IVYSCP - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Xue Zizai herself was baffled. She looked at her hand, then at the wooden sword on the ground.

She had no idea what had happened. Her sword had simply flown out of her grip.

Finally, the Eldest Miss lifted her eyes and glanced at Ah Xi.

Lu Yao came over at that moment, picked up the wooden sword from the ground, and handed it back to Xue Zizai. Her expression was serious. "Miss Xue, if you wish to learn the sword, you must treat the sword in your hand as your very life. You must not be arrogant, dismissive, and above all, you must never abandon it."

"I didn't..." Xue Zizai wanted to explain. She hadn't abandoned her sword. But meeting Lu Yao's steady gaze, she gritted her teeth, her face flushing as she accepted the sword and bowed her head in apology. "Yes, I will remember."

After speaking, she shot a resentful glare at Ah Xi beside her, deeply unwilling to concede.

Ling Qingyue was watching Lu Yao, and inwardly she fully agreed with what she had just said.

The most important thing for a sword cultivator was the sword in their hand.

"You said earlier that you have already learned the Flowing Cloud Sword Art," Lu Yao said, holding her sword in one hand and placing the other behind her back. Her robes stirred in the breeze, ethereal as an immortal. "Then use its sword moves against me."

Xue Zizai took a deep breath, recalled the moves she had just learned, and raised her sword, thrusting toward Lu Yao.

Lu Yao raised her hand and blocked it lightly, looking at the trembling sword tip before her. She did not mock, only said softly, "Again."

Xue Zizai turned her wrist and slashed with another strike, which Lu Yao blocked once more.

Over a dozen moves in succession, and Lu Yao blocked every one with effortless ease, using only one hand.

Xue Zizai was impatient by nature, and her movements grew faster and faster.

"That is enough." Lu Yao raised her hand to call a halt.

Xue Zizai was panting.

Lu Yao asked her, "Do you remember which sword moves you just used?"

Xue Zizai froze for a moment, then started to recall. "Move one, Wind Rolls the Clouds. Move four, Parting Clouds to See the Sun. Move five... move five..."

Her voice trailed lower and lower. She hemmed and hawed for a long while, but in the end, she could only name those two moves.

Xue Zizai clearly understood now that she had been arrogant before. She raised her hand and bowed formally to Lu Yao, her attitude properly adjusted. "Senior Sister Lu, I will practice the sword diligently from now on!"

The dissatisfaction in Lu Yao's brow eased somewhat, and she nodded.

The two practiced for a full two hours. Ling Qingyue watched the entire time, and from Lu Yao she picked up roughly eighty or ninety percent of the Flowing Cloud sword moves.

After they finished, Ling Qingyue asked Xue Zizai, "Do you still need me to deliver the sword tomorrow morning?"

Xue Zizai wiped the sweat from her forehead, did not even look at her, turned her head and walked straight away.

Ling Qingyue smiled.

And to think she'd said she would break the swords. An entire morning had passed, and all three wooden swords were completely intact.

"Miss Ah Xi." Lu Yao walked over and bowed politely. "I heard there is a steamed bun shop in town with exceptional flavor. Would you show me the way?"

Ling Qingyue nodded. "Sure."

She was a little hungry herself, and could bring a couple back for Pei Si.

They left the wooden swords on the rack and walked side by side toward the estate gate.

Just as they stepped out the gate, Ling Qingyue blinked and slowly walked up to the tall, graceful figure standing there. "What brings you here?"

Lu Yao raised her hand in greeting. "Miss Pei Si."

Pei Si inclined her head in return, then answered Ling Qingyue softly, "You said Xue Zizai was bullying you. I came to see for myself."

Ling Qingyue raised a hand to touch her ear. It felt a bit warm. "I'm, I'm fine."

The exaggerated story she had spun last night, and this person had taken it so seriously.

"I was about to take Miss Lu Yao to Nan Po's place to buy steamed buns." Ling Qingyue shifted a step closer to Pei Si, closing the distance, making herself seem more intimately close. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"Not yet."

"Then let's all go together."

"All right."

Pei Si reached out and took hold of her wrist, slender and thin, the bone of the wrist pressing against her palm.

Far too thin. Thinking this, Pei Si tilted her head and said to her, "You should eat a little more."

Ling Qingyue was just then feeling the warmth seeping through the fabric of her clothes. The woman's fingertips tapped against her pulse, off and on.

This position was a little dangerous. The meridians of the human body spread everywhere. The forehead, the side of the neck, the wrist, these were all vital points.

But with Pei Si holding her wrist and tapping at her vital point like this, Ling Qingyue felt no discomfort. Instead... it tickled a little.

"Ah Xi?"

A cool fragrance pressed close. Ling Qingyue came back to herself and realized she and Pei Si were face to face, the distance between them no more than two fingers wide.

Too, too close.

Ling Qingyue clenched her hand tight and fought down the instinct to step back.

The woman's features were delicate and understated, elegantly refined. The aloof distance between her brows only added a further touch of cool detachment to her aura.

Suddenly, that trace of coldness in her eyes melted away, and the next moment, Ling Qingyue felt a flick against her forehead.

Ling Qingyue covered her forehead and looked at Pei Si, who had already withdrawn her hand, puzzled. "What did you flick me for?"

Pei Si was in a good mood. "Let's go."

Lu Yao, standing to one side, watched the two of them with a beaming smile.

The three of them stood at the estate gate for a moment, and were just about to leave when they heard the sound of hurried, frantic footsteps. Before they saw the person, they heard her voice first. "Miss Pei is here?! Where is she?!"

It was Xue Zizai.

Xue Zizai ran to the main gate and saw Pei Si. Her face lit up with surprise and delight. "Miss Pei!"

She had changed into clean clothes. Her hair, still damp, was draped loose behind her. She had likely just finished bathing and hadn't had time to dry it, and hadn't had time to put on all her usual jangling, tinkling silver and jade ornaments.

"Miss Pei!" Xue Zizai ran up in front of Pei Si, as if she did not see the people beside her, and produced a bracelet. "The moment I saw this bracelet I thought it would suit you perfectly. It's a gift for you."

Ling Qingyue looked at her attitude toward Pei Si, then recalled her attitude toward herself. Everything became clear.

Xue Zizai liked Pei Si. She actually liked someone else's wife!

Lu Yao had figured it out too, and for a moment her expression was rather indescribable.

Pei Si's expression remained indifferent. She did not look at Xue Zizai, nor at the bracelet in her hand. She tilted her head and said softly to the person beside her, "I'm hungry."

Ling Qingyue was snickering inwardly.

So the Eldest Miss gets ignored too. That's what you get for setting your sights on someone else's wife!

"All right, let's go buy steamed buns."

Ling Qingyue smoothly took the woman's hand, and did not forget to look back and call Lu Yao along.

Xue Zizai stood gripping the bracelet, biting her lip, her face full of unwillingness to accept defeat.

On the way to the steamed bun shop, there were many wood-carving stores along the road. Plenty of shop owners could be seen studying that painted scroll and carving wooden sculptures, focused and meticulous.

They passed some street vendors, who recognized Lu Yao's robes and the sword she carried and knew she was one of the Piaomiao Sect immortals who had arrived in town a couple days earlier. One after another, they greeted her warmly and tried to press gifts upon her.

Because of Lu Yao, Ling Qingyue also ended up with quite a few vegetables and eggs in her hands.

"They're all so kind," Lu Yao said, then sighed. "But I know it's because I'm what they call an 'immortal' that they treat me like this. My senior sister says that people in the Mortal Realm greatly revere the Immortal Realm. Miss Ah Xi, Miss Pei Si, would either of you ever want to go to the Immortal Realm?"

After this trip to the Mortal Realm, Lu Yao had felt it clearly. Even someone like Xue Zizai, an Eldest Miss spoiled since childhood, was quite reverent toward them.

But Ah Xi and Pei Si were not like that. Lu Yao had not seen that look in their eyes. Their attitude toward people from the Immortal Realm was no different from their attitude toward people from the Mortal Realm.

Ling Qingyue thought it over. "The Immortal Realm... it's nothing special."

But she was originally from the Immortal Realm herself, so once her cultivation recovered, she would certainly have to go back.

"What about Miss Pei Si?"

Xue Zizai's attitude toward Ah Xi and Pei Si was distinctly different, and Pei Si seemed to hold a distinctly different attitude toward Ah Xi and everyone else too.

Lu Yao saw Pei Si nod coolly. "I think the same as Ah Xi."

As they talked, they arrived at the steamed bun shop. Like at the other shops, the owner, Nan Po, was exceptionally overjoyed to see Lu Yao. When she heard Lu Yao wanted to eat her steamed buns, she pressed her palms together and bowed deeply, saying she was truly blessed that an immortal would come to eat her family's buns. The people buying buns nearby also offered their congratulations and envy.

Lu Yao found herself surrounded for a moment. Nan Po directly gave her a huge bag of steamed buns.

She lifted her eyes, seeking help from the other two, and found that they had already paid, taken their buns, and walked off into the distance.

"So fragrant, so delicious." Ling Qingyue took a huge bite and burned her mouth a little, but the fresh, savory flavor still made her eyes narrow involuntarily.

Happy.

Pei Si saw her like this, and her heart stirred. The red mole on the side of her neck began to heat up.

Ling Qingyue took another bite and tilted her head toward Pei Si. "This is really good. Try some, quick."

"Is it."

Before Ling Qingyue could nod her head, her wrist was caught in a gentle grip and lifted. The half-eaten bun in her hand was nipped with a tiny bite by the woman.

Pei Si savored the taste carefully, then nodded. "Mm, it is good."

Ling Qingyue stood stunned, then pursed her lips and murmured, "This... I already ate from this."

After speaking, she glanced down at the untouched bun in Pei Si's hand.

Doesn't she have her own?

"What is it?" Pei Si hadn't heard clearly.

Ling Qingyue came back to her senses. They were married. No, that wasn't right. Ah Xi and Pei Si were married. Eating something the other person had already bitten was normal.

"No, it's nothing."

Ling Qingyue looked down at the small missing piece on the bun and somehow saw in it a touch of delicate refinement, just like Pei Si.

She stole a glance at Pei Si, then bit into the bun right over that small missing piece.

Today Ling Qingyue did not go to the wood-carving shop. She had brought Liu Qingtang's painted scroll back home. After all, this was a former acquaintance she had crossed swords with. Ling Qingyue planned to personally carve her a wood sculpture.

The weather was quite nice. Ling Qingyue prepared to move everything into the courtyard. She turned her head and saw Pei Si practicing calligraphy and painting under the pavilion beside the corridor.

A light breeze stirred, brushing through the woman's loose strands of hair. Sunlight spilled down, cloaking it in a layer of brilliant golden light, beautiful as a painting.

No wonder Xue Zizai likes her, Ling Qingyue thought to herself. That Eldest Miss just likes beautiful things, whether people or objects.

Right as she was looking, the person over there suddenly turned her head.

Ling Qingyue jolted and quickly lowered her head. She felt the wood block, felt the carving knife, then pretended for show to study Liu Qingtang's painted scroll.

In the painted scroll, Liu Qingtang had dark hair and thick brows, standing with her arms folded around a saber. Her eyes were cast downward, an expression of lofty, insufferable arrogance, as if looking at a defeated opponent.

Ling Qingyue gave a soft snort and reached out to poke the saber in the painting, mouthing silently, And yet it was my defeated opponent.

Arching a brow with a smile, Ling Qingyue set to work, ready to carve.

The carving knife was very obedient in her hand, but somehow, when she was carving Liu Qingtang's head, the tip of the blade slipped. A deep gash was left across the wooden figure's neck.

The tip of the knife grazed Ling Qingyue's fingertip. Fresh, crimson blood slowly seeped into the wood, right over Liu Qingtang's face. The features, not yet fully carved, became blurred and blood-red.

"Did you cut your hand?" Pei Si saw the bright red beads of blood still welling out and quickly led her to the well to wash it clean.

Ling Qingyue saw her nervousness and reassured her, "It's nothing. Just a small cut. See, the bleeding's stopped already."

Pei Si looked at the fingertip and confirmed the bleeding had indeed stopped. Gently, she held that hand and brought it to her lips, blowing on it softly. She lifted her eyes and asked her, "Does it hurt?"

The red mole on the side of her neck grew even hotter.

The concern and tenderness in the woman's eyes made Ling Qingyue's heart quiver.

Her throat worked slightly. The warmth of that breath seemed to linger upon her fingertip. She looked into the woman's eyes and said softly, "It doesn't hurt."

Not at all.

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