As if facing a thousand pairs of eyes, Lin Zhi looked down at the golden floating characters around her.
She knew that these characters liked her very much.
But because she couldn’t read, she couldn’t get close to them.
They could only hover around her, reluctant to leave.
Sigh.
Lin Zhi remembered a story her Nainai told her.
The landlord’s foolish son was used to being fed.
One day, when they had to go out, they left the foolish son behind.
They hung a big pancake around his neck and told him to take a bite when he was hungry.
However, the foolish son was used to being fed by others and didn’t know how to eat himself.
When the landlord’s family returned, the foolish son had already starved to death in the house.
She felt that she was just like that foolish child—having a big pancake but unable to take a bite, ultimately starving to death and stopping here.
Would her master scold her when she came back and saw her like this?
Probably.
After all, she was so stupid.
Even when her parents were still alive, she would be scolded when she came home injured.
But before they could say a few words, Nainai would stand up for her, and then she would tell her a story.
Thinking of her childhood memories, Lin Zhi smiled foolishly.
The golden characters also churned, forming a round smiling face.
‘Could it be?’
Lin Zhi suddenly had an idea.
She wanted the golden characters to teach her to read.
“You… can understand what I’m saying, right?”
The golden characters looked at each other.
They flew like bees, forming a head, and gently nodded with a smile.
“Then I’ll tell you a story. You spell out what I say and show me, okay?”
Not far away, Lu Xiumei, who was invisible, manipulated the golden characters.
A pixel-like smile rose at the corner of her mouth.
The golden characters nodded again and began to form characters following Lin Zhi’s narration.
Time passed slowly.
Lin Zhi, hiding under the pavilion to avoid the sun, recited the inner cultivation method of the Taixu Sect while drawing on the ground with a pebble.
But even if she understood the characters, after forming sentences, Lin Zhi still didn’t understand their meaning.
She just memorized them rough and planned to ask her master for an explanation when she returned.
It was better than just sitting there doing nothing.
This way, she might get scolded a little less.
“Disciple, how is your mental cultivation method?”
Seeing the time was right, Lu Xiumei stepped out of the mist.
“Master, you’re back!”
‘That means Nainai is okay.’
Lin Zhi stood up with a smile, but then thought of her learning progress.
Her expression darkened.
She steeled herself and prepared to be scolded.
She had to say it.
She wouldn’t pretend to understand what she didn’t.
“Um, Master, I can’t learn it…”
“Then take it slowly.”
“Huh?”
The expected scolding didn’t come.
Lin Zhi froze in place.
Her slender phoenix eyes stared at her master’s expressionless face.
After confirming it wasn’t an illusion, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Her master, although she looked fierce, was actually a good person.
“First, come with me to see the Sect Leader.”
“Yes, Master. Is my Nainai feeling better?”
Lin Zhi’s brows curved as she stood up, but she didn’t immediately follow Lu Xiumei.
“Your grandmother’s qi and blood are stagnant due to excessive fright. A wood-element cultivator is currently warming her meridians to dissipate the blood stasis. This will take some time.”
“Then let’s go after my Nainai wakes up. I want to say a few words to her. Can I, Master?”
Lin Zhi looked at Lu Xiumei with hope.
‘Sentimental.’
Her willow eyebrows knitted, and the beautiful Daoist instantly changed expression.
She said in a low voice, “Girl, you must understand that immortals and mortals are separate.”
“The principle that time waits for no one does not apply to cultivators. Your grandmother is 81 years old by bone age, which is already considered extremely long-lived for a mortal. But a Core Formation stage cultivator has a lifespan of two hundred years. The worldly fetters in between will only aggravate your inner demons. Can you bear it?”
“I…”
Lin Zhi lowered her brows.
She asked herself but didn’t know the answer.
But if Nainai woke up and didn’t see her by her side, wouldn’t she be sad?
‘Yes, that’s settled.’
Lu Xiumei saw that Lin Zhi’s eyes gradually became determined.
She thought higher of her disciple.
Although she was a bit slow, she had good comprehension and was modest and inquisitive.
She was a good seedling.
“Master, will I become very powerful in the future?”
Lin Zhi suddenly asked.
“You will. You have a Void Spirit physique, naturally containing spatial traces, and are extremely compatible with the Taixu techniques. Within three years, I guarantee you will step into the Golden Core stage!”
Lu Xiumei said firmly and confidently.
She had the ability and confidence.
“Then how much longer can my Nainai live?”
“I do not understand the assessment of life and death, Master. But the old lady’s spirit is still acceptable. With the aid of spiritual energy to warm and nourish, perhaps she may still have ten years of life.”
‘Ten more years?’
Lin Zhi’s eyes lit up.
She stepped forward and took Lu Xiumei’s hand.
“Master, I promise I’ll just go see her for a little while. Then I want to cultivate immortality with you and become very, very powerful!”
“No. The old lady hasn’t woken up yet. Going now would be useless, only increasing your attachment.”
Lu Xiumei refused with a cold face.
“Then let me at least take a look from afar. Master, Master, I’m begging you.”
Her hand was shaken so much it didn’t feel like her own.
A struggle flashed across Lu Xiumei’s face.
She pulled her hand away.
“Just this once, no next time.”
“Yay! Master, thank you.”
“Shut up.”
Before the words faded, Lu Xiumei grabbed Lin Zhi’s shoulder.
With a flash of lightning, they arrived at the medical clinic.
“Master, how did you do that?”
“Lightning Escape. You are also a lightning-element cultivator like me. You will learn quickly. Go on, don’t waste my time.”
Lin Zhi turned back to look at her master standing alone.
She approached the medical clinic, asked a couple of questions, and then went to Nainai’s side.
Seeing that her chest was rising and falling and her sleeping face was peaceful, Lin Zhi felt relieved.
She hooked her little finger with Nainai’s.
“Nainai, I’m going away now. Maybe I won’t be able to visit you often in the future, but please don’t worry about me. We made a promise. I will be strong, I will listen to Master, I will cultivate well, eat and sleep well, and I won’t forget to drink water, and I won’t…”
Lin Zhi’s low murmur suddenly choked up.
She knelt before the bed and kowtowed heavily three times.
“Nainai, I will always remember you.”
“There, there, little girl. What are you doing? Your grandmother is fine. Why are you crying?”
“Doctor, I…”
Lin Zhi wiped her reddened eyes with her wrist and stood up.
“I’m not crying. Please take good care of my Nainai. I will come to see her again.”
“Of course. Healing the wounded and saving the dying is my duty. But…” The doctor narrowed his eyes and smiled.
“You are the disciple of the Ninth Peak Master. So what about this medical fee?”
“I… I will discuss it with Master.”
Lin Zhi felt that the kind doctor had turned into a shrewd merchant, so she left without looking back.
She knew she wasn’t smart.
If she talked any longer, she might get sold without even knowing it.
Seeing Lin Zhi come out, Lu Xiumei didn’t say anything.
Her willow brows raised slightly for a moment, then she returned to her cold expression.
She unceremoniously placed her hand on Lin Zhi’s shoulder, and with another flash, they arrived at the Hub Office.
“When you see that woman later, don’t answer her questions casually.”
It was a rare instruction.
But before Lin Zhi could respond, Lu Xiumei passed by the girl’s petite figure and entered first.
‘The Sect Leader can be a woman too?’
A strange expression flickered across Lin Zhi’s face.
Under the influence of feudalism and family background, the concept of male superiority over women was deeply rooted in her heart.
She couldn’t help but find it strange.
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