Shu Fu and Ye Shusheng, two young cultivators who were complete strangers, managed to anger a water snake demon together—one due to a lack of virtue, the other due to a lack of sense.
Shu Fu had originally intended to slip away quietly. Who knew that Ye Shusheng would make such a racket, exposing their traces? Moreover, he chased closely after her silhouette, leading the furious snake demon on a chase for three whole miles in one breath.
In the end, Shu Fu had no choice but to stop and help him defeat the enraged beautiful snake demon.
Looking back on the incident afterward, both held a grudge, each convinced the other was a walking disaster.
"I don't understand,"
After defeating the snake demon, Ye Shusheng argued his case to Shu Fu, "It's one thing for the snake demon to chase you, but why was she angry with me? After I explained myself to her, she got even angrier! Even if she is a demon, what's wrong with me standing guard for her, protecting her from harassment? It's what a gentleman ought to do!"
Shu Fu: "But she wanted to be harassed."
"Fellow Daoist, what kind of talk is that?"
Ye Shusheng turned angry, "Even if she was just bathing in a mountain stream, even if she were... ahem in a busy marketplace, it doesn't mean she wanted to be harassed! And you a woman yourself, how can your thinking be so backward?"
Shu Fu: "Uh... So you're saying she can be provocative, but not only will you not harass her, you'll also protect her from being harassed by others?"
Ye Shusheng stated firmly: "Correct!"
Shu Fu: "..."
Great. Meeting such a paragon of Chinese masculinity, all the female demons in the world who feed on essence might as well close up shop.
Logically speaking, the "scholar" profession has always been most popular with all sorts of charming and amorous spirits, occupying half the territory in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," with romantic encounters enough to circle the globe three and a half times.
However, Ye Shusheng, as a hardcore gentleman and an extraordinary scholar, managed single-handedly to strangle all romantic fate and chance encounters in their infancy. He walked his own path, leaving no road for "Strange Tales" to follow.
Shu Fu was impressed, truly feeling inferior.
The two of them ran wildly along the valley, unknowingly they had already left the valley floor and arrived at an open, flat mountainside. Looking back at the mountain stream, it extended upward along the slope, continuously, pointing straight towards a distant, snow-capped peak.
Judging by the shape of the peak, Shu Fu thought there might be a crater lake at the top, like the legendary "Heavenly Lake." To her eyes now, it looked exactly like an RPG game's boss point.
It seemed she had found the right place this time.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, I want to go check out the source."
Out of a sliver of camaraderie forged through shared hardship, Shu Fu asked Ye Shusheng, "What about you? Where are you planning to go?"
"Man strives upwards, water flows downwards. Naturally, I shall also ascend."
Ye Shusheng replied readily, "If you don't mind, Fellow Daoist, we might as well travel together. Of course, regarding the Crimson Pearls, it's each according to their ability, each taking what they need."
Shu Fu: "I do mind. Let's part ways here. I'm afraid you'll steal my kills."
Ye Shusheng: "..."
Shu Fu: "Goodbye. Take care."
Ye Shusheng: "Wait!"
In the end, because Ye Shusheng was worried he might once again meet an unclear end in a snake's mouth due to his excessively high moral standards, he reached an agreement with Shu Fu. He would prioritize helping Shu Fu achieve her mission objective, in exchange for Shu Fu traveling with him and reminding him at any time of any potential death flags he might encounter.
Ye Shusheng: "Having said that, I still don't think I did anything wrong."
Shu Fu, while counting the Crimson Pearls she had obtained, sincerely comforted him: "You're not wrong. It's the world that's wrong."
To be fair, Ye Shusheng's given name was Ye Xiao, his style name "Shusheng," so calling him "Ye Shusheng" wasn't wrong—he was indeed a rare and fine man: upright, passionate, broad-minded, respectful of women. Apart from being just a little bit clueless about romance, there really wasn't any fault to find with him. Teaming up with him, Shu Fu was quite happy and at ease.
To her surprise, Ye Shusheng was not a sword cultivator, but a Foundation Establishment stage body cultivator, practicing a hardcore style similar to Golden Bell Cover and Iron Shirt. Compared to blades and swords, he was more skilled with fists and palms; essentially, he was a meat shield tank.
As for that unremarkable-looking black iron sword, he bought it casually by the roadside. Because in his view, "wearing a sword" was an indispensable part of a gentleman's etiquette.
Shu Fu: "Uh..."
Brother, your character has too many points to criticize; I won't bother listing them all.
And so, Shu Fu, carrying along a meat shield with a built-in evil-repelling aura, went all out and slashed to her heart's content, cutting through thorns and thistles all the way as if entering an uninhabited realm. Occasionally, other examinees encountered them on the road, and without exception gave them a wide berth, mostly watching Shu Fu slice through monsters like vegetables with looks of either terror or "what the hell" in their eyes, then silently slipping away one by one to find other places to farm monsters.
"..."
Shu Fu slowly formed a question mark in her mind, "Fellow Daoist Ye, are cultivators these days so civilized and courteous? They're too polite, I'm almost embarrassed."
"..."
Ye Shusheng responded internally with a string of ellipses, glanced at the solitary light sword in her hand, now indistinguishable from its original color, and answered honestly, "They're avoiding us not because they are civilized, but because they are afraid you might not be."
By sunset, the two were almost at the peak. The surrounding scenery changed accordingly, the temperature gradually dropped, and fine, willow-catkin-like snowflakes began to drift in the air.
Shu Fu looked up at the sky thick with dark clouds, thinking the atmosphere felt rather sinister—probably close to the boss point. She was just about to turn and remind Ye Shusheng to be careful when suddenly, a shrill, piercing scream, "Ah!", cut through the sky like lightning.
Ye Shusheng jolted in alarm: "That's a woman's voice! Fellow Daoist, go quickly and see!"
A vein twitched at Shu Fu's brow: "May I ask, why me?"
Ye Shusheng said urgently, "Isn't it obvious? What if it's a female cultivator in danger, with her clothes in disarray? If I go, I'd inevitably be constrained and hindered, very inconvenient. Fellow Daoist, you go first. If there's any trouble, throw some clothes over her, and I'll follow right after!"
"Fine."
Shu Fu was once again amazed by his prudence.
Truly, as long as I am straight enough, no romantic benefits can catch up to me.
Shu Fu actually didn't like meddling in other people's business, but considering the boss battle was imminent, an extra helping hand would be good. So she followed the sound of the scream, sword in hand, and burst into a dim, deep pine forest.
This pine forest was no ordinary place. The moment she stepped into the woods, her vision went dark. A chaotic, cacophonous flapping sound erupted as dozens of enormous crows, like a mass of dark clouds, swooped down towards her head!
In that split second, the thought that flashed through Shu Fu's mind was:
My heavens, so many points!
Farming points brings joy, climbing the leaderboard brings excitement.
Driven by this powerful motivation, Shu Fu took a deep breath, angled her sword tip upward, poured all her strength into the blade, focused her entire spirit into a single line, and swung along that line with a swift, lightning-fast sword flash.
In an instant, blood flowers bloomed.
The Lonely Light Sword lived up to its name as a weapon that could slice through iron like mud. Where its edge passed, the crows touched by the sword wind fell to the ground one after another, flapping their wings in panic and scattering in all directions to flee.
Shu Fu chased after them, making up for a missed opportunity from start to finish, transforming the fallen crows into Crimson Pearls and gathering them up. Only then did she cautiously follow the sound of voices deeper into the forest.
Soon, she found the source of the woman's scream.
Deep within the cedar forest stood an ancient tree that towered into the clouds. Its trunk was entwined with a vine resembling ivy, dense and tangled, covering nearly half of the tree. Amidst the flurry of fine snow falling from the sky, that vine was a vibrant, dripping green, with countless fresh, tender leaves fluttering in the wind as if growing in the sunny warmth of March, exuding a blatantly eerie aura.
And that eerie green vine was now tightly coiled around a young girl. Just as Ye Shusheng had anticipated, the scene at this moment was indeed somewhat "improper to look upon."
"Help! Help! Let me go, let me go!"
By the time Shu Fu arrived, the girl's voice was already hoarse, her throat nearly raw from screaming. She struggled desperately to break free from the vine, but the tendrils were like venomous snakes—the more she struggled, the more relentlessly they tightened around her limbs, binding her entire body until she couldn't move, trussed up like a green, human-shaped zongzi.
"Young lady, stand still right there!"
Shu Fu acted decisively. With a flick of her finger, her sword, Guguang, which shared a connection with her will, soared into the air and shot toward the girl like a meteor chasing the moon. The blade was as agile as her own wrist, and with two swift swipes, it severed all the vines clinging to the girl.
"Catch this!"
Remembering Ye Shusheng's advice, Shu Fu pulled off her own outer robe without hesitation and tossed it toward the disheveled girl. Immediately after, she thrust her sword at the vine again.
Seeing the girl standing there dazed and unmoving, Shu Fu's heart gave a sudden jolt, and she shouted, "Why aren't you running?!"
"Ah! R-right!"
The girl snapped back to reality, turned in a panic to flee, but her legs gave way. She hadn't taken two steps before she tripped over a tree root, performing the world's classic, universal flat-ground fall.
Even more classically, Ye Shusheng happened to catch up at that very moment and ran straight into her.
"Aiyo!"
"Huh?"
In an instant, the shrieking girl tumbled headlong into Ye Shusheng's arms. Face to face, head to head, it seemed they were about to enact the inevitable, standard outcome...
Then, something unexpected happened.
Ye Shusheng: "Fellow cultivator, catch her! Hah!"
He planted his feet in a solid horse stance, unleashing a display of masterful, hard-style martial arts. His entire body became like an indomitable Vajra Buddha, with an impenetrable protective aura expanding half an inch around him.
Thus, the girl who was about to make intimate contact with him was forcefully repelled by that omnidirectional, fully activated aura at a distance of half an inch.
Repelled.
Sent flying.
Flying.
...
Shu Fu: "Fellow Cultivator Ye, what are you doing?!"
In her urgency, she had to leap into the air to intercept the girl hurtling sideways, preventing her from falling once more into the clutches of the rampaging vines.
The girl, having first fallen and then been mysteriously repelled, was dizzy and weak. Shu Fu had no choice but to support her legs with one arm and wrap the other around her back to keep her upright, lest she accidentally end up headfirst.
In simple terms, it was the so-called "princess carry."
Shu Fu caught the girl in this pose, using the momentum to spin once in mid-air to dissipate the force before landing steadily with her in arms. "Are you alright?"
"..."
Silence.
In the silence, a faint, sharp intake of breath was heard, followed by a voice as thin as a gossamer thread, barely audible: "Th-thank you."
The voice was delicate and melodious, like the chirp of an oriole, carrying a hint of shy hesitation. If Shu Fu and Ye Shusheng weren't, respectively, straighter than a ruler, it might have melted their bones on the spot.
Shu Fu looked down. The girl was curled in her arms like a frightened little rabbit, her face flushed pink, her large, dark eyes glistening with unshed tears—utterly endearing.
"Thank you for saving my life, fellow cultivator. May I ask how to address you? My surname is Lin, and my name is Lin Xiaomei."
"Xiaomei..."
The name had a distinctly rustic flavor. Shu Fu couldn't help but ask further, "Fellow cultivator, were you born into a mortal family?"
Lin Xiaomei nodded. "Yes. I was born in a mortal village. My family was poor, but I wanted to cultivate, so I ran away alone, following a passing immortal master. That master taught me cultivation and directed me to come to the Jiuhua Sect to seek apprenticeship..."
"I see."
Having roughly understood the situation, Shu Fu asked no more. Instead, she joined Ye Shusheng to face the enemy, one attacking, one defending, working together to repel the menacing, clawing vine.
After about the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, the dust settled.
Seeing that dusk was approaching, Shu Fu tore the now-shattered green vine from the tree, piled it up for firewood, and retrieved various wild game like pheasants and hares from her storage pouch, starting to set them up for roasting over the fire.
There were also the small yellow croakers she had casually scooped from the mountain stream, coated in sauce, sprinkled with cumin, grilled over charcoal until golden—enough to make any child in the neighboring village cry with envy!
As Shu Fu's first teammate, Ye Shusheng unceremoniously sat down, eating until his mouth was shiny with grease, and declared with utmost seriousness, "One must eat their fill to have the strength to fight."
Shu Fu wholeheartedly agreed, promptly snatching a chicken leg from his hand and gesturing for Lin Xiaomei to eat some as well.
Lin Xiaomei reached out to take it, timidly raising her head. "Thank you, fellow cultivator. Um... that... may I call you Ruoshui?"
"Call me Shu Fu. It's my courtesy name," Shu Fu stated without changing expression, telling a barefaced lie.
Speaking of which, this Miss Lin...
The way she was looking at her... why did it feel a bit off from every angle?
Could it be that by replacing Ye Shusheng in completing the series of steps—heroic rescue, deep eye contact, princess-carry spin—she had made the beauty fall in love at first sight, triggering the yuri branch of a romance novel?
It must be an illusion, Shu Fu thought.
Regarding the specific process of Jiang Ruoshui's entrance exam in the original work, her memory was fuzzy. She only remembered the female lead encountering danger repeatedly within it, coincidentally bumping into Qi Yuxuan, and repeatedly narrowly escaping disaster through further twists of fate. During this process, Qi Yuxuan was injured by a poisonous demon beast, and the female lead, without a word, sucked the venom out for him... Well, let's not dwell on that; it wouldn't happen anyway.
She just needed to be careful to avoid being injured by poison herself.
"By the way, you two fellow cultivators..."
Lin Xiaomei hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking, "Are you... planning to go to the mountaintop?"
Shu Fu replied frankly, "Indeed. Since we've come here, we should at least catch a glimpse of the legendary great demon. We can always run if we can't defeat it."
Ye Shusheng was shocked. "What? You'd run?"
Shu Fu was equally shocked. "Otherwise? Wait to die?"
Ye Shusheng: "Naturally, we should all join forces—"
Shu Fu: "—and get eliminated together?"
Ye Shusheng: "..."
"Be kinder to yourself and your teammates, brother."
Shu Fu patted Ye Shusheng's shoulder, advising earnestly, "We're here for an exam, not to vanquish demons and monsters. Earn enough points and that's sufficient; no need to perish together with the final, hardest challenge."
"You have a point."
Witnessing Ye Shusheng's dejected appearance, even the shy and timid Lin Xiaomei couldn't help covering her mouth with a light laugh, though the corner of her eye remained intently fixed on Shu Fu.
Catching Lin Xiaomei's gaze inadvertently, Shu Fu's heart gave another little jump.
Had she really unlocked the yuri route?
In her memory, the female lead Jiang Ruoshui had extremely poor rapport with other women. Over eighty percent of the female characters in the book were her love rivals, another ten percent were passersby, and the remaining ten percent were cannon fodder who died because of her. She finally managed to befriend a kindred spirit for mutual support in the Jiuhua Sect, but that sister, under Fang Wanqing's coercion and inducement, turned traitor and became the biggest accomplice in stabbing the female lead in the back.
If she could change the female lead's failed relationships with other women and become a generation's handsome 'T' in the eyes of others, perhaps that would be a good thing.
However,
this was her first time playing the role of a scholar. In this world, were these serendipitous romantic encounters, just like in the tales of "Strange Tales," really so commonplace?
At this very moment, at Yaoguang Peak.
Deep within a secluded valley, a waterfall cascaded down a cliff face like a silken ribbon into a pool, its spray like scattered pearls and jade, forming a broad curtain of water.
Now, this water curtain served as a screen, projecting in real-time the scenes unfolding within the Purple Jade Pot.
""
Jiang Xuesheng, Liu Ruyi, and Yun Ying from Tianxuan Peak were gathered, either sitting or standing, watching the water curtain before them with varied expressions.
A fish head occasionally surfaced in the pool, blowing bubbles. "How's Little Junior Sister? How is Little Junior Sister?"
"She's doing just fine. In good health, eating well, and her peach blossom luck is quite flourishing."
Liu Ruyi flashed a radiant smile and casually tossed something into the pool. "Stop worrying needlessly, Third Junior Brother. Enjoy your oysters."
The fish head sank into the water with a plop, followed immediately by the evocative sound of chewing.
On the other side, Jiang Xuesheng leaned lazily against a bluestone, his manner relaxed as he asked Yun Ying, "Yun Ying, what do you think? Tianxuan Peak has investigated all the trial participants. You should have a good idea about those two traveling with my disciple."
"Correct."
Yun Ying's pretty face was stern, her answer concise. "Ye Xiao and Lin Xiaomei, neither lied about their background. Ye Xiao was a foundling, raised from childhood by a female cultivator originally from the Xuanyu Palace—the 'mother' he speaks of. After that cultivator perished, he came to Xianyun Terrace alone."
"As for Lin Xiaomei, she was indeed born in a mortal village, her family poor, the whole village living off farming. Her origins are clean. Perhaps unwilling to accept her fate, she left her parents and hometown as a child and ran off with a passing cultivator."
Jiang Xuesheng lifted his eyelids slightly, asking nonchalantly, "And that cultivator was?"
"A disciple of Master Jinghai."
Yun Ying answered truthfully. "Lin Xiaomei came up the mountain this time also out of admiration, hoping to become a disciple under Master Jinghai. However, given her aptitude... Master Jinghai has exceedingly high standards. I'm afraid he won't give her a second glance and likely won't be willing to take her in."
As the head disciple of Tianxuan Peak, Yun Ying had a sharp eye for judging innate talent. Lin Xiaomei's bone structure was frail, her spiritual power meager, offering little hope on the path of cultivation.
Jiang Xuesheng gave a low chuckle. "Then she's in for hardship. Fu'er has a soft heart. If she becomes friends with her, she'll certainly find it hard to bear."
"Then, have her come to us?"
The silvery fish head surfaced once more. "Junior Sister's junior sister, I can."
"Any junior brother or sister, I think you'd accept anyone."
Liu Ruyi teased him with a laugh, but before the words fully left his mouth, Jiang Xuesheng rapped him on the shoulder. "Ruyi, I recall you left a mark on a bird within the Purple Jade Pot. Can you attach a strand of your spiritual sense to that bird and have it follow Fu'er?"
"I can, but..."
Liu Ruyi's face showed puzzlement. "Sir, is there a problem? We both know the temperament of the one inside the Purple Jade Pot. He won't harm Junior Sister."
Jiang Xuesheng waved a hand dismissively. "Just a precaution. Go on."
Full of doubts, Liu Ruyi muttered to himself, "The older the ginger, the spicier," and complied, separating a strand of his spiritual sense. Through the mark left in advance in the Purple Jade Pot, he attached the sense to a bird.
This way, Liu Ruyi could share the bird's senses and also speak to Shu Fu.
Of course, this was provided the bird wasn't dead yet...
Liu Ruyi: "Ah."
When his senses synchronized with the bird's, the first sight that greeted him was Shu Fu, one hand gripping its neck, the other holding a knife, placing it against the bird's slender neck and moving it back and forth as if searching for the right spot to cut.
Shu Fu: "Brother Pheasant, ah, don't blame me. Ye Shusheng's appetite was too big, I didn't get enough to eat just now. I can only trouble you..."
Just as she was about to swiftly bring the knife down, Liu Ruyi hurriedly cried out, "Junior Sister, spare the chicken!"
""
Shu Fu was greatly startled, abruptly releasing the chicken's neck. The small knife in her hand clattered to the ground. "Holy crap, Brother Pheasant gained sentience?!"
"Wait, what did you just call me?"
""
Only then did Liu Ruyi catch his breath, shaking off his disheveled feathers, and said plaintively, "Junior Sister, it's me, your pheasant senior brother."
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