Acquiring Clothes
Hwa Rin, a true disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, was in a very good mood after an unexpected meeting.
“Eat slowly. There’s plenty.”
The girl nodded vigorously at Hwa Rin’s gentle words and stuffed another candied treat into her mouth.
At the sight, a smile touched Hwa Rin’s lips.
How startled she had been when she first met the girl at the main gate of the headquarters.
Before she knew it, Hwa Rin had been drawn in so completely that she’d forgotten the purpose of her outing and led the girl back to the guest hall.
“Here. Have something to wash it down with.”
“Thank you.”
The girl accepted the flower tea Hwa Rin offered with both hands and bowed politely.
How can someone be this cute?
Even Hwa Rin, who had once been called one of the Four Great Beauties of the martial world and had shaken the hearts of countless men, was genuinely taken aback by her beauty.
Just looking at her was enough to make one feel warm inside, and Hwa Rin didn’t feel the least bit reluctant to offer sweets that were hard to come by on this mountain.
She was the type who would always show proper respect to someone she met for the first time, even if they were just a child, but this girl had fit her tastes so perfectly that she’d forgotten all courtesy the instant they crossed paths.
How did a child like this get all the way out here?
Her delicate hands, so soft they looked untouched by hardship, were not the hands of an ordinary person from the Central Plains.
Her childish features made it hard to guess whether she was old enough to have reached the age of reason.
But judging by her dazed manner as she lost all composure at the sight of the snacks, she probably couldn’t be an adult.
And yet she definitely made it here.
Even as Hwa Rin wore a pleased expression, her eyes gleamed.
The Mount Hua Sect was an mountain sect located halfway up the rugged slopes of Mount Hua.
The mountain path leading to the headquarters was known as a trial that even grown men struggled to overcome.
And yet when Hwa Rin had first met her, the apparently young girl had been standing there in silence, not a bead of sweat on her brow.
I can’t sense much inner force from her, though.
Hwa Rin, who would one day lead the Mount Hua Sect, did not let her guard down. Instead, she carefully observed this strange outsider.
There was no doubt she was far from ordinary.
But even so, it was hard to imagine she had come here with some sinister purpose.
Most of all, she’s just too hard to hate.
As Hwa Rin continued to study her intently, the girl gave her an awkward little smile.
And the moment Hwa Rin saw that smile, all her caution melted away in her head.
I want to raise her.
Hwa Rin made up her mind that she absolutely had to have a daughter someday.
“Was it good?”
“Yes!”
Hwa Rin started to reach out to pat the girl’s head as she answered with such a bright smile, then hesitated and stopped herself.
Apparently oblivious to Hwa Rin’s wavering, the girl gulped down her tea and gave her a little bow from the waist.
“That was delicious.”
“My, my.”
This was not easy.
Hwa Rin became certain that the last traces of her guard had vanished completely.
Even if this girl really were sneaking into the Mount Hua Sect to hatch some wicked plot, she wouldn’t be able to stop her.
All that remained for her now was to hope, from the bottom of her heart, that this girl wasn’t some evil little wretch.
“What’s your name?”
“Um….”
The girl’s brow furrowed.
Watching her eyes wander in distress, Hwa Rin thought, Does she not have one?
Orphans were common in the Central Plains, where bloodshed broke out day after day.
And a child who had come here alone, all the way up this mountain, was even more likely to be one.
Those fine hands suggested she might have been born to a noble household but was in some circumstances where she couldn’t reveal her name.
Just as Hwa Rin was berating herself for being insensitive and about to speak again, the girl finally answered after some thought.
“Hyun….”
“Hyun?”
It sounded like a name she had just made up on the spot, but Hwa Rin considered the girl’s wounded feelings and nodded in agreement.
“That’s a lovely name. Then, Hyun, what brought you here?”
Could it be that you want to join the Mount Hua Sect?
Hwa Rin swallowed the rest of the question, and anticipation gleamed in her eyes.
From a brief inspection, the girl’s inner force didn’t seem particularly strong, but her energy was pure and clear.
Normally, if she had learned some secular martial art, it might have been difficult to harmonize with the Taoist heart methods of Mount Hua, but with a purity like this, there shouldn’t be any major issue.
But the words that came from the girl’s mouth betrayed all those expectations.
“I just… wanted to see if I could get a set of clothes.”
“Clothes?”
Now that she thought about it, hadn’t the girl mentioned something like that at the gate too?
Hwa Rin recalled the memory she’d lost track of while being captivated by the girl’s appearance.
Clothes, huh. Does she need a Mount Hua disciple’s uniform?
Or was she simply lacking something to wear?
Only then did Hwa Rin notice the girl’s clothing.
She was wearing clothes that didn’t fit her frame, the sleeves hanging loose and the hems of her pants dragging along the floor.
Someone had apparently tried to fold, stitch, and adjust the length, but the result was clumsy beyond belief.
She was probably mending and wearing clothes she’d managed to obtain somehow.
Compassion swelled in Hwa Rin’s heart.
“Wait here. I’ll bring you something pretty to wear.”
Hwa Rin hurried to her room and picked out clothes that would fit the girl’s body.
Fortunately, she found something decent in her youngest sibling’s drawer.
Sorry, little one, but I’ll buy you another set.
It couldn’t be helped.
If the youngest saw her, they’d surely have given the clothes willingly.
When she hurried back to the guest hall, the girl was sitting on a chair, swinging her legs and bobbing her body back and forth.
I want to keep her in a painting.
Hwa Rin clutched her chest at the deadly cuteness and walked over to hand the clothes to her.
“Try them on. I think they’ll fit you.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
The girl took the clothes, held them up against herself, and nodded.
Then she stared blankly at Hwa Rin.
“What is it? Don’t you like them?”
“No… um, will you be watching?”
Apparently she was shy.
So childish in the most endearing way. Hwa Rin hadn’t consciously realized it, but for a girl on the verge of adolescence, changing clothes in front of a complete stranger would hardly be easy.
Hwa Rin stepped out for a moment and waited for her to change.
“Are you done?”
“Yes.”
When Hwa Rin stepped back into the guest hall, the room was filled with a bright, flowerlike atmosphere.
“Oh my. Those are absolutely your clothes.”
The girl awkwardly tugged at her sleeves and covered her face.
Hwa Rin found her pure response so adorable that she broke into a broad grin.
I really have plenty to smile about today.
Lately she’d been troubled by entanglements with the Martial Alliance, and yet here she was smiling like this.
Hwa Rin thought of the girl before her as a reward heaven had sent her.
“You smell like plum blossoms.”
The girl’s shy whisper tickled Hwa Rin’s ears.
“Do I?”
“Is it because of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique?”
“Mm… yes, for now.”
Hwa Rin replied with a voice that seemed somehow wrapped in memory.
“For now?”
“Yes. It wasn’t always like that, you know.”
It had been a line spoken by the male lead in a romance novel that had swept through Shaanxi over ten years ago.
The women of Mount Hua give off the scent of plum blossoms.
How many martial artists had that line driven to obsession?
Mount Hua was a rocky mountain, and there were no plum blossoms there. That was common knowledge in the martial world.
Until then, no one had questioned it, but a single line from a novel had planted absurd fantasies in people’s heads.
“Men out in the martial world adore that kind of hazy, far-off romance. They’d come all the way to Mount Hua on a whim, then leave disappointed because it wasn’t what they imagined. In the end, it made us look like frauds.”
Hwa Rin lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“Even the sect leader was furious.”
She had even placed a bounty on the author.
The girl listened quietly, then tilted her head in confusion.
“But you smell like it now, don’t you?”
“Well, after getting stubbornly fixated on it and studying that book day and night, the scent really did start to appear before long.”
Hwa Rin opened her eyes again, as if bringing the memory back to life.
It had been less than three years since then.
That was why she, at the young age of twenty, had been able to rise all the way to the position of true disciple.
She couldn’t simply hate the author.
In the end, our Plum Blossom Sword Technique was improved by another level…
But the Mount Hua elders had been furious that such an achievement had ultimately come not from within the sect, but from an outsider.
She remembered how they’d roared that they would catch the author, while not daring to say a word to Hwa Rin herself.
And now there are even more fools climbing Mount Hua just to meet a female disciple, all because of how the rumor spread.
Thinking of the headaches that had multiplied over the past year, Hwa Rin frowned delicately.
There had already been complaints among the junior sisters as well.
They might like the handsome male lead in the novel, but they certainly didn’t enjoy dealing with thugs trying to get handsy with them.
She resolved that one day she would give a proper warning so no one would dare climb Mount Hua carelessly again, and so the sect’s reputation wouldn’t suffer.
Then, seeing the girl in front of her still sniffing at the clothes, savoring the scent with twitching little nostrils, Hwa Rin smiled.
That adorable sight cleared all the clutter from her mind.
“So? If you like the scent, why not join our Mount Hua Sect?”
“Huh? Um… I already live on Mount Hua.”
“You live on Mount Hua?”
What was that supposed to mean?
Hwa Rin plunged into thought, trying to decode the hidden meaning behind the girl’s words.
During that pause, the girl carefully watched Hwa Rin’s face and started inching backward.
“Um… would it be all right if I left now?”
“My, already? Stay a little longer.”
“No. I… I feel bad, like I’m only taking things from you.”
How lovely. Even her words are graceful.
Hwa Rin looked at the girl’s polite bow and answered with a warm smile.
She knew courtesy and didn’t take kindness lightly.
She was definitely from a noble family.
She must be using an alias and borrowing clothes because of some circumstances.
Hwa Rin wanted to keep her here, but if she forced her to stay, that would only breed resentment.
Judging by that exceptional beauty and her inner force, she would make a name for herself before long.
Even if not today, Hwa Rin figured there would be countless chances to meet the girl again.
“Then shall big sister see you off?”
“No, that’s all right.”
The girl refused Hwa Rin’s kindness to the very end.
She bowed respectfully to Hwa Rin, who had seen her all the way to the entrance of the main building, and offered her farewell.
“I won’t forget this kindness. I’ll repay it next time.”
“All right. Let’s meet again.”
Repay it next time.
The girl spoke of repaying a debt, one of the basics that younger martial artists these days simply never seemed to keep.
Hwa Rin waved to the girl, who had that spirit of righteous chivalry that suited her perfectly right down to the end.
The girl ran down the mountain path.
She looked precarious, but for some reason Hwa Rin didn’t think she would fall.
Did she learn a martial art focused on lightfoot skill?
It was a footwork style she had never seen before, but it gave off a mystic feeling.
Watching the girl’s back until it disappeared from view, Hwa Rin was certain they would meet again somewhere else.
The next time I see her, she’ll probably be different from today.
At the thought, she smiled faintly.
**
“That was dangerous.”
I hurried down the mountain while replaying the earlier situation in my head.
I had barely escaped an extreme terror that had left my whole body trembling.
I know that look.
That gaze, wrapped in kindness but hiding a sticky, repulsive desire underneath.
That was unmistakably the look of a pervert! The sinister filth hidden beneath that neat face had all the energy of an absolute creeper!
Sexual desire doesn’t care whether you’re righteous or evil.
Beautiful looks and a pristine atmosphere.
And then there were the sweet treats offered right in front of me.
I’d been blinded.
Probably because my body had gotten younger, I was in the position of being targeted regardless of gender.
I wasn’t even that young.
Anyway, creeps know no boundaries.
What’s more, this was a youth-protection-free zone where there was no such thing as a law against indecency, and as long as you could give birth to a child, you were treated like an adult.
I, a transcendent-level beauty, had become a pitiful creature who even had to watch out for crazy pedophile lesbians.
“So scary.”
I shuddered at the thought of that hair-raising situation.
If I’d been even a little later, I would have definitely fallen into her claws.
For a moment, I’d even thought about fighting back.
But I still couldn’t be sure how strong I really was.
And that place had been the enemy’s stronghold.
I still couldn’t face her head-on.
I had to pour every ounce of my attention into pretending I hadn’t figured out the demon’s hidden intent.
How shocked had I been when she brought clothes and told me to change right in front of her?
Thank goodness it was her own home turf—she cared about appearances enough to let me off with my life.
However much the martial world might be ruled by force, anyone with a bit of standing had no choice but to care about how society saw them.
Still, she probably couldn’t pull off a public pervert stunt right in the middle of Mount Hua’s main headquarters, a place famous for being a pristine orthodox sect rooted in Taoist tradition.
When she kept urging me to join the sect, I honestly thought I might end up as some fucking lolicon’s pet project.
Just look at this.
The clothes fit my body perfectly, which meant she’d done this more than once.
As I hurried down the mountain, I raised my arms here and there to inspect the outfit.
“It is pretty, though.”
As expected of a demon who kidnaps and raises beautiful girls, the clothes were gorgeous.
They were breathable, they smelled faintly of plum blossoms, and best of all, they were clean.
It had been worth biting down and taking the clothes after all.
“But kidnapping is a crime.”
I probably wouldn’t be setting foot in that Mount Hua Sect with the filthy demon in it ever again.
Today, too, the frail little beauty had safely escaped disaster.
Whew.