Rain fell on the mountains, and flowers bloomed everywhere. Jiang Huai and Luo Yueguan arrived at the mountainside of Hua Ling Valley. He accompanied Luo Yueguan in admiring the flowers for a long time. Finally, Jiang Huai stopped beside a light purple spirit flower, which grew quietly at the edge of the opposite cliff. The rain fell on its petals, making them seem even more delicate and dewy. He leaned closer to Luo Yueguan’s ear and asked, “Do you like that one?”
Luo Yueguan liked purple. She gazed at the petals, her eyes bright, and replied softly, “I do.”
She channeled her spiritual energy and uprooted the flower from the cliff. This action stirred the remnant souls in Hua Ling Valley. A moment later, a remnant soul appeared before her, its voice ethereal and distant, “Have you chosen?”
“Yes, I have,” Luo Yueguan replied, tilting her head up.
The remnant soul before her was faint and hazy, its face seeming to show a hint of a smile. “You’ve been picking and choosing for so many years, always searching for the best. Why have you suddenly decided now?”
Luo Yueguan stood straight, looking at the remnant soul, and replied softly, “In the past, I always thought there was something better. I always thought there must be a spirit flower in this world as beautiful and perfect as in my dreams, without a single flaw, so I was always indecisive.”
“You mean you’ve accepted the fact that no flower is perfect?”
But Luo Yueguan shook her head. “Not at all.”
“Oh?”
“He picked it for me, so it is the most perfect.”
Jiang Huai and Luo Yueguan spent almost the entire day in Hua Ling Valley. By evening, the two were lying on the grassy lawn at the mountaintop. The rain had stopped quietly, and a magnificent rainbow stretched across the sky. The wind rustled the leaves beside them. They leaned against each other like this, as if time was slowing down, and everything became so tranquil.
Luo Yueguan turned her body and looked at Jiang Huai’s profile, the corner of her lips curling up. “You’re going to plant that flower in the courtyard.”
Jiang Huai also turned and looked into her eyes. At this moment, her eyes held a hint of cunning. He looked at Luo Yueguan’s face, a mix of amusement and helplessness. “Do you really have to?”
“I really do.”
“So cunning.” Jiang Huai reached out and gently poked her cheek.
“I’ve always been a despicable woman like this,” Luo Yueguan hummed, “Are you agreeing or not?”
“I agree.”
“Barely, you look so reluctant.” Luo Yueguan began to pick at him again, but unfortunately, Jiang Huai had learned how to deal with her at this moment. He reached out and pinched Luo Yueguan’s delicate pink cheek. “The result is that I agreed, and you’re still making demands.”
He couldn’t indulge Luo Yueguan too much; she was the type who became more willful the more she was spoiled.
“Women are very greedy.”
Luo Yueguan’s eyes were still as soft as ever. There was no doubt that no matter who she looked at with such eyes, anyone could see the deep affection in them at a glance.
“I like how it feels now,” Luo Yueguan leaned closer to him again, her forehead touching his. “Stay here and sleep with me tonight?”
“Okay.”
“Why have you become so agreeable?”
“Because I took the bait,” Jiang Huai replied frankly.
“Aren’t you always calculating and cautious, keeping people at arm’s length? Why did you fall for it so easily today?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you suddenly became so cute.”
“Are you complimenting me?”
“Of course.”
“That’s more like it.” Luo Yueguan shifted her body, resting her forehead against his chest, and closed her eyes.
When they woke up the next morning, both were covered in dew. Luo Yueguan slowly opened her eyes.
Jiang Huai was already awake and was gently stroking her face with a blade of grass. No wonder she felt itchy when she woke up. Luo Yueguan shot him a chiding look and sat up abruptly. Her clothes were still damp with dew. Jiang Huai suddenly gently picked her up. Luo Yueguan looked at him in a flurry, “What are you doing?”
“Your clothes are all wet. Let’s go back to the spirit boat and change.”
“Oh…” Luo Yueguan lowered her head and buried her face in his neck.
Jiang Huai summoned the spirit boat and brought Luo Yueguan aboard. Back in the room, he placed her on the bed. Her body lay languidly, her snow-white calf beneath the skirt hem slightly soaked with moisture. She lifted her calf slightly and looked at Jiang Huai, starting to act spoiled again, “You change it for me.”
Once she realized that acting spoiled worked on him, she began to use this tactic without hesitation. Jiang Huai leaned closer and gently held the edge of her snow-white thigh stocking with his fingertips, carefully pulling it down. He pulled her white silk thigh-high stockings to the side and looked into Luo Yueguan’s eyes. After thinking for a moment, he said, “No, you should change yourself.”
“Hmph?” Luo Yueguan sat up a little, crossing her arms, and looked at him playfully. “Why are you suddenly stingy again?”
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist doing bad things to you,” Jiang Huai replied frankly this time.
Luo Yueguan was slightly stunned at first, then her eyes became playful. “We can do it.”
Jiang Huai shook his head. “No, no, you don’t like me that much yet.”
“You’re not me, how do you know I don’t like you that much?”
“It’s a feeling,” Jiang Huai replied softly. “When you like someone, you inevitably have illusions. But the moment those illusions gradually disappear, the love beneath the surface will also quietly emerge.”
Luo Yueguan tilted her head. “So, are we still in the illusion stage?”
“Yes,” Jiang Huai nodded and replied.
“Is it your illusion, or mine?”
“Mine.” Jiang Huai took out a slender silver chain, a small and exquisite ankle bracelet, and gently tied it to Luo Yueguan’s ankle. “Here’s a small gift for you.”
Luo Yueguan looked at the silver chain on her ankle for a long time before humming softly. She tapped her toe on Jiang Huai’s shoulder. “You go out, I need to change.”
“Okay.”
Jiang Huai went to the adjacent room, used his spiritual energy to disperse the moisture on his body, and changed his clothes. He waited outside the door for a while, then heard that “wicked woman” Luo Yueguan calling from inside the room, asking Jiang Huai to come in and tie her underwear clasp. Jiang Huai didn’t fall for it. He stood on the deck, gazing at the clouds, pretending to be dead, until Luo Yueguan, dressed in a gorgeous purple Hanfu long dress, came and sat beside him, watching the clouds together.
The spirit boat was slowly heading towards Guanxue Mountain. Luo Yueguan rested her elbow on the table, gazing at the distant clouds. “I won’t accompany you to Guanxue Mountain.”
“Hmm?”
“I want some peace and quiet,” Luo Yueguan winked at Jiang Huai.
“Okay.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me why I want peace and quiet?”
“No.”
“Ask me.”
“Then why?”
“Hmm, it’s hard to say. When I’m by your side, I become very strange. Sometimes I feel very at ease, and sometimes I’m full of unease. I feel like I’ve changed so much. Some of it is because of you, and some is because of Chu Xianning. It seems like what you said isn’t entirely wrong. I always can’t distinguish whether I truly love you that much. It’s like I both look forward to you loving me, and sometimes I’m afraid of it.”
“Mmm,” Jiang Huai nodded gently.
This time, Luo Yueguan was very honest. Just by his nod, she couldn’t help but lift her leg from under the table and gently kick Jiang Huai. “What do you mean by ‘Mmm’?”
“It means, I understand.”
“You don’t understand this feeling,” Luo Yueguan pouted slightly. “I’m always worried that I’ll go back to how I was before, as if I’m indulging in my own illusions, loving you so, so, so much, but I can’t explain whether it’s because of the illusion or because I love you too much. When those illusions gradually fade, I feel empty again. So, regarding love, I need to be quiet and think about it properly.”
“Okay.”
Luo Yueguan rested her face on her hand and looked into Jiang Huai’s eyes. “What about you? Will you also take the bait now, and then when you calm down, you won’t like me as much anymore?”
“Maybe?”
The next second, Luo Yueguan almost lunged at him, her hands around his neck. “I’ll kill you!”
Jiang Huai stuck out his tongue at her. Fortunately, Luo Yueguan was just playing, and she let go after a short while. She crossed her arms, her legs intertwined beneath her skirt, and glared at Jiang Huai with indignant eyes. Jiang Huai, however, straightened his back and looked into Luo Yueguan’s eyes. “Am I not allowed to think about whether I like you that much after you’ve had time to think about whether you like me that much?”
“Of course not!”
“Why not?”
“Because… no matter what! It’s just not allowed.” Luo Yueguan hummed, her tone sounding so righteous. She lifted her white and tender feet from under the table, and her snow-white calf rested on his leg again, enticing Jiang Huai to play with her slender and tender jade feet.
Jiang Huai initially sat up straight, unmoved.
Luo Yueguan’s toes gently poked his lower abdomen.
Jiang Huai reached out and grabbed her white and tender little feet. “Stop fooling around.”
Luo Yueguan’s body trembled slightly. Her delicate and soft feet were held in his palm, and a blush crept onto her face. That blush made her appear even softer and more charming. So, Jiang Huai didn’t let go. He gently squeezed, and Luo Yueguan’s body trembled, as if he had found a switch. He suddenly asked, “You’re not going to Guanxue Sect, isn’t it still because you have a hint of guilt in your heart?”
“Who, who’s feeling guilty?!” Luo Yueguan’s eyelashes fluttered instantly, but her eyes darted away, and her voice betrayed a hint of uncertainty.
It seemed quite reasonable.
The former Luo Yueguan, if Jiang Huai had developed some affection for her, would have probably been eager to drag Jiang Huai to Chu Xianning and provoke her, to disgust Chu Xianning and make her argue with her, which would have brought her an indescribable sense of satisfaction. But the current Luo Yueguan would start feeling guilty about this matter… This change was indeed subtle.
“Aren’t you feeling guilty?” Luo Yueguan began to retort.
“Sooner or later, it’s all the same,” Jiang Huai sighed lightly.
“It seems you’re quite self-aware,” Luo Yueguan suddenly chuckled. The thought of Jiang Huai planting the flower she gave him in the courtyard made her unable to contain her inner mirth. Anyway, she wouldn’t be at Guanxue Mountain then, and she could let Jiang Huai explain to Chu Xianning slowly.
She wondered what kind of expression the usually cold and aloof Chu Xianning would have at that time.
