I knew it! With my reputation as Xuanxuzi, no one would want to be my disciple. Look how happy this little girl is, she's even talking incoherently!

If Yingbao knew what the eccentric old man was thinking, she would definitely scoff and say, "Master you haven't formally become my disciple, are you out of your mind? I'm just exchanging secret signals with a fellow villager! There's a limit to your wild ideas!"

Fortunately, Yingbao doesn't have mind-reading abilities, otherwise she might have to reconsider whether to become the disciple of the strange old man in front of her, lest she be led astray.

"Heaven above and earth below as witnesses, I, Ye Ying, today formally become Huangfu Xuanxu's disciple. I will never be a thief, a traitor, or a disgrace to my master's reputation." Yingbao kowtowed three times, performing a simple discipleship ceremony.

"Good, good, good..." Xuanxuzi said "good" three times to congratulate himself, happy that he had a successor and grateful that the clan was on the verge of resurgence!

"From this day forward, you are Ye Ying, the 138th generation patriarch of my clan, and also the only disciple personally accepted by me, Huangfu Xuanxu. I hope you will be careful in your words and deeds and diligently cultivate in the future," he said, tossing out a gourd-sized seal as a symbol of his patriarch status.

…………

After her master left, Yingbao, holding the seal and the Star-Moon Ring given to her by her grandfather, recalled what her master had said... The Star-Moon Ring was proof of the clan leader's identity, and so was the seal. However, the Star-Moon Ring was public knowledge, while the seal was clandestine, and very few people knew about it.

Ancient people said that when they were combined, they formed a divine weapon of a sinful immortal, while others said it was a divine technique. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of the sinful immortal are unknown, and no one has been able to decipher its secrets to this day.

It is said that only the destined one can open it!

"Sigh, what a worry! Just thinking about the story behind it all makes me realize it's going to be a mess. I'm still a baby, getting some rest and growing up is the most important thing."

With a thought, I found myself back in the same place.

Hearing her father's loud snoring and her mother's soft breathing, Yingbao glanced at the clock in her spatial dimension. It was about three in the morning. She quickly lay down to catch up on her sleep, so that her silly little brother wouldn't laugh at her for having dark circles under her eyes the next morning.

Nothing was said that night.

At noon, Yingbao's stomach was growling so loudly that she finally got up from the kang (a heated brick bed). With her eyes half-open, she staggered to the kitchen, skillfully lifted the pot lid, and sat on a small stool, eating the steamed egg custard that her grandmother had cooked before going to work and the mung bean cake that her father had bought, her little legs dangling.

After filling her stomach, Yingbao finally regained some strength. She took out the small washbasin that her grandfather had specially ordered for her, and the small washcloth that her mother had made for her from red cotton cloth that she had saved up in the early years. There were a few bamboo leaves embroidered in a corner of the washcloth. The most special thing was that the two words "Ye Ying" were embroidered in very cursive script with gold and silver thread.

Yingbao happily rubbed her little face from left to right, while occasionally saying, "Twist left, twist right, wiggle your bottom..." As she spoke, her body began to sway along with the movements.

Luckily, no one was home. Everyone was either at work, at school, or playing around and completely lost in their own world. Otherwise, we would have been amazed by Yingbao's adorable yet slightly comical actions... and laughed ourselves silly.

Nobody's watching today, let loose and have some fun...

Yingbao tidied herself up and closed the door. With her little basket on her back and a small shovel in hand, she ran joyfully towards the plump Jingning Mountain, shouting, "Ginseng Baby, here I come!"

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching her, Yingbao walked into the deep mountains, stopping and starting along the way... and picked a lot of wild vegetables, wood ear fungus, and mushrooms.

Most of them were thrown directly into the space, leaving only a small portion to conceal their presence.