Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Jump, Jump, Jump Together

Master Han arranged for Hu Qing to travel with a merchant caravan heading toward the west teleport array. Everyone came to see her off, gifts pressed into her hands.

Cooks didn’t have much variety. Their gifts were either food, or something tied to food.

Da Mu tried to shove his savings at her—fifty low-grade spirit crystals.

“I don’t need it,” Hu Qing said. “You keep it for yourself.”

Da Mu turned stubborn and angry, refusing to back down.

Left with no choice, Hu Qing sighed, reached into her space, and slipped a palm-sized piece of ore into his hand. She did it under the cover of their pushing and arguing, so no one else noticed.

It was something the Gold-Devouring Beast had spit out after sucking away the essence—tossed to the entrance of its nest like trash, meaning Hu Qing could take it as she pleased.

Even with its essence already eaten, it was worth far more than fifty low-grade spirit crystals.

Hu Qing forced Da Mu to put it into his ring, then leaned close and sent a voice transmission: “Don’t tell anyone.”

Only then did she accept his spirit crystals.

She boarded the cargo spirit ship and left.

Back at Gourmet House, the courtyard felt empty. Master Han walked in and asked, “Da Qing left?”

“She left,” everyone answered, voices low.

They stood together for a while, replaying little moments like they could keep her there by remembering. A coworker who worked hard without holding back, was generous, easy to get along with, and could even sharpen knives and mend pots—how often did you meet someone like that?

Just as they were drifting into it, Second Steward passed by and stopped short at the sight of them loitering.

“What are you all doing?” he demanded.

The young cooks drooped. “Da Qing left.”

Second Steward had to think for a moment before he remembered who that was. Then he shrugged.

“An assistant leaving is nothing. Get back to work.”

He’d been mildly curious about her at first, thinking she might have potential as a cook. But once he learned she was an artifact refiner, he lost interest immediately.

Someone who swung a hammer for a living had simply walked into the wrong door. Leaving was normal.

Second Steward waved Master Han over. “Perfect timing. A guest is complaining we haven’t had anything new for too long.”

Master Han answered with a distracted hum, but his thoughts had already drifted away. The Immortal Realm was too vast. Most people you met once, you never saw again.

Meanwhile, Hu Qing reached the west teleport array without trouble.

It wasn’t the one the Tenth Princess had used. That one was the north teleport array.

Hu Qing lined up, paid her spirit crystals, and stepped into the array. There was no ticket stub. You just followed the person ahead and jumped.

Her heart pounded so hard it almost hurt.

She looked at the swirling pattern and chose a spot she liked.

Then she jumped.

Mom’s good baby. Mom’s coming home.

At the same time—

“Jump, or not jump?”

A group of kids gathered around a mysterious rotating pattern, eyes bright with temptation.

Hu Nuan, Jin Xin, Xiao Ou, Leng Ruo, Lan Jiu, Hu Hua Hua, Hu Cai Cai, Hu Zhu Zhu, Xuan Yao, Tang Yu Zi—and Wu Ling Man perched on top of Hu Hua Hua’s head.

Shui Xin had dragged them to the Buddhist Sect, where they were welcomed so warmly they’d practically been adopted. Even the old monks who usually couldn’t stand Shui Xin loved the kids, especially Hu Nuan.

Because of that, the kids were given a ridiculous amount of freedom. The Buddhist Sect’s territory was vast, full of mountains, and kids loved digging. So the adults talked Buddhism and the Dao, and the kids ran wild.

They ran until something went wrong.

They’d passed the valley where the eminent monks went into life-and-death seclusion countless times. But today, part of the cliff edge had collapsed.

Curious, they crept closer. Hu Nuan rubbed her eyes and insisted she saw something below.

If there was something below, it had to be treasure. That was the law of childhood.

So they jumped.

They found an underground hole, slipped inside, and followed a tunnel lined with ancient traces. The passage ended quickly in a small, circular chamber.

There was nothing—until dust suddenly spiraled up from the floor and a circular, ancient pattern appeared in the center like it had been waiting for them.

Everyone looked at Xiao Ou first. He was the best with formations.

Xiao Ou frowned until his brows nearly knotted. “I can’t read it.”

So they looked at Hu Hua Hua, who had bloodline inheritance.

Hu Hua Hua stared just as long, then swallowed his embarrassment and guessed, “It looks like a teleport array.”

A teleport array.

Their eyes lit up instantly—Hu Nuan’s most of all.

“Let’s jump in and see!” Jin Xin blurted.

“We don’t know where it goes,” Lan Jiu said quickly. “Even if it’s a teleport array, it could send us anywhere.”

Leng Ruo nodded. “We should notify the masters.”

She turned to Hu Nuan out of habit. “Little Nuan, you—”

Hu Nuan was staring at the rotating pattern like it was calling her name. Without thinking, she whispered, “I want to go.”

Everyone went still.

Hu Hua Hua spoke first, as if deciding was as easy as breathing. “Then we go.”

“Let me send a message first,” Jin Xin said, already reaching to transmit.

But Hu Nuan stepped forward. “Jump… or not jump?”

Everyone thought she was asking the group. She wasn’t.

Her heart thumped once, hard enough to shake her ribs, and she jumped as if her body had made the choice for her.

“Little Nuan!”

Hands shot out. Leng Ruo and the others lunged, but they were too late.

Hu Hua Hua managed to catch her—only because he was jumping with her.

Hu Zhu Zhu grabbed a corner of Hu Hua Hua’s robe in a panic, and with his other hand he locked onto Hu Cai Cai.

Xuan Yao moved at the exact same time and jumped down as well. The boss wasn’t here. That meant he had to protect the Young Master and the Miss.

Tang Yu Zi saw them go and jumped too.

And once Hu Nuan had gone, how could Jin Xin and the rest stay behind?

One jump became all jumps.

Their auras vanished from that world.

The masters who had been listening to Buddhist teachings jolted up and flew out like lightning.

Shui Xin’s face turned ugly. “Oh no.”

The monks chased, following the fading trace of the kids’ presence to the valley, down the cliff, through the tunnel, and into the chamber.

The pattern glowed softly in the dust.

Everyone’s expression was grim.

Qiao Yu’s stare at Shui Xin looked sharp enough to carve flesh. How was he supposed to explain this to Hu Qing?

Shui Xin whirled around, furious. “What is this thing? How did I not know it was here?”

He sounded like a spoiled idiot son who’d been raised wrong.

The oldest monk among them stepped forward, shoved Shui Xin aside, and crouched by the pattern with solemn focus. His dharma eyes widened as he studied it.

After a long moment, he said, “There was a spatial collapse here. It appeared less than a day ago. This kind of pattern… it seems to come from ancient times.”

Ancient times.

Everyone was startled, but not entirely shocked. little li realm had once been part of the Immortal Realm. Ancient ruins weren’t impossible.

But what was this? Where had it sent the kids?

Was it dangerous?

Shui Xin’s voice trembled with panic. “Hu Nuan is in there.”

The old monk lifted his head and looked at him calmly. “Then you go in and bring the kids out.”

He didn’t say the unspoken part: if Shui Xin died, so be it.

It was anger speaking. Shui Xin had earned it too many times.