Chapter 386: Is Master Tired of Us?

“I will protect the umbrella sword with my life. If you can find the Yin-Yang Pearls for me, I will definitely hand over the umbrella sword, Abbess Jiunan.” Ye Wenxin couldn’t help but reveal the terms of the agreement first. Abbess Jiunan nodded lightly, her true emotions hidden, but it seemed she had lost interest in fighting for the umbrella sword.

This alone showed that Abbess Jiunan’s character was far superior to that of Abbot Shimie.

They were still walking, and before reaching her room, Ye Wenxin saw Gu Xiangsi sitting on the threshold. She was holding an axe and seemed to have fallen asleep while waiting for Ye Wenxin.

Ye Wenxin walked up and gently woke Gu Xiangsi from her slumber. “Xiangsi, why did you fall asleep here?”

Still a bit groggy, Gu Xiangsi rubbed her eyes and replied, “Of course, to be with you—I mean, to protect you, Sis.” As she spoke, she noticed Abbess Jiunan nearby, and a hint of vigilance appeared in her eyes.

Abbess Jiunan nodded slightly and smiled, saying, “I won’t disturb you two from resting, Benefactors, but please remember that this is a place of Buddhist purity, so do exercise restraint in all matters.”

Ye Wenxin felt that Abbess Jiunan had misunderstood something, but she didn’t bother to explain further. However, Gu Xiangsi was elated, her mind racing with thoughts of what they might do together that night.

After Abbess Jiunan left, Gu Xiangsi tried to follow Ye Wenxin inside, but the door shut in her face. Ye Wenxin tossed out a ‘good night’, effectively shutting Gu Xiangsi out.

“Sis, let me stay with you!”

“No, go get some rest; we’ll be heading back to Yangzhou City tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Gu Xiangsi was overjoyed and left for her own room in a good mood. Ye Wenxin let out a breath, really not wanting the baby-faced, buxom Gu Xiangsi to jump her on their last night here.

She released the umbrella sword, expecting the Yin-Yang ghosts to rush over for their meal, but they seemed to be quite disdainful of Ye Wenxin’s current attitude.

“If you’re hungry, eat on your own. I’m going to sleep.” Realizing that her excessive behavior a few days ago had instilled fear in the Yin-Yang ghosts, Ye Wenxin didn’t mind and closed her eyes to rest.

The two ghosts watched as Ye Wenxin actually fell asleep, and cautiously approached to absorb Yin energy from her, but their movements were guarded, fearing that Ye Wenxin might do something that would leave them incapacitated for the entire day again.

However, Ye Wenxin remained unusually calm today, which the Yin-Yang ghosts were somewhat accustomed to.

“Do you think Master is tired of us?” Ghost Mother asked Sword Ghost. She wondered why Ye Wenxin seemed to have become so reserved with them after meeting that Ah Jiu girl.

“It’s possible. Anyways, if she keeps going ten or more times a night, my Yang Pearl might actually come out.” Sword Ghost smiled wryly, but she suspected that Ye Wenxin wasn’t truly searching for the Yin-Yang Pearls. Even if there were hundreds of Yin-Yang Pearls, given Ye Wenxin’s relentless methods, those pearls would have been depleted by now.

Sword Ghost’s face show a hint of anticipation just thinking about it.

Ghost Mother and Sword Ghost were originally one being, and despite their different personalities and thoughts, they shared a twin-like resonance and could even sense each other’s feelings. Sensing what was going through Sword Ghost’s mind, Ghost Mother continued dissatisfiedly, “Xiao Ri Ri, you’re too spineless. How could we let a human control us so easily?”

Sword Ghost, puzzled, responded, “Huh? But haven’t we already been obtained?”

Ghost Mother fell into an awkward silence, not knowing how to smooth over her previous words. She could only continue, “In any case, we can’t let Master keep bullying us like this. We need to resist and learn to say no!”

Sword Ghost nodded in a half-understanding way, feeling that Ghost Mother made a lot of sense. The two ghosts then began to discuss how to turn the tables and become the masters, instead of always being submissive.

Ye Wenxin, half-asleep, heard their chatter and found it a bit noisy. She casually pulled one of the ghosts over and kissed her ghostly horn. “Shut up and sleep.”

She coincidentally grabbed Ghost Mother, who struggled even more fiercely. “You’re not the master! You’re a slave! My slave!”

Her voice only grew louder, and Ye Wenxin, sensing killing intent, restrained Ghost Mother’s ghostly hand. In a conditioned reflex, she began to discipline Ghost Mother.

“You wretched slave, let go of me!”

“Get off! I don’t want—I don’t want this!”

But then, her voice gradually grew softer, and Ye Wenxin sensed something was off. She opened her eyes and realized, to her embarrassment, that she had acted on reflex again. With an awkward smile, she said, “Sorry, conditioned reflex.”

Ghost Mother was already in tears, feeling utterly humiliated by Ye Wenxin. She thought that Ye Wenxin would stop once she regained awareness, but instead, she felt Ye Wenxin’s hand pause briefly before continuing. “But since we’ve already started, we might as well see it through.”

“No! No, you wretched slave… Master…”

Meanwhile, Sword Ghost, watching from a distance, quietly retracted her rebellious thoughts. She wanted to retreat back into the umbrella sword to avoid the impending disaster, but Ye Wenxin seemed to notice and continued, “I’m too tired—let’s just do this together to save time.”

With that, a force pulled Sword Ghost in, so quickly that even the ghost herself didn’t understand how it happened. Looking again, Ye Wenxin had returned to her true form, a wicked grin on her face as she said, “Let me show you what true art is.”

As she spoke, she lightly snapped her fingers, and red flowers appeared on the bed, covering the Yin-Yang ghosts. Ye Wenxin began to play amidst the sea of flowers.

Unseen by her, the third set of peach blossom petals on her back slowly opened, and the peach blossom chains revolved around the Yin-Yang ghosts. They inhaled the fragrance, and felt as if they had an endless supply of energy.

As the saying went—

Two bodies secretly damp with fragrant sweat,

Waves of spring breeze waft through a jade vessel. 

As pleasure smooths the path for the sharpened sword, 

The pearl is transported along Zhejiang¹. 

Pressing against the pillow on the mattress, as if truly intoxicated, 

Add another cup after drinking, arguing like usual.

A little bit of philandering brings endless ruin,

Wenjun slanders the skinny Xiangru².³

……

Another night had passed, and Ye Wenxin once again transformed into her young form. When she got up to check, she noticed the changes in the tattoo on her back. The third and fourth sets of peach blossoms were slowly blooming, resembling skill bars, and representing new changes in Ye Wenxin.

“This special ability really treats itself like a skill tree. It’s even appeared on my back.” Ye Wenxin reached back to touch them, but the location was quite tricky to access; aside from the ones around her neck, she couldn’t touch the other peach blossoms at all.

At the same time, her back had become her most vulnerable and sensitive area. Ye Wenxin contemplated whether she should buy some soft armor to better protect her back from harm.

While she was thinking, a knock sounded at the door. Ye Wenxin got dressed and went to open it, only to find Gu Xiangsi and Wang Cuihua.

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Footnotes:

1. 1. Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province in China. It’s known as “the backbone of China”, as it is a major driving force in the Chinese economy. ↩︎
2. 
   2. There are two notable figures in Chinese history named Xiangru. The first is Lin Xiangru, a general and politician who served the state of Zhao during the Warring States period. The second is Sima Xiangru, a poet during the western Han Dynasty, who named himself after Lin Xiangru. ↩︎
3. 
   3. The only reference I managed to find about this entire poem is the novel “中国十大禁书之国色天香” by Wu Jingsuo. It’s entirely in Chinese, but if you’re curious, the ebook is available on Project Gutenberg. ↩︎

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TL: Holy f, that poem delayed me so much in translating this chapter, mainly in trying to find a good reference, which is only in Chinese, and then trying to make it make sense in English. I’m not entirely sure it’s accurate.