Chapter 9: My Newly Accepted Disciple Has Some Problems With Her Head
Pan Xiangyin, noticing her distress, asked softly, “Are you alright?”
The girl knelt on the ground, Pan Xiangyin still holding her arms, but she didn’t seem to notice, her gaze fixed on the black dragon. Her dark eyes reflected the image of the sphere of light and the apocalyptic scene, a flicker of hidden hope in their depths.
She wasn’t clean, her clothes damp and covered in dirt, sure to stain anything they touched. But Pan Xiangyin, dressed in white robes, didn’t seem to mind, carefully helping the girl up. Seeing she didn’t respond, she was about to examine her when a gust of wind swept past.
Someone appeared beside the girl, a flicker of sleeves, and the mask on her head was pulled down over her face, a hand pressing on the back of her head, forcing her to bow, unable to look up.
The movement wasn’t gentle, almost hostile. Pan Xiangyin said, “Yao’e?”
Mu Qiandan, without looking at her, intensified the spiritual energy flowing through the girl’s hair, pinching her lips shut, effectively silencing her. Then, she said coldly, “My newly accepted disciple has some problems with her head, please don’t mind her.”
Silence fell over the hall, followed by a chorus of gasps.
The perpetually single Yao’e Immortal had taken a disciple?
After their initial shock, they noticed how roughly she treated the girl she claimed as her disciple, right in front of everyone. Recalling the girl’s words upon entering the hall, they suspected she had been coerced or tricked.
After all, who would willingly become this person’s disciple?
The gazes directed at Mu Qiandan changed, many filled with disapproval. Those who already disliked her, harboring unspoken grievances, seized this opportunity to criticize her.
“Her own conduct is questionable, and she dares to take a disciple? What can she possibly teach? Misleading the younger generation.”
“I bet her disciple was kidnapped. With her ‘reputation,’ who would willingly associate with her?”
“Such an important meeting, and she’s the only one late. Does she think she’s so important, or does she simply not respect us?”
The large hall buzzed with criticism. Mu Qiandan rolled her eyes, thinking: Yao’e Immortal, you’re truly pathetic, tolerating these people talking behind your back for so long. If you had just made an example of someone, dared to retort, they wouldn’t be so bold.
She disdained arguing with such people, but their escalating insults were hard to ignore. If the setting wasn’t inappropriate, she would have retaliated verbally. She had never lost an argument in her past life; dealing with these people would be child’s play.
Just then, someone said, “I heard from their disciples that Immortal Yao’e hasn’t been teaching for a while. Neglecting her duties to focus on taking a disciple, she probably won’t accomplish anything in the end.”
She could filter out most of the insults, but this remark caught her attention. After a while, she asked, ‘I have to teach too?’
Li Biyuan replied, ‘You’re a Hall Lord, of course you have responsibilities, you can’t avoid them.’
Mu Qiandan asked, ‘What do I teach?’
‘I don’t know the specifics yet, we’ll have to wait and see. The only information I have is that it’s a large, open class, like a university lecture, with students from multiple classes combined, you know?’
Mu Qiandan’s eyes flickered, and after a moment of silence, she said, ‘I don’t know, I haven’t been to university.’
‘Huh?’ Li Biyuan was surprised, ‘How is that possible?’
‘…You’re a researcher, your family shouldn’t be short of money, so you wouldn’t understand. Education is a byproduct of a stable life, not a necessity. The same goes for entertainment and extracurricular activities…’
Mu Qiandan paused, fidgeting with her fingers, then chuckled, ‘Didn’t you research me beforehand? What’s so surprising?’
Li Biyuan said, ‘It seems my research wasn’t thorough enough… anyway, you do need to engage in some mundane activities that fit your character setting, like socializing and teaching, to avoid suspicion and any negative consequences.’
Mu Qiandan pressed her fingertips together, clicking her tongue softly.
It was obvious that the most troublesome aspect of replicating the original story as a transmigrated character was the expansion of details.
Just because something was briefly mentioned in the book didn’t mean she could easily skip over it. Recreating these everyday details was extremely difficult for a transmigrator, a potentially thankless task, yet necessary.
The mission’s difficulty had suddenly increased, dampening her mood. She decided to drag Shang Shang back to the Narrow Sea and deal with everything else later.
Seeing her about to leave without explanation, the people in the hall became even more agitated. Some hot-headed youngsters stood up, wanting to stop her.
Mu Qiandan glanced at them, the most prominent figure being Qin He, who was almost at the point of drawing her sword and charging forward.
Just then, Pan Xiangyin suddenly spoke, “You’ve worked hard on your demon-slaying journey. You just returned, and I haven’t had a chance to ask, how are you feeling?”
Demon-slaying? What demon?
The woman’s tone was calm and steady, her expression sincere, not at all like she was lying. Mu Qiandan immediately understood, taking the offered way out, “I’m fine.”
Pan Xiangyin continued, “I’ve heard you’ve been thinking of taking a disciple, but you’ve never tried before. And with your straightforward personality, I’m worried about misunderstandings between you and your disciple. I can share some experience with you later. Go and rest for now. We’ll discuss the disciple matter after the meeting, at the Small Mountain Hall.”
Her lateness and absence from teaching were attributed to injuries sustained during a demon-slaying mission for the common people, and her rough treatment of her disciple was due to inexperience. Although not true, these few words addressed everyone’s concerns and even allowed her to leave this awkward situation.
This Sect Leader seemed different from the “serious and strict” personality described in the book, at least she was relatively kind to her so far.
However, her plan to return directly to the Narrow Sea was foiled. She was clearly expected to wait at the Sect Leader’s hall and discuss the discipleship matter in detail.
“…” Mu Qiandan paused, then nodded in agreement.
Before leaving, she glanced back. The other youngsters had sat down after Pan Xiangyin spoke, or were restrained by their elders, but Qin He remained standing, tall and straight like a pine tree, her sword already drawn two inches, its cold light glinting.
Noticing her gaze, the beautiful woman in red, Jiang Zhouyao, who had been sitting to Mu Qiandan’s right, looked back, her expression calm, a gentle smile on her lips, yet the girl flinched.
Despite her defiance, she forced her sword back into its sheath and sat down with great difficulty.
Li Biyuan said, ‘Did I tell you? Jiang Zhouyao is Qin He’s master.’
Mu Qiandan replied, ‘I know now.’
After bowing to Pan Xiangyin again, she grabbed Shang Shang by the collar and dragged her out of the hall.
Stepping into the dappled sunlight, tree shadows passing overhead, Mu Qiandan listened to the birdsong, walking along the mountain path until the hall was out of sight, then released the girl.
Sensing her freedom, Shang Shang rolled on the ground, then sat up, lifting her mask, her face scrunched up in anger, glaring at the woman.
Mu Qiandan looked down at her, “Thanks to you, we have a meeting with the Sect Leader.”
Fastening her mask back on, Shang Shang muttered, “I’ll expose your crimes later.”
Mu Qiandan said, “Wasn’t that a good opportunity just now?”
The things she shouted upon entering the hall could have been easily explained away. But if she told the truth, those busybodies who already disliked Mu Qiandan wouldn’t let the matter rest.
Shang Shang turned her head, snorting, “For the sake of our brief master-disciple relationship, I didn’t want to make a scene.”
Mu Qiandan said, “So you’re still going to expose me later?”
Shang Shang waved her hand, “Yes! You just insulted me again, our master-disciple bond is officially broken!”
Their master-disciple relationship had barely begun, mostly spent traveling in silence, how could there be any bond to speak of?
Mu Qiandan said, baffled, “There was never any bond to begin with.”
Shang Shang’s mouth opened slowly, revealing rows of sharp, white teeth. After a while, she said, “You’re too much.”
Mu Qiandan retorted, “It’s foolish of you to still have expectations of me.”
She had never pretended to be kind, her attitude mostly prickly, showing no warmth whatsoever. Anyone could see it was a trap, yet with a single mention of fate, this girl had followed her willingly. Only a naive idiot like this would fall for it so easily.
Hearing those words, Shang Shang’s lips trembled, her throat tightening, managing only a single word, “You…”
She had lived freely for years in that small village, the carefree Cat Official. No one had sought her out, and she enjoyed her peaceful life.
But that day, under the clear sky, an immortal descended from the heavens, wanting to take her away. Despite the unpleasant events, she had still chosen to follow.
She thought it was a sign of trust, but her supposed master ignored her, even attacked her repeatedly, and harbored murderous intent. It was unforgivable.
Her anger growing, Shang Shang jumped onto a large rock, sparks almost flying from her mouth, “I regret it! I regret it so much! I shouldn’t have come with you! I want to go home and catch rats!”
Mu Qiandan’s voice was calm, “What good is regret now?”
Seeing the girl’s frustrated expression, she chuckled, flicking her sleeves, and walked down the mountain towards the sun, “As you saw, the Sect Leader is on my side. Even if I wanted to kill you, she couldn’t stop me, so you’d better behave yourself later.”
A few words couldn’t reveal the Sect Leader’s true intentions, but it was enough to scare this simple-minded girl.
Shang Shang looked back. The mountain path wound through dense trees, the golden hall out of sight, as was the way back.
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