But Walk the Path, Without Asking East or West

That silly, obedient disciple of his seemed to have disappeared.

Qin Ran lay on his reclining chair, watching Li Shiyin taking care of Li An, and pondered deeply.

The silly disciple seemed to have completely slipped out of his control, no longer so easily fooled... not listening to his words anymore.

When exactly did things go wrong?

He thought for a long time and vaguely came up with an answer. The answer was probably that the obedience itself was just an act by the silly disciple.

You see, before she became his disciple, she was the notorious tyrant of Danyang... After becoming his disciple, she still maintained her tyrant demeanor, and harbored intentions towards him, even tricking him into her schemes.

Yes, the silly disciple was the most scheming of them all. He finally realized.

And so, he began to doubt his own life.

He doubted whether he had been schemed by the silly disciple from the very beginning.

How does that saying go? High-level hunters often appear as prey.

He had always thought he was in control of everything, secretly luring the silly disciple to commit patricide; but in fact, it was the silly disciple who was seducing him, unknowingly, seducing him to secretly lure the silly disciple to commit patricide!

Qin Ran understood, it turned out that he and the silly disciple were like spies within spies within spies.

"How was it?" he was lost in his chaotic thoughts when a voice suddenly asked him, "Was this trip down the mountain smooth? Did you handle the affairs in Beichu?"

The voice was alluring, familiar, lazy and charming, unmistakably Tushan Youyou's.

Qin Ran turned to look, and indeed saw Tushan Youyou, dressed in snow-white robes like a fairy, without a trace of her usual seductive charm. She was clearly a fox spirit, and inside she was still a fox spirit, but to the unknowing, just looking at her appearance, one would think she was truly a fairy.

"Yes, everything was handled," he nodded.

His answer was perfunctory, showing no intention to delve deeper, and Tushan Youyou understood, so she didn't ask further.

She stood beside Qin Ran, looking at Li An sleeping on Zhui Feng's back, and suddenly chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Qin Ran was puzzled.

"I remember before I came to Dan Peak, there were only you and Shiyin on the peak, plus a snake and a cat. The Sword Washing Lake over there was still a muddy pit. The entire Dan Peak was quite shabby, not at all like a sacred place for cultivation," Tushan Youyou said with a smile,

"But now, the pit has become a lake, with trees by the lake, flowers and fruits on the trees, flourishing and thriving. The spiritual energy is abundant, with the Guardian Mountain Formation, truly a place for cultivation. There are also more people now, Liu Xiaoji, Tushan Youyou, Phoenix Wing Tiger Head Wasp, Li An, and that newcomer over there. It's become lively."

She sighed, "Bit by bit, without noticing, Dan Peak has changed so much."

Qin Ran also smiled, feeling a lot of accomplishment because this was something he had built step by step.

"This is life, doing things bit by bit, always moving forward, and one day when you look back, you'll find you've come a long way," he said with a smile, "Just walk the path ahead, without asking where it leads."

"Just walk the path ahead, without asking where it leads?" Tushan Youyou nodded.

Qin Ran looked at the peach grove across the Sword Washing Lake and asked Tushan Youyou with a smile, "So, how far along is your Peach Grove Formation?"

"Just the framework," Tushan Youyou replied, "It still needs a lot of design, and many peach trees with spiritual energy."

She said, taking out a stack of papers from her Universe Bag and handing them to Qin Ran, "This is my current conception, you can take a look when you have time."

Qin Ran took Tushan Youyou's formation design, flipped through it, and found it wasn't a rough draft, but a very neat schematic diagram of the formation. The ideas were clear, the formation concepts were laid out step by step.

It meant that Tushan Youyou had been prepared for a long time, this formation design was for him to see, hoping he could help review and improve it.

Qin Ran understood and nodded, "I'll take a look."

"Thank you," Tushan Youyou thanked him.

Li An was still just a baby, eating and sleeping all day, and before, he used to fly all over Dan Peak with his excess energy, but now, whenever he had time, Li Shiyin would take him to practice.

When Qin Ran and the others weren't back, he slept wrapped in Long Qiqi's magic; now that Qin Ran and the others were back, he could sleep with Zhui Feng or with Li Shiyin.

Zhui Feng was tough-skinned and thick-furred, immune to ordinary sword qi; Li Shiyin, needless to say, could control sword qi at will.

And needless to say, Li An naturally preferred to sleep with Zhui Feng.

Zhui Feng had grown bigger, curling up, and he slept on it, warm and comfortable... and when he woke up, he could play with the big kitty.

...Although Zhui Feng might not necessarily like playing with him.

In short, regarding sleeping, Li An slept however he felt comfortable, and everyone let him.

But, that night, while Li An slept comfortably, someone else couldn't sleep.

The moonlight was bright, shining through the window onto someone's bed, and she stared at the moonlight, unable to sleep, her mind filled with strange thoughts.

Then at some point, she asked, "Sister-in-law, how do men and women have babies?"

Her senses were sharp, and she knew her sister-in-law wasn't asleep either.

"Hmm?" her sister-in-law's voice was surprised, but she was experienced and quickly understood why the person would ask such a question. She thought for a moment and asked, "Do you know that men and women's bodies are different?"

The person nodded and replied, "I think so?"

Her sister-in-law thought the person might not know very well, so she said, "Come, turn around."

"What for?" the person was puzzled but turned around to face her sister-in-law.

The moonlight was bright, the room was well-lit, and they were close, so they could see each other clearly.

Her sister-in-law reached out and pressed on the parts of the person's body that were different from a man's, saying, "These are the parts where women are different from men."

These parts were sensitive, and the person quickly pushed her sister-in-law's hand away, blushing and asking, "But what does this have to do with having babies?"

"It does!" her sister-in-law said with a deep smile, then explained in detail how she could have a baby with a man.

The content was detailed, all the understanding her sister-in-law had gained over the years, all passed on to the person, making her grow up overnight.

Some postures, incantations, techniques, all unique secrets, from her sister-in-law's mouth to the person's ear, disappearing into the night.

No one else knew.

In short, the crucial education the person's mother hadn't given her was finally taken care of by her sister-in-law.

Only...

Next door, Qin Ran, listening to the soft whispers from their room, couldn't sleep all night. From the Big Bang to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes, from the ancient mighty ones moving mountains and overturning seas, to the evolution of contemporary magic...

Finally, he thought, as a master, these things should be taught by him. But he hesitated, afraid of this and that, and in his life, he had missed out on a lot of fun.

That night, the moon was very round, and at least three people on Dan Peak stayed up all night.