Chapter 17: One Misstep, a Lifetime of Regret

Bit by bit, Liu Xiaolou raised his head. He saw the female cultivator still working hard about ten-plus yards away, diligently harvesting. Every so often, she would straighten up, place one hand on her waist, and wipe the sweat from her forehead. Under the moonlight, her face was illuminated clearly, and Liu Xiaolou’s heart stirred. She’s beautiful....twice as pretty as Sister Qing from the head of the first alley in Wuchao Town! But this was no time to be admiring beauties under the moon. Liu Xiaolou shook off the wandering thoughts and focused on her every move. Seeing that she hadn’t noticed him at all, he cast out his fragrant tendon and began harvesting. There were no other rice thieves around to disturb things. Though he moved cautiously, caution made him steady. And steadiness brought efficiency. After working continuously for nearly an hour, he had cleared one-tenth of an acre. He’d already made several trips into the forest with bundled sheaves, and the distance between him and the female cultivator had shrunk to just six or seven zhang. Don’t be too greedy! Liu Xiaolou mentally sounded a warning bell. After tying off one last bundle, he carefully turned around and began crawling back the way he came. Time to stop and find another patch. He had only crawled a few paces when a voice suddenly rang out behind him: "Had enough harvesting?" Liu Xiaolou’s scalp went numb. He knew he’d been exposed. Well, maybe he had been all along. After all, he wasn’t Big White; this wasn’t his area of expertise, so mistakes were bound to happen. But now, a strange sense of relief washed over him. He simply stood up boldly and turned around. The female cultivator stood there with her arms crossed over her longsword, watching him with a smirk. Caught red-handed, Liu Xiaolou didn’t panic. He cupped his fists respectfully. “I happened to be passing by. I was just worried you wouldn’t finish the harvest in time and miss the critical window; so I lent a helping hand. Ahem… I’ve mostly finished anyway...” The female cultivator chuckled. "So you're saying you saw injustice and decided to act chivalrously?" Liu Xiaolou straightened up. "Just lending a small hand," he replied seriously, "no need to thank me, miss. It’s getting late. I'll take my leave now." With that, he turned and made a dash for the dense forest. The trees were just a stone’s throw away. Even that Han fellow from Dongyang Sect couldn’t catch him; no way she could! As he was sprinting, a sudden gust of strong wind whooshed behind his head. It was shockingly fierce. Alarmed, Liu Xiaolou instinctively jerked his neck to the side just in time to dodge. A flying sword grazed past his ear and sliced clean through a fir tree as thick as a bowl! The sword light circled in the woods and returned to the woman's hand. "Run, then. Keep running!" she said coldly. Flying sword! Liu Xiaolou froze on the spot. In this moment, he truly felt like crying but had no tears. At least tenth-layer Qi Refinement perfection level… and she’s here working as a field-hand, harvesting spiritual rice? And earlier, so clumsy with the sickle, no sword light, no flying sword… Are you sick? Are you mentally unwell? A few more steps and he’d be in the woods, but Liu Xiaolou didn’t dare take another step forward. Instead, he slowly turned around, pitifully looking at the female cultivator, thoroughly deflated. “Who gave you the guts to steal this young lady’s field?” she raised her chin and asked with scorn. Liu Xiaolou replied honestly, "My family’s poor… really can’t even afford a pot of rice." "Poor? Being poor is your excuse for stealing? Even in poverty, you shouldn't lose your integrity!" she reprimanded him bluntly. "You're absolutely right, senior..." "Ha! Senior?" "Ah... miss, I misspoke in a moment of confusion. I swear I'll change my ways from now on..." "Let me ask you, was the wage the family master gave you not enough?" "It was, it really was enough..." "Then why stoop to such disgraceful thoughts?" "People sometimes slip up… one misstep can bring eternal regret..." "Come on, let's go tell the family master." "Please… I’m willing to pay compensation!" "Compensation? Didn’t you just say you're too poor to afford food? What can you possibly pay with?" "However much spiritual rice I took, I’m willing to return twice that amount..." Hearing Liu Xiaolou's offer, the female cultivator couldn’t help but laugh. "What would I want your spiritual rice for? You think I can eat all that?" If you don’t care for the spiritual race, why are you even here working as a farmhand? Liu Xiaolou grumbled inwardly. His mind spun fast, but no matter how hard he thought, he realized he really had nothing to offer in compensation. As the woman urged, “Come with me,” panic gripped him. "Miss, just let me off this once. As the saying goes, a fight makes fast friends; if you ever need anything, I'll go through fire and boiling water without a word of complaint!" But this line still had no effect. The female cultivator clearly had no interest in Liu Xiaolou’s vow to “go through fire and boiling water.” “Are you going to walk on your own, or do I need to tie you up and drag you along? Oh, and take off that face covering. Sneaky little weasel...” Liu Xiaolou had no choice but to remove the black cloth from his face. He straightened his somewhat messy hair bun and gave the woman a deliberate wink; this was his last move: seduction. After all, he was once hailed as one of the Twin Handsomes of Wulong Mountain alongside Wei Hongqing. He wouldn’t claim to be dazzlingly handsome, but at least his looks were above average. Once the veil came off and his face was bathed in the hazy moonlight, his refined features were even more striking. And it seemed the move might actually be working. As soon as she saw his face, the female cultivator’s expression noticeably froze. She stared blankly at him, speechless for a good while. Liu Xiaolou quickly kept blinking at her, continuing to plead: “I know I was wrong...” “Turn around. Left side.” “Huh? Oh, alright...” “What’s your name?" she  suddenly asked. "Where do you cultivate? Tell the truth.” “I… I’m Liu Xiaolou, a rogue cultivator from Wulong Mountain.” Liu Xiaolou didn’t dare lie. His face was exposed, and it would be easy for her to verify everything at the manor. His only option now was to confess honestly and hope for a sliver of mercy. “You’re from Wulong Mountain?” “Yes, up on Qianzhu Ridge. If you ever need anything, miss, just say the word; I won’t refuse.” There was another pause. Then the female cultivator waved her hand and said: “Go on.” “Huh?” “I said, go.” Did… did the handsome man trap actually work? For a moment, Liu Xiaolou was completely dazed, but he didn’t dare ask questions. He slipped into the forest, glancing back every few steps. On his last look, he saw her tilting her head to gaze up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. Whatever she was thinking, it was none of his business; he quickened his pace and hurried away. On his way out, he also conveniently took the bundles of spiritual rice he had hidden in the forest earlier. After all, she hadn’t told him to return them… and she hadn’t told him not to take them either. Naturally, they were his now. Liu Xiaolou’s steps grew faster and faster. With true qi flowing through his limbs, he used all his strength to flee as fast as he could from the area. Finding a secluded spot, he hastily processed his night's haul into grains, packed it into sacks, and rushed to the manor granary to turn in his quota. These few days marked the final stretch of the harvest rush. The manor’s granary didn’t close, not even at midnight. Liu Xiaolou submitted his grains: a total of 56 jin. He was still 50 jin short of the required amount. He had no energy left to argue or delay. Instead, he accepted the penalty of 150 silver taels. Though he didn’t have that much silver, he did have some gold and a jade pendant he’d gotten from Jinping Manor. He handed over a bit more than ten taels of gold and the jade pendant as collateral to cover the fine. Just like that, his hired harvest work was finally finished. Lugging the four sacks of spirit grain he had buried in the fields, he left Ewe Ram Mountain in the dead of night. By the time dawn broke, he had already traveled fifty to sixty li. When he caught sight of the Wuchao River, only then did he finally let out a long sigh of relief.