The moment the words left her mouth, Shen Qingchen felt that something was slightly amiss.
Cooking and preparing meals for someone every day felt like something a mortal wife would do. Saying it like that, could it be misunderstood as her having those kinds of intentions?
However, her little disciple, Jiang Qianxun, didn’t seem to find anything wrong at all. She only chirped in surprise, “Really? Master is truly willing to cook for me? Hooray!”
Her expression of “I’m so happy I get to eat delicious food” made Shen Qingchen feel that her worries were entirely redundant. Fine then, as long as there was no misunderstanding. She enjoyed cooking, and the other liked eating, it was a perfect match. Even if word got out, it would just be seen as a master doting on her disciple by rewarding her with a few meals. It was nothing significant.
Or so she thought.
Others, however, thought differently.
Jiang Qianxun had just lain down for the night when she was roused by You Caiwei’s voice transmission. She accepted the call, and the other girl’s face was projected into the air. After looking around for a bit, You Caiwei remarked, “How come it looks so simple and plain there?”
“Of course. How luxurious did you think it would be?” Jiang Qianxun said leisurely. “Aren’t you writing your book tonight? Still have time to harass me?”
“I just suddenly felt a bit lonely after being separated from you,” You Caiwei said flippantly, then gossiped, “Staying in a guest room?”
“Yeah, I told you there were plenty of rooms here,” Jiang Qianxun replied. “You were worried I’d have nowhere to sleep, you were totally overthinking it.”
“Was I worried about you having nowhere to sleep?” You Caiwei clicked her tongue. “I was hoping for something to happen… you know… that thing? You get it, right?”
“What?” Jiang Qianxun didn’t get it.
“I knew you wouldn’t get it, you wooden block,” You Caiwei rolled her eyes. “How is your illness treatment going?”
“Hasn’t started yet. Didn’t have time today.”
“Then what have you been doing all afternoon?” You Caiwei asked curiously, then added, “Hey, is your Master pretty hard to get along with? When she was waiting for you outside today, I caught her eye for a second… no exaggeration, I almost froze solid…”
Jiang Qianxun laughed twice. “My Master looks cold, but she’s actually very nice and takes good care of me.”
“Takes care of you?” You Caiwei couldn’t imagine a Sect Master taking care of someone. “How? Does she cook and wash clothes for you?”
Jiang Qianxun remained silent. This was her Master’s secret.
Even if the other girl had guessed correctly, she had to pretend she hadn’t heard.
Seeing her silence, You Caiwei knew she had hit the mark and let out a “Holy crap!” “I never would have guessed. She looks so ethereal, like she doesn’t eat the food of mortals, yet she actually knows how to cook?”
“Don’t go spreading this around,” Jiang Qianxun realized she couldn’t hide it, so she gave a warning. “No one else knows about this, and she doesn’t want anyone to know.”
“Why? Being able to cook is great! If I knew how to cook, my mom would probably be thrilled. A dummy like me doesn’t even have the talent to learn.”
“It seems that in the worldview of people here, being able to cook isn’t exactly a ‘good’ thing. I didn’t quite understand it either. Anyway, just don’t talk about it.”
“Got it, I won’t say a word.” You Caiwei snapped her fingers, but then something felt off. “Wait a minute. If she doesn’t want anyone to know, why is she cooking for you?”
Jiang Qianxun was speechless. “Because I was hungry?”
“Well, I’m hungry too. Why isn’t she cooking for me?” You Caiwei seemed to have found the smoking gun. She jumped off her bed and paced anxiously. “Have you ever heard the saying: ‘To capture a woman’s heart, you must first capture her stomach’?”
“Scram, stop talking nonsense,” Jiang Qianxun cursed. “Have you gone crazy from writing your books? My Master is definitely not that kind of person. She just saw that I can’t use spiritual power and it’s inconvenient for me to go back and forth for meals, so she’s kindly cooking for me once. Why does everything sound so weird coming out of your mouth?”
“Really, if I’m talking nonsense, may lightning strike me!” You Caiwei grew frantic. “If she cooked for everyone indiscriminately, there would be no problem. The key is she doesn’t want others to know, yet she lets you know. What do you call that? Special treatment! Think about it, what do you have that warrants being treated differently? Other than ‘romance,’ is there any other explanation.”
Before she could finish, Jiang Qianxun cut off the transmission.
You Caiwei tried calling her several more times, but Jiang Qianxun didn’t pick up. She was truly a bit angry, what kind of person was her Master? She was a half-step immortal who had long since looked past the desires of the mortal world. How could she have such vulgar thoughts?
It was pure nonsense.
Jiang Qianxun tossed her transmission stone aside and went to sleep. On the other side, however, Shen Qingchen’s mind was in a whirl, unable to enter a state of meditation. She isolated all external sounds and recited the Clearing Heart Mantra several times, but failed to calm down.
Perhaps it was because there was an extra person in the courtyard, perhaps because too much had happened today, or perhaps because she had learned that secret. In short, all these matters pointed back to Jiang Qianxun.
Was Jiang Qianxun really from another world?
Was the world she came from the “real” world?
Shen Qingchen used a hand seal to set up a formation, trying to manifest an imaginary world. This wasn’t difficult, plants and animals were easy to generate, but she could not create living humans. “Granting Life” was a privilege reserved for immortals, let alone creating so many people out of thin air.
If the world she lived in was fake, then the person who created it must be an immortal with immense power, at least at the level of an Immortal Emperor. That was far beyond her reach.
She withdrew her hand, and the imaginary world vanished.
To have such powerful magic and to maintain constant observation… it was too incredible. Even if it were attributed to an immortal’s creation, it hardly seemed feasible.
Perhaps… perhaps there was another way.
Jiang Qianxun shouldn’t be lying. At least, Shen Qingchen didn’t feel like she was. And what would be the benefit of lying? This concerned her own body. Even if she were to tell a different secret, there was no reason to invent this.
Was she… hinting at something?
Shen Qingchen’s heart tightened as her thoughts began to wander again.
She was of a quiet disposition and didn’t have many friends. Most people didn’t dare get close to her. Over time, she truly had no one to talk to. Thus, whatever thoughts she had, she could only digest them herself.
What could she be hinting at? She thought. Her tiny bit of knowledge about “transmigration” came solely from that storybook. That book came from her Senior Sister, but where did her Senior Sister get it?
Could the person who wrote that book be a “transmigrator” as well?
Yes! She suddenly had a realization. If transmigration didn’t exist, that would be one thing, but if it did, then the book must have been written by a transmigrator. It was the simplest cause and effect relationship. Whether this person knew Jiang Qianxun or had any connection to her remained unclear.
However, this was something that could be investigated.
After a moment of thought, she sent out a voice transmission.
On the other end, Nangong Jiang was very surprised to receive a late-night transmission from her. When she heard the question, she replied meaningfully, “I get it. You want to see more, right? Wait there, I’ll find some for you!”
“No, I want to ask if you know who the author of that book is.”
“The author? Why are you looking for the author?”
“I…” Shen Qingchen originally wanted to explain clearly, but suddenly realized she couldn’t. To make her Senior Sister understand her intent, she would have to explain the whole situation, which meant she couldn’t avoid the fact that Jiang Qianxun was a transmigrator.
And that was the girl’s secret.
Compared to the minor detail of her enjoying cooking, the fact that transmigrators existed was a far more serious matter. On a small scale, it would mean she was untrustworthy; on a large scale, it could actually shake the causal foundations of this world.
So, she couldn’t say it.
After thinking for a moment, she had to admit: “I am indeed interested in this person. If I can trace the source, I would like to meet them.”
“I see.” Nangong Jiang pondered for a long while before saying, “This sort of thing… it’s not that it’s hard to check, but I don’t recommend checking. The reason authors use pen names is that they don’t want the people around them to know. Reading is one thing, but investigating is another. If it were a matter of life and death, there’d be a reason, but investigating someone for no reason is called ‘unmasking,’ and it’s a very uncouth thing to do.”
Shen Qingchen didn’t know the etiquette of these circles. She apologized and said, “If it’s inappropriate, then forget it. I was just asking casually.”
“Hey, you can’t check openly, but you can approach it from the side,” Nangong Jiang said. “I’ll give you a few more books written by the same author. You study them well. Then, I can give you a general direction, okay?”
“What direction?”
“You’ll know when we meet tomorrow.”
After hanging up, Nangong Jiang looked at the embers in her furnace. Seeing they were about done, she waved her hand, and several pills drifted into her palm with a breeze.
Satisfied, she stored the pills in a gourd.
“This is only a three days supply. Looks like I’ll be pulling all-nighters for the next few days,” she sighed, walking toward her bedroom. Her path took her past Nangong Lianyu’s window. She glanced inside and saw her daughter reading a book, looking very diligent.
She returned to the alchemy room, took out a jar of Jade Dew, and prepared to bring it to her daughter. She thought she should advise her not to work so hard, as it was bad for her eyes and health.
The night was quiet. She didn’t knock but pushed the door open directly.
To her surprise, Nangong Lianyu acted like a thief caught in the act. Seeing her mother enter, she immediately became defensive and hid the book behind her back, shouting, “What are you doing?! You didn’t knock again! I have a right to privacy!”
“I’m your mother, what privacy do you have from me?” Nangong Jiang glared at her and placed the Jade Dew and the pill bottle on the table. “The matter of you bullying Jiang Qianxun hasn’t passed yet. When it’s light out, you’re coming with me to apologize to her!”
Although Nangong Lianyu was indignant, she nodded.
“Also, stop hiding it. Hand over those storybooks behind your back,” Nangong Jiang said. “A young girl like you, reading those books all day… it’s unhealthy!”
Nangong Lianyu hadn’t expected her mother to have found out long ago. Her face turned blood red with shame. Finally, she choked out: “Teacher Caiyou writes so well, how is it unhealthy?! I’m not doing it for… Hmph, I can’t talk to you. If you don’t like it, then stop stealing my books to read yourself, okay?!”