A Bowl of Chicken Soup

It looked as though that Bronze Fragment had merged into his palm. Xue Mu clenched and relaxed his hand repeatedly, trying over and over again, yet he still could not detect any foreign sensation, nor any energetic response. He could not feel its use at all.

Perhaps it requires a certain amount of one's own energy to activate it? Xue Mu pondered inwardly.

Xue Mu had always been a proactive and highly adaptable person. The very first moment he opened his eyes after transmigrating, he had been confronting reality, trying to figure out and blend into his new environment. Hanging out with this group of violent women who did not treat human life as anything special was dangerous, but it could also be considered a good opportunity. For now, whether he wanted to understand this world or practice martial arts, there was no faster method than getting on good terms with this group of women. Therefore, the first thing he needed to do was gain their trust; after establishing a firm foothold, he could consider future matters.

Looking out through the window, he saw a leisurely blue sky, a washed-clear azure expanse, orioles flying, grass growing, fresh and invigorating. Having lived in a modern metropolis for over twenty years, Xue Mu had not seen such a suburban scene for a very, very long time. Even when he went to the outskirts, the sky was mostly shrouded in a gray, hazy smog that made people feel depressed inside, rather than this fresh and bright clarity.

For Xue Mu, who had no family ties to anchor him in the present world, at this moment he felt that transmigrating was really nothing much—it was merely changing a lifestyle, wasn't it? The wealth he had accumulated from years of hard work had scattered with the wind, and the minor celebrity he had been dallying with was gone too; what was there to regret about that? Placed in a brand-new world, facing a wildly unpredictable future, what was there to worry about? He had been able to start from scratch back then, and he could do the same now.

Xue Mu let out a breath of stale air, his mood becoming much more expansive. Looking around, he discovered that they were no longer on a mountain path; it seemed they had reached a flat official highway. In the distance ahead, the outline of a city could be vaguely made out—perhaps it was the destination of this trip.

Yue Xiaochan was not far off to the side, her sleeves fluttering as she trod across the grass. Xue Mu gazed at her bare feet and could confirm that her feet definitely did not touch the ground, merely skimming over the tips of the grass like a flower-threading butterfly.

The martial power level of this world was truly high... A girl of thirteen or fourteen possessed this kind of qinggong, and she still looked very leisurely. He wondered if going all out would actually let her fly. But then again, since you people are this awesome, why do you even need a carriage?

As if sensing his gaze, Yue Xiaochan turned her head, giggled, and made a gesture of digging out an eye, as if saying: Look again and I'll gouge your eyes out.

Xue Mu made small talk, pointing in the direction of the city: "Miss Yue, where is that?"

"Capital City."

"Are we heading to Capital City on this trip?"

"What business is it of yours?"

"I am going to be your accountant, after all."

Yue Xiaochan let out a "ha" of laughter, drifted over to the carriage window, and looked him up and down: "Your complexion looks much better. You were sickly earlier; our medicine is certainly useful after all."

Xue Mu rolled his eyes inwardly and continued making small talk: "Why doesn't Miss ride in the carriage?"

Yue Xiaochan puffed out her cheeks: "Master is tallying just how heavy our losses in the Southern Region were earlier. I get a headache looking at those numbers, so I came out to relieve my boredom."

Xue Mu was stunned. Earlier when they were switching carriages, he had seen quite a few female guards sitting both in front and back of the carriages. Since you were bored, couldn't you chat with them, to the point that you had to play at lightness skills outside all by yourself?

As if seeing through Xue Mu's thoughts, Yue Xiaochan's eyes curved into crescents, as if she found it extremely interesting: "It seems you really don't know who we are—did you really think anyone would dare to joke around with our master and apprentice like you do? I truly don't know if you're missing a screw in your head or just utterly ignorant."

Xue Mu leaned against the carriage window, tilting his head to look at Yue Xiaochan's loli-like face. That jade-smooth face had a pair of shallow dimples, and she looked truly explosive in her cuteness. He shook his head and smiled: "Although I am indeed ignorant and don't know what sacred beings esteemed master and disciple are, I feel that even if I knew, there's no reason to be afraid of talking to such a pretty little sister."

Yue Xiaochan scraped her cheek: "Such a hard mouth. You wouldn't say that if you knew who my master is."

"Then may I ask your master's honored surname and great name?"

Yue Xiaochan blinked: "She actually shares your surname, taboo Qingqiu."

Xue Qingqiu? Xue Mu's mind flashed with the icy, cold light in those beautiful eyes. He felt no sense at all that this name could match such a terrifying expert image; instead, he felt that the three level tones read a bit uncomfortably together, and he smiled: "So she's actually from the same clan, then I'm even less afraid."

Yue Xiaochan widened her eyes, looked at him with the expression one might reserve for a monster for a long time, and finally burst out laughing: "Really... Fine, fine, as long as you're not afraid."

Not having heard of her, Yue Xiaochan, was considered quite normal. After all, she was only thirteen this year, had yet to show her face in the jianghu, and had no boastful battle records to speak of. But what kind of person was her master?

Stars and moon devoid of color, blood hand washes the clear autumn. The strongest Void-Piercing Realm expert in the world, the most unfathomable Sect Master of the Demon Sect's Star Moon Sect, the super great demon lord whose killings filled the wilderness, considered by many to be the number one person under heaven. Though there was no public consensus, she was also universally recognized as one of the ten supreme powerhouses... In this world where everyone worshipped martial arts and the hundred schools preached their ways, Xue Qingqiu's name was practically enough to stop small children from crying at night. He really didn't know which ravine this fellow before her had popped out from...

The so-called female guards were actually not guards at all; they were also disciples of the Demon Sect. However, they had an uncrossable status gap with core direct descendants like Yue Xiaochan, and truly very few dared to smile and joke with her. Even if she had the heart to chat with them, the responses she received would only be respectful and reverent. Outsiders needn't even be mentioned: they were either fighting to the death with the "demoness", or utterly infatuated like complete fools, or else those self-righteous righteous-path fellows. Xue Mu's ordinary attitude was something Yue Xiaochan had never encountered before, and she found it extremely interesting. She couldn't help smiling: "Looking at you right now, you're a lot more carefree. Earlier I always felt like you were hiding a bellyful of secrets, and your brows and eyes were full of worry. Did you have some kind of epiphany just now?"

Xue Mu smiled: "Since you're bored, how about I tell you a story?"

Yue Xiaochan's eyes lit up, and she said with eager interest: "Alright, alright."

Xue Mu recounted leisurely: "An old man selling porcelain bowls was walking on the road carrying a shoulder pole when suddenly a porcelain bowl fell to the ground and shattered. Yet the old man kept walking forward without even turning his head. A passerby saw this and felt it was very strange, so he asked: Why is it that your bowl shattered and yet you don't even look back at it? How do you think the old man answered?"

Yue Xiaochan guessed with great interest: "This old man is actually very rich and doesn't care about a single bowl?"

Xue Mu shook his head: "The old man replied, Since it has already shattered, no matter how much I look back, it is still broken."

Yue Xiaochan was startled. The smiling expression she had maintained all along slowly receded as she sank into deep thought. After a long while, she finally spoke: "A very interesting story. It actually seems to hold some inspiration for my cultivation. Thank you."

Not far away on another carriage, Xue Qingqiu faced several volumes of silk scrolls, her delicate brows furrowing tightly as she held a brush in one hand, writing and drawing on paper. Her cultivation had long reached a supreme realm unimaginable to mortals; the conversation between Yue Xiaochan and Xue Mu over there hadn't been loud, but she had heard every single word clearly. As Xue Mu's story finished, she was stunned just like her disciple, then looked down again at the silk scrolls in her hand. Suddenly, as if realizing something, she laughed out loud, and several volumes of silk abruptly burst into faint blue flames, turning to ash and scattering without a trace in the blink of an eye.

A female disciple reported: "Sect Master, we have arrived."

The carriage procession slowly came to a halt. Xue Mu also climbed down from the carriage, looking up at the seal script on the city gate: Heavenly Capital.

Simultaneously, he abruptly felt intense air pressure surge toward his body, just like diving deep to the bottom of the water, squeezing him until even breathing began to feel obstructed. Before he could even open his mouth to ask Yue Xiaochan beside him, he suddenly felt a wave of heat well up from his palm, instantly spreading to every single cell in his body. The pressure-filled aura he had just felt vanished completely; on the contrary, he felt thoroughly comfortable all over, and even a strange sense of affectionate familiarity transmitted deep into his heart. Even the weeds by the city gate looked so cute at this moment, just like... returning home.

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