Chapter 9: You Were Always One of Us

Mo Yiran, unfazed, explained, "It’s a nine-tailed spirit fox, naturally gifted with the ability to understand language. It has lived here with us for two years, so it’s no surprise it comprehends your words. However, I’ve never seen it this enthusiastic before!"

"Ahaha, it must be my irresistible charm—I've even enchanted this little creature! Oh, what a sin, what a sin. But what can I do? Being this beautiful isn’t my fault," Yuan Qian’er said, sorrowfully pressing her forehead.

Mo Yiran twitched the corner of his mouth; this woman was truly beyond praise—one compliment and she was already soaring.

Just then, a somewhat hoarse voice sounded, "Ahem, I’ve been ignored by you two youngsters for quite some time today." Those two brats had kept him, an old man, waiting so long, and upon entering, they even ignored him. This displeased him greatly; Master Taihe was very unhappy feeling so disregarded.

Yuan Qian’er turned toward the source of the voice and immediately flared up. "It’s you! You damn old man! How did you end up here? Did you have a hand in me coming here? If it weren’t for you drawing those ridiculous pictures on the street that lured everyone away, I wouldn’t have ended up transported to this cursed place. If anyone had been there at the time, I surely would have been pulled back!"

Indeed, this Master Taihe was the very painter Yuan Qian’er had seen on a modern street, resembling the Supreme Elder Lord.

"Hmph, you think you win just by speaking first, brat? Do you know how much effort I put in to bring you back? And you still blame me! I really wasted my care on you; raising Little White would have been easier than raising you." Though Master Taihe scolded her, no anger showed in his eyes; it was clear he was only teasing Yuan Qian’er.

"Hey, you stinky old man! What do you mean by bringing me back? What do you mean wasted care? Who is Little White? Tell me now, or I’m not leaving today." With that, she plopped down beside Master Taihe, crossed her legs, and shook them as if she were a street punk.

Master Taihe beckoned to Mo Yiran to sit and said, "Yiran, thank you for your hard work. Please, sit." Then, turning solemnly to Yuan Qian’er, he said, "Listen well, brat. You are originally from this place. Don’t ask me why—I was merely entrusted by your benefactor to send you, swaddled in infancy, to another dimension and bring you back twenty years later. Beyond that, I know nothing. Two years ago, that benefactor came with Little White and said that once you return and raise Little White to adulthood, you may seek him out. He will reveal your true identity. Little White is the little fox in your arms."

"Ah, this is a bit confusing. So you don’t know my origins either? Only after raising Little White can I find your benefactor to learn about my past?" Yuan Qian’er pieced together this fragment.

"Yes."

"Then why was I sent to the modern world? And after being sent, why bring me back? I was doing fine there." This was the crux of Yuan Qian’er’s real confusion.

"I heard it was to escape a deadly pursuit. Out of desperation, you were sent to the modern era. Very few in this world understand the art of dimensional travel. Fortunately, I learned it from my master’s inheritance, so your benefactor entrusted you to me." Master Taihe cast a deep gaze at Yuan Qian’er. This girl—someone important enough for the benefactor to personally send here—who could she be?

"Pursuit? Who’s so twisted as to hunt down such a little child? No, the one being chased was me! Someone wants to kill me, yet you brought me back? Old man, what are your true intentions?" Yuan Qian’er shuddered, horrified. How could ancient people be so cruel, killing whoever they wished, sparing not even children?

"Brat, that you will understand only when you find your benefactor. But rest assured, you were sent away because you were cursed with a tracking spell. Wherever you went, you would be found. So you had to be sent to another dimension to break the spell’s reach. The tracking curse cannot cross dimensions and expires automatically after twenty years. Now, exactly twenty years have passed—you no longer need to fear being hunted."