6.2 - Snowy Mountain with a Peach Blossom Tree Volume I

Astonishing everyone but me, Bai Zhen utterly defeated his opponent in the final round of the open category. Instantly, he won the recognition of masters who witnessed his clean and swift movements, disdainful looks from members of Snow Mountain Manor, and admiration from young ladies among the crowd and most importantly, from Chu Shiyin. After receiving a famous sword which was handcrafted by a certain grandmaster as his prize, Bai Zhen slipped off the stage and disappeared into the crowd surrounding the fighting arena. The deep thudding of drums sounded once more in our ears, signalling the start of the competition for the next category. This time, nervous students from various schools began heading off to the side of the stage after receiving their masters' blessings and their juniors' well-wishes.

I stood up restlessly, excusing myself to take a walk around the compound. Mo Yue warned me not to wander too far. I nodded perfunctorily and headed towards the stairs leading to the ground floor, ignoring the subtle curious glances from the other invited guests who sat near us.

"Oh, you—you're Xiaoyu!" Bai Zhen appeared at the bottom of the wooden staircase clutching two swords in his hands—one decorated with a red ribbon. He waved cheerfully at me and waited for me to descend.

I greeted him with a little flustered bow. "Congratulations on your win! I have been rooting for you from the start."

"Thank you, I was rather surprised by the result," he replied humbly. "Are you leaving right now?"

"I'm just going to take a stroll around the place." I pointed to the viewing deck above us and whispered, "it felt a little stifling up there."

Bai Zhen laughed amusedly in a rich, velvety tone. A broad smile was plastered on his face, accentuating his sharp cheekbones and those gentle eyes. An unexpected warmth spread through my heart. Was this the legendary aura and charisma that a protagonist had in order to captivate everyone around him?

"I suppose Mo-xiong is still up there?"

I nodded affirmatively and we shared a knowing smile.

He gave me a polite and customary bow and said: "See you later."

I waited for Bai Zhen to head up to the spectator stand before heading in the direction of the exit. There was a marketplace near the town square where I could explore to kill time. There was a dampness in the air as a gust of wintry wind swept across my face, tickling the tip of my nose. I sniffled and covered my head with the hood of my cloak. Winter trees scattered around the town square shivered in the wind, their naked branches trembling. A few groups of young martial artists were practising their movements in the open space and I carefully navigated my way around them.

The marketplace was decorated with messy booths arranged in an orderly fashion, lining both sides of a street. Each exhibited different goods for sale such as watercolour paintings, vases, trinkets and weapons. As the Convention was still ongoing, there was minimal foot traffic. I enjoyed the freedom of sauntering down the road without needing to brush shoulders with others. Unfortunately, my excursion into the marketplace was cut short by my realisation that I had left my belongings (and money) back at the spectator gallery. Reluctantly, I retraced my steps and headed back to the Convention. Mo Yue had warned against wandering too far after all.

As I neared the Convention, a trio of young martial artists dressed in their red uniform loitering near the entrance to the spectator stand caught my eye. An alarm sounded off in my head as I felt like something was amiss: the three musketeers were actually throwing impertinent glances at me. Glowering, I walked past them and headed for the stairs.

"Little brother, where are you rushing off to?" one of them called out in a haughty voice, to my chagrin.

I continued walking in haste, fighting a rising panic inside. Did they see through my male disguise or were they picking a fight? Or were they actually… "cut sleeves"? The footsteps behind me grew louder and suddenly three fierce-looking lads surrounded me at the foot of the staircase, blocking my path.

"Yo, is this rascal blind and deaf?" Disciple A from an unknown sect stood in front of me, crossed his arms over his lanky frame and sized me up. "Did you not see us? Don't you know who we are?"

My throat tightened and I could hear a distinct throbbed in my ears. "No," I said in a shaky whisper, too frightened to lift my head.

"Anyone who sees us would be greeting us with utmost respect!" Disciple B spoke in a gruff and loud voice.

Faced with such boorish behaviour, I flinched and felt my scalp prickled. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask why they should deserve my respect but I hesitated. The situation may become worse if I appear defiant. As a peace lover, I did not wish to escalate the conflict.

Disciple C gave a sardonic laugh before pointing at Disciple A. "Even if you want to pretend that you do not recognise which school we are from, you should know our Lan Feng-shixiong—he was the champion in the last two Conventions."

Two-times champion of which segment? The competition for beginners?

"Greetings to Lan Feng-qianbei. My apologies that did not recognise you earlier," I said hastily, hoping to end the matter quickly.

Disciple A scoffed and stared down at me. "Which sect are you from that you dared to slight me? If you know your mistakes you should be kneeling down in greeting to me now!"

My eyes widened with alarm as I stared back at him, trying to conceal my fright. "Kneel down to greet you? I don't even greet my master like that."

"Your teacher? Is he greater than Lan Feng-shixiong, the inner disciple of the great master Li Huan of Snow Mountain Manor?"

"You're from Snow Mountain Manor?" I asked in surprise, unable to hide the disgust in my tone. So these were the kind of students that Bai Zhen's former sect churned out? It was a blessing in disguise that he was expelled.

"Is this rascal mocking us now?" Disciple C suddenly brimmed with anger and hostility.

Impatience mounted inside of me and my irritation finally crackled. "Please get out of my way. A good dog does not block the road."

Anger swept over the trio of bullies who were undeserving of my respect as they were suddenly wordless with rage.

"You—Who are you calling a dog?" Disciple C shouted as he shook his fists in the air.

Instinctively, I raised my arms to block my face and my feet positioned themselves in a fighting stance.

"Stop!" A familiar voice rang out from the top of the flight of stairs. "What are you doing?"

"Shifu! They are bullying me," I cried out to a dignified and imposing looking Mo Yue who made a timely appearance.

Disciple C pointed at Mo Yue, his anger overflowing. "Who are you to meddle in our business?"

Mo Yue made no response as his dark eyes shifted from me to the three students from Snow Mountain Manor and back to me again. Slowly, he started descending the steps, his gaze never leaving me. My heart tightened at the thought that this scene was just like a hero rescuing a damsel in distress, but I quickly brushed that thought aside.

As he neared, the three bullies noticed Mo Yue's waist card that was gently swinging along with his elegant movements, and a sudden nervousness possessed them. "Shi-Shixiong, isn't that—" Disciple C stammered as realisation dawned upon him. Disciple B threw his confederate a disapproving look before looking towards his Lan Feng-shixiong, his expression turning into one of fear.

Disciple A looked at Mo Yue, then down at me, and hurriedly stepped away from me. "Lan Feng, inner disciple of Snow Mountain Manor, greets the young master of Jinghe Palace," he said with a bow as his face turned an ashen colour. The other two disciples saw their senior's actions and immediately followed in his example.

With the arrival of my powerful backer, my confidence level surged and I scuttled over to stand beside Mo Yue.

Mo Yue barely glanced at them before waving a hand dismissively. Turning to me, the corners of his lips curved up. "We are heading back to the residence, my beloved student."

The tone of his voice caught me by surprise. It was gentle in contrast to his earlier commanding—yet not aggressive—demeanour, and there was also a trace of compliance and protectiveness. The words he uttered felt far-removed from his personality but strangely comforting to the extent that it could bring out tears in my eyes.

"Yes, shifu." I nodded obediently and retrieved my bag from Mo Yue's outstretched hand. "Are you not staying longer with Bai Zhen?"

He shook his head, and gestured for me to walk ahead of him. "Brother Bai should be occupied for the next few hours. Many established members of wulin are clamouring to speak with him. We have arranged to meet tomorrow instead."

Cautiously, I looked over my shoulder to sneak a peek at the three youths who still had their heads lowered. I was surprised at how respectable Mo Yue was in this fictional society. Truly, Ji Kai was born a fortunate person—wherever he went, there would always be people regarding him with honour because of his family background. Even when he transmigrated, he still had the luck. If it were me in his situation, I would probably have become a supporting character or even an extra who existed to be cannon fodder.

"What's wrong, Xiaoyu?"

I turned my head to look at Mo Yue who had lifted one dark brow quizzically, and gave a mirthful little laugh. "Thank you for going along with my script."

"It was nothing," he said with a smile. After a brief thoughtful pause, he suddenly proposed: "Do you want to visit the marketplace? I heard there are a lot of goods being sold that girls are fond of."

My eyes widened at his suggestion. "Yes, let's go!" I said and pulled on his sleeves, leading him to walk faster.

As we walked across the town square, a loud tussle took place behind us. One could distinctly hear Disciple A berating his juniors, and their cries of pain as they received hard kicks from their seniors. One of the victims protested: "Who would have thought that Jinghe Palace's young master was that rascal's master!"; but Mo Yue and I were apathetic as we strolled excitedly towards the entrance of the marketplace.

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