Chapter 10: Settlement

Zhao Chun felt that the Daylily Garden was a misnomer. She and Zhou Pianran had already walked a fair distance into the garden, yet they had seen very few daylilies. Instead, there were only some nameless little flowers blooming in abundance on both sides of the bluestone path.

No one had deliberately pruned them; the flowers and grasses crowded and piled against each other, naturally forming a scene that possessed a certain wild charm.

The two did not know how long they had been walking. Zhao Chun’s constitution was better, but Zhou Pianran was nearly at her limit. Fortunately, after rounding a small lake, they finally spotted a courtyard marked "No. 3466."

"We've arrived. Let's go in." Zhao Chun helped her up, and they stumbled inside.

The courtyard was not large, but it was quite desolate. Wild grass grew rampant everywhere, and in the center stood a large tree nearly three meters tall. Its branches and leaves spread out to form a patch of shade, under which three women in grey robes sat around a table. They were quite surprised to see someone enter.

The woman on the far right appeared the oldest, with laugh lines already etched into her face, suggesting a kind nature. She asked, "Are you two the newly initiated disciples?"

Seeing Zhou Pianran’s legs trembling and her lips pale and dry, she realized the girl was exhausted from the walk, so she stood up to fetch two stools.

The two thanked her hurriedly, and Zhao Chun replied, "Yes, my name is Zhao Chun, and she is Zhou Pianran. We both arrived today."

The woman said "Oh" and continued, "My surname is Cui, given name Lan'e. Beside me are Hu Wanzhi and Lian Jing. You two can just call us Senior Sisters."

Hu Wanzhi had a sharp chin and long eyes, giving her a mean appearance, while Lian Jing had a round face and round eyes, which was quite endearing. Zhao Chun quickly matched their names to their faces and said, "Greetings, three Senior Sisters."

After drinking a few sips of the warm water handed to her by Cui Lan'e, Zhou Pianran recovered and obediently called them Senior Sisters as well.

"There are eight rooms in this courtyard. The three on the right are where we live. The first one on the left is used as a storeroom and cannot be lived in. Since you two are so young, don't live too far away; just stay next to us so we can look after you."

The two nodded, accepting Cui Lan'e’s kindness. She was even more pleased and said, "You must be tired. Sit down and rest for a while. Wanzhi, go check if there are any spare clothes for probationary disciples in the storeroom. Bring them four sets each for changing."

Hu Wanzhi, who was not one for many words, nodded and walked toward the storeroom. Cui Lan'e then said to Lian Jing, "A-Jing, come with me to tidy up those two rooms. They haven't been lived in for a few years, so they must be full of dust."

"How could we trouble you Senior Sisters!" The two jumped up from their stools, hurriedly trying to stop them.

Lian Jing laughed twice and said, "Do you think Senior Sister Cui and I are going to work with brooms and dustpans? It’s just a matter of a Dust-Clearing Spell; it won't take much effort. Just sit down and relax!" Her voice was excessively shrill; had Zhao Chun not known she meant no harm, she would have almost thought it was sarcasm.

Once only the two of them remained in the courtyard, Zhou Pianran remarked, "The Senior Sisters we live with are truly warm-hearted."

Zhao Chun nodded, agreeing with this assessment. Living with kind people was always better than living with those who had hearts like scorpions and snakes.

As Lian Jing had said, the two rooms were cleaned up quickly.

They led the two into Zhou Pianran’s room first. Inside, there was a canopy bed, a tall and a short cabinet, a set of table and stools, and a wooden rack for items, with a full-length mirror leaning against the table. There wasn't much, making the room appear somewhat empty.

Cui Lan'e joked from the side, "It’s empty now, but after you’ve lived here a while, you’ll realize how small this room really is!"

At this moment, Hu Wanzhi entered from the doorway carrying a pile of clothes—eight sets of greenish-blue short shirts paired with brown trousers. In this color, one looked just like a tree. Zhao Chun laughed to herself twice.

"Why are ours different from the Senior Sisters'?"

Lian Jing wore an expression that said, "You don't even know this?" and explained the distinction to them in detail.

It turned out that the concept of "one hundred thousand probationary disciples" was somewhat inflated. Half of them were disciples who had been there for over five years but had not yet left the sect.

The Lingzhen Sect could not support them for nothing, so they delegated the sect's tedious chores to these "expired" disciples. They worked and cultivated every month; even if they were lucky enough to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining, they would only change their status to become Outer Sect Deacons. Only upon breaking through to Foundation Establishment would the sect lift their restrictions, allowing them to choose whether to become Elders or leave the sect.

Elder Lin, who had tested their spiritual roots earlier, was one such legendary figure. He had climbed up from being a servant, successfully reached Foundation Establishment, and attained the position of Elder.

However, in several decades, he was the only one who had truly achieved this. Most others struggled at the very bottom, unable to glimpse the light of day.

The three Senior Sisters were in this situation. Among them, Lian Jing, who had four spiritual roots, was the youngest at twenty years old, with cultivation at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. She was only one year away from becoming an official Outer Sect disciple, and she still felt a sense of resentment when mentioning it.

As for Cui Lan'e and Hu Wanzhi, one was in her early thirties and the other was twenty-two. Both had five spiritual roots and were still stuck in the early stage of Qi Refining. Seeing Zhou Pianran, who also had five spiritual roots, they felt a bit of pity.

"It’s nothing. If I don't succeed in five years, I'll just go home. My parents and brothers are all waiting for me to return!" The young girl seemed to see her family waiting at the door, her eyes shining.

"You have a small heart, still waiting to return to your small world to reunite with your family." Cui Lan'e had seen many disciples from other small worlds. At first, they would also talk about wanting to go back, but after experiencing the abundant spiritual energy of the Hengyun World, they would fight to be servants rather than return.

"It’s good that she has a home to return to; it’s a form of hope. For those of us who are homeless, leaving the sect means having nothing at all," Lian Jing sighed, then asked Zhao Chun, "What about you? You have three spiritual roots and are the most likely among us to become an official disciple. You wouldn't be thinking of going home, would you?"

Zhao Chun waved her hand. "My mother died early, and there are many siblings at home. My father might not even know my name."

"Then you are very much like Wanzhi."

Hu Wanzhi had a fierce appearance but was actually quite timid. She explained softly, "My mother passed away when she gave birth to me. There are many people at home, and my father doesn't pay much attention to me."

No wonder Lian Jing said that; their backgrounds were almost identical.

Cui Lan'e mentioned a few more important matters regarding daily life before instructing them to rest for a while, as they would need to go to the dining hall for dinner in the evening.

"Probationary disciples and servant disciples live together. Each dining hall manages the meals for one hundred courtyards. Although they aren't all full, excluding you newcomers this year, there are still four or five hundred people. We should go early later so we don't miss out on the hot food."

They were called disciples of a cultivation sect, yet they lived worse than powerful mortals. Here, the strong preyed on the weak, and servants were not treated as human beings. One had to fight for work and fight for food. If Zhao Chun could not break through to the mid-stage within five years, she would end up the same way.

She was not like Zhou Pianran, who, for better or worse, always had a home to fall back on.

Zhao Chun took her things back to her room, where the furnishings were mostly the same. She locked the items she had received into the low cabinet and folded her clothes into the high cabinet before lying on the bed to close her eyes for a nap.

By the time Cui Lan'e came to call her, she had regained her energy. The clothes provided had been treated with a Dust-Clearing Spell and could be worn immediately. Zhao Chun changed into the new clothes and looked in the mirror.

She truly looked just like a little tree!

The three older ones led the two younger ones toward the dining hall. On the way, they met other servants who also had young girls in tow. They chatted with each other, treating Lian Jing, Cui Lan'e, and Hu Wanzhi differently. Upon learning that Zhao Chun had three spiritual roots, their attitudes changed drastically, and they beamed with smiles.

Zhao Chun was not good at socializing and only smiled awkwardly. The others were satisfied, calling her "naturally gifted," "having a bright future," and "destined for the Dao."

By the time they reached the dining hall, the corners of Zhao Chun’s mouth were stiff. Lian Jing teased her for looking impressive but being useless on the inside, then advised her, "In the future, just listen to whatever they say; you don't need to respond or smile at them."

"Won't that offend people?"

"How could it? They’ll only think you’re truly capable!" Lian Jing laughed, deftly placing several large pieces of meat into the bowls of the two newcomers. "Come, eat while it's hot. You need to be full to have the strength to cultivate."

The dining hall was just like the school cafeteria from Zhao Chun’s previous life, except there was no one serving the food; everyone helped themselves. You took what you needed, and if you couldn't finish, you were fined—though that was the treatment for servants; probationary disciples didn't have that rule.

Zhao Chun couldn't expect the communal food to be delicious; she just wanted enough to be full. However, when she actually tasted it, she found it rich and savory, quite delicious.

From the time they left the small world until now, she had only drunk some water and hadn't eaten a meal. She and Zhou Pianran were so hungry they were famished. They finished in a few bites, and heard Cui Lan'e advise, "Don't eat too much at once just because you're hungry. You don't feel it now, but you'll know the feeling of bloating when you sleep tonight."

Zhao Chun understood this logic. She put down her chopsticks after the last bite. Zhou Pianran looked at her, then at the three Senior Sisters, and finally obediently set her chopsticks aside as well.

Cui Lan'e nodded with satisfaction, collected their bowls and chopsticks, and placed them on the rack by the wall. "Just leave them here after you finish eating; someone will come to clean them up."

The two remembered this, and the trip to the dining hall was considered a complete success.

On the way back, the guards had already lit the lamps, and the entire Daylily Garden was shrouded in a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. Zhao Chun noticed that many courtyards had lights on in only half the rooms, so she asked, "Senior Sister Cui, are those rooms unoccupied?"

Cui Lan'e shook her head. Before she could speak, Lian Jing’s shrill voice rang out: "How could they be unoccupied? It’s just that the people have run off!"

"A-Jing!" Cui Lan'e chided her, then explained the reason to them in a soft voice.

This was not unique to the Daylily Garden. Within the sect, servant disciples who felt their future was hopeless mostly chose to rely on official disciples, willing to serve as servants and be at their beck and call. Once they climbed up to a higher branch, they would naturally no longer live in such a lowly place as the Daylily Garden.

This had become an unspoken rule of the Lingzhen Sect's Outer Sect. The deacons all turned a blind eye; after all, it was a matter of mutual consent, and others found it hard to criticize.

Cui Lan'e knew that the life of a servant disciple was difficult and held goodwill toward these cultivators. Lian Jing was young and her temperament was more impulsive; she believed that such cultivators who attached themselves to others had truly trampled their own self-esteem into the mud.

"Actually, this is not A-Jing’s fault; those who do not know are not guilty. You are different from us, Zhao Chun. One day, you will walk out of the Daylily Garden, perhaps even to the other side of the Guantian River.

"You might become as powerful as Elder Qiu, but even a person who can move mountains and fill seas has never truly been free.

"We are alive because the strong possess fear and compassion."

Zhao Chun lay on her bed thinking about Cui Lan'e’s words for a long time. She was always grateful for being alive, which was why she was kind to everyone. But what about herself?

She was not content with the charity of the strong. If the world lived because of the fear and compassion of the strong, then why couldn't she, Zhao Chun, be that strong person?

She had no right to interfere with or criticize the choices of others. What she could do was to constantly remind herself not to walk the same path.

She was her own Zhao Chun, and in this life, she lived only for herself.

(In the original plot of this chapter, because my mind was not clear when I started writing, I brought a feudal worldview into Hengyun, thinking that women would choose to rely on others through family relationships. But today, after completing over two million words of *Sword Cultivator*, I feel this is wrong and narrow-minded. In such a free, equal, and more realistic worldview, reliance does not exist between men and women, but exists because of strength and weakness. Therefore, I have revised this chapter. At the same time, I hope readers will offer their own suggestions to spur me on; I hope to progress together with everyone. — 2023.12.8)

(End of chapter)