Time travel, quick transmigration

When Shi Yan arrived at the Sanqing Hall with Yun Ying, Qing Feng, Wen Ying, and two other female Taoist priests were already sitting cross-legged on prayer mats. Upon seeing her enter the hall, they only glanced at her before looking away.

Incense burned in the hall, creating a quiet atmosphere. Shi Yan seemed to be infected by this tranquility as well. No one greeted her, so she walked among them and sat down with Yun Ying on an empty futon.

Qingfeng, seated at the head of the table, glanced at Shi Yan discreetly before closing his eyes and reciting the "Purity Sutra".

Seeing this, Wenying and the others closed their eyes and silently recited aloud.

Shi Yan glanced at the group of people who were focused and devout, and the words Yun Ying had mentioned to her flashed through her mind. It turned out that Taoists traditionally only had morning and evening prayers, but the first abbot of Dongling Temple had stipulated that all disciples must follow the "Daily Practice Scripture" three times a day, morning, noon, and evening. Shi Yan was somewhat puzzled as to why so many young women in this era would renounce worldly life and become Taoist nuns. Listening to the Taoist scriptures, which seemed mysterious and profound to her, she felt as if she herself had entered a peaceful state detached from worldly troubles.

Since she didn't know how to recite Taoist scriptures, she focused on listening intently. In a short time, she had no other thoughts and closed her eyes to meditate, looking quite like a Taoist cultivator.

Xiao Huanling sat in the house for a while, then went out to look for Shi Yan. Finding her missing, he went to ask Xiao Die about the situation, but after searching Huanqing Residence, he couldn't find her. He wasn't worried about their safety; after all, if anything happened to them while they were in the temple, he would hear about it. However, out of consideration for Shi Yan's reputation and to avoid causing her trouble, he didn't go into the temple to search for them. After some thought, Xiao Huanling decided to go out first to find Liu Yun and then return as soon as possible. He went straight to a courtyard wall in Huanqing Residence, and with a light step, easily climbed over it, landing on the grass outside. This aggravated his injuries, and after a short rest, Xiao Huanling strode forward.

After passing through a grove of trees and reaching a small path, Xiao Huanling hesitated for a moment, then turned back to look at the Taoist temple not far away before turning away and leaving.

Having followed him for quite some time, Liu Yun had developed a certain understanding with him. Xiao Huanling knew that Liu Yun, who was concerned about him, wouldn't have gone too far, so he searched for Liu Yun's whereabouts along the woods near Dongling Temple, blowing his whistle as he went. Perhaps it had been waiting for Xiao Huanling to come looking for it, because after a short while, Liu Yun, upon hearing his whistle, truly appeared out of nowhere like a cloud, galloping towards Xiao Huanling.

Xiao Huanling watched as Liuyun emerged from a grove of trees in the distance, a smile appearing in his eyes. As the divine steed Liuyun drew near, Xiao Huanling leaped forward and landed on its back, affectionately stroking its head.

“I knew you wouldn’t go far. How have you been these past two days?”

Liu Yun seemed to understand his words and snorted in response.

"good."

Xiao Huanling realized that Liuyun was being affectionate, so he patted its head.

"My injuries have mostly healed; she saved me. Yes, the one you've met, the one who's incredibly beautiful and very gentle."

As Xiao Huanling spoke, his eyes and heart were filled with warmth when he talked about Shi Yan.

"Liuyun, let's go. I have to go back; she might worry if I don't see her."

With that, he pulled on the reins and sped off towards Dongling Temple.

After Shi Yan finished her afternoon lessons with Qing Feng and the others, she walked out of the Sanqing Hall with them. When they parted outside the hall, Qing Feng asked her some caring questions before leaving with Wen Ying and the others.

Shi Yan was well aware of Qing Feng's aloofness, and she didn't take Wen Ying and the others' politeness to heart. After everyone left, Shi Yan returned to her own Huanqing Residence.

Having arrived at the courtyard of Huanqing Residence of Dongling Temple, Xiao Huanling found a secluded spot for Liuyun to stay. He even gathered some branches and dry grass to build a simple shelter for Liuyun.

“Liuyun, I’m not planning to go back to the Xiao residence for the time being. I’m a little reluctant to leave her, so I’ll stay here for a while. This is a nunnery, and as a male guest, I shouldn’t be too conspicuous. Besides, she has such an identity, so I can’t bring her into the nunnery. You’ll have to make do here for a few days.”

"I'll come to see you every day and bring you food. If you feel bored, go out and have some fun."

"I'm leaving now. I'll bring her with me to see you when I have the chance."

Reluctantly reaching out to touch the glossy fur on Liuyun's head, Xiao Huanling turned around, walked to the base of the wall, touched the tree trunk beside her with her toes, and leaped over the wall.

When Xiao Huanling returned to Huanqing Residence, he found it as quiet as ever, and knew that Shi Yan and Xiao Die had not yet returned. Alone and thinking about Shi Yan, he did not want to stay in the house, so he sat on a large rock next to the artificial hill in the courtyard, watching the few carp swimming around in the small artificial pond with nothing to do.

As soon as Shi Yan entered Huanqing Residence, she saw Xiao Huanling sitting by the rockery, looking at something in the pond. Seeing that he was still wearing his soiled clothes, she knew that Xiao Die had gone to brew medicine and hadn't brought it to Xiao Huanling yet; otherwise, she would have already brought him clean clothes to change into. Thinking of this, Shi Yan stopped and turned to walk towards her bedroom.

Before long, Shi Yan walked out of the door carrying her brand-new moon-white nightgown and headed towards where Xiao Huanling was.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Xiao Huanling subconsciously turned around to look. When he saw the person he had been thinking about for so long, a look of joy and eagerness flashed in Xiao Huanling's eyes.

"Why are you sitting here? What were you looking at just now?"

Shi Yan pretended to be curious and walked over to him, bending down to look into the pond. She saw several carp of different colors swimming back and forth in the water and couldn't help but smile.

"So Ah Ling has such a childlike heart."

"But these fish are quite cute."

Xiao Huanling hadn't expected to be teased by Shi Yan again. He wanted to argue, but when he met Shi Yan's smiling eyes, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"These fish are really cute."

Shi Yan straightened up, her smile unchanged, and looked at Xiao Huanling.

"Ah Ling, would you like some fish soup? Resources are scarce here, and I can't find anything good to eat for you. Fish soup is delicious and nutritious. How about I catch some and cook it for you?"

Xiao Huanling was stunned upon hearing this.

His mind was still replaying Shi Yan's words praising the fish as cute. He couldn't understand why Shi Yan would catch the cute fish and cook it into soup for him the next moment. Was it because of him that Shi Yan decided to kill the fish?

"No need, no need. These fish probably don't taste very good. Let's just forget about them."

Seeing Xiao Huanling's conflicted and resistant expression, Shi Yan couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ah Ling is so cute. I was just saying, why did you take it seriously? These fish are just kept for decoration, of course they don't taste good. Besides, I don't know how to kill fish, and I'm afraid of blood. How could I actually catch them and cook them into soup?"

"Come inside with me. It's chilly by the pool, and your injuries haven't fully healed yet. Don't stay outside and catch a cold."

Xiao Huanling stared blankly at Shi Yan's back, with an intuition that he might be subdued by Shi Yan in the future. Even so, he found that he did not feel any resistance at all, but rather enjoyed it.