Shaoyun Mountain, located in the southern part of the Xuantian Continent, on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Miles Mountains, is a peak with little renown across the Xuantian Continent. Apart from the villagers living at its base, the mountain is usually very quiet.
This afternoon, the weather was clear, with cloudless skies, and Shaoyun Mountain was as tranquil as ever. The animals in the mountain were lazily basking in the sun in their nests.
Suddenly, a purple vortex appeared in the sky and spat out a humanoid object, after which the vortex quickly disappeared.
Without support, the humanoid object fell clumsily onto the grass at the foot of Shaoyun Mountain, stirring up a layer of dust and frightening the little animals foraging nearby, causing them to scatter.
"Wow!" The humanoid object, namely Rong Ye, spat out a mouthful of blood. He barely took a glance at his surroundings and realized it was not the familiar Spirit Hidden Mountain. Before the regret in his eyes could rise, it was overtaken by the body's pain, and he fainted.
Not long after he passed out, a figure approached from the distance.
The newcomer was a little girl about five years old. She wore a somewhat new coarse cloth garment, and her slightly long hair was rather messy. Possibly due to lack of food, she was very thin and her face was dirty, looking no different from a beggar by the roadside. Only her pair of eyes, like stars, were very lively and made one feel instantly delighted upon seeing them.
Upon seeing the person lying on the ground, she was stunned for a moment, halted her steps, glanced with her lively eyes around, and, after noticing a large tree not far away, quickly ran over, hid behind it, and cautiously peered at the person in the distance.
Gu Qingqing had come out to find something to eat. Although she was only five, she could remember things early and was smarter than the average child. Even though Shaoyun Mountain wasn't the best place to enter the Ten Thousand Miles Mountains, many injured cultivators would come here. She had met a few before. Most cultivators were aloof and indifferent to ordinary people, but Gu Qingqing didn't like them.
After exploring from a distance to confirm that the person had indeed fainted, she approached him, squatted down, and first checked his breath. After feeling a faint breath, she patted her chest and let out a small sigh of relief, only then starting to carefully examine the person on the ground.
The person had evidently just gone through a fierce battle, looking extremely ragged. He had many wounds on his body, and his clothes were in tatters, appearing very miserable.
Judging by his appearance, he probably wouldn't wake up for a while. Although Shaoyun Mountain was safer than the Ten Thousand Miles Mountains, there were still many demon beasts. If he were left here, he would probably meet a grim fate. She hesitated for a moment and decided to save this person in front of her.
Gu Qingqing was quite familiar with the environment here and knew of a cave not far away where she could hide the man. As long as she covered it well, no one or demon beast would find it.
She threaded her hands under the man's armpits, attempting to drag him forward. After trying a few times, she found that he didn't move an inch, while she was left panting from exhaustion.
Gu Qingqing frowned, glanced at the man on the ground, looked around again to confirm no one was near, and then moved her red lips slightly: "Become light."
Her voice differed from that of most children, lacking their crispness and childishness, carrying instead a mysterious and unique charm that could easily captivate someone.
This was the innate divine ability she awakened after the age of three — the Word Spirit Technique!
Since she was young, she couldn't make a sound and always thought herself mute. After awakening this talent post three years of age, some memories suddenly appeared in her mind, making her understand that she wasn't mute but had a Word Spirit Talent, and someone had sealed her, preventing her from speaking freely.
After she finished speaking, a weak light covered the person on the ground, then disappeared. Gu Qingqing bent down again and tried pulling the man once more, finding that he had indeed become much lighter. With her strength, she could move him completely, and she immediately curved her eyes in happiness before dragging the man into the cave.
This cave was something she discovered by accident, occasionally resting there as it was relatively clean inside. She placed the man on a grass bed she had previously arranged, clapped her hands, looked at the man's wounds, thought for a moment, and then went out to pick some herbs. After crushing them, she applied them to the man's wounds and fetched some water to clean his face.
After seeing the man's visage, Gu Qingqing couldn't help but blink her eyes.
This was the first time she had seen such a handsome man. She stared for a while until her attention was broken by the rumbling sound from her stomach. She then remembered that she initially came out to find food but had been delayed for so long because of the man.
A trace of annoyance flashed through her eyes, but seeing the man's face, she felt that the time spent was still worthwhile, as she had always had no resistance to good-looking people!
Carefully covering the cave entrance, Gu Qingqing ran towards the forest.
Not long after she left, Rong Ye slowly regained consciousness. Remembering that before fainting, he seemingly wasn't back at his sect but had been teleported to a location not far from it. He quickly surveyed his surroundings and was surprised to find himself in a cave.
He struggled to prop up his upper body and found some herbal medicine applied to his wounds, seemingly to stop the bleeding. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes as he felt the pain from within his body, took out a Jade Bottle from his Qiankun Ring, poured out a light green Elixir, put it in his mouth, and then returned the Jade Bottle to the Qiankun Ring.
This series of actions made his forehead bead with cold sweat. Feeling the medicine's power dispersing inside him, he lay back down, wondering who had saved him, and then passed out again. However, this time, his breathing was noticeably much steadier than before.
Gu Qingqing picked some wild fruits from the trees and, having had some good luck, she also caught a rabbit, happily returning to the cave.
First, she checked on the man's condition, found that he was still asleep, and his wounds had started to stop bleeding. Satisfied, she nodded and then skillfully processed the rabbit outside the cave, starting to roast it by the fire.
After the old woman who took care of her died when she was three, she lived alone, evolving from knowing nothing to being able to handle many things skillfully now, including cooking.
After enjoying a satisfying meal, it was getting late. Gu Qingqing hesitated for a moment, left a few tasty wild fruits for the man, then covered the cave entrance, and left the cave.
...
The next morning, when sunlight filtered through the cracks in the grass into the cave, Rong Ye, lying on the grass bed, also woke up. Staring at the top of the cave, he blinked, and his sleeping mind quickly became clear.
Realizing that he had been saved, Rong Ye couldn't help but look around the cave, finding that the one who saved him was not there. A trace of doubt flashed in his eyes as he sat up. After yesterday's rest, more than half of his wounds had healed, and most of the wounds had basically scabbed over. Sitting up at this point did not affect anything.
He moved his body and caught sight of some wild fruit on a leaf not far away. He was stunned, and after thinking for a moment that it might have been left by the one who saved him, he paused and put the wild fruit away but didn't eat it. After all, at his current level, he could go half a month without eating.
His clothes were tattered from the fight. He looked at them, showing a trace of disdain before changing into clean clothes. Only after seeing his reflection in the water mirror, and confirming his clean appearance, did he nod with satisfaction.
After tidying himself, seeing that the one who saved him had not appeared, he was in no rush and instead sat on the grass bed, continuing to heal himself.
...
Gu Qingqing's home was at the foot of Shaoyun Mountain, not far from it. It was a small courtyard with only a thatched house of three rooms, looking very simple and lonely, as it was some distance from the nearest village under Shaoyun Mountain.
Since the old woman passed away, the village people originally wanted to adopt Gu Qingqing, but Gu Qingqing was mute and very stubborn, unwilling to leave this house. The village people gave up but would often help Gu Qingqing, otherwise a five-year-old child like Gu Qingqing couldn't have survived!
After saving the person yesterday, Gu Qingqing originally didn't plan to return home, but the old woman had said before dying that Gu Qingqing must stay in the courtyard at night, so Gu Qingqing went home. After getting up in the morning, Gu Qingqing unusually tidied herself up and then walked to the foot of the mountain.
In the cave, as Rong Ye was healing his wounds, he suddenly heard a faint sound. He immediately stopped his cultivation and directed his Divine Sense towards the source of the sound.
When the Divine Sense "saw" Gu Qingqing's small figure, Rong Ye opened his eyes in surprise. He hadn't expected that the one who saved him was actually a child!
At that moment, Gu Qingqing also arrived at the cave entrance. As she entered the cave, her eyes met Rong Ye's.
Gu Qingqing didn't expect Rong Ye to wake up so soon. Suddenly seeing him awake, she was startled and instinctively wanted to run away.
"Little sister, was it you who saved me?" Rong Ye hurriedly spoke when he saw Gu Qingqing wanting to leave.
Rong Ye's voice made Gu Qingqing pause, realizing she was a bit flustered. She turned around but didn't come forward, her gaze shifting elsewhere, and nodded lightly.
Although he had already known Gu Qingqing's appearance through Divine Sense, facing her in person, Rong Ye still felt that Gu Qingqing was too thin and small, and that such a weak Gu Qingqing had saved him amazed him even more. He didn't notice that Gu Qingqing hadn't spoken, thinking that she was just shy.
Although Rong Ye was flamboyant, he was not someone who didn't understand gratitude. He was very kind towards Gu Qingqing. "Thank you for saving me, my name is Rong Ye, what's your name?"
Gu Qingqing couldn't speak casually yet. Facing Rong Ye, she pointed to her own mouth and then waved her hand, indicating that she couldn't speak. Then she looked around on the ground, found a tree branch, and wrote her name on the ground, the only three characters she knew how to write.