Maoshan Sect's disciples had relatively decent living conditions with two disciple per room. The pale green walls of the wooden huts were a refreshing scene. In the female disciple's quarters grew several peach blossom trees, while in the male disciple's quarters were blue willow trees. Separating the two dwellings, a wall divided them. There was also a narrow stream that ran along side the wall.
The young child guided us to an empty room, smiled and said, "The number of female disciples in our Maoshan Sect is few, including you two, there would be six altogether. And also, our Eldest Senior Sister has gone down the mountain to cultivate. Our Third Senior Sister's body is not well so she is has gone home to recuperate and isn't present at the moment. Second Senior Sister and Fourth Senior Sister have left for some duties, but will be coming back shortly. The two of you are able to meet them later tonight."
Yin Zi quickly gave his thanks, "Little child, thank you for bringing us here."
The young child's expression became stern, in a serious manner he said, "Maoshan Sects hierarchy is ranked in order of entry, you two should address me as One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Senior Brother."
Yin Zi who had lived for over two thousand years suddenly fell to the ground.
"But you two are very beautiful, much more beautiful than Third Senior Sister," One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Senior Brother continued to say, "There are more male than females here at Maoshan Sect, so in the future if you befriend and socialize with the senior brothers, they will give me profits to help them deliver their love letters."
"Can I give you profits instead so that you can help me not deliver the love letters....." Yin Zi lay on the table weakly, his face extremely sorrowful.
"Then that will depend on who gives the most profits." One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Senior Brother happily bid us farewell and left.
My eyes curiously wandered east and west exploring this new territory. Yin Zi stood frozen next to the wall making circles with his fingers, "The days in the future will be full of hardship....."
I must find out where Xiang Qing's room is, sneak into his room at night, and use my previous strategies to capture his heart. This wonderful idea was discarded by Yin Zi. He said it was too unreliable, and that we should become more familiar with one another before deciding on a plan. Moreover, there were barely any other woman up the mountain so Xiang Qing was basically in the palms of our hands.
Because of this, I've temporarily suppressed my feelings of longing and wholeheartedly focused on helping Yin Zi tidy up the room. As the sun slowly descends the western sky, sounds of laughter and chit chat travelled into our dwelling area. Yin Zi grabbed hold of me and led me towards the source of this sound. In our eyes, we saw two girls walking towards us, one in a yellow dress and the other in green. When the two met eyes with ours, their expression stilled.
The girl in green walked forward to introduce herself, her name was Yang Yi Lan, the Fourth Senior Sister. The girl in yellow introduced herself as Liu Wenzhi, the Second Senior Sister of Maoshan Sect. Seeing that they had a new additions of female disciples, the two became excited and intrigued.
Yang Yi Lan led us back to her and Liu Wenzhi's room. With a grin on her face, she asked, "You two have also come to Maoshan Sect in search of your fated other half?"
"Not everyone is like you....." Liu Wenzhi softly spoke.
I didn't understand her words, and asked, "What fated other half?"
"Ai! This mountain holds more men than women therefore all the male disciples are in the palms of us females. In the future, if you find a handsome and rich Daoist, you won't have to worry about eating and drinking expenses!" Yang Yi Lan very simply expressed her thoughts, "Because of this reason, my mother paid a large price to send me up this mountain! She says that if I don't bring back a handsome and rich husband, then I'm not to return home!"
Liu Wenzhi once again gave her opposing ideas, "Don't say it like that.....for good or evil, we are here to learn and obtain something useful for the future."
I wanted to refute, but then thought that our goals were indeed pretty similar. We nodded our heads to agree with their viewpoints.
Seeing our approvals, Yang Yi Lan quickly informed, "Let me tell you guys, I've got my eye on Eighth Senior Brother. Although he's not the most handsome nor is he the most wealthy, we've already promised each other, so.....Junior Sister mustn't steal! The timid one next to me likes Forty Fourth Senior Brother."
In an instant, the face of Liu Wenzhi lit up into a shade of red. I quickly nodded my head to let them know, "I won't steal, I won't steal."
"As for the rest, feel free to choose whoever." Hearing my reply, Yang Yi Lan immediately eased, "Eldest Senior Sister Du Lan has already married so you don't need to worry about her, and as for Third Senior Sister Mu Yun Lan, she's fallen for dull and poor boy that's even more dumb than a piece of wood. Other men are not even in her eyes. Even if the man is handsome and is blessed in looks, without money, they are still useless. But even so, what her family has most of is money. Unfortunately, the guy does not reciprocate her feelings."
"Don't speak of Yun Lan so badly." Liu Wenzhi was unhappy and didn't want to go on hearing Yang Yi Lan continue her bad mouthing.
Yang Yi Lan had a hint of anger in her voice as she said, "Then do you believe what I said is wrong? Senior Sister Yun Lan thought she was the most beautiful under the heavens and that everyone should flatter her, hmph, now that there's two new junior sisters that are more beautiful than her, let's she if she can continue being arrogant!"
"Okay, I get it so stop!" Liu Wenzhi covered her mouth, and smiled at me, "Fourth Senior Sisters's mouth can say some pretty harsh words, so don't let them get into your heart."
The words more dumb than a piece of wood, and handsome yet poor boy made me feel content. My Shifu is very beautiful, thus he is not one bit handsome. In addition, Shifu is smart and powerful, so it definitely can't be the person they mentioned.
No one is going to steal from me, very good.
At night, I could not sleep. I directed a question to Yin Zi who was on another bed, "Say.....do you think Shifu won't like me anymore?"
"Definitely not." Yin Zi murmured, "If he is truly Bi Qingshen Jun, the way he died, wouldn't he have strong feelings of regret. He should definitely still have even if it's the slightest memory of you, if not then he should have at least his feelings towards you."
"But.....Miao Miao's ears and tails are hidden away, maybe he doesn't see it that's why he doesn't like me." I was awfully worried.
"Are you or are you not going to let me sleep?" Yin Zi picked up a pillow and threw it towards me, "Revealing your ears and tail to everyone means we will be chased away by all of the Daoists on this mountain."
"How about we go see him tomorrow....." I dodged the pillow, pounce onto him, and asked.
Yin Zi's finally had enough, and furiously scolded, "If you continue to pester me, then I will go down the mountain and leave you all alone. For now, just be patient and wait until tomorrow comes."
Once the sky was lit up by the morning sun, the sound of the bell reverberated throughout. One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Senior Brother had waited for us outside our doors. He said that it was time for us to meet everyone.
We hurriedly got up and dressed appropriately, and then headed out towards the sect hall in a rush. As we arrived, I paid no attention to the dozens of people standing in rows and just stared dead straight at Xiang Qing. I didn't know why but the people around him either shoved him or gave him a kick, causing my heart to feel a little bitter. I wasn't allowed to attack them therefore I coldly walked towards Wu Daochang.
Wu Daochang said a bunch of useless and confusing words that I could not understand. Following his cease of words, there were voices of praise and was also congratulations upon receiving two new disciples. Two little Daoists walked towards us and handed us each a wooden badge telling us that it was for us to inscribe our names on.
Wu Daochang handed me the brush and I very earnestly wrote down my name Hua Miao Miao down. He turned to Yin Zi and cheerfully asked, "May I have the pleasures of knowing what Miss' surname is?"
"Hua....." An idea appeared to have popped up in Yin Zi's head as his face twitched.
On the wooden badge, the three words 'Hua Yin Zi' were written.