Yun Niang's Story

Yun Niang slowly stood up from the ground.

Perhaps her voice was too soft and devoid of emotion, making the story sound somewhat dull.

It was about ten years ago.

The Cheng family were wealthy gentry in Blackwater City, maintaining close ties with the local magistrate's office.

Relying on this connection, they held a firm grip on the city's medicinal herb trade.

The head of the family perhaps suffered from some hidden ailment; despite having many wives and concubines, he had no sons and only one daughter, whom he cherished like the apple of his eye.

One day, the young son of a certain official from the magistrate's office came to visit the Cheng residence with his elders.

He snuck into the backyard and, peering over a high wall, saw a bright and beautiful girl perched atop it.

As their eyes met, both of them laughed in unison.

The young children ran out of the Cheng residence together, and finding the city streets boring, they suggested going to the Blackwater River outside the city to take a look.

Rumors claimed a flood dragon was blocking the river and sealing off the entire city, a story that had caused quite a stir at the time.

Most people, however, simply treated it as a joke.

Upon reaching the riverbank.

A slightly goading question from the young lady prompted the young master, who prided himself on his swimming skills and was just as naive, to strip off his clothes in a few quick motions and jump in with a splash to see what was happening.

And then... he never came back up.

The Cheng family relied on the magistrate's office for their livelihood; this relationship could not be severed.

Even if their precious daughter was invaluable, she could not compare to the business that sustained the lives of over a hundred family members.

"So, you are the young lady who fled the Cheng family?"

Lin Shu raised his eyelids and looked at the woman before him.

Yun Niang lowered her gaze, a faint trace of envy flickering in her eyes.

If she wanted her benefactor to spare her, she had to demonstrate sufficient value.

For instance, by promising that once the magistrate's anger had completely subsided.

As long as he returned her to the Cheng family, they would provide enough Precious Medicine to support her benefactor's cultivation.

Unfortunately...

She truly was not her.

"My father was a guard for the Cheng family, and I was the young lady's personal maid."

"There were actually three of us who went to the Blackwater River that day; the young lady was shy, so she brought me along."

Yun Niang lifted her face, wearing a slightly helpless smile.

With this smile, the entire story shifted.

If the young lady could not die, then someone else had to die in her place.

Thus, the young lady who should have been on the wall became someone who was busy studying diligently inside the house.

The one who naughtily climbed the wall became the maid who was taking the opportunity to slack off.

To make the story more plausible.

This Greedy maid had heard that a young master was visiting.

She had even stolen the young lady's fine clothes and put them on, hoping to use this opportunity to catch his attention and climb the social ladder.

Perhaps it was because she happened to be quite pretty.

The magistrate's son was actually deceived by her and led out of the Cheng residence.

The events that followed were more or less the same.

The life of a mere lowly maid was naturally insufficient to appease the anger of the official at the magistrate's office.

And so, her father, who was a guard, and her mother, who was a maid—her entire family was neatly strangled to death in the courtyard!

The details of the event didn't need to be too rigorous; after all, this was merely a stepping stone.

What truly mattered was the large sum of Precious Medicine offered for cultivation, an amount that would make even the Cheng family feel the sting of loss.

"Then why are you still alive?" Lin Shu's eyes flickered.

According to this version, the maid's parents were dead, yet the most important person had escaped; it didn't quite add up.

Yun Niang was silent for a moment, and ripples finally appeared in her soft voice: "Because I never went back at all."

Everything that happened afterward was something she had slowly gathered over the years.

"The young lady was very good to me. She kept only me as her maid, told me everything, and our whole family lived off the Cheng family's grain."

"By all rights and reason, I should have been the one to die for her."

"But when we realized that young master had died in the river, we were both terrified. In that very instant, she looked at me while crying."

It was this very look that suddenly gave the young Yun Niang a premonition back then.

She took a deep breath to steady her emotions. "When the young miss dragged me back toward the East City, I suddenly shoved her and ran toward the south without looking back. I had heard from the teacher that the South Suburb was the most chaotic place."

"..."

Lin Shu pursed his lips.

Even though Yun Niang dressed as a widow to appear more mature, she looked to be only in her early twenties, and in reality, she might have been even younger.

Ten years ago, she was merely a little girl who had not yet grown up.

To encounter such a major event in such a short span of time.

She had not only analyzed the consequences of the matter and sensed the young miss's intentions, but she had even thought through exactly how to escape.

It made the story sound somewhat absurd.

Thinking of this, Lin Shu glanced sideways at the bundle on the bed.

As a seasoned veteran with a wealth of experience, he had only taken a second look at her that afternoon.

Yet this woman had already prepared to run away.

He would not believe it if this were not some kind of talent.

"Because I fled, the story the Cheng family fabricated not only failed to deceive that master, but instead further enraged him. In the end, not only were the medicinal herbs compensated, but the young miss also paid with her life for the young master."

Yun Niang slowly recounted the end of the story.

It was equivalent to placing her life in Lin Shu's hands.

She knew her benefactor was wary of her identity.

Therefore, as for how she survived in the South Suburb afterward, how much suffering she endured, how terrified she was, and how she gradually grew accustomed to such a life—Yun Niang skipped over these details concisely, striving to keep her tone as calm as possible.

The sorrow in her previous words was more about the memories of the past.

Because of her own cowardice and flight, her parents had died tragically on the spot without even knowing the reason.

Yet she could not even collect their bodies for burial.

"Actually, the old woman and she treated me very well. They are both good people."

Yun Niang recalled being targeted by evildoers and forced to flee to the West City, nearly collapsing outside this Broken Firewood Courtyard.

She had stumbled into the courtyard, guided by a faint, lingering aura, and burst into this child's room, where she saw the rice porridge on the table.

When she woke up the next day, the first thing the old woman said upon seeing her was a command to hurry up and empty the chamber pot.

Yun Niang had been nervous at the time.

But with nowhere else to go, she soon discovered that the old woman's mind was not entirely clear, so she joyfully accepted this new identity.

This was also why she had felt she owed this family earlier.

"I..."

Yun Niang let out a long sigh, looking at the man opposite her with trepidation. "Can I still stay here?"

Nearly two years of a peaceful life had made her almost forget how to survive in the South Suburb.

"Whatever you like. It's up to you."

Lin Shu stood up and responded softly, reaching out to pull up the infant on the bed as he did so.

He had only wanted to use Yun Niang's explanation to compare it with the young girl's previous words, thereby judging the danger level of this Immortal Scion cub.

What she said was far too easy to verify; it involved wealthy gentry and the yamen in the city, and a little bit of inquiry would be enough to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Unless the woman had a death wish, there was no need to fabricate such a clumsy story.

Now that his goal had been achieved, there was no relationship between the two of them anyway.

Lin Shu had no interest in using this matter to coerce Yun Niang into doing anything.

Whether she wanted to stay or leave, why would she need to ask him?

Moreover, the immortal aura originated from the cub itself.

This Broken Firewood Courtyard had already lost its value.

Regardless of whether she stayed or not, he certainly would not be staying long.

"Many thanks, Benefactor!"

Yun Niang was stunned for a moment, then a look of pleasant surprise appeared on her face.

Given the benefactor's style of conduct just now, she had assumed that she and the Immortal Scion would likely meet the same fate.

She had not expected him to let the matter go so lightly.

For someone who had been wandering and fleeing, having a place to stay in the relatively more stable West City was already the greatest of favors.

She bowed deeply, then watched as he returned to the side room.

He returned to his room.

Lin Shu sat on the edge of the bed, picked up the sleeping cub, and gave it a shake.

Black mist surged from his fingertips once more, attempting to pierce the creature's crystal-clear cheek.

His finger felt as if it had poked a lump of solidified fat—soft and supple, yet it simply would not penetrate.

"Exaggerated."

Seeing this, Lin Shu could not help but sigh.

If his own physique possessed such defensive power, he would be able to sleep much more soundly at night.

He held the Immortal Scion up against his chest to measure it.

If he were in the middle of a magical duel, he could strap it to his chest like a heart-guarding mirror. Tsk, setting aside whether it would look ridiculous or not, it did not seem very practical.

While Yun Niang was recounting her life story, Lin Shu had actually been probing the extra drop of essence blood within his body.

It did not seem like a formal contract had been forged; it was more like the cub had unilaterally abandoned all resistance and caution.

Not only could he perceive the Immortal Scion's thoughts and state, but he could also actively force the essence blood out of his body to sever this connection.

Beyond that, he could even issue some simple commands, such as...

"Hold your breath!"

As Lin Shu's thoughts stirred, the cub's snoring stopped abruptly. As time passed, its fair, tender face gradually flushed red.

He waited quietly for a moment.

"Can it not be suffocated?"

After the cub's face turned blue and purple, it suddenly began to gasp for air in large gulps. Lin Shu had roughly gauged the utility of this essence blood.

The creature would instinctively obey commands, but it could not exceed the limits of its own body.

If it could not be destroyed, Lin Shu's expression grew grave. Then he would have to carefully consider how to treat this thing.

One had to know, why was the status of cultivators in Blackwater City so high?

It was because Immortal relics were rare and impossible to seek out, and the aura upon them would vanish once an Immortal technique was realized from them.

Those who had never come into contact with the corresponding Immortal aura could never learn the techniques derived from Them.

But what stood before him was a living, breathing "Immortal relic"!