I Find Her Disgusting Chapter 41

But when Yan Huirou looked up, the scent from Jiang Xidai’s body had already drifted away.
?
Yan Huirou opened her eyes in confusion. The woman had retreated several steps, her soft sword, A Ten-foot Soft Red, slowly drawn from its umbrella sheath and pressed against Yan Huirou’s heart. “Watch closely. You’d better have learned something over these past few months.”
What…
Why is she teaching me swordplay again?
Then what was she doing just now?
The heat on Yan Huirou’s face had yet to fade. She dazedly scooped up a handful of spring water and splashed it on her face.
The icy water helped clear her head a little.
But as Jiang Xidai demonstrated the sword forms again, Yan Huirou found it difficult to focus. Her heart couldn’t seem to quiet down, as if a small part of it was being constantly tugged.
Although Sect Master Jiang was ferocious at times, in this regard, she was still a good teacher. When she was seriously teaching, she rarely made idle conversation.
But what was her original intention again?
It seemed her first thought was to torment Yan Huirou.
But somewhere along the way, she had started to become invested.
After all, Yan Huirou’s talent was not poor—of course, how could the female lead’s talent be anything but exceptional? Jiang Xidai had never taught someone with such a pure and outstanding constitution.
However, Yan Huirou seemed a bit off while practicing the sword today, her mind wandering.
She wasn’t like this before. Whether it was practicing the Emotion Burning Art, dragging rice sacks up the mountain, holding stances, or leaping across plum blossom posts, Yan Huirou had always persevered despite her lack of strength. Most of the time, she grasped the methods as soon as they were explained. Especially when she was quietly studying Daoist scriptures, her aptitude was truly one in a million.
After she made the same mistake twice in a row.
Jiang Xidai struck her hand with her sword. The flat of the soft blade could be used like a whip, and a red mark instantly appeared on Yan Huirou’s arm.
She let out a muffled grunt, her grip loosening as the sword fell to the ground once more.
Jiang Xidai felt a sting of pain herself. She gently touched the spot on her own arm and said coolly, “How many times is that? Don’t waste my time. If you can’t practice the sword, you might as well learn something else.”
Yan Huirou lowered her head. “…I’m sorry, Sect Master.”
She bent down to pick up the sword and continued to mimic the stances, but it was clear from her eyes that even as she tried to concentrate, her mind was still unsettled.
She waited for a long time, but Jiang Xidai said nothing more.
That small, tugging feeling in her heart fell away, leaving a sense of emptiness.
“How boring.” Jiang Xidai turned to leave. “I’m tired of teaching. That’s enough for today.”
But just as Jiang Xidai was about to depart, Yan Huirou, in a moment of panic, grabbed the sleeve of the arm she held behind her back.
“…Sect Master Jiang.”
Yan Huirou called out to her softly, then lifted her gaze and said gently, “Since you find it boring and we’re not practicing swords anymore, could I go for a walk with you?”
“…”
It was a very sudden invitation.
Jiang Xidai said, “I have no desire to go out. You can go by your—” She had been about to say, “Can’t you go by yourself?” but the words caught in her throat as she realized something wasn’t right.
Yan Huirou had been under her explicit orders to remain confined, forbidden from taking a single step outside the Shasheng Sect without permission. After all, the female lead was a prize that everyone in the cultivation world wanted to snatch away. Jiang Xidai could only keep her under close watch.
Jiang Xidai’s eyes shifted back to Yan Huirou. Her gaze was lifted, shimmering with a hint of moisture that made the beauty mark by her eye seem all the more sorrowful. She gently rubbed the red mark on her arm, her expression a mixture of hope and a subtle, sense of grievance.
What’s there to be aggrieved about?
If you weren’t so distracted, would I have struck you?
Jiang Xidai grumbled inwardly, glancing at Yan Huirou.
She thought she understood why Yan Huirou was distracted.
Perhaps she had been cooped up in the Shasheng Sect for too long.
After all, she had been relentlessly tormented for the past few months without a single day of rest.
Even someone cast from molten copper would have to crack eventually.
It was normal for a girl her age to have a bit of a playful heart.
“…Where to?”
Yan Huirou replied that as long as they were together, anywhere was fine. She wasn’t asking for much, just a stroll down the mountain.
Jiang Xidai lifted Yan Huirou using her usual method. In the past, Yan Huirou would worry that she was too heavy, but ever since she had learned the true weight of that embroidered umbrella—
Yan Huirou was relieved. In Sect Master Jiang’s hands, her weight was no different from a soaring eagle carrying a chirping chick. It was practically nothing.
Jiang Xidai rode a current of wind without any particular destination in mind, landing when she spotted a market town in the distance.
But before entering the town, at Yan Huirou’s repeated suggestion, she changed out of her thin gauze robes into something a bit thicker.
Hmph, giving me instructions on what to do is really quite irritating.
I shouldn’t have come with this little brat.
Upon entering the town again and seeing the bustling crowds, Jiang Xidai stopped in her tracks. “Yan Huirou, you go on your own.”
This was just a small market town, far from any of the major sects, with no cultivators gathered. Yan Huirou had trained for a while; she wouldn’t be abducted by mere mortals.
She could afford to keep some distance from Yan Huirou.
Yan Huirou looked back in surprise. “Why? Don’t you want to look around, Sect Master? The atmosphere of the mortal world is so strong here, completely different from the Shasheng Sect.”
“What’s so interesting about a crowd of people?” Jiang Xidai was dismissive of Yan Huirou’s taste, a corner of her mouth twitching. “Besides, those people are all cowards. If I were to truly show myself, they would all run away, and you wouldn’t get to see any ‘atmosphere of the mortal world’.”
Yan Huirou was silent for a moment. “It’s alright.”
“You won’t be disappointed?”
“How could I be?” Yan Huirou replied warmly, taking Jiang Xidai’s hand. “I’ve never been disappointed when you’re with me. Looked at that way, the town isn’t that interesting. Why don’t we walk in the countryside instead?”
She naturally proposed an alternative. Although it wasn’t obvious, Jiang Xidai could sense that Yan Huirou was being very considerate of her feelings.
“As you wish.”
Jiang Xidai showed no outward reaction to this quiet kindness.
But perhaps the Sect Master herself had forgotten, because she actually allowed this young girl to hold her hand. She had wanted to shake it off in annoyance, but their hands remained linked until they had wandered to a nearby, unnamed river, where Jiang Xidai finally pulled away.
Wildflowers bloomed by the riverbank. Perhaps due to the warmer weather, the snow on the nearby mountains had melted, and the small river gurgled merrily as it flowed around the outskirts of the town.
“It seems like you rarely come out on a normal day.”
“Don’t talk about me. You’re not exactly the active type either.”
Yan Huirou smiled. “That’s because… who likes climbing a mountain while dragging two heavy sacks of rice? I was too exhausted to appreciate the scenery. You can’t say I’m not active because of that, it’s not fair.”
Jiang Xidai said, “Hmph. So young, yet you have such a sharp tongue.”
Yan Huirou replied, “A walk like this is very nice. Other than that one time by mistake, this is the first time I’ve been on a real outing.”
Jiang Xidai had no great passion for outings. Perhaps she once enjoyed lively places, but after everything she had been through, she no longer did. Times had changed, and she didn’t feel much of anything about it.
“Yan Huirou.”
“Hm?”
“I’m craving a bayberry Sweet Ice Mountain. But it always melts so much when I have it sent up the mountain. Your skills are decent, go back and learn how to make it.”
“Alright.”
“And milk cakes.”
“Alright.”
“Last time, I heard Wen Xianyin mention a type of pastry with flower petals inside. It sounded good. I forgot the name, but you should remember it.”
“Flower petal pastries? Okay, okay… You really love sweets. If you eat them like this all the time, won’t you get a toothache?”
Jiang Xidai subconsciously raised a hand, pressing her knuckles to her cheek as if checking for pain. Then, seeing Yan Huirou smiling at her, she whipped her sleeve in annoyance. “What toothache? How could I be troubled by such a minor ailment?”
“It’s good if it doesn’t hurt, of course,” Yan Huirou said, blinking. “But one shouldn’t have too much of anything.”
They walked side by side, chatting idly for a rare moment, neither knowing how they had started talking about such mundane things.
Jiang Xidai occasionally forgot that the person before her was the “female lead” she needed to be wary of. She spoke with Yan Huirou as if she were just some young girl she had randomly snatched from the outside world.
Lately, Jiang Xidai sometimes found herself thinking this way.
If only that were true, it would be nice.
If the Shasheng Sect had one more person like this, she probably wouldn’t throw her out.
After all, judging Yan Huirou on her own merits, she really wasn’t that disagreeable.
Their walk lasted until evening. Before returning to the Shasheng Sect, Yan Huirou decided to go into the market town to buy some ingredients for the desserts.
Jiang Xidai still wanted to have a taste, so to prevent the vendors from running away, she waited for her in the outskirts again.
Yan Huirou returned quickly, carrying large and small bags, likely afraid of making her wait too long.
But she didn’t return alone. With her was another… strange-looking, fuzzy thing of an indiscernible color. It had pointy ears and a long snout and was cradled in Yan Huirou’s arm, letting out low whimpers.
Jiang Xidai stared for a long while before realizing it was a dirty dog, so filthy its fur color was impossible to tell.
She frowned. “I don’t eat dog meat.”
Besides, this one was so skinny, it wouldn’t taste good anyway.
Yan Huirou’s clean clothes were now stained with muddy water and disheveled.
She struggled to stuff all the bags into her Storage Ring, then carefully and tenderly held the dog with both hands.
“Sect Master Jiang, this isn’t for eating. I saw it in the market. Its leg was run over, and it could only lick dirty vegetable leaves on the ground to survive, but it still has several children to feed… It was so pitiful, so…”
“If you brought it back, wouldn’t its puppies be even more miserable? How is this a good deed?” Jiang Xidai said flatly.
“How could that be?” Yan Huirou smiled, lowering the large dog in her arms slightly to show her.
To Jiang Xidai’s indescribable gaze, the heads of two tiny, dark puppies popped out from the collar of Yan Huirou’s outer robe.
The whole family of filthy, smelly dogs that hadn’t been washed in centuries was now on her. It was a mystery how Yan Huirou could stand the stench.
Yan Huirou even patted their heads, her eyes looking softly at Jiang Xidai. “Sect Master, can I raise them at the Shasheng Sect?”
“The Shasheng Sect does not take in dogs.”
Jiang Xidai raised her sleeve, disgustedly covering her nose and mouth.
“Is it really not possible?” Yan Huirou’s brow furrowed. “But its leg is broken, and it’s dragging two little ones along. They’ll starve to death. Sect Master Jiang, all living things have a spirit…”
The female lead’s holy light seemed determined to blind her, making Jiang Xidai’s eyes ache.
She moved her hand up slightly to rub her brow.
[Beep! Female Lead favorability -1]
[Beep! Female Lead favorability +1]
[Beep! Female Lead favorability -1]
“Stop.”
Her mind was in turmoil from Yan Huirou’s fluctuating emotions. Jiang Xidai lowered her hand, intending to scold her for bringing back such unnecessary trouble.
But as the words reached her lips, they left a bitter taste. Although Jiang Xidai had never liked the title of “Oath of the Golden Orchid,” she had…
Tried all sorts of methods before, even speaking her true feelings, and hadn’t managed to lower the girl’s favorability. In fact, it had even gone up—
And now it was dropping because of a few dogs?
On what grounds?
Jiang Xidai glanced at the wretched animals, frowning in thought for a moment. “You can bring them back, but they are to be kept in your Bright Moon Pavilion. They are not allowed in my Qionghua Hall.”
Yan Huirou’s eyes curved into a smile. “I knew you were a good person, Sect Master.”
[Beep! Female Lead favorability +1]
[Beep! Female Lead favorability +1]
Yan Huirou’s voice was gentle as she thanked her, but compared to the polite deference of their first meeting, it was now much more intimate. She was like a bayberry, growing sweeter and more delightful the longer one spent near her.
Sect Master Jiang was satisfied with this.
But after the satisfaction passed.
She suddenly felt that something wasn’t quite right.