The Frail Junior Sister

"Aaaaah!"

The moment Lan Yue opened her eyes, towering mountains lay beneath her feet and wispy white clouds floated overhead. At some point, she had been brought into the air and was now being carried forward at breakneck speed.

She was scared half to death! She had almost thought she was about to fall again! Who could handle bungee jumping twice in one day?

Seeing Lan Yue about to lose her footing, Li Bai hurriedly reached out from behind and steadied her.

"Careful, junior sister."

Lan Yue looked back at him with a reproachful gaze. "Eldest senior brother, where are we?"

I was sleeping perfectly well on my stomach back there. How did I suddenly end up in the air? Who was inconsiderate enough to stop me from getting a good night's sleep?

The girl's slightly disgruntled voice rang out, making the atmosphere even quieter. Only the wind roaring around them could be heard.

Li Bai nearly choked. He hurriedly signaled to his junior sister with his eyes, urging her to look at who was piloting the flying boat up ahead.

If I find out who did this, I'll definitely...

That inner voice cut off abruptly as Lan Yue suddenly caught sight of the sect master's straight-backed figure.

I'll definitely thank him properly. He's so kind, even remembering to take me along when he left!

Lan Yue instantly changed her wording. Even her inner voice turned fawning.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she really was that grateful to the sect master.

"Stay seated." Yun Chong glanced their way, and the green leaf-shaped cloud boat beneath their feet accelerated again.

Lan Yue swiftly grabbed her eldest senior brother's sleeve to keep herself from being flung off.

Although a flying boat belonging to someone of the sect master's caliber surely had protective measures, landing face-first on the deck wouldn't feel great either!

Huh? What's this in my hands?

Only then did Lan Yue realize she seemed to be holding something soft. She took a closer look and nearly lost her footing.

Holy shit, why am I holding the Fifth Elder's beard? Did I yank it off in my sleep?

Just imagining that scene nearly made Lan Yue suffocate.

Holy shit, holy shit! Is the Fifth Elder going to come charging after us? Can the sect master outrun him at this speed?

Lan Yue stared at the white beard in her hands, her heart pounding with terror.

"Junior sister, don't worry. Master saw how much you liked his beard, so he took it off and gave it to you," Li Bai explained beside her.

What had actually happened was that his junior sister had gripped the beard in her sleep and refused to let go. Left with no choice, his master had taken it off and put on another one.

But rather than tell her the truth, he had phrased it more tactfully, because the voice in his head sounded utterly terrified.

He was even afraid his junior sister would faint from fright.

Sure enough, his junior sister was still his frail junior sister. Her fanning the flames beside the fighting platform earlier must have been an anomaly. Perhaps she had simply been pushed too hard after failing to learn sword flight for three months.

"Junior sister, sword flight requires the right technique too. How about this? When I have time, I'll teach you..."

So he gave it to me? The Fifth Elder is way too nice! I remember the original novel saying his beard was a Supreme Spirit Artifact! Not only can it attack and defend, it can store things too. Compared with my Storage Bag, it's the difference between a shabby little shack and a luxury villa! Keep it, keep it!

Inside, she blossomed with delight like a little money-grubber, but on the surface she remained perfectly solemn.

At her eldest senior brother's offer to teach her sword flight, Lan Yue nodded repeatedly, feeling she could manage it after all!

But she hadn't forgotten about the Supreme Spirit Artifact.

"Eldest senior brother, isn't it a little inappropriate for me to take the Fifth Elder's beard?" She even furrowed her brows afterward, looking as though she had the Fifth Elder's interests at heart.

Li Bai: "..."

The sect master, who was eavesdropping beside them: "..."

If she hadn't been laughing so gleefully inside, both of them would have believed her.

"It wouldn't be right to keep refusing a gift from an elder either, so I'll keep it." Lan Yue tucked the beard into her Storage Bag with astonishing speed.

Even the Fifth Elder, following behind on his sword, twitched at the corners of his mouth, at a loss for words.

Fortunately, the rear mountains weren't far away, and they soon arrived.

Only now did Lan Yue realize they had actually come to the rear mountains.

Isn't this where the female lead is? Does that mean they're about to find her?

Lan Yue's inner voice finally mentioned the female lead's location, and everyone looked over anxiously.

The sect master had indeed gone there earlier, but embarrassingly enough, he had been completely unable to divine his own daughter's location or sense her bloodline.

That made sense. If he could easily sense his daughter's location, he would long since have known he had another daughter living out in the world. He wouldn't have needed anyone to remind him.

The North Ridge Sacred Son had probably used some method back then that prevented even him from sensing her easily.

Thus, Yun Chong had been forced to return with the elders.

Lan Yue had been sleeping so deeply that they hadn't even needed an excuse. They had simply whisked her away.

*No, that's not right either. The female lead's identity wasn't discovered until three years later. She was gravely injured and dying then, and only that allowed the sect master to discover their blood relationship. But by then, she'd already *** *

The last part of that inner voice was muted. Up ahead, the sect master almost wanted to seize Lan Yue on the spot and make her tell him the rest.

After all, this concerned his own daughter! His daughter had already suffered so terribly, and he hadn't been there to protect her. That alone filled him with regret, remorse, and heartache.

Those later events hadn't happened yet. They could absolutely be prevented! But every time they reached a crucial point, that immortal artifact automatically muted her words, leaving everyone grinding their teeth in frustration.

Yet neither the sect master nor the other elders dared force an answer out of her, for fear of scaring her away.

An immortal artifact had its own pride. Since it didn't want them to know, some sort of rule must be involved.

Most importantly, even if they wanted to force an answer out of it, they couldn't beat it!

Yun Chong had already tried when Lan Yue's inner voice first appeared. He had vomited blood on the spot and spent three whole months in secluded cultivation. Even now, he still hadn't fully recovered.

If even a sect master with such a high cultivation level had ended up like that, how could anyone else dare try? Even when eavesdropping with their spiritual sense, they stayed far away, each hiding more thoroughly than the last.

Forget it. Maybe I transmigrated into a fake version of the book, or into fanfiction? Anything's possible. Better not waste any more brain cells.

Besides, Lan Yue knew that a real world would surely differ from a novel.

Were the events in the novel in her mind necessarily things that had really happened? Not necessarily. Perhaps those memories were all false, planted in her head.

Just thinking about something like that made it more terrifying the longer she dwelled on it, enough to leave anyone trembling.

Fortunately, Lan Yue was easygoing. As long as there was juicy drama to watch, she could sit happily for an entire day without thinking about any of that.

In any case, since she was here, she might as well settle in. Before a minor cannon-fodder character like her was disposed of, she would make sure she enjoyed enough juicy drama to get her money's worth!

Yes, she was an insignificant cannon-fodder character in this cultivation novel. Apparently, her largest role was passing information to the Protagonist Group, only to be discovered afterward and killed on the spot.

At that thought, she sighed. Cultivating was risky these days, and getting close to the Protagonist Group as cannon fodder was risky too. Watching the drama from the sidelines was safest!

I'd better find the female lead. I wonder whether she's achieved qi induction yet. These desolate mountains are full of demonic beasts, and she still has to put up with bullying. My Nü E has it so rough!

At the very front, Yun Chong kept his brows furrowed. How old was this little girl, anyway? Calling her "Nü E" all day long—had she no shame?

That was his daughter. His own flesh and blood!

Found her! She's on Green Silk Mountain. That's one of the Southern Spirit Sect's most dangerous rear mountains. I wonder how the female lead was tricked into coming here. What do I do, what do I do? How can I get the sect master to go rescue her? Wouldn't it be too abrupt if I just said it outright?

Just as Lan Yue was worrying, Yun Chong turned directly toward Green Silk Mountain and flew over.

"I just detected demonic aura here. Go take a look first and see whether there's a Demon Abyss Rift."

Yun Chong offered his explanation with a perfectly straight face.

Demon Abyss Rifts were fissures created by invading power from the Demon Realm. If a rift wasn't discovered in time, it would rapidly expand.

Members of the Devil Race pouring out of the rift would ravenously devour the flesh and blood of living beings. Once the rift grew large enough, it would form a Demon Domain in the cultivation world.

There were already four great Demon Domains in the cultivation world, guarded in different directions by the leading sects of the Four Cultivation Regions.

The appearance of a new rift was a grave matter. It had to be reported promptly so elders from the leading sects of the four regions could be asked to come and seal it.

Although the Southern Spirit Sect was one of the leading sects of the four regions, they would never let their guard down, because this concerned the entire cultivation world.

With that explanation, Lan Yue suspected nothing. On the contrary, she thought it perfectly normal.

The female lead had first made a name for herself in the Southern Spirit Sect by discovering a Demon Abyss Rift. In any case, wherever the Protagonist Group appeared, there was never a shortage of rifts.

Sometimes, they could casually step on a stone and kick open a rift. It was downright absurd.