61 - Little Peasant Wife

At this moment, Shen Lu Man was already in the kitchen preparing the meal. She acted as if nothing had happened and said, "You're back. The food will be ready soon. Go wash your hands and get ready to eat." Jing Ao Xue glanced at her, her smile equally natural, and replied, "Alright, I'm starving. I plan to eat a lot today." Chapter 39: Half-demon Shen Lu Man stood by the door, and upon hearing her, gave her a steady glance without uttering a word. Then, she turned back to the kitchen to continue cooking. Jing Ao Xue let out a soft hum, wondering to herself: Could Shen Lu Man not have any memory of last night? Then it would have been in vain for her to leave Shen Lu Man’s side. If she'd known it would end like this, she would have obediently waited a bit longer to see Shen Lu Man return to her senses. It would have been the perfect opportunity for Shen Lu Man to come clean, even though she would certainly feel uncomfortable about it. Still, that would be far better than this awkward atmosphere now, where Shen Lu Man doesn’t even dare to ask her a single question. Jing Ao Xue sighed. She hadn’t slept the entire night and spent half of it being exhausted by that vine, draining her. Now she felt utterly fatigued and listless. It seemed that after eating, she'd have to catch up on sleep before dealing with Liang Sheng Rong. She led Liu Er to the well, which was set up just like in their previous home. A large and a small water tank were placed by the well—the larger one was for her and Shen Lu Man, while the smaller one reached Liu Er’s chest, making it easy for her to fetch water by herself. Neither of them had washed up yet, so they each drew water to wash their faces and brush their teeth. After drying off, they sat in the main room waiting for breakfast. Jing Ao Xue poured herself a cup of cold boiled water. Liu Er, sitting across from her, was twiddling her fingers and looking at her intently. Noticing Liu Er’s behavior, Jing Ao Xue lowered her gaze and asked, "Liu Er, what's the matter?" Liu Er glanced towards the kitchen and leaned in to whisper, "Mommy's home." Jing Ao Xue chuckled at that and whispered back, "Don’t mention this. If your mother asks, I’ll explain." Liu Er pouted, "Mommy didn’t do anything bad." Jing Ao Xue raised an eyebrow and continued in a hushed tone, "Do you know what your mother went out to do?" Liu Er shook her head, replying, "Just guessing. I feel like mom wouldn’t do anything bad." Jing Ao Xue patted Liu Er’s small head. Perhaps in Liu Er’s eyes, both she and Shen Lu Man were good people. However, in truth, leaving Shen Lu Man aside, her own hands were stained with blood. Those lively human lives exploded with warm blood on her face, and yet not a bit of compassion stirred within her. Instead, it made her more excited and wild. That kind of thing... She should change it somehow; it was always troublesome to get her clothes dirty, and wasting her internal powers was just not worth it. Inwardly pondering this, Jing Ao Xue asked Liu Er more questions, which Liu Er answered one by one, and after a while of chatting, Shen Lu Man finished preparing breakfast. Today's breakfast was quite hearty, and Jing Ao Xue, after glancing at the dishes on the table, asked, "What’s the occasion today for making so many dishes, and all my favorites?" Shen Lu Man wiped her hands and placed the bowls and chopsticks in front of Liu Er, saying, "Nothing special, just thought you might be exhausted from yesterday’s trip to town, so I prepared a bit more to treat you." It was better not to mention it, but as soon as she did, Jing Ao Xue awkwardly scratched her nose. Yesterday morning’s incident had been quite embarrassing, and she had hoped Shen Lu Man wouldn’t bring it up. Yet, here Shen Lu Man was addressing it so early in the day. Liu Er curiously picked up her chopsticks and looked at her, and Jing Ao Xue pursed her lips, shrugging, "It's nothing. I just suddenly felt unwell and thought it was something serious. I panicked and said those words, only to find out after going to town…" "And?" Shen Lu Man, full of concern, examined her body as if she completely believed her. Jing Ao Xue thought to herself: My wife is so easy to deceive. Smiling, she said, "It’s nothing. Don’t worry, I went to Baicao Hall in town, consulted with Doctor Gu Qing, and after checking my pulse, he said I was fine, just needed to take some medicine and get an acupuncture session. Since there’s no one to help me with acupuncture at home, I asked Gu Qing to treat me right there." She picked up some meat with her chopsticks and placed it in Liu Er's bowl, adding, "I was ready to come back home by evening, but by then the town was crowded, and I was stuck for quite a while before managing to get back here." "But..." Shen Lu Man frowned. She had waited until late into the night and only went to the mountains behind the courtyard when she couldn't handle it anymore. By then, even if Jing Ao Xue traveled by foot, she should have been back in the village. Jing Ao Xue slightly squinted, glanced at the quietly eating Liu Er, and said to Shen Lu Man, "Ah, I ran into a bit of trouble on the road, I’ll tell you later." Shen Lu Man acknowledged with a nod, and the family quietly finished their breakfast. Because of the morning's events, Liu Er wasn’t keen on going out to play, so she went to the study to practice her writing and learning. Seeing Shen Lu Man washing dishes in the kitchen, Jing Ao Xue, too exhausted to stay awake, walked over and said, "I didn’t rest well last night. I’m going back to take a nap, and I’ll explain everything after I’ve rested." Noticing the dark circles under her eyes, Shen Lu Man replied, "Go and rest." Jing Ao Xue nodded drowsily, rubbed her eyes, and retreated to her room for sleep. Shen Lu Man felt distracted. Today felt different from the usual full moon nights when she awoke. She was born with a human form, but in her tribe, that signified two things: one was to be born as the chosen one with immense power, like the young clan leader, who was born at the Nascent Soul stage; the other was to be like her, a half-demon born from a demon and a human. Lowering her gaze, Shen Lu Man slowed her dishwashing pace. Being a half-demon meant the worst aptitude, the lowest status. It meant... It meant that on the night of the full moon, under the strongest yin energy, she would uncontrollably revert to her original form. She would lose consciousness, retaining only the instincts of a demon, with nothing else left. She would remember nothing. Every time, it was her weakest moment because she had almost no ability to retaliate against the outside world. Even though the vine demon's vitality was among the strongest, with a faint bloodline of an ancient demon vine flowing within her, she was still the weakest. Any cultivator at the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage could kill her, and as a human, even with her meager third-level Qi Refining cultivation, she could at least protect herself, even if it meant running away if she couldn’t fight. Moreover, when she reverted to her original form on full moon nights, her body felt nothing, and anything unthinkable was possible. When she woke up at dawn, her whole body would be in pain and utterly exhausted. Yet this time was completely different. When she awoke, she felt as if her body were soaking in a hot spring, extremely comfortable, full of energy, and even her cultivation had significantly increased. It was something she never dared to dream of before. She couldn’t help but wonder: why was this time so different? As she thought about it, no answer came. She had to rush home to prepare meals, so she put the matter aside for the time being. Now, with some downtime, she reconsidered the situation and found herself wondering: Could it be Jing Ao Xue? Ever since Jing Ao Xue woke up after being injured by the people Han Xiu Cai sent, she had been different from before, acquiring new skills, like concocting medicinal pills and cultivating medicinal herbs. Even though they were merely mortal herbs, Jing Ao Xue had a knack for elevating their quality to a level almost equivalent to low-grade spiritual herbs in the cultivator's world. Such a feat, if it were to occur in the cultivator's world, would cause a great uproar. Yet Jing Ao Xue seemed utterly unfazed by it, almost as if she didn’t realize the significance of such achievements. Shen Lu Man gave a resigned smile and said to herself: It’s really hard to figure Jing Ao Xue out. At times, she’s so proud and dismissive of everything in the outside world; at others, she’s humble and careful, completely indifferent even to her own accomplishments. Mixed emotions swirled in her heart, unsure about her earlier assumptions. A simple task of washing the dishes took her several times longer today than usual. After the dishes were finally cleaned, she tidied up the house and went to the study to teach Liu Er new knowledge. The entire morning passed swiftly, like the blink of an eye. She prepared lunch, and after eating with Liu Er, the girl went to stroke her horse, Little White, and then cuddled her rabbit, Big White, to Wu Zhi An’s house to play with friends. Shen Lu Man sat in the main room, sewing together the clothes she had been working on. These clothes were also for Jing Ao Xue, who treated her garments like a child would. She didn’t care at all, plopping down anywhere without concern. A brand new outfit wouldn’t last her a few days before it seemed old. She noticed earlier that Jing Ao Xue had again pulled out her old clothes to wear. Considering the things Jing Ao Xue left unsaid, she didn’t feel confident it was anything good. Shen Lu Man planned to make several sets of clothes for Jing Ao Xue to change into and wash. With her restless nature, and now that their household conditions had improved a lot, there wasn’t much else for her to do aside from cultivation. She had found another task to keep herself busy. She looked at the new outfit in her hands, gently snapping the thread with her fingers. Finally, a complete set of clothes. Standing up, she stretched her wrists and neck, just as Jing Ao Xue pushed the door open and came out, greeting her with a “Good morning,” before going to wash her face to wake up. Shen Lu Man went to the kitchen, brought out the hot dishes and rice, and watched her eat before saying, "Now you can tell me, what exactly happened yesterday?" Jing Ao Xue took a sip of tea and said, "It's nothing... It's Liang Sheng Rong. He probably saw me alone in town yesterday and thought I was an easy target, so he sent a bunch of low-level bandits to try and kill me." Upon hearing this, Shen Lu Man raised her head, her expression cold and stern. "I remember I warned him already." Jing Ao Xue loved seeing her fierce and icy demeanor, and with a smile, she said, "Indeed, that's why I said he's bold. Once I’ve rested and eaten well, I'll head to town to settle things with him." Shen Lu Man responded, "I'll go with you!" Jing Ao Xue glanced at her and asked, "What about Liu Er?" Shen Lu Man paused, then said, "Let's bring her along. We can leave her with Doctor Gu Qing at Baicao Hall. He's a good person, and Baicao Hall has a remarkable background; no one would dare go against them because of Liu Er." After thinking for a moment, Jing Ao Xue agreed that it was a sensible plan. Wu Zhi An was a good man but just an ordinary villager. If a situation like yesterday arose again, Wu Zhi An would certainly have trouble handling it alone, which might endanger his family. Jing Ao Xue didn’t want to do that, so she agreed. Shen Lu Man went to the courtyard to harness the horse to the carriage. Jing Ao Xue's sharp eyes noticed a new set of clothes on the bench in the main room. Picking them up, she remarked, "This color is so bright and fresh; did you make it for yourself? The style is quite nice." Without pausing in her work, Shen Lu Man replied, "It's a new outfit I made for you. You used to like this color the most. Try it on later and see if it fits." Jing Ao Xue's mouth twitched slightly, not out of disdain, but because the color was pink.