“Spiritual healer…” Yun Jiao absently rubbed her right index finger. It had been so long since she last held a scalpel—she almost missed it. Well, she wasn’t busy anyway. Maybe she could give this a try?
“Many thanks, Ancestral Master!” She glanced at the pile of books on the table, casually picked one up, and flipped through it. Mm, this material would probably take her two months to finish.
Only then did Bai Yu finally breathe a sigh of relief, and even Ye Yuan’s expression eased. Phew… good, good, they’d managed to keep her (and the soup).
Bai Yu peeked at Yun Jiao, who was already deeply engrossed in her book, so absorbed she’d forgotten to eat. Worse, she kept muttering in awe as she read—phrases like “cut open the aorta,” “expose the cardiovascular system,” “remove the lymph nodes.” Since he was sitting close, he inadvertently saw the illustrations in her book. Infused with mystical force, they etched vivid, bloody anatomical diagrams into his mind.
“…” How was he supposed to eat now?! He couldn’t help but remember the way she had butchered that chicken before. A chill crawled through him, and he blurted out, “Hey… girl, your food isn’t even finished yet!”
“Hm?” Yun Jiao looked up, puzzled, pulled from the ocean of knowledge.
Bai Yu’s lips twitched as he tried again, “Don’t forget, you’re a girl.”
“And?” She tilted her head. Weren’t you the one who told me to study this?
“Well… girls should pay attention to—”
Clatter!!!Before he could finish, the man across from them—who had just drained his third bowl of soup—suddenly slipped. His bowl fell to the floor with a crash. His face, usually so composed, abruptly turned pale.
“Ancestral Master?” What happened?
“What did you just say?” Ye Yuan suddenly asked, looking utterly shocked.
“Eh?” Bai Yu blinked, confused. “Say what?”
Ye Yuan’s eyes widened further as he turned to Yun Jiao, staring as though he had just realized something unimaginable. After a long pause, he stammered, “You… you’re a woman?!”
At last, Yun Jiao lifted her head from the book. She instinctively glanced down at her chest, tilted her head, and said, “Isn’t it obvious?” Not a C, but at least a B!
Ye Yuan froze completely. In that instant, it was as though his entire worldview crumbled. The ever-serene, straight-faced Ancestral Master—who could even mooch meals with a calm face—flushed red as wildfire. His cheeks darkened deeper and deeper until his entire face glowed crimson. Even his hands at his side trembled faintly.
His reaction was so abnormal that even thick-headed Bai Yu noticed. “Ancestral Master, are you—”
Before he could finish, a white flash streaked past. Ye Yuan, his face burning, transformed into a white silhouette and bolted out the door with such speed that even his afterimage vanished.
“There’s still soup!” Yun Jiao called instinctively.
But it didn’t stop him. The half-finished bowl of soup on the table suddenly floated up and shot out after him.
The next moment, a thunderous slam echoed from the direction of the tower.
Only the two of them were left, sitting stunned.
Yun Jiao: “…”
Bai Yu: “…”
What the hell just happened?
(⊙_⊙)
After a long silence—
“Old man, care to explain?”
“I… I don’t know either!” Bai Yu was just as bewildered. He couldn’t figure out how the normally agreeable Ancestral Master, generous with teachings and gifts, had suddenly turned on his heel. And it didn’t even look like anger—it looked more like… fleeing in panic? No, no, that had to be his imagination.
Yun Jiao frowned in thought. “Could it be that Qingyang has a tradition of not accepting female disciples?”
“Nonsense!” Bai Yu shook his head hard. They barely ever recruited disciples at all—why would they care about gender? “Qingyang has always valued talent above all else, regardless of male or female. Though…” He furrowed his brows, recalling, “I did hear from my master that for the first hundred generations, all Qingyang heirs were men.”
Yun Jiao glanced toward the direction Ye Yuan had fled, her eyes thoughtful.
There’s a story here.
After that, the Ancestral Master shut himself in the tower for half a month. Even his favorite pastime—mooching meals—was abandoned. For the first time, the tower doors were sealed, a golden talisman gleaming across them. When Bai Yu tried to go in to burn incense, he was repelled by its glow. After much staring, he identified it as a heavenly-grade talisman—far beyond his reach.
“Girl, do you think maybe I drank too much soup at meals, and that annoyed the Ancestral Master? That’s why he sealed the tower, to keep me out?” Bai Yu puzzled aloud after days of thought. “Otherwise, why else would he suddenly shut himself in? Even back when he never showed himself, he didn’t do this.”
Yun Jiao finally looked up from her book, unimpressed. You’re only realizing this now? And maybe put down the soup spoon in your hand before saying that.
“It’s already been half a month…” Bai Yu sighed heavily. He had gotten used to having the Ancestral Master at every meal. Now, with one less dining companion, even the food tasted bland. He ate only half… no, forty percent… maybe thirty… fine, twenty percent less. But still—“What do you think is wrong with the Ancestral Master?”
“The Ancestral Master has his reasons. Why bother asking so much?” Yun Jiao answered perfunctorily, like an official statement.
“True!” Bai Yu nodded. The Ancestral Master was a deity—far beyond mortal comprehension. He relaxed and happily refilled his bowl.
“Oh, here. This is for you!” Yun Jiao suddenly tossed a thick book at him.
“What’s this?” Bai Yu blinked, picking it up. On the cover, bold characters read: Detailed Analysis of the Xuanxin Jue. His eyes widened, hands trembling. “Th-this… isn’t this the Xuanxin Jue the Ancestral Master gave you?”
“Mm.” Yun Jiao nodded. “This is my own ‘reading comprehension’ version. But the core content is the same.”
Bai Yu grew even more excited. The Xuanxin Jue was a top-tier Daoist method—rare beyond belief! “Girl, did you tell the Ancestral Master about this?”
“Mm.” Yun Jiao nodded again. “He told me to give it to you.” She had just taken the liberty of editing it a bit.
Bai Yu’s heart swelled with emotion. Ah… the Ancestral Master really did care about him! Yet after a moment’s thought, doubt crept in. “B-but… with my level of comprehension, I probably won’t fully understand the profundities of this technique. It would be a waste of the Ancestral Master’s good intentions.”
Yun Jiao paused, finally setting down her own book to look at him. Her face was still serious, but her expression carried the air of a rolled eye. She sighed and enunciated clearly, “Tell me—do you know how to read?”
“Huh? Of course I know how to read!” What kind of question was that?
“Oh.” Yun Jiao turned back to her book. “Then you can understand it.” This version had been revised into the simplest possible form—she’d almost added pinyin annotations. Only a true idiot would fail to grasp it.
Bai · Idiot · Yu: “…”
Why did it feel like she just insulted him? No… must be his imagination!
(End of Chapter)