"This woman had far more experience in comparison to you and wore her scars with pride. Each and every one of them meant something to her. It wasn't like she had no suitors either, they were merely out of her league it seems as she had some pretty high standards. She had several opportunities to remove them, but she never did.
Hmm, I wonder what happened to her? If I had to guess then hopefully she would have already settled down with someone, but knowing her I bet she's probably still out there in the world looking for some kind of harrowing adventure.
Ah, my bad I've gone off on a small tangent. I hope this cheered you up even if it's just a little bit. The point was that you shouldn't let those scars hold you back. And if in the future you still want to remove them there is the option to do so."
I looked away the moment he started guessing at my current situation. Tears began to form at the corners of my eyes as he spoke about me, though briefly. For a feint moment I truly wished to tell him what truly happened, who I was, and simply all that has transpired because of that woman. But of course I knew how crazy it would all sound to him. The outcome although wasn't certain would most likely become one where he believed I was slandering that demon or simply making up lies.
Showing that I knew both his name and the demon woman's name might simply induce a suspicion upon him for me. Of course if I did there was also a high chance that he would tell her and my revenge plan would be compromised. There were a varied amount of possible outcomes that could occur if I told him, but for now I should just try and keep this nice and steady. If all else fails I can still tell him, it's not like I'll cut this pathway off.
Of the two scenarios he pointed out, only one of them would have possibly come true were I, the old me, still alive.
Settling down would've never been an option the moment I failed to take you as my husband. As the first male to defeat me in all my life you could at that point be the only option available. I'm a stubborn woman and for that fact still believe I currently am, choosing you has locked you into my possible future love life.
If I really couldn't do it, I pondered whether or not at times to go back out and fight other foes, but that was mostly to become strong enough to beat all the other women. Leaving for good was only when I've exhausted all options.
As I was having a small internal strive his movements brought me back to reality. By the time I knew it he had already stood up with his lantern in hand. In that instance I panicked at the thought of him leaving.
'How often would I get to meet him?! Was I simply lucky tonight or will we be meeting more often?! Where would I even find him? How could I start a relationship with him as I am now? Should I stop him? Perhaps I could set up more meetings if I did!'
Thoughts bolted through my mind as I watched him slowly start leaving. This could be my only chance to develop our relationship beyond that of a stranger.
Quickly I stood up and faced his waning back as I reached out toward him with my right hand. I reached as far as I could, but I didn't move my legs even a step forward. In the end my outstretched arm slowly and steadily fell back down to my side.
The cold breeze gently blew rustling the grass around in waves as I stared at the back of a man. His clothing swayed and flowed in the wind. The lantern he held tilted from side to side as the wind quite easily blew the lantern around.
From here I stood aimlessly watching as the back of "Senior Brother" Ip slowly faded alongside that warm yellow glow of his lantern.
I decided in the end that I shouldn't force things between us. Of course that doesn't mean I give up on him, but our relationship should be one that's more natural.
'I wouldn't want my "Senior Brother" to think of me as a desperate woman now should I? Haha, oh Yi Feng, did you just do something stupid? Well, I suppose only time would be able to tell that wouldn't it?'
The next time we meet will also be coincidental, but by then at least I would be able to naturally greet you.
'This love of mine has to be mutual, slowly, but surely I'll take his heart! Love is a slow thing in the first place, you can't force it, right? You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it!
That Demonic woman was able to achieve his love somehow with abnormal speed, but if she could do it, then why can't I at least try? But that means that I need to have exciting situations with him, but how? The sect is all I have to work with. I guess I'll have to plan something another time.'
When I finally returned from my thoughts there wasn't even a trace of him left behind, almost like he was never here to begin with. I turned around to head back to Li Daji and I's house with a content smile. Surely not being imprudent a few moments ago would only improve my circumstances, right?
When I got to the courtyard the lights lit up within the house. Before I went in I made sure to erase the smile I had on my face, well at least to the best of my abilities, before I went in. For a moment I thought she might be able to smell that "Senior Brother," but it wasn't like he made contact with me so it was fine right?
Nearby I saw Li Daji sitting at a table. She had both her elbows on the table as her hands cupped her cheeks, but she had a sense of depression. Her purple hued eyes seemed to have dulled a bit as she mindlessly stared at the wooden table's surface. Only after a few moments did she realize my arrival.
"Nothing from you either huh?"
"Ah? O-oh yeah, I didn't find anything, sorry."
'Sorry Sister Daji! I promise to tell you about him, though just not all the time. Maybe next time or the time after that.'
"Hmm? You look a little preoccupied, Sister Feng, are you alright?"
'Ah! Did she notice?! Is my acting really that bad?! Maybe I should've practiced, but maybe she doesn't know why.'
"Sister Daji, I'm just thinking about how close we are to that Demonic woman. We're basically right under their noses aren't we? How are we even supposed to get rid of that monster?"
"Oh her? I don't think we really need to worry about her for now, I don't think she really cares for any of the disciples down here. So if you were worried about running into her, then you won't.
As for getting rid of her I have a few tricks up my sleeve to deal with her. It cost me quite a lot to get my hands on it though so we only have one shot of getting rid of her. But I don't really know if it'll work to be honest.
It's really just a backup plan, my main plan was to get my Master on my side first to let him personally take her out with his own hands.
We couldn't even find him today though… What if he's stopped walking around the sect all together? Then that would mean my entire plan had already failed!
No, perhaps I simply came with too many expectations for the first day though. Yeah, why am I even getting so sad about a single day? We still have many to come along."
'Now I feel a little bad.'
"Are you okay Sister Daji?"
"Yes, I'm fine now. I'm sorry you had to see that wretched side of me just now. Don't worry Sister Feng, you'll get what you want soon. I just hope I get to see my Master soon. I feel like it's been so long that even my image of him in my mind is starting to blur and change a bit. I truly wish to see him soon."
And with that ended our first day at the sect. From now on we would have to go on patrols every once in a while to search for our "Senior Brother" Ip.
***
(MC POV)
After walking around the sect for the rest of the day my little walk finally ended when I made it to the park. It was supposed to be my final destination where I would then immediately turn back to go home, but I met a sorrowful disciple sitting on a bench all alone under the moonlight.
She looked pitiful like she was reminiscing some fond memories as she stared at the moon. As the kind Senior Brother I was embodying I went to sit next to her to offer assistance.
Oftentimes others will be able release their pent up stress purely by talking about it. Just telling it to another person, whether they were a stranger or friend it doesn't matter, would make them feel better.
At this point I don't think much in this would really shock me, but her story was a little surprising as from the appearance of the scars seem a little recent. They weren't fresh by any means but it definitely hasn't even been a year since they were formed.
'Did she get those scars within the sect? It had to have been, perhaps she's a recently promoted Disciple. Is it possible that this group was within the Outer Disciples? It's quite difficult to be directly promoted into an Inner Disciple after all so she had to have spent some time as an Outer Disciple, right? The Outer court's size is massive after all, this could have simply been one of many occurrences I don't know about.'
There aren't too many disciples with scars like hers and especially not as many. Perhaps there's something up with her, maybe I'll keep an eye out then. Then again everyone has their own story and perhaps this is simply just another person who'll have close to no relevance to me beyond a few simple encounters.
I went up my mountain while seeing the starry night sky. The whole sky is blanked with shining stars from who knows how far, and of course there is the full moon tonight which lit up most of the surroundings, making the lantern I brought with me irrelevant.
I reached my mountain top with my house in front, but before I could open the door, it had opened by itself. Out poked Jinzi's little face which lit up immediately upon seeing that I had returned.
"Big Brother! You're back! Did you really take a walk around the sect the entire day?"
"Yes, that's right, say what have you been doing? Have you been practicing your techniques and cultivating?"
"A-ah! I, Uh…no…"
"Jinzi… I feel that you've basically stopped practicing ever since that competition ended, am I right?"
"No, I've.. done some!"
I simply tilted my head and cocked my left eye in response.
"It's true, I've cultivated after! it's just… not much."
"You want to become strong don't you? Don't you want to avenge your family? I won't help you with that personal matter of yours."
"Ah! You're right! I've been lazing about, but don't worry I'll get back into it!"
"Good girl. Perhaps tomorrow I'll bring you down the mountain. Maybe what you need is some sparring." I smiled as I patted her on the head.
She moved out of the way to let me in and on the other side of the door was Ying'er who warmly looked at us.