Before March was over, the little yaos of Nushen Mountain heard a piece of news. The little tyrant of Shanghuang Village had returned with her lackey.
As soon as the news came out, the brawls on Nushen Mountain almost disappeared. The little yaos who usually liked to hang out outside suddenly seemed to have taken a liking to cultivation, and they didn’t even dare to step out of their gates.
The Iron-Eating Beast Clan hid their little cubs, fearing that the little devil would come to play with their cubs again.
By the river, peach blossoms were in full bloom. Their petals fell onto the water’s surface and drifted with the current, slowly floating away.
Jiu Hui shook her fishing rod. In the wooden bucket beside her, several small fish lazily wagged their tails. A few flower petals fell on their heads, startling them into splashing a few drops of water.
Footsteps sounded behind her. Jiu Hui, who had been half-asleep in the sun, didn’t turn her head and said, “You’re back so soon?”
The footsteps stopped and did not continue forward.
Jiu Hui regained consciousness and turned her head to see Kong Cangnan standing awkwardly under the peach tree.
“It’s you.” Jiu Hui put down her fishing rod and raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Do you want to fight with me again?”
“I won’t fight you. I can’t beat you anyway.” Kong Cangnan walked over and stood beside her. He had been present that day when Jiu Hui confronted the god on Fuguang Mountain. At that time, he realized that Jiu Hui had been going easy on him during their sparring sessions.
“Then you…” Jiu Hui saw Kong Cangnan’s serious expression, took out a small stool from her storage ring and placed it beside her. “Let’s talk while sitting. My neck gets tired from looking up.”
Kong Cangnan glanced at the short and small wooden stool twice before lifting his robe and sitting down.
“Why are you being so obedient today?” Jiu Hui looked at him in surprise. “Did you cause trouble outside and need me to intercede for you?”
She was willing to help him with this small favor, considering that Kong Cangnan had saved countless lives by flying his flying boat a few days ago.
“Can’t I just come to talk to you?” Kong Cangnan couldn’t help but say, “Can’t you think well of me?”
Jiu Hui felt increasingly uneasy as she listened. “Are you being possessed by something?”
Kong Cangnan: “…“carpreads.pages.dev
He hated that she was such a heartless garlic chive.
“No!” Kong Cangnan gritted his teeth and turned his head away, no longer paying attention to Jiu Hui. The two of them fell into silence.
The river water flowed over the bluestone, making a splashing sound. Kong Cangnan stared at the water for a long time: “You went to the mortal world to prevent the Heavenly Tribulation from happening?”
If it hadn’t been for Jiu Hui, the Demon Clan wouldn’t have joined forces with the cultivation world at a critical moment to resist the heavenly tribulation, and the Yao Clan wouldn’t have broken their rule of seclusion and used so many flying boats to save the human race. “Was it all planned by you?”
“I’m not that capable, and I can’t possibly plan for every eventuality.” Jiu Hui shook her head. “Sometimes, even the most meticulous planning doesn’t lead to a better outcome. Many things in life are simply a matter of fate.”
There was no “should have,” no “if only I had known,” and no “I could have.” She was just a garlic chive, not a god who knew everything under heaven.
“You seem to have been fond of being close to the human race since you were a child.” Kong Cangnan plucked a small grass beside him. “Will you still go to the mortal world in the future?”
“You forgot that Zhi You and I are disciples of Wangshu Pavilion?” Jiu Hui picked up the fishing rod, replaced the bait on the hook, and continued fishing. “We’re home now, but we’ll definitely return to the sect in a while.”
“You and Zhi You are really inseparable.” Kong Cangnan gradually tightened his grip on the grass. “If, I say if…”
“Young Master Kong.” Zhi You descended from the sky, carrying a food box in his hand. He walked between Jiu Hui and Kong Cangnan, took out a pastry from the food box, and fed it to Jiu Hui’s mouth. “Try this newly made peach blossom cake.”
Jiu Hui took a bite of his hand. “A bit too sweet.”
“Is that so?” Zhi You lowered his eyelids, his long eyelashes tinged with a hint of loneliness. “I followed the recipe, but perhaps I’ve tasted it too many times and lost my sense of sweetness.”
“I just happened to be craving something sweet, and this is perfect.” Jiu Hui changed the subject. “You made this yourself? It’s really well done.”
“Really?” Zhi You squatted in front of Jiu Hui, looking up at her with a smile.
“Mm-hmm.” Jiu Hui nodded. To prove the truth of her words, she ate another piece of pastry.
“Have some tea.” Zhi You poured a cup of tea and brought it to Jiu Hui’s lips, his eyes softer than peach blossom water.
Kong Cangnan watched as Zhi You acted as if no one else was around, being intimate with Jiu Hui. His face grew paler and paler. When he saw Zhi You take out a handkerchief to wipe the corner of Jiu Hui’s mouth, he stood up in a panic. “I should go.”
“I’ll see Young Master Kong off.”
“No need,” Kong Cangnan declined.
Zhi You folded the handkerchief and put it in his sleeve. “Young Master Kong is Jiu Hui’s guest, so it’s my duty to see you off. Please.”
Kong Cangnan glanced at Jiu Hui and turned to leave.
Zhi You followed behind him. The two of them walked along the river towards Kong Family Village. Kong Cangnan looked back at him and said, “Even if I’m Jiu Hui’s guest, you don’t have to see me off.”
“Jiu Hui’s guest is my guest.” Zhi You put his hands behind his back, a smile on his face. “No need to be so particular.”
“Even if you are now a member of the Shanghuang Village, I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for you to say such things.” Kong Cangnan sneered, “Young Master Zhi, don’t take yourself too seriously.”
“Young Master Kong is right. Naturally, no one else is qualified to say such things.” Zhi You stopped walking, the smile on his lips not fading. “I’ll see you to this point. Young Master Kong, take care.”
“Are you qualified to say such a thing?”
“I’m different from the others. I’m the future zhuixu that Jiu Hui personally acknowledged.” Zhi You had been waiting for Kong Cangnan to ask this question. “As a zhuixu, I naturally follow my wife’s lead. Jiu Hui’s guests are my guests.”
Kong Cangnan’s face lost all color. He didn’t want to look at Zhi You’s smug face any longer, so he turned and flew away as a peacock.
When Zhi You returned after seeing Kong Cangnan off, Jiu Hui propped her chin up with one hand and looked at him. “Kong Cangnan is gone?”
“Hmm.” Zhi You sat down next to Jiu Hui, the sunlight reflecting off the river’s surface in shimmering waves. “He didn’t seem very happy when he left. Maybe he has something against me?”
“That’s just the way he is. Next time he comes to me for a duel, I’ll beat him up good for you.” Jiu Hui poured the fish in the bucket back into the river, packed up the fishing gear, and grabbed his hand. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”
“Alright,”
Jiu Hui led Zhi You to Nushen Mountain, and all the little yaos they met along the way avoided them.
Every year, Nushen Mountain was especially beautiful in March and April. If a yao clan had a newborn, they would place a stone in their yard from Nushen Mountain, asking Nushen Mountain to bless the newborn with a safe and healthy life. Jiu Hui brought Zhi You to the highest peak of Nushen Mountain: “Look, this is the boundary. This side is yao territory, and that side is the human world.”
She looked in the direction of the mortal realm: “How about… we go to the city?”
“Alright.” Zhi You agreed immediately, so quickly that Jiu Hui thought he was very much looking forward to entering the city.
When she brought Zhi You into the city, she finally understood why he had eagerly agreed to enter the city with her.
“Miss Jiu!”
“It’s Miss Jiu!”
After seeing Jiu Hui flying into the sky to protect everyone on Fuguang Mountain, Jiu Hui’s reputation in Nushen City changed again.
Everyone thought that Jiu Hui had been favored by a big shot in the cultivation world because of her talent and perseverance, and that she had been taught magic techniques.
As for why she was so powerful, it must have been because she was exceptionally talented.
They had watched her grow up. The child had been clever since she was little, so it was reasonable that she would become so powerful.
The people of Nushen City, having learned that they had “someone above” straightened their backs a lot. Even though cultivators often appeared in the city these days, they were not as frightened as they used to be.
Since every cultivator who came asked if this was the Nushen City, the City Lord painfully took out his private savings to renovate the city gate and city wall.
The cultivators were generous with their spending, so the business of the city’s commoners improved quite a bit.
As soon as Jiu Hui appeared, she was warmly welcomed by everyone.
“Miss Jiu, are you taking your junior brother out shopping again? Here, take these fruits and eat them!”
“It’s not Junior Brother.” Zhi You stopped in his tracks and looked seriously at the boss who was stuffing fruits into Jiu Hui’s arms.
The boss was stunned. “What is it then?”
Last time Miss Jiu entered the city, didn’t she say he was her junior brother? Why isn’t he now?
“A zhuixu.” Zhi You took the fruit from the boss’s hand and placed a piece of broken silver in his palm.
“Ah?!” The boss stared blankly at the backs of the two as they left hand-in-hand, and he couldn’t react for a long time.
Zhuixu?
Zhuixu!
In less than half an hour, half of the citizens of Nushen City already knew that Miss Jiu had a zhuixu, who was the very handsome Junior Brother by her side.
When other cultivators entered the city, they heard many commoners talking about the zhuixu and couldn’t help but wonder, “Who took a zhuixu? The young master of the City Lord’s Mansion?”
The people of Nushen City were full of pride: “You know Nan Feng of the Jiutian Sect, right?”
The cultivators nodded.
“Our city’s Miss Jiu Hui is good friends with Nan Feng, and she has a zhuixu!”
“Miss Jiu…” The cultivator who asked the question suddenly understood. “Are you talking about Jiu Hui? Is she actually from your Nushen City?”
“Of course!” The townsfolk were even prouder. “Jiu Hui was a clever child since she was little. She could recognize characters at three, practice martial arts at five, and understand the world at seven. There’s no child in our entire city smarter than her.”
After listening to a torrent of compliments, the cultivator was still feeling a bit dizzy when he walked out of the crowd. It turned out that Jiu Hui had been this formidable since she was a child. No wonder she dared to defy fate…
-—–
In the teahouse, Elder Hei raised his teacup to Jiu Hui and Zhi You, who were sitting across from him. “Congratulations to both of you.”
“Thank you.” Jiu Hui took a sip of tea. “I didn’t expect to meet you here.”
Compared to the last time they met, Elder Hei had aged a lot. Jiu Hui looked at his cloudy eyes and asked, “Is this the price you paid for speaking the truth on Fuguang Mountain?”
Elder Hei smiled freely, not answering her question. “Fuguang Mountain is gone, and Zhenxing Tower has been demolished. I just wanted to come and walk around this old place.”
The teahouse was bustling, but the room they were in was quiet.
“The young woman waited for her lover, but a person’s life is so short. After she died, her lover held her and fell asleep in the cemetery. As the sea changed and the mulberry fields turned into mulberry trees, the sun rose and the moon set, and the mountain where they were buried was given a name, the Nushen Mountain.”
The tea in Elder Hei’s hand had already cooled down: “Embracing each other in life, and buried in the same grave after death, it can be considered a beautiful ending.”
“The lovers’ spiritual bones merged with Nushen Mountain, and that’s how your yao territory came to be.” Elder Hei put down his teacup. “You shouldn’t have been born, but thanks to Nushen Mountain’s protection, you escaped the arrangements of fate and became an unexpected twist in destiny.”
Zhi You suddenly understood. No wonder Bu Ting’s Soul-Swallowing Formation had no effect on Jiu Hui. No wonder she was born on Nushen Mountain, thousands of miles away from Fuguang Mountain. It turned out that she was protected by Nushen Mountain.
“And who might you be, Elder Hei?” Jiu Hui asked as she poured fresh tea into Elder Hei’s cup.
“Me?” Elder Hei pondered for a long time. “I’m nothing more than a brush refined from a Fusang branch. You could also think of me as a broken hair on a man’s head.”
“The Jian tree is broken, the Fusang tree is dead, and the Gan tree is gone. The world has lost its three great divine trees.” Elder Hei finished his tea. “But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The special status bestowed by the world often becomes a shackle that one cannot escape, trapping one in life and death.”
“I should be going.” Elder Hei put down his teacup, stood up, and looked out the window. After a long while, he turned his head and said to Zhi You, “Congratulations, young master, on getting what you wished for and becoming the zhuixu of Shanghuang Village.”
A smile appeared on Zhi You’s face. It was the first time he had smiled since seeing Elder Hei.
Elder Hei left, and Jiu Hui and Zhi You walked hand-in-hand through the bustling streets. Laughing and joking children, hurried peddlers, and elderly people passed them by.
“Greetings, Miss Jiu Hui.”
“Hello, Auntie.”
“Miss Jiu’s young man is so handsome.”
“Auntie… Auntie, hello.”
Amidst the good-natured laughter of the townsfolk, Zhi You squeezed out of the crowd with a blush on his face. As he walked out of the city gate, he couldn’t help but look back.
The vigorous and powerful characters of “Nushen City” were clearly carved above the city gate.
“Let’s go, my dear Zhi You, accompany me to pay homage at Nushen Mountain.”
“Alright,”
Wherever you are, I will be there.
Author Note:
Little Garlic Chive: My Zhi You just wants to be my zhuixu. What bad intentions can he have?