That night, Xiao Bang Chui slept soundly. Her skin felt refreshed after being washed with bath beans, and her hair was silky smooth after being cleaned with egg whites. The bedding was soft and fragrant. She had never experienced such luxury in her life.
From yesterday to today, in just one short day, her life had undergone a dramatic change. Both her body and mind were exhausted to the limit. As soon as she touched the bed, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The next day, she woke up early. Looking out into the courtyard, it seemed that others hadn’t risen yet. Xiao Bang Chui took another refreshing bath in the pool. When she came out, she found breakfast already laid out on the table. There was a thick rice porridge, along with three small dishes: a stack of scallion pancakes, some pickled vegetables, and some dried tofu.
A paradise on earth! Xiao Bang Chui was so moved that she pinched herself hard. This wasn’t a dream, right? This wasn’t a dream!
After breakfast, faint voices could be heard from the courtyard. The others must have woken up. Xiao Bang Chui packed up her bundle and was about to push open the door when she suddenly remembered something. She looked down at her clothes. She was still wearing that patched-up, tattered outfit. Although it had been washed clean yesterday, it was still in tatters. Today was the second selection, and it didn’t seem appropriate to wear such ragged clothes. But she had no other clothes, except for the gauze dress that her master had bought for her.
She opened her bundle. The pink gauze dress was neatly folded at the bottom. Perhaps due to being compressed for so long, it had some wrinkles. Xiao Bang Chui tried hard to smooth out the wrinkles with her hands. After hesitating for a moment, she finally took off her tattered clothes.
Her master hadn’t considered her size when buying the dress. It was ridiculously large. She pulled up the dress that was dragging on the ground and tied it tightly with a sash. There was no mirror in the room, so she could only braid her hair by feel. Before she finished, there was a sudden knock on the door.
“Xiao Bang Chui, are you up?” Bai Li Gelin’s cheerful voice came from outside. “Don’t be lazy, get up, and let’s go for a walk.”
Xiao Bang Chui quickly opened the door. Three or four people were standing outside, crowded together. Upon seeing her, their chattering voices suddenly stopped, leaving a dead silence.
There was a “thud” as Lei Xiuyuan’s teacup fell to the ground. He trembled all over, his face full of shock, and stammered, “B-Big Brother Xiao Bang Chui?! What happened to you?!”
What happened? Xiao Bang Chui looked down at herself. Was there something wrong with her?
Bai Li Gelin suddenly let out a scream, “Why are you wearing women’s clothes?!”
“…I never said I was a boy.”
This couldn’t be! The children were about to faint. From her behavior to her mannerisms and even her appearance, there was no difference from a boy! Even wearing a dress, with that dark face, those thick eyebrows, that expressionless zombie-like face, everything was so incongruous!
Bai Li Gelin’s budding maiden heart was cruelly shattered. How could she be a girl? How could this be? Just yesterday, she had started to think Xiao Bang Chui was full of masculine charm, and today she was struck dumb by this sudden truth. The person who had made her heart flutter was a girl!
Was she being a girl that horrifying? Xiao Bang Chui was finally exasperated. The others were one thing, but even Ye Ye and Bai Li Chang Yue looked shocked. Lei Xiuyuan, that crybaby, even had red-rimmed eyes. She really couldn’t understand why he was crying.
“Everyone has changed into new clothes,” she decided to change the subject.
The Bai Li sisters had changed into clean, neat cotton clothes. Although simple, they were incomparable to yesterday’s beggar-like appearance. Ye Ye was also wearing a half-new cotton robe. Even Lei Xiuyuan had tidied his hair and changed into clothes with fewer patches. It seemed everyone was taking today’s second selection seriously.
Ye Ye recovered the quickest and immediately smiled, “Yes, we had no choice for the initial selection, but we can’t be so shabby for the second selection. Xiao Bang Chui, that dress… looks quite nice.”
He had to think for a while before he could come up with a compliment.
Bai Li Gelin snickered, “The dress is nice, but it doesn’t look good on her.” She made a face at Xiao Bang Chui and added, “You silly girl, why didn’t you say earlier that you were a girl?”
Lei Xiuyuan had also finally returned to normal. His eyes were no longer red, but his face was. He said softly, with a mix of shyness and guilt, “Th-then I shouldn’t call you Big Brother Xiao Bang Chui anymore… I’m sorry, I didn’t know before… Big Sister Xiao Bang Chui.”
…That sounded even worse.
“What Big Sister?” Xiao Bang Chui shook her head and walked ahead. “Just Xiao Bang Chui is fine.”
Bai Li Gelin caught up and hugged her arm. Still being a child, she had already forgotten about her shattered maiden heart. She said affectionately in a low voice, “Xiao Bang Chui, your skin is dark, so don’t wear pink clothes next time. It makes you look even darker.”
Is that so?
“Then what color should I wear?”
“Hmm, blue maybe? Your braid is crooked. Later, we’ll find a place and I’ll rebraid it for you.”
Although the truth that Xiao Bang Chui was a girl shocked everyone, children were generally open-minded, and they soon forgot about it. The group went to see the pear blossoms, chatting and laughing. Bai Li Gelin spent the whole morning teaching Xiao Bang Chui the secrets of hairstyling and dressing. Ye Ye and Lei Xiuyuan were huddled together talking about something, while Bai Li Chang Yue had disappeared. This girl didn’t like to talk and was quite independent. The sisters’ personalities were as different as night and day.
“I wonder what the second selection will be like,” Bai Li Gelin said, becoming a bit nervous at the mention of the second selection.
“The initial selection tested the eight extraordinary meridians to assess aptitude. Those with superior spiritual roots could pass. I suppose the second selection will be an even stricter screening,” Ye Ye sighed. “After all, aptitude is still the most important thing in cultivation.”
Aptitude… Xiao Bang Chui remembered that Dongyang Zhenren had said her aptitude was average, and she still couldn’t learn any magic. She guessed that “average aptitude” was probably just a consolation; it was likely quite poor. She also recalled the hoarse voice that had reminded her to hold her breath during the initial selection. Although she couldn’t understand what had happened, she must have passed because she held her breath. The black-veiled woman had even asked if she had practiced any secret techniques.
If it weren’t for that voice, she probably wouldn’t have even passed the initial selection, right? Why did holding her breath allow her to pass? She had a belly full of questions but no one to ask, so she could only keep them in her heart.
Melodious bell sounds echoed in the courtyard. Suddenly, a door appeared out of thin air under the pear blossom trees. The female demon covered in green scales appeared from nowhere and announced loudly, “We have arrived at the Ruixue Pavilion. Please exit through this door.”
The children burst into a commotion. They had arrived at the Ruixue Pavilion, and the second selection was about to begin. Several small boys occupied the area near the door, pushing away other children who wanted to get off.
“Move aside! You lowborn, who dares to get off first?”
As they spoke, two people walked up leisurely from behind. It was the boy in white clothes who had been beaten yesterday and the phoenix-like little beauty. The boys guarding the door hurriedly made their way. The boy in white’s face was still a bit swollen, but much better than yesterday. Today, he had also deliberately worn new clothes. With his jet-black hair and snow-white clothes, even at such a young age, he had a bit of a dashing air.
“Putting on airs,” Bai Li Gelin rolled her eyes disdainfully.
The boy in white stepped back slightly, making a gesture of yielding, “Guests from afar should go first. Princess, please proceed.”
So the little beauty was a princess? The children were first in an uproar, then quickly quieted down. No wonder she was so beautiful and noble.
The princess smiled slightly, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Thank you.”
She was the first to walk through the door, her elegant figure disappearing instantly behind it. The boy in white followed closely behind.
“It seems the person Xiao Bang Chui beat yesterday was either a young prince or a young emperor,” Ye Ye suddenly smiled. “If this were outside, Xiao Bang Chui would have caused trouble that could lead to the execution of nine generations of her family.”
“How do you know?” Bai Li Gelin asked.
“That girl is a princess, yet he could walk in front of her. His status must be nobler than hers.”
Xiao Bang Chui was a bit surprised, “Do people from the royal family need to cultivate too?”
“Precisely because they are royalty, they need to cultivate even more. To maintain their rule forever, there must be immortals presiding over the clan. Luogong Town is within the borders of Yue Country, so the boy in white should be from the Yue royal family. The closest feudal state to Luogong Town is Zhaoyang, so the princess must be from Zhaoyang. That’s why he said ‘guests from afar.'”
Xiao Bang Chui looked at Ye Ye with rare admiration, “…You know so much.”
Ye Ye smiled nonchalantly, “When you’ve seen a lot outside, you come to know everything.”
This was an evasive answer, but since he didn’t want to say more, she wouldn’t press him.
Soon, everyone had exited through that door. As soon as Xiao Bang Chui jumped off the carriage, she felt a bone-chilling cold and couldn’t help but shiver. All she could see around her was a vast expanse of white; they were on a snow-covered peak. Goose feather-like snowflakes fell densely, and in no time, the children’s heads were white with snow.
Xiao Bang Chui shivered with cold. She hadn’t brought a single piece of winter clothing. She had miscalculated. Looking back at the others, Ye Ye and the Bai Li sisters were sitting cross-legged in the snow. Although their faces were blue with cold, their expressions were much more relaxed. Nearby, Lei Xiuyuan, despite wearing a patched single layer of clothing, stood facing the wind and snow seemingly unaffected. Some children were meditating, some had taken out winter clothes to put on. Only she was jumping around like a monkey, freezing.
“Big Sister Xiao Bang Chui, are you very cold?” Lei Xiuyuan was a bit surprised. “You can resist the cold by circulating your inner spiritual energy.”
“Wh-what inner spiritual energy…” Xiao Bang Chui’s tongue was barely functioning from the cold.
“It’s hard to explain, but anyone with spiritual roots naturally knows how to do it. Don’t worry, calm down and circulate your energy. You’ll warm up soon.”
Seeing her lips turning purple from the cold, Lei Xiuyuan hurriedly grabbed her hand and gently rubbed it. Her hand felt like a block of ice.
Xiao Bang Chui felt like she was about to be torn apart by the knife-like wind and snow. What inner spiritual energy? She didn’t understand any of this! Why was Lei Xiuyuan, that crybaby, fine? Why was even that arrogant boy in white okay? Out of more than fifty people, she was the only one in such a miserable state.
Just as she was despairing, that hoarse voice suddenly sounded in her ear again: “Hold your breath.”
That old man was still here? Xiao Bang Chui stiffly turned her eyeballs. Where was he? Why could she never see him?
“Hold your breath, you fool!” The hoarse voice became impatient.
Xiao Bang Chui held her breath. Gradually, whether it was because she had gotten used to the cold or because holding her breath was really that miraculous, her body slowly stopped shaking.
“Exhale three times, inhale once. Breathe like this from now on.”
Was this the breathing method for cultivating inner energy? Why was it opposite to what her master had taught? Exhaling so much, wouldn’t she suffocate?
“If you learn from these fools, you’ll never succeed until the day you die.” After saying this, the hoarse voice abruptly stopped and was heard no more.
Xiao Bang Chui followed his instructions, exhaling three times and inhaling once. At first, she often felt chest tightness from holding her breath, but for some reason, she quickly got used to it. She could no longer feel the bone-chilling cold. The wind and snow on her face felt like a gentle spring breeze.
Lei Xiuyuan noticed her hand slowly becoming warm and was so happy that his eyes reddened again: “Big Sister Xiao Bang Chui, you’re okay now? You scared me to death just now!”
Xiao Bang Chui was still not used to speaking with the new breathing method. After a while, she said, “I told you not to call me that. It’s awkward.”
“Th-then just Big Sister.” Lei Xiuyuan rubbed his eyes, looking at her with admiration. He only remembered Xiao Bang Chui’s heroic act of saving him. He wanted to become as amazing as Big Sister in the future.
Xiao Bang Chui looked around. The peak was now crowded with people. Groups of rainbow deer carriages floated in the air, with people continuously coming out. As far as the eye could see, it was a sea of heads.
Were these all the people who passed the initial selection in the Central Plains? Ye Ye was indeed right; there must be at least thousands of people here. With so many people, how many would pass the second selection?
Xiao Bang Chui suddenly felt something stirring in her bundle. A letter shot out like an arrow, hovering right in front of her. It was an apricot-colored envelope with a few fingernail marks on it—the one the black-veiled woman had given her when she passed the initial selection.
As if held by an invisible hand, the envelope was torn open, and the letter inside was quickly unfolded. Xiao Bang Chui glanced at it briefly. It had her name and age written on it, and below, in the blank space, three characters slowly appeared: “Two Seven Six.”
Immediately after, the letter and envelope turned to ashes in an instant. A red light struck her wrist, and ancient characters as bright as cinnabar appeared on her skin, spelling out “Two Seven Six.”
The scene of raging wind and snow before her eyes wavered slightly like a water surface. Suddenly, a small thatched cottage appeared on the peak. With a creak, the door of the cottage opened on its own under everyone’s gaze. The empty interior contained nothing but a brazier filled with charcoal, burning silently.