Escaping Is Shameful

Song Zhizhi looked at Qingyu, then glanced at Mingxiao.

Mingxiao sighed helplessly. His lips moved slightly as he sent a voice transmission directly to Song Zhizhi. "She's right. Compared to me, she's more suited to be your master."

"If there's anything you don't understand in your sword cultivation later on, you can come ask me as well."

Song Zhizhi averted her gaze. For some reason, she suddenly did not dare look at Mingxiao. She nodded and softly said to Qingyu, "Master."

"Ah, good disciple!" Qingyu answered happily, then pointed at Mingxiao. "This is your senior brother, Mingxiao. If anyone bullies you from now on, just give them his name!"

Song Zhizhi:?

"S-Senior Brother?"

Qingyu nodded. "That's right. Your Senior Brother Mingxiao's master is my fellow senior brother. His disciple is my disciple too. From now on, he's your own senior brother. We're all family, so you don't need to be polite with your senior brother!"

Qingyu said to Song Zhizhi, "Come, call him Senior Brother!"

Song Zhizhi looked up. The aloof young man seemed untouched by the mortal world, his gaze deep and unfathomable, revealing none of his thoughts.

Song Zhizhi timidly called out, "Senior Brother."

Mingxiao's eyes were dark. His Adam's apple bobbed as he watched Song Zhizhi, then he answered in a low voice, "Mm."

Author's Note:

I love senior brothers and junior sisters the most, hehe.

Chapter 13

After receiving her jade token and uniform as a direct disciple, Qingyu rode her sword and took Song Zhizhi back to Clear Snow Peak. Looking down from above, Song Zhizhi saw countless tall, lush trees growing across Clear Snow Peak. Verdant and brimming with life, it looked more like a dense primeval forest.

Qingyu brought Song Zhizhi down at the mountainside. Only when they drew close did Song Zhizhi discover several delicate little wooden cottages beneath the thick canopy. Sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, forming shafts of light that fell over the rolling sea of flowers. Butterflies and bees danced among the blossoms, while clear birdsong occasionally drifted through the air. Everything was as beautiful as a fairytale world from a dream.

Song Zhizhi fell in love with the place at first sight. She took a deep breath of fresh air, and her body felt a long-lost sense of ease—more comfortable even than cultivating.

Staying here, it felt as though every worry had vanished.

"Comfortable, isn't it?" Qingyu smiled at Song Zhizhi. "This is the southern side of Clear Snow Peak. This whole forest is filled with parasol trees. To the north is a bamboo forest, but that's your Senior Brother Molan's territory. He's in secluded cultivation in the bamboo forest. Once he emerges one day, you martial siblings can get to know each other properly."

"My residence is the one to the east. The remaining wooden cottages are all unoccupied, so you can choose whichever one you like."

Song Zhizhi looked over the cottages and ultimately chose one closer to Qingyu. She felt that Qingyu carried a reassuring aura, like a dependable elder, and so she instinctively wanted to stay nearer to her.

After Song Zhizhi chose her room, Qingyu casually formed a hand seal and cleaned it for her. Then she yawned, her voice lazy as she said, "Your master is sleepy. I'll take a nap first. We'll talk about cultivation tomorrow."

With that, her figure swayed, and she vanished before Song Zhizhi's eyes.

Song Zhizhi:... This master of hers seemed, perhaps, not all that reliable?

The room had already been cleaned, and all the necessary furnishings were complete. Song Zhizhi took her daily necessities from her storage pouch and arranged them properly. The plain wooden cottage instantly gained a little more warmth of life.

Next came making the bed. Song Zhizhi noticed the white Cloud Quilt that had appeared in her storage pouch, and her red lips pressed together slightly.

After meeting Xie Xiuji, she had already guessed who the owner of this Cloud Quilt was. Precisely because she had guessed, looking at the quilt and recalling the roller-coaster-like events of the day left her sighing with complicated emotions.

She spread the Cloud Quilt over the bed, then lay down on its soft surface. Her eyes stared blankly out the window as one hand unconsciously stroked her lower abdomen.

A life was growing inside her, but Song Zhizhi had not yet decided whether she wanted to keep this child.

If she kept him, how should she handle her relationship with Xie Xiuji?

If she did not...

Song Zhizhi was lost in thought, but pregnancy had made her increasingly drowsy, and she unknowingly fell asleep.

In her dream, she seemed to see a glowing egg rolling about by her feet, just like a kitten rubbing itself against its owner's feet, yearning to be stroked.

Unable to resist, Song Zhizhi scooped the egg up and held it in her arms, stroking its shell as though petting a cat.

The egg rubbed against Song Zhizhi in her arms. Then, all of a sudden, she heard a pitiful little baby voice from inside the shell, trembling with tears. "Mother, don't you want me anymore?"

Song Zhizhi jolted awake from her dream. She touched her stomach, and her heart began to ache in countless needle-prick pains, sour and swollen.

Was that egg she had dreamed of just now her child? Could this child sense her thoughts?

If her child had merely been an insensible embryo, Song Zhizhi might have been able to harden her heart and give him up. But he already had consciousness. No matter what, she could not bring herself to abort the child.

This was a life, and also her only family in this unfamiliar world. She could not bear to let him go.

Song Zhizhi sat on the bed for a long while. Her thoughts were a tangled mess as she reviewed everything that had happened over the past month. After a long time, she took a deep breath and made a decision. Lowering her head, she stroked her stomach. A gentle maternal glow radiated from her face as she softly said, "Little one, Mother won't abandon you."

As for the child's father? Song Zhizhi had not yet figured out how to tell him about this, nor did she know whether Xie Xiuji would like a child who had suddenly appeared. She did not expect to hide it from Xie Xiuji forever, but for now, let her run away from it for a little while.

Escaping might be shameful, but it worked.

After making her decision, Song Zhizhi felt much lighter. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

When Song Zhizhi woke the next day and pushed open the door, she found a voice-transmission paper crane outside. She opened it, and her master's voice rang out.

"Little Zhizhi, your master has an urgent matter and needs to travel far for a month. I've entrusted your Senior Brother Mingxiao with teaching you swordsmanship. By the time you've learned the basics of sword arts, your master will be back."

Ranking List

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Novel Transmigration

Sweet Romance

Transmigration and Rebirth Romance

Tu Yanyan

Amnesia Trope