Saving the White Moonlight Chapter 6

Yan Zhuguang heard it, but her hands did not pause at all.
She held two dark red wooden sticks, pinched between her fingers like chopsticks. A clay jar hung at the waist of the thirteen-year-old girl. The wooden sticks in her hand tapped together, and from between the stems of the spiritual rice, she picked out a worm thinner than a little finger. She did not let it linger in the air. In the next moment, the two sticks entered the clay jar. When they came back out, the little worm between them was gone.
That little worm was a spiritual grain worm.
Spiritual grain worms were a rather special kind of spiritual insect. They had no attribute of their own, but whatever they ate, they would become that attribute.
The spiritual rice planted in Yimiao Sect’s fields was gentle and wood-attribute, and it grew in water. Because of that, most of Yimiao Sect’s spiritual grain worms had water and wood attributes. They had to be caught with things of fire, metal, or earth attributes, or they would escape.
Yan Zhuguang’s series of movements, catching and dropping the worms, flowed like water and clouds. There was no stiffness at all. It was very pleasing to watch.
The system could not help sighing. A beauty was a beauty. Even doing this rough work among the rice fields, she seemed elegant and calm, as if she were standing deep among flowers and picking green and red blossoms.
No. Now was not the time to admire Host’s heroic bearing.
“Wow, she really started talking to Senior Sister. Senior Sister is truly a good person. Even after seeing that her thoughts are not pure, she is not angry.”
“That Tao Zhi! She really is twisting black into white.”
“What does she mean, Host used your beauty to seduce the steward and push out other disciples? She loves lying so much. Does her family know?”
“Aren’t her parents already dead?” Yan Zhuguang said in passing.
The system: …
Host, that is not the point, all right?
The system felt that Tao Zhi was going to anger it to death. It knew she had a deep mind, but it had not known her thoughts were this vicious.
The cultivation world did not value a woman’s chastity as much as the mortal world did, but women who were seen as loose were still looked down on. Also, because some demonic female cultivators often raised their strength through dual cultivation and draining others, the righteous path hated sexual relations between people who were not cultivation partners.
If Tao Zhi’s rumor became accepted as truth, Host would have a hard time in the cultivation world.
That was why the system was angry. Fortunately, Senior Sister was not someone who believed only one side. She did not accept Tao Zhi’s words just because Tao Zhi said them.
Still, seeing that almost everyone else seemed to believe it made the system feel awful.
“Host, are you really not sad?” The system repeated Tao Zhi’s words to Yan Zhuguang in full, and in its heart, it regretted agreeing to Host using Tao Zhi to approach Senior Sister. Approaching Senior Sister was important, yes, but its host was also very pitiful, all right?
“Look at my appearance. Even without Tao Zhi slandering me, would other people not think crookedly?”
The system fell silent.
Its host’s appearance was the bright, seductive type. Although she was still a little immature, one could already see the rich, dazzling beauty she would have in the future.
Judging only by appearance, this sort of woman really was easy to suspect, even if she herself had done nothing…
“Host…”
The system again regretted being dazzled by beauty and forgetting that this world’s taste in beauty was so backward. It should have adjusted Host’s appearance to be like Tao Zhi’s. Look how much pity that sort of face could draw.
After thinking about it, the system felt it could not bear that either. Right now, Tao Zhi’s face made it feel sick.
Yan Zhuguang laughed softly. “What does this count for? As long as I am strong enough, who will dare say one bad word about me in the future? Whoever dares speak, I will beat them until they cannot open their mouth. Then who will dare gossip?”
Yan Zhuguang was very familiar with those looks and rumors. She had long passed the age where she would grow impulsive and angry over them. She knew that all explanations were useless. Mouths grew on other people’s faces, and hearts grew in other people’s bodies. Whatever they wanted to say or think, she could not control it.
However, as long as she was strong enough, those people who bullied the weak and feared the strong would learn to quiet down. That was the most effective solution.
The system’s settings did not let it have Yan Zhuguang’s mature state of mind, tempered by a lifetime of hardship. So even after Yan Zhuguang said this, it was still angry.
While angry, it still remembered Host’s warning and kept watching the situation there.
The people from Yimiao Sect traveling with Yun Mixue would normally not care about the crying complaint of a servant disciple. They might not even look at the person and would directly have someone drive her far away.
But this time was different. They were beside Lianji Immortal. How could they not perform a little and show their love for fellow disciples and hatred of evil?
At this moment, those people were already filled with righteous anger. They opened their mouths to ask the sect master to bring Tao Zhi back into Yimiao Sect and cripple the spiritual core of that vicious woman who had seduced the steward and pushed out a fellow disciple, then expel her from the sect.
The system had already seen Tao Zhi lower her head and secretly curl her lips.
It quickly looked toward Yun Mixue. Seeing that she did not show disgust like the others, only a thoughtful expression, it let out a breath of relief.
As long as Senior Sister did not believe it, that was good.
The system did not notice that, as a system meant to save the white moonlight, its heart had already tilted more and more toward its host.
“Senior Sister, what do you think?”
Chu Ningyan had also seen that this little girl named Tao Zhi had planned in advance to come complain to Senior Sister.
However, although she did not know whether the woman Tao Zhi mentioned had really seduced the steward and pushed out a fellow disciple, she had no good impression of that woman either.
In her view, a clap took two hands. Whether Tao Zhi’s words were true or false, this woman named Yan Zhuguang must have done something wrong to provoke Tao Zhi’s slander or complaint.
And because of the conflict between the two of them, they had come to disturb Senior Sister.
Yun Mixue felt somewhat troubled.
By reason, she should not interfere in Yimiao Sect’s affairs.
But it was very clear that these people of Yimiao Sect wanted to stand up for this little girl Tao Zhi because of Yun Mixue.
Yun Mixue did not think they should hear only one side and then easily believe Tao Zhi’s accusations against that woman.
Yet the situation now was exactly like that. If she did not interfere, the people of Yimiao Sect would try to please her and directly declare that woman guilty.
If that woman had been wronged, would Yun Mixue not share the fault?
After thinking it over, she still said, “As for what truly happened, it would be best to invite Miss Yan to explain as well.”
The people of Yimiao Sect echoed her at once.
“Exactly, exactly.”
“Senior Sister is still the thoughtful one.”
“A face-to-face confrontation is better, so that woman will not refuse to accept it.”
“I will have someone call that servant disciple here right now.”
“Wait,” Yun Mixue said. “If that woman is called here, who knows what the other servant disciples will think of her?”
“I have not yet been to the servant disciples’ area. I can also take this chance to see what is happening with the spiritual fields.”
After Yun Mixue spoke, the people of Yimiao Sect said again, “Senior Sister is truly kind. She is so considerate even toward a mere servant disciple.”
Looking at their faces, Chu Ningyan secretly gave a cold snort.
Seeing what was happening there, the system quickly told Yan Zhuguang, who was still tending the spiritual field, “They are coming, they are coming. They are on their way here.”
Tao Zhi had spent all her thoughts on scheming against people. She herself was not someone who seriously tended spiritual fields. Because of that, the spiritual grain worms in her field had truly spread everywhere.
Even with Yan Zhuguang’s skilled hands, after working for a while, she had only cleared about one-third of it.
Seeing that her clothes were plain and that mud had inevitably splashed onto her body, making her look rather poor and shabby, the system felt tangled.
Could it be that Host’s first formal meeting with Senior Sister would be in this state?
It wanted Host to dress beautifully, then make Senior Sister feel goodwill toward her. “Host, do you want to change clothes?”
“No.”
This was exactly how a servant disciple should look. If she changed clothes now, would that not confirm Tao Zhi’s slander?
A person who worked steadily would not be thinking about keeping herself bright and pretty while doing busy labor.
Yan Zhuguang acted as if she knew nothing. She kept doing what she should do.
So when Yun Mixue and the others arrived at the servant disciples’ spiritual field area, they saw a figure bent over the field, back to the sky.
At this hour, the other servant disciples had already finished their work. Only Yan Zhuguang, in order to manage the field Tao Zhi had left behind, was still busy now.
When Yun Mixue saw that figure, her heart stirred. It felt familiar.
Was this back not the same little girl who had gone to secretly listen to her lecture earlier?
The people Yun Mixue usually met were either respectful toward her like the immortal sect disciples, or full of praise like those from Yimiao Sect. This little girl was the first person who had run away as soon as she saw her. Yun Mixue’s impression of her was rather deep.
“She is Miss Yan?”
Tao Zhi said, “Yes. It is her.”
Her face looked a little sad. “I used to be very close with her. I never thought she would treat me this way.”
Yun Mixue remembered what Tao Zhi had said. Wasn’t the time when the spiritual field had been destroyed exactly when that little girl had come to listen to her lecture? Her doubt over the truth of this matter deepened.
Although Yan Zhuguang had said she would go secretly listen to the lecture, Tao Zhi could not have imagined that she would reveal herself in front of Yun Mixue, nor that Yun Mixue would happen to remember her.
The sect master circulated spiritual energy and shouted toward that back, “That servant disciple! The main sect’s eldest senior sister has personally arrived. Why have you not come up quickly to pay respects?”
The small figure was startled. She raised her head, revealing a little face stained with some mud and water. Cultivators had good eyesight, so the confusion in her eyes was clearly shown before Yun Mixue.
After a moment, the little girl seemed to react. She did not know where to put her hands. The wooden sticks in her hands were neither thrown away nor properly held. In the end, she kept pinching them and jogged over.
Yun Mixue found this child truly interesting. The curve of the smile on her face deepened without her noticing.
“Yan Zhuguang greets Immortal.”
The little girl, only in her early teens, bowed to Yun Mixue in a proper manner, then bowed one by one to the sect master and the other disciples she did not know. Since she did not know what to call them, she simply called everyone “my lord” or “my lady.”
After greeting everyone, she naturally saw Tao Zhi, who had come with them.
Surprise entered her expression. She said, “Tao Zhi, why are you back?”
Before Tao Zhi could speak, she added, “Are you worried about your spiritual field? I told you long ago that you were really too careless in tending it. I have been busy for several days and still have not finished catching the spiritual grain worms in the field.”
“But don’t worry. I will definitely help you take good care of it.”
Yan Zhuguang finished speaking like she was pouring beans from a bamboo tube. Tao Zhi was choked silent by her words, and her expression twisted slightly.