Chapter 5: Staying the Night

To a cultivator, the bun in her hand was a common thing, something that should not be eaten as it would only add impurities to the body.

But for Shen Qingyi at this moment, it was a delicious treat.

She ate the warm bun along the way. When she returned to the outer wall of the Academy again, she wiped her hands.

She slipped back in through the dog hole she had discovered earlier.

It was a good thing this body was small and lean.

She returned to the hidden corner she had stayed in that morning.

In the main hall where the lessons were held, some people had already trickled back in.

After everyone had gathered, the Page Boy began teaching again.

Time flew by, and the sky was already growing dim.

A day of teaching was finally coming to an end.

Only after the old man and the Page Boy left did Shen Qingyi slowly come back to her senses.

Thrown into an unfamiliar world with no one to rely on, her eagerness to learn had somewhat captivated her.

Now, looking up at the sky, she realized it was already quite late.

The other children all had family members to pick them up or lived nearby.

But if she were to return from the town to the Chores Peak area of the Zedi Sect, it would take two and a half hours.

It would be completely dark long before she could make it back to Chores Peak.

The journey also required passing through a small forest.

To say she wasn’t scared would be a lie.

This was not the civilized world she once lived in. Here, monsters and ghosts existed.

Even though this was under the Zedi Sect’s jurisdiction, no one could guarantee that the entire journey would be absolutely safe.

But spending the night at this Academy didn’t seem safe either.

Shen Qingyi thought carefully and decided that staying at the Academy was safer than traveling back at night.

Shen Qingyi found a corner sheltered from the wind and curled herself into a ball.

She waited quietly for dawn to come.

A night spent alone just seemed especially long.

In the silent night, only the howling of the wind and the rustling of swaying leaves remained.

Shen Qingyi instinctively hugged herself tighter.

This was the first time Shen Qingyi had felt the reality of this world so keenly.

Her past life seemed to have become an irreversible part of the past.

She had left school, left her family, and come to a new world full of dangers.

She had no one to rely on, and was weak and lowly.

All she wanted now was to survive, to live on.

Cherish life, and perhaps one day, she might be able to return to that familiar place…

Her thoughts drifted, and Shen Qingyi fell into a fitful sleep.

The hazy glow of the moonlight spilled over the land.

On Chores Peak of the Zedi Sect, it seemed no one had noticed that there was one less person in the thatched hut on the Barren Mountain that night.

“Dong! Dong!”

The melodious tolling of a bell spread through the air, startling Shen Qingyi awake from her sleep.

Shen Qingyi frowned slightly and opened her eyes with some difficulty.

The morning fog in midsummer was very thick. Dewdrops clung to her eyelashes, and her clothes felt somewhat damp.

Curling up all night had left her whole body stiff.

In the classroom, people had already begun to arrive.

From a distance, Shen Qingyi saw the teacher pick up yesterday’s scroll and once again sit poised at the lectern.

The Page Boy waited nearby for the students to arrive.

Shen Qingyi looked at the sky and crawled out, trembling slightly.

By the street, the bun shop from yesterday had already set up in its spot.

It was the same woman.

“Auntie, two meat buns, please.”

Hearing the young, slightly hoarse voice, the woman looked up. When she saw Shen Qingyi, she paused for a moment.

There weren’t many ordinary people in this town, and the customers who bought buns from her were mostly the same familiar faces.

Those whose names she knew were familiar, and even those whose names she didn’t know, she mostly recognized.

This little girl, she had a slight impression of her too, the little kid who bought buns from her yesterday.

The sky wasn’t fully bright yet. The woman couldn’t help but glance around, but she didn’t see anyone who looked like the child’s family.

She seemed to think of something, and a touch of pity crossed her mind, but she didn’t say anything more.

She took two large buns from the steamer and handed them to Shen Qingyi.

Shen Qingyi took the buns, fished out some coins, and handed them to the woman.

The woman looked at the coins on those thin, almost skeletal little hands. Her own hand, beneath her simple clothes, rubbed the hem for a moment before she reached out and took Shen Qingyi’s coins.