Making Up for a Childhood (Seeking Recommendations)

"I... I... I seem to have forgotten everything." The snake woman's timid words left Cao Ying speechless.

Cao Ying's eyes widened as she stared blankly at the ethereal goddess before her. Those once-lively eyes were now filled with bewilderment and helplessness.

She instinctively reached out to touch the other woman, then feared being too abrupt. Her fingers curled in midair before she pulled her hand back.

Su Baichen, some distance away, naturally heard their conversation as well.

At first, he paid it no mind. But when he heard the snake woman say she had lost her memory, a spark of inspiration flashed through his mind. He suddenly remembered a character who had briefly appeared in the future before meeting a tragic end—Queen Medusa Cailin's younger sister, Die!

That pitiful woman had forcibly used the Space Forbidden Technique to escape during the Awakening Ceremony, paying for it with her memories. She had wandered into the desert, met and come to know the Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, only to be accidentally injured in the clash of energies between her sister and her beloved. In the end, she perished in her prime. What should have been a heartwarming story had ended in tragedy.

Thinking of this, Su Baichen stroked his chin, his eyes flickering.

A bold plan took shape in his mind. Xiao Yan was not the only one destined to find the Green Lotus Core Flame. Wasn't this amnesiac snake woman before him another ready-made "guide"? If he handled it properly... hehehe!

Just as Su Baichen rubbed his hands together and plotted how to set traps and gradually "persuade" this amnesiac young lady, Cao Ying darted before him like a startled rabbit, interrupting his thoughts.

"Master! Master!" Cao Ying tugged at Su Baichen's sleeve, her little face full of urgency and sympathy. "Did you hear that? Did that sister lose her memory? She's so pitiful!"

"Yes, I heard." Su Baichen gathered his wandering thoughts and nodded with feigned profundity. "It seems she suffered backlash from forcibly using a spatial forbidden technique. It damaged the source of her soul, causing her to lose all her memories."

"Ah? Her soul was injured? Then... then that must have hurt terribly, right?" Cao Ying's little face scrunched up, her eyes filled with heartfelt sorrow. She shook the hand clutching Su Baichen's sleeve, looking up at him expectantly. "Master, can... can we take her with us? She doesn't remember anything, and it's so dangerous for her to be alone in this desert!"

Seeing the eyes of his disciple practically sparkle with stars, how could Su Baichen not know what she was thinking?

He deliberately put on a stern face and gave Cao Ying a light knock on the forehead.

Knock!

A crisp sound rang out.

"Ow—!" Cao Ying let out an exaggerated cry of pain, clutching her forehead with both hands as she crouched down. Then she began wailing loudly, her cries utterly miserable. Anyone unaware of the truth would have thought she had suffered a grave injustice.

"Master, I'm lonely! These past few days, you've been looking for things all the time and barely paying any attention to me!"

"I just wanted someone to talk to. I'm really so lonely."

Unfortunately, her cries had plenty of thunder but no rain. After howling for ages, she could not squeeze out a single tear.

After "crying" for a while, she secretly peeked through her fingers, only to see her master calmly stroll over to the campfire, pick up a skewer of grilled meat sizzling with oil, then pull out a fragrant jug of fruit wine from his Storage Ring. He was clearly preparing to watch a show.

Su Baichen leisurely bit into the grilled meat, crisp on the outside and tender within, then happily took a sip of fruit wine. Watching his disciple's exaggerated performance, a teasing smile hung on his lips. His eyes clearly said: Go on, keep acting. Your master is watching.

Seeing that her pity act had failed, Cao Ying pouted, knowing that her "superb acting" had long since been seen through by her master.

She got to her feet in a huff, dusted the sand from her skirt, and rolled her eyes before running off to the side with a patter of footsteps to pick up a dead branch.

Then she squatted down and began seriously drawing circles in the sand with the branch. As she drew, she muttered "quietly" at a volume Su Baichen could hear perfectly well:

"I'm drawing circles to curse you!"

"I curse you to blow up your furnace the next time you refine a seventh-tier pill! May the lid fly into the sky!"

"I curse you to get things stuck between your teeth even when drinking water! May grilled meat burn your tongue every time you eat it!"

"I curse you... to live to a hundred!"

"I curse you..."

Su Baichen had merely found the first few lines amusing, but when the words "live to a hundred" clearly reached his ears, he could not hold back and sprayed out the fruit wine in his mouth.

Blowing up pill furnaces? Getting things stuck between his teeth while drinking water? And living to a hundred? You unfilial disciple! Did she not know that a Dou Zun could live for centuries as easily as breathing? Before he had transmigrated, living to a hundred would definitely have been a blessing—but now, wasn't this clearly cursing her master to die young... Pah, pah, pah!

The more Su Baichen thought about it, the more he felt that this disciple of his was being excessively "filial," and the more aggrieved he became.

He immediately decided that this rebellious disciple, who so clearly lacked a proper beating, needed to experience what a "complete" childhood truly meant!

His figure flashed, and he instantly appeared beside Cao Ying like a ghost.

Cao Ying, who had been diligently burying herself in her "curses," only saw a blur before a shadow fell over her. Startled, she abruptly looked up and met her master's smiling-but-not-smiling, "kindly" face.

A chill shot from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head. Cao Ying's entire body stiffened, cold sweat instantly breaking out as her voice trembled beyond recognition. "M-Master? You... you, you, you came over? What... what do you want?"

Su Baichen's smile became even more "benevolent" as he said unhurriedly, "Nothing. Your master merely suddenly feels that his hands are a little itchy."

"And then I suddenly realized that your childhood seems to be missing a very important and precious experience, one you would remember for the rest of your life."

"So, since your master is in a good mood today, I have come especially to help complete your childhood with the indispensable Bamboo Shoot Fried Meat."

Without giving Cao Ying any chance to react or beg for mercy, Su Baichen reached out with one hand and accurately grabbed the back of her collar like an eagle snatching a chick. With a light lift, he hoisted up the shrieking little girl, then skillfully pressed her across his knee.

His hand rose, then his palm fell.

"Ah—!"

A crisp, ringing smack echoed out, accompanied by Cao Ying's earth-shaking, ghost-wailing scream. It carried far across the silent desert at dusk... startling several Sand Lizards resting behind the dunes.

Meanwhile, the amnesiac snake woman, Die, stared with wide, bewildered yet somewhat curious eyes at this scene of "deep master-disciple affection."

"Wow, that little sister is so miserable! She's screaming so badly!"

"But is this what a complete childhood is?"

"Is this the legendary Bamboo Shoot Fried Meat?!"

The scene of master-disciple affection before her completely reshaped what little understanding she possessed.