“Wow, it’s so green, so green.” A young woman behind Elder Luo couldn’t help but murmur in amazement as she gazed at the dazzling green light.
“Young friend!” Elder Luo quickly walked up to Jiu Hui and said, “This old man is an Elder of the Wanhuo Sect. I wonder if you would be willing to join the Wanhuo Sect?”
Under the dazzling green light, he found that the Wanhuo Sect was also very fated with this little girl.
In a trance, he felt as if Elder Mo was looking at him with eyes full of coldness. When the green light dissipated, Elder Mo, who was sitting at the table, still had a cheerful appearance.
Let’s just say, Wangshu Pavilion didn’t even have a single powerful cultivator to show off, and every now and then, they shamelessly went to various sects to beg for help. How dare they give him a look? He must have been dazzled by the green light just now.
“Please forgive me, Elder. I cannot join the Wanhuo Sect.” Without waiting for Elder Luo to persuade her further, Jiu Hui bowed to apologize to Elder Luo.
Tomorrow, she would write a letter back to her village and tell them the story of how “A village girl had attracted the attention of two sect Elders as soon as she left the mountains,” a story that would bring glory to the whole village.
As expected of her, the hope of the entire village.
“Young friend, you don’t know this, but my Wanhuo Sect has many famous teachers, and the sect’s Elders have profound cultivation, elixirs, magic weapons…”
“When I was young, the village elder divined my fate and said that I was afraid of fire by nature and should not approach people or things related to fire.” Jiu Hui explained earnestly, “His divination is very accurate, and everyone in our village believes him.”
When going out, those juniors who didn’t listen to the advice of their elders, who didn’t know how much they suffered.
Therefore, her greatest advantage was that she listened to advice and would not suffer.
Elder Luo opened and closed his mouth, closed it and opened it again, and finally closed it with a tremble.
He glanced at the cheerful Elder Mo, then at Jiu Hui, whose face was full of sincerity. For a long while, he was unable to speak, and finally turned and left.
No matter how good their aptitude was, Wanhuo Sect would not accept disciples who were not intelligent.
“That’s why I say you and I are fated.” As soon as Elder Luo turned around, Elder Mo couldn’t wait to speak, “Our Wangshu Pavilion is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with plenty of flowers, trees, and water. Isn’t this a match made in heaven?!”
Jiu Hui nodded, her eyes sparkling. “Grandpa Bu* also said that a place with mountains, water, and lots of trees would be a good fit for me.”
TN: this Bu character can mean divining and also be used as part of the word for “radish”
Elder Luo, who had already walked a few steps away, sneered. Of course, Wangshu Pavilion had many mountains, water, and trees, because they had nothing else besides these.
A foolish and ignorant country bumpkin with no experience in the world. Once she entered Wangshu Pavilion and wasted half of her life there, then thinking back of rejecting his invitation today, how much regret would she have.
“I wish to join Wangshu Pavilion. Please, Elder, grant me permission.” Jiu Hui didn’t care what Elder Luo thought. She took a step back and bowed solemnly to Elder Mo.
“Get up, get up quickly.” Elder Mo smiled so broadly that his eyes disappeared. He didn’t wait for Jiu Hui to finish her bow before he reached out to help her up. “With a talent like yours, everyone else seems dull in comparison. I’ll take you back to the sect right now.”
If he didn’t leave now, wouldn’t others discover the young girl’s talent and try to steal her from him?
Only by taking her back to the sect and performing the sect entrance ceremony could the matter be considered settled.
“Are there no other assessments?” Jiu Hui looked at Elder Mo in confusion. Before she left the village, the entire village had helped her prepare countless things in order to successfully join the sect, but she didn’t expect that none of those preparations would be of any use.
“Didn’t we just test you?” Elder Mo pointed to the jade pendant in his hand. “When the Wangshu Pavilion accepts disciples, we emphasize fate.”
Elder Luo, who was passing by again, couldn’t help but scoff at this and walked away with a flick of his sleeve.
Oh, come on. Were you really looking for a connection? You just couldn’t recruit any qualified disciples, and it was rare to find one with decent aptitude. You were afraid that someone else would snatch them away!
“Elder Mo, what did that Elder mean?” Jiu Hui watched Elder Luo’s proud departing figure. This Elder had quite the temper. No wonder the sect’s name had the character for “fire” in it.
“Don’t pay attention to him,” Elder Mo said in a low voice. “He’s just jealous that Wangshu Pavilion has taken in a disciple with such good aptitude as you.”
“Alas.” Speaking of this, Elder Mo shook his head with regret: “We cultivators emphasize calmness, peace of mind, and natural affinity. Jealousy is most likely to disturb one’s temperament. Rest assured, the people of our Wangshu Pavilion do not have this problem. Your Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters all have excellent temperaments.”
A new disciple of the Wanhuo Sect who accidentally passed by：“……”
What a strange thing to say. Did their Wanhuo Sect get stepped on?
Could this be the legendary dangerous sect battle?carpreads.pages.dev
“Since you have the heart to become a disciple, my sect is willing to accept you. There’s no better time than the present, I’ll take you back to the sect now.” As he spoke, Elder Mo flicked his sleeve and put everything on the stall into his sleeve, the chair he had borrowed from the Wanhuo Sect next door was not spared either.
Jiu Hui also stood up and handed the stool she had been sitting on to Elder Mo. “Elder, don’t forget this stool.”
Elder Mo recalled. This one stool was borrowed from Qiushui School next door. He chuckled and used a Universe in a Sleeve technique to put the stool away.
Being diligent and frugal, and not wasting a single thread or needle of the sect, this new disciple seemed very suitable for their Wangshu Pavilion.
“Elder, how do we return to the sect?” Jiu Hui looked up at the sky, some sects had already begun to leave. Jade flying boats, golden flying towers, and Heavenly Steed divine horses galloped through the clouds, creating a breathtaking sight.
“Master, Master!” A man and a woman waved their hands in the crowd and ran towards Elder Mo at a very fast speed: “Master, the Wenxing School’s flying boat is about to depart. If we don’t go over there, we won’t be able to catch up.”
The two ran to Elder Mo and stopped in their tracks when they noticed Jiu Hui. They stared at her blankly for a long while before carefully asking, “Master, is this our… junior sister?”
Elder Mo stroked his beard and smiled, “This is precisely the young friend who has a deep connection with our Wangshu Pavilion. Young friend, these are my two incompetent disciples, named Chang He and Luo Yan.”
“Greetings, Junior Sister.” The two forced out enthusiastic smiles at Jiu Hui.
“Greetings, Senior Brother Chang He and Senior Sister Luo Yan.” Jiu Hui bowed in greeting. Although she had not yet officially joined the sect, the people of the sect had already welcomed her.
Perhaps, this was the personal charm that the entire village had hoped for.
After exchanging greetings, Jiu Hui noticed a young boy of about 18 following behind the two. The boy’s hair was neatly tied up with a wooden hairpin, and he wore a light blue robe. Although the robe was made of ordinary cloth, it was clean and tidy without a single wrinkle.
He stood quietly behind the two of them, his head slightly lowered, revealing a smooth, fair forehead. Jiu Hui could not see his face clearly.
“Let’s talk when we get on the flying boat.” Elder Mo threw out the gourd from his waist. The gourd spun several times in the air and turned into a giant gourd boat. He lifted the juniors onto the gourd boat. “Hold on tight!”
Jiu Hui didn’t even have time to let out an “ah” before the gourd shot out. In a few moments, they had left Wenxian Terrace and stopped in front of a huge flying boat.
She followed Elder Mo and the others as they jumped off the gourd. After looking up to observe the flying boat, a young man wearing a green robe walked towards them.
“Greetings, Senior Mo.” Qing Heng walked up to Elder Mo and bowed.
“It’s Qing Heng ah.” Elder Mo reached out and patted Qing Heng on the shoulder. “Are you guys preparing to return to the sect?”
He glanced at the flying boat. This return trip had dozens more people than the trip there, so it seemed that the Wenxing School had reaped a bountiful harvest.
“That’s right.” Qing Heng glanced at the young disciples behind Elder Mo, and understood the meaning behind his words: “If Elder Mo doesn’t mind, please join our humble sect on our journey. We can look out for each other along the way.”
“Since you’re so insistent, I won’t be polite.” Elder Mo stroked his beard and laughed. “Back when you first joined the Wenxing School, I could tell you had a limitless future, and now it seems I was right.”
“Thank you for your praise, Senior. I am unworthy of such compliments.” Qing Heng bowed and made an inviting gesture.
“How can young people belittle themselves?” Elder Mo stepped onto the deck with a smile, followed by Chang He and Luo Yan.
Jiu Hui took two steps, and seeing that the boy who had been with them was still standing there in a daze, she whispered, “Follow me quickly.”
She had never been on such a large flying boat, and it was free of charge. How could she miss such a good opportunity?
The young man hesitated for a moment, but still awkwardly followed behind Jiu Hui, stepping onto the cloud ladder that Wenxing School had built for new disciples, and walked up with his head down.
“This new junior brother is a bit thin-skinned.” Chang He whispered to Luo Yan, holding his sword. “He needs more practice.”
“Young people always want to save face…” Before Luo Yan could finish speaking, she saw the new junior sister walking on the cloud ladder, smiling brightly and greeting the people from Wenxing School as if she had known them for many years.
“Well… there are also young people who aren’t so concerned about saving face.” Luo Yan touched her nose.
“Many thanks, Daoist friend Qing Heng.” Stepping onto the deck, Jiu Hui clasped her hands and smiled brightly at Qing Heng.
“No, no problem.” Qing Heng bowed in return, his ears turning red. “Our two sects are neighbors, so it’s only right that we look out for each other.”
“Although the new junior sister hasn’t taken a master yet, she already has the demeanor of our sect.” Luo Yan sighed, “We’ve done well to recruit such a good disciple for the sect.”
“Master, what is the new junior sister’s surname and given name?” Chang He asked Elder Mo.
Elder Mo：“……”
He seemed to have forgotten to ask the young friend’s name.
“Senior Sister, my name is Jiu Hui*.” Jiu Hui leaned her head over, still smiling. “But I have no parents and was raised by the whole village, so I don’t have a surname.”
TN: this hui is fennel
“Ah…” Luo Yan was stunned for a moment before she stammered, “This n-name is so beautiful.”
Seeing the new junior sister’s smile, and thinking about how she had been an orphan since childhood, Luo Yan’s conscience, who had left home for many years, began to ache.
She really deserved to die.
Jiu Hui’s smile became even more radiant. “Thank you, Senior Sister.” She turned her head to look at the young man in blue robes. “May I ask this fellow disciple’s name?”
“My name is Zhi You.” The young man raised his head, and Jiu Hui got a clear look at his appearance. He had sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, and his jade-like features had a golden hue. His eyes held a clarity that suggested he had recently left home.
“Zhi You*?” Jiu Hui chuckled dryly. “That’s a great name.”
TN: she got the wrong characters, so it’s more like “stop oil”
Whether it was pleasant to hear or not was another matter, but at least it was novel.
“Zhi, meaning blessings and fortune. You, meaning strategy.” Chang He shook his head and explained, “Junior Brother’s name is well-chosen.”
Unfortunately, his family’s elders had passed away early, and his aptitude was extremely poor. Even with the help of his family’s elders’ will, no other sect would accept him. In the end, only their Wangshu Pavilion was willing to take him in.
As they talked, the Wenxing School’s flying boat slowly took off. Jiu Hui spotted Yu Luan on the deck, but she didn’t go over to bother her since the other Wenxing School members were talking to her.
As the flying boat ascended higher and higher, about to enter the clouds, a gust of wind suddenly blew from nowhere, tearing the massive flying boat into two pieces. Jiu Hui had just grabbed onto something when she was blown away.
When she fell to the ground, Jiu Hui and the person whose sleeve she had grabbed rolled around on the ground several times before plunging headfirst into a ditch.
“My new dress!” Jiu Hui wiped the mud off her face and looked down at her muddy dress, her heart aching.
Her clothes! Her new clothes!
Aunt Jiao worked all night to make her new clothes so that she could go out looking beautiful!
She looked around in anger. Several ordinary people were lying on the ground, moaning in pain. One of them was the young man who had shown her the way earlier.
Blood flowed from his mouth and nose, and his originally clean and tidy clothes were covered in dust.
Jiu Hui rushed over to the young man and asked, “Are you okay?”
The young man opened his eyes with difficulty. The girl in front of him had mud all over her face, making it hard to see her features, but he still recognized her at a glance.
“Mi…Miss……” Just two words, and he vomited another mouthful of blood. His eyes dimmed as he looked into the distance, where his home was.
He knew that he would not survive. How could an ordinary person with a lifespan of only a few decades withstand such a heavy blow? It was a pity that before he left home, his mother had specifically told him that she would stew a big goose for him and asked him to return home early.
Now that he couldn’t go back, how heartbroken his mother must be.
Jiu Hui poured out a pill from her storage ring and stuffed it into the young man’s mouth. Only after she finished did she realize that her hands were covered in mud. She secretly glanced at the mud stuck to the corner of the young man’s mouth and guiltily hid her hands behind her back.
“I…”
A black shadow flashed by, and Jiu Hui felt as if she had ascended to heaven. No, wait, she was being lifted into the air by someone choking her.
The person holding her wore a black robe with blood-red patterns embroidered on the hem, which did not look like a righteous sect.
“Yin Ji, I told you long ago, if you dare to hurt her in any way, I will slaughter everyone in the world.” The black-robed man stood on his flying sword in the air, his eyes coldly looking at a flying boat that was hovering in the clouds. “I will count to three. If you don’t come out, I will strangle her to death.”
Jiu Hui: “Ah?!”
No, did you have some kind of brain disease?
What did your grudges and love affairs have to do with me?!
“One.”
The flying boat remained motionless.
“Two.”
The flying boat remained motionless. The surrounding cultivators had already taken out their magic weapons, surrounding the black-robed man so tightly that not even the wind could get through. However, they dared not make a move because he was holding a little girl covered in mud in his hand.
Jiu Hui saw their solemn expressions and guessed that the black-robed man might be very difficult to deal with.
“Look, the so-called Daoist Master Yin Ji who claims to protect the world is unwilling to show his face for a lowly commoner like you.” The black-robed man lowered his head and saw that the person he was choking was covered in mud. Her trembling and incompetent appearance disgusted him. He threw her heavily onto the back of the sword, and with a flick of his finger, a golden light turned into a thin rope that wrapped around Jiu Hui’s neck.
The thin rope tightened. The black-robed man saw that the person was trembling in fear but didn’t dare to struggle. He didn’t want to look at her any longer and turned his gaze to the flying boat: “Three…”
“Demon, cease your attack!” Five sword-wielding men and women leaped from the boat. “Why must you involve innocent people in your feud with Daoist Master Yin Ji?!”
“If you’re not willing to involve others, why does Yin Ji hide his head and tail and not dare to come out?”
Of the five sword-wielding men and women, the leader was a woman in red. She looked at the man in black and said, “Is it possible that Daoist Master Yin Ji isn’t here at all?!”
The wind blew the corners of his black robe, making them flutter. He stood proudly with his cold sword, looking quite imposing, but everyone just felt awkward.
In the end, the black-robed man broke the awkward silence himself: “You cowardly rat hiding in the shadows, today I will kill everyone in this city, so that…”
Pfft——spurt!
A knife was deeply embedded in his waist.
It was a rusty knife.
A rusty butcher knife that was so dull, its corners were rolled.