin Shu’s eyes faded, and the calm surface of her heart began to ripple—ripples that grew with every word from Tang Ximo.
The girl loosened her grip on her clothes, and a hint of teasing laced her voice, clear and distinct in the dark, silent alley.
“Sister, you sound just like a big swindler from the movies.”
Tang Ximo chuckled softly, taking Yin Shu’s hand and helping her stand up.
“Whether I’m a swindler or not, I believe you have your own judgment. I am the dean of Taichu Cultivation Academy, and that is an undeniable fact.”
Taichu Cultivation Academy—she had never heard of it.
Yin Shu tightened her grip on Tang Ximo’s hand, her voice hoarse as she gazed at the person before her with hopeful eyes.
“Does Cultivation really exist in this world?”
“Just because it didn’t exist before doesn’t mean it won’t exist now or in the future. Yin Shu, would you like to come with me?”
The light in Yin Shu’s eyes held both determination and confusion. She glanced back at the empty alleyway.
They had truly seemed like puppets controlled by strings earlier. A simple word like “scram” felt like the Word Spirit Art she’d seen in TV dramas.
She didn’t want to believe it, but the miraculous scene before her left her no choice.
So, she looked at Tang Ximo with a mix of resolve and embarrassment, murmuring softly, “But I don’t know anything, and my family’s circumstances aren’t great either.”
Hearing this, Tang Ximo simply smiled at her. With a flick of her right hand, she produced two jade-green tablets out of thin air, their material indistinguishable but glowing faintly.
The jade tablets floated gently before Yin Shu, hovering in place. Tang Ximo looked at her seriously.
“These are temporary admission tokens. Each can only be bound to one person. If you’ve made up your mind, bring one to the foot of Taiwei Mountain in Feng County, Tongzhou, on September 20th and wait for me.”
Seeing Tang Ximo about to vanish after speaking, Yin Shu suddenly called out to her, her voice filled with unprecedented urgency and determination.
“Dean Sister, I will definitely be there!”
Tang Ximo’s figure quickly disappeared from the spot, as if she had never been there at all.
The miraculous scene felt like nothing more than an illusion, yet the word “expectation” drifted back on the wind, clearly reaching Yin Shu’s ears.
Yin Shu reached out and caught the two jade tablets. They felt cool to the touch, yet an inexplicable warmth spread from her palms throughout her body.
She clenched the tablets tightly, as if grasping a fragile spider’s thread dangling in the darkness. If she let go, she and her mother would truly be trapped forever in the shadows.
Hidden from sight, Tang Ximo watched Yin Shu leave the alley before vanishing herself, leaving the narrow lane restored to its former tranquility.
The colorful-haired youths who had been sent tumbling out of the alley seemed to have lost a fragment of their memory. Once they left, they completely forgot everything that had happened that night.
Tang Ximo, now departed, sat suspended in the air on her Life-bound Sword, still holding the takeaway skewers she had packed.
As she ate, she looked down at the bustling city of Tongzhou below, her path leading toward the direction of home in her memories.
Just then, a passenger plane appeared diagonally below. A young man unable to sleep at night pressed his thumb hard into the webbing of his left hand, his wide eyes fixed intently on the figure above.
Fu Yan, seated by the window, wore light-colored casual clothes, black-framed glasses perched on his nose, and a U-shaped pillow around his neck.
He rubbed his eyes vigorously and opened them again, but the figure sitting on a sword and eating skewers remained in his line of sight.
Although he was a reserve member of the Bureau of Anomalous Management, he had never heard of anyone in the bureau who could actually perform Sword Flight!
Noticing Fu Yan’s gaze, Tang Ximo’s eyes flickered with interest as she casually waved at him.
This person had a faint layer of Spiritual Qi around him—she wanted to see what kind of talent he possessed.
Once again, she brushed two fingers across her forehead, and the gaze of her third eye fell upon him.
Fu Yan, 25 years old, is a probationary member of the Bureau of Supernatural Phenomena. He possesses a high-grade Wind Spirit Root and is skilled with talismans, though his talismans are ineffective.
Although he does not have a supreme-grade Spirit Root, his proficiency with talismans is commendable. The ineffectiveness is likely due to his inability to channel Spiritual Power into the talismans—something that can be taught.