Chapter 48. Intriguing Magical Artifacts.
For Jiang Huaisu or Nezha, Baiya's death was merely a pointless topic of conversation. They had no affection for this tiger demon whatsoever, and besides, he had committed numerous evils, so his end was not worthy of sympathy.
Time flew by, and a month passed in the blink of an eye. With the East Sea aquatic creatures watching over Huaguo Mountain, all was peaceful and undisturbed. Jiang Huaisu's initially anxious mood gradually calmed down, and she settled down to rest peacefully in Yunlou Palace, taking the opportunity to absorb some of the spiritual energy there to enhance her cultivation.
Whether it was her imagination or not, Nezha had become much more considerate towards her lately. He probably treated her like an injured person who needed careful protection, and he was almost always obedient to her and granted her every request. In terms of quality of life alone, this life of being waited on hand and foot was even more comfortable than when she lived in the Qitian Mansion.
The poor monkey can't enjoy the good fortune with her; he's still burning in the furnace. If you calculate it, she'll see him in about two weeks.
That morning, Zhenying came to visit her again, only to find her taking a nap.
When she knocked on the door and received no response, Lee Jung-young, without any hesitation, pushed the door open and went to her bedside. She tugged at her blankets, trying to free her from the warmth of her bed.
"Susu, Susu." Zhenying couldn't move her, so she climbed onto the edge of the bed and shook her shoulders. "Get up and play, I brought you something delicious."
After spending some time together, Li Zhenying's true nature gradually emerged. She no longer bothered to pretend to be well-behaved in front of Jiang Huaisu, and the clever and sensible demeanor she had at their first meeting was gone forever. Moreover, with her third brother not around, she became even more unrestrained in her tantrums. When shaking her shoulders didn't work, she simply grabbed Jiang Huaisu's arm and dragged her outside.
Jiang Huaisu uttered indistinct syllables, giving a few perfunctory replies, but her eyelids remained closed. Zhenying persisted, pulling back the covers. She turned over and murmured, "Just a quarter of an hour more..."
Despite trying everything, Zhenying couldn't wake Jiang Huaisu. She pouted unhappily, sat on the edge of the bed, and took out the oil paper package she had brought. Inside were neatly arranged hibiscus cakes sprinkled with icing sugar, looking very appealing.
After taking a bite of half a piece, Zhenying mumbled, "If you don't get up, I'll eat it all and leave you nothing."
The sweet aroma of pastries wafted into Jiang Huaisu's nose, and she struggled to open her eyes a crack.
"What are you eating?" It smells delicious.
"Mother made some hibiscus cakes and asked me to bring them over for you and your third brother to try. But I didn't see your third brother. Did he go out?"
Jiang Huaisu's mind was working very slowly at this moment. She went over Zhenying's words in her mind again before responding, "If he's not at Lianxin Residence, he's probably on a mission. It's okay, we'll save his share for him."
After saying that, she closed her eyes again. Li Zhenying frowned and nudged her, "Why are you asleep again!"
Helpless, Zhenying could only eat cakes while waiting for Jiang Huaisu to wake up. Bored, she hummed a little tune, uttering incomplete melodies intermittently between bites of cake.
The effect was devastating, like a bear slinging in the wind, with pitches fluctuating wildly and vocal delivery varying from soft to harsh. Jiang Huaisu couldn't sleep peacefully because of the noise, feeling a grating sensation in her ears.
When she sat up again, she covered her ears and exclaimed, "I'm awake! I'm really awake this time!"
Zhenying wrapped up the remaining hibiscus cakes, wiped her mouth clean, and then said to her, "Then let's go out and play... Why are you still covering your ears? Is my singing that bad?"
On this issue, Jiang Huaisu really couldn't lie and say it sounded good, so she could only say tactfully, "A little bit, I guess. Who taught you to sing it?"
“This is called a nursery rhyme. My mother often used it to lull me to sleep, and I learned it after listening to it so many times,” Li Zhenying said, unconvinced. “I sang it while eating just now, so I didn’t do a good job. Let me sing it again.”
"It's actually for coaxing kids to sleep?" Jiang Huaisu was shocked. It sounded even more effective than an alarm clock, and had a miraculous effect on getting people out of bed.
Li Zhenying cleared her throat, ignoring Jiang Huaisu's disapproving look, and stubbornly sang the song again in its entirety.
"The sun sets, the moon rises, fireflies light tiny bamboo lanterns. A gentle breeze stirs, dreams linger, and lotus leaves sway softly across the pond..."
Jiang Huaisu applauded enthusiastically. It was indeed much better than before, and she didn't even go off-key. However, this level was definitely not pleasant to listen to. It was more like listening to a poem recitation with a strong rhythm and tone, but lacking in gentleness.
It's clear that Zhenying really lacks musical talent; her talents probably lie elsewhere.
After offering a somewhat insincere compliment, Jiang Huaisu immediately changed the subject: "Alright, let me wash up and comb my hair, then let's go out and see what your third brother is up to..."
"Didn't you say he went on a mission?"
"They might already be back. It takes at most a month or two to go down to the mortal realm to subdue demons, which translates to only an hour or two in this timeframe."
Jiang Huaisu rolled out of bed, quickly tidied herself up, and combed her hair. She wanted to braid Li Zhenying's hair, but was coldly refused, so she had to give up regretfully.
“My skills are very good; even your third brother can’t find any mistakes.”
"Did you comb his hair?"
"That's right. Your third brother has such good hair, it would be a shame not to give it a good treatment."
Li Zhenying gave her an admiring look. "You're amazing. My mother has never even combed my brother's hair."
"He definitely combed his hair, but you were born too late to see it. Could it be that your brother could comb his own hair from birth?"
“That makes sense.” Lee Jung-young pondered, “but I still think you’re amazing for daring to mess with his hair.”
"...It's not like you're pulling the tiger's tail. Your brother doesn't bite. If you comb his hair, he probably won't refuse."
Lee Jung-young stuck out her tongue: "Then forget it."
Jiang Huaisu sat in front of the dressing mirror, lost in thought, feeling inexplicably uneasy. "Zhenying, why are you so afraid of him?"
“This is not fear, this is respect.”
"..." Okay, this little brat knows how to use sophistry.
That was the end of that topic, and the two walked hand in hand toward the door. Zhenying cheerfully told her about her plans for the day, saying that her painting skills had improved recently and she wanted to paint a portrait of her, guaranteeing that she would be satisfied.
As they were talking, Zhenying caught a glimpse of a figure and her smile froze. But she quickly regained her composure, turned her head, and flashed a bright smile in that direction: "When did you get back, Third Brother? Was fighting demons tiring?"
He looked up, reached out and gently pinched his little sister's cheek: "When did you get here?"
“I arrived this morning.” Zhenying shook the oil paper package in her hand. “Mother made hibiscus cake and asked me to bring it for you and your sister to try.”
"You eat." Nezha glanced at the oil paper package and then looked away, continuing to read the text in his hands. Clearly, the storybook in his hands was more attractive to him.
When Jiang Huaisu saw the item in his hand, with its familiar cover and page layout, she was immediately shocked and rushed over to block his view, practically lunging at him: "Where did you get this storybook?"
"It was just sitting next to the chair. I just grabbed it. You must have seen it yesterday and forgotten to put it away."
That's right. She dozed off in her chair yesterday, and casually put the book she was reading halfway through next to her. When she woke up, she forgot to put it away... Nezha is usually not interested in these things, so why did he pick up what she had left over to read!
Jiang Huaisu lowered her head further and further, almost burying it in the ground. If it were anything else, it wouldn't be so bad, but the protagonist of this story was Nezha! And it was the kind that was extremely unconventional, the kind of melodramatic long story serialized in old-fashioned romance magazines in modern times, with no logic whatsoever, a complicated and tangled relationship between the main characters, and a lot of suggestive scenes, making Jiang Huaisu blush.
Nezha knew, of course, why she was so nervous. He himself had already been shocked when he was reading the storybook. He was amazed to discover how mortals portrayed him.
He skipped through his own scenes in the storybook, but one magpie demon caught his eye. Its role was that of a guide demon and a plot device. Lively and mischievous, its limited screen time was nonetheless memorable. However, as Nezha read on, the magpie demon's interactions with the "Third Prince" were few and far between, and Nezha's reading pace quickened, gradually becoming less interesting.
Li Zhenying was completely unaware of the undercurrents surging beneath the calm surface. After greeting her third brother, she tried to pull Jiang Huaisu to the pond to paint. Nezha continued reading his storybook, showing no intention of saying anything more or making a scene.
Jiang Huaisu had no idea what he was up to. She wondered if he actually liked these dramatic and melodramatic nighttime readings? Did he find them novel and interesting?
Unable to fathom his thoughts, she could only follow Zhenying, sitting woodenly by the pond, posing for Zhenying's portrait. Meanwhile, she couldn't help but steal glances at Nezha, watching his brows furrow and relax, her own heart rising and falling with his.
Two hours later, Zhenying finally finished her masterpiece and breathed a satisfied sigh of relief. Nezha also closed his storybook, walked behind Zhenying, and silently inspected the result with his eyes from a distance.
Zhenying carefully blew away the ink, peeled off the drawing paper, and laid it flat on the small table. "How is it?"
The nose and mouth were clearly defined, and the eyebrows and eyes were depicted with considerable detail, the overall outline of which was also quite good. To be fair, for someone her age, being able to draw at this level was considered exceptionally talented, at least much better than Jiang Huaisu had originally expected.
"Great!" Jiang Huaisu held her portrait, a silly grin spreading across her face. It wasn't for nothing that she'd sat there for two hours; her bottom was practically numb.
Zhenying generously gifted the painting to her, and proudly remarked that she could paint even better next time.
She saw Zhenying off with a beaming smile, gazing at her reflection in the canvas, a strange feeling welling up inside her. Unlike looking in a mirror, the image in the painting wasn't exactly the same as herself; perhaps it was closer to the artist's image of her.
Nezha: "I want to see too."
Jiang Huaisu handed the painting to him without warning, praising, "Your sister's painting skills are really good."
"It's alright." After carefully examining it, Nezha poured half a cup of cold water on it without any mercy.
Jiang Huaisu didn't care; she just thought it looked nice. As she pondered where to hang the painting in the room, Nezha calmly put it into his arms, showing no intention of returning it to her.
She gave him a questioning look, only to receive a matter-of-fact reply from Nezha: "It's really just average, not even half as good-looking as you are in person. Wait until your little sister draws a better one for you next time, then you can ask her for it."
Unable to tell whether Nezha was praising or insulting her, she reached out to snatch it, saying, "What? I think this one is pretty good."
"Oh, by the way, I read that storybook today..."
Jiang Huaisu jolted awake, realizing she had completely forgotten about that! Her attention was immediately diverted, and she no longer cared about the portrait, nervously watching Nezha, waiting for him to continue.
"It's written...very boldly," he commented.
"Really? Haha, I don't know. This book was bought by the heavenly soldiers to pass the time when we were at Flower Fruit Mountain last time. I only read a few pages, and I haven't had time to read the rest yet. Perhaps some mortals witnessed your demon-slaying and monster-exorcising scenes and added details to compile it into a book." Jiang Huaisu awkwardly tried to make amends for herself.
"It's not about exorcising demons." He stared at her suspiciously. "You really haven't read it?"
"I watched the beginning..."
Nezha paused for a moment, then said to her in a serious tone, "That's good. It says that I was a womanizer in my youth, and that I bullied men and women in the demon realm because of my powerful magic... You'd better not read it, it's very strange."
In fact, this is already quite subtle, omitting a lot of details and only summarizing the vague main points.
Jiang Huaisu nodded repeatedly, "Okay, I won't watch it." Actually, she had already watched it, but she would never watch it a second time. It was too wild, and damn it was a bestseller.
In the end, Nezha confiscated both the storybook and the portrait, giving Jiang Huaisu no chance to appeal. She went back to her room indignantly, thinking that out with the old, in with the new. Zhenying said she would draw better next time, so this one was just a trial piece and she would consider it a reward for Nezha.
...No, next time I'll try to get Zhenying to draw Nezha and see if he'll still be embarrassed to say it's just so-so.
Jiang Huaisu sighed inwardly, having been preoccupied with his portrait all day. He thought to himself, "Why not just sneak into Nezha's room and steal it one day when he's not looking... No, taking back what belongs to me isn't stealing, it's just returning it to its rightful owner." But when Nezha wasn't home, the door was usually locked. How could he visit without leaving a trace? That was another problem.
Then her previous plans and arrangements would be rendered useless.
I couldn't help but punch the bed to relieve the stinging embarrassment. Why did I subconsciously think that Nezha would put his painting in my room? What a narcissistic thought... Luckily, I only thought about it in my mind and haven't acted on it yet. Otherwise, after all that effort to sneak into someone's room, I'd just be staring at the bare walls.
She tossed and turned in bed for ages, unable to come up with any feasible solutions. If she really went to find out the painting's location, she'd inevitably have to contend with Nezha again. After much deliberation, she decided it was too much trouble. Hmm, she'd better pin her hopes on Li Zhenying's next attempt; if she had a better painting, she wouldn't be so hung up on this one.
That night, Jiang Huaisu's mind was filled with all sorts of random thoughts, sometimes about her paintings, sometimes about Nezha.
Overall, I think more about Nezha. Memories of him are interconnected, inevitably leading to other topics.
Thinking of his exhaustion from slaying the demon yesterday, and wondering why he couldn't be closer to his sister, I thought of Zhenying's lullaby. I wondered if Madam Yin had ever sung it for him. Finally, my thoughts returned to the painting. I thought I would definitely paint one for him next time, and after he looked at it and expressed his satisfaction, I would snatch it away, thus evening things out.
I have no idea when I fell asleep or when I woke up. In short, when I opened my eyes again, it was already broad daylight.
She smacked her lips, suddenly feeling incredibly thirsty. Looking up, she saw a lacquered wooden tray on the windowsill, containing a bowl of warm medicine and a dish of candied fruit. She went over, picked up the bowl of medicine, expertly drank it all in one gulp, and then popped two candied fruits into her mouth.
Judging by the time, it's already past noon; she's had a long nap.
She ate something in the kitchenette and then returned to her room. She opened the window wider so she could enjoy the view from inside. From this angle, she could see the wicker chair under the tree. The wind blew and the flowers fell, but the wicker chair didn't sway, indicating someone was lying on it.
Besides her, only Nezha used this chair. On a whim, she slipped out of the room and tiptoed around to the front of the bamboo rattan chair. Sure enough, Nezha was curled up sleeping there.
She had originally intended to scare him, but when she turned to face him in the wicker chair and saw his peaceful sleeping face, she softened. She thought he seemed very tired lately, and it would be too pitiful to disturb his rare afternoon nap.
After standing there for a while, she slowly lowered her body, maintaining a half-squatting posture so that she could look him in the eye.
With Nezha's eyes closed, her gaze became bolder, tracing his eyebrows, nose, and thin lips. Following her eyes downwards, she saw the Hun Tian Ling (a magical artifact) covering him like a red cloud; truly a multi-functional tool, it could even be used as a cooling blanket in this situation.
Seeing that the other end of the Hun Tian Ling had already reached the ground, Jiang Huaisu reached out to grab it, wanting to tuck the "cool quilt" in more tightly.
As if sensing her intention, the red ribbon, with its soft and flexible nature, danced and darted between her fingers, refusing to let her catch it. When she got annoyed and tried to pull her hand back, the red ribbon would then playfully wrap itself around her, like a mischievous little red fish, wanting to frolic with her.
Although he didn't make a sound, the action still woke Nezha up. He opened his eyes somewhat blankly and saw Jiang Huaisu fighting wits with the Hun Tian Ling on his body.
Once locked onto by its master's gaze, the Hun Tian Ling immediately went limp and hung down obediently, motionless like a dead fish.
"What are you doing?" Nezha asked in confusion.
Jiang Huaisu reluctantly withdrew her hand: "The Hun Tian Ling fell to the ground and I wanted to retrieve it... but it wouldn't let me touch it."
Upon hearing this, Nezha rolled the Hun Tian Ling covering his body into a ball. This time, it was quite obedient and did not try to escape by floating around. Instead, it allowed its master to flatten and shape it.
He shoved it into Jiang Huaisu's arms as if it were a large red embroidered ball. "It's just playing with you. Deal with it like this when it misbehaves, be a little fierce."
Jiang Huaisu held the large bundle somewhat helplessly, as if it were a hot potato, and immediately handed it back to Nezha: "You are the master, of course it will listen to you."
Like playing catch, Nezha had just touched the Hun Tian Ling when he tossed it back into Jiang Huaisu's hands: "Then you should spend more time building a relationship with it, and it will listen to you in the future."
"..." Come to think of it, why develop feelings for someone else's magical artifact? Jiang Huaisu wanted to return the Hun Tian Ling to Nezha, but he had already lay back on the rattan chair, closed his eyes, and seemed to be going to continue his afternoon nap.
The Hun Tian Ling (a type of silk ribbon) unfurled on its own, transforming into a shawl that wrapped around Jiang Huai Su's arm.
“Go back to your master.”
The Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) remained floating in her arms, motionless.
Remembering Nezha's words, she adopted a rather fierce tone, frowned, and said in a low voice, "Go back."
The Hun Tian Ling slowly floated back to Nezha's side, looking dejected and somewhat aggrieved.
Jiang Huaisu nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave. Nezha opened his eyes: "Where are you going?"
"Let's go back to our room."
"It's not good to stay cooped up in the room all the time, why don't you sit here and get some fresh air?"
Before she finished speaking, the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) automatically came over and wrapped her up in layers of fabric, like adding a red coat.
Nezha raised an eyebrow: "The relationship has been cultivated quite well."
Jiang Huaisu remained silent. How could they have cultivated any affection in just a few words? It was clearly a deliberate display of obedience in front of her master—a cunning and manipulative tool.
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