Chapter 2 "It's me who has a shorter lifespan, not you..."
Jiang Huaisu was eventually taken back to the mansion by that person.
He is indeed a young master from a wealthy family; even the birdcage prepared for her is a custom-made one, with filigree inlaid on the copper lid, making it extremely exquisite.
No matter how exquisite it is, it doesn't mean she'd be happy living there, being an object for others to admire. Suddenly receiving the script for "The Canary" filled her with trepidation.
The wound had been bandaged, and since no bone was broken, it would recover in a few days. But that kid really liked her feathers, and after treating her wound, he casually plucked a few flight feathers.
She won't be able to fly long distances until her feathers grow back!
In the first few days after entering the mansion, she was determined to remain mute and ignored everyone who tried to talk to her, but she never refused food or drink, and it was always good to keep herself looking sleek and healthy.
Unfortunately, her travel plans had to be postponed. She would only have a chance to escape the mansion once her feathers and wounds had healed.
The little rascal is a boy, but his name sounds very girlish; he's called Zhen Miaolian.
The lotus heart, a wondrous realm—what a noble and beautiful image! Is it really appropriate to apply it to him? Jiang Huaisu had her doubts.
However, it was thanks to Miaolian's frequent walks around carrying the birdcage that she was able to glean so much information from the conversations of those around her.
The only thing that puzzled her was that Zhen Miaolian was clearly the only child in the mansion, so why did everyone call him the Third Young Master? Where were the Eldest and Second Young Masters? Jiang Huaisu couldn't figure it out, so she could only put aside her doubts for the time being and take it one step at a time.
The back courtyard was spacious, with bamboo poles laid across the veranda for drying clothes. Maids, holding long poles, prepared to lift the clothes and bedding from the baskets onto the poles, taking advantage of the good weather to drive away any musty smell.
When Miaolian saw this, she went over to help and casually hung the birdcage on a nearby tree branch.
The maid smiled at him and said, "Third Young Master, leave these trivial matters to us. You can focus on walking your bird."
He pursed his lips: "Walking the bird isn't fun. She ignores me and won't talk to me."
How could a bird speak? The maid smiled without saying a word, and pretended to tease the magpie in the cage, her tone somewhat like coaxing a child: "That must be a bad bird, neither lively nor endearing."
"Perhaps it was because I shot and wounded her wing that she holds a grudge against me."
The maid was speechless. She had only been in the manor for a short time and had not interacted much with the third young master, but she had heard from others that he sometimes went to the outskirts of the city to hunt birds and beasts.
It turns out that this magpie was also hunted.
Miaolian seemed unwilling to say anything more, and picked up a long pole to hang the heavy quilts on the horizontal bar. He seemed very relaxed and enjoying himself while doing this.
Even the maids who were used to doing rough work couldn't do it so skillfully. They rubbed their sore arms and stepped aside.
The seven-year-old child possessed such astonishing strength, which seemed commonplace to everyone else in the mansion, but the maid was witnessing it for the first time and was understandably amazed.
Just as surprised as she was, Jiang Huaisu was also in the cage.
Miaolian was not tall enough to stand on; she had to tilt her head back and hold the long pole high to hang the clothes up.
But his hands were very steady during the process... Jiang Huaisu thought that his hands must have been just as steady when he drew the bow and shot the arrow.
He worked while wandering among the silk fabrics, clearly mostly playing around. His snow-white skin was almost transparent in the sunlight, nearly blending into the white gauze. He squinted slightly as he looked up, the sunlight dazzling his eyes.
Seeing the wind making the gauze dance gracefully, his gaze drifted into a daze as he reached out to touch it. Through the swaying veil, he imagined the feel of clouds.
No...that's not right. Clouds are definitely much softer than this.
Jiang Huaisu tilted her head and stared at him. His appearance was indeed very deceptive, like a little fairy who had fallen to earth and was about to ride the wind away.
The maid was also a little stunned, thinking that if the young master grew up, he would definitely have a great advantage in wielding swords and spears, after all, he had such innate superhuman strength.
In that moment of distraction, she didn't notice that a snake was emerging from the cracks in the soil beneath her feet.
Having just emerged from hibernation, it was extremely hungry and needed to find food.
Jiang Huaisu noticed the uninvited guest's arrival even before the maidservant, and her heart nearly stopped when she saw him.
She knew she was on the snakes' menu, but unfortunately, she was trapped in a cage and couldn't escape to a higher place.
However, the snake did not attack Jiang Huaisu immediately. It slowly crawled to the maid's feet, seemingly assessing whether the human in front of it would pose a threat.
The back has black and white horizontal stripes... It should be a banded krait? And it's venomous!
Jiang Huaisu watched in horror as its small, flat head pressed against the maid's trouser leg.
In an instant, her mouth reacted faster than her brain, and she reminded him:
Watch your step!
The maid immediately lowered her head, startled and jumped back a step. However, the snake had already assumed an attack posture, its body coiled and its head raised, like a spring ready to be released.
No one saw when Miaolian suddenly appeared beside the maid. Just as the snake straightened its body, bared its fangs, and was about to bite the maid's ankle... he reached out and deftly pinched the back of the snake's head.
With its vital points pinned down, the snake twitched weakly twice, its tail coiling around Miaolian's arm, but it couldn't muster the strength to tighten its grip, let alone strangle the human.
Soon, it completely lost the strength to resist, like limp clay, allowing Miaolian to knead and shape it as she pleased.
The maid, still shaken, huddled behind a tree. Seeing that the danger had passed, she remembered the voice that had appeared out of nowhere... If she hadn't been reminded, she would definitely have been bitten.
The maidservant began looking around for the source of the sound, while Jiang Huaisu buried her head under her wings and pretended to be dead.
Miaolian glanced at the little bird, then looked away, a smile playing on her lips.
"I'm going to walk my birds and play with snakes. You can leave the rest to dry yourself."
"Oh...oh." The maid realized what was happening and quickly said in a serious tone, "Thank you for saving me, young master!"
No longer daring to make fun of him like a child, the maid became much more cautious, stammering, "Uh, also, just now...did you hear that sound?"
What was that sound?
"The voice sounded like a girl's, and she shouted 'Watch your step!'"
"Are there any other girls here besides you?"
"No, but..."
Miaolian interrupted her seriously: "It's probably just passersby talking outside the wall that you overheard and accidentally alerted you."
Too lazy to argue with the maid any longer, he hummed a strange and ethereal tune as he left the inner quarters. Carrying a birdcage in one hand and a venomous snake in the other, his back view was as dashing as an old man's.
Jiang Huaisu huddled in a corner of the cage, feeling utterly hopeless. She thought she would be questioned when she returned to her room, but to her surprise, Miaolian simply put the cage on the desk and then took the venomous snake out again.
She waited from dawn till dusk, until she was completely numb, and all her tension dissipated.
Spreading her wings in the cramped birdcage, she flapped them twice, longing for the days when she could fly freely. Gazing at the night sky, she longed to plunge into the clouds.
Just then, Miaolian walked in carrying a patterned lacquer tray.
"Silly bird, are you throwing a tantrum?" He no longer pretended to be well-behaved in front of Jiang Huaisu. "I brought you some food, try it, it's my cooking."
She was indeed a little hungry, and her spirits lifted.
Miaolian poured the minced meat from the plate into her small food box. "Guess what kind of meat it is today?"
A strange, fishy smell emanated from the food box, making her hesitant to eat. For the past few days, she had mostly eaten grains and fruits, only snacking on dried meat.
He poked her tail. "Can you smell it? It's the snake we caught today."
“I originally wanted to play with it, but that stupid snake kept trying to bite me,” Miaolian sighed. “We couldn’t get along peacefully, so I had to kill it. Thinking that I couldn’t waste it, I simply mashed it into a paste for you to eat.”
Jiang Huaisu nearly kicked the food box over. Snake meat that hadn't been properly handled shouldn't be eaten!
Looking at the pile of minced meat mixed with blood and steam, she completely lost her appetite.
Just hours ago, the snake was Miaolian's playmate, but now it's her meal. Jiang Huaisu doesn't know whether she should be thankful that she's still alive and hasn't turned into bird jerky.
But if I die here... maybe I can travel back to my original world?
Lost in thought, she was stunned until Miaolian snapped her fingers in front of her.
"Why aren't you eating it? I cooked it and added seasonings, so it shouldn't taste too fishy."
"...I...I don't like eating snake meat."
Miaolian raised an eyebrow: "Wow, she's finally talking."
“You heard it all during the day,” Jiang Huaisu said defiantly.
“That’s different. Before, you were talking to other people. Now you’re talking to me.”
Jiang Huaisu said weakly, "So what if I can talk?"
"This means you've awakened your intelligence." Miaolian rested her chin on her hand. "That's a good thing."
Will you kill me?
Why would I kill you? Do you think magpie meat is delicious?
She quickly said, "It's not good, it's not good. Anyone who eats it will regret it."
“That’s more like it. Rather than eating you, I’d rather keep you around to amuse myself,” Miao Lian said cheerfully. “Although there are people willing to pay high prices for demon flesh, I’m not short of money.”
"Yes, yes. It's much more worthwhile to keep me alive than to kill me; emotional value can't be bought."
Miaolian gave a noncommittal laugh, the sarcasm in it quite obvious.
Jiang Huaisu blinked, made two gurgling sounds in her throat, and feigned a pitiful state. A bird under the eaves has to bow its head; finding no chance to escape now, the most important thing was not to offend him, otherwise, the snake's fate would be her fate.
"Emotional value...I haven't experienced it yet."
"Before, we weren't familiar with each other and didn't open up to each other. But things will be different from now on!"
"I see."
Having confirmed that her life was not in immediate danger, Jiang Huaisu mustered her courage and went to test Miaolian's attitude.
"However, my lifespan is short, and I can't stay with you for many more years." Actually, she wanted to know how long Miaolian intended to keep her imprisoned. Surely she couldn't be imprisoned forever?
Miaolian dismissed it, saying, "There's no need to worry about that. It's me who has a shorter lifespan, not you."
She said tactfully, "I'm a magpie." A magpie's average lifespan is definitely no longer than a human's!
"......"
In fact, even if Miaolian claimed to be an immortal, Jiang Huaisu would not doubt it, because there were many unusual things about him.
His excessive precocity gave him a peculiar sense of contradiction. Sometimes, his words and actions were very mature, and at other times, he would reveal a very natural, childlike demeanor.
However, he claimed to be a mortal and seemed uninterested in cultivating immortality.
“I’ve read about your demon cultivation methods in storybooks,” Miao Lian said, counting on her fingers. “It’s nothing more than gathering qi, cultivating the mind, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon… Oh, I’ve also heard that some people increase their cultivation by eating human hearts.”
"I don't have any human hearts to feed you. But you can have as much of the essence of the sun and moon as you want. Keeping it here won't hinder your cultivation."
No way! Jiang Huaisu thought, her destination is Flower Fruit Mountain, how can she be stopped here!
A note from the author:
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