“It’s nothing; we’re friends.”
Wen Xuan slapped him on the back. “Jiang Yao, I never realized you were so sentimental.”
“How can a Xiaoyao cultivator be so weepy? Stand tall and be strong.”
“Let me tell you, both my parents died when I was two, and I was sent to live with my uncle and aunt.”
“It was fine at first, but when they had my cousin when I was three, I became a maid. I went hungry three times a day, slept in a pigsty, and got beaten every other day.”
She spoke with a carefree smile. “No matter how much they hit or scolded me, I never shed a single tear.”
“Back then, I just thought that I had to be strong.”
“I knew that once I grew up and gained the ability to survive on my own, I could escape that place and start a new life.”
“Thinking that way turned my experiences from being abused into enduring humiliation for a greater goal, like sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall.”
“Ahem, of course, I didn't know those idioms back then, but that was the gist of it.”
Jiang Yao’s back gradually straightened.
He was a youth who usually charged straight ahead; only his parents' deaths remained his greatest mental barrier.
Suddenly, four people had gently unraveled that knot in his heart.
They told him they had a way, they would help him, and they could solve it.
Jiang Yao felt a massive impact in his heart, and for a moment, his emotions were difficult to restrain.
Wen Xuan’s words freed his heart from the churning bitterness, making it light and then, slowly, strong once more.
Then, he heard more of Wen Xuan’s experiences.
He faintly recalled the first time he saw Wen Xuan on the flying boat after coming out of the Path to Immortality.
Back then, she was thin and small—so small that he couldn't even tell they were the same age.
Her clothes were faded but very clean, covered in several patches.
Her sleeves and pant legs were much too short, revealing forearms and calves covered in dense, purplish-blue scars.
They weren't close back then. He had only glanced at her once before looking away, forcing himself to ignore it.
He didn't want his gaze to hurt her, nor did he want the memory of it to cause any awkwardness that might wound her pride while they interacted.
With a firm subconscious, the complex emotions of just having escaped the mortal realm, and his anticipation for Xiaoyao, he had indeed managed to ignore it as he wished.
He only remembered her ramrod-straight back, her determined eyes, and her confident smile.
That was her respect for herself and her trust in herself.
He had been deeply shaken by such a will even then.
Now, he was once again moved by her resilience.
He finally understood where those scars had come from.
“Then... do you hate them?”
Hearing Jiang Yao’s question, Wen Xuan rubbed her chin and pondered for a moment.
“Family ties are actually very complicated.”
“To be honest, I’ve actually always been grateful—grateful that my uncle and aunt took me in.”
“If they hadn't, a two-year-old like me would have starved or frozen to death in some corner, been kidnapped by human traffickers, or been eaten by wild beasts.”
“The fact is that they took me in, gave me a place of shelter, and gave me a chance to live.”
“It is also a fact that they abused me, made me sleep in a pigsty, treated me like a maid, beat me, and insulted me.”
“At first, I didn't know how to face it.”
“In that kind of environment, I didn't have the luxury to think about it. Just trying to get beaten less and working hard enough so they wouldn't take away my steamed corn buns took up all my energy.”
Wen Xuan gave a relaxed smile.
“Later, I heard from a neighbor that Xiaoyao would be recruiting disciples in nearby Yushui City.”
“I passed the trial and stood on the flying boat, watching Yushui City and the little village where I had lived for over six years rapidly recede.”
“It turned into a tiny dot until I could no longer see it at all.”
“I suddenly realized that this departure was a final farewell.”
“No matter how complex my emotions were, they all vanished at that moment.”
“I let it go.”
“This separation was the divide between immortals and mortals.”
“A mortal’s brief life of several decades is nothing more than a few meditation sessions or a few periods of secluded cultivation to a cultivator.”
“After today, I’ll just let everything in the past stay in the past.”
“Without me, my uncle and aunt have one less mouth to feed.”
“I entered Xiaoyao, said a complete goodbye to the past, and welcomed a brand-new life.”
Listening to Wen Xuan’s unhurried words and seeing the relaxed smile that never left her face...
At this moment, Gu Ningyun suddenly realized how open-minded and free-spirited her little companion was.
She suddenly remembered a noon three years ago when they were sitting in the Qixia Peak dining hall eating.
“Wen Xuan, back then you said you wanted to refine your body until you were covered in muscles. Was it because of those experiences?”
Because she was young and powerless, suffering all kinds of bullying, she wanted strong muscles to protect herself.
“Yeah.”
“But after more than three years of cultivation, I’m actually more satisfied with my current state. If my muscles were too bulky, I wouldn't be as flexible when bashing people with my mace.”
As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeve, clenched her fist, and flexed her arm. “Ningyun, look at my muscles. Pretty powerful, right?”
Jiang Yao, Mu Chenze, and Jun Luo quickly looked away and turned their backs. Jun Luo even knocked over his teacup because he moved too fast.
Jiang Yao coughed lightly. “Wen Xuan, there are boundaries between men and women. Mind yourself.”
Wen Xuan looked Jiang Yao up and down. “Hmph, little brat. You’re not even as strong as me.”
Jiang Yao’s ears turned beet red instantly.
He grit his teeth. “Considering you shared your own trauma just to comfort me, I won't argue with you.”
Whether he could win or not would only be known after a spar!
Wen Xuan gave him a massive eye-roll, too lazy to deal with him.
Gu Ningyun laughed and squeezed Wen Xuan’s sleek, firm, and powerful arm.
“You’ve trained well. When we get back to the sect, let’s go to the library and find a close-combat technique. We can spar after we learn it.”
“That’s an excellent idea.”
Speaking of learning close-combat techniques, Wen Xuan was immediately interested.
She pulled down her sleeve, jumped off the stool, and threw two punches into the air.
“When the time comes, I’ll punch Jiang Yao on the left and hammer Jiang Yao on the right.”
Jiang Yao: “...”
...
A seagull skimmed over the water, snatched a herring, and flew away with the air currents generated by the spirit boat.
The spray from the herring’s struggle splashed against the cabin window.
The four companions had just left the door and returned to their respective cabins.
Gu Ningyun leaned against the desk by the window, pondering how to deal with Gu Lianxue.
When she was checking Mr. Fenghua’s travelogue earlier, she had seen a comment from Mr. Xueyue in the comment section.
On Mr. Xueyue’s profile, the top post on the World Forum read:
【Welcome, fellow Daoists, to submit your inspired ideas. The more dog-blood and bizarre the idea, the higher the reward.】
Gu Ningyun used her alt account to scroll through and saw that the forum message was still there.
She directly opened the private message on her alt account and sent a message to herself.
Title: 《After My Spirit Root Was Swapped, I Started a Harem in the Cultivation World》
Female Lead: Gu Lianxue (Progeny disciple of Taiyue Peak, nineteen years old)
Rate on N.U.
