So I Had No Choice But to Stop Being the White Moonlight – Chapter 133
by Little PandaConcerning My Cultivation and Turning My Wife into a Rabbit
The Cultivation World
“I am waiting for my wife to give it to me personally.”
“So boring—”
Every minute and second inside the busy System was precious, with System members constantly flying back and forth through the air to execute tasks.
No system would notice the figure sitting on the roof of the building. The woman’s slender, well-proportioned calves dangled in midair—acting recklessly, yet also utterly bored.
Chi Qian looked up at the System’s internal electronic sky. The virtual sun emitted a light almost indistinguishable from the sun in the real world.
She was truly bored. She even began to think: since the world she lived in was created by the System, then the real sun she believed in was actually virtual, while the virtual sun here was the real one.
【Host, you had better not think about these things.】 Hearing Chi Qian pondering such highly philosophical matters in her head, Thirteen’s monitoring program displayed signs of disorder.
“Then what should I think about?” Chi Qian turned her head and looked at the cat walking along the edge of the rooftop, her expression weary.
This month, Chi Qingyan had been invited to attend some academic forum exchange. The clinic at home had been closed for half a month.
No weekly spot-checks, no busy sorting of medicinal herbs. It was supposed to be leisurely, but Chi Qian didn’t know what was wrong with her. Even though she had plenty of time, she found herself at a loss for what to do, wandering around the island and the System all day.
Because after Yuan Ming joined the academic research, the entire System had been entrusted to Shi Jinlan.
And she didn’t know what this person was busy with recently. She was as elusive as a dragon1, leaving Chi Qian even more bored.
“Did something happen in your System recently?” Without waiting for Thirteen to answer, Chi Qian threw another question at it.
“Master is currently busy with the System upgrade. She feels the underlying code wasn’t written very well,” Thirteen answered truthfully.
Thirteen had already walked over, skillfully curling into a ball beside Chi Qian.
It felt humans were very strange and didn’t understand what was so bad about being bored. Basking in the sun all day was such a wonderful thing.
As a cat, Thirteen didn’t understand, but as a System, it still offered its Host a suggestion. “If the Host is truly bored, do you want to take a short-term minor task? Perhaps by the time the task is done, Master will be finished with her work.”
At first, upon hearing Thirteen’s suggestion, Chi Qian thought such minor tasks were meaningless.
But after thinking it over, she realized doing nothing all day wasn’t a solution either, so she accepted its advice. “Perhaps I can be like Tangtang back then, and be a matchm—”
Before the word “maker” could leave her mouth, a System notification popped up in Chi Qian’s line of sight.
Shi Jinlan seemed to have finally found some free time and sent a message asking Chi Qian to come meet her.
Finding a task was originally just to pass the time. Now that Shi Jinlan was back, Chi Qian immediately abandoned the idea of doing a task and strode confidently into the System portal Shi Jinlan had opened for her.
After crossing through a stream of data, a swath of white light parted before Chi Qian’s eyes.
She didn’t know which space of the System this was. As soon as Chi Qian stepped out, she saw Shi Jinlan standing before a mirror. “What are you looking at?”
Shi Jinlan didn’t give Chi Qian an answer. Instead, she waved a hand, gesturing, “Come here.”
Curious, Chi Qian walked over. She saw that the mirror in front of Shi Jinlan did not reflect their figures; instead, it displayed another world.
Clouds and mist wreathed the landscape on the other side of the mirror. Slender birds soared across the sky—a species completely absent from Chi Qian’s world.
The unknown bird spread its wings toward the sun, riding the wind to spiral ever higher. It raised its long neck and let out a clear, resonant cry that echoed across the vast expanse.
Although Chi Qian felt she shouldn’t think so, the bird truly had an immortal bearing2…
With that thought, Chi Qian’s gaze paused.
She seemed to realize something and asked Shi Jinlan, “Is this the Cultivation World?”
Shi Jinlan nodded, then asked, “Do you want to go?”
“Can we?” Chi Qian was thrilled and found it somewhat hard to believe. Just a second ago, her eyes had been drooping with boredom, but now they lit up brightly.
Watching her act so easily bought, Shi Jinlan ran her long fingers through Chi Qian’s hair and gently rubbed the back of her neck. “Aren’t you very curious about these kinds of worlds?”
Chi Qian had never explicitly singled out this topic to seriously discuss with Shi Jinlan, so she didn’t know how Shi Jinlan found out.
But as her gaze drifted in recollection, she quickly realized this was probably something she had blurted out when she and Song Tang were planning the wedding.
Shi Jinlan remembered.
Even the most inconspicuous hints tucked away in trivial details—as long as they concerned her, Shi Jinlan remembered them all.
As Chi Qian looked at everything in the mirror, it felt as if a warm breeze brushed against her face, softening her heart.
She reached up to grasp the hand Shi Jinlan rested on her neck and asked, “Together?”
“Who else did you want to go with?” Shi Jinlan asked mildly in return. With that, she took Chi Qian’s hand and stepped inside.
The mirror refracted the light of the System Space, instantly flooding Chi Qian’s vision with a hazy white glow.
Suddenly, she felt the wrist she was holding in her palm slip away. Shi Jinlan walked ahead of her, drifting further and further.
Panic instantly seized Chi Qian’s heart. Bewildered, she chased after the myriad shifting changes before her.
Immediately after, she was enveloped in a sheet of white blindness.
The world spun. A long, drawn-out bird’s cry swept through Chi Qian’s mind.
She had just fallen into a daze when she suddenly felt something strike her forehead.
The feeling was no less than falling asleep in class, getting caught by the teacher, and receiving a “friendly” reminder via a piece of thrown chalk.
A long-lost shadow from her student days cast itself over Chi Qian’s head. She snapped her eyes open.
The crystal-blue tones of the System had been replaced by a sprawling expanse of green. The previously empty, high-dimensional scenery abruptly became real and ancient.
Except for the green, the surrounding colors were quite monotonous.
Everywhere Chi Qian looked, she saw celadon-colored robes. Although the styles and details varied, it was obvious at a glance that they all came from the same school.
School?
Chi Qian felt this modern word didn’t quite fit the setting. However, before her mind could catch up, her body reacted faster. Following that “reminder” from a moment ago, she shot up the instant she opened her eyes. “Master.”
On the podium, an old man with an immortal bearing holding a book was looking at Chi Qian.
He had one hand clasped behind his back. Without needing to look closely, she knew he was highly displeased with her falling asleep. His tone carried not a trace of concern. “Xiao Qian, did you sleep well?”
That strict feeling nearly made Chi Qian mistake the old man for Chi Qingyan.
But because of that, Chi Qian grew a little bolder. She scratched her cheek and honestly replied out of reflex, “Not… not too bad.”
Just like Chi Qingyan, the old man was instantly filled with disappointment. He took a deep breath to quell his anger, pointed toward the back row, and said, “I think standing is better. Go stand in the back!”
“Oh.” Chi Qian nodded obediently. She hadn’t expected to be rewarded with a standing punishment on her very first day in this world.
As she silently grumbled that corporal punishment was apparently popular in the Cultivation World too, she grabbed the book spread out on her desk and walked toward the back.
But she didn’t know if she had genuinely been sleeping like an idiot—there was drool on her book.
Chi Qian frowned in disgust. Just as she was wondering if there was some spell she could use to clean it up, she heard the man she had called Master tell her, “Don’t forget to come find me after class. I haven’t done your individual spot-check this week.”
Boom!
Chi Qian instantly felt as if the sky were falling.
Why do I still have to be checked even here!
Chi Qian wailed in her heart, looking like a wilted eggplant3.
She dragged her feet toward the back row, casting her eyes down and weeping secretly in her heart. But barely two seconds later, her eyes lit up.
The steam rising from a nearby pond was blown apart by a distant wind, and the hem of a celadon skirt swept into view.
The long pillars outside the corridor divided the approaching figure into frame-by-frame images. Light and shadow dappled the newcomer’s back. Her straight spine resembled a sharp sword, her fluttering robes elegant yet undeniably sharp.
Chi Qian followed the figure with her eyes. She didn’t need to ponder it; she recognized the person at a single glance.
—Shi Jinlan, her wife.
It was truly hard to describe. Even though it was the same celadon clothing, it looked one way on Chi Qian and entirely different on Shi Jinlan.
Her long hair, usually left to cascade freely, was even longer now. It was half-draped, gathered into a bun pinned with a delicate lily-of-the-valley hairpin. It swayed with every step she took. Paired with the celadon robes, a clean, refreshing fragrance seemed to drift through the air.
Although her attire was simple, it couldn’t conceal Shi Jinlan’s unforgettable beauty.
Naturally, this guaranteed she would instantly attract a massive crowd of eyes wherever she went.
“Shijie.”
“Shijie is back!”
“Shijie~”
…
Besides Chi Qian, everyone in the class had noticed Shi Jinlan.
Her fellow disciples, who had been obediently listening to the lecture just moments ago, instantly dropped their well-behaved acts. They began chattering about Shi Jinlan as she walked over. Their eager attentiveness was perfectly clear to Chi Qian in the back row, and it displeased her immensely.
Yet, despite such a blatant disregard for classroom discipline, Chi Qian’s Master was not angry.
He even put down his book and actively asked the approaching Shi Jinlan, his tone much kinder than when he spoke to Chi Qian, “Jinlan has returned. Was the journey smooth?”
“Reporting to the Sect Leader, the journey was very smooth,” Shi Jinlan replied, maintaining her aloof and proud demeanor. If anything, her attire and current persona only made that disposition stand out more.
She answered at an unhurried pace. Chi Qian felt her gaze flick over briefly before she continued speaking to her Sect Leader Master. “I also gathered quite a few spiritual beasts and immortal herbs on this trip. Many of them are suitable for the shidi and shimei. I wanted to bring them something fresh, so I came to the classroom first.”
“Very well. All of you, follow your shijie for now.” Hearing this, Chi Qian’s nominal Master immediately paused the lesson.
A wave of cheering erupted in the classroom. The fellow disciples, whose minds had already been wandering, practically leapt from their seats. Walking in the back, Chi Qian was deeply perplexed.
Why is my Master the Sect Leader?
Why do I feel like Shi Jinlan’s status here is even higher than my nominal Sect Leader Master’s?
Moreover, my fellow disciples all call Shi Jinlan ‘shijie’.
Doesn’t that mean she and I are of different generations?
Wait, shijie and shimei aren’t considered different generations, are they?
Ugh, whatever, it just feels wrong.
Chi Qian nearly tied herself in knots. She forcibly suppressed her myriad of doubts and followed the main crowd to the back courtyard.
Shi Jinlan really seemed to have brought back an array of rare and exotic treasures. Everyone gathered around the table, picking through the items while relentlessly flattering Shi Jinlan.
“Wow, Shijie is so amazing.”
“Can I have this one?”
“This is so pretty.”
…
Looking at the hopelessly crowded table, Chi Qian gave up any intention of squeezing in to join the fun.
Besides, she wasn’t like them.
She was their shijie’s legal wife. The share Shi Jinlan had for her should definitely be different from theirs.
And it definitely had to be given to her privately, in secret.
“Why aren’t you going over there?”
Just as Chi Qian was thinking this, Shi Jinlan’s voice drifted by her ear.
The woman moved without a sound. Chi Qian looked up and saw that she had walked over to her side at some point.
Pondering Shi Jinlan’s question, Chi Qian lifted her chin slightly and replied with a hint of pride, “I am waiting for my wife to give it to me personally.”
Seeing Chi Qian’s smug appearance, a hint of amusement touched Shi Jinlan’s cold eyes.
But she was always a little wicked. She smiled and poured cold water on Chi Qian’s confidence. “Did you know that calling me that here would be seen as wanton and disrespectful?”
Hearing this, Chi Qian stared at Shi Jinlan unreadably for a long time. Then, the slight upward tilt of her eyes drooped, and her voice took on a hurt edge. “True. Shijie and I are worlds apart now. With so many pretty girls surrounding you, it’s only right that you’d disdain me and start nitpicking over rules.”
Shi Jinlan hadn’t expected Chi Qian to have such an innocently manipulative4 side. The composure she had maintained so perfectly suddenly broke into a laugh.
The shidi and shimei were all dividing up the treasures at the front. No one noticed the two women chatting quietly in the back.
Therefore, no one saw Shi Jinlan smiling as she raised her hand. Her light sleeve rippled in the wind, and a beautiful snow lotus materialized in her palm.
A chill rippled out along the distinct layers of petals, icy but not biting.
This was a treasure that could only be harvested from the sheer cliffs of a glacier. A crystalline gleam shone through the snow-white hue, looking like exquisitely carved snow.
“For you,” Shi Jinlan said softly, offering the lotus to Chi Qian.
Chi Qian raised her chin slightly and deliberately challenged her. “What’s the meaning behind it?”
Shi Jinlan knew what answer Chi Qian wanted, and she was never stingy with it. She replied candidly, “My love for you.”
Her gently closed lips parted again right after the final syllable. A breath of warmth hidden within the glacier spilled directly beside Chi Qian’s ear. “Wife.”
The author has something to say:
Tomorrow, the shijie who personally tutors her homework is going to be turned into a rabbit by her darling shimei!
Footnotes
- An idiom (shénlóng jiàn shǒu bù jiàn wěi) literally meaning 'a divine dragon shows its head but not its tail.' It describes someone who is elusive, mysterious, and rarely seen.
- A Chinese idiom (xiānfēng-dàogǔ) literally meaning 'immortal bearing and Daoist bones.' It describes someone or something with a transcendent, unearthly, or highly spiritual appearance, often associated with Daoist masters or cultivators.
- A common Chinese colloquialism comparing someone to an 'eggplant bitten by frost' (shuāng dǎ de qiézi)—meaning they look completely wilted, dejected, and crestfallen.
- Internet slang (chálǐ-cháqì) deriving from 'green tea bitch' (lǜchá biǎo). It describes someone acting artificially innocent, pitiful, or subtly manipulative to gain sympathy, usually in a romantic or competitive context.
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