The Timid Xia Jin

The night passed in silence.

As the clear, melodious songs of spirit birds echoed through the mountains and wisps of morning light rose from the horizon, a new day was heralded.

On her bed, the young girl furrowed her brows, letting out a few cute “mewling” sounds. She tossed and turned a few times, but sleep remained just out of reach, and she finally sat up.

Her post-slumber mind was still a bit foggy. She opened her bleary eyes and surveyed her surroundings, murmuring in confusion.

“Ugh… this doesn’t feel like home. Where am I… yawn~”

A yawn escaped her.

As she prepared to climb out of bed, her gaze caught the dim crystal sitting on the nightstand, and reality suddenly flooded back.

“Ah… that’s right! This is Youyun Peak!”

“The Immortal Master said cultivation starts today!”

“I didn’t oversleep, did I?!”

Remembering her duties, Xia Jin nervously poked her head out the window.

Fortunately, the sun wasn’t high in the sky as she had feared; the day was just beginning to break.

Xia Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Last night, she had been so curious that she played with the glowing crystal for a long time. By the time exhaustion caught up with her, it was already late into the night. She thought for sure she’d sleep in, but it turned out she was just scaring herself.

After that brief jolt of panic, her mind was now fully awake.

“Time to get up.”

She stretched, patted her soft cheeks with her small hands, and felt her energy return.

Hopping off the bed, she dressed quickly and meticulously straightened the sheets and pillows. Only after the room was tidy did she head to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

‘I wonder if the Immortal Master needs breakfast…’

Xia Jin thought about it and decided to make enough for two.

She scooped white rice from the sack and washed it before starting the pot. Moving a small stool over, she took out the spirit fruits stored in the cabinet from the night before, deftly peeling, de-seeding, and slicing them. She added them to another pot of water to boil, tasting for sweetness and adding a few lumps of sugar.

Finally, she mixed the cooked rice into the fruit soup, and a pot of congee was born.

Xia Jin didn’t eat right away; instead, she ladled the congee into prepared bowls. Looking at the finished meal, she pursed her pink lips.

She actually wanted to show off her skills with dinner; breakfast was meant to be light, so it was always simple to make.

‘Thinking about it, a grand feast would definitely earn more praise from the Immortal Master than a bowl of congee…’

She wasn’t a chef from Immortal Eater Town; she didn’t have the ability to make people weep or have their clothes explode with a single bite. Thus, she didn’t have much confidence in this bowl of porridge.

Nevertheless, Xia Jin found some cloth to hold the hot bowl and left the kitchen, heading toward Xu Jinghuai’s little hut.

When she arrived, she stared at the wooden door. Though it was plain and unremarkable, it gave her a strange sense of majesty and pressure. Xia Jin swallowed nervously, and her heart began to waver.

‘Will knocking so early disturb the Immortal Master’s rest…?’

‘If he wakes up only to find I knocked for a bowl of congee, he’ll think I’m being unreasonable… he’ll surely be dissatisfied…’

‘Maybe… I should just forget it…’

The light seemed to fade from Xia Jin’s watery eyes, and her head drooped. Though the sky was clear and the sun was bright, the figure of the girl trudging back toward the pavilion with her porridge seemed surrounded by a layer of gloom, as if it were raining only on her.

But just then, the creak of a door opening sounded behind her.

Xia Jin hadn’t gone far. She straightened up instinctively at the sound and turned around.

Sure enough, the man’s figure was stepping out of the small hut.

His eyes were closed, and his hands were folded behind his back. He took two steps out, tilted his head back, and took a slow, deep breath of the morning air before exhaling the stale breath from his lungs. The whole sequence was incredibly natural, as if he did it every day.

Beside him, Xia Jin was like a little ghost, completely ignored by Xu Jinghuai.

She didn’t dare make a sound until Xu Jinghuai opened his eyes, glanced at the horizon, and began to turn back as if to return inside. Only then did he seem to notice someone nearby, and he paused in surprise.

“Mhm? Jin’er, it’s you…”

Seeing it was Xia Jin, the corners of Xu Jinghuai’s lips curled into a gentle smile.

“Good morning. How did you sleep? Was the bed uncomfortable?”

“R-reporting to the Immortal Master, no, Jin’er slept very well…” Xia Jin answered instinctively.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

For some reason, hearing Xu Jinghuai’s greeting made Xia Jin’s heart skip a beat.

‘The Immortal Master… is so handsome…’

That thought completely filled her mind for a fleeting moment. But she quickly remembered why she was there.

“Right! Immortal Master, please try this!”

Xia Jin jogged over to him and held up the bowl of congee.

Xu Jinghuai looked down at Xia Jin, who was much shorter than him, as she stood on her tiptoes like she was presenting a treasure. He couldn’t help but ask, “Mhm? This is…”

“Immortal Master, this is breakfast congee Jin’er made; I wanted to ask you to taste it.”

“Jin’er thought you might not have had time for breakfast after waking up, so I took the liberty of preparing your portion…”

Xia Jin lowered her head, her voice getting smaller and smaller until she could barely hear herself.

Xu Jinghuai, however, heard her clearly.

‘So that’s it.’

He had been wondering why the little one was lurking in front of his house so early; it turns out she wanted to have breakfast together.

Everything Xia Jin had just done was easily deduced by Xu Jinghuai.

‘Truly, this girl is very thoughtful.’

In reality, Xu Jinghuai had sensed her the moment she approached the hut.

He hadn’t opened the door immediately.

Having integrated the incarnation’s memories last night, he felt as though he had experienced everything personally, so there was no “first meeting” awkwardness for him. However, after only one day of contact, he still knew very little about this small disciple.

He hadn’t known what she was there for, and wanting to maintain his image as a master, he intended to wait for her to knock and state her purpose.

Instead, she stood at his door for an age, her mouth shut tight, her hand rising and falling, growing more despondent by the second. Finally, as she started to slink away, Xu Jinghuai couldn’t sit still anymore.

He felt that if he didn’t come out, his disciple would develop a permanent shadow of depression.

‘Is my door that scary? Or am I some man-eating monster?’

He soon realized it was because they weren’t familiar enough yet.

Although the incarnation had tried his best to bridge the gap yesterday, it wasn’t enough.

For instance, Xia Jin still used formal honorifics and kept a clear distance, lacking sufficient trust.

Was this good?

No, it wasn’t.

Xia Jin was his disciple now; they would inevitably spend a lot of time together.

Xu Jinghuai decided he should drop the act a bit more.

After all, this was Youyun Peak. With only two living souls on the mountain, there was no need for rigid rules and formalities in private.