Chapter Eleven: You Know, I’m Afraid of Seeing Strangers

“Big sister, can I not go? You know I’m afraid of strangers.”

Jiang Zao sat cross-legged, trying to look pitiful to escape the miserable routine of morning till night classes. She would rather break down from cultivation than spend another minute at the academy.

In her past life, enduring high school was already hard enough, but she managed to get through it. She had no desire to relive that difficult high school existence in the cultivation world.

It was nothing short of a nightmare!

“Pity won’t work. Starting tomorrow, I will take you to class on time,” Jiang Zhuoran said firmly, folding her arms with righteous resolve.

You’re afraid of strangers? It should be the strangers who are afraid of you.

Since you’ve begun your cultivation path, there’s no way I’ll let you quit halfway. You must see it through to the end.

Although some elders’ classes were indeed mind-numbingly boring and made her sleepy, and she didn’t like listening to them... well, it wasn’t impossible to endure.

“Big sister~ please,” Jiang Zao pleaded, gently shaking her arm and acting adorably.

Jiang Zhuoran chuckled lightly—not sincerely, but enough to give Jiang Zao hope, making her believe her coaxing had some effect. She blinked her bright, watery eyes, staring at the one who decided whether she would attend classes.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhuoran smiled but shook her head instead of agreeing. “No.”

No? Yes?

Those two simple words struck Jiang Zao like a bolt of lightning, dousing her in a cold wave that chilled her to the bone. Her gaze drifted, and she became listless.

[How can you say such cold and piercing words when the temperature is thirty-six degrees?]

[Wuwuwu... I’m breaking off with you, I won’t talk to you for at least a minute!]

Jiang Zao looked plaintively at the person responsible for robbing her of her lazy mornings, resembling a little girl cruelly abandoned by a heartless rogue.

Jiang Zhuoran sighed helplessly. She hadn’t known Jiang Zao was this resistant to attending class.

“Zaozao…”

“Hmph!”

[I said one minute, so I won’t talk to you!]

Feigning anger, Jiang Zao snorted coldly, crossed her arms, and turned her head away.

Jiang Zhuoran was momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting such a result. Her raised hand faltered awkwardly.

But Jiang Zhuoran didn’t choose to ignore Jiang Zao’s anger. After all, she was just a sulky child, and she had plenty of patience to coax her.

“Zaozao, turn around and listen to me.”

Jiang Zhuoran gently held her arms, coaxing softly.

Jiang Zao shivered twice but still refused to respond, opening her eyes slightly to secretly observe her.

[Why isn’t she moving? Is she really angry?]

Jiang Zhuoran sighed helplessly under the steady gaze, and her heart suddenly thumped.

Her first thought wasn’t that Jiang Zao was impossible to handle but a fear that she might have gone too far and upset her.

“Big sister.” Jiang Zao turned around, lowering her head and calling softly like a child who had done something wrong.

[I shouldn’t have lost my temper; it’s not like I can’t attend.]

[When did I start having such a childish temper?]

Jiang Zao reflected inwardly.

[I clearly wasn’t like this before, when did I start changing?]

[It seems to be after I got close to Jiang Zhuoran.]

In her past life, Jiang Zao was an only child. Sometimes her parents, busy with work, neglected her, which shaped her peculiar personality and tendency to hide her true self.

Due to her nature, she had few friends and treated everyone with gentle courtesy.

Until she suddenly found herself transported alone into this brutal cultivation world and was inexplicably taken under the wing of the story’s heroine, Jiang Zhuoran, where she first began to feel real emotions.

Was it familial love, or friendship?

Jiang Zao wasn’t sure what kind of feelings she held for Jiang Zhuoran.

All she knew was that it felt comforting, allowing her to drop her facade and be herself.

Hearing such a simple but unusually plain confession left Jiang Zhuoran somewhat at a loss. Though it was just two sentences, they left a bitter tinge in her heart.

Since she could remember, she often heard her stepmother and grandmother mention a younger sister they kept at the estate, and that her father would often go out to accompany that sister.

As a child, she had disliked that sister, feeling she had stolen her father away, but as she grew up, those feelings faded.

Until she recovered from her illness and returned to the Jiang family.

That was their first meeting.

The little girl was bright and well-behaved, fair-skinned and delicate, carefully nurtured.

Jiang Zhuoran liked this polite and obedient sister at first sight, until she strangely heard the sister’s true thoughts...

She had always thought Jiang Zao was that carefree, innocent girl in her heart, but it turned out that behind that lighthearted facade was the real her: emotional and sensitive.

“Zaozao, I’m sorry. I wasn’t considerate and ignored your feelings,” Jiang Zhuoran said uneasily, clasping her hands in self-reproach.

Whether it was entering the Inquiry Immortal Sect or beginning cultivation, everything had been her own doing.

If not for her impulsiveness, Jiang Zao might have been a carefree girl, enjoying worldly pleasures like other mortal girls, laughing and playing.

In the end, it was all her fault.

“Big sister, I know you mean well. I’m just venting a little, not really mad at you,” Jiang Zao said softly, taking her hand gently.

[Is Jiang Zhuoran really this serious?]

[How come I never noticed when reading the book?]

“Zaozao, do you really think that way?” Jiang Zhuoran looked up and asked.

Jiang Zao smiled lightly. “Of course. You’re my sister; why would I lie to you?”

“Hmph, you’ve lied plenty,” Jiang Zhuoran retorted inwardly, her heart opening up despite herself.

“Tomorrow, big sister, you must remember to take me to the academy, or I’ll be mad.”

The rift between them dissolved, and Jiang Zao feigned anger to stop her sister from worrying.

“All right,” Jiang Zhuoran agreed smoothly, “Tomorrow I’ll drag you there if I have to.”

“Good.”

“Hahaha.”

They laughed together, collapsing onto the bed in a heap of mirth, as if nothing had happened.

...

The next morning.

“Zaozao, we’re leaving now.”

“Okay, coming.”

The morning class was held on the main peak of the Inquiry Immortal Sect. Bai Yang taught the fundamentals of spiritual roots to help students understand their own spiritual nature clearly.

After entering the academy, the two found a discreet corner and sat cross-legged, keeping their heads down throughout.

Because of their earlier deception of Bai Yang, they felt guilty and glanced around nervously, appearing suspicious and ill-intentioned, attracting the attention of many fellow disciples.

This was completely against their original wishes.

“Who are those two? Why do they look so strange?”

“No idea. But just by their sneaky looks, they don’t seem trustworthy. Better to keep away.”

“I agree.”

Two male disciples a bit away whispered and openly discussed them, repeatedly glancing their way.

All disciples attending this class were of similar strength; if a fight broke out, neither would fear the other.

“Hey, stop talking, Elder Bai is coming.”

“Oh.”

Perhaps due to a natural student’s intuition, someone quietly warned the others. Soon, the noisy hall fell silent, and all sat neatly and obediently.

The gray-robed figure entered under the watchful eyes of the disciples, scanning the rows. The two with lowered heads in the last row stood out among the crowd.

When Bai Yang saw them, he stroked his beard and chuckled softly, a different expression flickering in his eyes.