My Senior Sister Says She Will Marry No One But Me - Chapter 3

Since Du Yunge took over the Miaoyin Sect, hardly anyone had addressed her directly by her name.

Beneath the sect leader were the deputy leaders, and below them were the four guardians of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Under the four guardians were the twelve division heads, and below them were the scattered inner and outer disciples. The four guardians had always strictly adhered to the hierarchy; even the most senior and meritorious among them, the Guardian of Spring, dared not overstep in the slightest. If even these four guardians, renowned throughout the martial world, did not dare to be disrespectful, then the teachers who instructed her in miscellaneous arts like music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as the division heads further down the ranks, were even more cautious. Outsiders, seeing how strictly the insiders adhered to propriety, thought, “Well, we’d better behave ourselves too.” Even He Zhenzhen, who later married Du Yunge, only called her “my lady” and occasionally teased her with “Sect Leader Du,” but never the simple, intimate “Yunge.”

Except for Xue Shuyan.

Xue Shuyan’s voice was truly cold, like the solid ice of a river in the depths of winter, frozen so hard that horses could gallop across it. Even when she deliberately softened it, it could still send a shiver down one’s spine. Yet, it was also deeply familiar. Since joining the Miaoyin Sect, she had never called Du Yunge “Sect Leader,” always addressing her as “Yunge.” This form of address, like her voice, had become something uniquely recognizable to Du Yunge:

Whenever she heard that voice, or someone calling her name “Yunge” from afar, it was undoubtedly Xue Shuyan, without exception.

This was also one of the pieces of evidence He Zhenzhen had once tried to use to drive a wedge between them, saying, “Deputy Sect Leader Xue actually dares to call you by your name such disrespect!” But Du Yunge hadn’t believed it:

“Isn’t a name meant to be called?”

Moreover, Du Yunge had secretly kept one thing to herself: although Xue Shuyan’s voice was icy cold, she loved hearing it.

It was widely known throughout the Central Plains martial world that Xue Shuyan had Hu ancestry. She had never bothered to conceal her heritage and given her deep-set eyes, high nose bridge, and distinctly Hu features, it was probably impossible to hide anyway. When she spoke, one could even detect the distinctive, resonant cadence of the Hu people from beyond the frontier. Combined with her cold tone and expressionless face, even the simplest words she uttered carried a stern, almost militaristic sharpness. It was a shame, really, for someone with such an elegant and refined name as “Shuyan.”

Yet, this very voice, when calling Du Yunge’s name, held an inexplicably reassuring quality. Moreover, Xue Shuyan was likely the only person in the entire martial world who could address Du Yunge so directly. For this reason, Du Yunge had never regarded it as evidence of “overstepping.”

Now, as she looked at the black-haired woman in green standing before her, she felt that this scene had never occurred in her memory. For a moment, she couldn’t tell whether this was a brand-new dream or if she had truly been reborn.

Seeing Du Yunge sitting there in a daze, showing no reaction to her question, yet with a perfectly normal pulse that indicated neither poisoning nor physical discomfort, Xue Shuyan asked again:

“What’s wrong?”

If anyone else had witnessed her actions, they would surely have been scared out of their wits:

This was Xue Shuyan, after all! The head senior disciple of the Miaoyin Sect, the undisputed and pre-appointed next deputy sect leader. A young prodigy whose martial prowess was so renowned that no one in the martial world had not heard of her name. Among the younger generation of the Central Plains martial arts community, she was unquestionably the cream of the crop. Her reputation was known far and wide, even the tribes beyond the borders had personally acknowledged, saying, “What a formidable figure Xue Shuyan of the Miaoyin Sect is even we have heard of her.”

Alongside her formidable martial skills, her icy temperament was equally famous. Some had once joked, half-seriously, that the Miaoyin Sect Leader, Du Yunge, was truly an unattainable flower, she played the part of the flower, while Xue Shuyan was the freezing mountain peak that could chill one to the bone.

And it was no exaggeration. To outsiders, Xue Shuyan was not merely unsmiling she would never repeat the same sentence twice. If someone missed her words due to carelessness, they could only piece together the meaning through guesswork. Given this, the fact that she had patiently asked Du Yunge the same question twice was no longer just a simple display of respect for her sect leader. It must have been the result of Du Yunge accumulating merits in her past life comparable to those of the compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva!

Yet Du Yunge felt no sense of being overly honored. Her mind had practically ceased to function. She simply sat blankly on the bed, staring dazedly at Xue Shuyan for a long while, before suddenly shedding silent tears:

The reason was simple, she recognized these hands.

Although Xue Shuyan was cold and aloof, she had been exceptionally diligent and responsible when teaching Du Yunge martial arts as her senior. She held nothing back, eager to impart everything she knew. Countless times, she had patiently held Du Yunge’s hands to correct her sword grip and throwing techniques for hidden weapons so many times that even with her eyes closed, Du Yunge could tell whether it was truly Xue Shuyan holding her hands. The only problem was that Du Yunge was simply not cut out for martial arts. Otherwise, the Four Guardians of the Seasons would not have considered organizing a martial arts contest to find her a reliable partner to assist in managing the Miaoyin Sect.

Unfortunately, that very contest ended up attracting nothing but a treacherous ingrate.

Du Yunge opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing, swallowing back the terrifying truth of her “return from death.” Instead, she whispered softly:

“I had a nightmare.”

She was naturally beautiful, deserving of the praise “her floral beauty is unparalleled in the world.” Even with the demeaning nickname “Silly Big Head,” such superficial labels could not diminish her celestial appearance in the slightest. And now, with tears welling in her eyes as she clutched Xue Shuyan’s hand and spoke in a soft voice, anyone with a normal sense of aesthetics would instinctively feel protective toward something so vulnerable yet pleasing to the eye. Even Xue Shuyan, whose icy demeanor made the entire martial world keep their distance, was no exception.

Maintaining this overly intimate posture, she drew Du Yunge into her embrace and gently patted her back. Though her comforting gestures were still somewhat unpracticed, she learned quickly within moments, the rhythm of her pats became soft and measured, so soothing that Du Yunge nearly drifted back to sleep right there in Xue Shuyan’s arms.

It wasn’t that Du Yunge was careless; rather, the name Xue Shuyan was like a talisman of invincibility to her. Since childhood, Xue Shuyan had shouldered the blame for her countless times more than fingers and toes could count. There’s an old saying: “Slow in speech but diligent in action.” Xue Shuyan was precisely that kind of person. Though she spoke little, her actions were always reliable and reassuring, a stark contrast to Du Yunge’s own nature.

A single promise from Xue Shuyan was more calming than a whole gourd of tranquilizers. Despite her icy demeanor and aloofness, as long as Xue Shuyan was around, Du Yunge’s world would never collapse.

Just as she was hazily contemplating taking that nap for someone severely sleep-deprived, nothing mattered more than catching up on rest. Short of an earthquake or the Yellow River flowing backward, nothing could rouse an utterly exhausted person from bed Xue Shuyan suddenly spoke:

“Yunge, aren’t you going to check the results of your martial arts contest for marriage? It’s almost evening.”

Her voice remained as steady and pleasant as ever, yet Du Yunge detected a faint hint of something amiss. Before she could ponder what it might be, a delayed but timely realization struck her.

“Wait?!”

In an instant, all drowsiness vanished. She grabbed Xue Shuyan by the shoulders:

“Is today Frost’s Descent?!”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Du Yunge realized something else felt off:

She and Xue Shuyan were far too close.

Xue Shuyan had come to wake her up, but after Du Yunge seized her hands and then her shoulders, she had practically dragged Xue Shuyan onto the bed. To maintain her precarious balance, Xue Shuyan had to lean half her body over, bracing her hands less than half a foot from Du Yunge the moment she was released.

Under their exchanged gazes, Du Yunge could even see her own reflection in Xue Shuyan’s eyes and feel the lingering chill from Xue Shuyan’s body, slowly dissipating in the warm, cozy room but not yet entirely gone.

Too close. And to make matters worse, she was only wearing thin inner garments.

If anyone with ill intentions saw them like this, they could easily spread rumors like, “Xue Shuyan, long wielding great power, has long harbored disloyal intentions, bullying her superior in an attempt to seize control of the sect leader.” Given their current posture, there would be no way to refute it!

Flustered, she released Xue Shuyan’s shoulders and apologized repeatedly, “I’m sorry, Senior Sister Xue! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

Xue Shuyan lowered her gaze, her expression reverting to the aloof, unapproachable demeanor most familiar to outsiders:

“It is today.”

Du Yunge felt as if she had been thrown into a massive ice cellar in the dead of winter, without even a chance to put on warm clothes. An icy chill instantly seeped into every inch of her body:

If a dividing line were to be drawn in her past life, it would fall on the day of Frost’s Descent when she was seventeen.

It had been two years since she came of age and succeeded as the sect leader of Miaoyin Sect Du Yunge was exactly seventeen that year. That year, both Frost’s Descent and the twenty-fourth day of the ninth lunar month were auspicious dates for weddings and alliances. As the sect leader of Miaoyin Sect was of marriageable age and well-suited for matrimony, the four guardians of the sect Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter sent carrier pigeons across the martial world, announcing a martial arts contest to choose a spouse on that day.

The contest lasted three days, concluding precisely on Frost’s Descent. Du Yunge immediately married He Zhenzhen, with whom she had fallen in love at first sight. By the twenty-fourth day, she had followed He Zhenzhen down Wangyou Mountain, leaving Miaoyin Sect behind. From that day on, her life was never the same.

They say that life is full of ups and downs, but after that Frost’s Descent, Du Yunge’s life was nothing but downs downs without a single chance to rise again. It was like a carriage pulled by nine horses hurtling headlong into a filthy ditch, unstoppable no matter what.

She was racking her brains, trying to figure out how to avoid He Zhenzhen or simply feign illness to escape the day, when, as luck would have it, someone pushed the door open:

“Sect Leader, are you ready? Shuyan, you really are something, I sent you to fetch someone, and you ended up getting tangled up yourself. Now I have to come find both of you.”

As soon as the person pushed the door open, she saw the two of them still snuggled together on the bed. After a silent three seconds, she turned and left without another word:

“My apologies. Please continue.”

Du Yunge: ??? Wait! No, it’s not what you think! Please wait, I can explain!!!

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