Lady Cultivator

Noises appeared from outside. Soon afterward, the door connected to the small shop was opened, and someone said with a tired voice, “Wife, why did you close the door?”

Tianqiao promptly stood up and said, “Husband, I…”

She didn’t get the chance to say anything because the cultivator already stepped into the master room. Upon seeing Mo Tiange, the expression on his face changed. His gaze traveled back and forth between the two people in the room. Fury emerged on his face, but because of Mo Tiange’s cultivation level, he was afraid and held back.

Mo Tiange was aware he was presuming things, but Tianqiao cut in: “Husband, do you remember that I once told you I have a younger sister who’s also someone from the cultivation world?”

The cultivator was dumbfounded. He looked confused as Tianqiao continued to speak, “This is really an amazing coincidence! Kunwu is so vast, yet we actually ran into each other!”

The meaning of her words was very obvious. As the man shifted his doubtful gaze towards Mo Tiange, he said, “You’re saying…”

Mo Tianqiao pulled Mo Tiange’s hand and said with a smile. “This is the sister I once told you about.”

“Sister?” He stared at the tenth layer Aura Refining cultivator before his eyes. This person doesn’t look like a woman…

Upon seeing his doubt, Mo Tiange took the lead to raise her hand to salute him and said, “My name is Mo Tiange.”

Even though the man hastily returned her salute, his gaze remained doubtful.

Upon seeing this, Tianqiao explained, “Husband, Tiange is just pretending to be a man as it’s more convenient.”

“Oh? I see…” Once he stared at Mo Tiange again, he already had a smile on his face. “Just now I was lacking in manners; please don’t take it to heart. I’m Tianqiao’s husband, Meng Sigui.”

Meng Sigui? His name is unexpectedly sophisticated.  Mo Tiange showed a slight smile and said, “It’s me who was too abrupt.”

After seeing the two of them acting polite to each other, Mo Tianqiao finally felt relieved. She said, “Husband, keep Tiange company for a moment. I’m going to cook some dishes.”

Meng Sigui nodded. “En, rest assured.”

Tianqiao then said to Tiange, “I know you cultivators don’t like to be polluted by the aura of man-made fire, but I think it must’ve been a long time since you last ate our hometown food. Today, you’ll have to accompany me to eat.”

Mo Tiange naturally didn’t have any objections. She said, “Of course! I really do miss those dishes.”

Tianqiao smiled and said, “That’s good then. You can chat with your brother-in-law first. I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay.”

Tianqiao then went to the kitchen, leaving the two people in the master room. Meng Sigui called out, “Fellow Daoist Mo, please take a seat.” Because Mo Tiange’s cultivation level was far higher than his, he felt a bit of pressure when he faced her and didn’t dare to address her by her name

The pair sat down. Mo Tiange said with a faint smile, “Brother-in-law, since you and Tianqiao are husband and wife, that makes us a family. You don’t have to address me as Fellow Daoist; you can directly call me by my name.” Although she didn’t trust this Meng Sigui yet, she was still willing to get a bit closer to him out of consideration for Tianqiao’s feelings.

This remark made Meng Sigui heave a sigh of relief. The difference between the fifth and tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm was too huge; although he was Mo Tiange’s brother-in-law in name, he still felt a bit worried that she would look down on him. Now that she eased tensions, he had some idea of how to interact with her at the very least.

Furthermore, he started to make some calculations.  Tianqiao’s sister is young, but she’s already in the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm. Does she maybe have some kind of backing? If she does, I can obtain her support…

Meng Sigui smiled and said, “That being the case, I’m going to be blunt.” He paused for a moment before asking, “I didn’t get the time to ask, but Tiange, how did the two of you recognize each other?”

Mo Tiange answered, “When I came to your shop yesterday, I already had some suspicions, but I wasn’t sure. Today, I really couldn’t help but make another visit. To my surprise, when I asked her about her identity, she was indeed… In fact, I myself could hardly believe it. Despite the vastness of Kunwu, the two of us were able to bump into each other!”

“Yesterday?” Meng Sigui was stunned, and an astonished expression appeared on his face. “Turns out you’re yesterday’s…” In the past two days, their shop had many customers. Besides, Mo Tiange was wearing a disguise yesterday; he never would’ve thought it was her.

Mo Tiange smiled and nodded. “That was me.”

Meng Sigui shook his head. “I really couldn’t see through your disguise.”

“I would cry if Brother-in-law really could. After all, I put a lot of effort into this male disguise. On the outside, pretending to be a man makes things a bit easier.”

“That’s true indeed,” Meng Sigui said while nodding his head. “Human hearts are vicious; we should always be vigilant. If the management of this market square wasn’t extremely strict, I too wouldn’t feel okay with leaving Tianqiao behind to watch the shop every day.”

His words make him appear to be quite sincere towards Tianqiao. Unfortunately, whether his words are genuine or not is questionable.  After thinking like that secretly in her heart, Mo Tiange smiled and said, “Brother-in-law, from what Tianqiao told me, you used the craftsmanship skills inherited from your family to open this shop?”

Meng Sigui chuckled and waved his hands. “I’m just trying to make a living.” He then sighed before continuing, “I don’t have any other skills. My aptitude isn’t good and I have no clan to rely on – the path of cultivation is hard for me to walk, so I was forced to make Tianqiao follow me through these hard times. I let her down.”

Mo Tiange said consolingly, “Why does Brother-in-law feel disheartened? You’re not old. There will always be some hope.”

Meng Sigui said, “I know my situation well. The profits of my small shop are meager, and we can’t afford even a day of rest. I have neither the time nor spirit stones. Compared to Tiange, my situation is beyond embarrassing.”

With a slight smile, Mo Tiange said, “It’s all about luck too. Actually, my aptitude is extremely bad.”

“Oh?” Meng Sigui revealed a rather surprised expression as he said, “Tiange, you’re so young, yet you’re already in the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm. You have hope in reaching the Foundation Building realm. How is that possible…”

“I was endowed with five spiritual roots. Does Brother-in-law believe me now? I just have a bit of luck. As for building my foundation, frankly speaking, I don’t have much expectation…”

When Tianqiao returned, she saw that the two of them were chatting away happily. The two of them were cultivators, so the topic they were chatting about was naturally about cultivating. Meng Sigui had some issues in his cultivation that he couldn’t solve, so he was using this opportunity to discuss them. Mo Tiange, who noticed that he was speaking quite pleasantly, patiently told him about her experiences.

Meng Sigui’s insight was quite good; he wasn’t a stupid person. Apparently, he was hampered only by his spiritual roots.

Tianqiao walked into the room bringing a plate of food. She then placed a small bowl of noodles in front of Mo Tiange.

Mo Tiange was stumped for words. After a long while, she finally sighed. She seemed to be reminiscing as she said, “Meat noodles…” She remembered when they were children and went on trips outside, they always liked to eat meat noodles in a small food stall in the town. One bowl wasn’t enough, but because they wanted to leave some space in their bellies, they never dared to eat a second bowl…

Mo Tianqiao beamed at Mo Tiange. Her eyes were bright. “It took me a long time to learn how to make this. Have a taste!”

After taking a bite, Mo Tiange nodded and said, “Delicious! It’s just like the one we used to have.” In fact, she had long forgotten how meat noodles tasted like. The time she spent in Mo Family’s Village already became a distant memory, so distant that she overlooked those memories and gradually forgot about them. However, she hadn’t forgotten the feelings she had back then; Tianqiao was the only one sincere to her when she was alone and had no one to depend on. That was the thing she always remembered.

After the meal was over, they talked for a while before Mo Tiange finally stood up and bid farewell.

Mo Tianqiao grumblingly said, “Since you’re passing by, you might as well stay at my place.”

Mo Tiange smiled as she shook her head. “You don’t have enough room. I won’t trouble you. It’d be better for you to rest for several days first then you can come to the inn so we can talk.”

Tianqiao hesitated for a moment, but she finally nodded and said, “That’s good, my husband will understand.”

Before she left, Mo Tiange took out a jade bottle from her Qiankun Bag. “Right now, I have no need for these medicinal pills. You better take it.”

Tianqiao was stunned, but she immediately turned firm and pushed the bottle back. “What kind of person do you take me for? We’re sisters, and it wasn’t easy for us to meet in this foreign land. It was only natural for us to meet together. What do we have to exchange so many polite pleasantries for?”

Mo Tiange chuckled and said, “You’ll understand when you go back and ask your husband. Right now, I’m already in the peak stage of the Aura Refining realm. As far as I’m concerned, these medicinal pills are already useless. I’m just giving them away to free some space. If you don’t take them, I’m going to sell them off, but why should we let others get an easy benefit? Besides, it’s only a bottle of medicinal pills, yet you’re behaving so formally. What kind of person do you take me as?”

“This…”

“Take it. Just let me do something for you as your sister.”

In the end, Tianqiao was moved. She helplessly said, “Fine, I can’t beat you.”

Mo Tiange passed the jade bottle over before saying, “There’s a family inn in this town. You can go there to find me. Oh right, the name I’m using now is Ye Xiaotian.”