Chapter 26: The Destined-to-be-Abandoned Good-for-Nothing (6) p2
As the deadline for the mission approached, Su Mingxiu had already prepared herself mentally. Who knew that they would encounter a cannibalistic demon at the early stage of Foundation Establishment that day. Gui Mian, smelling the strong scent of blood on it, immediately charged forward with her sword.
But the cannibalistic demon had hidden its true cultivation level. It slapped Gui Mian’s head with its palm.
Su Mingxiu reacted quickly. As she caught her flying disciple, she felt that Gui Mian still had a faint breath. She quickly stuffed a life-saving pill into her mouth and summoned her natal sword, charging towards the demon—
The battle between them caused the mountains to shake and the earth to tremble.
In a corner that no one noticed, a wisp of grey mist emerged from Gui Mian’s head and gradually spread out.
The mountains were quickly enveloped by this grey mist. When Su Mingxiu realized what was happening, she felt the spiritual energy in her body being constantly absorbed by the mist. She knew something was wrong, but she found that the demonic energy in the cannibalistic demon was being absorbed even faster. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a… dried-up husk.
And the grey mist, as if sentient, dissipated contentedly.
It no longer resembled the starving ghost from before, frantically counterattacking and trying to devour her whole whenever she touched it.
Su Mingxiu felt a sense of understanding. She turned around and saw that although Gui Mian’s clothes still bore traces of the battle, the wound on her head had completely healed.
She sheathed her sword and returned to her little disciple’s side. After a long silence, she chuckled softly, murmuring in a voice only she could hear: “This appearance can’t be seen by others, my good disciple.”
Then, with a wave of her ink-stained sleeve, she took Gui Mian to a nearby town.
If she was at the Great Ascension stage, Su Mingxiu could have brought Gui Mian back to the Sword Sect with a single thought. But now, with her cultivation greatly reduced and her hidden injuries acting up, using teleportation to return to the Sword Sect, which was thousands of miles away, wasn’t that simple.
Besides, given Gui Mian’s current condition, it wasn’t appropriate to bring her back to the Sword Sect just yet.
The little disciple recovered quickly. The next day, she came to her as if nothing had happened, asking where they were going to slay demons next.
Su Mingxiu raised her hand and smoothed out the wrinkles on her new clothes, which had been crumpled from a night’s sleep. Then, she asked indifferently: “Are you feeling any discomfort?”
Gui Mian shook her head.
Not only was she not feeling any discomfort, but she felt exceptionally different today.
For example, now, she stared intently at the ink strokes on her master’s robe, vaguely discerning some talisman patterns. But after staring for almost fifteen minutes, she felt dizzy and had to look away.
Looking out the window, Gui Mian said softly: “That leaf is so clear.”
Su Mingxiu reached out and touched her wrist, her spiritual energy flowing only through Gui Mian’s meridians, avoiding her sea of consciousness. She felt that the spiritual energy stored in her meridians was more abundant than before. At the same time, the system’s notification of completing the small mission rang in her mind.
She withdrew her hand and said to Gui Mian: “Rest here for two days, then we’ll return to Mount Lingyu.”
Gui Mian always listened to her arrangements and nodded obediently in agreement.
But the little girl couldn’t stay put in the inn. After only half a day of meditation, Su Mingxiu opened her eyes and found that Gui Mian’s neck was almost sticking out of the second-floor window, reaching towards a tree outside, seemingly watching something interesting.
After some thought, she decided to take Gui Mian out for a walk.
“Master, why are those little animals being scooped up? Are they edible at such a small size?” Soon, Gui Mian tugged at her sleeve, pointing at a stall in the distance and asking with confusion.
Su Mingxiu raised her eyelids and saw someone scooping up fish fry and baby turtles from the river, putting them in translucent glass tanks for sale, attracting a crowd of children.
Compared to the fish and turtles that could be found everywhere in the river, perhaps the glass tanks were what the vendor really wanted to sell. However, Su Mingxiu wasn’t interested in buying the container and discarding the contents.
“They’re not for eating,” she said as she approached. “They’re for keeping.”
“Keeping them until they grow bigger to eat?” Gui Mian followed closely behind her, continuing to ask.
Su Mingxiu, lost in thought, asked the vendor for the price. Silver appeared in her palm, and she bought everything on the stall. As the vendor laughed happily, she looked down at her disciple and explained: “You don’t eat them even when they grow bigger. They’re pets.”
“Do you want to keep a pet?”
Gui Mian leaned against the glass tank, her gaze meeting the motionless little turtle at the bottom. Only when the turtle retracted its head into its shell did she look away and meet her master’s eyes again: “What’s a pet?”
“It’s something that, as long as you treat it well, maybe just feed it and give it water—” Su Mingxiu said, “It will stay with you forever and never betray you.”
Hearing her explanation, a flash of understanding appeared in Gui Mian’s eyes.
“Even if I don’t know how to love it, will it still stay with me?”
At some point, the immortal in the ink-stained robe had gently picked up the little turtle and placed it in front of Gui Mian. As if imagining the scene of Gui Mian raising the little turtle, she couldn’t help but smile and continue: “Yes.”
“Even if you never learn how to love, it will love you in its own way and always stay with you. That’s what a pet is.”
The little disciple looked at the tiny creature in Su Mingxiu’s hand, its head and limbs retracted into its shell, leaving only a round, smooth carapace. For some reason, she was very careful when she reached out to take it, as if it was heavy despite its small size.
She stared at the little turtle’s eyes, hidden inside its shell, for a while. Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly looked up at Su Mingxiu, her eyes sparkling: “If I learn how to love—”
“Can I be Master’s pet too?”
“Pfft!”
The vendor, who had just finished counting the money and hadn’t left yet, accidentally overheard their conversation and spat out his tea. Then, he quickly covered his ears, as if afraid that the money he hadn’t even warmed up would be taken away by these two distinguished-looking guests. He added superfluously: “I didn’t hear anything!”
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