Boating on Peach Blossom Creek, meeting the lovestruck pair again

On Peach Blossom Creek, a bamboo raft drifted with the current.

Ao Ding lay on the raft, dipping his hand into the cool creek and idly stirring the water... now and then, he picked up a few fallen leaves to admire...

"So slow, so boring-" Red Child muttered inside the Primordial Truth Mirror.

After leaving that village, Ao Ding had somehow taken a fancy to trying his hand at "rafting."

Without using any magic, he had built a bamboo raft himself, then followed the creek downstream.

The youth rolled over and lay on his stomach, watching the rippling water reflect the sunlight and trailing shadows.

"A pity it isn't spring, when the peach blossoms bloom... otherwise, a whole creek of peach blossoms flowing past would have a charm all its own."

That day, Ao Ding temporarily set aside his "cultivation plan," simply treating himself as a mortal traveling scholar and viewing the mountains and rivers with a "heart true to himself."

Suddenly, a splash came from not far ahead.

Ao Ding turned to look and saw a blue-robed scholar floundering in the water.

He hurriedly sent out a strand of golden Gang and pulled the drowning scholar onto the raft.

The bamboo raft could carry only one person, and Ao Ding's workmanship was crude. With another person aboard, it immediately began creaking and swaying, spinning on the spot.

Ao Ding stamped his foot, and True Heaven Golden Gang instantly spread across the raft.

As though rooted in the water, the raft neither advanced nor retreated, standing firm in the creek like a leaf of green duckweed.

"Scholar-did you slip, or did you throw yourself into the water?"

Realizing he had been rescued, He Xiao's lips curved into a bitter smile.

"Why save me, young brother? Just let me end it all."

Ao Ding looked He Xiao over and could not help laughing. "Why is the mortal world full of lovesick men and lovelorn women like you? Can't you do anything besides dwell on romance all day? There's no water ghost here looking for a replacement. If you drown yourself-don't tell me you want to become a water ghost yourself and lure innocent passersby off the bank someday?"

He saw wisps of demonic qi lingering around the scholar-hmm, precisely the reverse of Ning Zhi.

At that, the scholar hastily waved his hands, insisting he had no such intention.

"Besides, if you kill yourself here and ruin this creek's reputation, it'll spoil some of the pleasure for sightseers like us."

Ao Ding plopped down opposite the scholar and smiled. "Let me give you an idea-rather than drown yourself, why not sell yourself for a good price and use the money to help the poor? Then you can smash your head against something and die. At least all that flesh won't go to waste."

The young man froze at these words, but after thinking them over carefully, he found they made some sense.

Indeed, if he died now, his body would only feed the fish and shrimp.

Better to find somewhere to sell himself, then give the money to poor families to keep them alive. After six months or a year, when he could no longer bear his master's mistreatment, he could smash his head against something and die. Wouldn't that let him benefit others too?

"Yes, yes-you're right, young brother. I'll go back and find a landlord to sell myself to."

With that, the young man reached out to paddle toward the bank.

But however much he paddled, the bamboo raft did not budge.

Only then did he recall that although Ao Ding had pulled him out of the water, not a drop had wet the youth's robes.

"Young brother-are... are you a cultivating mage?"

Ao Ding smiled. "I know a few unusual arts."

He withdrew his golden Gang, and the raft shot toward the bank.

Bang-

The bamboo raft fell apart. Ao Ding hopped lightly and landed safely ashore.

He Xiao floundered twice in the water, then clambered bedraggled onto the edge of the peach grove.

Ao Ding reached out to help him up and chuckled. "As luck would have it, I know a wealthy young gentleman in White Mountain Commandery. Why not sell you to his household? They make wine, so you can do hard labor for six months or a year. Afterward, they can dig out your heart, liver, and guts, wash them, dry them, and steep them in wine too. Making the wine yourself, then steeping yourself in it-that counts as arranging your own funeral."

The scholar's expression went blank, and he silently retreated several steps.

This youth... this youth doesn't seem to follow a righteous path.

Who sells himself only to have his heart, liver, and guts dug out?

"You're already looking to die. What does it matter who gets those things?"

The youth watched him with a beaming smile, deliberately teasing him.

Just then, water splashed in the creek, and a silver-armored flood dragon maiden carrying a spear rushed out, saying angrily, "Of course it matters! Where did this meddling mage come from? If you let him leave, who will all my creek's fish and shrimp eat?"

The flood dragon maiden wore armor and carried a weapon above the waist, but her lower half was still a flood dragon's tail submerged in the water. He Xiao cried out repeatedly in fright.

Unhurriedly, Ao Ding pulled the young man behind him and cupped his hands toward the flood dragon maiden. "Why frighten him, miss? I see that the Gang qi surrounding you is pure, and your methods belong to the orthodox immortal path. What need have you to eat people?"

Eat people?

If the Purple Sun Sect caught her afterward, they would march her straight off to the Heavenly Prison.

"Hmph-I don't eat people, but that doesn't mean the fish and shrimp filling this creek don't. They grow by eating people, and then I eat them. That's precisely the cycle of Heaven's Way. Even the exalted adepts of the Six Sects couldn't find fault with it."

Ao Ding could find no answer to that.

The flood dragon maiden looked around, gently twisted her tail, and rose amid billowing immortal light. Her whole body took the form of a graceful young woman, and she walked ashore.

"Mage-from the way you were advising him, were you trying to goad him into living? I'd forget it if I were you. You can't shoulder his troubles."

"Oh?"

Ao Ding's interest stirred. "Let's hear them, Water Goddess."

Peach Blossom Creek had no deity, only a flood dragon maiden living there. Still, hearing Ao Ding call her a "goddess" pleased her greatly.

She held up three slender, jade-like fingers. "He fell in love with a spirit, and there are three obstacles before them now."

"What three obstacles?" Ao Ding prompted.

"First, wealth and standing. The woman comes from a distinguished spirit family with countless assets. Why would they look favorably on a scholar without rank?"

"Second, birth. He is human, and the woman is a spirit. Humans and spirits may not wed. That is a rule of Purple Yang's orthodox teachings, and it cannot be changed."

"Third, a rival in love. The woman's parents have already chosen a husband for their daughter. He is a mountain overlord too, a lord of beasts. If this scholar refuses to give up and keeps pestering her, he'll probably become a meal in that fellow's belly. Better to drown himself and feed my creek's subjects instead."

He Xiao's face turned ashen, and he could only smile bitterly.

It was precisely because he knew there was no possibility between himself and Tu Qing'er that he wanted to end his life, rather than burden her and ruin her great path to immortality.

Ao Ding rubbed his chin and sighed. "Truly a familiar tale from mortal storybooks."

The flood dragon maiden smiled. "An old formula, but everyone likes it. Otherwise, why would such stories be found everywhere in the mortal world? Mage, what do you think of these three obstacles? Surely you won't resort to the same old mortal tricks of helping lovers unite or beating the mandarin ducks apart?"

Ao Ding asked in return, "What plan do you have, Water Goddess?"

He did not believe her talk of feeding He Xiao to the fish and shrimp.

Presumably, like that water ghost brother, she too was a kind soul saying the opposite of what she meant to save someone.

"I've seen plenty of storybook tricks about persuading spirits to marry off their daughters. They're terribly dull. I was thinking..." Smiling, the flood dragon maiden approached the young man and patted his shoulder gently. "Why not find a way to call Tu Qing'er here, then jump into Peach Blossom Creek hand in hand and let the fish and shrimp eat you clean? Consider it your passage money to me, and I'll send you to the netherworld as a ghostly husband and wife. Ghosts have no distinction between human and spirit."

Ao Ding's eyes lit up. Someone actually has an idea like mine!

He clapped his hands and laughed. "Excellent, excellent! Finding your bond through ghosthood-that was my idea too. Brother, if you still want to reunite with your beloved, why not choose that? If that really won't do, and you dislike the underworld, I can bind your souls into trees and make you a pair of interwoven trees."

The flood dragon maiden clapped and laughed heartily. "Wonderful, wonderful! In Heaven, may we be birds with joined wings; on earth, may we be branches intertwined-little mage, I like your idea."

The young man looked from one to the other, and the thousand words in his heart finally became a long sigh.

"I've suffered a calamity, and all my hopes have turned to ash. Why must you two make sport of me? As for Little Qing... my devotion is my own. Why drag her into it... and cause her to die here too for my selfish desires?"

The flood dragon maiden and Ao Ding both smiled.

"A devoted lover indeed."

The flood dragon maiden's expression grew somewhat more serious. "Then Tu Qing'er's visit a few days ago to ask me to watch over you wasn't wasted."

The scholar was startled. "You've seen Little Qing?"

Ao Ding also looked at the flood dragon maiden.

"So, Water Goddess, you intend to help the lovers unite?"

"Ah-I wasn't lying about those three obstacles. Even I can't resolve them perfectly. For now, all we can do is stall and find ways to stop this fool from drowning himself. Then we'll push him to earn official honors. With honors to his name, their standing will be a match. Tu Qing'er's parents cling to wealth and power. Even mortal wealth and power will do, as long as mentioning it brings them prestige. The marriage will naturally follow."

"Earn official honors? How could that be easy?"

Ao Ding knew that cultivators controlled some dynasties. But within the Central Wasteland, spirits were not yet in a position to hold sway and rule mortal kingdoms.

The flood dragon maiden casually took out an essay written by the scholar and handed it to Ao Ding.

Tu Qing'er had shown it to her previously. It was precisely because she had seen He Xiao's talent that she wanted to lend him a little help.

Ao Ding skimmed it. The writing was indeed brilliant and quite insightful.

After some thought, Ao Ding gave the scholar a few questions. He answered fluently, and even easily calculated the correct answers to Ao Ding's accounting figures in his head.

"Oh, you know mathematics too?"

"In my early years, I didn't have enough to eat, so I learned some bookkeeping skills to check accounts for others."

The flood dragon maiden smiled. "Rest assured, mage, there's no need to worry about this scholar's talents. Without talent, how could he have caught the eye of that great beauty of the Tu Household, whose eyes sit above her head? You should know that learning in the Demon Spirit Realm falls into two extremes. The strong are very strong, capable of taking first place in the mortal imperial examinations. The weak are very weak, unable to recognize a single character. Tu Qing'er has the literary talent to pluck the laurels-of course, so do I. In the past, I robbed several top examination graduates and forced them to give me everything they'd accumulated over their lifetimes."

Ao Ding looked the flood dragon maiden up and down without saying anything.

Sun Chen had also mentioned this: those diligent, studious spirits required the most caution. Precisely because they studied human culture, they were more likely to fall into love tribulations and become entangled with humans in all sorts of ways. On the human side, compared with crude, foolish spirits, people naturally preferred intelligent spirits with whom they shared common subjects.

Ao Ding mused, "If this scholar is well learned, and spirits like you escort him along the way, earning official honors shouldn't be difficult-"

The flood dragon maiden said, "The human-spirit issue is easy to resolve too. As long as they agree not to have children, and find a way to wash away Tu Qing'er's demonic qi so everyday contact is harmless, that will do. A few minor inconveniences in daily life can be treated as nonexistent-some people even particularly enjoy playing with those little troubles in the bedchamber-" Recalling her past with a lover who had been a top examination graduate, she added that last half-sentence.

Ao Ding pretended not to hear and continued, "What about the third obstacle?"

"It's that tiger spirit who's hard to deal with." The flood dragon maiden sounded helpless.

With her magical power, she could naturally swallow the tiger spirit in one gulp.

But then the scholar's karmic entanglement would fall to her. When the tiger spirit's family sought revenge in the future, they would certainly come for her too. She was willing to lend a hand, but not to mire herself in it.

Ao Ding also pondered the matter silently.

He was willing to help.

Afterward, he could certainly try asking Tu Qing'er for a spell, so he could gather fortune.

But he did not want to become truly embroiled either.

Ao Ding wholeheartedly agreed with the way Sun Chen had handled matters at the Wang Household.

"What is the tiger spirit's cultivation?"

"A mountain lord in the Profound Gang Upper Realm, already able to command the mountain's spiritual qi. One step further, and he can open the Heavenly Gate and transform into a Flying Heaven Jade Tiger." The flood dragon maiden said candidly, "If he reaches that realm, even my flood dragon form will struggle against him."

In battles between spirits, aside from cultivation realm and magical power, racial origins were crucial.

Flood dragons were naturally an extraordinary strain of dragon beasts, born with outstanding fighting strength. But the flood dragon maiden herself was only a Mystic Gang Realm cultivator. Without entering the Heavenly Gate, one could never truly understand the Way. If the tiger spirit transformed into an extraordinary tiger strain with a divine bloodline, her racial advantage would cease to exist.

"Mage, your human cultivators possess wondrous, profound arts, and you also have pure immortal-path Gang protecting you. What ideas do you have?"

Naturally, the flood dragon maiden had said so much to Ao Ding because she had noticed his cultivation method was exceptional and he might be enlisted as an ally.

"It's hard to say now. Whatever the matter, we should go and take a look first..."

An idea stirred in the flood dragon maiden's heart, and she suddenly smiled. "There's a banquet in Hundred Yao Forest tomorrow. That tiger spirit will certainly attend. Also, scholar-Tu Qing'er might go too."