The White Moonlight Subdues Everyone with a Suona - Chapter 36
Chapter 36: Na Na
Faced with the terrified glances of the other disciples—who looked as if they were watching a rare freak show—along with Jiang Nianbo’s confirming look of “she really is out of her mind,” henchman Pei Leye’s eager posture of “as expected of Master Ji, to actually pull off a trick like this,” and Master Leshui’s complicated gaze of “it really had to be you,” Ji Bingyu was rendered completely speechless.
She who subjects others to social death shall inevitably suffer social death herself.
“Apologies, but let me interrupt for a moment.”
Master Leshui looked at Master Qianming, who was so furious he couldn’t speak a word after shouting Ji Bingyu’s name, and silently lit a candle in sympathy for him in his heart.
Still, he took a step forward, blocking the line of sight between Ji Bingyu and Master Qianming.
Thinking of the register he had taken so long to compile, Master Qianming’s rage remained unquenched.
He turned his head with murderous aura oozing out.
Master Leshui sighed softly; for the first time in his life, he, a man traditionally known for his explosive temper, realized he could actually be so Buddhist and detached.
Master Leshui raised his eyes faintly.
“Senior Brother, rest assured, I am not trying to plead for leniency.”
In front of everyone, Master Leshui pulled up his sleeves and turned toward Ji Bingyu.
He tilted his chin, gesturing for her to glance at the giant suona behind her—which, sensing its master’s joyful laughter, had begun to pulsate like a rockstar.
“This old man just wants to ask… niece-disciple Ji, when do you intend to release that disciple trapped inside?”
Xie Wenrui, who was already thoroughly numb inside the suona: “…!”
He was practically brought to tears of joy.
Inside the suona, Xie Wenrui could actually hear the voices outside. Seeing that Master Qianming had started rattling on about other trivial matters the moment he arrived—completely failing to notice his absence—Xie Wenrui had fallen into absolute despair, believing he had been forgotten by the world.
Who could have guessed that at this very moment, someone would actually remember him? How could Xie Wenrui not weep tears of joy?!
Once I get out, I’m definitely going to get Master Qianming to beat this ungrateful bastard to a pulp!
Perhaps driven by sheer survival instinct, Xie Wenrui slammed his fists violently against the inner wall of the suona.
A muffled thump-thump-thump resonated from the inside out, accompanied by his piercing, tragic shrieks—it sounded rather terrifying.
At the very least, Master Qianming, who was standing right in front of the suona, was startled by the noise.
A familiar, ominous premonition surged in his heart once again.
Master Qianming turned his head, only now noticing that the mountain-sized object behind him seemed to be the physical manifestation of Ji Bingyu’s suona?!
His mind instantly buzzed, and countless conjectures flashed through his head.
Trembling, he asked, “Who is trapped inside?”
Master Leshui gave him a strange look.
“Your visiting disciple, Xie Wenrui.”
Master Qianming let out a sigh of relief and muttered to himself, “Thank goodness, thank goodness.”
It wasn’t his family bloodline Jiang Nianbo, nor was it his direct personal disciples, Pei Leye or Xie Yu’an.
Just moments ago, Master Qianming had prepared for the absolute worst-case scenario—that all three of the aforementioned had been stuffed into the suona by Ji Bingyu.
Finding out that only Xie Wenrui, someone he wasn’t particularly close with, had been locked up gave him an unexpected sense of comfort.
Xie Wenrui, who had heard the whole thing: “?????”
It wasn’t just Xie Wenrui; even Master Leshui hadn’t anticipated such a reaction from Master Qianming.
Given Master Qianming’s usual temperament, he should have thrown a fit, dragged Ji Bingyu up to Taiyue Peak to argue before the Sect Master, used the opportunity to provoke Qingxu, gotten so enraged by Qingxu that he was left speechless, and sworn to wage war against him one day…
That was the complete standard procedure!
Looking at this version of Master Qianming, Master Leshui fell silent for three seconds before an exclamation of “Fu*k” abruptly popped into his head.
He’s been driven completely out of his mind by anger!
Although Master Leshui also felt his senior brother was overly rigid and fussy, that didn’t mean he wanted to see him literally angered to death.
So, he spoke up cautiously, “Senior Brother, do you have any other instructions?”
Master Qianming looked at Ji Bingyu, devoid of both sorrow and joy.
“How is his condition right now?”
Ji Bingyu was stunned for a second before quickly replying, “Please wait a moment, Martial Uncle.”
In the next second, she turned toward the suona.
“Na! Give it a shake!”
The suona obediently wobbled back and forth upon hearing her words. The surrounding disciples shuddered in unison, their eyes filled with panic.
How should one put it? Given the suona’s current size, its sway wasn’t like seaweed floating in the water, nor was it like a gentle willow branch brushing in the spring breeze; it was a wild, earth-shattering tremor.
At this moment, between the light of the heavens and the radiance of the earth, only the suona stood as the ultimate sight.
The sudden commotion even caused several nearby disciples to almost lose their footing and fall.
Even Master Qianming, who was mentally prepared, couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
In the next moment, the culprit turned to face him with an utterly calm expression.
Ji Bingyu reported succinctly, “Reporting to Martial Uncle, still alive.”
Master Leshui & the rest of the disciples: “…”
How to put it? This outcome is truly expected, yet completely within reason!
Are you seriously doing this right now?!
Every disciple present, including Master Leshui, believed that Master Qianming would never let this matter rest.
After all, his strictness, pedantry, and petty nature were deeply ingrained in everyone’s minds—
“Oh, that’s good then.”
Master Qianming turned around in a trance, his tranquil face even carrying a trace of benevolence.
“Then continue your combat training. This old man will head back to correct the registers.”
After experiencing great grief and great joy, Master Qianming’s mental state was unexpectedly serene.
He even felt that his cultivation bottleneck, which had constrained him for a long time, was showing signs of breaking through.
Thus, Master Qianming did not entangle himself further.
After confirming everything was fine, he walked away nonchalantly, waving his sleeves without taking a single feather with him.
“…”
Master Leshui turned to Ji Bingyu, his expression complex.
“How wonderful, Niece-disciple Ji. Even this old man never expected that I would get to experience teaching a combat class like this in my lifetime.”
Meeting Master Leshui’s gaze, Ji Bingyu flashed an awkward yet polite smile.
“Life lies in trying new things? We are all still young? A new challenge has appeared, and we cannot remain stuck in our old ways?”
Master Leshui: “…”
It was his fault; he had forgotten that this was Qingxu’s disciple.
Everyone under him was a master of passive-aggressiveness.
Even Shen Hege, who used to be pure and harmless, had been emitting a harmonious aura of green-tea subtlety in recent years.
Sarcasm at his level probably felt no different to them than a goose ruffling its feathers.
Exhausted,Master Leshui waved his hand.
“Forget it. Just get the person out quickly.”
Ji Bingyu immediately complied.
Even without Master Leshui bringing it up, she intended to shrink the suona back down anyway.
Jokes aside, this was her vital spiritual artifact.
If it couldn’t shrink back, even Ji Bingyu would start worrying.
Although she occasionally disdained this weird little artifact on normal days, she had to admit that in certain aspects, it really suited her taste—especially today’s unexpected display, which was downright cool.
Ji Bingyu, who had once boldly claimed “what decent person would share a mind-link with a suona?”.
It’s actually quite good.
I am the non-decent person after all.jpg
Even so, it took her quite an effort to persuade the suona, convincing it to follow her thoughts and return to its normal size.
However, the suona seemed to possess a temper of its own.
The moment Xie Wenrui was revealed—before he even had the chance to weep hysterically and hurl himself back into the embrace of the living world—the lower bell of the suona slammed heavily against his face, sucking in forcefully—
“Gasp—”
This time, it wasn’t Ji Bingyu’s inner thoughts; many people on the scene audibly gasped in cold air.
“J-Ji, Junior Sister Ji,” the disciple who had asked Ji Bingyu a question earlier spoke up once more, asking in a trembling voice, “W-What is the reason for this again?”
Ji Bingyu fell silent for a second before saying in an uncertain tone, “It… seems to treat itself as a toilet plunger?”
Blame her! Blame her for always letting her imagination run wild and overthinking things! Who knew that Na would actually share a mind-link with her?!
You thick-eyebrowed, big-eyed Na, you look so pure and high-minded on the outside, but deep down you’re actually keeping me in your heart!
Perhaps because Ji Bingyu’s expression was overly contorted, Zhong Ziqi, who had been standing silently beside Master Leshui the entire time, couldn’t help asking, “May I ask Junior Sister Ji, what is a toilet plunger?”
Ever since being disgusted by Ji Bingyu during a class a few years ago, Zhong Ziqi had been exceptionally polite toward any female disciple he encountered.
Ji Bingyu remained silent for a second before explaining, “If a place is blocked by the remains of the five grains, this plunger can clear the passage.”
Everyone present: “…”
They couldn’t even remember how many times they had been rendered speechless today.
After much effort, Ji Bingyu finally removed the suona, and Xie Wenrui, who had been tormented for so long, was finally able to see the light of day again.
He let out a long, ragged breath. Though he felt a coppery sweet taste of blood in his throat and was so physically exhausted that he couldn’t even speak, Xie Wenrui still stubbornly glared at Ji Bingyu with resentment in his eyes.
His face was a mixture of blue and white, with dark patches and red veins running through it.
Catching sight of this scene, Pei Leye suddenly let out an “Ah!”
Standing beside him, Jiang Nianbo subconsciously asked out of politeness, “Is something wrong, Junior Brother Pei?”
“Nothing, nothing.” Pei Leye waved his hand, letting out a silly smile.
“I just suddenly realized… no wonder Little Na mistook him. Senior Brother Xie really looks a lot like a pile of shit!”
Ji Bingyu: “…”
Everyone: “…”
The moment those words landed, a loud “Splat!” sounded as the mouthful of blood stuck in Xie Wenrui’s throat was finally spewed out from sheer rage!
The crowd looked at each other.
Amidst the fear in their eyes, there was now a strong dash of gossip-seeking interest.
Why else would people say this Xie Wenrui was stupid?
Relying on his status as a direct descendant of the Xie family, he had acted lawlessly.
He was clearly a “guest disciple” who had used connections to force his way in, yet he put on more airs than core disciples.
Everyday, he looked down on this person and despised that person, gathering a flock of fair-weather friends who together brought about a wave of toxic culture.
In private, many disciples had complained about him.
It was just that the Xie family held immense power, so no one dared to cross them or stand out as the brave pioneer.
Most could only turn a blind eye and steer clear of his path.
Yet Ji Bingyu, through an unintended stroke of luck, had instead blazed a brand new trail for the disciples.
I won’t beat you, nor will I argue with you. Is it fine if I just use my spiritual artifact to cover you up and make you lose face?
We don’t have divine weapons that can turn that big—but giant drums, zithers, or even transverse flutes can still suppress someone temporarily once enlarged!
In an instant, the “Enlargement and Shrinking Technique” surged to become the most sought-after spell in the Hall of Enlightenment.
Furthermore, to give this sudden turn of events a reasonable origin story, from that day on, passed down through word of mouth among the disciples, a brand-new urban legend emerged in the Hall of Enlightenment.
Legend had it that if you behaved inappropriately, spoke without restraint, or were lustful enough to attempt any form of harassment—including verbal—against a female disciple in the Hall of Enlightenment, divine justice would suddenly descend from the heavens in the form of something as giant as a mountain.
You would be pinned down, completely unable to move; if you were lucky, you’d merely twitch, but if not, you’d end up foaming at the mouth with your limbs convulsing violently.
And Ji Bingyu was the pure, flawless “white moonlight” held gently in the palms of their hands.
Legend had it that she distinguished good from evil clearly and hated wicked deeds with a passion.
Legend had it that she was pure as ice and clear as jade, overflowing with a sense of justice.
Legend had it that she possessed extraordinary talent, never backed down when facing evil forces represented by the likes of Xie Wenrui, and even invented the ultimate secret meaning behind the magic art known as the “Plunger Technique.”
Yes, no one knew who had leaked Ji Bingyu’s words from that day, but from then on, this operational method was dubbed by the disciples of the Hall of Enlightenment as—
The “Plunger Behavior.”
……
Xueyu Peak, Wutong courtyard
Today, Rong Qingyuan wore a sweeping robe of peacock brocade topped with a sheer golden outer garment and a pale yellow underlayer.
The sash at his waist was woven in dark blue and crimson, while the hem and cuffs shimmered with the golden glint of peacock feathers.
Just casually leaning back on the daybed, he nearly blinded Li Fuqing’s eyes with his radiance.
Following his habit, Li Fuqing walked over to the table in front of Rong Qingyuan to look through some miscellaneous documents and paperwork, only to hear a faint voice float down from above: “Your temper has improved quite a lot in recent years.”
It had only been a few days since the “Toad Incident,” yet Li Fuqing was already hanging out and playing around with Ji Bingyu as if nothing had ever happened.
From time to time, he would even head over to the Hall of Enlightenment to intimidate the new disciples, leaving those few who harbored grudges with absolutely no opportunity to strike.
Hearing this, Li Fuqing’s movements paused for a moment.
He snapped testily, “How could this Lord actually get angry at a little girl?”
Though his tone carried a bit of annoyance, the amusement in his voice was impossible to hide.
Rong Qingyuan raised a brow slightly.
This outcome was well within his expectations.
Li Fuqing appeared short-tempered and easily angered, but in reality, he was the most sensitive toward others.
His many years as the Demon Lord allowed him to easily see right through human nature, and his subsequent brief period of wandering made him experience the warmth and coldness of the mortal world even more deeply.
Precisely because of this, genuine sincerity in this fleeting world was all the more precious.
Seeing Rong Qingyuan fall briefly silent, Li Fuqing seemed to suddenly recall something.
Carrying a hint of smugness and provocation, he looked up toward the top seat.
“Tsk, speaking of which, even this Lord didn’t expect that little girl to care about me so much. Tsk, Rong—Master, when Little Junior Sister said she wanted to help me avenge myself that day, she was genuinely moved by true emotion.”
Of course, that was the true affection held toward an elder brother, and similarly, Li Fuqing only viewed Ji Bingyu as a junior sister.
However, that didn’t stop Li Fuqing from phrasing it with a bit of deliberate ambiguity.
From the very beginning, Li Fuqing felt that Rong Qingyuan treated Ji Bingyu a little differently. Even though it currently seemed no different from how he treated the rest of them, Li Fuqing just felt it was different.
Li Fuqing said smugly, “Heh, Little Junior Sister even sent over some Spider Lily cakes for me just now.”
Rong Qingyuan raised an eyebrow.
“And so?”
Li Fuqing curled his lips into a wicked smirk.
“Master, you don’t have any, do you?”
Any normal person wouldn’t particularly want to eat a bizarre thing like a Spider Lily cake anyway.
Rong Qingyuan smiled faintly, lowering his head to continue reading the scroll in his hand.
“After her class ended just now, the very first person she came to see was me.”
Li Fuqing narrowed his eyes, let out a ‘heh’, and his eyes darted around.
“Every morning when Little Junior Sister practices her cultivation, the two of us meet.”
“Therefore, the first person she sees every single day is me!”
Without even lifting his head, Rong Qingyuan said, “When she plays the suona, she only likes playing it for me to hear.”
Li Fuqing: “…”
Okay, that really can’t be topped, can’t be topped.
After all, not everyone was Rong Qingyuan—capable of enduring such a horrifying noise, and even able to offer her constructive suggestions!
Not a single bald tree on Xueyu Peak was innocent of Ji Bingyu and Rong Qingyuan’s doing.
Li Fuqing fell into a weird silence for a few seconds when his eyes suddenly lit up.
“But whenever she sees frogs and toads, she’ll only think of me, not you!”
Silence. Silence descended upon Wutong Courtyard.
During this suffocatingly brief silence, even the birds chirping and cicadas buzzing outside the window sounded remarkably clear.
Rong Qingyuan finally raised his head, looking at Li Fuqing with a gaze full of pity, and said slowly, “Fuqing… inside your head, is there…”
“—Shut up!”…”Master!”
An anxious female voice sounded at the exact same time as Li Fuqing’s shout. Both turned their heads to look, only to see Shaoyang Yu, who usually maintained a cold and indifferent face, rushing into the room with quick steps.
All the disciples under Rong Qingyuan possessed the authority to enter Wutong Courtyard, but Shaoyang Yu and Shen Hege strictly abided by etiquette and usually sent word in advance.
This was the very first time in all these years that Shaoyang Yu had been so “impolite.”
Finally seeing Rong Qingyuan, Shaoyang Yu didn’t even have time to greet Li Fuqing beside him.
With an anxious expression, she said, “Master, Little Junior Sister was taken away to Taiyue Peak by Master Qianming!”
Li Fuqing said, “That old fool Qianming is truly despicable! How dare he try to find trouble with Little Junior Sister again!”
Only then did Shaoyang Yu notice Li Fuqing.
She gave a slight nod, then turned back to Rong Qingyuan.
“Master, let’s head over quickly. I’m afraid Little Junior Sister might be bullied!”
Rong Qingyuan half-believed it at best.
If nothing else, had Ji Bingyu truly been bullied, the Heaven’s Will would have already rushed over to report the news to him long ago.
Even so, he stood up, his wide sleeves brushing over the tabletop and bringing forth a shower of golden light.
“Then let us go together.”
……
Rong Qingyuan’s guess was not wrong in the slightest.
Rewinding the matter back to the very beginning, it was yet another encounter in the Hall of Enlightenment.
Even Ji Bingyu herself had almost forgotten the original reason for the argument.
It was roughly that Xie Wenrui was constantly disgusting her, and even after being shut down by other disciples, he would still grumble filthy, foul words under his breath.
Thus, Ji Bingyu immediately slapped the table, stood up, and engaged in a shouting match with Xie Wenrui in front of all the present disciples.
Ji Bingyu was naturally hot-tempered.
Coupled with years of immersion under her master Rong Qingyuan—a high-level master of passive-aggressiveness—along with witnessing Eldest Senior Brother Li Fuqing’s majestic prowess in verbal duels against crowds, Second Senior Sister Shaoyang Yu’s aura during her death glare, and Third Senior Brother Shen Hege’s self-taught, overflowing “green tea” subtlety, Ji Bingyu was no longer the foolish goose of the past.
She had evolved into a Battle Goose!
In short, using Ji Bingyu to handle a single Xie Wenrui was like showcasing a full Manchu-Han Imperial Feast to a certain country that only ate stick bread to teach them what real cuisine was, while they could only hold onto a sad, pathetic piece of pickle to force a calm front—
Who wouldn’t say ‘how pitiful’ after seeing that.jpg
All in all, at the end of the whole ordeal, Ji Bingyu directly made a bet with Xie Wenrui to settle things with their fists on the martial arena stage.
Ji Bingyu: “If you lose, you have to kowtow to me and apologize! Well? Do you dare?”
Provoked by the pitied gazes of the surrounding crowd, blood rushed to Xie Wenrui’s head.
He immediately barked out harsh words: “Fine! If I lose, I’ll kowtow to you!”
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt something was off, but he forced himself to stay calm and asked, “Then what if you lose?!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ji Bingyu proclaimed righteously, “Then I’ll have my dad kowtow to you!”
The surrounding disciples: “?????”
Can… can you even do that?!
They all revealed expressions of utter confusion.
“Why not?” Ji Bingyu argued plausibly, “You kowtow to me, which means the two of us are of the same generation. But if my dad kowtow to you, it means you’re of the same generation as my dad—this is practically raising your social status! Hmph, little girl, what else are you dissatisfied with?”
Xie Wenrui was made so dizzy by her logic that he simply stopped dwelling on it.
“Then I also want one top-tier spiritual score from your Xueyu Peak!”
Ji Bingyu let out a cold ‘ha’, refusing to back down.
“Then I want one of the Xie Family Disciple Tokens in your hand!”
This time, not only Xie Wenrui, but even Xie Yu’an was stunned.
Whoever possessed a Xie Family Disciple Token could order that specific Xie family disciple to do anything, as long as it did not harm the Xie family.
And Xie Yu’an’s token happened to be in Xie Wenrui’s hands.
How could anyone ask for such a thing so casually?!
If things went wrong and offended the Xie family directly, they might even issue an execution order!
The moment Master Qianming arrived, he happened to hear Ji Bingyu’s words.
Well-versed in the rules of prominent families, he instantly grew both furious and anxious.
“Ignorant child! How dare you—”
“Oh! Of course I dare!”
The moment Ji Bingyu saw Master Qianming, her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Unconsciously adopting a dubbed-translation voice, she declared with cadence and dramatic rhythm: “O, Master Qianming! You are the sun on the journey of my life! You are the radiant light guiding my path toward immortality!”
Having only ever been targeted with passive-aggressive sarcasm, when had Master Qianming ever witnessed such a display? He froze on the spot, even forgetting to spit out the reprimand on the tip of his tongue.
Taking advantage of these few seconds, Ji Bingyu took a few quick steps toward Master Qianming, continuing her dramatic call with a voice full of deep emotion and passionate intensity.
“You are the eternal, imperishable white moonlight high up in the sky! You are the never-fading cinnabar mole held deep within the heart! You are the embodiment of all ethereal, immortal grace! You are the finest unity of all things good in this realm!”
“Your waist is no ordinary waist—it is a Spring Embroidery Blade forged from an underworld pond! Your legs are no ordinary legs—they are the most delicious Yong’an ham straight from the royal kitchen—”
Realizing she had mixed up her lines midway, Ji Bingyu immediately cut herself off.
She looked straight into Master Qianming’s eyes with a deeply affectionate gaze brimmed with emotional tears, staring at him until he actually felt a bit guilty inside…
“Since you called me ‘child’…” Ji Bingyu looked toward Xie Wenrui, the corner of her lips curving up into a wicked, charming smirk.
“—Then starting today, you are my most respected and beloved old father!”
