Chapter 107

Wang Cong opened his mouth wide.

In the cold night, a breeze blew past; Wang Cong shivered, immediately closed his mouth, and stood with head bowed and eyes lowered, utterly respectful.

The four wildernesses were empty, save for a gentle breeze; Pan Yun exhaled slowly, tilted her chin up, and said to Wang Cong: "Let's go."

This time, Wang Cong had no objections; he obediently slung a bag of silver ingots over his back and followed behind her.

For the next hour, Wang Cong trailed behind, watching Pan Yun's acrobatic falls.

Twice, her foot slipped, half her leg plunging into the cliffside, yet she screamed "Aaaah!" and clawed her way back up.

Wang Cong clutched his chest as he followed, tears nearly falling when he saw the figure holding a lantern at the mountain gate.

Pan Xiaohei, trudging behind on her own, also had watery eyes, on the verge of bursting into tears.

Pan Yun stumbled up to the mountain gate and looked up to meet Wang Feiyin's sympathetic face.

"Big Brother, why are you awake so late? What are you doing here?"

Wang Feiyin: "I'd already soaked my feet and was about to sleep, even taken off my clothes, when I heard someone shouting for Master in the mountains."

"I stood here at the gate for an hour, braved the cold wind for an hour, listened to someone scream 'Aaaah!' for an hour, cursed the heavens for an hour—every time I thought she'd finally make it up, she'd find another few curses to spit out," Wang Feiyin sighed. "Little sister, your leg strength still needs training—you took a full hour to climb a mountain."

Pan Yun's eyes brimmed with tears. "Big Brother, that path was so steep and winding—I climbed it in just an hour, at night, isn't that worth praise?"

"For people like us, what difference does night make from day?"

"Of course there's a difference—otherwise why would your son tell me to climb after daylight?"

Wang Feiyin shook his head. "Did you go sell talismans again? How much did you earn? Did you really fall all the way up here?"

"I did fall all the way up," Pan Yun glanced around. "Where's my cat? Where's Xiaohei?"

"Meow—" Pan Xiaohei leapt out from beneath a tree in the darkness.

Pan Yun exhaled. "Oh, you're still alive? Good, alive is enough."

【I've had bad luck all along—how each misfortune happened, you saw it all, didn't you? Write it down, write it all down!】

Pan Xiaohei: "Meow… Recorded."

Pan Yun extended her hand to Wang Cong.

Wang Cong froze. "What?"

Pan Yun: "The money."

Wang Cong snapped back to himself and hurriedly handed her the bag slung over his shoulder.

Pan Yun picked up the money bag and waved at Wang Feiyin and the others. "I'm heading back."

Tao Ji: "Little sister, don't you want me to check your injuries?"

Pan Yun immediately turned back. "Alright."

Tao Ji: …

He led her back to the main hall, lit a lamp, and carefully examined her—her arms and legs were covered in bruises, contusions, all purple and black from her falls.

Tao Ji frowned. "Lie down. Let me press on your body to see if anything else is injured."

Pan Yun immediately lined up three meditation cushions on the floor and lay down.

When Tao Ji pressed down, she screamed "Ow!" He immediately lifted her robe to check her waist and abdomen—there too, her skin was bruised and discolored.

Tao Ji: …

Master Xuanmiao frowned slightly.

Wang Feiyin chuckled beside him, deeply sympathetic. "Get used to it. Back in my day, I went through all this."

Pan Yun gritted her teeth. "I'm not like you—I'll escape this soon."

Wang Feiyin looked skeptical. "Hmph. Do you know how many years I suffered before I escaped this?"

"How many?"

Wang Feiyin held up one hand. "Six years."

The word "five" stuck in Pan Yun's throat; she slammed her head onto the cushion, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Big Brother, don't talk to me—I'm in a terrible mood. I'm afraid I'll lose control and hit you."

Wang Feiyin nodded vigorously. "I understand. Back then, I couldn't control my temper either. Your Second Brother, Third Brother, and even your Senior Cousin got beaten plenty by me. Sigh… Just hold it in. Otherwise, you can't beat me, and I'll still end up beating you."

He sighed. "All your junior peers got thrashed by me—I really don't want to beat you. If word gets out, how bad would my reputation become?"

Tao Ji and Master Xuanmiao listened with blank expressions.

Pan Yun's face went blank too—she simply couldn't muster any expression right now.

Tao Ji finished his check. "Fortunately, all are superficial wounds—no bones or internal organs damaged."

He stood. "I'll go prepare medicine. Go bathe. Later, Fourth Sister will apply the ointment."

Master Xuanmiao helped her up and said to Wang Feiyin, who was still babbling: "Big Brother, I'll take her back to her room."

Wang Feiyin swallowed his words and waved. "Go, go."

Miao He, Seeing Miao Zhen, and Tao Yanbai were already fast asleep—no one could wake them.

Wang Feiyin watched them return to the back courtyard, then turned to Wang Cong, his smile fading. "You just watched your little aunt stumble and fall all the way up?"

Wang Cong, heart pounding, said: "Didn't you say this was heavenly punishment, that no one could intervene, and that getting close would only bring suffering? So…"

Wang Feiyin slapped him hard on the head. "That's me—you're talking about your little aunt. How old is she? And you just stood there?"

Wang Cong bowed his head in apology.

Wang Feiyin grunted. "Go kneel in front of the mountain gate."

Wang Cong obediently stepped out and knelt before the mountain gate.

Tao Ji returned from the alchemy room with medicine, passed the gate, and jumped in shock. "Cong'er? Why are you kneeling? Did Big Brother punish you?"

Wang Cong lowered his head. "Mm. I shouldn't have stood by and watched my little aunt fall all the way up."

Tao Ji looked torn, hesitated, then crouched beside him. "Even though this misfortune is heavenly punishment and others can't interfere, last time Little Sister suffered, Big Brother rushed over immediately."

"We don't know whether the misfortune ended because of the punishment's natural course—or because Big Brother intervened and altered it. But we live in this world—we can't just obey heaven's whims. When we can act, we must act. As long as we're free of guilt, that's enough."

Tao Ji reached out and patted his shoulder. "That time, Senior Brother told me to stick close to Little Sister and take her to town to spend silver. Did you really think Senior Brother was afraid she'd be cheated?"

"If it's heavenly punishment, losing silver is the best way to avert disaster. Borrowing money to ward off misfortune is better than bodily harm—but Senior Brother still made me accompany her because he feared something might happen on the road. Senior Brother wanted me to protect her."

Tao Ji said, "Every time Little Sister went down the mountain, it was either me or Fourth Sister accompanying her—that was the point. You…"

Wang Cong opened his mouth, then lowered his head and muttered, "I know I'm wrong." Tao Ji patted his shoulder and whispered, "I'll plead for you to Senior Brother, though it might not help."

Tao Ji sighed and carried the medicine back to find Master Xuanmiao.

Master Xuanmiao already knew Wang Cong had been ordered to kneel. She told Tao Ji, "Don't go. You might get punished too."

Such things had happened before. Sometimes when Master Fei Yin flew into a rage, a line of people would kneel before the mountain gate—from Second Brother to Senior Nephew—all without exception.

"What do we do? We can't let Cong'er kneel all night. He hasn't knelt in years, and it's cold now—what if he falls ill…?"

"Stop whispering. Come in and apply the medicine," Pan Yun called out through the window, head tilted up. "Once I'm done, I'll go to Senior Brother myself."

Master Xuanmiao nodded to Tao Ji and went inside to apply the medicine to Pan Yun.

Master Xuanmiao glanced down and saw the black cat lying on the floor. She frowned, picked it up, and placed it outside, slamming the door shut. "Don't come in until I'm done applying the medicine."

Tao Ji and the black cat stood outside, staring at each other.

Tao Ji studied the black cat up and down, helplessly. "Fourth Sister, now you're even suspicious of a cat?"

!. Read

Master Xuanmiao ignored him entirely, lifted Pan Yun's robe, and began wiping the ointment on her skin. "You heard everything. What are you planning to say to plead for him?"

Pan Yun winced as she endured the pain, grumbling, "Is this secretive, hiding-from-each-other habit something you learned from Senior Brother? I thought it was innate."

Master Xuanmiao rubbed the ointment between her palms and pressed it onto Pan Yun's wound. Pan Yun lifted her head, crying out "Ooh! Ooh!" "Senior Brother doesn't seem like this kind of person—but turns out he's the culprit. Why can't he just speak plainly?"

Master Xuanmiao said, "If you can still say that in twenty years, I'll truly respect you."

True, she hadn't lived to twenty-eight in her past life—but she'd lived past twenty! In both lives, she'd been open and honest!

"I've always been open and sincere with friends and family—except enemies. No one is open and sincere with enemies." Pan Yun gave an example: "Like my father. When he asked me, I told him right away: I have extraordinary talent, so I came to cultivate. I hid nothing."

Master Xuanmiao snorted. "You know whether you hid anything. And do you really think Senior Brother punished Cong'er just because you got hurt?"

"Senior Brother punished Cong'er half for you, half for Cong'er himself," Master Xuanmiao said. "He's teaching him how to be a person. By not helping you, he didn't just hurt you—he wounded his own Dao-heart."

"Once the Dao strays, it's hard to correct."

Pan Yun froze, turning to look at her. "Then… do you want me to plead for him?"

Master Xuanmiao looked down at her, gazing straight into her heart. "Do you want to plead for him?"

After thinking, Pan Yun nodded. "Sigh… I told him not to care about me, to stay away. I think he's right. What if helping me did no good but dragged him into my bad luck too?"

"What's the point of pointless sacrifice?" Pan Yun paused. "Besides, I think he's a perceptive kid. Once Third Brother pointed it out, he'll know he's wrong."

"Kids don't need such harsh punishment."

Master Xuanmiao said, "Next year he'll come of age. You're only eight. You're the child."

In my past life, I was one year older than him, Pan Yun mentally added. "I'm his elder. My mental age is older."

Master Xuanmiao snorted, but her motions while applying the medicine grew even gentler and more careful.

It took two incense sticks to finish applying the medicine. Pan Yun put on her undergarments, slipped on an outer robe, and went to find Wang Feiyin.

Wang Feiyin had already lain down fully clothed and was nearly snoring.

Pan Yun knocked persistently until she finally woke him from bed.

Wang Feiyin looked down at her, face dark. "It's the middle of the night. Couldn't you wait until tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, my big nephew will be an ice statue."

Wang Feiyin: "It's only late autumn. How cold can it be at night?"

Pan Yun: "I hate teachers and parents who use corporal punishment. If there's a reason, say it plainly. Punishing like this only harms the child's body and mind—what's the point?"

"At night, it's quiet. Kneeling alone forces reflection. If such deep reflection still can't make him see his mistake, then he's beyond saving. Do you think this method works?"

Pan Yun: "Our educational philosophies clash. But I'm exhausted—no energy to argue. Just tell me: will you let him get up?"

Wang Feiyin: "Does he know he's wrong?"

Tao Ji, hiding nearby, immediately stepped out, nodding vigorously. "He knows he's wrong."

Wang Feiyin: "Does he know what he did wrong?"

"He knows, he knows," Tao Ji glanced at Pan Yun, then recounted the conversation he'd had with Wang Cong. He looked hopefully at Wang Feiyin. "Senior Brother, Cong'er truly understands his mistake."

Wang Feiyin finally waved his hand. "Since he knows he's wrong, half the purpose of kneeling is achieved. Let him rise."

Tao Ji agreed and immediately ran to find Wang Cong.

Wang Feiyin looked down at Pan Yun, still standing. "What else do you want?"

Pan Yun frowned. "Heavenly punishment—is this punishment aimed at our Mount Sanqing lineage?"

Wang Feiyin nodded. "There's no help for it. We took the mountain god as our master, accepted his blessings—so naturally, we must share some of his heavenly punishment."

Pan Yun leaned closer, whispering, "Senior Brother, do you know why the Master has heavenly punishment?"

"You find it easier to meet the Master than I do. Why don't you ask Him?"

Pan Yun was honest. "I'm afraid."

"I'm afraid too," Wang Feiyin couldn't help smiling. "But don't worry—I'm the eldest disciple. Even if there's punishment, it falls mostly on me. You're the youngest disciple—you only bear a small share."

Pan Yun looked up, studying Wang Feiyin's expression closely. A small warmth stirred in her heart. "Senior Brother, I—Aaow!"

Pan Yun clutched her forehead, glaring at him. Wang Feiyin withdrew his hand from her head. "Stop dawdling. If you don't go to sleep now, dawn will break. Afraid you'll stumble back in the dark and break something again? Your bath and medicine today were wasted."

Pan Yun immediately leaned against the wall and shuffled back slowly, each step deliberate and careful.

The warmth in her heart vanished, tossed behind her. As she leaned against the wall and stepped out of the courtyard, she met Tao Ji, who was bringing Wang Cong back.

Wang Cong saw her limping, his eyes reddened. He ran forward and supported her. "Little Auntie, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine—don't cry! I don't have candy to comfort you."

Wang Cong sighed helplessly, then lifted her bodily into his arms. "Let me carry you back."

Pan Yun was extremely nervous: "Then you'd better hold me tight, don't drop me. The pain and injury from falling while walking is different from falling while being carried."

Wang Cong agreed, taking each step slowly and steadily, carrying her back to the room and placing her on the bed.

Wang Cong casually removed her shoes, bowed his head, and whispered softly: "Little Master Aunt, I'm sorry."

Pan Yun waved her hand: "This has nothing to do with you. Don't take it to heart, child. Don't just accept everything my lord says—learn to refute and reflect inwardly…"

Sweat slid down Wang Cong's forehead; after a moment of silence, he said: "Little Master Aunt, go to sleep now. Children need more sleep, or they won't grow tall."

The lucky number is any number ending in 3, screenshot as proof, see you tomorrow

(End of Chapter)