Chapter 15 The Fragrance of Peach Blossoms: Even a demon is more compassionate than a human.
Outside Furong Town.
The four of them tracked the demons all the way to the outskirts of the town. At the foot of a rather desolate and remote mountain, the demonic aura around them grew stronger and stronger, and even the other three of them could feel it.
"What a rich aroma!" Cui Mingcan covered his nose and frowned.
"What kind of fragrance is this?" Bai Yuheng also took a closer look and smelled it for a while.
“It smells very similar to the wine in Fang Wuyan’s wine shop, and…” Cen Ying closed her eyes and sniffed lightly, then opened them again and said with certainty, “It’s the scent of peach blossoms.”
"The fragrance of peach blossoms can be so strong!?" Cui Mingcan exclaimed in surprise.
"It seems to be a powerful demon." Li Tiankuo drew his sword and said calmly.
"Be careful, everyone. We'll play it by ear." Bai Yuheng summoned the golden snake back, which landed on her wrist.
"good."
The four of them walked together into a flat area hidden by bushes. What came into view was an abandoned, stagnant lake. Beside the lake was an extremely thick and tall peach tree, with petals falling in profusion and landing on a grave.
Surrounded by mountains on three sides, this place receives very little sunlight and is extremely cool.
"Who has broken in?"
A clear, cool female voice echoed from all sides of the mountain wall.
A slender figure emerged from behind the peach tree, dressed in a red dress and pink shirt, with large, delicate peony blossoms swaying gracefully as she walked.
Who exactly are you?
Her voice was naturally charming, so it seemed she was not a peach blossom fairy.
"Why are you harming people?" Cen Ying asked, her fingers gripping a needle, ready to fight at any moment.
"Harm people? Hahahaha..." Peony laughed so hard she couldn't straighten up. "Are you kidding me? Are we harming people?"
"..." Cui Mingcan said coldly, "What deep-seated hatred do they have against you? Why would they collude with that peach blossom demon?"
Peony's smile faded, and she swept her cold gaze over them.
"And you? Why are you helping those murderers?"
Bai Yuheng: "Did they kill Fang Wuyan?"
"..." Peony's lips twitched, she wanted to laugh but couldn't manage a smile, endless sorrow covered her.
"No, they didn't kill Fang Wuyan directly."
Peony glared angrily: "They're the ones who killed Linchun!"
"Linchun? Her name is Linchun?"
Peony raised her head slightly and slowly walked towards the grave. The tombstone was made of the finest stone, with the words "Tomb of Fang Linchun, Daughter of the Fang Family" engraved in red ink. A pair of fair, white hands gently stroked the petals on the stone.
"Lin Chun is kind-hearted, easily hurt, and stubborn, prone to getting stuck on trivial matters..."
Peony turned around, her eyes smiling, like a peony in full bloom: "Shall I tell you a story?"
"Long ago there was a little girl named Linchun. She was born in the spring, carrying the love of her whole family. She was extremely beautiful, the most beautiful girl in the surrounding villages. Her parents doted on her, and the family ran a thriving winery."
Peony sat on the ground, leaning against the tombstone, as if she were holding the arm of her friend.
"It was because of her happy and fulfilling family life that she was envied by some people. That fire burned for a very, very long time, so long that half of her body was almost roasted and charred..." Peony nestled against the wall, each word she uttered causing her pain. "A kind person saved her and cared for her for a long time, but because half of her face was ulcerated, everyone thought she was an omen of bad luck and had killed her whole family. Otherwise, why would she be the only one to survive such a huge fire?"
She was ostracized, disliked, and hated.
Later, he came to Furong Town and supported himself with his family's traditional skills.
She was the first to open and the last to close in Cat Alley. At first, people disliked her because of her appearance, but because she was always kind to people, their opinion of her changed slightly, but they still avoided her.
"Who would like to drink that ugly stuff? You'd be laughed at for the rest of your life if you bought it!"
"Is someone so ugly going to poison people inside?"
"Half her face is good, half is bad, could she be cursed? Will drinking her wine make me as ugly as her too? Hahahaha..."
Who would drink wine brewed by an ugly, unattractive woman?
"unlucky!"
"nausea!"
"This is disgusting!"
...
"Hey? Are you trying to commit suicide?"
A charming voice woke her up.
She was startled and glanced at the water, which had already reached her calves.
"N-no." Her hoarse voice made her lower her head in shame, her long bangs covering half of her face.
She dared not look at her. Her voice was so beautiful that she must be an extremely beautiful woman, but she dared not look at her, for fear that her filthy gaze would defile her.
Peony felt that she was lying through her teeth, and even though the water was almost up to her waist, she still stubbornly insisted that she wasn't: "Then what are you doing?"
"I...I'm looking for something..."
She's lying. She can tell right away.
"Did you find it?" she asked.
No, no.
"How much longer are you going to soak?"
She fell silent.
"What are you looking for? I'll help you find it."
Qingyuan, who was standing nearby, exclaimed in alarm and tried to dissuade her.
"Wife, don't go down!" She began to regret sneaking out with her to clear her head; if her mother found out, they would be in big trouble.
"Qingyuan, just stand there."
A splash of water followed by a woman's piercing scream.
She came down?
Fang Linchun couldn't help but turn around to look.
She thought to herself that today was not a good day, sighed softly, and decided to find another deserted place to die.
She didn't want to involve innocent people. The lake water was icy cold and quite deep; she was afraid that soaking in it for even a short while would make this delicate young lady seriously ill.
She was immediately stunned by her beautiful appearance.
What a nice view.
She had never seen such a beautiful woman before.
"Ah! A ghost!"
It wasn't until her maid, Qingyuan, saw her face and screamed that she snapped out of her daze, hurriedly covered her head, and dived into the water.
They were afraid that even a moment's delay would be harmful to them.
"Splash—"
She was pulled out of the icy lake and brought back into the sunlight.
Her hair, soaked in the lake water, clumped together, offering no cover for the scars on her face; instead, it only made her face appear more gruesome.
She quickly covered her face, afraid that she would see that disgusting face.
What are you doing?
"Don't worry about me, hurry up and go upstairs," she said in a muffled voice.
"What about you? If you don't go up, I won't go up either."
"..." Fang Linchun had never met such a person before, and was at a loss for what to do, so she was pulled ashore.
Seeing that she was still wearing her head covered, Peony found it somewhat amusing.
"Let go of me quickly and change into clean clothes so you don't get sick."
Fang Linchun felt a lump in his throat.
"……Thanks."
"What are you thanking me for?" Peony took the cloak that Qingyuan handed her and draped it over her, covering her entire body and head.
"..." Thank you for giving her dignity.
"May I know your name?"
Fang Linchun hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Fang Wuyan."
Is it the "silent" in "silently ascending the west tower alone"? Why was it named that? Is it because you don't like to talk?
"..." This was the first time Fang Linchun had met someone who loved to talk so much. She didn't understand what it meant to "silently ascend the west tower alone," because she had never been to the west tower.
She tried to make her understand that her name didn't have such a good meaning: "No, it's the salt used for cooking."
Salt-free.
Peony thought of her face and pursed her lips.
"Ugly woman without salt" has been a derogatory term used throughout history to describe someone who is ugly.
"That's not the name I'm asking about."
Fang Linchun's body trembled, he suddenly raised his head, and then quickly buried it again.
She hadn't thought of that name in a long time. After her parents passed away, no one wanted to know the name of an ugly and ominous person. People preferred to call her by her nickname, and she had gotten used to it.
"Don't you want to talk about it?"
The cloak swayed.
"My name is Fang Linchun."
"It's a very nice name. My name is Peony." Peony smiled. "Peony, as in peony flower."
“Yours sounds very nice too,” Fang Linchun suddenly felt her previously cold ears getting hot. “You’re also very beautiful, like a peony.”
"Thank you, Linchun."
"..."
Fang Linchun realized for the first time that his name sounded so beautiful, melodious and pleasant, like a lark in a valley.
"Thanks."
“Wife…” Qingyuan reminded her at the right moment, “We’ve been out long enough. If we don’t go back soon, we’ll get scolded.”
Peony sighed softly and handed her the mask she had worn to avoid being seen when she came out.
"Don't go looking for anything in the lake anymore. It's okay if the things are lost, as long as you're alright." Peony was a little worried that she might try to commit suicide again, but she was just an ordinary person struggling in the filth and couldn't save her. "Can I come visit you next time?"
"..."
Fang Linchun didn't know how she responded to her; perhaps she agreed, perhaps she remained silent, but she didn't go back into the lake. Perhaps she had lost her spirit and was afraid.
She put on the mask she had given her and draped her cloak over herself, concealing her disheveled state and her pitiful pride. She thought to herself that today was a good day, otherwise how could she have met such a kind fairy?
"Linchun thought it was me who saved her that day, but that's not true." Peony's eyes were filled with tears, and her voice choked with sobs. "That was my first time entertaining a client. He was a well-known wealthy merchant in Furong Town. Many people said I was lucky and had a good life. I met such a big spender on my first time. He was willing to spend a fortune on me and obey my every word."
"I loathe myself, I feel disgusted, but I am powerless to resist. My fate was sealed from birth. I will be sold while I am still beautiful, lingering among all sorts of men. When I grow old and lose my beauty, perhaps I will fall ill and be discarded with a straw mat or burned in a fire; or perhaps I will be taken away by a wealthy merchant as a concubine while I am still young; or perhaps I will be lucky enough to save some money to buy my freedom and live out my days alone in a place where no one knows me..."
Crystalline tears streamed down her cheeks and across her tombstone, as if she too had wept.
"That day I took Qingyuan out to relax, and perhaps it was a sign from heaven that I met Linchun. We would often come there to talk about everything under the sun, sharing our past experiences and our pains... It seemed that if we talked about it, the pain would disappear."
"She never looked down on me for being a prostitute who had been ridden and tasted by thousands of men, just as I never cared whether her face was intact or whether her background was unknown."
Like two faint sparks coming together, they depend on each other and burn together, drawing warmth from one another.
"We had originally planned to go to the imperial palace in the capital together, and then head south to see the water towns and lotus flowers... and find a place where no one knew us to live."
"But they ruined all of this!"
Peony's beautiful face twisted in pain as she cried out, "If it weren't for Gu Feng taking a liking to Linchun's brewing skills and conspiring with others to bully her, and... and his future cousin-in-law... she wouldn't have been so despondent as to hang herself!"
"So this is your reason for killing them?" Cen Ying's thoughts were complicated, both for their fate and for the woman who had died.
"Then why did that peach blossom fairy help you?" Cui Mingcan asked. "What deal did you make?"
"Hahahaha... What kind of deal is this? Even a demon is more sentimental than a human." Peony sneered, mocking.
"I don't care why you're here, but you won't be leaving here until we send those people down to avenge Linchun."
"you!"
A note from the author:
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