The Mountain Lord's Daughter

The first time someone told him, "To understand the classics and know proper etiquette."

When Zhan Yunwei regained consciousness, she felt someone gently shake her. "Shimei, wake up, we're almost at Qiyang County."

Zhan Yunwei opened her eyes and realized she was in a luxurious carriage. The person before her was Senior Sister Duan, who also studied spiritual techniques at the academy.

Inside the splendid phoenix carriage, the young girls were barely able to hide their excitement.

"We're about to see Brother A-Feng, help me check if my hairpin is out of place?"

"Looks good. Now, you help me choose which fan to bring, so that Senior Brother Wan will notice me at once."

On another carriage, pale, delicate young men were also busy arranging their appearance, trying to impress the spiritual practitioners who would soon come to greet them, showcasing their obedient and charming sides.

Zhan Yunwei seemed out of place. She was wearing a pink gauze dress, sitting in the corner, dazed, her head throbbing painfully.

It felt like there was something crucial she had forgotten, and she shouldn't be here. But no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't remember what it was.

Seeing Zhan Yunwei staring blankly, Senior Sister Duan asked, "Shimei, aren't you going to change your clothes? The spiritual practitioners will be here to escort us into Qiyang County soon. Don't you have any favorite senior brothers?"

Ah, Zhan Yunwei finally remembered, they were on their way to Qiyang County. How old was she this year? She must have just turned fourteen, studying at the academy, and also practicing spiritual techniques with the spiritual practitioners.

A few days ago, Qiyang County was overwhelmed by dark energy. Fearing the people might suffer, the Immortal Alliance first sent spiritual practitioners to quell the chaos, and then sent this group of delicate spiritual practitioners to help cleanse the dark energy for both the monks and the citizens.

Though this was a life-and-death mission, because they were protected by countless soldiers of the immortals and traveling in the most expensive carriages, the spiritual practitioners took it lightly.

What they cared about more was something else – they were about to meet the spiritual practitioners they admired.

For most spiritual practitioners, life was peaceful and prosperous, with the biggest worry being to find a suitable husband or wife among the many spiritual practitioners.

Senior Sister Duan adjusted her dress and sat back down beside Zhan Yunwei. They were both relatively new students at the academy, and they got along quite well.

"Did you hear? The most outstanding spiritual practitioner from the Immortal Sect will be coming today."

Zhan Yunwei asked, "Who?"

Senior Sister Duan gestured toward the young girls whose faces were flushed with excitement. "Who else could it be? Of course, it's the sword practitioner from Penglai, the one with a natural sword bone, the 'Heavenly White Jade Capital.' Many senior sisters came specifically to see him. You've only been at the academy for a short time, have you seen him?"

"You mean Senior Brother Pei?" Zhan Yunwei recalled the young man who had been accompanying her in her studies a few nights ago, "I've seen him."

Senior Sister Duan's eyes lit up. "Is he as handsome as the rumors say?"

Zhan Yunwei smiled and nodded.

"Since you said he's handsome, it must be true. I wonder which senior sister will catch his eye in the future."

Zhan Yunwei didn't know either, but she knew that Senior Brother Pei was the finest sword practitioner in the world, unlike any other monk. Even though she hadn't helped him much, Pei Yujing still insisted on repaying her "life-saving grace" and helped conceal her forbidden techniques practice.

As the caravan neared the gates of Qiyang County, the cook of the group, carrying a three-year-old girl, walked over.

The cook was plump and honest-looking. Though she didn't want to disturb the distinguished guests, the girl in her arms hadn't fully rid herself of the dark energy and was starting to burn with fever. It was becoming serious.

"Misses, could you please help this child?"

Zhan Yunwei looked over. The child was wearing rough clothes, small and thin, dark-skinned, and her clothes were stained with dirt.

The cook had found her while passing through a village. Many villagers there had been infected with dark energy, and the current chief of the Chitian Mansion had ordered all of them killed as evil spirits. Only this child had hidden in a rice bin and escaped. Seeing her plight, the cook had used her own saved-up Soul-cleansing Jade Plate to try and save her life.

The current chief of Chitian Mansion, Dongfang Jibai, was known for massacring entire villages, which had made many spiritual practitioners feel disturbed by his cruelty. Therefore, no one turned the little girl away, feeling sorry for her.

If it had been another day, the cook might have been helped by the spiritual practitioners, but not today. They had just changed into the most beautiful dresses, eager to meet the spiritual practitioners they admired. No one wanted to handle the little mud-stained girl the cook was carrying.

The cook stood anxiously outside the carriage, regretting her timing. Just as she was about to approach the young spiritual practitioners, a pale hand opened the curtain of a carriage.

A beautiful spiritual practitioner peeked out and smiled at her, "Give me the child."

"Ah!" The cook felt like a weight had been lifted, hurriedly handing the child over, "Thank you, miss. She... she's a bit dirty…"

The cook heard the young lady laugh, "It's not a problem."

All the spiritual practitioners stepped down from their carriages, ready to meet the spiritual practitioners they admired. Zhan Yunwei stayed in the phoenix carriage, her fingers gently resting on the child's forehead as she slowly began to cleanse the dark energy from her.

Dark energy often caused unbearable pain when it entered the body, and for a child so young, almost every part of her body was tainted by it. No wonder a single jade slip wasn't enough.

Since she was a child and more fragile, Zhan Yunwei dared to use her spiritual power cautiously, testing it as she helped the child move the energy through her meridians.

The child seemed restless in her dreams, reaching out with her tiny, dark hand, and with a pitiful look, she grabbed Zhan Yunwei's clothing, burying her face in her embrace.

The cook rubbed her hands together and said, "The child didn't mean any harm. She's lost both her parents, so she might be feeling unsettled."

Zhan Yunwei replied, "I know. Please sit down for a moment."

She too wished for her mother and naturally understood that the little girl might have dreamed of her mother.

The cook noticed that Zhan Yunwei really didn't mind, and she felt relieved. It was the first time she had met such a kind-hearted spiritual master.

Both of them were waiting for the child to wake up.

An hour later, the girl in Zhan Yunwei's arms finally opened her eyes.

The cook was overjoyed and said, "Aheng, do you still recognize your aunt?"

The "girl" was momentarily stunned. She furrowed her brows as she looked at the cook, then slowly turned her gaze to Zhan Yunwei.

Finally, her eyes fell on her own thin little hands, with the delicate, soft curve of a young girl's wrist beneath them.

Strangely, in that moment, Zhan Yunwei saw an emotion in the fragile girl's eyes that resembled silent, awkward discomfort.

The "girl" withdrew her hand, pursed her lips, and got down from Zhan Yunwei's arms.

The cook tried to catch "Aheng" but was also rejected.

The cook asked curiously, "Aheng, what's wrong?"

Zhan Yunwei couldn't help but look over. The "girl" lowered her eyes, curled her fingers, and after a long pause, weakly said, "Nothing."

Hearing the soft, childish voice, the "girl" closed her mouth, her brow furrowed in melancholy, and she refused to speak any further.

After turning into the three-year-old "Aheng," Yue Zhiheng felt that he had been too lenient when he beat Yue Wujiao earlier.

"Floating Dream Mirage," as its name suggests, takes people back to the most dangerous moments of their past, creating deadly threats in the mirage.

People in the formation are trapped in past memories, unaware that they are dreaming, and cannot be forcibly awakened. If they die in the mirage, they die in reality.

The only way to break the formation is to survive the deadly threats in the dream.

In the Celestial-level formation, there were many vengeful spirits, so the formation developed its own consciousness, consuming any passerby.

Yue Zhiheng forcefully broke into Zhan Yunwei's dream, and the vengeful spirits in the mirage chose to weaken his abilities to the lowest point, trapping him in the body of the three-year-old "Aheng."

In the darkness, it felt as if countless greedy eyes were watching him and Zhan Yunwei, trying to keep them there.

Yue Zhiheng lowered his gaze with a cold expression, "Fine. Let's see if you have the ability."

Zhan Yunwei found the child named Aheng to be very strange.

Originally, Aheng had lost her parents and would cry when she woke up, finding some sense of security in the cook's arms. But now, this "Aheng" not only stopped crying, but her bright eyes were also tinged with a slight dark hue.

When the cook tried to take "her" away, "she" looked at Zhan Yunwei with her glass-like eyes and refused to move, no matter how much the cook tried.

The cook was at a loss.

Zhan Yunwei asked her, "Do you want to follow me?"

Aheng nodded.

Zhan Yunwei sighed. "You can follow me, but you mustn't cry, run around, and you have to listen to me, okay?"

The child looked at her with some irritation in her eyes but after a moment of silence, she reluctantly nodded.

They had already arrived in the territory of Qiyang County, and Yunwei still had tasks to complete. They had brought many Soul Cleansing Jade Disks, infused with the spiritual power of spiritual masters, which were distributed to ordinary citizens to purge the evil energy from their bodies.

After all, there were too many citizens in a city, and it was impossible to treat each one individually, so this was the most efficient method.

When the citizens heard that the spiritual masters had arrived, they were all extremely grateful and excited.

Currently, Zhan Yunwei's classmates were distributing the jade disks throughout the city.

Zhan Yunwei was worried about Aheng getting lost, so she tried to pick her up.

But the child refused, no matter what.

Zhan Yunwei helplessly said, "If I carry you, it will be dark by the time we get there. Didn't you say you would listen to me? If you don't want to, you'll have to stay here with the cook."

Aheng frowned and finally stopped resisting.

Zhan Yunwei held her in her arms. "Aheng" stiffened for a moment, avoiding her body curve, expressionless, and grabbed the fabric on her shoulder.

Seeing how awkward and uncomfortable Aheng looked, Zhan Yunwei couldn't help but smile slightly. "Are you shy?"

"No...," the child said.

"It's fine." Zhan Yunwei looked at her seriously. "When you grow up, you will too."

"..."

The child tightly pursed her lips and remained silent, her face clearly showing "just stop talking."

Zhan Yunwei, somewhat inexplicably, understood her expression and found Aheng's look of helplessness quite cute. It was very different from the lifeless expression she had before.

Zhan Yunwei introduced the little clay child, "This is no longer Xinghua Village. This is Qiyang County. Have you heard of Qiyang Immortal Mountain? The immortal master there is named Yue. The Immortal Lord of the Yue family is very kind. The cook auntie said that after you go there to study, Immortal Lord Yue will definitely take good care of you."

At this, Zhan Yunwei heard Aheng let out a cold laugh.

"At such a young age, no sarcasm allowed. Come on, tell me, what do you dislike about the Yue family?"

Aheng didn't argue. Coldly, she replied, "You say he's kind, then he's kind."

Before Zhan Yunwei could ask more, a sudden commotion broke out ahead.

"Catch him! Catch that thief!"

A disheveled young man pushed through the crowd, running fast, with several angry citizens chasing him.

Zhan Yunwei noticed that the young man was holding a Soul Cleansing Jade Disc.

It turned out that the citizens had just received the jade disks from the Immortal Gate, only for this young man to snatch them away. He looked weak but had a reckless determination.

He knocked into pedestrians, shouting fiercely, "Get out of the way!"

So much so that the common people could not catch up with him, no matter how hard they tried. However, the nearby cultivators were not far away, and there was no way they would let an ordinary boy escape. A sword cultivator sent his spiritual sword flying, and it struck the boy's shoulder. The boy was thrown far away, vomiting a mouthful of fresh blood.

Zhan Yunwei furrowed her brows. She had thought the boy would give up and return the jade slip to the person he had stolen it from. But to her surprise, he climbed up from the ground and still stubbornly clutched the jade slip in his hand.

This scene made not only the commoners angry, but even the disciples of the Immortal Sect were enraged.

"By Heaven, you little thief are so rampant! You show no remorse!"

The commoners holding sticks rushed forward to beat him, while the Immortal Sect disciples did nothing.

Stealing someone's jade slip was no mere theft; it was robbing someone of their opportunities and their life force. According to the rules of the Immortal Mountain, it was a grave crime. If he did not return the jade slip today, even if he were beaten to death, no one would speak in his defense.

Zhan Yunwei noticed something and turned to find A Heng also watching the boy. But there was no fear in A Heng's eyes, only coldness and self-mockery.

A Heng turned around, unwilling to look at the boy who was curled up on the ground. Coldly, he said, "Didn't you have something to do? It's just a small matter, don't look anymore. There's nothing worth seeing."

Zhan Yunwei ignored A Heng's words. She pinched A Heng's face, unusually angry, and said sternly, "Don't say such things."

Life should never be a trivial matter.

Yue Zhiheng never thought that in Zhan Yunwei's dream, he would encounter his younger self.

He remembered it clearly—it was a warm spring day, and everyone in the Immortal Mountain was celebrating the birthday of Miss Yue Huai Le from the Yue family. Even the servants received spiritual stone lucky bags, but only in the back mountain's forbidden area, in that dilapidated courtyard, was the leftover cold rice forgotten to be sent over today.

Since morning, the mute girl had once again shown signs of abnormality. Her body twitched, and her back bulged as if it were a tumor or bones so sharp that they were about to pierce through her skin. She was in excruciating pain, begging Yue Zhiheng to kill her.

It wasn't that she didn't want to live, but the first person who had once been their "grandfather" had long ago told them: The child born of evil is doomed to such an end.

No child born of evil could live long. Even if they didn't turn to wickedness, they themselves were the embodiment of evil energy. They often died young, before reaching adulthood.

The old master of the Yue family coldly watched them: "This is fate. You must learn to accept it."

That day, the warm sun felt so cold on them, two underdeveloped, frail children, like monsters in a world of beauty.

The boy held the only machete in the house, facing his own sister.

Before Yue Zhiheng swung down, he heard laughter and joy from the other side of the Immortal Mountain. His eyes landed on the desolate courtyard, and in his memory, it was filled with endless days and nights trapped in a formation.

The mute girl's fate was also his fate.

But what was fate? Was it fate that his family rejected him, that his mother abandoned him? Was it fate to grow up confined like an animal, or was it fate to kill his own sister?

He pushed the mute girl away, the knife in his hand swung towards the boundary formation.

He ran from Qi Yang Immortal Mountain all the way to the city at the foot of the mountain, not knowing who in the world could save the mute girl on the mountain or who would be willing to save her.

Even if no one saved that poor girl, it would be enough to give her a sugar cake to eat.

His sister's greatest wish in life, from birth to death, was simply to eat a piece of sugar cake.

But Yue Zhiheng was covered in wounds from breaking the formation. Blood soaked his body as he knelt at the door of a sugar cake shop. The shop owner impatiently stretched his hand to push him away. "Go away, little beggar. Don't block my business."

He was pushed to the ground, hearing passersby say that today the Immortal Mountain was distributing jade slips. Although everyone only received one, for those with evil energy in their bodies, it could extend their lives by several decades.

Yue Zhiheng looked at his hand, now crushed into the dirt, and no longer wished for the sugar cake. Instead, he grabbed the machete that had fallen to the ground.

Even if they were born with evil energy, if one jade slip wasn't enough, could five or ten jade slips prolong the mute girl's life just long enough for her to live a short mortal life?

He knew he couldn't take the jade slips from the Immortal Sect, so he could only wait for an opportunity to steal them from the commoners.

That year, he couldn't read, he had never attended a school, and no one had ever taught him what the "way of the gentleman" was or what "righteousness, integrity, and honor" meant.

In the flourishing spring flowers of Qi Yang County, in a quiet alley, Zhan Yunwei pushed through the commoners who were beating the boy. She forcefully took the jade slip from his hand and returned it to the people.

"Since you've gotten the spiritual slip back, don't take his life. The Immortal Sect will punish him."

The spiritual guards stepped forward and locked him up, asking the girl, the spiritual master, how he should be punished.

Zhan Yunwei thought for a moment. "According to the rules of Qi Yang County, if someone steals some buns, what would the punishment be?"

"Beating," was the response.

The girl smiled with her bright eyes. "Alright, then give him three lashes."

She picked up a twig from the ground and lightly struck the boy's palm three times.

Then, she squatted down and asked, "Why did you steal?"

The boy closed his eyes, his heart filled with despair.

Zhan Yunwei had already guessed. It wasn't food he stole, nor clothes—it was the jade slip. If people could survive, who would risk their life to steal something like that?

She didn't have a jade slip on her, but she had a peace jade given to her by her father when she first practiced Spirit Control techniques as a child. Over the years, it had been used by her to practice creating Soul Cleansing jade slips. She had accumulated quite a few Spirit Control techniques and had also carved the books that taught her the basics of literacy when she was younger into it.

Reluctantly, she handed over the most cherished gift of her childhood, and while she felt a pang of hesitation, she still pried open the boy's tightly clenched fist. She said, "Go ahead and save whoever you want to save. It's not wrong to want to survive in this world."

Beside her, A Heng raised his eyelids slightly. His eyes were calm, and he looked at the disheveled figure on the ground.

Just like in his memories, he heard his own voice say, "What about you? What do you want? I have nothing. Will you take my life instead?"

Zhan Yunwei stared at his light ink-colored eyes, dazed for a moment. After a long pause, she finally spoke, "I don't want your life. Everyone's life is precious."

"However, there is something I want you to do," she continued, "You must promise me that you will understand the teachings of this peace jade, that you will survive, learn to read, and understand proper manners. If you become a spiritual practitioner in the future, try to benefit the people as much as possible."

He said nothing. He stood up from the ground, turned, and walked away.

A Heng gazed heavily at the boy's retreating figure, thinking to himself, if Zhan Yunwei knew who this person was, knew that the one she had let go would become someone hated by the common people, a traitor whose blood would be eagerly consumed by them in the future, what kind of expression would she have?

Yue Zhiheng's expression remained indifferent.

"Knowing books and etiquette… how ironic," he thought.