Zanxing

Chapter 11 - Selection Tournament (1)

"I agree to annul the engagement."

The girl's crisp voice echoed in the ears of everyone present. There wasn't a trace of sadness on her face; instead, she seemed relieved, as if a great burden had been lifted.

Wang Shao frowned. He had expected Zanxing to rush forward, crying and pleading, or at least to try and reason with him. He hadn't anticipated she would agree so easily. It left the prepared words stuck in his throat. Looking at her calm and indifferent expression, he felt a strange sense of loss.

"This won't do, young miss," Hong Su, recovering from her shock, rushed over, grasping Zanxing's hand. "Your face still needs treatment. Young Master Wang," she turned to Wang Shao, tears welling up, and begged, "even for the sake of past affection, you can't abandon our young miss!"

"How can this be considered abandonment?" Duan Xiangrao interjected with a smile. "Miss Yang has already agreed to the annulment herself. With the Taiyan Sect's selection tournament approaching, if she truly cares for Young Master Wang, she should refrain from distracting him."

"You..." Hong Su wanted to argue further.

"Enough, Hong Su." Zanxing interrupted the young maid and looked at Wang Shao. "Let everyone here today be witnesses. Young Master Wang, from now on, our engagement is null and void. We shall go our separate ways, and each will find their own happiness."

Wang Shao suppressed the discomfort rising within him and scoffed. "It's good that you understand."

Zanxing smiled briefly, pulled Hong Su along, and decisively walked away.

As Zanxing's figure disappeared into the crowd, Wang Shao's frown deepened, a lingering unease in his chest. Duan Xiangrao tugged at his arm, pulling him from his thoughts. She teased, "What's this, Young Master Wang, are you having second thoughts?"

Wang Shao withdrew his gaze and snorted coldly. "She's just an ugly girl. What's there to regret?"

He glanced at the surrounding cultivators who were watching the scene unfold. Though today they might express pity for Yang Zanxing being cast aside, if it were them, none would ever marry such a burden. He was relieved to have annulled the engagement—once he joined the Taiyan Sect, he would have avoided becoming the laughingstock of the entire sect.

The beauty beside him clung to his arm and giggled. "Let's focus on the selection tournament."

...

That night, by the Lixiu River.

The river breeze swept in from the distance. Gazing along the water, the colors of the river and the night blended into one, surging towards the wild plains at the river's end.

All the fishing boats had docked by dusk, and the river was empty. Only the starlight reflected off the water, quickly swallowed by the current, leaving behind faint silver ripples that illuminated the grassy bank.

By the carriage, a small fire flickered, its flames swaying violently in the strong wind, as if on the verge of being extinguished at any moment.

"Young miss, how could you agree to the annulment?" Hong Su mumbled, adding more wood to the fire while still muttering about the day's events.

"Yes," Old Niu chimed in, "you acted too impulsively. Now's not the time to act rashly." During the argument between Yang Zanxing and Wang Shao earlier that day, Old Niu had been busy handling the horses and had missed the scene. When he later heard the full story from Hong Su, he was so furious that he nearly had a heart attack.

Now the three of them—an old man, a young girl, and a sick one—were penniless. They could survive on the dry rations and wild bird eggs they had brought, but as for sleeping, they had no choice but to camp out in the wilderness.

"Achoo!" Hong Su sneezed, grumbling, "It's all that woman's fault. If she hadn't sown discord, our young miss would be staying in a nice inn by now."

Zanxing draped her coat over Hong Su's shoulders and nonchalantly remarked, "No room with a view of the river, but the river itself isn't bad. Be content."

Her tone was calm. In fact, ever since returning from her encounter with Wang Shao that day, there hadn't been a trace of sadness on Zanxing's face. It was as though nothing had happened, and she even had the mind to inquire about the upcoming Taiyan Sect selection tournament.

Sitting by the fire, half of Zanxing's face, the scarred side, was hidden in shadow, while the uninjured half was illuminated by the firelight, making her look even more beautiful. If not for the recent events, she would still be the same proud and flamboyant young lady as before. Arrogant and willful, perhaps, but certainly better than being wronged as she was now.

Old Niu watched with a heavy heart. He suddenly remembered something more important and spoke anxiously, "Young miss, the wound on your face hasn't healed yet. What will we do next?"

If what Duan Xiangrao said was true, Zanxing's facial injury could only be healed with high-grade spiritual medicine. Such medicine was incredibly rare in Yue City, and the Yang family certainly couldn't afford it. Wang Shao, who might have been able to acquire it, had now annulled the engagement. Would Zanxing have to live her whole life disfigured? Life for ordinary women in this world was already difficult, let alone for one with a ruined face.

Hearing this, Hong Su burst into tears. "It's all my fault! I should've scratched that fox spirit's face when I had the chance. What will happen to our young miss now that she's disfigured and can't get married?"

"Enough of that," Zanxing retorted, "She's already at the Foundation Establishment stage. You, a mere maid, should be thankful you weren't torn apart yourself."

Hong Su cried even more bitterly, "Young miss will never get married now... The young master has been stolen by that fox spirit..."

The author of The Nine Heavens Peak was clearly a man, and it showed in how clumsily he wrote female characters. Poor Hong Su seemed like she had been PUA'd so hard that her only hope in life was to see "Miss Yang" marry into the Wang family and become Wang Shao's rightful wife.

Zanxing wiped her tears with a handkerchief, soothing her, "Su-er, stop thinking about him. I'll find you an even better young master one day."

"You're lying," Hong Su sniffled, "you're disfigured..."

"It can be healed."

Hong Su stopped crying, her tear-filled eyes fixed on Zanxing. "How?"

Zanxing picked up a piece of wood from the ground and added it to the fading fire. "Isn't it said that there are countless magical medicines in the sects? Taiyan Sect is a renowned and prestigious one. Surely they won't lack a mid-grade spiritual herb."

"But...," Old Niu hesitated, "you've already annulled the engagement with the young master..."

"Who said I need him?" Zanxing smiled. "The selection tournament is tomorrow, and there's no rule saying who can or can't participate. As long as I pass, I'll become a disciple of the Taiyan Sect. As a disciple, I'll have access to the sect's resources and medicines."

"You mean..."

Zanxing clapped the dust from her hands and said confidently, "I'm entering the tournament."