The Black Lotus Stole the White Moonlight (GL) - Chapter 21

Although Mu Tianyin said she would take Bai An’an for a walk, she was mostly silent throughout, only occasionally giving brief introductions about the names and uses of various buildings, and who lived in them.

This was her first time leading a disciple on a tour of the five peaks, and she didn’t know what to say to her little disciple. So after the introductions, there was a long silence.

Bai An’an was not a quiet person by nature, but at this moment, she surprisingly didn’t say a word.

She walked silently behind Mu Tianyin, her head lowered.

Mu Tianyin, with one hand behind her back, walked for a while, finally noticing Bai An’an’s silence, and couldn’t help but turn her head to look, “Are you feeling bored?”

Bai An’an suddenly looked up, staring at her blankly, then quickly shook her head, and said softly, “Master, you don’t actually have to take care of An’er. You’re very busy, you shouldn’t waste so much time on An’er. Why don’t…”

She looked at her cautiously, trying to choose her words carefully, and suggested, “Why don’t you let senior sister take me?”

Looking at the little disciple’s cautious appearance, Mu Tianyin felt a slight tightness in her chest for some reason.

She was silent for a moment, and couldn’t help but say, “Actually…”

Mu Tianyin had only just said two words when she was interrupted by a gray figure running from afar.

“Excuse me, excuse me!” The gray figure was as fast as lightning, rushing straight towards Mu Tianyin and Bai An’an. Mu Tianyin, worried that this person would collide with Bai An’an, coldly unleashed a spiritual force towards the gray figure.

The gray figure was caught off guard, taking the hit squarely, and fell backward with a scream.

“Master!” Another clear male voice exclaimed, sounding like a teenager.

Bai An’an looked closely, and saw two gray figures, one old and one young.

The gray-clad youth hurriedly helped the gray-clad old man who had fallen to the ground, complaining, “Master, why are you running? Do you think your old bones aren’t tough enough? No matter what you say, I won’t be fooled by you again…” As he spoke, he raised his head, revealing a face as beautiful as a painting. Seeing Mu Tianyin standing in front of him with a cold expression, his eyes widened suddenly, and he hurriedly bowed, “Greetings, City Lord!”

Mu Tianyin nodded lightly, frowning as she looked at the gray-clad old man, her expression unchanged, “Elder Shi, what have you done again?”

Elder Shi, holding his waist, groaned as he got up, his face bitter, “It’s all because of this ‘good’ disciple of mine. He yelled at me for picking a few of his broken weeds. Thinking about how I raised him with painstaking effort…”

The gray-clad youth suddenly interrupted him, “Master!” His face flushed, and he turned to see Bai An’an peeking out from behind Mu Tianyin. Meeting her clear eyes, his handsome face turned even redder, “What nonsense are you talking about in front of the City Lord and junior sister? When did you raise me with painstaking effort?!”

Elder Shi stroked his long eyebrows, smiling mischievously. His hair and beard were all white.

Bai An’an looked at him carefully, noticing his long eyebrows, and blinked.

So a person’s eyebrows could grow this long?

Elder Shi and his disciple bickered for a while, then turned his head and saw Bai An’an looking at him curiously.

After greeting Mu Tianyin briefly, he waved at Bai An’an with a loving expression.

Bai An’an met his gaze and looked at Mu Tianyin.

Mu Tianyin nodded at her, and Bai An’an slowly walked forward.

She cupped her hands and bowed, “Greetings, Elder Shi.”

Elder Shi said, “No need to be polite. You’re Bai An’an, the one who defeated thousands of disciples in Qingxiao Hall, right?”

Bai An’an: “…”

The disciples and elders of Mingxin City were all very gossipy. Any small incident could be spread for thousands of miles in an instant, and exaggerated like this.

She immediately smiled shyly and shook her head, “An’er only defeated Miss Mu. She hasn’t competed with other disciples.”

Elder Shi looked at her for a moment, then said to Mu Tianyin, “I like this disciple of yours, she’s humble!”

“Come, let me give you a gift…”

As he spoke, he reached into his sleeves, searching for something. After a long time, he couldn’t find anything.

Seeing Bai An’an looking at him curiously, he rubbed his nose awkwardly and coughed, “Well, I’ve recently become quite proficient in the art of deducing fate. How about I give you a free fortune-telling?”

The gray-clad disciple quickly grabbed his master, whispering, “Master, stop. You’ve only been learning for a few days, right?”

Elder Shi replied in an equally low voice, “Don’t worry, your master is a genius, a few days is enough!”

Then, he turned his head again and smiled at Bai An’an, “How about it, little girl? Do you want me to give you a reading? If you come to me next time, I’ll charge you!”

Bai An’an blinked and nodded with a smile, “How will Elder Shi calculate?”

Elder Shi stroked his long eyebrows, mysteriously saying, “The art of deduction is not limited to any specific method. Divination, astrology, fortune-telling, and reading signs, I know a little about everything.” He paused, looked up at the sky, glanced at Bai An’an, and finally said, “How about I read your face?”

Although this old man seemed unreliable, Bai An’an really wanted to see if he could see anything. So she nodded slightly.

For face reading, you naturally had to show your whole face.

Bai An’an pushed aside the long bangs on her forehead, turned to the nearby tree branch, and said to them, “Wait a moment.” She turned and ran over, broke off a small branch, and used it as a hairpin to fix the bangs on her forehead, revealing her pretty face.

Her hair was as black as ink, her cheeks were blooming, and her bright apricot eyes were especially beautiful, as if they could absorb a person’s spirit with just one glance. Even with a rough tree branch in her hair, it didn’t detract from her beauty. Instead, the green tip made her look even more charming.

The gray-clad old man and youth felt their eyes light up, as if the sunlight had become brighter with the green-clad figure running towards them.

The gray-clad youth stared at her blankly, and when Bai An’an suddenly looked over, he blushed and lowered his head, no longer in the mood to stop his master from fooling around.

Elder Shi stroked his white eyebrows, looking her up and down thoughtfully.

He looked up at the sky, calculated with his fingers, then looked down, muttering something. He would occasionally glance at Bai An’an, his eyes flashing, his eyebrows furrowed, and then he would shake his head, seemingly unable to figure something out, and look down again.

Bai An’an stood there prettily, hearing Elder Shi muttering, “This shouldn’t be. Did I calculate wrong…”

She smiled slightly, not caring about Elder Shi’s attitude, and waited patiently.

After a while, Elder Shi looked up at her, looking very pitiful, “Little girl, you’re in a bad way. Your family ties are weak, you’re destined for loneliness, and you’re a lone star!”

Bai An’an said “ah” when she heard that.

The disciple next to Elder Shi immediately changed his expression, hurriedly grabbing his master’s sleeve, and whispered to Bai An’an, “Junior Sister Bai, don’t take it to heart. My master is talking nonsense!”

Elder Shi immediately pushed his disciple’s hand away, angrily saying, “You ungrateful disciple! How can you slander your master like this in public!”

Mu Tianyin took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, “Elder Shi, please be careful with your words.”

Elder Shi immediately cowered when he heard this light sentence.

He glanced at Mu Tianyin cautiously, stroked his eyebrows, and said with a cheeky smile, “My disciple is right, I’m talking nonsense, nonsense!”

As he spoke, he kept his eyes on Mu Tianyin, but his feet were slowly moving backward. Seeing that Mu Tianyin was just frowning and not doing anything else, he narrowed his eyes, turned around quickly, and ran away.

His movements were so agile that he didn’t look like an old man at all.

“City Lord, I just remembered I have something to take care of, I’ll leave first!” His voice came from afar, but he had already run far away.

Bai An’an stared at Elder Shi’s retreating figure, turned to look at the gray-clad disciple standing beside her, and smiled, “Senior Brother, aren’t you going to follow your master?”

The gray-clad youth paused, not daring to look at her, only staring at the ground, and comforted comforted her softly, “Junior Sister Bai, my master is a bit eccentric, he’s not proficient in divination or face reading, don’t listen to his nonsense.”

Bai An’an bit her lip and nodded, “Thank you, Senior Brother, I understand.”

The gray-clad youth glanced at her, wanting to say something but hesitated, not knowing what else to say. Finally, he paused and turned to leave.

Mu Tianyin’s gaze fell on Bai An’an.

Seeing her slender figure against the backdrop of the majestic mountains, she felt a sense of loneliness and desolation. She paused for a moment, walked to Bai An’an’s side, and patted her head, “It was just a joke, you don’t have to take it to heart.”

Bai An’an lowered her eyes, staring at her toes, and after a moment of silence, she slowly nodded, without any other reaction.

Mu Tianyin frowned, not knowing how to comfort her.

Her gaze fell on the tree branch in her hair, and she said, “Let’s go back and change your clothes first.”

Bai An’an cautiously looked up at her, but quickly lowered her eyes again, nodding softly.

Mingxin City’s disciples didn’t have a uniform dress code. Because Mu Tianyin liked to wear white, the disciples of Mingxin City also began to favor white clothing. Before long, white robes became the standard attire for Mingxin City disciples.

Especially Mu Tianyin’s three disciples, each one loved to wear white even more.

The white robe that Bai An’an received was made of soft silk.

She narrowed her eyes, examining it for a moment, then smiled and slowly laughed.

Mu Tianyin was resting in the courtyard, sipping tea. Seeing that Bai An’an hadn’t come out for a long time, she frowned.

She got up to check, but Bai An’an suddenly opened the door.

Mu Tianyin looked down and was immediately stunned.

Bai An’an was wearing only a thin inner garment, revealing her delicate collarbone and arms, which to her eyes was almost the same as being naked.

She immediately frowned, strode into the room, and closed the door.

Bai An’an held the white robe, looking at Mu Tianyin timidly, and said softly, “Master, An’er doesn’t know how to put it on.”

Mu Tianyin: “…”

She stared at her for a moment, seeing the girl’s pleading and pitiful eyes, and sighed deeply, “Fine, come here.”

Bai An’an handed over the robe, her eyes shining, looking at Mu Tianyin expectantly.

Mu Tianyin paused, took the robe, and draped it over her.

When her fingers accidentally touched the girl’s delicate shoulder, Mu Tianyin’s fingers paused, and she looked away, “I’ll teach you once, you’ll have to put it on yourself from now on.”

Bai An’an nodded vigorously, “An’er won’t trouble Master!”

Mu Tianyin turned around and heard Bai An’an say, “Master, where did senior sister go? When will she be back?”

As she spoke, her eyes widened suddenly, and she bit her lip, “An’er is so careless, she doesn’t even know senior sister’s name after all this time!” She raised her face, looking at her expectantly, “What’s senior sister’s name? Which senior sister is she?”

Mu Tianyin said “hmm,” and after being interrupted several times, she couldn’t bring herself to tell her the truth.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and after a long time, she said calmly, “When she comes back, she’ll tell you herself.”

Hearing this, Bai An’an sneered inwardly.

Unexpectedly, Mu Tianyin, who always looked so calm and collected, didn’t even blink when she lied. She could probably commit murder and arson with the same nonchalant expression.

Mu Tianyin saw Bai An’an staring at her blankly, and her tea-colored eyes looked over, “What’s wrong?”

Bai An’an blinked, pursed her lips, and shook her head.

Mu Tianyin’s clear gaze followed the girl’s face, landing on her hair. Seeing the tree branch, she reached out and took it off, then paused, and took off the jade hairpin from her own hair, placing it in Bai An’an’s hair.

Bai An’an reached up to touch the jade hairpin, looking at Mu Tianyin, overwhelmed with gratitude, “Master? You’re giving this to An’er?” She hesitated, “An’er can’t accept it…”

Mu Tianyin shook her head, laughing as she patted her head, “There’s nothing you can’t accept, it’s just a hairpin.”

Bai An’an blinked, her eyes quickly reddening. She seemed afraid that Mu Tianyin would see her tears, quickly lowered her head, and said in a muffled voice, “It’s different, for Master, it’s just a hairpin, but for An’er, it’s not…”

As she spoke, her stomach suddenly growled, and Bai An’an’s face flushed, unable to say another word.

Mu Tianyin’s eyebrows twitched, following the sound to her stomach, and said gently, “I forgot, you haven’t achieved bigu yet.”

Bai An’an couldn’t cook, and Mu Tianyin even less so.

So Zhai Anyi, who had been sent to practice swordsmanship, was called back. Receiving his master’s order to prepare lunch, he was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized it was for junior sister. So he didn’t dare to neglect, and without complaining, he dutifully began to prepare lunch for junior sister.

He had good culinary skills and occasionally cooked for himself when he was bored, naturally avoiding Mu Tianyin. Now that junior sister had arrived, he finally had the chance to show off his skills.

After preparing a dish and a soup, Zhai Anyi personally brought it to junior sister’s room.

He added rice for junior sister and didn’t leave, but instead propped his chin on his hands and watched her.

Seeing junior sister finish lunch, he coughed and said, “Junior sister, what’s your relationship with Master?” As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily fell on the hairpin in her hair.

If he wasn’t mistaken, that hairpin was clearly the one Master always wore!

Master even gave junior sister such personal jewelry, what did that mean? It meant that junior sister was very important to her!

Mother and daughter, no doubt!

Bai An’an didn’t know what this cheap senior brother was thinking. She casually picked at the food, thinking about her next move. Hearing Zhai Anyi’s question, she didn’t even look up, casually saying, “Naturally, it’s a master-disciple relationship.”

She felt Zhai Anyi’s burning gaze, couldn’t help but raise her head slightly, and raised an eyebrow, “Does Senior Brother have something to say?”

Zhai Anyi frowned, looking very troubled.

What if he guessed wrong? Wouldn’t that be awkward? And seeing junior sister looking so innocent, saying it might scare her.

He hesitated for a moment, ultimately not daring to speak nonsense, and could only shake his head.

Bai An’an felt that this senior brother of hers, though good-looking, was acting strangely.

She frowned and hesitated, “Senior Brother…”

Zhai Anyi came back to his senses and quickly replied, “What is it?”

Bai An’an seemed to find it difficult to speak, hesitated for a moment, and mustered her courage to say, “Can you tell me more about senior sister?”

She paused and lowered her voice, “Master doesn’t seem willing to tell An’er about senior sister, so An’er wants to ask Senior Brother.”

Zhai Anyi blinked, why was it so difficult to talk about senior sister?

The face of Song Qiyu suddenly flashed in his mind, and he immediately realized.

If it was about senior sister’s matter, it was indeed difficult to talk about.

He was silent for a moment and couldn’t help but say, “Are you asking about senior sister because of something?”

Bai An’an pursed her lips, looking timid, and said softly, “Senior sister once helped An’er, so An’er wants to thank her in person. Senior Brother, can I see senior sister?”

“This…”

Zhai Anyi hesitated. Senior sister was in a restricted area, and outsiders couldn’t enter freely.

He glanced at Bai An’an, bit his lip, and finally nodded.

Bai An’an was his little junior sister, and possibly Master’s daughter, so she couldn’t be considered an outsider. So taking her to see senior sister shouldn’t be a problem, right?

“I can take you to see her, but I need to prepare. I need to find a good opportunity to sneak in.”

Hearing this, Bai An’an immediately raised her face, a bright smile on her lips, “Really? Thank you, Senior Brother Zhai!”

Seeing junior sister so happy, Zhai Anyi scratched the back of his head foolishly, his mouth almost splitting to the back of his ears, and said shamelessly, “It’s nothing, nothing! If you have any more requests, just tell your senior brother! I promise to do it for you!” After saying that, he patted his chest twice, looking confident.

Bai An’an smiled and nodded vigorously.

The night was cool as water, and Mu Tianyin was, as always, meditating on her couch. The moonlight outside the window shone in, falling on her white clothes, a picture of loneliness.

The night, which should have been completely silent, was broken by a few sounds like the whimpering of a young animal.

Mu Tianyin suddenly opened her eyes, listening to the sounds coming from outside, and frowned slightly.

Cultivators had keen ears and eyes, especially since the sounds were coming from just a wall away.

She hesitated for a moment, then had to put on her robe and open the door.

Walking to the room next door, her fingers gently pressed against the door, and she hesitated.

Although she was An’er’s master, she couldn’t just enter her boudoir at will.

She paused outside the door, hearing the sounds coming from inside, her fingers paused, and she still pushed the door open and entered.

She stepped into Bai An’an’s room, bathed in moonlight, and saw the small girl curled up under the thin quilt, shivering.

Mu Tianyin sighed softly, walked over, sat on the edge of her bed, and reached out to stroke the girl’s head.

Bai An’an closed her eyes, her fingers suddenly grabbing Mu Tianyin’s drooping sleeve. She sniffed, her voice choked with tears, “Senior sister, don’t leave me.”

Mu Tianyin’s heart stirred, and she reached out to pat her shoulder, whispering, “Okay.”

Bai An’an suddenly let go of her hand, turned over, and murmured, “No, An’er is a lone star, she can’t bring trouble to senior sister.”

Mu Tianyin saw that she seemed to be having a nightmare, and remembering that she was still bothered by what happened during the day, she stroked her soft hair and whispered, “No, I… your senior sister swears, it won’t happen.”