Ye Wan did not intentionally hide her reaction. If a low-cultivation cultivator were to act unnaturally calm while clearly being locked onto by a powerhouse’s divine sense, it would be a dead giveaway.
After a while, once she felt that gaze shift away, Ye Wan breathed a secret sigh of relief. She led Suisui forward at a leisurely pace and even bought her a sugar figurine when they passed a stall.
This completely dispelled the doubts of those still watching in the shadows. If it were truly this mother and daughter, they couldn’t possibly be strolling down the street so brazenly. Through divine sense, one could see that the most valuable things in this female cultivator’s storage bag were likely just a defensive formation plate and a sword qi orb.
It was only when dusk began to fall that Ye Wan brought Suisui back to the sect’s outpost.
The lamps at the entrances of other sect outposts were as bright as day, but the Wan Yan Sect’s… had only two lanterns swaying in the wind. Being able to see the words on the door plaque was entirely thanks to the light reflecting from the building across the street.
“Suisui is back? Did you run into any trouble outside?” The manager saw the mother and daughter and hurried out to greet them.
“Thank you for your concern, Manager. We didn’t run into anything major, though it felt like we were probed by divine sense when we entered the city. Did Stop-Life Grass really appear?” Ye Wan asked.
“It’s true. A Golden Core True Person from the Tai Yi Sect, who came to pick up new disciples, encountered it. At first, he wasn’t sure, but the more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. When he turned back to buy it, a mother and daughter had already beaten him to it.” The manager observed Ye Wan’s facial expressions as he spoke.
Ye Wan curled her lip. “Since he was suspicious, he should have bought it immediately. Opportunities are fleeting; it’s all about a ‘gamble.’ A stalk of Luminous Grass doesn’t cost many spirit stones anyway.”
Seeing Ye Wan speak like this, the manager also felt that the mother and daughter who bought the Stop-Life Grass couldn’t possibly be them.
His mouth twitched. “That True Person from the Tai Yi Sect is famously stingy. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn’t have let such an opportunity slip through their fingers.”
Ye Wan: “…” Thank goodness for his stinginess.
“I heard that high-cultivation seniors from other sects have arrived. Our sect…”
“Senior Brother Qin sent a message to the Sect Master. The Sect Master said our Wan Yan Sect is a sect that values its dignity and won’t engage in the business of snatching others’ opportunities,” the manager said righteously.
Ye Wan thought about the Wan Yan Sect Master from the original owner’s memory. She suspected it was actually because he didn’t believe it and was unwilling to waste the budget.
Meeting Ye Wan’s skeptical gaze, the manager cleared his throat. “Right now, everyone outside suspects that the person who bought the Stop-Life Grass deliberately brought a child to mislead everyone. When they can’t find them, they will eventually focus back on mother-daughter pairs. You should take Suisui out less often to avoid unnecessary trouble.”
“Alright, thank you for the reminder, Manager.” Ye Wan nodded while holding Suisui.
Suisui clasped her little fists together, looking like she was wishing someone a prosperous New Year. “Thank you, Grandpa Manager!”
The manager was so charmed by her cuteness that he almost reached for another spirit fruit. Forget it, forget it, better leave now. He wasn’t very wealthy himself.
Qin Zixun returned from outside just as Ye Wan was entering. His eyes lit up, and he stepped forward quickly.
“Junior Sister Ye, news spread two hours ago that a mother and daughter obtained Stop-Life Grass. It couldn’t have been you two, right?”
“No,” Ye Wan said with a straight face.
“I don’t believe you.” Qin Zixun pinched Suisui’s chubby little arm. “Suisui, tell Brother Qin, what did you and your mother do?”
“Digging veg-tables, roasting bunny.”
After Suisui finished speaking, she buried herself in her mother’s shoulder and kept her little mouth shut tight.
Mother had said she couldn’t tell anyone about the glowing grass, nor could she say she could suddenly run from one place to another to hide. She was very smart.
Qin Zixun looked at Ye Wan suspiciously. “Is what Suisui said true?”
Ye Wan took out a half-basket of wild vegetables from her storage bag and showed them to Qin Zixun.
Qin Zixun: “…”
Could this Junior Sister have become foolish from childbirth? Forget the fact that cultivators could practice inedia; even if they didn’t, they wouldn’t fall to the point of digging for wild vegetables to eat.
“Junior Sister Ye, you dug these wild vegetables just to play with the child, right?” Please don’t tell him it was for eating.
“The child’s father likes to eat the wild vegetables from around here. I dug some more because we probably won’t be coming back this way again.”
Qin Zixun: “…” I seem to have lost the ability to speak.
“If I may ask, Suisui’s father…”
Ye Wan sighed sorrowfully. “He disappeared while out digging wild vegetables.”
Qin Zixun: “…”
Why can’t we get away from digging wild vegetables? Is Suisui’s father a wild vegetable spirit?
Looking at Ye Wan’s expression, Qin Zixun suspected there was something a bit wrong with her head.
“Ahem. It’s for the best that the Stop-Life Grass wasn’t obtained by you. I was worried it was you and specifically called for reinforcements from the sect. Luckily, it wasn’t.” Otherwise, with only him—a Nascent Soul stage Senior Brother—to hold the fort, he wouldn’t be able to compete with those at the Soul Transformation stage.
“Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Qin.” Ye Wan’s words were sincere.
“Go back and rest. Don’t go out if you don’t have to. Let the other sects do as they please; we will depart for the sect as scheduled the day after tomorrow,” Qin Zixun said.
Ye Wan nodded in agreement and carried Suisui back to their room.
Returning to the guest room arranged by the manager, they weren’t very hungry since they had recently eaten the roast rabbit. Thinking of Suisui’s stone space that could preserve freshness, Ye Wan let Suisui play by herself while she took inventory of the ingredients in her storage bag. She planned to make food that could be stored, making it convenient for Suisui to take out and eat anytime, anywhere.
Suisui sat on the soft couch by the window, took out “Little Suisui” to play house, and used the flowers and grass from the stone space to decorate the doll, talking to herself.
Ye Wan brought out a stove, charcoal, and pots. Out on the veranda, she first made the milk tea she had promised as a reward for Suisui. Then, she simmered a pot of claypot rice with preserved meat. To accommodate Suisui, she specifically diced the preserved meat and dried bamboo shoots. Afterward, she also made a pot of preserved egg and lean meat porridge.
The preserved eggs were something she had tried to make back in the village when she was bored. When she left the village, she had essentially brought everything she could except for the house and furniture.
Besides the porridge, Ye Wan also made cute animal-shaped steamed buns, small stuffed buns, toasted bread slices, egg rolls suitable for children, and donuts… She only stopped once she had used up most of the ingredients.
It had to be said that over the years, for the sake of her daughter’s and her own appetite, Ye Wan had advanced from a kitchen novice to a qualified chef.
There were also Inedia Pills for children. An adult version cost a hundred spirit stones per pill, while the child version was fifty. Inedia Pills naturally contained spiritual energy, so they were effective even for those who hadn’t started cultivating.
She currently had no spirit stones to buy them, but even if she did, Ye Wan would only buy them as a backup.
Children are at a greedy age for food; she didn’t want Suisui to lose the right to taste delicious food at such a young age just for the sake of convenience, unless absolutely necessary.
Once it was completely dark, Ye Wan fed Suisui a bowl of steamed egg custard. The smooth and bouncy custard was topped with stir-fried minced meat, and Suisui ate it with great gusto.
Finally, Ye Wan heated a pot of water for a bath, and the mother and daughter took a warm wash.
Although there was a Dust-Cleansing Technique, someone accustomed to bathing would still prefer to wash if the conditions allowed.
Ye Wan placed the clean, milky-white, and chubby little dumpling on the bed, letting the child play while she worked on her plans, responding to the child from time to time.
Seeing that it was time for bed, under normal circumstances, Suisui would usually let her imagination run wild for a bit and then gradually close her eyes to sleep.
Perhaps today had been too exciting and she had seen too many new things; Suisui, who usually fell fast asleep on schedule, was still high-spirited tonight, even as Ye Wan’s answers became incoherent.
“Why is your energy so good today? Do you feel unwell anywhere?” Ye Wan pulled Suisui up and worriedly rubbed her from head to toe.
“Haha… Mother, my eyes say they don’t want to sleep yet.” Suisui was so ticklish that she rolled around on the bed, giggling non-stop.
Ye Wan patted the little girl’s chubby bottom. “Children have to sleep properly to grow tall.”
“But I don’t want to grow tall today.” Suisui flipped over, her two feet in the air, picking at her round little toes.
“What will it take for you to go to sleep?” Ye Wan adopted her maternal authority.
Suisui glanced at the moonlight outside the window, her eyes darting around. “The moon isn’t sleeping, so I’m not sleeping.”
Ye Wan took a handkerchief and covered her eyes. “There, the moon has gone to sleep.”
Suisui pulled the handkerchief down, her cheeks puffed out. “Mother is tricking a child!”
“Children are meant to be tricked. If you don’t want to be tricked, go to sleep and grow up quickly.”
“Then if I sleep now, when Grandpa Sun comes out tomorrow, will I have grown this much?” Suisui pinched a tiny bit of her fingertip.
“If you don’t sleep, you won’t even grow that much.” Ye Wan pressed Suisui’s hands down, sealing her into a sleeping posture.
“Then I’m sleeping!” Suisui scooped up Little Suisui to hug it, closed her eyes, and then opened them a moment later to see if her mother was watching her.
Ye Wan was very familiar with this routine. Usually, at times like this, one should either pretend to be busy or close their eyes. In short, no eye contact and no speaking, otherwise it would never end.
Sure enough, after receiving no attention, the little one whispered to Little Suisui for a bit, and soon, the faint sound of a child’s snoring reached Ye Wan’s ears.
After about ten minutes, once Suisui was fast asleep, Ye Wan got up and sat cross-legged on the soft couch by the window. Facing the moonlight reflecting in from outside, she raced against time to cultivate according to her inheritance.
As a cultivator, the spiritual energy in her body could recharge her physical form. She wouldn’t die from not sleeping; it was truly a “grind-king’s” favorite.
……
During the last two days, Qin Zixun left all the matters regarding recruiting disciples to the outpost manager. He would occasionally run out to watch the excitement or spend his free time playing with Suisui.
In just one day, the big one and the little one had become “buddies.”
Every time the manager saw Qin Zixun getting along so well with a three-year-old milk baby, he felt a bit worried for the future of the sect.
When the day came to take the spirit boat back to the sect, the matter of the Stop-Life Grass had come to nothing after two days of searching. The powerhouses from other sects who had come for the Stop-Life Grass had already departed.
On the plazas of the various sect outposts, spirit boats of different sizes floated quietly in the air, emitting a faint spiritual light.
Standing on the plaza were the new disciples recruited by the major sects this year. Compared to the other sects, the Wan Yan Sect had recruited the fewest disciples, and they were of varying quality; their energy and spirit couldn’t compare.
“Mother, that big boat can fly!” Suisui pointed at the spirit boat floating in the sky, her eyes wide.
“That’s a spirit boat. It will take Suisui into a fantasy world full of adventure.” Ye Wan led Suisui toward Qin Zixun.
Suisui’s eyes grew even brighter. She let go of Ye Wan’s hand and ran toward Qin Zixun, eager to share the day’s surprise with her big buddy.
“Brother Qin, look! A big boat flying in the sky.”
Standing with Qin Zixun were several inner disciples responsible for recruiting in different regions. Seeing a carved-from-jade-and-powdered-with-pearl milk dumpling suddenly appear, grabbing Qin Zixun’s hand and calling him “Brother,” their expressions became somewhat subtle.
Just now, did this little dumpling call that woman “Mother”?
Could it be that the Eldest Senior Brother went out and wanted to become a sudden father? Although this Senior Brother was a bit negligent in his duties, they felt he could still be saved.
“Come, Brother Qin will take you up to play.” Qin Zixun picked up Suisui and flew onto the spirit boat.
“Wow!!! Suisui is flying! Do it again! Do it again!”
The entire plaza was filled with Suisui’s childish voice, showing her lack of experience with the world.
The others: “…”
You’re hundreds of years old, yet you have the face to accept being called ‘Brother’ by a milk baby. Sigh, we want to be called ‘Brother’ and ‘Sister’ too.
Since the Eldest Senior Brother of the sect had already boarded, the other people in charge led the recruited disciples up. Ye Wan slowly trailed behind.
The Wan Yan Sect’s spirit boat looked bare, with only one cabin. In reality, there were many hidden rooms inside, but it was not the place for an outer disciple like Ye Wan.
Ye Wan found a corner and continued to study her jade slips.
Once on the spirit boat, Qin Zixun continued to be a hands-off manager. He carried Suisui for a full tour of the boat. When he came back and saw Ye Wan sitting cross-legged in a corner slapping jade slips against her forehead, he didn’t know what to say.
She clearly looked very lazy and even more negligent than him, yet she was cultivating as if her life depended on it. She had even asked him for every jade slip he could give regarding knowledge of cultivation. Any moment she had, she was reading them into her head.
If it weren’t for the fact that these were all basic knowledge that didn’t consume much divine sense, Qin Zixun suspected that this way of “popping” jade slips would make her already not-so-great brain even stupider.
But it was precisely because she knew clearly that he was the Eldest Senior Brother of the sect and made no effort to curry favor that Qin Zixun felt no qualms about playing with Suisui.
“Shh…” Suisui put her little finger to her lips. “Mother is learning how to beat up bad guys. We shouldn’t disturb her.”
Seeing Suisui so sensible at an age where children often can’t even control their bladders, Qin Zixun felt a bit saddened.
“What do you do by yourself while your mother is cultivating?”
“I play with Little Suisui.” Suisui took out Little Suisui from her storage bag.
Qin Zixun looked at the so-called “Little Suisui,” and felt even more saddened.
It was just an ordinary doll. Although it was made in Suisui’s likeness, it wasn’t at a level where it could “play together.”
Hmm? Was he seeing things? He just thought he saw a flash of light in the doll’s eyes.