Chapter 89 Camellias in Full Bloom: The Sweet Story She Wanted
On a leisurely afternoon, Hua Deng sat in the room, looking at pillows and playing with toys.
The toy was a lifelike little cat that Shen Zhou had carved from wood. He didn't allow the pillow on the bed, but the pillow was always making a fuss. He couldn't kill the little creature, so he casually carved a toy for it, and the pillow stopped making a fuss.
As Pillow happily snatched the toy away, Chen Zhou said expressionlessly, "I should have known better than to pick it up. It's even dumber than Jin Ze. Only you spoil it."
Hua Deng: Do you know that you hurt three people at once?
She chuckled and said, "Then why did you make a kitten for it? Where did you learn that skill?"
That rabbit lantern was also incredibly lifelike; I never realized he had so many skills.
Shen Zhou himself didn't quite remember. It seemed that in that vague memory, he was running around with his mother and was always being chased. He got used to staying up at night to stay alert, so he made a bunch of wood carvings to keep him company.
He said, "I just learned it casually. I'll make it for you later if you like it."
I certainly like the streetlights. I also like the pillows.
She squatted there and played with the pillow for a while, then got up and went out the door.
These days, without any system tasks to bother her or any trivial matters to worry about, she couldn't even remember the last time she had such a peaceful and beautiful time. Perhaps it had never happened at all.
She walked up to Shen Zhou, who was forging a celestial sword, and couldn't help but sigh, "How wonderful it would be if life were like this from now on."
Shen Zhou stopped what he was doing: "If you like it, then you can."
"Ideally, it should last a long time, eight hundred years, a thousand years, or even ten thousand years would be fine," Hua Deng said.
Shen Zhou did not answer.
Hua Deng didn't notice his silence. Just then, the communication disc lit up. She glanced at it and turned to say, "Yi Qing and I are going out to play. We'll be back tonight. Don't wait for me for dinner."
She grabbed the blazing sun and ran off.
Shen Zhou then slowly got up and looked towards the entrance of the main hall.
"I told you, stop possessing my cat."
The lynx strode closer, its eyes flashing with golden light, its radiance exceptionally cold.
The mule that just arrived was unaware that its friend had been replaced, and it kicked the lynx, sending it stumbling forward.
Lynx: "..."
Shen Zhou let out a clear sneer.
Just as the lynx was about to get up, he kicked it again and said, "Get out."
In an instant, the lynx collapsed, while the mule beside it jolted and spoke:
Give me your strength; this is the last chance.
Shen Zhou raised an eyebrow and looked the mule up and down: "How was it like to possess a mule?"
After a brief silence, He answered without emotion: "All things have a spirit, and should be treated equally. What about a mule?"
Shen Zhou clapped his hands and laughed, "Then I'll give it to you. From now on, you can possess this body."
The mule's face twitched for a moment, and he said stiffly, "I won't come again. This is the last time I'll see you."
Shen Zhou said, "I have no interest in saying goodbye to you."
He said, “Once I have completed my fusion with the Heavenly Way of this place, your power will be in my grasp.”
Shen Zhou: "How long will that take? Ten years? Twenty years? Maybe by then I will have already killed you and offered you to this world."
He said, "Impossible."
Shen Zhou gave a cryptic smile.
The sunlight was intense, and the mule's golden eyes shone even brighter. Annoyed by this, he reached out and pressed the mule's head down, seemingly talking to himself: "Fine, she likes this mule quite a bit, so I won't give it to you."
Without any effort, the mule collapsed. At this moment, Pillow regained consciousness, trotted over, and took the opportunity to kick the mule.
Chen Zhou lost all interest, leaving them to fight on the spot, and turned to sit in the shade of a tree to cultivate.
His cultivation level would drop a little every day, and no amount of cultivation could help, but he didn't care and continued to cultivate as usual.
Noticing the movement in the flower bushes, he didn't turn his head: "Speak."
Imazawa emerged from the flower bushes, looking rather annoyed.
He stood there for a while, and seeing that Shen Zhou didn't seem inclined to speak, he couldn't help but clear his throat: "Um, how about you..."
Chen Zhou remained silent and indifferent.
Jinze closed his eyes and shouted, "Why don't you become my master!"
He thought about it for a long time. He didn't want to owe Shen Zhou anything, but he also didn't want to be Shen Zhou's grandson. So he decided to give it to his apprentice instead.
After waiting anxiously for a moment, Chen Zhou said leisurely, "Okay."
Jinze was overjoyed, but before he could even think of what to say next, he was met with a cold shower.
“You should call her ‘Master’s Wife’ first,” Shen Zhou said.
"???"
Jinze knew without even thinking who this "she" was.
but……
“I don’t want to!” he said resolutely.
"Then don't even think about it."
"You..." Jinze hesitated for a long time, his face gradually contorting, "Do you really have to be like this? Romantic love is not what a real man desires. Can't you think about things without considering her?"
Shen Zhou: "You're just like your father."
"Shut up!" Jinze jumped up and down. "How could I be like him? That beast! I have absolutely nothing in common with him! Not at all!"
Jinze angrily turned and ran away.
Chen Zhou sat motionless, unmoved.
That evening, when Hua Deng returned with the jade pendant she had bought for Chen Zhou, she happened to run into Jin Ze, who was acting suspiciously.
She greeted him first: "Are you here to see Chen Zhou?"
Jinze was startled, but stared at her without saying a word for a long time.
The streetlights are unclear, so I'll wait patiently.
The young man's face turned purple with frustration, and after a long pause, he managed to utter each word slowly and deliberately: "Master, Master, Master..."
After trying for a long time without getting anywhere, Hua Deng chimed in: "Learn the barbarians' superior techniques to subdue them?"
Jinze: "..."
Hua Deng continued to guess: "Does a teacher necessarily have to be more virtuous than his disciple?"
Jin Ze's face darkened, and he blurted out, "Greetings, Master's Wife!"
Hua Deng's hand trembled from his shout, and he looked completely bewildered: "Huh? Me?"
Jinze stiffened even more, nodding blankly: "Yes, it's you, Master's wife."
Hua Deng took a step back, sized him up for a long time, and waved her hand: "No, no, you have to become Shen Zhou's disciple first before you can call me master's wife. Is he willing to acknowledge you now?"
"..."
Jinze closed his eyes in despair: "It's true what they say, every pot has its lid."
Hua Deng: "Thank you?"
Jinze smiled and turned to leave.
Once he was out of sight, Hua Deng finally broke into a laugh, almost unable to contain himself, and teased, "Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to tease him like that?"
Shen Zhou appeared behind her, his tone casual and smiling: "What's wrong with that? Just consider it more practice for him, and besides, I really don't plan to take on any disciples."
Hua Deng turned around and handed him the jade pendant: "I brought this for you, do you like it?"
Shen Zhou said, "I like it."
Hua Deng said, "You haven't seen it yet!"
"I might like it even if I don't watch it. But I might not like it even if I do watch it."
"Hey, you..."
*
Hua Deng has recently become obsessed with browsing and finding things at various roadside shops.
As a result, Shen Zhou received a large number of gifts every night, including but not limited to hairpins, combs, thumb rings, and so on.
Tired from strolling around the lantern festival that day, he parted ways with Su Yiqing and went home with the newly bought jade crown in his pocket.
She wanted to find a secluded spot to use Lie Tian, but she hadn't gone far when she suddenly heard someone call her: "Hua Deng."
She turned around, and a strange woman stood behind her, saying, "I am the mission taker for this dimension. My name is Number 16. Can we talk?"
...
In the quiet, deserted woods, Hua Deng listened to Number 16's explanation.
"You mean you want to send me away from this world?"
“Yes, I know that coming into this world was not your intention, and now we can send you away,” said Number 16.
She was a woman who looked slightly older than Hua Deng, with gentle features and a soft-spoken manner, making her easy to like.
The lantern slowly said, "What if I don't want to leave?"
Number 16, understanding the situation, asked considerately, "Is it because of your Daoist partner?"
Without waiting for Hua Deng's reply, she gently advised, "Your Daoist partner is dangerous. I don't recommend that you continue to have contact with him."
"Is that so?" Hua Deng said calmly.
Number 16 became increasingly earnest, his face full of worry and concern for her: "He possesses power beyond this world, and if he loses control even slightly, he could destroy this plane at any moment. If you stay by his side, you will also be in danger."
Hua Deng asked, "So what are you planning to do?"
Upon hearing this, Number 16 let out a breath and slowly said, "After you leave, we will take measures to reclaim his power and protect this plane."
She finished speaking with a smile, confidently awaiting the answer from Hua Deng.
However, she saw the seemingly kind girl curl the corner of her lips and ask with a strange mockery, "Do you want me to leave, or do you want to use me to threaten him?"
Number 16 paused, his expression frozen.
It shouldn't have been here.
However, Hua Deng carries that person's soul imprint, and the system cannot extract her soul. Therefore, headquarters granted it special privileges and sent it here to take away the girl in front of it.
It is the system with the most mission experience, and it transforms into a female form, but in order to gain the girl's trust.
It quickly regained its composure and said gently, "You've misunderstood. We had no such intention. But is being around someone like that really the life you want? He..."
"What's wrong with him?" Hua Deng suddenly looked up, her voice icy. "What kind of person is he?"
"You should understand..."
"I don't understand! You say he could destroy this world at any moment, but isn't this world perfectly fine? Doesn't that prove that in the past ten thousand years, he has never lost control even for a moment, and has never had the thought of destroying this world!"
"..." Number 16 said, "What you said is only a possibility, and that possibility is not 100%. Can you bear the consequences if you guess wrong?"
Hua Deng said, "And what about you? If you guess wrong, who will bear the consequences?"
“There’s nothing we can do about it. We need to save more people.” Number 16 sighed. “You may not understand, but in order to end the cataclysm of all worlds, we need the power to repair the main god. You should know better than anyone where this power can come from.”
"For power?" Hua Deng asked, looking lost and dejected.
"For strength," Number 16 said earnestly, "Hua Deng, we need your help."
“…He shouldn’t have been alive,” Hua Deng suddenly said. “If he had already been reincarnated, would you still covet this power?”
Number 16 gave her a deep look and replied, "It is precisely because he is alive that we, especially you, can observe him."
"I?"
"Yes, your contact with him provided us with valuable information and new ideas. Finding him has allowed us to advance the progress of repairing the main god by tens of thousands of years."
According to headquarters' monitoring data, ten thousand years ago, someone briefly opened a dimensional rift. Everyone assumed that this person had left Kyushu, but no one discovered any trace of him.
Through the information they could observe from the lanterns, they were astonished to discover that this person had never left; he was still in Kyushu and had become even stronger than he had been ten thousand years ago.
The story told by No. 16 made Hua Deng's face turn pale instantly. She staggered backward, feeling a sharp pain in her chest, as if she were suffocating.
It turns out it was because of her.
How could it be because of her!
Number 16 said, "Hua Deng, thank you for your contributions to the Transmigration Bureau. We will remember your efforts and arrange a perfect world for you to be reincarnated in."
"Now, please come with me."
Hua Deng wiped away the cold sweat, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his mind was still clear: "Will he die?"
Number 16 avoided answering: "Hua Deng, there are many people who need your help."
Hua Deng: "Will he die?"
Number 16 was silent for a moment: "Isn't it worth it to sacrifice one person to save many?"
Perhaps it's worth it. At least for many people, they would say it is.
But Hua Deng couldn't see it that way.
She lowered her head, the bright red ring on her left middle finger a testament to his tireless dedication to infusing it with sword intent every so often, all for her safety.
For no apparent reason, she recalled that day and asked him if he had ever regretted it.
He replied, "I regret it, but there's nothing I can do."
He may have regretted betraying the Heavenly Mandate Sect, but he couldn't have saved his mother otherwise; he may have regretted falling into demonic possession alone, but he couldn't have saved his master otherwise; he may have regretted spending his entire life cultivating and almost never seeing his sister and best friend again, but he couldn't have caught up with them otherwise.
But later, it seemed that, just as he had said, his wish could never be fulfilled.
Hua Deng gripped the ring tightly.
In his life, his father died for the greater good, his mother and sister died to prove the truth, and his best friend died for his lover. After that, he lived a lonely life, and he considered everyone as "not worth it".
She suddenly looked up and said to Number 16, "Having power is not his fault."
All he ever wanted was to live an ordinary life with his family.
He has finally achieved this kind of life, and these people want to take it away again.
She absolutely could not tolerate it.
Absolutely not!
The sword intent erupted and flew out, annihilating Number 16's body!
Number 16 was horrified. The powerful sword energy completely destroyed her body, leaving only a faint image of data still in the world.
The illusory figure swayed for a moment, then struggled to regain its composure. Hua Deng heard its cold, mechanical voice: "Hua Deng, I advise you not to do this. Haven't you ever wondered why you always manage to complete your missions?"
The streetlights seemed to catch their breath, their pupils constricting.
Number 16's words were firm and resounding: "It is because of our leniency that you have been able to survive here. It is because we need you to contact that person that we have allowed you to pass through!"
"Once you lose your value, do you think you can still survive well in this world?"
As its voice faded, a sharp system alarm sounded in Hua Deng's mind.
"Warning, the mission 'Cultivate with the Sect Leader for Three Days' has failed!"
"Warning, the quest 'Dual Cultivation with Junior Brother in Water' has failed!"
"Warning, the quest 'Marry the Demon King Yunxing' has failed!"
"warn--"
Warnings came one after another, and the streetlights felt cold all over, as if they had lost all their strength in an instant.
Number 16 sneered, "Look up and see how much of your life you have left!"
Six years.
Hua Deng saw on the panel that she only had six years left to live.
“You have no choice.” Number 16 reached out her hand. “Come with me. If you cooperate with us, you can be reborn.”
...A new student?
Hua Deng pressed down on the ring, silently delivering a new blow.
A white rainbow pierced the sun! The sword energy, powerful enough to destroy everything, was like a raging wind, instantly leveling the forest to the ground!
"Lights!!"
Even the phantom of number 16 was about to disappear, and it burst into a scream that was hard to understand.
"Do you know what you're doing? You're giving up everything for him, is it worth it?!"
This time, Hua Deng can give a positive answer.
She said, "It's worth it."
With the final blow, number 16 vanished completely from sight.
The clouds stopped and the wind cleared. The lanterns stood still for a moment, then suddenly, exhausted, I knelt down on the ground, weak and limp.
After a long while, she finally got up in a daze and staggered forward.
There was no sign of Shen Zhou around, so his divine sense should not have detected the situation here, which made her relax a little.
She walked a long way until she reached the edge of a cliff before remembering to use the Blazing Sky technique.
She stroked the ring, facing the wind, and whispered, "Take me home, Lie Tian."
With a clang, Lie Tian led her to the mountains and fields near Ziyang Palace, where, as expected, Chen Zhou was there.
Lie Tian always manages to find him, and so does she.
She took a few steps in a daze, and suddenly realized that she was surrounded by a profusion of flowers, which were very fragrant.
The scenery here is different.
He planted camellias all over the mountains for her, so that she could see them whenever she came.
The camellias bloomed incessantly; this was a gift he gave her.
Turning her head away from the streetlights, she forced back the tears that were about to spill, and bent down to pick a delicate flower.
The system, which had been silent until now, suddenly spoke: "Host, I can evade headquarters' pursuit and send you away from this world."
The lights were stunned, and there was no reaction for a moment.
"This is the only thing I can do for you," the system said. "I'm sorry for bringing you into this world, but I couldn't find a sweet romance novel that you like."
The petals brushed against his fingers. The lantern stared at him for a while, then shook its head and slowly chuckled.
"No, I'm not leaving."
Holding flowers in her hand, she ran towards the man who was waiting for her.
She ran faster and faster, feeling not fear or unease, but a lightness of relief.
"Let's stay here."
She smiled radiantly as the sun shone brightly upon her.
"Who says this isn't the sweet romance I'm looking for?"
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