The two of them snapped back to their senses as if waking from a dream. Peach Blossom’s face was thin-skinned to begin with; her cheeks instantly burned, red to the point it looked like they might start dripping blood. She hurriedly pulled Guan Fusha’s hand away, wishing she could dig a hole in the ground and bury herself in it.
Guan Fusha knew Peach Blossom was embarrassed. She coughed lightly twice, deliberately blocking Peach Blossom with her own body.
“Yan Hong, what did you come looking for my junior sister for?”
Yan Hong lazily got to her feet, gave the two of them a glance, and drawled unhurriedly,
“Nothing much. I just bought some top-grade tea from the northern lands a few days ago and wanted to invite Protector Guan to taste it with me.”
Guan Fusha raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying Yan Hong’s excuse. She turned her head to look at Peach Blossom, asking with her eyes whether what Yan Hong had said was true.
Peach Blossom stiffened, then after a moment, she still shook her head.
If everything Yan Hong had just said was nothing more than a test of her loyalty to Guan Fusha, and she went and spilled it, wouldn’t that just ruin the harmony between these two?
“All right then.” Guan Fusha withdrew her gaze. Though she still had questions in her heart, she didn’t voice them. Her eyes slid to the now-empty teacups.
“Since you’ve already finished your tea, I’ll take my junior sister and leave first.”
“Of course.” Yan Hong smiled brilliantly. She personally walked to the door and opened it.
“Please, Protectors.”
Guan Fusha gave Yan Hong a meaningful look, then took Peach Blossom’s hand and led her out of the Punishment Hall.
On the way, Guan Fusha couldn’t help asking Peach Blossom over and over again,
“In the Punishment Hall just now, did Yan Hong say anything to you?”
“Say what?” Peach Blossom decided to play dumb to the end.
“Hall Master Yan didn’t say anything at all. She just treated me to a cup of tea.”
“…Is that so?”
Guan Fusha drew back her gaze, falling silent, seeming lost in thought.
Peach Blossom snuck a look at her expression and decided to probe a little.
“Right, Senior Sister, aren’t you usually on pretty good terms with Hall Master Yan Hong? You two haven’t had any arguments recently, have you?”
Guan Fusha froze. She mistakenly thought Peach Blossom was asking because she was jealous of her relationship with Yan Hong, and couldn’t help feeling secretly delighted. She lightly tapped Peach Blossom’s nose, smiling.
“What’s this? You’re finally starting to get jealous?”
Peach Blossom: “…”
“I’ve known Yan Hong for many years—we trained in martial arts together from childhood, as close as real sisters. She and Master are like family to me. There’s absolutely nothing else between us.”
Guan Fusha smiled as she explained.
After listening, Peach Blossom became even more certain of her own guess.
Since Yan Hong and Guan Fusha were that close, there was no way she’d seriously make that kind of proposal to Guan Fusha. Everything from before really had just been a test of Peach Blossom’s loyalty, then.
The huge stone in her heart finally landed. Peach Blossom smiled more freely and squeezed Guan Fusha’s hand back hard.
“I’m not jealous. Of course I trust you, Senior Sister. I was just curious what kind of relationship you and Hall Master Yan Hong have, that’s all.”
Thinking of how she hadn’t seen Guan Fusha for so long, Peach Blossom was happy too. She mustered her courage and invited her.
“Senior Sister, do you have time tonight… to come to Peach Garden and have dinner with me?”
“Of course.”
There was a hint of indulgent fondness in Guan Fusha’s smile. All of a sudden, she stopped walking, her expression turning a little tense.
Peach Blossom also stopped, puzzled.
“Senior Sister, what’s wrong?”
“Junior Sister, that invitation just now… does that count as your answer to my confession last time?”
Guan Fusha’s expression was rare in its seriousness. She truly wanted to hear that answer from Peach Blossom’s own mouth—the one that would make her ecstatic.
Peach Blossom was stunned, and her expression dimmed.
After this period of cold war, she had already confirmed her own feelings. Whether she admitted it or not, she’d fallen for Guan Fusha. When she couldn’t see her, she thought about her day and night, her heart tied in knots, anxious and restless, always yearning that maybe today Guan Fusha would come see her just once…
But so what?
Guan Fusha was the female lead of this novel. Once the male lead An Xianli appeared, if Guan Fusha still ended up falling for him like in the original story, wouldn’t she, Peach Blossom, be doomed to a tragic ending?
Rather than be abandoned by the one she loved and have to suffer in secret, she’d rather never start this relationship in the first place. At least then, the eventual pain wouldn’t cut quite so deep.
Seeing Peach Blossom’s hesitation, Guan Fusha’s heart tightened too.
“Junior Sister, I know you like me. If that’s the case, what are you still worrying about? Two people who love each other should be together, shouldn’t they?”
“I…”
After a long silence, Peach Blossom finally spoke.
“Senior Sister… could you give me one month? I want to use that month to confirm something.”
Guan Fusha’s face changed slightly.
“Did Yan Hong say something to you?”
Peach Blossom shook her head. She had no idea why Guan Fusha kept bringing up Yan Hong.
“No. I just… I just need to confirm one thing. It’s really important to me! And… just like you said, I do like you. You know that, don’t you? Just one month, that’s all I’m asking!”
The main plot had already started. The Beikun Sect’s sect master had lost a son; there was no way he’d let it go. Within a few days, the orthodox sects were bound to take action. When An Xianli showed up and he and Guan Fusha met, she’d be able to see whether the thing she feared most would happen.
Guan Fusha fell silent.
Peach Blossom was anxious, but there was no way she could explain all the causes and consequences to Guan Fusha.
“Senior Sister, trust me. Just one more month—no, half a month! If at that time you still feel the same way about me as you do now, I’ll definitely answer you.”
Guan Fusha raised her head to look at Peach Blossom. The emotions in her eyes were complicated. After a long moment, she suddenly let go of Peach Blossom’s hand.
Peach Blossom’s heart went cold, plunging straight down.
Only after a long while did Guan Fusha speak.
“…All right. I promise you. Whatever it is you need to confirm, I only want to tell you one thing: my feelings for you are real.”
Looking at Guan Fusha’s expression, Peach Blossom suddenly felt her heart ache.
If her martial arts were as extraordinary as Guan Fusha’s, maybe she’d just march up to Tianlun Sect, beat An Xianli half to death, and warn him never to come looking for Guan Fusha again. But reality was, she was nothing but trash who couldn’t even beat a Night God Sect maid. If those two really fell in love, then even if she staked her life on it, she wouldn’t be able to snatch Guan Fusha back!
“Senior Sister…”
Peach Blossom gazed at Guan Fusha, her face full of distress yet bitterly helpless.
“Don’t say anything.”
Guan Fusha forced an easy smile.
“Didn’t you say we were going back to Peach Garden for dinner? Let’s go.”
They held hands again, but their moods were no longer as sweet as they had been moments before.
The desolate setting sun stretched the shadows of the two, each with their own burdens, out long, very long.
After dinner, Guan Fusha didn’t stay to chat and tease her as usual. She went straight back to Hibiscus Courtyard. Peach Blossom watched her departing back, opened her mouth, but in the end still didn’t ask whether she would come to Peach Garden to sleep with her that night.
Left alone in the silent room, Peach Blossom felt a deep emptiness and loneliness. She couldn’t help missing those days when Guan Fusha slept at her side, keeping her company and talking late into the night.
Peach Blossom shook her head, refusing to dwell on it any longer. She simply bathed early, then went to bed. Lying flat, she wasn’t sleepy yet, but her breathing gradually smoothed out.
All of a sudden, Peach Blossom heard faint sounds from outside the door.
She wasn’t sure if it was because she’d eaten that Longevity Great Tonic Pill or because of her recent martial arts training, but her hearing seemed sharper than before.
At first she didn’t think much of it, assuming it was Xiao Yuan passing by outside. But when she tilted her head to listen carefully, she realized the person’s footsteps were rather heavy. Xiao Yuan was a slender girl and a martial artist besides. There was no way her steps would be that loud.
Realizing the person outside might be a man, Peach Blossom’s eyes snapped open and her whole body went taut.
She listened carefully again, only to find the footsteps were messy—there was probably more than one person. Peach Blossom’s heart instantly sank.
Anyone who could slip into Peach Garden without Xiao Yuan noticing definitely wasn’t some ordinary character. There was more than one of them, too. If she actually fought them, she’d just be sending herself to her death!
Idiot, idiot—if she’d known this was going to happen, she should’ve shamelessly clung to Guan Fusha’s leg and made her stay the night, even if it meant thickening her skin to the limit!
While Peach Blossom was racking her brains for a solution, a faint fragrance had somehow begun to spread through the air. She didn’t notice at first. By the time she did, her head was already turning fuzzy, her consciousness slipping.
No. She couldn’t pass out here!
Peach Blossom clamped a hand over her nose and mouth and staggered up from the bed. She shook her head hard, forcing herself to stay awake. At that moment, her gaze happened to fall on the long sword resting on the wooden table.
A spark flashed through her mind. She stumbled toward the sword, grabbed the hilt with all her strength, yanked it out of its scabbard, and slashed hard across her own arm.
Blood gushed down her forearm in a rush.
In the end, Peach Blossom still couldn’t hold out. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the ground.
Hearing a loud thump from inside, the people at the door paused.
“Shit! You think we’ve been discovered?!”
The other pressed his ear to the door, listening. The room inside was quiet.
“No sound. She should be out cold.”
Like a pair of thieves, the two carefully opened the door. As expected, they saw Peach Blossom unconscious on the floor.
One of them took out a rope and walked over to her, clearly intending to tie her up.
“Hurry it up. We can’t let anyone catch us.”
“Got it.”
They clearly didn’t have much kidnapping experience; their technique was clumsy as hell. It took a ton of effort to finally get Peach Blossom trussed up properly. One of them wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed.
“Damn, kidnapping people is really fucking tiring.”
The other leaned at the door, sticking his head out to check. After making sure no one was around, he gestured urgently.
“What are you yapping for? Move!”
The two of them rushed to the wall, gathered their qi, leapt up onto the top, and then took off running over the eaves. In no time, the three figures vanished into the night.
Peach Blossom’s eyelids twitched. Thankfully the light in the room wasn’t too bright; her eyes quickly adjusted.
She carefully took in her surroundings. Firewood was piled haphazardly against the walls. Spiderwebs clung to the corners of the ceiling. The window was tattered, and the soot-blackened stove she was leaning against was thick with dust. Clearly, this was a woodshed.
The shed was small, with only one door and one window. The door was probably locked from the outside. As for the window, with her figure she could probably barely squeeze through—on the condition her hands and feet weren’t tied.
Peach Blossom lowered her head to look herself over. Her clothes were intact. Her hands and feet were bound tightly with coarse hemp rope. The cut on her arm had been bandaged and didn’t really hurt anymore.
Kidnapping someone and then taking the time to bandage the hostage… The only people who’d do something like that were probably those self-styled righteous types from the orthodox side. She didn’t know whether to call them kind-hearted or catastrophically lacking in IQ…
If she wasn’t mistaken, the ones who’d taken her should be from the Beikun Sect. In the original plot, Beikun disciples had sneaked into the Night God Sect at night to ambush Guan Fusha, only to be discovered and captured by her instead. With his son dead, the Beikun Sect Master was unwilling to lose two beloved disciples as well, so he went to Tianlun Sect for help.
Tianlun and Beikun had long been on good terms, so Tianlun agreed without hesitation, sending their senior disciple An Xianli and several others to the Night God Sect to negotiate with Guan Fusha that very night. Because of that, the two leads met, grew close, and eventually fell in love.
But wait—wasn’t this supposed to be a night ambush on Guan Fusha? How did it turn into kidnapping her instead?
Could these Beikun idiots seriously not tell the two Protectors apart?!
If so, Peach Blossom really had to worry about their IQ.
Just then, the door of the woodshed creaked open. A burly man about a head and a half taller than her, shoulders like a bear’s and waist like a tiger’s, walked in carrying food. His face was covered in stubble, and his voice boomed. Seeing Peach Blossom awake, he said,
“Well now, little girl, you finally woke up!”
Peach Blossom deliberately put on a face like she was about to cry, speaking in a pitiful, trembly voice.
“Who are you? Where is this? Did you bring me here? What do you… plan to do to me?”
Seeing the tears well up in her eyes, the burly man really did panic. He set the food down in a rush.
“Hey now, don’t cry. I’m terrible at comforting people. Please don’t cry.”
“Are you hungry? I brought you some food.”
He laid the dishes in front of Peach Blossom, muttering under his breath,
“Ai, it’s all my bad luck today. If I hadn’t lost to Second Brother, I wouldn’t have to be here waiting on a little girl like you.”
Peach Blossom had no interest in his sob story. She watched him warily.
“Who are you?”
“M-me? I’m Hu Hansan.”
He busied himself laying out the food and answered without even looking up.
Peach Blossom: “…”
What kind of name was that… Seriously, could the author not have put a bit more effort into naming people? The female side character was named Cui Peach Blossom, random passersby were called Hu Hansan, and only the male and female leads got nice-sounding names. If you’re going to play favorites, at least don’t make it this obvious!
“Come on, eat.”
Hu Hansan pushed the food closer.
Peach Blossom raised her bound hands. Only then did Hu Hansan realize and smack himself in the forehead.
“Ah, look at my memory. I forgot to untie you.”
Peach Blossom was already plotting. Once her hands were free to move, maybe she could find a chance to escape.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, Hu Hansan suddenly reached out and pressed a few points on her body, sealing her acupoints. Only then did he start untying the rope.
“Little girl, once you’re loose, eat up. I still have to go keep an eye on the brats in the main courtyard while they train.”
After having her points struck, Peach Blossom immediately felt the inner qi in her body grind to a halt, as if she’d gone back to the days before she took that Longevity Great Tonic Pill.
For fuck’s sake. Weren’t orthodox people supposed to be all kind-hearted and IQ-deficient? Since when did they remember to seal someone’s acupoints first?!
What a scheming bastard!
Peach Blossom shot Hu Hansan a sideways glance, then picked up the bowl and began picking at the food. In truth, she really was hungry. Once she was sure Hu Hansan didn’t seem to harbor any particular malice toward her, she braced herself and tried to fish for information.
“Big Brother Hu, why did you bring me to a place like this? Did you kidnap me for money? It’s useless if you did. My father has a whole brood of children. He doesn’t care about me at all—he won’t pay any ransom.”
“Hey now, little girl, what do you take me for?”
Hu Hansan shot to his feet with a slap of his palm on the ground.
“I, Hu Hansan, stand tall between heaven and earth. I’m a renowned chivalrous hero in the jianghu. How could I do something as low as kidnapping for ransom?!”
Peach Blossom rolled her eyes inwardly but kept her face puzzled.
“If it’s not for money, then… why did you grab me, Big Brother Hu?”
“Why, to lure Guan Fusha out, of course!”
Hu Hansan didn’t realize at all that she was leading him on; he spilled everything in one breath.
“You’re Guan Fusha’s junior sister, aren’t you? She cares about you so much, she’ll definitely come to save you. Then all we have to do is set up a nice trap… heheh… and we’ll have her like a turtle in a jar!”
Peach Blossom’s heart jolted. So that was their plan.
It made sense. Compared to a night raid on Guan Fusha, kidnapping a little weakling like her was much easier. And with a hostage in hand, their odds of getting revenge shot way up.
But… were the people of Beikun Sect really this clever? She clearly remembered in the original story they were pretty stupid, which was why they came up with the brilliant idea of a night ambush on Guan Fusha and ended up sending themselves to their deaths.
Since he’d brought it up, Hu Hansan grew curious about Peach Blossom too.
“Little girl, from what you just said, you don’t sound like you come from a poor family. If it’s not because you had no choice, why would you join an evil cult like the Night God Sect? Don’t you know they’re a bunch of villains who stop at nothing?”
In his eyes, this little girl really didn’t look like a bad person. He figured those despicable bastards in the Night God Sect must have seduced her with sweet words, leading her astray by accident.
