Chapter 2: I Just Made Her Soup, Why Is She Crying and Calling Me Master?!
In the tranquil courtyard of the mysterious mountain mansion, birds chirped, flowers bloomed, and a girl lay face-down in a spirit herb patch, bleeding and unconscious.
Ayan, holding her limp form in his arms, was in full panic mode.
"Oh no oh no oh no, what if she dies?! What if she sues me in ghost court?!"
He ran inside with her, gently placing her on a bed he hadn't used in years (originally meant for his cat, Meowster, who still slept there anyway). The cat glared but didn't move. Her master came first.
Ayan dashed to the kitchen and began throwing ingredients into a pot like a madman.
"Okay okay… a bit of potato... some of that blue glowing mushroom… this slimy root thingy I found next to the pond once… and one of those golden beans the turtle pooped out last week…"
The soup started glowing faintly.
Steam rose… the aroma filled the mansion.
Outside, butterflies spontaneously achieved enlightenment and turned into spirit creatures.
Inside, Ayan tasted it.
"…Hmm. Kind of sweet. Needs more salt."
What he had just created, unknowingly, was a Heaven-Tier Soul Rebirth Nourishment Broth, capable of healing fatal injuries, restoring Qi, and even cleansing soul damage. Normally, it required 17 alchemists, a celestial cauldron, and a month of ritual chanting.
Ayan just used a dented pot and a wooden spoon.
He gently helped the girl drink a few spoonfuls.
She groaned… eyes fluttered open… and immediately sat up.
"…W-where…?!"
"You're safe!" Ayan smiled. "I found you in the garden. You almost crushed my cabbage. But don't worry, I made you soup."
She stared at him.
"…M-my injuries are… gone…?!" she gasped.
Ayan scratched his cheek. "It wasn't that good. I may have added too much mushroom."
Her eyes shimmered with emotion. "What level of pill… what technique did you use to make that soup?! Are you… a Grandmaster?"
"…Huh?"
"I'm Lan Yueru, daughter of Sky Sect Master Lan Tian! I—I came here with my team to find a Five Element Herb to save my brother. We were ambushed by the Beast Sect. Everyone… died…"
Tears welled in her eyes.
Ayan gently patted her shoulder, awkwardly. "There, there…"
Lan Yueru looked around. "Wait. This mansion… are we in the Red Zone?"
Ayan nodded. "Yup. Been living here since I was a kid. I call it 'Mount Stuck' because, you know... I can't leave."
Lan Yueru's jaw dropped.
"You've been living… in the Red Zone… casually… alone?!"
"Well, not alone. I have Barky, Pidgey, Meowster, Spidey, and Slowpoke."
"…Those names—?"
"They're my pets."
Outside the room, said "pets" watched silently from the shadows. All mythical beasts, ears perked, tails twitching. Ready to vaporize anything that hurt their master.
But to Ayan, they were just unusually loyal freeloaders.
Lan Yueru suddenly stood, clutching her pendant. "I must return to the sect. My father will want to know I'm alive!"
"Wait—" Ayan stood. "That barrier around the mansion? You can't go through it."
She blinked. "W-what do you mean?"
Ayan led her to the outer garden. He picked up a rock, casually tossed it — and poof, it disintegrated the moment it hit the boundary.
"It's been like that forever. Nothing goes in or out."
Lan Yueru paled.
"This… this is a Heaven-Sealing Grand Formation… no… above Heaven. Who placed this?!"
Ayan shrugged. "Dunno. Grandpa dropped me off here and vanished when I was little."
He picked a weed. "Want cabbage?"
Meanwhile…
Sky Sect – Headquarters
Lan Tian stood before a jade map glowing red.
"Her life token flickered. She's alive!"
"But... Master," said an elder nervously. "She was last seen entering the Red Zone. That's a dead land… no one returns…"
Another disciple ran in. "We found signs of Beast Sect battle near the mist! Dozens of beast corpses! She escaped, but how?!"
Lan Tian's voice boomed. "Assemble a rescue team! I want every elder ready! Someone saved my daughter… and I will find out who."
Beast Sect – Dark Valley
A shadowed figure knelt before a massive skeletal beast throne.
"Reporting: Sky Sect's brat girl escaped. Her entire team is dead… but she vanished inside the Red Zone."
"…The Red Zone?" the figure on the throne laughed darkly. "Then she's already dead."
"No, my lord. We detected a power signature… for a moment… it was Divine level. Someone interfered."
The shadow clenched his fist.
"…Find out who lives in that cursed mansion."
Back at the Mansion
Lan Yueru stood by the window, watching Ayan casually chase his cat with a broom, claiming it stole his dumpling.
She whispered, "How can someone so powerful… think he's weak?"
She looked down at the soup bowl, still steaming with warmth.
She clenched it to her chest.
"…He saved me. He has no idea who he is… or what he's capable of."
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Could this be… fate?"
To Be Continued...
Next Chapter:The Sky Sect Sends a Whole Army to 'Rescue' Their Daughter… And Panics When the Barrier Melts From Ayan's Yawn.