Chapter 519: Chapter 513: Encountering While Holding a Watermelon
In these three days, everyone around Baili An suddenly disappeared.
The wind in this world was so strong it could blow away gentleness.
For Baili An, the spring of his first year in the mortal world was exceptionally cold.
During these three days, he had been very calm, even though there was another living person by his side, the two of them seldom interacted.
After all, what maintained their journey together was only a tough vine that was hard to sever.
Outside the hall, a sparse spring rain fell, striking the bamboo leaves and raising a chill fragrance of light bamboo.
It was still some time before the first night watch, and Baili An had no intention of engaging in meditation and cultivation.
At this moment, his heart could not find peace, and just as he felt bored, several mossy green frogs outside seeking shelter from the rain croaked a few times. With a tinge of dampness, they leapt into the hall.
They came one after another, of varying sizes, three in total, huddling together and plainly resembling a family of three.
It was an extremely ordinary scene, yet for some reason, seeing this brought a great sense of tranquility to Baili An’s heart, and he chuckled.
In his laughter, there was a faint sense of joy.
It was a joy he had not experienced even when the engraving revealed the name Si Chen.
This laughter caused the woman in white, who was sitting on a meditation cushion, to flutter her eyelashes slightly before she calmly opened her eyes and lightly looked over.
The young man was standing in the night before the hall, his smile teeming with gentleness. His eyes, dark as ink, shone with the clear light of dawn from winter to spring, bright, thin and sketched with a subtle affectionate charm.
His eyes were always very bright, as if even the night could not obscure their shine.
Su Jing’s gaze was profound and quiet, and the candlelight cast on her face made her features seem like the cold mist on the mountains, somewhat elusive.
She watched the young man, who watched the three frogs that had entered with the rain quickly hopping back outside the threshold, croaking twice before disappearing.
The smile on Baili An’s lips gradually faded away, and his gaze resumed its calmness.
Su Jing closed her eyes again and resumed her meditation.
Between them, there was still little communication, seemingly in the same hall yet as if they were people from two different worlds.
As time passed, the vine trailing on the floor unexpectedly contracted a few inches for some unknown reason.
Standing at the doorway watching the rain, Baili An felt a tug, his body stumbled slightly before he stood straight again, looking puzzledly toward Su Jing.
In these past few days, he had pondered over this vine of the sea demon. It had a very peculiar temper, able to extend or shorten according to the host’s mood. If the mood was stable without much disturbance, the vine would slowly grow longer by itself.
But if there was a significant change in emotions, the vine would excitedly shrink back, leaving no room for negotiation.
He believed his emotions had been stable just before, but why had the vine suddenly shortened by a few inches?
Baili An remained silent for a moment before finally calling out, “Miss Su Jing.”
Su Jing hummed a response, without opening her eyes.
The vine had shortened again, and Baili An was involuntarily pulled a few steps in her direction.
He asked again, “Is it an old injury flaring up, making you feel unwell?”
Su Jing, who understood the vine of the sea demon as well, answered calmly, “Yes.”
Baili An, not versed in treating injuries and lacking any spiritual elixirs, pondered for a moment. He felt that merely asking with concern and doing nothing seemed insincere.
So, he went to the table, poured a cup of water, and offered it to her, “Miss Su Jing, if you’re feeling unwell, drink more warm water.”
The first night watch was approaching.
The small official from the Immortal City, mentioned by Qing Xuan, finally arrived.
She was a quite beautiful female official, young but very experienced and steady in her conduct. Carrying a lantern, she led the way through the drizzling rain and long stairs, past courtyards and pavilions, bringing Baili An and Su Jing to a hall adorned with no inscriptions.
By this time, the skies had darkened, and the hall was lit with bright candles.
The female official opened the grand doors, but inside there was no one else; at the end of the great hall stood two faceless Divine Statues, dressed as the Water God Emperor and the Mountain God Kunlun, based on their clothing and attire.
Baili An remarked, “This doesn’t seem to be the hall for the night banquet.”
The female official turned back with a smile and explained, “Reporting to the City Lord, there has always been a rule that the newly appointed City Lord must come to the main hall a bit earlier on the night of succession to pay homage to His Majesty and the Goddess. After the formal ceremony, then one can go to the banquet hall.”
Baili An inquired, “How should I pay homage?”
The female official responded, “Does the City Lord see those two sticks of incense on the table? Light the incense to show respect and enter the altar, and that will complete the ceremony.”
“Thank you for the information.”
“Please forgive me, City Lord, as I am a minor ceremonial official in the city and do not have the qualification to enter the hall. I can only lead the way to the doorstep, and the next part of the ceremony must be completed by the City Lord alone.”
Naturally, Baili An wouldn’t make it difficult for her to continue leading the way into the hall.
However, it was hard for Su Jing to separate from him, so he mentioned the situation with some difficulty.
The female official was a very accommodating person; with a gracious smile she said, “The City Lord may not be aware, but since the Young Sect Master Su is personally appointed by the Immortal Venerable, her status is not lower than yours but is rather equally prestigious. She naturally has the right to enter the hall as well.”
Since that was the case, Baili An naturally had no further concerns.
The two of them entered the main hall together, Su Jing silently watching him while he held the incense and lit it. The incense in the hall was different from that of the mortal realm. It was only about an inch long and white as snow with a hint of red at the tip.
Before it was lit, there was no smell, but as it ignited, a hint of exotic fragrance wafted gently, filling the hall.
Their clothes and hair were infused with this subtle and pleasant fragrance.
After Baili An had completed the ceremony, he turned to leave, only to find that the female official who had led them there had disappeared without a trace at the door.
Su Jing also noticed something was amiss. Her expression somber, she started to walk a few steps out, but the surroundings suddenly changed dramatically.
The grand and sacred Divine Statues in the hall abruptly vanished, and the scriptures hanging from the beams fluttered as if in an illusion, turning into specks of light dust.
The surroundings transformed drastically, featuring soft draperies and a bronze dressing mirror…
This…it was unexpectedly a woman’s boudoir.
Su Jing startlingly discovered that the exotic fragrance lingering on Baili An and her was astonishingly similar to the scent of virginal maidens!
“Something isn’t right, let’s leave this place,” Baili An grimaced, realizing they had been tricked.
This wasn’t due to his negligence; rather, he had never imagined that within the holy hall of Xianling City, someone would dare to go this far, impersonating an official of the Immortal City, engaging in deceit right under the Goddess’s watch.
As the two of them were about to step out, a young girl emerged outside the hall, holding a large green watermelon in her arms and a bright cold blade in her hand. Dressed just like the small official from the Immortal City, she was hastily walking towards the great hall.
Baili An and Su Jing abruptly stopped.
The young girl also evidently did not expect to find anyone in the hall; her expression startled, she instinctively clutched the watermelon tighter, her eyes wide and endearingly round, “Why are you guys here?”
Baili An and Su Jing recognized the girl, for they had met her previously on Ghost Mountain.
But why, though she was clearly a mortal woman with no cultivation, could she serve as a female official in Xianling City?
Baili An thoroughly surveyed her, eyeing how she held the watermelon as if a mouse had stolen some grain: “Young lady, why are you here?”
The girl was subconsciously about to claim that it was her chambers and why couldn’t she be here, but then a scent wafted into her nostrils, and she seemed to realize something, her large eyes spinning around.
With a cheerful smile, she quickly changed her statement: “I am a minor female official in charge here, casually taken under the wing of the Young Mountain God as a reader. Tonight, the Young Mountain God said she had a craving and wanted a watermelon, so I went to the small shed outside to fetch a watermelon.”