Liu Xiu: Handing Out the Dowry Already?

The inn, a guest room on the second floor. "Ah, that's just how it is. Sorry—I was in a bad mood that day. It's mainly that whenever I think about the matter of sect members killing each other..." Liu Xiu, seated in the chair by the table, did not go on. He only heaved a heavy sigh after finishing his account of the affairs of Mu Xue'er's sect. His gaze went to the ritual basin set beside the shed shell of the White Jade Cicada on the table—or more precisely, to the two graceful figures appearing in the water screen above the ritual basin. That is, Caiyi, and Bai Min'er, who had been called over to lend her support! "Ah, don't be sad, Fellow Daoist. After all, it's all in the past now. That villain who harmed his own sect members got the retribution he deserved, didn't he..." "That's right, that's right. Don't be sad, Fellow Daoist. It's all in the past..." Bai Min'er and Caiyi, far away at the Weibo Sect, spoke up one after another. The two women both stared fixedly at Liu Xiu as he appeared in the water screen formed by the Thousand-Li Voice Transmission—or rather, at Liu Xiu's handsome face. In truth, they had originally been ready to give Liu Xiu a good tongue-lashing, especially when Liu Xiu had proposed contacting them through the Thousand-Li Voice Transmission. But once they saw Liu Xiu's face... ahem, that is, once they saw that Liu Xiu was actually so grieved over someone else's troubles... they felt they had been far too petty and calculating. So they simply let it go—after all, it had all been a misunderstanding, hadn't it! Besides, there's a good saying, one that goes, "It takes a fight to make true friends!" And on top of that, Liu Xiu was so handsome, and would grieve this way even over a stranger—how could he possibly harbor any bad intentions! "Ah, I never expected you two Fellow Daoists to be so magnanimous. Truly, it lives up to the line: 'Her beauty topples the mundane world, her generosity surpasses any man's...'" Liu Xiu, who had thoroughly read the Three Hundred Tang Poems, produced it off the cuff. Then he went on: "No, no, no, that line's wrong. It should be: 'I knew the beauty's face was peerless, but never guessed her heart would surpass any man's.'" "You flatter me, Fellow Daoist..." ×2 Both Bai Min'er and Caiyi's pretty faces flushed red. But even as she blushed, Caiyi felt something was off. Wait, no—why was her senior martial sister answering that compliment and blushing too? The praise had clearly been meant for her, hadn't it! Caiyi felt a bit displeased! Soon, as Bai Min'er actively searched for a topic and brought up the word "the Fool," Liu Xiu took the opportunity to start talking about tarot cards and the constellations. Caiyi grew even more displeased! Damn it, I was here first! Watching Bai Min'er chatting and laughing so merrily with Liu Xiu, Caiyi felt that this senior martial sister of hers had no sense of propriety and was greedy for a man's looks. "There's nothing good-looking about a face like a ghost's!" Watching Bai Min'er chatting away so enthusiastically with Liu Xiu off to the side, Caiyi seethed inwardly. Then she saw Liu Xiu smile and turn to her: "I'd guess Caiyi Fellow Daoist's birthday must fall in August of the solar calendar—that is, the seventh month of the lunar calendar, right?" "Yes, yes, that's right! How did you know!" Caiyi immediately replied with a smile. Sure, Liu Xiu looked like a ghost, but then again, Liu Xiu was really quite handsome! Liu Xiu did look like a ghost, but this was a handsome ghost, all right! "Well, though I haven't talked much with Caiyi Fellow Daoist, I feel that you must be the kind of good girl who is obedient and sensible, who keeps to the rules, who is thoughtful toward her master, who is attentive and considerate, who is used to deferring to others—docile and gentle on the outside!" As he spoke, Liu Xiu was recalling the plot of the movie Demon Dao. Caiyi's cheeks flushed bright red at his words. "I... I'm not as good as you say!" "How could that be? In some ways, the foreign astrology is really quite accurate..." Liu Xiu said with a smile, adding silently in his heart: as accurate as a dog could be—glance at a horoscope and two of the lines are bound to match up. Greedy for a man! No sense of propriety! Watching Caiyi chatting away so warmly with Liu Xiu, Bai Min'er felt a bit displeased as well. Then, with a faint smile, she struck a parting blow: "Fellow Daoist may not know this, but my junior martial sister is to be married off before long. My master has already begun looking for a good family for her..." "I haven't even agreed to it!" Caiyi's eyes went wide, and she glared furiously at the damned busybody beside her. Then she quickly turned back to explain to Liu Xiu in the water screen: "A-Xiu, that's something Master arranged for me—I haven't agreed to it! And besides, I don't want to get married that early at all!" "Oh, oh, is that so..." Liu Xiu said. Seeing that the two women were about to come to blows, he quickly changed the subject: "I've noticed the two of you seem to know me? I don't recall ever telling you my name!" "Well..." ×2 Caiyi and Bai Min'er exchanged a glance and put on sheepish smiles. Caiyi beat her to it: "Senior Martial Sister beat up your senior martial brother yesterday!" "You hit him too, you know!" Hearing this, Bai Min'er's eyes went wide and she turned to look at Caiyi beside her. Liu Xiu, listening, stared at the two women, completely dumbfounded. "???" Wait, my senior martial brother really got beaten up? What the hell—he really did get pounded by a couple of young girls! Liu Xiu grumbled to himself, thinking it absurd. Then, as he listened to the two women recount what had happened, when he heard them say that Shi Jian really was fighting the female demon, his expression froze slightly. Have I gained the power to make my words come true?! Liu Xiu thought he'd have to find a chance to test it out sometime. Meanwhile, Bai Min'er and Caiyi began recounting how Shi Shaojian had gotten his beating. The account was simple enough. Bai Min'er glossed over it in a way that sounded rather absurd, while only Caiyi foolishly laid out the general process. The reasons Shi Shaojian got beaten were two: first, because Liu Xiu had cursed at Caiyi through the Voice-Transmitting Jade Pendant that day; and second, because Caiyi and Bai Min'er had been badmouthing Shi Shaojian at the time. Shi Shaojian immediately proposed a sparring match! And then... Shi Shaojian got beaten on the spot! If Shi Jian hadn't come back so quickly, and if Shi Shaojian hadn't been carrying so many magic treasures, he definitely would have ended up with a face like a swollen pig's head. "..." Useless at fighting, but just loves getting into it! Liu Xiu muttered to himself. He looked at Bai Min'er in the water screen, whom he couldn't beat, and at Caiyi, whom he—provided she didn't transform into the Seven-Star Witch—should, maybe, possibly be able to beat. Mm, Shi Shaojian didn't lose for nothing! And also, Senior Martial Brother, rest assured— your junior brother will definitely avenge you!! The whole thought lasted only an instant. Liu Xiu's face once again filled with shame and embarrassment as he said: "So that's how it was. I never expected that my senior martial brother being beaten by you two was also because of my careless words earlier..." "No, it's that your senior martial brother's eyes were just too annoying!" Caiyi blurted out at once. But the moment she said it, she realized she'd misspoken—she saw Liu Xiu frown slightly at her, then fall silent. Bai Min'er's lips curved up faintly, and she immediately changed the subject: "Fellow Daoist, your eyes and skin—this current look of yours, could it not be the result of taking some elixir pills?" Though she didn't understand alchemy herself, Qiu Chunan of the Chuanzhen Sect next door—that rather ugly-looking one—refined elixirs, so she knew a little about it. "Fellow Daoist has a sharp eye. That's right—I have indeed been taking medicine lately. A while back I happened to come by several immortal-aspect cultivation methods..." "Immortal-aspect methods? Could it be... jade-green eyes and square pupils!" Bai Min'er looked at Liu Xiu's eyes—gleaming with a green light—with surprise and astonishment. Feeling that she was quite well-informed, Liu Xiu said with a smile: "Min'er, you're very well-informed!" "Brother Xiu is too kind..." Bai Min'er said with a faint smile. Liu Xiu didn't mind that she was older than him and kept on chatting with her. The two talked away merrily, while Caiyi, watching from the side, pursed her lips, and the little person inside her wore a look of pure contempt. It was the same line as before: what's so good-looking about a face like a ghost's! Liu Xiu simply pretended not to see Caiyi's expression and went on chatting with Bai Min'er, taking the chance to also ask about the whereabouts of his master Shi Jian and Shi Shaojian. But before he could even get the question out, at the sound of a menopausal old woman's voice, Bai Min'er and Caiyi hurriedly said they'd talk later and cut off the Thousand-Li Voice Transmission. Liu Xiu did not put away the ritual basin. He simply picked up the shed shell of the White Jade Cicada from the table, then began counting silently to himself. He counted silently from one to thirty, and then Caiyi's weak little voice came from the jade pendant: "I... I didn't mean to badmouth your senior martial brother..." "It's fine, I'm not angry..." "Mm-hm, mm-hm..." Caiyi, seated on a meditation cushion in the corner of the Weibo Sect's main hall, listening to her own master explain matters of cultivation, let out a breath of relief in her heart. But she vaguely felt something was off, though she couldn't say what. She instinctively thought back to how the fault had originally lain with Liu Xiu, so Liu Xiu should have been the one to apologize—so why had it turned into her apologizing instead! How strange! But she couldn't figure out why! Just as she was about to think it over more deeply, she heard Liu Xiu's slightly embarrassed voice: "Um, was what your senior martial sister just said true? Are you really getting married?" "No, I haven't agreed!" "Oh, oh, then that's fine. Ahem, ahem, what I mean is, getting married too early isn't a good thing. Mm, right, yes, exactly, that's how it is!" Liu Xiu's stammering, explaining voice made Caiyi's beautiful eyes narrow, the corners of her mouth curving upward: "Why are you asking about this?" "Just curious!" "Oh..." Caiyi gave an "oh," the corners of her mouth curving up even more. But soon she frowned and said: "Why don't you ask whether my senior martial sister is getting married too? Mm, after all, you two were just chatting so warmly..." "Well..." Damn, why's this girl suddenly got a brain! Liu Xiu grumbled inwardly. But it wasn't a big deal—he had answered this question eight hundred times, if not a thousand. "What, are you jealous?" "Pah, I... I'm not!" Caiyi's stammering voice came through. But just as Liu Xiu was about to keep flirting, Caiyi's voice suddenly changed. An inhuman roar rang out, followed by a burst of noise and the flustered cries of Bai Min'er and the others. Liu Xiu, who all at once didn't feel much like flirting with Caiyi anymore, frowned. Just as he was about to listen more closely, a demonic sound suddenly came through from the other end of the Voice-Transmitting Jade Pendant. The demonic sound seeped out through the jade pendant, like the fine, faint sound of countless dry bones grinding against one another, drifting low and deep into Liu Xiu's ears. Hearing the twisted wails and venomous curses within the demonic sound, and finding it a bit noisy, he picked at his ear—and that very act made the demonic sound suddenly come through crystal clear. The demonic sound, faint as it was, now carried an aura that struck straight at the heart as it intoned: "The primal bonds fall into decay, the Three Qi perish; the Seven Stars stray from their courses, rebelling against the vault of heaven... Casting aside the profound edicts of the Three Pure Ones, scorning the laws of the Northern Dipper; discarding the True Lord's decrees, shattering the true seals of the jade registers..." Wait, is this cultivation method really this brazen?! Watching the wisps of demonic energy coiling around his body, Liu Xiu's brow furrowed. He had the feeling that if he kept listening, he was going to get struck by lightning. But the demonic sound did not let him off!