Seven years ago, Yu Qingtang was twelve.
He had only just entered the Qi Refining stage, and the most he could manage on the guqin was a clean gong-shang-jue-zhi-yu scale. He was not even qualified to help chase chickens around the sect.
It was also that year that the once-a-decade Immortal Sects’ Women’s Extraordinary Arts Competition was held, and an invitation was delivered to Biehe Sect.
Sadly, they would probably have to miss it with tears in their eyes.
After all, Yu Qingtang remembered that this competition had a plot point attached to it.
At the time, the still-young Long Aotian would chase his spirit beast, a snow ferret, and accidentally stumble into the competition grounds. Because he was young and adorably childish-looking, he would be surrounded by countless female cultivators who pinched his cheeks and rubbed his face. He would also meet the little holy maiden of the Esoteric Sect, who was traveling in disguise, and the two would lock eyes for what felt like ten thousand years.
Obviously, this particular plot point had nothing whatsoever to do with Biehe Sect.
Besides, Yu Qingtang had joined the excitement and glanced at the invitation. It required each sect to send four to eight female cultivators.
Unfortunately, Biehe Sect had exactly three female cultivators from top to bottom.
The sect master of Biehe Sect, Daoist Idle Crane, wiped at tears that did not exist with profound insincerity and patted Eldest Senior Sister on the shoulder.
“Good disciple, don’t be sad. Next year. Master will definitely find a way to abduct—ah, no, find you a little junior sister next year.”
Yu Qingtang followed along and nodded with fake sorrow.
Yue Huanian sat outside the sect’s main hall with her legs braced, her expression resolute. An unyielding light flashed through her eyes. She clenched her fist and shook her head hard.
“...No. We can’t just let it go like this.”
A sudden sense of foreboding rose in Yu Qingtang’s heart.
Yue Huanian turned her head and looked at Yu Qingtang, who was standing nearby. Her gaze swept over him from top to bottom, and then she revealed a smile so kind it was terrifying.
She sweetened her voice and called, “Little Junior Brother~”
Yu Qingtang blinked, then wisely retreated two steps and hid behind Daoist Idle Crane. Clutching his sleeve, he exposed only a pair of eyes.
“Eldest Senior Sister, please stop smiling. I’m scared.”
“What are you saying, Little Junior Brother? Hehe. Come have some candy.”
Yue Huanian’s smile grew even brighter. She kindly took out a piece of candy and offered it to him.
Yu Qingtang dodged while shaking his head, and the two of them staged an entire chase routine around Daoist Idle Crane.
Yu Qingtang ducked left and right, clinging to Daoist Idle Crane and refusing to let go.
“No matter how nice you are to me now, I can’t suddenly turn into a little junior sister!”
“Hmph.” Yue Huanian raised an eyebrow, her smile full of certainty. “That remains to be seen.”
She lifted her hand and stuffed the candy into Daoist Idle Crane’s mouth.
Daoist Idle Crane immediately abandoned all loyalty, let go of Yu Qingtang, and watched with a beaming smile as Eldest Senior Sister dragged him away.
...
Ten days later, four female cultivators of Biehe Sect arrived before Ten Thousand Immortals Pavilion.
Eldest Senior Sister Yue Huanian.
Second Senior Sister Shi Miaomiao.
Sixteenth Senior Sister Qu Mingqin.
And...
Little Junior Sister Yu Qingtang.
Yu Qingtang wore an airy pale-yellow skirted robe that practically floated with immortal charm. His face was blank as he stiffly shuffled one step forward, nearly stepping on the trailing sash in front of him and pitching face-first onto the ground.
Yue Huanian grabbed him by the back of the neck. After confirming with two dainty laughs that no one was paying attention, she directly carried the dead-inside Yu Qingtang toward the entrance.
On the surface, she looked perfectly calm.
In reality, her heart was pounding.
Only after arriving had they learned that Ten Thousand Immortals Pavilion, in order to prevent ill-intentioned male cultivators from sneaking into the venue, had placed a spiritual artifact at the entrance.
It was the glowing stone in front of the pavilion gate. Yu Qingtang overheard someone call it the All-Things Mirror. From what he could tell, it was basically a security scanner for the cultivation world.
Aside from identifying male cultivators, it could also detect whether people were carrying anything dangerous.
Yu Qingtang was extremely nervous.
The senior sisters beside him were even more nervous.
The four of them squeezed together in a tight cluster, attempting to sandwich Yu Qingtang in the middle and smuggle him through.
Yu Qingtang’s face was being squashed out of shape. His gaze drifted emptily ahead.
“Is this really going to work?”
If such a primitive method could fool it, that spiritual artifact would be losing a lot of face.
“How will we know if we don’t try?” Yue Huanian lowered her voice and patted his shoulder soothingly. “Tang, apparently this thing can see the soul. Names are bound to the soul too, so you can’t even use a fake name...”
Yu Qingtang closed his eyes.
In other words, he had to suffer this humiliation under his real name.
Second Senior Sister Shi Miaomiao had already started trembling uncontrollably. She asked in a shaky voice, “Then is it possible... that his soul can tell whether he’s male or female?”
Yue Huanian fell silent.
She gently rubbed Yu Qingtang’s head and made up her mind, wearing the expression of someone prepared to share life and death.
“If we really get exposed... Senior Sister will hug their legs and cry with you!”
Yu Qingtang: “...Do we really have to go in?”
Sixteenth Senior Sister Qu Mingqin, who had always been quiet, slowly comforted him. “It’s fine. I investigated. In the past, the male cultivators who tried to sneak in weren’t beaten to death.”
Yu Qingtang let out a breath of relief.
Only then did Qu Mingqin finish the second half of her sentence.
“At most, they had one leg broken.”
Yu Qingtang: “!”
Eldest Senior Sister even asked, “Which leg?”
Qu Mingqin answered unhurriedly, “The man’s leg.”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
Heaven! Wants! Me! Dead!
He wanted to flee, but he could not. His senior sisters carried him forward in terror, and the four of them rushed past the All-Things Mirror in a blur of wind, trying to slip inside before it could react.
Light shimmered across the All-Things Mirror.
It did not react to them at all.
Even after entering the gate, the four of them had not quite processed what had happened. They looked at one another, as if they themselves could not believe it.
Yue Huanian bumped them with her shoulder. “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go in!”
She had only just taken a step when a voice rang out behind them.
“Stop right there.”
Yu Qingtang’s knees went weak. He nearly dropped straight to the ground, but his senior sisters forcibly hauled him back up.
Yue Huanian slowly turned around. When she saw who had spoken, she finally let out a breath.
“It’s you.”
“Well, well—Biehe Sect actually came this year.” A female cultivator in Daoist robes walked over with a smiling expression and deliberately raised an eyebrow at Yue Huanian. “How strange. I clearly calculated that Biehe Sect wouldn’t be able to scrape together four female cultivators this year...”
Her gaze deliberately swept over Yu Qingtang.
“Don’t tell me this is some little girl you robbed on the road?”
“What nonsense are you spouting, Fortune-Teller Immortal?” Yue Huanian planted her hands on her hips and fired back, unwilling to yield. “This is our genuine little junior sister! I think you’re just afraid of losing. Come on, sit down!”
“I told you not to call me Fortune-Teller Immortal!” the Daoist-robed female cultivator said through gritted teeth. “Call me Fate Immortal!”
The two of them clearly did not get along. Like a pair of fighting roosters, they rolled up their sleeves and marched toward the card table.
That was right.
The event for this year’s Immortal Sects’ Women’s Extraordinary Arts Competition was mahjong.
Yu Qingtang watched his three senior sisters all take their seats at the table. He knew very well that he was only there to make up the numbers, so he could not linger. The more he interacted with people, the greater the chance of being exposed.
While no one was paying attention, he quietly picked up a plate of pastries and planned to find some deserted place to hide and pass the time until the competition ended.
Who could have imagined...
At the back mountain of Ten Thousand Immortals Pavilion, Yu Qingtang silently lowered his head and stared at the young man half-emerged from a dog hole, his eyes wide as he stared back.
From that face, to the presence that made it hard to look away, to the hair ribbon tied around his head—the Hidden Dragon Ribbon—Yu Qingtang recognized him at a glance.
This was probably the male lead of the novel.
The legendary Long Aotian.
Ye Chenyan.
Long Aotian.
Crawling through a dog hole.
Yu Qingtang: “...”
So this was actually the route you used to avoid the guards and enter the Immortal Sects’ Women’s Extraordinary Arts Competition.
What a true man, able to bend and stretch.
Yu Qingtang mocked him inwardly. Outwardly, his face remained expressionless as he silently took one step back.
“Wait!” Ye Chenyan thought he was about to call for help and was instantly startled. He moved with impressive agility, bursting out of the dog hole and clapping a hand over Yu Qingtang’s mouth.
The distance between them closed all at once.
Yu Qingtang lifted his eyes to look at him.
As expected of Long Aotian. He was even half a head taller than him.
And that boldness, daring to touch a little girl the first time they met...
Heh.
As expected of the Long Aotian who could build a harem. Even at such a young age, one could already see the shadow of a future romantic saint.
Ye Chenyan lowered his head. Whether because he was ashamed of being seen crawling through a dog hole or because of some other embarrassment, his ears were bright red.
In any case, he did not dare let his eyes wander, but he kept one hand tightly over Yu Qingtang’s mouth and the other around his waist. In a low voice, he coaxed, “I-I’m not a bad person. I’ll let go of you, so don’t scream, all right?”
Yu Qingtang swept his gaze left and right.
After confirming that no one was nearby, he could only reluctantly nod.
A small smile appeared on Ye Chenyan’s face, and he gently released his hand.
Yu Qingtang had only just parted his lips, not yet making a sound, when Ye Chenyan covered his mouth again.
This time, he pressed even more firmly than before, and he even looked a little aggrieved.
“You said you wouldn’t scream!”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
His mouth was not used solely for screaming, thank you.
With no other choice, he lifted a hand and lightly patted Ye Chenyan’s palm. He looked at him with sincere eyes and shook his head slightly.
Ye Chenyan hesitated, but he did not stop Yu Qingtang from pulling his hand away.
Yu Qingtang drew in a breath and lowered his voice. “I wasn’t going to scream. I just wanted to ask what you came in here for. Male cultivators aren’t allowed inside.”
Although he was also a male cultivator who had snuck in, that did not stop him from pretending otherwise right now.
“Huh?” Ye Chenyan stared at his face as if distracted. Only after a moment of dazed silence did he react. “I came to chase Lightning. That’s my spirit pet...”
Yu Qingtang struggled lightly. “Can you let go of me first?”
Ye Chenyan’s gaze dropped to the hand he still had around Yu Qingtang’s waist.
His face suddenly flushed scarlet. He hastily stepped back and put distance between them, clasping his hands behind his back as he looked away and apologized.
“Sorry! I-I didn’t mean to...”
Then, for some reason, as if some thought had suddenly occurred to him, he turned his head back.
His face was still childish, but one could already see the outline of the handsome young man he would become. His expression was utterly determined.
“I’ll take responsibility for you!”
Yu Qingtang: “...Huh?”
Ye Chenyan looked at him with burning eyes. “Fairy, what is your name? Which sect are you from?”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
As expected of you, Long Aotian.
He curved his lips into a smile that did not reach his eyes.
“Guess.”
“Immortal cultivation is all about fate. If we are fated, we will naturally meet again. When that time comes, you may come to my sect and propose marriage.”
Ye Chenyan’s eyes lit up.
He suddenly reached out, broke off a spray of peach blossoms, and offered it to him. His eyes were dazzling, full of shifting light, and he had all the careless charm of a young romantic—if only his ears had not been so red.
“It’s a promise!”
A perfectly timed gust of wind suddenly swept through.
Peach petals fell in a soft rush, a pink-white rain scattering all over Yu Qingtang’s head.
Ye Chenyan lowered his head and laughed. Then he stepped forward, gently brushing the fallen petals from Yu Qingtang’s hair before tucking the peach blossom spray into his bun.
Yu Qingtang stared at him blankly.
Holy crap.
This kid was serious.
Wait.
Wasn’t this the little holy maiden of the Esoteric Sect’s plotline?
Author’s Note:
Ye Chenyan: That year, peach blossoms fell like misty rain, and you said you would marry me. QAQ
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