There was no gloomy blood moon here.
In its place were clear blue skies and bright sunshine.
However, it was so dazzlingly bright that I had to squint for a long while just to adjust.
Then, I pulled out the map my dad gave me and fell silent.
This map was drawn in an extremely abstract style—as my brother put it:
‘Dad’s drawing skills are just like his personality—filled with an artistic sense of poverty.’
“Is this ink blot a mountain? Is this squiggly line a river? And what on earth are these circles and crosses?”
After studying it for a long time, I decided to give up.
— Day 1: I ate all the food I had brought with me.
Mainly because traveling was too exhausting. As a three-year-old kid, I walked thirty li on foot. If this were in the mortal realm, it’d be enough to brag about for a lifetime.
— Day 3: The map indicated I should go left, but after walking left for half a day, I found a cliff in front of me.
I stood at the edge of the cliff contemplating life, and finally decided to trust my instincts: turn around and go back.
— Day 5: My shoes wore through, and several blisters formed on my feet.
Sitting by the roadside and looking at my ruined shoes, I suddenly remembered my brother’s boots that were almost worn through with holes.
So poverty really is hereditary.
— Day 10: I was pulling up grass by the roadside to eat.
It was a low-grade spiritual grass unique to the Cultivation Realm, good for staving off hunger.
Just as I was enthusiastically pulling grass, a snake demon slithered out from the bushes, flicking its tongue, probably intending to make a snack out of me.
I raised my head and stared right back at it.
The snake demon crept closer, took a sniff, and then… the entire snake froze solid.
Three breaths later, it tucked its tail and hurriedly scurried away.
I rolled my eyes at it in disgust: “Ugly thing.”
Then I put away my dad’s map, because I was completely lost anyway.
Right now, the only remaining use for this map was as toilet paper.
From then on, I relied entirely on asking for directions and pure intuition to move forward.
— “Mister, which way to the Qingyun Sect?”
— “Three hundred miles to the east… Hey kid, are you all alone?”
— “Big sister, how much farther to the Qingyun Sect?”
— “Another two hundred miles… Where are your parents?”
— “Grandpa, do you know Sect Leader Qing Meng?”
— “Of course I do! She’s the number one beauty in the cultivation realm! Are you fan-girling over her too, little kid?”
I asked my way along as I walked.
When hungry, I picked wild fruits; when thirsty, I drank spring water; when sleepy, I found a hollow tree trunk to sleep in.
Occasionally, I met kind-hearted people who gave me something to eat—mostly because they found me cute, and a small part because they felt pity for me.
…
Twenty days later, I finally reached the foot of the mountain where the Qingyun Sect was located.
Looking up, the mountain range was grand and imposing, enveloped in swirling mist, with immortal cranes soaring through the air, and the spiritual aura so dense it could almost condense into water.
The mountain entrance gate was lofty and magnificent, with the three characters for “Qingyun Sect” shining with bright gold—it looked wealthy at a glance.
I said to the mountain-guarding disciple: “I’m here to find my mom—your Sect Leader, Qing Meng.”
And then I was politely “escorted” out by them.
One disciple gave a insincere smile:
“Our Sect Leader, Fairy Qing Meng, is the number one beauty in the cultivation world. Her suitors could form a line stretching all the way from the gate of the Qingyun Sect to the Nether Rift in the Demon Realm.”
“Every day, if not a hundred, at least eighty people come trying to claim relation, all saying they are her long-lost daughter/son/nephew/niece/aunt/cousin…”
He added in a slow, deliberate tone: “The last person who tried this is currently scooping poop for spirit beasts on the back mountain. He’s been scooping for three years now.”
I tried to produce evidence: “I have a letter! A letter my dad wrote to my mom!”
I pulled out that letter from my bundle.
The mountain-guarding disciple took it and read aloud: “‘Dearest Mengmeng, the harvest in the Demon Realm wasn’t good this year, lend us some spirit stones…'”
Reading up to this point, the two disciples suddenly burst into a fit of laughter together.
“This scamming method is way too blatant!”
“‘Pin’er is very well-behaved, doesn’t eat much, three meals of porridge a day is enough…’ Porridge? Our Sect Leader’s child eats porridge? Hahaha!”
Watching them double over with laughter, I emphasized again: “I really am her daughter!”
The disciple impatiently waved his hand: “Shoo, shoo! Go make up a better story next time! Since you’re so young, we won’t hold it against you this time.”
I could only leave dejectedly.
Fine then, a birth mother refusing to see her own daughter—I’m familiar with this plot line.
Because my dad had told me many stories from cultivation web novels, where tropes like “biological flesh and blood meeting without recognizing each other” occurred frequently.
I just didn’t expect that when fiction reflected into reality, it would leave me covered in dust.
I wandered around Qingyun Town at the foot of the Qingyun Sect’s mountain for a few days.
Supposedly, at the foot of every major sect’s mountain, there is a town mostly inhabited by ordinary mortals who cannot cultivate.
There were also many family members brought back from the mortal realm by sect disciples who would settle down in these towns at the foot of the mountain.
I wanted to stake out the area to see if I could catch my mom coming down the mountain, though the probability of that was roughly equivalent to my dad suddenly becoming an educated scholar.
The entrance of Qingyun Town’s largest inn, The Immortal Visitor, became my fixed base of operations.
The inn owner was a chubby uncle named Wang, who had a good heart. Seeing how pitiable I looked, he would pack up some leftover food for me every time.
When Boss Wang handed me a steamed bun for the third time, he couldn’t help asking: “Little kid, where are your family members?”
Munching on the bun, I mumbled unclearly: “My dad couldn’t afford to raise me, so he sent me to find my mom, but my mom doesn’t want me.”
Boss Wang sighed and shoved another bun into my hands: “What a sin… Eat more, you’re still growing.”
And so I hung around the inn entrance for three days, munching on buns while watching the people going in and out.
The disciples of the Qingyun Sect wore moon-cyan robes with flowing sleeves, looking full of immortal aura.
I stared at every person wearing cyan clothes, hoping that one of them would be my mom.
As a result, on the fourth day, I overheard two guests chatting casually:
— “I heard Sect Leader Qing Meng has entered secluded cultivation, and it’s going to last for three years!”
— “Three years?”
“Does that mean she won’t be participating in this month’s major sect recruitment?”
— “Of course not! How can someone just come out while in secluded cultivation…”
The steamed bun in my hand fell to the ground.
Secluded cultivation?
For three years?
Then what was I supposed to do?
Beg for food at the inn entrance for three years?
I squatted on the ground, staring at the dirty bun, suddenly feeling a strong urge to cry.
But I didn’t cry.
Because my dad said the Demon Lord’s daughter cannot cry.
If you cry, people will laugh at you.
Even though Dad cried all the time himself.
For example, he often hugged my brother while crying about being poor, saying my brother was unfilial for not helping him shoulder the debt.
Just when I felt my life was hopeless, I heard another piece of news:
In Dongxia City, on the 15th of this month, there would be a once-in-a-decade major sect recruitment!
All the major sects would go there to recruit new disciples!
I grabbed a passing adult and asked: “Will the Qingyun Sect be there too?”
The adult replied: “Of course they will. But Dongxia City is very far from here, and there are many wild beasts—even demon beasts—along the way. Don’t even think about it, little beanpole.”
I didn’t listen.
When Boss Wang heard that I was going to Dongxia City, his eyes widened into circles: “Going to Dongxia City? Do you have any idea how far that is? It’s 500 li away!”
I nodded: “I know.”
“You know, and you’re still going? What if a wild beast carries you off on the road?”
“A beast might not carry me off,” I said honestly. “It might be scared that I’ll carry it off.”
Boss Wang: “…”
In the end, unable to dissuade me, he shoved two steamed buns into my hands.
Along with a pair of old shoes his son used to wear as a kid. Though they were two sizes too big, it was better than going barefoot.
“Be careful on the road! If you run into danger, run toward where there are lots of people!” Boss Wang chased after me, shouting.
I waved goodbye and set off on the road to Dongxia City.
I did run into quite a few demon beasts along the way.
I knew demon beasts had a natural fear of me; after all, my aura as royal blood of the Demon Realm was right here.
I just didn’t expect there to be exceptions.
Like the one I was facing right now: an Armored Porcupine—a low-tier demon beast with tough skin, thick hide, and tough meat. Ordinary cultivators rarely bothered to hunt it because it was a thankless hassle.
But it was blocking my path and baring its teeth at me.
I had been starving for three days. Looking at it, I suddenly had a bold idea.
Half an incense stick later, I was squatting in front of a campfire, roasting porcupine meat.
The meat was indeed tough, making my cheeks ache from chewing, but at least it was meat.
Full and content, I continued my journey.
Ten days later, I finally arrived at Dongxia City.