The boy was overjoyed to have a little junior sister. Beaming with happiness, he introduced himself. “Little Junior Sister, my name is Qin Laoliu. I’m your Sixth Senior Brother. You have three other senior brothers and three senior sisters, and you rank seventh among us. From now on, I’ll call you Little Junior Sister or Little Seven.”
“This is our master. His name is Xiao Jianshan, and he’s the Valley Master of Qingfeng Valley. Everyone in our valley is exceptionally talented.”
“You’ll be one of Qingfeng Valley’s talented people, too! Sob, sob… I still don’t know your surname. How about taking Master’s surname, Xiao? Xiao Laoqi! That’s a great name!”
Shen Chuyun: “…”
She burst into tears and struggled vigorously in his arms. Seeing that she seemed uncomfortable, Qin Laoliu reached out to adjust her swaddling clothes. Suddenly, he noticed a milky-white piece of warm jade hanging around her neck.
He picked it up and saw a character engraved on the back. He read it softly. “Shen?”
“Little Junior Sister, so your surname is Shen! Then I’ll call you Shen Laoqi from now on.”
Old Xiao smacked him on the head. “What Laoqi? Call her Little Seven! Shen Xiaoqi!”
He took Shen Chuyun from Qin Laoliu’s arms.
“Little girl, listen carefully. Don’t take Laoliu’s words seriously. This old man doesn’t take disciples lightly, and you’re not qualified to become my disciple yet. For now, I can only raise you as a pet. Good grief, you smell awful! I’d better wash you right away…”
Just then, noises came from outside. Old Xiao frowned.
“Someone’s coming?”
He looked at Qin Laoliu. “Are they here for the little girl?”
Qin Laoliu nodded. “Probably.”
Old Xiao snorted. “This old man hasn’t been feeling well these past few days, and I don’t feel like killing anyone. Besides, it would be inconvenient to fight while carrying you two. Let’s avoid them for now.”
The master and disciple picked up their shoulder bags and roast chicken, then left the cave with Shen Chuyun in their arms.
Not long after they departed, the Marquis’s residence guards arrived. All they found was a campfire that hadn’t yet gone out.
Realizing that the jinx might have been rescued, they immediately prepared to follow the tracks and search for her. But just as they turned to leave the cave, they saw a tiger standing at the entrance, staring coldly at them.
Everyone from the Marquis’s residence was horrified.
“Oh no! This is a tiger’s den!”
“Ahhh!”
About half an hour later, as dusk settled, the master and disciple arrived at a small stream. They stripped Shen Chuyun naked and tossed her into the water to scrub her clean.
Shen Chuyun cried at the top of her lungs, shivering from the cold.
They were abusing a baby! These two idiots, one old and one young, were abusing a baby! Who bathed an infant like this? She would either freeze to death or choke on the water!
“Master, why is Little Junior Sister crying while taking a bath?” Qin Laoliu asked innocently, scratching his head.
Old Xiao held Shen Chuyun upside down by her legs, dipping her head into the stream and swishing it around. With a perfectly serious expression, he explained, “Because she’s a girl. She’s shy.”
Qin Laoliu covered his eyes. “Then I won’t look! Men and women should keep their distance!”
Old Xiao let go of her. “You’re right. As a grown man, I shouldn’t be looking either.”
Shen Chuyun: “…”
Her tiny body drifted downstream with the current.
“Master, Little Junior Sister has really stopped crying! Looks like she was genuinely embarrassed.” Qin Laoliu chuckled. He secretly opened one eye to sneak a peek at his little junior sister, only to discover that she was nowhere to be seen in the stream.
He screamed, “Master! Little Junior Sister has been swept away!”
A thick clump of water weeds caught Shen Chuyun and stopped her from drifting farther downstream. When the master and disciple finally found her, they saw her tiny body nestled among the weeds, as though she were sleeping in a cradle.
Old Xiao was overjoyed when he recognized the plant.
“Isn’t this Iceheart Grass? I’ve been searching for it for more than three years! Who would have thought I’d find it in a little stream like this? Good heavens! Little girl, you really are my lucky star!”
Shen Chuyun, who was on the verge of death: “…”
Now you realize I’m your lucky star? Then hurry up and save me! Can’t you see that I’m so cold my whole body has turned purple?
Meeting this pair of brainless master and disciple was truly a calamity.
Damn heavens, send down a bolt of lightning and knock some sense into them!
Rumble!
A thunderclap exploded overhead, startling Shen Chuyun.
Seriously? Did it actually start thundering?
Another deafening rumble followed. Dark clouds covered the sky, fierce winds howled, and torrential rain poured down with tremendous force.
Old Xiao hurriedly fished Shen Chuyun out of the stream and stuffed her into Qin Laoliu’s arms. Then he yanked out the Iceheart Grass, grabbed Qin Laoliu, and took off running.
“Come on, come on! We need to find shelter from the rain! Damn heavens, why did it suddenly start pouring?”
By the time they found another cave to shelter in, both master and disciple were drenched like drowned rats. Shen Chuyun was cold, hungry, and barely clinging to life.
The two brainless fools wrapped her in her swaddling clothes again. Xiao Jianshan nodded in satisfaction.
“She really does smell better after a wash, and she looks prettier, too. Just look at that little face. Her skin is so fair. Hmm? Wait a minute… She looks like she’s about to die. Could she be hungry?”
At those words, Qin Nanshu immediately took the roast chicken out of his shoulder bag, tore off a piece of meat, and held it to Shen Chuyun’s mouth.
“Little Junior Sister, hurry and eat! Once you’re full, you won’t be hungry anymore.”
Xiao Jianshan and Shen Chuyun: “…”
Xiao Jianshan slapped Qin Laoliu on the head.
“How can a newborn baby eat meat? Do you have even the slightest bit of common sense? She needs milk!”
Qin Nanshu looked utterly innocent. “But where am I supposed to find milk?”
Xiao Jianshan was stumped, too.
“We need to find a wet nurse for her.”
His eyes suddenly lit up, and he slapped his thigh excitedly.
“Right! There are wolves in the woods over there. I’ll go catch a she-wolf!”
Shen Chuyun: “…”
Just as Old Xiao stepped out of the cave, a figure came tumbling down the slope through the heavy rain, bleating as it rolled.
“Baa! Baa! Baa!”
Old Xiao hurried to the foot of the mountain. When he saw what it was, he was ecstatic.
“What incredible luck! It’s a nanny goat, and it looks like she’s just given birth. Hahaha! My precious disciple will have milk to drink! No, wait… This little girl isn’t my disciple yet.”
Only after drinking the goat’s milk did Shen Chuyun finally recover enough to escape death.
Although she had just been born, her little body was remarkably resilient. After enduring so much torment, all it took was some milk for her to regain her energy.
Once Shen Chuyun was fed, the brainless master and disciple placed her on a large rock and started a fire to dry their clothes.
By now, night had completely fallen, and the rain had stopped.
The two fools were so busy taking care of themselves that they failed to notice a monkey quietly sneaking into the cave and carrying Shen Chuyun away.
Shen Chuyun was about to burst into tears, but the monkey covered her mouth.
That monkey’s paw smells awful!
Master! Sixth Senior Brother! Help! A monkey is kidnapping me!
“Little Junior Sister, once we return to Qingfeng Valley, I’ll make you a little bed so you can sleep comfortably,” Qin Laoliu said.
Then he turned around and discovered that his little junior sister had disappeared from the rock. Only the nanny goat remained, standing there all alone.
“Master! Something terrible has happened! Little Junior Sister is gone!”
The monkey carried Shen Chuyun straight into its troop.
When the brainless master and disciple finally caught up, they found Shen Chuyun being held by a female monkey in the middle of the troop. The other monkeys had gathered around her, touching her here and kissing her there, seemingly treating her as one of their own babies.
Old Xiao leaped into the air in fury.
“Release my disciple!”
He drove the monkeys away and rescued Shen Chuyun. Qin Nanshu was so delighted that he bounced up and down.
Suddenly, he noticed something inside Shen Chuyun’s swaddling clothes. An object was glowing like a luminous pearl.
“Master! It’s the Dragon Pearl! I’ve found my Dragon Pearl! Those monkeys must have put it in Little Junior Sister’s swaddling clothes. Wow! Little Junior Sister is amazing! She helped me find the keepsake my mother left me!”
Old Xiao was astonished.
“She really is something. The Iceheart Grass that I searched for three years without finding just happened to appear in front of her. And the keepsake you’ve been searching for over three months also turned up because of her. Then there’s that nanny goat, too…”
He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
“There’s something rather strange about this little girl.”
Qin Nanshu hugged Shen Chuyun tightly.
“Little Junior Sister isn’t strange at all! She’s the best!”
Old Xiao clicked his tongue.
“You boy, you’re far too fond of her. Fine, fine! She’s the best. Since we’ve found everything we came here for, there’s no reason to stay any longer. Let’s return to the cave and rest for the night. We’ll head back to Qingfeng Valley tomorrow morning.”
On their way back to the cave, the master and disciple stumbled upon even more precious treasures—jade, gold, ginseng, and all sorts of valuable items.
And every single one of them appeared near Shen Chuyun.
This further confirmed Old Xiao’s suspicions.
This little girl was no ordinary child.
She truly deserved to be his closed-door disciple!
The master, disciple, and their adorable little companion returned to the cave happily and settled down for the night.
Meanwhile, chaos had erupted at the Marquis’s residence.