Chapter 34. His similarities to Miaolian. ...
The cleanup work was mainly handled by Yang Jian's side.
Both demon and human infants must be sent back to where they belong. Demon soldiers who surrendered early on will also be dealt with according to the severity of their crimes.
Nezha added that there was an octopus demon that could be released.
That octopus demon had never eaten a human before. It was unlucky enough to be tricked into doing hard labor at the docks. It was an outsourced member of the demon gang.
Ling'er stood behind Jiang Huaisu, watching the heavenly soldiers bustling about. The other girls had already been sent away, but she said she wanted to stay a little longer, so the heavenly soldiers didn't bother with her for the time being.
"Where do you live?" Jiang Huaisu asked Ling'er. "How about I take you home later?"
“Great!” Ling’er’s eyes lit up. “My home is in Yinshui Village. You can come visit me for a while, sister. Our village is beautiful! Every winter it snows really thick, and we can build lots of snowmen. Now… well, although there’s no snow in spring, there’s a mountain nearby with a beautiful waterfall. Oh, and there’s a sea nearby…”
Ling'er kept talking nonstop, as if she really wanted to invite Jiang Huaisu to her house.
In just half a month, Ling'er was forced to witness bizarre things she had never seen in her previous life. She could have ignored the strange and monstrous monsters, but these beautiful, powerful, and life-saving deities allowed her to glimpse another bizarre side of the world, and she couldn't help but feel a longing for them.
“No,” Nezha refused on Jiang Huaisu’s behalf. “She wants to go back to Heaven.”
Jiang Huaisu scratched her forehead: "It's okay to postpone it for a few days. Anyway, I'm a very idle person in Heaven."
Nezha: "...Then I'll go back by myself."
“You could also go and take a look at Yinshui Village,” Jiang Huaisu suggested. “You’ve been so busy lately, you should take a short break.”
Seeing that the two seemed to disagree, Ling'er dared not speak. At this moment, Nezha had returned to his original form, dressed in red robes and golden armor, with magical weapons surrounding him. He moved like the blazing sun, looking very majestic like a deity, but his approachability was greatly reduced.
Ling'er subconsciously moved closer to Jiang Huaisu, who seemed easier to talk to.
Jiang Huaisu turned her head and asked, "Is Yinshui Village far from here?"
"It must be quite far, within the territory of Aolai Kingdom, near the East Sea. Sister, if you... really find it inconvenient, then forget it, you don't have to accommodate me," Ling'er said cautiously.
"Aolai Kingdom?" Jiang Huaisu thought, "What a coincidence."
Judging from the description, Yinshui Village should not be far from Huaguo Mountain. Perfect timing, she needs to go to Huaguo Mountain to say goodbye to the monkeys before returning to Heaven, so this is quite convenient.
“No problem, let’s go back together.” Jiang Huaisu then turned to Nezha and said, “Xiaotian and the others are still responsible for the cleanup work, so they can’t travel with me. What about you, Nezha? Do you want to come along?”
*
Above the clouds, Ling'er peeked out with a mixture of fear and excitement, looking down at the faintly visible scenery below.
Nezha: "If I fall from this height, I'll probably die in hundreds of pieces."
Ling'er silently shrank back a little.
"How long are you going to stay in Yinshui Village?" Nezha slowed down his Wind Fire Wheels slightly, walking alongside Jiang Huaisu. Although he had agreed to travel with them, it wasn't for fun. He simply felt obligated to return Jiang Huaisu safely after he had taken her away from Flower Fruit Mountain.
"Just a quick look around, no need to stay overnight." Jiang Huaisu had already learned about Ling'er's family situation from her, knowing that she was an orphan who lived alone and led a very poor life.
The small wooden cabin was barely big enough for three people, so Jiang Huaisu didn't plan to stay long.
Nezha gave an "oh," ending the conversation, and sped up to fly ahead, as if in a silent urging.
Yinshui Village is indeed a beautiful place, just as Ling'er said.
After landing, Ling'er led them to her little wooden cabin. It hadn't been cleaned for a while; cobwebs had formed in the corners, and a thin layer of dust covered the floor.
Ling'er regretted her impulsive invitation to their home. They were perfectly content living in heaven; they certainly wouldn't be comfortable here! Every step on this floor left a dusty mark—how could any immortal possibly walk on it?!
She stood somewhat awkwardly at the doorway: "Sister, and... Your Highness the Third Prince, please wait at the door for a moment, I'll go in and clean up first."
Nezha and Jiang Huaisu both peered into the doorway, their two heads squeezed together against the door frame.
"Are you doing a thorough cleaning? We'll help you." Jiang Huaisu reached out to brush away the cobwebs on the door.
“This level of dirt can be solved with the dust removal spell,” Nezha said reliably. “I’ll do it.”
Since Nezha had taken on this task, he would definitely pay attention to every detail. In order not to interfere with Nezha's spellcasting, Jiang Huaisu and Ling'er stood outside the door, one on the left and one on the right, like two door gods.
Ling'er sighed, "Knowing magic is so convenient, but learning magic must be much harder than cleaning, right?"
"That's true."
Jiang Huaisu recalled when Nezha was still Zhen Miaolian, and for a time he locked himself in his mansion and wouldn't go out. Back then, his room was much dirtier and messier than the one before him. It's clear that magic isn't omnipotent; everything depends on a person's subjective initiative.
"Oh dear, I forgot we don't have any food at home." Ling'er slapped her forehead. "Sister, you two rest here and wait for me. I'll go buy some ingredients and make you steamed fish for lunch!"
"No need for that, we can just eat out."
“Nothing sold outside tastes as good as what I make,” Ling’er assured, puffing out her chest. “Sister, just wait and see how I cook; you won’t be disappointed.”
Ling'er greeted Nezha inside the house, took out her money pouch from the cabinet, and ran off to buy things.
Jiang Huaisu, the only one without work, could only sit on the doorstep in a daze.
Ling'er is a very self-reliant girl, something Jiang Huaisu had already noticed. While they were on the cloud with nothing to do, the two girls chatted about various things. Jiang Huaisu learned that Ling'er's parents had passed away early, so she had learned to take care of herself from a very young age.
At this moment, Nezha also cleaned the room and sat on the threshold with Jiang Huaisu, waiting for Ling'er to return.
Jiang Huaisu gently nudged Nezha's shoulder: "Have you noticed? This place is really close to Flower Fruit Mountain! Ling'er and we seem to have a special connection. Maybe I can come and visit her again in the future."
"When you return to the mortal realm next time, she may have already become an old woman."
“...That’s true.” Jiang Huaisu’s thoughts began to wander. “However, she said she doesn’t plan to get married and wants to live her whole life on her own. Without any ties, wouldn’t that be perfect for cultivating the Tao?”
“It’s not something you can just do if you want to,” Nezha said ruthlessly. “She doesn’t have the talent for cultivation. If she insists on taking this path, she will most likely be wasting her time and effort, ending up with nothing.”
"What a pity."
"There's no need to feel sorry for her. She can be happy living her life as an ordinary person. Isn't she quite content with her current life living alone? A wealthy businessman in the city wanted to marry her, but she didn't agree. Everyone has their own ambitions."
Jiang Huaisu's eyes widened: "So you were eavesdropping on our conversation in the clouds! You even heard that kind of thing!"
Nezha said with dissatisfaction, "What do you mean by eavesdropping? Your voices just happened to reach my ears. You were so close, did you expect me to cover my ears?"
"......"
However, Jiang Huaisu admitted that Nezha's words made some sense.
Ling'er seemed to be a very content person. Although she was curious about the flying gods and fancy magic, she did not express any intention of cultivating immortality.
Nezha's eyes were somewhat vacant. He tilted his head and leaned against the door frame: "Jiang Huaisu."
"What are you doing?"
"You've already noticed that this place is very close to Flower Fruit Mountain, but haven't you noticed something else?"
"..." Jiang Huaisu had discovered something else, but she didn't say it out loud due to various considerations. She wasn't sure if what she was thinking was the same thing that Nezha had told her.
"This place is very close to where I used to live."
Is it fair to say they were of one mind? This was indeed the same thing that Jiang Huaisu was thinking.
She secretly observed Nezha's expression. "I didn't say anything because I was afraid of offending you."
Why does this kind of thing have to do with me?
"Because you said before that you didn't want to bring up those old, trivial matters again."
Nezha paused for a moment, then remained silent.
Just when Jiang Huaisu thought the atmosphere was about to become awkward, he turned to look at her again and said slowly, "I said that because I didn't want you to see me as him and transfer your feelings for him onto me."
It is clear that "he" in this statement refers to Miaolian.
"Why make such a distinction? It has nothing to do with whether I transfer my feelings or not. I mean, you and him are one." Jiang Huaisu couldn't understand Nezha's logic, so she simply voiced her doubts.
Luckily, she had gotten quite familiar with Nezha these past few days, otherwise she would have pretended to be stupid or changed the subject by making small talk.
"Miaolian only existed during that period of time and cannot be considered the complete me."
“You can’t say that,” Jiang Huaisu pondered. “You weren’t a complete you when you were a baby. You didn’t have your current memories or abilities, but does that mean you weren’t you? The you of today and the you of yesterday don’t exist in the same time period, but they are both you.”
You kept going back and forth, almost confusing Jiang Huaisu herself, but after she finished speaking, she quickly reviewed her words in her mind and felt that she was right.
The longer you spend with Nezha, the more you realize the similarities between him and Miaolian.
Although Jiang Huaisu had considered separating Nezha and Miaolian, objectively speaking, such a separation was not realistic. Deep down, she could not regard them as two completely unrelated people.
Nezha raised an eyebrow: "So that's what you think."
"Haha, just my humble opinion." Jiang Huaisu chuckled dryly, offering him a way out. "Anyway, the final interpretation is up to you."
The two tacitly avoided continuing the topic. In any case, Miaolian's untimely death in that life couldn't be considered a pleasant memory.
After sitting in silence for an hour, Jiang Huaisu began to get restless. Mainly, she had several large itchy welts on her legs from mosquito bites, and mosquitoes were buzzing in her ears.
She got up to swat away the mosquitoes, then looked up at the sky and, remembering that Ling'er was still outside, said with some worry, "Why hasn't she come back yet?"
It was past noon, and the sun was blazing. Most families would have been eating lunch by now, but where was Ling'er? She hadn't been seen for so long. Even if one walked the entire village from west to east, it probably wouldn't take an hour.
Jiang Huaisu stood on a nearby rock and gazed into the distance, only to see the azure horizon.
"I'll go look for her."
"Together."
Jiang Huaisu hesitated and said, "But what if she comes back later? Why don't you stay here?"
"Just leave her a message inside the house." Nezha stood up. "Let's go."
"Oh." It's fine for two people to search together; it'll be more efficient.
Jiang Huaisu remembered that Ling'er said she was going to buy fish, so they first visited the fishmongers at the market.
The village is only so big, and many villagers know each other, or at least have greeted each other before. Taking this into consideration, when Jiang Huaisu inquired about Ling'er's whereabouts from the fishmonger, she didn't waste any time and simply gave him Ling'er's name.
After strolling around the market, there were only six fishmongers in total. The first five shook their heads and said they had never seen Ling'er. It was only when they asked the last one that they finally received a different response.
The fishmonger seemed quite familiar with Ling'er. Although he said, "I haven't seen her come to buy fish today," he asked Jiang Huaisu a follow-up question after answering: "Is that girl really back? I haven't seen her for a month or so. I thought she had left the village and moved somewhere else. What are you to her?"
Jiang Huaisu: "We are her new friends who came to visit. Ling'er said she would make steamed fish for us and went out to buy ingredients, but she hasn't come back yet."
"I see. Why don't you go to the beach and ask? She might have bought it from a fishing boat."
"Okay, thank you."
"Hey, wait a minute." The fishmonger looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before carefully beckoning to Jiang Huaisu, signaling her to come closer.
Jiang Huaisu approached.
"Since you are her friends, you should know about that wealthy merchant in the city, right?"
“I’ve heard Ling’er mention it.”
Jiang Huaisu didn't know much, only that when the wealthy merchant came to the village to buy fish, he fell in love with Ling'er at first sight and proposed marriage, but was unsuccessful. Ling'er showed utter disgust towards the man, saying that he was old enough to be her grandfather, yet he still wanted to take advantage of a young girl, and was shameless.
"A while ago, Ling'er disappeared without a word. The wealthy merchant came to the fishing village but couldn't find her. He thought Ling'er was hiding from him, so he got very angry."
"...Such a thing is true?"
“We can’t fathom the temperament of the rich. That wealthy merchant used to send his servants to the fishing village to look for Ling’er from time to time, and sometimes he would come in person. Even when he was rejected, he didn’t know how to stop. During the time Ling’er has been missing, he has been coming even more frequently. Remember to tell that girl that if she encounters this group of people, she must stay far away.”
Jiang Huaisu nodded: "I will tell Ling'er. Could you describe what that wealthy merchant looks like?"
"He had a big belly and was quite tall. He always wore a wide-brimmed, furry hat," the fishmonger recalled. "His name was something like Tang Hu... I think those were the characters. That's all I know."
Nezha, who had been listening in, suddenly interjected, "This name sounds familiar; I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."
“That name sounds familiar too.” Jiang Huaisu pondered. “I know there was a man named Tang Bohu.”
As they talked, the two walked towards the sea, intending to inquire about Ling'er's whereabouts near the fishing boats.
Unfortunately, the trip was fruitless again. According to the information she had gathered, Ling'er had not bought any fish from any fishing boat.
Jiang Huaisu was so frustrated with her search that she was questioning her life choices: "She couldn't have gone out to sea to catch fish for us herself, could she? Or did she change her mind halfway through and buy something else instead of fish?"
“There is an even worse possibility.”
"What?"
"She encountered the wealthy merchant, or one of his servants. She was kidnapped."
“Didn’t that wealthy businessman come to the fishing village to look for her before? But it was all just verbal harassment…” Jiang Huaisu’s brows furrowed more and more as she spoke. She also realized that Nezha’s guess might be correct.
Ling'er's disappearance some time ago led the wealthy businessman to believe that she was avoiding him like the plague. Enraged, the neurotic old man might resort to some extreme measures.
Jiang Huaisu immediately said, "There are quite a few people in the village who know that wealthy merchant. I'll go and find out where he lives."
A place name that surprised Jiang Huaisu.
“…Or, I can go.” She felt that Nezha probably didn’t want to go back to that place.
Xuankou Village, isn't that the former site of Zhen Mansion? Miaolian's grave still stands on the back mountain of Zhen Mansion. It's been neglected for so long, it must be overgrown with weeds by now.
Nezha asked curiously, "Why do you look so worried?"
How strange, the way Jiang Huaisu looked at him just now was as if he were a fragile object. The emotion that emanated from her at that moment could almost be described as pity.
"Do you think I'll be traumatized by just twenty years of life in the mortal world and become someone who will never speak of this place again?"
As he spoke, he put his arm around Jiang Huaisu's waist. "Let's go. We're going to that place to find someone. It has nothing to do with anything else, so don't worry about it."
Jiang Huaisu's attention was immediately diverted, mainly because the way he half-embraced her was a bit too intimate, and she didn't quite understand Nezha's intentions.
She immediately felt a lightness in her body as rapidly flowing air rushed into her ears, nose, and throat. The strong wind pressure made her feel dizzy and lightheaded, and she almost couldn't catch her breath.
Noticing Jiang Huaisu's predicament, Nezha adjusted his posture in mid-air, changing from carrying her halfway on his shoulder to lifting her up.
Jiang Huaisu sat on his forearm, clutching the Hun Tian Ling like a lifeline, and said weakly, "Using the Wind and Fire Wheels to travel is faster... but remember to give us a heads-up next time."
His hurried and flustered manner made it seem as if he was afraid she would run away without him. But then again, Nezha had always been this decisive and efficient, and she was pretty much used to it.
When he fought against Huaguo Mountain, he started with zero frames in his fight with Sun Wukong.
“…I’m sorry.” Nezha turned his head away, looking guilty, and deliberately avoided her gaze. “I’ll tell you in advance next time.”
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