Chapter 14: Divided Attention

Outside the carriage, the black-clad warriors accompanied them silently. Inside, only the sound of the wheels could be heard.

I kept looking out the window at the scenery, feeling Lu Beihan's gaze, and I truly couldn't understand why Lu Beihan suddenly harbored such hostility towards me. Was it just because his brother was giving me a ride somewhere?

"Xiao Liangguo, try talking to them," Chen Yuan said in my mind. "Lu Beihan seems a little wary of you, but since Lu Beiteng let you get in the carriage, he probably trusts you. You can ease the tension through conversation, or get to know him a little better. Mutual understanding is a necessary step in facilitating a marriage."

What he said made sense.

So, I braced myself, turned around, and glanced at Lu Beihan first.

"Young Master Lu..." I decided to strike directly at him. "I wonder if it's just my imagination, but it seems... you were somewhat dissatisfied with me the moment I got into the carriage today?"

Lu Beihan was taken aback by my direct question, and finally turned his gaze. "Miss, you've misunderstood."

It would be best if...

"It's natural to be cautious when traveling." Lu Beiteng offered a reason. "Please forgive me, Miss."

I nodded.

Then, silence fell over the carriage again.

What? I panicked a little. I had started a conversation; shouldn't they return the favor and start another topic?

Why the silence?

Was I supposed to find another topic?

But what could I possibly find?

"Let's talk about Lu Beiteng's injury," Shen Yuan suggested in my mind.

I instinctively felt this was a bit abrupt. His injury was his own business; he hadn't mentioned it, so why should I ask?

But then I thought back to when Lu Beiteng couldn't get on the carriage earlier, Shen Yuan asked me to help him. I wasn't initially keen, but it turned out to be the right choice.

So I decided to temporarily set aside my own thoughts and follow Shen Yuan's train of thought, talking to Lu Beiteng.

"Speaking of which, we still don't know how Young Master Lu got injured? How could you be so badly injured..."

"Too blunt. Add a couple more sentences praising his seemingly high level of skill," Shen Yuan instructed.

So I hesitated for a moment, then used all my knowledge to weave a sentence. "...You clearly seem to have considerable skill..."

Yes.

That was it.

This was the limit of my deliberate praise... 'considerable skill'.

Lu Beihan cast another displeased glance at me.

Lu Beiteng lowered his head, gently pressing the wound on his chest. "I killed a monster, and he was quite powerful."

I understood, and my gaze towards Lu Beiteng held more admiration. "Slaying demons and eliminating evil for the people—I admire you."

Lu Beiteng raised his eyes, his usually cold and hard face now unlike when I first met him, when he was about to kill me. He looked at me and said softly, "Not as good as you, young lady, a benevolent and skilled healer."

A benevolent and skilled healer—he's quite good at praising!

Just as I was about to become proud, Chen Yuan immediately reminded me in my mind. "A novice little healer, innocent and naive—you can't smile when praised, you have to be shy."

Then I immediately lowered my head again, awkwardly smoothing my hair.

"Why did you appear alone in those deep mountains, young lady?" Lu Beihan asked coldly, seemingly out of place. "At the inn, I heard that a man was supposed to accompany you that day?"

"You mean my senior brother?" Shen Yuan simply gave me the answer in my mind, and I repeated his words in the same tone. "My senior brother kept urging me to go back, but I argued with him, and we parted ways. Not long after, I met Young Master Lu. Later, my senior brother found me and sent me back to the inn. I was determined to come out of the mountains to broaden my horizons, and he couldn't persuade me, so he left."

"Young lady, you are a disciple of Immortal Venerable Changxi. I've heard that Dongji Mountain is the most leisurely and blessed land in the world. Why are you so determined to come out of the mountains?"

"Then why does Young Master Lu want to come out of the mountains to kill demons?" Shen Yuan asked back, and I imitated him, asking back in a similar manner. "Everyone has their own desires. I don't crave comfort or prosperity. I just want to come out of the mountains. What's wrong with that?"

These words startled Lu Beihan.

After I finished speaking, I was somewhat surprised. Even a flower butterfly could say such principled things...

Lu Beiteng looked at me quietly, without saying a word.

After a moment, Lu Beihan reacted and offered a slight apology. "No offense intended. Young lady, your courage in venturing out of the mountain alone is commendable. However, I've only heard of Dongji Mountain in rumors; I don't know exactly how far it is. How long did it take you to reach the town you just visited?"

"Three days."

"So long? Didn't Immortal Venerable Changxi teach his disciples sword-flying techniques?"

Chen Yuan chuckled in my mind.

I also chuckled. "Young Master Lu, my master is close to nature and focuses on cultivating medicine. She herself has never learned sword-flying techniques, so how could she teach us?"

As I answered, I realized what he meant.

This Lu Beihan isn't a good person either; he's setting a trap for me.

But after that question, he had no further questions.

The carriage was quiet for a while.

I was starting to get a little annoyed by the silence. Was I going to have to find a topic to talk about again?! These two brothers were either silent or interrogating me; how could I talk about love or romance with them?

"To my shame, I still don't know your name, young lady." Thank goodness, Lu Beiteng finally spoke up.

I hesitated before replying.

"Liangguo" is my grade, because I am a fruit, rated "Liang," hence my name, but it's not really my name.

Love needs a nickname, right? I see those secretly meeting lovers in the sky—their sweet nothings are so cloying.

So I gave myself a name: "Just call me Little Fruit."

Upon hearing this, Lu Beiteng and Lu Beihan were stunned. Shen Yuan in my mind remained silent for a long time.

After a while, I heard Shen Yuan laugh loudly. "Then I'll just call you Little Liangzi?"

I wanted to roll my eyes at Shen Yuan, but I held back.

Lu Beiteng didn't tease me; instead, he nodded. "Little Fruit, a very interesting name."

No wonder this is the opportunity for love I've encountered; he's different from that annoying Shen Yuan! He knows how to appreciate.

I inwardly approved, but in my mind, Shen Yuan stopped laughing and said, "He's quite eloquent, Xiao Liangzi. Shouldn't you say a few words of praise? 'Young Master Lu has discerning eyes, Young Master Lu's path is simple yet profound'?"

His words sounded a bit strange, and I hesitated for a long time, not blurting them out as I had before.

Just as I was regaining my composure, a noisy shout suddenly came from Shen Yuan's side. "Immortal Lord Shen Yuan! It really is you! Why are you in the mortal realm?!"

The voice sounded somewhat familiar. I frowned slightly, turned my gaze to the window, and listened to the commotion in my mind, temporarily losing interest in dealing with the Lu Beiteng and Lu Beihan brothers.

After all... that person actually called himself Immortal Lord Shenyuan. Could he be the immortal I kicked down from the Ninth Heaven to the mortal realm?

"Were you also pushed off the Fallen Immortal Platform by that wicked woman and banished to the mortal realm? Did you drink from the Tribulation Spring like the other immortals? Do you still remember?"

The Tribulation Spring water is what immortals drink before being banished to the mortal realm.

It's too easy to undergo tribulation while carrying the memories of an immortal. Of course, their memories must be erased, forcing them to cultivate anew in the mortal realm, undergo tribulations, and then ascend again. Only then can I achieve my purpose of punishing them.

When I was pushed down to the mortal realm, those eight hundred immortals were too excited to remember this, so I didn't drink the spring water. Or perhaps, being a Mountain and River Fruit from the Divine Realm, even if I drank the water, it might not have worked.

As for Shenyuan's descent to the mortal realm, needless to say, he was struck down by heavenly lightning, so naturally no one poured the spring water into him.

But this immortal...

Judging from his words... he seems to have passed through the Fallen Immortal Platform but didn't drink the Tribulation Spring water!

A fish that slipped through the net!

I racked my brains, thinking about which of the immortals I pushed down to the mortal realm was most likely to do this... I just thought of a troublemaker! In my mind, Shen Yuan directly solved the mystery.

"Immortal Lord Qingyang." Shen Yuan was also somewhat surprised. "Why are you here?"

It was him! Immortal Lord Qingyang! The immortal lord who governs the clouds and mist!

Besides Shen Yuan, he was the biggest troublemaker I encountered in the Nine Heavens!

He clearly had no immortal partner, having lived alone in the Nine Heavens for thousands of years! Yet he possessed the most stubborn mind about love!

He was Shen Yuan's most loyal follower. He revered true love above all else, his mind so pure that he only wanted to pursue pure love. But he had never met an immortal partner with whom his soul resonated.

He even had the audacity to claim that true love is hard to find, and that it's better to have none than something bad...

He was also the immortal lord most likely to contradict me. Even when I struck him with heavenly lightning, he wouldn't submit. When I finally banished him to the mortal realm, he was still shouting, "I won't yield! I won't submit! You can banish me to the mortal realm, but you can't break my bones!"

His bones were simply a mass of romantic notions.

Of course, I didn't feel much sympathy for him; I was quite indifferent. After punishing him, I told the immortals who came to witness the ceremony, "You can learn from him, but the consequences will be the same as his."

So it was him!

He actually didn't swallow that spring of tribulation water!

Even worse!

I suddenly remembered that when I banished him to the mortal realm, it was already late in the process. Perhaps the immortal who poured the tribulation water on him wasn't even doing his job properly!

The Nine Heavens! The Eight Hundred Immortals! Colluding with each other!

When I get back, I'll have to wipe them all out!

"Little Fruit?" Lu Beiteng asked me from the side. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"Mmm... headache..." I replied perfunctorily. "Let me have some peace and quiet." Then I bit my fingernails, continued looking out the window, and strained my ears to listen to what was happening on Shen Yuan's side. I really had no mind to talk about feelings with Young Master Lu anymore.

Lu Beiteng and Lu Beihan probably thought I was acting strangely, but they didn't say much.

The carriage returned to its initial quiet, but my mind was in turmoil, filled with the loud voice of Immortal Lord Qingyang.

"The fairy who fed me spring water didn't force me to drink it, so I vomited it up long ago!"

I knew it!

"After being banished to the mortal realm by that wicked fairy, I've been searching for the most suitable place for my cultivation. I want to return to the Nine Heavens as soon as possible and fight that wicked fairy again. I must make her apologize to all the immortals in the Nine Heavens!"

How wishful thinking!

"Immortal Lord Shen Yuan, why are you here..."

As I spoke, I suddenly felt the voice in my mind getting softer and softer until I could no longer hear anything from their side.

Shen Yuan!

That damned butterfly! He actually turned off my sound!

I gritted my teeth in anger, my interlaced fingertips digging deep into the red flower imprint on my hand, leaving crescent-shaped nail marks.

In my heart, my resolve hardened: this formation on my hand had to be changed!

"Little Fruit," a flat, round white porcelain box was suddenly handed to me. "A medicated ointment made from saposhnikovia root and angelica root can relieve headaches. A doctor told me so. Try it."

Without suspicion, I thanked him and accepted it.

At this moment, I was truly infuriated by Shen Yuan.

I unscrewed the lid of the porcelain box, took a little ointment with my middle finger, and rubbed it on my temples to calm my throbbing forehead. "Thank you," I said, returning the box to Lu Beiteng.

Unexpectedly, I caught Lu Beiteng's somewhat dazed gaze.

Our eyes met, and after a long while, I couldn't help but ask, "Did I... use too much?"

Lu Beiteng lowered his head slightly. "It's alright, the ointment is free to use as you please." He took the white porcelain box, holding it in his palm, not immediately putting it back at his waist.