Chapter 25: The Sea of Flowers
“What a waste of time,” the Demon Lord grumbled.
Despite her failed attempt to “borrow” cultivation manuals from the Dragon King, she hadn’t left empty-handed. She had managed to snag a few from the Dragon Palace.
Suddenly, she was curious about Luo Nianshang’s whereabouts. She pulled Lü Qingyan from her arms. “Mao Mao,” she commanded, “sniff out Luo Nianshang’s location.”
Lü Qingyan rolled her eyes at her new nickname, but she complied.
She sniffed the air, her nose twitching, then pointed a paw towards the east.
The Demon Lord trusted her dog’s instincts. She scooped Lü Qingyan back into her arms and flew in the indicated direction.
They soon arrived at a valley carpeted in a vibrant tapestry of flowers. Despite the winter season, there was no snow in sight, as if the warmth of the blossoms had melted it away.
Then, they spotted a single patch of white amidst the sea of color. Luo Nianshang stood alone, her gaze distant, lost in thought.
The Demon Lord, delighted to have found her, was about to call out “Master” when she caught herself. She would have to come up with a convincing explanation for her presence.
Luo Nianshang, sensing the approach of the Demon Lord’s potent aura, turned, her lips curling into a sneer. Her mood seemed particularly foul today.
The Demon Lord was surprised by her coldness, but also intrigued. She hovered above Luo Nianshang, her voice laced with amusement. “What are you doing here, Venerable One?”
Bai Jingxue, nestled in the Demon Lord’s arms, observed the flow of spiritual energy in the valley. It was chaotic and erratic, and Luo Nianshang’s aura seemed suppressed.
If Luo Nianshang’s spiritual energy was a balloon constantly expanding, then this strange energy was like a series of vines constricting it. She was trapped.
This was interesting. Even Luo Nianshang could be restrained.
Despite her predicament, Luo Nianshang remained calm, her expression serene, as if she were simply admiring the flowers.
She had initially intended to be honest about the nature of this place, but then she reconsidered. The Demon Lord was far more dangerous than this strange energy. The flowers might be restricting her movements, but the Demon Lord could easily kill her.
Years of dedicated cultivation might have made her somewhat socially inept, but she wasn’t stupid. She was simply out of touch with the complexities of human interaction.
“I was admiring the flowers,” she said, forcing a smile. “Would you care to join me, Demon Lord?”
The Demon Lord, momentarily mesmerized by Luo Nianshang’s unexpected smile, abandoned her caution and landed gracefully beside her. “I wouldn’t miss this opportunity for the world,” she purred.
The moment her feet touched the ground, her smile vanished.
Luo Nianshang’s deception was clumsy, but the Demon Lord, blinded by her own arrogance, had failed to maintain her usual vigilance.
She had walked right into the trap.
Bai Jingxue, who had witnessed the entire exchange, was utterly baffled. She frowned as the strange energy ensnared the Demon Lord, then felt a similar pressure constricting her own mind.
The Demon Lord, realizing the danger, flung the cat and dog out of the flower field. She, as the Demon Lord, could withstand this energy, but untransformed demon beasts were vulnerable.
Bai Jingxue twisted in midair, landing gracefully on her feet. Lü Qingyan, however, wasn’t so lucky. She tumbled across the ground, her white fur now coated in black dirt.
“Ugh! Yuck! Blech!”
She spat out the dirt, then stared at her dirty paws, her expression brightening. “Jingxue, look!” she exclaimed. “We have matching fur now!”
Bai Jingxue was beyond exasperated.
The Demon Lord’s voice, laced with fury, echoed through the valley.
“Luo Nianshang, you tricked me!”
Luo Nianshang’s voice was calm and even. “That’s strange.”
The Demon Lord suppressed her rage. “Strange? What’s strange?”
Luo Nianshang stared at her, her eyes filled with genuine curiosity. “You usually call me an old nun when you’re angry,” she observed.
The Demon Lord was speechless. It was true. She always resorted to that particular insult when she clashed with Luo Nianshang. But now, looking at Luo Nianshang’s face, she couldn’t bring herself to utter those words.
She decided to tease the stoic Sword Saint instead. She leaned in, her lips almost brushing against Luo Nianshang’s cheek, her eyes filled with a mix of amusement and something else, something unreadable.
“Because I’ve just realized,” she purred, “that you have a rather lovely figure.”
Luo Nianshang, realizing she was being flirted with, was about to shove the Demon Lord away and unleash a torrent of insults, but her gaze was drawn to the bell peeking out from beneath the Demon Lord’s collar.
The Demon Lord, wanting to keep the bell hidden, had tucked it into her robes. But they were standing so close that Luo Nianshang had noticed it.
She had assumed the Demon Lord had kidnapped her cat and that the dog had simply tagged along. But it seemed there was more to the story.
Forgetting her embarrassment, she grabbed the Demon Lord by the neck, her voice cold and dangerous. “Where did you get that bell?”
The pressure on her neck was painful, the killing intent undeniable. The Demon Lord’s emotions were a jumbled mess. She was both hated and desired by the same person.
What should she do? She didn’t want to lie.
She decided to be honest. She pulled out the bell, her voice a smug purr. “This? It was a gift from my beloved.”
Luo Nianshang’s relief at hearing that her disciple was safe was short-lived. She tightened her grip on the Demon Lord’s neck. “You two are not compatible!” she declared.
The Demon Lord raised an eyebrow, licking her lips as if savoring a memory, her voice a teasing challenge. “How do you know if we haven’t even tried?”
The world around them seemed to fade, their voices growing distant. Initially, Bai Jingxue could still make out their argument, but soon, all she could hear was a muffled bickering about the bell.
Lü Qingyan, her body trembling, edged closer to Bai Jingxue, but then hesitated, not wanting to dirty the cat’s fur with her mud-caked coat.
“Jingxue, does this place feel creepy to you?” she whispered.
Bai Jingxue, observing the increasingly chaotic flow of spiritual energy, was deeply worried.
She finally broke her silence, addressing Lü Qingyan. “Does the novel mention a place like this, a valley filled with flowers?”
Lü Qingyan searched her memory, then gasped, her eyes widening in horror. “The Land of Fallen Gods!”
Bai Jingxue stared at the vibrant blossoms, her heart sinking. This place was exactly as described in the novel. But wasn’t this a high-level area, something they weren’t supposed to encounter until much later?
As the name suggested, the Land of Fallen Gods was a place where even deities perished. There might be some exaggeration involved, but it was undoubtedly dangerous.
Even the male lead in the novel had avoided this place, only using it as a trap for his enemies.
What were they going to do? Would they be forced to live as stray cats and dogs?
Fear gnawed at her. She took a few steps back, then stopped.
“What do you think will happen to this world if Luo Nianshang dies?” she asked Lü Qingyan.
Lü Qingyan didn’t know. But without the presence of powerful figures like Luo Nianshang and the Demon Lord to maintain order, the righteous and demon realms would likely resume their conflict.
“I don’t know,” she said, “but I don’t want them to die.”
Bai Jingxue pondered this for a long time, then she turned and started walking towards the flower field.
Lü Qingyan, her legs trembling, blocked her path. “I’ll go,” she said, her voice anxious. “I’m luckier than you.”
Bai Jingxue, seeing the dog’s fear, couldn’t help but smile. “That was our past life,” she said gently. “I’m not going in. I just want to take a closer look.”
Lü Qingyan didn’t believe her. Bai Jingxue was a master of deception. She had fallen for her lies countless times in their past life.
But whether it was their past or present life, Bai Jingxue remained unchanged, always shouldering burdens alone, always reassuring those she protected that everything was fine.
But Lü Qingyan could never stay mad at her. She simply drooped her ears, resorting to emotional manipulation.
“You always do this,” she whined. “When will you learn to be honest with me?”
“Remember that time you were beaten up so badly? You hid your injuries from me because you were afraid I’d do something reckless. You even wore long sleeves in the summer to cover the bruises. But why? What’s wrong with letting me help you?”
Lü Qingyan’s voice trembled with a mixture of frustration and heartache. She knew how much Bai Jingxue’s stubbornness must have hurt her.
Bai Jingxue, seeing her distress, felt a wave of guilt.
In their past life, Lü Qingyan had come from a wealthy family. A single pair of shoes for Lü Qingyan had cost more than Bai Jingxue’s monthly living expenses. Throughout their relationship, Lü Qingyan had been the one taking care of her.
Bai Jingxue had wanted to do something special for Lü Qingyan.
Lü Qingyan had been obsessed with a limited-edition figurine. Bai Jingxue had taken on extra jobs, even sacrificing her beloved library time, to save up enough money to buy it.
But the moment she had received the package, she had been cornered.
She had fought back, trying to protect her hard-earned gift, but it had been damaged.
Telling Lü Qingyan would have been pointless. If Lü Qingyan had retaliated, she would have been punished. Bai Jingxue had weighed her options and, with a heavy heart, had taken the broken figurine and her bruised body to the police.
The girls who had attacked her had been hired by a classmate who disliked her. They had refused to reveal her identity, but they had faced consequences for their actions.
But as Bai Jingxue had left the police station, staring at the broken figurine, she had felt a crushing sense of despair. She was so fragile, so easily broken.
She had dragged herself back to their apartment, where Lü Qingyan was admiring a new figurine displayed on their table. Seeing Bai Jingxue, she had smiled. “What’s that in your hand?” she had asked. “Let me put it away for you.”
Bai Jingxue had dodged her hand, her gaze fixed on the figurine, a replica of the one she had bought. “It’s just trash,” she said.
Lü Qingyan, oblivious, had beamed. “I bought it with my allowance,” she said. “I didn’t splurge. I still have plenty left over.”
They were on equal footing now, but Bai Jingxue couldn’t let go of the past.
She still felt like a creature of the shadows, unworthy of the light.
She wanted to say something, but words failed her. She patted Lü Qingyan’s head, her voice soothing. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything reckless.”
She was about to offer further reassurance when Luo Nianshang’s voice, filled with rage and despair, echoed from the flower field.
“Qiu Yingxi! You’re going to pay for this!”
The Demon Lord’s voice, laced with amusement, followed. “Oh, come on, Venerable One. Practice makes perfect. Besides, it’s not like anything actually happened.”
The flowers in the valley suddenly wilted, their strange energy dissipating. Luo Nianshang and the Demon Lord were free.
A burst of sword energy sliced through the air, decapitating the flowers. The Demon Lord flew out of the valley, a thin trickle of blood staining her lips.
She wiped the blood away with her finger, winking at Luo Nianshang. “Until next time, Venerable One.”
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