Li Yuemian transmigrated into the body of a lazy old ancestor of a sword sect.
Her sect leader nephew earnestly hoped she would open a mountain retreat and take in disciples, so they could care for her in her old age and keep her from ending up lonely and miserable.
Li Yuemian: “I’ll be better off without descendants.”
The white-haired old man’s eyes instantly filled with tears. Unable to refuse his heartfelt plea, Li Yuemian said, “Fine... I’ll pick one.”
And so the sword sect held a grand disciple selection ceremony.
Rows of carefully chosen, gifted little children stood before her. Every one of them was a promising genius, the kind of obedient young disciple everyone outside would fight to recruit.
Li Yuemian closed her eyes and pointed at a dusty spirit beast egg in the corner. “I’ll take that one.”
“Did anyone say a disciple had to be human?”
“...” Everyone was speechless, but no one dared argue with the old ancestor.
-
Li Yuemian tossed the spirit beast egg onto the mountain behind her cave and promptly forgot about it.
One day, she woke to find two identical young boys kneeling outside her cave. “Master, we broke out of our shells during our cultivation today. We’ve come to serve you.”
Li Yuemian: “?”
The beautiful boy, as delicate as a porcelain doll, knelt and shuffled over to her feet. He tugged at the hem of her robe and blinked his watery, round eyes. “This disciple is called Chenxue, and my younger brother is Sufeng. Please give us a surname, Master.”
Li Yuemian: So this is how I get saddled with them, huh?
She carried the eggshell to the sect leader to protest, but when he heard that two disciples had hatched from a single egg, he was delighted and immediately bound all three of their life tokens together. Now, unless Li Yuemian killed them, they would be her disciples for all eternity.
-
[Disciples’ perspective]
The elder disciple has soft black hair and a gentle, refined air. Cool and detached, he is like a handful of new snow resting on a branch, his eyes lowered in serene compassion.
Yet in the dead of night, he sits in the training hall where his master taught during the day, running his fingertips over the cup she used, as if it still held the lingering softness of her touch. He stays there until dawn.
The younger disciple has sharp brows and bright eyes, his long hair tied high. He is unruly and defiant, like a blazing flame.
He stands brazenly outside his master’s bedroom, half his face hidden beneath the dappled shade of the trees. Through a half-open window, he stares straight at her until the sun rises.
And what’s more...
These two disciples have exactly the same face.
Their personalities are completely different, so they’re easy to tell apart most of the time.
But their master doesn’t know that when she’s alone with one of them and calls him by name, the one present may actually be his brother pretending to be him.
As long as they can be with their master, that’s all that matters.
What difference does it make whether he’s the older or younger brother? ^_^
[Note] The elder disciple is a thoughtful, gentle saint of a man. The younger disciple is a fiery, affectionate hothead. The twin brothers are dragons.
Theme: Of all the waters, I choose you.