The next day, Yan Huirou did not practice her swordsmanship.
This should have been a relaxing day, but if she had a choice, she would still have preferred to go back to the previous day.
At this moment, she was forced to lean against a sturdy maple tree, her legs bent, her center of gravity lowered—in a difficult horse stance posture.
Jiang Xidai was very dissatisfied with her powerless state. In Sect Master Jiang’s opinion, this girl was used to a life of ease, which was why she had developed such a weak and powerless body.
Anything Sect Master Jiang found displeasing naturally had to be changed.
As for the pain Yan Huirou suffered in the process, it was not worth mentioning.
The female lead of this text had always had a gentle and pure appearance. It was rare for her to be in such a sorry state.
Half of her face seemed to be flushed a cooked-crab red from the heat, spreading from her pale, slender neck upwards. Her long hair was wet, dried by the wind, and then became damp with heat again. Her nose was even covered in fine, dense beads of sweat.
Yan Huirou closed her eyes, trembling slightly. She could barely feel if her legs were still alive.
But with a slight tremble, a woman’s voice said in a slow, deliberate tone, “Continue. It’s only been half an incense stick’s worth of time. What are you doing?”
“Sect Master Jiang…” Yan Huirou’s voice was as if it were squeezed out from a crack in a rock. “I really…”
Jiang Xidai looked at the painful expression on her face with great interest, or rather, with appreciation, and was not moved at all.
In fact, the moment Yan Huirou moved, a discipline ruler would strike her calf from a distance, making her shiver and instantly straighten her back.
“Tired? Hmm?”
The woman was sitting in the small pavilion in the maple forest, leaning against the chaise lounge, avoiding the scorching sun outside. The sun was quite fierce today, and the entire red maple forest was not so cool.
So she ordered her disciples to bring some exquisite little desserts.
She had heard that this thing was called “Sweet Ice Mountain” among mortals. It was made with a base of crushed ice, with a layer of crushed bayberries mixed in, and a layer of cow’s milk cream drizzled on top, emanating a cold mist.
It was thirst-quenching and cooling, and the taste was sweet, cold, and refreshing. Jiang Xidai liked it very much.
Sect Master Jiang was eating a cold, sweet dessert to escape the heat, while Yan Huirou was standing in a horse stance, drenched in sweat. The faint, cool scent of bayberries even drifted to Yan Huirou’s face. This was a truly cruel scene.
“Tired,” Yan Huirou choked out a single word from her throat.
The woman, holding the small cup of bayberry sweet ice mountain, even stood up and slowly walked over to Yan Huirou.
Yan Huirou watched as the bayberry juice stained Jiang Xidai’s lips, making them even more red and vibrant, like a layer of lipstick.
She was so hot that every pore was sweating. She swallowed a small mouthful of saliva, and her legs finally couldn’t help but tremble again. “Mmm…”
Jiang Xidai didn’t stand for long, because Yan Huirou’s ever-effective rebound technique also made her legs a little sore.
However, Yan Huirou had rarely experienced this kind of soreness and fatigue and couldn’t quite bear it, but Jiang Xidai felt it was fine.
After all, she had lived through a bloody storm for many years and had practiced martial arts since she was young. She was already used to moving and was much healthier than Yan Huirou. It was completely acceptable.
Seeing the female lead in such pain—
Jiang Xidai’s eyes genuinely curved up.
She thought to herself, Finally, there’s a way to deal with you personally without hurting myself too much.
Only when Yan Huirou was on the verge of kneeling on the ground did Jiang Xidai pardon her from her training. “Alright, you can rest for a while. You’re going to die from such a small thing.”
Yan Huirou let out a long breath and, like a willow swaying in the wind, propped herself up.
Jiang Xidai shrank her feet back in disgust. When she was practicing martial arts back then, she had never been as cowardly as Yan Huirou. This girl couldn’t even support her own weight. Just a horse stance against a maple tree was too much for her.
And what Yan Huirou had never expected was that this was just the beginning.
After she had struggled to get up, she had wanted to take her leave, but she was grabbed by Jiang Xidai again to practice something else.
“Sect Master Jiang,” Yan Huirou said weakly, “I’ve observed that other cultivators mostly improve their cultivation through meditation. Why is it that when it comes to me, it’s like I’m a martial artist?”
“Your body is too weak,” Jiang Xidai said mercilessly. “You can’t even lift an iron sword. With just cultivation, do you know where to use your strength?”
Yan Huirou didn’t know, so she didn’t dare to say anything more.
Although she was a little tired, she also felt that Sect Master Jiang was being very diligent. It was better not to let her good intentions go to waste.
So she could only force herself to go on.
Just standing in a horse stance was not enough.
Jiang Xidai ordered two disciples to drag over two bags of rice and tie them to Yan Huirou’s feet. Then, with great pleasure, she watched her climb the mountain. There were two mountains near the Shasheng Sect, one for the sun and one for the moon, which was enough for her to climb.
Yan Huirou’s legs were already sore and weak. With two bags of rice tied to them, it was almost too heavy for her to move.
On this trip, she had been tormented from dawn to dusk and had almost fainted on the way.
Unfortunately, Jiang Xidai never let her stop. She just walked leisurely behind her, holding her umbrella, only wiping her sweat a few times. From time to time, she would even tread on the gentle breeze and lead the way for a short distance, turning back to look at her extremely wretched state.
This journey was like a journey to the west to retrieve the scriptures. But before Yan Huirou could obtain the long scrolls, she finally collapsed in the middle of the road. After a certain step, her legs went soft, she couldn’t stand firm, and she knelt on the ground with a thud.
Large beads of sweat rolled down her neck and fell to the ground, creating dark, wet patches.
She took a difficult breath in and then exhaled, as if something were stuck in her throat, yet she desperately craved air.
Yan Huirou heard her own rapid and heavy panting. However, in the next moment, her chin was slowly lifted by a hand, and she met the woman’s beautiful, smiling eyes.
“Your eyes are all unfocused. Are you that tired?”
Although Yan Huirou was looking straight at her, she no longer had the energy to focus on her face. She only vaguely saw those crimson lips open and close. “…Little girl, you look a little more lovable like this.”
Yan Huirou’s eyes slowly closed.
Jiang Xidai’s hand grew heavy. She found that she had fallen asleep against her hand.
Would she be soft-hearted if she closed her eyes?
The biggest villain of this text clearly didn’t think so.
If it were the male lead, and he had fainted before she was done, Jiang Xidai would probably pour a basin of boiling sugar water on him to gently wake him up. But this little female lead was fair and gentle, and her mouth was sweet, so she wasn’t so annoying.
She held her chin and, out of boredom, pinched the sleeping beauty’s cheek with her thumb, leaving a faint red nail mark there, and that was it.
Jiang Xidai lifted her with one hand, as easily as if she were lifting a bag of rice dumplings. Along the way, she kindly threw her back to Bright Moon Pavilion.
Bi Luo was dozing off on the threshold. In her half-asleep state, she saw a red shadow float over. She immediately widened her eyes, and all the sleepiness scattered in a panic.
“Sect Master?”
Jiang Xidai’s pale hand loosened, and a silent Yan Huirou fell to the ground.
Bi Luo was shocked.
“She’s asleep. Loosen her muscles and bones tonight, so she can get up tomorrow.” Every word of the woman was filled with disgust. She threw down a sentence and then gracefully walked away.
Bi Luo: “Yes! Sect Master.”
By the time Yan Huirou finally woke up, it was already late at night. Bi Luo quickly poured a bowl of tea. “Miss Yan, you’re finally awake?”
Yan Huirou, lying in bed, touched her own face and asked weakly, “Am I still alive?”
Every muscle in her body was a little weak and uncomfortable. Bi Luo laid her down flat and sat by her side, gently massaging her legs as instructed by the Sect Master. “What nonsense are you talking about? The Sect Master likes you so much, how could she bear for anything to happen to you?”
“The Sect Master, she…” Yan Huirou gave a bitter smile.
With such eager anticipation for the full-course training, Sect Master Jiang naturally liked her. There was no doubt about that.
But the Sect Master’s love—
—seemed a little too heavy.
In the lingering aftertaste of this overly heavy love, Yan Huirou fell asleep again.
The next morning, when the sky had just shown a hint of eggshell color, she was woken up again by Wen Xianyin and taken to the maple forest.
Sect Master Jiang was still leaning against the side of the pavilion, her hands folded on the railing, as if she were looking at the scenery thoughtfully. The morning colors were faint, and her long eyelashes cast a shadow, making her face look even more obscure.
Only when those eyes fell on Yan Huirou did they gently curve, like a spring breeze on a peach blossom.
Jiang Xidai’s smile actually made Yan Huirou feel that the dim daylight in the distance had brightened up.
“Why do you look so listless?”
Yan Huirou said gently, “I’m a little tired.”
“Then how about we try something different today?”
Yan Huirou: “Alright… but…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Xidai said faintly, “What right do you have to say ‘but’?”
She was cut off.
She could only think, with a bitter smile, that at worst, it would just be a repeat of yesterday’s hardship. It was good to get used to it.
But what Yan Huirou had never expected was that there was a special corner on the Jiangyun Terrace of the Shasheng Sect where wooden stakes were set up like bamboo shoots. She didn’t know what they were for—it seemed that the Shasheng Sect as a whole was as full of martial virtue as the master of the Shasheng Sect.
Jiang Xidai slowly walked over. The disciples who were practicing their movement techniques quickly fell down like little sparrows diving into the water and stood in a neat row. “Good morning, Sect Master.”
“Leave. Clear this place out,” Jiang Xidai waved her hand casually and added, “Oh, right. Bring me a basket of plum blossom darts.”
With her here, the surrounding disciples were naturally a little reserved.
After all, Jiang Xidai usually stayed in Qionghua Hall and was not willing to come to crowded places.
As the Sect Master, the disciples below could often only see her from a distance and rarely got so close. Everyone’s reverence for Jiang Xidai was greater than their affection. Hearing the Sect Master tell them to leave, no one dared to be presumptuous.
Soon, a basket of hidden weapons was brought up, and the crowd dispersed.
Yan Huirou stared at the hidden weapons for a long time, pondering their use.
Could it be that she wants me to take these darts and shoot them at the wooden stakes in the distance?
But soon—
She found that her thoughts were a little too simple.
