The Lady Butcher and the Delicate Bride - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

When Chu Yu came out, she saw the girl sitting at the stone table looking at something. She sat down beside her and asked, “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“My hair just finished drying.” Mu Dingxiang rubbed her head and turned around, only to see Chu Yu dressed in a single layer of thin white inner robes. Her long hair was draped over her shoulders and fell across her chest. Under the dim yellow light, her features appeared even softer. Because the thin fabric clung to her body, it highlighted the boundless scenery of her figure.

Mu Dingxiang heard a faint gulping sound from her own throat, which sounded exceptionally clear in the silent night. Instantly, like someone caught doing something wrong, she lowered her head.

Chu Yu naturally saw her reaction and let out a secret laugh, thinking the child was truly simple and cute.

“Alright, let’s sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow.”

Only then did Mu Dingxiang remember the identity of this “female husband” of hers the number one pig butcher in Leshan County.

Looking at her current appearance, it was truly impossible to associate her with a butcher full of bulging muscles.

Mu Dingxiang lifted the gauze curtain and climbed onto the bed, shrinking her small frame into the inner part of the bed near the stone wall, leaving a large open space for Chu Yu.

Chu Yu smiled and said, “If it weren’t for the stone wall propping you up, you’d probably fall off the bed. Lie a bit further out; I don’t eat people.”

Only then did Mu Dingxiang move outward somewhat sheepishly, though her body remained stiff.

Chu Yu flicked her hand, and something flew out, extinguishing the oil lamp on the stone wall. The entire cave was instantly plunged into darkness.

Due to the sudden darkness, Mu Dingxiang’s stiff body gradually relaxed, only to hear the woman’s low voice beside her: “Do you know how a husband and wife sleep together?”

Chu Yu’s voice successfully made Mu Dingxiang’s body go on alert again. She said hesitantly, “Isn’t it just like us, covering up with the same blanket, closing our eyes, and going to sleep?”

Chu Yu burst out laughing upon hearing this. “Mm, that’s exactly it. You’re right.”

After speaking, she pulled the blanket over her a bit more, turned onto her side, and began to invite sleep.

Soon, Chu Yu’s breathing became steady and there was no further movement. However, Mu Dingxiang, who was lying flat behind her, suddenly opened her eyes. In the darkness, no one could see the complex light reflecting in her gaze.

A man and a woman sleeping together was, of course, not as simple as just covering up with a blanket and closing one’s eyes. Mu Dingxiang wasn’t a three-year-old child; having witnessed what happened to her two older sisters, she naturally knew what it was all about.

When Chu Yu asked her, she could only play dumb. She didn’t know what Chu Yu truly meant. It seemed that between women, things could be done just as they were between men and women. If Chu Yu really wanted to, it wouldn’t be impossible for her; after all, if Mother Mu had sold her to some other man, her fate would likely have been much worse.

Chu Yu was a woman herself; if she wanted to do such things, she would surely be more tender.

Mu Dingxiang listened intently. The breathing beside her was rhythmic; this person seemed truly asleep and had no intention of doing anything to her.

Those probing words earlier seemed more like a joke, purely wanting to see her make a fool of herself.

Mu Dingxiang touched the slight swell of her own chest. With her being so “plain and thin,” would Chu Yu even like her?

The surroundings were quiet. Occasionally, the wind blew through the stone crevices, making a low whistling sound. Mixed with the faint chirping of nocturnal insects in the woods outside, it harmonized into a soft lullaby.

Lost in these chaotic thoughts, Mu Dingxiang eventually fell asleep.

Chu Yu’s bed was comfortable, padded with cotton or dry downy grass underneath. It wasn’t hard like the bedboards at the Mu house. Plus, with the gauze curtain blocking the way, there wasn’t a single mosquito. The cave had a fresh scent, unlike that cramped little room filled with Mu Jue Ming’s discarded shoes and socks, which smelled terrible once summer arrived.

Mu Dingxiang rarely had such good dreams. She felt as though she were floating among the white clouds in the sky. Everything around her was snowy white, fluffy, and fragrant. It was so comfortable she didn’t want to wake up.

Just then, a milky, high-pitched voice suddenly came from her ear: “Mother, Mother.”

Mu Dingxiang waved her hand, trying to brush the tender voice out of her ears.

The milky voice continued to call: “Mother, wake up quickly.”

Mu Dingxiang suddenly snapped awake from her soft, cloud-like dream. She opened her eyes to see the white gauze curtain. After a moment of daze, she realized she had returned home with Chu Yu yesterday and was staying in her cave.

“Mother—”

Why was that voice still there? Wasn’t it in the dream? How did it follow her out of the dream?

Mu Dingxiang turned her head and saw a small thing hopping and jumping. It lifted the gauze curtain and burrowed into the bed.

She was startled instantly, her body instinctively shrinking back. “Who are you? What… what do you want to do?”

The little thing before her was about the size of an adult’s arm a miniature version of a human. However, it had a pair of tiny horns on its head that looked like bamboo shoots. Its entire body was wrapped in a few bamboo leaves, revealing a plump little belly.

It was cute, but the pair of horns on its head revealed the fact that it was not human.

Mu Dingxiang’s heart constricted. Her whole body tensed as she hurriedly retreated, her back slamming into the stone wall behind her, causing her to let out a muffled groan of pain.

“Mother, don’t be afraid. Zhu-er doesn’t eat people.” Seeing Mu Dingxiang’s terrified look, the little thing felt a bit hurt. It pouted, looking as if it were about to cry.

Even though the little thing clearly wasn’t human, its aggrieved little appearance made Mu Dingxiang’s fear drop significantly. She stared back at the little thing with wide eyes.

“…Mother…” The little sprite sobbed, peeking at her with a cautious look.

This little appearance instantly captured Mu Dingxiang’s heart, making it soften completely. This little sprite didn’t seem to have any intention of hurting her. Moreover, it looked soft and squishy; if they really came to blows, it probably wouldn’t be her match.

She reached out and lightly poked that round little belly with her index finger, watching the tender little midriff tremble slightly.

“Your name is Zhu-er?”

“Un,” the little thing saw that Mu Dingxiang wasn’t so afraid of it anymore and nodded vigorously with wide eyes. “Mother smells good.”

Mu Dingxiang smelled herself but didn’t think she smelled particularly good. What she didn’t know was that this little bamboo demon liked the aura of vegetation on her body.

Mu Dingxiang was born with a Wood destiny and was naturally close to plants. All these years she had dealt with rice seedlings and crops in the fields, and she would sleep by lying down in the grass. She had forged an indissoluble bond with greenery, carrying the scent of plants on her, which is why the little thing liked her.

“Not fragrant. Chu Yu is the one who smells good—by the way, why are you calling me Mother?”

The little thing blinked at the mention of Chu Yu’s name. “Chu Yu is also Mother. Mother saved me. Mother is smelly; Zhu-er doesn’t like Mother’s smell—but this Mother is fragrant, Zhu-er likes you.”

It took Mu Dingxiang a long time to realize that the first “Mother” the little thing referred to was Chu Yu, and the second was herself.

“Chu Yu isn’t smelly.”

“Mother is smelly. She’s smelly when she comes back every noon. She’s only not smelly after a bath.”

Mu Dingxiang finally understood that what this little thing disliked was the smell of pig slaughter on Chu Yu. The little thing said it was bamboo and had bamboo horns, so it must be a bamboo fairy or sprite. It didn’t like the bloody aura of slaughter, so it called Chu Yu “smelly.” Conversely, someone like herself, who hadn’t eaten a scrap of meat for years, suited its taste perfectly.

“You haven’t told me yet, why do you call me Mother?”

“Because Chu Yu is Mother. You and Mother got married, so now there are two Mothers,” the little thing said, looking up and analyzing with its not-very-bright little head.

Hearing Zhu-er say that the person who marries “Mother” is also “Mother,” Mu Dingxiang couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What if the person who married your Mother was a man?”

“Then that would be Father.”

“Then aren’t you sad that you don’t have a Father?”

“Not sad. Mother is fragrant; Zhu-er likes her very much. Don’t want a Father, want two Mothers.”

“How do you know Chu Yu and I got married?”

She hadn’t seen this little thing come out yesterday, and the two of them hadn’t held any ceremony. How did this little thing know about their business?

“I heard everything last night. Mother said she wanted to marry a pig butcher to be a wife, and then Mother and Mother slept in one bed together.” Zhu-er looked certain. Brother Vine said that when two people sleep in one bed, they are husband and wife, so now it had two Mothers.

Mu Dingxiang was stuck between laughter and tears. Seeing how adorable it was and figuring Chu Yu knew of its existence, she was no longer afraid. She stroked the little bamboo horns on its head and asked, “When did Zhu-er start following Mother Chu Yu?”

“Uh… one year… two years… five years… Zhu-er doesn’t remember. Zhu-er was by Mother’s side as soon as I opened my eyes,” the little bamboo shoot sprite said, counting on its fingers dizzily.

“Then why doesn’t Zhu-er go with Chu Yu to slaughter pigs?”

At the mention of slaughtering pigs, Zhu-er’s hair practically stood on end. “No, no! Slaughtering pigs is smelly. Mother is smelly when she comes back from slaughtering. Zhu-er stays home by myself.”

Mu Dingxiang hurriedly reached out and stroked its little head. “Alright, alright, we won’t talk about slaughtering pigs Zhu-er is a little girl, right?”

The little bamboo shoot sprite nodded. “Zhu-er is a little sister; I have a little green skirt to wear.”

After speaking, she puffed out her little belly and spun in a small circle. The two bamboo leaves on her body fluttered along with the wind.

“Little Zhu-er’s green skirt is so beautiful.” Mu Dingxiang gave her a big compliment (though a bit against her conscience), which made the little bamboo shoot sprite beam with joy.

“Can Mother give Zhu-er a hug?” The little bamboo shoot sprite’s eyes were full of longing.

With Mu Dingxiang’s constitution being so rich in the aura of vegetation, Zhu-er had wanted to run out last night. But fearing a scolding from Chu Yu, she had waited patiently for a whole night. Finally, she came out after Chu Yu left at dawn, and now she wanted to cling to and rub against Mu Dingxiang.

Seeing the longing in its eyes, Mu Dingxiang curved her lips and picked her up into her arms.

This little bamboo shoot sprite was very light, about the weight of a six-month-old child. Holding her in her arms felt as light as a feather.

The little bamboo shoot sprite snuggled into Mu Dingxiang’s embrace, looking intoxicated and excited. “Wow, wow, Zhu-er is being hugged by Mother! Zhu-er is so happy, Zhu-er is going to fly!”

Mu Dingxiang had never been cared for by her parents since childhood. She had a home but lived like an orphan, lonely and bitter. Now, with such a little clingy sprite sticking to her and acting as if she couldn’t bear to let go, she felt a wave of maternal love welling up in her chest. Her fondness for the little bamboo shoot sprite shot up rapidly. She stroked the top of its head and said, “Mother needs to get up and work. Just follow me obediently and don’t make trouble.”

Zhu-er naturally had no reason to refuse. As long as she could stay by Mu Dingxiang’s side, she was willing to do anything.

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