Chapter 15. Let her go.
When she woke up again, Jiang Huaisu had already transformed back into her magpie form.
That's not surprising; she usually can't maintain her human form for very long. What's strange is... how did she just faint?
She crawled out of bed, shook her feathers, and looked around.
The layout and furnishings of the room were very familiar; it wasn't hard to recognize that this was Miaolian's bedroom. Several years had passed, but little had changed; even the position of the flowerpots on the windowsill was exactly as she remembered.
With a creak, the door was pushed open, and Miaolian walked in refreshed, carrying a plate of sliced fruit.
"Awake?" He fed Jiang Huaisu a piece of fruit, his manner familiar. "Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"
His behavior was so natural that Jiang Huaisu momentarily wondered if she had lost a piece of her memory. Wasn't she just about to say goodbye to him? How did she end up sitting on his bed eating the fruit he brought her? What had happened in between?
"Eat it, it's not poisonous."
“...Oh.” Actually, she did suspect that Miaolian had put drugs in the food, otherwise why would she have fainted?
However, his frank attitude made her feel guilty for judging him with a petty mind, so she immediately tried to cover it up by saying, "That's not what I'm worried about."
Miaolian said, "You fainted because of overwork and malnutrition. You should eat more. Although you are a demon, you are still made of flesh and blood. Don't take your body for granted."
Is that so? She never neglected her food along the way and rarely went hungry. But thinking about it carefully, it seems she only focused on taste and didn't pay attention to the nutritional value of the food.
Before she transmigrated here, she had a problem with low blood sugar, and the symptoms were very similar to when she fainted just now. Thinking about it this way, the logic immediately made sense to her. She stopped dwelling on it and flew to the desk. "I see, thank you."
Miaolian placed the fruit plate next to her: "It's nothing. I'm going out for a bit. You can stay in your room for a while. If you get hungry, eat this. There are also dried fruit and dried meat in the cupboard."
Why don't you ask me where I'm going?
Jiang Huaisu's gaze hadn't left the cabinet yet, but she already asked, "Oh, where are you going?"
"Hunting." He seemed to be in a good mood. "You can order. What would you like? Bear paws, monkey brains, deer tendons?"
These don't even sound like common ingredients...
Wait a minute, does this mean she's tacitly agreeing to stay for dinner tonight? But then again, it's really hard to refuse such a feast of wild game.
Back when they were wandering the world with Monkey King, they didn't really crave meat. Grilled fish and chicken without seasoning were just okay, nothing to make them unforgettable. Besides, their cooking skills weren't great; they were lucky if the meat wasn't burnt, and they couldn't guarantee the texture of the meat.
Now that things are different, she believes the chefs at Zhenfu will cook the meat in a very delicious way.
"I'm not a picky eater... but is your leg okay?"
"It won't affect anything," Miaolian said nonchalantly. "Even if my leg is broken, I can still beat a tiger."
He took down the bow and arrows hanging on the wall and left with light steps.
Jiang Huaisu watched him from the window, observing his practiced movements as he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, suddenly recalling the first time she met Miaolian, when he shot her down with a single arrow in the same way. This man seemed to hunt not merely to fill his stomach, but rather as a form of entertainment.
Having not seen Miaolian for so long, she had completely forgotten about him and almost forgot the concept that "the souls of the lower realms are equivalent to the incarnations of evil thoughts."
Since Miaolian is a wisp of Nezha's soul, carrying the five poisons, six desires, and seven emotions, his desires are indeed stronger than those of ordinary people... It's not very obvious in other aspects, but his bloodlust is quite obvious.
Is hunting a way to release stress?
Whether we should be thankful or not, at least his bloodlust was directed only at animals that had not yet developed intelligence, and had not yet reached the point where he would randomly kill people at will.
She was a little curious about what Nezha himself would be like.
As for the demon-slaying deity, he shouldn't have trouble venting his killing intent; with so many demons and monsters, surely he could kill them all. Recalling Nezha's reborn form in Journey to the West, he was a dutiful and responsible deity, much more emotionally stable than his father.
As Jiang Huaisu pondered this, she turned over in bed.
Lying on the soft bedding was certainly comfortable, but the aroma in the room made her a little dizzy. Forcing herself to stay awake, she chewed a few more pieces of dried meat, but felt even more drowsy. Looking out the window, she thought she could go for a walk and breathe some fresh air to wake herself up.
The window wasn't closed properly, and she intended to slip out in her bird form, but the moment she touched the window frame, the window slammed shut like a trap. Luckily, she dodged quickly, or her head would have been crushed.
Looking with lingering fear at the slightly trembling flower branches by the windowsill, she sensed something was wrong. There were traces of spiritual energy fluctuations in the air, and it seemed as if some kind of barrier-like spell was attached to the window.
Jiang Huaisu transformed back into human form and walked around the room, discovering traces of magic on the walls and doors. She tried to push the door open, but despite the absence of a latch, it seemed welded to the spot, the door remaining completely still.
This really got her going. She threw down the jerky in her hand, swung her arm around, and started struggling against the door. It has to be said, being human has its advantages; hands are much easier to use than wings.
Even so, the door wasn't easy to push open; it was practically a steel plate. She used every trick in the book, throwing all sorts of random spells at it like they were free, and relying on brute force, before finally managing to loosen it.
I don't know how much time passed, but the shadows of the trees outside the window gradually faded, and the sun emitted a warm, orange-yellow glow.
Jiang Huaisu heard the door creak, knowing that this was a sign that the barrier had been broken.
She breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from her forehead, jumped up and down a couple of times, rubbed her shoulder joints, and prepared to deliver a fatal blow to the broken door.
Since Zhen Miaolian was unkind first, don't blame her for being unjust; she won't compensate for the damage to this door.
Although it's unclear why Miaolian locked her up here, it seems there's no reason needed. Just like when he built the birdcage and played the pet-owner game with her, he did it on a whim.
He has always been like this.
But Jiang Huaisu felt she could not afford to fail twice in the same place. Staring at the hateful door in front of her, she mustered all her strength and charged forward like a bull charging into the ground.
Just then, Miaolian returned from hunting, carrying a bloody carcass of wild boar meat on his shoulder. It looked roughly cooked, with the internal organs removed. His unrestrained manner of carrying the meat seemed quite out of place with his brocade robes and jade belt, yet surprisingly, it was harmonious.
Miaolian stood under the tree, half of his clothes stained red. At this moment, he seemed unconcerned about the filth on his body, his gaze fixed blankly on the direction of the bedroom.
Literally, it meant bursting out of the door. Jiang Huaisu grabbed one side of the door with each hand and rushed out of the room.
She then casually tossed the door aside, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. However, the moment her eyes met Miaolian's, her smile froze.
Now was the time to run! She was about to transform into a bird and fly away when Miaolian reacted, threw off what was on her shoulder, and swiftly caught her, holding her in her palm.
She struggled angrily, and Miaolian seemed a little flustered as well: "What's wrong with you?"
"Then you should ask yourself, why did you lock me in the room?"
"I didn't lock the door."
"But you set up a barrier."
Miaolian's brows furrowed and then relaxed, and she chuckled softly: "...No, you misunderstood."
He explained that the barrier simply served a protective function, shielding him from the disturbances of some mountain spirits and monsters.
"Sorry, I set that up out of boredom a while ago, I'd completely forgotten about it." He scratched his head. "You're a demon, so that barrier probably identified you as an intruder."
Jiang Huaisu's struggling movements faltered.
Indeed, as a reincarnation of a deity, Miao Lian's attraction to demons is stronger than that of ordinary people.
Most of those monsters had the desire to steal but lacked the courage, but there might be an exception like the King of Hearts, whose head was crushed by a door, who immediately chose the toughest bone to gnaw on from the Li family, and was determined to risk his life for a piece of immortal flesh.
Given this consideration, it seems only natural that Miaolian Society would set up a protective array.
Miaolian looked at the dilapidated door panel on the ground, and said, whether in a sarcastic tone or in a genuine compliment, "You're pretty amazing."
Jiang Huaisu had already largely believed what he said. Following his gaze, she chuckled dryly twice: "...Why didn't you say so earlier? Look at the mess this has made."
She said hesitantly, "Put me down, and I'll help you put the door back in."
"No need, this barrier is just for show anyway. As for the door... I'll have Xiaozhu find someone to fix it later."
"...Are you sure it's okay?"
Miao Lian said nonchalantly, "It wasn't a high-level spell to begin with, even you could break it... Oh, I don't mean to look down on you, but look, you've only been cultivating for ten years and you can break the formation, let alone those monsters with thousands of years of cultivation."
Have you ever encountered a powerful demon?
"No, they're just some low-level demons. Not only me, but my parents have encountered them too. Dealing with them isn't too difficult. Once they've been turned away from, they basically won't come back."
During the years Jiang Huaisu lived in Zhenfu, she didn't encounter any monsters except for the King of Hearts. Now that she thinks about it, she may have been blind and oblivious to the undercurrents surging behind her.
As for powerful demons with profound cultivation, they are even more adept at weighing the pros and cons.
For those seasoned veterans, the gains from attacking Miaolian weren't enough to make them decide to take the risk. Just getting a bite of meat wasn't worth it, but if they killed Miaolian outright, they'd have to be prepared to have their bones crushed and their ashes scattered by Nezha.
Miaolian squatted down and gently placed her on the ground: "Never mind that door, I have something more important to ask you."
"What?"
Are you staying for dinner?
Jiang Huaisu was taken aback. What kind of question was this? His expression was so serious; she thought he really had something important to say.
"......Keep."
She finally got to taste the wild boar meat, and just as she had imagined, the meat was fresh and fragrant, cooked perfectly by the chef, and it couldn't compare to the wild boar meat she had cooked herself.
After enjoying this long-awaited sumptuous dinner, it was time to say goodbye to Miaolian.
We can't keep shamelessly staying for late-night snacks, then having breakfast, and it can never end like this.
Miaolian offered to escort her and take a walk on the beach to digest her food. But he walked very slowly, and after half an hour, they were still some distance from the shore.
Jiang Huaisu thought he might be affected by the old injury on his leg, so she didn't feel comfortable urging him. Although she wanted to spread her wings and walk directly on the empty road, she thought that this was the last part of their journey together, so she patiently accompanied him slowly.
The sun had long since set, and the waves rose and fell under the dim moonlight.
"We've reached the seaside." Jiang Huaisu stopped. "This is enough, you can go back now."
Can you see your way at night?
"No problem."
During her years in the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars, she frequently asked Monkey King, both openly and secretly, about the location of Flower Fruit Mountain by the sea, and she knew the route by heart.
"You seem to be in a hurry."
“After all, I’ve never been there before,” she said, not hiding her excitement. “I’m a little curious about what Flower Fruit Mountain is like.”
Miaolian scoffed, "What's so interesting about a bunch of monkeys?"
Too lazy to argue with him, Jiang Huaisu said goodbye and prepared to fly out to sea. Things were different now; she was certain she could cross this sea with just her wings.
Miaolian's voice came from below: "You've gone to Flower Fruit Mountain, but you'll come back, won't you?"
"Of course." Occasionally, I need to come to town to buy things.
Can I come to you over there?
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Huaisu tossed down a talisman:
"You can contact me through this if you need anything, so you don't have to make a special trip. There are two talismans; the other one is with me. You can write on the talisman, and I can see it."
Miaolian held the talisman in her palm and said "Oh".
His expression was inscrutable as he watched the little bird fly away. After a long while, he finally looked away.
After returning home, he studied the talisman given to him by Jiang Huaisu for a while, and tentatively wrote down four characters.
What are you doing?
After writing, the ink disappeared, as if absorbed by the talisman. About two hours later, a line of writing appeared on the back, Jiang Huaisu's concise reply:
[Just arrived at Flower and Fruit Mountain]
He suddenly felt listless, slumped over the table, fiddling with the talisman paper, and stopped replying.
If you go to Huaguo Mountain, will you have a house to live in, a bed to sleep in, and meat to eat? I really don't understand why Jiang Huaisu insists on going there.
Although he had considered keeping her, Jiang Huaisu showed strong resistance to being locked in a room. If he were to break off relations and insist on keeping her in Zhen Mansion, it would probably lead to a fight, which would be very troublesome.
After testing her, he became certain that Jiang Huaisu's strength had grown significantly over the past few years. He used to be able to confine her in a birdcage, but now even a magically enchanted barrier couldn't hold her. Ordinary sleeping potions also had little effect on her.
At the dinner table, he repeatedly tried to find out who Jiang Huaisu's teacher was and who had given her guidance, but she always managed to evade the question with a few words.
She didn't want to talk about it, and he was too lazy to ask anymore.
In any case, she left this talisman before she left, indicating that she didn't intend to never see him again.
Miaolian yawned listlessly.
The wind was blowing in, the windows were open, the door hadn't been repaired yet, and the room was drafty from all sides, causing the beaded curtains to jingle in the wind.
The crisp, rhythmic sound of the wind rustling against the beaded curtain made him a little sleepy, but he knew he would have nightmares if he fell asleep, so he didn't want to go to sleep so early.
Deliberately trying to clear his head, he stepped onto the table, slipped out of the window, and nimbly climbed onto the roof like a cat. He sat cross-legged on the edge of the eaves, looking down at the empty courtyard.
Unsurprisingly, people with normal sleep schedules should be asleep by now.
Moreover, after his parents died, he had dismissed most of the servants, making the large mansion even more deserted.
His mind went blank for a few minutes, then he slowly looked up, gazing at the moon in a daze. He decided to stay there, letting the night breeze carry him away until dawn.
A note from the author:
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