Zhao Chun felt that the Daylily Garden didn't live up to its name. She and Zhou Pianran had been walking in the garden for a while, but they had hardly seen any daylilies. There were only some nameless little flowers, blooming profusely on both sides of the Bluestone Slab Road.
No one had deliberately trimmed them. The flowers and grass squeezed and piled against each other, naturally forming a scene of their own, possessing a certain rustic charm. The two of them didn't know how long they had been walking.
Zhao Chun's constitution was better, but Zhou Pianran was about to collapse. Fortunately, after skirting a small lake, they finally saw a courtyard with "Number 3466" written on it.
"We're here. Let's go in."
Zhao Chun helped her up, and they stumbled inside. The courtyard wasn't large, but it was quite desolate. Wild grass grew rampant all around.
In the center stood a large tree nearly three meters tall, its branches and leaves spreading out to form a patch of shade below. Three women in grey clothes were sitting around a table there. Seeing someone enter, they were all quite surprised.
The woman on the far right looked the oldest. Laugh lines had already appeared on her face, showing she was a kind person. She asked, "Are you two new disciples?"
Seeing Zhou Pianran's legs trembling and her lips dry and pale, she knew the girl was tired from walking, so she got up and brought over two stools. The two hurriedly expressed their thanks, and Zhao Chun spoke up to answer, "Yes, my name is Zhao Chun, and she is Zhou Pianran. We both just arrived today."
The woman said, "Oh," and continued, "My surname is Cui, my name is Lan'e. Next to me are Hu Wanzhi and Lian Jing. You two can just call us Senior Sister." Hu Wanzhi had a sharp chin and long eyes, giving her a harsh appearance.
Lian Jing had a round face and round eyes, making her quite likable. Zhao Chun quickly matched their names to their faces and said, "Greetings, three Senior Sisters." Zhou Pianran drank a few sips of the warm water Cui Lan'e handed her and also recovered, obediently calling out to the Senior Sisters.
"There are eight rooms in this courtyard. The first three from the right are where we live. The first one on the left has been made into a storeroom and can't be lived in. You two are so young, you shouldn't live too far away. Just stay next to us, so we can look after you."
The two nodded, accepting Cui Lan'e's goodwill. She became even happier and said, "You must both be tired. Sit down and rest for a while.
Wanzhi, go see if there are any Probationary Disciple clothes left in the storeroom. Get four sets for each of them to change into." Hu Wanzhi wasn't one for many words.
She nodded and walked towards the storeroom. Cui Lan'e then said to Lian Jing, "A Jing, come with me to tidy up those two rooms. They probably haven't been lived in for a few years, so they must be full of dust."
"How could we trouble you Senior Sisters!"
The two shot up from their stools, rushing to stop them. Lian Jing let out two laughs and said, "Do you think Senior Sister Cui and I work with brooms and dustpans? It's just a matter of a Dust Removal Technique, it won't take much time.
You two just sit here and rest easy!" Her voice was excessively shrill. If Zhao Chun hadn't known she had no ill intent, she might have thought it was sarcasm.
Once only the two of them were left in the courtyard, Zhou Pianran said, "The Senior Sisters we're living with are so warm." Zhao Chun nodded, agreeing with this sentiment. It was always better to live with good and kind people than with those who had hearts of snakes and scorpions.
As Lian Jing had said, the two rooms were tidied up very quickly. They led the two into Zhou Pianran's room first. Inside the room was a canopied bed, a tall and a short cabinet, a set of a table and stool, and a wooden shelf for placing things, along with a full-length mirror leaning against the table.
There weren't many things, making the room seem a bit empty. Cui Lan'e joked from the side, "It's empty for now, but after you've lived here for a while, you'll find out just how small this room is!"
At this moment, Hu Wanzhi also came in from the doorway, holding a pile of clothes: eight sets of greenish-blue short shirts paired with brown long pants. Wearing this color, a person looked just like a tree. Zhao Chun chuckled to herself.
"Why are ours different from the Senior Sisters'?"
Lian Jing revealed a "you don't even know this" expression and explained the differences to the two in detail. It turned out that the concept of one hundred thousand Probationary Disciples was a bit inflated. Half of them were disciples who had exceeded the five-year limit but hadn't left the sect.
The True Spirit Sect couldn't just support them for free, so they assigned the sect's tedious and miscellaneous tasks to these "expired" disciples. They worked while cultivating each month. Even if they were lucky enough to break through to the late Qi Refining Stage, they would only change their status to become an Outer Sect Deacon.
Only by breaking through to Foundation Establishment would the sect release its restrictions on them, allowing them to choose to become an elder or leave the sect. Elder Lin, who had tested their spiritual roots earlier, was just such a legendary figure.
He had climbed his way up from being a Menial Laborer, successfully establishing his foundation and attaining the position of an elder. But over the decades, he was the only one who had truly managed it. Most people struggled endlessly at the bottom, finding it difficult to even glimpse the heavenly light.
The three Senior Sisters were like this. Among them, Lian Jing, with her Four-Element Spirit Root, was the youngest at twenty years old. Her cultivation was at the Mid Qi Refining Stage.
She was just one year too late to advance to become an Official Outer Sect Disciple. When she mentioned this, she still had a trace of unwillingness. As for Cui Lan'e and Hu Wanzhi, one was in her early thirties and the other was twenty-two.
Both had Five-Element Spirit Roots and were still stuck at the Early Qi Refining Stage. Seeing Zhou Pianran, who also had a Five-Element Spirit Root, they felt a bit more pity.
"It's nothing. If I don't succeed in five years, I'll go home. My parents and brothers are all waiting for me to return!"
The little girl's eyes sparkled, as if she could already see her family waiting at the door.
"You're also one with a small heart, still waiting to return to your Small World to reunite with your family."
Cui Lan'e had seen many disciples who came from other Small Worlds. At first, they also talked about wanting to go back, but after witnessing the abundant spiritual qi of the Drifting Clouds World, they fought to become Menial Laborers rather than return.
"It's good that she has a home to return to, it gives her something to look forward to. For those of us who are homeless, we'll have nothing left if we leave the sect."
Lian Jing sighed, then asked Zhao Chun, "What about you? You have a Three-Element Spirit Root, you're the one here with the most hope of becoming an official disciple. You're not thinking of going home too, are you?"
Zhao Chun waved her hand, "My mother passed away long ago. I have many brothers and sisters at home. My father might not even know my name."
"Then you're very similar to Wanzhi."
Hu Wanzhi had a fierce appearance, but she was very timid. She explained in a quiet voice, "My mother passed away while giving birth to me. There were many people in my family, so my father didn't care much about me."
No wonder Lian Jing had said that; their backgrounds were almost identical. Cui Lan'e then mentioned some important matters of daily life before telling the two to rest for a while, as they had to go to the dining hall for dinner in the evening.
"Probationary Disciples and Menial Disciples all live together. Each dining hall is responsible for feeding a hundred courtyards. Although not all of them are fully occupied, not counting you newcomers this year, there are still four or five hundred people. We'll go a bit earlier later, to avoid missing out on the hot food."
They were called disciples of an immortal sect, yet they lived worse than powerful mortals. Here, the weak were prey for the strong, and Menial Laborers were not treated as human beings at all. One had to fight for work and fight for food.
If Zhao Chun couldn't break through to the Mid Qi Refining Stage within five years, she would have to live like this in the future as well. She was not like Zhou Pianran, who, for better or worse, always had a home behind her. Zhao Chun took her things and returned to her own room.
The furnishings inside were mostly the same. She locked the items she had received into the short cabinet, then folded the clothes and put them away in the tall cabinet before lying down on the bed to take a short nap. By the time Cui Lan'e came to call for her, she had already regained her spirits.
The clothes she was given had a Dust Removal Technique cast on them and could be worn directly. Zhao Chun changed into her new clothes and looked in the mirror. She really did look like a small tree!
The three older ones led the two younger ones towards the dining hall. On the way, they met other Menial Laborers, who also had young girls trailing behind them. They chatted with each other, treating Lian Jing, Cui Lan'e, and Hu Wanzhi quite differently.
After learning that Zhao Chun possessed a Three-Element Spirit Root, their attitude changed drastically, and they were all smiles. Zhao Chun was not very good at socializing and just smiled awkwardly. Those people were satisfied, saying she was "naturally gifted," had a "bright future," and was "fated to attain the Dao."
By the time they reached the dining hall, the corners of Zhao Chun's mouth were stiff. Lian Jing teased her for looking tough on the outside but being useless on the inside, then gave her a tip, "From now on, just listen to whatever they say. You don't have to reply or smile at them."
"Won't that offend people?"
"How could it? They'll only think you're truly capable!"
Lian Jing said with a smile, deftly placing a few large pieces of meat onto the plates of the two new girls.
"Here, eat while it's hot. You need to eat your fill to have the strength to cultivate."
The dining hall was just like the school cafeterias of Zhao Chun's previous life, except no one served the food. People came and took what they wanted, as much as they wanted. If you couldn't finish it, money would be deducted, but that was a rule for Menial Laborers; Probationary Disciples had no such rule.
Zhao Chun couldn't expect the food from a large pot to be that delicious; it was enough as long as the portions were sufficient to fill her stomach. But when she actually tasted it, she found that it was rich with oil and dark sauce, and was actually quite delicious.
From leaving the Small World until now, she had only drunk some water and hadn't eaten a meal. She and Zhou Pianran were so hungry their stomachs were touching their backs. They finished eating in just a few bites.
Cui Lan'e advised, "Don't eat too much at once just because you're hungry. You won't feel it now, but you'll know the feeling of a bloated stomach when you go to sleep tonight." Zhao Chun understood this principle.
She put down her chopsticks after the last bite. Zhou Pianran looked at her, then at the three senior sisters, and finally, she also obediently put her chopsticks to the side. Cui Lan'e nodded in satisfaction, collecting their bowls and chopsticks and placing them on a rack by the wall.
"From now on, just put them here after you're done eating. Someone will come and clean up."
The two took note, and with that, their trip to the dining hall was successfully concluded. On the way back, the Menial Laborers on duty had already lit the lamps. The entire Daylily Garden was enveloped in a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere.
Zhao Chun noticed that many courtyards only had half their rooms lit up. A question arose in her mind, and she asked, "Senior Sister Cui, do people not live in those rooms?" Cui Lan'e shook her head.
Before she could speak, Lian Jing's shrill voice rang out, "How could they be empty? The people just ran away!"
"A Jing!"
Cui Lan'e chided her, then softly and gently explained the reason to them. This wasn't just happening in the Daylily Garden. Within the sect, Menial Disciples who felt their future was hopeless would mostly choose to pledge allegiance to official disciples, willingly becoming their servants to be ordered around.
After latching onto a high branch, they would naturally no longer reside in a crude place like the Daylily Garden. This had already become an unwritten rule in the Outer Sect of the True Spirit Sect. The deacons all turned a blind eye, as it was a matter of mutual consent, and it was difficult for others to interfere.
Cui Lan'e knew that the lives of Menial Disciples were difficult and held goodwill towards these cultivators. Lian Jing was younger and had a more impetuous temperament, believing that such cultivators who relied on others were truly trampling their own self-respect into the mud.
"Actually, this isn't A Jing's fault. Ignorance is not a sin. You are different from us, Zhao Chun. One day, you will walk out of the Daylily Garden, and even go to the other side of the Heaven-Piercing River. You might become as powerful as Elder Qiu, but even a figure like that, who could move mountains and fill seas, has never been truly free."
"The reason we are alive is because the strong hold apprehension and compassion in their hearts."
Zhao Chun lay on her bed and thought about Cui Lan'e's words for a long time. She was constantly grateful for being alive, and so she was kind to everyone. But what about herself?
She was not content with the charity of the strong. If the people of the world lived because of the apprehension and compassion of the strong, then why couldn't she, Zhao Chun, be that strong one? She had no right to interfere with or criticize the choices of others.
What she could do was constantly remind herself not to walk down the same path. She was her own Zhao Chun, and in this life, she would live only for herself.
In the original plot of this chapter, because my mind wasn't clear when I started writing, I projected a feudalistic worldview onto Drifting Clouds, thinking that women would choose to depend on others due to family relationships. But today, after writing over two million words of this sword cultivator novel, I feel this is wrong and narrow-minded.
In a worldview that is this free, equal, and also more realistic, dependency does not exist between men and women, but because of the difference between the strong and the weak. Therefore, I have revised this chapter. I also hope that readers will offer their own suggestions to spur me on.
I hope to improve together with everyone. — 2023.12.8 (End of this chapter)