Volume 1 Chapter 19: The Protagonist, Delivered by a divine crane

Volume 1 Chapter 19: The Protagonist, Delivered by a divine crane

They arrived at the courtyard where Feng Yudie was staying.

The moment Ye Anping stepped through the door, he froze.

Feng Yudie was wearing an elegant dark silk robe embroidered with mystical patterns. She had always been beautiful, but now—silver hair tied in a phoenix bun, her outfit flowing like a celestial maiden—she looked nothing short of divine.

But that wasn’t what made him freeze.

He looked down at the silk-sleeved robe he was wearing… the one that Xiao Die had insisted he put on earlier.

The embroidery, the color, the texture—

It was exactly the same as what Feng Yudie was wearing.

Matching outfits.

And to top it all off, she’d somehow managed to hang a gold-and-jade tassel from his belt earlier—he’d thought nothing of it at the time.

Now he saw it: she had the exact same tassel hanging from her waist.

“…”

Ye Anping fell silent, his face subtly twitching. He turned to glance at Kong Yulan, who was also in the room, hoping for some kind of explanation.

Kong Yulan met his gaze… and winked.

She looked entirely too pleased with herself, as if expecting praise for a job well done.

‘Mother… I really… don’t know whether to thank you or scream.’

Feng Yudie also noticed what Ye Anping was wearing, and her eyes widened. She looked at her own robe, which Kong Yulan had somehow insisted she wear, and a few black lines metaphorically slid down her forehead.

She glanced at Ye Anping with an urgent look—"What is going on here?!"

Ye Anping gave a helpless shrug and sighed softly. His expression said it all—"Not my fault."

In the air nearby, Xiaotian was hovering with glee, both hands covering it mouth in a failed attempt to stifle laughter.

『Yudie~ you and that little Ye boy look so perfect together right now~!』

The awkwardness was interrupted by another round of greetings.

Elder Wang asked Feng Yudie about True Immortal Tai Xu, carefully examined her recommendation letter and the accompanying identity badge, and then brought up the incident with the demonic cultivator in Martial Creek Town.

While they were talking, Kong Yulan quietly tiptoed over to Ye Anping and whispered smugly:

“Ping’er, what do you think? Doesn’t Miss Feng look just stunning today? Your mother spent all of yesterday rushing those outfits for the both of you!”

“…Mother…”

Ye Anping wanted to say, you really didn’t have to, but he could already imagine the outcome—his mother’s eyes welling up with tears, acting as though he’d stabbed her in the heart.

Kong Yulan was, without a doubt, the ultimate doting mother.

And because Ye Anping was her only child, her affection had long since crossed into dangerous, overprotective territory.

He still remembered—when he was just three years old, he tripped over a loose stone tile and scraped his knee.

His mother had found out.

The next day, she dragged him over to that very tile, pointed at it, and gave it a full verbal scolding. Then she used a spell to blast it into dust—and for good measure, had the entire courtyard’s tiles ripped up and replaced.

It was, honestly, a little terrifying.

Ye Anping sighed inwardly and decided to avoid unnecessary conflict. He nodded and said:

“Thanks, Mom… I… really like it.”

“Good! Since you like it, go take her for a walk later in the sect’s flower fields. I already asked her earlier—she’s very fond of you! And I’ve checked: the Profound Star Sect allows disciples to bring an attendant inside. If you ask her to bring you in, the two of you could live together as a pair of little Dao companions, wouldn’t that be lovely?”

“Ah…”

“How about… the two of you hold a simple ceremony in the next few days? Then in a few years, you can come back, and Mother will arrange a grand wedding banquet for you.”

“I—”

Thankfully, Elder Wang and Ye Ao, who were still talking nearby, happened to call him over at that moment.

“Anping, come here and tell us more about that demonic cultivator.”

“Ah—yes! Mother, I have a plan for all this already, so… please don’t trouble yourself too much.”

“Oh? You’re saying your mother’s a bother now, are you?”

“No, no, of course not!” Ye Anping hurriedly slipped away and made his way to Elder Wang’s side. He took out a storage bag and presented its contents—some broken black magical tools and an identity badge.

“Elder Wang, these are the items we found on that demonic cultivator.”

Elder Wang examined them briefly, narrowing his eyes as he asked, “Young Master Ye, your father mentioned earlier that when you and your junior sister encountered the cultivator, he was already gravely injured. Even so, a wounded Core Formation Realm cultivator should still be far beyond the reach of two mere Qi Refining juniors. Could you explain the details of how you managed to kill him?”

“At the time, my junior sister and I were practicing formation spells in the forest,” Ye Anping began. “That cultivator suddenly rushed over, clearly intending to use our soul to heal himself. So I simply… trapped him in a formation.”

“You trapped a Core Formation Realm cultivator… with a formation? What kind of formation was it?”

“I don’t know its name. I picked it up by chance—it’s from the Frigid Heaven Kingdom.”

Ye Ao, standing beside them, was now filled with question marks.

Formation from the Frigid Heaven Kingdom? 

Just where had this brat learned something like that? Those cultivation manuals earlier could at least be explained—he could’ve bought them with some extra spirit stones. But this?

Elder Wang nodded thoughtfully. “Gu cultivators are indeed weak against Cold-type spiritual energy. In that case, I can understand how you and your junior sister managed to bring him down. Did you find anything else in his belongings?”

There was a fragment of the 《Mysterious Yin Art》 among them—but Ye Anping had no intention of mentioning that.

He pretended to think back carefully. “He had two cauldrons with living Gu insects inside. I used fire talismans to destroy them. Aside from that… I don’t believe there was anything else. His corpse is still in the forest near Martial Creek Town. I used an Earth-type spell to seal the area. It should be easy to find—the formation I used shattered all the trees in the clearing.”

Elder Wang seemed convinced. He gave Ye Anping a firm pat on the shoulder.

“Slaying a demonic cultivator earns you a bounty from the Profound Star Sect—especially one from the Poison Gu Sect. When you have time, bring this identity badge to the sect. You’ll likely receive quite a few rewards.”

“Thank you, Elder Wang.”

“Well then…” Elder Wang gave a satisfied nod, and turned to Feng Yudie. “As for you, I’ll inform the sect master about your case upon returning. Be sure to show up on time for the disciple selection event in two months. Even with a recommendation from True Immortal Tai Xu, if you arrive late, you’ll lose your qualification to enter the sect. And the next opening won’t come for another five years.”

“Understood.”

“I won’t stay any longer, then. The appearance of a Poison Gu Sect cultivator deep within our territory is no small matter. I must report this immediately to the sect master and the other elders.”

With a final bow toward Ye Ao and Kong Yulan, Elder Wang turned to leave in haste, his expression grave.

Ye Ao quickly followed to see him off.

As Elder Wang departed, Ye Anping was just about to return to his room when he noticed his mother, Kong Yulan, frantically signaling to him with her eyes:

Ping’er! Quickly! Invite Miss Feng out for a stroll!

He opened his mouth to protest… then sighed in resignation. Turning to Feng Yudie, he reached out a hand.

“Miss Feng, do you have a moment?”

Feng Yudie blinked, then glanced over at Kong Yulan—who was staring at her with sparkling, expectant eyes. Just like Ye Anping, she let out a small sigh and lightly placed her hand in his.

“…I’d be delighted.”

And just like that, the two of them walked down from the Heavenly Pavilion hand in hand. Only once they felt Kong Yulan’s line of sight fade behind them did they quietly let go.

Feng Yudie pouted slightly. “Young Master Ye, Madam Kong insisted I wear this outfit. Given my current situation, I couldn’t exactly refuse.”

“I figured as much.” Ye Anping gave her a side glance, exhaling helplessly. “Let me guess—she wouldn’t stop praising me, right? Probably even asked what you thought of me.”

Feng Yudie nodded with a sigh. “Mmh.”

Sigh— Ye Anping mirrored her with a long sigh of his own. “Don’t worry. I don’t have any romantic feelings for you, and I know you don’t have any for me either.”

“…”

“In any case, let’s just sit in the flower fields for a bit. If you go back too early, my mother will probably corner me again.”

Seeing how weary he looked, Feng Yudie couldn’t help but let out a giggle.

“Pfft—”

“…What’s so funny?”

“I originally thought your parents would be strict and traditional. You, too—you have the aura of some cold, refined noble heir from a great clan. But your mother… she’s adorable.”

Ye Anping froze when he heard that. Something felt… off. Narrowing his eyes, he leaned in close with a glare.

“Feng Yudie…”

“…Huh?”

“You’re not just want to fuck my junior sister… you’ve set your sights on my mother too?!”

“Fuck your junior sister—? What do you mean by that?!” Feng Yudie recoiled, utterly baffled.

Ye Anping paused mid-glare, then abruptly dropped the subject and gave her a lazy smirk.

“…Right. You probably don’t even know how you were born.”

“Hah? What do you mean I don’t know how I was born? Of course I do! I was a gift from the heavens—molded from divine clay and delivered to my parents by a divine crane!”

“Right,” Ye Anping replied with a perfectly straight face. “You’re absolutely correct. You were a gift brought by a divine crane.”

Floating above Feng Yudie’s head, Xiaotian let out a long, weary sigh and shook it head in dismay.

『Sigh… Tsk tsk…』

“What?” Feng Yudie frowned at Xiaotian’s reaction, growing more confused. She turned to Ye Anping. “Don’t tell me—you weren’t delivered by a crane? Then what, you sprouted from the dirt or something?”

“I wasn’t crane-delivered,” Ye Anping deadpanned. “I was a ginseng fruit that fell from a tree and turned into a human.”

“…A ginseng fruit?!” Feng Yudie blinked. “What kind of tree grows ginseng fruits?!”

“A ginseng tree, obviously.”

“Oh… Then what about Miss Pei? Was she a ginseng fruit too?”

“Yep. Exactly. You nailed it.”