Chapter 14: Old Fraud
Spirit Herbalists that the Heaven Jade Pavilion didn’t want, no other medicine fields in Wuliang Sect would accept either. After all, these great Master Alchemists were all persons with gazes that swept high above everyone"s heads. They considered everyone else beneath them and not a single one of them would admit respect for another. The one you don"t want desires to come over to my side? h.e.l.l no! Not to mention that from the start, they, as Spirit Herbalists, had very low cultivation levels and didn"t even have the qualifications to work odd jobs in the outer areas of the sect. Due to this, there were no other futures for them other than being kicked out of Wuliang Sect. If their luck was a little worse, they"d even be punished before getting chased out. When the time comes and these Spirit Herbalists that only know how to farm end up outside without the protection of the Sect, their fates would end up that of the crickets and ants for everyone to freely trample on. Besides, what"s more, Qi Suzhen"s looks were pretty good.
For the sake of finding the origin of the problem, Qi Suzhen had even thrown herself into his arms but Niu Hanshan only cared about the spirit fields. With his entire heart, Niu Hanshan only cared about growing medicinal gra.s.s in order to earn more spirit stones for his son to use in order stand out among his peers. Even though he did have that little bit of desire towards women that sent themselves to his door, he reckoned that if Qi Suzhen failed, he could probably get another spirit field allocated to him. So at this time, he naturally wouldn"t extend a hand in aid.
At that side, Qi Suzhen felt Niu Hanshan"s measuring gaze so she turned around and exposed a distressed smile. Afterwards, she continued to utilize Meeting of Minds and trying to figure out where the problem was. Insect pests? The leaves were all black so there were definitely bugs, but where exactly did those bugs come from ah? How come she simply couldn"t find them ah…
Qi Suzhen used the Meeting of Minds one time after another, until she drained so much spiritual energy that her face was deathly pale and her forehead was covered with large drops of sweat. She had clearly already overexerted herself, yet she still wanted to forcefully use the Meeting of Minds. In the end, she finally couldn"t hold up anymore and collapsed into her own field, crushing a bunch of already withered Orchid Tongue Gra.s.s.
Su Tingyun also noticed the situation on that side. She already noticed earlier that the female cultivator had encountered trouble, but from the looks of it now, that trouble was extremely th.o.r.n.y ah.
After Qi Suzhen fell down, she struggled to her feet again and sank to her knees in Niu Hanshan"s direction. When she fell, she seemed to have gotten her clothes snagged somewhere. Right now her garments were disheveled and an expanse of fair, tender white flesh showed from her chest. Inside, there was even a corner of a purple undergarment exposed. Matched with that panic-stricken yet helpless appearance of hers, it was quite effective in attracting people"s tender pity as well as causing their imaginations to run wild.
"Big Brother Niu, please help me. As long as you help me, I"m willing to work like a horse, like an ox to repay you."
At this time, with the isolated s.p.a.ce, things could be seen but not heard. However, she spoke very slowly so you could tell what she was saying just from the form of her lips.
"Tonight at ten, this little sister will wait for you at Spring Water Pavilion."
Spring Water Pavilion is a pavilion building in the sky at the outer edge of the valley. It was about thirty feet above ground and a place where Spirit Herbalists usually gathered to interact. Su Tingyun knew of this place, but she didn"t know how to fly so she simply had no way of getting into that sort of floating pavilion building. Not to mention, her ability right now was too low so there also wouldn"t be anyone that wanted to interact with her. That"s why, she never went before and even if she desired to go, she still couldn"t go.
At night, Su Tingyun saw the middle-aged man and that female cultivator leave together and an erotic picture floated up in her brain. But afterwards, she felt like she was seriously being too bored and laughed ridiculingly at herself before lying down.
Su Tingyun couldn"t fall asleep. She lifted her head to look at the night sky that was densely covered with stars and suddenly recalled a certain past event.
It was not her past event but rather Old Madam Wei Yun"s past. When she heard Spiritual Master Ling Wu call "Lady Yun", these memory fragments burst out, all striving to be first and fearing to be the last. Before, Su Tingyun had been unable to string them together and had felt like her brain was stuffed with some strange fragments. However, at this moment, as she looked up at the stars, she suddenly remembered something.
Wei Yun was a coa.r.s.e butcher-like girl. Ever since she was little, she had always been strong with great strength so she was well-known in the village as a female "manly man" and infamous outside the village. Precisely because of this, even when she became a twenty-years-old old la.s.s, there was still no one that dared to marry her. At that time, the chaos of war went on unceasingly. Since the position of the village Wei Yun lived in was in a crucial location, it was fought over by several powers. Due to that, they would often belong to the nation of Chu for a while, then the next while they"d belong to the state of Wei, and after another while they"d belong to some Heaven Bestowed Army"s territory.
At that time, the people of the village that were about to die, died, and about to flee, fled. All of Wei Yun"s relatives had died. Since she didn"t have anywhere to go, she just hid in the forest behind the village. Afterwards, she rescued Su Lijiang. Su Lijiang had such great looks and even had bodyguards with him so it clear that his status wasn"t low. However, he was being pursued by a.s.sa.s.sins. All his bodyguards had died and the opposing side still had three, four people.
Seeing that the life was in danger, Wei Yun acted.
Wei Yun had never learned formal martial arts but she had strength that normal men didn"t have, not to mention she was very dauntless. She didn"t even groan a sound when a blade stabbed into her abdomen and against all expectations, she killed all four a.s.sa.s.sins–one of them had even been crushed straight to death by her with a boulder. Wei Yun saved Su Lijiang. For the sake of saving him, even though she had been stabbed by multiple blades to the point her intestines were almost about to spill out, she didn"t collapse. Not only did she kill everyone, she even cleaned up the scene and burned the corpses before carrying Su Lijiang into the cave she stayed in.
She gave all the medicinal herbs she gathered to Su Lijiang while stiffly enduring her own injuries. Relying on her staunch willpower and inherently valiant physique, Wei Yun managed to just endure through like this. The favors she gave to Su Lijiang were truly hard to sum up. If things had ended here, there would have naturally been a very heavy feeling of gratefulness. Problem was, when Su Lijiang regained consciousness, Wei Yun did something that Su Lijiang had no way of accepting.
What "trials and tribulations caused feelings of pa.s.sion"? They were all lies. Even though Su Lijiang felt extremely grateful towards Wei Yun for her life-saving grace, he couldn"t possibly fall in love with Wei Yun. However, Wei Yun wasn"t someone easy to deal with. She took advantage of the time when Su Lijiang still couldn"t move to force him into bowing to the heaven and earth–thereby going through the motions of the marriage rites–then consummated the marriage.
Which basically meant, Su Lilian was unwilling. It was Wei Yun that forced herself on him and took him by force!
And it wasn"t just one time either…
As for that legendary jade ring that was given to Old Madam as a present–that same ring that she had never taken off during her entire lifetime–it really was a present from Su Lijiang and it was a treasure pa.s.sed down through the Su family. It was just that, it was the present he gifted to his benefactor when he woke up! In regards to that "two hearts completed each other", "jian flounder deep pa.s.sion"* story, they were all just the Old Madam"s fantasies.
Jian is a bird in Chinese myth that only has one eye and one wing so it implies that two have to work together to make one whole. As for flounder, it"s a fish. Fishes have to use both their fins in order to be able to swim.
She had always lived inside her own delusions. In the end, she couldn"t even tell what exactly was real to the point that Su Tingyun, who had received all her memories, was also duped.
My G.o.d! After recalling these past events, Su Tingyun"s knees went soft and she practically wanted to kneel to Old Madam. She would have rather not remembered anything at all! What "husband and wife has deep feelings for one another"? They were all Old Madam"s fanciful daydreams. Su Lijiang had never loved her. In fact, he might even hate her, that"s why he would leave the moment he found an opportunity when he recovered. Not to mention, at that time, he did know that Wei Yun was pregnant, yet he still left without any hesitation!
Old Madam Wei ah, you(formal) truly are a capable woman. But now you"re gone and I have to carry the black pot now… In the past, Su Tingyun had thought that Spiritual Master Ling Wu remembered the favor he owed so her days would definitely pa.s.s happily. But now, she felt that if Spiritual Master Ling Wu didn"t swat her to death with a smack of the palm, it would already be a blessing. As for why he"s treating her quite well for the time being, it couldn"t be that he wanted to slowly torment her, right!?
Recalling all the little events earlier and linking them together with Spiritual Master Ling Wu"s strange gaze, Su Tingyun felt cl.u.s.ters of black clouds gather around the top of her head; she"s definitely c.r.a.pped. Su Tingyun just hoped that the things Xiao Mei said before were true. That the higher your cultivation, the broader your view of the world; the more magnanimous you are, the better your cultivation will flow. Su Lijiang had already cultivated to such a high level, his heart is definitely a lifetime"s worth of vast and wouldn"t bother about those past events!
A man–a beautiful man–was raped by a "coa.r.s.e manly man" that no one would marry…
Su Tingyun: "…"
It"s best if she spends some time burning incense and offering some prayers to Buddha every day!
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Sonia
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
Does it seem short? It"s not, there"s just a lot more paragraph chunks of observation since Su Tingyun can"t talk to anyone. :"(
Chiyo feels said too, dialogue is easier than explaining the cultivation/farming world.
But, lol~ Does this answer some of your questions now?
Poor Su Tingyun, for having to deal with the aftermath of Wei Yun"s actions and being privy to her embarra.s.sing delusions.