Bujiang loved flowers very much.

In the Demon Realm, apart from Ghost Head Flowers, there were very few other flowers. The soil quality on Heishi Mountain was unique – ordinary flowers and plants found it difficult to grow here. Year after year, it remained bare and pitch black.

The demons in Heishi City didn’t like flowers either.

Demons preferred bright, shiny things – like gold, silver, and jewels. Though flowers were beautiful, they were too fragile and couldn’t last forever. In comparison, the crystals that decorated their caves were much harder and would never wither away before winter arrived.

Bujiang was the most beautiful woman in Heishi City, with admirers as numerous as fish crossing a river. Knowing she loved flowers, many demon cultivators tried every means to pluck flowers from the human world, using various methods to preserve and store them before bringing them to her. But Bujiang would only glance at them lightly, looking uninterested.

Plucked flowers would quickly wither. Even when maintained by secret arts, they couldn’t completely preserve their fragrance and aroma. And her standards for beauty had always been very high.

Her friend, a succubus, asked her, “What’s so good about flowers? Heishi City has countless rare treasures. Why like such fragile, impermanent things that need constant care?”

Bujiang thought for a moment: “They’re like me.”

The succubus was stunned: “What?”

Bujiang looked at her and said faintly, “Don’t you think I look very much like a delicate flower?”

The succubus: “……”

The beauty sighed: “When will Heishi Mountain ever be able to grow a flower?”

“In this lifetime, it should be impossible.” The succubus said, then seemed to think of something. She glanced at Bujiang and suddenly said, “However, it’s not entirely impossible. A few days ago, some fool was planting flowers on Heishi Mountain. Wait a hundred or eighty years, and he might succeed in growing some.”

“A fool?” Bujiang looked at her. “Who?”

The succubus snorted twice, some hidden resentment in her eyes: “Gui Diao Tang.”

Bujiang was slightly stunned.

The name Gui Diao Tang had become quite famous in Heishi City recently. Not only because of his powerful abilities, but also because this demon had a face that was very hard to forget.

Gui Diao Tang was a beautiful man.

Heishi City wasn’t lacking in beautiful men – they were just appearances after all, and demons didn’t care that much about them. But if this man had rejected the beloved succubus of Heishi City, it would immediately add another layer of gold to his beauty.

In Bujiang’s eyes, apart from herself, the succubus was the most beautiful. As long as the succubus crooked her finger, whether human or demon, men would go crazy for her. The incident a few days ago, when the succubus had invited Gui Diao Tang to travel together and was publicly rejected, had spread throughout the entire city.

Countless demon cultivators were furious about this – what an ungrateful dog, really giving him face, actually daring to reject their respected Lady Succubus of Heishi City. Flower protectors rushed out one after another, vowing to seek justice for their beloved, but they were all knocked down by the blue-robed man in one move.

He was actually of pure Heavenly Demon bloodline.

The flower protectors wanted to protect their flower, but unfortunately couldn’t win, so they had to flee in embarrassment. This made the succubus feel very humiliated, though of course, she couldn’t defeat this demon cultivator of Heavenly Demon bloodline either.

Seeing her friend still looking indignant when mentioning this person, Bujiang rarely comforted her: “Don’t be angry. No cat in the world doesn’t steal fish. When a man rejects a woman, it’s most likely because he’s currently in love with another woman.”

“What woman could compare to me?” The succubus sneered. “Is there a more beautiful woman than me in this world?”

“Of course there is.” Bujiang looked at her calmly. “Aren’t I right here? What if he likes me?”

The succubus: “Bujiang!”

“Alright.” Bujiang continued, “Think positively – maybe his sweetheart is dead. The living can never compete with the dead; demons are the same.”

“Really?” The succubus was somewhat doubtful.

“However,” Bujiang said thoughtfully, “you said he’s planting flowers on Heishi Mountain? What flowers is he planting?”

…

Rain began falling in the city.

It rarely rained in Heishi City, and even when it did, it was mostly at night. The daytime rain shrouded the entire mountain range in a layer of pale black gauze, making even the mist dim.

Bujiang had once seen rain in the Jiangnan region of the human world – it was completely different from Heishi City’s rain, light and elegant. Like a properly balanced ink wash painting that made viewers feel relaxed and happy.

She had always loved beautiful scenery.

The mountain path was rugged and dark. Just then, she heard movement ahead. From the pitch-black, dense forest on the mountain, a person slowly walked out.

Bujiang’s gaze paused.

This was a man in blue robes, holding a blue paper umbrella. The umbrella was large, painted with many ink wash flower and bird paintings. He walked at a leisurely pace. His blue shirt dispersed the dense black qi in this gloomy mountain, turning it into light, pale ink wash. The rain washed away the ink, turning this place into a painting.

Fine rain gathered along the umbrella surface into water drops, falling drop by drop into the soil at his feet. The wind blew the umbrella askew, revealing the man’s handsome face.

He had a noble and elegant face, without half a trace of the demon race’s violence or demonic aura.

Almost instantly, Bujiang realized in her heart that this blue-robed man was the legendary Gui Diao Tang.

When Gui Diao Tang first appeared in Heishi City, she had been in Duzhou. After returning to the city, she had only heard about this person from the succubus. Now seeing him for the first time, she couldn’t help but sigh – the succubus’s taste in men was second only to hers. With such looks and bearing, it was no wonder he could bewitch the succubus.

The other party looked up and also saw Bujiang before him. She raised the corner of her lips in a smile, about to approach this blue-robed man, but he had already passed by, walking past her as if he hadn’t seen Bujiang at all.

Bujiang: “……”

She turned back to look at the person walking straight ahead, raising an eyebrow. This person seemed quite proud by nature.

She thought for a moment but wasn’t annoyed. She just followed behind him at a leisurely pace. Neither approaching to strike up a conversation nor leaving, just following him like this.

Gui Diao Tang knew Bujiang was following behind, but seemed not to care. He stopped in front of a withered tree, placed the blue paper umbrella under the tree, and took out a handful of pitch-black seeds from the brocade pouch at his waist.

Bujiang’s gaze focused slightly.

These were flower seeds – a handful of ordinary flower seeds from the human world, with no spiritual power or special effects whatsoever.

Gui Diao Tang scattered the flower seeds in the soil before the withered tree.

On Heishi Mountain, there was no distinction between shaded or sunny sides – the land was uniformly barren or fertile. Choosing where to drop the flower seeds had no meaning, because this place simply couldn’t grow flowers from the human world.

After planting flowers in one spot, Gui Diao Tang walked to another place and scattered more flower seeds. He seemed to want to plant the entire Heishi Mountain full of flowers.

Bujiang found this somewhat incomprehensible and couldn’t help but speak up to remind him: “Hey, stop wasting your effort. Flowers from the human world can’t grow in the Demon Realm. Even if you scatter flower seeds all over Heishi Mountain, they’ll never bloom.”