NOVEL NEXT Dual bamboo horses
“I didn’t know Li-Li had aptitude to cultivate that type of aesthetic,” said Min Yi, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Li-Li, are you sure you really advanced even a little bit from this manual? Very few people are able to do so, so…”
“I was truly able to,” replied Li Mei, feeling small and looking down at her folded hands. “It was very surprising, but I… with the tiger big brother, I truly understood his intentions. Therefore, I was able to cultivate from it and advance.”
“The tiger big brother?” Min Yi’s eyes widened. “Really? Not from the perspective of the deer big brother?”
“She might have the aptitude of a powerhouse,” said Hu Die suddenly, straightening her posture and looking straight at Li Mei. “Shimei
, do you want to cultivate the path of the Rotten Dao?”Li Mei looked up from her hands and into her eldest disciple sister’s eyes. A fire burned at her core.
~*~
“Li-Li! Time to eat!”
Li Mei had come down from the mountain with her two disciple sisters in the evening. She had returned to her sleeping quarters with a few scrolls and placed them carefully in a small locked trunk. Rushing out as she was called to dinner, she joined the other girls at the corridor to grab a bite at the main dining hall.
“Li-Li, you look a bit different today,” said Hong-Hong, her best friend, sitting next to her at the dining hall as they started on their meal. “Somehow… it’s like you’re glowing. Li-Li, have you used any good cosmetics lately? If you have, don’t forget to share it with me…”
“I haven’t done anything,” said Li Mei, blushing a bit. “Just cultivated a bit today from a manual, that’s all.”
“Eh… if it’s cultivation then I don’t want to do it,” replied Hong-Hong, pulling a long face. “It’s so boring. Li-Li always works too hard.”
Li Mei choked at the word, ‘hard’.
Coughing, she thumped her own chest to make the food go down the right pipe. Hong-Hong patted her back anxiously.
“Li-Li, eat slowly,” advised Hong-Hong. Settling down, she pulled out a scroll from her sleeve with new fashionable illustrations in it. “We’ve got a lot of time. Anyway, how do you feel about this dress? It’s the latest summer one, and…”
The two talked for a while until sundown, when Li Mei returned to her room and opened the scroll. On one scroll was a map and a circle was marked on it. Getting up, Li Mei went out and hurried towards one of the gardens in the dark.
“Li-Li, you’ve come!”
It was Min Yi, waving at her and whispering from the bushes near a pavilion. Beside her stood Hu Die and a few other girls. They whispered at each other as they silently hopped over the wall and skipped over some rocks.
“Where are we going?” asked Li Mei, curious. One of the girls who was with them smiled at her.
“We’re going to Xin Jin Peak,” said the girl. “I hear one of the disciples is secretly meeting up today with his childhood friend.”
“Li-shimei, you’re new to this, aren’t you?” asked another girl kindly. “We sisters sometimes like to cultivate together, not through a manual, but from an actual event. Most of us here tonight cultivate the aesthetic of dual bamboo horses.”
“Dual bamboo horses1a play on the idiom, 青梅竹馬?” Li Mei echoed, confused.
“It means two childhood friends who used to play together discovering that they love each other,” replied Hu Die, matter-of-factly. “This aesthetic is usually an aesthetic for beginners walking the path of the Rotten Dao.”
“Da-shijie, do you cultivate this aesthetic too?” inquired Li Mei.
“I can cultivate anything,” Hu Die smiled like a big boss and flicked her sleeves up. “Listen up, Li-Li – tonight I invited you to come with us because you’re new, and we want you to start with something simpler. Personally, since you were able to cultivate from the beastman cultivation manual, I have a feeling you’re a powerhouse, so you can definitely cultivate more than just one aesthetic anyway.”
“No way, she could… with that book!?” a few voices were roused in unison. “So far it’s only been Hu Die-shijie. Even Gu-ge2-ge - Honorific meaning big brother; used for relatives or older male friends or acquaintances. can’t do it…”
“Pft, Gu-ge only cultivates high-classed aesthetics,” laughed one girl. “Nothing of the rough and tough beastman sort. Anyway, let’s go over there. I can see our target coming out to the rock garden. Hurry!”