The first lesson Tao Mian taught Er Ya was that there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

"You have to enjoy the labor, Er Ya."

Tao Mian returned to his lazy chair, comfortably fanning himself. His disciple Er Ya was chopping wood nearby, gritting her teeth.

She wished she could bite a piece of flesh off Tao Mian.

She was wrong, truly wrong. If she hadn't gotten lost at the beginning, she wouldn't have come to Peach Blossom Mountain.

If she hadn't come to Peach Blossom Mountain, she wouldn't have stolen a chicken.

If she hadn't stolen a chicken, she wouldn't have been caught by Tao Mian.

If she hadn't been caught by Tao Mian, she wouldn't be forced into a six-hour work schedule.

All that talk about five-star treatment and noble enjoyment was a lie!

The only one enjoying anything was Tao Mian!

"Impulsive. Is Shi Fu really enjoying himself? Shi Fu is meditating with Heaven-Human Induction, achieving Unity of All Things. You're too young to understand the mysteries within."

Lu Yuandi rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Kid, don't be so defiant. Back in the day, your senior brother Gu Yuan also progressed step by step, steadily and surely. I'm not fooling you. Gu Yuan was talented, yet he still sought guidance humbly. Your talent isn't even a tenth of your senior brother's, so don't get cocky."

Tao Mian shook his fan, sighing with his eyes closed.

"You are the worst batch I've ever taught."

Lu Yuandi wouldn't listen to his nonsense. Who knows, maybe Gu Yuan was tricked by Tao Mian back then and just worked hard.

This Fraud Immortal!

"Are you really the Shi Fu of Gu Yuan, the former sect leader of the Cyan Vast Sect?"

"Absolutely, you can ask his neighbor Cheng Chi if you don't believe me."

"… Sect Leader Cheng passed away not long ago."

"Oh dear," Tao Mian lightly tapped his chin with the bamboo fan, "dead and gone. How about I let him visit you in a dream?"

Lu Yuandi shivered.

"No, no, I can't handle that."

The afternoon sun was warm, making one feel lazy. As Tao Mian drifted between sleep and wakefulness, he thought about how Er Ya had been on the mountain for over three months, chopping wood, fetching water, cooking, and feeding chickens. Her basic skills were about there.

He pulled out three blue-covered manuals from his robe and tossed them to his little disciple.

"Disciple, I have three gifts for you."

Lu Yuandi hurriedly caught them, grabbing one in each hand and holding one in her mouth.

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"These three cultivation techniques will be greatly beneficial if you practice them in your spare time."

Tao Mian's lazy voice reached her, and Lu Yuandi felt the dry heat of the sun on the paper.

The girl's lifeless heart suddenly rippled with a hint of excitement.

"For me?"

"Indeed, peerless cultivation techniques."

Lu Yuandi was overjoyed. Finally, she could protect herself from being bullied. She lovingly caressed the covers of the three books and opened the first page of "Feilian Sword Technique."

***

"Little Tao," she addressed Tao Mian informally, "how do you read this character?"

Tao Mian turned over abruptly, his back facing her.

"Shi Fu is asleep."

"… You can't read either, can you?"

"It's not that I can't read, I just don't understand."

"…"

"…"

A moment of silence, and Wu Changzai cackled three times.

Lu Yuandi clasped her hands and took a big step back.

"Shi Fu, I won't forget your kindness. Farewell."

"Hold on, Shi Fu suddenly had a flash of insight and can read now."

"Stop lying, Little Tao. It's impolite to keep lying."

"How can an Immortal's words be lies? Come, let Shi Fu explain it to you."

Lu Yuandi wanted to escape, but she couldn't. Tao Mian was blocking the door.

Little Taoist Tao was good at nothing but playing the emotional card.

"Can you really leave? Can you bear to leave? Think of Wu Changzai, think of Shi Fu, think of the pots, pans, and axe you've been with day and night."

Lu Yuandi's temples throbbed, and she was about to climb over the wall.

"Alright, alright, I'm not lying. Shi Fu really can read, I'll teach you."

Lu Yuandi retracted her right leg from the wall.

"Really?"

Tao Mian nodded in frustration.

"Really!"

It turned out that the Fraud Immortal did know how to read. He initially didn't teach her purely out of laziness.

After demonstrating once, Tao Mian felt like he'd been skinned.

"The rest you have to comprehend on your own, I'm exhausted."

Lu Yuandi nodded, picked up a branch Tao Mian had casually tossed aside, and began practicing.

Tao Mian said Er Ya wasn't talented, but he didn't mean it. His Second Disciple had a High-Grade Wind Spiritual Root, a one-in-a-million genius.

After just one demonstration, Lu Yuandi was practicing with form and grace.

Under the moon, the girl wielded her sword, her movements fluid and graceful, with fallen petals swirling at her feet.

The Peach Blossom Immortal was in a daze, as if seeing his First Disciple practicing under this very tree, the two figures gradually overlapping, year after year.

***

"Little Tao?"

Tao Mian awoke from his memories, a dream of over ten years, and the girl was now a graceful young woman, bathed in moonlight, looking back.

"Little Tao, you're lost in thought again," Lu Yuandi grinned mischievously, leaping forward, "watch the sword!"

Shi Fu is always Shi Fu. Tao Mian effortlessly neutralized his disciple's swift attack with a palm push. Though Lu Yuandi was a girl, her swordplay was fierce. If he hadn't dodged, taking that strike wouldn't be a joke.

After one failed move, Lu Yuandi spun and attacked again, but Tao Mian sidestepped and caught the tip of her sword with two fingers, seemingly effortlessly, yet Lu Yuandi couldn't break free.

"Little Tao is still the best."

Lu Yuandi laughed, not upset despite losing.

Tao Mian wasn't buying it.

"Praising me with your mouth, yet planning to assassinate me at midnight. Er Ya, you're far from fooling Shi Fu."

Ever since he taught Lu Yuandi cultivation techniques, this little girl was full of energy every day. She wouldn't obediently study the sword manual and insisted on dragging Tao Mian to practice with her.

Tao Mian was so lazy that he would never sit if he could lie down. Unable to force him verbally, Lu Yuandi had to come up with a crooked plan.

That was to sneak into Tao Mian's room every night and attempt to assassinate him.

It was enough to make one laugh to death.

Now Tao Mian couldn't sleep, as Lu Erya was a clumsy girl, and if she wasn't careful, Peach Blossom Temple might change owners.

So Little Taoist Tao was forced to keep up with his disciple.

Fortunately, during the day, Lu Yuandi still had to dutifully do odd jobs, giving Tao Mian a chance to catch up on sleep.

Lu Yuandi was a wild-natured girl. Unlike Gu Yuan, who grew up with Tao Mian on Peach Blossom Mountain, she came from outside the mountain. She was always looking out, with half her heart forever wandering.

Tao Mian knew that Er Ya would leave one day. Like Gu Yuan, she was born with a mission.

Little Tao Shi Fu didn't know how much his Second Disciple understood about her own background, but even if she knew nothing, with Lu Yuandi's character, she would eventually seek her roots.

And she would walk the path of revenge.

***

In the blink of an eye, Lu Yuandi was seventeen. Recently, Tao Mian noticed that Er Ya, who came to assassinate him, was no longer as straightforward and decisive as when she was younger.

She could now skillfully conceal her presence, and anyone other than Tao Mian wouldn't notice her existence.

At first, Tao Mian thought his disciple had finally matured and learned to respect Shi Fu.

Gradually, he realized that this was Lu Yuandi silently saying goodbye to him.

Lu Yuandi said nothing, but Tao Mian knew her departure was near.

"Little Tao, I'm leaving."

The girl carried a small bundle on her back, holding her sword in one hand, and bid farewell to her Shi Fu with the other.

Her tone was casual, as if she were just going out to buy a pot of warm wine for Tao Mian.

Tao Mian stood under a lush peach tree, the overlapping flowers and shadows making him a blurry figure in Lu Yuandi's eyes.

Tao Mian said, "Yuan Di, Shi Fu will always be here."

It was the first time Lu Yuandi heard Tao Mian call her by her full name, and it felt fresh, but something was quietly changing. She thought Tao Mian meant that once she stepped out of this door, she could only be Lu Yuandi, leaving the Er Ya who was fooled by Shi Fu on Peach Blossom Mountain.

Lu Yuandi suddenly gripped the sword hilt with both hands, bowed deeply in Tao Mian's direction, and held back the tears in her eyes.

"Shi Fu, I'm leaving."

She finally called him "Shi Fu."

As Lu Yuandi descended the mountain, she passed through the village at the foot of the mountain. Two children sat on a large stone at the village entrance, clapping their hands, singing a song she knew by heart, taught to her by Tao Mian.

Peach blossoms red, willows green.

Carp on the shoals, spring waters lap the shore.

Remember me, drifting far and wide.

Gone, gone.

Where does the flying thistle return?

Lu Yuandi covered her mouth with one hand, her delicate brows and eyelids tightly furrowed, and the tears she had been holding back finally flowed freely down her face.