Chapter 52: Flowers fall, arrows fly, mortal butterflies die...
It was late afternoon, at the governor's office in Jizhou.
Lin Fanxiang looked up at the falling osmanthus blossoms.
A gentle evening breeze carried the rich fragrance of flowers. The young girl smiled and looked at Li Xian Yue beside her, "This courtyard is truly like a sea of flowers."
Li Xian Yue smiled, her gentle demeanor tinged with casualness, "Flowers, whether one blooms or ten thousand bloom, are all the same. As long as people like them, they're all good."
Lin Fanxiang raised her eyebrows slightly, then smiled and pursed her lips. She thought, so Li Xianyue is someone who has no feelings for flowers.
Unfortunately, the rumors she heard in Jizhou were that Li Xianyue loved flowers extremely, and that the entire sea of flowers in the governor's mansion was planted by the governor to please her.
Indeed, the truth of this world can only be truly understood by seeing, hearing, and experiencing it for oneself.
Before Lin Fanxiang could speak again, a maidservant ran up to them and said something to Li Xianyue.
Li Xianyue's expression remained unchanged. She smiled at Lin Fanxiang and said, "It's your friend who's here."
It must be Qingyu and the others who have arrived. Zhang Xuan is still talking with the governor in the front yard. Lin Fanxiang nodded to indicate that she understood, and then looked at Li Xianyue.
"Madam, why don't you come with me?"
Li Xian Yue smiled and looked at the orange sky not far away, saying softly, "The fragrance of flowers is always there, but the moonlight at night is truly beautiful."
Lin Fanxiang seemed to understand her meaning, and the young girl smiled, "Then I won't disturb Madam's flower viewing any longer."
Lin Fanxiang turned and left, leaving Li Xianyue standing in the sea of flowers, as if butterflies were fluttering around her for a moment.
Li Xianyue watched Lin Fanxiang leave, and finally said, "Thank you."
After walking quite a distance, Lin Fanxiang suddenly looked back.
The evening glow spread across the land, flowers swayed in the breeze, and the sound of the wind filled the air—
Only butterflies remain here.
...
forecourt.
With a thud, Lin Fanxiang watched helplessly as the maid leading the way collapsed to the ground.
"They're here."
Zhang Xuan walked towards her. Lin Fanxiang opened her mouth slightly, puzzled and shocked, and said, "This is..."
What came into view was the sight of more than a dozen maids and servants lying unconscious on the ground. Zhang Xuan was walking towards her with a knife in his hand. The study door was wide open, and the contents of the room were scattered in disarray.
Qingyu and the others stood coldly in the courtyard, facing the governor who was spitting blood.
Qin Tianshu also came over and explained the situation to Lin Fanxiang—
When they arrived at the governor's mansion, everyone gathered together and immediately revealed their purpose and the case. In the tense moment, the governor made the first move, and Zhang Xuan drew his sword and fought back.
The two fought back and forth, their spiritual energy clashing. They cleaved through many things in the study, fighting their way from inside the room to outside, from the corridor to the courtyard. While watching the fight, Qingyu suddenly called out to the governor, Liu Nian. Liu Nian was furious and wanted to attack Qingyu, but Wen Chuan intervened.
Liu Nian was defeated, and all the maids and servants in the courtyard were knocked unconscious by them.
Yes, that's the situation.
...
Qingyu looked down at Liu Nian, who was kneeling and spitting blood not far away. The young man was dressed in a black robe with gold embroidery. His face was pale but had a kind of delicate and handsome appearance. He did not look like Liu Ruonv, but he felt strangely similar to her.
Qingyu: "What a madman."
Liu Ruonu's youthful appearance was due to his wife's magic array, but this Liu Nian was not; he was a demon, yet he wore human skin.
This madman peeled away the skin of the mortal Chen Huai inch by inch back then, and then put it on himself.
Moreover, he must have used some method to absorb the spiritual energy of mortals, and then fused his demon bones with human skin.
Originally a demon, yet it took human form.
Half-human, half-demon, that's what it meant.
Upon hearing this, Liu Nian looked up and saw that the young man's laughter was tinged with a deep madness.
"Hehehehehe—"
"So what if I am Chen Huai, or Liu Nian? I did not lay a hand on you, yet you all came to my door to attack me."
"There's no such logic in the world!"
Wen Chuan laughed out loud upon hearing this. He looked through the yamen's files for the year, word by word, case by case, how many ordinary people had disappeared without a trace, and how many had not been recorded.
He looked down at Liu Nian, his eyes devoid of emotion, his voice gentle yet icy.
"reason?"
"How much spiritual energy have you absorbed from mortals this year?"
"There are piles of white bones in the blacksmith's shop. The real Chen Huai died with his eyes wide open. Whom can they seek justice from?"
Liu Nian listened to Wen Chuan with a smile the whole time, while the young man looked at them with a disdainful yet somewhat puzzled smirk.
"Just a mortal, when it's over, it's over."
Qingyu frowned. The girl looked at Liu Nian with an incredulous expression, feeling deeply puzzled and powerless.
Liu Nian said the same thing as Liu Ruonv: they looked down on ordinary people.
Qingyu could understand where this sense of superiority came from—because they had spiritual power and felt that they were superior to others.
However, Liu Ruonv's wife is a mortal, Liu Nian's mother is a mortal, and even Liu Nian's current wife, Li Xianyue, is a mortal who is not even a cultivator.
How can they regard the lives of ordinary people as worthless as ants, while simultaneously yearning for the emotions of ordinary people?
Qingyu looked at Liu Nian and said, "Since you look down on mortals, why did you go mad and kill so many people just to put on a human skin?"
"Neither human nor demon, what is your purpose?"
The evening breeze blew inside and outside the house, and the rosy hues and fragrance of flowers drifted into their hearts.
Liu Nian looked up at Qing Yu and sensed Liu Ruonv's demonic aura emanating from her.
He didn't answer Qingyu's question, but coldly said, "My father... is dead?"
"You killed him?"
"You possessed his demonic spirit...you are a demon?"
Upon hearing this, Qingyu remained calm, and the girl sighed softly.
"I've come to kill you at your father's behest."
"Ha ha ha ha--"
Liu Nian laughed as he struggled to his feet. The man was still bleeding, his eyes were bloodshot, and his face was pale with unspeakable sorrow.
"He still wants to kill me, hahaha! It's just a formation, but it's worth remembering me even in his dying moments!"
"He wants to kill me, why doesn't he come and kill me himself!"
"He died so easily, why should I?!"
Liu Ruonv couldn't keep his mother, so she gave up on him and could leave easily.
As for Liu Nian, he also has his own wife, and he even has a child.
It's okay. If Chen Huai can't be one, he can be someone else. There are so many mortals in the world. If he absorbs more spiritual energy, he can still be a human.
You can still have a home.
His own home.
Suddenly, a strong wind arose, the young man's jade crown fell off, and the fragrance of flowers seemed to materialize and squeeze the young men present. Liu Nian's black hair turned white, and his black robe billowed as if he were going mad.
A black and gold circular array rose from beneath his feet. Amidst the whistling wind, Liu Nian's wounds healed rapidly. The spiritual energy of the fallen servants and maids instantly dissipated, as if all the mortal spiritual energy in the courtyard had flown towards him in an instant.
To Liu Nian's surprise, the boys present only resisted the fragrance of the flowers and did not stop him from making his move.
Zhang Xuan held his sword to protect Fan Xiang behind him, the scholar in blue used his fan to control the wind, and Wen Chuan slightly turned his head, as if he was avoiding something.
Under the glow of the sunset, the fragrance of flowers captivated all living things.
Qingyu looked up at Liu Nian, listening to the sound of the wind not far from him. The girl's expression was complicated. Upon closer inspection, her eyes seemed to contain a kind of pity that she herself was unaware of.
She spoke last.
"Killing people makes you a person who can't be considered human."
The girl's voice was very faint, so faint that the words kept echoing in Liu Nian's ears.
Amidst the howling wind, Liu Nian was momentarily stunned, then dismissed it with disdain. Whether he was a demon or a human, he would only do what he wanted to do.
The young man's eyes were bloodshot. As his sleeves fluttered, the black-gold array grew larger and larger, spiritual energy whipping up a fierce wind. He opened his arms, greedily striding towards his future—
"Whoosh—"
Suddenly, an arrow shot out, swiftly cutting through the wind.
The sun has set, and the bright moon hangs in the sky.
That was an extremely sharp, accurate, and fast arrow.
The man's chest trembled, and the world seemed to fall into an empty echo. His demonic aura scattered and returned to the mortal realm, but he couldn't care less about that—blood spilled out, and he turned around in disbelief.
Li Xianyue stood on the rooftop, gripping her bow and arrows tightly. Her wide purple robes were stained with dust, and even the moonlight could not conceal her slender figure.
Her eyes were red, and tears welled up in her eyes but refused to fall.
Her hands were extremely steady.
Amidst the fragrance of flowers, Li Xianyue from the governor's mansion took out her long-unused bow and arrow and shot her beloved husband to death.
Under the bright moonlight, Li Nu'er, the blacksmith, took the coming-of-age gift her father had given her and avenged her father's murder.
Liu Nian stared blankly at the figure.
He thought, somewhat numbly and inappropriately, why she had lost weight.
It must be that kid Chen Rang causing trouble for her again, it must be those servants in the mansion talking nonsense again, it must be something wrong with her food, clothing, housing, or transportation.
perhaps.
For a moment, he thought,
Perhaps, it's because of him...
Liu Nian looked at Li Xian Yue, and just stared at her.
The man coughed up blood silently, and gently collapsed.
The moon was too high; after he fell, he lost sight of her, but he didn't want to close his eyes.
She will come down.
She will come down and hug him, just like countless times before.
my wife……
She will...
she……
He never closed his eyes in the end.
...
It's so quiet.
It was already dark, and the wind suddenly stopped. Li Xianyue closed Liu Nian's eyes.
Her hands still bore deep marks from the bowstring, and having not drawn the bow for a long time, even a single arrow took her a great deal of time.
It's finally over, she thought.
Li Xianyue stood up and looked at the group of young people in front of her.
The woman gently approached Lin Fanxiang and took out a peony from her sleeve. "Thank you for the flower."
Because of this peony, Li Xianyue was not affected by Liu Nian's spirit-absorbing formation.
Lin Fanxiang shook her head. She accepted the peony, but her gaze fell on the girl in red not far away. "Although the flower is mine, the person you should thank is not me, but her."
Seeing this, Qingyu remained calm and walked over.
"Your arrows are very accurate."
Although this arrow lacked cultivation, it accurately pierced Liu Nian's heart—in the wind, a mortal's arrow extinguished the butterfly's heart.
How wondrous is fate! The butterfly demon absorbed much of the spiritual energy of mortals and used a special method to desire a perfect fusion of demon bones and human skin. As a result, at the moment the arrow pierced the air, his heart became the most ordinary mortal heart.
Neither the cultivators nor the demons present offered any assistance.
That arrow was extremely sharp, exhilarating, and tragic.
Li Xian Yue smiled upon hearing this, "Thank you."
Zhang Xuan sighed softly and stepped forward, saying, "The death of a prefectural governor is no small matter. Even the Demon Suppression Pavilion will investigate. You should be prepared."
Having been taught by Prime Minister Zhang, Zhang Xuan had some knowledge of these official procedures.
To his surprise, Li Xianyue looked up. The woman's eyes were clear and bright, and her voice was soft yet articulate.
"The blacksmith shop owner, Mr. Liu, in the south of the city is a demon. He killed the people who had disappeared in Jizhou City over the past year, including Gao Da and Gao Er. After the governor investigated him, Mr. Liu went directly into the governor's mansion, knocked out the servants, killed Chen Huai with an arrow, and then fled. This is what I saw with my own eyes."
"The disappearances have been frequent, and the yamen officials have reported them. It was Chen Huai who didn't pay enough attention and suppressed these matters. But now that he has died because of a demon, the dead should be respected, and no one can say anything more."
"As for the so-called demonic chaos, it is due to the incompetence of the Demon Suppression Pavilion in Jizhou, and has nothing to do with me, a mere mortal."
“Chen Huai’s relatives are not in Jizhou. As his second wife, I am also raising his child. The journey is long. If his relatives come, I will take Chen Rang to Shengjing. If they don’t come, I will continue to live with Chen Rang. As an orphan and a widow, the court will provide us with relief, and the new governor will also treat us well.”
"You can leave now; these things have nothing to do with you."
Thank you.
Li Xianyue has wronged many people in her life, but in the end, she still doesn't want to give up like that. She has already planned her future and who will be on her path.
The arrival of the boys was unexpected, but Li Xianyue felt it was inevitable.
Such an ending must be because Heaven couldn't bear to see her suffer any longer, didn't want her to struggle anymore, and didn't want her to just accept her fate.
That must be it.
So she clumsily climbed onto the roof, hiding the flowers that fate had given her in her sleeve.
So when the bright moon appeared in the sky, she drew her bow and arrow.
So, with tears in her eyes, she finally and steadily released that arrow.
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Author's Note: The next two chapters are Butterfly's Confession, explaining the story in detail [upright-eared rabbit head].
Preview: After Butterfly Love, there will be a main storyline, followed by the Cloud Boat arc, which is my personal favorite. I hope you all like it too, and please leave lots of comments! [Let me see]
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