Chapter 23 Farewell, May We Meet Again

"Spring Peach!"

Mudan broke free from Cui Mingcan and Li Tiankuo's grasp and rushed over to hug Chuntao.

"Chuntao, Chuntao? Are you alright?"

Chuntao smiled at her: "It's alright, she retrieved my spirit."

After saying that, he turned to look at Bai Yuheng, who was pale and had a solemn expression, and said gratefully, "Thank you, Immortal Master, for saving me and preventing me from turning to ashes."

Bai Yuheng took a breath, her brows furrowing unconsciously, and said, "I'm not trying to save you. You've harmed so many people; you deserve to die."

Cen Ying helped Bai Yuheng up, touched her cold wrist, and probed it.

She continued, "You have violated the agreement of the Three Realms without authorization and deserve punishment. Do you know your crime?"

Chun Tao obediently lowered her head: "Chun Tao knows her sins."

"Spring Peach!"

Chuntao gave her a reassuring smile: "I'm fine."

Bai Yuheng nodded.

"May I speak a few words with Peony, Immortal Master?"

Bai Yuheng nodded.

"Peony, I have avenged myself, and I killed the person. You were merely bewitched and blackmailed by me; this matter has nothing to do with you..."

Peony interrupted her anxiously, "Chuntao, what are you doing? What do you mean by this?"

Chun Tao lowered her voice and said, "Don't worry, I won't die, and neither will you. Just do as I say."

While they were whispering over there, Cen Ying checked Bai Yuheng's pulse and took a breath: "How did you damage so much of your spiritual energy?"

Bai Yuheng waved her hand and said, "Chuntao can't just disappear like this... She's only lost a little spiritual energy, it's alright, I'll be back after a few more days of cultivation."

Cen Ying stomped her foot in frustration, somewhat annoyed by her indifference.

"Okay, okay, I'm really fine," Bai Yuheng said with a smile, trying to reassure her.

"Why did the immortal master save it! This demon not only ruined my Hui'er's wedding, but also killed my cousin!" Master He glared angrily and questioned sharply.

“Master He, families have their own laws, and so do the laws of the land. The Three Realms naturally have their own laws as well. Chun Tao violated the agreement of the Three Realms by killing someone, so she should be severely punished. But it’s not the right time yet, and it shouldn’t be me who does the killing.”

"You!" Master He stammered.

Cen Ying withdrew his hand from He Huilan's wrist and said, "Miss He is fine. She was just frightened and will be alright after resting for a while."

Mr. He then devoted himself entirely to He Huilan.

*

The He family had just celebrated a happy occasion when a funeral occurred. While everyone was curious, they dared not ask too many questions, only knowing that they had encountered a demon that day.

That demon ruined his daughter's marriage and also lost a cousin. Although this cousin was a wicked man, everyone hated him and feared his background.

Those who had attended the He family's banquets for several days lamented that the He family was having a run of bad luck and had suffered a great misfortune.

Within a few days, the government actually sent a lot of people to investigate the case of the wine shop owner who hanged herself and the He family's suspected involvement in the illegal sale of salt.

Salt smuggling has always been an extremely important industry in every dynasty, and it has always been managed by the government. Buying and selling salt smuggled by the common people is punishable by death.

Later, a number of corrupt officials and unscrupulous businessmen were uncovered, but that's another story.

On this sunny day, before setting off, Bai Yuheng and her group learned that Peony was at Fang Linchun's wine shop, so they went to the wine shop together.

Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan were very curious about how Mudan managed to escape after killing Gu Feng and his group. They kept asking Li Tiankuo, who had connections in the officialdom, but he only gave them a cold reply, "Mind your own business." Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan then beat him up.

However, the truth is that even if the two of them joined forces, they were no match for Li Tiankuo in terms of martial arts. But Cen Ying was good at using medicine, and Cui Mingcan loved to learn some strange formations.

Two fists can't beat four hands.

Li Tiankuo was also exhausted by the two of them and could only say, "There's a lot more to this than meets the eye. It's not good for you to know too much..."

Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan clenched their fists.

"...Ahem, Chun Tao begged someone to take all the blame. Except for Gu Feng, who was torn apart by five horses, the others all died in accidents...and the madam and pimp of Yichun Pavilion can testify that Mudan wasn't present when they died, so..."

"So, the peony is innocent?" Cen Ying replied.

Li Tiankuo nodded.

"I never expected that Chun Tao, a demon, would have connections?" Cui Mingcan exclaimed in astonishment.

"You weren't listening to the story carefully!" Cen Ying rolled her eyes at him. "That Chun Tao was a peach blossom spirit with a thousand years of cultivation. She was once raised in the Emperor's palace, but was later removed because she committed a crime. Her subordinates, whether bewitched by the illusion or for their own selfish reasons, secretly protected her. After several changes of ownership, she was abandoned in that valley."

Li Tiankuo nodded in agreement: "Those who come from the palace all have some old connections."

"Then why didn't she use these connections to get rid of Gu Feng and the others?"

"Bang!"

"What are you doing!?"

Cen Ying gave him a hard flick on the forehead: "Are you stupid? Everyone says she committed a crime and incurred the Emperor's wrath. It's a miracle she survived and protected Mudan! Besides, Master He's family's wealth isn't clean either. Didn't you see that the investigators were just going through the motions? What are you thinking?"

They, as cultivators, couldn't interfere with the affairs of the imperial court. They could only watch these parasites and get angry, but there was nothing they could do. Li Tiankuo, who had deep ties with the government, remained silent, and it was unknown whether he had any plans.

Bai Yuheng glanced at Li Tiankuo, who treasured the sword so much that he always held it to his chest, and thought to herself.

Cui Mingcan pouted, refusing to speak to Cen Ying any further, and ran to Bai Yuheng's side, supporting her on either side.

We arrived at the entrance of the wine shop.

"Knock knock—"

Is Miss Peony here?

"Yes, please come in." Peony's charming yet husky voice came from inside the house.

Peony changed out of her pink peony dress and into a plain white dress with a white flower in her hair. Her face looked haggard, but when she looked at them, she smiled faintly, which was even more charming than when she was heavily made up.

Bai Yuheng's eyes flickered, and she said softly, "We've come to say goodbye to Miss Peony."

Peony pursed her lips, clearly still harboring resentment towards her.

Bai Yuheng didn't mind and continued, "I have another gift for you."

After she finished speaking, Peony looked up in surprise, not finding it surprising that they could sit down and talk so sweetly after being so hostile before.

Besides, she had insulted her so much.

Bai Yuheng released Cui Mingcan's hand, turned her palm towards her, and a golden light appeared, revealing a peach pit lying obediently in her palm.

"This is?"

"This is what Chuntao left for you." Bai Yuheng was thinking of a more fitting description that she could understand. "Do you want to consider it as something from before Chuntao grew?"

"..." Peony's eyes, already red from crying, suddenly welled up with tears again. She carefully reached out and took it, choking back sobs, "Is this Chuntao?"

"Hmm." Bai Yuheng didn't explain further.

"..." Peony clutched the peach pit in her hand, covering her face and weeping, "Thank you so much, thank you so much..."

"No need to thank me, just don't scold me too much next time we meet," Bai Yuheng said with a self-deprecating smile.

"Pfft—"

Peony burst into laughter through her tears, and after laughing, she knelt down earnestly before Bai Yuheng, who quickly pulled her up.

"No."

Peony insisted on kneeling.

"I have offended some of the immortal masters before, and I sincerely apologize to you."

He was about to kowtow when he finished speaking, but Bai Yuheng and Cen Ying had to pull him up with great effort.

"Sister Peony, I think you're so brave!" Cen Ying whispered when she saw that Peony was about to cry again.

Peony exclaimed in surprise, "I thought you all thought we were unreasonable bad people..."

Bai Yuheng agreed with Cen Ying, saying, "From a public standpoint, we do not approve of your actions. But from a private standpoint, they truly deserve to die, and you dared to resist; you are indeed very brave."

Bai Yuheng didn't say that they used the illusion to break down the psychological defenses of those people, causing them to kill each other or end their own lives. This method of using someone else to do the dirty work was very clever.

If their sect's mission hadn't been to capture the Peach Blossom Demon who was disrupting the order of the human world, things wouldn't have gotten so tense right from the start.

She has her connections, Li Tiankuo has his power, and Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan each have their own methods; all of them can help her.

Peony blinked and smiled shyly: "Thank you..."

"Don't be so polite! We're friends now that we've met!" Cui Mingcan said heartily.

Peony nodded shyly.

"I wonder what Miss Peony's plans are for the future?"

"Miss Bai, there's no need to be so polite. Just call me Peony." Peony smiled. "I plan to travel around with Qingyuan, taking Linchun's ashes and Chuntao with me, to see the beautiful landscape of our dynasty, and then find a good place to settle down."

Peony stroked the box and said softly, "I made a promise with Linchun to leave this Hibiscus Town together. She earns money with her winemaking skills, and I can sing in the teahouse..."

Unfortunately, fate has played a cruel trick, and now everything has changed.

Bai Yuheng smiled and said, "Then I wish you a smooth journey."

Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan said in unison, "Have a safe journey, Sister Peony."

Li Tiankuo nodded: "Everything went smoothly."

"good."

The group exchanged clasped hands in a gesture of goodwill.

Peony saw the four people out. The tofu lady, who had been looking around in front of the door, saw someone coming out and instinctively turned to avoid them. However, she slipped and fell hard.

"How is my wife?" Peony wanted to go forward to help her, and even reached out her hand, but then remembered that she seemed to dislike her, and reluctantly withdrew her hand.

"..."

Suddenly, my hands felt warm and covered with rough calluses.

"Thank you so much." The tofu lady stood up with her help, her face flushed and she said awkwardly.

Peony paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "You're welcome."

The tofu lady scratched her nose sheepishly, and without further ado, said, "I'm so sorry, sister, it was my fault that day. I shouldn't have treated you like that..."

The tofu lady had also heard some rumors and had a different opinion of the kind and delicate woman in front of her.

Peony was momentarily startled, then waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "You don't need to apologize. It's understandable that people in our line of work have reservations..."

Peony laughed and joked, "I wonder if this has affected your business. If it has caused you to be disliked by others, I would be guilty!"

The tofu lady waved her hands repeatedly and said loudly, "No, no, my tofu is so good, who would dare to complain about my tofu because of that!?"

"That's good."

Peony smiled brightly, and the tofu seller seemed to be dazzled by her smile. Her eyes darted around, and she didn't dare to meet her gaze. She even stammered a little, "Then, then I, I'm going to sell tofu... You must come and sit here often in the future, and I'll give you a 30% discount on the tofu!"

"Yes, thank you very much, my lady."

“Hey, the neighbors don’t talk about this…”

As she spoke, the tofu seller returned to her stall.

"Let's leave it here."

Peony nodded.

"There will be plenty of time in the future, and I hope we will meet again."

"Well, if fate allows, we'll meet again in the martial world."

*

When Mudan returned to the wine shop, she saw two people standing in front of the door with their hands clasped together.

She suppressed her initial mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, and walked past the two of them expressionlessly.

"Please wait, Miss Peony."

Peony turned her head and looked coldly at the couple, saying in a cold voice, "I wonder what business Scholar Tang has?"

"I would like to pay my respects to Miss Fang's ashes."

"..."

Peony took a deep breath and coldly retorted, "Scholar Tang, you've brought your newlywed wife to pay respects to a woman who has absolutely no connection to you?"

Her gaze swept over the haggard-looking He Huilan, and she looked at her with a smile, though the smile didn't reach her eyes: "Miss He, are you really willing?"

He Huilan smiled gently at her: "I'm sorry, Miss Peony. I know the whole story. It was my cousin, Gu Feng, who wronged Miss Fang. I've come to apologize to her. After all, Gu Feng is my blood relative, and I have an obligation to apologize to her."

Peony squinted and sneered, "Who knows if you're here to disgust Linchun or not?"

"Please, Miss Peony, let me apologize to her." He Huilan knelt on the ground, tears welling up in her eyes.

Tang Peiqian also knelt down.

"Anyone can apologize, but can an apology erase the harm they've done to Linchun? Can it bring her back?!"

Peony's blood surged, and she gave the tofu lady, who had been anxiously watching their situation, a nonchalant smile before turning and walking into the wine shop, slamming the door shut behind her.

The two knelt on the ground and kowtowed deeply.

"I'm sorry, Miss Fang. I'm not saying sorry to ask for your forgiveness, but because our He family owes you an apology." He Huilan bowed towards the wine shop and then kowtowed heavily.

Tang Peiqian silently kowtowed, his gaze sweeping across every corner of the wine shop, as if searching for a figure buried in hard work.

He had noticed this strong and brave girl a long time ago, but she always kept her head down and dared not look people in the eye, even when she was wearing a mask.

Every time he returned in the night fog and went out into the morning fog, he could see her hardworking yet focused figure.

He admitted that he had ulterior motives for putting a mask on her that night, and that he also had ulterior motives for rejecting her.

He began his education at the age of four and has been studying ever since, well past the age of twenty. Yet, he has repeatedly failed in examinations. Later, he realized that all the hard work he had put in, from dawn till dusk, burning the midnight oil and even hanging his head from the rafters to prick his thigh with an awl, had been wasted on others.

It's simply because he has no powerful backers.

As long as he doesn't give up on the exam, he will never pass.

Until Master He came to him.

He was confused, he struggled, he was in pain... but he still made the deal with him.

He really passed the exam!

The first place was both expected and unexpected.

He cried, and cried in a very undignified way. Everyone around him said he was just too happy.

But only he himself knew what he had given up.

He became the first scholar in Furong Town to win the top prize, and also became the son-in-law of the He family, which was the envy of everyone.

He couldn't remember what he was thinking the moment he learned of her death.

Tang Peiqian slammed his head heavily on the stone slab, and blood seeped from his forehead.

Now that the He family is under investigation, he has lost his support, and the inexplicable feeling in his heart has disappeared.

He gripped his wife's hand tightly, thinking to himself, "May you be reborn into a better life, free from suffering, bullying, and loneliness... and never encounter people like them again."

"Let's go back."

"Um."

"..."

Peony watched the two figures leave from behind the door, holding the box containing Fang Linchun's ashes in her arms, and stood quietly for a long time.

A note from the author:

----------------------

V-movie announcement:

The next chapter is a VIP chapter! [doge head with rose in hand] The tone and content of this story are similar to the "Hibiscus Town" chapter. Those who like it can buy the next chapter and give it a try! [pleading] Thanks for your support! [sprinkling flowers]

Recommended pre-orders: "Zhaoling Night Snow" (evil woman x delicate flower) and "Not a High-Ranking Wife" (truly rebellious, seemingly docile x feudal old-fashioned).

"The Demon Lord Actually Wants to Win Me Over" - A sweet and righteous girl x a love-obsessed villain

Before her sudden death, Zhu Tan, who had been a peony grower for many years, vowed that in her next life she would enjoy life to the fullest and have a sweet romance.

She closed her eyes and soon realized that she seemed to have transmigrated into a book.

She transmigrated into a fantasy novel she had recently read, and even became the daughter of the Cloud Sect leader, a minor cannon fodder character with the same name as her.

The original owner of this body was a delicate and beautiful woman, Zhu Tan secretly chuckled, thinking that she could lie down and do nothing after that...

Can anyone tell me what this "Exorcising Demons and Protecting the Righteous Path System" is?

Zhu - Born with a life of toil - Tan: How despicable!

In a fit of anger, I snapped (〃＞皿＜)！！

With tears in her eyes, she packed her bags and embarked on her journey of leveling up and defeating monsters.

*

Demon Lord Ying Wuyu is a being feared by all three realms. He is a bloodthirsty, cruel, and ruthless Asura who kills without blinking an eye.

He suffered a qi deviation during cultivation and nearly exploded and died.

But she was saved by a system called the Love System.

Xiao Ai: [Please claim your Love Manual, host. Let's find sweet romance together!]

Ying Wuyu: "Get lost."

puff--

He spat out a mouthful of black blood.

Gentle Xiao Ai smiles sweetly: [Rule number one in the dating manual: Be a gentleman and don't swear at girls!]

"..."

[Please see which romantic partner you need guidance on~]

"..."

Controlled by an unknown force, Ying Wuyu could only lie low, glancing at the delicate and beautiful woman who could be strangled with one hand.

Once he gets rid of this system, he'll slap this world to death.

The Demon Lord at the beginning: I want to kill you.

The future Demon Lord: (wagging his big tail) (looking at me expectantly) Don't you love me anymore? ...You didn't even smile at me today... (looking pitiful)

Zhu-Wuqing-Dull-Tan: Get out of here, get out of here, I cultivate the path of ruthlessness.

Being in a relationship will only slow down my sword-drawing speed!

*

A serious malfunction has occurred at the Skywalking System's task distribution center. At this time, the system is assigning tasks to the host...

The Love System, Xiao Ai, has been successfully launched: [Congratulations, host, you have been bound to the Love System. I am your love mentor...]

Huh?

Why is its host a man?

Or is he a terrifying demon?

*

[System integration successful. Congratulations, Your Majesty, on successfully binding to the Demon Extermination and Righteousness System. I am you...]

Um?

How did my host turn into such a delicate beauty?!

Isn't he supposed to be an arrogant and domineering protagonist?

#Oops, the system has linked the wrong person! What should I do? Help!#

#Oh well, let's just accept it as a mistake and make the best of it#

#Due to a glitch, the Demon Lord is forced into a relationship#

#What happens when the Demon Lord gets a love manual...#

#Long Aotian Bets on Love#

#Daily routine of taming a disobedient big dog#

#The Demon Lord's Self-Conquest Notes#