Love from the Male Protagonist's Harem

Chapter 21-Cutting Class to Go Drink Part 2

Translated by Snowfall77

The river’s water reflected moonlight, just as clear and limpid as it’d reflected the light of day.

While Gu Peijiu had been waiting by the river all afternoon for an absent disciple, Xia Ge had happily ensconced herself in a village tavern to drink the day away.

Finally, the system couldn’t hold back any longer.

[Host, Haven’t You Forgotten Something?]

Xia Ge twirled a peanut shell in her fingers and played dumb: “Mmm, forgotten something?  Like what?”

System: [I Seem To Recall That Senior Sister Said She Would Teach You Liandan Today……]

Xia Ge: “You sure you aren’t remembering wrong?  Why wouldn’t I remember such a thing?”
System: [And You Don’t Remember Why You Came Here To Drink Without Telling Ye Ze?]

An ever so deadpan Xia Ge: “Ye Ze’s mouth is stinky.  If he joined me, he’d foul up the sweet smell of this wine.”

System: [……]

Not only had Xia Ge not told Ye Ze, she’d also used {ghost and shadow} to spirit herself to a small village three miles away.  Skipping class, and because of a guilty conscience, pretending not to know!!

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At that same time, Ye Ze of the ‘stinky mouth’ was at the Danfeng hall where general matters were usually discussed.

Night had softly fallen, but the hall was brightly lit.  Head bowed, Ye Ze was enduring Senior Sister’s cold surveyance.

“……I did tell him!”

Ye Ze cursed Xia Wuyin over and over in his heart.  Not only did that asshole skip private tutoring from Senior Sister, he left Ye Ze to be the one grilled and reprimanded!

“Where is he?”  Gu Peijiu’s voice was detached.

“……that, I don’t really know……”  Ye Ze’s head lowered even further, cold sweat beading on his skin.

“Where does he normally go?”  Gu Peijiu regarded the very nervous young man with opaque eyes.

“……”

Ye Ze was stuck.

Xia Wuyin frequented a bit too many places.

Where should Ye Ze say?

Easily discerning Ye Ze’s awkwardness, Gu Peijiu ordered: “Say where you think he went.”

Ye Ze thought hard for a second, still uncertain: “……tavern?”

Gu Peijiu’s pupils turned cold: “No.”

Ye Ze: “……”

Hearing that tone, it seemed to Ye Ze he’d found what he’d been searching for……

……wait, what had he been looking for?!!

Sweat dripping down his forehead, Ye Ze continued: “Teahouses, brothels, taverns, and……”

……and then there was also Shoufeng where Xia Wuyin liked to go and try stealing eggs.

“No.”

Gu Peijiu stood up, shadows gently overlaying her white and red dress in the swaying candlelight, eyelashes lightly trembling.  She calmly looked down at Ye Ze, her voice clear and melodic like a mountain stream: “Ye Ze, he is not in our village, neither is he on any Lingxi peak.”

Waiting for Ye Ze’s reply, Gu Peijiu watched the flickering flames of the candles, her black eyes glowing in the vacillating light.

For what reason?

Danfeng had all sorts of matters to deal with.

Why wait for an outer disciple for hours at Suxi Pavilion?

After all, it was a mere outer disciple……clearly not that important.

Even if that outer disciple’s behavior was dubious……with Gu Peijiu watching, no matter how deceitful the opponent, what real damage could they do to Danfeng?

So why……did Gu Peijiu care so much about Xia Wuyin?

Ye Ze couldn’t help being baffled.

……and where would Xia Wuyin go, besides the village or one of Lingxi’s peaks?

—“Ah, Brother Ye, I hear there’s a small tavern over in Mojia village, about three miles away, and their business is doing very well……”

—“When should we go and sample their wine?”

Ye Ze’s temples slightly twitched.

Gu Peijiu noted the subtle change of expression in Ye Ze’s eyes.

Aware of his Senior Sister’s perception, Ye Ze got over his hesitation: “Answering Senior Sister, Xia Wuyin……there’s a chance he’s over at the Taoyuan Tavern in Mojia……”

The second after his words fell, there was a white and red flash before Ye Ze’s eyes.  Looking up, he found that Senior Sister had vanished without a trace.

Come and gone like the wind.

Back in Taoyuan Tavern, Xia Ge was blissfully unaware that her stinky Brother Ye had already, thanks to recalling her invitation from about five days before, sold her out.  Elatedly drinking peach blossom wine, Mojia’s local specialty, and chewing peanuts, Xia Ge also listened in on the other patrons’ idle chatter.

“Any news of Yimei in the Jianghu lately?”

“Ai, you think a Yimei is caught just here and there……”

“Yimei were first made in bygone times.  Except for the current Demon Master’s {blood-stained spring and autumn}, and the Chu family’s {sacrificial knife} , where are you going to find a third……”

“……”

Yimei.

Appealing to many, and yet rather troublesome.

Xia Ge thought back on what had been written about Yimei in the original book.

A puppet would possess the ‘feelings’ given by its master.  But if a puppet died; when its body was destroyed, those ‘feelings’ left the body, sometimes becoming a wandering soul remnant looking for a new body to possess.

Then the soul remnant might merge with a roaming evil spirit or some other awful kind of demonic ghost, making a hideous combination, which could then attach itself to clothing or common implements.  Thus becoming a Yimei.

When someone came in contact with a Yimei, there were two possible outcomes.

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One, the powerful Yimei spirit took them over and they became a puppet of the Yimei.

Or the person exercised control over the Yimei and became its master.

And just now the tavern’s other patrons had been talking about old Yimei……

According to legend, in ancient times deities had roamed the continent.

Yet, for reasons unknown, all the deities had passed away.

The old Yimei were made of a puppet’s wandering spirit combined with the soul of a deity that than attached itself to clothing.

Clothes that could absorb a deity’s spirit were obviously extraordinary things.

Therefore, whenever a Yimei had come into being, the weather would become unstable, heaven and earth would be thrown into turmoil, and an endless stream of people fought for control over it.  However very few could actually master the ancient Yimei.

Most tried offering up sacrificial incense.  For there was a divine soul within the clothing.  Even if their power could not be borrowed, the smallest bit of protection and blessing was still enough for a happy, trouble-free lifetime.

“When can I have a head-to-toe powerful Yimei?”  Xia Ge sighed after another sip of her wine.

“After you pass your examination, naturally.”

A clear voice like a cool running stream made the entire tavern instantly fall quiet.  Everyone gazed at the fairy-like beauty standing in the doorway, moonlight draping over her.

Senior-Senior–Senior—Senior Sister!!!

Xia Ge trembled, wine cup suddenly dropping out of her hand—-

Holy fuck, she could drink a thousand cups and not get tipsy.  So how was it that she was this drunk today?!!!

江湖jiānghú

rivers and lakes / all corners of the country / remote areas to which hermits retreat / section of society operating independently of mainstream society, out of reach of the law / the milieu in which wuxia tales play out (cf. 武俠｜武侠) / (in late imperial times) world of traveling merchants, itinerant doctors, fortune tellers etc / demimonde / (in modern times) triads / secret gangster societies / underworld