Mei Man didn’t sleep a wink that night.
All night long, she kept running her fingers over the token, touching it with even more reverence than she would gold.
If not for her senior sister insisting on checking that the meridians and bones throughout her body had healed properly, she would have flown straight to Shen Shushi’s cave abode right then and there.
The next day, Mei Man welcomed two cultivators from the Outer Sect Court with a mess of hair and faint dark circles under her eyes.
They were the two female cultivators who had quarreled with Chai Qun when he had targeted her before.
Things were different now. Perhaps because she was in a good mood, Mei Man was patient enough to take a proper look at what the two of them actually looked like.
The one on the left wore her hair in twin buns, with two little bells dangling from it. She had an oval face, almond-shaped eyes, and fine brows. Though they wore identical sect robes, her clothes were decorated with all sorts of odd little trinkets.
The one on the right wore her hair in a high knot. Every frog button at her collar and cuffs was fastened with meticulous care. She had willow-shaped brows, phoenix eyes, and an icy expression.
The girl on the left said, “Fellow Daoist Mei, we’ve come to bring you something.”
Mei Man naturally didn’t assume they had come bearing gifts. She immediately grew wary. “Bring me what?”
To her surprise, the girl pulled a booklet from her sleeve. “This contains the assignments given for each class over the past few days.”
“Oh.” Mei Man accepted the booklet and glanced through it. Row upon row of elegant small characters recorded in detail the lessons taught by the seniors over the past few days, along with extensive annotations.
She assumed one of the seniors had sent them over. She was about to say that she no longer needed any of this when the girl said, “My handwriting isn’t very good, so you’ll have to make do with it, Fellow Daoist Mei. If there’s anything you can’t make out, you can ask us.”
Mei Man paused and looked up at her through the strands of hair falling over her forehead. “You copied all this?”
“Yes.” The girl said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why?” Mei Man frowned. She didn’t remember asking her to do any of this.
“Huh? Why?” The question seemed to stump the girl as well. After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “You haven’t been here to study these past few days. If you don’t make up the lessons, you’ll fall behind.”
Mei Man understood even less.
She had some private savings, but not much. To a wealthy young lady like this one, it probably wasn’t even worth a month’s allowance. Nor had Mei Man revealed any particular value of hers. Why would she help her?
The more Mei Man thought about it, the more her head hurt. In the end, she simply asked, “What do you want?”
The girl looked even more bewildered, staring at her with a pair of dazed almond-shaped eyes.
The other girl was clearly more perceptive. She caught the implication in Mei Man’s words and frowned slightly. Her voice was as cold as her appearance. “She thinks you’re doing well in your studies. It would be a shame for you to fall behind because of your injury, so she kindly helped you. She has no other intentions.”
Mei Man noticed the displeasure in her tone. The girl was probably standing up for her friend, feeling that Mei Man ought to be grateful for the small kindness she had been shown instead of treating it with suspicion.
Hmph. It wasn’t as though the two of them were the only people in the world with friends. She had—
She suddenly fell silent.
She racked her brains for a long while, yet couldn’t squeeze out even a single name.
A friend.
Mei Man’s mind went blank. She couldn’t sketch even one distinct face.
If having a friend meant being like the two of them—always walking side by side with their arms linked, never worrying that something said might offend the other, knowing each other’s circumstances and thoughts, speaking up for one another, and being perfectly at ease together even when they had nothing amusing to say—
Then she seemed to have no such thing. She had never even considered whether she needed one.
She probably didn’t.
If she were to walk arm in arm with someone like those two, how would she cross a narrow single-plank bridge?
Mei Man gathered herself and returned the booklet. “Thank you, but I don’t need it.”
The girl froze. Then, as though she had thought of something, she extended the booklet toward Mei Man again and said with a bright smile, “Don’t feel pressured. I’m not giving it to you for nothing. You can look through it, at least. These subjects are all ones you’re good at. You might even be able to point out some mistakes.”
Mei Man lowered her eyes and saw three neat characters written on the cover:
Ruan Xitong.
That was probably her name.
In the month since entering the sect, Mei Man had learned the names of very few cultivators. Her time was too precious. Rather than spend the effort remembering someone’s name, she would be better off using it to memorize medicinal formulas.
“No need,” she refused once again. “I won’t be needing these anymore.”
The two girls didn’t understand what she meant. They exchanged a glance.
The colder one tugged at Ruan Xitong and said, “She said she doesn’t want it. Why are you still standing here, like a post? Let’s go. My sister said Immortal Master Shen has been coming here often these past two days. We can’t stay too long. What if he sees us and asks about our lessons? Come on.”
“All right.” Ruan Xitong took back the booklet. “Mei Man, take good care of yourself. We’ll come visit you again next time.”
She still wore that same cheerful expression, as though she hadn’t noticed Mei Man’s evasion at all. Her expression was natural, too—it was obvious she wasn’t pretending.
Mei Man understood.
People like her had probably never suffered hardship from a young age. They tended to possess an unbearably innocent naivety, believing that right and wrong amounted to nothing more than whether someone had mistakenly used sugar instead of salt while cooking. They could be so openhearted that they ignored the malice of others.
In any case, they were not the same sort of people. There was no need for them to associate.
Mei Man watched the two of them leave.
That afternoon, her senior sister came to examine her body.
Her senior sister suddenly asked, “Junior Sister Mei, did two junior sisters come to visit you this morning?”
Mei Man remembered that the girl had said her older sister didn’t want her staying here too long. She replied, “Yes. Are they your younger sisters?”
“That’s right. They asked me two days ago whether they could come see you.” Her senior sister lifted one of Mei Man’s arms and sent spiritual energy into it, smiling as she asked, “It looks like you two got along well. Are you friends?”
Mei Man lowered her head. “No. We’re not very familiar.”
Tsk. These sisters really were as different as night and day in personality.
Her senior sister paused. “Oh, is that so? I thought…”
At that moment, a medical cultivator who had only just entered the Medicine Valley came rushing in, looking frantic. He held a prescription in his hand and called out the moment he entered, “Senior Sister, are you free? Could you take a look at this prescription and see whether there’s anything wrong with it?”
“What? Let me see.” Still holding Mei Man’s arm, her senior sister leaned over to examine the prescription.
She was an extremely patient person. She worked carefully, paid close attention to detail, and always treated others with warmth and friendliness.
Many of the medical cultivators in the Medicine Valley often came to ask her questions, and patients who came for treatment also liked to seek her out.
Mei Man stared at the two of them without blinking, watching as her senior sister patiently pointed out the problems and gently encouraged the medical cultivator.
For some reason, she always made Mei Man think of her mother.
It was rather absurd, really, because Mei Man barely remembered her mother at all. She couldn’t even recall what the woman looked like. Back when she was in the Mei family, her mother rarely came to see her. After she went to the Qiu family, there was even less chance of that happening.
After the medical cultivator left, her senior sister began examining the bones in Mei Man’s leg.
Mei Man sat in the chair, looking down at the whorl of hair on top of her senior sister’s head.
Then she suddenly asked, “Are you like this with everyone?”
Her senior sister paused and looked up. “Like what?”
“Just now. You’re always so patient, never lose your temper, and always speak so gently and kindly. Are you like this with everyone?”
Senior Sister smiled. “How could that be? Everyone has a temper.”
“But I’ve never seen you lose yours.”
“That’s because I hold it in.” Senior Sister stood and sighed at Mei Man. “For instance, sometimes I really feel like hitting someone.”
Mei Man jumped. Her eyelids twitched as she raised an arm to shield her face and eyed her warily. “I haven’t done anything to you. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of hitting me.”
Senior Sister couldn’t help laughing. “Who said I wanted to hit you? I was talking about that junior brother who came to ask about the prescription just now. He’s asked the exact same question eight hundred times and still can’t remember the answer.”
Mei Man nodded. “He deserves a beating, then. So why didn’t you hit him?”
Senior Sister checked her ribs again. “It’s just an instinctive irritation, like being stuck going around in circles. But I also know that he’s studying seriously; he’s simply a little slower to learn. I only happened to learn something before he did, so how could I look down on him and criticize him?”
Mei Man didn’t quite understand her way of thinking. “You can really put up with that?”
“It isn’t a matter of putting up with it.” Senior Sister withdrew her spiritual energy and bent down to look at her. “Junior Sister Mei, if the ultimate goal is to solve a problem, any emotion can become a distraction. Don’t tolerate that thorn in your heart. Pull it out.”
Mei Man only half understood, and her brows drew together slightly.
“Your body is fine now.” Senior Sister patted her shoulder with a smile. “Little Junior Sister, I hope I won’t see you here again.”
After spending nearly ten days in Medicine Valley, Mei Man left.
She had very little luggage. Once she finished packing, all she had was a bundle, which she slung over her back before heading to Shen Shushi’s cave dwelling.
With the token he had given her, she no longer had to remain confined to the outer sect courtyard. She could come and go freely wherever she pleased.
But rather than gratitude, what surged through her heart was more like a yearning she couldn’t put into words.
If only one day, she could casually give someone a token like this too.
Shen Shushi’s cave dwelling was enormous. Amid green pines and verdant cypresses stood several grand, majestic pavilions. Auspicious clouds shimmered in the air, and rosy radiance drifted in every direction. It looked no different from an immortal realm.
He had told her beforehand to go straight to the Heart-Clearing Pavilion. He usually taught there.
When Mei Man arrived, Shen Shushi was flipping through an alchemy manual.
Seeing her, he closed the book and said, “Next to the Heart-Clearing Pavilion is the Library Pavilion, which contains countless books. You may stay there. Most of the rooms are vacant, so choose whichever one you like.”
Mei Man nodded.
Shen Shushi continued, “Since you wish to devote yourself to studying medicinal herbs, there is no need to begin practicing immediately. Take this register. First, read every book mentioned in it. I will inspect your progress each day.”
Mei Man accepted the register and flipped through it. The books listed at the beginning were all basic records of immortal herbs and alchemy manuals, but the further she went, the more difficult they became.
She could hardly believe it.
She was actually expected to read so many books. By the time she finished them all, wouldn’t she be old enough to die?
Shen Shushi added, “I have few disciples. You have three senior brothers ahead of you. One is traveling abroad, another has gone down the mountain to purchase supplies, and the last one will come this afternoon. You should know him as well.”
At that, Mei Man’s hand stopped turning the pages. A sense of foreboding suddenly rose within her.
That feeling grew stronger and stronger, until she finally met the so-called “senior brother” he had mentioned.
“Little Mei, it really is you.” Qiu Heyang lifted the curtain and entered. “When our master told me he had taken you as a disciple, I was thrilled, but I still didn’t quite believe it. I thought he was only teasing me. After all, it’s unheard-of for an Immortal Lord to directly take a disciple from the outer sect courtyard.”
Mei Man stood there in a daze, with only two things coming to mind.
First, Shen Shushi had told her that he was extremely strict when accepting disciples and placed particular importance on their character.
And second—
Qiu Heyang stepped forward, beaming, and respectfully called out, “Master.”
Second, she remembered all those times he had casually called his master “that old bastard” right in front of her.
