Flower Demon’s Inn

Summer morning, the sun rises and dyed the world bright.

Shao Zi stretched, and moved her head around with a face filled with liveliness, a refreshing aspect. She winced her legs out from from the flowerbeds, slows down to fix the tiny pleats on her clothes, and prepares to open the inn.

After moving the two doors, she saw Scholar jumped from an ox cart and entered while holding a pot of flower. Shao Zi scratches her head. Was he not in his room last night? She squinted and judges this lean Scholar, “Morning innkeeper.”

“Good morning, Shao Zi, move these things into the backyard.”

Shao Zi glanced at the two flowerpots, immediately exclaimed, “Zanzibar gem(aroid palm) … chrysanthemum?”

Scholar bared his teeth to smile, “This is the lucky weapon to attract wealth.”

“…” Can you please focus seriously on taking care of the inn and not heretical okay! You try to shout twice in front of the door and see what else to do! Shao Zi earnestly said, “Innkeeper, instead of taking care of these flowers and plants, you’re better off opening the inn and welcoming customers in.”

Scholar thought and nodded, “Reasonable. Hurry, carry the flowers over here.”

Shao Zi touched her forehead with her palm.

In the backyard, Scholar holds the shovel, glanced around, dug a hole next to cypress, and planted thearoid palm. Shao Zi immediately watered the planted one. Not watering the vegetation that is recently planted will cause [plant] to lose half of its life. Scholar really does not know how to garden. Seeing Scholar hold chrysanthemum while turning to her spot, she hurriedly jumped up, and protects the s.p.a.ce—this is her home! Shao Zi stares, “This place will not do.”

“Why not?”

“I, I want to plant flowers.”

“Oh. Then will plant it [the chrysanthemum] next to it [the spot].”

Shao Zi cries. Within the flowers and vegetation chrysanthemum and [Chinese] bellflowers are said to be tyrannical. She does not want to make friends with tyrants and their tacky tastes, okay. Who wants to cling onto their thighs, so crude!

She watched from behind and saw Scholar digging while squatting. She recalled that night when she scared him and he did not respond.

Wanting to probe, she blew air into his neck. He immediately turned around to see, the tips of their noses almost touch together, their eyes reflect each other’s face, the heart beats rapidly. Shao Zi blinked. She does not know why her heart is being strange. She quickly jumped back, and fled.

Scholar returns back to digging. He suddenly felt faint wetness on his lips, and raise his hand to look— ah, a nosebleed, [he’s] really too nourished.

Shao Zi hid in the kitchen and cut the chicken clatteringly, and tosses it into the earth pot. She continues to make her huge super-nourishment soup. Just now she had blown yao qi (demon energy). Normal people simply would not notice it, thus Scholar is definitely strange. With the soup boiling, she went to Yun Chang’s room and saw that she was fast asleep from behind the flower vase. Out the room’s window, looking at the Jin Xiu inn on the opposite side [she] sees the priest with blue robes standing like a wooden statue, peering over this way.

Last night [she] spent so much effort in setting up the formation, the result was the formation got destroyed. For a couple of weeks the priest better not think of recuperating soon. Shao Zi was very a.s.sured, but worried that [she] does not know when the wild boar demon will come back. It’s better that she strengthen the formation lest she sleep so soundly and not realize that someone broke in.

After pouring out a bit of her skills to create an inescapable net (tian luo di w.a.n.g), she ran down [from the roof] to bring Scholar his soup. When she immediately saw him she sincerely said, “Do not eat chicken, roast suckling pork upstairs again.”

Scholar stares at that big tonic soup, and slightly widened his eyes. Seeing him appear that way, Shao Zi raise her hands and wave it, “Innkeeper.”

“Ah…” Scholar, unafraid of death, took hold of the entire soup, and his face appears tragic, “Can I not drink so much, okay?”

Shao Zi determinedly replied as if clinging onto body, “No.”

If she guessed wrong, Scholar is just an idiotic mortal. What to do if his yang energy became influenced by Yun Chang. Shao Zi stood up and patted him on the shoulder, “Innkeeper, slowly drink, you are not allowed to pour it out stealthily.”

“Oh…”

Shao Zi took off with a pair of old paying-respect candles to Yun Chang’s room, place it on her bedside, and gently fan the fragrance that seems to be there and not there to her nose. Yun Chang soon woke up and rubbed her eyes to see her. She got up, and with pale face and weak voice spoke, “Many thanks, miss.”

Shao Zi fans around with her hands to let the aroma linger around the entire bed, and said, “The priest is staying in the opposite inn, presumably wants to recuperate and then catch you.” She finally asked, “What did you owe the priest? Do you not want to reincarnate? You want to help him control souls? ”

Yun Chang shook her head, “I do not owe him anything, even before when his soul was incomplete, not once have we met.”

Shao Zi originally thought it would be a very long and very formulaic story, was already hand-digging into her pockets to pick out melon seeds, but once she heard this, she silently retreated her hands, and cannot help but ask, “Then why do you want to prolong this whole process?”

Yun Chang’s voice is faint, floating-like, ethereal, and empty, “It’s because before I met him, I had been a ghost living like soulless zombie. I cannot stay too long under the sun like a normal person. I also lost my taste, and forget my physical well being. Every day I wander purposelessly, and sometimes even thought—let this be how I scatter into dust and disappear. But one day, I met him. Obviously [he] lost all feelings, cannot see, cannot hear, even when [he] ate [he] cannot feel, but he’s still tries to fulfill his priest duty. Seeing him like this, I thought of living my life better, and must wait until a reincarnation opportunity arises. I often thought I was not the one helping him, but rather I was helping myself. ”

Shao Zi was silent, saving another while bringing salvation to oneself, but Yun Chang did realize. Coming out from the room, her mood is complicated when going downstairs. She immediately saw Scholar waving to Da Huang (Rhubarb), who was an animal raised in the inn, while amiably laughing, “w.a.n.g Cai*, come quickly and [I] will give you meat.” *prosperous money/wealth

Shao Zi angrily shouted, “Innkeeper!”

Scholar gestured, and sternly raised his hand, “w.a.n.g Cai go away, do not come as there will be no reward.”

Shao Zi puffed her cheeks and sat down in front of him, “That tonic soup is really good for your body.”

Scholar very painfully cries “Oh”. Shao Zi continued, “Also, its name is Da Huang, not w.a.n.g Cai.”

“Call him w.a.n.g Cai then. I wanted to call it Zhao Cai (inviting wealth), but auntie from the shop next door has taken that name.”

“…” Shao Zi angrily returns to the yard, and secretly fume, really vulgar, intolerably vulgar! It’s a waste his reputation is that of a gentle scholar, from aroid palm to w.a.n.g Cai, does he want to go on a righteous path or what. When she arrived at the yard, she saw a battle ensued.

“Ai da ~ ~ smelly Rhododendron go take a punch from me!”

“You arrogant idler! A n.o.body nest-invader! Jab your chrysanthemum petals!”

“Be careful I curse you guys a lifetime of misfortune!”

“You’re an aroid palm not a luck G.o.d, go away, [we] will not send you off!”

Shao Zi shouted “Stop fighting,” and yet n.o.body listened to her … she immediately chanted a few words, the tranquil well water suddenly spray upward, wriggling around like a snake, and splashes into the demon group. In a reflex move, the demon group altogether reaches out to receive the water, and shouted comfortably.

After licking clean the water around her mouth, Rhododendron pointed and angrily said, “Boss, these guys want us to call them Boss.”

Chrysanthemum dressed in golden yellow clothes while aroid palm is wearing yellow silk with prints of coins, the bright yellow under the sun flash straight to Shao Zi’s eyes. They’re really flora of the tyrant community ah, a sudden impulse of wanting to hug their thighs…

“Money” aroid palm waved a golden small fan in his hands, “I never thought in remote yard would meet colleague with the same cultivation, disrespectful disrespectful excuse us, we have recently arrived here. We hope miss can be magnanimous.”

Shao Zi watched him says forgiving words, it’s obviously a demeanor of sucking up to people. Thus appearing with effort of looking boss-like with her hands on her hips she said, “Over here I am the boss. Since you guys are guests, you need to follow the rules accordingly.”

Chrysanthemum croon, “What rules?”

Shao Zi scratched her head, and seriously said, “Solidarity, protect the inn, do not harm the mortals, lest invite priests here”

“Tsk!”

Xin niang winked, “Did she just “tsk”?”

Cypress nodded, “She really did ‘tsk’, att.i.tude is very arrogant, and has a very contemptuous tone.”

Pa Pa fisted, “Boss beat her up!”

Shao Zi fisted, although the two of them look like they have several hundred years of cultivation, in particular the aroid palm, but like a strong dragon that cannot repress the snake, along with several helpers besides her, [she] must teach them a lesson first. Thinking through, Shao Zi threw a fist, was about to rush forward, but saw aroid palm and chrysanthemum went back to their area, and the demon (flower) group running around in confusion and jumping back into the flowerbeds one after another.

“Shao Zi.” Scholar lifted the curtains and came in. He did not mind her strange position and immediately pull onto her sleeves, “The guests are waiting in the front, why are you still here.”

Xin niang and Rhododendron are rolling their leaves near a big stone, saw the two went out, yawned, and were about to wait for them to step out the door, yet an evil energy acc.u.mulated. This made them turned themselves around to see a large grim looking boar with his mouth full of blood charging towards the left of Shao Zi.

“Boss!”

Shao Zi wanted to turn around, yet saw Scholar’s figure up ahead, blocking her line of sight, his wide sleeve wave a burst of strong winds, and within a moment the boar was shot to the sky, and caused the demon group that was following along to be dumbfounded.

Shao Zi seems oblivious to this, and so Scholar gently turns around, face the garden flowers and lifted his finger to his lips. Obviously he was laughing, but it made people felt their backs getting cold.

Waiting for the two to leave, Chrysanthemum swallowed, “No wonder this guy can dig us from the mountain, is he an immortal wandering the world?”

Rhododendron and Xin niang hugged each other while trembling, “What about boss, will she be eaten by him, did she not say she wanted to test him out? Is this not a trap to eat us all? “

Plump gourd said, “Should not be to that measure, or else he would have eaten her already.”

Each person consoled that nothing will happen to Boss, they do not need to rescue her. Afterwards they silently thought, if they went, they would be like the boar demon that flew towards the stars and meteors…

Shao Zi followed him to the front hall, and Scholar went straight to the abacus, despite having nothing to calculate…She took a rag and wiped around, even up to the cashier area. Using all of her head she looks closely at him, and no matter what he seems to be just an ordinary mortal to her. He does not have immortal energy nor demon energy. She continues to stare at him like this, and immediately saw Scholar’s pale face began to have a tinge of red on it. She leans in closer to look, but Scholar suddenly took the abacus and turned around to have his back face her.

Then he raised his right hand to support/cover his face. Shao Zi frowned— he better not have another nosebleed, in the end how nourishing is this medicine [tonic soup]?!