Lingshan people drew attention wherever they went. Li Guanyu and Li Guanxing led their prisoner forward, the group barely exchanging words until they reached the city gates. Shang Guanyue glanced toward Huayulou. Many in the crowd were curious about her appearance but were quickly driven back by Guan Mulan’s stern gaze.
Upon hearing Lingshan people were leaving, the city lord waited at the gates with his men for half a day until finally seeing them. Guan Mulan’s attitude was cold as she directly showed her Lingshan badge, blocking his enthusiasm.
Once the travel documents were exchanged, the matter was mostly settled.
Li Guanyu asked worriedly, “Master-aunt, are we really not waiting for him?”
Guan Mulan replied firmly, “No. Let him go.”
Li Guanyu sighed and turned away. Li Guanxing tugged his sister’s sleeve: “He Liansheng seems to be back.”
He Liansheng had returned, but not alone. The young man tilted his head, pulling Xing Shuishui’s sleeve as she followed at a distance. His gaze fell briefly on her, and Xing Shuishui instinctively looked up, seeing only the evening light on his shoulders.
Li Guanxing stared at Xing Shuishui in surprise: “Didn’t you leave?”
Xing Shuishui said, “I did. But He Liansheng said my grandfather might go to Lingshan to pray. So I thought… if possible… maybe I could go to Lingshan too…”
Guan Mulan rolled her eyes.
Li Guanxing looked at He Liansheng: “What about you? Weren’t you looking for the Spirit-Suppressing Tower?”
He Liansheng said, “She picked up the tower as a pendant and wouldn’t return it, so I caught her.”
Guan Mulan rolled her eyes again but showed no intention of stopping them.
Li Guanyu pulled He Liansheng aside and whispered, “Bringing someone to Lingshan without permission – did you discuss this with the Mountain Lord?”
Seeing he clearly hadn’t, Li Guanyu continued, “Lingshan isn’t like the mortal world. Without cultivation or family background, Shuishui could easily be bullied. Especially by those pampered young masters. Liansheng, if you really—”
She hesitated, face reddening, unable to finish.
He Liansheng scoffed, “Did no one teach them the mountain rule about showing compassion to mortals? If they can’t do that, they can leave. Guan Mulan may indulge them, your family elders may indulge them, but with me, I’ll just cut off their hands.”
Li Guanyu was truly speechless. Never mind then.
Xing Shuishui hadn’t heard what they discussed. She looked up curiously as Shang Guanyue suddenly raised his head, glancing at him then at her before laughing.
What was he plotting now? Xing Shuishui was confused. But she thought, whatever – as long as she could go to Lingshan, everything else could be worked out. Fallen leaves yellowed the whole pool, and when the wind blew, people became trapped. The autumn rain fell continuously on their journey, making the roads muddy and the air thick with moisture – not good traveling weather.
Morning, noon, night.
Rain.
One day, two days, three days.
Daily routine: exorcise spirits, sleep, exorcise spirits, sleep, exorcise spirits, exorcise spirits, exorcise spirits, exorcise spirits, exorcise spirits, exorcise spirits, exorcise spirits, exorcise spirits.
He Liansheng and the others exorcised spirits while Xing Shuishui slept. She easily became drowsy in autumn, calling it “conserving energy.”
Li Guanyu said, “We’re almost at Lingshan. Let’s rest here tonight.”
The carriage stopped, the bumpy ride ending.
Xing Shuishui opened her eyes groggily, realizing she had been sleeping on He Liansheng’s shoulder. She stiffened and quickly moved away. Fortunately, He Liansheng was sitting in meditation, holding his sword.
She stared up at him for a while. The young man lowered his gaze, his dark pupils reflecting her sleepy face.
All day she either ate or slept – sometimes he wondered how she had survived until now without being captured or eaten.
He Liansheng’s tone was unreadable: “Awake now?”
Xing Shuishui took his sarcasm in stride, rubbing her eyes: “No. Still want to sleep.”
He Liansheng stared at her.
Xing Shuishui started chattering again: “Autumn is perfect for sleeping. Not too hot or cold – you need good rest before doing important things.”
He Liansheng coolly finished her sentence: “Xing Shuishui, your important thing is eating, right?”
Xing Shuishui lowered her eyes, ignoring him. She ran to hold Li Guanyu’s hand. Li Guanyu smiled helplessly and reached up to fix her messy hair.
Her disheveled state was rather cute.
He Liansheng stared at her appearance, smirking. Li Guanxing glanced at him and looked like he’d seen a ghost.
This place was very quiet with few visitors. The inn’s servant heard movement and opened the door, seeing a group of heavenly beautiful people that made his eyes go wide.
Crash— The servant’s bowl shattered on the ground.
Loudly: “Welcome, honored guests!”
The inn was peaceful with a large courtyard and several wing rooms. Guan Mulan and He Liansheng despised each other’s sight and naturally stayed far apart. Xing Shuishui wanted to stay near Li Guanyu but found He Liansheng next door.
What terrible fate.
Since learning she had to kill him, Xing Shuishui tried to avoid He Liansheng. But the bracelet was troublesome – if only she could remove it. So she worriedly asked Li Guanyu: “Sister Guanyu, I want to return this bracelet to He Liansheng, but I can’t seem to take it off.”
Li Guanyu examined the spirit bracelet, frowning: “There seems to be a spell on it. If I can’t remove it, only he can break it.”
She made a seal, pale blue spiritual energy wrapping around the bracelet. Xing Shuishui pulled, but still couldn’t remove it.
Li Guanyu sighed: “It has a soul imprint. I can’t erase it.”
Xing Shuishui froze slightly – He Liansheng had basically put a tracker on her! Thinking of what she had to do later, this bracelet was clearly too problematic. If necessary she could burn it with spirit fire, but destroying the soul imprint would likely alert He Liansheng.
So, she looked down at the bracelet, it would have to wait until just before she left.
Thin clouds glowed with a soft white light as she stared for a long time.
The window was half-open, fallen leaves blew to her feet mixed with misty autumn rain, carrying a very faint sadness – perhaps that’s just how this season was.
Li Guanyu asked: “Do you really hate this bracelet?”
Not really hate. Xing Shuishui said: “The bracelet is beautiful, just not really suitable for me.”
Li Guanyu covered her hand, suddenly saying: “I believe Master-aunt told you this bracelet’s history. In that case, you should understand He Liansheng’s feelings somewhat. We haven’t reached Lingshan yet, everything can still change. Shuishui, I want to know what you think.”
Xing Shuishui looked at her with innocent eyes.
“Sister Guanyu… I don’t really understand.”
Li Guanyu asked: “You don’t understand, or you don’t want to understand?”
“…”
After a long silence, the fallen leaves by her feet had disappeared.
Xing Shuishui stared at the fruit plate, emotions complex. She had no choice in this matter.
Li Guanyu thought she was worried about other things and comforted her: “We cultivators don’t really care about family background. If He Liansheng cared about such things, he would have already followed his master’s wishes and gotten engaged.
If Shuishui isn’t particularly against it, you could… try accepting it a little. Though his personality is rather cold, he doesn’t seem that bad.”
The candle flickered in the mirror which was wet, blurring the young woman’s reflection.
Xing Shuishui ate a grape, suddenly smiling helplessly: “Sister Guanyu is so sure He Liansheng likes me. What if he – hates me instead?”
Li Guanyu wiped the foggy mirror and told her: “Let me teach you a way to test it.”
She lowered her voice as moths circled the lamp, shadows dancing until night fell.
The moon hung high as crows perched on bare branches. Peach blossoms had withered and merged with the mud.
Xing Shuishui hugged a pomegranate and opened the door to see He Liansheng.
Their eyes met.
This time she didn’t deliberately avoid him, but asked: “Are you looking for Sister Guanyu?”
He Liansheng’s gaze was mocking: “Does this courtyard belong to her alone?”
Fine then. It doesn’t. Xing Shuishui kept her hands behind her back and said: “But your timing is perfect! Have you seen any flower baskets around?”
She tilted her body, pointing to the fallen peach blossoms: “Look! So many fallen flowers would be wasted. I want to collect some to make sachets. They smell wonderful. My elder sister used to do this all the time, though they tend to rot if kept too long…”
He Liansheng asked puzzled: “You have an elder sister?”
Xing Shuishui realized she might have let something slip. She put the pomegranate on the wooden table under the peach tree and bent down to pick flowers: “Yes.”
“But she’s gone now.”
Her words held barely noticeable loneliness.
He Liansheng conjured a flower basket and placed it beside her. Xing Shuishui’s vision darkened briefly as she stared at the newly appeared basket for a second before looking up at He Liansheng: “Thank you…”
The young man crossed his arms, backlit as he asked: “How will you repay me?”
Xing Shuishui gathered a handful of petals, revealing a cunning smile.
“You’ll see later!”
She put a basket of peach blossoms on the table, threading a needle to sew them onto floral fabric.
He Liansheng watched with interest: “You know needlework?”
Xing Shuishui boasted shamelessly: “Of course, my stitching is excellent.”
The young man lowered his eyes to look. Excellent? What an eyesore of stitching. Nevertheless, he rested his chin on his hand and watched her sew for a long time, showing no signs of boredom.
Soon, she finished a somewhat oddly-shaped goldfish sachet. Xing Shuishui was clearly quite satisfied, playing with it in her palm for a while before finally giving it to He Liansheng: “Here’s your repayment.”
The young man examined it briefly: “Just this?”
Shuishui: “What else?”
He Liansheng complained: “It’s ugly. Make a proper one.”
How picky!
Just as Xing Shuishui was about to protest, she caught sight of the pomegranate Li Guanyu had given her and said softly: “I could…”
She picked it up and looked at him: “But you have to help me peel this pomegranate.”
He Liansheng’s tone instantly became harsh: “Why should I help you peel a pomegranate?”
Xing Shuishui: “Then I won’t make you anything. I’m tired anyway. Going to bed now!”
The young man narrowed his eyes, caught her before she could leave, and directly snatched the pomegranate from her hand.
Xing Shuishui froze, remembering Li Guanyu’s words: Though He Liansheng has a bad temper, if he likes you, he’ll help peel a pomegranate no matter what if you ask him.
He Liansheng lowered his eyes to examine the pomegranate. Xing Shuishui pressed her lips together.
She knew how twisted he could be.
The young man extended one hand.
Don’t—
But He Liansheng’s fingertips had already pressed against the pomegranate skin, splitting it into sections as red juice spread between his fingers.
He placed the peeled pomegranate seeds in a bowl, raised his eyes, and said flatly: “Xing Shuishui, why are you spacing out?”
He Liansheng, if one day you learn I’m a spirit – the kind of spirit you hate most…
Would you still like me?
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