Three miles from Shuangjie Pavilion, there is a clear stream that the locals call "Flower Stream". It was late spring, and peach and plum blossoms were falling on the stream, which was quite fitting.
"This place is truly beautiful!" Tuoba Yuanxun looked around in rapt attention, admiring the pink sea of flowers, the clear stream, and the pristine snow-capped mountains under the blue sky. "No wonder the most beautiful woman lives here!"
He had high expectations for the "most beautiful woman." His aunt was beautiful enough, but he'd heard that his martial uncle, Li, was even more beautiful—so beautiful that both of his martial uncles only liked her, making his aunt jealous her whole life. Li's husband, Xiao Mingyu, was said to be the most handsome man in Sichuan, even more handsome than his eldest and second martial uncles.
So... how beautiful will their daughter be?
Will she be even prettier than Xiaoyuan?
It's unlikely; he's always believed that there could never be a girl more beautiful than Xiaoyuan.
At the end of Huaxi Creek was a small lake, and across the lake, the Pei family's Shuangjie Mansion could be seen in the distance. Li Yuan'er smiled coldly, "Does living in a beautiful place make you more beautiful?"
That little girl... she had actually forgotten what she looked like! Because at the time, she hadn't expected that she and she would have such a deep entanglement; she only thought she was a young lady she had met by chance on a rainy night.
The most beautiful woman? Could she, coming from a farming family, have such a handsome father and such a beautiful mother?
"Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan! What's wrong with you?" Yan Minyu and Tuoba Yuanxun both came over, looking at her with scrutinizing eyes. "Staring blankly again?"
"It's nothing. I was just worried that it might be too early to come now. Perhaps Senior Brother Pei and Senior Sister Xiao haven't finished breakfast yet." There was still a slight bitterness in her voice when she addressed them.
"Xiao Yuan, you're always so precocious!" Tuoba Yuanxun pouted. "Is that something to worry about? Fine, let's play here for a while before we go."
"What should we play? What should we play?" Yan Minyu responded enthusiastically.
Tuoba Yuanxun looked around boredly. There were only some flowering trees and streams, not even a teahouse. He bent down, picked up a stone, and threw it at the noodles, skipping it several times.
“There’s fish!” Yan Minyu pointed.
The skipping stone startled the fish floating on the surface, causing them to leap up and splash before diving back into the water.
"Let's have a competition using stones to catch fish. Remember that move 'Flying Snow Leaves Fragrance'? Let's use that."
Li Yuan'er watched with a wry smile as her senior brothers and sisters picked up pebbles from the ground. Compared to her, they seemed more like children. "Flying Snow, Lingering Fragrance"... that was Qin Chuyi's self-created hidden weapon technique. At its highest level, even something as light as a snowflake could be deadly, far surpassing the power of plucking leaves and sending flowers flying... In their hands, it was only good for fishing with pebbles, and...
"Missed again!" Yan Minyu exclaimed in frustration, angrily throwing all the pebbles in her hand into the water, creating a large splash.
"What are you doing! You scared all the fish away!" Tuoba Yuanxun scolded her, still staring at the water with unwavering determination. With a flick of his wrist, a small pebble infused with his inner strength hissed as it entered the water with a "plop," and a fish floated to the surface, its white surface turning white.
"Haha, isn't that amazing!" Tuoba Yuanxun laughed heartily, shaking his head and wagging his tail, extremely proud of himself.
"Young man, this move is not meant to be used in this way."
That voice...it's pleasant, deep, cold, and calm, yet it sends a shiver down the spine of the listener.
People... are the same.
Exquisite and handsome features, deep and cold eyes, and a faint smile on his lips... He had no expression, yet he sent a chill down the spine of anyone who saw him.
Tuoba Yuanxun stared at him blankly, forgetting to speak.
This man... is so cold, so handsome, like a snowflake on a white plum blossom.
He was standing under a peach tree behind them, and no one knew where he came from or how long he had been there.
He slowly raised his hand, and his long, resolute hand seemed to possess a magnetic force, instantly drawing in a handful of pink peach blossoms. With a seemingly unintentional flick of his wrist, the petals silently flew into the water, their speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
With a loud "bang," the water surface seemed to have been shaken by a water mine, stirring up jets of water. A fine mist drifted in with the wind, and Yan Minyu and Tuoba Yuanxun covered their faces with their sleeves. As the mist dissipated, dozens of dead fish floated on the lake surface.
Li Yuan'er didn't move. Tiny, misty water droplets brushed against her head and body, but it wasn't her body that was getting wet and cold; it was her beating heart that was being soaked... That's the difference!
She turned around in a daze, and the man was looking at her indifferently. She involuntarily avoided his cold gaze that seemed to see through everything. He didn't move, and not a single drop of water got on his clothes or hair.
For some reason, she couldn't look him in the eye... the man who should have been hers, Pei Junwu.
The Beauty of Lotus Dance (Part 7 of "Pinching Flowers and Smiling")
"Senior Brother Pei? You must be Senior Brother Pei!" Tuoba Yuanxun exclaimed loudly, completely captivated by him.
Yan Minyu's face grew increasingly red. After stammering "Senior Brother Pei," she looked at her hands, too shy to look at him directly, but couldn't help stealing glances at his handsome face.
With a soft sigh, Yuan'er's heart sank so low it felt like it would stop beating. She hadn't dared to think about it too much... but now it was so sudden and clear that she realized how far behind he and "she" had fallen!
A rainy night can feel like two completely different worlds!
Pei Junwu's smile deepened into a genuine one. "Junior Brother Tuoba, Junior Sister Yan," he called out their names accurately.
"Don't call me 'Junior Brother Tuoba,' just call me Yuanxun. Senior Brother Pei, your kung fu is truly amazing! I never imagined our sect's kung fu could be like this!!" He was incredibly excited, as if he had discovered a new world.
Pei Junwu smiled and nodded, then looked at the small, thin girl who was gazing absently at the lake. Her hair… was so beautiful. Her face must be beautiful too, at least her eyes were. Uncle Tuoba… he hadn’t even mastered the art of disguise; the masks his disciple made were so clumsy.
He was so shocked when he saw Tuoba Yuanxun and Junior Sister Yan using "Flying Snow and Lingering Fragrance" that he couldn't even laugh... It's no wonder that their grandmaster was so angry with their master. They hadn't even grasped the basics. Even an ordinary martial artist who had stolen a move or two from their sect would be better than them.
well……
"Junior Sister Li," he nodded to her in greeting.
Li Yuan'er lowered her eyes, curtsied to him, and said nothing.
"Is anyone using Flying Snow Fragrance?" The voice came through the flowers and water, subtle yet clear, and very pleasant to the ear.
Clearly, the person who shouted the message was quite skilled in internal martial arts.
"Who? Who?" Tuoba Yuanxun and Yan Minyu looked around, shaking their heads like rattles, but still couldn't find the source of the sound.
"Is it Junior Brother Yi?" Pei Junwu responded in the same way, his voice not loud when he was nearby, but it was sent far away by his internal force.