Chapter 38 "Seeing the flowers is like seeing me."...
To avoid being riddled with sword beams, Jiang Huaisu cautiously maintained a safe distance from them, but this also meant that the two people in the center of the battlefield couldn't hear her calls.
Or perhaps they heard it, but in such a state of intense concentration, they couldn't possibly discern the meaning of the sounds entering their ears. In any case, neither of them paid any attention to her.
Jiang Huaisu had no choice but to stay on the eaves and watch the battle. She was worried about going too far, fearing that the two of them might destroy the mansion while fighting.
An hour or two passed, and she was already yawning, but the battle was still not over. Fortunately, her chosen spectator seat was very safe; sitting cross-legged on the roof, not a single sword flash, not even a spark of fire, reached her.
The fact that they controlled the battlefield so strictly suggests that while the two were acting crazy, they weren't going all out; it was more like a friendly spar. After analyzing the situation for a while, Jiang Huaisu confirmed that the two had a strong sense of self-control, and gradually felt relieved.
Go ahead and fight, you won't kill anyone like this.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Huaisu, surrounded by the warm yellow firelight, actually began to doze off.
She tried to shake off her drowsiness and find a more comfortable place to sit, but just as she tried to prop herself up with her arms, she heard a soft sound and the tile beneath her hands loosened. She lost her balance and slid down the sloping eaves a few inches.
Her sleepiness vanished instantly. She quickly grabbed onto the eaves to maintain her balance, lest she fall and be burned bald by the Samadhi True Fire inside.
At this moment, the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) circled around her like a nimble fish, lifted her legs, and steadily returned her to her original position.
She touched the magical artifact with a touch of emotion, and when she looked up, she realized that the two people in the room had stopped fighting and were looking up at her.
Sun Wukong waved vigorously at her: "Susu, did you see that? I won!"
Jiang Huaisu: "..." I actually missed the last scene. I must have fallen asleep at the worst possible time.
Sun Wukong: "What are you standing there for? Get down here!"
Nezha's expression seemed somewhat complicated. He glanced at Jiang Huaisu, said nothing more, put away the Samadhi True Fire and the Hun Tian Ling, and was about to leave.
"Hey, wait!" Jiang Huaisu leaped down and blocked Nezha's path. "Third Prince, why are you here?"
Do you care where I go?
What kind of talk is that? So sarcastic. Jiang Huaisu wondered, did she think she hadn't offended him just now?
“You and your little sister are having so much fun, I’m bored by myself, so I’ve come to your house to find Sun Wukong.” Nezha raised his chin slightly and said matter-of-factly, “You guys do your thing, we’ll do ours, is that not allowed?”
Sun Wukong casually put his arm around Jiang Huaisu's shoulder: "Don't worry, it's really just for fun. It'll be fun!"
The parties involved have all agreed to a friendly spar, so what grounds does Jiang Huaisu have to object? However, Nezha looks like he's swallowed a dynamite, his words dripping with sarcasm. Is he in a bad mood because he lost the fight?
Jiang Huaisu felt that it was best not to provoke him at this time.
She chuckled, "Of course we can spar! Just let me know in advance next time, and I'll set up a protective barrier in my room. Goodbye, Third Prince! Take care, Third Prince!"
"The barrier has been activated," Sun Wukong assured him. "Don't worry, not a single hair in your room has fallen."
Nezha's face darkened further, and he turned and left.
He didn't even say hello, which meant he was genuinely in a bad mood.
Jiang Huaisu was starting to worry. There was no one waiting for him at home, and if he lost the fight, he would just have to sulk. If his younger sister knew about this, she would probably offer him some polite comfort, but given Nezha's personality, he would never go out of his way to tell his younger sister that he had lost a fight in order to gain her sympathy.
As if guided by a ghost, Jiang Huaisu ducked down and slipped out of Sun Wukong's arms: "I'll go see the Third Prince off!"
Nezha walked very fast, but fortunately he didn't use his Wind Fire Wheels.
Jiang Huaisu caught up breathlessly, reaching out to grab the Hun Tian Ling fluttering behind him: "Wait!"
"What are you doing following me?" Nezha didn't turn around, but he stopped in his tracks.
The Hun Tian Ling swayed behind him, refusing to let Jiang Huai Su grab it. The magical artifact, perhaps influenced by its master's mood, now exuded a stubborn "don't come near me" attitude.
"You don't seem very happy." Jiang Huaisu racked her brains to find the right words. "Actually, I've lost to your sister when we played chess before. It's nothing. Failure is the mother of success."
What nonsense is she spouting! Jiang Huaisu regretted her impulsive decision to chase after her. She was too clumsy with words, completely incapable of comforting people or saying anything nice. This might backfire and make things worse.
Nezha turned around and stared at her intently. "Jiang Huaisu, do you think I'm unhappy because I lost?"
"Isn't it...?" Jiang Huaisu thought to herself, "Your face doesn't look happy at all."
"It's not like I haven't lost before, I can afford to lose."
Nezha originally wore a high ponytail, but his hair crown was knocked off during the fight, and now he has a cascade of black hair hanging down. At first glance, his temperament has become much softer. If he changed into a dress, he could cosplay as a fairy. Unfortunately, his face is too grumpy, which ruins the mood.
Jiang Huaisu was a little distracted, thinking: I didn't even notice when I was in the yard that his hair was so long when it was down.
"I came to fight Sun Wukong because I was unhappy, not because I was unhappy about fighting. You've got that backwards."
A man's heart is like the bottom of the sea, unfathomable. Jiang Huaisu couldn't tell whether he was just being stubborn or if there was something to it. But if it wasn't because he lost the fight that he was in a bad mood, then what was it?
"To correct you, I recognized you back then."
What was her answer back then?
Jiang Huaisu suddenly realized: That's where the problem lies! An unintentional comparison ignited his competitive spirit, making him unwilling to be outdone by Sun Wukong?
But it was just something she said casually... Jiang Huaisu felt a little uneasy. She was about to ask if she had touched a nerve when Nezha broke the silence first:
"Jiang Huaisu, you knew me before Sun Wukong, didn't you?"
According to the timeline of this world, yes. On her way to Huaguo Mountain to find Sun Wukong, she was interrupted by Nezha and stayed in Zhenfu for several years under the pretext of recuperating from her injuries.
So she nodded.
"Then why is it that you feel so close to him, even though you've only known him for a short time? I don't understand."
Unable to answer Nezha's question immediately, Jiang Huaisu felt a pang in her chest and asked in return, "Is that why you're unhappy?"
"Shouldn't I be upset? We were the ones who started playing together first."
These words sounded somewhat childish, but Jiang Huaisu subtly and quickly grasped his meaning.
It's not surprising; she had similar feelings, especially during her childhood when she hadn't yet learned to control her possessiveness. She even wished that her friends only had her as a friend, and that her parents only had her as their daughter.
Moreover, she had the advantage of arriving first, so she should be the one who is more important in other people's hearts.
So... is Nezha probably thinking the same way?
The difference was that she would quietly process these dark thoughts, while Nezha now wore his emotions on his sleeve, his displeasure quite intense and straightforward. Jiang Huaisu braced herself to accept his questioning, somewhat helplessly turning her gaze to the side.
I never expected that she would be needed so much in a romantic relationship. I have mixed feelings, and I feel a little smug.
Nezha, oblivious to her inner thoughts, continued to dredge up old grievances:
“In the mortal realm, when I was still Zhenmiaolian, you always wanted to go to Flower Fruit Mountain.”
"When you first met Sun Wukong, you went with him without any hesitation, as if you were absolutely certain that he would not harm you. You were gone for seven years and could not be found."
"Later... I returned to my divine position, and these memories became very faint. But recently I recalled the details again, and the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Why do you trust and like him for no reason? When you first met him, he didn't even know any magic. He was just a wild monkey from Flower Fruit Mountain."
Jiang Huaisu interrupted him, "Third Prince."
Perhaps it was because Nezha was unusually talkative today, but she also inexplicably felt the urge to confide in him. After hesitating for a while, she finally couldn't help but say, "Actually, I have a secret."
"What secret?"
"I knew of Sun Wukong's existence before I met him. It's a bit complicated, but it shouldn't hurt to tell you, as long as you keep it a secret."
Nezha looked her over and, noticing her nervousness, finally took pity on her, abandoning his somewhat aggressive demeanor and adopting a listening posture.
"......you say."
“My home isn’t here.” Jiang Huaisu was afraid he would think she was talking nonsense, so she tried to make her tone sound calm and organized. “I came from another world. It sounds unbelievable, right? Our world is very different from yours. There are no flying gods or monsters. It’s just a group of ordinary people living ordinary lives.”
Nezha's surprise vanished in an instant. Following her words, it's not hard to understand: in the three thousand great worlds, all coexist and coexist, and the barriers between worlds can indeed be broken.
“In my world, there is a novel called Journey to the West, which records many things that happen in your world. The protagonist is Sun Wukong, so he is very well-known in our area. I grew up listening to his stories, and that’s where my trust in him comes from.”
Nezha was clearly not very interested in Sun Wukong's affairs, and snorted: "So what if he's the protagonist? Does that mean he's not worthy of your attention?"
Thinking of something, he asked suspiciously, "Could it be that I was a villain in that Journey to the West, which is why you were so wary of me at first?"
"No, actually, you were also my childhood crush... Oh, in our area, 'crush' is a term of praise, you can think of it as someone you admire. There are many works featuring you as the protagonist. And there are quite a few people who love you."
Nezha paused for a moment, then awkwardly turned his head away: "Admiration? I didn't see it at all."
Now it was Jiang Huaisu's turn to bring up old grievances: "Wake up, Third Prince! You shot an arrow at me the first time we met. It would be strange if I wasn't on guard! Back then, I had no cultivation at all. I was in a cage every day, living in fear, afraid that you would kill me and eat bird meat if you were in a bad mood."
The filter shattered instantly, so what's the point of talking about being a male god! In the first few years, Jiang Huaisu was single-mindedly focused on saving his life. He couldn't fight back, and he couldn't run away. He was incredibly desperate.
Nezha's eyes flickered, as if he felt a little guilty: "That was done by Zhen Miaolian."
...You really know how to cut ties flexibly!
"When we first met, I was very afraid of you." Jiang Huaisu never thought that one day she would dare to be so frank in front of Nezha, but the conversation had already gone this far, so she decided to just say whatever she wanted to say.
"Back then, you were unlike a child. You always said scary things with a smile, and I didn't know what you were thinking. Being around you was very stressful! You got much better as you grew up, probably because we became more familiar with each other."
"And now?" Nezha pressed, "Are you still afraid of me now?"
Jiang Huaisu put her index finger and thumb together, making a gesture: "Just a tiny bit."
Nezha's face darkened: "Not even the slightest bit is allowed."
"Your expression is a little scary, now it's just a tiny bit."
"......"
After saying all this, she felt much lighter, as if a huge burden had been lifted. She was actually grateful to Sun Wukong for separating some of her excess emotions while creating the vessel for her; otherwise, her internal strife might have been twice as severe.
"I'm sorry for plucking your feathers back then." Nezha seemed to have given up, and with a hint of being unreasonable, he gently bumped her shoulder. "Fine, I'll let you pluck them back."
She was knocked back a step and feigned a sigh, saying, "The Third Prince is an incarnation of a lotus; where would I find feathers to use?"
Nezha opened his hand, and a lotus flower bloomed in his palm. Without saying a word, he shoved it into Jiang Huaisu's arms. "Treat this as me. You can pluck the petals, and I won't be angry."
This lotus flower was almost the size of a watermelon, with layers upon layers of petals, incredibly dense. Its heavy weight forced Jiang Huaisu to hold it in both hands to maintain her balance.
“I can empathize with this flower.” He smiled smugly. “Seeing it is like seeing me, how about that?”
"......"
This simple and brutal way of repaying the debt left Jiang Huaisu speechless. The opportunity for revenge was right in front of her, but after hesitating for a moment, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Didn't her biology textbook say that flower petals are...that organ of plants?
Forget it, maybe Nezha is a special case. After all, he's not a native lotus spirit, so his body structure is definitely different from a real flower. She touched the heavy petals... No, this is too strange. Once she remembered that setting, even touching the petals now felt like she was being a pervert.
With a blank expression, Jiang Huaisu tossed the lotus flower into her storage bag, indicating that she had long since let go of this little grudge, and that good sisters didn't need to be so calculating!
As she spoke, she reached out to touch the Hun Tian Ling again, and this time she didn't dodge, indicating that her master's emotions had calmed down.
“Third Prince,” she said with a mischievous smile, changing the subject, “you have many different versions of your story in our world, you’re a big celebrity. In some versions, you even fall in love.”
Upon hearing this, Nezha indeed stopped paying attention to the giant lotus flower, his expression seemingly frozen for a second. "Dating? With whom?"
"That's a lot! Fairies, goblins, everything!"
"Does Sun Wukong exist?"
"You have to compare these?" Jiang Huaisu recalled for a moment, then nodded firmly and said, "Of course, he does too. But in the original Journey to the West, you two are both bachelors, so don't worry."
Nezha snorted and said nothing more.
Jiang Huaisu blinked, thinking to herself that Nezha had underestimated the imagination of the working class. Romance was nothing; there were countless unimaginable fan-made and even third-generation scenarios. Seeing his subtle expression, she found it somewhat amusing.
"Perhaps you have similar stories here. You can visit the bookstores in the mortal realm when you have time."
At the moment, she was not as close to Nezha as she was to Sun Wukong, but they could already get along and play together freely, and Jiang Huaisu was certain that he was a good person to whom she could entrust her secrets.
She couldn't explain where this feeling came from; perhaps it was because the filter of her childhood idol hadn't completely shattered, leaving her with a subtle fondness for Nezha.
Looking down, Jiang Huaisu noticed the blood still seeping from his shoulder, an injury sustained during his fight with Sun Wukong. She couldn't help but ask with concern, "Is your injury serious?"
"It's nothing, this little injury will heal on its own." Nezha turned to the side. "I'm leaving now, you can go back. The protagonist is still waiting for you at the manor."
Jiang Huaisu was stunned for a moment before realizing who the "protagonist" he was referring to was.
At this moment, Nezha had already sped away on his Wind Fire Wheels, and the red ribbon and flames disappeared together into the distance.
Jiang Huaisu stood there watching for a while, then slowly turned around and went back to her residence, thinking that this matter should be considered over, right? Nezha's temper comes and goes quickly, so he's quite easy to coax.
Back at Qitian Prefecture, he tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
My mind keeps switching between Nezha and Sun Wukong.
But in the end, they had to put their own affairs aside. What Jiang Huaisu cared about most was the upcoming Peach Banquet, which was an inevitable event that she couldn't avoid!
Once the plan was finalized, she stopped thinking about it, comforting herself to calm down, enjoy the remaining leisure time, and quietly wait for the hidden mine to explode.
That day, Sun Wukong went to inspect the Peach Garden as usual, while Jiang Huaisu stared blankly at the bare courtyard in her residence. There used to be many flowers, trees and shrubs planted here, but they were all burned beyond recognition during the last sparring between Sun Wukong and Nezha. It was as if a cold winter had passed, and the trees had been shaved bald, with not a single flower or leaf left.
Although it's possible to spend time replanting and resting, Jiang Huaisu doesn't think it's necessary. The rent is about to expire, and it's not worthwhile to do renovations at your own expense now.
Unexpectedly, Nezha suddenly arrived at the door, and fell silent upon seeing the desolate courtyard. Noticing that Sun Wukong was unusually indifferent to his residence, he tried to take over the cleanup: "These scorched branches and withered stems are so unsightly. Perhaps I should ask the Flower Fairy for some seeds another day? Do you have any favorite types of flowers or plants?"
Jiang Huaisu thought of the lotus pond in his villa and subconsciously replied, "The lotus flowers are quite nice..." But then she immediately waved her hand, "No need, no need, let it be as it is. The bareness has a unique charm."
“I started the fire, so it’s only natural for me to clean it up,” Nezha said, puzzled. “Are you being polite to me?”
"It's just too much trouble, let's talk about it later." Jiang Huaisu changed the subject. "By the way, did you come here today? Is Zhenying bored at Lianxin Residence and wanted to play with me?"
"No, her parents took her to a banquet."
Attending a banquet?
"I noticed Sun Wukong wasn't there, so I guessed you probably weren't here either."
"He..." Jiang Huaisu couldn't wait to rush out and check the situation. She wondered where Sun Wukong was now and whether he had started causing trouble.
“It’s fine that the stinky monkey didn’t come, but you… Zhenying misses you a lot. She’s a little disappointed that she didn’t see you. Jiang Huaisu, do you want to come with me to Yaochi for a drink?”
Jiang Huaisu was in a state of turmoil. She sighed and patted his shoulder with a heavy expression: "Third Prince, I think we can't have this drink."
"Why?"
“I observed the celestial phenomena last night and saw a very ominous sign. The stars told me that today’s banquet would most likely end badly.”
"What nonsense!"
"It means that Sun Wukong is going to cause trouble."
"?"
Jiang Huaisu gave a dry laugh: "That's how it's written in Journey to the West."
"...So this is how the protagonist acts? Stirring up the Peach Banquet?" After a pause, Nezha blurted out a comment that was hard to tell whether it was a compliment or an insult: "Impressive."
Thinking about it carefully, given Sun Wukong's personality, it's not surprising that he would do such a thing. After the initial surprise passed, Nezha calmly accepted the fact and squeezed in to sit down next to Jiang Huaisu.
"Then don't go looking for him. He's the main character and his fate is sealed. You might suffer if you get dragged into this."
That's what they say, but abandoning a friend at this moment would be incredibly disloyal. Jiang Huaisu, recalling scenes from Journey to the West, waved her hand with a fearless air:
"It's alright. Even if we suffer, it won't be now. It's not time for a full-scale war yet. Besides, even your bodyguards are slacking off. The banquet is probably already in chaos. I'll sneak a peek and no one will notice."
This was something that had been decided long ago. Jiang Huaisu calmed herself down and prepared to go to the banquet to find Sun Wukong. However, she was stopped by Nezha as soon as she stood up.
“You’re really good to him,” Nezha said quietly. “He didn’t even care about you, leaving you all alone in the mansion.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Sun Wukong's cheerful shout came from outside: "Susu, look what good stuff I got!"
Nezha: "......"
Sun Wukong walked in carrying a pile of bottles and jars: "These precious elixirs will be taken back to Flower Fruit Mountain so the monkeys can drink to their hearts' content. Since we weren't invited to the Peach Banquet, we'll go down to the mortal realm ourselves!"
Jiang Huaisu breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't expected Sun Wukong to be so efficient, which saved her the trouble of searching for the monkey everywhere.
Sun Wukong was like family to her in this world. Although she made various excuses for herself, her biggest selfish desire was simply to be by Sun Wukong's side at this moment. This plot point was crucial, and she simply couldn't remain indifferent.
Nezha: "No, you go back by yourself. Jiang Huaisu stays with me."
Sun Wukong was still a little drunk at this point. Hearing his words, he frowned in dissatisfaction: "Why? I'm taking her with me."
“You’ve caused trouble, and the Jade Emperor will definitely send people to arrest you. Disrupting the Peach Banquet is no small matter, and Yang Jian will most likely be called in to help. Flower Fruit Mountain will be attacked, and if you bring Jiang Huaisu back to the mountain now, aren’t you putting her in danger?”
Nezha spoke logically and clearly, and Sun Wukong's eyes cleared up a bit, vaguely feeling that there was some truth to what he said.
Seeing that Sun Wukong's attitude was softening, he stepped forward, shielding Jiang Huaisu behind him, and said in a tone that left no room for doubt: "It's best for Jiang Huaisu to stay with me until this is over."
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