Miss Fairy, Please Hear Me Out

Xu Yuan kept walking forward, teasing as he went. “Well, Old Luo? Still feel like flying over?”

The Sage’s remnant soul pondered for a moment. “Leeches on this scale would indeed be a little troublesome to deal with. But Xu boy, how did you know? If your Chancellor’s Manor knew about this Dome Palace, there’s no reason they would simply sit back and ignore it.”

“Oh? You want to know?”

“Naturally.”

“Even if you want to know, I’m not telling you.”

Xu Yuan chuckled and shook his head. You like acting all mysterious, do you? Fine. Then everyone can play riddles and annoy each other.

As he walked along the corridor, the massive leeches saw that Xu Yuan was no longer feeding them and all sank back beneath the water.

In an instant, the beautiful scenery above the lake returned to its former stillness. The autumn waters and the vast sky once again blended into a single color.

The corridor was quiet. Only Xu Yuan’s footsteps sounded softly, while the Sage’s remnant soul floated along beside him.

The farther they went, the more solemn Luo Daofan’s gaze became. He had already realized that this overwater corridor built from redwood contained some kind of illusory maze formation.

With his perception sealed by the chaotic concealment array, one careless step would leave him lost in this illusion forever, unable to escape. Yet the boy in front of him moved as if he were coming home. Whenever they reached a fork in the path, he turned without even looking.

After a while, the enormous cherry tree that had stood in the center of the pool was now less than a hundred meters away from them. The crystalline cherry blossoms drifting across the clear blue water could be seen distinctly.

After reorganizing his words, the Sage’s remnant soul suddenly said, “Xu boy, I think we need to talk.”

Xu Yuan understood perfectly well what he meant. Without stopping, he continued identifying the path ahead and replied with a faint laugh. “Talk about what?”

“Actually, I don’t think there’s any need for our relationship to be so stiff.” There was not the slightest hint of embarrassment in Luo Daofan’s voice. He was still smiling as he spoke. “If not for that elder brother of yours tripping me up, I truly intended to cooperate with you people in good faith.”

“I know.” Xu Yuan shrugged. He did not doubt the truth of that statement at all because he knew exactly what kind of person Luo Daofan was.

But from Xu Changge’s point of view, what he had done was completely reasonable too. Due to the gap in information, Xu Changge did not know the things Xu Yuan knew. The Sage’s remnant soul might have claimed that he would not hold a grudge over his disciple’s death, but who would believe the one-sided words of an enemy?

All Xu Changge knew was that the Chancellor’s Manor had killed Luo Daofan’s precious disciple, the one he had been willing to damage his own source soul to protect. What if his third brother Xu Yuan went out to travel one day, and this old man decided to endure the backlash of the restriction just to avenge his disciple?

After a brief pause, Xu Yuan continued, “So, what kind of cooperation do you have in mind?”

The Sage’s remnant soul grinned. “Simple. I tell you about the Heaven Deriving Art, and you tell me about this secret realm.”

Xu Yuan frowned slightly and glanced at the Sage’s remnant soul. “What are you getting at?”

Information related to the Heaven Deriving Art was undoubtedly a timely gift for the current Xu Yuan. After all, Tian Yan was still chasing him from behind. But information about this Dome Palace would basically be of no use to the Sage’s remnant soul. This was a completely unfair trade.

The Sage’s remnant soul looked straight into Xu Yuan’s eyes and said with a smile, “You can take it as sincerity.”

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then let out a soft laugh. “Sincerity? More like a probe. But since you’ve already offered up your sincerity, it would be rude of me not to accept it. Ask whatever you want. If I know, I’ll tell you.”

This kind of conversation made Xu Yuan feel like he was the old grandpa here.

The Sage’s remnant soul thought for a moment, glanced at the enormous cherry tree a hundred meters away, and asked in a low voice, “Why are you heading to that cherry tree?”

“Because there’s a teleportation array there. It can take us anywhere in this Dome Palace.” Xu Yuan pointed beneath the cherry tree, paused, then suddenly grinned. “And besides, don’t tell me you don’t know what the ancient Beguiling Divine Sakura can produce.”

A hint of surprise entered the Sage’s remnant soul’s voice. “That cherry blossom tree is a Beguiling Divine Sakura?”

Xu Yuan was just as surprised. “You couldn’t tell?”

The Sage’s remnant soul shook his head slightly. “I have browsed through records about it in ancient texts, but I have never seen this tree in person. And with my soul perception restricted here, I cannot sense it properly. Still, for such a divine tree to be planted in this place... tsk, tsk.”

Hearing this, Xu Yuan nodded and said in a low voice, “The Splendorbloom Sect’s ties to the once-glorious Joyous Union Sect were anything but shallow. It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say they came from the same lineage. Old Luo, you didn’t know about this either?”

The Sage’s remnant soul fell silent for a moment. The look he gave Xu Yuan grew even more solemn. Then he shook his head. “I did not. Whether it was the Splendorbloom Sect or the Joyous Union Sect, both had already been destroyed for many years in my era.”

“Is that so?” Xu Yuan neither agreed nor disagreed.

As they spoke, Xu Yuan and the Sage’s remnant soul had already arrived at a crossroads. Looking left, Xu Yuan saw an open-air walkway stretching over the water, leading straight toward the towering cherry tree. Yet he did not even think about it. He turned right instead.

The Sage’s remnant soul frowned slightly at the sight, but said nothing.

Xu Yuan explained softly, “This is the final section of the Soul Bewildering Corridor. If we go left, we’ll lose our way. Trying to get back here after that would be harder than climbing to the heavens.”

The Sage’s remnant soul sighed. “It seems this old man’s horizons are rather shallow after all.”

“It’s just that the formation is strange,” Xu Yuan replied with a smile.

The Sage’s remnant soul suddenly used his soul force to stop Xu Yuan in place. “Boy, wait a moment.”

Xu Yuan did not panic. He simply asked, “What is it?”

“If I remember correctly, the Beguiling Divine Sakura requires a blood sacrifice, does it not?”

“Of course.”

“A Beguiling Divine Sakura this old... I may not be able to protect you completely.”

“Relax. I know what I’m doing.”

The Sage’s remnant soul looked deeply at Xu Yuan, then released him.

Xu Yuan stepped through a thin curtain of light, and the scene before him suddenly opened wide. A colossal cherry tree stood before him, soaring into the sky. In front of it, a human being seemed no larger than an ant.

Before he could even take a proper look, a woman’s voice, clear and ethereal as a nightingale, suddenly sounded beside their ears. “Who are you?”

The Sage’s remnant soul’s gaze sharpened at once. It was a tree spirit. He slipped back into the soul ring, ready to grab Xu Yuan and run at any moment.

Xu Yuan merely drew in a deep breath. He did not speak. Instead, he quietly walked to a small mound of earth beneath the cherry tree and answered it in a low voice. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Jing He?” A single petal drifted down from the towering cherry tree. The voice seemed tinged with surprise and joy. “You’re back?”

Xu Yuan said nothing. From his Sumeru Ring, he took out a jug of fine flower wine. He sat down, brought out two porcelain cups, and filled them both. One cup he poured over the mound of earth.

“I’m sorry.” The other he drained in one gulp. Then, in a low voice, he said, “Yuchu... I’m back.”

The towering cherry tree swayed, as if trying to say something, but that final lingering obsession had already scattered. Its voice vanished into the rustling storm of falling blossoms. And amid that dazzling rain of petals, a single cherry blossom quietly landed between Xu Yuan’s brows.

In the next instant, it disappeared.

That year, when the flowers bloomed, a beauty’s bones were buried beneath them, and her soul merged with the Beguiling Divine Sakura.