Chapter 3: Five Animals Transformation Art.

Lu Xuan led the lame donkey through the streets of Azure Sun City.

There was no bridal sedan, no ceremonial horns, no grand procession, no family members.

Sitting on the donkey was a woman draped in a bridal veil, her figure so thin and frail that it seemed like a gust of wind could blow her away.

The veil itself was old... a dark, dull red, with frayed edges that had seen better days long ago.

People along the roadside stopped to watch.

"Isn't that the Lu Family's trash?"

"I heard he married the Shen Family's ugly daughter today. They really are a perfect match."

"Tsk tsk... not even a decent bridal sedan. Fetching a bride on a donkey... that's the first time I've seen anything like this!"

"Hahaha!"

Laughter surged from all directions. Lu Xuan kept his head down, leading the donkey forward step by step. He didn't even bother to look at any of them.

The woman on the donkey's back remained completely motionless, her veil never once lifting... like a clay statue.

Facing the ridicule that followed them through every street, the two of them made their way toward the Lu Family estate.

They reached the front gate of the Lu Family, only to find the doors was closed.

Just like at the Shen Family.

A housekeeper stood on the stone steps, holding a key in his hand.

"Young Master, the Patriarch said the old Ancestral Home twenty miles west of the city is still vacant. You two should go live there. Although it's a bit run-down... at least it keeps out the wind and rain."

He tossed the key onto the ground and dropped a bundle beside it.

"The Lu Family... has no place for you two."

The key landed on the bluestone slab with a sharp clink and rolled twice before going still.

The bundle fell open on impact. Several old, worn-out pieces of clothing spilled across the ground... not a single new item among them.

Lu Xuan bent down and picked them up, one by one, just as he had done for her minutes ago.

Then he straightened up, and without looking back, led the donkey toward the west of the city.

Behind him, the main gate of the Lu Family swung wide open.

Lu Hao stood in the doorway, dressed in fine silk, holding a piece of watermelon in one hand. He watched Lu Xuan's retreating figure with a smug, satisfied expression.

"A piece of trash paired with an ugly woman... Father's plan really is ruthless!"

Lu Hao took a lazy bite of the watermelon, juice trickling down his wrist. He licked it off, his eyes still fixed on Lu Xuan's shrinking silhouette as he chuckled to himself.

As the two of them passed through the city gate, Shen Yuyan, sitting on the donkey's back, suddenly spoke.

"Are you... also being kicked out?"

Her voice was so light... as if she were afraid of being heard by anyone else.

Lu Xuan didn't answer, but his footsteps became a bit steadier.

The wind blew across the open road, and the lame donkey wobbled beneath her.

Lu Xuan reached out to steady Shen Yuyan on the donkey's back.

Her hand was ice cold. Just like his own body had been when he woke up in that woodshed this morning.

"Let's go," he said.

It was unclear if he was speaking to the donkey or to her.

Two people and a lame donkey walked along the dirt road stretching twenty miles into the unknown.

The setting sun stretched their shadows very long behind them.

They walked for over an hour.

When the moon had risen above the treetops, the two of them finally arrived at the Ancestral Home.

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The thatched cottage was even more dilapidated than Lu Xuan had imagined it to be.

The plaster was peeling off the walls, the roof leaked moonlight through its holes, cobwebs hung thick in every corner, and moonlight spilled in through the gaps, spreading a sheet of pale silver across the dirt floor.

Shen Yuyan sat down on the only stool in the room, still covered by her veil, completely motionless.

Lu Xuan glanced at her, said nothing, but began to tidy up the place.

He stacked the dry firewood in the corner... swept the dust off the floor with a broom he found leaning against the wall, and straightened the lopsided table.

While he was doing the chores, a soft voice came from beneath the veil.

"Aren't you... going to lift the veil?"

Lu Xuan stopped what he was doing. He looked at Shen Yuyan.

He had long heard the stories about what was beneath that veil... red spots, an ugly woman.

The laughingstock of the entire city, but so what?

He had been laughed at for over a decade. Woodsheds, leftover scraps, fists and kicks, a lame donkey... which of those wasn't more painful than the word "ugly"?

At least she was the only one willing to come with him.

When she said "I am willing" in front of the Shen Family gate... it was the first time in the dozen or so years since his transmigration that anyone had said "yes" to him.

Lu Xuan walked up to her, took a slow breath, and reached out to lift the veil.

"I am the ugliest woman in Azure Sun City... did you know that?"

Her voice was trembling. "I know."

"Aren't you afraid?"

Lu Xuan looked at her. Afraid? There were plenty of things he was afraid of.

Afraid of not surviving until tomorrow, afraid that the System would turn out to be useless.

Afraid those villains would never die by his hand, and even more afraid of being unable to ever become strong.

But "ugly"?

He crouched down so he was at eye level with her.

"You didn't even mind that I'm a piece of trash... and you still came to this broken-down home with me."

"Why would I mind you? By what right?"

While he spoke, his hands didn't pause as he gently lifted the veil. The veil was pulled back, moonlight poured down, bathing Shen Yuyan in silver light.

In an instant... Lu Xuan was stunned.

For a moment, he genuinely doubted whether his eyes were playing tricks on him. Beneath the veil, there were no red spots, no legendary ugly woman.

What he saw was nothing short of a fairy. Her skin was porcelain white... flawless, like a freshly peeled egg.

A high nose, red lips.

Features so delicate they looked like they had been painted by a master's hand.

Her eyes were startlingly bright, like stars scattered across the night sky, though they held nervousness and fear... they still couldn't hide that crystal-clear beauty beneath it all.

Lu Xuan stood frozen in place, momentarily forgetting to breathe.

Shen Yuyan lowered her head under his gaze, the tips of her ears turning a deep shade of red.

"I lied to you."

Her voice was tiny... as if she had done something terribly wrong.

"There is something no one knows, while it is true during the day... my face is covered in red spots, but what they don't know is that they fade away at night."

Lu Xuan looked at her.

Under the moonlight, her face was so beautiful it didn't seem real.

"It must have been very hard for you... all these years."

Shen Yuyan was taken aback.

She thought he would ask "why" or "what happened to you."

But he didn't. He only said... "It must have been very hard."

Her eyes turned red. "Mother said that on the day I was born... someone tampered with my body."

Lu Xuan said nothing.

But he etched those words into his heart.

"Can it be cured?" he asked.

Shen Yuyan hesitated. "Mother said... it requires a Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus and over a dozen kinds of precious medicinal herbs."

She paused, her voice dropping even softer.

"It also... requires someone at the Great Grandmaster level to help clear my Meridians."

After saying this, she lowered her head, as if even speaking the words aloud felt foolish.

Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus.

Great Grandmaster.

Both of those terms might as well have been a fantasy to someone like him right now.

Not to mention a treasure like the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus, which was said to be worth more than ten thousand gold coins.

Even if someone somehow obtained one... where would they find a Great Grandmaster? There wasn't a single one in the entire Azure Sun City.

Lu Xuan was silent for a long time, while it is not possible for him now, it will be in future.

"I've noted it."

His voice was very calm.

Shen Yuyan looked up at him. She thought he would say "impossible" or "it's too hard."

But he didn't.

At that moment, Lu Xuan had already buried the words "Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus" and "Great Grandmaster" deep in his heart.

These were two great mountains he would have to cross, But before that... he first needed to find a way to obtain a Cultivation Technique.

Seeing Lu Xuan standing there in silence, lost in thought, Shen Yuyan slowly stood up.

"You rest first. I'll tidy up the room."

Lu Xuan snapped out of it.

"No, I'll do it. You're too thin for this kind of work... and besides, I'm used to manual labor."

But as he spoke, Shen Yuyan had already walked over to her bundle. She pulled out a piece of dry food and held it out to him.

"Eat this first. I'll handle the room."

She glanced around the bare walls and sighed softly.

"It's just a pity there's no water."

The house had been empty for years. Naturally, there was nothing left.

Lu Xuan stood up.

"Then I'll go fetch some water now."

When he had first walked into the courtyard earlier, he had already noticed the empty vat and bucket sitting by the wall. And there was a small river not far from here.

"Why don't you eat the dry food before you go?" Shen Yuyan called after him.

"No need. I'll be back soon."

Lu Xuan picked up the bucket and headed toward the small river.

Behind him, Shen Yuyan silently began to tidy up the messy room on her own.

Not long after, Lu Xuan returned with fresh water.

By the time he returned, the room had already been transformed. Shen Yuyan had tidied everything neatly. After a quick wipe with clean water, the place was worlds apart from what it had looked like before.

"That..."

Shen Yuyan stood at the doorway, wanting to call out to Lu Xuan as he poured water into the vat. But for a moment, she didn't know what to call him.

Lu Xuan turned around and looked at the woman leaning against the doorframe, bathed in moonlight, looking like a fairy.

So beautiful.

"You can just call me Lu Xuan. Or... Husband."

Shen Yuyan blushed a little, bit her lip gently.

"Hus... Husband."

Lu Xuan laughed, walking toward her, then Shen Yuyan continued.

"I found this while tidying the room."

She held out a yellowed, ancient book.

Lu Xuan took it and looked at the cover.

"Five Animals Transformation Art."

[Ding!]

[Host has obtained a Cultivation Technique — Five Animals Transformation Art.]

[System Suggestion: Read the technique. Then go to sleep immediately.]