Chapter 77: Bai Suzhen in Utopia
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Just as they were beating him enthusiastically, Yue Qianchou suddenly sensed something charging toward them. Too late to turn around, he swept his leg backward. With a “bang,” the little foal went flying.
Yue Qianchou was stunned. The little foal struggled to get up from the ground and charged again toward Chen Feng, who was throwing punches and kicks.
“Damn horse! You ate my ginseng and still dare to aid the tyrant! Go to hell!” Yue Qianchou kicked the horse flying again, rescuing Chen Feng from the situation.
“Stop!” White Fox called out delicately, and her figure immediately appeared before everyone. Since White Fox had spoken, Yue Qianchou and Chen Feng didn’t dare continue fighting. The two stood aside obediently, cursing and grumbling. White Fox had told them to stop their hands, not their mouths.
The little foal got up, swayed as it ran to Guan Yu who was sitting on the ground with his head in his hands, and gently tugged at his green robe with its little mouth.
“Hey! This damn horse is really tough. An ordinary adult horse probably couldn’t withstand my two kicks. Looks like my ginseng wasn’t wasted – heh, it’s gained some spiritual intelligence. At such a young age, it already knows how to protect its master,” Yue Qianchou said to Chen Feng beside him with curiosity.
Chen Feng kept saying “Yeah, yeah.” White Fox then gave them both a look, and the two chuckled and shut up.
Seeing White Fox arrive, the bruised and battered Guan Yu finally felt safe to stand up. He smoothed his three disheveled long whiskers, patted the footprints covering his green robe, and looked mournfully at his two assailants. Knowing he was in the wrong, he didn’t say much else, only muttering, “Boss, it’s fine if you beat me, but why didn’t you even spare such a small horse?”
Hey! This man and horse pair was really interesting. Yue Qianchou laughed and scolded, “Damn it! Is your horse more important or our foundation building more important? You’re sick in the head. I can’t be bothered arguing with you. You two prepare the hundred portions of spiritual herbs for refining Foundation Building Pills. This boss is starting pill refining tomorrow.”
“Really!” Chen Feng exclaimed with delight. Guan Yu also forgot about being beaten and stared with excited, wide eyes.
“Mm! During this time, I finally found a suitable place for pill refining. We can begin,” Yue Qianchou smiled. He wouldn’t say that the three-day promise from before was because his technique wasn’t up to par – he made up a lie about not having found a good place for pill refining yet. As for the matter of suffering greatly to learn pill refining, he definitely wouldn’t mention that. Saying it would really damage his boss’s dignity.
The two nodded and ran off without another word to prepare the spiritual herbs. The little foal also followed the recently beaten Guan Yu, limping along.
Yue Qianchou watched with aching teeth and laughed, cursing, “Damn horse.”
White Fox’s slender, pale neck turned gently as she looked at him and said, “From what I know, wanting to refine spirit pills with Qi Refining stage cultivation isn’t easy. Did you really learn it?”
“Look at what sister is saying. Don’t you see whose brother this is? How could such a small matter stump me? Naturally, I really learned it,” Yue Qianchou said with no small amount of pride.
White Fox turned her head back, gazing at the sea of flowers before them, and said with calm indifference, “With furnace fires blazing and your cultivation only at the late Qi Refining stage, to learn this pill refining, your divine sense must have suffered quite a bit! Quite a few high-grade spirit stones are missing from that pile.” With her cultivation level, naturally nothing that went missing within this area could escape her notice.
Few people knew the pain of divine sense injury. Although he had endured it, Yue Qianchou still felt lingering fear thinking about it now. He smiled unnaturally and looked out over the sea of flowers, changing the subject, “Sister, look at how the golden pearl is filled with brilliant flowers – the scenery is really wonderful. I keep calling it ‘golden pearl, golden pearl,’ which is really awkward to say. Why don’t you give this place a name, sister?”
White Fox shook her head gently, tucking a strand of hair that had fallen over her forehead behind her ear, and said slowly, “I can’t name it. Brother is so talented – you should name it instead.”
‘I’m talented?’ Yue Qianchou had self-awareness, but being praised by a beauty felt really good, and his mood improved along with it. Facing the sea of flowers, he spread his arms wide, closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the fragrance, then exhaled and opened his eyes, saying, “In the distant west, there’s a legendary ideal world called ‘Utopia.’ I hope the golden pearl can one day also become a legend, become an ideal world. Sister, what do you think of calling it ‘Utopia’?”
“Utopia?” White Fox savored the name carefully, her brows furrowing unconsciously. Honestly, she didn’t think this name sounded particularly good, and it was a bit strange, but she still nodded, gazing at the fragrant sea of flowers with a smile, “An ideal world? I hope it can continue peacefully like this – this would be my ideal world. Let’s go with what brother said and call it ‘Utopia’!”
Yue Qianchou smiled, then suddenly tilted his head and asked, “Sister, do you have a name?”
White Fox looked at him with surprise, then turned her head back, her gaze becoming confused as a long-buried scene rose to her heart again… The scholar clumsily carved a thorn hairpin with his own hands, cutting several wounds on his hands. The faint red color on the thorn hairpin was his blood. He wiped it again and again with his sleeve, but that red color seemed like it could never be wiped away. The scholar ran over happily holding the thorn hairpin and laughed, “Bai’er, look, I made this for you with my own hands. Come, let me put it in your hair.” Actually, she had seen his clumsy process the whole time. With gratitude, she nodded shyly, put up her beautiful hair, and let him insert the thorn hairpin into her hair. The scholar examined it and smiled, “Bai’er, it looks really beautiful. Bai’er, let me give you a name!” She looked at him with joy and nodded. The scholar looked at the hairpin in her beautiful hair, pondered briefly and said, “You’re called Bai’er, so I’ll name you Bai Jingniang. How about it? Do you like it?” She nodded heavily and said, “I like it.” The scholar smiled with satisfaction…
More than two hundred years had passed. The scholar was long gone, and that hairpin had been lost in the fierce battle in the capital, never to be found again. Perhaps it really was just a butterfly dream – and dreams should have a day when one awakens.
Should I wake up? Perhaps I’ve already awakened? White Fox parted her lips and breathed out softly, a trace of final farewell flashing in her eyes. Looking toward Yue Qianchou beside her who was waiting for her answer, she shook her head gently and sighed, “Perhaps I had one once! It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten – I can’t remember anymore!”
Yue Qianchou was stunned. Living too long really was troublesome – she had actually forgotten even her own name. He touched his nose and laughed awkwardly, “Anyway, we’ve already named the golden pearl today. Sister, how about I give you a name too?”
White Fox softly said “Mm,” which counted as agreement.
What a heavy responsibility! He had to choose a name worthy of her beauty. Yue Qianchou walked around in circles with his hands behind his back. The surname Bai was certain, but what should she be called? The harder he tried to think, the less he could come up with. After a long time, he had almost scratched his head bald but still couldn’t think of anything.
Should he call her Bai Meili or Bai Piaoliang? If he came up with names like that, he really could call himself an idiot. Yue Qianchou shook his head painfully and looked toward the swaying sea of flowers. ‘I wonder if she’d like Bai Xianhua.’
After a moment of silence, he looked shamefully toward the peerless beauty standing there with calm elegance and sighed. Uh… a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and a figure from the mythological legends of his previous life appeared before his eyes – also a spirit who had cultivated for a thousand years and was equally beautiful and devoted, though she was a snake spirit.
Yue Qianchou groaned painfully. ‘Didn’t they say I was talented? Could it be that my talent can only plagiarize?’ How depressing!
“Sister, I thought of a name – I don’t know if you’ll like it. Bai Suzhen. What do you think? If not, I’ll think of another one.” Yue Qianchou added, “Su as in simple, Zhen as in chaste – Bai Suzhen.”
“Bai Suzhen?” White Fox’s dark eyebrows furrowed slightly. After savoring it briefly, she turned and drifted away gracefully.
‘Looks like she doesn’t like it!’ Yue Qianchou felt bored. After thinking about it, he suddenly understood and wanted to slap himself twice. ‘Really had nothing better to do – why mention chastity? She had finally managed to forget the past, and here I am deliberately reminding her.’
“Thank you, brother. From now on, I’ll be called Bai Suzhen.” White Fox’s voice drifted over faintly, mixed with the flower fragrance. Yue Qianchou was stunned…
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Bai Suzhen, also known as Lady Bai, is a thousand-year-old white snake spirit and the title character of the Legend of the White Snake, one of China’s “four great folktales.” The legend has been adapted into numerous Chinese operas, films, television series, and other media.
