After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Tantai Yan resolved the monkey dispute and strolled back leisurely.

Passing by his little disciple’s room, he glanced in through the window and saw the child seriously narrating a story to a rag doll made by a village auntie, her voice soft and cute.

He couldn’t help but think, ’My disciple is the cutest in the world.’

Upon entering the main hall, he noticed traces on the oiled paper package on the table. Opening it, he found the roast chicken was missing a leg, and his earlier thoughts were thrown aside.

"Miaomiao!"

Channeling his inner strength, he swiftly moved to the front of the grass house’s hall and marched fiercely towards the disciple’s room.

The "thump" sound gave him an ominous premonition, and almost floating to the courtyard wall, he saw his disciple, just over two years old, climbing directly atop the wall and falling down.

His worry exceeded his anger, and he lightly kicked off the wall, landing gently outside the courtyard, only to see a little Tuanzi dashing away.

The little one’s legs were still short; even though she had been wobbling earlier, she was now running steadily, her figure disappearing in a blink.

Tantai Yan realized that his earlier worry was foolish.

The foolish master was crazily chasing after the disciple.

Intending to tease, he didn’t use his full inner strength, maintaining a not-too-distant but not-too-close pursuit.

Turning after some distance, the little Tuanzi saw her master’s terrifying expression and continued to flee.

"Miaomiao, care to explain why the roast chicken I bought is missing a leg?"

While escaping, the little one strained her brain to find reasons.

"Be-because it fought with other chickens and hurt a leg!"

Tantai Yan burst into laughter out of anger.

But quickly, he wasn’t laughing anymore.

At the same time, the little one realized something was amiss.

How did her view become higher as she ran?

Continuing her run, she looked down and discovered she was rising from the ground.

Startled, the little one ran even faster, thus rising higher, eventually hanging on a tree.

Hugging the trunk, she looked down nervously and instantly burst into tears.

"Master! Master! Save Miaomiao!"

With no choice, Tantai Yan flew up and took the disciple down from the tree.

"I’m truly amazed," he poked her chubby cheeks helplessly. "Mastering Qinggong on your own, quite impressive."

The little Tuanzi, teary-eyed and a bit puzzled, asked, "Qinggong? Flying?"

With her little head up, she recalled, "Miaomiao, Miaomiao seemed to have flown before."

Tantai Yan assumed she meant when they descended the mountain together.

During that time, he either carried or piggybacked her; when he flew, naturally, she flew too.

Until a few nights later, Tantai Yan cradled his disciple with one arm, rocking her to sleep, while flipping through a book with the other hand.

Suddenly, a gray rat darted out from the corner, and before Tantai Yan could act, the little Tuanzi in his arms vanished.

"?"

Where’s my large disciple?

He searched around and finally found the little disciple sound asleep on the rafters.

"No wonder you said you flew."

He remembered some mice had invaded home a few days earlier, and his disciple probably then, with some inner strength, unwittingly mastered Qinggong.

One day.

Tantai Yan brought home a bag of pine nut candy.

He opened it and tried one. "Quite authentic. Miaomiao is still young, so let’s give her one every three days." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

As he spoke, he ate another.

A little head peeked out from between the hall and kitchen door, staring at the candy-eating master with fervent, bright eyes, itching for action.

The system couldn’t help but advise her, "Previously, you only managed to steal when your master wasn’t present. If he’s here, it’s very difficult to succeed. You must know how strong his martial arts are."

"Miaomiao: I understand all that."

But she craved it!

Her large eyes firmly fixed on Tantai Yan’s every move.

Until Tantai Yan suddenly remembered a letter received that morning, turning to fetch it, she dashed out like an arrow, grabbed a handful of pine nut candy, and ran.

Tantai Yan realized the situation and saw his little disciple already far away with the candy.

He once again laughed in anger.

"Learning Qinggong for the sake of greed, right?"

He casually grabbed a broom and chased after her.

One ran, the other chased.

Later, one flew, the other also flew.

The disciple’s mastery of Qinggong far exceeded Tantai Yan’s expectations.

To prevent his disciple from abusing Qinggong for sneaky snacks, he decided to teach her martial arts ahead of schedule.

In front of the grass house.