Chapter 47: The Flower Boss
“Flower Boss… Flower Boss! Um… where’s Flower Boss?”
The girl stumbled back into Xianfeng City. She navigated the alleys expertly, turning left and right before rushing into an inconspicuous flower shop.
Seeing her in such a hurry again, the other maids in the shop teased:
“Shuishui, didn’t we ask you to dig some bamboo shoots for tonight’s chicken soup? Why have you come back with nothing but mud?”
“My name is Liu Miao, don’t call me Shuishui! Bamboo shoots… ugh, what bamboo shoots! I’m lucky to be alive!”
“Did you encounter a tiger?”
“I encountered a ghost! No more chatting… where’s Flower Boss?”
“Still in the flower room, go ahead.”
“Mm.”
After acknowledging, Liu Miao wiped the dirt from her face, casually cleaned her hands, and ran toward the flower room.
The Flower Boss they spoke of was quite a mysterious figure.
No one knew her name or background.
Most people only knew that Flower Boss had arrived in Xianfeng City about six years ago. She did nothing else but grow flowers, look at flowers, and spend most of her day in the flower room.
Even the current flower shop was operated by people who had received her kindness over the years; she herself never inquired about the business.
People suspected she had an extraordinary background because several times when someone tried to cause trouble for her, they mysteriously disappeared.
Gradually, this always-melancholic Flower Boss gained some fame in this small city.
However, Liu Miao, who had witnessed Flower Boss in action, knew that everyone had guessed wrong.
This Flower Boss was a cultivator – not some charlatan, but a real cultivator!
This was precisely why Liu Miao had shamelessly stayed here.
Having grown up listening to all sorts of legends, Liu Miao desperately wanted to walk the immortal path and become a cultivator.
She wanted to see the wonders of the world and experience the invincible feeling of remaining unmoved while seas dried and rocks crumbled.
The mortal world could no longer contain the mighty heart of Liu Shuishui!
Unfortunately, Flower Boss seemed unwilling to teach her cultivation.
Whenever she subtly inquired, Flower Boss would show a complex smile that Liu Miao couldn’t quite understand – neither agreeing nor refusing.
At such times, Liu Miao always felt that although Flower Boss’s eyes were on her, she wasn’t really seeing her.
“Flower Boss!”
Entering the flower room, a fresh and rich blend of floral scents immediately surrounded Liu Miao.
A gentle woman in plain clothes with her hair pinned up stood quietly among the flowers, holding scissors.
Despite being winter, spring flowers, summer flowers, and even the luxuriantly growing grape vines nearby all displayed a flourishing green scene.
This further proved that Flower Boss was indeed an extraordinary cultivator.
The person called by Liu Miao turned around and looked over.
Her face was soft and beautiful, with traces of sharp steadfastness visible within those gentle contours.
But now she seemed to have had all her edges smoothed away. Whether it was her perpetually lowered eyebrows or her somewhat far-away gaze…
Everything about her conveyed a deep-seated weariness and haggardness.
“Flower Boss, I just… on the mountain, I encountered, I encountered a ghost!”
“Mm, a ghost.”
Flower Boss put down her scissors and quietly listened to Liu Miao.
“You must believe me, it’s true!”
“Mm. So, what did the ghost look like?”
“He…”
Just as Liu Miao was about to describe in detail, thinking back to the male ghost she had seen, she immediately got stuck.
Because that male ghost… uh…
Was, really, quite handsome.
Especially those eyes – though his whole body was deathly still, only those eyes were incredibly lively and beautiful.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been frozen in place the moment their eyes met.
Hmm…
But how should she tell Flower Boss? Say he was a handsome ghost who could be a male concubine?
Flower Boss would probably think she was just going through puberty…
Besides, her real purpose in telling Flower Boss was to steer the conversation toward immortals and ghosts, and saying that would completely change the subject.
Should she say he looked blue-faced with fangs, a monster that could eat several children in one meal?
Um…
Liu Miao didn’t consider herself the type to think someone was fine just because they looked good, but honestly, a ghost who would foolishly stare at her for so long couldn’t be harmful.
Didn’t those story books also have tales of female ghosts repaying kindness at night… ahem, cough cough…
If she described him badly and Flower Boss went to destroy him, wouldn’t she be causing harm…
Seeing Liu Miao hem and haw for a long time, Flower Boss stopped waiting.
She broke off a magnolia flower from nearby and tucked it into Liu Miao’s hair.
“If there’s nothing else, go play.”
“Mmm…”
“Also, tell the others not to go to that mountain recently. The roads are slippery in winter; be careful not to fall.”
“Mm…”
Liu Miao left the flower room, dejected.
Flower Boss sat alone for a while, then walked to a corner of the flower room.
With a wave of her hand, everything around became extraordinarily quiet.
Then, she slowly walked through a hidden door.
Inside was another courtyard much larger than the flower room.
There stood a large phoenix tree, and beneath it, a small sword grave.
Beside it, a woman with weak aura was sitting cross-legged in meditation.
She wore bright red clothes with a strange purple-black flower mark on her forehead.
Compared to six years ago, her figure hadn’t changed – still that of a pretty fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl.
She sensed the presence and vigilantly opened her eyes. Only her expression no longer held that cool smile, replaced by a noticeable weariness.
She was no longer a true disciple of Canyue Sect, but Su Huanhuan, a demonic sect traitor who had severely injured the young master and was now personally hunted by the Canyue Sect Leader.
“How is your condition?”
“Not dying yet.”
Su Huanhuan wiped away the congested blood that her cultivation had just forced out from her body and slowly stood up.
She didn’t look at the person before her but at the nameless grave beneath the tree.
She touched her forehead, her gaze calm, her thoughts unknown.
“You helped me once, so I shouldn’t say this to you.”
“But, Gu Jing, you’re really hypocritical.”
“Mm.”
Having abandoned her sword attire, pinned up her long hair, buried her sword, and entombed her heart, Gu Jing quietly nodded, acknowledging Su Huanhuan’s assessment.
Her gaze rested neither on Su Huanhuan nor on that small grave.
Rather, it was dreamlike – melancholic and hazy.
“You can’t stay here much longer.”
Gu Jing looked at Su Huanhuan, whose face was growing increasingly flushed, and continued:
“Go to the back mountain of Xianfeng City. At the peak is a large bamboo forest.”
“Climb over and walk about a hundred li forward, and you’ll reach territory under the Righteous Immortal Alliance’s jurisdiction.”
“Go quickly.”
“…Until we meet again.”
Su Huanhuan knew that she was currently a ticking time bomb – the longer she stayed in one place, the greater the danger.
This Gu Jing had become a half-dreaming, half-confused waste, and Su Huanhuan couldn’t be bothered to trouble her.
Before suppressing her injuries to leave, she took one last look at the small grave.
You really were a hopelessly stupid one.
She silently thought to herself.