Kill That Transmigrator Woman - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Companionship (1)

Today, the storyteller told a martial arts tale of the jianghu¹. The young man was full of youthful spirit, hot-blooded and easily impulsive.

After the storytelling ended, Ling Xun immediately grabbed hold of Cui Wanwan’s sleeve, leaned close to her ear, and said excitedly, “Hey, Wanwan, how about we go roam the jianghu too?”

Cui Wanwan tilted her head and thought for a while, then perked up. “Sure, but before that, shouldn’t we improve our martial arts a bit?”

“Roaming is roaming—of course we learn while we go. As we travel, we’ll naturally gain a lot in the end.”
The young man lifted his chin and chuckled twice.

Ling Xun was a heir apparent and had to be skilled in both literature and martial arts.

So he had practiced martial arts since childhood, and as the little childhood friend who grew up with him, Cui Wanwan naturally learned quite a bit as well.

But after all, they were still just two children. Roaming the jianghu so rashly, the old Prince would never be at ease.

So he secretly sent a team of hidden guards to quietly follow them.

To ensure safety, her older brother also stuffed quite a few silver notes into her bundle.
“When you’re out and about, if you don’t want to suffer or go cold and hungry, money is very important.”
Cui Heng smiled as he patted Cui Wanwan’s head. “Brother will wait for you to return and tell me all about the beauty of this vast land.”

The Cui family valued literature, but by this generation, Cui Father, who had broad vision, believed martial arts were also extremely important. Therefore, he especially supported the idea of going out to travel and gain experience.

Cui Mother, though distressed and reluctant, said nothing.

Before Wei Qingyu arrived, Cui Wanwan had always been the darling of the household, pampered and doted on, having whatever she wanted.
Cui Wanwan looked at the family in front of her sending her off, and the sourness in her heart was forcibly suppressed.

If possible, she so wished she could stay in this moment forever—father and mother forever being the ones who loved her dearly.

Unfortunately, she knew everything that would happen in the future.

She knew that once Wei Qingyu became the adopted daughter of her parents, all this doting and indulgence would change, would completely shift onto Wei Qingyu.

By then, no matter what she did, it would be wrong.
Father and mother would question her, blame her for being scheming and jealous of her sister, accuse her of maliciously framing her sister.

————
Although Ling Xun was a noble heir apparent, he was born with good looks—sword-like brows and starry eyes, a handsome young gentleman.

But aside from the nobility shown by his clothing and appearance, nothing else about him resembled that of a heir apparent.

He looked more like a reckless and impulsive young man, fond of playing and fooling around, full of youthful vigor, with a heart as pure and clear as glass, and when he smiled, it carried a kind of unrestrained and carefree confidence.

Along the way, Ling Xun saw many beggars. He couldn’t tell which were frauds and which were truly pitiful. So every time he was about to give money to a swindler, he would receive a flick on the forehead from Cui Wanwan.

“Ow!” The boy muttered, “Why are you hitting me again?”

“Idiot! That’s a con artist.” Cui Wanwan rolled her eyes, raised her hand and pointed into the distance. “There, that’s a real little beggar.”

Ling Xun gave a silly smile, raised his hand to scratch the back of his head, and said admiringly, giving her a thumbs-up: “Wanwan, you’ve never even gone out traveling before, so how do you understand the ways of the world so thoroughly?”

The bright and lively girl smiled vividly, poked the boy’s shoulder with her finger, and said, “It’s just that you’re too dumb.”

“If it weren’t for me on this journey, I’m afraid you would have given away all the wealth the prince has accumulated in his lifetime to those scammers.”

Ling Xun rubbed his head and only knew how to laugh foolishly.

He was two years older than her. A fourteen-year-old boy with a simple mind, he only knew that his little childhood friend was really smart—and he admired her very much.

At this moment, the little childhood friend in his eyes seemed to radiate light, lively and beautiful, with an ethereal elegance.

For this trip, Cui Wanwan had deliberately brought many fairy-like outfits—just so she could let Ling Xun see them in advance.

This way, when the “fairy” Wei Qingyu appeared later, he wouldn’t be so stunned at first sight that he lost his heart.

“Sword Manor?” Cui Wanwan raised her eyes to look at the signboard before her. The brushstrokes of the characters were powerful, upright amidst freedom—such writing was rare.

But…

Cui Wanwan blinked and stared at the signboard above for quite a while.

She kept feeling that this handwriting—
she had seen it somewhere before.

“Didn’t expect we’d end up here.”
Ling Xun excitedly ran forward, about to raise his hand to knock on the door.

“You know this place?” Cui Wanwan asked in confusion.

“Of course. This heir apparent is determined to become the know-it-all of the jianghu,” the boy said with excitement, his face slightly flushed.
“This is the Sword Manor of the General’s Residence. The characters on the plaque were written personally by the General’s only son, Shen Jingzhou, when he was eight years old.”

Shen Jingzhou?

Cui Wanwan was stunned on the spot—she knew this person.

After her death in her previous life, Cui Wanwan’s soul drifted in the mortal world, never dispersing. She didn’t understand why she hadn’t reincarnated, nor why no one from the underworld had come to take her.

She had nowhere to go and didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

At that time, although Cui Wanwan had become a spirit, she couldn’t touch anything physical.

She didn’t return home. She resented the Cui family, and also knew that Cui Father and Cui Mother despised her and didn’t want to see her.

Now that she was dead, her parents were probably overjoyed—finally free of this burden and jinx of the Cui family.

Since they loathed each other, why disturb her family’s peace even in death?

After her death, all she knew was that Wei Qingyu had gotten her wish and become the crown princess.

Later, the crown prince Dongfang Mosang—Cui Wanwan’s husband, the one she used to call “Brother Huai’an”—ascended the throne as the new emperor. Wei Qingyu naturally also became the empress, the mother of the nation.

Cui Wanwan’s father became the state father (imperial in-law of highest rank). For a time, basking in Wei Qingyu’s favor, the entire Cui family was honored and glorified.

This was all Cui Wanwan saw before leaving the palace.

Watching the man she had once loved and the woman she hated most act so intimately, lovingly in harmony—her heart hurt so much it felt like it would bleed.

It was also during this time that Cui Wanwan, by accident, came upon someone.

The General’s only son, Shen Jingzhou.

He was the person Cui Wanwan found most curious after her death. Though Shen Jingzhou was born into a military family, his appearance showed none of a fierce general’s ruggedness.

On the contrary, Shen Jingzhou wore plain green robes, his attire proper and upright. His features carried a clear, cold feeling like a spring of water. His skin was fair, and he always reminded Cui Wanwan of green bamboo in the mountains—pure and elegant.

Yet such a person was, ironically, a young general nicknamed “Little Yama,” who had fought alongside his father on blood-soaked battlefields from a young age.

If it were only these points, it wouldn’t have been enough to make Cui Wanwan interested in him.

But that one thing—
was something Cui Wanwan, even after reincarnation, could not forget.

In the second year after the new emperor’s ascension, Shen Jingzhou had achieved great military merit, leading to the unification of the nine provinces. The Northern Lin Kingdom submitted and paid tribute.

Just when everyone thought this young general would soar to great heights from here on out—

Shen Jingzhou… became a monk.

No one knew why Shen Jingzhou, number one in the world of martial arts, would give up glory and wealth, shave his head, and from then on accompany the blue lantern and ancient Buddha, kneeling long before the Buddha statue reciting scriptures.

To speak from the heart, Cui Wanwan thought Shen Jingzhou was good-looking—so beautiful it was outrageous.

Even without hair, Shen Jingzhou was still a beautiful and delicate monk, someone unforgettable at first sight.

Cui Wanwan stared at that plaque a bit dazed, and she understood why the characters had felt somewhat familiar at first glance.

After dying in her previous life and turning into a vengeful ghost, for some unknown reason, she was actually able to enter a Buddhist temple without obstruction. At first, out of curiosity, she often floated beside Shen Jingzhou, watching him expressionlessly transcribing scriptures.

His calligraphy was the most beautiful she had seen in her entire life.

They say handwriting reflects the person—it was the same with him: proper and sharp, yet also exuding an elegant and clear aura.

Even if he weren’t a war god general, he could still have been a refined scholar, a graceful gentleman who would captivate the hearts of countless noble ladies in the capital.

But of all things, he had to go become a monk.

Every time she thought of this, Cui Wanwan felt a wave of regret.

It was simply a waste of heavenly beauty, squandering such a good-looking appearance.

If Ling Xun was a youth in fine clothes riding a spirited horse, then Shen Jingzhou was a gentleman of breeze and moonlight—one to be admired from afar, but not to be taken lightly or played with.

—
Jiang Hu¹ – section of society operating independently of mainstream society, out of reach of the law
• the milieu in which wuxia tales play out