Chapter 780 - 782: Meeting Xiaosi
Muyu spoke up discontentedly, "Who does he think he is? Why do we have to hand over our swords? Our weapons are no ordinary pieces, what if they get lost?"
Chenfeng glared at him and said, "Calm down, don’t cause trouble. How will you protect the master if you refuse to hand in your sword? It isn’t worth it to have a fall out with the Huashan Sect."
Bai Ruozhu nodded and, looking at the crowd, said, "Those who are willing to hand in their swords may do so in the Sword Washing Pool, and two people should stay here to guard them. Those who do not wish to hand in their swords can stay here as well, there’s no need to force anyone. After all, I will descend the mountain after I meet my brother."
The young man from the Huashan Sect grumbled to hear that Bai Ruozhu was going to leave two people to watch over the swords, murmuring, "You’re scared of your own shadow."
Bai Ruozhu pretended not to hear and asked him, "I wonder how I should address our little Master?"
"Thinking of asking my name so you can complain about me later? I’ll be generous and tell you, I am Concealed Clumsy, the fifth disciple of Elder Xuanmiazi. Feel free to complain about me to my master, and see if what I said is not according to the rules of the Huashan Sect," the young man replied.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but curl her lips. Concealed Clumsy huh? It’s not a very logical name.
"Master Concealed Clumsy need not worry. I’ve merely come to pay a visit to my relatives, not to create enemies," said Bai Ruozhu, raising her hands. "I don’t have any weapons. Can I go in now?"
Jianqi was closely following behind and placed his black golden Treasure Sword in the Sword Washing Pool. Concealed Clumsy glanced at the black golden Treasure Sword and a hint of envy flashed in his eyes.
Following this, Chenfeng also placed his sword in the pool, another remarkable piece. Despite Muyu’s discontent, staring daggers at Concealed Clumsy, he still reluctantly removed his sword and placed it in the Sword Washing Pool as well. The other people also successively placed their swords in the pool. Jianqi left two people to guard the pool, then they proceeded towards Mount Hua.
Who knew that the Sword Washing Pool was still at some distance from the Huashan Sect? Everyone’s stomachs were growling from hunger before they even arrived.
Bai Ruozhu had to order everyone to rest and have some dried food to fill their stomachs.
As everyone sat down to rest, a group of people walked up from below. Their number was less than Bai Ruozhu’s party, only ten in total, but it was clear they were not from the Huashan Sect.
Among them was a little girl around thirteen or fourteen years old. Her face was clearly that of a developing young girl. She cheerfully asked Bai Ruozhu, "Sister, are you from the Huashan Sect?"
"No, I’m here to find someone. And you all?" Bai Ruozhu sneakily observed them. These were obviously people of martial arts skills, perhaps from some sect as well?
That little girl seemed to be naive and simply replied with a laugh, "Hee hee, we’re from the Bihai Sect. It’s our first time in Zhongyuan. We’ve visited a few sects and today we want to challenge the young disciples of Mount Hua. We want to see if the martial arts of Zhongyuan are more powerful or if ours are."
Bai Ruozhu paid close attention to the little girl and noticed that her eyes were amber. She was supposedly the color-eyed person mentioned in Danliang Country’s records. Because of the backlight, and also since she didn’t really pay attention to the group earlier, she didn’t notice it before. Looking closely now, everyone in the party had some attributes of people from the Western Regions. However, a young man looked very cold, with black eyes, much like people from Zhongyuan. Only, he was extremely tall, probably nearing 1.9 meters.
An older man among the girl’s group gave a haughty glance to Bai Ruozhu. Seeing that she didn’t really possess much martial arts skills, he disdainfully said, "Yu Yao, why do you even bother talking to such hodgepodge? Don’t you care about your status?"
The girl named Yu Yao poked out her tongue, winked at Bai Ruozhu, and said, "Sister, I’ve got to go now. You must come and cheer for me when we challenge the Huashan Sect!"
Bai Ruozhu just smiled without saying anything. She wouldn’t be able to cheer for this girl. Xiaosi is a disciple of Huashan Sect, she wouldn’t undermine her brother’s sect’s reputation, right? Plus, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to side with the Western Regions people to humiliate those from Zhongyuan, or else her own subordinates wouldn’t stand for it.
Once the group left, Bai Ruozhu shrugged at Jianqi and said, "I just casually mentioned to that Concealed Clumsy that some people were coming to challenge the Huashan Sect. I didn’t expect it to be true."
"we should pick up our pace so we can watch the spectacle," Jianqi’s eyes gleamed.
Bai Ruozhu knew martial artists enjoyed watching duels and said, "Then let’s get moving once we’re done eating."
Because of her slow pace, they had wasted quite a bit of time. She thought for a bit and then said, "Chenfeng, Muyu, you two help me move faster. This way we can increase our speed a little."
Chenfeng and Muyu both shivered. Would their mistress kill them? Or cut off their hands?
Bai Ruozhu saw that both their faces turned green and she couldn’t help but start laughing, saying to Jianqi, "You help me instead, don’t mind them."
This time Chenfeng and Muyu were much more obedient, having no objections to Bai Ruozhu’s suggestion. They just hoped they were not the ones to carry her. As for Jianqi, they let him fend for himself.
Jianqi wouldn’t disobey Bai Ruozhu’s orders; he helped her move up the mountain, and the speed of the party indeed increased quite a bit.
After a while, Bai Ruozhu finally saw the majestic palace of the Huashan Sect. It was much grander than she had imagined. She originally thought the Huashan Sect was comprised of a few simple huts. It seems the Huashan Sect’s disciples were quite numerous.
Just as they arrived, the people from the Bihai Sect had just entered. The young brother announcing their arrival mistakenly assumed that they were also people from the Bihai Sect. Bai Ruozhu quickly corrected him and said that she is from the Bai Family of Beiyu City, coming to visit her brother, Bai Zeqing.
"Oh, you’re Zang Feng’s sister. I’ll let him know. But you can’t bring so many people in," said the young brother.
Bai Ruozhu quickly understood that Xiaosi’s disciple name in the Huashan Sect is Zang Feng.
"Alright, thanks for your help. I will be bringing ten people in and the rest will wait outside the hall," said Bai Ruozhu.
The young brother nodded, "That’s better. Zang Feng will be delighted knowing his family is here. I’ll go tell him now."
The young brother dashed off, returning in no time to say, "The Sect Leader said you can go in. I’ve also sent someone to fetch Zang Feng. He will be here from the back mountain in no time."
Bai Ruozhu thanked the young brother, saying, "Thank you, young man. My little brother is but a child, thank you for taking care of him."
The young brother scratched his head and replied cheerfully, "What care? He’s supposed to be higher in ranking than me, only he doesn’t have airs and is younger. That’s why I refer to him by his name."
Bai Ruozhu continued to exchange pleasantries with the young brother before entering the Huashan Sect along with Jianqi, Muyu, Chenfeng, and the other seven.
She hadn’t walked far into the main hall when she spotted a slender figure agilely jumping down the mountainside, like a little monkey.
"Sister, why are you here?" His tone was full of surprise and excitement. Xiaosi’s face broke into a grin, visibly overjoyed at seeing Bai Ruozhu.
Bai Ruozhu pulled him into an embrace, ruffling his hair while asking, "Do you fear that I’ll scold you, or do you wish for me not to come?"
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Since it’s my son’s birthday today, we’ve been out playing all day, refusing to go home, so Mouka’s updates were delayed. I’m 25 Chapters behind now, but will strive to catch up. Will definitely make it up tomorrow...