"Hmm?"
Xiao Hongyu looked at Lu Qingning with some surprise and asked, "Junior Sister, why do you say that?"
Without even reaching Early Foundation Establishment yet, Lu Qingning had already found her future path in Immortal Cultivation. That alone put her ahead of the vast majority of cultivators.
Asked this, Lu Qingning immediately straightened her back and said, "Well... I was just talking nonsense, Senior Sister. Don't take it too seriously."
Hearing this, Xiao Hongyu nodded slightly and resumed her cultivation.
Cultivation was boring. Sitting on the soft couch and dangling her legs, Lu Qingning said to Xiao Hongyu, "Senior Sister, you work so hard. What is your cultivation level now?"
Xiao Hongyu closed her eyes and continued cultivating, seemingly not hearing Lu Qingning's question.
Helpless, Lu Qingning hopped off the bed and decided to go outside for a walk. Just as she was about to step out the door, Xiao Hongyu called out to her: "I am at Early Foundation Establishment. Do not leave Qingzhu Peak."
Hearing this, Lu Qingning turned back, flashed a smile at Xiao Hongyu, and then left the house with a beaming face.
Come to think of it, she had been on Qingzhu Peak for two days and had never stepped outside the house where she stayed.
With Senior Sister taking care of her on ordinary days, and having to cultivate, time had slipped away by nightfall before she even realized it.
Today, she wanted to go outside not because she felt it was time to learn her way around, but because she was sick of eating fish.
For the past two days, besides making fish soup, Xiao Hongyu had never cooked anything else.
Even the flavor of the fish soup was always the same.
Having eaten fish for two days straight, no matter how much she loved fish, Lu Qingning was starting to feel a bit miserable.
Therefore, she decided to find something to eat on the mountain herself.
Although she didn't have much cultivation right now, finding some wild vegetables and fruits should be no problem.
However...
What if she ran into some wild beast?
Thinking of this, Lu Qingning, who had just stepped out of her bedchamber, turned back, poked her head in at the door, and asked Xiao Hongyu, who was meditating with her eyes closed, "Senior Sister, if I run into danger on Qingzhu Peak, will you come save me?"
Xiao Hongyu nodded slightly and said, "Just don't leave Qingzhu Peak."
Having received the promise, Lu Qingning perked up and said with a smile, "Okay, okay!"
Then she hummed a little tune and left her dwelling.
Except for the houses where they lived, Qingzhu Peak was almost entirely a pure forest. Apart from the path leading up the mountain, Lu Qingning couldn't find any other trails.
Looking at the lush, verdant woods, Lu Qingning couldn't help sighing, "As expected of people who practice Immortal Cultivation, they don't even need to walk to catch fish."
Lu Qingning had no idea where the river in the forest was, but that didn't stop her from looking for wild vegetables and fruits.
Although she couldn't tell which ones were edible and which ones weren't, she knew Xiao Hongyu definitely could.
Lu Qingning patted her clothes. The pockets on her outfit were very large and could hold two big bags of wild vegetables and fruits.
Walking along the uneven mountain path, Lu Qingning looked around eagerly, trying to find something to eat.
After walking for just half an hour, Lu Qingning had already filled the pockets on both sides of her clothes to the brim.
"Mhm... Perfect!"
Lu Qingning put the last bright red wild fruit into her pocket, wiped the sweat from her forehead, put her hands on her hips with a satisfied smile, and turned around, intending to head back.
So another half hour passed.
Lu Qingning hadn't found the way back.
So another half hour passed.
Lu Qingning still hadn't found the way back.
Looking at the trees that blocked out the sky, Lu Qingning was speechless for a moment.
"I'm cooked! I can't find the way back!"
Lu Qingning stared blankly at the surrounding trees, which all looked exactly the same.
"If I... ask Senior Sister to save me now, will she scold me?"
Lu Qingning rested her chin in her hands and sat on a tree stump to rest, wondering when would be the right time to ask Senior Sister to fetch her back so she wouldn't get yelled at.
As she was pondering, Lu Qingning suddenly felt a wave of heat coming from behind her.
"Hoo—"
A clearly audible breathing sound came from behind Lu Qingning. Her body stiffened, and she turned her head rigidly.
A huge brown bear was crouching right behind her, staring at her with wide eyes.
She locked eyes with the brown bear for two seconds, not daring to move a muscle, until the brown bear shifted from its crouching posture and stood up.
Lu Qingning looked up. This brown bear was easily five stories tall. When it stood up, it even blocked out the sun, and Lu Qingning felt the surroundings suddenly grow much dimmer.
"Ah—Senior Sister, save me! Senior Sister! Senior Sister!!"
The moment the brown bear stood up, Lu Qingning snapped out of her shock and fled, scrambling away on all fours.
Seeing the tiny human in front of her scrambling away in a panic, the brown bear dropped down and gave chase.
However, Lu Qingning ran so slowly that for every two steps the bear took, she had to take a dozen.
Lu Qingning ran all the way, crying and cursing, while the brown bear caught up in just two strides.
"Oh mom! Senior Sister! Hurry up! Your dear Junior Sister is going to be eaten!!"
"Help! Senior Sister, why haven't you come yet!!"
Watching Lu Qingning's antics, as if it had never seen anyone so weak before, the brown bear suddenly grew interested.
The human and the bear chased each other for a minute until a strange voice suddenly broke the balance between them.
"Ah Huang! You are not allowed to bully my Junior Sister!"
The brown bear froze instantly, unmoving as if hit by a body-immobilization spell.
The bear's running had caused the ground to shake violently, and Lu Qingning didn't react in time when it suddenly stopped.
After that strange voice spoke, the tremors in the ground ceased. Running and looking back over her shoulder, Lu Qingning saw the brown bear that had been chasing her getting further and further away.
Lu Qingning ran another two steps and then stopped.
"Phew—that scared me to death! I don't know who saved me, but thanks anyway!"
Lu Qingning put her hands on her hips and looked at the frozen brown bear.
"Well—you must be the new Junior Sister."
A lazy voice suddenly came from behind Lu Qingning.
Lu Qingning turned around to see a person dressed very casually like a savage, with hair hanging loosely over their shoulders, a dirt-stained garment carelessly thrown over their body, shorts barely reaching their knees, and no shoes on their feet.
If she had to describe it, this person gave Lu Qingning the impression of a wild savage.
"Ah—I suppose so. May I ask who you are, Senior Sister—?"
Lu Qingning asked politely.
"Oh right, my name is Shen Ye. I'm A-Yu's junior sister, and you're our junior sister too."
Shen Ye replied with a yawn.
With that, Shen Ye leaped up and jumped onto the brown bear's shoulder. Patting the bear's head, Shen Ye said, "This is Ah Huang. It was just playing with you just now, probably scared you a bit. We play like this all the time."
Playing...
Lu Qingning looked at the huge brown bear and the senior sister standing on its shoulder.
She certainly didn't think it was playing with her just then.
Lu Qingning tried her best to maintain a smile on her face.
Shen Ye patted Ah Huang's head and said, "Go on, apologize to your junior sister."
At those two pats on its head from Shen Ye, the brown bear let out a whimper, clutched its head, crouched down, and let out a series of soft whimpering noises toward Lu Qingning.
Lu Qingning: "..."
There really is one thing to subdue another.
She had thought coming to Qingzhu Peak would be about living a wonderful life with a beautiful senior sister, but she hadn't expected so many twists and turns.
Lu Qingning sighed and said to Shen Ye, "Senior Shen, how do I get back to Senior Xiao's cave dwelling from here?"
Shen Ye jumped down from the giant bear and walked over to Lu Qingning in two or three steps. She was a head taller than Lu Qingning. Lowering her head, Shen Ye looked her up and down carefully and said, "Hmm... It's not far to A-Yu's place from here, but I still want to take you to meet the others."
"The others?" Lu Qingning was startled.
Ever since coming up the mountain, Lu Qingning had been staying in the house Xiao Hongyu had brought her to, so she had always thought Qingzhu Peak only had her and Xiao Hongyu.
At the time, Lu Qingning had even spent a few seconds mourning for Xiao Hongyu, who was guarding the mountain all alone.
Now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
Not noticing the change in Lu Qingning's expression, Shen Ye grabbed Lu Qingning's hand and began walking on her own accord. "Yeah, A-Hua, A-Shui, and A-Hei are all here. I'll take you to meet them and get acquainted, so next time they see you, they probably won't be like Ah Huang."
Lu Qingning was startled by Shen Ye's sudden tug and followed stiffly behind her.
"I'll take her later. Shen Ye, go cultivate first."
Xiao Hongyu's voice reached the ears of both of them.
Hearing this, Lu Qingning turned her head and saw Xiao Hongyu standing behind her.
Letting go of Shen Ye's hand, Lu Qingning hurried over to Xiao Hongyu, hugged her, and said with a tearful choke in her voice, "Senior Sister!! You're finally here!! I was scared to death just now! Such a huge bear chased me! Yes! That's him! He's the one who bullied me just now!"