Xiaobai truly couldn’t remember what she was like in the very beginning.
It wasn’t that she had forgotten her origins after being reborn too many times, but rather that the memory itself was blank. When she opened her eyes, only one sentence remained in her mind:
“My name is Xiaobai, and I want to become a great hero.”
Later, this dream gradually evolved into wanting to reach the pinnacle of life, wanting many beautiful companions, wanting to become the Martial Arts Alliance Leader… As the world before her eyes grew broader, she developed more and more aspirations, which eventually turned into an obsession.
By the end, the dream had become unrecognizable and no longer so pure, yet the one thing Xiaobai never forgot was her name—it was proof that she was alive.
Sometimes, she didn’t understand why she was so fixated on this martial world, but once you’ve seen the lone smoke over the vast desert, walked the plank roads of Western Shu, trod upon pristine white snow, and sailed across boundless oceans… you’ll find that no matter how luxurious the life in the inner chambers may be, it can no longer sway you in the slightest.
Xiaobai didn’t know why the original owner’s nickname was the same as hers, but it wasn’t particularly surprising. Nicknames like Xiaobai, Dahei, or Ahuang weren’t common, but they weren’t rare either. However, He Qiman’s address of “Miss Xiaobai” did put her on alert.
What she wanted to become was Alliance Leader Xiaobai, or at the very least, Hero Xiaobai—not someone confined to the inner chambers, corrupted by a life of luxury, and ultimately trapped in one place, unable to leave behind wealth and comfort.
Taking advantage of Old Madame Shang’s presence beside her, Xiaobai deliberately asked, “Then, sister, what will you teach me?”
This address of “sister” delighted He Qiman. Although she had worked hard to maintain her appearance, she was no longer a young woman in her twenties. Coupled with her busy schedule managing the Cloud-Weaving Atelier… if she hadn’t gone to great lengths to obtain the Youth-Preserving Secret Method from Nine Yin Mountain, fine wrinkles might already have appeared on her face.
He Qiman couldn’t help but smile gently, feeling that the mischievous child before her had become much more likable. Softly, she said, “Do you know about the Cloud Sleeve Neon Raiment I created?”
As she spoke, she raised her hand with a flourish. The seemingly ordinary feathered sleeves suddenly unfurled, and with a light tap of her toes, she landed beneath the wisteria tree in the courtyard. The specially crafted feathered sleeves swirled with petals as she danced, her waist twisting and turning in rhythm. An invisible current of air swept the petals upward to the sky, accompanied by the natural melody of the surroundings. Old Madame Shang, holding Xiaobai’s hand, stepped forward and exclaimed, “No matter how many times I see it, A’Man’s Cloud Sleeve Dance is always breathtaking.”
Xiaobai watched quietly without responding. She observed as this Sister He effortlessly stirred the water in the pond from a distance, transforming it into a fine mist that mingled with the fluttering rain of petals, creating a scene akin to a fairyland.
It was indeed an exceptionally refined martial technique.
Though it appeared to be nothing more than gentle sleeve movements, hidden within were flexible metal plates. When combined with Internal Energy and unleashed, they could shatter a person’s organs—this was the secret art of the Cloud-Weaving Atelier.
He Qiman cleverly played on a young girl’s love for beauty. An ordinary little girl, after witnessing her Cloud Sleeve Dance, would likely be utterly enchanted and beg her sister to teach it to her. However, Xiaobai was no ordinary little girl.
She was a man of unyielding spirit through and through. Even if she had to endure the indignity of inhabiting a little girl’s body and could pretend to be innocent and adorable, deep down—though she found the dance beautiful and admired the elegance of the performer—she would never dream of dancing it herself.
So when He Qiman tidied her feathered sleeves and asked with a smile, “Is it pretty, Xiaobai? Do you want to learn from your sister?”
Xiaobai answered bluntly, “It’s pretty, and I want to watch it many more times, but I don’t want to learn it.”
“…Why?” For a moment, He Qiman thought she had misheard. After all, the young girls in the troupe all chased after her, begging for guidance. Thinking Xiaobai was too young and afraid of hardship, she coaxed, “If Xiaobai meets a man she likes in the future, dancing like this will surely make him focus all his attention on you, never wanting to leave.”
“Why should I dance for him instead of him dancing for me? Sister dances beautifully,” Xiaobai grinned, revealing two rows of small silver teeth. “So if I get married in the future, I hope my future husband will dance for me to make me happy.”
If He Qiman had initially thought Xiaobai was too young to understand romantic love, the latter sentence made her realize she was mistaken. This little girl not only understood but could even retort sarcastically.
Old Madame Shang, hearing this, simply thought Xiaobai was speaking innocently and patted her head. “Sweetheart, men don’t dance in this world. Only girls dress up beautifully to attract suitors.”
Xiaobai agreed with the old lady’s words. It was only natural for men to appreciate beauty, just as women admired men’s talents. What was wrong with men liking beauty? But agreeing was one thing; unfortunately, she had been born a girl. For her future development, she had to lay some groundwork.
“Grandma, don’t lie to me. If someone truly likes me, they should take the initiative to dress up beautifully and make me happy. Those bad fellows who don’t like me won’t change their minds even if coaxed for a lifetime,” she said with feigned seriousness, deliberately seeking He Qiman’s support. “Sister, am I right?”
This was truly Xiaobai’s honest opinion. When a man’s heart hardens, there’s no room for a woman. Women might compensate a man who pines for them out of guilt, but men are different. If they don’t like someone, they simply don’t. Even if you die for them, they won’t shed a tear.
However, most men wouldn’t refuse a woman who throws herself at them—or rather, a beautiful woman who does so. If the woman is truly unattractive, it’s not the man’s fault; after all, it’s hard to stomach something you can’t even bear to look at.
He Qiman’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant. As if recalling something, she forced a smile. “Xiaobai is indeed right, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. If a woman falls in love with someone, she can never truly free herself. When you meet someone you like—”
She suddenly realized she shouldn’t say such things to a child, especially not in front of Old Madame Shang. She stopped herself, made an excuse, and hurried away. Xiaobai knew she had likely touched on He Qiman’s painful memories.
She thought women were too sentimental. Men were different—they could like many women at once.
“Grandma, I don’t want to coax men,” she said, not forgetting her goal, as she hugged the old lady’s waist and rubbed against her. “I want to learn powerful skills, not skills to coax men!”
She deliberately controlled her strength, as her unusually strong body could have shaken the soul out of the old lady. Old Madame Shang hugged her little darling and, after much thought, decided to hand the little troublemaker over to her father.
“Go talk to your father when he returns. If your father agrees, Grandma won’t stop you. But if he doesn’t agree, how could I bear to let my precious suffer?”
…
Xiaobai was crouched on top of a stone lion’s head, looking troubled.
From afar, she could hear voices. The Shang residence had become lively these past two days. Upon hearing that the master was returning, the heads of subordinate factions hurried over to welcome him. The earliest to arrive was He Qiman, but unfortunately, she had been so demoralized by Xiaobai that she had shut herself in her guest room and refused to come out. As for the others, the original owner had no impression of them at all. Fortunately, everyone knew of the reputation of the Shang family’s little tyrant and tried to avoid her, not daring to provoke her.
The reason for her distress was that she had unexpectedly learned about her own origins.
Originally, seeing the girl’s mixed appearance, she had guessed that her mother was likely a Hu dancer from the Western Regions. So, even though the Shang family had only this one young lady and the old madam doted on her immensely, Xiaobai knew full well that if one day she gained a younger brother, the situation would be completely different.
But things were worse than she had imagined. She had been brought back by Old Master Shang, likely the result of a dalliance with some Hu dancer while he was away on business. The child was taken home, while the mother was casually sent away. In other words—despite the original owner’s arrogance, she was actually an illegitimate child.
Her birth mother wasn’t even one of the master’s concubines. Old Master Shang was busy with his business, constantly traveling east and west, not returning home for years. But now, with the Pearl Trading House established for nearly two decades, Old Master Shang had opened over a dozen trade routes. Although his influence couldn’t compare to the old, established sects, he had still secured a stable position in the martial world. No matter how you looked at it, it was time for Old Master Shang to return home and rest.
This time, he might very well bring back a proper wife, or even directly present her with a younger brother. Xiaobai frowned bitterly. If she were Old Master Shang, why would she let a daughter who was sure to grow into a stunning beauty go off to train in martial arts and cause trouble? It was possible he was returning precisely to discipline her properly, making it easier to marry her off in the future.
Suddenly, Xiaobai spat out a mouthful of blood. The next moment, the world spun before her eyes. She was lifted down from the stone lion by a hidden guard. Shang Yu, who had been waiting below, quickly handed her a teacup to rinse her mouth and spit out the bloody foam. Her “mount,” Shanli, trotted over, crouching down, ready for her to ride.
Today’s outing was over.
Xiaobai increasingly felt that she had no freedom at all in the Shang household. Awakening from the life of luxury, she urgently wanted to escape this place. She was like a pampered canary, and under the surveillance of the hidden guards, she didn’t even dare to practice her Internal Cultivation Method.
She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her nose, but her mind remained unusually calm. Waving for Shanli to stand up, she walked back to her courtyard. The large crowd following behind her inevitably made her irritable, so she walked quickly—so quickly it was almost like running. As a result, she bumped directly into someone at the corner of the corridor.
Xiaobai knew exactly how sturdy her current body was, so when she didn’t knock the other person over, she realized this was a master.
The other person caught her in time, preventing her from falling to the ground. Seeing she was still bleeding from the nose, they casually used their own sleeve to wipe it away and asked gently, “Why are you running so fast? What if you had fallen?”
She froze, looking up suspiciously. This stranger, who was being unusually affectionate toward her, gently cupped her face and reached out to tidy the stray strands of hair on her forehead.
Yet the hidden guards did not step forward to intervene. The large group that had been following her earlier seemed to have vanished all at once, leaving only her and this person—someone who was hard to define as either a youth or a young man.
Author’s Note:
Thank you all so much for your support. I will keep working hard!