Here is chapter 3.
Three
On the rainy mountain was a lonely grieving person. The sound of sobbing could be heard amidst the clattering of the rain beating on the branches and leaves. At the end of one trail, hidden between the trees was a small, deserted shrine. A slender figure was squatting under it’s eaves. It was the daughter of the landowner who had recently gone to the Mansion of the Eight Celestials with two martial artists to bring back her fiancé. In the end she was not able to bring Lĭ Qīng back and on top of that had to witness his bizarre change. Still, she couldn’t cut off her feelings for him, but she also couldn’t bring up the courage to go to the mansion alone again. Now every day she would go to this shrine, a short distance away from the mansion and weep for her lover until the sun went down.
“Oh?”
She suddenly heard a man’s voice and raised her tear-stained face. She didn’t know when he approached, but a few feet away from her in the rain, she could make out the hazy figure of a man holding an umbrella.
“When I saw a person crying and sobbing in the middle of such mountains, I thought I had met a rain spirit.” He said with a hint of carefreeness in his voice. When she saw the man’s face appearing from under the umbrella, she gasped. Silver hair, long like a woman’s, was tied up in a ponytail. He had a high nose, fair skin, and clear, almond-shaped eyes. The blue attire he wore seemed a little too flamboyant, but when worn by this man, it looked strangely elegant. Despite having walked through the mountains in the pouring rain, not a speck of mud was spattered on his clothes.
Which nobleman is this? Why would such a high-class person be deep in these mountains? The girl thought, while admiring the man’s fine looks. But then she quickly realized why he was here and, with a pout, turned away from him. The man, aware or not of the girl‘s dismissive attitude, leisurely walked up to her.
“There seems to be something going on. Would it be too much of a bother for me to ask you about it?” The man asked with a faint smile. The girl lifted the corner of her eyes and, like a slap in the face, said loudly, “After all, you too are going to see Luán Niángzĭ, aren’t you? All men are like that. I don’t have anything to say to someone who goes to the Mansion of the Eight Celestials.”
Despite the harshness of her words, the man’s expression did not change. Still wearing an unconcerned smile on his lips, he whispered one “Oh.”
“Luán Niángzĭ of the Mansion of the Eight Celestials. I’ve heard rumours for a long time. The most beautiful woman in Dōng Lí. Young and old, even children; a man cannot help falling in love with her at first sight…and so on. I’ve heard a few exaggerated stories, but how true are they really?”
“These are no exaggerations!” The girl suddenly spoke up. “Every man who meets that woman is seduced! The martial artists I relied on, and my fiancé! Her beauty is not human, it’s demonic!” She cried out and burst into tears. The man, without looking troubled in front of the crying girl, muttered, “Hmm. A demonic beauty, huh?” He smiled. A smile that could be described as innocent.
“Luán Niángzĭ…As an opponent she has no deficiency, I suppose.”
The man walked away, leaving the crying girl alone. His steps were somewhat joyful.
‘Thief of the Wind Dust’. That was this man’s nickname.
***
Setsuna's Translation 