Chapter 31: It’s All the Disciple’s Fault

Xiu Qingcheng, having failed in her surprise attack on her disciple, shouted loudly:

“My dear disciple, let your master help you slice off this hair!”

Meng Yingxing quickly covered his head with both hands, squatted down in a corner, and vehemently resisted his master’s impending actions.

“Master, you absolutely must not! One’s body, hair, and skin are received from one’s parents; how can they be trimmed so lightly!?”

“I am your master! A master for a day is a father for life! As your ‘father’ now, I command you to cut this hair immediately!”

Hearing this, Meng Yingxing tucked even the long hair at the back of his neck into his arms to protect it.

“Going into a defensive crouch, are we? It’s useless!”

Xiu Qingcheng shot up into the sky, then turned and swooped straight for Meng Yingxing.

Meng Yingxing performed an invincible combat roll on the spot, easily dodging Xiu Qingcheng’s reckless charge.

“Master, you’re being unreasonable!” Meng Yingxing loudly refuted Xiu Qingcheng. He could yield to her in trivial matters, but on this one thing, he felt he had to resist.

Otherwise, he was afraid he would be completely suppressed by his master in the future, played with in the palm of her hand! He could be good to his master, but he absolutely could not lose that tiny bit of dignity!

“You’re the one being unreasonable!” Xiu Qingcheng returned the exact same sentence to Meng Yingxing without a shred of politeness. “Master is doing this for your own good!”

Meng Yingxing was chased all over the courtyard by Xiu Qingcheng. His agile movements were surprisingly effective, preventing her from catching him for a while.

Dodging another one of Xiu Qingcheng’s kamikaze-style charges, Meng Yingxing shouted, “Besides, what did my hair ever do to you!”

“Do you have any idea of the dangers of having long hair!?”

Xiu Qingcheng began to earnestly educate Meng Yingxing, “It will affect your vision, hindering your judgment of the battle situation, thus revealing openings to the enemy!”

“Your hair is too long, it can also become a weapon for the enemy in battle. Have you ever seen common women fight? They go at it, and in the end, they always grab each other’s hair viciously! Do you have any idea how tragically those women scream?”

Meng Yingxing retorted while running, “How do you know that, Master!?”

“I used to love watching women fight!” Xiu Qingcheng was terrifyingly honest. Hearing this, Meng Yingxing’s face showed an expression of indescribable shock.

“Ahem,” Xiu Qingcheng, realizing what she had just said, quickly coughed to cover her embarrassment. “Also, hair that’s too long can cause skin diseases on the covered skin. You don’t want the skin on your face to rot, do you?”

Xiu Qingcheng then went on to list several more related examples to intimidate Meng Yingxing and achieve her goal.

Unfortunately, this kid Meng Yingxing was stubborn and didn’t believe a single one.

In the end, faced with Meng Yingxing who was clutching his hair and refusing to let go, Xiu Qingcheng saw that he really didn’t want to trim his hair and temporarily gave up the idea.

She sighed, “Alright, alright. Forcing my own disciple is not something a qualified master should do. I won’t force you.”

Meng Yingxing looked at Xiu Qingcheng and saw the Ting Tian Sword sway weakly a couple of times, as if disappointed.

The moment Meng Yingxing sensed his master’s disappointment, he immediately panicked.

No matter what, Meng Yingxing did not want Xiu Qingcheng to be disappointed in him.

He had always wanted to prove to her that all her efforts for him were worthwhile.

The brainwashing of her disciple that Xiu Qingcheng had always wanted seemed to be showing its first results.

Meng Yingxing hesitated for a moment. Seeing Xiu Qingcheng sway unsteadily, tracing an S-shaped curve in the air as she was about to enter the house, he immediately called out to her.

“Wait a moment, Master.” Meng Yingxing finally bowed his head to his master. “I’ve thought about it. Everything you said before was right. If you want to cut it, then go ahead.”

Before Meng Yingxing’s words had even fallen, the Ting Tian Sword, reversing its previous listless state, shot in front of him and stopped, confirming with him full of expectation, “Really? My dear disciple?”

Feeling that Xiu Qingcheng was a bit too close, Meng Yingxing leaned back a few degrees. Even though his master was a sword, he could seemingly see a joyous light radiating from her face.

Seeing his master happy, Meng Yingxing felt a strange warmth in his heart.

He nodded.

“Good disciple!” Xiu Qingcheng jumped a few times in mid-air.

She totally wasn’t playing hard to get.

Nope.

It was the disciple who invited her on his own accord.

A short while later, Meng Yingxing had moved a chair outside the courtyard and was sitting on it obediently.

The Ting Tian Sword was unsheathed, its cold light glinting as it was placed against Meng Yingxing’s neck.

Meng Yingxing looked at the blade of the Ting Tian Sword, so close to him, and swallowed the saliva in his throat.

If he didn’t know that Xiu Qingcheng was his master, Meng Yingxing would think that in the next second, she was going to chop off his head with one strike.

“Master, if I die, you must live on happily and freely, you know that?”

After a second of deliberation, Meng Yingxing felt he should leave some last words. And the last words he left were still considerate of Xiu Qingcheng.

He’s so considerate, I could cry.

“Stupid disciple, you don’t trust me?” Xiu Qingcheng bared her teeth.

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare,” Meng Yingxing said repeatedly, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

After a moment of preparation, the Ting Tian Sword slowly began to move. Xiu Qingcheng brought the blade to Meng Yingxing’s long hair, to the spot she felt was the right length.

The edge of the Ting Tian Sword could cut through iron as if it were mud, and sever a hair with a single blow. The moment its edge touched Meng Yingxing’s hair, a few pitiful strands immediately drifted down.

The night wind blew, carrying the gauze-like moonlight, cool as water, gently caressing the body of the Ting Tian Sword.

Xiu Qingcheng suddenly calmed down.

She admitted that she had gotten a little carried away just now.

It was all Meng Yingxing’s fault for giving her too much freedom.

These past two days, she seemed to have been a bit too oppressive towards Meng Yingxing. Yet, he had never once disobeyed her, following her every word, speaking cautiously, and always siding with her. It felt like he was being oppressed into a tortured s*ave.

It was all this disciple’s fault for being too obedient, so obedient that her behavior had become a bit excessive.

She wanted to make sure no one could look down on Meng Yingxing.

But she also didn’t want him to lose his freedom under her.

It was all this disciple’s fault for not being assertive enough, which made her get carried away.

As Xiu Qingcheng berated Meng Yingxing in her heart, the Ting Tian Sword still descended upon his hair.

In the span of a few breaths, Meng Yingxing heard Xiu Qingcheng tell him to open his eyes.

He was quite surprised. It hadn’t been long at all, yet she was already finished.

Meng Yingxing tugged at his hair, feeling that not much had changed.

“I’m done cutting. I just trimmed it a little, didn’t go for a major cut,” Xiu Qingcheng said to Meng Yingxing nonchalantly. “Actually, I was originally thinking of just shaving you bald so we could join the Shaolin Temple together, but then I thought that would be too much, so I let it go.”

“Aren’t you going to thank your master for her great kindness?”

As a sword, Xiu Qingcheng’s mouth was just that stubborn.

Meng Yingxing, unaware of the self-reflection Xiu Qingcheng had just gone through, obediently thanked his master.

Secretly, he also let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness his master hadn’t actually shaved him bald.

Later, Meng Yingxing found a half-broken mirror and looked at his reflection. He thought the trim Xiu Qingcheng had given him wasn’t bad; his hair was much neater than before.

However, it made no difference to him. He never cared about these things. A change in hairstyle couldn’t make him stronger.

He just never expected that his sword spirit master would also enjoy giving people haircuts—in modern times, people would definitely think Xiu Qingcheng was the spirit of a barber’s razor.

Afterward, the night passed without a word as Meng Yingxing immersed himself in cultivation.

At this moment, there was only one day left before the start of the Divine Weapon Trial—the trial that would decide whether Xiu Qingcheng could remain outside the Divine Weapon Pavilion, and whether Meng Yingxing could stay in the Tianfeng Sect.