My Heart Is Bright as the Moon - Chapter 2

The plot moved along nicely.

Clutching my keepsake, I tearfully claimed my father. To make it up to me, my newly acquired dad waved his hand and gave me an entire mountain peak.

He asked me to name it. I glanced at Shen Jiaojiao behind me and declared, perfectly justified, “Jiaojiao Peak.”

Her eyes widened a little. Once we were outside, she went bright red and quietly asked, “Sister… why Jiaojiao Peak?”

Obviously, I couldn’t tell her I was farming affection points.

“I want you to feel at home here.”

On our first day at Jiaojiao Peak, Xingzhi from neighboring Juyuan Peak came calling. He stole an unobtrusive glance at Shen Jiaojiao, then addressed me frostily.

“At the sect master’s request, I am here to ask whether you would be willing to cultivate under me.”

Naturally, I shook my head like mad.

He let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief, then turned to Jiaojiao with a pleasant expression.

“You have excellent aptitude. Would you like to become my disciple?”

Excuse me? Playing favorites, are we?

Like a hen protecting her chick, I pulled Shen Jiaojiao behind me and challenged him outright.

“No need. We sisters have only just arrived. We haven’t decided where to go yet.”

Xingzhi switched faces like a master performer. Back came the funeral expression and all his impatience.

“What gives you the right to speak for her?”

Shen Jiaojiao held on to my shoulder and peered around me.

“I’ll do what Sister says.”

In the end, Xingzhi stormed off.

I ruffled Jiaojiao’s hair and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Remember, Jiaojiao: stay away from men. They bring misery.”

“Mm!”

Her aptitude really was excellent. I pulled some strings and got a stack of cultivation scrolls from my bargain dad. I also opened up a spirit spring on the peak so she could splash around to her heart’s content.

Whenever I had nothing to do, I put a reclining chair beside the spring and slept. Shen Jiaojiao swam to and fro with her great tail trailing behind her, scrolls in her arms. Before long, she’d made a breakthrough.

Her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

Meanwhile, I kept testing how close I could get to spending my entire life eating and waiting to die.

Without the disciples’ bullying from the original book, the lonely little blossom had grown into a sunflower. You should have seen how sweetly she smiled.

As for Xingzhi, he’d come by to make some snide remarks not long ago. Shen Jiaojiao beat him out the door.

Not only that, she took on three opponents at once in the sect tournament and made her name in a single battle.

Watching her grow, I finally understood why so many people liked raising characters.

The sense of achievement was fucking incredible!

“Sister, I’ve told the sect master I’m going down the mountain to gain experience. Would you like to come?”

Shen Jiaojiao wore white, a longsword on her back and her ink-black hair tied up. Yet she still spoke like the little girl she used to be, softly and cautiously seeking my answer.

She was so cute I decided on the spot.

“Yes!”

Once we were down the mountain, I suddenly remembered the novel’s plot. It was around this time that Jiaojiao set out to gain experience and rescued the grievously wounded male lead, Tang Zhao.

Proof that doing good deeds was a terrible idea.

After entering a secluded forest, I kept hammering the same lesson into her head as we walked. Don’t pick up men by the roadside. Pick one up and you’ll have nothing but bad luck.

She nodded as she listened, casually killing a strange beast along the way. By the time I’d talked myself hoarse, I looked back to find beast corpses lining the entire path.

…That’s my heroine. Absolutely unstoppable.

I was just wondering whether to buy her something tasty once we got out when I saw her crouching ahead, poking at something.

I went over and found a man who was badly wounded and close to death.

He had black horns on his head, though part of one had snapped off.

A thought flashed through my mind.

Could this be our unfortunate male lead?

While he was unconscious, I leaned in and quietly consulted Jiaojiao.

“Let’s bury him?”

She frowned, hesitating a little.

“That wouldn’t be right…”

My heart sank. Had she fallen for him at first sight?

Then she puffed out her cheeks and added, “He’s still breathing. Let me stab him a couple more times before we bury him. We don’t want him coming after us for revenge.”

With that, she drove her sword into his chest several times.

Me: “…”

For a moment, I wasn’t sure which of us was the villain.