After Being Certified by the Immortal Lord on the Path of Ruthlessness - Chapter 8

Jiang Mianhao let out a helpless sigh as she was carried into the room.

After these past few days together, she had gained a preliminary understanding of this immortal’s temperament.

She spoke little, possessed formidable spiritual power, and was just a touch aloof.

For instance, right now, Jiang Mianhao drooped her leaves listlessly.

Though she couldn’t see, her hearing had become much sharper.

The faint scratching sound of a brush against rice paper reached her ears. Lujiu was writing again.

“Lujiu, are you painting again?” Jiang Mianhao idly curled and unfurled her leaves, swaying gently as she asked.

Ye Qingge gave a noncommittal hum, her brush never pausing.

The response was cool, but Jiang Mianhao didn’t mind. She pressed on, “What are you painting?”

“A house,” Ye Qingge replied flatly.

“A house?” Jiang Mianhao rustled her leaves and continued, “Is a house where people live after they take human form? Do all immortals live in houses? When I take human form, can I live in one too?”

A barrage of questions, yet Ye Qingge only responded with another indifferent hum, barely listening.

The banyan tree hollow was devoid of natural light, illuminated solely by a kerosene lamp.

Under the dim, hazy glow, it was impossible to distinguish day from night.

Ye Qingge finished revising the blueprint. Her solitary dwelling was now settled.

“Lujiu? Are you still there?” Jiang Mianhao’s voice grew quieter, the surrounding silence making her nervous and uneasy.

Ye Qingge tucked away the blueprint and hummed in acknowledgment.

“Then… can you teach me how to draw too?” Jiang Mianhao’s tone brightened again. “I’ve always envied Granny Ron Qi’s banyan tree hollow! If only I had my own Goodnight Tree!”

This time, Ye Qingge actually listened. Her brush paused, and after a moment of silence, she asked, “You want your own hollow too?”

Though it was just a simple question, Jiang Mianhao heard a glimmer of hope in it.

Immediately, she shook her leaves excitedly. “Yes, yes! And I want to be neighbors with Lanlan!”

Ye Qingge hummed again and fell silent.

Realizing something, Jiang Mianhao quickly added, “I want to be neighbors with you too! Can we build our houses together, all three of us?”

“Lujiu, will you teach me how to draw?” Jiang Mianhao mustered her courage to ask. “I really admire those who can read and write. If only I could too.”

Ye Qingge had intended to refuse, but then the voice of the Matchmaker echoed in her mind.

[Divine Maiden, please agree to this!]

[To break your love calamity, you must first make this grass develop feelings for you.]

Ye Qingge frowned in displeasure, but the Matchmaker continued.

[This grass is parentless and loveless. If you show her a little extra care, stirring affection won’t be difficult.]

After his rambling, the Matchmaker swallowed nervously and glanced at the Infinite Mystic Master beside him.

The Infinite Mystic Master gave him a look, urging him to go on.

[Divine Maiden are you still listening?]

Ye Qingge hummed in response.

But the sound, originally meant only in her mind, slipped out audibly.

Jiang Mianhao, who hadn’t expected an answer, was overjoyed. “Really, Lujiu? You’re the best!”

Realizing her response had given the grass the wrong idea, Ye Qingge couldn’t be bothered to correct it.

Teaching her to read and write wasn’t exactly difficult, anyway.

Inside the room, the atmosphere was warm and harmonious.

Outside, however, things were far from peaceful.

……

……

Rong Qi sighed, looking at the nearly withered mimosa with a pang of guilt in her heart.

The plant had somehow climbed up and attached itself to her doorway, dangling down when she opened it in the morning.

Startled, Rong Qi let out a scream, waking up the neighboring Lily of the Valley.

“Why is it always you?!” Lily of the Valley’s patience had finally worn thin. She exhaled deeply and asked, “What on earth makes you cling to us like this?”

Mi Xiu, now barely clinging to life, trembled as she whispered, “I-I’m sorry…”

“I heard from someone that this place is the most spiritually potent spot on Mount Taibai, so I…”

As she spoke, the tightly shut door creaked open with a soft sound.

Ye Qingge stood at the entrance, her gaze fixed intently on the plant before her.

For some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this repeatedly appearing plant had ulterior motives.

An inexplicable intuition told her that this particular sprout might have some unspeakable connection to the demon clan.

The faint sound of the door opening was barely audible, yet Mi Xiu caught it.

With her strength fading, the little plant simply blacked out and fainted on the spot.

“Hey!” Lily of the Valley clicked her tongue in frustration, unsure of what to do.

Rong Qi gently advised, “Lanlan, just do what your heart tells you. Don’t let stubbornness lead you to regret later.”

Looking at the unconscious mimosa, Lily of the Valley sighed and finally picked it up, carrying it back into her room.

……

……

The next day, when Ye Qingge carried Jiang Mianhao out to bask in the sunlight, she ran into Lily of the Valley.

Unlike usual, Lily of the Valley didn’t clamor for Ye Qingge to return Jiang Mianhao to her.

Instead, she cradled a potted plant in her arms.

“Ahem.” Lily of the Valley seemed a bit awkward under Ye Qingge’s gaze. She pursed her lips and said, “I’m only doing this because someone asked me to.”

Ye Qingge remained expressionless, showing no reaction to her defensiveness.

However, Jiang Mianhao, hearing the commotion, immediately perked up. “Lanlan! Are you taking Xiu Xiu out to sunbathe too?”

Lily of the Valley gave a small hum. “Grandmother Banyan told me to do it.”

“You’re amazing, Lanlan!” Jiang Mianhao praised. “I knew you were the best!”

Flustered by the compliment, Lily of the Valley felt a little embarrassed.

Logically, she should have let this strange mimosa fend for itself. But a sliver of pity in her heart made it impossible for her to be ruthless.

In the end, watching the plant wither away had been too much for her to bear.

Lily of the Valley carried the pot as she followed Ye Qingge up the mountain.

Ye Qingge showed no particular reaction to this. Her sole concern was Jiang Mianhao, and after the recent battle, she was still recovering from the backlash of spiritual energy.

To help the little plant take human form sooner, she needed to first restore her own spiritual power.

Ye Qingge placed Jiang Mianhao beside her and sat cross-legged, beginning her meditation.

As the sunlight poured down, the mimosa that had fainted the day before slowly stirred awake.

The revived little plants began chattering away.

“So, Mi Xiu, you still haven’t told me why you couldn’t go back,” Jiang Mianhao said curiously, nudging the mimosa beside her. “Don’t be shy!”

Mi Xiu gradually relaxed and began to explain, “Because I was badly injured… and this isn’t my first attempt at taking human form.”

“Not the first time?” Lily of the Valley clicked her tongue and said, “If you come here often, why did you switch places with Mianhao?”

Jiang Mianhao’s grass blade patted Lily of the Valley, who responded with a dissatisfied hum.

Mi Xiu’s voice was calm and gentle as she said, “It’s precisely because it’s not my first time here that I really want to transform. Actually, I’m a mimosa plant from the plains. I have a younger sister back home.”

Mi Xiu’s soft voice began to tell her story.

Growing up in the plains, this was Mi Xiu’s third time climbing to the summit of Mount Taibai.

Like other diligent plant spirits, Mi Xiu had worked hard in her cultivation, all for the sake of one day achieving human form. Many from the mimosa family had successfully transformed, but due to their shy and introverted nature, none had ascended to immortality.

Mi Xiu’s mother had initially hoped that Mi Xiu would transform and return, allowing the family to move to the human world in human form and live an ordinary, peaceful life.

But when Mi Xiu reached five hundred years of cultivation, something unexpected happened.

Mi Xiu had been the only child, showered with love. Under her mother’s guidance, she had devoted herself to cultivation from a young age. Though she hadn’t yet transformed, she had studied poetry, literature, music, and dance. Everything she would need once she took human form and the family relocated.

However, when Mi Xiu turned five hundred, a younger sister, Miyou, was born into the family.

Both Mi Xiu and Miyou were mimosas, but their upbringing was entirely different. Mi Xiu had to learn many things, while Miyou was exempt.

By the time Mi Xiu reached her first millennium, Miyou was injured.

The family elders were frantic, and in the end, Mi Xiu had to sacrifice half of her spiritual energy to save Miyou.

This sacrifice of five hundred years’ worth of spiritual energy caused Mi Xiu’s transformation to fail.

When Mi Xiu returned home, her life became miserable. The family’s favoritism toward Miyou grew increasingly blatant. Mi Xiu not only had to cultivate arduously on her own but also had to support her sister.

By her second millennium, Mi Xiu’s transformation failed once again.

This failure came without warning. Compared to other plant spirits who succeeded in transforming on their first attempt, Mi Xiu was already a thousand years older, yet she possessed only half the spiritual energy.

After this second failure, Mi Xiu’s status at home plummeted. All the household chores fell on her shoulders.

She had to spend time on her own cultivation while also enduring the hardships meant for her sister’s training.

Now, in her third millennium, she failed yet again.

Mi Xiu already knew what awaited her at home. She didn’t want to return, but Mount Taibai was no place for her to grow.

In desperation, Mi Xiu thought of Jiang Mianhao and, with a glimmer of hope, knocked on the door of the Banyan Cave.

In the end, it was Rong Qi who saved her.

Mi Xiu recounted her story calmly. The two previously noisy grasses fell silent, neither interrupting.

After a moment of silence, Lily of the Valley whispered, “I’m sorry, Mi Xiu. I didn’t know about your past. I treated you so harshly before.”

“It’s alright!” Mi Xiu smiled gently. “I know you disliked me because I switched places with Mianhao. If I had known it would cause her harm, I wouldn’t have done it.”

Jiang Mianhao extended her leaves, entwining them with Mi Xiu’s and Lily of the Valley’s, and sighed. “It’s okay. I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

“Compared to those who succeeded in transforming, I’m just a little unlucky. But,” Jiang Mianhao’s tone softened.

The white-robed fairy was sitting cross-legged in meditation, faint rays of light shimmering around her.

“But we met a very powerful immortal, didn’t we? Green Wine said she would heal me.”

Jiang Mianhao’s tone was resolute as she declared, “I believe in Green Wine.”