Chapter 15

“…Le Yao Shijie, did I cause trouble for everyone?”

Sitting on the veranda, Peng Peng hugged a straw stand filled with sugar-coated haws and suddenly realized something.

The news of Everlasting Life Sect disciples escorting Peng Peng back quickly spread throughout the Ninefold Mountain Moon Sect.

At first, everyone was puzzled. But when they saw Peng Peng obediently shake her Mustard Seed Pouch, dumping out a small mountain of trash, they finally understood—

No wonder the medical cultivators from Everlasting Life Sect not only personally brought her back but also emphasized that if any disciples from Ninefold Mountain Moon Sect had minor ailments in the future, they should feel free to seek treatment at Everlasting Life Sect—free of charge.

They must have mistaken their little junior sister for someone who didn’t know where her next meal was coming from.

Le Yao wrapped an arm around the little girl’s shoulders and patted her reassuringly, laughing it off:

“What trouble? Don’t overthink it. Our sect hasn’t been the butt of jokes for just one day. Going fifty years without recruiting a single proper disciple is way more embarrassing than this, don’t you think? And have you ever seen our sect leader or the two elders feel ashamed about it?”

A senior brother nearby also comforted her:

“It’s no big deal, don’t dwell on it. Besides, after your little stunt, we might even get some sympathy points when we snatch elixirs from Everlasting Life Sect in the future.”

Another senior brother’s eyes widened: “Damn, you’re a genius! Why didn’t I think of that?”

“He’s right! The one who made the offer today was Everlasting Life Sect’s head disciple—definitely not just being polite. Since our sect has thick skin anyway, why not go full beggar mode from now on? Whether you’re a rich cultivator or a poor one, the real badass is whoever gets their hands on Everlasting Life Sect’s premium elixirs first!”

This declaration was met with enthusiastic agreement, and everyone began brainstorming how to perfect their “beggar strategy.”

Watching these senior brothers and sisters who didn’t blame her at all, Peng Peng took a bite of the sugar-coated haw Yue Wujiu had bought for her.

She remembered back when she was still with the Gongyi family—whenever Gongyi Lang made a mistake, his mother and sisters would shield him like protective hens, preventing him from facing their father’s punishment.

Peeking through the door crack back then, she’d thought sourly to herself: What a spineless coward. If it were her making mistakes, she’d stand tall and unflinching even if beaten, never needing anyone’s protection.

But now, having tasted this protective warmth herself, she realized—being Gongyi Lang actually felt pretty great.

So Peng Peng imitated how Gongyi Lang would coax his mother and sisters, waving at her senior sister:

“Shijie shijie, come here for a second.”

Without suspicion, Le Yao leaned closer.

Mwah!

A sticky, haw-scented kiss landed on her cheek.

Then, like stamping seals, Peng Peng proceeded to plant kisses on every senior sister present, handing each a sugar-coated haw as well.

The flustered senior sisters: “…Little junior sister, what’s this about?”

“Because you’re all so pretty—I suddenly wanted to stick close.” Peng Peng said with utter sincerity.

The senior sisters clutched their hearts in awe.

Their usually eccentric little junior sister, adorable as she was, suddenly acting sweet? The cuteness factor just doubled!

“Shixiong shixiong, you come here too.”

The senior brothers happily gathered around, pretending nonchalance:

“Ah, Junior Sister Peng Peng is still young, so it’s fine… but when you’re older, you can’t just randomly kiss—”

Before they could finish, Peng Peng stretched out her tiny arms, pulling two senior brothers into a shoulder hug each, patting them with heroic gusto.

“Good brothers, I’ll remember you!”

Senior brothers: …Well… if you say so.

However, Peng Peng suddenly realized that her trash-collecting mission could have been perfectly executed without leaving a trace.

The only reason she got caught was all because of that villain who tied up A Xue and chopped Qiuqiu!

Peng Peng viciously took another bite of her candied hawthorn and pulled out the disciple registry she’d scavenged from the Everlasting Life Sect, intending to use it as a death note where writing names would kill people.

“…Gu Xue Daojun?”

Le Yao noticed the crookedly written name in the notebook and asked in surprise:

“Junior Sister Peng Peng, where did you hear about him?”

Peng Peng shared the gossip she’d heard at the Everlasting Life Sect with Le Yao.

Gossip is human nature, especially when it’s about the lofty Ruthless Dao Lord.

Le Yao and the other senior sisters immediately perked up, huddling together:

“Their gossip at the Everlasting Life Sect is so outdated. What fiancée? That’s ancient history.”

“Gu Xue Daojun comes from the Wei Sheng family of the Four Great Cultivation Families. Noble families have strict traditions, favoring intra-family marriages and alliances. His fiancée was the eldest daughter of the Huai Yi family. Their engagement was arranged by elders since childhood, and Gu Xue Daojun never objected before. But after his disciple disappeared, the engagement was called off.”

“Rumor has it… and this is just hearsay… but rumor has it that his disciple’s disappearance was related to his fiancée. That’s why Gu Xue Daojun showed no mercy and personally wrecked his own engagement banquet.”

“Abandoning his fiancée just because his disciple disappeared… doesn’t that sound a bit strange?”

“So, that rumor might be…”

With Peng Peng present, the senior sisters didn’t spell it out, but a shared glance conveyed their understanding.

“Senior sisters,” Peng Peng suddenly spoke up, “what’s ‘improper master-disciple relations’?”

The senior sisters, hastily covering their mouths: !!!

The little girl’s big, curious eyes sparkled with insatiable curiosity.

At her age, pretending not to hear wouldn’t work. After struggling for words, Le Yao finally managed:

“Well… it means… a master and disciple can’t sleep in the same bed. Sharing a bed goes against the natural order, understand?”

Peng Peng nodded vaguely.

By the time Yue Wujiu and Ji Shu returned, Peng Peng—who had been snacking on candied hawthorns while listening to her seniors’ chatter—was already on her tenth stick.

Just as Ji Shu was about to snatch the skewer holder from her, Peng Peng fixed her gaze intently on him and Yue Wujiu.

Master.  

Disciple.  

Sleeping in the same bed.

Glancing at the wide platform in their thatched hut—large enough to fit three big tables—Peng Peng turned to them with utmost seriousness:

“Master, Senior Sister, from now on, I’m sleeping next to you too!”

Ji Shu thought she might have a few screws loose—who chooses the floor over a perfectly good bed?

Yue Wujiu: “Why?”

“You two sleeping alone together is *highly* against the natural order!” Peng Peng planted herself between them, grabbing one hand each. “But I won’t break you up—I’m here to join you!”

“…”

“…”

“Oh, and A Xue and Qiuqiu too! We’ll all join you!”

In her heart, Peng Peng silently added Ye Qi. Even though he had no physical form, no one could be left out of this family.

Hmm… Ye Qi…

!!!

Where was her big third brother?!

Yue Wujiu glanced at Ji Shu, and their eyes met as both guessed each other’s thoughts.

Ji Shu: “Master, once we have money, we should fix the house first.”

Yue Wujiu: “Agreed.”

When Peng Peng dragged Ji Shu to the Everlasting Life Sect’s garbage dump to retrieve Ye Qi, she was certain he had really been crying.

Of course, Ye Qi himself would rather die than admit it.

[How could I possibly cry?! I was cursing you! You promised to protect me, then just tossed the ring aside and went off to feast—do you have any idea how many rats and bugs are in this dump?!]

If it weren’t daytime, Ye Qi would have loved to drag this brat into his consciousness and give her a thorough beating.

Though he’d only been abandoned for one night, it inevitably reminded him of those days when he wandered destitute, with no one even to talk to.

At first, he had calmly waited for Peng Peng to come find him. But as time passed with no way to contact her, Ye Qi began to feel fear.

Back when he was Lord of the Nether Capital, leading the Ten Thousand Demons in battle against the Western Wilderness Fiends, he had never known fear. Yet now, he never imagined he’d one day be afraid a five-year-old girl wouldn’t come take him home.

What angered him even more was that when that little girl came stumbling through the garbage heap searching for him, he genuinely felt an indescribable, redemptive emotion.

…Ye Qi was furious at his own helplessness.

Peng Peng ducked her head, letting him rant. As the Boss, she had to be magnanimous—if her underling wanted to complain a bit, so be it!

In the courtyard, Yue Wujiu was crafting a puppet.

He made no effort to hide the process—after all, if puppets could be learned just by watching, the Kunlun Ruins wouldn’t have gone so many years without producing new models.

[Your master… is truly impressive.]

Ye Qi was quickly captivated by the half-finished puppet in Yue Wujiu’s hands.

[Such intricate joints and complex internal mechanisms—and he’s not working from existing blueprints but designing as he goes, sketching while he builds.]

Though from the Nether Capital, Ye Qi had witnessed the prowess of Cultivation world puppets five centuries ago.

The saying “scattering beans to form an army, one man like a thousand troops” referred precisely to the Eternal Sword Emperor of that era. This young cultivator, renowned for his peerless swordsmanship, was equally famous for his puppet arts.

During the Cultivation world’s internal upheavals back then, when grassroots cultivators rose to challenge the entrenched cultivation families, their main force had been an army of puppets.

At that time, the Nether Capital and Cultivation world maintained separate spheres, but even from afar, Ye Qi had marveled at the puppets’ sophistication.

For someone to craft such formidable puppets so effortlessly—just what was his background?

“Ah, finished.”

Yue Wujiu set down his tools as a fully formed puppet stood before them.

Ye Qi immediately scrutinized it intently. Would this puppet be for defensive formations, combat training for cultivators, or perhaps capable of taking on a hundred foes alone…

Peng Peng gasped in awe:

“Is this the legendary fully automatic Pai Gow puppet?!”

Ye Qi: !? What nonsense is this???

Yue Wujiu elegantly sipped his tea, a hint of pride in his expression:

“With this automaton, we can greatly save time on shuffling and dealing cards, allowing people to play more rounds within a limited time. Moreover, it can participate as a thinking player in the game, engaging in deep learning from each round. The more games it plays, the higher its skill level will become. Given enough time, ordinary people will find it nearly impossible to defeat.”

Peng Peng didn’t quite understand but was thoroughly impressed, clapping enthusiastically.

Fortunately, there was still one normal person present besides Ye Qi. Ji Shu looked at the imposing automaton, unable to believe Yue Wujiu had created it for such a purpose.

“While it seems like it could sell, why not make the kind of automatons that can be used by cultivators? Wouldn’t those be more profitable?”

Yue Wujiu calmly replied:

“Because we don’t have enough money.”

Yue Wujiu did the math. They currently only had one hundred thousand spirit stones as capital. If used to make five automatons, they could earn a decent profit.

But if they used those hundred thousand spirit stones to buy more materials and create some unique automatons not available on the market, they could set more flexible prices, produce more units, and even accept custom orders. Wouldn’t that be more profitable than selling high-level automatons already monopolized by the Kunlun Ruins?

Both Ji Shu and Ye Qi fell silent after hearing this.

They recalled their lazy master who used to sleep seven hours a day when they first met.

Then they looked at the man before them, meticulously calculating every penny to earn money to support his disciples.

Children truly can change a person beyond recognition.

“Immortal Yue need not live so frugally.”

Everyone turned toward the voice. A figure in white robes descended from the main peak where Headmaster Tang Fang resided, arriving via sword control. His imposing aura and frost-cold eyes, like the winter snow of December, made people shrink back at the sight.

It was none other than Gu Xue Daojun, whom they had met at the Everlasting Life Sect that day.

He looked at Yue Wujiu in the courtyard and spoke with reverence:

“If Immortal Yue is willing to return to the world, I am prepared to offer a price thirty percent above market value to commission you to create high-level automatons for our Celestial Pivot Sect.”

Peng Peng naturally remembered this man, who was written in her little black book. She sneakily sidled up to Yue Wujiu and whispered:

“It’s him! He tied up A Xue and turned Qiuqiu into a bald chick!”

Yue Wujiu met Gu Xue Daojun’s gaze for a moment before asking:

“No reward without merit. Does Gu Xue Daojun have any specific requests?”

Expecting demands related to automatons, they were surprised when he instead said:

“My disciple went missing several months ago. I’ve recently received some news suggesting they are hiding within your sect. As an outsider, it would be improper for me to conduct a large-scale search. I hope Immortal Yue can lend a hand in finding… my beloved disciple.”