Chapter 29: Everyone Knows She Likes Women Returning wordlessly to Pear Peak like this, Ning Guang finally could not resist anymore. She thought, and while taking Shifu back into the house, finally said, "Shifu, do not rest yet, wait for me a while?"
Di Jiufeng didn"t know what she wanted to do, but seeing her face full of persistence, nodded and said, "Alright."
Ning Guang turned and left. In the scanty light of night, her simple and neat robes moved with her steps, pulling into urgent lines.
They had known each other for five years after all. Even if she hadn"t intentionally sought answers, she could still know a thing or two after following her every day with a gaze unwilling to leave. Her Shifu, other than liking fuzzy little b.a.l.l.s, also had more desires of the tongue than other cultivators.
Ning Guang couldn"t think of any other method, so she went to the stove and made a few dishes.
Brown sugar pear cakes, glazed pearls, golden strands shaomai dumplings, Longjing zhusun mushrooms…
They were just some amateur little dishes, but color, scent, and flavor were all complete, tunneling into Di Jiufeng"s room from quite far away. She turned, looking through the half-open window, just in time to see her disciple carrying the dishes, jogging over with tight steps.
"Ning Guang, why did you think to make food?" As a foodie who had cultivated to a stage of inedia, the three meals every day were always Di Jiufeng"s most difficult times. Though she wasn"t hungry, she still wanted to eat ah, but her craftsmanship was not good and she couldn"t get used to the stove. So, other than occasionally moving her old arms and legs when she was suffocated to the extreme, she could only rely on mental suggestion to endure.
Now, her disciple had carried over a table full of delicacies, and Di Jiufeng felt she had been ingratiated to until she couldn"t be ingratiated to anymore.
What Ji Liuran, what melancholy thoughts, she tossed them all to the back of her head, eyes flashing with light. Other than the snacks on the table, there was only her little disciple, bubbling over in joy.
"Ning Guang, is today some important date? What did you make so much food for?"
Clearing out every one of the snacks clean and tidy, even using her fingertip to bring any crumbs of sugar into her mouth.
Seeing her happily eating, a faint smile subconsciously rippled up on the corner of Ning Guang"s mouth. "It"s not some important date, I just saw you getting thin." Raising her head to look at Shifu and seeing her holding a cup of tea, leaning on the seat back, unspeakably pleased and satisfied, Ning Guang finally asked experimentally, "Shifu, I never asked you before, how do you want to live in the future, do you want to stay in the Sect your whole life?"
Di Jiufeng shook her head. "How could I stay in the sect my whole life? I still have many things I want to do."
"What things are they, can you tell me?" Ning Guang finished, then held her breath and looked at Di Jiufeng. Her gaze held some hope, and some difficult-to-detect apprehension——
She was nervous her Shifu would not be willing to tell her, and nervous that there was no trace of her in that future.
"The things I want to do… the things I want to do…" Di Jiufeng muttered over and over, but in the end began to smile. The thing she wanted to do was reform the ancient witch, but how could she say this for Ning Guang to hear.
She had no way to speak, but she was certain in her heart, as long as it was something she said, Ning Guang would do as asked. So, she said, "What Shifu wants to do is not something grand, it"s just to see you grow up, and see you become a person who can examine herself and find no shame, a good person who does not indiscriminately kill the innocent! I don"t need you to be always forbearing and conciliatory, I just want the things you do to never go against your conscience. Then, I will be happy. Ning Guang, can you do that?"
"I can."
Just as Di Jiufeng expected, Ning Guang would never go against her wishes.
Though in Ning Guang"s conscience killing people wasn"t anything much, since this was Shifu"s wish, or as that resentful ghost said, this was something her Shifu couldn"t help but do, as long as Shifu said so, she would do her utmost to satisfy.
After cheering up her Shifu, the large stone in Ning Guang"s heart also fell to the ground. Like always, they changed Shifu"s dressings and went together to sleep.
Time pa.s.sed, day after day. Because she had the help of the medicinal spring, Di Jiufeng"s wounds healed at top speed. When the scars had completely retreated, it was just in time to go to the cultivation conference.
[T/N: 试炼会 (shi4 lian4 hui1) is used here rather than 证道会 (zheng4 dao4 hui4), translated as "demonstration compet.i.tion", I a.s.sume these are just two terms for the same event. 试炼会 focuses more on the training aspect while 证道会 is more like "demonstrate cultivation compet.i.tion/conference"]
Nascent Soul and higher cultivators all had qiankun sleeves, and Di Jiufeng naturally had them as well. She organized hers and her disciple"s things, placing them all in the storage s.p.a.ce. Then, she raised her spiritual sword Hong Shang, taking her disciple to the gate.
When they arrived, a mixed group of people were already there, the ten outstanding disciples all present. The other two elders accompanying them were also there.
Seeing them arrive, everyone made some polite greetings, then the leading elder Jueqing tossed out a spiritual ship. If a cultivator had the right spells, the ends of the world would be within reach. Traveling like this to Zhong Zhou, the road was still far. Even relying on elder Jueqing"s Nascent Soul Grand Completion cultivation, it still took them a whole two days" time.
[T/N: 中洲 (zhong1 zhou1), the legendary island of the immortals in the middle of the oceans in Taoist legend.]
When they arrived, it was already near dusk. The golden-red setting sun set the evening clouds aflame, making the entire sky glow red.
Di Jiufeng stood at the head of the ship, thin streams of gold splashing on the side of her face, long lashes faintly shivering like b.u.t.terfly wings as star points of brilliant colors rippled through the firmament.
With one glance, she topples a city, with another, a country, but this city-toppling beauty did not yet dull the splendor of the Ning Guang at her side.
She had her own air of elegance like the glistening frigid moon. Though her brilliance was quiet, it lit up the whole city"s night scene. Standing behind Di Jiufeng, mixing with and enhancing her bright beauty, people couldn"t look away from the sight.
The spiritual ship slowly landed, but the guards at the Zhong Zhou City gate only stared, no one advancing to the front.
No one dared to destroy this beautiful scene, and no one could insert themselves into this air-tight intimate atmosphere. Everyone was struck on the spot. It was at this time when a charming voice spoke out from the city gate.
"Benefactor, benefactor, benefactor you also came."
Ji Liuran lived right in this Zheng Zhong city. But her nature was restless and she couldn"t resist wanting to go outside to roam every day. Today, she slipped out again, but before she got very far, she was caught by people her daddy sent.
"You let go, let go!" Forcefully pushing aside the two stiff bodyguards at her side, Ji Liuran spitefully humphed at them once, then finally knocked away the city guards and ran out.
She didn"t see herself as an outsider at all, jumping onto the spiritual ship with a few hops. "Benefactor, it seems we"re bound by fate, aren"t we?"
Running over with small steps and moving close to Ning Guang"s side, she wanted to pull on her arm, but suddenly lifting her head, she saw Ning Guang"s face, warm like the full moon of the fifteenth, mixed with overflowing inseparable loving tenderness, flowing by Di Jiufeng"s side.
[T/N: Lunar calendar, new moon at the beginning of the month and full on the 15th.]
Everyone in the Ji family knew that Ji Liuran liked women. Her daddy had pleaded with her, even tried to forcibly marry her out, but in the end, almost waited until he received her dead body. Ji Xian only had this one daughter, a daughter his wife had paid for with her life. After receiving this big a scare, he never again dared to force her. If she likes women, she likes women, the Ji household was big and had plenty of business, who dared accuse his daughter of offending public morals!
Ji Liuran was always sheltered, so she never suppressed her own feelings. Now, looking at Ning Guang"s expression, she was absorbed in thought.
She just didn"t like her benefactor like this. Since that day she was saved, she had wanted to return to that forest more than once, but every time, she was dragged back by her dad before she could leave the city. Her dad really was too afraid something would happen, practically watching her like a criminal.
Ji Liuran pouted. Not only was she not pleased with her old man, she also began to feel somewhat envious of that red-clothed girl.
She couldn"t resist wanting to see what sort of G.o.ddess this was, but was blocked by Ning Guang"s thin and tall figure. She could only see the dark hair floating along with the wind.
"Benefactor, why are you ignoring me again." Waiting a bit and not seeing Ning Guang reply, Ji Liuran"s eyeb.a.l.l.s gave a tearful turn, suddenly throwing herself forwards.
She wasted to hug Ning Guang"s waist, but just when she reached out her hand, she felt cold light flash before her eyes.
Notes:
This chapter was translated by Lily.