Ah Ling looked at him in confusion, “Father is Father… if not Father, what should I call you?”
“Ning Buwei,” he said coldly.
Ah Ling seemed to half-understand as she nodded, “Ning Buwei, do you want the chicken leg?”
“No.” Ning Buwei looked disgustedly at the chicken leg covered in mud and grass, “Throw it away.”
“Can’t throw it away.” Ah Ling bit into the chicken leg, “I’ll eat it.”
Ning Buwei sighed tiredly, “Don’t follow me anymore.”
Ah Ling asked while eating the chicken leg. “Ning Buwei, where are you going?”
Ning Buwei said, “I don’t know.”
Ah Ling nodded, swallowing the meat in her mouth, “I don’t know where to go either.”
“Go back to Li City, back to your Jiang family,” Ning Buwei said, “Don’t follow me.”
“Didn’t you come to take me away?” Ah Ling licked her dirty fingers, looking up at him, “They don’t want me, I’ve been waiting for you all along. Ning Buwei, are you hungry?”
Ning Buwei finally realized that seriously reasoning with a little idiot was a very stupid thing to do.
“My master died,” Ning Buwei looked at the pitch-black sky.
Ah Ling licked the chicken bone, “Your master died?”
“Mm.” Ning Buwei gritted his teeth, “Could you not say it in such a happy tone?”
Ah Ling sighed, “Ah Ling’s mother died, and your master died too. Ning Buwei, you’re as pitiful as Ah Ling.”
Ning Buwei changed his sitting position, his wounds throbbing with pain, “I’m not pitiful, I’m the one who got my master killed.”
Ah Ling nodded solemnly, “They all say I got my mother killed too, I understand.”
Ning Buwei twitched his mouth, “You don’t understand shit.”
Ah Ling crunched on the bone loudly, “I don’t understand shit.”
Ning Buwei sighed, “Don’t copy what I say.”
“Oh.” Ah Ling sat down like him, “My legs are numb, and I’m a bit cold. Ning Buwei, let’s go.”
Ning Buwei looked at her once, “I don’t know where to go.”
“Go find your master!” Ah Ling said, “When I don’t know where to go, I go to my mother’s grave and sleep with her.”
Ning Buwei stood up and walked forward.
Ah Ling hurriedly followed, “Ning Buwei, where are you going?”
“To guard my master’s grave.”
“Can I come with you?”
“Whatever.”
Ning Buwei occupied a small room in Yan Jinzhou’s tomb, setting up formations in the tomb while recovering from his wounds.
Ah Ling was quite brave, not afraid to sleep in the tomb. Usually she would sleep heavily in bed while Ning Buwei would cultivate until he fell into Qi deviation and then forcefully pull himself back.
The entire tomb chamber was constantly filled with a hazy atmosphere.
Ah Ling tugged at her dusty grey clothes and looked up at him, “Ning Buwei, Ah Ling wants to wear a flowery dress.”
Ning Buwei said coldly, “Don’t have any. If you want to wear one, go buy it yourself.”
Ah Ling then quietly lowered her head and said in a small voice. “Grey dresses are pretty too.”
Actually it was just a small robe Ning Buwei had torn from his own magic robes.
Ning Buwei was annoyed that she would run around the tomb getting covered in dust, having to use cleaning spells on her three times a day, but each time she would still end up dusty grey again.
“Ning Buwei, I caught a butterfly!” Ah Ling opened her hand to show him, but the butterfly was already crushed to death.
Ah Ling poked the little butterfly, “What happened to it?”
“It died,” Ning Buwei said.
Ah Ling sighed, “Like mother and Master Yan?”
“Mm.”
“Ah Ling wants a butterfly that won’t die.” Ah Ling said sadly, “Ning Buwei, can you find one for me?”
Ning Buwei told her very honestly, “Butterflies are like people, they all die sooner or later.”
“Ning Buwei, will Ah Ling die too?” She looked a bit sad.
Ah Ling not only had a poor mind, but also had no spiritual root – she was a mortal who would live at most a hundred years. Though cruel, Ning Buwei still nodded, “Yes.”
Ah Ling scratched her head, “Then will you be sad when Ah Ling dies?”
Ning Buwei shook his head.
She was just a little beggar he picked up, how could he possibly be sad over her?
Ah Ling smiled happily, “That’s good then. When Ah Ling dies in the future, Ning Buwei has to keep living happily!”
Ning Buwei picked her up and pushed her outside, “Your mind isn’t right but you think too much. Go get some sun.”
So Ah Ling ran outside, then turned back halfway to call to him, “Ning Buwei, when Ah Ling dies remember to buy me a flowery dress!”
Ning Buwei impatiently waved his hand.
The little fool wasn’t just foolish, but also particularly stubborn. Every day she would talk about wanting to go see butterflies. There were dangers everywhere in the Floating Sky Realm, so Ning Buwei wasn’t at ease and had to accompany her to catch butterflies.
But butterflies brought into the tomb wouldn’t live long before dying, and Ah Ling would sadly sigh, secretly wiping tears in her blanket.
So Ning Buwei carved her a little wooden butterfly.
Ah Ling took it, confusion followed by delight, “Wow, a wooden cloud!”
Ning Buwei: “…………”
Ning Buwei refused to give up, persistently carving.
“Flower!”
“Chicken leg!”
“Baked sweet potato!”
“…………”
By the time Ning Buwei finally heard the words “little butterfly” from her mouth, autumn had come again in the Floating Sky Realm.
He sat in the sun meditating while Ah Ling excitedly counted their belongings.
“Ning Buwei, this is our pot.”
“Ning Buwei, this is our thirteenth rope, we can use it to hang blankets.”
“Ning Buwei, we have twenty sweet potatoes!”
“Ning Buwei……”
Ning Buwei gave her a storage ring that could be used without spiritual power. She put all these treasures inside it, only keeping that wooden butterfly which she loved too much to put away.
“Ning Buwei, I want many more little butterflies.” Ah Ling lay on the grass yawning, “When will you have time to carve them for me?”
Ning Buwei closed his eyes and pulled the surging black mist back into the Suzaku Knife, finding time to say, “We’ll talk about it later.”
“When is later?” Ah Ling rolled over to his side and tugged his sleeve.
Ning Buwei opened his eyes and thought for a moment, “When you’re ten years old.”
“Ning Buwei, will you be happy when I’m ten?” Ah Ling asked again.
Ning Buwei thought what a nonsense question this was, “Maybe when you’re eighteen.”
Ah Ling nodded, “Then Ah Ling will try hard to grow up.”
So Ah Ling started counting on her fingers again. Every time she counted to eight she would stumble, then start over from the beginning, endlessly entertained.
Yan Jinzhou’s cultivation path had always been neither completely righteous nor evil. Sometimes for convenience she would use some forbidden techniques, different from the orthodox cultivation methods of righteous paths. Ning Buwei naturally learned her ways, and even modified them further, making the evil energy around him grow increasingly dense.
His cultivation increased rapidly. Before Yan Jinzhou died she had been at the Hinayana stage, yet still had her spiritual root and dantian dug out. His brother Ning Xingyuan had also been at the Hinayana stage when he died, but wasn’t even able to put up a fight against the opponent.
He desperately wanted to become stronger, willing to use any means necessary.
The Floating Sky Realm was a good place for training, with many demon beasts, magic beasts and careless cultivators for him to practice on.
His cultivation grew faster and faster, but his mental state became increasingly unstable. Every time he meditated he would struggle at the edge of Qi deviation, but he paid it no mind.
Until one day Ah Ling casually mentioned, “Ning Buwei, your eyes are red, it’s scary.”
Ning Buwei was wiping blood from the Suzaku Knife’s handle and gave her a cold look.
Ah Ling trembled in fear and ran out of the tomb. After a long while she returned, clutching some medicinal herbs. Seeing him cultivating, she placed the herbs in front of him and said softly, “Ning Buwei, when you’re sick you need medicine.”
Ning Buwei didn’t move. That herb was trampled at some point, then thrown away by him.
Several months later, a group of Chongzheng Alliance cultivators who came to train fell into his hands.
With old and new grudges combined, Ning Buwei had no reason to let them go. He locked Ah Ling in the tomb and started fighting with the group of cultivators.
But he had been too eager for quick results lately, his mental state unstable. Halfway through the fight he fell into Qi deviation, giving others an opening to exploit, and suffered backlash from the formations.
Later he could no longer tell if what was around him were people or objects, only knowing to wildly kill with the Suzaku Knife, his ears filled with sharp ghost wails that irritated him extremely.
He didn’t know when he had dropped his knife. When someone swung a sword at his neck he had no strength left to dodge.
“Ning Buwei!” Ah Ling’s urgent voice came from far to near.
The blurry scene before his eyes gradually cleared. Ah Ling threw herself at him and tightly hugged his neck.
Then he was splashed with her blood on his face.
The warm body of the child convulsed in his arms. Ning Buwei frantically tried to stop her bleeding and transfer spiritual power, but because he was having Qi deviation he only had evil energy, and even the life-saving pills and talismans had all been used up moments ago.
“…Ah Ling?” He held the child in his arms, unable to tell if it was him shaking or her.
“Shoulder hurts.” Ah Ling frowned and tried to turn to look at her shoulder, but was stopped by Ning Buwei.
“It’s fine, I’ll find medicine to save you right now.” Ning Buwei held her while searching the corpses for medicine pills, “Hold on a bit.”
Ah Ling softly sobbed, “Ning Buwei, shoulder hurts… is the shoulder broken?”
Ning Buwei looked once and said with a stiff face. “No, it’s not broken.”
Ah Ling sniffled in relief, “Is it… very ugly? Ah Ling just changed into a new little dress today.”
“Not ugly.” Ning Buwei tore open storage bags, anxiously searching for medicine pills inside, “Very pretty, like a little butterfly.”
“A little butterfly.” Ah Ling happily curved her eyes, “After it scars…I’ll have a little butterfly on my shoulder…”
This kind of wound was nothing to cultivators, but was fatal for a mortal child. Ah Ling couldn’t take other medicine pills, she just needed half a Yang Yuan pill.
Half a Yang Yuan pill! Just half!
Wasn’t the Yang Yuan pill the most common medicine pill!?
Why couldn’t he find any!
Ah Ling reached out to gently tug his sleeve, “Ning Buwei, is Ah Ling going to die?”
“Won’t die, I’ll save you.” Ning Buwei held her while searching everywhere for medicine pills, also trying to find some pure clean spiritual power from his body full of evil energy, but found none. He said hoarsely, “Don’t worry, you won’t die.”
Ah Ling’s voice grew increasingly soft, “If Ah Ling dies, can I come find you in the next life?”
Ning Buwei’s movements suddenly froze and he looked down at her, “…What did you say?”
“Ah Ling wants to be Ning Buwei’s daughter.” Ah Ling sadly cried tears, “Ah Ling doesn’t want to call you Ning Buwei… Ah Ling wants to call you Father… but Ning Buwei won’t allow it.”
“Call me whatever you want, call freely.” Ning Buwei grabbed a broken storage ring, just wanting to find half a Yang Yuan pill immediately.
“Ah Ling will become smart, won’t be a little fool.” Ah Ling curved her eyes to smile at him, “Ah Ling will grow to eighteen and come find you again, recognize you as Father.”
“Ning Buwei, you have to recognize Ah Ling…”
“Don’t talk nonsense, I—-Found it!” Ning Buwei grabbed the small porcelain bottle from the ground, then poured out a Yang Yuan pill and broke it in half, putting it to the little girl’s mouth, “Ah Ling open your mouth, quickly eat it, eat it and you’ll be fine!”
“…Ah Ling?”
“AH LING!?”
😭