Chapter 37 : Feeling Wronged
37: Feeling Wronged
The convoy returned by the same route, arriving back at Chaoquan Peak on Jinyun Mountain in late February. Fu Peibai brought Ding Yi to meet everyone at the back mountain. Within two days, Ding Yi's outgoing and lively personality had made him familiar with everyone.
Fu Peibai also returned to her life before descending the mountain. Working during the day, practicing martial arts in the morning and evening. On the surface, life seemed as usual, but something was indeed different. Even someone as thick-headed as Meng Yan could tell.
One day, the two were practicing martial arts in the cave as usual. Fu Peibai's sword movement paused, a momentary look of loss appearing on her face, as if thinking of something. The next moment, Meng Yan rapped her forehead.
"Why have you been like you lost your soul since coming back? When I ask you, you won't say. You're moping around all day. Just looking at you is irritating."
"I'm sorry... Brother Meng," Fu Peibai said dejectedly.
Meng Yan pulled a book from his robes and tossed it at her. "You didn't slack off while down the mountain. Your movement technique has improved considerably. Now you can start practicing internal cultivation. Take this book and figure it out yourself. Internal cultivation isn't like external martial arts. It can't be taught through demonstration. You have to experience it yourself."
On the yellowed pages were three large characters: "Water Cloud Manual." Fu Peibai opened it and looked. The entire text was filled with densely packed small characters.
"Brother Meng, is this a yin-attribute internal cultivation method?"
"Mm. Normally men mostly practice yang-attribute techniques. But I heard from A-Ruo that you have abundant yin energy in your body. I figured you might be more suited to practicing yin-attribute internal cultivation, so I found this for you."
Fu Peibai frowned and thought for a moment. "Brother Meng, I want to practice a yang-attribute technique."
Meng Yan looked puzzled. "Why? Your body isn't suited for yang-attribute cultivation. Forcing it might produce the opposite effect."
"I want to learn."
This wasn't a small matter. Meng Yan said seriously, "Little Bai, you must give me a reasonable reason, otherwise I won't agree."
Fu Peibai was silent for a long while before speaking. "I can't tell you right now, but I definitely need to learn a yang-attribute technique. Please, Brother Meng."
Meng Yan also fell silent. He knew Fu Peibai's stubborn nature. Once she decided something, she wouldn't easily change her mind. After a while, he said helplessly, "Alright. In a few days I'll find a suitable yang-attribute internal cultivation method for you. But you must promise me that once your body starts showing rejection, if there's any discomfort, you'll stop immediately. Can you do that?"
Fu Peibai nodded.
After their conversation ended, they left the cave. After walking a few steps, they encountered Lu Qingwan.
Meng Yan knew well the entanglement between these two. He found a random excuse and slipped away.
Fu Peibai greeted listlessly, "Greetings, Second Young Miss."
Lu Qingwan looked at her with resentful eyes. "You've been back so many days. Why haven't you come to find me?"
"Affairs on the peak have been complicated. I couldn't get away. Besides, this humble one has no reason to disturb the Second Young Miss."
Lu Qingwan bit her lower lip. Her heart felt extremely wronged. She, the Second Young Miss of the Heavenly Pole Sect, had repeatedly gone out of her way to show goodwill to a mere servant, yet the other party didn't appreciate it at all. Where was she supposed to put her face?
"Why don't you like me?"
Although everyone on the mountain knew Lu Qingwan had feelings for Fu Peibai, and even Fu Peibai herself understood this clearly, this was the first time Lu Qingwan had so directly expressed her feelings.
Fu Peibai froze, not knowing how to answer for a moment.
Whether one likes someone or not, what reason can there be?
She thought for a moment and decided it was better to cut the knot quickly. So she said directly, "This humble one already has someone in my heart. So please don't persist with me anymore, Second Young Miss. I'm just an ordinary person with nothing to my name. I'm not worth your affection."
Tears gathered in Lu Qingwan's eyes. She felt humiliated yet unwilling to accept it. "What kind of person is the woman you like?"
Fu Peibai's expression softened, and even her tone grew much gentler. "She... is the most wonderful woman I've ever seen in this world. Cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Though she doesn't like to show her feelings, she always quietly performs kind deeds. She..." Before Fu Peibai could finish, Lu Qingwan loudly cut her off.
"Enough!"
Two lines of tears fell down Lu Qingwan's face. She turned her head away and said loudly, "I won't wish you well, and I won't give up either. What I, Lu Qingwan, want, including people, can only be mine!" After saying this, she lifted her skirts and ran away.
Fu Peibai stood in place, her expression stiff, as if struck by lightning.
If time could turn back, she would return to that day of gathering herbs. She definitely wouldn't go down into the ravine to save Lu Qingwan. Instead, she would go find help.
She sighed and walked toward the back mountain.
Meanwhile, Lu Qingwan ran crying all the way into Bamboo Grove Cottage and threw herself into Lu Yanran's arms.
"Sister, Sister..."
Lu Yanran lightly patted her back and asked, "What's wrong, Wan'er?"
"Fu, Fu... Peibai." Lu Qingwan was crying so hard she couldn't speak clearly, unable to get a complete sentence out for a long time.
Lu Yanran frowned. "What did he do to you?"
"He doesn't like me. Why doesn't he like me?"
A-Fu stood silently to the side, thinking to herself that everyone up and down this peak had long known Little Bai didn't like you. So the Second Young Miss was only realizing this now.
Lu Yanran didn't know how to comfort her and could only silently stroke her back.
When Lu Qingwan had cried enough, she raised her head, her face streaked with tears, sobbing slightly. "He said he has a woman he likes."
Before Lu Yanran could speak, A-Fu exclaimed in surprise, "Ah? Who is it?"
"I don't know. But he praised that person like she's a celestial being. This good, that good. Where in the world is there such a perfect person?"
Lu Yanran's gaze flickered slightly. She asked softly, "How did he describe her?"
Just talking about this made her angry. Lu Qingwan said indignantly, "He said she's the most wonderful woman he's ever met. Beautiful and kindhearted, treats him well, not a single flaw to be found. Sister, tell me, did he just make that up to reject me? He's on the mountain all day. How come I've never seen such a person? Or did he meet her during these months he was down the mountain?"
Lu Yanran lowered her eyes slightly, her voice flat. "Whether he made it up or such a person truly exists, if he has no interest, you shouldn't keep pursuing him. Father wouldn't allow you two to be together anyway."
Lu Qingwan had been able to get whatever she wanted since childhood, and the person she liked was no exception. She raised her chin firmly. "I want him. Anyway, sooner or later I'll make him like me. Father also said that as long as it's someone I truly like, regardless of their background, as long as they treat me well, he would support it."
"Sister, neither Nurse nor Uncle Qu support me. You're on my side, aren't you?"
Lu Yanran hesitated a moment, then nodded.
Lu Qingwan seemed to have gained a powerful backer. A smile bloomed on her face again. "Then Sister, you must help me. He's from your peak. He'll definitely listen to you."
"Alright."
After that, Lu Qingwan began frequently visiting Chaoquan Peak again. Wherever Fu Peibai was, she followed. This matter became a topic of conversation for everyone in the Heavenly Pole Sect over tea and meals.
Ding Yi, who knew Fu Peibai's true identity, was nearly beside himself with glee over this matter, but could only chuckle to himself secretly.
One day, Fu Peibai was reading the internal cultivation manual in her room during her lunch break as usual. Many parts of this book were obscure and difficult to understand. After a rough reading, she still couldn't comprehend it, so she read through a second time with extra care.
Her eyes had just swept past two lines when someone knocked on her door. She set down the book and went to open it, discovering one of the guards from Bamboo Grove Cottage standing outside. She felt a surge of delight. Could the Peak Master be looking for her? She quickly asked, "Does the Peak Master have need of me?"
The guard nodded. "The Peak Master asks to meet you for a brief talk at the back mountain bamboo grove at sunset."
Fu Peibai was overjoyed and repeatedly agreed. Since returning from Fanshan, she hadn't seen Lu Yanran for over ten days. Naturally, she missed her terribly.
Having received this happy news, she couldn't calm down to read anymore. She might as well finish all the afternoon's work in one go, then changed into clean clothes to wait for the appointed time.
The sun gradually sank westward. She began to feel nervous, pacing back and forth in her room. When dusk finally fell, she checked her appearance in the bronze mirror, confirmed everything was neat and proper, then went out and headed straight for the back mountain bamboo grove.
She jogged along the forest path, withered branches crunching beneath her feet.
Only when a white-clad figure appeared in the distance among the trees did she suddenly stop, her heartbeat quickening sharply. She broke into a run toward it.
"Peak..." She had only called out one word when the woman turned around and smiled at her. A lovely, charming face, but not the face she dreamed of.
Her excited expression faded. She stared at Lu Qingwan before her in confusion. "Second Young Miss, why is it you?"
Lu Qingwan had specially dressed up today, wearing an elegant yet refined white dress. Her face was lightly made up, her hair adorned with pearl hairpins. She called out intimately, "A-Pei."
Fu Peibai retreated two steps. The hairs on the back of her hand stood up. She swallowed and said, "Second Young Miss, please just call me by my full name."
"I don't want to. I want to call you A-Pei. If others can call you that, why can't I?"
Fu Peibai avoided her gaze and asked, "Wasn't it the Peak Master who asked me to come here? Why is it you, Second Young Miss?"
"Hmph, it's because you wouldn't come out when I looked for you. I had to ask my sister to invite you out. You'd have to listen to her."
Fu Peibai frowned, her face looking rather grim. "The Peak Master... helped you invite me out?"
"That's right. Since you wouldn't agree with me. Next time I'll have my father summon you. Let's see if you dare avoid me then."
As soon as Lu Qingwan finished speaking, Fu Peibai turned and ran. This infuriated Lu Qingwan, who stomped her foot hard. Watching the figure running farther away, she shouted loudly, "Fu Peibai! Stop right there!"
Fu Peibai paid no heed. A nameless fire now burned in her heart, driving her to run to Bamboo Grove Cottage. The guard still wouldn't let her in, so she stood outside the courtyard and shouted, "Peak Master! I have something to ask you."
Soon a voice came from inside.
"Let him in."
Fu Peibai pushed aside the hand blocking her way, rushed into the small courtyard, and directly pushed open the room door. She saw Lu Yanran just rising from the bed, clearly having been taking an afternoon nap.
The restlessness in her heart faded somewhat. Through the thin bed curtain, she stared fixedly at that hazy, slender figure.
"Peak Master, why did you help the Second Young Miss invite me out?"
Lu Yanran sat leaning against the bed, her voice flat. "Wan'er is my younger sister. She begged me to do such a small thing. What reason would I have to refuse?"
A sour feeling spread through Fu Peibai's heart. She frowned and said, "I don't like her."
"Feelings can be cultivated. After spending time together, feelings naturally growing is a common thing."
Fu Peibai's eyes went wide, her voice rising. "No! That won't happen. I will never like her!"
Lu Yanran didn't say anything more. The room fell into brief silence. After a while, she finally spoke. "You're only seventeen. Young hearts are most fickle. Not liking someone today doesn't mean you won't like them tomorrow."
Fu Peibai gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Her voice wasn't loud but was exceptionally firm. "No. Definitely not."
Lu Yanran went silent again. The room filled with a quiet, heavy atmosphere.
"Does the Peak Master hope that I and the Second Young Miss will be together?" This short sentence was extremely difficult for Fu Peibai to ask.
"What does it matter whether I hope for it or not regarding matters between you two? Wan'er has feelings for you, so naturally I hope her love will be returned. But if you have no feelings for her, matters of the heart cannot be forced."
Lu Yanran spoke in a detached tone, as if the matter had nothing to do with her. These words were spoken plainly and naturally. Fu Peibai closed her eyes briefly. Her heart screamed, say it, say it, the one I like is you. Tell her, right now!
Yet no matter how her feelings surged from the bottom of her heart, she couldn't bring herself to speak them aloud. She could only take a deep breath, suppressing the impulse that kept rising up, and said calmly, "In that case, I earnestly request that the Peak Master no longer play matchmaker for the Second Young Miss and me. As for the Second Young Miss, I will explain to her again."
"This humble one takes leave." After saying this, she performed a formal bow of departure and left the room.
In the room that had returned to silence, after a long while, a faint sigh was heard.