My Senior Sister Says She Will Marry No One But Me - Chapter 21

Upon hearing these words, Du Yunge’s eyes welled up with tears. She nodded vigorously, feeling as though countless words were stuck in her chest, yet too overwhelmed to speak. After a long pause, she nodded again firmly and said:

“Mm.”

After speaking, she felt that if she didn’t say something more, it would be impossible to vent the anger that He Zhenzhen had stirred up in her chest. So, she added:

“Anyway, all crows under the sun are equally black, I’ve finally seen through it all!”

Feng Chengchun and the others, hearing Du Yunge’s clearly impassioned words, didn’t think much of it. They simply took it as the emotional outburst of a young girl and laughed it off:

“Has the Sect Leader been reading those scripts about heartless men and fickle lovers again? Feeling indignant on behalf of the unfortunate heroines, are we? I must say, it’s quite in line with the founding spirit of our Miaoyin Sect.”

“What has the Sect Leader been reading this time? Could it be The Legend of the White Snake again?”

When the Miaoyin Sect was first established, its purpose was to aid women who suffered greatly but lacked the strength to resist, yet still harbored an unyielding spirit. Because of this, the sect initially had a poor reputation in the martial world, with no one believing that an all-female organization could last long. Especially after the founding sect master helped nearly a hundred noblewomen successfully divorce their husbands and led them in a grand procession to Mount Wangyou, the male-dominated major sects mockingly dubbed them the “Home-Wrecking, Fortune-Shattering Jinxes.” For a time, the Miaoyin Sect was even disparaged as the “Nest of Jinxes.”After centuries of inheritance, the Miaoyin Sect had transformed from an obscure minor faction into one of the most renowned sects in the martial world.” The title “Nest of Jinxes” was no longer mentioned, and everyone who encountered Miaoyin Sect’s female disciples would respectfully address them as “Heroines” and praise them with the saying, “Heroes have always emerged from the young.” No one dared to look down on them anymore. Today, the Miaoyin Sect not only excels in martial arts, synthesizing the strengths of numerous schools to become a leading force in the Central Plains martial world, but it also boasts considerable wealth. Setting aside the unverified treasure maps, the sect has investments in various industries. Among the twelve division leaders under the Four Guardians of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, more than half are responsible for financial management. The former “Nest of Jinxes,” after generations of inheritance, has undeniably become a formidable sect, both skilled in martial arts and richly endowed.

What’s even more remarkable is that the Miaoyin Sect has never wavered from its original mission over the years. This is evident from the fact that the previous sect master, while traveling and studying, gathered all four guardians of the next generation. As the saying goes, “Like mother, like daughter,” it’s entirely understandable that Du Yunge, when reading stories like The Legend of the White Snake, would gnash her teeth at the weak and incompetent Xu Xian, wishing she could crumple him up and stuff him under the Leifeng Pagoda in place of the White Maiden.

Qiuyue Man also laughed and said, “In that case, I’ll have to bring you some entertaining storybooks from now on, Sect Master. Don’t always read these depressing things. Sect Master, there are still people in this world worthy of entrusting your life to. Please don’t be so pessimistic in advance. If you were to miss your lifelong love because of these things, you’d regret it so much you wouldn’t even be able to cry.”

Du Yunge responded vaguely and left the main hall with Xue Shuyan. After walking quite a distance, Du Yunge suddenly noticed that Xue Shuyan was unusually silent today. Although Xue Shuyan was usually not much of a talker, she would still exchange a few words with Du Yunge from time to time, a testament to the bond they had built over the years living together on Mount Wangyou. But today, Xue Shuyan was clearly preoccupied, and her already expressionless face seemed even more intimidating so much so that it could be used as-is at the foot of Mount Wangyou to frighten crying children into silence.

Du Yunge had always been the one to break the awkward silence between them, and today was no exception. She shattered the inexplicably tense and quiet atmosphere and asked, “Senior Sister, you don’t seem to be in high spirits today?”

A passing maid, overhearing Du Yunge’s remark, was so startled she nearly dropped the basin in her hands:

Sect Master, wake up! Your Senior Sister Xue always has this cold, unapproachable demeanor! How on earth did you detect “low spirits” from a face that has never shown any expression other than “expressionless”?

Since Du Yunge had asked, Xue Shuyan naturally had to respond. Regardless of their long-standing friendship, Du Yunge was, after all, the Sect Master of the Miaoyin Sect, and Xue Shuyan could not afford to slight her. After a moment of silence, Xue Shuyan spoke with difficulty:

“I think there are so many people in this world, there must still be some who are like white crows.”

It took Du Yunge a while to realize that Xue Shuyan was trying to console her. After all, the words she had spoken earlier in a fit of anger were indeed overly extreme. It made sense that her Senior Sister, out of concern for her junior, would take the trouble to offer some guidance. Du Yunge smiled and said, “Senior Sister is right. I was being too narrow-minded.”

Only then did Xue Shuyan nod in satisfaction though, on the surface, there was no visible sign of satisfaction at all.

After dealing with the sudden letter from the Emei Sect Leader, Du Yunge found herself with little to do. In the past, even if she wasted the entire day reading storybooks, Feng Chengchun would not have been overly critical. But since she had reaffirmed her determination to train diligently in martial arts, Feng Chengchun had poured all her energy into rigorously training her. Even if Du Yunge couldn’t execute particularly intricate moves yet, she had to study the martial arts texts of various sects under Feng Chengchun’s guidance, laying a solid theoretical foundation first.

Du Yunge was overwhelmed and dizzy from the piles of books surrounding her, but she gritted her teeth and persevered, earning frequent nods of approval from Feng Chengchun:

“It’s truly wonderful that the Sect Master has such a desire to learn. Remember to maintain this diligence in the future and avoid being enthusiastic one moment and neglectful the next.”

“The knowledge you gain from today’s reading, the martial skills you practice, and the abilities you master will all become the foundation for building your future and establishing your career. No matter whom the sect leader marries in the future whether it’s someone of lower or higher status, if you haven’t built your own ‘career,’ others will look down on you.”

Du Yunge thought to herself that she understood this all too well. In her past life, He Zhenzhen had always regarded her with a condescending mix of disdain and pity. At first, she hadn’t understood why, but as she encountered more and more situations, she gradually came to realize the truth especially after experiencing death once:

There was a difference between being “accomplished in nothing” due to innate limitations and being “accomplished in nothing” due to self-abandonment.

Her innate talent was poor, and she truly couldn’t reach the pinnacle of martial arts like her masters, Feng Chengchun and Yun Anxue, or her senior sister, Xue Shuyan. This was a limitation imposed by her natural conditions, and there was nothing she could do about it. But if she were to abandon herself to despair over this and expect others to carry her burdens, that would be true incompetence and she couldn’t blame those from her past life for looking down on such a version of herself.

“I understand.”

Feng Chengchun glanced at the hourglass standing nearby and smiled. “You’ve read long enough for today. Haste makes waste there’s no need to rush to reclaim the martial arts you’ve neglected for so long. Please close the book and rest for a while, sect leader. You can continue reading later.”

Du Yunge immediately threw herself into the pile of books before her as if granted a pardon.

Lying open in front of her was Records of Exotic Customs, a book she often turned to for leisure after tiring of serious reading or when she grew bored of light novels. It documented the customs and traditions of regions beyond the Central Plains, covering everything from daily life to weddings and funerals anything that differed from Central Plains customs. Coincidentally, the page she had open was about the “marriage rituals” of the Hu people beyond the frontier.

Feng Chengchun, sharp-eyed, noticed Du Yunge staring blankly at this page and grew curious. Leaning over for a quick look, she chuckled. “So this is what caught the sect leader’s interest. If you’re truly curious about this, why not ask Shuyan directly? Although she’s been away from the frontier and living in the Central Plains for years, she still knows these basic customs far better than what’s written in these books.”

Du Yunge thought for a moment and shook her head. “No, there’s no need to trouble Senior Sister Xue with such trivial matters. I’m just browsing to refresh my mind and don’t need to know the details, it’s too exhausting. I’d appreciate it if Guardian Chun could give me a brief overview.”

Feng Chengchun thought to herself, Your dear senior sister would probably be delighted if you bothered her right now, but she kept this thought to herself and said instead, “In that case, let me give you a brief explanation, sect leader. Consider it like listening to a story.”

She cleared her throat and said, “The children of the grasslands beyond the Great Wall are all bold, unconstrained, and free-spirited talents. They can wield blades on horseback, follow the water and grass to settle, and live with an innate freedom, coming and going like the wind nothing can truly bind them. Given such liberty, expecting them to undergo the tedious formalities of marriage customs like the Central Plains people would be asking too much. It’s entirely possible that before even the initial steps of ‘presenting betrothal gifts’ and ‘inquiring about names’ are completed, they might already have gone their separate ways.”

“Over time, they developed their own unwritten rules regarding marriage, which are tacitly understood and followed across all tribes on the vast grasslands beyond the frontier.”

“The Hu people extract the tooth of the first prey they ever hunt in their lives, commemorating the beginning of their self-reliance and ability to protect themselves. This tooth also serves as a deeply meaningful token.”

“The Hu people are often passionate and value loyalty deeply, never breaking their promises. If one day you receive such a token from a Hu person, it means that no matter who you become or how rugged the path ahead may be, they have chosen you and only you. From then on, they will brave all hardships and dangers for you, asking for nothing in return only seeking to share life and death, to rest together in life and lie together in the grave.”

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