Under Su Zhan’s indescribable expression, Ning Yao took a deep breath, assumed a horse-riding stance with knees bent, straightened her arms, and gripped the back of the chair tightly with both hands.
She lowered her waist and bent over in a perfectly straight line, looking as though she were bravely going to her execution.
“Come on! I’m ready!”
Since the other party was already so proactive, Su Zhan felt that refusing again would be rather impolite.
“Then… here I come. Don’t blame me, Junior Sister.”
She slowly raised her hand, straightened the bamboo strip, took aim for a moment, hesitated several times, and finally gave a very light swing.
Pa!
“Guh…”
The bamboo strip struck with a crisp, clear sound.
Along with that sharp crack, Ning Yao also let out a pitiful whimper.
Her legs trembled uncontrollably and she nearly collapsed.
The problem was that Su Zhan had not used any real force at all.
She suddenly felt that Ning Yao was trying to scam her and did not know what to do for a moment.
“This bamboo strip has been imbued with a punitive curse. The lighter the force used when striking, the more painful it becomes on the body.”
Cheng Shuang explained rather smugly from behind Su Zhan.
“I knew Zhan’er would be soft-hearted. Gentle punishment like that simply wouldn’t work. A punishment cannot be brushed off so easily.”
“This…”
Su Zhan was momentarily speechless. She did not know what to say.
Why did Martial Aunt Cheng have to use such underhanded methods on her own disciple?
Hearing this, Ning Yao also twisted her small face around and looked at her master in disbelief.
The corners of her eyes had welled up with tears from that single strike, and they now hung on her cheeks, ready to fall.
She had thought Su Zhan had not held back and had been forcing herself to endure without making a sound.
In her heart she had already cursed “Su Wood” several times for not knowing how to be tender.
“Since it has already been done once, Junior Sister must have learned her lesson. Let’s end this matter here.”
Regardless of what Ning Yao was thinking, Su Zhan had already made up her mind.
From now on, she would stay farther away from Martial Aunt Cheng Shuang. She also did not want to continue hitting her, lest Ning Yao hold a grudge.
“Hey, that won’t do. I already said it cannot be brushed off so easily.”
Cheng Shuang shook her head and spoke righteously.
“This time nothing happened yet, so you think it can be taken lightly. But if something had happened to you this time, the nature of the matter would be completely different.”
“Then… one more hit?”
Su Zhan asked Ning Yao tentatively. She had noticed the tears in Ning Yao’s eyes threatening to spill.
“Mm. Your master hit me more than thirty times. You can take the smaller number and do ten hits. After all, Ning’er’s cultivation is still shallow.” Cheng Shuang spoke up.
“Of course, if Zhan’er really cannot bear to do it, Martial Aunt can do it in your place.”
“I’ll do it myself then…” Su Zhan sighed helplessly.
Looking at Cheng Shuang’s impatient expression, she feared Ning Yao would suffer even more if she let the woman take over.
“Hmph…”
Ning Yao snorted angrily.
She turned her head away again, sniffled, and said nothing more. It was clear she had accepted the arrangement.
***
Roughly ten minutes later, Ning Yao was being supported by Su Zhan as they walked toward the inner room.
By now, Ning Yao’s legs were so weak that she could no longer walk on her own.
This punitive curse was truly tormenting.
Even with moderate force, every strike of the bamboo strip against the girl’s bottom produced a loud sound and nearly made her cry out.
Right after the punishment ended, Ning Yao’s face had still been flushed red.
She had forced herself to say in a tearful, muffled voice that it was nothing much.
But the moment she tried to sit down on the chair with uncoordinated steps, the pain made her stand right back up.
She had trembled and fallen to her knees on the ground.
She could neither stand nor sit. She looked truly pitiful.
Su Zhan could not bear to watch any longer. She helped Ning Yao up and brought her to her own room to rest.
Although it was not a serious injury, judging by Ning Yao’s condition, she would probably need several days to recover.
“Junior Sister… I’m sorry.”
Listening to the girl beside her constantly drawing in sharp breaths, Su Zhan spoke with some embarrassment.
After all, Ning Yao’s current state was because of her.
“It’s fine… It doesn’t even hurt.”
Ning Yao’s sharp breaths paused.
She straightened her back and let out a long exhale, forcing her voice to sound calm.
However, that tearful tone was still there.
“Even if you hit me a few more times… I could take it.”
Could you really endure a few more hits without crying?
She really was this stubborn. Su Zhan did not expose her.
After thinking for a moment, she took out a piece of candy from her robes. She unwrapped the paper and held it out to Ning Yao’s mouth.
“Eat this. It should make you feel better.”
This was something Ji Xing had stuffed into her hand when they were buying fish at the market earlier today.
They were all fourteen or fifteen years old. She figured they would all like sweets.
“Hmph… Child’s food.”
Ning Yao glanced at it but did not refuse. She opened her mouth and took the candy in one bite, then snorted.
“If it weren’t for the fact that throwing it away would be wasteful, I wouldn’t eat it.”
Her cheeks were puffed out as she seemed to try biting it with her teeth, as though she were treating the candy as some kind of revenge against a certain someone.
At the very least, she was no longer wearing a crying face.
Su Zhan pushed open her own room door, helped Ning Yao to the bedside, gently lifted her onto the bed to lie face down, and then removed her shoes and placed them on the floor.
The girl buried her face into Su Zhan’s pillow, seemingly aware that her current appearance was rather wretched and not wanting Su Zhan to see it.
“Later, I’ll bring some pastries over. If Junior Sister doesn’t mind… I’ll bring Xue’er along as well to keep you company.”
Su Zhan spoke softly.
Ning Yao was in no state to do anything right now. There was also nothing in her room to pass the time.
Being punished and then left to stew in her own anger was not good for a young girl.
The girl with her face buried in the pillow said something, but it was too muffled to hear clearly. Su Zhan guessed it was probably agreement.
“Then it’s settled. I noticed Junior Sister seems to like jade sugar crisps. I’ll bring you some extra.”
After she finished speaking, Su Zhan prepared to leave the room.
But the moment she stood up, the hem of her clothes was gently tugged. It was Ning Yao’s hand.
“What is it?” She bent down beside the bed again and asked softly.
“…I’m sorry.” Ning Yao lay on the bed. This muffled sentence was extremely quiet, spoken as though she was afraid of being overheard and only wanted Su Zhan to hear it.
This girl could generously admit her mistakes and take responsibility for them, but she rarely apologized on her own initiative.
Only when there was no one else around would she be willing to reveal a little of her true feelings.
“I hit Junior Sister. Why is Junior Sister apologizing to me?” Su Zhan smiled helplessly. Had this girl been hit silly?
“I heard from Second Senior Sister… that you encountered danger. You were covered in blood and almost died.”
“I’m sorry… It was all because I insisted on dragging you into a spar and forgot what Master entrusted to me. That’s why you fell into such a dangerous situation…”
Ning Yao gripped the corner of Su Zhan’s clothes a little tighter.
“Aren’t I perfectly fine now?”
Su Zhan sighed inwardly and chuckled softly.
“Don’t overthink it. It’s already in the past.”
Hearing Su Zhan’s words, Ning Yao fell silent for a moment before slowly releasing her hand.
“Su Wood…”
She suddenly sat up straight and stared directly at Su Zhan as she spoke word by word.
“…We still haven’t finished our spar yet.”
“Before I beat you, I won’t allow you to die at someone else’s hands…”
“Mm. I’ll remember that.”
Su Zhan nodded gently and reached out to brush the pastry crumbs from Ning Yao’s hair.
“Then… besides jade sugar crisps, would Junior Sister also like some snow milk balls?”
“Hmph. Up to you.”