Meishan Residence was small and exquisite with absolutely beautiful scenery. After drinking a cup of tea in the main hall, Xin Mei couldn’t sit still and went out to wander around by herself, leaving only two men behind – one silent and cold, the other anxious and uneasy.
“General, please… please have some tea…” He tremblingly poured tea with his own hands, but spilled most of the tea water on the table.
“General, please try… try some tea snacks…” He brought a plate of pine nut candy, but shook half the plate of candy onto the floor.
Lu Qianqiao took a sip of tea and said indifferently: “You seem very afraid of me?”
“No… no…” Lord Meishan shamefully lowered his head. He was just at a loss when it came to this clan that excelled at both one-on-one combat and group fighting, and was incredibly fierce in battle. If he offended him, the man could probably pulverize him to dust with one slap.
“I heard you know everything in heaven and earth. This time I came…”
“I know, I know!” Lord Meishan nodded frantically. “I can guess what the General wants to ask about. Regarding how War Ghost descendants mixed with ordinary human bloodlines can survive the transformation tribulation at age twenty-five, I can have Little Crow investigate. You can rest assured.”
Little Crow had always been known for having a third eye. This kind of matter didn’t seem too difficult, so leaving it to Little Crow should be fine.
“This… the matter isn’t really difficult, but… that… my rule here is that I don’t accept gold, silver, or treasures. If the General can beat me in drinking capacity, then this, naturally…”
Regarding compensation, he spoke haltingly, occasionally stealing glances at Lu Qianqiao’s expression. Seeing his brows furrow and his hand reach into his chest, he was so startled he shivered and frantically waved his hands: “Such a small matter, where’s the need for compensation! No need, no need!”
Lu Qianqiao glanced at him and put his hand down: “I’m not good at drinking. I heard you’re crazy about alcohol, so this time I brought ingredients for wine used in ancient times by my clan to honor gods and respect heaven as compensation. However…”
He looked at Lord Meishan’s cowering appearance and smiled: “Since you don’t want it, then thank you.”
…Retribution! This was the retribution for being as timid as a mouse!
Lord Meishan left the main hall in tears. He needed to find a quiet place to mend his shattered heart. Coincidentally passing by the kitchen, he saw a group of spirit ghosts in white clothes and red skirts surrounding the door, clapping and cheering. Curious, he moved closer to look, and saw Xin Mei standing in front of the cutting board chopping vegetables. The huge, thick cleaver was wielded by her like a willow leaf knife, cold light flashing chaotically. In just the blink of an eye, what should be julienned was julienned, what should be sliced was sliced, neatly arranged in several plates.
Divine skill!
Lord Meishan was so excited his whole body trembled as he rushed to the front and clapped vigorously. Xin Mei wiped her hands while asking him: “Lord Meishan, I heard immortals don’t eat meat, so I’ve prepared all vegetarian dishes. What do you like to eat?”
Lord Meishan said in a trembling voice: “Eat… eat tofu…”
She nodded, scooped up a block of tofu from the water basin, and compared it with the cleaver. Finding it unsuitable, someone beside her immediately handed her a small knife as thin as cicada wings. She turned back with a smile: “Then I’ll carve a tofu Lord Meishan. We’ll steam it to eat.”
Lord Meishan was moved to tears.
So that evening’s dinner was this scene: the tofu Meishan was steamed and brought to the table. Xin Mei ruthlessly picked off its head with her chopsticks and put it in Lord Meishan’s bowl, saying: “Lord Meishan, this is your head, you eat it first.”
He had never eaten such an enchanting meal. Before he realized it, he had eaten too much and could only grunt while holding his ball-like belly.
Xin Mei was quite worried: “Lord Meishan, your stomach looks like it has a ball inside. You should go lie down for a while.”
He was reluctant to leave. Taking advantage of Lu Qianqiao lowering his head to drink soup, he wanted to boldly hold Xin Mei’s snow-white little hand and rack his brains to say some gentle words – first praising her divine culinary skills, then talking about how she had carried him upstairs last time and thoughtfully cared for him, which he hadn’t had a chance to thank her for yet.
But just as he reached out his hand, Lu Qianqiao put down his bowl and glanced at him.
He immediately pulled his hand back and dejectedly lowered his head to play with his sleeves.
The spirit ghosts in white clothes and red skirts came in to clear the leftovers. Seeing Lord Meishan holding his round belly in a daze, they couldn’t help but snicker. Lord Meishan blushed and glared at them: “Not a bit of proper behavior! Hurry up and go down after cleaning!”
The spirit ghosts made faces at him, picked up the bowls, chopsticks, and plates, and walked out briskly. Suddenly one of them tripped on the threshold, and a drop of soup fell on a red skirt. With a swoosh, it turned into a white paper figure that floated lightly to the ground, with the soup stain still visible on the white paper.
Xin Mei was dumbfounded.
Lord Meishan hurriedly waved at her: “It’s fine, these spirit ghosts are all created using white paper spirit summoning techniques.”
He painfully shuffled over holding his belly, picked up the white paper figure, and casually tossed it. It fell to the ground and turned back into a lively spirit ghost in white clothes and red skirt, who turned back to grin at the stunned Xin Mei before continuing to run off with the plates.
Xin Mei looked at him with pity as he sweated profusely: “Lord Meishan, you really should go lie down. Be careful not to hurt your stomach. Gossipy immortals probably don’t have very good digestion, right?”
How gentle and considerate… Lord Meishan was moved and nodded: “Then… then I’ll go lie down in my room first. There are hot springs outside, and clothes you can change into. Feel free to bathe and wear whatever you want, don’t be polite at all.”
He walked back to his room holding his belly, supported by two spirit ghosts holding his arms.
Xin Mei was led by the spirit ghosts to bathe in the hot springs. By the poolside was a set of clean white robes, the fabric soft as silk and light as if weightless. After putting it on, she immediately felt light as a swallow.
The spirit ghosts explained with smiles: “This is why our master requires every visitor to first bathe and change clothes before entering.”
She put on wooden clogs and walked clackety-clack to the guest room in the back, where she saw Lu Qianqiao had also changed into white robes and was leaning against a crabapple tree with his head down, fiddling with something. Seeing her approach, he only gave her a brief glance and paid no attention.
“Lu Qianqiao, are you in a bad mood again?”
She suddenly moved closer, staring at his face.
She got too close, her breathing seemed about to brush against his face. In his confusion he felt somewhat flustered, turned his head away, and only after a while said: “How do you know how to cook?”
She smiled: “My father doesn’t like the food made by hired chefs, so I have to cook. Do you think it tastes good?”
He remained noncommittal, so she frowned: “Was it not good?”
“…It was good.”
“Then I’ll cook for you again next time.”
His expression gradually softened, his eyebrows and eyes relaxing as he looked at the bamboo root still in rudimentary form in his hands, saying quietly: “What about you? What kind of puppet do you like?”
Xin Mei’s eyes immediately lit up: “You’re going to make a puppet for me? I like the Heavenly Lady from that day on the stage who swoosh, chopped everyone’s heads off!”
“…” Who taught this child to be so violent?
He shook his head and began using a small knife to shave off the bamboo root’s rough edges. He felt her whole body leaning over, and a strand of her still-damp hair fell onto the back of his hand – cool, a bit ticklish, and a bit… fragrant.
For some reason, his mood tonight became particularly good, unprecedentedly good.
Suddenly he noticed a figure moving ahead. Looking up, he saw Lord Meishan with a face full of sorrow. Probably from eating too much, he was leaning against the wall and looked like he might fall at any moment. He focused and watched for a while, then lowered his head to continue carving the bamboo root, leaving Lord Meishan behind with a belly full of bitterness and tofu, scratching his hair.
The General just glanced at him, right? Right? Was it a warning? A threat? Looking down from above? Or proud showing off?
Lord Meishan became obsessed with that ambiguous look, unable to extricate himself.
Tonight was such perfect weather with flowers and moon, with gentle breezes creating romantic atmosphere – perfect for romantic moments under the flowers and moon. He had finally managed to hide his ball-like belly and came to find Xin Mei to talk about life ideals and such, but unexpectedly caught her having romantic moments under the flowers and moon with someone else.
Cute and gentle little Mei, he had missed his chance in a moment of inattention…
He returned to his room in tears and didn’t sleep well all night, his nightmares full of Lu Qianqiao’s look, tossing and turning with stomach pain from anxiety.
The next day he slept until afternoon before getting up. Suddenly remembering that Xin Mei was still at his house, he felt both excited and heartbroken, and immediately snuck near the guest rooms to see her. Along the way he met a spirit ghost sweeping, who saw his pathetic appearance and said: “Master, Miss Xin and the General are in Phoenix Forest. You’d better not go disturb them.”
Lord Meishan couldn’t help but fly into a rage: “I’m supposed to be your master, right? How did you start siding with outsiders after just one day!”
The spirit ghost picked his nose: “Anyway, if you go you’ll just come back crying. Why compete with a War Ghost for a woman when you can’t beat him?”
…He wanted to cry right now.
However, he was ultimately unwilling to give up, so he sneaked toward Phoenix Forest. The phoenix flowers in the forest had all bloomed, spreading far like fiery brocade and red silk. Xin Mei sat under a tree with needle and thread in hand, sewing and mending. The bright red colors reflected on her face gave her a kind of peaceful, gentle beauty – clearly the future ideal wife and mother.
Looking around, he didn’t see Lu Qianqiao anywhere. Lord Meishan was overjoyed, straightened his clothes, and was about to walk over in his most handsome and dashing manner when suddenly he heard Xin Mei hold up the clothing in her hands and ask: “Look, will this outfit work?”
What she held in her hands was a colorful… rag? Ball of cloth? Cut and crumpled sleeves?
Suddenly Lu Qianqiao’s voice came from across: “That doesn’t look like clothing.”
Lord Meishan’s hair stood on end as he realized Lu Qianqiao was sitting with his back to him under the phoenix tree. Unlike Xin Mei, he held a bamboo root that had just taken the rudimentary form of a puppet.
Xin Mei held the cloth and looked left and right, saying very seriously: “If you look carefully it still looks quite like clothing. This color would be most eye-catching and dashing on the Heavenly Lady.”
“…That’s just a rag in the shape of clothing.” Lu Qianqiao finally told the truth.
Xin Mei sheepishly put away the colorful cloth. After thinking, she still defended herself: “I… I’m quite good at everything except making clothes and shoes.”
Lu Qianqiao seemed to laugh softly: “When we go back, have Official Zhao make them. He’s always made the puppets’ clothes and hair.”
As if somewhat tired, he put the bamboo root on the ground and stood up to walk around. Turning, he saw Lord Meishan hiding behind a tree crying.
The phoenix flowers bloomed too bright and dazzling. He squinted and focused for a while to confirm it was Lord Meishan. Just as he was about to speak, Lord Meishan had already turned and fled with his face covered.
The General just gave him another look, right? Right? This time he absolutely didn’t see wrong! Lu Qianqiao was definitely warning him! As a romantic rival!
He ran wildly back to his room all the way. The sweeping spirit ghost glanced at him and continued picking his nose: “Told you you’d definitely come back crying…”
After staying at Meishan Residence for ten consecutive days, Little Crow, who had gone out to investigate the intelligence Lu Qianqiao needed, still showed no sign of flying back. This situation was very rare, and even Lord Meishan, who had been obsessing over Lu Qianqiao’s warning looks, finally felt things couldn’t continue this way.
Coincidentally, after rain the sky cleared that day, so he brought a green wood whistle and stood at the main gate blowing toward the sky repeatedly. The green wood whistle was connected to Little Crow’s primordial spirit – usually when he blew once, no matter how far it flew it would immediately sense it and return. Today for some reason, after blowing for most of an hour, not even one bird flew over.
Xin Mei stood beside him helping to look up at the sky. Seeing Lord Meishan so anxious his face turned green, she kindly consoled: “Lord Meishan, it might be out there being greedy for food, or maybe it got entangled with a pretty female crow. Don’t worry, it will definitely come back after it’s done playing.”
Lord Meishan sniffled and looked at her with emotion. Although these consoling words made him feel worse than saying nothing, this must also be little Mei’s gentleness!
He raised the whistle and blew again, suddenly feeling something was wrong. Looking up at the sky, he saw a small, exquisite carriage descending from the clouds, landing right at the gate. The carriage door gently opened, and a charming head poked out from inside, smiling as it looked around at the three people at the gate before saying: “Meishan, you’re such an irresponsible master. How could you leave Little Crow outside unattended?”
With that, he jumped down from the carriage in flowing robes and wide sleeves, his golden crown glittering – it was the fox immortal Zhen Hongsheng, whom they hadn’t seen in a long time.
In his hands he held a small black bundle covered in wounds – it was the Little Crow they had been searching for everywhere.