Offering Salted Fish to Master - C1
Chapter 1: A Mere Small Fry
Zou Yan sensed that something was off. Very off.
She found herself sitting on a futon in a quaint, fairy-tale room, dressed in a long green dress, her hands forming lotus poses as if she were in meditation.
But hadn’t she worked overtime the previous night to revise a design draft and then fallen asleep on her bed without even taking a shower? The hand resting on her knee was too white and delicate, unlike her own. As she studied her slender hand, a sudden knock on the door startled her.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
Her heart raced. After hesitating for a moment, she took a few deep breaths and opened the door.
Standing outside was an older man who appeared to be in his thirties, wearing a gray-green Taoist robe that gave him a refined, calm appearance. He smiled at her and said, "Junior Sister Liao, the Master is calling for you to go to Zhuqu Youpu[i]."
Zou Yan's mind raced. Junior Sister Liao? Master? Zhuqu Youpu?
[What is going on? If this were a case of traversing to another world, why don’t I have any memories or a 101 beginner's guide?]
Panic set in.
"Um... Senior Brother?" she asked tentatively.
The older man replied kindly, "Junior Sister, are you nervous? That’s alright. The Master just wants to speak with you for a few moments. Hurry up."
Zou Yan hesitated but eventually called out to him again, "Senior Brother, can you take me there?" How was she supposed to find her way without any maps?
Without questioning her, the older brother led her away easily.
"Junior Sister Liao, you don’t have to worry too much. Our Qinggutian is no more important than any other place; we don’t place excessive value on status here."
Zou Yan followed behind, trying to absorb his words, occasionally nodding as he spoke. However, her mind was a whirlpool of confusion. She didn’t understand anything. None of it made sense!
As they walked, she noticed other disciples wearing Tsing Yi, who smiled and nodded at them. Some greeted her, calling her "Junior Sister Liao" or "Senior Brother Su". There was even a shorter boy in a simpler robe who addressed her as Senior Sister Liao. Observing the people and the unfamiliar flora around her, she mentally noted a few key phrases: soul wear, immortality, martial arts.
[What on earth is happening? My major was Painting, not Acting! What am I supposed to do now? Will I encounter some terrible consequence because of this situation?]
Before she could ponder for too long, Senior Brother Su guided her through a sea of bamboo, gestured for her to enter a small path, and then left her with an air of nonchalance.
Zou Yan had no choice but to gather her courage and continue, entering a narrow pathway surrounded by bamboo. Along the route, she passed several bamboo-like archways. After going through nine consecutive gates, she arrived at a bamboo building—a small hall.
There was no plaque to indicate what this place was. Wait, why was there no plaque? Was this really Zhuqu Youpu? As she wandered outside the door, someone inside called out, "Stop lingering outside; why don’t you come in?"
She pinched herself.
Ouch!
She froze. Those delicate white hands, those lovely, beautiful arms, now with a red mark on one... She could move and walk with those limbs. The long black hair danced around her; it was clear she had a shoulder-length bob, not long behind her waist.
[yō[ii], this is not my body.]
After some reflection, she realized that Senior Brother hadn’t referred to her as You Han, and there were neither crew members nor hidden cameras around. Her grounded self concluded that this body belonged to Liao Tingyan. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside and saw a young man in his twenties turn to her, radiating warmth and kindness.
She decided to play along. She was good at it. She needed to understand where she was first.
Zou Yan said hesitantly, "Master?" Senior Brother Su told her his age, but her mind struggled to process it. "Three-hundred freaking years old?" she thought, staring at him with her mouth open.
The young man smiled and replied, "You’ve been in Qinggutian[iii] for three months. Why are you still so shy? As your Master, I’ve said that you’re like my biological daughter, so you can treat me as a father. There’s no need to be formal with me."
Zou Yan thought, Are you serious? You look younger than me! How can I see you as my Dad?
Realizing she almost said it out loud, Zou Yan decided to use a familiar trick. During the New Year celebrations, she would simply laugh and smile shyly in response to relatives and elders, especially when asked questions she didn’t want to answer.
As expected, the Young Master didn’t seem to take any offense at her silence. Instead, he invited her to sit down, drink tea, and spoke to her in a teacher-like tone. “I called you over mainly because of the selection taking place three days from now. There’s no need to worry about anything. Just do what you feel is right. You’re already late in starting your training, your cultivation level is low, and you’re the newest in the hierarchy. This time, the Eight Palaces will be selecting outstanding disciples, and our Qinggutian will simply serve as a filler.”
Zou Yan was momentarily dazed, mistakenly thinking that her teacher was critiquing her exam results. After a moment of silence, the young master continued, “Three days from now, I’ll be there to see you off, so get ready.”
Zou Yan reflexively glanced up at him, half-expecting to see a scroll or an exclamation mark, like a non-player character in a video game handing out tasks.
━━━━༻🐍༺━━━━
When she returned to the room where she had awakened, she sighed in relief and scratched her head in annoyance.
[yō, This is too much pressure. Pretending to be someone else is overwhelming! I just want to escape!]
Turning her head, she caught sight of a mirror in the corner, and her heart skipped a beat. She jumped up and touched her face in disbelief. Then she turned right and left, raised her arms, and was shocked to see that her twin sisters were still visible. She made a thorough inspection of her body.
[Wa, this body is stunning! Am I really a beauty? I can work with this! I don’t want my average old me. I’ve changed my mind. I do want my stunning new me!]
Regardless of how she got into this situation, she had to confront Liao Tingyan first.
Being Liao Tingyan wasn't too difficult for her, especially since she quickly gathered some basic information from fellow disciples and younger students. For instance, she learned that Liao Tingyan had been accepted by a real master named Dongyang that year, but her cultivation level was low, only at the Qi level, with an average three-spiritual root talent.
Zou Yan also discovered that she was part of the first major sect in the cultivation world, Gengchen Immortal. The estate was vast and populous enough to form its own country. Her specific faction, Qinggutian, was a tiny faction of this sect.[iv]
To summarize, she found herself with a low cultivation base and junior status, a mere small fry in a giant organization.
Additionally, she overheard gossip: it was said that Master Dongyang accepted her as a disciple largely because Liao Tingyan bore an uncanny resemblance to his late daughter, who had died decades earlier. This resemblance made Master Dongyang particularly fond of her, and even her fellow students treated her kindly, as she was the only female disciple in the small Qinggutian mansion.
Because of this, Liao Tingyan finally understood the significance of the message her master had conveyed earlier. This connection was not just personal; it tied into a significant event.
This significant event at Gengchen Immortal captured the attention not only of those within the palace but also of the entire cultivation world.
The Grandmaster of Gengchen Immortal, Cizang Daojun, was nearing the end of his five-hundred-year retreat and was finally set to emerge! This respected ancestor belonged to a higher generation than the current grandmaster and held the position of Great Ancestor. If likened to an emperor, he would be the Supreme Emperor.
It was remarkable that the Gengchen Immortal had persisted for hundreds of thousands of years. The founder, whose original surname was Sima, witnessed multiple generations of Simas governing the estate, with the latest being the Daoist Monarch Cizang.
The emergence of an ancestor at the pinnacle of the hierarchy after five hundred years was a momentous occasion. Accordingly, all sect elders, House leaders, Palace leaders, and masters from the Eighth Houses decided to provide the highest quality of service for the ancestor's return. They specifically chose a select group of exceptional female disciples to serve him.
Among them was Liao Tingyan, the sole female disciple of Qinggutian and a newcomer to the sect.
Liao Tingyan shook her head.
[This feels more like an emperor's market selecting concubines.]
[i] Main hall of the Qinggutian mansion (master's quarters)
[ii] Common Chinese Onomatopoeia: Expressions of Surprise
- (wā): The Mandarin equivalent of "Wow!", used when you are impressed or caught off guard.
- (á): A simple character that, when spoken with a raised (second) tone, directly conveys surprise or "Really?!"
- (āiyā): Very similar to āi yō, but typically used to express more extreme emotions like frustration, panic, or a dramatic "oh no!".
- (āi yō) is an incredibly common onomatopoeic interjection. It is primarily used to express surprise, physical pain (like "ouch!" or "ow!"), or sudden realization.
- (yō): Often written with the mouth radical to indicate sound, this expression is used when discovering something unexpected.
[iii] Qinggutian: Literally translates to "Azure Valley Heaven" or "Blue Valley Heavens." In the lore of the story's xianxia (immortal cultivation) world, it is the specific Sect where she first awakens and serves as an entry-level disciple.
[iv] A sect consists of several branches, and each branch includes multiple factions.
- Sect (Sect Leader or grandmaster Cizang Daojun*) – (Gengchen Immortal)
- House (House head or House leader) – Gengchen Immortal has 8 houses composed of multiple branches and factions - Estate
- Branch (Palace head or Palace leader) - Palace
- Faction (Master Dongyang) – Mansion **
* Daoist Monarch
Cizang (born Sima) is the main male character.
** Qinggutian is the mansion of the faction, where the female character transmigrated.
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