Chapter 47 - Boss Hua
"Boss Hua... Boss Hua! Uh... Where is Boss Hua?"
The young girl stumbled back into Xianfeng City. She navigated the alleys with practiced ease, turning left and right, and ran into an inconspicuous flower shop.
The other maidservants in the shop, seeing her in this rushed and flustered state again, couldn't help but tease:
"Shuishui, weren't you told to go dig some bamboo shoots for stewed chicken tonight? How come you only came back covered in mud?"
"My name is Liu Miao, don't call me Shuishui! Bamboo shoots... Ai, what bamboo shoots! I'm lucky to have made it back alive!"
"Did you run into a tiger?"
"I ran into a ghost! I'm not going to chat with you all... Where is Boss Hua?"
"Still in the flower room, go on."
"Mm."
After agreeing, Liu Miao wiped the dirt from her face, casually wiped her hands, and then ran towards the flower room.
The Boss Hua they spoke of was a rather mysterious figure.
No one knew her name or her origins.
Most people only knew that Boss Hua had arrived in Xianfeng City about six years ago. After coming here, she did nothing else but plant flowers and look at flowers, spending most of her day in the flower room.
Even the current flower shop was run by people who had received some kindness from her over the years and had spontaneously helped her manage it; she herself never inquired about its affairs.
People guessed her background must certainly be quite extraordinary because, on several occasions, those who tried to find trouble with her had inexplicably disappeared without a trace.
Gradually, this Boss Hua, who always wore a melancholic expression, actually gained some fame in this small city.
However, Liu Miao, who had once personally witnessed Boss Hua make a move, knew that these people had all guessed wrong.
This Boss Hua was a cultivator, not some jianghu swindler, but a true cultivator!
This was also why Liu Miao shamelessly insisted on staying here.
Liu Miao, who had grown up listening to all sorts of strange tales and legends, also incomparably yearned to embark on the immortal path and become a cultivator.
She wanted to see the wondrous and magnificent sights of this world, to feel that invincible sense of "seas dry up and rocks decay, yet I alone stand firm."
The mortal world could no longer contain her, Liu Shuishui's, magnificent heart!
Unfortunately, Boss Hua didn't seem to intend to teach her cultivation.
Every time she furtively inquired, Boss Hua would reveal a complicated smile that Liu Miao couldn't quite understand, neither agreeing nor refusing.
Whenever this happened, Liu Miao always felt that although Boss Hua's eyes might still see her, she wasn't really looking at her.
"Boss Hua!"
Walking into the flower room, a very refreshing and rich, complex floral fragrance immediately enveloped Liu Miao.
And a gentle and graceful woman dressed in plain clothes, her hair tied up, holding a pair of scissors, just stood there quietly amidst the flowers.
It was clearly winter, yet whether it was spring flowers or summer flowers, or even the luxuriantly growing grapevine beside them, all presented a scene of thriving greenery.
This further confirmed the fact that Boss Hua was an extraordinary cultivator.
The person Liu Miao called out to turned her head and looked over.
Her face was very gentle and beautiful; within those soft contours, one could vaguely see a hint of sharp fortitude.
But at this moment, she seemed as if all her sharp edges had been smoothed away; whether it was her perpetually lowered brows or her somewhat absent-minded gaze...
It all made her entire person look as if she carried a trace of bone-deep weariness and haggardness.
"Boss Hua, just now... on the mountain, I encountered, I encountered a ghost!"
"Mm, a ghost."
Boss Hua put down her scissors and quietly listened to Liu Miao speak.
"You believe me, it's true!"
"Mm. Well then, what did the ghost look like?"
"He..."
Just as Liu Miao was about to describe him properly, she recalled the male ghost she had seen at that time and immediately clammed up.
Because, that male ghost... uh...was, actually, not bad looking at all.
Especially those eyes; his whole body was clearly deathly still, yet those eyes alone were so lively and beautiful it was beyond words.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been hard-controlled on the spot just by meeting his gaze.
Hiss...
But how should she tell Boss Hua? Say it was a handsome male ghost who could be a kept man?
Boss Hua would probably just think she was love-struck...
Moreover, her fundamental purpose in telling Boss Hua about this was to steer the conversation towards immortals and ghosts; if she said that, the flavor would probably change completely.
Then should she say he had a green face and long fangs, looking like he'd eat several children in one meal?
Uh...
Liu Miao prided herself on not being the type to think everything was fine just because someone was good-looking, but to be honest, a ghost who would foolishly stare at her for so long probably wasn't anything harmful.
Weren't there also those stories in storybooks about female ghosts repaying kindness at night, uh, cough cough cough... and such.
If she said that and Boss Hua went to eliminate him, wouldn't she be equivalent to causing a death...
Seeing Liu Miao hem and haw for a long time, Boss Hua didn't wait for her any longer.
She broke off a Yulan magnolia from the side and tucked it into Liu Miao's hair.
"If there's nothing else, go and play."
"Mmm..."
"Also, go tell the others too, not to go up that mountain peak recently if there's no reason; the paths are slippery in winter, be careful not to fall."
"Mm..."
Liu Miao walked out of the flower room, sullenly.
Boss Hua sat alone for a while, then walked to a corner of the flower room.
She spread her hand and waved; everything in the surroundings became exceptionally quiet.
Afterwards, she slowly walked into a secret door.
Inside the courtyard gate was another courtyard, far larger than the flower room.
Here, there was a large Wutong tree; beneath the Wutong tree was a small sword grave.
Beside it, a woman with a weak aura was sitting cross-legged, regulating her breath.
She wore a bright red dress, and on her forehead was a peculiar purple-black demonic flower.
Compared to six years ago, her figure hadn't changed much; she still had that charming appearance of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old.
She sensed an aura and warily opened her eyes; only, the cool smile in her eyes and brows was gone, replaced by a few conspicuous traces of world-weariness.
She was no longer the True Disciple of the Remnant Moon Sect, but Su Huanhuan—a Demonic Gate traitor who had heavily injured the Young Master and was being personally pursued and killed by the Remnant Moon Sect's Sect Master.
"How is your condition?"
"Can't die."
Su Huanhuan wiped away the congealed blood at the corner of her mouth, which she had just forced out of her body by circulating her cultivation, and slowly stood up.
She didn't look at the person before her, but instead looked at the unmarked grave beneath the tree to the side.
She touched her own forehead, her eyes calm, her thoughts unknown.
"You helped me once; logically, I shouldn't say these things to you."
"But, Gu Jing, you really are very hypocritical."
"Mm."
Gu Jing, who had already shed her sword attire, tied up her long hair, buried her sword, and interred her heart, quietly nodded her head, agreeing with Su Huanhuan's statement.
Her gaze rested neither on Su Huanhuan nor on that small grave.
Instead, it was more like she was dreaming, with a melancholic and hazy expression.
"You cannot stay here long."
Gu Jing looked at Su Huanhuan before her, whose face was growing increasingly flushed, and continued to speak:
"Go to the back mountain of Xianfeng City; there is a large bamboo forest at the summit."
"Cross over from there and walk forward for over a hundred li, and you will reach the territory governed by the Righteous Path Immortal Alliance."
"Hurry and go."
"...We'll meet again someday."
Su Huanhuan knew that her current self was a time bomb; the longer she stayed in one place, the greater the harm.
This Gu Jing had already become a half-dreaming, half-foolish wreck; Su Huanhuan couldn't be bothered to trouble her.
Suppressing her injuries, before she intended to leave, she took one last look at that small grave.
You really are an incurably stupid fellow.
She silently thought this in her heart.