Mu Zhiyao looked again at the winding, coiling stone steps, and at the Xuanming Sect whose gate she could not even locate, swallowed hard, and turned to the coachman beside her. “How about we just go back?”
“Young Lady, the head of the family said that once you’re delivered, we can head back on our own.” The coachman kept his eyes lowered, his expression unreadable.
Well then. No going back. Mu Zhiyao pursed her lips.
Then she saw several figures suddenly burst out ahead, chattering noisily as they came.
A moment later, the arguing grew closer. “Hurry, hurry! We have a Little Junior Sister now, but it’s already been two days and she still hasn’t arrived!”
“Lu Shibai, be a little steadier. Make a good impression on our Junior Sister. What if she arrives today?”
“Junior Sister, do you think my clothes look nice? Will Little Junior Sister like me?”
Mu Zhiyao mused that the Xuanming Sect really was a place where social anxiety comes to die.
Then Mu Zhiyao’s vision blurred and she was surrounded. The coachman, seizing the moment while Mu Zhiyao’s attention was diverted, hurried back the way they had come. Close call, he had nearly had to take the Young Lady back with him.
“Little Junior Sister, I’m your Fourth Senior Brother, Lu Shibai. If you ever go out to fight and can’t win, just say my name and I’ll come avenge you.” A sunny, cheerful big boy pointed at himself, grinning to show a mouthful of white teeth that made Mu Zhiyao’s eyes swim for a second in the sunlight.
“Go away, you! Little Junior Sister, ignore this fight maniac. I’m your Fifth Senior Sister, Ye Qingli. From now on, your senior sister will take you out to play. Little Junior Sister is so cute, aww, let me pinch your cheeks.” The girl had a valiant air about her, and from her movements it was clear she too had a troublemaking nature.
Mu Zhiyao finally escaped the hand her Fifth Senior Sister was reaching out to pinch her with, and turned around to see a gentle-faced man behind her, about twenty or so, with a refined and elegant air. “Holy crap, handsome, who are you?” Mu Zhiyao wore a smitten look, practically drooling.
The handsome man’s outstretched hand hovered in midair. Watching Mu Zhiyao’s smitten expression, he hesitated for a long while, and in the end it never came down. Instead he brought a clenched fist to his lips and cleared his throat. “I’m your Second Senior Brother, Ning Xiuyuan. Little Junior Sister, if you need anything in the future, come find your senior brother for help.”
“Good, good, good.” Mu Zhiyao hadn’t heard a word the handsome man said, only the phrase “find your senior brother,” and she beamed brightly.
The image of a cute newbie was instantly established!
After everyone present had introduced themselves, the handsome man counted heads and said, “Eldest, Third, and Little Six aren’t here, but they’re already on their way back. Little Junior Sister, rest assured, you’ll soon have met all your fellow disciples.”
Mu Zhiyao thought to herself: “Does your sect really address fellow disciples so casually? Then what am I supposed to call you all in the future!”
“Oh right, Little Junior Sister, when Master came back he said your spiritual root is impure and cultivation might be quite hard for you. He’s gone out to find some folk remedy to see if he can save it, so he’ll be back a bit later.” Ning Xiuyuan, afraid Little Junior Sister Mu Zhiyao would overthink, hurriedly explained on behalf of their unreliable Master.
Mu Zhiyao froze. That’s it? That’s all? So did she need to cultivate now? Could she just slack off and coast through the days? Would she be expelled from the sect if she didn’t work hard? Then if she just went through the motions, could she go home?
Perhaps Mu Zhiyao’s expression was too complicated, because in the end Ning Xiuyuan simply waved his hand grandly and decided to take Little Junior Sister back to the sect to settle in first.
The others all stepped onto their swords in midair. Seeing Mu Zhiyao still standing there dazed, thinking she didn’t yet know how to ride a sword, Ning Xiuyuan reached his hand out to her. “Little Junior Sister, I’ll carry you.”
Ning Xiuyuan carried Mu Zhiyao on his sword while the others flew themselves, and in just a few breaths they crossed the long stone steps and arrived before a row of neatly staggered houses.
Ning Xiuyuan pointed to one of them and said it was the dorm assigned to Mu Zhiyao. Since everyone had to cultivate and each cultivated differently, living together wasn’t very convenient. But because Mu Zhiyao was new and her house wasn’t arranged yet, she’d have to make do and live with Ye Qingli for now.
Whatever. A house and a pretty sister, with conditions like these, what more could she want, what more could she ask for!
Mu Zhiyao nodded with a smile while smacking her lips as she admired the house. The structure mostly followed the Hui-style architecture of the Jiangnan water towns, every brick and tile carefully considered. A fine building, you could tell the designer was no slouch.
Holy crap! There was this kind of good fortune too? Mu Zhiyao’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, her whole face like someone who had struck it rich overnight.
Nice, so nice. Not only had she died and reincarnated, but then she came to cultivate immortality, and not only did she cultivate immortality, she even got to live in a little villa. Dying was great, sob.
So just why didn’t the Xuanming Sect even build a front gate! She had already prepared herself to eat only one steamed bun per meal!
If she couldn’t figure it out, she stopped thinking about it. Mu Zhiyao raised her own question. “So, senior brothers, we didn’t see anyone else the whole way here?”
The two senior brothers and one senior sister gave Mu Zhiyao a strange look, and it was still the Xuanming Sect’s spokesperson, Ning Xiuyuan, who spoke. “In the whole Xuanming Sect there are only six of us senior and junior brothers and sisters, and with you it’s only seven. Master said that with too many people in a sect it’s hard to manage, and having these few troublemakers is enough.”
“Senior brother, why are you telling it like it is!” Being called a troublemaker, Lu Shibai was the first to object. How outstanding he was!
Mu Zhiyao understood. The Xuanming Sect really was the most down-and-out sect among the Four Great Sects.
“Normally Master is quite elusive. The Grand Elder manages the Library Pavilion, and as for the Second Elder, it’s hard to say, you’ll find out later. If you want to go to the Library Pavilion you have to ask the Grand Elder for the key, though the Grand Elder can’t even be bothered to lock the Library Pavilion, so you can just go in directly. But Master and the Grand Elder are very keen on holding classes, so be prepared. Also, if you have any matters, come find your Second Senior Brother. Your First Senior Brother might not be clear on some things. Don’t be afraid, A-Yao. Whatever you don’t understand, your senior brother will teach you.”
“Yes, yes, yes, work hard and teach yourself to become talented!” Lu Shibai interjected again at just the right moment.
Mu Zhiyao fell silent, her head simply full of a hundred thousand questions.
Why not go to the First Senior Brother? Were the Second Senior Brother and the First Senior Brother on bad terms? Why hadn’t the other fellow disciples raised any objections? Did the six disciples have their own little cliques? Did she need to pick a side? Would picking a side get her killed?
In that instant, Mu Zhiyao thought of many, many things, even wondering if she died again, could she be revived? And if she could be revived, could she avoid transmigrating into a book again?
When Ye Qingli pulled her into the courtyard, Mu Zhiyao thought, the Xuanming Sect really was a free and easygoing sect, it has won my heart!