Chapter 168: Protagonist 6

Xue Yingying looked at the child. Though her face was round, she could clearly see Senior Sister’s features in it. Such resemblance—there was no doubt this was Senior Sister’s biological child.

But! Senior Sister had been in closed-door cultivation for years and had only recently emerged. This child… was she born during cultivation?

Could it be… the father was someone from the sect?

Regardless of who it was, Xue Yingying thought of all the senior and junior disciples who openly or secretly admired Senior Sister and could only foresee endless trouble ahead for her.

“Ah! Go, go, ah!”

“Go? Go where?” Xue Yingying held the wobbling child tightly.

Qian waved her arms, the bracelet on her wrist clinking against the bed as she babbled, “Go, ang!”

She kept shouting “ang, ang,” and after a moment, Xue Yingying guessed, “Are you looking for your mother?”

Qian immediately nodded, smiling like a blooming flower, showing a few tiny white teeth.

So adorable.

Xue Yingying thought, squeezing the chubby little hands, her tone gentle as water, “Mother’s busy with something right now. She’ll be back soon. Let’s wait for her, okay?”

Sensing rejection, the once smiling child suddenly pouted and burst into tears.

Xue Yingying: “!”

She had never taken care of a child before! Helpless, she could only carry the baby around the courtyard, hurriedly trying to comfort her.

When Gongxi Yue returned from seeing her master, Xue Yingying quickly handed the child back. Qian’s eyes were red from crying, and though she had just calmed down, the moment she saw Gongxi Yue, she pouted again and stretched out her arms to be held.

Xue Yingying watched as Senior Sister patted the child’s back to soothe her, dabbing the sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief.

“Senior Sister, Ming Shu and the others said they’re holding a small banquet tomorrow by the Mountain Pavilion Stream to celebrate your advancement to the Nascent Soul stage.”

“We haven’t all gathered for years… and with the child, it’s a good chance to introduce her to the fellow disciples.”

Gongxi Yue nodded in agreement.

A formal Nascent Soul celebration wasn’t necessary, but introducing Qian to her close sectmates was.

In this time of having a child, Gongxi Yue had already found the trick to childcare: enlist a few trustworthy friends and ask them to help take care of the child now and then.

With so many people sharing the load, everyone had a bright future.

The next day at Mountain Pavilion Stream, all nine junior sisters currently at Yunyin Immortal Sect were present.

Their master had once been a senior disciple from the same sect, making their bonds even closer.

“Yingying, you went to Senior Sister’s place yesterday. Did you ask about her situation? She went back to the Gongxi Family right after emerging from closed-door cultivation. Could she have run into trouble?” Second Senior Disciple Duan Yuanlang asked gently, concerned about Senior Sister.

Xue Yingying, well aware of his feelings for Senior Sister, thought to herself: Second Senior Disciple, please hold back your tears when you see Senior Sister’s daughter later!

She casually gave a vague answer, secretly relieved that the youngest junior disciple wasn’t here—among all the senior and junior brothers, these two were the most persistent.

Gongxi Yue arrived on time, holding both her sword and her daughter. Qian nestled in her arms, gnawing on the sword hilt, drooling all over it.

They were supposed to sit and exchange pleasantries, but all eyes in the pavilion were drawn to Qian.

Senior Sister… holding a child?

Only Xue Yingying, tight-lipped as always, sat silently sipping tea.

“This is my daughter, Qian. I brought her today to meet my fellow disciples.” As Gongxi Yue finished speaking, the entire pavilion fell silent.

Xue Yingying felt as if she could hear the collective sound of hearts breaking. Especially Second Senior Disciple—he was the first to react after a stunned pause: “When did you… have a child?!”

Realizing how that sounded, he hurried to correct himself, softening his tone, “I mean, Senior Sister, you’ve never been interested in finding a Dao Companion… how do you have a child now? Who’s the father?”

As he spoke, the desperation and unwillingness showed.

Gongxi Yue looked at him. Duan Yuanlang, her Second Junior Disciple, existed in that “future” too. If not for seeing that future, Gongxi Yue wouldn’t have even known Second Junior Disciple harbored feelings for her.

The Duan Yuanlang she knew was gentle and kind, steady and mature. But in that future, Xiao Shou had called him a “pathetic simping cannon fodder,” who eventually died for her.

Anyone around her who had contact with Xiao Shou… the women inevitably fell in love with Xiao Shou, living and dying for him, while the men mostly disliked him, opposed him, and ended up humiliated and dead. None had a good ending.

“This child was an accident. She has no father. Her name is Qian. I hope everyone will look after her from now on.” Gongxi Yue offered no further explanation, her expression as cool as always.

Duan Yuanlang forced down his disappointment and bitterness, managing a strained smile. “Of course. Senior Sister’s child is like my own.”

The atmosphere remained awkward. At that moment, Qian, sitting on Gongxi Yue’s lap, tried to grab a spiritual fruit from her small side table.

Her little hands missed, and the fruit rolled off the table, onto the floor, and kept rolling away.

Qian let go of her mother’s arm and toddled after it. Gongxi Yue, intentionally encouraging her to practice walking, did not help, just watched silently.

The fruit rolled to the edge of Duan Yuanlang’s meditation cushion. Sitting near Gongxi Yue, as Second Senior Disciple, he gathered himself and, setting aside his complicated feelings, picked up a small, clean spiritual fruit suitable for a child and handed it to her.

“Don’t eat the one on the ground. Take this clean one.”

Qian slapped his hand, grabbed the fruit, and gave him a bright smile.

Looking at that small face resembling his beloved, Duan Yuanlang’s heart melted. He smiled back.

“It’s our first meeting, and I didn’t prepare a gift. Here’s a Water-Repelling Bright Moon Pearl I got from the South Sea. Let Qian play with it.” He generously presented a natural spiritual treasure.

Seeing this, the others also took out gifts, presenting them to the little niece.

Several junior sisters gathered around Qian, touching her little face and hands, chatting and laughing.

The atmosphere finally relaxed.

Unfortunately, moments later, a streak of light flew over, landing on the steps below the pavilion.

A young man in black strode up.

“I’m late,” he said, voice cool and clear.

Hearing the voice of Little Junior Disciple Lou Yuan, who was playing with Qian, Xue Yingying’s heart sank. Little Junior Disciple was younger and even more impulsive than Second Senior Disciple—he mustn’t cause trouble.

Fresh from his travels, Lou Yuan’s eyes focused only on Gongxi Yue. Calling her Senior Sister, his tone softened slightly.

Gongxi Yue had always known Little Junior Disciple was close to her. After all, the twelve-year-old him had been rescued by her, brought back to the sect, and guided to become her fellow disciple under the same master.

But she hadn’t known Little Junior Disciple harbored feelings for her too.

In that same “future,” he had fallen into demonic cultivation due to his love, trying to abduct her, repeatedly attempting to kill Xiao Shou, and finally, after her death, taking his own life.

Xiao Shou had called Little Junior Disciple’s descent into darkness “blackening,” but Gongxi Yue felt she simply hadn’t beaten him enough as a child. So young and already lacking discipline.

Demonic cultivation? After years of her and their master’s careful teaching, was that all he learned—turning demonic at the first setback?

In Gongxi Yue’s view, Little Junior Disciple’s problem was far worse than Second Senior Disciple’s.

Lou Yuan, unaware that Senior Sister’s sword was already gathering spiritual energy, finally noticed the child surrounded by senior sisters.

He never cared much for children, but… this child looked exactly like his Senior Sister, and he couldn’t ignore that.

“This child…?” Lou Yuan had a bad feeling.

“My daughter. Qian,” Gongxi Yue answered directly, not sparing a thought for Little Junior Disciple’s feelings.

Xue Yingying and the others silently covered their faces.

Poor things… everyone secretly in love with Senior Sister was truly pitiful.

“Whose? Whose is it?!” Lou Yuan, a young genius with a proud and stubborn nature, reacted far more violently than Second Senior Disciple, his sword intent bursting out uncontrollably.

Some Senior Disciples tried to calm him, “Junior Disciple just got back, sit down and have a drink first.”

“Yes, yes, just sit down for now.”

But Lou Yuan ignored them, stubbornly staring at Gongxi Yue, “Tell me who it is! I’m going to kill him!”

Gongxi Yue’s life-bound sword, Falling Frost Wind, trembled. In an instant, an overwhelming cold snow suppressed Lou Yuan’s killing-intent-filled sword aura.

Xue Yingying reacted quickly, setting up a barrier to protect Qian.

It was obvious that Gongxi Yue was displeased with Junior Disciple’s attitude and was about to teach him a lesson.

All the Senior Sisters watched the spectacle with interest; no one intended to step in and stop the fight. The only one showing even a hint of sympathy was Second Senior Disciple—likely out of empathy for a fellow sufferer.

Meanwhile, Qian, surrounded at the center, was full of excitement as though watching a show, giggling happily and babbling incomprehensibly, cheering on her mother.

With a hard strike from her sheathed sword, Gongxi Yue knocked Lou Yuan to the ground.

Lou Yuan’s eyes turned red, “For more than ten years, I’ve regarded Senior Sister as my bright moon in the sky! Even if I couldn’t reach you, I only wished for you to shine forever… And now someone else has succeeded! Why couldn’t it be me!”

“If you love the moon, then go and become the moon yourself, rather than chasing after someone else as your moon and turning that obsession into a demon,” Gongxi Yue said coldly.

“I’m just in love with you! Is that so wrong?!”

“Love isn’t wrong. Losing yourself because of it is!” Gongxi Yue struck him again with her sword.

The sharp crack of the blow made many Junior Sisters instinctively lean back in shock. Only Qian kept laughing, cheering loudly each time her mother struck him. Every hit, she’d raise her little arms and let out a loud “Waaah!” in rhythm with the blows.

Gongxi Yue had originally planned to stop after disciplining him enough, but seeing Qian half-raising her hands, expectantly looking at her, she casually landed one more hit.

Lou Yuan let out a muffled groan, face bruised and swollen, before being hauled up roughly by Senior Sister.

“Your cultivation has grown too fast, and you’ve forgotten to cultivate your heart. Starting today, go train with Master every day and stop running around. Go now.”

“…Wait.” Lou Yuan gritted his teeth, “Let me see her.”

Limping, Lou Yuan walked up to Qian, lowering his head to look at the child who had laughed the loudest when he was being beaten.

The child of the one he loved… and someone else.

Yet he couldn’t find even a trace of another man in the child’s face. No matter how he looked, she resembled nothing but a miniature version of Senior Sister’s childhood self—cute and innocent.

“This Wish-Granting Treasure Box is for you… a meeting gift.” Lou Yuan said through clenched teeth.

Qian didn’t care what he was thinking. Her attention was caught by the glittering, colorful box. She grabbed it and shook it happily.

Whatever Lou Yuan was struggling with internally during that brief gaze at the child, no one knew. After a moment of hesitation, he suddenly asked the child, “Would you like to call me daddy?”

Qian ignored him, opening her mouth and trying to bite the box.

Gongxi Yue sent him flying into the pond below the pavilion with one swift kick.