Chapter 119 – Su Mei and Duo Bao
Hearing Xiang Qing constantly call out ‘Ah Hua’ here and ‘Ah Hua’ there made my heart feel really anxious. I wanted to transform back into a cat and pounce into his arms.
In my predicament, Xiang Qing turned his head in my direction, “Ah Hua…..Miss Miao Miao?”
Of course I couldn’t tell him that I was here to do the evil deed of driving away all his beloved cats. I said to him with a giggle, “I’m here to look at the scenery, and to see the cats as well.”
“Oh…..the other day you left in a hurry, is everything alright?” Xiang Qing continued to ask.
But I didn’t leave though, wasn’t I with you the whole time? We even slept together. Only after a long time did I finally understand that he was talking about my human form. I came up with an excuse and stammered, “I…..I was hungry, so I went back.”
He didn’t appear to quite believe me, “But at that time we had just eaten the afternoon meal.”
“I have a big appet.i.te so I have to eat six meals a day.” I hurriedly made up a lie.
A wave of silence hit Xiang Qing. With his head down and brows knit, he asked, “Miss Miao Miao, how does your home look like?”
Seeing that he initiated conversation with me, I was very pleased. I quickly sat down next to him and talked to him about the beautiful sights of Xuan Qing Palace such as: the big and soft bed where I could stretch out all my limbs on, the garden full of delicious flowers and gra.s.s, the beautiful yet fragile vases, and how I would always get lost in the never-ending corridors.
Xiang Qing seriously listened to my explanation. In the end, with a troubled expression, he let out a sigh and put on a very forced smile, and said, “It’s almost time for breakfast at the sect, we should hurry back.”
“You’re not going to look for Ah Hua anymore?” I pondered.
He explained to me, “Ah Hua is a cat I picked up yesterday, but I think she probably doesn’t like me, that’s why it ran.”
“How can it not like you? It’s nothing like that, nothing like that at all!” I shook my head to defend.
“If she likes me then she will eventually come back, so there’s no need to worry.” Xiang Qing took a big step forward, “I should first accompany you down the mountain to eat breakfast.”
I peacefully followed him from behind, however, my heart was filled with the new sensation of utter chaos. If Ah Hua likes Xiang Qing, she will return, but if Ah Hua doesn’t like Xiang Qing she won’t return. Of course the one I like is him! But…..Yin Zi had forbidden me from transforming back into a cat, what should I do now?
Because of this turmoil, I couldn’t tell what the taste of breakfast was. All I knew was that many of the senior brothers had crowded around me. I quickly lost my appet.i.te, and hurriedly left.
Yin Zi came to find me to let me know that lessons for new disciples was about to begin. For newcomers, they needed to see and experience a variety of talismans and magical weapons. Seventh Senior Brother graciously led us into the PaG.o.da Storage Tower. Inside the walls of the room hung rows of pictures of old men as well as many strange instruments.
This Seventh Senior Brother had an average figure, his appearance was decent, and had the impression of good mannerism. His speech was clearly constructed and easily understood. He effortlessly boasted and explained the various items within. Yin Zi and I were both powerful monsters, so whenthese inferior weapons and itemswere presented to us, we were able tell out its quality.
At the highest level of the tower, there was a holy sword and dilapidated armor. My eyes lit up, causing me to immediately rush forward. These two items however, appeared as if they were frozen in s.p.a.ce.
Seventh Senior Brother hurried forward to explain, he triumphantly said, “These two items are the treasures of this tower, the sword’s name is Su Mei(A name of a fish), and the armor’s name is Duo Bao(A name of another fish). These are the treasure that the Heavenly Realm’s Bi Qingshen Jun left behind in the Mortal Realm! They say that these treasures were forged using Heavenly Black Flames and then plunged in a bath of demon’s blood. Rumor has it that every person and demon was afraid of him, and would run away at first sight.”
Hearing these words, Yin Zi turned to give me curious glance. I strenuously tried to recall from my memories, and whispered, “My dinner the other day, wasn’t there some dishes with those names…..”
“As expected…..” Yin Zi quietly murmured, “Such untasteful names, he wouldn’t have chosen them, right?”
“En, he originally wanted to name them San Hua and Miao Miao, but the weapons forger said he’d die of embarra.s.sment if his masterpieces were named as such. Thus Shifu let me name it…..”
Yin Zi stared suspiciously, “Wawa’s* name, is it because when she arrived she was still a child, and Xiao’lin’s* name, is it because he’s from the forest?”
*[TN]: The characters for Wawa (娃娃) can mean baby/child, and the characters for Xiao’lin (小林) means little forest.
“That’s not it. On the day Xiao’lin arrived, Shifu was in the Mortal Realm and it was raining…..”
“Why not call him Xiao Yu(little rain) instead?”
“That’s because there was already a servant named Xiao Yu, how did you guess?”
“I…..forget it.”
Seventh Senior Brother interrupted, “Junior Sister, I’ve already shown you everything in this tower. In the future, when you are out for duty, Shifu will gift you guys an item each to protect yourself with.”
I cheerfully said, “I want the Su Mei and Duo Bao.”
“Hey, hey, quit dreaming. Those items are only for the eyes of others,” Seventh Senior Brother laughed, “Everything about our Shifu is good except for the fact that he’s too stingy. When Sixth Senior Brother was stuck in a troublesome situation, he was only given the Demon Scouring Mirror and this was already considering his talent and the accomplishment he’s done for the sect. After gifting it away, Shifu was sad for days.”
Little did they know that the Demon Scouring Mirror had already been p.a.w.ned away by Xiang Qing, and whether or not someone had already reclaimed it…..
Seventh Senior Brother said that practicing martial arts on this mountain was very simple, there were many books of all sorts of methodology and category to choose from available to all. And if we wanted to learn the martial arts techniques we could go to the West Hall to be taught. This however, was strongly discouraged as Third Martial Uncle who was in charge was extremely strict. After we’ve familiarize ourselves with everything, we could join the senior brothers in exterminating demons. Seventh Senior Brother turned to Yin Zi and shyly asked, “I’m very confidant in my abilities, if junior sister…..wishes to join me, I could take you along.”
Yin Zi’s face was white as paper, “I thank…..thank senior brother for the offer, but I…..I am afraid of monsters and demons of the sort.”
Seventh Senior Brother didn’t relent, “Going out to look at the scenery is quite good as well.”
“I…..I still can’t clearly distinguish my directions north, east, south, and west.”
Normally when we went out, wasn’t he the one who took lead? How can he not know his directions? I skeptically glanced at Yin Zi, his forehead contained beads of cold sweat and his face wore a foolish smile. Seventh Senior Brother appeared dejected for a moment, but then lit up again, “Then how about I escort you to the library?”
“I’m feeling a little dizzy today, my body isn’t feeling too well…..” Yin Zi continued.
“How can I leave you alone then, I must accompany you to the doctor.” Seventh Senior Brother was undaunted.
Yin Zi’s eyes plead to me for help. I grasped Yin Zi’s hands and desperately tried to think of an excuse. I suddenly remembered a phrase Wawa and Jin Wen had use to avoid other people, “Yin Zi…..has to go back and embroider.”
“Embroider?”
I hurriedly explained, “Yin Zi really likes to do embroidery and needlework, if there’s even a single day she goes without it, she will feel unwell.”
Seventh Senior Brother came to a realization, and praised, “Miss Yin Zi is such a gentle and virtuous girl.”
Yin Zi’s face paled, “This is the duty of a filial girl…..”
“I really hope to have a chance at witnessing Miss Yin Zi’s magnificent embroidery and needlework.”
Yin Zi nearly collapsed.