Chapter 26
T/N: I don’t like Li Yundong because he’s too worldly . On the other hand, he seems like a real person with real prejudices as opposed to your usual xianxia cutout .
Li Yundong heard what Su Chan said . He was both startled and delighted . He spoke in a rather minced manner, “This is not really appropriate, right?”
Su Chan’s head nodded like a rattle-drum . “It’s fine . It’s fine . ”
Li Yundong attentively sized up Su Chan . He noticed that after the massaged, the girl’s face was red, and there was a thin layer of sweat on the tip of her nose and her forehead, as if she were rather tired .
Li Yundong felt both apologetic and thankful . “Let’s talk about it later . Look at you, you must be tired . You’ve worked up quite a sweat . ”
“Sweat?” Su Chan used the back of her hand to wipe at her forehead . Taking a look, she laughed and said, “This is the sweat that has been forced out by the body’s qi circulation . It’s not because I’m tired . ”
“The body’s qi circulation?” Li Yundong suddenly recalled the previous incident when Su Chan easily took down Er Down . He asked, “Su Chan, how do you know these things? Did you master teach you?”
Su Chan nodded with a face full of pride and said, “That’s obvious . My master is really powerful!”
Li Yundong asked, “Then your traditional medicine and massage technique, those were also taught by your teacher?”
Su Chan pondered for a bit . She thought to herself, ‘What my master taught me was cultivation . However, medicine is used to convey dao . Dao is expressed in medicine . Putting it your way isn’t wrong either . ’
Thus, Su Chan nodded . “That’s right . ”
Li Yundong praised, “Your master really is a remarkable person . ”
When the little fox heard Li Yundong praise her master, she beamed with delight . “Of course . My master is super beautiful!”
Li Yundong asked curiously, “Your master is prettier than you?”
Su Chan smiled so happily that her eyes became lines . “My master is a hundred times more beautiful than me . ”
Li Yundong burst into laughter, “More beautiful than you by a hundred times? That’s impossible! In this world, how could a woman that beautiful exist . I don’t believe it . ”
The little fox glared and exlaimed, “It’s true!”
Li Yundong squeezed the little fox’s nose with a doting and indulgent expression on his face . “In my eyes, the most beautiful woman in this world can only be you . ”
The little fox lowered her head in embarrassment . “How can that be . I’m rather ugly…”
Li Yundong angrily said, “Who said that?”
Su Chan pouted her lips . “My master said that!”
Li Yundong was startled . He broke out in involuntary laughter . “It can’t be? That’s surely your master being jealous of you! That’s why she said you look ugly!”
From the moment she was born, the little fox Su Chan cultivated in the mountains . Before meeting Li Yundong, the number of people she met could be counted on her two hands with room to spare . How could she tell apart this world’s beauty and ugliness?
Since childhood, Su Chan had never heard anyone praise her beauty, thus she never felt that she was beautiful . On the other hand, her master had warned her many times not to show off her appearance, and struck multiple blows against Su Chan’s confidence in her appearance . Only through this did Su Chan come to think that she was not beautiful, and thus causing her worries of Li Yundong turning his back on her .
Having suddenly heard Li Yundong say bad things about her master, Su Chan reflexively retorted, “Nonsense, my master would not do that to me! She is the number one good person under the heavens . ”
Li Yundong deliberately put on a displeased expression and asked, “Then what about me?”
Su Chan stammered in embarrassment and apology, “You are the number two good person to me under the heavens . ”
Li Yundong had a disappointed expression . “Only number two?”
Su Chan stuck out her tongue . Then, acting as if her master were beside her, she spoke quietly as though she were committing a crime, “Hey, I’ll secretly tell you . My master is actually really mean to me, even though I know she’s doing it for my own good . If you try a bit harder, perhaps you can surpass my master and become the number one good person to me!”
Li Yundong found what Su Chan had said really amusing . He burst out in laughter . Grabbing Su Chan, he dragged her to dressing table in the bathroom . Then he pointed to Su Chan’s face in the mirror and said, “Look at yourself . ”
Su Chan wash her face and brushed her teeth here every day . Of course she had seen her own face . She blinked and said, “I see myself, so what?”
Li Yundong spoke with a smile from his position next to Su Chan’s face, “Look at yourself: a charming oval face, a pair of watery elegant eyes, brilliantly red cherry lips, and a body of tender snow white skin . How many women dream of having an appearance and figure like yours . Even with plastic surgery, they will not be able to compare to your beauty . Those movies stars when compared to you, they will feel so ashamed that they’d want to die . ”
Su Chan had been praised by Li Yundong to the point where her heart beat like a flighty deer, her face blushed, and she gazed at her reflection in the mirror in a stupor . She subconsciously felt that she did indeed possess a tiny bit of beauty .
“Am I really that beautiful?” Su Chan murmured .
Li Yundong gazed deeply at Su Chan, “Of couse, that’s why I said in the world, it’s impossible for there to be someone a hundred times more beautiful than you . Your master must be jealous of your beauty . ”
Su Chan was still unwilling to heard anything bad about her master fro Li Yundong . She pouted and said, “That’s wrong . My master is a true great beauty . In the future, when you meet her, you will know . ”
Li Yundong only smiled . He did not refute what Su Chan said .
After Su Chan finished speaking, she suddenly understood the true meaning of warning her master repeatedly gave her while she was still cultivating in the mountain, ‘If one day should she journey through the mundane world, then she must not show off her appearance ostentatiously . ’
Since ancient times, great beauty disastrous beauty would attract the envy of the heavens . The little fox obviously understood the meaning of this phrase . She suddenly understood the great pains taken by her master in passing this phrase to her . Her master was afraid that she wold encounter evil cultivators with sinister intentions who would covet her beauty .
Thinking of this, Su Chan suddenly missed the kindness of her master . For a time, her eyes brimmed with tears .
At her side, Li Yundong watched not knowing what to do with his limbs . “Hey hey, you were just fine; why are you crying now?”
Su Chan looked at Li Yundong tearfully and said, “I miss master . ”
Li Yundong’s entire body shook . Looking at Su Chan, for a long time, he had nothing to say . His eyes were filled with pain and indecision . After a long time, he bit down and let out a breath of air . “Then, you should go back and see her…”
Su Chan was alarmed . She grabbed Li Yundong and asked, “You don’t want me anymore?”
Li Yundong blanked out for a bit . “Wasn’t it you that wanted to leave?”
Su Chan wiped away her tears and angrily said, “Who wants to leave?” Internally she thought, ‘I haven’t stolen yang to complement yin yet!’
Li Yundong’s sorrow turned to joy . He smiled and said, “Didn’t you say that you missed your master?”
Su Chan made a mischievous face . “I was only saying . ”
When Li Yundong saw the somehow angry yet somehow happy appearance of the little fox, his heart truly loved her to the extreme . He suddenly thought of something . Letting out a breath of air, he said, “Right now, you know that you’re a great beauty, right?”
Su Chan’s mood was as mercurial as the weather in April, overcast skies could clear up in a blink of an eye . She giggled and said, “If you say so, then that’s how it is!”
Li Yundong stupidly stared at Su Chan . He sighed and said, “A beautiful girl like you, in the future, there will definitely be lots and lots of men pursuing you . If, I’m just saying if, there is a day when you no longer want to be with me, then you must tell me ahead of time!”
Su Chan looked at Li Yundong strangely . “Why would I no longer what to be with you?”
Li Yundong smiled wryly, “I’m not handsome . I don’t have money . I also don’t have rich parents . ”
Su Chan’s expression became stranger . “What does this have to do with me no longer wanting to be with you?”
Li Yundong’s smile became even more bitter . “Aren’t the girl nowadays all like that?”
Su Chan was very resolute in saying, “That’s because they have eyes but cannot see! In my opinion, you are the best person in the world!”
Li Yundong upon hearing these word, suddenly felt an impulse to cry . There was a soreness in his heart . He was overwhelmed by emotions . He forced himself to smile, “How did I become the best? Did I surpass your master that fast?”
Su Chan stuck out her tongue . “The food you make is much more delicious than the food my master makes!”
Li Yundong burst out laughing, but there was still an anxiousness in his heart . He could not help but ask, “You really won’t leave me?”
Li Yundong fixedly started at the girl’s eyes, wanting to see her true feelings through her eyes .
Su Chan fixedly stared at Li Yundong . She said with her smiling face like a flower, “I’m actually worried that you’d leave me . But actually, you started worrying instead . ”
Li Yundong asked, “Why would I leave you?”
Su Chan sighed . She timidly looked at Li Yundong . “I caused you a lot of trouble . I’m really afraid that you’ll think I’m just a bundle of problem and decide to throw me away . ”
Li Yundong started to laugh . He sighed and patted Su Chan’s head, “A girl like you, even if you poke a hole through the sky, there won’t be anyone with the heart to blame you . ”
Su Chan heard these words and laughed in response . “Then you’re saying, you won’t blame me?”
“I won’t blame you!” Li Yundong said with a smile .
Su Chan wrapped around Li Yundong’s arm and rocked it back and forth, beaming in delight . “I knew you were the best!”
Li Yundong simply felt a warmness in his heart . He looked at Su Chan, like he saw the world’s most precious treasure . In his mind, he thought, ‘In this modern world, girls like her are pracitically extinct . Li Yundong, oh, Li Yundong, you need to cherish her properly, otherwise five strikes of lightning will descend from heaven to punish you!’
To love a girl, one should strive for her sake!
Li Yundong suddenly felt he should not continue living in such a haphazard manner . He should strive to earn money, and find a way to stand above his peers, for Su Chan’s sake, and moreover, for his own sake .
‘Su Chan . I definitely won’t let you down!’ Li Yundong thought with resolution firm enough to cut through steel . *1 ‘I will surely become an outstanding individual, and prove that you made the right choice . ’
Even though Li Yundong did not know the real reason why Su Chan wanted to stay by his side, but this beautiful misunderstanding helped Li Yundong make his decision, and become set in his resolve .
Once a person had resolve, the essence, qi, and spirit of their entire body would change .
Su Chan simply felt an incredibly heroic presence radiate outward from Li Yundong’s body in an instant . The light in his eyes glowed brightly . His pupils were distant and contained hidden depth . Su Chan had only seen this type of presence on her martial uncle . This was a type of loftiness that indicated a confidence to achieve victory over all creation .
Among cultivator, due to a glut of knowledge on the frightening might of heaven and earth, therefore all cultivators tended to hold an extreme respect for heaven and earth . However, this was not beneficial for cultivation .
Cultivator focused on ‘changing fate and replacing heaven’ . Ge Hong*2 of the Pill Cauldron School believe that ‘man can conquer nature’ . A person must have a loftiness to achieve victory over heaven and earth, to achieve victory over all creation . This was the optimum state for cultivation .
And the current Li Yundong was in such a state .
Resolve, resolve, once a person finds their resolve, the origin qi inside their body would automatically circulate, causing them to release a distinct and extraordinary presence .
Su Chan looked at Li Yundong in a daze . She had a sudden thought, ‘If Li Yundong could truly cultivate, based on his current condition, plus assistance from the Human Origin Gold Pill, in the future wouldn’t there be a new rarely-found super expert making his appearance in the cultivation world?’
When this notion appeared in her head, Su Chan blanked out . She hurriedly repeated to herself, ‘No way . No way . Like that wouldn’t my Human Origin Gold Pill be wasted?
‘However… if the Human Origin Gold Pill were given to Li Yundong, it no longer felt as unbearable as before…’
Su Chan keenly felt the change in her own heart . As of that moment, she was plague by uncertainty .
~~~
*1 斩钉截铁 – lit . cut nails and slice steel: fig . (speak/vow/decide/etc . ) with powerful unhesitating resolve
*2 Jin dynasty Daoist (real life cultivator) and alchemist