Mistress of the Underworld and Her Little Celestial Wife (GL) - Chapter 5

Staring in amazement at the small, round mushroom slowly materializing in her palm, Mu Yin’s eyes widened with wonder.

The elder stroked his short beard, giving Mu Yin a deep look before letting out a long sigh.

Mu Yin naturally understood what the elder was lamenting. He had just explained to her that spiritual roots were innate most people had none, a rare few possessed dual or triple spiritual roots, and encountering someone with a single spiritual root was already considered fortunate.

But rarer than a single spiritual root were mutated spiritual roots.

For example, a water spiritual root could mutate into an ice spiritual root, or a metal spiritual root into a thunder spiritual root. Any of these would mark a once-in-a-century genius.

Mu Yin did indeed have a mutated spiritual root but hers was a mushroom spiritual root, a mutation of the wood spiritual root.

“This mushroom!” Mu Yin asked cautiously, “Is it edible?”

The elder’s expression stiffened as if he had choked on something. After a few seconds of thought, he nodded. “It should be edible.”

So it really was edible!

Mu Yin grinned happily, cradling the little mushroom in her hands with delight before turning to Hong Zhuang. “If it’s edible, we can have extra meals from now on!”

Hong Zhuang forced a dry laugh. How was the young mistress so cheerful?

Most people would wail in despair upon discovering they had such a useless mutated spiritual root. This was the first time she had seen someone actually happy about it.

But it didn’t matter!

The young mistress would never want for anything in the future. The Five Elements Sect was filled with top-tier experts, and the sect leader himself was a legendary figure, few in the world could rival him. Protecting the young mistress would be effortless.

So whether her spiritual root was useless or not wasn’t that important.

As long as the young mistress was happy.

Once Hong Zhuang came to this realization, she stopped worrying. Standing behind Mu Yin, she reminded her, “Young Mistress, it’s getting late. We should head back.”

Glancing at the darkening sky, Mu Yin bid farewell to the bearded elder and left with Hong Zhuang.

Along the way, Mu Yin amused herself by playing with the mushroom in her hand, finding it endlessly fascinating.

At first, she had been shocked to discover she could conjure mushrooms. But now, watching the little fungus shift forms in her palm, one moment turning into an enoki mushroom, the next into a shiitake, she was thoroughly entertained. Once she grew tired of common varieties, she began imagining mushrooms she had seen in books and videos.

Hong Zhuang watched as the mushroom in Mu Yin’s hand kept changing shapes, baffled by what was so amusing about it.

When Mu Yin conjured a dark-colored mushroom, she turned to Hong Zhuang excitedly. “Do you know what this is?”

Hong Zhuang shook her head.

“It’s called Jian Shou Qing,” Mu Yin explained. “It’s quite expensive, and I’ve heard it tastes amazing but if it’s not cooked properly, it can be poisonous. That’s why I’ve never dared to try it.”

“Ah?” Hong Zhuang stared at the unassuming mushroom in alarm. “Why would you eat something poisonous, Young Mistress?”

“They say it’s delicious. There’s a place where people get poisoned by mushrooms every year, yet they keep eating them.”

“Why?”

Mu Yin shrugged. “I don’t understand it either.”

As she spoke, the mushroom in her hand popped like a bubble and disappeared. Mu Yin then turned to Hong Zhuang and said, “If we ever run out of food at home, just let me know. I can conjure mushrooms for you to eat.”

Hong Zhuang smiled and replied, “Thank you for your kindness, Young Mistress. But most of us have already achieved inedia, so we don’t need to eat.”

“Is that so?”

Well, there was no helping it then. Mu Yin would just have to eat the mushrooms herself.

After returning to the courtyard and having her meal, Yu Luo learned that Mu Yin had tested as having a useless spiritual root. She immediately came to visit, bringing along many valuable gifts.

Mu Yin didn’t see anything wrong with her mushroom spiritual root. If she ever got trapped somewhere with no way out, she could at least survive by eating mushrooms.

“If you’re happy with it, then that’s what matters,” Yu Luo said, sitting on a chair and holding Mu Yin’s hand. Looking at the simple and unadorned young girl before her, she couldn’t help but think of her own daughter who had died young. Her eyes reddened slightly as she continued, “Now that everything’s settled, according to tradition, it’s time for you to make your bridal return visit.”

Bridal return visit?

Mu Yin did vaguely remember such a custom, newlyweds were supposed to visit the bride’s family on the third day after marriage.

But Si Lingqing was dead, and had even been buried right before her eyes. Who was she supposed to make this visit with?

Yu Luo seemed to understand Mu Yin’s thoughts and patted her hand. “Originally, your father and I were supposed to accompany you, but the sect has been busy lately, so we can’t go with you. Hong Zhuang will take some people and go with you instead. All the necessary items for the visit have been prepared, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Just me going back?” Mu Yin blinked.

“Yes,” Yu Luo thought for a moment and added, “If you feel uncomfortable with that, we can delay it by a couple of days, and I can accompany you then.”

“No, no,” Mu Yin quickly replied. “I can go back by myself. There’s no need for you to accompany me, Mother.”

Yu Luo thought Mu Yin was truly a sensible and good child. She thought of her deceased daughter again, imagining how happy Si Lingqing would have been if she were still alive.

Mu Yin, however, had different thoughts. She had no memories of the Nine Star Sect at all. If Yu Luo went with her, wouldn’t that risk exposing her?

It would be better to go alone. She could just go through the motions and return quickly. Even if she were exposed, it would be easier to slip away by herself.

Yu Luo had the disciples pack all the necessary items for the bridal return visit and personally went through them with Mu Yin.

Mu Yin looked at the three large chests filled with bridal gifts arranged in the courtyard. Besides gold, silver, and jewels, there were also many immortal artifacts and rare treasures. They were truly extravagant!

It was just a pity that these were meant for her father and sect members whom she had never even met. How wonderful would it be if they were all for her?

Mu Yin kept these thoughts to herself. Since she was already here, wouldn’t she have plenty of such things in the future?

After seeing Yu Luo off, Hong Zhuang had people move the gifts away to be loaded onto carts the next day for transport.

“Young Mistress, everything has been packed. Is there anything else you’d like us to prepare?” Hong Zhuang asked, standing beside Mu Yin.

“Hong Zhuang, how many days are we supposed to stay for the bridal return visit?” Mu Yin asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

“Madam said the journey is long, so you don’t need to rush back. You can stay at home for a few more days if you wish,” Hong Zhuang replied.

Mu Yin had no intention of staying any longer than necessary. She just wanted to drop off the gifts, make an appearance, and leave as quickly as possible.

Mu Yin knew she couldn’t act this way, otherwise her secret of not being the original Mu Yin would likely be exposed quickly. After some thought, she said to Hong Zhuang, “Then let’s stay one more day before leaving. Compared to the Nine Stars Sect, I prefer it here much more.”

Hearing this, Hong Zhuang froze momentarily before pressing her lips tightly together.

The young mistress clearly hadn’t been treated well at the Nine Stars Sect. She’d rather stay at the Five Aspects Sect where she’d only been for three days than return to the sect that had raised her for eighteen years.

Thinking about how the young mistress had grown to adulthood without even knowing her own spiritual roots, this was supposed to be the sect leader’s daughter! Hong Zhuang couldn’t bear to imagine what kind of miserable life the young mistress must have endured.

At this thought, Hong Zhuang’s eyes reddened. With a hoarse voice, she nodded emphatically, “Understood, young mistress. I’ll go prepare your things immediately!”

Seeing Hong Zhuang’s inexplicably reddened eyes, Mu Yin couldn’t understand what had happened.

Their time together had been too short, she still didn’t know Hong Zhuang well enough.

Mu Yin thought to herself that since she would be living here for the rest of her life, building good relationships with the people here was essential.

She still had work to do!

While Hong Zhuang and the others were busy, Mu Yin took advantage of the remaining daylight to stroll around the courtyard.

She resided in the western wing of the mountain villa. The courtyard was divided into four sections by covered corridors, with a cross-shaped bluestone path at the center. Besides the main gate and her bedroom, there were several other rooms on either side.

Mu Yin knew the northern side housed Hong Zhuang and the other servants, with a small kitchen in the corner that had originally gone unused. It had been renovated and put into service only after Mu Yin’s arrival, currently only needing to prepare meals for her.

The other side seemed rarely visited, so Mu Yin decided to explore there.

Passing through the corridor, Mu Yin casually pushed open several doors and discovered these were also bedrooms, smaller than her current quarters, more like guest rooms.

Beyond the guest rooms, Mu Yin opened another door to find a study.

The study was spacious, divided by a screen, one side held a desk and bookshelves, while the other housed a collection of books.

Was this, Si Lingqing’s study?

Mu Yin stood at the doorway observing.

The study appeared to be cleaned daily, it smelled fresh and looked immaculate. Writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were neatly arranged on the desk, alongside several large flowerpots containing delicate plants that pleased the eye.

After a moment’s hesitation, Mu Yin stepped inside.

As the current mistress of this courtyard, surely there was no harm in looking at her late wife’s former study?

Mu Yin first wandered around before finally approaching the desk, examining the stack of books placed to the side.

The books covered various subjects, historical texts, classical literature, and some cultivation manuals. Written in traditional characters, they were somewhat difficult for Mu Yin to read, so she didn’t examine them closely. However, she noticed the elegant handwriting in the margins.

The tiny regular script was written square and proper clearly the work of a skilled hand.

Holding the book, Mu Yin couldn’t help but recall the Si Lingqing she’d seen in her dream and in the coffin. Who would have thought this woman was not only beautiful but also wrote such excellent calligraphy?

Setting down the book, Mu Yin turned her attention to the other side.

Here there were no books, but rather a box of yellow ritual paper and some cinnabar ink that had been prepared at some unknown time.

Mu Yin curiously flipped through the yellow talisman papers, noticing they were all clean and pristine. The cinnabar ink, ground at some unknown time, had long since dried likely prepared before Si Lingqing’s passing.

Who would have thought Si Lingqing had been so diligently drawing talismans right before death.

Just as Mu Yin felt she’d explored enough and prepared to leave, her hand accidentally brushed against something. A golden-yellow talisman drifted lightly down to land at her feet.

Curious, Mu Yin bent down to pick it up.

“What’s this?” she murmured, examining the inscribed symbols without understanding their meaning.