As soon as they entered the door, the mother and daughter were automatically teleported into a room containing nothing but a single table.
On the table lay paper and a brush; one simply had to write down their requirements. Of course, those with powerful cultivation could directly imprint their thoughts onto it using divine sense.
Ye Wan set Suisui down, holding her hand with one hand while writing her requirements with the other. Once she finished, the ink on the paper vanished.
Suisui stood on her tiptoes, barely able to see the tabletop. Seeing the words disappear, her little mouth hung open in a perfect circle.
Once again, Suisui was a Suisui who hadn’t seen the world!
Every twenty years, a different sect would take turns providing a powerhouse at or above the Void Refinement stage to guard the Guangjiao Pavilion. This year happened to be the Wan Yan Sect’s turn. Any special trade requirements needed to be presented to the guarding powerhouse for approval, such as the request Ye Wan had just submitted.
The Wan Yan Sect had sent Elder Chong Yun, who had successfully advanced to the Integrative Stage not long ago. Well, she had also been the guard for the previous term; there was no helping it, as the sect was short on people.
When Elder Chong Yun saw that the item being traded was Stop-Life Grass, she felt a flicker of interest. However, as soon as she saw the trading conditions, the idea vanished.
According to the rules, she forwarded the trading requirements to the Communication Jade Plaque accounts that were likely to be able to fulfill the trade.
Those who received the message couldn’t help but curse: “Arrogant!”
“An Integrative stage expert, and they even want a master-servant contract? I respect them for daring to dream.”
“Hmph! It’s not fashionable for cultivators of our generation to daydream.”
Ye Wan thought she would have to wait a long time, but she didn’t expect the requirement document to be sent back so quickly. On it was written: Trade impossible. Requirements may be lowered.
Ye Wan had originally tried with a bargaining mindset, so she wasn’t disappointed when it was sent back. She continued to fill out a second requirement document according to her original plan and submitted it.
Expecting an even longer wait this time, Ye Wan was already thinking of games to play with Suisui to pass the time, but the response this time was surprisingly fast.
The requirement document wasn’t sent back. Instead, a Communication Jade Plaque appeared on the table.
The jade plaque emitted a layer of light, and words began to appear vertically from right to left on the light screen.
[Return and wait for news. If there is no reply within three days, you may use this jade plaque to contact the Guangjiao Pavilion to lower your requirements or cancel the trade posting.]
Ye Wan knew she couldn’t rush it. She tucked away the jade plaque and left with Suisui.
Buying a Communication Jade Plaque alone would cost twenty spirit stones. To someone whose current assets consisted of only nine low-grade spirit stones plus one mid-grade spirit stone, this was a huge sum.
The Guangjiao Pavilion had dedicated non-directional teleportation channels, specifically for customers who were worried about being ambushed and robbed upon leaving. Customers whose trade value was estimated at five hundred mid-grade spirit stones could use it for free; those under five hundred had to pay ten spirit stones.
Since Ye Wan hadn’t completed a trade, she simply returned to the main hall and naturally blended into the crowd, not worried about being targeted.
Once she exited the gates of the Guangjiao Pavilion, the illusory shadows vanished, and she returned to her true appearance.
Worried that staying outside too long might lead to someone noticing Suisui’s special constitution, Ye Wan didn’t dare delay. She took Suisui directly to the Manager’s Building established by the Wan Yan Sect in Wan Yan City.
Wan Yan City was managed by the Wan Yan Sect. A portion of the sect’s revenue came from the city’s earnings. Every year, the sect would dispatch disciples to handle affairs, and some disciples would take missions from the Mission Hall to come and guard the place.
The architectural style of the Manager’s Building was ancient and solemn. A dignified atmosphere permeated the surroundings, making people instinctively lighten their footsteps.
Ye Wan led Suisui inside at a leisurely pace.
Suisui had been a little social butterfly since she was small. Holding her mother’s hand, she looked around curiously. Whenever she saw someone looking over, she would wave and give them a sweet smile.
Entering the lobby, the reception staff at the Manager’s Building listened to Ye Wan’s explanation of her visit, and a “once-in-a-blue-moon” expression appeared on their face.
They had been on duty here for nearly five years, and it was the first time they had seen a sect disciple run to the Manager’s Building to ask for lodging.
For this reason, they even asked twice to confirm she was asking for lodging, not for help.
Wan Yan City was managed by the Wan Yan Sect, and the Manager’s Building was a place established by the sect in the city to maintain the city’s normal operations—including but not limited to business registration and maintaining order. It definitely did not include providing accommodation to the public.
The receptionist told Ye Wan exactly that.
Ye Wan smiled. “I think this can still be flexible. When a sect disciple is in difficulty, appropriate help should be given. I’m not comfortable staying outside with a child, so I thought of the sect, which is like a lighthouse. There is no place safer than the sect. I believe the sect is just as I imagined—treating disciples like their own children, showing every care, and being full of unity and love.”
The receptionist had never met someone so silver-tongued. He was so swayed that his mind was screaming: Agree to her! You must agree to her!
Fortunately, someone appeared at that moment to instantly restore his clarity.
“What is happening?”
A serious-looking middle-aged man with an imposing aura walked over, his dark green robes swaying as he moved.
Ye Wan knew this was likely the Manager of the building. The Manager had decision-making power over all affairs but was not the highest in cultivation. The one responsible for martial suppression was a Soul Transformation cultivator dispatched by the Wan Yan Sect, who wouldn’t appear unless there was trouble and rotated every ten years. If they encountered a troublemaker with even higher cultivation, they would call for reinforcements from the sect.
Ye Wan chose to crash at the Manager’s Building for two reasons: one was being short on funds, and the other was because the building offered better security. Her daughter’s constitution was a ticking time bomb; in a popular city of the cultivation world, who knew if someone could see through it.
“Manager Lin.” The disciple bowed to the newcomer and explained the mother and daughter’s situation.
Suisui was very smart. Knowing this was the person who could decide whether she and her mother could stay, she poked her little head out from behind her mother. Her eyes darted around, and then she pitter-pattered over to Manager Lin.
“Strong and healthy, vigorous and virile Uncle, can you let us stay here? If you don’t, Suisui and Mother will have to sleep on the street.”
Ye Wan turned her face away and pressed her hand to her forehead.
That praise—it sounded exactly like the crude talk the village aunties used when they were being unfiltered. Say what you will, but her daughter had a great memory.
The receptionist beside them lowered his head, biting his lip desperately to hold back his laughter.
Manager Lin, being praised by a three-year-old milk baby as “strong and healthy, vigorous and virile”—he could laugh about this for a whole year.
“What if I say no?” Manager Lin looked at the chubby little claws on his robes, feeling a slight urge to pinch them.
“That’s okay! Mother says not to force others to do things they don’t like. I’ve remembered. Not like Mother, who’s always forcing me to eat green veg-tables I don’t like.” Suisui shot a little look toward Ye Wan.
Ye Wan: “…” Truly a little spirit who catches every chance to protest.
Such a tiny child, speaking in such organized sentences with such vivid and cute expressions; Manager Lin felt that if he didn’t agree, it would be against the laws of nature.
Manager Lin looked at Ye Wan, his voice serious. “My Wan Yan Sect has always helped the weak. I imagine you were at your wit’s end to come here for help. Just this once; do not let it happen again.”
“Many thanks for your tolerance, Manager Lin.” Ye Wan bowed.
Suisui was so happy she practically jumped. she lunged forward to hug Manager Lin’s leg, tilted up her little head, and said crisply, “Thank you, Uncle! You are the bestest person! I will be good, and I’ll even help you sweep the floor and wipe the tables.”
Manager Lin almost failed to maintain his dignity. “Sweeping and wiping won’t be necessary. You and your mother only need to follow the rules here and not wander around as you please.”
“Okay! I’m very good, and I’ll keep an eye on my mother too!” Suisui patted her chest in a promise.
Manager Lin’s sharp gaze shot toward Ye Wan. Just how unreliable must this mother be for the child to have such a realization?
Ye Wan: “…”
Kid, even though your mother is thick-skinned, if you keep exposing me like this, I’m going to lose all face.
……
Perhaps because they were on sect territory with a Soul Transformation expert guarding them, providing a sense of security, Ye Wan fell asleep that night after coaxing Suisui to bed. Having relied entirely on spiritual power to cultivate day and night recently, she couldn’t resist the drowsiness and gradually drifted off.
Suisui woke up early and saw her mother still sleeping. She shushed herself, carefully moving her short legs to climb down from the bed, terrified of waking her mother.
Her mother loved sleeping in back in the village too; she was long used to it.
After getting off the bed, Suisui picked up the clothes placed on the armchair and slowly put them on. Mother said she was already a three-year-old child and had to learn to dress and put on her shoes herself.
After putting on her clothes and shoes, Suisui gave her hair a few random swipes with her small hands and then went out with her hair hanging loose.
It had to be said that although Suisui was small, her memory was excellent. She remembered how they had entered yesterday and walked all the way to the front lobby without getting lost.
When she reached the lobby, she happened to run into Manager Lin, who was about to go out. Hearing Suisui ask in her milky voice for a broom to help sweep, Manager Lin saw how well she kept her promise at such a young age and took a small broom out of his storage ring to give to her.
Suisui thanked him happily, hugged the small broom that was as tall as she was, and pitter-pattered back to the backyard. She had seen many fallen leaves on the ground when she was coming over.
Suisui had no idea that the small broom was actually a 5th-grade spirit tool capable of changing forms; the disciples nearby looked on with great envy.
Wuwu, he wanted to become a child too.
The Manager’s Building usually used spells for cleaning. It was only because they felt that having fallen leaves in the courtyard added a certain aesthetic atmosphere that they didn’t specifically use magic to clear them.
Suisui arrived under the large tree covered in fallen leaves. Holding the small broom, she even imitated the village aunties by spitting into her palms. After spitting, she felt it was dirty, so seeing no one around, she quietly wiped it on her clothes. Only then did she begin to exert herself, waving the small broom to sweep the leaves to both sides.
The quiet courtyard was filled only with the sound of the broom scraping the ground and Suisui’s “hei-hei ha-ha” sounds of encouragement.
As she was sweeping, Suisui suddenly dropped the broom and ran pitter-patter behind the large tree.
She saw a sister lying on the grass behind the tree. Suisui stopped as she got close, picking at her fingers, hesitating whether to step forward.
Mother had said that bad people would lie still to trick children into coming over and then kidnap them.
Suddenly, the sister on the ground twitched violently and spat out a mouthful of blood. How pitiful!
Suisui blinked, thinking of the hand seals her mother had been practicing lately. Mother said those could protect Suisui. So, Suisui began to clumsily mimic her mother’s hand seals with her ten small fingers.
Her fair and chubby fingers either wouldn’t align or wouldn’t cross correctly. Her little face was even tensing up with effort; it was obvious she was trying very hard to copy every movement.
Bian Yun couldn’t wait any longer for the child to come over, so she quietly opened one eye. She saw the child was making hand seals, but because the movements were disconnected and very immature, she couldn’t recognize what seal the child was forming for a moment.
Hand seals were the bridge to communicate with heaven and earth; every mark had a different use.
No matter what seal this child was making, it was impossible to succeed with such a method.
Just as she thought this, in the next instant, a golden seal formed in the air.