Chapter 567: He Said, I Was Beautiful...

The next day, Xiao Mo came to Daoist Master Yun Xi's courtyard and told her that he accepted the proposal she had made earlier.

Seeing Xiao Mo nod, Daoist Master Yun Xi quickly announced the news that Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng would soon be married.

This news spread throughout Seeking Immortals Temple in no time.

Upon hearing it, the disciples of Seeking Immortals Temple, men and women alike, could not help letting out sighs, quite a few of them.

After all, no small number of female disciples had secretly harbored feelings for Xiao Mo all along, and no small number of male disciples had likewise harbored feelings for Gui Junmeng.

Even so...

However sad these disciples of Seeking Immortals Temple felt, when it came to the matter of Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng marrying, in their hearts they still approved of it wholeheartedly. It was simply that when Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng stood together, they made such a perfect match of talent and beauty, as though destined by heaven itself.

It was as though the two of them had been born to be a pair, and no one else could ever fit so well in either of their places.

Three days later, Daoist Master Yun Xi calculated an auspicious date for the wedding based on Xiao Mo's and Gui Junmeng's birth times, the grand ceremony was set for the third month of the following year.

Invitation after invitation was sent out, one by one, to the Human Alliance.

Gui Junmeng was Daoist Master Yun Xi's only direct disciple.

And Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng were, moreover, rare prodigies among the human race, both having reached the Upper Three Realms while still young, destined in the future to bear the weight of the human race's future upon their shoulders. Naturally, their marriage drew countless eyes.

Barring the unexpected, all the eminent figures of the Human Alliance would surely be in attendance.

When that day came, the wedding would be no small affair.

This kept all of Seeking Immortals Temple thoroughly busy.

The entire temple bustled as though wound tight like a clock spring, needing not only to arrange every single detail of the wedding with the utmost care, but also to prepare thoroughly to receive guests from every direction.

Because Liu Shui was meticulous and thorough in her work, and was, moreover, well acquainted with both Gui Junmeng and Xiao Mo, she naturally became the one chiefly responsible for arranging the wedding. From procurement to decoration, everything proceeded in an orderly fashion under Liu Shui's direction.

Strip after strip of vivid red silk ribbon was hung high along the temple's corridor pillars and eaves, fluttering gently in the wind.

Large red paper cutouts of the character "double happiness” were pasted neatly, one after another, across the window lattices.

Every red lantern was hung just so, adorning every corner of the temple.

The atmosphere of severity and tension that had settled over the temple due to years of continuous warfare seemed, because of this approaching wedding, to have quietly faded a good deal.

One morning, Gui Junmeng walked alone through Seeking Immortals Temple, her hands folded gently in front of her.

These days, whenever she had a spare moment, she liked to walk quietly through the temple like this, looking here and there, watching every corner of the temple grounds turn red bit by bit.

Gazing at the increasingly festive decorations, the woman's eyes blinked gently, a pure tenderness and anticipation rippling through her gaze.

For Gui Junmeng, ever since she was small, the things she had wished for had always been very, very few.

Every day, whether her eyes opened or closed, her heart had held only cultivation.

She had learned of her own background when she was very young, that she had a younger sister, and that her mother had "given her up." Yet Gui Junmeng had never blamed her mother for this.

Because in her heart, she understood that her mother's situation had been far from easy.

Only...

However sensible a little girl might be, in the end she was still nothing more than a little girl.

When she was small, whenever Gui Junmeng saw other children her age walking past her hand in hand with their mothers in the temple, she would always stop involuntarily, and stand quietly watching for a while.

She would lower her head and look at her own smooth, pale palm.

And she would secretly wonder, if her own mother held her hand like that, what would it feel like?

When she was small, at night, she would sit alone in the courtyard, tilt her head back, and gaze up at the vast expanse of stars, lost in thought.

She would wonder how her sister was doing, that sister far away at the edge of the world whom she had never met but each time, Gui Junmeng would quickly stop these thoughts and think no further because she knew that if she dwelled on them too long, her heart would grow heavy and stifled, and she would find it hard to fall asleep...

Later, Gui Junmeng learned from her own master's own lips that she had a betrothed, that in the future she would marry him.

"Master, what is a betrothal? And what does 'betrothed' mean?"

The little girl tilted her head back, her clear, bright eyes gazing at her master with curiosity, for these words, "betrothal" and "betrothed," were entirely unfamiliar to her.

Daoist Master Yun Xi crouched down, reaching out to gently stroke her disciple's hair, and explained softly, "A betrothed, you see, is the man who will marry Junmeng in the future. He will become your husband, and he will stay by your side always, until your hair turns white, until the seas run dry and the stones crumble."

"Oh..."

Little Junmeng blinked, only half understanding.

She still did not quite grasp what her master meant but it was from that very moment onward that this little girl, who had once known nothing but cultivation day after day, felt for the first time a stirring of anticipation in her heart. She began secretly imagining what her betrothed might look like.

"Junior Sister Junmeng."

Just as Gui Junmeng was gradually sinking into these memories of the past, a woman's clear voice suddenly called out from behind her.

"Senior Sister Han." Gui Junmeng came back to herself, turned around, and gave a respectful bow to her senior sister.

"Junmeng, you've really had me searching all over for you..." Senior Sister Han reached up and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Is there something urgent, Senior Sister?" Gui Junmeng tilted her head slightly, curiosity filling her eyes.

"What do you think it could be?" Senior Sister Han laughed helplessly. "Your wedding garment is finished. Come quickly and try it on. If anything doesn't fit properly, we'll take our time making adjustments."

"Come with me, quickly."

Senior Sister Han had always been a quick-tempered person, and knowing well her junior sister Junmeng's slow, easygoing nature, she said nothing further and simply took hold of Gui Junmeng's wrist, striding briskly toward the courtyard.

By the time Gui Junmeng returned to the courtyard where she lived, several senior and junior sisters from the temple were already waiting inside.

The moment they saw her return, they quickly gathered around and pulled Gui Junmeng into the room.

Before Gui Junmeng could even collect her thoughts, the windows had already been shut, the heavy curtains drawn tightly closed, and a formation array to prevent outside prying eyes had been set up as well.

Right after that, Gui Junmeng felt the sash at her waist being gently tugged loose, loosening slightly.

In no more than a moment, that plain Daoist robe slipped quietly down to pool around the woman's smooth, pale ankles.

Looking at Gui Junmeng's exquisitely shaped figure and her skin, pale and fine as jade, all the senior and junior sisters present found themselves stunned for a moment.

They had all known, in their hearts, that Junior Sister Junmeng possessed a beauty that could topple kingdoms, and that her figure was first-rate as well but now that they were truly seeing, with their own eyes, the sight hidden beneath that loose Daoist robe, they suddenly realized, they had still underestimated her after all!

It turned out that the figure hidden beneath that robe was even more striking than they had imagined! Not a single flaw could be found anywhere across her whole body, so perfect it hardly seemed to belong to this mortal world.

"Stop staring, stop staring, hurry and get your junior sister into her wedding garment." Senior Sister Han was the first to come back to her senses, calling out repeatedly to the others, even reaching out to rap each of them lightly on the head. "The lot of you, anyone who didn't know better would think you were a bunch of lecherous gluttons."

"It was you, Senior Sister, who was staring the most just now..." several of the junior sisters muttered under their breath, lowering their heads.

Even so, they quickly picked up the red wedding garment and, with many hands working together, dressed Gui Junmeng properly.

Afterward, they sat Gui Junmeng down before a silver mirror and carefully combed out her cloud-like hair, stroke by stroke painting an exquisite bridal makeup onto her face. Finally, when Gui Junmeng lightly pinched a strip of red paper between her slender fingers and pressed it gently between her lips, the moment that tender, delicate mouth took on its vivid rouge color, the senior and junior sisters beside her all felt their hearts suddenly tighten, their pulses quickening despite themselves.

Even though they themselves were women, in that moment they could not help but feel a strange flutter stir within them.

"Junmeng, you... you are truly beautiful..." Junior Sister Yu stared blankly at Gui Junmeng's reflection in the mirror, unable to help murmuring softly, her eyes full of astonishment and admiration.

"Yes, Senior Sister, you truly are beautiful. In all my years, I have never seen a woman as lovely as you, Senior Sister." another junior sister could not help but praise as well.

"Am I beautiful?" Gui Junmeng gazed at her own reflection in the silver mirror, her long, curved lashes fluttering gently, like a butterfly dancing among flowers. "Of course I am beautiful. If I am not counted as beautiful, then I fear there would be no beautiful women left anywhere under heaven."

Senior Sister Han nodded in great satisfaction as well.

"As the saying goes, red is a woman's most beautiful attire, and seeing it today, it truly is so! But Junior Sister, take a good look at your own wedding garment and makeup, is there anything you feel needs adjusting?"

"I... cannot quite say..." Gui Junmeng shook her head. She had never paid much attention to matters of clothing or makeup, and had never taken such things to heart.

"Very well, since that's the case, we'll just decide for ourselves, then."

Senior Sister Han understood well enough in her heart that Junmeng had worn nothing but Daoist robes since childhood, and had never once applied powder or rouge to her face, so it was truly asking too much to expect her to offer any opinions on adjustments herself.

Over the better part of the next hour, the senior and junior sisters tried one bridal look after another on Gui Junmeng, having her stand and turn this way and that as they sketched out the details of the wedding garment on paper and yet, no matter what manner of clothing or ornament was placed upon Junmeng, it all looked far too perfect.

This, instead, left Senior Sister Han and the others at a loss, unsure where even to begin making changes.

"All right, Junmeng, wait here in the courtyard for a while. Keep this wedding garment on for now, and don't go wandering off anywhere either. We're going to fetch some new hair ornaments and see which ones suit you best." Senior Sister Han instructed her carefully.

Gui Junmeng nodded gently to show she understood, though her eyes still carried a touch of obedient meekness.

Before long, Senior Sister Han and the others had all scattered off, leaving Gui Junmeng alone, sitting quietly in the courtyard in her wedding garment.

"Meow~"

Just as Gui Junmeng waited for her senior and junior sisters to return, a soft, gentle cat's cry rang out.

A calico cat padded into the courtyard with small, delicate steps.

This little female cat had lived at Seeking Immortals Temple for five or six years now, and Gui Junmeng and Xiao Mo often fed her, so the two were on familiar terms with her.

Gui Junmeng bent down, picked up a piece of pastry from the stone table, and leaned over to hand it to her.

The calico cat reached out a paw and pawed the pastry over, finishing it off in a few bites, then leapt up onto Gui Junmeng's lap and curled up there, settling comfortably.

Gui Junmeng reached out her small hand and gently stroked the cat's soft fur.

Nestled in the woman's warm embrace, the calico cat let out a comfortable yawn, licked at its paws, then narrowed its eyes, growing drowsy but before long, the calico cat suddenly raised its head again, ears pricking up, and let out a "meow" toward the courtyard entrance.

Following the direction of its gaze, Gui Junmeng lifted her head and looked over, and there, just beyond the courtyard gate, stood Xiao Mo, his expression calm as he looked at her. The two of them gazed at each other, and for a moment neither spoke, a faint air of tender intimacy hanging between them.

"Just now... Senior Sister Han and the others brought over the wedding garment, and said I should try it on." Gui Junmeng spoke first to explain, and as she spoke, she slowly lowered her head, her voice growing softer.

She herself could not quite say why she felt the need to explain this.

Earlier, when she had been turned this way and that by her senior and junior sisters in the room, she had felt nothing much at all and yet now, wearing this wedding garment, being looked at by Xiao Mo like this, she felt an involuntary, faint blush of shyness rising within her.

"I see." Xiao Mo gave a gentle nod. "Daoist Master Yun Xi recently obtained a Daoist text that she said might be of some benefit to you. I've brought it over for you. May I come in?"

"Mm." Gui Junmeng nodded gently.

Having received permission, Xiao Mo stepped into the woman's courtyard and set the book in his hand down gently on the stone table beside her.

"I still have some matters to attend to, so I won't disturb you further, Junmeng." Xiao Mo gave a respectful bow and turned to leave.

"Xiao Mo..."

Just as Xiao Mo was about to turn and go, Gui Junmeng called out to him softly.

Xiao Mo turned back around, looking at the woman before him in her wedding garment, and asked gently, "Is there something else, Junmeng?"

Gui Junmeng raised her head, her clear eyes looking directly at Xiao Mo, and asked softly, "Just now Senior Sister asked me if there was anything about this wedding garment and makeup that needed changing, and I couldn't answer... do you think... it's beautiful?"

"It's beautiful." Xiao Mo nodded, without a trace of mere politeness in his tone. "Truly beautiful."

Hearing Xiao Mo's praise, Gui Junmeng could not help lowering her head once more, a faint blush quietly rising to her cheeks, her voice soft as though afraid of disturbing something delicate. "Thank... thank you..."

"I was only speaking the truth." Xiao Mo said with a faint smile. "I'll be on my way, then."

"Mm." Gui Junmeng answered softly, a shy note in her voice like that of a newlywed wife. "You... come back soon..."

Xiao Mo paused slightly in surprise, then nodded and said softly, "I will..."

A gentle breeze passed through, and Xiao Mo's figure disappeared from the woman's courtyard.

Gui Junmeng remained seated on the stone bench, head lowered, gently stroking the calico cat in her lap.

"Little Calico... did you hear that?"

She looked down at the little cat in her arms, her voice as soft and gentle as drifting clouds.

The corners of the woman's tender, rosy lips curved upward in a faint arc, like a narcissus flower quietly blooming in the spring breeze.

"He said..."

"I was beautiful..."