Preparing for the Trip to Fuzhou
The next afternoon, the weather was lovely!
"..."
In the little courtyard where Annie lived, halfway up the mountain behind the Huashan School's Hall of Righteousness, Annie sat on a newly made swing beneath a sturdy pine tree. She swung her short legs and held a skewer of candied hawthorns she'd gotten from the Gourmet World, eating until sugar syrup smeared all over her face and mouth. She couldn't have been happier.
She hadn't gone anywhere that day. The Huashan School's grounds and the surrounding mountains weren't all that big, and she'd already explored most of them over the past few days.
The afternoon sun filtered through the dense pine needles, casting its last rays over her and making her already childish little face look even rosier.
"Annie—"
Suddenly!
The courtyard gate was flung open with a bang, and Yue Lingshan came rushing in, unable to hide her triumphant grin.
"You don't know yet, do you?"
She crossed the yard in a few quick strides and began pushing Annie's swing, bubbling with excitement.
"Let me tell you!"
"I just beat Senior Brother again in front of my parents!"
"I beat him three times in a row!"
"He lost to me in just three moves each time. You should've seen his face!"
Ever since the previous afternoon, when Annie had taught her a combined sword style that joined the Huashan Swordplay with the Nineteen Forms of the Jade Maiden Sword, Yue Lingshan had been in this constant state of excitement.
In her telling, her unlucky senior brother, Linghu Chong, had become little more than a sparring dummy for Huashan School's leader, Yue Buqun, to test his disciples' fighting skills against.
First, Lu Dayou had beaten him. Then, the day before, Yue Lingshan had beaten him