A Flower Immortal’s Devotion, Three Hundred Years in the Mortal Realm

“So, you came to find me behind your little lover’s back just for this?”

Hua Qianluo looked at Lin Lan with a half-smile. Lin Lan nodded silently.

Currently, only Qianluo, Lin Lan, and Luo Xiaoxi were in the room. Because Long Miaoming had ambushed Qianluo earlier with the speeding car, Qianluo resolutely barred the dragon from entering the house this time. Left with no choice, Miaoming could only cast a lingering, deeply reluctant look at Xiaoxi before leaving, whispering:

“Xiaoxi… are you coming home with me tonight?”

Hua Qianluo: “…”

“I believe I made it perfectly clear to you before: between the two of you, I will only save one.” Qianluo took a small sip of tea, finally feeling her stomach settle a bit.

“I know,” Lin Lan replied, his voice calm and steady.

“Then what if I choose to save your little lover? What will you do? Without the protection of that flower demon’s magic, you will completely turn into a wandering, lonely ghost.” Qianluo pulled no punches, laying out the consequences with brutal clarity.

“I know.”

Repeating those same two words, Lin Lan smiled. “As long as Xiao Zi can live on, I don’t care what happens to me.”

“Is that so…?” Qianluo cast a strange look at him. “How about this: let me think it over before making a decision. You should head back for now.”

Lin Lan froze for a moment, then nodded understandingly. After bidding them farewell, he stood up and departed.

Xiaoxi watched Lin Lan leave the flower shop. For some reason, she felt a sudden, inexplicable wave of sympathy for this man she had only met a handful of times.

“You brat!”

Before Xiaoxi could react, two hands suddenly reached out and pinched her cheeks, pulling them outward mercilessly.

“My, you’ve certainly grown some spine, haven’t you, dead girl? You actually dared to plot against me!” Qianluo said fiercely, baring her teeth at Xiaoxi.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch! Ma-ma Qianluo, I wash wrong!” Xiaoxi scrambled to beg for mercy. Only then did Qianluo let go, though she still felt unsatisfied.

“If you ever help an outsider bully your old mother again, I’ll lock you in the backyard to copy books!”

At the mention of this, the playful smirk vanished from Xiaoxi’s face. If one looked closely, a deep, primal terror could be seen flickering in her eyes.

The flower shop’s backyard was a deeply mysterious place to outsiders, but Xiaoxi knew that it wasn’t just mysterious—it was an absolute nightmare. The rooms in the backyard housed everything Hua Qianluo had learned throughout her entire life. Yin-Yang arts, Dragon-Seeking arts, divination, Heavenly laws, Earthly laws, demon magic, Daoist magic, immortal sorcery… there were even various original manuscripts of ancient texts.

When Xiaoxi was a child, whenever she crossed the line with her mischief, Qianluo would shove her into one of those rooms to transcribe books. The sheer, suffocating boredom of that punishment still terrified Xiaoxi to this day. Moreover, the backyard was locked with a barrier she couldn’t break; only Qianluo could open it. This meant there wasn’t even a chance to escape…

Xiaoxi immediately guaranteed with absolute sincerity, “I, Luo Xiaoxi, will strictly stand on the same front as Mama Qianluo from now on! I will never betray you!”

“That’s more like it.”

The corners of Qianluo’s mouth twitched upward in satisfaction. She stood up and headed back toward her room.

“Oh, right, Xiaoxi.” Qianluo suddenly turned around just as she reached her door.

“Hmm?”

“If you have time tomorrow, take that stupid dragon with you and pay a visit to the flower demon.”

Xiaoxi’s eyes widened in sheer astonishment, as if she had just discovered a new continent. One had to know that Hua Qianluo always detested meddling in other people’s business; she was the type who wouldn’t even bat an eye if an old lady fell down right in front of her on the street.

“Mama Qianluo… you didn’t turn stupid from motion sickness today, did you?”

“One more word of nonsense and I’m sending you to the backyard tonight to copy books.”

“No problem! Consider it done!” Xiaoxi guaranteed frantically. Qianluo gave her a toothy grin before closing her door.

Lin Lan returned to the park.

The area was currently sealed off by the police. After all, having so many tourists die unnatural deaths was by no means a normal occurrence. However, this ironically created a peaceful environment for Xiao Zi and Lin Lan; no one came to disturb them anymore.

Xiao Zi’s condition seemed a lot better. When they left Hua Qianluo’s flower shop last time, Qianluo had gifted them a pot of special flower soil. Xiao Zi’s rapid recovery was largely thanks to this.

“Xiao Zi, I’m back.”

Lin Lan smiled at the flower, and Xiao Zi responded with a gentle sway of her petals, like a wife welcoming her husband home.

Lin Lan lay down right beside Xiao Zi and stared up at the sky. Because he hadn’t needed to feed Xiao Zi with his blood over the past few days, his physical health had recovered slightly. At the very least, he didn’t need to wear a heavy winter coat in the middle of summer anymore.

“Xiao Zi, this time… we might have truly run into a savior,” Lin Lan said suddenly.

The little flower demon swayed her petals as if agreeing with his words.

Lin Lan turned his head to look closely at the flower. “If it’s possible… I’m truly reluctant to part with you.”

The little flower demon slowly extended one of her leaves, gently brushing it across Lin Lan’s cheek. A pleasant, soothing fragrance began to waft from Xiao Zi’s blossom.

Lin Lan’s eyelids grew heavy. He couldn’t fight the drowsiness; he desperately wanted to sleep…

As the fragrance continued to spread, Lin Lan finally succumbed and drifted off into a deep slumber. Only then did the flower demon slowly lower her leaf.

Perhaps Lin Lan truly loved her enough to stay by her side through thick and thin, even at a time like this. But… Lin Lan didn’t understand her well enough. She had left her demonic aura on his body; no matter where he went or what he did, he couldn’t hide it from her.

She knew Lin Lan had gone back to that flower shop today. She knew what he did, what he saw, and what he said. This was also the real reason why Hua Qianluo hadn’t immediately agreed to Lin Lan’s request.

The starry night sky was breathtakingly beautiful. Xiao Zi gazed at the face of the man she had loved for three hundred years. Even after looking at him for so long, she had never grown tired of it. Just like Lin Lan’s choice, Xiao Zi was willing to sacrifice everything for him. But her pride wouldn’t allow Lin Lan to die before her.

Lin Lan suddenly smiled in his sleep. It seemed to be a beautiful dream. He was dreaming of the days when they first met, back when the flower demon Xiao Zi could still maintain her human form. The corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously. It truly was a wonderful dream.

Suddenly, the little flower demon trembled twice. A somewhat blurry, translucent phantom slowly floated up into the air, looking down with profound tenderness at Lin Lan sleeping on the ground.

Willow-leaf brows, an immortal’s silhouette, cascading silken black hair, skin like white jade, and eyes like stars. Draped in a violet gown, her single smile could topple kingdoms.

To call her an peerless, enchanting demoness would not be an exaggeration. This was Xiao Zi’s true human form.

In truth, Xiao Zi was recovering far faster than Lin Lan imagined. Of course, this came with a heavy price. That special soil wasn’t purely a blessing; while it could drastically accelerate the recovery of a demon’s magic, it simultaneously eroded their cultivation base. That was the sole reason Xiao Zi was able to manifest her phantom form so quickly.