chapter 1 The little ancestor went down the mountain

Throughout the year, Clearwater Mountain stands tall with its lush greenery. Today, the Clearwater Temple halfway up the mountain is particularly bustling.
Even the temple's master, who spent about 300 days a year in seclusion, had come out.
On the open ground in front of the temple, a group of people dressed in Taoist robes gathered around a four-and-a-half-year-old girl.
She's a little girl, wearing a tiny Taoist robe, with two buns in her hair. She looked fair and rosy-cheeked, with grape-like big eyes and a cute little mouth that always smiles. Her little arms and legs were chubby.
She held several gift boxes in her chubby little hands and said in a sweet voice, "Uncle, Lila is leaving the mountain today and might not come back again."
The Taoist addressed as "Uncle" quickly took a small box out of his pocket and placed it in Lila Qin's arms. He forced a smile and said, "Lila, this is a farewell gift from Uncle. Please don't... Ahem, try to come back when you have the chance."
Lila Qin's big eyes formed a crescent moon as she nodded without hesitation, "Sure, Uncle. Lila will come back often to see you all and bring gifts. But you have to prepare gifts for Lila too, okay?"
A group of Taoists glared angrily at the Taoist who mentioned gifts.
The Taoist with tears in his eyes said, "Good child, Lila, you're a good child."
With a mischievous smile, Lila Qin looked at the Taoist next to her.
She went on to bid farewell to each Taoist, successfully collecting many gifts along the way.
She smiled brightly, and the Taoists, who had been at the mercy of this little troublemaker for four years, shed tears one by one.
"Masters and uncles, don't cry anymore. If you cry, Lila won't be able to leave."
These words seem to have a magical effect, as the Taoists immediately stopped crying and put on forced smiles.
Someone shouted, "The temple master is here!" and all the Taoists turned to look at the person who came in, their eyes filled with resentment as if looking at their enemy.
But if it weren't for the temple master accepting this little troublemaker four years ago, they wouldn't have been enslaved for so long!
The old temple master pretended not to notice everyone's eyes. After a few light coughs, he walked up to Lila Qin and patted her head, saying, "Lila, after you descend the mountain this time, live a good life with the Qin family. That's your home."
Her big eyes immediately welled up with tears, "Master, you don't welcome Lila anymore?"
"I do," those two words were almost gritted out, "but you still have so many family members, and you should live with them."
Lila Qin threw her gifts to the ground and hugged the old temple master's leg, shaking her round head like a tambourine. "No, no, Lila can't bear to leave Master."
The old temple master wiped away his tears and took out his last treasure from his pocket, handing it to Lila Qin. "Here, this is the most valuable thing Master has. Consider it a gift for you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lila Qin snatched the jade pendant, picked up the gifts on the ground, and signaled the Qin family driver who was waiting nearby to help pick them up.
Swiftly gathering the gifts, she ran away energetically with her little legs.
"Master, Uncles, when Lila runs out of money, I'll come back!"
Once they were far away, the old temple master finally spoke his true feelings, "I beg you, little troublemaker, don't come back, never come back!"
Inside the car.
Lila Qin sat in the back seat, eagerly opening her gifts.
"This little sword seems quite powerful."
"Uncle actually gave me his Treasure Keeper."
"Wow, I hit the jackpot!"
Lila Qin's family driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror. He noticed she was entirely focused on unwrapping gifts and showed no signs of sadness about the departure. He thought to himself, could this girl, whom I've never met before, be heartless and unfeeling?
It seemed that the fortune teller was right back then. This girl was heartless and she was a jinx which was probably why Mrs. Qin had been bedridden ever since.
The Qin family was large and prosperous, with many members. In this generation, there was only Lila Qin as the lone girl. Originally, she should have been pampered by the Qin family as she grew up.
Unfortunately, she first brought misfortune to her birth mother during childbirth, and her mother was still recovering. Then, trouble struck the Qin family's business, and she fell critically ill several times herself. Eventually, under the strong insistence of the elderly lady of the house, she was sent to Clearwater Temple.
For four years, no one from the Qin family had come to visit Lila Qin.
This time, they were taking her back mainly because her birth mother's condition had worsened, and she wanted to see her one last time.
The driver thought that if the master could keep this child because of his wife's illness, it might be better for her to grow up peacefully at the temple. She would likely face a lot of hardships if she stayed with the family.
Lila Qin organized all the gifts, putting the valuable ones in a big bag, the useful ones in another bag, and the worthless ones in boxes with the names of the Taoists who had given them.
Her bright, watery eyes flickered with mischief, indicating that she had some mischievous plans for those people.
Suddenly, she spoke in her sweet voice, "Uncle Driver, you should pay attention to the road. You almost hit someone."
The driver was startled and slammed on the brakes.
He wiped his sweat, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out of the car to check. There were only skid marks from his sudden stop on the road. Where had the person come from?
The driver was quite annoyed. Regardless of whether she was a young lady or not, he scolded Lila Qin with a stern face after getting back in the car, "You're still so young and you're already telling lies. The master and the young masters won't like you if you behave like this!"
Her big, teary eyes turned red immediately. The four-and-a-half-year-old pouted and said with a pitiful voice, "But there really was a person just now."
Clearly, she was a wild child, too soft-hearted, and prone to tears at the slightest provocation. The driver couldn't help but feel disdain for her.
Without any further ado, the driver started the car again.
This time, Lila Qin's soft and innocent voice sounded again, "It looked like a young girl, maybe in her teens, with two braids and a white dress. She was crying and had a red mole on her ear. Oh, you have a red mole on your ear too!"
Screech!
The brakes squealed once more.
Qin family.
In theory, the family should have made preparations for the return of the young lady, as it was her first time coming back since being sent away.
However, the family head was busy with business and hadn't returned, and the elderly lady was off in the mountains praying and hadn't come back either. As for her three biological brothers, the butler had to deliberately remind them to call.
The eldest brother said, "I don't have a sister."
The second brother said, "Do I have a new toy?"
The third brother said, "Stop bothering me!"
Even before seeing the young lady, the butler could already predict her future.
He sighed, then instructed the servants to place more dolls in Lila Qin's room and said, "Hoping that the young lady would be more well-behaved."
If she wasn't, in this family, she might not last a single day.
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