The Trash Sect's Ascension - chapter 1

The day Master died, the Sunset Glow Sect was cold and desolate.

Only the three of us disciples and the Green Donkey that had accompanied him for years were at his side.

The Sunset Glow Sect was a rundown sect, barely worth mentioning in the cultivation world where strength reigns supreme.

Master’s death was like a pebble tossed into the sea-before a ripple could spread, it was already silent.

I used the hoe I usually loosened the bok choy soil with to dig a square pit in the vegetable garden.

I wiped the blood from the Old Man’s lapel, arranged his hands folded over his chest, and buried him there.

The Second Junior Sister, who loved forging iron, worked day and night to cast a pair of ugly iron lions to guard the grave.

She said it was to keep him from chattering underground and angering others, so the divine beasts could protect him from being beaten.

The Junior Brother, who cherished flowers as his life, wandered the flower field with scissors for a long time, comparing again and again, before reluctantly choosing the most flourishing bloom of each color.

His nimble fingers wove a five-colored wreath, which he hung crookedly on Master’s simple tombstone.

He stared silently for a long while, then spat out three words: “Reincarnation, beautiful.”

As always, he was sparing with words.

The Green Donkey that had accompanied Master for most of his life brayed “En-ang, en-ang” nearby.

I patted the dirt from my hands and kicked the grave mound. “Listen, even the donkey’s calling you stupid.”

“Of all things to pick, you chose a white-eyed wolf, and gave your heart and soul to them. Next life, be smarter!”

The Green Donkey kept braying “En-ang, en-ang.”

Three people, six eyes, all turned to it at once.

Second Junior Sister swallowed. “Slaughter it? Just in time for supper.”

The Green Donkey looked terrified, braying more urgently and kicking its hooves.

“Forget it, this donkey’s seniority is higher than ours. The Old Man treated it like his own son. If we kill it, he’ll haunt our dreams every night.”

“Ew-better not, then.”

The Green Donkey narrowly escaped death and was entrusted to Taoist Priest Qiu of White Cloud Mountain.

Taoist Priest Qiu was the Old Man’s chess companion. When trouble befell the Sunset Glow Sect, it was he who secretly sent word to us.

He patted the donkey’s head, looking a bit sad, and asked what we planned to do next.

I looked at my empty palms and tugged at the corner of my mouth. “No plans. But for every grievance, there will be retribution; for every enmity, vengeance.”

Taoist Priest Qiu was shocked, glanced cautiously around, and lowered his voice: “But that’s the Sword Sect! The greatest sect in the Nine Provinces, full of experts!”

“I’ve heard your Junior Sister was rewarded for presenting a treasure, saving the Sword Sect’s most valued genius disciple, Xie Changgeng, and was accepted by the Sword Sect Leader as a Personal Disciple.”

“Not only that, I heard your Junior Sister, following sect rules, went to the Sword Pool to seek a sword and actually caused Ten Thousand Swords Ringing in Unison! Do you know, in five hundred years, aside from Xie Changgeng and the now-deceased Senior Sister of Sword Sect, no one else has ever caused such a phenomenon.”

“Take an old priest’s advice: your Junior Sister is not who she once was, and the Sword Sect is fiercely protective. If you kids go seeking revenge, you’ll be making enemies of the entire Sword Sect. Isn’t that courting death and dooming the Sunset Glow Sect’s legacy?”

I patted Taoist Priest Qiu’s shoulder and, under his astonished gaze, raised three fingers: “Priest, you’re wrong about three things.”

“First, from the moment she killed Master and stole the treasure, Jiang Li was no longer a disciple of Sunset Glow Sect, and is unworthy of being my Junior Sister.”

“Second, what the Senior Sister of Sword Sect caused was not Ten Thousand Swords Ringing in Unison, but Ten Thousand Swords Bowing.”

“Third, I am no kid. By age, I wouldn’t mind if you called me great-grandmother.”