"I, I'm here to see Immortal Jiang Mo," Yaohua said absent-mindedly as she followed Immortal Jiang Mo's figure. Her words made Qing Shi couldn't help but laugh.
"I know you're here to see Immortal Jiang Mo. Hey, don't be in such a hurry. I'll take you there," Qing Shi said, looking at Yaohua several times. He always felt that there was something off about her state.
Yaohua nodded absent-mindedly and let him lead her to Immortal Jiang Mo's small courtyard.
She stared blankly as Immortal Jiang Mo transplanted the phoenix flower and carefully placed it in the cage. Then she stepped forward.
"Immortal Jiang Mo, I have something to ask you," she said.
Immortal Jiang Mo rarely went out, and the number of times he had interacted with Yaohua could be counted on one hand. He was a bit surprised to see her coming to him on her own initiative.
"Ask," he said.
With his permission, Yaohua finally spoke.
"I heard that the Immortal once planted a whole yard of small red flowers. Were they all phoenix flowers?"
"They were," Immortal Jiang Mo nodded and answered the question without hesitation.
Yaohua's heart began to pound violently. She suddenly felt a bit nervous, even though she knew that Immortal Jiang Mo's fondness for phoenix flowers had nothing to do with her master.
Perhaps it was because she had met someone with the same preference in a strange place?
"Does the Immortal have a special attachment to phoenix flowers for any particular reason?" she asked.
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a snort of laughter beside her.
"Yaohua, even if you like the Immortal, you don't have to beat around the bush like this. Just say it directly," Qing Shi said.
"Qing Shi, don't talk nonsense," Immortal Jiang Mo said helplessly, glaring at him. Then he pointed to the yard. "I haven't shoveled the soil today. Go and do your work first."
Thanks to Qing Shi's interruption, Yaohua's overly excited mood suddenly calmed down.
She rubbed her temples and felt a bit apologetic. "Immortal Jiang Mo, I didn't mean that. I'm just curious. The ice field is so cold that it's difficult for plants to survive. Why did you plant so many phoenix flowers? If I've offended you, please forgive me."
Immortal Jiang Mo shook his head with a smile in his tone. "It's okay. Planting phoenix flowers wasn't actually my preference."
Meeting Yaohua's surprised gaze, Immortal Jiang Mo slowly explained. "It was to commemorate an old friend of mine."
"I'm sorry," Yaohua said. She didn't expect to touch on such a thing. She felt a bit guilty towards Immortal Jiang Mo and was also a bit annoyed at her own behavior of uncovering someone's scar.
"There's no need to be sorry," Immortal Jiang Mo said, showing a kind smile. "That old friend had a rough life. Death was actually a good thing for her."
Yaohua hesitated for a moment but still couldn't help but look at him.
Her eager-to-know look was really quite amusing. Immortal Jiang Mo coughed lightly and told the story of his old friend.
It turned out that Immortal Jiang Mo had followed a phoenix clan woman into the glacier.
Yaohua secretly calculated and found that the phoenix clan woman Immortal Jiang Mo mentioned was probably from a much earlier generation of her ancestors. For a moment, her gaze towards Immortal Jiang Mo became one of respect.
This phoenix clan ancestor was named Ying Han. She had committed a great mistake by falling in love with a demon and was exiled to the ice field. Missing her homeland, she fell ill from melancholy. In order to cheer her up, Immortal Jiang Mo tried to plant phoenix flowers on the ice field. Unfortunately, phoenix flowers couldn't tolerate the cold and couldn't survive no matter what.
Just before Ying Han was about to pass away, Immortal Jiang Mo finally managed to grow a single phoenix flower. He put that flower in Ying Han's hair and let her be buried under the ice field with it.
"I haven't gone to see her for several years," Immortal Jiang Mo said, a hint of melancholy flashing across his eyes. He touched his hair. "If I were in the Divine Continent, I might already be full of gray hair."
One month on the ice field was equivalent to one day outside. Yaohua couldn't help but sigh as she calculated the time.
"Seize the day. Why don't you go with me to pay respects to my old friend? She liked making friends when she was alive. She would be very happy if you went," Immortal Jiang Mo suddenly became enthusiastic.
It was hard to decline such a kind invitation, especially after she had just uncovered someone's scar. Having nothing else to do, Yaohua decided to go with him.
She thought Ying Han's tomb would be very far from here, but it was actually only a few miles away.
Looking at the offerings in front of the tombstone without a name, Yaohua was a bit speechless.
"Did the Immortal leave these offerings last time?" she asked.
Immortal Jiang Mo placed the offering he had brought - a phoenix flower - in front of the tombstone.
"No," he said teasingly. "I can barely even feed myself. How could I afford to use these as offerings?"
That made sense. The rice porridge and bamboo fruits in front of the tombstone were rare things on the ice field.
"Maybe they were left by one of Ying Han's other friends," Immortal Jiang Mo didn't say much. He reached out and touched the tombstone, then withdrew his hand. "Let's go back."
"Aren't you going to talk to her some more, Immortal?" Yaohua asked.
This was too quick!
To exaggerate a bit, Yaohua didn't even have time to catch her breath!
"I've said everything I needed to say when she was alive. I come to see her just in case I forget," Immortal Jiang Mo said.
Just as they were about to leave, Yaohua suddenly heard a sound.
She turned around and saw a black-clad figure brushing past them. The figure walked straight to the tombstone without looking sideways and clumsily wiped the snow off the tombstone.
Then Yaohua saw the usually good-tempered Immortal Jiang Mo suddenly change his expression. He strode over angrily.
"You still have the nerve to come here?" he said.
The person turned around blankly. "Who are you?"
Immortal Jiang Mo lifted his chin slightly and casually pointed in a direction. "Get out!"
His voice was colder and harsher than the wind and snow on the ice field.
Even Yaohua couldn't help but shiver.
The black-clad figure was also startled. He hesitated for a while, looking at Immortal Jiang Mo. Not finding any chance to argue, he finally left the tombstone, looking back three times at every step.
Immortal Jiang Mo stared coldly at his figure from beginning to end until the figure disappeared.
He walked to the tombstone and sorted out all the offerings except for the phoenix flower. Finally, he threw them all off the cliff.
"Scared you, didn't I?" he said as he came to Yaohua after finishing all this. His expression was gentle, a far cry from before.
Yaohua forced a smile. This was really embarrassing.
She suspected that Immortal Jiang Mo had something he didn't want to say and she had just happened to stumble upon it.
Now, was Immortal Jiang Mo going to kill her to silence her?
"Don't be nervous," Immortal Jiang Mo couldn't help but laugh. "You carry your sword with you all the time. I'm completely defenseless here. Do you think I'll kill you to silence you?"
It turned out that Yaohua had accidentally blurted out what was on her mind again.
"I, I didn't mean that," Yaohua blushed even more. "Immortal Jiang Mo, who was that person just now?"
"He's the demon," Immortal Jiang Mo said.
So that demon was also trapped on the ice field.
No wonder Immortal Jiang Mo was so cold towards him.
"But that black-clad figure didn't seem to recognize you," Yaohua said.
Immortal Jiang Mo sighed again. He pointed to his head. "There's something wrong with his mind. He can't remember a lot of things."
Even so, he still remembered Ying Han. It seemed that he really did love her.
But the affairs of the predecessors were not for the successors to comment on. Even though this thought flashed through Yaohua's mind for a moment, she quickly suppressed it.
How could one make random speculations without knowing the whole story?
"This matter is a long story, but the way back is also long. I can tell you in detail," Immortal Jiang Mo said.