Chapter 98: The Girl’s Nightmare
After washing up, Du Yuejiao leaned against the windowsill in her room, looking at the crescent moon.
In the late hours of the night, the already faint moonlight dimmed further, casting the distant mountains and trees in shadow.
Clearing her mind of all distractions, she gazed at the distant moon, her thoughts filled with a single person.
Brother Shi… where are you?
She sighed softly.
The lovesick girl closed the purple gauze curtains, turned, and went to her bed.
A Night Fragrance Pearl sat on her bedside table, its soft, warm glow, filtered through a yellow jade lampshade, illuminating the area around her bed.
She untied her sash, removed her colorful Daoist robe and grey trousers, and slipped under the covers, wearing her diamond-shaped chest covering embroidered with a magpie on a plum blossom branch, clutching the beautiful doll in her arms.
She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but she felt that as long as she held the doll, she would have good dreams.
Tonight, she would dream of him again.
The next morning, the girl woke up with a start, clutching the doll, her face pale.
She had had a dream, a dream about Brother Shi, but not a pleasant one.
She dreamt that Brother Shi, Yue Ya’er, and that female thief, Night Lily, were together.
They were doing all sorts of… shameful things. She stood outside the window, pounding on the gauze curtains, screaming and shouting, but Brother Shi didn’t notice her.
Instead, Yue Ya’er and Night Lily, while seducing Brother Shi, smiled at her, mocking her, taunting her.
She cried and cried in her dream, watching as her lover did things with them that he had never done with her.
She woke up with tears streaming down her face.
She took a handkerchief, wiped her tears, and chuckled to herself.
It was just a dream. Why was she so upset?
But a sharp pain, like a knife twisting in her heart, lingered.
Although just a dream, it had felt so real.
She got up, washed up, and changed her clothes.
Her master, Zhuo Mulan, had gone to the Cave True Wonder Garden, where immortal ingredients were cultivated, and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.
She was alone in the pavilion.
She ate some pastries, gathered her things, hugged the doll, and went downstairs to the small training ground.
Placing the doll in a corner, she began practicing her swordsmanship.
Her movements were sharp and precise, her sword intent fierce… She wanted to forget that horrible dream.
The beautiful doll watched her from the corner.
Suddenly, its head turned in an unnatural way.
Its small hands twitched, and it silently turned and flew away.
It reached the mountainside, where a woman in colorful attire and a dejected young man were walking towards Du Yuejiao’s pavilion.
“Don’t forget to thank your cousin properly. She went to great lengths to plead for your release last night,” the woman said, “Look at her, and look at you, a useless disgrace. I’m telling you, your cousin is a direct disciple of the Chongxian Sect and even knows the daughter of the Yue Ke Tai family. You have to be nice to her, cultivate a good relationship with her, so that in the future…”
The young man complained, “You shouldn’t have gone to her last night, Mother. It was my own fault.”
The woman poked him in the head, “Are you embarrassed now? Why didn’t you think of that before? You used to think you were so great, wanting to marry her. Look at you now, a useless wretch. You’re not worthy of her!”
“And you embarrassed me by going to that place and getting yourself arrested! I’m a respectable woman! I married your good-for-nothing father, and now I have a useless son like you! Don’t you dare misbehave again! Don’t you dare go to those places again!”
The young man, his head bowed under her relentless scolding and poking, didn’t dare to speak.
They reached a fork in the path, and a middle-aged Daoist priest in a yin-yang robe, holding a horsetail whisk, approached, “Madam, what brings you to the mountain today?”
Wan Shuxian smiled, “It’s Perfected Zheng! Alas, it’s all because of this useless son of mine.” She turned to Fang Yu, “Greet your Uncle Zheng.”
Fang Yu mumbled, “Greetings, Uncle Zheng.”
Perfected Zheng smiled, “Good! Good!” He looked at Wan Shuxian, “You’ve come at the right time, Madam. I just received that immortal ingredient you’ve been looking for. Do you have time to come and collect it?”
Wan Shuxian said, “Oh, you’ve gone through so much trouble for us, Perfected One. Our Brocade Cloud Sword Pavilion has relied on your assistance all these years.”
Perfected Zheng flicked his whisk, “Don’t mention it, Madam. Your husband and I were like brothers. After his unfortunate passing, it’s my duty to help you.”
Wan Shuxian turned to Fang Yu, “I’ll go with your Uncle Zheng to collect the ingredient. You go and thank your cousin. Behave yourself. And thank your Uncle Zheng. He’s helped us so much.”
Fang Yu mumbled, “Thank you, Uncle Zheng.”
Perfected Zheng smiled, “You’re welcome, nephew.” He turned to Wan Shuxian, “This way, Madam.”
Perfected Zheng and Wan Shuxian walked away, chatting.
Fang Yu walked towards his cousin’s pavilion but hesitated at the gate, pacing back and forth.
He sat down on a rock by the path, lost in thought. After a while, he saw something move in the bushes.
He stood up and looked, slightly surprised… Wasn’t that the doll his cousin had been carrying last night?
He walked towards it, intending to pick it up, but the doll strangely moved further away.
He followed it down the slope, into a bamboo grove, past a rock garden, and then heard voices from the other side.
The voices sounded familiar. He peeked around the rocks and saw a woman lying on a rock in the bamboo grove, her cries echoing.
“Madam, you’re so wonderful,” a man’s voice said. He had removed his yin-yang robe and was… engaged in an indecent act.
Fang Yu’s eyes widened, his fists clenching, his nails digging into his palms.
His eyes blazed with fury, but he silently turned and walked away…
That afternoon, Shi Hao found an excuse to leave the Jade Flower Courtyard and went to Floating Cloud Monastery, but Xu Xiaoyan wasn’t there.
Chen Yan’er told him that Xu Xiaoyan had left at noon and hadn’t returned yet.
He left the monastery and searched the surrounding area but couldn’t find her.
As evening approached, he finally saw her hurrying towards him, then suddenly turning into a side alley.
He wondered why she had changed direction.
Then he saw two women running towards the alley, looking around, clearly pursuing her.
He understood. He took a detour, quickened his pace, and intercepted them.
Xu Xiaoyan, disguised and startled by his sudden appearance, stepped back, then relaxed when she saw it was him, “You…”
Shi Hao grabbed her hand, “Let’s go!” He pulled her away, running.
As they ran, Xu Xiaoyan said, “I think someone’s following me.”
Shi Hao said, “You’re right. They are.” He paused, “Why didn’t you use the Void Traversing Brick?”
Xu Xiaoyan, her pace quickening, said, “I did, but they’re still following us.”
As they ran, Shi Hao used the Soul Chasing Locking Steps and his Primordial Energy to sense their pursuers.
They ran through streets and alleys, doubling back, and he sensed their pursuers passing them, separated by a wall.
However, he soon frowned again, grabbing Xu Xiaoyan and changing directions once more, their speed increasing.
The faint sound of pursuing wind could be heard. Shi Hao said, “That doesn’t make sense. We should have lost them.”
Xu Xiaoyan sniffed her sleeves, “At the market earlier, a little girl selling flowers fell down, and I helped her up. I smelled a strange fragrance from her flower basket.”
Shi Hao leaned closer and sniffed her shoulder, “There is a faint floral scent.”
Knowing they couldn’t outrun their pursuers like this, he grabbed Xu Xiaoyan’s hand, and they entered the garden of a large house. Seeing a small pond, he said, “Jump in and take off your clothes.”
Xu Xiaoyan said, “What?”
Shi Hao said, “Hurry!”
Xu Xiaoyan, resigned, jumped into the pond. Her clothes floated to the surface.
She emerged from the water, only her soft whip wrapped around her arm, one hand covering her breasts, the other her lower body, her body dripping wet, her face flushed.
Shi Hao removed his outer robe, wrapped it around her, lifted her into his arms, and leaped away.
Moments later, several women arrived at the pond, looking at the discarded clothes floating in the water.
One of them said, “Damn it, she escaped again.”
Another said, “She’s naked. She can’t have gone far. Search the area!”
The women scattered, searching the surrounding area.
Shi Hao, carrying Xu Xiaoyan, her head covered by his robe, ran through the streets and alleys.
Passersby, seeing the young man in martial attire carrying a bundled figure with exposed legs, shook their heads and stepped aside… Such indecent behavior.
Xu Xiaoyan, held tightly in his arms, didn’t dare move.
A young woman on a distant street looked at them, “Huh?”
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