“Zhao Yun.” The girl put down the wet cloth in her hand, calmly saying something that made my head spin.
“My name is Zhao Yun.”
“Zhao Yun!?”
I shouted in excitement, startling the timid girl so much that her shoulders shrank instantly.
I saw the girl’s face clearly now.
The dirt had been wiped away, revealing her delicate features.
Those watery, fragile eyes, combined with her pale, timid face and frail, skinny frame, sparked an instinctive desire to protect her.
I couldn’t possibly connect her with the Zhao Yun, famously known as “a body full of courage.”
She’s Zhao Yun?
This frail girl is the legendary Changshan Zhao Zilong!?
Suddenly, I remembered a game I played before being transported to this era, Dynasty Warriors.
In that game, I had downloaded a feminized version of Zhao Yun’s model online.
…
“What have I done!?”
What had I done to a hero admired by countless boys and girls through the ages!?
Brother Yun, I’m so sorry!
I only thought the model looked cool and interesting, I swear I didn’t mean to curse you into becoming a girl!
Seeing me suddenly burst out, banging my head against a tree trunk while shedding manly tears and muttering incomprehensible words as if I’d been struck by something, the feminized Zhao Yun took a few frightened steps back.
“W-What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just… you’re too cute. Way too cute.”
I had thought that one eccentric like a feminized Cao Cao was enough for this world.
But I forgot this was a world created by a deity with a penchant for quirky tastes, one who made someone like Cao Cao.
Adding a Zhao Yun like this didn’t seem all that surprising anymore.
“Cute? What’s cute?” Zhao Yun clearly didn’t understand my words, so she smiled and said, “Xiao Qing, you’re the strange one.”
“Don’t you dare call me strange!!” Feeling oddly offended by being called strange by someone even stranger, I immediately gave her a light chop on the forehead.
“Ow!”
At that moment, the old man and the woman came out.
Ignoring Zhao Yun, who was crouching and clutching her forehead in pain, I asked the old man, “So, how’s it going?”
The old man smiled.
“From now on, this girl will be your junior sister.”
That made sense.
After all, the mother and daughter had been living a tough, uncertain life here, barely scraping by.
Now that someone was willing to take her daughter as a disciple, no matter how you looked at it, it was bound to be better than their current situation.
Naturally, the mother had no reason to object.
Mother Yun gave a bitter smile and said to Zhao Yun, “Yun’er, from today onward, you’ll follow your benefactor up the mountain. Train hard in martial arts. It’s better than suffering here for nothing.”
At that moment, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared fate with Zhao Yun—we’d both been “sold off” by our elders with just a few words.
“Since that’s settled, pack up quickly and come with me up the mountain,” the old man said, clearly eager to get moving.
“We’re poor and don’t have much to pack, just a couple of Yun’er’s clothes,” Mother Yun said.
“Please wait a moment, benefactor. I’ll get things ready.”
I glanced at the dilapidated wooden hut behind us, then at Zhao Yun, who seemed to sense the impending separation from her mother and had tears welling up in her eyes.
I let out a sigh.
“Old man.”
“Hm? No, call me Master!!” The old man nearly fell for my usual way of addressing him, almost getting caught off guard, and glared at me.
I didn’t care and continued, “Let’s bring her mother along too.”
“What?” The old man didn’t quite catch my meaning and asked instinctively.
At the same time, I noticed Mother Yun’s thin figure tremble slightly.
“I said, let’s bring her mother along!” I paused, realizing the old man might not get it, and added, “If my junior sister goes up the mountain, how’s her mother supposed to live alone?”
I didn’t know where Zhao Yun’s father was, but considering they were in such dire straits that a frail girl like her had to go up the mountain to chop wood, her father was likely either rarely home or… perhaps unable to come home at all.
In this era, children without parents were all too common.
“Well… alright.” The old man hesitated because he’d never heard of taking a disciple and bringing their family along.
But after thinking it over, he found my reasoning sound.
“Then, madam, please pack up as well and come with us up the mountain. You can help look after Yun’er there.”
“Thank you, benefactor!”
It wasn’t far anyway, so it didn’t make much of a difference.
Mother Yun was visibly moved.
She was indeed worried about her gentle-natured daughter.
She was deeply touched, not just by the old man, but by me as well.
The look in her eyes held both surprise and gratitude.
The gratitude was obvious, but her surprise likely came from the fact that a kid like me had noticed something even the old man hadn’t.
It was only natural the old man didn’t notice—he was still basking in the joy of discovering a genius and taking her as a disciple, so he hadn’t thought too deeply about it.
You couldn’t really blame him for being slow.
But the surprise in Mother Yun’s eyes made me slowly realize that my mental maturity, which didn’t match my apparent age, must seem quite strange to others.
Cao Song thought so, Cao Zhen thought so, and now… even Mother Yun did.
While I was lost in thought, Mother Yun had finished packing.
She didn’t have much to gather—just a few clothes.
Being so poor, they had little else.
Once everything was ready, we continued up the mountain.
The journey was quiet, and before long, the old man stopped.
“We’re here.”
Thank goodness, we finally made it.
Exhausted from the long climb and panting heavily, I had been keeping my head down.
Hearing the old man say we’d arrived, I couldn’t hold out any longer and plopped down on the ground.
Gasping for breath, I looked up to take in the surroundings.
This is the mountaintop?
Looking ahead, I saw a rustic wooden house nestled among vibrant flowers, adding a touch of natural beauty.
I couldn’t help but let out a heartfelt sigh.
To think that such beautiful flowers could grow on a mountaintop—it wasn’t just a matter of careful tending.
The birdsong, the fragrance of flowers, the serene and natural atmosphere—it truly felt like a paradise on earth.
Upon arriving, I noticed a woman tending to the flowers, carefully arranging them.
Hearing our approach, she looked up, smiled—a smile as radiant as a flower, outshining the beauty around her.
She turned, her smile warm and perfect, the curve of her lips just right, her eyes filled with care, impossible to look away from.
The flowers were beautiful, the scenery was beautiful, but she was even more so.
Amid the blossoms, she didn’t overshadow them but blended perfectly with the scene, making the view even more enchanting and herself even more captivating.
It was like a painting—elegant, natural, so mesmerizing it took your breath away.
I was in awe, Zhao Yun was entranced, Bing Qiao was full of admiration, and even Leng Yu was stunned.
Who would’ve thought a stiff old man like Tong Yuan could have such a beautiful daughter?
The woman approached, still smiling like a flower.
“Husband, welcome home!” she said softly, her gentle voice intoxicating.
“Yes, I’m back,” the old man nodded, a rare smile on his face.
But I had no time to appreciate her beautiful voice.
What!?
Husband!?