Chapter 43 : Women as Beautiful as Us

Chapter 43: Women as Beautiful as Us

Canglan Mountain.

Behind the Huangmei Courtyard, in the pagoda forest at the back mountain—remote and secluded.

The conditions here were simple, only enough to shield from wind and rain. Some cultivators seeking peace of Dao Heart would reside here long-term.

Cheng Hua stood before a thatched hut.

Holding a sword, motionless, expressionless.

She almost merged with the straight bamboo forest behind her.

In front of the hut lay a small stone clearing, mottled with moss.

Not far away, a shallow stream flowed between stones. Pebbles beneath the water were smooth, and a few silver fish rested quietly.

Everything appeared calm and peaceful.

In contrast—

Behind the hut, low-hanging mist rolled over layers of dark mountain ridges, gathering into gloomy clouds, as if they would suffocate the hut beneath their weight.

“Ah!”

A girl’s scream and the sound of splashing water came at the same time.

Cheng Hua did not move, as if already accustomed to it.

“Senior Sister—— wuwuwu~~ my shoes got soaked again wuwuwu——”

The girl squished her soaked shoes and socks, sniffling as she ran to Cheng Hua’s side.

She hugged Cheng Hua’s arm intimately. Her delicate, doll-like face was chubby, her eyes brimming with aggrieved tears—adorably pitiful.

Cheng Hua remained unmoved.

Toward the junior sister who had only been accepted by their master five days ago, she felt no particular emotion.

It was nothing more than having one more person at meals, needing to spend effort teaching during cultivation, and being pestered for chatter before rest.

Their master was a hands-off manager.

The newly accepted junior sister was more like a little pet—after being handed to her, there was hardly a day when the master didn’t go drinking heavily with Dao friends.

Cheng Hua felt no sense of cherished affection in her heart.

What she remembered was the responsibility entrusted to her by her master.

The junior sister wiped her tears on the back of Cheng Hua’s hand, her plump face squishing back and forth.

“Senior Sister, is Senior Sister Cui still refusing to see you?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Isn’t she your best friend?”

The junior sister was still young. She learned characters and etiquette with other newly admitted students in the school hall. With many people and loose tongues, she naturally knew quite a bit of gossip about Canglan Mountain.

“I heard that she caused Senior Sister’s cultivation to fall, and also made you miss the trial to become a direct disciple of the sect master soon.”

Cheng Hua shook her head.

“She is also a victim.”

“Right, that’s what I thought too.”

The junior sister stood on one leg like a golden rooster, water dripping from her soaked shoe.

She tugged at Cheng Hua’s sleeve to maintain balance, happily playing on her own.

“In the school, people always say it’s all Senior Sister’s fault. They say you provoked enemies outside, which led to two promising disciples of Canglan Mountain losing their cultivation like this.”

Cheng Hua steamed dry her soaked shoes and socks. Her cold, indifferent expression did not change in the slightest.

“Let them say what they want.”

“That won’t do. I fought with the one who said that.”

Cheng Hua paused.

This, she had not heard about.

Fighting in the school was considered breaking the rules.

Cheng Hua recalled her master’s instructions, wondering if she should punish her.

“Fought?”

“Mm…” The junior sister looked guilty, stammering. “There were two annoying guys who kept speaking badly about Senior Sister in front of me. I couldn’t stand it, so I fought them.”

“And then?”

“And then… I won… hehe… hehe…”

Cheng Hua thought for a moment.

Winning = victory.

Victory = good thing.

Good thing = reward.

She reached a conclusion, her expression softening slightly.

“Since you won, I’ll add extra food for you tonight.”

“Huh?”

The junior sister, who had expected punishment, froze—then realized her senior sister never lied or spoke in circles.

Her expression shifted from shock to delight.

She raised both hands high, beaming. “Oh oh!”

“I want steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roast duck, roast chicken…”

Cheng Hua took the junior sister’s hand and walked back.

Passing the stream that had soaked the girl’s shoes, she lifted the little one entirely and leapt across.

Making the junior sister burst into laughter.

Cheng Hua suddenly asked:

“Do those two annoying ones have the surname Cui?”

“Mm… I don’t think so, but they always make a fuss in front of me…”

“Senior Sister Cui once told me that for women as beautiful as us, when men put on airs in front of us, most of the time it means they are interested in us.”

“Ah… is that so?”

Cheng Hua seemed to recall something and said lightly:

“When I went down the mountain for training recently, I met such a man who was interested in me.”

“Then did Senior Sister beat him up too?”

“Although he put on airs, he wasn’t annoying. In fact, he even saved me several times.”

“Wow!”

The junior sister’s eyes widened, shining brightly. “Then does Senior Sister like him too?”

Cheng Hua stiffened slightly. The faint tear mole at the corner of her eye trembled.

After a long while, she shook her head.

“I devote myself to cultivation. I have no interest in romantic feelings, and will not develop such intentions toward him.”

The thatched hut remained shrouded in dark clouds, heavy and oppressive.

The two held hands, their swaying silhouettes moving unhurriedly toward the tranquil bamboo forest.

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Inside the thatched hut.

No lamp was lit. Darkness filled the space.

Even the light leaking in from outside carried a dim, drowsy quality.

Cui Wenxi curled up on a low couch in the corner.

Deep within her vacant, hollow gaze, there was not a trace of light.

She was avoiding the light from the window.

—She knew Cheng Hua had come again.

But Cui Wenxi had no face to meet her.

She slowly hugged her knees, then rolled sideways onto the ground.

Her collar hung open, revealing a slender collarbone.

Beneath the thin sleepwear, the soft curves supported beneath also tilted along with her, naturally falling to one side first.

The curves were not large, but already the limit of what her delicate, petite frame could hold.

In contrast—

Her waist was extremely slender, thin enough to be grasped with one hand. Below it, her hips were equally small, yet strikingly lifted—rounded and full.

In such a decadent, listless state, she had no intention of getting up.

‘Is that all?’

A voice suddenly echoed in her mind—sharp, harsh—it was Elder Yue Su’s voice.

—At the same time, her biological mother’s voice.

The day she regained consciousness, her mother had looked at her like that—her gaze as cold as a poisoned blade.

‘Your cultivation is gone, and you still didn’t kill her.’

Her mother’s voice pressed down from above. ‘Cui Wenxi, what am I supposed to say about you?’

She opened her mouth, wanting to explain.

Wanting to say Cheng Hua was innocent.

Wanting to say she had such good talent, cultivated so diligently, and had never harmed anyone.

But she said nothing.

Because she knew—those words would only make her mother more disappointed.

‘I raised you all these years.’

‘And this is what you’ve become?’

‘Don’t come looking for me again. I’ll consider it as having one less daughter.’

Wind blew outside the window, the bamboo forest rustling softly.

Cheng Hua spoke with the newly accepted junior sister—innocent and lively.

She thought, Cheng Hua must hate her.

She should hate her.

But Cheng Hua did not.

And that was what Cui Wenxi could not bear the most.

Cui Wenxi realized—

For the rest of her life, she would be trapped in this broken hut, trapped in this broken body, tormented until death.

Tears streamed down painfully.

She bit her lips until they bled.