Mount Hua's Female Heroine

Mount Hua was perilous and magnificent, the finest under heaven.

Snow fell thickly before the mountain pavilion.

A green skirt fluttered, cold light flashed, and a young girl danced through the snow with a long sword.

The swordplay was as rugged as the mountains. Mount Hua Swordplay was renowned for its unpredictability and astonishing techniques. Many moves caught opponents off guard and left them in desperate situations. If they failed to kill the enemy in a single strike, they would fall into danger themselves.

After completing a set of Mount Hua Swordplay, the girl stood with her sword on her back.

She gazed eastward. Snow fell thickly from the sky, while beneath her feet stretched a sheer cliff thousands of feet deep.

She sighed softly, a trace of sorrow hidden between her brows.

A middle-aged woman walked through the snow and entered the pavilion, draping the fox-fur cloak she carried over the girl's shoulders.

Yue Lingshan turned around. "Mother."

"Shan'er, are you practicing your sword and watching the snow here by yourself?"

"I... I want to master my swordplay and ease Father and Mother's burdens."

Ning Zhongze smiled and nodded. "Shan'er, you've improved greatly lately. Your inner strength has reached the middle stage of Dan Energy. You're not as lazy as before, and your father is very pleased. He said that once your foundation in Mount Hua Swordplay is firmer, I can teach you the Jade Maiden Nineteen Sword Forms."

"I'll work hard!"

Ning Zhongze looked at her daughter. After all, she was the flesh that had fallen from her own body. She had long since sensed that ever since returning from Mount Heng, Lingshan always seemed troubled.

"For those who travel the martial world, martial arts are the foundation of one's standing. Chong'er's talent is extraordinary. He's barely over twenty, yet he's already at the late stage of the Armor-Breaking Realm. One day, he'll take over the burden of the Mount Hua Sect from your father."

"But when it comes to you, Shan'er, Mother has her own selfish wish. I only hope that you'll be happy and have everything go as you wish. Do you understand?"

Yue Lingshan's eyes reddened, and she threw herself into Ning Zhongze's arms.

"Still crying? You're almost a grown young lady of marriageable age. Soon, you can marry, support your husband, and raise children."

"That's not true. I'll always be Mother's daughter."

Ning Zhongze gently stroked her daughter's back, her eyes filled with affection. Suddenly, she noticed a jade hairpin in Yue Lingshan's bun. It was something she had never seen before.

"What a beautiful Vermillion Bird Jade Hairpin. Did Chong'er give it to you?"

Yue Lingshan hurriedly stood up and wiped her eyes. In a low voice, she said, "No."

"Did you buy it with your allowance?"

Yue Lingshan nodded, then shook her head. She had never lied to her mother before, and she immediately became flustered and at a loss.

Ning Zhongze noticed it all and asked, "Did that person give it to you?"

Yue Lingshan looked up at her, suddenly even more flustered. "Mother, I only..."

Seeing her daughter's expression, Ning Zhongze understood most of the truth.

She had heard her senior brother say that their daughter had been abducted by someone from the Demonic Cult at the foot of Mount Heng and taken all the way to Pingyang City.

Because it concerned her daughter's reputation, and to prevent gossip from spreading, only the couple knew about it. Even the other disciples of the Mount Hua Sect were unaware. They had merely said that their junior sister had gone sightseeing for those few days.

"Shan'er, Mother understands how you feel. When you're young and inexperienced, you may happen to meet someone extraordinarily brilliant and believe he's the finest person in the world, overlooking the person who has always silently waited by your side."

Yue Lingshan lowered her head without speaking. Aside from his appearance, that Demonic Cult scoundrel did not seem particularly brilliant at all.

"Mother will tell you a secret."

Yue Lingshan looked up. "What is it?"

Ning Zhongze said, "You absolutely mustn't tell your father."

Yue Lingshan became interested and nodded like a pecking chick.

Ning Zhongze sighed softly and smiled. "Actually, when Mother was your age, I also met someone. He had already been famous for a long time, was exceptionally suave, and was highly skilled in music. At the time, countless women in the martial world were enamored of him..."

"What happened later?" The flames of gossip roared in Yue Lingshan's heart. Could it be, could it be that I'm not Father's biological daughter?

Ning Zhongze smiled. "Later? Later, of course, Mother married your senior uncle, and we've remained loving to this day. Otherwise, where would you have come from?"

"Mother wants to tell you that in the bloom of youth, you'll encounter many beautiful sights. But if some are too far away, don't force yourself to pursue them. Otherwise, you may end up hurting both yourself and the other person."

Yue Lingshan pinched the corner of her clothes and said softly, "Mother, you're overthinking it. I... I only see him as a friend."

"A friend? Then can you tell Mother the story of this friend?"

Ning Zhongze watched her daughter's awkward appearance and seemed to recall her younger self. Lingshan has truly grown up.

"I originally thought she and Chong'er had grown up together as childhood sweethearts, innocent and carefree, and that in the future... they might become like Senior Brother and me."

"Even if he were just an ordinary commoner, that would be fine. But he's from the Demonic Cult. Could it be that all the remarkable men in the world have entered Blackwood Cliff?"

"It seems I need to discuss this with Senior Brother and settle her marriage to Chong'er as soon as possible."

Study.

The Scholar in Green sat before the desk, flipping through a yellow account book with a slight frown.

It was no wonder Yue Lingshan was so beautiful and refined. Ning Zhongze was a valiant female heroine, while Yue Buqun was a peerless handsome man. With parents like them, their daughter naturally could not look ordinary.

"Junior Sister, you came at just the right time."

Before Ning Zhongze could speak, Yue Buqun handed her the yellow account book.

Ning Zhongze flipped through several pages. They contained the amounts of grain and money reported by various farms under Mount Hua. Compared to previous years, they were short by anywhere from one to three tenths, and her brows furrowed as well.

Among the Five Great Sword Sects, the Mount Song Sect could be considered the foremost in financial affairs.

Of the farmland in several counties surrounding Mount Song, fifty percent belonged to Shaolin Temple and forty percent to the Mount Song Sect. In addition, as Zuo Lengchan was the Five Sects' Alliance Leader and enjoyed considerable prestige, many second- and third-rate martial-world forces had pledged themselves to him and offered tribute.

The Mount Hua Sect was not skilled at managing businesses or acquiring property. Still, with a foundation of a century, it possessed more than three thousand mu of fertile land scattered throughout Huayin Prefecture, managed through six farms.

The heads of the farms were mostly old acquaintances of the Mount Hua Sect. Strictly speaking, several of them were Yue Buqun's martial uncles.

Ning Zhongze put down the account book and looked at Yue Buqun.

"We made an agreement back then that sixty percent of the farms' profits would go into the communal fund. Since they were our elders, we haven't checked the accounts all these years. As long as things seemed acceptable, we let it go."

"For three consecutive years, there haven't been any major disasters around Mount Hua, yet the money and grain turned over to the communal fund have grown less and less."

"This year is even worse. They've directly reduced it by this much."

Yue Buqun sighed. "What do you think we should do, Junior Sister?"

After thinking for a moment, Ning Zhongze said, "Before the troops move, provisions must go first. Didn't you abandon your plans to recruit more disciples and strengthen the sect several times because of the shortage of money and grain?"

For a large sect like Mount Hua, there were many social obligations in the martial world. One day, an old senior would retire from the martial world; the next, a sect leader would celebrate his birthday. Gifts had to be sent, and they could not be too shabby.

Yue Buqun cherished his reputation as the Gentleman Sword. He never accepted the offerings that escort agencies and the like gave him, nor did he exploit weddings and funerals to make money. His social expenses basically went out tenfold for every one part that came in.

Thus, they mainly relied on the farms for support.

Social expenses were one major burden, and training disciples cost even more.

Clothing, food, housing, travel, rice, vegetables, meat, weapons, medicine for treating wounds, and medicinal baths for tempering the body—all these minor expenses required money.

The Mount Hua Sect appeared highly respected in the martial world, but its disciples were desperately poor. When Ning Zhongze saw the Vermillion Bird Jade Hairpin Yue Lingshan wore, she assumed it must have taken half a year of saved allowance to purchase, which was why she had been so surprised.

Ning Zhongze said, "Without rules, there can be no order. I think we should send someone down the mountain to inspect the accounts every year. Anyone who falsifies them gets one warning. On the second offense, we take back the farm. In any case, the farm deeds and land deeds are in our hands."

Yue Buqun hesitated. "If word gets out, will our fellow martial artists gossip about us?"

Ning Zhongze said, "As long as we're in the right and have nothing to feel guilty about, we can't stop outsiders from gossiping."

"After all, they're also old members of the Mount Hua Sect. They rendered service and shed blood for Mount Hua when they were young."

"Nor have we ever treated our senior elders harshly."

"Their descendants hunt eagles, run dogs, and indulge in fine clothes and rich food. Worse still, some even use the name of the Mount Hua Sect to bully ordinary people. What kind of lives are our Chong'er and Shan'er living?"

"Shan'er is already of marriageable age, yet she doesn't even have two decent pieces of jewelry or clothing. She isn't someone who cares about food or clothes, but as her mother, I can't simply turn a blind eye."

Yue Buqun said, "Then I'll trouble you to handle this, Junior Sister. For our master's sake, I hope they'll show some restraint and not truly damage the bonds between fellow disciples."

The previous sect leader of Mount Hua, Ning Qingyu, had been Ning Zhongze's father.

Ning Zhongze nodded. This would be difficult to handle, but having her deal with it was indeed the most suitable approach. It would minimize the amount of gossip directed at them.