Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 78: She Wanted to Marry Him.

　　Neither of them slept a wink that night, but luckily, nothing else happened after that.

　　The next morning, An Jiu and Fei Chen headed into the mountains.

　　Wuyi Mountain stretched from north to south—a huge mountain range covered in dense, endless forests, full of insects and wild animals.

　　Especially deep in the mountains, where there were no paths, everything was tangled and overgrown, making it hard to tell directions. It was really easy to get lost in the woods.

　　Someone as delicate and weak as An Jiu really had no business trekking into the mountains.

　　Logically, she should’ve waited outside, but she insisted on going in to look for He Ziqing.

　　Fei Chen could pretty much guess why.

　　He Ziqing was a skilled fighter who could protect her. As long as she stayed by his side, she wouldn’t have to worry about Xian Wuming finding her.

　　Even though Fei Chen was protecting her now, An Jiu clearly didn’t want to trouble him or take up his time. After all, Fei Chen came down the mountain mainly to find Qiansha Pavilion and retrieve the Bodhi Seed.

　　Because he was traveling with An Jiu, their pace was really slow.

　　Fei Chen cleared the way up front, cutting a path for them while An Jiu followed behind. Like that, they slowly trekked through the forest for the entire day. By sunset, they finally spotted a thin trail of smoke rising in the distance.

　　“There’s smoke up ahead. Might be people living in the mountains. Let’s go ask if we can stay the night,” Fei Chen said, looking at the faint wisp of smoke drifting up into the sky.

　　Of course, An Jiu had no objections.

　　The two of them followed the trail of smoke for a while until they finally caught sight of a small wooden cabin nestled among the green hills and tall cypress trees.

　　The cabin was small, sitting alone in an open clearing. Its roof was covered with golden thatch, and an old man was sitting by the entrance, cooking over a fire.

　　Hearing their footsteps, the old man turned his head to look at them.

　　As they got closer, An Jiu realized something felt… off about him.

　　His hair was completely white, loosely tied up with a dry twig, looking like a head full of frost and snow.

　　But his face didn’t match his hair. There were barely any wrinkles. His beard was white, yet his skin was smooth and firm, and his pitch-black eyes were clear and sharp, not the least bit cloudy or aged.

　　An Jiu had heard of the phrase crane hair and youthful face, but she never really imagined what it would look like in real life. For some reason, that phrase instantly popped into her mind.

　　This old man gave her the feeling of a true otherworldly hermit—like someone from a fairy tale.

　　Fei Chen clearly noticed something unusual about him too. He stopped in his tracks before getting too close, shielding An Jiu behind him as he respectfully bowed and said, “Senior, we’ve been wandering the mountains with nowhere to go. We followed the smoke here by chance. We mean no harm and hope you can forgive us for disturbing you.”

　　The old man glanced at them, his sharp gaze sweeping over the two of them, then he said calmly, “It’s fine. You can rest here. Just don’t make a lot of noise.”

　　After saying that, he turned back and went on with his own business.

　　An Jiu noticed he was grilling a fish.

　　In front of him was a simple stove made of stacked stones. Hanging above it was a clay pot, with flames crackling beneath it, licking at the pot while the water inside bubbled and boiled. The old man held a wooden stick with a long perch skewered on it.

　　Fei Chen quietly let out a breath of relief and led An Jiu to a spot nearby to settle down. He then went into the forest to gather some firewood and lit a small campfire.

　　The place they chose wasn’t too close or too far from the cabin. It was just the right distance—where they could still see each other but wouldn’t be able to overhear each other’s conversations.

　　“Master Fei Chen, is there something special about that old man? You seemed really tense just now...” An Jiu asked in a hushed voice.

　　Fei Chen shook his head and said, “Maybe I’m overthinking it. Don’t worry, we’ll only stay for one night.”

　　Even though he said that, his expression still looked serious.

　　Fei Chen was a top martial artist. From the moment he first saw the old man, he could sense the deep, steady aura coming from him. On the surface, the old man looked no different from an ordinary elder, but that crane hair and youthful face clearly showed he was anything but ordinary.

　　There was a good chance he was a hidden martial arts master living deep in the mountains. Even Fei Chen wasn’t confident he could defeat him.

　　It wasn’t rare to find reclusive experts in the martial world, some hiding their names or living quietly in remote places. That part didn’t surprise Fei Chen. What worried him was the old man’s true identity. If he turned out to be from the Demonic Sect or any evil faction, bringing An Jiu here would basically mean they had walked right into danger.

　　Fei Chen could face danger on his own, but if An Jiu got dragged into it as well, he would never be able to forgive himself.

　　An Jiu, however, had no idea what Fei Chen was thinking. Right now, she was busy recalling the plot of the book.

　　She hadn’t expected this at all. The person that the male lead had searched for so long, the legendary Sword Saint, had actually appeared in front of her first.

　　Yes, the old man they just ran into by chance was the very person He Ziqing had been looking for all along.

　　He Ziqing rarely talked about his past, so technically, An Jiu shouldn’t have known who he was searching for. But since she was someone who had transmigrated into the story, she had already seen the entire plot.

　　She knew exactly where this was going.

　　In the original story, He Ziqing’s goal during his training journey was to fulfill his master’s dying wish, which was to challenge a mysterious figure to a duel.

　　No one knew that this mysterious man was actually the famed Sword Saint, You Qianhe.

　　Fifty years ago, You Qianhe’s name had already become legendary in the martial world. His swordsmanship was unmatched, and whenever his sword struck, heads would fall.

　　The saying ‘ten steps to kill, a thousand miles without a trace’ was practically written about him.

　　Back then, You Qianhe was in his early thirties, and his brilliant sword skills amazed the entire martial world, making countless people admire him.

　　But You Qianhe, living up to his name, wandered like a crane drifting through the clouds, never settling in one place.

　　Whenever he saw injustice, he would draw his sword. When he had no business to attend to, he traveled far and wide. Sometimes he was a lone hero by the roadside, sometimes a carefree wanderer listening to music on southern pleasure boats, and sometimes a dusty traveler drinking wine in the borderlands of the northwest.

　　You Qianhe was someone who refused to be tied down. He was a swordsman who lived with passion and sincerity.

　　But all of that came to a sudden stop when he turned thirty-five.

　　After turning thirty-five, You Qianhe suddenly vanished without a trace. No one in the martial world could find any sign of him.

　　It was as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth overnight. His many friends across the lands searched for him, and missing person notices spread throughout the martial world, but no one could find him. No one knew where he had gone.

　　From then on, You Qianhe became a legend, a story passed from one mouth to another, something people sang about in the streets and alleys.

　　Of course, there were still people who kept searching for him.

　　Like He Ziqing’s master.

　　His master was a woman.

　　There were very few women in the martial world who practiced swordsmanship. Swords were seen as a man’s weapon, something that symbolized masculinity. Most believed that women, even if they learned the sword, would never achieve anything remarkable.

　　But He Ziqing’s master was the exception.

　　When You Qianhe was thirty, he met her. Back then, she was a thirteen-year-old girl whose entire family had been slaughtered.

　　You Qianhe happened to pass through that place. With just one swing of his sword, he killed all the bandits who had wiped out her family.

　　At thirteen, the girl was like an unripe apricot hanging from a branch—green, tender, and still growing.

　　She had lost everything overnight and had nowhere else to go. The only path left seemed to be following the man who had saved her life.

　　The wandering swordsman flicked the blood from his blade and slowly sheathed his sword. He opened his wine gourd, took a big gulp, and staggered forward.

　　The young girl, her face splattered with blood, hurried to follow him, stepping carefully through the cold, dark rain.

　　This swordsman who had just killed dozens of people seemed completely unaware, as if none of it mattered. He walked for quite some time before turning back, his drunken eyes half-lidded, breath thick with the scent of wine, and asked, “Why are you following me?”

　　The girl, soaked to the bone by the cold rain, lifted her pale little face and looked up at the tall man, her voice trembling as she pleaded, “I have nowhere else to go. Please, let me follow you.”

　　The swordsman furrowed his thick brows, looking as though he was deep in thought or maybe conflicted. After a long while, he casually waved his hand and said, “Do as you like.”

　　From that day on, the famous swordsman always had a petite girl trailing behind him.

　　He used to roam alone, carefree and unfettered. He’d eat when he was hungry, sleep wherever he could, and often didn’t bother to wash or change his clothes for ten days or half a month. His shoes would get so worn they practically fell apart, but he didn’t care. Sometimes, if he couldn’t reach a town by nightfall, he’d simply find a random spot to sleep under the open sky.

　　But everything changed when the girl appeared.

　　She would nag him to wash his hair and bathe. At night, she would sit under the lamp and mend the holes in his clothes. She would even go to shops to pick out proper shoes for him. Before long, his daily meals, clothing, and all his basic needs were handled entirely by the girl.

　　Every time the swordsman told her she didn’t need to do all this, the girl’s eyes would fill with panic, afraid that if she wasn’t useful, he would drive her away.

　　It was as if the more she did for him, the more she cared for him, the less useless she would be.

　　Over time, rumors began to spread throughout the martial world about the great swordsman’s little love affair, saying that You Qianhe had taken a young wife.

　　You Qianhe didn’t think much of it at first, but when he realized the young girl seemed to actually have those kinds of thoughts, he finally realized this could become a problem.

　　He had always been a man who lived freely and followed his desires. He never planned to marry or have children in this lifetime. In his heart, his entire life belonged to the sword. If his heart became tied to someone, how could he wield his sword without hesitation?

　　The strongest sword strikes in this world were always those that charged forward without fear or doubt.

　　So You Qianhe began teaching the girl how to use a sword.

　　He wanted to show her that a woman’s worth didn’t come from doing laundry, cooking, or raising children. He also wanted to teach her what the sword truly meant and what he had been pursuing his whole life.

　　But once he started teaching her, he was completely shocked.

　　The girl had extraordinary talent for swordsmanship.

　　She didn’t understand swords. She didn’t even know how to use one properly, and given her age, she had already passed the best time to start training.

　　But the moment she gripped the sword, it was as if the blade had a life of its own, naturally dancing in her hands.

　　Her sword style was simple and unadorned—no fancy techniques, no clever moves—yet every strike carried an effortless power.

　　She was clearly just a beginner, yet the moment she held the sword, she instantly became a top-class fighter.

　　She was a true prodigy, someone born to wield a sword.

　　When You Qianhe realized this, he was overjoyed and immediately wanted to take her as his disciple.

　　But to everyone’s surprise, the girl flat-out refused without a second thought.

　　At thirteen or fourteen, she was already at the age where young girls start to have crushes. The day the swordsman descended like a hero from the sky, killing the men who had tormented her, he had become her one and only hero.

　　She wanted to marry him. She wanted to be his wife, the person beside him—not just his disciple.

　　When You Qianhe realized what she was thinking, he pondered for a long time before finally agreeing. He told her that if she followed him and trained in swordsmanship for five years, he would marry her.

　　He couldn’t bear to see such a rare talent go to waste, so he had no choice but to make this kind of deal to keep her around.

　　The girl happily agreed. She truly believed that if she worked hard and learned the sword, she would be able to marry him after five years.

　　Five years later, You Qianhe disappeared.

　

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Author's Note:

My body is gradually getting much better, I can finally sit up and write again~

…..

T/N: They’re quite the pair—a little toxic, a little tragic. One runs, one chases—it’s a cycle that never ends. Honestly, maybe they’re just meant for each other. Let’s quietly watch their story unfold. 😂

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