The attack on the hatchlings was a major incident that the Turtle Clan had not encountered in decades.
Just monts ago, as the mothers stepped into the incubation room, their hearts sank as if plunged into the depths of winter.
The bloodstained marks all over the heated bed looked unmistakably like a completed cri scene.
It wasn’t until Yan Luoyue’s tiny hand miraculously pointed toward the cabinet, revealing the hatchlings inside playing a stacking ga, that hope rekindled in the mothers’ hearts.
With trembling hands, they carefully counted the number of hatchlings. With each na called out, their anxiety eased a little. When the final count was confird, a cheer erupted in the incubation room.
“All the hatchlings are here, the little turtles are safe!”
“Thank goodness, thank goodness. Seeing them unhard puts my heart at ease.”
“It must be the heavens’ protection. That beast clearly made it onto the bed, yet it didn’t harm our children…”
Halfway through the sentence, everyone suddenly realized sothing.
The hatchlings in the clan were still very young—how could they have hidden so neatly and uniformly in the cabinet?
Even if they had managed to hide in an orderly fashion, the lock on the cabinet surely wasn’t hung there by the weasel out of kindness.
Once they connected the dots, the mothers’ gazes all turned to Yan Luoyue.
These kind-hearted aunts and sisters-in-law were so overwheld with emotion that they stumbled over their words.
“It must have been Luoyue who protected the hatchlings. Such a brave child, so young yet so courageous. You’re the smartest little divine turtle our Turtle Clan has ever seen!”
“Luoyue, don’t worry. When Second Earthworm grows up, I’ll tell him about your kindness. I’ll make sure he rembers it for the rest of his life!”
“Oh dear, that wretched weasel beast’s blood soaked through Luoyue’s little blanket. Quick, I brought a new set of clothes from ho. Let’s change her into them right away.”
This act of offering clothes seed to trigger sothing in the won.
For the rest of the afternoon, the uncles and aunts who had just erged from hibernation arrived in waves, carrying bundles of gifts, their determination leaving no room for refusal.
One carried a basket of “the freshest, juiciest fat-ear worms that squeak when you bite into them.”
Another tucked under their arm a package of “burst-in-your-mouth red earth centipedes, as thick as a little finger.”
Yan Luoyue’s eyes widened in horror, and a scream tore through her mind—
No, she refused! She didn’t want these kinds of thank-you gifts!
Ahhh, this was nothing but repaying kindness with cruelty!
Yan Yu held Yan Luoyue tenderly in her arms, while Yan Gan sat beside her. Even now, she was still shaken, her gaze filled with a mix of relief and lingering fear.
In the end, it was Yan Gan who stepped in to decline the gifts. “Please take these back for your little ones. You see, Luoyue is a picky eater—she doesn’t care much for these insects.”
“What? Luoyue doesn’t eat insects?” The other party was adamant. “Then what does she like? I’ll go ho and swap these for fish, shrimp, or scallops—no, no argunts! These aren’t for you or Yu, they’re for Luoyue!”
It wasn’t until dusk fell and Yan Yu closed the door to visitors that the stream of gift-bearing clansn finally ceased.
By then, the living room of Yan Yu’s ho was piled high with gifts.
Alongside practical items like food and clothing for children, there were also valuable gifts such as low-grade spirit stones and low-tier magical artifacts.
Noticing Yan Luoyue’s curious gaze, Yan Yu gently tapped the tip of her nose.
“You’ll be able to use these when you’re a bit older. Don’t worry, big sister will keep them safe for you.”
Yan Gan pulled down the curtain to the inner room, took a few steps back, and grasped Yan Luoyue’s tiny hand before letting out a long sigh.
“Sister Yu, today was too close for comfort.”
“I know.” Yan Yu tenderly stroked Yan Luoyue’s soft, smooth cheek. “The clan mbers who inspected the incubation room deduced that the weasel might have been too severely injured to hunt before it bled to death. But…”
But Yan Yu remained skeptical of this explanation.
Unlike the others, she had once witnessed Yan Luoyue’s body covered in blood.
The marks left on the swaddling clothes back then were eerily similar to the ones on the blanket today.
Yan Yu’s heart was heavy as she ran her fingers through Yan Luoyue’s baby hair. She worried silently: Can I really raise this child to grow up healthy and strong?
In contrast, Yan Gan, unaware of the full story, was more lighthearted.
He pinched Yan Luoyue’s tiny finger and began chattering away.
“Sister Yu and I got scolded, and Uncle Bao, who dragged away earlier, was berated so harshly by the aunties that he’s still kneeling on a washboard at ho. Apparently, once the elders wake up, this matter will be brought to them for judgnt and punishnt.”
“At a conservative estimate, he’ll probably have to carry rocks on his head for at least half a year.”
At this, Yan Luoyue’s eyes fluttered open slightly.
Today’s incident had largely been caused by this clan uncle, and thinking back, she couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of fear.
Yan Luoyue had her backpack full of healing pills, but what about the other little turtles in the room?
If the hatchlings had reacted even a second slower, the outco might not have been so fortunate.
“…Carry rocks on his head?”
Turtles were naturally good at bearing weight, so this punishnt sounded like a unique Turtle Clan tradition.
“Yeah,” Yan Gan replied, taking a light breath, clearly familiar with such scenes. “But since it’s a punishnt, he’s not allowed to use his shell—only his head.”
Yan Luoyue: “!!!”
W-what? What did you just say?
Half a second later, Yan Luoyue belatedly realized that “head” here didn’t an what she initially thought.
Ahem, well…
Luckily, Yan Gan didn’t notice Yan Luoyue’s montary expression of shock and continued rambling.
“No matter the punishnt, it’s deserved. I’m just glad you’re safe, little sister. Honestly, hearing them scold made feel a bit better.”
“The cultivators who didn’t secure the cages properly apologized to the clan… After all, it was partly due to the negligence of the clan mbers responsible for inspections. We’re at fault too.”
“They even sent an apology gift for you. I checked—it’s a Drunken Immortal-colored storage pouch. You’ll be able to use it when you’re older.”
“From today onward, the clan will set up sentry posts around the incubation room. During the day, besides Sister Yu and taking care of you, two clan uncles will also take turns on guard duty. We won’t let sothing like this happen again…”
Yan Gan’s murmuring had a soothing, white-noise-like quality.
As Yan Luoyue listened, her eyelids grew heavy.
Today had been a rollercoaster—first dealing with the weasel beast’s sudden attack, then facing wave after wave of gratitude from the clan mbers.
Now, lulled by Yan Gan’s familiar voice, drowsiness enveloped her.
Her little head nodded bit by bit until, finally, she drifted into a peaceful slumber, her breathing steady.
Yan Gan whispered, “Sister Yu, little sister’s asleep.”
“I know,” Yan Yu replied, threading a needle by the lamplight. “In the innermost room, on the left side, there’s a willowwood box. Bring the book inside.”
Yan Gan fetched the book and flipped through it casually.
“Huh, Sister Yu, isn’t this…”
Wasn’t this the foundational cultivation manual, *Turtle Breathing Technique*, that every Turtle Clan mber had to learn?
Yan Yu sewed steadily as she instructed, “I know you like talking to Luoyue. Starting tomorrow, when you have free ti, read this book to her.”
Yan Gan chuckled. “Sister Yu, don’t we usually start learning this at five, during the clan’s collective initiation? Besides, Luoyue’s so tiny—she can’t even speak properly. Even if I read her the manual, she won’t understand.”
Yan Yu glanced at him. “Just read it.”
From the mont she had taken Yan Luoyue in, she had treated her as her own younger sister.
Since hatching, Yan Luoyue had been far more sensible and obedient than the other hatchlings.
Today, she had even saved the other hatchlings from danger, sparing Yan Yu decades of potential guilt and sorrow.
How could Yan Yu not cherish such a thoughtful child?
Yet, since her birth, Yan Luoyue had faced life-threatening situations far too often.
Yan Yu had heard from the elders of her clan that there exists a kind of child in this world, blessed by the heavens, who is born with innate intelligence and wisdom, even from within an egg.
However, such children are often left to nature’s care and cannot be kept in this world for long.
The human realm is not like the demon realm. The demon clans settled here do not enjoy the sa natural advantages. Among the demon clans that remain in the human realm, whether in terms of magical artifacts or cultivation, the Turtle Clan is not particularly remarkable.
The only thing they have is a foundational technique called *Turtle Breathing*, passed down by their ancestors.
Young turtles who are initiated into cultivation using this technique can maintain a calm and peaceful state of mind, allowing them to cultivate other skills more effortlessly than others.
Yan Yu picked up a new thread and compared its color to another under the lamplight.
She thought to herself: As the saying goes, the Dao follows nature. Perhaps for a child blessed by the heavens, learning a cultivation technique is as simple as hearing soone recite it aloud?
Yan Luoyue was unaware of Yan Yu’s thoughts. If she had known, she would have been astonished by how much faith Yan Yu had in her—so much that it was almost comical.
This was probably a variation of the saying, “There’s a kind of cold that only your mother thinks you feel.” In this case, it was more like, “There’s a kind of talent that only your sister thinks you have.”
Still, Yan Luoyue was genuinely delighted to hear Yan Gan recite the cultivation technique aloud.
Previously, due to her Level 0 restrictions, she had been unable to access most of the items in her inventory. Now that she finally had a cultivation technique, she could begin her journey of cultivation and leveling up.
After the incident with the young turtle being attacked, the clan had tightened security around many important areas.
The next day, when Yan Luoyue accompanied Yan Yu to the incubation room, she noticed that it was now heavily guarded.
Moreover, with the arrival of spring and the rise in temperature, many clan mbers had begun to awaken from their winter hibernation.
As more and more clan mbers woke up, the Turtle Clan was no longer as short-handed as before.
By the ti the grass grew tall, the orioles sang, and spring returned to the land, the first young turtle in the clan—aside from Yan Luoyue—finally succeeded in transforming into human form.
That day, the aunts and elders in the incubation room were filled with joy. Outside, clan mbers were hosting the returning white cranes from the north, their laughter echoing in the air.
In this peaceful, slow-paced little clan, Yan Luoyue spent her first year in this world without any major mishaps.
As the seasons turned and a full year passed, winter once again descended upon the land. It was then that Yan Luoyue made a startling discovery.
One day, out of habit, Yan Luoyue tilted her head back to look upward and quickly noticed sothing unusual about her health bar.
Disbelieving, she tugged at the red bar floating above her head and examined it closely, even using her stubby little hands to asure it again and again.
After confirming it repeatedly, Yan Luoyue felt a mix of shock and joy, along with a sudden sense of bewildernt, as if she had been walking down the street and soone had handed her a lottery ticket worth five million dollars.
—Could soone please explain to Yan Luoyue how, in the blink of an eye, her health bar had suddenly grown longer?
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