My mother is the white moonlight of the cultivation world.

The voice was flippant, with a touch of affected familiarity and greasiness, instantly plunging Hua Yue's slightly stirred emotions from her unexpected encounter into despair.

She turned around and looked at the two people under the peach tree with a blank expression.

Ye Xinrou still looked pitiful, standing obediently beside the man in fine clothes, with a perfectly measured worry in her eyes, as if she was concerned about Hua Yue's "immaturity".

As for the richly dressed man, Hua Yue quickly went through her mind but couldn't recall him at all. He was reasonably good-looking, but his brocade clothes gave him the air of a nouveau riche, especially his eyes that kept glancing at her, making no attempt to hide the calculation and possessiveness in them, which disgusted her.

"Why be so cold, Junior Sister Hua?" Seeing that she remained silent, the man in fine clothes took two more steps forward and flicked his sleeves in what he thought was a dashing manner. "We are all from the same sect and both live in Hundred Flowers City. It would be good to get to know each other."

Hua Yue ignored the attempt to flirt; all she wanted to do was quickly reunite with Ye Zhen and Zhou Ye. Holding the lotus lantern in her hand, she turned to walk around them.

"Why!"

The man in fine clothes frowned and actually reached out to block her way, spreading his arms to form a human wall.

"Junior Sister Hua, I am the future head of the Shen family," he deliberately raised his voice, his chin slightly raised, with an arrogant air of condescension, "My name is Shen Que. Junior Sister Hua, don't be ungrateful and miss this great opportunity to enjoy wealth and honor."

The future head of the Shen family?

Shen Que?

Hua Yue stopped in her tracks. She searched through the corners of her memory in the original book and finally found the name. A member of a collateral branch of the Shen family, relying on being one of the few young cultivators with the surname Shen, had always acted as the heir of the Shen family and bullied others in the years when Shen Qingfu had no children.

Unexpectedly, we ran into each other here.

Looking at his "you got a great deal" face, Hua Yue suddenly found it a little funny.

She raised her hand.

Shen Que thought she was going to back down and bow, and his smugness grew even stronger.

However, the next second, a condensed cyan spiritual energy suddenly shot out from her fingertips, so fast that it left only a blur in the air, and accurately struck the wrist that was blocking his way.

"ah--!"

Shen Que's smugness instantly turned into a pig-like scream. He clutched his wrist, his face contorted in pain. "You...you dare to lay a hand on me?!"

Hua Yue didn't even glance at him, walking straight past him and only uttering a single, indifferent sentence.

"You can go and complain to the head of the Shen family, just say I hit you."

She paused, as if remembering something, and turned her head to add, "However, this is based on two premises. First, you have to have the face to see him. Second, he won't break your legs first, you imposter."

After saying that, she continued walking forward without looking back.

"You!" Shen Que trembled with rage, yet dared not actually chase after him. He knew better than anyone the formidable reputation of Shen Qingfu.

"Brother Que, are you alright?" Ye Xinrou quickly stepped forward, supporting his injured hand, blowing on it with concern, and softly comforting him, "Junior Sister Hua Yue... she might have misunderstood. I just wanted to introduce you two. She's just a mortal with no connections, so it's always good to have more connections. I didn't expect her to be so strong-willed..."

These words sound like words of comfort, but in reality, they are adding fuel to the fire.

Sure enough, when Shen Que heard the words "mortal" and thought about how he had suffered such a great loss in front of a "mortal," he was immediately consumed by rage.

Losing face in front of a beautiful woman is worse than being killed!

"You bastard!" he roared, his other intact hand suddenly forming a hand seal. A sinister spiritual energy transformed into a sharp blade, whistling through the air, and struck straight at Hua Yue's back!

Hua Yue sensed the sharp aura behind her, paused, and was about to turn around and retaliate.

Just now.

"bite--"

A crisp sound, like jade striking jade.

A tiny crimson sword aura appeared out of thin air and struck the sneak attacking spiritual energy blade with perfect precision, shattering it in mid-air and dissipating into specks of spiritual light.

The sword energy came suddenly and went quickly, as if it were just a pebble that was casually flicked away.

Hua Yue turned around.

The first thing that came into view was not the tall, imposing figure holding a sword as expected, but a corner of a moon-white robe casually draped over the shoulders.

Not far away, a boy was leaning against a half-tilted bluestone.

He lowered his head slightly, his long eyelashes drooping and casting a small shadow under his eyes. In his hand, he held a bright green leaf, still damp at the edges, which he had picked sometime earlier, to his lips.

With a gentle exhale, the ordinary leaf trembled, producing simple yet ethereal syllables, intermittent, like a mountain spring or the wind rustling through a bamboo forest.

A breeze swept by, lifting a few strands of his unbound dark hair and brushing against his clean jawline.

Seemingly noticing Hua Yue's gaze, he raised his eyes at that moment.

Those were a pair of extremely beautiful amber eyes, clear and bright in the moonlight, still carrying a faint smile that had not yet faded.

He looked at her as if his dramatic rescue just now was truly a casual act.

Hua Yue looked at him.

The phrases "rustling and solemn, bright and clear" and "bright as the sun and moon entering one's embrace" did not come to mind.

Only one very straightforward thought came to mind:

This person is such a good actor.

The way he acted, his posture, the atmosphere—it was as if the word "pretentious" was etched onto his face.

"Who?!" Shen Que shouted angrily at the boy, both surprised and furious. "Who's playing tricks on me? How dare they meddle in the Shen family's affairs!"

The boy on the bluestone finally put down the leaf in his hand and stood up straight.

He was tall and slender, wearing a simple moon-white robe, yet he exuded a refined and elegant air, like that of pine and bamboo. He ignored Shen Que's clamor and instead smiled apologetically in Hua Yue's direction, as if to say, "Sorry to bother you."

Then, he slowly turned to Shen Que and uttered three words unhurriedly.

"Su Mingxiao."

These three simple words seem to possess a strange magic.

The moment Shen Que was arrogant, his anger vanished as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head upon hearing the name, replaced by fear and disbelief.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

Even Ye Xinrou, who was standing next to him, changed her expression slightly and subconsciously took half a step back, widening the distance between herself and Shen Que.

"Young Master Su..." Shen Que's voice trembled. He dared not mention the Shen family or any other business. He grabbed Ye Xinrou, who was still in a daze, and they scrambled away, disappearing into the depths of the peach grove, covered in dust and dirt.

A farce will end here.

Hua Yue watched the two men's disheveled figures, then turned to look at the young man who called himself Su Mingxiao.

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

Su Mingxiao waved his hand, revealing a hearty smile, his amber eyes brimming with genuine goodwill: "It was nothing. I'm sorry to have spoiled your enjoyment. This Flower Goddess Festival is a very auspicious day. Do you have some free time later, young lady, to accompany me for a stroll through this City of a Hundred Flowers?"

Hua Yue shook her head and raised the lotus lantern in her hand: "No, my friend is still waiting for me."

"I see." Su Mingxiao wasn't disappointed, but nodded knowingly. "Then friends are indeed more important. However, I always feel that the young lady and I are destined to meet again."

He cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards her from afar: "Then, farewell."

It's goodbye again.

Hua Yue watched his dashing figure as he turned and left, feeling somewhat confused.

What's wrong with me today?

First came Xi Ming, who spoke in a cryptic and radiant manner, saying goodbye. Now comes Su Mingxiao, whose entrance is accompanied by sound effects and whose name can scare people away, also saying that they will meet again someday.

Am I some kind of Tang Sanzang who descended to earth to undergo tribulations? Why are all these people rushing to form a karmic bond with me?

As she was grumbling to herself, Ye Zhen called out anxiously from behind.

"Sister Hua Yue! Where have you gone?!"

Ye Zhen and Zhou Ye finally found her and surrounded her from both sides.

Ye Zhen grabbed her arm, looking her up and down anxiously: "Are you alright? I think I heard some noise over here just now. Sister Hua Yue, I've told you before, the Flower Goddess Festival is a day for lovers to meet, as mortals say. You can't wander off like that, what if you get harassed by some shameless lecher!"

Zhou Ye, who was carrying a large sword on his back, scratched his head in confusion: "Isn't it a good thing that we've met again?"

Ye Zhen immediately glared at him.

"Of course it's not a good thing!" she declared confidently. "If Sister Hua Yue becomes a Daoist partner with someone else, although we can still play together, but..."

She emphasized, pointing at Zhou Ye, "I definitely can't play with you anymore!"

Zhou Ye was even more confused: "Why?"

Ye Zhen rubbed her forehead in exasperation, lowered her voice, and lectured him in a tone that seemed to say, "How can you not even understand this? Because you're a man! Your cultivation partner will get jealous, you idiot!"

Zhou Ye suddenly realized, then looked at Hua Yue with a serious expression and solemnly proposed:

"That won't do. Hua Yue, how about you treat me as a female cultivator from today onwards?"

Hua Yue was sandwiched between these two lively characters, one on her left and one on her right. As she listened to them seriously discussing whether she should find a Daoist partner and Zhou Ye's gender identity, the frustration from her previous encounter with Shen Que and the dazed feeling brought on by the adventure dissipated in the lively night breeze.

She couldn't help but laugh, and pulled the two of them by the hand, walking towards the inn.

"Alright, alright, I won't look for a cultivation partner, and I don't need to treat you like a female cultivator."

As night deepened, the lights of Baihua City remained dazzling.

Hua Yue released the lotus lantern into the flowing water and watched it drift away.

The group returned to the inn, chatting and laughing.