Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Zhu Yin said to Barbara, “Your World-Hopping Bureau is truly insidious.”
A visible question mark appeared above the pink kitten’s head.
Zhu Yin continued, “Even missions that look easy hide little schemes.”
It had been a very, very long time since she last needed to “make an effort” or “think” to complete a mission.
Now she sat beneath a tree, counting patches of sunlight filtering through green leaves onto the ground, and considered how to end this mission five years from now without hurting the two children so deeply.
Raising children really was troublesome.
The two soon discovered that Master was leaving home more often.
There was nothing unusual about Zhu Yin going out in this household.
Her departures followed no pattern. Sometimes she went out again after three or five days, sometimes after ten days or half a month, and sometimes a month or two would pass before she made a longer journey.
Whenever she returned, she brought back “local specialties” purchased at the market.
Before the age of seven, the senior brother and junior sister had sincerely believed that Nandu truly possessed an all-powerful “market” where anything could be found.
Then they personally explored every corner and every market in Nandu.
…Master really had been lying to children for fun.
In the past, Zhu Yin always went out alone, leaving Heipao and Heiwu at home to care for her disciples.
Now she took both servants with her as well.
Her explanation to her disciples was, “You have grown up. Surely you can take care of yourselves?”
The declaration that “you have grown up” filled the senior brother and junior sister with a magnificent sense of purpose. They immediately straightened their backs. “Of course!”
Zhu Yin then left without concern, taking the others with her.
She was not simply careless. She knew exactly how far the children had progressed in cultivation. Ordinary people could not bully them at all.
Moreover, Nandu had remained peaceful for so many years. Mortals, mixed-bloods, and cultivators coexisted not because everyone in Nandu was naturally kind, but because the city lord’s manor kept them under control.
They cared little about what happened outside the walls, but no one was permitted to take a life within the city.
Besides, the children had the outside instructor they had acquired almost by accident.
Zhu Yin left entirely free of worry.
This journey lasted nearly a month.
The children’s excitement over “no adults at home” lasted only five days before returning to an empty courtyard began to feel strange.
Every day, they began longing to go home, hoping that when they arrived, they would see their familiar master waiting.
The sword cultivator noticed their distraction.
When he asked, the two answered obediently, “Master went away. I miss her a little.”
The sword cultivator did not understand this attachment, but it was hardly the only thing about the household he failed to understand.
Then the senior brother and junior sister rushed home in excitement again and again, only to find the house empty every time.
After five more days, they began staying behind to practice, unwilling to return to the empty residence.
The two ten-year-olds were facing such a long separation for the first time.
They moved back into Zhu Yin’s house. Their old rooms remained, with clean, fluffy bedding and every object in place, as though they had never moved out.
A month later, Zhu Yin returned home with a wealth of gains.
She promptly acquired two little shadows who clung to her wherever she went.
The month-long journey seemed to have left them uneasy. Zhu Yin brought out the month’s harvest and gifts one by one, but none distracted even the slightest bit of their attention from her.
That night, the two sat around Zhu Yin and talked without end. Only very late did she drive them off to rest.
Barbara could hardly bear it. “They seem frightened.”
Zhu Yin had found them in swaddling clothes and raised them little by little. Barbara had also watched both children grow to this age.
“They are only ten.” The emotional system felt miserable. “Why not let them live happily for the five years that remain?”
Zhu Yin saw it differently. “If they become accustomed to this early and learn independence sooner, they will not be as heartbroken later.”
“One day, they must understand that Master cannot always stay with them.”
.
The next morning, the children woke in the rooms where they had slept since infancy. Only when a familiar fragrance reached them did they remember: Hooray! Master was home!
After leaving for so long the first time, Zhu Yin remained home for two full months. She patiently soothed the unease in both disciples’ hearts and filled a storage ring for each with treasures.
Just when the children assumed Master would not travel again for a long time, she announced one day that she had business and must leave Nandu.
The children asked warily: how long would she be gone this time?
Zhu Yin smiled and said it was hard to tell. Perhaps more than half a month, perhaps longer.
“You are both big children capable of handling things yourselves. Surely you will not be afraid at home alone?” Zhu Yin looked at them with a smile and deliberately added, “How about I leave Uncle Heipao, Uncle Heiwu, and Barbara at home to keep you company?”
Her words practically mocked them as unweaned babies!
No young adolescent could endure such provocation.
Although they faintly sensed that the adult was manipulating them, they still walked tearfully into the trap and declared that they were not afraid at all. Master could leave without worry.
Zhu Yin truly did wave her sleeve at them with carefree grace and drift away.
They spent most of the remaining five years this way.
Yun Lie and Yun Xi went from resisting every separation to becoming thoroughly accustomed to Master’s occasional disappearances and her return some time later with all kinds of rare and peculiar things.
“After the New Year, you will be fifteen.” Zhu Yin looked at the two disciples, who had already grown as tall as she was.
Both possessed exceptional constitutions, began cultivating early, and had never lacked spirit materials and treasures that nourished their bodies and energy for more than a decade. They had grown remarkably well.
At fifteen, they were beginning to look like adults.
Zhu Yin had found them on a spring day, so that date became the birthday of the senior brother and junior sister.
When they were ten, Zhu Yin told them about their origins.
Naturally, what she told them was not their true identities. She only told them the year and place where she had found them.
Following the plot, she also gave them everything that had been found with them at the time, including the two tiny swaddling blankets.
“If fate allows, perhaps you can find your blood relatives.”
Neither child felt the slightest curiosity or concern about blood relatives.
In their hearts, the residence in Nandu was their home and their root. Master was their closest family.
Their lives had never been inferior to those of children from happy families with both parents. In fact, other children had envied them throughout their lives.
Having already possessed the very best, why would they yearn for some vague, intangible bond of blood?
Zhu Yin and her two disciples, two ghost servants who did not count as people, and one pink cat celebrated an ordinary, warm New Year together.
After the holiday, a piece of news set all Nandu ablaze.
The great immortal sects of the Eastern Continent were selecting new disciples. Any mortal who yearned to seek immortality could attend the entrance examinations.