For a while, it seemed the rumors about Mo Chen's mysterious disciple had finally died down.
No one had seen even a glimpse of the girl.
No whispers, no sightings, no scandals.
Little did they know —
Mo Chen had simply set up an invisible barrier around a side hall within Ling Yuan Palace —
a small, secluded courtyard known as Qinghui Courtyard.
Xiao Zhu was instructed firmly not to leave Qinghui Courtyard without permission.
Mo Chen hadn't done it to hide her.
He simply hated distractions — hated noise.
If he allowed waves of immortals to come gawk and gossip at his palace every day, he would likely go insane.
After all, he had been enjoying his solitude for millennia.
Change did not come easily for him.
Still, a few troublesome figures were allowed past the barrier:
Wenlan, because she was patient and helpful;
Yanxia, because banning her would likely provoke more chaos than tolerating her;
and Qingfeng, who outwardly seemed carefree but whose mind ran deeper than most realized.
Mo Chen sighed inwardly.
It wasn't ideal, but perhaps it wasn't so bad either.
Maybe, just maybe, it was good for Xiao Zhu to be surrounded by liveliness sometimes.
After all...
He knew he wasn't good company.
When they were alone, he often didn't know what to say.
Faced with those large, trusting eyes staring up at him like a lost kitten, even he felt lost.
Maybe it was because he had picked her up with his own hands, nurtured her with his own energy.
Perhaps some strange bond had formed — unintentional but irreversible.
Either way, she was here now.
He was her Master.
That was enough.
____
Three months had passed since Xiao Zhu's awakening.
Under Wenlan's careful guidance, she now handled many things on her own, no longer trailing helplessly after Wenlan or her Master for every small matter.
Especially her Master...
(Who, in Xiao Zhu's view, glared at her for no reason far too often.)
(Mo Chen, in truth, was simply attempting — and failing — to think of what to say.)
Inside Qinghui Courtyard, Xiao Zhu sat before a polished bronze mirror, studying her reflection.
She lightly touched the faint pearl-shaped mark on her forehead, frowning in thought.
"What exactly am I..." she murmured.
Was she just a pearl Master picked up from the God's Sea?
Why did she look so different from everyone else?
Her gaze traveled downward, examining her small figure. Barely reaching Mo Chen's stomach in height, she looked tiny compared to Wenlan, Yanxia, and Qingfeng, who all seemed tall like towering trees.
Would cultivating help her grow taller?
She huffed softly and pressed her cheeks with both palms.
"Too little..." she pouted.
As she sat brooding over her height, the doors suddenly burst open with a loud crash.
Yanxia, predictably as unruly as ever, marched in without so much as knocking.
"Xiao Zhu! Come with me! Let's go look around!" she declared boldly.
Xiao Zhu widened her eyes in surprise.
"B-But Master forbade me from leaving Ling Yuan Palace..." she said anxiously.
"And I'm supposed to focus on cultivation..."
Still, her little face pouted, clearly wanting to go.
Yanxia laughed, patting her head with a fond roughness.
"It's fine, it's fine! That ice block isn't even here. He left on official business."
She winked conspiratorially.
"Let's go while we have the chance! Don't you want to see the Heavenly Realm?"
Xiao Zhu hesitated — the eagerness in her eyes painfully obvious.
Her small hands twisted nervously at the hem of her sleeves.
Yanxia, without waiting for a proper answer, simply took her hand.
"Adventure awaits!" she cheered, and with a flash of firelight, the two of them disappeared.
They emerged amidst a wide-open field that stretched endlessly under a pale, golden sky.
The air was crisp, sweet with the scent of spirit herbs and celestial trees.
All around, spirit beasts grazed peacefully — deer with silver antlers, birds with shimmering wings, foxes with mist trailing from their tails.
Xiao Zhu gasped, her eyes shining.
"This... this is amazing!" she whispered, spinning around to take it all in.
Yanxia grinned proudly.
"This is the Heavenly Wilds — a place where spirit beasts roam free. Only the bravest dare to wander here."
Xiao Zhu tilted her head and looked at Yanxia. "Only the bravest?"
Yanxia puffed up immediately. "Naturally! Someone like me, of course!"
She grinned. "Stay here! I'll catch you something cool as a gift!"
Before Xiao Zhu could protest, Yanxia had already blazed away in a streak of flame.
Left alone, Xiao Zhu stared around in wonder — and then, curious and innocent as always, she wandered farther.
Deeper into the forest she wandered, until she came upon a clearing shaded by ancient trees.
There, nestled in the roots, was a small spirit finch —its golden feathers dulled with blood, its tiny body trembling.
Xiao Zhu gasped softly and knelt down beside the trembling creature.
"Are you hurt, little one?" she whispered.
The finch made no move to flee — only looked up at her with weary, trusting eyes.
Gently, she cupped her hands around it. The little bird nestled into her palms, so small and fragile it seemed it might shatter at the slightest breeze.
Xiao Zhu bit her lip, worry clouding her delicate features.
Closing her eyes, she gathered a thin stream of spiritual energy into her dantian, then channeled it outward, soft and slow, like filling a cracked cup with rainwater.
A faint shimmer of light enveloped the finch.
Gradually, its breathing steadied.
With a soft chirp, brighter and steadier than before, the bird fluttered its wings and perched lightly upon her shoulder.
Xiao Zhu giggled, soft and delighted.
"Thank goodness... you're alright," she said warmly.
The little bird nuzzled her cheek once, then leapt into the air — its golden feathers catching the starlight as it soared higher.
Startled, afraid to lose it, Xiao Zhu cried out, "Wait!" and dashed after the bird, her small figure disappearing into the misty woods.
She ran and ran, weaving through misty trees, until she stumbled — breathless and wide-eyed — into another world entirely.
Ahead stood a palace unlike any she had ever seen.
Xingyun Palace,
The vast sky stretched endlessly above, yet it seemed filled with shimmering rivers of stars,
twisting into galaxies that crowned the towering silver halls.
Celestial bridges arched over vast voids where constellations bloomed like flowers. The air itself shimmered with stardust.
It was breathtaking.
Xiao Zhu stood in awe, her tiny figure dwarfed by the vastness of it all.
In the center of the palace garden, beside a lake as smooth and dark as a polished mirror,
sat a solitary figure.
A man.
His long, white hair cascaded down his back like flowing moonlight.
His robes shimmered faintly under the stars.
From a distance, she could only see his side profile, but she could tell he was no ordinary immortal.
His tall, straight nose was sharply defined, casting a gentle shadow along the delicate curve of his cheek. Long, pale eyelashes veiled his eyes — lashes so fine and soft they seemed dusted with stardust, beautiful as the winter sky before dawn.
His lips, pale yet finely shaped, held no trace of warmth nor cruelty—only a quiet, distant indifference, like a snow-laden pine untouched by passing storms.
The faint starlight brushed against his skin, revealing an almost translucent fairness, cold and luminous like porcelain kissed by frost. He sat with a posture of quiet, effortless elegance, gazing at the lake in silence.
His presence was detached, not cold like Mo Chen's —but distant, as if he existed in a different plane of existence entirely.
The lake before him was no ordinary lake.
It was a Wishing Lake — a place where mortal prayers, whispered to distant stars, drifted down and collected like fallen petals.
Whenever he chose, he could pluck a wish from the water and, if he willed it, grant it.
But not every wish was granted.
Some were too selfish.
Some too cruel.
And some — he merely watched as they faded back into stardust.
As Xiao Zhu stared in wonder, the golden spirit finch she had healed fluttered down and perched lightly on the man's shoulder, chirping softly into his ear.
Without turning, Xingyao spoke, his voice low and calm, "Did you heal Xingluo?"
Xiao Zhu blinked in surprise.
"Xingluo..." she repeated, looking at the little bird.
The finch chirped once, as if confirming.
Still without looking at her, Xingyao said, "Thank you. Not many can heal spirit creatures with pure energy alone."
Xiao Zhu shifted awkwardly, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeves.
"I just... didn't want it to die," she mumbled.
At that, Xingyao finally turned his head, his pale silver eyes meeting hers — calm, distant, yet... not unkind.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips.
"A good reason," he said simply.
And for the first time in her short life, Xiao Zhu met someone who felt just as still, just as far away from the world as her master — yet without the coldness that made her afraid to draw near.
Instead, his presence felt like the distant stars above: untouchable, yes, but quietly watching, quietly waiting...