Lu Pianpian looked up from the other person's embrace and saw a water droplet hanging on her long eyelashes, about to fall, and land on the tip of Lu Pianpian's nose.
She seemed to realize she had overstepped her bounds, let go of Lu Pianpian, and turned to leave, but Lu Pianpian grabbed her sleeve again.
She stopped in her tracks and said without turning her head, "I've already said I don't like being around strangers, so stop bothering me."
Lu Pianpian casually pulled down the ribbon tied behind her head, causing the veil to slip down. "What are you doing?"
She turned around to pick it up, but Lu Pianpian pressed down on her shoulder first, pinning her against the pillar behind her.
She struggled a few times, but Lu Pianpian pressed her down even tighter. She said angrily, "I don't know you at all. What are you trying to do?"
Lu Pianpian blinked, then tilted her head back and headed towards her thin lips.
Her pupils constricted as she stared intently at Lu Pianpian's face, her thin lips tightly pressed together. The hand on Lu Pianpian's body tightened unconsciously. Just when she thought Lu Pianpian's kiss was about to land on her lips, Lu Pianpian skipped her lips and leaned her head on her shoulder.
Her heart, which had been pounding in her chest, immediately calmed down. She looked down at the person sleeping soundly on her shoulder and instinctively held onto their body to prevent them from slipping.
"What exactly do you want from me...?"
The heavy rain drowned out her murmurs, the night sky was pitch black, and the howling wind made a rustling sound all around, another night of chaos.
Lu Pianpian awoke to a strange fragrance. He sat up in bed and, through the gauze curtains, could vaguely see a figure sitting in front of the dressing table.
Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and her red dress was as fiery as fire. Even through a veil, one could vaguely sense that she was a beauty.
Lu Pianpian lifted the gauze curtain and peeked out. The beauty slowly turned around to look at him, "You want to be my maid, but you get up later than me."
He threw off the covers and ran to his junior sister's side. She glanced at his bare feet, wanted to say something to remind him, but swallowed her words back.
He changed the subject abruptly, asking, "What's your name?"
Lu Pianpian took her hand again and wrote two words in her palm.
"Pian...Pian," she whispered, "It sounds just like the name of a butterfly."
A note from the author:
I apologize to the readers who have been waiting. A family member passed away due to illness, and I haven't had the energy to continue writing. Now that I've adjusted my mindset, I'm here to give everyone an ending.
Chapter 72
Junior Sister is gentle and kind, and is well-liked by everyone in the sect. When everyone heard that she had recently taken in a new maid, they all inquired, both openly and secretly, about the maid's background and how she had caught Junior Sister's eye.
Green Pearl was the one among them who most wanted to know the reason behind it all. That mute girl had been kicked out of the gate that day, yet she had somehow managed to sneak into Junior Sister's room again. What kind of seductive tricks had she used to make Junior Sister change her mind?
Moreover, she believed she was completely devoted to the mute girl, but the mute girl was arrogant and single-mindedly wanted to climb the social ladder by throwing herself at her junior sister, which made her very angry.
So for the past few days, she had been secretly observing the mute girl's movements, wanting to talk to her face-to-face and vent her anger.
But the mute girl stayed in her junior sister's room for several days in a row, never leaving the room. No one knew what kind of shady things the two of them were doing behind closed doors.
Finally, on the seventh day, the mute girl chose a quiet time late at night and went out of her room alone.
Green Pearl immediately followed, trailing the mute girl to a small pond behind the sect. A boy climbed out of the pond and rushed into the mute girl's arms.
"mother!"
Green Pearl was taken aback. This mute girl actually had a child?
Was the child conceived secretly with her fiancé who abandoned her? Or was it the result of an affair with another man?
In short, regardless of the situation, this mute girl is no longer a virgin; her child is already so grown up!
"You...you actually have a child!"
Green Pearl jumped out from the shadows, pointed at Lu Pianpian and said, "Well, you've hidden your child and infiltrated our sect, and now you've even climbed into Junior Sister's room. Tell me, what exactly are you up to!"
Lu Pianpian shielded the child behind her, picked up a twig and wrote on the ground, trying to explain to Lüzhu. Lüzhu rushed up and threw the twig away, saying, "You're coming with me to see Junior Sister and explain things clearly... Don't even think about getting away with this today!"
"What's all the noise about?"
The junior sister, dressed in her nightgown, walked in from behind, looking as if she had just woken up. Green Pearl rushed to her side and accused Lu Pianpian, "Junior sister, we've all been fooled by her! She's not alone at all. I saw that child call her 'Mom,' she has a child with another man!"
"How can someone from our Women's Strong Sect have a child with a man? She has violated the sect rules and should be expelled!"
Green Pearl was filled with righteous indignation. As she spoke, she observed her junior sister's expression and saw that the other girl was unmoved, as if the fact that the mute girl had a child could not affect her.
So Green Pearl quickly continued, "Not only that... she also... she also has designs on you, Junior Sister! Junior Sister, have you forgotten that when this mute girl entered the sect, she practically wanted to cling to you! She's clearly after you!"
The junior sister brushed aside the green beads in front of her, slowly walked up to Lu Pianpian, and asked him, "Did you come here for me?"
Green Pearl was still grumbling behind him, "She's definitely after you! She has ulterior motives!"
Lu Pianpian reached out and touched her neck, releasing the spell that sealed her voice. "Don't you know?"
Green Pearl didn't miss any opportunity to expel Lu Pianpian from the sect. "Junior sister! Look, even her muteness is fake! She's just pretending to be pitiful to gain your sympathy and pity. Don't be fooled by her anymore!"
The junior sister seemed completely unconcerned about his feigned muteness, only asking, "Are you pretending to be pitiful to gain my sympathy and pity?"
A child peeked out from behind Lu Pianpian and whispered, "Dad, we've been waiting for you to come back."
Huan Changming pointed, and the child fell into the pool behind him, transforming into a dragon and letting out a dragon's roar. Green Pearl was terrified and turned to run away, shouting, "There's a monster!"
Huan Changming laughed and asked Lu Pianpian, "When did I become someone else's child's father? How come I didn't know?"
“You don’t have to be his father.” Lu Pianpian stroked Huan Changming’s hair at his temple. “The child needs a mother, and you are just right.”
What if I don't want to?
"If he doesn't want to, then I'll give him a different mother."
Huan Changming's smile froze, and he ultimately didn't dare to continue.
What else is there to say? He is always at a disadvantage when facing Lu Pianpian, and he has long lost the ambition and stance to match her.
"Please go ahead."
Huan Changming suppressed his resentment and turned to leave.
He took half a step forward when someone grabbed his sleeve from behind. "Huan Changming, why have you become so cowardly?"
He didn't even change his appearance, and was single-mindedly trying to get close to Huan Changming. He stayed in Huan Changming's room for many days, but he didn't show any reaction. He even pretended to be a stranger.
Huan Changming didn't have the courage to face Lu Pianpian directly. He took a deep breath and said, "I thought that for the next thousand years, for all eternity, you would never want to see me again."
"I can't see into your heart, and I don't know why you've come to me right now."
"But I've already lost everything, there's nothing for you to covet..."
After saying this, he slowly pulled his sleeve back from Lu Pianpian's hand, lowered his eyelashes, and whispered, "Pianpian, let's never do it again..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lu Pianpian suddenly hugged him from behind.
“Huan Changming, I know it wasn’t you.” Lu Pianpian rested her head on Huan Changming’s back. “I misunderstood you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all in the past.” As if worried that he would blame himself, Huan Changming took all the blame upon himself. “I deserved it. If you don’t believe me, it’s all my own fault. You did nothing wrong.”
Lu Pianpian said, "Huan Changming, I'm coming to find you. Don't you understand what I'm thinking?"
Huan Changming could naturally guess Lu Pianpian's thoughts, but he dared not verify what she was thinking. He had already lost Lu Pianpian once, and he did not have the courage to lose her a second time.
He would rather not have it at all than have it and then have it discarded.
He could no longer bear the pain of losing his beloved again and being hated to the core by her.
Lu Pianpian tightened her grip on Huan Changming's arm. "We both need a chance to start over, not just you, but me too."
He destroyed Huan Changming's Buddhist heart, killed Huan Changming's love, and blocked Huan Changming's path to reincarnation and rebirth as a Buddha.
It's impossible to say who owes whom more or less now that things have come to this point.
Perhaps in love, there is no such thing as one owing the other anything; it's just that one party is willing to do things for the other.
Huan Changming's throat tightened. "Then what... should I do?"
Lu Pianpian took his hand and said, "Leave everything to me."
Green Pearl witnessed the child transform into a dragon. After escaping back to her sect, she insisted that the dragon's mother, Lu Pianpian, was also a dragon in disguise and brought this matter to the sect leader's attention.
Upon hearing that there was an evil spirit causing trouble inside the sect, the sect leader ordered his disciples to capture Lu Pianpian. However, Lu Pianpian did not return alone; her most valued junior disciple also came in, leading the evil spirit along with her.
"She's an evil spirit? You're so close to her, could it be that she's bewitched you and you've forgotten your true identity?!"
“Master, you are wise.” Huan Changming said calmly, “He is not an evil spirit, but the one I want to spend my life with.”
"How dare you! As the next sect leader of the Women's Strong Sect, don't you know that once you enter the Women's Strong Sect, you must sever all emotions and love, and are forbidden from marriage?" The sect leader glared fiercely at Lu Pianpian beside him. "What a femme fatale! You've even bewitched my good disciple to the point that she's willing to break the sect rules for you!"
Lu Pianpian was unjustly accused of being a femme fatale, but he accepted it calmly, saying, "Please grant our request, Sect Master."
"You're delusional!"
Huan Changming placed the sect's sword on the ground. "Since Master does not agree to our union, so be it. Then I will leave the Women's Strong Sect. Thank you, Master, for your care and cultivation over the years. I can only fail you."
The sect leader jumped up from his seat in anger, "You're willing to abandon your master and the sect for her sake?"
Beneath his sleeves, Huan Changming gripped Lu Pianpian's hand tightly. "I'm sorry, Master. In this life, there's only one I can't let down again."
A dragon's roar resounded through the sky, and a huge dragon leaped down from the air, scaring the members of the powerful female sect into scattering and fleeing.
"A demonic dragon! It's a demonic dragon!"
"The demonic dragon is coming! Protect Master!"
The demonic dragon roared at them, scaring them away. Then it stretched its head in front of Lu Pianpian and Huan Changming. The two of them stood on the dragon's head, and the dragon let out a long howl, carrying them into the sky.
"Huan Changming."
"Um?"
Lu Pianpian glanced sideways at the person she had lost and then found, "Why did you go to the Women's Power Sect?"
Huan Changming, who was originally a man, disguised himself as a woman in order to survive. Lu Pianpian knew very well how humiliating that memory was for Huan Changming.
Huan Changming looked at him and smiled broadly, "Because if you don't disguise yourself as a woman, you can't gain a foothold in the Women's Strong Sect, and you'll be killed by them."
"really?"
"Naturally true."
"Father is lying!"
The demonic dragon suddenly spoke, its voice shaking the surrounding clouds and mist, "He always laughs like that when he lies! Mother, don't believe him!"
Huan Changming snapped, "Shut up!"