Chapter 65: Junior Sister, the Girl in the Woods
The girl in the pavilion was not old, appearing one or two years younger than Pei Lianxue. She wore a white Gwa shirt, like a man’s bathing robe, and seemed to be without pants. Her jade-white legs dangled slowly, with a few crystal dewdrops clinging to her bare feet.
Her hair was even longer than her height, trailing on the ground without any ties. Her hair color was also very strange, a mix of silver and black, as if a small portion had been deliberately bleached.
Yet, it didn’t look like it had been bleached but rather grew that way.
The girl had originally been here admiring the moon and playing chess by herself. However, Pei Lianxue had suddenly entered the bamboo forest and was practicing her sword with intense focus, completely unaware of her presence.
Seeing how seriously Pei Lianxue was practicing her sword dance, the girl decided not to disturb her.
She withdrew her gaze, picked up the wine cup before her, and took a small sip.
As the clear wine went down her throat, her cherry lips parted slightly, and a puff of white mist, imbued with spiritual energy, escaped her mouth.
“Huu—”
A bamboo dragonfly seemed to pass by, hitting this puff of mist. It instantly became disoriented, losing its direction and falling.
The girl raised her hand slightly, and an invisible force slowly lifted the falling bamboo dragonfly, gently setting it on the stone table. It became her wine pet.
However, in the next moment, the girl seemed to sense something.
Her Yin-yang eyes, like the sun, moon, and stars, with white on the left and black on the right, narrowed slightly. She glanced towards Pei Lianxue again.
*Swish, swish—*
With each swing of Pei Lianxue’s sword, streaks of Sword Qi shot out from her, spreading in all eight directions to the west. The bamboos they passed were cleanly severed.
*Crack—*
The red beam of the pavilion where the girl was sitting was also accidentally struck, a dent appearing from a stray Sword Qi .
In the blink of an eye, the girl quickly moved her head back slightly.
*Bang—*
The next moment, the jade porcelain wine cup in her hand was hit by something and flew out from between her index finger and thumb.
*Crash—*
The porcelain cup hit the ground, shattering into pieces.
The girl murmured, “Qi Refining Stage… Has the Leaf Shadow Sword Art reached the fifth level already?”
At this moment, Pei Lianxue, having heard the sound of the breaking cup, quickly stopped her sword dance and turned to look at the girl.
She hadn’t noticed anyone else in the bamboo forest before.
Now, seeing the girl’s appearance, she was stunned, even holding her breath.
The girl was silent for a moment, then took a small mooncake, shaped like a chess piece, from the plate on the stone table:
“Mooncake, want some?”
The bell-like sound drifted into Pei Lianxue’s ears with the wind.
Pei Lianxue turned her head left and right, looked beside her, then pressed her chin with her hand and retorted, “Are you talking to me?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The girl remained silent for a long time, then slowly nodded.
Pei Lianxue swallowed, and a hint of apprehension arose in her heart.
She looked up at the moon in the sky, seeing it was a half-moon, and replied softly, “It’s not the Mid-Autumn Festival, why are you eating mooncakes?”
“Who says you can’t eat mooncakes if it’s not the Mid-Autumn Festival?”
“…”
Pei Lianxue pursed her lips and continued to stare at the girl for a while.
She felt the girl was too ethereal.
So ethereal she didn’t seem human.
And eating mooncakes during a half-moon…
Just then, the mist in the bamboo forest touched Pei Lianxue’s skin, and she felt a chill envelop her whole body.
She suddenly remembered the ghost stories her Senior Brother used to tell her.
In ghost stories, many monsters were very beautiful.
They would use their beautiful appearances to lure outsiders closer.
Once they were close enough, they would reveal their true form, bare their bloody mouths, and devour the person.
Like the White Bone Spirit, or the Spider Spirit, and so on…
Pei Lianxue now suspected—this girl was some kind of spirit.
Immediately, Pei Lianxue mustered her courage and quickly released her Spiritual Sense to investigate the girl.
After probing with her Spiritual Sense, she became even more certain of her suspicion.
Because her Spiritual Sense told her that there was no one in the pavilion.
“…”
At this moment, the girl’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, showing a hint of annoyance, and she asked, “Why are you using your Spiritual Sense to probe me?”
“You are…” Pei Lianxue swallowed, “…a ghost?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
After a long silence, the girl nodded expressionlessly, “Mhmm, my corpse is buried beneath your feet. You’re stepping on me.”
“?!?!”
Hearing this, Pei Lianxue jumped in fright and quickly moved three or four steps to the side.
The girl curved her lips slightly and said, “You just stepped on my head, and now you’re stepping on my left hand.”
“?!!! ”
Pei Lianxue quickly moved another step to the side.
“That’s my calf.”
“I’m sorry…” Pei Lianxue quickly apologized. Seeing that the girl seemed to have been dismembered and buried, she summoned her Flying Sword from her Storage Bag to avoid stepping on her again. She then stepped onto it and hovered in mid-air. “I’m not stepping on you now, am I? I really didn’t mean to…”
“It’s alright.” The girl smiled and shook her head. Then she floated up from the stone bench in the pavilion and beckoned to her. “It’s rare for people to come here. Come, sit with me for a while.”
“No… No, thank you for your kindness!! I… I have urgent matters!”
Pei Lianxue flinched, turned around, stepped on her Flying Sword, and transformed into a streak of light, flying back towards the Three-Bay House with all her might.
Seeing her like this, the girl didn’t chase after her. Instead, she sat back down on the stool:
“…”
“…”
“…”
“So impolite.”
Afterward, the girl no longer paid attention to her. She picked one of the more than twenty small mooncakes from the table and popped it into her mouth.
After chewing, her eyebrows rose. “Hmm? It’s a salted egg yolk filling… I only put one in.”
…
The moon set and the sun rose.
The clouds today seemed unusually low, entirely shrouding Tianyun Peak.
Consequently, Pei Lianxue’s Three-Bay House was now surrounded by wisps of clouds and mist, appearing like a fairyland.
Xiao Yunluo woke up early, intending to bring more pastries to Pei Lianxue and then, after practicing her sword, accompany her to visit her Senior Brother.
Last night, Xiao Yunluo had lain in bed thinking a lot.
The Mysterious Stone Sword her mother had given her was now lost, and she didn’t dare tell her mother about it yet.
She rarely had the chance to see her mother on normal days, and she always felt she hadn’t met her mother’s expectations. If her mother found out she had lost the sword, she might disown her…
Therefore, Xiao Yunluo wanted to make amends for her mistake.
She wanted to become like Pei Lianxue.
Last night, she heard Pei Lianxue say that her prowess was all due to her Senior Brother’s excellent teaching.
So, Xiao Yunluo became interested in meeting that Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect and asked if he had any way to help her become like Pei Lianxue.
“Huu—”
Having packed the pastries, Xiao Yunluo arrived at the gate of Feng Yu Die’s Three-Bay House and reached out to knock.
However, as her hand touched the door, it swung open.
“Hm? Where’s the bolt?”
She was somewhat puzzled for a moment, and upon taking her first step inside, she became even more confused.
At the entrance to the courtyard, a clean horizontal line was drawn with a yellowish-white powder.
Xiao Yunluo furrowed her brows, squatted down, and touched the yellowish-white powder. After rubbing it and hesitating for a while, she decided to taste it.
“Pah— Isn’t this salt? What was Lianxue doing last night? Why did she scatter salt all over the courtyard.”
…
