To Get Married - Chapter 21.2

Chapter 21.2

“The only possibility is that her spiritual meridians are being affected by Honghong.”

Soul fusion is not a difficult forbidden technique; any demon with some skill can do it. But unless absolutely necessary, who would willingly tie their life to another, losing complete control over their own survival?

Few demons fuse their souls with humans, as humans are too fragile and easily become a vulnerability.

It is for this reason that no demon knows what effect fusing a soul with a human will have on that human.

“I have a guess: a human who fuses their soul with a demon will, within the limits of their own tolerance, share everything with the demon.”

“T-that, that… is not…”

“Indeed, it’s not a bad thing,” Mu Chensan said, shaking his head, his expression becoming solemn. “But the depths of Shennongjia are a forbidden tourist area. Why did that group of fellows go to such lengths to sneak in three years ago? Was it really just to eliminate a demon who had never harmed a soul in a thousand years?”

“…”

“I hope I’m just overthinking it.”

July Twenty-Eighth

The vacation quickly passed its halfway point. On July twenty-eighth, Manzhu received a birthday gift from Lu Yudong.

After lunch, Lu Yudong took a phone call, rushed downstairs to pick up the pre-ordered birthday cake, and brought back a soft package from a courier. She immediately handed it to Manzhu upon entering, saying it was a present for her.

Manzhu had lived in human cities for three years and was no stranger to online shopping.

At Not an Old Acquaintance, Huan Xi and Xiao Zhi were the biggest fans of online shopping. Packages arrived at the bar door every few days, and Manzhu was accustomed to the sight.

But Lu Yudong was different. She had never bought anything online. This was her first time, and Manzhu wondered where she got the money for this secretive purchase.

Manzhu looked at the courier package in her hand, her eyes full of curiosity.

Lu Yudong placed the birthday cake on the coffee table. The afternoon sun shone in through the window, illuminating her graceful figure.

The little girl had grown taller, her features more defined. She had clearly blossomed into a delicate young beauty.

She clasped her hands behind her back, turned to face Manzhu, and smiled faintly, tilting her head to ask: “Aren’t you going to open it?”

Manzhu walked back to the sofa and sat down. She tore open the package to find a carefully folded, dove-gray chiffon dress inside.

Short sleeves, cinched waist, mid-length, with a double-layered full skirt, printed with an ink-wash painting of flowers and birds, predominantly white, with touches of black and red.

It had an ethereal quality, yet a hint of maturity.

The tag hanging from the collar showed the price: 289 yuan. It wasn’t expensive, but Manzhu wondered how long the little girl, who rarely asked for pocket money, had to painstakingly save up to afford this dress.

“I’ve noticed you… never wear this kind of clothing. So… so I bought you one. I don’t know if you’d be willing to try it on…” Lu Yudong’s voice trailed off, as if afraid Manzhu would say she didn’t like the gift.

Manzhu still maintained her old habits of dressing and didn’t buy clothes much. At most, she would pick out some fabric she liked and change it into a new outfit using her magic.

Lu Yudong had always wanted to see Manzhu wear modern clothing. She had saved her pocket money for a long time and looked at online stores until her eyes crossed. Finally, on Zhang Ziyun’s advice, she chose this dress.

Zhang Ziyun had said the dress was perfect for Manzhu, and Lu Yudong secretly agreed.

Since her phone didn’t have any payment methods enabled, Zhang Ziyun had helped place the order. To keep Manzhu from knowing, the package had spent three days in a locker and had even incurred an overtime storage fee.

Seeing the anticipation in Lu Yudong’s eyes, Manzhu stood up, walked to the bed, drew the curtain, and turned her back to Lu Yudong. She proceeded to remove her sheer clothes layer by layer, until she was only in a simple, light-colored bandeau.

Her long, waterfall-like hair semi-concealed her snow-white back, making her shoulders look slightly delicate.

Lu Yudong instinctively looked away. When she looked up again, Manzhu had already put on the dress she had bought. As she turned around, the ink painting on the light skirt seemed to come alive for a moment with the movement.

Manzhu quickly pinned up her long hair, revealing her clean neck. She kicked off her mismatched slippers and walked toward Lu Yudong barefoot.

She usually dressed very conservatively, never exposing even her ankles, let alone her arms or legs.

Now, wearing this short-sleeved summer dress, her well-defined figure and fair, delicate skin were utterly captivating.

“I’m a little unaccustomed to this,” Manzhu said with some discomfort, lowering her head to pull at the hem of the skirt that barely reached her knees. She looked up and asked, “Is it beautiful?”

“Beautiful, especially beautiful!” Lu Yudong nodded repeatedly.

Manzhu nodded and sat down on the sofa: “I’ve really never worn anything like this.”

“Then, then do you like it?” Lu Yudong asked.

“Since you gave it to me, I like it,” Manzhu said, pointing to the cake on the coffee table. “Did you prepare this for me too?”

“Of course!” Lu Yudong scurried to the coffee table and took the cake out of the box.

It was a custom-made cake. On the top layer, a cartoon big-headed snake was drawn with red jam, looking rather goofy.

Manzhu chuckled when she saw it.

Lu Yudong took out two numerical candles, a “2” and a “5,” and placed them on either side of the little snake.

“Twenty-five?” Manzhu was clearly surprised by the number.

Lu Yudong shrugged: “I don’t know your age. Calculating from the birth year on your ID card, this year you’re twenty-five.”

Manzhu nodded thoughtfully: “I can’t remember how old I am either. Twenty-five it is.”

Lu Yudong was delighted. She lit the candles and began to sing “Happy Birthday.”

Once in Chinese, once in English.

Finally, she squatted by the coffee table, looking up at Manzhu with her chin propped on her hand, and said: “Sister, you can make a wish!”

“I don’t have any wishes,” Manzhu replied in an unromantic way.

Lu Yudong was unwilling to give up: “Not even one? Just make a random one.”

Manzhu thought for a moment and said: “Then… I wish for my little Yudong to grow up healthy and happy.”

With that, she leaned over and blew out the candles.

Lu Yudong tried to stop her but was too late. She cried out anxiously: “You said it out loud! It won’t come true now!”

“There’s a saying like that?” Manzhu asked.

“Yes… my mother told me that,” Lu Yudong said.

“That’s alright then,” Manzhu said. “The deity who listens to your wishes might not be as powerful as I am. For such a simple wish, do I need to rely on others?”

“Ah?” Lu Yudong was stunned. “Is… is that really the case?”

“It is,” Manzhu said, picking up the small knife and falling into contemplation over the red, goofy-headed snake on the cake.

She felt strangely reluctant to cut it…

Why did this girl think to order a cake like this?