Chapter 29 Su Yuyao is forced to become an apprentice

Xuanfeng watched as Bai'er closed the door before returning to his room with a sense of relief. He said to Feiying, "Be careful in the future. Don't let the girl see you. I'm worried she'll find out it was you who did it..."

"Yes, sir!" Flying Eagle replied, bowing his head.

"What news is coming from the Heavenly Palace?"

"Your Excellency, the Queen Mother has already set the wedding date for Lord Zeyuan and Fairy Feihua, after the Marriage Festival..."

"What?!" Xuanfeng exclaimed incredulously, "After the Marriage Festival?!"

"Yes! It is said that... the newly selected maidens will accompany the Flying Flower Fairy to marry into the Dragon Palace..."

Xuanfeng was shocked. Holding a matchmaking event was already extremely unfair to Feihua, and now Feihua was being forced to enter the palace with Nü'e. Could Feihua accept such a humiliation?

...

In the Wanzu Garden, all the flowers withered for the first time.

Looking at the withered branches and fallen leaves in the garden, Feihua said in despair, "Mother, as you wished, I am to marry Youdao Tianjun, and your good sister has also arranged a good sister for me..."

She smiled helplessly, "Mother, are you satisfied now...?"

"Feihua, no matter how many women Zeyuan has, you are his legal wife. What are you afraid of? In the end, you can only be the Mother of Wuji!" Baiyan held Feihua's hand and said earnestly, "Child, Xuanfeng is not bad, it's just that his position is not secure! Fortunately, he doesn't have time to marry you, otherwise, you would be suffering with him now!"

Feihua looked at Baiyan, tears welling up in her despairing eyes. "Mother, I am destined to never have someone who truly cares for me. Isn't that painful?"

"Silly child! How can you not understand?! You can become the Mother of Infinity in the future..."

"The Mother of Limitless?" Fei Hua sneered. "I don't care. I only want my Xuanfeng..."

"Feihua, what kind of good person do you think Xuanfeng is? He adopted a little girl at home, and I heard she was lost for a while but was found! If he didn't have feelings for that child, why would he bother looking for her?!" Baiyan tapped Feihua's head hard and said, "You silly child! Still so infatuated! He's already changed his mind!"

Feihua shook her head and gave a cold laugh. "Mother, I have waited for Xuanfeng for a thousand years. For these thousand years, every day has been filled with hope because I firmly believed that Xuanfeng would one day marry me..." Feihua shook off Baiyan's hand and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Now, the wedding date is set, but for the first time, I feel despair—despair for you and for my own future..."

"You are the future Mother of Infinity, what are you despairing about!"

Looking at Baiyan, who was filled with longing for power, Feihua smiled bitterly through her tears, "Mother, if... I weren't your daughter, how much better that would be..."

"Feihua! How can you talk nonsense! I'm planning this for you!"

"Thank you," Feihua said, bowing deeply to her mother...

...

On a misty morning at Hidden Deer Mountain, Su Yuyao dressed early, carried the small bundle packed by Bai Er on her back, and went to knock on Xuan Feng's door.

"Xuanfeng! Xuanfeng!" Su Yuyao called out, "Shouldn't we be setting off? We still need to have breakfast!"

Xuanfeng opened the door, straightening his cuffs as he said with a smile, "Let's go!"

"Great! Let's go!"

Su Yuyao ran and jumped around excitedly in front, while Bai Er stayed by her side the whole time.

"Miss! Slow down! Don't fall!"

After passing Wanhequ and Yuantundian, we soon climbed another hillside. At the mountainside stood a stone gate with the four large characters "Qimeng Academy" written on it.

"The Academy?" Su Yuyao stood in front of the stone gate and asked, "Xuanfeng! Have we come to the wrong place? We've come to the Academy!"

“That’s right, I’m sending you to the academy,” Xuanfeng said with a smile.

"What?! I don't want to!" Su Yuyao stomped her feet angrily. "You said you wanted me to make good friends! I don't want to come to the academy!"

“You’ll meet a lot of people here,” Xuanfeng said, pulling Su Yuyao’s wrist upwards. “From now on, you’ll have to come to class every day, understand?”

"I don't want to..." Su Yuyao pulled her hand back, "Xuanfeng, I was wrong, I will never cause trouble again, let me and Bai'er go home!"

"Lord Xuanfeng, you've arrived!" A middle-aged man dressed in a long, wide-sleeved robe came down from the mountain to greet you.

Su Yuyao looked up and saw that the middle-aged man had his hair tied up in a high bun, with long eyebrows and broad eyes. Although his face was serious, he was not scary.

Xuanfeng lowered his head slightly and said, "Uncle-Master Qi Meng, this is Su Yuyao."

Qi Meng sized up Su Yuyao. "You're Su Yuyao?"

"Girl, this is Immortal Master Qi Meng, quickly pay your respects," Xuan Feng said in a low voice.

Su Yuyao pouted, slightly bent her knees, and said, "Greetings, Immortal Master Qi Meng."

Qi Meng nodded.

“Uncle-Master, the girl is a bit playful and mischievous, please forgive her,” Xuanfeng said, bowing his head.

"Xuanfeng, I don't want to come here..." Su Yuyao said, frowning and pouting, "I promise I'll stay home and never cause trouble again..."

Seeing Su Yuyao's unwilling expression, Qi Meng said, "Yao'er, not just anyone can enter the gates of this academy. If it weren't for Xuanfeng's sake, I wouldn't accept such a mischievous child like you!"

“That’s perfect,” Su Yuyao said with a smile. “If I didn’t want to come and you didn’t want to accept it, I won’t bother you… Ah! It hurts! It hurts!”

Xuanfeng grabbed Su Yuyao by the ear, bowed to Qi Meng, and said, "Uncle, you flatter me. The girl is only naughty at times, but most of the time she is obedient."

"Xuanfeng, let go! It hurts!" Su Yuyao cried out, covering her ears.

Xuanfeng glared at Su Yuyao with a stern look, and Su Yuyao had no choice but to shut her mouth.

“It seems she is indeed a little girl who needs to be properly disciplined. Come with me, let’s have breakfast first,” Qi Meng said.

"Yes, Uncle-Master." Xuanfeng answered respectfully, then tugged at Su Yuyao's ear and whispered, "You should know some manners. It took me a lot of effort to get Uncle-Master's permission to let you enroll."

“I didn’t say I was coming…” Su Yuyao glanced at Xuan Feng’s expression, then muttered under her breath, “I know.”

Xuanfeng released his grip, and Bai'er rushed over to look at Su Yuyao's ears. "Oh dear, they're all red! Miss, please listen to me!"

“I understand…” Su Yuyao said, covering her ears.

Walking up the hillside, you can see several halls with green bricks and tiles built against the mountain. In front of the halls is a wide flat area where several groups of apprentices are standing.

Su Yuyao immediately spotted Qingju standing at the front of the line, staring at her in surprise. Su Yuyao rolled her eyes and then made a face at Qingju.

Qi Meng led them to the back of the line.

Before long, the procession began to move forward, each person carrying a bowl and a plate into the dining hall not far away.

Finally, it was Su Yuyao's turn. A handsome man smiled and handed Su Yuyao a bowl, filled it with vegetable soup with a large ladle, and then handed her a plate with two steamed buns and some pickled vegetables.

"It's too little!" Su Yuyao muttered, looking at the things in her hand.

The man smiled, added another steamed bun to Su Yuyao's plate, and said in a low voice, "That's all I can give you. We don't allow leftovers here."

"Thank you, brother!" Su Yuyao replied with a smile, looking up at him.

Su Yuyao followed Xuanfeng into the dining hall, where everyone was sitting upright. Only after the last person was seated did Qi Meng speak, "Let's eat!"

The food was simple but palatable; however, the lack of conversation during the meal made Su Yuyao feel very depressed.

After finally finishing their meal, Su Yuyao grabbed Bai Er and ran out of the dining hall. "Bai Er, let's go! We can't stay here any longer!"

"Miss!" Bai Er grabbed Su Yuyao and pointed to Xuan Feng, who had a dark face behind her.

"Xuanfeng, please, spare me!" Su Yuyao was almost crying. "I don't want to stay here! This place is no fun at all!"

Xuanfeng didn't speak, but stepped forward, grabbed Su Yuyao's wrist, and dragged her into the main hall, Tingxuan Hall.

The main hall was neatly arranged with tables and cushions. The apprentices entered the hall one after another and stood next to their tables, while Qi Meng sat in the main seat of the hall.

"Under the bright light of heaven and earth, with hearts and minds set on their destiny, today, Qi Meng Academy will welcome a new disciple, Su Yuyao!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xuan Feng led Su Yuyao to Qi Meng and made her kneel down in front of Qi Meng.

Qi Meng watched as Su Yuyao knelt down, then took out a small golden sparrow from his sleeve.

The little sparrow flapped its wings in Qi Meng's hand and flew away with a whoosh.

Su Yuyao was extremely surprised to see the little sparrow take flight. How cute! If only she had a slingshot, she could shoot it down!

The little sparrow circled Su Yuyao a few times before returning to Qi Meng's palm.

There was an uproar.

"What's wrong?" Su Yuyao looked at everyone in confusion and asked softly.

Xuanfeng frowned and looked at Qimeng. Qimeng thought for a moment without expression, then put the little sparrow on the ground. The little sparrow bowed respectfully to Su Yuyao.

Qi Meng's eyes widened, and he slowly stood up, looking at Su Yuyao in disbelief.

After a long while, Qi Meng finally spoke, "I, Qi Meng, have now accepted Su Yuyao as my last disciple. I will do everything in my power to protect her path and help her achieve her goal."

Xuanfeng raised an eyebrow, looking at Qi Meng with some surprise. He had only intended for Su Yuyao to enter the academy and study with the children of the celestial realm, but he hadn't expected Qi Meng to want to take Su Yuyao as a celestial disciple! A closed-door celestial disciple at that!

"Serve tea!"

Su Yuyao was bewildered when someone shoved a cup of tea into her hand. Holding the teacup, she looked at Xuanfeng, at a loss for what to do.

Although Xuanfeng was very puzzled, he couldn't be careless with his manners, so he whispered a reminder, "Say, Immortal Master, please have some tea!"

"Immortal Master, please have some tea..." Su Yuyao mimicked Xuanfeng's words.

Qi Meng took the tea, glanced at Su Yuyao, who was rebellious and still had a childish air about her, and sighed, "It was fate..."

Qi Meng reluctantly drank the tea, and Su Yuyao was inexplicably taken in as his last disciple.

“Yao’er, these are your senior brothers.” Qi Meng pointed to the man next to him who was also wearing a wide-sleeved robe and introduced him, “Eldest senior brother Gong Meng, second senior brother Meng Shang, third senior brother Meng Jiao, fourth senior brother Zheng Meng, and fifth senior brother Meng Yu.”

Su Yuyao pouted and bowed to each of them.

The apprentices were all talking amongst themselves, some envious, some jealous, and some disdainful, while Su Yuyao looked unhappy.

Xuanfeng bowed to Qi Meng and asked, puzzled, "Uncle-Master, what is the special meaning behind the Golden Crow bowing to the girl? Why did you make an exception and accept her as your last disciple?"

"I am merely a schoolteacher, and I have no desire to participate in any disputes. That is why I established the academy to recruit talented students," Qi Meng said slowly. "The Golden Crow Sparrow is formed from the spiritual energy of all things, capable of encompassing all realms and speaking countless words. I use it to examine newly initiated apprentices to understand their aptitude. Unexpectedly, the Golden Crow Sparrow bowed deeply to Yao'er. Although I cannot fathom the reason behind it, Su Yuyao is undoubtedly extraordinary, and she should be my last immortal disciple..."

As Qi Meng spoke, he looked at his closed-door disciple...

"Miss..." Bai Er wiped away Su Yuyao's tears and comforted her, "Why are you crying? Becoming an apprentice is a happy thing!"

"What's there to be happy about?" Su Yuyao sobbed. "Now that I've become a disciple, so many more people will be looking after me, and I'll have to study too! I don't want to!"

Xuanfeng looked at Su Yuyao, who was throwing a tantrum, and said awkwardly, "This girl just doesn't really like studying..."

Qi Meng closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, you can all go back. Just leave Yao'er here."