Little Tagalong

"Zhuo Shi," Yun Ming's voice came from the doorway. Leaning against the frame, his gaze fell thoughtfully on the stone. "If the child likes it, let her play with it. But... since she picked it up by the lake, perhaps it has some connection to the academy."

He walked over and took the stone from Zhuo Shi. His fingertips lightly brushed over the Ice God's Chain. Yun Ming's cultivation was higher than Zhuo Shi's, and his senses sharper; he immediately detected the immense vitality and protective power contained within it.

He lowered his head to look at his daughter. Yun Zhiyu was gazing up at him with a pitiful expression that clearly said, "Daddy, give it back." Yun Ming met her eyes for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"How about this?" He handed the stone back to Yun Zhiyu, letting her happily clutch it to her chest, then turned to Zhuo Shi. "Changkong's cultivation has been going poorly lately. As his teacher, you should show him more concern. This thing the child 'picked up' has quite a bit of spiritual nature. Why not let her lend it to Changkong for a few days? Say... it's a meeting gift from Zhiyu to Uncle Changkong."

Zhuo Shi froze for a moment, then understood.

Yun Ming was giving him a hint. How could a teacher not know about Wu Changkong's inner knot? The boy seemed cold and aloof on the surface, but he was deeply emotional inside. His soul power had been unstable lately; there had likely been some trouble in his feelings. This Ice God's Chain could gather souls and nurture spirits, a priceless treasure for calming the mind and stabilizing the soul. And by giving it through Yun Zhiyu, it both fulfilled the child's "innocence" and avoided seeming deliberate. With Wu Changkong's stubborn temperament, he would be more likely to accept it.

"Good idea!" Zhuo Shi slapped his thigh. "I'll go find that brat right now!"

He hurried off in a blaze of activity. Yun Ming crouched down until he was level with his daughter and reached out to ruffle her hair. "Zhiyu, is Daddy's arrangement alright?"

Hugging the stone, Yun Zhiyu deliberately put on an expression of half-understanding. After a long while, she nodded slowly. "Give it... to Uncle Changkong!"

"Such a good girl!" Yun Ming picked her up, resting his forehead against hers. His voice was so soft that only the two of them could hear it. "No matter what you're doing, Daddy believes in you. But promise Daddy this—take it slowly, and don't hurt yourself."

Yun Zhiyu's heart skipped a beat. She looked into Yun Ming's eyes. There was no questioning there, no probing, only a deep, almost indulgent trust. Her eyes suddenly stung, and with a baby's body she could not control it—her tears came at once.

"D-Daddy..." she choked out. This time, it was not an act.

"Don't cry, don't cry." Yun Ming hurriedly wiped away her tears. That clumsy appearance held none of the dignity of the Master of Sea God's Pavilion. "It's Daddy's fault. I shouldn't have said those things. Zhiyu is the best girl, isn't she?"

Yun Zhiyu buried her face in her father's shoulder, breathing in his comforting scent, and nodded softly.

Three days later, Zhuo Shi handed the stone wrapped in the Ice God's Chain to Wu Changkong.

"A meeting gift from your little niece," Zhuo Shi said gruffly, doing his best to hide the concern in his eyes. "She said she picked up a shiny stone by the lake and insisted on giving it to you. If you dare lose it, I'll break your legs."

Wu Changkong was dressed in white, with a blue sword strapped to his back. A flicker of surprise crossed his cold, handsome face. He lowered his head to look at the luminous blue stone. The instant his fingertips touched it, a cool sensation flowed straight into his sea of consciousness, and the restless soul power stirred up by Long Bing's matter gradually settled.

"...Thank you, Teacher." He spoke quietly and tucked the stone into his robes.

Zhuo Shi waved a hand. As he turned away, his eyes grew slightly warm. He remembered what Yun Ming had said that day: "Changkong must resolve his own inner knot. All we can do is leave him one more path."

What he did not know was that the Ice God's Chain on that stone would emit a faint luminous blue glow on a rainy night half a month later.

And Yun Zhiyu lay in a cradle in Sea God's Pavilion, holding her younger sister's tiny hand as she waited in her dreams for the gears of fate to begin turning softly.

Over two years, the parasol trees of Sea God's Pavilion shed their leaves twice.

Yun Zhiyu was three years old, an age when children were usually little terrors, yet with the maturity of a soul that had lived more than twenty years in her past life, she stubbornly maintained an image of being "precocious and steady." Every morning, she followed Yali in identifying medicinal herbs. In the afternoons, she meditated under Yun Ming's guidance—though her martial soul had yet to awaken and she had no soul power, spiritual power cultivation was not restricted. In the evenings, without fail, she was chased all over the courtyard by a little tagalong.

"Big Sister! Wait for me!"

Yun Zhishu ran after her on short little legs, stumbling as she went. Her pale purple dress was covered in grass clippings, and the bow in her hair had slipped to the side of her ear, yet she smiled so brightly her eyes nearly vanished. She was two years old, at her clingiest age. Yet she did not cling to Yali or Yun Ming. Even Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu could not earn more than a glance despite trying their hardest. Only around Yun Zhiyu did she behave like a sticky rice cake, clinging to her wherever she went.

"How many times have I told you not to follow me?" Yun Zhiyu deliberately put on a stern face, folding her arms and trying her best to look fierce. "I'm going to cultivate. It's very boring!"

Yun Zhishu tilted her head, blinking her grape-like black eyes. Then she suddenly rushed over and hugged her sister's leg, rubbing her little face against Yun Zhiyu's pants. Her voice was soft and sweet like melting candy. "Big Sister isn't boring. Big Sister is the best."

Yun Zhiyu: "..."

She looked down at the little thing hanging from her leg, and the irritation she had been pretending to feel had long since vanished. Yun Zhishu looked as delicate as a carved doll, her brows and features much like Yali's. Only her eyes were different—their color was lighter than normal, gleaming with a faint amber gold beneath the sunlight, like pools of melted honey hidden within them.

"Let go."

"No."

"I'm going to hit you."

"Big Sister is pretty even when she's angry."

Yun Zhiyu was completely helpless.

She remembered when this girl had just learned to walk. Yun Zhiyu had only spent half a day in Feng Wuyu's forging room, but when she returned, she found Yun Zhishu sitting on the doorstep with her little mouth pursed and her eyes red-rimmed, as though the whole world had abandoned her. From then on, wherever Yun Zhiyu went, a tiny shadow always followed behind her.

When she went fishing by the lake, Yun Zhishu crouched beside her and played with the water. When she climbed trees to pick fruit, Yun Zhishu stood beneath them with her head raised, nervously holding out her little hands. When she hid in her room to study the spear technique diagrams she had obtained through the system's sign-in rewards, Yun Zhishu lay across her back, her soft little face pressed against the back of her neck, breathing evenly as she slept sweetly.

"You," Yun Zhiyu said as she crouched down and straightened her sister's crooked bow, her fingertips brushing over her tender cheek, "why are you so clingy?"

Yun Zhishu seized the chance to wrap her arms around her sister's neck and planted a loud kiss on her face, leaving behind a wet streak of drool. "Because I like Big Sister."

Yun Zhiyu paused, then smiled helplessly. She wiped the drool off her face and picked her sister up, letting her sit in the crook of her arm. Yun Zhishu immediately narrowed her eyes in contentment, wrapping her little arms around her sister's neck like a satisfied kitten.

"You've gotten quite a bit heavier." Yun Zhiyu bounced her slightly and deliberately frowned. "Time to lose weight."

"I'm not fat," Yun Zhishu protested seriously, pinching her own cheek. "Mommy says I have extra cuteness."

"What does extra cuteness mean?"

"It means..." Yun Zhishu knitted her little brows, trying hard to put it into words. "It means Big Sister smiles when she sees me and doesn't scold me."

Yun Zhiyu stopped walking.

She looked at her sister. Those amber-gold eyes were filled with pure reliance and joy, without a trace of impurity. In this unfamiliar world, Yun Zhiyu alone knew how the future would unfold. She alone lived with secrets and purpose.

But in this little girl's eyes, she was simply Big Sister—the sister who played with her, picked fruit for her, pretended to be angry but never truly left her behind.

"Silly girl," Yun Zhiyu said softly, touching her forehead to her sister's. "How could I ever scold you?"

Yun Zhishu giggled, her little braids swaying back and forth as she moved.

The afternoon sunlight was perfect. The sisters sat on a bluestone by Sea God Lake. Yun Zhiyu took the Startling Swan Spear Technique diagrams from her system space and quickly flipped through them under the cover of the tree's shadow. The spear technique was fierce and domineering, faintly compatible with her Torch Dragon Bloodline. Though her martial soul had not awakened, she could still memorize the forms in advance.

"What is Big Sister looking at?" Yun Zhishu lay across her lap and curiously poked the little figure on the diagram.

"A martial arts manual," Yun Zhiyu made up casually. "Learn it, and you can leap across rooftops and scale walls."

"Then teach me!"

"You're too young."

"I'm not young!" Yun Zhishu puffed out her little chest, trying hard to prove herself. "I can run really fast! I can climb trees too!"

Looking at her serious expression, Yun Zhiyu suddenly felt like teasing her. She snapped off a branch, drew a human figure on the ground, and marked several points. "Alright, then start with a horse stance. Your knees need to line up with these points, your butt can't stick out, and your hands should be like this—"

Yun Zhishu copied her movements. Her chubby little body squatted into a round ball, swaying unsteadily yet stubbornly refusing to fall. Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, scattering flecks of light across her face. Fine beads of sweat quickly formed on her forehead.

"Rest if you're tired," Yun Zhiyu said.

"I'm not tired." Yun Zhishu bit her lip, her little face flushed red.

Yun Zhiyu watched her and suddenly remembered the children she had seen in the orphanage in her past life. They had also worked this hard to prove themselves, to be seen and accepted. But she had never given them much attention. Back then, she had been busy preparing for college entrance exams, busy working part-time, busy fighting for a future of her own.

But now, she was willing to pause for this clingy little girl.

"Alright." She reached out and pulled her sister up, brushing the grass clippings from her knees. "You pass today. We'll continue tomorrow."

Yun Zhishu's eyes lit up, and she threw herself into her sister's arms. "Big Sister is the best!"

"Little flatterer."

"What's a flatterer?"

"It's..." Yun Zhiyu thought for a moment, then pinched her nose. "Someone like you."

The sisters' laughter startled the water birds from the lake, sending them fluttering into the distance.

Yali stood at the attic window watching them, a gentle smile resting on her lips. Yun Ming wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Those two daughters of ours are closer than we are."

"That Zhishu," Yali said with a soft laugh, "only has eyes for her sister. It saves me a lot of worry."

"Zhiyu spoils her too," Yun Ming said thoughtfully. "She's clearly still a child herself, yet she always gives in to her younger sister."

Yali said nothing. She only clasped her husband's hand.

She knew that some secrets did not need to be questioned. Just as she knew Yun Zhiyu was no ordinary infant, and just as she knew where the drop of Life Water that had changed her fate came from. But if her daughter did not speak of it, she would not ask. It was the unspoken understanding between mother and daughter, and the way they protected each other.

By the lake, Yun Zhishu had already fallen asleep on Yun Zhiyu's back, her little mouth slightly open, drool soaking the fabric on her sister's shoulder. Yun Zhiyu carried her on her back and walked toward the attic step by step, humming the nursery rhyme the orphanage director had often sung in her past life.

"The dark sky hangs low, bright stars follow close, insects fly, insects fly, who are you missing..."

The song was very soft, scattering into the wind.

In her sleep, Yun Zhishu smacked her lips and tightened her little hand around her sister's collar, as though she had grasped the most precious treasure in the world.