Acacia Dream
Yu Zhu sent a message to Jing Shu, informing her that she and Jing Xu were currently at Xian Ding Pavilion and what Xian Ding Pavilion was.
Then she received a reply from Jing Shu, who happened to be here, and decided to come to Xian Ding Pavilion to find out what was going on.
The first scene ended, and the lights were turned back on.
The male cultivator said, "If only this play were real. The last cultivator to ascend to immortality was more than nine hundred years ago."
The female cultivator said, "This is just a consolation. The Baili clan said that the Divine Path needs to accumulate the power to reopen it, and so many years have passed. Those powerful figures who went into seclusion may have already quietly perished."
The male cultivator shook his head in disapproval, "How could that be? They are all high-level cultivators in the Mahayana stage. If they were to perish, there would surely be extraordinary phenomena in their lives."
"The fall of a powerful being doesn't necessarily cause unusual celestial phenomena, right, young lady?" The female cultivator sought Yuzhu's approval.
"The world is vast and full of wonders, so what this young lady said might be true."
Yu Zhu chuckled and said that the first floor of the Immortal Pavilion was quite normal. It seemed that they should go upstairs to take a look. Yu Zhu looked at the stairs and suddenly tugged at Jing Xu's sleeve under the table, gesturing for him to look at the stairs.
Jingxu's gaze fell on the stairs, where a woman in a smoky purple gauze dress was being led upstairs by someone from the pavilion—it was Jingshu.
Yu Zhu and Jing Xu exchanged glances. Jing Xu said, "You two, we'll be leaving now."
The female cultivator asked in surprise, "Is this your first time here? Won't you two have some fun?"
Yu Zhu: "No need."
The two walked to the edge, and Yu Zhu said, "Let's go up to the fourth floor and take a look. We can have Zhou Nan go up to the second floor tomorrow."
Jingxu responded without hesitation; his initial refusal to deny their relationship as Daoist partners stemmed from this very intention.
The two found Ah Quan and asked to go up to the fourth floor.
Ah Quan left briefly and brought Han'er with him.
Han'er smiled radiantly, "I told you two were a match made in heaven. Han'er will now take you up to the fourth floor."
As the two walked up the stairs, the lights in the room dimmed again, and the second scene began.
Yu Zhu turned around and unexpectedly met the eyes of the female cultivator from before. She was looking at them. The female cultivator smiled back and pointed at her and Jing Xu. Yu Zhu smiled as well.
Upon reaching the fourth floor, a small hall appeared, where several men and women dressed in similar styles to Han'er were gathered together.
"Sister Han, the first couple today?" someone joked.
Han'er pretended to slap her, but the person dodged with a laugh. Han'er didn't argue with her and led Yuzhu and the others into a deep corridor. The first few rooms were closed, but the further they went, the more empty the rooms became.
To be honest, the structure of this Yuzhu (玉竹) is very similar to that of a hotel.
Han'er stopped and said with a smile, "You two can choose an empty room to enter. You can lock it by putting the spirit stones into the box on the door. There is a beginner-level Acacia Cultivation Technique inside the room, which you can learn on your own. If you need guidance, just ring the bell."
Yu Zhu: "Uh, okay, let's take a look."
Yu Zhu wandered around the nearby rooms. Aside from the different decorations, the layouts were largely the same. She randomly stood outside one of the rooms:
"We'll choose this one."
“Then…” Han’er twirled the end of her hair with her fingers.
“Let’s figure it out ourselves first,” Yu Zhu said hastily.
"Then I'll take my leave."
Yu Zhu and Jing Xu entered the house. After Han'er left, Jing Xu threw in a spirit stone and locked the door.
The room was divided into two sections, an inner and an outer one, separated by a beaded curtain. The two began searching simultaneously: Yuzhu searched the inner room, while Jingxu searched the outer room.
The outer room has a desk, a tea table, and a display shelf, while the inner room has only a wooden bed with a pale yellow gauze curtain and a wardrobe.
Yu Zhu quickly searched the inner room but found nothing.
When they got to the outer room, Jingxu was looking through a booklet on his desk. When he saw Yuzhu standing on tiptoe to look at it, Jingxu lowered his head. Yuzhu caught a glimpse of the words "Hehuan Shu" (a type of aphrodisiac) and immediately turned away. She thought it would be strange for Jingxu to look at it alone, as it would be awkward for the two of them to look at it together.
Yu Zhu sat down to the side, propped her chin up, and wondered if the matter of Baicao Village had nothing to do with Xianding Pavilion.
Soon, Jingxu finished reading. Yuzhu slightly raised her chin. Was there anything unusual?
Jingxu shook his head, showing no unusual reaction.
This was expected, but Yu Zhu always felt that such lively places could best conceal some unknown darkness, though she didn't know where the intuition came from.
“Let’s go check out their backyard,” Yu Zhu said.
Jingxu agreed, and the two left the room and went to the small hall.
Upon seeing this, Han'er slightly opened her eyes, then quickly composed herself. "Are you two leaving?"
Yu Zhu nodded.
Han'er escorted the two to the door, saying, "Please come again when you have time."
Yu Zhu walked a short distance and looked back. Han'er was already at the door chatting with another couple of women walking together.
The two went around to the back of the Immortal Pavilion, affixed invisibility talismans, moved stealthily, and climbed over the wall to enter.
Upon landing, a lush mimosa tree comes into view, with layers of green leaves and clusters of pale pink flowers among the branches, filling the air with a faint sweet fragrance.
Before Yu Zhu traveled through time, she would occasionally brew acacia flower tea, which had a calming and mood-lifting effect.
There was a row of side rooms in the backyard. There were no lights on in the rooms and no sound. Yu Zhu used her spiritual power to sense that no one was in the rooms.
The two entered the house and carefully examined it, but found nothing suspicious. They also used their spiritual power to examine the walls and floor, but found no secret room.
Finding nothing, the two left, now it was up to Jing Shu to see if she had discovered anything.
They waited outside for a while, and then Jing Shu came out. The three of them returned to Youmeng Tower together. Only Bai Wei was in the tower; Ning Wu and Zhou Nan were nowhere to be seen.
Yu Zhu first asked them if they had made any discoveries at Shenrang Mountain.
Jing Shu and the other person did indeed discover that there were the corpses of poisonous snakes that had been killed on the road from Shenrang Mountain to Fangcaozhou, and there were also signs that the weeds had been trampled. Someone had entered Shenrang Mountain from the direction of Fangcaozhou.
Yu Zhu then asked Jing Shu if she had noticed anything unusual at the Immortal Peak Pavilion. Jing Shu shook her head and said no, and even belittled the male cultivators at the Immortal Peak Pavilion, saying they weren't as good as the ones she had seen before.
The jade bamboo remained silent.
The four of them sat in the lobby of Youmenglou for a while before Shao Zaihuan returned.
Upon seeing Yu Zhu and the others, Shao Zaihuan slowly approached and said with a smile, "How come there are two more beautiful fairies here?"
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow. "And who is this?"
"My name is Shao Zaihuan. Didn't this young lady or young master introduce me?"
Yu Zhu and Jing Xu were taken aback. What did those words mean?
Did he realize that Ning Wu and Zhou Nan were investigating him?
Shao Zaihuan sniffed, "You went to Xianding Pavilion?"
Jingxu: "Young Master Shao, what makes you say that?"
“You carry the fragrance of the Albizia julibrissin from the Immortal Peak Pavilion.”
Yu Zhu raised her sleeve and sniffed hard. There was indeed a faint sweet fragrance, but perhaps they were used to it and didn't find it obvious.
Jingxu: "Is Young Master Shao also a regular at Xianding Pavilion?"
With a "whoosh," Shao Zaihuan conjured a folding fan out of thin air, unfolded it, and fanned himself. "I used to go there often these days; that place is quite interesting."
After saying that, he quickly left, leaving the group of people completely bewildered.
After he disappeared from the lobby, Ning Wu and Zhou Nan entered the lobby and picked up their glasses to drink a few cups of water.
Ning Wu said excitedly, "He really is suspicious. We followed him today and found that he went to the homes of several cultivators with children. Isn't that looking for someone to kidnap? He was at the flower shop to get close to the flower owner, who can have two children."
Zhou Nan nodded. "He visited several shops tonight, all of which had children. It seems there are quite a few children in Fangcaozhou."
Jing Shu interjected, "After all, there's a Fairy Peak Pavilion here."
Ning Wu: "What did you find at the Immortal Peak Pavilion?"
Yu Zhu yawned and shook her head. "No, everything seems normal."
Ning Wu clapped his hands, "Then this demonic cultivator is very problematic."
Jingxu: "He may have discovered that you were keeping watch today."
The two were puzzled and told them about Jingxu and Shao Zaihuan's words and actions when they returned.
Ning Wu gritted his teeth and said, "Now, he will definitely be wary of us."
"It's getting late, everyone should get some rest," Jing Xu said.
Bai Wei immediately agreed, "Everyone has been busy all day with the affairs of Baicao Village. Please take a good rest. Thank you all for your help."
Ning Wu: "It is what we should do to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path. Miss Bai, you don't need to worry about it."
The crowd echoed this sentiment.
As night deepened, the nightlife of the people of Fangcaozhou came to an end, and everything returned to silence.
After Yu Zhu and her group returned to their rooms, some cultivated, while others reported on their work. Yu Zhu, however, had been struggling to stay awake all day due to the backlash from her divine soul imprint, and soon fell asleep.
The following night, Yu Zhu and Jing Xu still felt that there was something wrong with Xian Ding Pavilion, so they went to the backyard of Xian Ding Pavilion again.
The two walked around the mimosa tree and from the backyard to the small building in front.
Jingxu was in front, and Yuzhu was behind.
A gentle night breeze stirred Jingxu's hair.
Yu Zhu then noticed that Jing Xu was wearing a red headband. His dark hair and the red headband were intertwined, swaying around his waist as he walked, which annoyed Yu Zhu. She wanted to reach out and hold them down.
Yu Zhu reached out, almost grabbing the hairband, but a gust of wind blew it out of her hand and onto her face, causing an itch.
Yu Zhu steeled herself, pinched the hairband, and removed it from her face. The itching disappeared, and Jing Xu also stopped.
Why did you stop? Before Yu Zhu could ask, she suddenly heard a low voice:
"Qingqing, I miss you so much..."
"My lord..."
Then came a soft, moist sound.
They stumbled upon the mutual comfort of a couple in love.
Yu Zhu blushed; she was so embarrassed. They had to wait for the couple to leave before continuing.
Another gust of wind blew, carrying not only the hairband but also a few strands of Jingxu's hair onto Yuzhu's face.
Enraged, Yu Zhu grabbed them forcefully, seemingly hurting Jing Xu. He slowly turned around, and Yu Zhu's grip loosened, causing the hair ribbons to slip away again.
Yu Zhu raised her head, her gaze sliding over Jing Xu's neck, chin, and down to his lips.
His lips always seemed rosy, unlike hers, which were always pale. Yu Zhu pursed her lips, wondering if she could borrow some from him.
As if knowing what she was thinking, Jingxu slowly lowered his head. Yuzhu closed her eyes and felt the two getting closer and closer, so close that their breaths mingled and Yuzhu could smell the sweet fragrance on Jingxu's body.
Sweet smell!?
Yu Zhu suddenly opened her eyes, and before her was a cluster of thin, pinkish-white stripes. Yu Zhu waved her hand, and the stripes disappeared. Was it an illusion?
Yu Zhu sat up and rubbed her temples. That thing was a mimosa flower!
Could Jingxu have fallen for this thing too?
Yu Zhu went out, and Jing Xu's room was right next door. She decisively knocked on the door:
"Jingxu?"
No one answered, so Yuzhu used magic to open it.
Jingxu sat cross-legged in the center of the bed, his face flushed and his breathing rapid.
Sure enough, there was an enlarged mimosa flower in front of him.
The Solomon's Seal disperses the Albizia flowers.
Jingxu opened his eyes, which were misty, and murmured, "Senior Sister?"
"Gentlemen, may I come in?"
Yu Zhu turned her head, and Shao Zaihuan leaned lazily against the door frame.
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