"This sect only accepts women!" Mu Lingzi sighed, "If you go in dressed like that, you'll either get kicked out or you'll raze the sect to the ground... Do you perhaps intend to forcibly take her back to the Demon Realm?"
Taking it by force is not necessarily out of the question.
However, such behavior is ultimately unbecoming of a gentleman.
Seeing Lu Pianpian hesitate, Mu Lingzi laughed and said, "It's not shameful for a real man to dress up as a woman."
As Mu Lingzi said, the female-dominated sect in the lower realm is entirely composed of women, from the sect leader and disciples to the servants and slaves.
It is said that the first sect leader who founded this sect was hurt by a man in matters of love, so he deeply hated all men in the world. The disciples recruited by the sect are all women who are indifferent to men and only seek the Dao.
Therefore, all disciples of the Female Strong Sect cultivate the ruthless way of cultivation, and their sect's motto also adheres to this characteristic: wield the sword to kill men, and become a god without love.
On this day, a large group of female disciples from the Strong Women Sect descended the mountain to recruit new disciples.
When they entered the mortal world, the sect stipulated that they must cover their faces with veils to avoid being seen by those filthy men in the secular world, who would find it unlucky.
They were all dressed in elegant white robes, looking like ethereal fairies descended to earth. Ordinary people, who had never seen them before, couldn't help but take a second look at them.
Among them, there was one who was particularly different.
Wearing a vibrant red dress, she stood out in the crowd with her tall and slender figure. Although the red veil could cover the lower half of her face, it could not hide her bewitching blue eyes, which were full of affection and captivating.
The ordinary people on the roadside were stunned by her stare. A female disciple beside her spoke up for her, "How dare he look directly at Junior Sister like that! He's incredibly audacious! I'll gouge out his eyes for Junior Sister!"
The person addressed as "Junior Sister" looked up at her and smiled, "It's alright."
The female disciple, captivated by her junior sister's smile, blushed and lowered her sword. "Junior sister, you are so kind..."
Along the way, this stunningly beautiful junior sister attracted the most attention, yet she always greeted everyone with a smile. To these female disciples of the powerful sect who disliked men, she was seen as kind and generous.
The disciples who participated in this recruitment were waiting in an elegant courtyard. Although the Women's Strong Sect was a sect of immortal cultivation, it did not tolerate men and some of its rules were too harsh. The righteous people secretly called them unorthodox sects. Therefore, the Women's Strong Sect had always been in a neutral position between immortals and demons, which seemed a bit awkward at first glance.
Therefore, the number of disciples participating in the selection process was not large compared to other sects, roughly fifty or so.
However, they only selected those with good aptitude; if they could pick one to bring back to the sect, they would consider it a success.
The junior sister is a candidate for the next sect leader and is deeply favored by the sect leader, so everyone let her sit in the main seat.
After settling their junior sister in, they said to the disciples who were participating in the selection, "Each of you should use one of your best spells so we can see it."
They do not accept people without any background; otherwise, if they take them back to the mountain, they will spend more time training them than others.
The junior sister sat upright in the main seat, her eyes carefully observing the disciples who were desperate to enter the sect, seemingly trying to determine which one had the qualifications to be selected.
She looked at each person for a long time, when suddenly her fellow disciple pointed at a tall woman in the crowd and said, "What are you doing—"
The woman she was pointing at was taken aback, then suddenly started gesturing with her hands. The female disciple was annoyed by this, and said, "What are you gesturing about? Come out here!"
The woman had no choice but to slowly walk out of the crowd, and only then could the junior sister see her face clearly.
Even in coarse cloth, her beauty could not be concealed. But her beauty was more refined, and the youthful innocence in her eyes was captivating, making one want to pluck her from the tree, hold her in their palm, and ripen her quickly.
"It's one thing if you don't practice your spells properly, but from the very beginning your eyes have been glued to our junior sister! You're incredibly audacious, could it be that you're a man disguised as a woman sneaking in to do something bad?"
Her panicked gaze met that of her junior sister. She opened her mouth to explain, but no sound came out. Her eyes welled up with tears.
The junior sister noticed something amiss and glanced at the person next to her, saying, "She's mute."
A note from the author:
In the second half, I felt like I might be writing GL (Girls' Love)...
Lu Pianpian: I'm mute, I'm pretending.
Junior Sister: Oh.
Chapter 71
To join a powerful female sect, talent is secondary; what they value more is whether the candidate shares the same core values as their sect.
Mu Lingzi fabricated a tragic backstory for Lu Pianpian, claiming she was an orphan with no parents and was poisoned by her fiancé, whom she was about to marry. Although she survived, she was rendered mute by the poison.
Lu Pianpian wrote down her experiences and showed them to the disciples of the Women's Strong Sect. After reading them, they all looked at Lu Pianpian with a hint of pity.
"Where is your heartless fiancé living the high life right now? Take me there, and I'll kill him with a single sword stroke to avenge you!"
"That's right! We can't let this scoundrel live; who knows how many more innocent women he'll persecute!"
One of the female disciples, who was fiercely opposed to evil, grabbed Lu Pianpian's hand and said righteously, "Let's go now!"
But there was no such person as her fiancé. Lu Pianpian panicked and grabbed the other woman to prevent her from pulling her away.
The other person looked at him strangely, "What's wrong with you? Don't you want revenge?"
Lu Pianpian shook her head repeatedly, indicating that she didn't want to seek revenge. But the female disciple was determined to drag him along to take revenge, saying, "This is an irreconcilable feud! Don't be afraid, I'll definitely make that scoundrel kneel before you and beg for mercy!"
That's enough.
The junior sister in red spoke up to stop them, "We're here today to recruit disciples for the sect. Don't let this interfere with important matters."
As soon as she gave the order, the other disciples, even if they had other thoughts, were silenced and immediately returned to their seats respectfully.
Lu Pianpian quietly looked up at her, and the junior sister in red was also looking him over.
He met those deep, unfathomable blue eyes, but the other person's gaze was completely unwavering, as calm as if they were looking at a complete stranger.
Lu Pianpian's heart skipped a beat. The next moment, the other person shifted their gaze to the others.
She pointed to a few women in the crowd and said gently, "You few have some talent. Would you like to join my sect and cultivate diligently?"
The women she selected immediately kowtowed and bowed deeply, saying, "We are willing a thousand times over, ten thousand times over!"
She had the women helped up. "In that case, my sect has now completed its recruitment of disciples for today. The rest of you may return. If fate allows, we will meet again in the sect."
The unchosen women sighed and walked out, leaving only Lu Pianpian standing there, her bright eyes staring at them nervously. Coupled with her tragic background, she looked on with pity.
The disciple of the Female Strong Sect quietly tugged at his junior sister's sleeve, "Junior sister...look how pitiful she is, why don't we bring her back to the sect with us, so that we can take care of her?"
Lu Pianpian paid attention to their conversation, and when she heard that a female disciple was willing to plead for him, she turned her gaze back to her junior sister's face.
The junior sister said indifferently, "She didn't demonstrate any magic. If you want her to join the sect, are you planning to personally teach her cultivation?"
The female disciple looked Lu Pianpian over a few more times and said carefully, "Even if she can't be a disciple, being an ordinary maid would be fine, right? Her background is so tragic. If even our Women's Strong Sect doesn't want her, she probably won't have anywhere to go."
"Did your senior sister ask her what she was willing to do?"
She raised an eyebrow at Lu Pianpian, her eyes revealing an indescribable emotion, "Would she be willing to come to our sect and become an ordinary maid?"
Lu Pianpian picked up a twig from under a tree outside the courtyard, dipped it in water, walked up to them, and wrote two large characters on the ground: Willing.
The junior sister lowered her eyes and stared at the two words for a moment, then turned and walked out without saying anything more.
She was the backbone of these people, and as soon as she left, the remaining disciples hurriedly followed her out.
The female disciple who felt sorry for Lu Pianpian gave him a push, "Don't just stand there like an idiot, come back with us!"
Lu Pianpian nodded quickly and followed the crowd.
The girl who spoke up for Lu Pianpian was named Lüzhu. She lost both her parents at a young age and later met a scholar who provided her with food, lodging, and travel expenses to the capital for the imperial examinations. She was waiting for him to return and marry her after he passed the exams.
The scholar did indeed pass the imperial examination, but soon married a noblewoman. Green Pearl was indignant and went to the capital to seek justice for herself, but the scholar had her beaten half to death and thrown into a mass grave. Fortunately, she was rescued by a female disciple of the Qiang Sect who happened to be passing by, thus saving her life.
The reason she spoke up for Lu Pianpian was partly because their experiences were somewhat similar, and she empathized with her.
Upon arriving at the Women's Strong Sect, all the disciples were assigned to their respective rooms, making Lu Pianpian's status as a maid stand out as particularly incongruous.
They asked their junior sister, "There's no precedent for assigning rooms to maids before. Junior sister, what do you think... how about assigning her to serve one of the senior sisters' rooms?"
Maids did not have their own rooms; they only had a place to live when they were assigned to serve in the room of a servant.
Green Pearl took Lu Pianpian's hand, and Lu Pianpian instinctively tried to back away, but Green Pearl pulled her back forcefully. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. If you're willing, you can come with me from now on!"
She not only sympathized with Lu Pianpian's plight, but was also very satisfied with Lu Pianpian's appearance; even though she was mute, she still found her charming.
Lu Pianpian secretly glanced at his junior sister, who happened to be looking at him. Their eyes met for a moment, and then the junior sister said calmly, "Since Senior Sister Green Pearl wants to keep her here, then let her stay."
"Thank you, Junior Sister!"
Green Pearl was overjoyed to hold Lu Pianpian's hand. Lu Pianpian cleverly broke free and came to her junior sister. Just as she was about to speak, she remembered her situation, grabbed her junior sister's hand, and quickly wrote words on her junior sister's palm with her index finger.
"You mute girl! How could you be so disrespectful to your junior sister—"
The junior sister raised her hand to signal her to shut up, so she had no choice but to shut her mouth and quietly watch the mute girl's rude behavior.
The junior sister, who always greeted everyone with a smile, was known throughout the sect for her gentle nature. But at this moment, her beautiful blue eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of ice, chillingly cold.
She sighed inwardly for the mute girl, fearing that the girl had truly angered her junior sister this time.
After Lu Pianpian finished writing in his junior sister's palm, he looked up at her and felt the coldness in her eyes. He then wanted to continue writing in her palm to tell her his thoughts.
Unexpectedly, his outstretched finger was grabbed by his junior sister, who stared coldly into his eyes. "I don't like being in the same room with strangers. Please have some self-respect."
After saying that, the junior sister released Lu Pianpian's hand, turned around and left. Her red sleeves swayed in the air, casting a winding arc that made Lu Pianpian's eyes appear bloodshot.
"You mute girl, you've got some nerve, daring to make a move on our junior sister! If it weren't for her kindness and forgiving you, you'd probably be dead by now!"
The female disciple shoved Lu Pianpian, but Lu Pianpian remained unmoved. Green Pearl stepped in to smooth things over, "Alright, alright... since Junior Sister doesn't want her, then let her come with me!"
Lu Pianpian shook her head, picked up a twig from the ground, and wrote in the mud: I don't go with others.
Green Pearl said, "Why are you so stubborn? Didn't Junior Sister already say she didn't want you? Why are you still going to go after her?"
"Guards! I see this mute girl has ill intentions. Expel her from the sect!"
Lu Pianpian was dragged out of the Women's Strong Sect by several female disciples. Green Pearl stood behind him, glaring at him with a hint of disappointment, "If you don't come with me, you won't even have a place to stay."
Lu Pianpian got up from the ground, dusted herself off, and sat down on a stone step at the entrance, indicating that she would not leave.
The female disciple pulled Green Pearl back to the sect, saying, "What's the point of talking to her? If she wants to stay, let her stay. She'll leave when she gets bored!"
After saying that, he slammed the door shut, leaving Lu Pianpian sitting alone outside.
Lu Pianpian sat from day to night, and suddenly a downpour began in the starry night sky.
He moved to a tree to take shelter from the rain, but the tree was not growing well and had few leaves. Lu Pianpian was soon soaked to the bone.
He wiped the rain off his face and looked around to see if he could find another place to take shelter from the rain, unaware that a bolt of lightning struck the tree next to him.
At the critical moment, a red figure swiftly swept across the rain, leading Lu Pianpiao to the eaves of the sect's house. The withered tree that had been sheltering from the rain was struck by lightning and split into two charred halves.
"On rainy days, take shelter under a tree."
"Looks like you really don't want to live anymore."