After so many years, Su Qing had finally become Patriarch Bodhi's disciple.
Recalling the experiences of her journey... the people she had met... Su Qing felt she would probably remember them for a lifetime.
"After I achieve enlightenment... I'll go back and see them again," Su Qing thought, flicking her tongue.
However, she didn't remain lost in thought for long. The chirping of the sparrows by her ear pulled her back to reality.
"Big green snake, what about our names!"
"Yeah, yeah, you promised to give us names, didn't you?"
"We want nice names too!"
"Right, right, right!"
The sparrows chirped and chattered around Su Qing, demanding their names.
Su Qing flicked her tongue; she naturally hadn't forgotten her promise to these little ones.
It was just that she truly hadn't decided what kind of names to give them.
Su Qing was terrible at coming up with names to begin with.
Now, having to come up with four names at once was truly a challenge for her.
After thinking for a long time, Su Qing suddenly had the idea to just wing it.
Looking at the few sparrows, she said, "You'll be called Yuanyuan, you'll be Pangpang, then you'll be Tangyuan, and you'll be Tuanzi! The names are chosen! How about it? Are you satisfied?"
"Satisfied, satisfied! This is great!"
"Mhm, mhm, it's wonderful, it's wonderful!"
"We have names now!"
Having received their names, the sparrows flew around happily.
They didn't seem to think Su Qing's naming was perfunctory in the slightest. On the contrary, they quite liked them!
They began calling each other by their new names.
These little ones were indeed easy to satisfy... far more desire-free than her.
Su Qing coiled up, flicking her tongue, feeling quite embarrassed.
These names would be fine for pets... but for these sentient little creatures, it was indeed a bit lazy.
However, since the little ones didn't mind, she decided to let it be.
If she really had to come up with new ones... it would be too difficult.
After naming the little ones, they flew off to the side to celebrate foolishly.
Su Qing paid them no more mind and slithered into the house.
Fortunately, Liu Yingtong hadn't closed the inner room's door before he left earlier.
Otherwise, she probably would have had to break the door down.
Entering the room, Su Qing coiled up, preparing to take a nap.
Snakes are inherently lazy, and with the weather growing colder, Su Qing was feeling sleepier.
However, Su Qing hadn't been asleep for long when a knocking sound came from outside the door.
At first, Su Qing didn't want to bother... but in the end, the sparrows woke her up.
"Forget it. In any case, if guests have arrived, I should go and greet them."
Su Qing flicked her tongue and moved out of the inner room.
In the courtyard, a few men and women stood together, staring at her curiously.
These people were all wearing standard Daoist robes with their hair in Daoist topknots.
They were clearly the senior brothers and sisters from the Cave of the Slanted Moon and Three Stars.
"Senior brothers and sisters, what can I do for you?" Su Qing projected her thoughts.
The group was stunned for a moment, then they formed a Daoist hand seal towards Su Qing.
"You must be the newly initiated junior sister?" one of them asked, already knowing the answer.
Su Qing nodded. "That's right..."
Hearing this, the group couldn't help but start discussing in low voices.
Su Qing watched from the side, remaining quite calm.
"Ahem..." Someone coughed lightly twice, and the group quieted down.
That person said, "It's like this... I was ordered by Master to deliver some cultivation books for our junior sister."
The person paused, then added embarrassedly, "It's just that everyone heard the new junior sister was a green snake, so we came over out of curiosity to have a look! Please don't be offended by this disturbance, junior sister!"
Su Qing shook her head. "It's alright... If it were me, I would also be curious about such a thing. Thank you, senior brothers and sisters, for bringing these books!"
"It's what we should do, what we should do." The person scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. "Since the books have been delivered, we'll be on our way."
"Thank you for the trouble." Su Qing flicked her tongue, feeling the urge to yawn.
The group made a Daoist hand seal towards Su Qing, placed the pile of books under the tree, and then turned to leave.
Su Qing watched them leave, noting they had also pulled the door shut behind them, and flicked her tongue.
She figured she would probably have to get a new door later.
After leaving Su Qing's place, the group couldn't help but discuss her.
"I can't believe Master actually accepted a snake demon!"
"Well, Master teaches all without discrimination, after all."
"True. After all, Master was even willing to accept a disciple from a farming family like me."
"I just didn't expect that while the snake demon looks quite frightening, her projected voice is rather pleasant."
"Pleasant is one thing, but she's still a snake! Don't get any strange ideas."
"Am I that kind of person?"
"Still, with a voice that pleasant, she'll surely be a beauty after she transforms into a human."
"Ahem, we are all cultivators who need to be pure and have few desires. If Master finds out you're discussing such things here, he will surely punish you!"
Su Qing's hearing was extremely good, so the group's discussion naturally didn't escape her ears.
Although they were walking further and further away and their voices grew fainter, she still caught most of it.
"It seems that demons like me who join the sect are very rare..."
Su Qing didn't care about the discussion among her senior brothers and sisters.
She just flicked her tongue, looking at the bamboo slips on the ground with some worry.
With no hands and no feet, how am I supposed to turn the pages and read the books?
"Sigh... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! I'll just sleep on it first. Maybe I'll have a solution when I wake up."
Su Qing shook her head and slithered back into the house.
The next day.
The early autumn morning wind blew down the ginkgo leaves.
The courtyard, which had been swept yesterday, was once again covered with a thin layer of leaves.
The voice of some senior sister came from outside Su Qing's door, waking her up.
"Junior Sister Su Yingqing... hurry and get up. Master is giving a lecture this morning, don't be late."
Hearing this, Su Qing quickly slithered out.
Matters of cultivation were more important, after all.
"Junior Sister probably hasn't been to the lecture hall yet, right? I'll take you with me!" the senior sister said with a smile.
Su Qing flicked her tongue and gave her a grateful look.
"Thank you, senior sister..."
"It's nothing. Since we've entered the same sect, we are sisters. This is what a senior sister should do!"
The senior sister was clearly a chatterbox. Once she started, she kept talking, not giving Su Qing a chance to speak.
Although Su Qing was frustrated that she couldn't get a word in, she also breathed a sigh of relief.
At least her senior brothers and sisters didn't seem to hold any prejudice against her for being a demon.
Nor were they trying to cause trouble for her at every turn.
It seemed she was quite far from being the protagonist of a power-fantasy story.
But this was also good. Without the scheming and backstabbing, she could focus more on her cultivation.
She was here to cultivate the Dao and seek longevity, not to become invincible under heaven.
That kind of thing was best left to Wukong.
The person and the snake soon arrived at the grand hall for lectures.
The senior sister led Su Qing into the hall.
The inner hall wasn't large. After the senior sister took her seat, the cattail cushions were basically all occupied.
Su Qing took a quick look; there were only about thirty to forty people in total.
It seemed Patriarch Bodhi didn't have many disciples.
Su Qing looked left and right, then found a corner to coil up in, waiting for Patriarch Bodhi to arrive and begin the lecture.
Su Qing's arrival naturally attracted a lot of attention.
After all, even coiled up, she was a very large mass.
It would be strange if she didn't draw the eye.
But soon, Patriarch Bodhi arrived.
Everyone immediately averted their gazes... sitting upright, looking like model students.
Seeing this, Su Qing couldn't help but coil herself a little more properly.
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