Chapter 30: Pavilion Woman

Volume One: First Steps into Another World

He had originally intended to turn and leave, but Cheng Shoubing was watching him. Given Cheng Shoubing's loose tongue, if he were to escape from his sight, the entire Chu family would know about it in the next second. For now, he had no choice but to stay with the Chu family, so he could only swallow his pride and endure. Ah, being a kept man wasn't so easy after all.

He decided to enter the school first, then find a deserted spot to slip away. He snatched the schoolbag Cheng Shoubing had prepared for him—it was incredibly embarrassing for someone his age to still be carrying a schoolbag to school.

With a sulky expression, Zu An entered the school gate. Once inside, he discovered a wide, tree-lined avenue stretching ahead. Towering ancient trees lined both sides, making the path exceptionally quiet and secluded. He looked around and noticed many beautiful young girls along the way: lively ponytails, short skirts fluttering in the wind, and glimpses of fair, shapely legs… The students in this world dressed much more liberally than he had imagined. Perhaps going to school here wouldn't be so unbearable after all.

In the distance, he spotted another large gate, guarded by people checking students entering and exiting. So, there was another school gate there. Zu An's eyes darted around, and he quickly seized an opportunity to slip away from the crowd, taking a side path.

Go to school? Impossible! He would never go to school again, not in this lifetime!

He walked along a nearby tree-lined path, but the landscaping around Brightmoon Academy was simply too well-done. With flowers, plants, and large trees everywhere, he wandered around and got a little lost. By the time he finally left the vicinity of Brightmoon Academy, he was completely disoriented.

"Where am I?" Brightmoon City was enormous, and he had only been in this world for a couple of days. He was completely unfamiliar with the city and had no idea where he was within it. "The Yu family is so famous, someone should know where their home is," he mused. All Zu An could think about was how to complete Ji Dengtu's task and restore his potency as soon as possible. Otherwise, what was the point of cultivation or anything else?

He wandered for a long time, but to his surprise, he couldn't find a single person nearby to ask for directions, as if everyone had vanished.

Boom!

A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by faint rumbling thunder from the dark clouds. Soon after, raindrops began to scatter down. Zu An didn't mind the light rain, but the thunder made him uneasy. After all, he had been struck by lightning and transported to this world. He didn't believe another lightning strike would send him back; it was more likely to be the end of him.

Boom!

The thunder grew louder and louder. Zu An looked around, spotted a pavilion not far away, and hurried over to take shelter. After running inside, he froze, realizing someone was already there. A woman in a simple dress was lazily seated on a chair at the edge of the pavilion, leaning against the railing. One hand propped her chin as she gazed blankly into the distance through the rain, while her other hand, with an index finger, lightly hooked a turquoise wine gourd. The gourd swayed gently with her finger's movement, looking as if it would drop to the ground with the slightest breeze, yet it remained steadily balanced on her fingertip, refusing to fall.

Zu An was soon captivated by another sight: the woman's legs were naturally bent on the chair, her shoes neatly placed on the ground. Beneath her skirt, a pair of flawless, radiant white, slender feet were revealed, truly softer than jade and smoother than silk. Before today, Zu An had always believed that, apart from face, chest, waist, and leg fetishists, all others were heretics. But at this moment, he finally understood why some people were foot fetishists.

"Had enough looking?" the woman asked, without turning her head. Yet she seemed fully aware of everything happening behind her.

"Not enough," Zu An blurted out, but immediately regretted it. When would he ever change his foul-mouthed habit? This wasn't the internet; there was no screen separating them. She might actually come over and hit him. Although he had just gained the strength of twenty men, he still had a feeling that the woman before him was not someone he could handle.

The woman clearly hadn't expected him to answer so brazenly. She couldn't help but turn her head to look at this shameless fellow, scrutinizing him from head to toe, then turned back to gaze blankly at the distant rain. "Then keep looking."

Now it was Zu An's turn to be surprised. Even though he had encountered all sorts of "gods" online before, he hadn't expected this woman to reply like that. From his quick glance just now, he had already noticed she was an exceptionally beautiful woman; however, in her clear, deep eyes, like autumn waters, there seemed to be an inexplicable sadness. She leaned against the railing in a posture that was neither sitting nor lying. Fine rain drifted in from outside the pavilion, sprinkling upon her, yet she remained completely still. He seemed to be able to sense her quiet breathing from a distance.

At first, Zu An eagerly admired the beautiful figure of the woman before him, but for some reason, as he watched, he involuntarily felt a wave of sadness. He withdrew his gaze and looked out at the drizzling rain beyond the pavilion. Just then, a melody he had never heard before sounded in his ears. For a moment, he felt disoriented, as if he saw water flowing upstream in a waterfall, dandelion seeds drifting back from afar to form a parachute, the sun rising in the west and setting in the east, and the busy figure in the kitchen during his ten years of hard study...

"Are you crying?"

A clear, elegant voice sounded in his ear. Only then did Zu An realize his face was already wet with tears, and the woman opposite him was looking at him with curiosity.

"I'm a little homesick," Zu An said, wiping away the tears from his face. He had always been lighthearted; before, his mind had been filled with the excitement and apprehension of transmigrating to a new world. It was only now that he thought of his parents in his original world and how heartbroken they would be upon learning of his death.

The woman's expression shifted slightly; she clearly hadn't expected him to understand what she was playing. Zu An noticed she was holding a conch-shaped instrument and couldn't help but ask, "Did you just play that with that?"

"Yes," the woman nodded.

"Could I borrow it for a moment?" Zu An asked.

"You understand music too?" The woman was a little surprised.

Zu An chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I'm somewhat familiar with any skill that doesn't make money and isn't particularly useful."

The woman couldn't help but smile and tossed the instrument to him. Zu An caught it and found the conch-shaped instrument had a very unique design, but the musical principles were the same. As he was about to put it to his lips to test its various tones, he noticed faint traces of the woman's lipstick on it and hesitated, "Is this okay?"

The woman smiled slightly and nodded gently. Only then did Zu An put it to his lips and try it. He quickly figured out its embouchure; it was very similar to the ocarina from his original world. Because he had just been overcome with homesickness, he subconsciously played "Original Scenery of My Hometown." He had worked hard to learn it in college in his previous life, specifically to impress girls, but later he realized that no matter how well he played the ocarina with both hands, it couldn't compare to someone driving a Ferrari with one hand. Recalling everything from his previous life, Zu An momentarily pondered if he was Zhuang Zhou dreaming of being a butterfly, or if the butterfly was dreaming of being Zhuang Zhou.

When the music ended, the two in the pavilion were lost in their own thoughts, remaining silent for a long time. It wasn't until the woman opposite wiped the corner of her eye that Zu An felt a sense of relief. "You cried too," he observed.

The woman sighed softly. "From this melody, I seemed to see fields, sunsets, and farewells. What is the name of your piece?"

"Original Scenery of My Hometown," Zu An replied. "What about your piece?"

"Sea of Tranquility," the woman said, raising the wine gourd and taking a sip. "Do you want some?"

Zu An hesitated. "I don't have a cup." For some reason, he found it hard to harbor any improper thoughts towards this woman; he was acting quite unlike his usual self.

The woman simply tossed the wine gourd to him. "If I don't mind, why should you?"

Seeing her so uninhibited, Zu An felt a bit pedantic. He raised his head and took a large gulp. But as soon as he swallowed, he felt a fiery sensation rush straight to his throat, as if his whole body were igniting. He choked, his face flushing red. "What kind of alcohol is this? It's so potent!" This alcohol was far more potent than any vodka he had drunk in his previous life.

"This wine is called 'Skyflame Burn'," she explained. "Indeed, most people find it hard to endure. My constitution is a bit special, so I often drink this to warm myself up." The woman took back the wine gourd and took another gentle sip. A faint blush appeared on her jade-like cheeks, and she clearly enjoyed it immensely.

"My name is Zu An, what's yours?" Zu An asked subconsciously.

The woman smiled slightly and gently shook her head. "Such is life; there are more partings than meetings. It's better not to know."

"But you already know my name," Zu An said, looking glum.

The woman replied, "You told me yourself. I didn't ask you to."

"I feel like I got the short end of the stick," Zu An muttered, feeling quite annoyed.

The woman laughed softly. "You drank my wine; that hardly counts as a loss for you."

"That's true," Zu An conceded, noticing the rain was gradually stopping. He stood up and said, "If fate allows us to meet again, will you tell me your name next time?"

"I'm afraid there won't be another chance," the woman said, shaking her head. Suddenly, her gaze fell upon the bag on his back, and her expression became very strange. "Are you a student of Brightmoon Academy?"

Zu An's heart skipped a beat; he knew he had escaped from inside. He said somewhat warily, "You didn't answer my question, so why should I answer yours?"

The woman pointed at his backpack. "Actually, I know even if you don't say anything. This is a Brightmoon Academy standard backpack; only students of the academy have them. It should be class time now. Why are you here?"

"Including kindergarten, I've been in school for twenty years already," Zu An said, bristling at the thought. "I never want to go to school again in this life!"

"Kindergarten?" A flicker of confusion crossed the woman's eyes; she clearly didn't understand what it was. But she didn't bother to delve deeper, sighing inwardly, "I'm the same myself. What right do I have to criticize him?"

"Thanks for the wine, I have to go now," Zu An said, still preoccupied with finding Yu Yanluo. After all, it concerned his lifelong happiness.

"Alright, perhaps we truly are destined to meet again," the woman said, a hint of amusement on her lips.

"Believe you? No way," Zu An thought. "Are beautiful women naturally so good at leading people on?"

He had just walked a short distance from the pavilion when a black-clad figure suddenly passed by nearby. The figure glanced at him, walked a few steps, then quickly walked back. "Huh, Zu An?"

"Who are you?" Zu An asked. The man before him had a long scar running from his nose to his right cheek. Zu An noticed the plum blossom emblem on his collar, and his heart skipped a beat—he remembered that Plum Blossom Twelve also had a similar emblem.