The Peach Blossoms Begin To Dance Chapter 2

This translation was first posted on St.i.tchie Translators. If you're on novelcools, I'm just gonna put it out there that the ads might give your device some viruses + your reading experience will be s.h.i.t compared to the actual translation because the formatting there was done by a robot copier and not a human.

Also disclaimer that this story, the plot, the characters, do not belong to me. They belong to the wonderful author Jun Zi Yi Ze. I do not earn profit from this translation. Thanks!

Fellow cla.s.smates, please recite with me: Cheap is low quality. Good things will not fall from the sky. Being too stingy will lead to your downfall – it is a lose-lose situation.

Yesterday, I chanced upon a pretty cheap account with relatively high power, and felt immensely proud of myself. But once I found out exactly what I kind of account I'd bought, I felt so much regret that it was as though even my intestines were rioting. After all, no matter how depressing life is, I would also never voluntarily pay money for someone to tell me that I should go to the psychologist, because there's a possibility that I've gone stupid. It's already enough for me to be aware of this.

Honestly, I'd never intended on buying an account. After all, I'd gone on to sell my account. But once I'd put my account up for sale, a notice by a female seller had caught my attention. “HP-Healer Account, selling dirt cheap. I really, truly don't want to play anymore, and am sincerely selling my account. Begging for someone to take pity.”

Normally, when someone sold their account, it would be rare to see the words ‘truly'. It seemed like the player must have been quite disgusted by the game's violence. Because of this, and the fact that the account's power was also relatively okay, and also the price she'd set – 65 Yuan (7£), which was so cheap it seemed like a scam – I rubbed my eyes, checked that the site was a trusted one, and unhesitatingly bought the account.

This naive little miss really didn't understand how to make profit. I planned on playing with the account for about 2 days, bringing the power up, before selling it for a quick sum of cash.

At that time, I was blinded by my own resourcefulness.

Right now, it's the second of July, 9PM in Beijing, and I've already entered the new account. But the moment the loading screen ended, I realised that I'd somehow lost half of my equipment. As I read the battle log from yesterday, I realised that I'd been continuously killed 7 times by some miss with an extremely long username.

Why doesn't this seem to be as simple as I thought it would be? This doesn't seem to be a Buddhxianyu user's account, the earlier owner seems to have encountered some sort of accident instead? Ah, whatever, it's cheap anyway, might as well play.

Since I've changed accounts, let's see if the free one-time name changing item is still here. I clicked on the b.u.t.ton, only to see a system notice. ‘The system has noted that you once used the username [Feng Wu Pian Ran], would you like to use it again?'

This name, had once been my greatest pride. Until I'd been sec-killed at the game-wide PVP compet.i.tion. The man who beat me up, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that people now call the Demon King, had directly messaged me for the first time.

Yet the words he'd typed out were all unfeeling and harsh, so it was no wonder that I'd hated him for so long.

‘Pian Pian, so you really only have this much power?'

Does he even know who he's talking to? And who gave him permission to call me ‘Pian Pian'!

I laid on the ground, so deathly calm that even my mum would've been afraid. “Pian Pian is my nickname. I don't think its very suitable for you to call me that. You can call me by my full username, thank you.”

He only typed out two words. ‘Ha ha.'

Honestly, I had never thought that I would actually have to undergo such great shame and humiliation.

As I thought of this, my anger exploded like a hydrogen bomb in my chest. F*ckf*ckf*ckf*ckf*ck him… My fingers furiously pressed on the mouse, clicking [Do not change] more than 10 times… Only to realise that the account had already run out of free name-changes anyway.

At the same time, a string of words showed up on the chat box.

‘Pian Pian, if you have any problems with us, then attack me, not her. She's still an innocent girl, and has never had to deal with these kinds of problems, unlike you. She won't be able to handle your kind of abuse.'

In a flash, these words were like a heavy downpour that doused the furious flames of my anger. Utterly stupefied, I rested my hands on the keyboard, as still as stone. Huh? I'd clearly taken on someone else's ident.i.ty, so how had this person managed to see through my ruse? Had he gone through some kind of immoral means? Or was he some kind of abnormal human being? Or had this brother simply looked through my xianyu cart and been able to sense my uniquely exquisite spirit?

As I sat, shocked still, I took another look at the character I was playing and then realised why. The ‘Pian Pian' that this person was referring to wasn't me. The former player's nickname had most likely been the same as mine, because her username was Jia Ren Pian Pian (Beautiful Woman Dancing Elegantly).

Earlier on, those words had been sent by Mu Shang, and he'd sent them in the guild chat. His name seemed a little familiar. Again, I clicked on my battle log and looked for the girl with the long username that had killed me so many times – her name was: Mu Shang's Pampered Wan Wan Jiang (Wan Wan Jiang is a username).

The plot for this drama just kept on growing bigger and bigger.

A strange silence descended. Mu Shang kept silent, and I didn't say anything. Finally, another fellow piped up.

[Guild] Xuan Yuan's Buns: I'm kinda confused. Bro Shang, who're you even talking to?

[Guild] Laziness Leads to Obesity: What's happening! Seem to have missed a million things. qaq

[Guild] Mu Shang: Go ask Jia Ren Pian Pian. She should be clear of exactly what she posted on Tieba.

Actually, as the new owner, I should've been more cold and unfeeling by immediately leaving the guild and changing my name to live a free and easy life. But my curiosity spurred me to answer: ‘You're talking about me?'

He really had been referring to me. Just that this time, it wasn't Mu Shang who replied me, but Wan Wan Jiang.

[Guild] Mu Shang's Pampered Wan Wan Jiang: Didn't you say it as though you were so righteous and indignant on the post? You've already placed the label of Sc.u.m Man on Mu Shang's head! Though I'm honestly confused. Wasn't it you who first betrayed Mu Shang? Both of you had already been divorced for quite a while before he got together with me. So why did you make me sound like some kind of mistress?

[Guild] Jia Ren Pian Pian: I never said that.

[Guild] Mu Shang: Just because I didn't do what you said like some kind of lap dog, so the pot chose to call the kettle black and said that I cheated on you.

[Guild] Mu Shang's Pampered Wan Wan Jiang: And you even dared to tell the whole word that I killed you? You don't even have the power to kill me so you just started playing the victim. Jia Ren Pian Pian, people really need to learn to feel shame, don't you agree?

It seemed like the former user had just finished suffering from the first wave of their revenge from her Tieba post. I didn't even know just what she'd said, but this Wan Wan Jiang still hadn't managed to get over her hatred after killing her 7 times.

At this critical point in time, it seemed to be a bit ill-timed to reveal that I was actually a new owner, and it would affect all those people enjoying the drama. So I decided that silence was the best policy, and chose to look around at my surroundings.

Amidst the inky purple sky, the sickle moon was suspended above a teetering building. Scented candles flickered dimly, while the hanging curtains rustled in the breeze, which produced a sad whistle from the dark depths, causing my character's skirt to swish lightly. She was pet.i.te, an immortal fairy's fan in hand, and wearing a mystical green robe as she stood in the middle of the map, before a large hall.

Beside the stairs in front stood the statue of a black-haired man dressed completely in black. His face was covered, only revealing a pair of narrowed eyes, and his arms were folded across his chest as though preparing for war. He wore indigo gloves that shined with the same cold light as precious ore, and he carried a dagger that reflected an eerie, chilling light. Above his head were the words: Mu Shang – The King of Demonic Cultivators.

Ah, so Mu Shang was actually ranked first among all the Demonic Cultivators. No wonder he seemed to carry some sort of arrogance when he typed.

Demonic Cultivators belonged to the a.s.sa.s.sin Cla.s.s, and it was a cla.s.s that required extremely high-quality equipment. If you didn't spend any money, it was difficult to become accomplished.

The game that I've been playing is called “Ten Thousand Worlds of Peach Blossoms”, an incredibly popular ancient-themed online game. It's available on both mobile and PC. From what I saw just now, Mu Shang and Jia Ren Pian Pian had most likely been an in-game virtual couple. Unfortunately, their relationship had gradually and inadvertently morphed into an unhealthy one, similar to that between a concubine and a tyrannical husband, and even escalated to the point that a mistress was involved. In the end, the girl's feelings had probably taken a ma.s.sive blow, after all she hadn't been as charming as the mistress, and hadn't been able to fight back against the mistress. Finally, she could only choose to sell her account and leave the game.

Looking at the difference in power levels between her character and Mu Shang, as well as the last place that Jia Ren Pian Pian had been before leaving the game, I looked to the moon and sighed.

Although it may seem harsh, it was actually quite a realistic scenario that wasn't uncommon to see. There wasn't much difference when it came to the virtual and real world – women that chose to stand beside experts never experienced good endings.

At this moment, I received a direct message from someone in Server 10.

[Personal] Heartless Woman: New owner

I didn't reply. After a while, she sent over another message.

[Personal] Heartless Woman: I'm the former user. Don't worry, I'm not here to get my account back, I just wanted to ask you to help me with something.

Hesitating for a moment, I eventually chose to reply.

[Personal] Jia Ren Pian Pian: Talk.

[Personal] Heartless Woman: Is it ok if you don't tell anyone about this account changing owners for now? Including my friends. If they realise that I'm not playing anymore, they'll definitely say even worse things about me.

[Personal] Jia Ren Pian Pian: Actually, if you want to continue playing, I can sell the account back to you. I only anyhow picked this account.

[Personal] Heartless Woman: No, I've already decided to quit the game… Right now I'm just playing for one last time, because I don't want those b*tches to say that I ran away after being killed.

[Personal] Jia Ren Pian Pian: I really do want to agree, but someone else will definitely find out. After all, the whole person would've changed.

[Personal] Heartless Woman: Even if they find out, just don't admit it first. Just 2 weeks. You've probably already seen the post I made on Tieba… Throughout the whole course of this relationship, I've really been put through the wringer… I'm begging you, thank you.

I'd already typed out “I can only try my best, but I can't promise you anything”, but before I could even send it, her icon had already turned grey, and she'd gone offline.

After this, I'd gone to the Tieba to search for a while out of curiosity, and eventually stumbled on Hearless Woman. As I skimmed through it, I realised that the mistress had actually been the former user's disciple. Ah, this was really shaping up to be a cliche drama plot.

If the former user's words were actually true, then I felt that Wan Wan Jiang was really…quite a character. Even in the modern world today, for a mistress to be so righteous and confident, it took a certain sort of revolutionary spirit that I somewhat admired.

On the other hand, if Wan Wan Jiang had been speaking the truth, then the former user was also a character – she could honestly go and write award-winning dramas.

When I was in high school, I'd written a transmigration story called “A Memoir of the Origin of a Love Affair”. Now, again, I'd seemed to have transmigrated into “Ten Thousand Worlds of Peach Blossoms”. It seemed like I had some sort of affinity with peach blossoms, so I might as well collect the debt that this love affair owed to the former user. (T/N: Peach Blossom can mean love affair in Chinese)

Seeing that the atmosphere in the guild was practically freezing, I opened the guild ranking tab to look through all of the biggest guilds, and then gleefully clicked on my own guild tab before pressing down on [leave guild].

Done. The personal guild tab was now completely empty.

Then, I proceeded to take some time to look through Jia Ren Pian Pian's character statistics again, before sighing deeply. It was likely that all she'd focused on was dating, because this girl's username (Beautiful Woman Dancing Elegantly) was truly a reflection of her personality – floaty and clearly not grounded. She had a whole pile of good-looking selfies, yet her Life Skills were all at level 1.

After crafting a hoe, I climbed to the base of a mountain in the Demonic Cultivator Map and unhappily started cutting down trees and fishing, all while reading through the world chat to see the ma.s.ses of people who had been beaten within an inch of their lives just to defeat the boss start cursing up a storm.

Ah, young people are far too impatient – from dusk till dawn, the only thing they know how to do is kill, kill, kill. Even if you really can't beat something, there's still no need to curse and swear at other people. Just living peacefully, like an idle cloud or a wild crane, using a xianyu (bought) account is also not too bad.

Of course, even if it's a xianyu account, one should still know how to remain safe – by having the blessing of a powerful backer.

On the guild tab, I found and applied for a guild called “Furious Warring Dynasty”. This guild was number 1 on the ranking leaderboard, with both of the top two players in the server inside. Normally, the number 1 guild would have lots of people, as well as many high-power players, so it was incredibly safe and would bring lots of rewards such that one could have a happy and low-key gaming experience.

Almost immediately, I was accepted, and the guild chat was filled with lots of messages. “Welcome welcome!”, “Welcome newbie!”, and “Wah, a beauty has joined!”

Once you were in the number 1 guild, good things would naturally come.

I smiled fondly, before typing out a message.

‘Thanks everyone! I'm Pian Pian, a non-compet.i.tive player. I'm still a newcomer, so hope that all of the experts here will give me some advice…'

Just as I was complimenting myself on being so reasonable and quick-thinking, I received a notification.

“You have been kicked out of the guild Furious Warring Dynasty. Young Hero, continue working hard, and search for another compatible guild.”

My face was devoid of expression, but internally, I was fuming as I violently pressed [Yes] with my mouse.

Couldn't they have just directly rejected me? Instead of letting me in before kicking me out! Ah, this isn't even an issue about a xianyu account anymore, it's about having respect and a basic sense of decency! Who cares about whether you're the number 1 guild, or about how many experts you have, as people with morals, we shouldn't only care about our own self-interests! Must you guys look down on people with low power? Life has it's ups and downs, so don't look down on the less fortunate! Even a poor man can become a millionaire in the future. Right now, you're kicking me when I'm down, but later on, do you know what I'm going to do to your guild once I become strong?

Ahhhhhh! I'm! Warning! You!

Just! You! Wait!

Just you wait for me to raise my power!

Then I'll request to apply again!

It's after all the number 1 guild, it's quite normal for the entrance requirements to be high. Even if I'm merely a strand of hair on the experts' thighs, I still need to be an unbreakable strand of hair!

Just as I'd become active again, ready to find out how to help this account raise it's power, I happened to see a line of bright red words on the world chat.

“Hasn't that person who posted a thread throwing a tantrum about my teacher already sold her account? So why did she sneakily come running back to the game only to be kicked out by Furious Warring Dynasty? Why, is it that after cheating on my teacher with some innocent little lambs, you're still not satisfied? Please, you should give up on even thinking about going after the experts in Furious Warring Dynasty! Is there anyone in this server that doesn't know about your glorious deeds in the past? If I were you, I wouldn't even have the face to show up on this game anymore!”

Ah, really, former user… Wouldn't it have been okay to just have a clean break? Why did you have to go and cheat on that sc.u.m bag? And miserably beg me to not expose the truth about this account changing owners…

How can I even continue playing on this account…Isn't it a bit too hard…

In the beginning I foolishly thought that I could make a profit with this account, but now I've been reduced to having to clear up the mess the former user made…

Really, cheap things are never good quality. Trying to gain unfair advantages will only cause you to lose out.

T_T can I back out of this deal…

h.e.l.lo! Clearly did not end up posting on time oops! Had to deal with some other work sorry! Next update will likely come on Sunday because I have a compet.i.tion on Sunday morning!

Also, for definitions and explanations, I can either use in-text T/Ns or put them down here, and I do so at my own discretion, based on how important I think it is to your understanding of the text! Though I try to avoid in-text T/Ns because it's very disruptive in terms of flow.

This game is honestly crazy I've played lots of games in my lifetime (thankfully) so it's still alright but wow! It has so many different elements. Maybe this is what normal Chinese games are like. I'm not that good at Chinese gaming slang so I generally avoid playing Chinese games. Decided to use the Job-Cla.s.s system that Maplestory uses so basically there are different jobs that are grouped into categories called Cla.s.ses.

Demonic Cultivator: JOB

a.s.sa.s.sin: CLa.s.s

And this game even has Life Skills… Basically it's just random activities that you do like fishing or cutting trees… Maybe even crafting? Game mechanics are truly wacky. Some compet.i.tive players don't bother with these because they aren't that important when it comes to combat.

Also, to reiterate what I said in the beginning. This translation was made by ME, the owner of St.i.tchie Translators. I have not given permission for anyone to use my translations. I do not support any aggregators that use my translations, especially without crediting me. If you're not reading this on St.i.tchie Translators, please move to the actual site! Thank you.

Another disclaimer that all I'm doing is translating, and I'm not in any way involved in the creation of this novel. This novel doesn't belong to me.