Chapter 18
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Chapter 18: An Lan Wants to Be More Open
“Shifu~”
When Bai Lian arrived at the back mountain, An Lan had been waiting for her in the clearing of the bamboo forest for some time.
“Come in with me.”
Without saying a word, An Lan turned around and led Bai Lian into her cave.
The heavy rain from last night had taken away some of the summer heat from the mountains and forests.
As Bai Lian walked down the cool and crisp cave, a sense of anxiety crept into her heart.
It’s probably going to be rejected.
After all, she was in such a weak state now that any cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage could easily have her hung and whipped, depriving her of her will.
[Are you looking for a quick death by meeting an unknown powerful cultivator?]
Bai Lian understood this well.
That’s exactly why she came to find An Lan before things could escalate.
“My Shifu is so amazing. She can take out anything and it would protect me.”
With this thought in mind, when An Lan sat down with her arms crossed next to the stone table, Bai Lian immediately put on a placating smile.
She decided to make full use of the advantages her body offered.
Therefore,
Bai Lian clasped her hands together in front of her abdomen, tucked her legs in, and shyly lowered her gaze to the ground.
“Master… master!”
A soft voice flowed out.
“???”
An Lan was struck speechless by the sudden change.
This is Bai… Lian?
She raised her hand, then let it fall again, unable to say a word.
The cave suddenly felt eerily silent.
Okay.
Bai Lian was delighted. This was exactly the scenario she had envisioned.
Although her acting wasn’t top-notch, after countless rounds of practice, it had become second nature.
In the past, she could gain her master’s sympathy by pretending to be pitiful. Now, with a little more effort, she had become small, cute, and even more pitiable. If she put in just a bit more effort, surely her master would yield, wouldn’t she?
“Master, I also wanted to rest a little bit, but this is about the Third Martial Sister, as a…”
“Come here.”
An Lan suddenly cut off Bai Lian’s monologue.
Hey?
All right.
Bai Lian hesitated briefly, then walked over to An Lan with her short legs.
To be honest, this felt quite strange.
Before, she would always take advantage of her height to look down on her master when standing. But now, even when standing, she could barely reach her master’s level while sitting.
From this perspective, an unspeakable majesty filled An Lan’s face.
Is this the Immortal Heavenly Lord?
That’s so adorable!
Suddenly, An Lan’s pink lips broke the silence, speaking in a cold tone, “If I’m not mistaken, the way you’ve been calling me has been ‘Master’ these past few days. But now you call me ‘Shifu.'”
“…”
Bai Lian had a bad feeling.
Her small body stiffened, like a white cat on high alert.
An Lan remained composed, “What, is it hard to understand all of a sudden?”
“I don’t quite understand either. It’s very sudden…”
Bai Lian babbled incoherently.
In a place An Lan couldn’t see, her right foot, wrapped in white socks, had already been secretly pulled out of her clogs. Her toes rubbed against the ground, clearly noting that wearing clogs wasn’t conducive to escaping!
But Bai Lian was already too late.
Or rather, by the time she shouted “Shifu,” it was already too late.
Ha ha ha.
An Lan suddenly started laughing coldly. With her laughter, the entire cave seemed to cool down instantly, like a snowfall in June.
No. No. I was wrong. I’ll never act cute again!
Bai Lian immediately gave up the idea of running away. She quickly backed into the corner of the cave, putting her hands over her chest as she had nowhere else to retreat.
She saw An Lan stand up.
She saw An Lan coming toward her.
“You, you, you… don’t come over here!”
I’m still young! I can’t do it. How could I possibly manage this?!
This time, Bai Lian wasn’t pretending. Her big eyes filled with tears.
However, An Lan remained unmoved, her steps firm as never before.
“If I don’t give you a lesson today, I bet you’ll eventually get on my nerves!”
Bai Lian shivered.
There’s no way I would think of riding on top of your head, Master.
Emmm…
In short, she really didn’t have that kind of thought!
“Master, let me explain… Ah…”
A shrill scream echoed as Bai Lian was swiftly lifted by An Lan.
Before, when Bai Lian had been bigger, An Lan had struggled with this, but now, she easily placed Bai Lian on her lap.
Then…
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
Smack!
An Lan delivered a hard slap to Bai Lian’s butt, and before Bai Lian had fully recovered from the shock, another blow followed.
“How dare you!” An Lan scoffed. “When I was dominating the universe, you hadn’t even been born yet! How dare you come and bully me? You’re so bold!”
With that, An Lan unleashed a violent barrage of slaps to Bai Lian’s butt.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Once. Twice. Countless times.
Bai Lian felt numb all over, as though her butt didn’t belong to her anymore. The repeated shocks left her dazed.
She started to feel scared—not because of the pain, but because…
Her body was weak now.
“…”
Damn!
This is not the future I want!
Her dream was to grow closer to her master, but it had to be on her terms.
“Master, I was wrong, stop hitting me, please stop…”
Bai Lian shouted in a panic.
Humph!
An Lan snorted coldly.
This time, she was as hard as iron. No matter how weak or pitiful Bai Lian acted, she couldn’t stop An Lan’s discipline. An Lan needed to make sure Bai Lian learned her lesson.
[Rascal, do you really think I hit you just because you deliberately acted cute?]
Ah.
That’s not the point at all!
[I’m angry because you never take your life seriously. Sure, your Martial Sister is important, but isn’t your own life important too?]
Clap.
An Lan spoke with a cold tone, “Aren’t you good at acting? Do you want to perform for your Martial Sisters?”
“…”
Hiss——
Whenever Bai Lian thought of the image of herself acting cute in front of her Martial Sisters, a shiver ran through her.
It was too terrifying!
That being said…
Ugh, An Lan, I’ll remember this! Don’t give me any chance to fight back!
At that moment, the system task suddenly popped up.
[Task 1: Fight Back: “Is that it? Ha! Come on, at this level, I’m just getting more comfortable the more you fight!” (Reward: Niren Scripture)]
[Task 2: Endure in Silence (Reward: After-Earth Spirit Pill)]
[Task 3: Put on a Despondent Look (Reward: +2 Soft Skill)]
Bai Lian quickly scanned through the tasks.
She was too frightened to choose Task 1, knowing that once she spoke, her master might kill her.
The reward was also outrageous—just hearing its name was enough to know it was no legitimate cultivation method. In truth, it was an immortal cultivation technique to help cultivators ascend to the Earth Immortal realm, but its cultivation conditions were extremely harsh.
For a common person to practice the Niren Scripture might not only fail to raise their cultivation, but it could also lower it.
The ones most suited to this method were those who cried out in relief when beaten. The more they were beaten, the faster their cultivation would progress.
It was clear that Bai Lian was not a masochist. She already had the True Secret of 500 Million Dharma Bodies, so even with minimal risk, she wouldn’t consider it.
She hesitated between Task 2 and Task 3, as neither posed much risk to her life, though both were somewhat challenging.
In the end, Bai Lian chose Task 3. It was preferable to the medicinal pill!
She gave up struggling and let her eyes, which had been full of complaints a moment ago, dim completely. The ★, which had always shone with divine light, lost its glow, as though it had been carelessly stamped.
At this moment, An Lan finally noticed the change.
She stopped her actions and flipped Bai Lian over.
“…”
Looking into her dull eyes, she froze.
You… you want me to pity you again?
Over my dead body!
An Lan raised her hand, poised to deliver another blow, hoping to make it clear that the Immortal Heavenly Lord should not be trifled with.
Yet, no matter how determined she was, her hand hung suspended in the air, unwilling to strike.
What if Bai Lian truly became helpless from the blows?
The possibility weighed heavily on her.
Bai Lian had lost her original body and had only just managed to recreate her physical form. Now, this is where they were.
An Lan couldn’t fathom the depth of what Bai Lian might be feeling.
If Bai Lian was deeply troubled by this, if the pain truly hurt her, then An Lan’s actions were just adding more wounds to her already sensitive heart.
“I…”
A sharp pang of regret stabbed at An Lan’s heart.
She had once promised Little Bai Lian in the Past World that she would protect her. Yet, now, she was doing something to hurt her.
She truly felt like a bad woman.
Her hand dropped to her side, and she pulled Bai Lian up, gazing at her, her expression softening.
The small, empty gaze Bai Lian wore, like a wooden post with no soul, made her want to apologize immediately.
She had prepared many words, but when they finally left her mouth, they were reduced to a simple sentence.
“This time, I was reckless.”
“…”
An Lan clenched her hand tightly into a fist, her nails digging into her flesh, a mix of frustration and helplessness swirling within her.
Why couldn’t she just apologize directly?
In the Past World, saying sorry had been so easy, but now, in front of Bai Lian, she felt like a fool.
“I…I…”
An Lan’s chest tightened, suffocating her.
She couldn’t speak.
She had to press her hand against her chest and turn away.
“I agree that you should meet with Dao Xingyuan.”
“But… be careful. Since they dared to infiltrate Qiongming Peak, it means they have enough support to deal with you.”
“You can’t take them on like this right now. So, take this.”
An Lan placed a Medicinal Pill in Bai Lian’s palm and gently curled her fingers around it.
When she looked up, Bai Lian’s expression had not changed.
Her own heart sank.
She explained, lowering her voice, “This is a Mind-diverting Pill. It can help you create an avatar, one that’s hard to distinguish from reality. Use this avatar to meet him.”
Bai Lian didn’t respond. She wasn’t silent because she didn’t want to speak, but because she dared not.
If her master saw through her act, her fate would be sealed, and she could very well be locked up by An Lan.
But…
Seeing the self-blame on her master’s face was unsettling.
This wasn’t the master Bai Lian knew.
She didn’t intend for things to be this way. She just wanted her master to be with her.
If she had known how this would unfold, she would have silently borne it.
“Go.”
After a long silence, An Lan finally spoke, forcing out a stiff smile.
Bai Lian nodded and walked toward the cave entrance.
The journey was short, but it felt long for both of them.
An Lan watched as Bai Lian’s small form blocked most of the sunlight from outside, casting a shadow as she disappeared.
It felt as if time had slipped away in an instant, a fleeting moment through countless years.
From An Lan’s perspective, the cave now felt like a well, and there was no brilliant starry sky above it today.
An Lan stood up.
When she felt down, she just wanted to lie in bed.
But just as Bai Lian reached the cave’s entrance, she stopped.
“…”
An Lan’s lips pursed.
Bai Lian turned around, and in that moment, An Lan could see her shine once again.
Outside of the “well,” Bai Lian was like a star, brighter than anything in the sky.
Bai Lian had drawn that star herself.
Without a word, Bai Lian quickly walked toward An Lan.
If she had to be beaten, so be it.
The two of them locked eyes, and after a few seconds, Bai Lian opened her arms and hugged An Lan tightly around the waist.
“Ah.”
An Lan froze. Bai Lian’s strength was small, but An Lan forgot to struggle.
They stood like that, closer than ever before.
An Lan could feel Bai Lian’s scent, her heartbeat, the faint warmth emanating from her.
“Master.”
Bai Lian’s voice floated gently into An Lan’s ears.
“Hmm.”
An Lan responded softly, feeling an unexpected calm settle within her.
Bai Lian smiled, seeing her master relax.
She released An Lan and quickly walked out of the cave.
She could walk quickly and reach her destination soon.
“…”
An Lan raised her hand but could not bring herself to call out to Bai Lian.
Instead, she left a mark behind and let it silently follow her.
After Bai Lian left Qiongming Peak, An Lan also stepped out of the cave.
Initially, she had wanted to rest, but now, she wanted answers. She wanted to know how to speak openly with those she truly cared about.
…
The meeting place Dao Xingyuan had chosen was far from Duxian Sect, at a waterfall, a place known to scholars who often came there to recite poetry.
He had chosen it intentionally to show his sincerity.
With the power of a Transcendency Stage cultivator, one could cross thousands of miles in mere breaths, or even less.
As evening approached, the setting sun bathed the waterfall in a golden glow. Dao Xingyuan finally saw a familiar figure on the ridge.
“Fairy Bai Lian.”
He stood and nodded to her as she walked toward him.
“Taoist Friend Xingyuan.”
Bai Lian gave a lukewarm reply.
They sat in a pavilion, and it was here that Dao Xingyuan’s impatience showed.
He skipped the usual formalities, immediately admitting that both the attackers who had harmed Su Youwei and those who infiltrated Qiongming Peak were from the Path of Wanjie Dharma.
“This was not my intention, but I couldn’t control my subordinates, and this mistake was the result.”
Dao Xingyuan carefully watched Bai Lian’s expression as he spoke, but to his dismay, her face remained unreadable, as deep as the sea.
Was she truly the reincarnation of the Moral Heavenly Lord?
Dao Xingyuan clenched his teeth.
For the Path Master to return safely, he was willing to endure any calamity.
“Fairy Bai Lian, I am not here to apologize,” he said, “but to make a deal with you.”
Bai Lian raised an eyebrow. “What deal?”
“I want your Third Martial Sister’s Ten Thousand Poison Pearl!”
Bai Lian wasn’t at all surprised.
Her response was simple.
The Ten Thousand Poison Pearl was her Third Martial Sister’s destiny, her greatest aid in reaching Immortal Emperor. With Hong Yi now the item spirit of the Pearl, there was no way she would hand it over.
“I refuse!”
