Chapter 2

Dad! It's not Sun elder brother! Really not Sun elder brother! Daughter said it before, I truly don't know where this child came from... Daughter has never done anything shameful to the family name!

Oh my!

Now this is getting interesting... the child is already born, yet she claims she's still a virgin—like the Virgin Mary?

If it were her previous life, Gan Tian would definitely not believe this; she'd think the girl speaking was insulting her intelligence. But this life... well, who knows.

Maybe it's false, maybe it's true.

After all, this is a cultivation world—she knows plenty of immortals already!

Given that, it's not impossible for this to happen!

Just as she was pondering whether the woman's words were true, from her angle she saw a baby whose corner of the swaddling cloth had been slightly lifted. The baby looked fairly normal, reddish and a bit frail, now stretching out a little hand, struggling and crying.

Then, like a screen flash, it suddenly vanished!

But this was just a moment; soon the baby reappeared. Moreover, besides Gan Tian, it seemed no one else noticed.

Alright, this confirms it—very likely it's true.

In just a moment, the family melodrama advanced another notch.

The father obviously wanted to believe his daughter, but the baby born lay before him, making belief impossible! And the young man he'd knocked to the ground was full of anguish, glancing at the maiden and then at the baby in her arms, as if witnessing the end of the world.

"San Niang, San Niang, what... you...?" he muttered, clearly his thoughts were in disarray.

San Niang's baby in her arms suddenly stopped crying, as if reaching toward the young man. Seeing this, the old father felt even more that he'd grasped the truth, he sighed heavily: "San Niang, you're going to anger your parents to death! Even if you truly favor that Sun fellow, you should have told the family first! Are Mom and Dad unreasonable? Now you've done something so disgraceful to the family name—how can we hold our heads up in the village? Si Niang and Wu Niang stand behind you; your marriage prospects might be delayed!"

The father was truly convinced—just now, to him it looked like 'father‑son nature'! If the baby's biological father isn't him, who else could it be?

Upon hearing this, San Niang shed tears; during her ten‑month pregnancy she really had no way to explain herself, and at the end she didn't know how to justify it. Especially since the person she loved had returned from the academy and learned of this... she herself knew she was innocent, but who would believe such a thing?

Gan Tian puffed her cheeks, silently extending her claws... Hmm, thinking they might not notice, she then cleared her throat, making some noise.

Sure enough, such a sound at this moment was too abnormal; everyone turned to look at once.

Being stared at by so many, Gan Tian embarrassedly scratched her cheek and whispered: "Um, that older sister's words might be true—if you trust me, may I look at the baby?"

Honestly... if some random kid suddenly said that, nobody could believe it! But San Niang did!

During this time her mental pressure was truly too great; nobody believed her words, plus the rumors—enough to make a sheltered young lady suffer. By this point she had actually despaired, when suddenly someone said her words were true.

Even a little girl she'd never met would instinctively believe her, like a drowning person clutching at the last straw.

Of course, there's another reason—just like Zhang Hong'er, San Niang also noticed something unusual about the little girl whom she hadn't paid much attention to before.

However, she probably saw different aspects from Zhang Hong'er; she just felt this unfamiliar little girl was out of the ordinary.

Compared to Zhang Hong'er, as the daughter of a big merchant, San Niang had broader horizons—although she was often confined to the back courtyard, she also frequently accompanied her mother to the Shen Miao temple, and had even seen many cultivators seeking the Dao. Each time she saw those people she felt refreshed; now seeing Gan Tian gave her a similar feeling.

Moreover, Gan Tian really had a good 'appearance'—with baby fat and an unopened face, she was cute and delicate.

No one said immortals must be especially good‑looking, but many ordinary people clearly think that way.

Gan Tian also has a millet‑sized rouge mole on her brow; when she lowers her eyelids, as if half‑closing her eyes, she bears a peculiar pity—just as a celestial child beside an immortal ought to be!

Although San Niang herself has never seen a true celestial child.

Actually, cultivators in this world are neither few nor many recluses. Yet ordinary folks rarely get to see a genuine cultivator, or they might brush past one without realizing it's a cultivator—not all cultivators have grand entourages; some cultivators in a crowd are like a drop of water in the ocean.

Before others could react, the baby was placed in Gan Tian's hands. Gan Tian touched the baby's hand, and that sense of something being off grew stronger.

The baby looked fine, like a flower placed in a vase—up close, playing with it, it seemed like a real flower. But Gan Tian just felt something wasn't right... no matter how well a fake is made, it's still not genuine.

To be honest, Gan Tian's pressure was also a bit high right now... because she didn't know how to resolve this issue.

This is indeed a world with immortals; thanks to her family background she's come into contact with many cultivators, but she truly knows no spells at all! This isn't because she's lackadaisical—coming into such a world she still doesn't study earnestly. She simply never had the chance.

Very young children aren't allowed to touch spells or such things—this is what people around her told Gan Tian early on, saying it's dangerous.

Curiosity killed the cat; Gan Tian is clearly not a troublemaker, so she also didn't test whether what her relatives said was true.

After looking at the baby's face, Gan Tian suddenly had a flash of insight—this baby looks a lot like the young man!

No, one should say the baby's face resembles the young man in some ways and San Niang in others. Although this isn't decisive evidence, it can offer a line of thought.

Gan Tian glanced at the young man: "Just now I heard you say you left your hometown a year ago to study at the academy?"

The young man seemed a bit at a loss, nodding nervously: "There is some truth to that... the child couldn't possibly be mine and San Niang's."

Hearing this, San Niang's expression grew even darker.

The old man, however, said in a low voice: "This is just your family's word—you have no one at home now, and without someone from the academy to testify, I won't believe it!"

Gan Tian thought for a moment, then asked San Niang: "Miss, before your pregnancy did you encounter any strange occurrences?"

San Niang quickly shook her head—not because she felt guilty, but because beforehand she had already turned this matter over in her mind repeatedly. After all, to inexplicably be pregnant with a child, anyone would think a lot about it. Unable to make sense of it, she truly pondered it thread by thread, even noting down everything she could recall when her memory was clear, so as not to miss any clue.

For this she even went to the Shen Miao temple—though praying for divine aid was not easy, in the end a temple attendant came to look, yet the attendant also saw nothing wrong.

Regarding this, Gan Tian neither affirmed nor denied, but still had San Niang relate what she remembered from that period—whether it was a strange event, San Niang didn't necessarily know for sure, and she wasn't a specialist.

Of course, Gan Tian isn't a specialist either. But she has seen a lot, growing up in that environment; even though those around her tried to keep her from early exposure to spells and such, her sensitivity to such matters is far beyond that of an ordinary person like San Niang.

"... Later Sun elder brother went to the academy, and I, the servant, missed him deeply at home." Saying this, San Niang glanced at Licentiate Sun, seeming embarrassed.

Licentiate Sun's complexion also eased a bit, looking somewhat moved. The two had previously been fond of each other; if San Niang hadn't inexplicably given birth to a child, they might now be exchanging their hearts' feelings.

San Niang couldn't fail to notice her beloved's change in attitude, and her mood was no longer as tense as at the start. Just then, Gan Tian saw the baby in the swaddling cloth flicker once more, and this time it seemed to disappear longer than before.

Except for her, however, everyone else still paid no attention to it.

"I wrote Sun elder brother's name on a blank sheet... that too was unintentional." San Niang added an explanation.

Gan Tian thought this was easy to understand—teenagers in early love like to write the name of their crush in notebooks, line after line; a girl's feelings are always poetic.

But then it got a bit over the top.

"I ate the blank paper." Seeing Gan Tian's (⊙o⊙) expression, she added another explanation: "This too was unintentional; after I came to my senses, it ended up like this..."

It seems she really did like him a lot—this is somewhat like liking someone to the point of obsession. Gan Tian knows some people collect items related to the person they like and show signs of obsession. If you can accept that, then looking at San Niang makes it easy to understand.

Afterward San Niang mentioned a few more things, but Gan Tian still felt the most strange was eating the name slip—unrelated to anything else, this felt more like an instinctive intuition of Gan Tian's.

Gan Tian used to not trust intuition much, but now... one can only say facts outweigh argument; after several times she discovered her intuition was marvelous, while those around her regarded it as no big deal, she realized it.

For someone with cultivation talent, such a manifestation is obviously not worth making a fuss over.

Moreover, in this process Gan Tian discovered something... The baby really likes to get close to Licentiate Sun, even though he shouldn't be able to see yet. But as long as he gets a little closer to Licentiate Sun, the baby's "screen flash" interval shortens, and the disappearance time increases.

Others seem not to notice, but Gan Tian is clearly aware.

After thinking, she decided to try a desperate measure—Gan Tian shoved the baby into Licentiate Sun's arms: "Hold him!"

Licentiate Sun fumbled to catch the baby, and the baby's little hand reaching upward pushed hard, touching Licentiate Sun's face.

Then everyone stared, dumbfounded.

The baby was like paper meeting fire, turning into curling blue smoke. When they came to, the swaddling cloth was empty, leaving only some ash like burnt paper.