“True Master Ziyuan has arrived.”
With a soft exclamation from a disciple, everyone turned their gaze towards the white-clad woman descending from the sky. True Master Ziyuan, in a simple white Daoist robe unstained by dust, saw Sect Master Luo, who was sitting on the edge of the cliff watching the sunset, and came to sit beside her.
“You’re here to watch these juniors too?” True Master Ziyuan’s voice carried a hint of surprise.
“I came to ask you for a pot of wine,” Sect Master Luo’s eyes reflected the setting sun.
She and True Master Ziyuan were naturally acquainted. They had been fellow disciples, and their relationship wasn’t bad. Hearing her words, True Master Ziyuan merely smiled, “I’ve already promised to give away four pots of wine, keeping one for myself. If you want to try some, I can share half a cup with you.”
“Half a cup is not enough for anyone to drink!” Sect Master Luo gave her a reproachful look. “Just watch, all your wine will end up in my courtyard later.”
“Oh?” True Master Ziyuan followed Sect Master Luo’s gaze and immediately saw Jiang Huai, who was painting Luo Qingyu. She vaguely remembered Jiang Huai and had also heard the rumors of Sect Master Luo personally going to break off the engagement a few days ago. She asked curiously, “Didn’t you break off the engagement?”
“It’s not exactly a broken engagement; the explanation is complicated. I’ll tell you later,” Sect Master Luo replied softly. Out of curiosity, True Master Ziyuan used her spiritual sense to look at Jiang Huai’s painting and was stunned for a moment, then she suddenly laughed. “Look, doesn’t the woman in this painting look like you?”
Sect Master Luo also looked. Jiang Huai was clearly painting Luo Qingyu, but Luo Qingyu was how she looked when she was a girl. Looking at the woman in the painting, Sect Master Luo was momentarily lost in thought, and after a long silence, she also chuckled softly, “Qingyu and I have always looked alike.”
Jiang Huai painted quickly. Within the time it took for two incense sticks to burn, the ink on the canvas had dried. The disciples who had been drawn by his chess and zither skills previously now looked at his painting, and everyone was stunned again.
The sounds on the mountaintop, after an instant of silence, became incredibly noisy, with endless praise and envy.
Disciples who were painting the sunset or women also came to see the painting. After a moment, they beat their chests and stamped their feet, no longer continuing to paint. Some disciples started egging them on. Since no disciple could challenge him in the three challenges of zither, chess, and painting, what about this last challenge?
Qingxuan Sect also had its own poetry immortal, but he had not arrived due to being heavily drunk the previous night. The disciples couldn’t help but lament, and some had already gone to invite the young poetry immortal. If he were here, he certainly wouldn’t let Jiang Huai steal all the limelight.
Luo Qingyu, naturally, was also surrounded by gazes. She quickly went to Jiang Huai’s side and snuggled into his arms. Jiang Huai gently held her, lowered his head slightly, looked at her snow-white little face, and reached out to poke her cheek. “Your little face is so red.”
“Shameful,” Luo Qingyu gently rubbed her cheek against his chest.
Jiang Huai looked at the remaining ink on his brush and, after a moment of contemplation, gently added a section of poetry to the blank space of the painting.
The eyes of True Master Ziyuan and Sect Master Luo were fixed on Jiang Huai’s brush. They couldn’t help but be curious about what kind of words Jiang Huai would write. As soon as Jiang Huai wrote two characters, True Master Ziyuan praised him softly, “Good calligraphy.”
“Good calligraphy?”
“You can’t tell?” True Master Ziyuan turned and smiled.
“Stop being evasive,” Sect Master Luo teased, tugging at her sleeve in dissatisfaction.
Her past cultivation journey was never as smooth as Chu Xianning and True Master Ziyuan’s. She never had time to indulge in such artistic pursuits. Her understanding of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting only began to grow after she became Sect Master and finally let go of her inner burdens, feeling a sense of security. However, she still found it all somewhat ethereal and couldn’t discern any profound meaning from it.
“His calligraphy is fluid and masterful, imbued with the essence of sword momentum and Dao charm. From the sharpness of his strokes alone, one can tell he cultivates a passionate sword, yet is not bound by emotion. It is unrestrained and elegant. Even in the Eastern Region, you wouldn’t find many who can write like this.”
Sect Master Luo felt an inexplicable joy, though she couldn’t explain why. Perhaps it was because Jiang Huai, who was in front of her, would be her future son-in-law, and she felt as if she was also benefiting from it.
Jiang Huai wrote quickly. The four-line poem was completed soon after. However, because Luo Qingyu leaned in to look, her sightline blocked True Master Ziyuan’s view. Not being able to see what he had written, True Master Ziyuan stood up, attempting to get closer. Suddenly, a cry arose from the crowd; it turned out their young poetry immortal had arrived.
“Let me see, let me see.” The young poetry immortal of Qingxuan Sect, reeking of alcohol and seemingly still drunk, had been invited to this gathering. He immediately spotted the crowd surrounding Jiang Huai and Luo Qingyu. He pushed through the crowd and walked up to Jiang Huai’s painting. After staring at Luo Qingyu in the painting for a moment, he then cast his gaze to the line of poetry in the lower right corner.
The young poetry immortal’s originally drunken eyes suddenly froze. He rubbed his eyes, his lips moved, and his body began to tremble. He stared at the poem for a long time before finally slowly shifting his gaze to Jiang Huai. “This poem… it was written by you?”
“Sort of.”
Jiang Huai felt a little guilty.
It was plagiarized, so it certainly couldn’t be considered his own. But if he said it wasn’t his, he couldn’t explain its origin. The young poetry immortal’s eyes went from shock to elation, and finally to deep regret as he began to beat his chest and stamp his feet.
“Why can’t I write such poetry?” he exclaimed, and then picked up the wine pot, brought it to his lips, and took a large gulp. He immediately collapsed, supported by a disciple beside him. At this moment, the disciples could finally see the four lines of small text on the painting.
【Her clothes like clouds, her face like flowers,
In the spring breeze by the railing, dew-kissed and resplendent.
If not found on Mount Kunlun’s jade peaks,
Then by the Tiers of Immortality, under the moon, she’ll be met.】
True Master Ziyuan could finally see the characters on the painting. Her lips moved as she softly murmured, and soon her eyes were lost in the artistic conception of the poem. Sect Master Luo didn’t understand much of this, but merely gazed at the woman in the painting, at the four lines of text, her eyes gradually becoming a little dazed.
A moment later, she let out a faint smile.
She had made many mistakes in her life, but fortunately, she had finally done one thing right.
***
True Master Ziyuan emerged from the crowd and handed the four pots of Forgetfulness Wine to Jiang Huai.
All the disciples were already convinced by Jiang Huai’s talent. These four pots of Forgetfulness Wine were rightfully his today. Jiang Huai looked at the Forgetfulness Wine in his hand and took out one of the pots, hoping to share it with the disciples on this mountain. True Master Ziyuan had no objections; since it was given to him, he could do whatever he pleased with it.
Although the wine pot appeared small, it held a vast amount of liquid, and the disciples on the mountaintop could each have a small cup. The disciples were immediately overjoyed and raised their cups to Jiang Huai. Jiang Huai accepted them all, gently holding Luo Qingyu in his arms. Luo Qingyu was as well-behaved as a kitten. Seeing so many people toasting Jiang Huai, she felt the heat of his body leaning against her, and her cheeks also flushed.
The gathering finally ended when the full moon hung high in the sky. Jiang Huai rubbed his eyes slightly, becoming a little more clear-headed. He took Luo Qingyu’s small hand and returned to the courtyard. Sect Master Luo followed closely behind them, her purple dress flowing, exuding a subtle fragrance.
***
Jiang Huai leaned on a long chair, feeling groggy, while Sect Master Luo was currently teaching Luo Qingyu to dance.
Sect Master Luo had naturally also received some of the Forgetfulness Wine from the previous pot. The slightly tipsy Sect Master Luo appeared even more alluring and enchanting at this moment. Her elegant purple dress was dignified, but her dancing posture was soft and captivating. As she tiptoed and raised her leg, the exposed section of her white, tender calf beneath the skirt hem gradually made Jiang Huai, leaning on the chair, dizzy.
Luo Qingyu’s head was swimming. After a short while of learning, she lost the strength and fell asleep leaning against Jiang Huai. Sect Master Luo seemed to be in a very good mood, her dancing skirt fluttering like butterfly wings.
“They all say the poem you wrote for Qingyu is very good.”
“I just wrote it casually.”
After all, it was plagiarized, so Jiang Huai felt a bit embarrassed to boast.
“What if I wanted one too?” Sect Master Luo gazed into his eyes. Jiang Huai was stunned for a moment, then immediately shook his head, “No!”
Hmph, you deliberately put your underwear in my room last night and then came to check on me in the morning, pretending to be serious. You just wanted to have some fun at my expense, didn’t you?
Little Huai remembers grudges.
“Cannot write it?”
“Cannot write it.”
“Why not?”
“No inspiration.”
“Then how do I get it?”
“Sect Master Luo, can you dance another beautiful dance?”
Perhaps it was due to drinking too much wine, but Jiang Huai’s words were somewhat frivolous. Sect Master Luo covered her mouth and laughed. “What do you want to see?”
“I’m actually just a vulgar person. I can’t appreciate overly refined things. Sometimes when I descend the mountain, I go to the pleasure houses to listen to music. The women there mostly dance charmingly and seductively. I wonder if Sect Master Luo is skilled at it?”
“What if I can?”
“Then I’ll have inspiration.”
“Hmph.” Sect Master Luo sneered and shot him a dismissive glance.
Jiang Huai felt a little embarrassed. Before he could speak, Sect Master Luo had already turned and returned to her room. When she reappeared from her room, she had changed into a red dance skirt. The fiery red long skirt made her look like a rose covered in dew. The red at the hem of the skirt formed a stark contrast with the white of her collarbone. The light from the firefly stones gathered, and she seemed to be growing freely in this beam of light, burning with passionate heat.
Sect Master Luo sat down on the floor, her snow-white buttocks sticking to the green porcelain tiles, facing Jiang Huai. She slowly raised her slender legs, the skirt hem falling naturally. Those captivating, slender snow-white legs seemed to claim his life, making Jiang Huai dizzy. Seeing her snow-white calf swaying alluringly in the air like a silver fish, she suddenly rose like a fox, her snow-white waist and delicate hips twisting into exaggerated arcs. Her eyes didn’t need to feign charm; they were already full of exquisite beauty.
Under the moonlight in the courtyard, she danced this dance she once loathed. Looking at Jiang Huai’s dazed eyes, she felt an inexplicable release in her heart. Thus, her movements became increasingly graceful, her gaze lingered on his eyes, wanting only to see his gaze brighten.
Sect Master Luo danced closer and closer until she reached Jiang Huai. She gathered her red skirt and sat on his lap. She looked back, leaned closer to Jiang Huai’s eyes, and reached out to gently lift his chin. “Are you… satisfied with this, little one?”
“Sect Master Luo, you… you’re really good at it?” Jiang Huai stammered.
“My mother was the top courtesan in the Fengyue Pavilion of Muxue City in the Eastern Region. But because she believed the promises of a scoundrel, she was abandoned after giving birth to me. From then on, she harbored no sincerity towards men and deeply hated me. However, she at least had some conscience in the end and sold me to Qingxuan Sect for a thousand taels of silver when I was ten. Qingxuan Sect thought they had struck gold, and she thought she had struck gold too.”
“From childhood, I watched her practice these dances to please men in the courtyard. She would often cry as she danced, then hug me and bite my shoulder, pull my hair, and curse my damn father to die a dog’s death in the wilderness.”
Sect Master Luo’s voice was cold and indifferent, as if that ethereal memory had long since passed. Jiang Huai didn’t know what to say. Looking into her clear blue eyes, he suddenly felt as if the Sect Master Luo in front of him was like fragile glass, easily shattered.
He suddenly said softly, “Her dream-laugh opens her delicate cheeks, her sleeping hair presses against fallen flowers. The bamboo mat pattern reveals jade wrists, and fragrant sweat soaks the red gauze.”
Sect Master Luo’s face drew closer, her voice as light as a feather. “Was this written for me?”
“Mm, I just thought of it.”
Jiang Huai didn’t dare to read the second half of the poem, as it would be taking advantage of her.
As she gazed into Jiang Huai’s eyes, his gaze became very complex. But Sect Master Luo felt as if she could glimpse a trace of pity in his eyes.
“You pretentious guys who dabble in arts are all bad people!”
A strange anger suddenly rose in Sect Master Luo’s heart. In an instant, she leaned closer, firmly gripped Jiang Huai’s shoulder with her fingers, and her delicate red lips bit down on Jiang Huai’s lips.
