Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Mount Hua's Child
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Thunder swept through the valley of Mount Hua once, and rain poured down like reeds torn apart.
Even though it was morning, the sky was black as evening, and the mountain path glistened as wet stones and mud shoved against each other.
In that weather, someone was climbing the notoriously treacherous Mount Hua.
It was the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect.
The hem of his robe had already lost its shape, soaked heavy with water and clinging to his legs.
Still, he didn't blame the rain.
Rain was just something you endured.
The problem was what he carried.
Tucked inside his arm was something so small it weighed less than his palm.
A baby.
No, not even a proper baby—an infant so fragile it seemed it had just emerged into the world only to flicker out again.
The umbilical cord hung limp, not even properly severed, and the child's face was blue like someone suffocating.
"...Hang in there, little one."
He tucked the baby deeper into the folds of his wet robe.
To shield it from the rain, to keep his body heat from escaping.
Then he placed one hand on the baby's back and gathered strength at his fingertips.
Circulating Qi.
There was no grand display of power.
Instead, it was a delicate energy, precise as threading a needle.
Forcing inner energy in could make the child burn up inside without even a cry.
The Sect Leader sent thin threads of qi, just enough to drive out the chill and sustain the breath.
Even as he hurried up the rugged mountain, his hand didn't waver.
Beneath his palm, a tiny heart thumped once—"thud"—just barely once, then beat again.
The Sect Leader's gaze dropped for an instant.
Not relief, but a deeper resolve.
He ascended the stone steps to the gatehouse without pause.
The moment the Mount Hua Sect's gates came into view, the gatekeepers rushed out in a clamor.
"Sect Leader...! In this weather—"
"Out of the way."
The Sect Leader's voice was curt.
Firm, and that firmness spread like contagion.
The men instinctively cleared a path.
The Elders came running out right after.
One of them—the Elder famous for his 'Leisurely Face for All Under Heaven'—saw what the Sect Leader carried and his eyes went wide.
"No, Eldest Senior Brother! That in your arms... don't tell me it's a baby?"
Instead of answering, the Sect Leader carefully extended the child.
The moment the Elder took it, he saw the limp umbilical cord and frowned.
"This... isn't that the umbilical cord? Wait, why—"
"No more questions. Save its life first."
Even as he spoke, the Sect Leader didn't pull his hand away.
If the flow of qi to the baby's back broke, it might flicker out again.
The Elder worked his lips.
"Where on earth did this child...?"
"Found it."
"...Pardon?!"
"At the base of the mountain path. Under a rock. Hurry up."
The Elder cleared his throat awkwardly.
Then, snapping back to reality, he waved his hand.
"Oh dear, oh dear! Right. That's not the issue now. We have to save it first! Medical Hall! Hot water, clean cloths, and... someone clean this up!"
A sharp herbal scent pricked the nose, and the fire simmering the decoction breathed quietly.
In the center of the Medical Hall, a faint breath hovered.
A baby.
Even after reviving, it was a breath handled with care.
Every time that tiny chest rose and fell, the people nearby held their own breaths without realizing it.
One more pair of eyes peered through the door crack.
"..."
Plum Blossom Yeon, eight years old.
A child notorious in the Mount Hua Sect as a troublemaker.
Normally, she'd have been dragged out and spanked by now, but today, strangely, no adult shooed her away.
'A baby.'
And the Sect Leader had carried it in himself?
Plum Blossom Yeon seized the moment the door cracked open and slipped inside quick as a flash.
She walked on tiptoe.
Lightly, like a butterfly.
The closer she got to the baby, the more her young chest tickled inside.
A hot-yet-cool palm-itch feeling.
Plum Blossom Yeon glanced at the small basin and cloths by the baby, reached out, then stopped.
'I'll get in trouble if I touch.'
Knowing that, she leaned her head closer with extra care.
As if listening to its breath.
Blinking at the baby, it twitched its lips ever so slightly.
In that moment, Plum Blossom Yeon's eyes went wide.
"Wow... it's really alive."
Her words came out too loud.
"Who's there!"
A man's voice boomed from behind.
Plum Blossom Yeon flinched, shoulders hunching.
It was the Senior Uncle handling errands in the Medical Hall.
"Hwa Yeon? You sneaked in again!"
"Not sneaked... just... my feet brought me here."
"Your feet?"
"Yes. My feet."
The Senior Uncle sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Always. Get out quick. The baby's still weak. Don't pass on any illness—"
But Plum Blossom Yeon pointed at the baby first.
Her eyes sparkled.
"Senior Uncle. What's that baby's name?"
The Senior Uncle froze for a moment.
Then he looked at the baby and lowered his voice.
"Name...?"
"Then what do you call it?"
"Well... um."
The Senior Uncle scratched his head.
No matter what, calling it 'that baby' felt too half-hearted, and 'the baby the Sect Leader found' was too wordy.
And if he named it carelessly and got scolded by the Sect Leader, just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
"Th-this... I mean... that..."
Plum Blossom Yeon stared at his mouth with wide eyes.
"Yi Yi?"
The Senior Uncle nodded without thinking.
"Ah, no. I mean... this... this child..."
Plum Blossom Yeon had already decided.
She threw her hands up triumphantly and declared.
"It's Yi Yi!"
"Hey, hey! Don't just—"
"Senior Uncle just said Yi."
"I said 'this child'—"
"Yi Yi."
Plum Blossom Yeon called again, smaller and more earnestly, gazing at the baby.
"Yi Yi."
As if the name had always been there, the baby's tiniest finger twitched.
Seeing that, Plum Blossom Yeon's face lit up.
"See! It reacted! It's Yi Yi!"
The Senior Uncle gaped, words failing him.
He should argue, but somehow, he couldn't.
It felt like a name had taken root by the baby's side.
"...Haa."
The Senior Uncle shook his head in surrender.
"Fine. Yi Yi... for now. But don't say you named it in front of the Sect Leader."
"Why?"
"You'll get scolded."
Plum Blossom Yeon pondered briefly, then grinned.
"Then I'll say you named it."
"That's no good either!"
"Then... heaven named it."
The Senior Uncle rubbed his forehead again.
"You really..."
Ignoring him, Plum Blossom Yeon sat by the baby and gently straightened a cloth.
Her fingertips moved softly.
And in a very small voice, she said,
"Yi Yi. Hi. I'm Plum Blossom Yeon."
The baby drew in a long breath instead of answering.
That breath deepened the warmth in the room a little more.
After that day, sneaking lost all meaning.
At first, everyone looked at her like, "Crawled in from where again?"
But the cloths she brought were always clean, the water always warm, and the decoctions always simmered on time.
Above all, near Yi Yi, she became miraculously careful.
Like a protector, not a prankster.
And strangely, Yi Yi recognized Plum Blossom Yeon.
Even before opening its eyes.
When Plum Blossom Yeon slipped her hand into its swaddling to hold a finger, the baby gripped tight and wouldn't let go.
The weak thing that couldn't even cry would tremble its lips if her hand pulled away.
"What? Big sis is right here."
When Plum Blossom Yeon said that, the baby quieted, as if clinging to breath itself.
After opening its eyes, it was even more blatant.
Quiet in the Senior Uncle's arms, but the moment Plum Blossom Yeon appeared, it fussed.
As if saying, "Not you."
"That rascal... such a spoiled thing."
The Senior Uncle clicked his tongue.
First steps, first words—all in front of Plum Blossom Yeon.
Extend a hand, and it toddled over wobbling; right before being picked up, lips moved.
"...Big sis."
Plum Blossom Yeon glared playfully but hugged Yi Yi tighter.
She pouted her lips and lifted Yi Yi up.
"Yeah, big sis... got it?"
From that day, Yi Yi cried only for Plum Blossom Yeon openly.
Hungry, cry; sleepy, cry; stranger near, cry.
And mid-cry, if Plum Blossom Yeon peeked in, it blinked and stopped.
Seeing that, the Elders began peeking through the Medical Hall door one by one.
"Crying again?"
"No. Now... it stops the moment it sees Hwa Yeon."
One Elder stroked his beard and chuckled.
"Heh heh. A child raising a child."
Another nodded as if he couldn't help it.
Hearing that, Plum Blossom Yeon raised her voice unnecessarily.
"I'm not a child, okay?"
The Elders laughed harder.
"Sure, sure. Take good care of our Yi Yi."
That laughter was fondness, not teasing.
As time passed and Yi Yi could hold itself up, the clinginess grew more specific.
Yi Yi learned to grab Plum Blossom Yeon's skirt hem before taking steps.
When Plum Blossom Yeon stood to move herbs, it toddled after and clutched her ankle tight.
As if asking, "Where to?"
And even if soothed with "Stay here," it shook its head and reached up.
Wanting to be held.
"You... have legs, so why always want to be carried."
Plum Blossom Yeon grumbled but picked it up anyway.
Then Yi Yi buried its face in her shoulder and let out a tiny sigh.
That sigh looked so content, Plum Blossom Yeon couldn't keep up the grumbling tone.
"Fine. Fine. You win."
The Medical Hall folk laughed at the sight.
The Senior Uncle threw up his hands.
"Elders, for that child's cries now, the prescription isn't medicine—it's Plum Blossom Yeon."
The Elders clapped lightly in applause.
"Good prescription."
"The Medical Hall's miracle drug."
Plum Blossom Yeon's face flushed as she yelled, "Stop it already!" but even her voice wasn't as sharp as before.
Somehow, it had softened.
The old Plum Blossom Yeon had been like a spark.
Flaring at a touch, pouting mid-laugh, always leading the mischief.
But after Yi Yi arrived, that spark warmed into gentle heat, bit by bit each day.
Sulky, she'd soothe; crying, she'd hold; fussy for sleep, she'd pat the back.
Body moving before words.
When Yi Yi gripped her finger tight and dozed off, Plum Blossom Yeon couldn't pull away.
"If you keep holding like this... I can't go. Big sis has training now..."
Then Yi Yi gripped harder, even in sleep.
As if to say, don't go.
Plum Blossom Yeon sighed each time but smiled.
"Fine. Not going. A little scolding's all."
And really, she didn't go.
The Elders watched and chuckled lowly.
"That's no prankster—she's already a full mother."
"Mother?!"
"Or big sister, then. Heh heh, either way... it's a fine sight."
Plum Blossom Yeon bristled but then looked down at Yi Yi.
Yi Yi gazed up with half-open eyes.
A face saying nothing in the world scared it.
As if Plum Blossom Yeon's arms were the whole world.
At that gaze, Plum Blossom Yeon's heart beat a little slower.