Chapter 6 – Shizun, My Script is Wrong (Rebirth)

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Surrounded by green mountains and clear waters stood a quaint wooden house. Outside, a small wooden bridge connected to the house, built over a stream. The gurgling water reflected the blue sky and white clouds. It was truly a paradise secluded from the world.

Miaomu flew directly back to her residence from Sui An’s place.

She walked onto the small wooden bridge, looked down at her reflection in the stream, her smile forced, feeling lost and dejected.

A servant disciple saw her from afar. The spirit beast he was leading, a Water Crane, saw its master and began flapping its wings, dragging the servant disciple over to Miaomu’s side.

Miaomu stroked the Water Crane’s head and sighed helplessly. “I will be going to hunt demonic beasts in the next few days. Can you just endure for a few more days?”

The Water Crane let out a cry and lowered its head.

The servant disciple asked, “Senior Sister Mu, did you just go to deliver spirit stones to Senior Sister An?”

“Yes. From the looks of it, Junior Sister An’s injuries don’t seem too serious.”

The servant disciple’s eyes lit up, and he said joyfully, “Then did Senior Sister An give the spirit stones to you again?”

Miaomu shook her head.

“Huh? Usually, aren’t the monthly wages always given to Senior Sister Mu?” the servant disciple asked, confused. “Why did she suddenly accept them today?”

“Those monthly wages were never mine to begin with. There’s nothing wrong with Junior Sister An accepting them,” Miaomu glanced at him. “Don’t mention the matter of monthly wages in front of me again.”

“Yes.” The servant disciple asked meekly, “Then, Senior Sister Mu, when will my wages for this month be settled?”

Miaomu took out ten low-grade spirit stones and handed them to him. “I won’t be here for the next few days. I’ll have to trouble you to look after it.”

“No problem, Senior Sister,” the servant disciple smiled. “During this time, it’s all thanks to you for giving me this work. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to stay. I’ll take good care of the Water Crane, you can rest assured!”

Miaomu nodded.

“Senior Sister, I have a question.”

Miaomu smoothed the Water Crane’s feathers. “Go ahead.”

“This Water Crane’s combat ability is average. Everyone else uses them for transport, but I’ve never seen Senior Sister Mu ride it. Why do you spend spirit stones every month to support it?”

“It grew up with me. We have a bond.”

The servant disciple smiled. “So that’s how it is. Senior Sister is truly loyal and righteous. This junior brother is full of admiration. I won’t take any wages next month either, just consider it a small favor to help you!”

“That’s not necessary. I can still afford ten low-grade spirit stones per month.” Miaomu untied the rope from the Water Crane’s neck, and it immediately flapped its wings and went down into the stream.

Miaomu just stood there quietly, watching the Water Crane play in the stream. She leaned her hands on the railing of the small wooden bridge. Because she was gripping it too tightly, her fingertips turned white.

Sui An didn’t dare to rashly cultivate the technique that had suddenly appeared on her bed. She put the book away, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to absorb spiritual energy, infusing it into her Wood spiritual root.

Faintly, the runes flickered on the Wood root again. They seemed to be a part of the root itself, not carved on, but grown that way.

There was nothing unusual about absorbing spiritual energy.

Knock, knock! Someone knocked at the door.

Sui An opened her eyes. “Who is it?”

“Replying to Senior Sister, the Sect Master has ordered me to bring you a bowl of soup. May I come in?”

Sui An’s lips were still greasy from eating the Muzi Chicken. She had no desire to drink soup right now. “Just leave it on the table outside!”

“Yes, Senior Sister.”

Listening to the footsteps in the living area, and after confirming the servant disciple had left, Sui An got out of bed and went out of her room.

The soup on the table was still steaming. It was as white as goat’s milk, and she could smell the sweet fragrance of fish from a distance.

Sui An pursed her lips, feeling it was a shame to waste it. She patted her stomach; she could probably eat a little more.

She sat down, picked up the spoon, and stirred. A thin film that looked like milk skin on the surface was broken, and a wave of hot steam and rich aroma hit her face. Sui An scooped up a spoonful of soup. Just as she was about to drink, she suddenly put it down again. Instead, she took out a silver needle and tested the soup with it, checking to see if it had been poisoned.

[Host, this is a superfluous gesture. If someone wanted to harm you, they would definitely use a colorless and odorless poison that cannot be easily detected by a silver needle.]

Sui An put away the silver needle. She thought for a moment; anyone with slightly higher cultivation could have poisoned the soup brought by the servant disciple without anyone knowing. “Forget it, I won’t drink it. I’d better go to the Library Pavilion again.”

Checking the ancient records in the Library Pavilion only required being on the first floor.

Sui An stayed on the first floor for the entire day, constantly flipping through and checking the records, trying to see if anyone had the same situation as her. But after looking for a long time, she found nothing.

Sui An sat on the floor, surrounded by a pile of ancient texts. She read them one by one, feeling a bit dizzy. From time to time, she would rub her eyes, massage her shoulders, or stretch.

“Well, well, a rare guest. The day before yesterday, I heard someone say you came to the Library Pavilion to look for books. I didn’t believe it, but I didn’t expect you to actually come,” Yuan Nuannuan said with her arms crossed, her tone contemptuous. “But even if you’ve come to your senses, with your mediocre aptitude, it’s probably a bit late to start working hard now.”

Sui An looked up in a daze. Unknowingly, it was dawn again. Cultivation was truly a matter of entering a meditative state and a hundred days passing by, time flying like an arrow¹.

“Hey, did you hear me talking to you?”

Sui An rubbed her head. The heavy feeling made it take a long time for her to react. “I heard you. You’re very loud. Can you lower your voice?”

She put her hands on her hips and shouted, “I’ll be loud! What can you do about it?”

The huge library was extremely quiet even with many disciples reading. Yuan Nuannuan’s shout attracted everyone’s attention.

Seeing this, she cleared her throat. “What are you looking at… I’ll just be quiet.”

Sui An smiled. “Is there something you need?”

“Nothing. Just came over to laugh at you.”

Sui An straightened her back, her bones making a cracking sound. “But don’t you think you just came over to make a fool of yourself?”

“Sui An, what do you mean by that?”

“Young Miss…” Sui An stood up and added, “Would you please look around?”

Yuan Nuannuan turned her head and saw that everyone’s eyes were still focused on her. She glared and raised the whip in her hand threateningly. “Still looking? Believe it or not, I’ll whip you all.”

In an instant, the crowd dispersed.

Yuan Nuannuan turned back and saw Sui An’s lazy demeanor, as if she didn’t take her seriously at all. The scenery in her eyes was something Yuan Nuannuan couldn’t understand. The old Sui An would never have wasted so much breath; she would have started fighting directly, although she had never once won against her.

But the current Sui An’s aura was much more restrained than before. This, in turn, made Yuan Nuannuan scrutinize Sui An carefully.

She had unique features: deep-set eyes, lips that were neither thin nor thick, and a lazy smile that held a hint of untamed wildness. With every movement, she was already beginning to show a seductive charm.

This skin-pouch² was indeed quite beautiful.

Yuan Nuannuan quickly shook off the thought that had suddenly popped into her head. She was a bit annoyed and kicked over the ancient texts on the floor. Sui An, who had lost her place, shot her a glance.

“What are you looking at? Want to fight?”

[Host, the scan has found it. It’s by your foot.]

Sui An ignored the system. She squatted down, picked up the text, and read, “The full-body pain caused by the spiritual root when casting a spell is due to an incompatible technique. One must change the technique or change the cultivation method. This situation is mostly… mostly what?”

The characters that followed seemed to have been deliberately destroyed. Judging by the scratches, it must have been done some time ago.

Sui An frowned. Who would do such a thing?

“What, your whole body hurts when you cultivate?” Yuan Nuannuan quietly came up behind her and took a look.

“Yes and no.”

“So is it a yes, or a no?”

“You want to know? Take me to the second floor.” Sui An dropped the book, planning to go to the second floor to get a different technique.

Yuan Nuannuan snorted coldly and turned to leave, but Sui An grabbed the back of her collar and forcefully dragged her along.

“Sui An, are you crazy! Don’t you have your own token?” Yuan Nuannuan struggled free and took a closer look. There was no token to be seen. “Or could it be that the Sect Master has finally realized you’re a good-for-nothing and took back your token?”

Sui An’s gaze was indifferent. “Yuan Nuannuan, you’d better take back those words. Don’t let me hear them again.”

She spoke calmly, even with a smile. Although Sui An’s cultivation wasn’t high, it pressed down on Yuan Nuannuan’s heart, making it palpitate. It was like an insurmountable mountain; Sui An was already standing on its peak, while Yuan Nuannuan was still at the foot, looking up.

Yuan Nuannuan was stunned by her own thoughts, even her words came out stuttering. “But I’m not wrong… We’ve been fighting since we were kids, and you’ve never won once… so aren’t you… a good-for-no… stupid?”

“Just because I couldn’t beat you before, doesn’t mean I can’t beat you in the future.” Sui An patted her shoulder lightly. “You don’t have anything better to do anyway. Taking me to the second floor is just a small effort, right?”

Although Sui An was troubled by her Wood spiritual root, no matter how bad she used to be, she was still a Golden Core stage expert. Her use of Fire-element techniques was masterful. Her aura had long been engraved into her very bones and wouldn’t disappear just because she had been reborn.

“Fine. I was going to the second floor anyway, so I’ll just take you along!”

Yuan Nuannuan held her head high and chest out, leading her to the second floor.

They passed through the second-floor restriction barrier.

Sui An turned to look for a Wood-element technique.

The pressure from that one moment had vanished in a flash. Now, looking at Sui An’s back, she felt it was the same as before, lazy and scattered. Yuan Nuannuan had actually been frightened.

How could she possibly be frightened?

Yuan Nuannuan called out to Sui An, “Wait.”

“What is it now, Young Miss?”

“You’re already at the tenth level of Qi Refinement. It probably won’t be long before you can step into the Foundation Establishment stage,” Yuan Nuannuan said, walking up to her. “The Inner Sect Grand Competition is in three months. If you enter the Foundation Establishment stage, you will definitely participate. When the time comes, don’t lose too early.”

“We’ll talk about that when I reach the Foundation Establishment stage!”

Yuan Nuannuan crossed her arms. “Oh? Scared? Where did that imposing manner of yours go?”

Sui An glanced at Yuan Nuannuan.

She was still the same as in her memories, always looking for trouble with her. It was just that in the novel, Yuan Nuannuan’s later days were not very good.

Yuan Nuannuan was not favored by her family, which led to her being forcibly married off to the Sect Master of the Fentian Sect. No matter how unwilling she was, the Demon Slaying Sect had no right to interfere in a disciple’s family affairs. Moreover, Yuan Nuannuan’s personality had offended nearly every disciple in the sect, so no one was willing to help her.

It was also for this reason that all disciples from the mortal world were required to sever their worldly ties upon joining the sect. Only those who were already from cultivation families were exempt from this requirement.

Sui An looked at her with a hint of pity.

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Reika’s Notes:

• This text was translated by RudeGirl and given to BC Novels for publication.
• I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
• Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!

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Glossary

Water Crane (水鹤, shuǐ hè): A type of spirit beast.

Fentian Sect (焚天门, Féntiān Mén): The sect whose master Yuan Nuannuan is forced to marry in the novel.

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1. Time flying like an arrow (光阴似箭, guāngyīn sìjiàn): A classic Chinese idiom expressing how quickly time passes. It literally means “time is like an arrow.” The preceding phrase, “a hundred days passing by in a single meditative state” (一个入定就过百日, yī ge rùdìng jiù guò bǎirì), is a common trope in cultivation novels to emphasize both the long periods of time spent in seclusion and how cultivators perceive time differently.
2. Skin-pouch (皮囊, pínáng): A literary or sometimes Buddhist term for the physical body, implying that it is merely an outer vessel or “pouch of skin” for the soul or true self. Here, Yuan Nuannuan uses it to comment on Sui An’s physical beauty while trying to detach from the thought.