Popular Songs

Silken hair. Jade-like body. Atop her pert twin buns, two red cherries bobbed. Someone smacked his lips and muttered, "Curves in front and back, long legs—beautiful enough to bubble!" A glistening thread of liquid stretched from the corner of his mouth like spider silk.

His nostrils burned, and two streams of liquid flowed out. He licked his lips with his tongue; it was a little salty. Raising a hand to wipe it, he saw dazzling red blood on the back of it.

"Fuck! A nosebleed!" Yue Qianchou shrieked. "Who..." A startled cry came from beside the pool. Qu Ping'er, who had just stretched out a foot to enter the water, heard someone speaking and panicked. She hurriedly gathered up her clothes and hid behind the stone stele.

This is bad. I've been discovered. Damn it, why did I get a nosebleed now? Run! Yue Qianchou laughed bitterly inside. Without another word, he turned and ran up the mountain. Unfortunately, he had not gone far when a white figure swept over his head. Qu Ping'er, her face flushed crimson, blocked his path.

Clang! A gleaming longsword left its sheath and rested against Yue Qianchou's neck. Flames blazed in Qu Ping'er's eyes. At a glance, she could tell that he had not the slightest cultivation and was utterly ordinary, yet he wore Qingguang Sect robes. Her voice trembled slightly as she demanded, "Who are you?"

"Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand. I'm Yue Qianchou, a ninth-generation disciple of Qingguang Sect. We're on the same side, the same side." This girl was at the height of her fury. Yue Qianchou truly feared that she might act on impulse, so he hurriedly explained.

The ashamed and furious Qu Ping'er paused slightly. The useless Yue Qianchou was known throughout Qingguang Sect; naturally, she had heard of him. So it was this man. An ordinary person could not possibly ascend Qingguang Mountain, and seeing that he truly had no cultivation, she knew after a little thought that he was telling the truth.

Looking at the cheap, ingratiating expression on the man's face—especially the nosebleed smeared all over it—Qu Ping'er truly wanted to run him through with a single stroke. He had actually dared spy on her bathing. He was utterly shameless and vile.

But this man was, by seniority, her Martial Ancestor Uncle. Though she hated him, she did not dare strike. Useless or not, his seniority stood there. She could insult and curse him all she wanted; as long as he did not mind, it was no matter. But if she dared lay a hand on her Martial Ancestor Uncle, Qingguang Sect's rules were no toothless tiger, nor were they something Qu Ping'er could bear.

Thinking of how this rogue had seen every inch of her naked body, while she could do nothing about it, Qu Ping'er trembled all over with rage. Of course, if she reported him to the sect, Yue Qianchou would definitely be unable to eat it and carry it away. But would she do that? In an era where propriety was so strict, exposing this matter would be no different from ruining her chastity. Her beloved might never look at her again. Qu Ping'er gritted her teeth and asked, "What did you see?"

"Don't act rashly. Impulse is the devil!" With the sword at his neck and the girl's hand shaking badly, Yue Qianchou was truly frightened of her. He soothed her first, then answered, "I really didn't see you taking off your clothes... uh!"

He wanted nothing more than to slap himself twice. Pig! If he had not seen it, how would he know she had taken off her clothes? Wasn't that just asking for trouble? Sure enough...

"What did you say?" Qu Ping'er nearly roared hysterically. Pain flared in his neck, and Yue Qianchou felt the blade had already cut into his skin. He hurriedly said, "I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything!"

Silence. The two remained in that posture, standing motionless. No, Yue Qianchou did not dare move. He looked pitifully at Qu Ping'er like a lamb awaiting slaughter, begging the butcher to spare him beneath her blade.

After a long while, Qu Ping'er's face turned icy, each word popping from her rosy lips: "Despicable. Shameless. Lewd. Human scum. Scoundrel. Rogue. Beast!" When she finished, she kicked Yue Qianchou in the chest. "Fuck!" he screamed, rolling head over heels down the mountain.

"To die beneath peony flowers, even as a ghost one remains romantic. Which bastard said that? Damn it! Try it yourself if you've got the guts." Yue Qianchou lay amid a clump of thornbushes, groaning in pain. It took him a long time to crawl up in a miserable state. Looking up, he saw that the tigress was already gone. His whole body hurt. Pulling out thorns one by one, he staggered back.

"Who did this?" Hao Sansi asked in a deep voice, his face terrifyingly livid. Everyone usually looked down on his disciple, and he knew it. It was normal for people to mock him a little; after all, his disciple really was that sort of... But anyone who dared lay hands on his disciple, hehe! Did they truly think this Qingguang Sect elder was made of clay?

"I accidentally rolled down the mountain myself. It had nothing to do with anyone else." Yue Qianchou grimaced in pain.

"Hehe! The footprint on your chest and the sword wound on your neck—those could come from a fall too?" Hao Sansi sneered. He grabbed his disciple's hand and dragged him outside. "Come with me to Qingguang Grand Hall. We'll reason this out with Sect Master Brother."

"Wait!" Yue Qianchou shouted. How could he dare go to Qingguang Grand Hall? Wouldn't that get him driven down the mountain? Thinking that his master was not a rigid man, he immediately gave a bitter smile and explained what had happened. He did not want to say it either! It was hardly something glorious. But he had no choice. The man's face was so black it looked like it could bite someone to death. Of course, he especially emphasized one point: he had not deliberately watched a beauty undress.

"Uh..." Hao Sansi, still gripping his disciple's hand, froze. The muscles in his face twitched, and his anger instantly vanished. After a long while, he squeezed out, "Serves you right!"

"Master! Never mind whether I deserve it or not—help me pull the thorns out of my back first!"

After one night, Yue Qianchou was astonished to find that his body, once riddled with holes, had actually healed. Not even a scar remained. His bruised, swollen pig's head had returned to normal. He could not help praising Qingguang Sect as a blessed land on earth. Not only was its spiritual energy abundant, even healing was this fast. His long journey here had not been in vain. Feeling refreshed, he paced around the courtyard a few times to stretch his limbs. It was just that the way his master looked at him seemed a little strange!

As the saying went, once the scar healed, the pain was forgotten. It described people like Yue Qianchou perfectly. Over the past few days, he had kept thinking the scenery around the forbidden ground's pool was rather nice. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would wander over there, comforting himself that he was going to see the white fox. As for what was really in his heart, who knew what kind of ghost did.

The sunset was infinitely beautiful, only it was near dusk. Watching the sun sink in the west, Yue Qianchou returned from the rear mountain in disappointment. Along the way, mocking looks and cutting remarks never ceased, but he had long prepared himself mentally. Borrowing a phrase from his previous life—"Once you mingle in the world, how can you avoid getting stabbed?"—he changed it to, "Once you walk out the door, where can you avoid mockery?" He had long gotten used to it.

He walked back unconcernedly. As he passed a pair of female disciples, he heard one sentence that nearly made his jaw drop. No, to be precise, it was a song.

If he had heard correctly, the two had just sung, "I am a fox waiting for a thousand years, a thousand years of waiting, a thousand years of loneliness." Even the tune sounded the same. There's no way my ears are broken! How is that possible? Yue Qianchou dug at his ears. It had to be an auditory hallucination.

"When I loved you, you were poor as a church mouse, studying hard by the cold window. When I left you, you had topped the imperial examinations and entered the bridal chamber beneath wedding candles." Someone behind him began singing again, and loudly at that. Especially the words "bridal chamber beneath wedding candles"—he could tell at once that two men were singing in chorus. Though they were badly off-key, Yue Qianchou was certain it was the song he had taught the white fox. Turning around, he saw two familiar faces walking toward him.

One of them laughed. "Oh! Martial Ancestor Uncle is here! You've never heard the song we're singing? It was written by our Martial Ancestor Aunt Qu Ping'er. It's very popular in Qingguang Sect."

The other laughed. "You're just talking nonsense. Martial Ancestor Uncle doesn't have a single friend here. Where would he hear it?" The two burst into laughter and left, continuing to sing that horribly off-key song.

"Songs written by Martial Ancestor Aunt Qu Ping'er! Who is Qu Ping'er? Damn it! I was clearly the one who brought it here, and she dares infringe on my rights? Fuck!" Yue Qianchou cursed under his breath a few times, then shook his head with a helpless bitter smile. He guessed that someone had entered the stone grotto, heard the white fox's songs, and spread them around.

All along the road, he heard quite a few people singing the same song. Yue Qianchou was becoming numb to it. Returning to the courtyard, he saw his master personally grilling food and felt a little embarrassed. Recently, he had neglected his proper duties and had not shown filial respect to his master in quite some time. He had actually forced his usually lazy master to do it himself. Walking over, he picked up the wine flask on the table and said with an ingratiating smile, "Master, you rest. I'll do it!"

"I am a fox who has cultivated for a thousand years, a thousand years of cultivation, a thousand years of loneliness..." Hao Sansi hummed and nodded, letting his disciple take over. Yue Qianchou, who was drinking, found it a little strange. His master seemed to be singing. Once he clearly heard what he was singing, "Mm... pfft!" He could not hold in the wine in his mouth and immediately sprayed a mouthful straight onto his master's face.

The old man and the young man stared at each other, four eyes wide, both frozen like wooden chickens!