The next time Xiao Nanyuan came, the interval was longer than usual.
That afternoon, the courtyard gate was pushed open.
Xiao Nanyuan walked in, clutching two books: one was the leisure book she had borrowed last time, and the other was the breathing method manual with frayed edges.
She stopped in front of Bai Qingxue's desk.
Instead of leaving the books on the low table as usual, she stood there with her head bowed, holding the breathing method manual in both hands, lifting it to chest height and offering it forward.
The edges of the pages were curled, and the crease on the cover had deepened, as if it had been repeatedly opened and closed, opened and closed.
Bai Qingxue looked up and noticed faint dark circles under Xiao Nanyuan's eyes; she likely hadn't been sleeping well lately.
Bai Qingxue took the manual and leafed through it. The corners of the pages were even more curled, with several pages showing signs of being read repeatedly.
Xiao Nanyuan did not leave. She stood in place, her fingers twisting her sleeves, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something.
“Immortal Sister... I’ve read your book.”
Her voice was very small, as if squeezed from her throat.
Then she added, “I read it every night.”
Bai Qingxue remained silent.
Xiao Nanyuan waited for a moment, lowered her eyes, and turned to tip-toe and pull a new leisure book from the shelf, clutching it to her chest.
At the door, she stopped and looked back at the manual on the desk.
After a moment of hesitation, she walked back and stood before the desk with her head bowed.
“Um...” Her voice was slightly louder than before, but still very soft. “There are some parts... I don’t quite understand.”
Her earlobes turned red, and her eyelashes fluttered as if she felt she shouldn't have said that.
Bai Qingxue looked at her.
The thin, small girl stood very straight, her skirt trailing on the ground and her sleeves rolled up twice.
She stood there like someone summoning all her courage, waiting to be seen.
“Mm,” Bai Qingxue replied simply.
Hearing the response, Xiao Nanyuan’s eyes lit up. She whispered, “Then I... I’ll come back and ask next time.”
With that, she turned and ran out of the courtyard.
Her steps were much lighter than when she arrived, her skirt fluttering like a little bird finally daring to spread its wings.
Perhaps at this moment, Xiao Nanyuan finally showed some of the spirit a normal child should have.
Bai Qingxue watched her disappear through the doorway.
After a moment's thought, she pulled another foundational text, 《Introduction to Qi Sensation》, from her storage bag and placed it where the breathing method manual had been.
Naturally, Xiao Nanyuan noticed the new book upon her return.
She stood at the desk, staring at it for a long time before picking it up and clutching it to her chest.
Then she turned and bowed slightly toward Bai Qingxue.
“Thank you, Immortal Sister,” Xiao Nanyuan said shyly.
From then on, two books consistently appeared on the stack.
One was a leisure book Xiao Nanyuan chose for herself, and the other was a foundational text Bai Qingxue had retrieved from her storage bag.
Every time she came, Xiao Nanyuan would return the cultivation text from the previous visit, place it on the desk, and take the new one.
The leisure books were borrowed and returned as usual.
Xiao Nanyuan never volunteered information on her progress, and Bai Qingxue never asked.
However, Bai Qingxue would occasionally cast an extra glance at her.
Now, an extremely faint sense of spiritual power was present within Xiao Nanyuan’s body.
For someone without a spiritual root, this was an exceptionally rare achievement.
Bai Qingxue withdrew her spiritual sense and said nothing.
On another afternoon, Bai Qingxue was brewing tea in the courtyard.
A leaf from the old locust tree fell into the tea. She gently flicked it away with the lid and took a sip.
Familiar footsteps approached from outside the courtyard.
Bai Qingxue set down her cup, picked up the teapot, and poured another cup. She placed it at the corner of the table and pushed it gently toward the opposite side.
She didn't say who it was for, but the cup stopped there.
Xiao Nanyuan walked in, clutching two books.
She reached the table and set the books down. Just as she was about to turn away, she looked down and saw the cup of tea at the corner.
Steam rose from the tea, and a thin mist condensed on the sides of the cup.
Xiao Nanyuan stood there, staring at the cup as if confirming something.
Bai Qingxue didn't look at her, simply picking up her own cup and taking another sip.
After waiting a moment, Xiao Nanyuan walked over, sat on the stone bench, and cupped the tea with both hands.
As she lifted it, her fingers touched the side and felt the heat. Her knuckles twitched slightly, but she did not put it down.
With her head bowed, she looked at the tea, her own face reflected in the water’s surface.
Xiao Nanyuan took a sip.
It really was hot!
She pulled back her neck and squinted her eyes like a cat that had been scalded.
But she didn't put the cup down; instead, she continued to sip it slowly.
After a few sips, she suddenly stopped, holding the cup and whispering, “...It’s good.”
She finished the tea, leaving a few dregs at the bottom. She looked at them, then gently placed the cup back at the corner of the table, rim up.
Then she stood up, went to the bookshelf, and took both the cultivation text and the leisure book to a chair in the corner. She sat down, opened the book, and began to read.
Bai Qingxue put away the teapot, entered the study, and sat at the desk to leaf through the old archives.
The study grew quiet, filled only with the soft sound of turning pages.
From then on, every time Xiao Nanyuan came, Bai Qingxue would pour an extra cup of tea.
It wasn't prepared in advance; Bai Qingxue would simply pick up the teapot and pour another cup when she saw Xiao Nanyuan arrive. That was all.
Xiao Nanyuan had been scalded the first time she drank it, but never again.
She knew the Immortal Sister only poured it after seeing her arrive. By the time she picked up the cup, it was no longer too hot.
But Xiao Nanyuan did not point it out.
The days passed one by one.
Her visits became more frequent, sometimes every other day, sometimes two days in a row.
She no longer just sat in the corner reading.
When returning books, she would linger by Bai Qingxue’s desk a little longer.
One day, she stood at the desk holding 《Introduction to Qi Sensation》, her fingers rubbing the cover.
“Immortal Sister,” she called out.
Bai Qingxue did not look up.
“Um... what does ‘circulating qi through cycles’ mean? I’ve read it many times, but I still don’t quite understand.” After speaking, she lowered her eyes, her earlobes turning red.
Bai Qingxue glanced at her, set down the bamboo slips, and reached out her hand.
Xiao Nanyuan was startled. Before she could react, Bai Qingxue had grasped her wrist.
It was so cold.
That was Xiao Nanyuan’s first thought.
Bai Qingxue’s hand was as cold as jade soaked in well water in winter. The chill crawled up from her wrist bone.
She instinctively wanted to pull away but didn't move.
Though the hand was cold, it was very light, as if afraid of crushing something.
A thread of extremely fine spiritual power probed into her pulse gate, traveling up her arm and gently touching the dormant qi seed at her heart.
The qi seed seemed to be nudged awake, trembling slightly before slowly rotating once.
Xiao Nanyuan’s eyes widened.
She felt something move inside her body—something very light, like a leaf falling onto the water, sending out a ripple.
She looked down at her chest, then up at Bai Qingxue. Her lips parted as if to say something, but she was afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Bai Qingxue released her hand and withdrew the spiritual power.
“Did you feel it?”
Xiao Nanyuan nodded vigorously, then lowered her head and pressed her hand against her heart, as if confirming the thing was still there.
“...Yes.” Her voice was small, with a hint of a nasal tone.
Bai Qingxue said no more. She picked up the bamboo slips and continued reading.
Xiao Nanyuan stood there, her hand still over her heart. For some reason, she suddenly felt her heart beating very fast...
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