Hello mooncake

The thick scent of blood filled the air.

Chang Wan looked at Shen Cong as if he were a madman, hearing him ask, “Frightened?”

He seemed somewhat at a loss.

Seeing the girl below with a blank face and watery eyes looking as if she were about to cry, Shen Cong knew he had gone a bit too far.

He descended from the tree, and Chang Wan took a sharp step back, staring at him like he was some kind of monster.

“You lunatic…” she said.

Her voice carried a faint sob following her shock and anger.

He sounded quite pitiful.

Shen Cong thought that it was clearly his own hand that was severed, yet she was the one crying.

His right hand was still bleeding profusely, but he did not find it very painful.

Though facing a severed hand was terrifying, Chang Wan recovered after a moment, drawing on her experience of seeing Chu Changqing slaughter the men in black.

She pursed her lips and looked at him, finally saying after a long while, “Attach it.”

Cultivators were different from mortals; severed limbs could be reattached.

Remembering this made Chang Wan feel much better.

The youth shook his head and kicked the hand aside, looking at it like a piece of trash. “No.”

Chang Wan took out the Green Cherry Sunken Fire.

The green flames enveloped the beautiful cherry blossom, emitting a rich fragrance as Chang Wan said, “Attach it, or I will throw this away.”

Shen Cong remained unmoved.

Chang Wan added, “…If your hand is gone, the Fire Red Sect will surely cause trouble for me.”

Shen Cong tilted his head and smiled casually. “Whoever dares to cause you trouble, I will kill them for you.”

Chang Wan: “…”

Shen Cong took a step closer to her, smiling as if he were entreating her. “Or, whoever you want me to kill, I will kill them for you, all right?”

Chang Wan instinctively took another step back. Looking at him stepping on his own severed hand, she turned her head away at the gruesome sight. “I don’t want you to kill anyone, you’re stepping on… attach your hand!!”

Seeing Shen Cong remain stubborn and act as if he couldn’t hear her, Chang Wan grew angry and threw the Green Cherry Sunken Fire aside. “Fine, attach it or don’t!! I’m leaving!”

How could this person be so annoying!!

The flaming cherry blossom was tossed away like trash. Chang Wan turned to leave, but her hem was suddenly seized.

The youth stopped smiling, his expression becoming somber. “…Don’t go.”

“I will listen to you,” he said. “Do not ignore me.”

Chang Wan looked at the hand grasping her hem; it was slender and powerful, carefully tugging at her clothes without touching her skin.

His other hand was still bleeding, and his lips were pale from blood loss.

Chang Wan, thinking of how decisively he had hacked off his own hand, felt a surge of anger. She suppressed her temper. “I won’t go. Go back and fix your hand.”

Shen Cong said, “I do not know healing spells.”

Chang Wan: “…”

His meaning was simple: I never planned to put this hand back after cutting it off.

Chang Wan was so angry she wanted to hit him.

Chang Wan took a deep breath. “Go pick it up, I’ll attach it for you!!”

She was of the Wind element. Although she had been idle over the past few months, she had learned a few spells from the original host.

Healing was a basic spell; she knew the fundamentals, and with the spiritual power of the original host’s Spirit Solitude stage, reattaching a hand was no problem.

In the end, Shen Cong retrieved the severed hand and reluctantly let her attach it.

Chang Wan tried to take hold of his wrist, but he suddenly jerked away.

Chang Wan was stunned, only to hear Shen Cong say, “Don’t touch me.”

His tone was cold, tinged with a hint of disgust.

Chang Wan: “…”

Chang Wan was speechless. She was healing his hand, and he was acting disgusted by her??

Where was the justice? She hadn’t even settled the score for his previous assassination attempt…

Oh right, there was still the assassination matter.

Looking at the severed hand again, Chang Wan took a deep breath and told herself not to argue with a pervert.

Gentle Wind spiritual energy wrapped around the bleeding wrist. Flesh and bone began to grow and connect, feeling like the tickling itch of foxtail grass scratching the heart, bit by bit.

It wasn’t a new experience, yet Shen Cong found it incredibly gentle.

He watched Chang Wan from the side as she focused on the Wind spell.

Though it was only a minor healing spell, she was as serious as if she were performing a grand technique to move mountains.

Those light-hazel eyes, paired with the reddened corners from her earlier fright, seemed to scratch at his heart.

Shen Cong licked his lips, desperately wanting to kiss her.

But remembering his current body, he restrained himself.

It wasn’t that he was disgusted by her.

He simply hated her touching anyone else.

He even hated himself.

Once Shen Cong was healed, he pressed the Green Cherry Sunken Fire back into her hands as she was leaving.

Chang Wan wanted to refuse.

Shen Cong said, “You healed my hand.”

His eyes were clear as he spoke. “You didn’t want my orange, and you don’t like me, yet you still helped me.”

He picked up the Green Cherry Sunken Fire. “I have no way to repay you.”

Chang Wan declined politely, “It is only human nature to help someone when they are injured.”

Shen Cong followed suit, “It is also human nature to repay someone who has helped you.”

“Take it,” Shen Cong said. “It is just a small token of my heart.”

In the end, Chang Wan didn’t have the heart to say, “I’m not refusing out of modesty, I just think you might have poisoned it,” so she gave a stiff smile and accepted the astronomical medical fee.

After seeing Shen Cong, she realized tomorrow was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Yet, despite the upcoming holiday in the mortal world, the Qingfeng Sect remained desolate.

Chang Wan returned to the Elder’s Hall, expecting total silence, only to see Qiu Ran.

He was crouching by a stone table, fumbling with a small carving knife. Seeing Chang Wan arrive, he jumped and hid the item behind his back before running over happily. “Elder!”

The young boy had changed into new disciple robes, though the clean white was now a bit dirty.

Nearby, Liu Hu was sweeping the grounds. Seeing Qiu Ran in such a state, he looked pained but still came to pay his respects. “Elder.”

Perhaps infected by Qiu Ran’s beaming face, Chang Wan looked toward the stone table. “What are you doing?”

Qiu Ran scratched his face sheepishly. “A lamp…”

Chang Wan: “Hmm?”

Blushing, Qiu Ran led Chang Wan to the table and picked up the item he had been tinkering with.

It was a small orange lantern.

He had picked a large orange, the size of an adult’s palm, and scooped out the flesh.

Three thin wires were hooked into the orange, twisted around a chopstick.

A partially finished character for “Blessing” was carved into the peel.

It seemed Qiu Ran had been carving it when she arrived.

Seeing Chang Wan remain silent, Liu Hu said, “Why are you carving such things instead of cleaning and practicing?”

Qiu Ran peeked at Chang Wan and said coyly, “Tomorrow… tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

“Before I came to the mountain, there were always many lanterns on this day…” Qiu Ran said. “Lanterns of fairies and rabbits, moon lamps, Kongming lanterns… I don’t know how to make those.”

Liu Hu said, “It’s just a mortal holiday. You are a cultivator, why join the fuss?”

Chang Wan said, “It’s no matter.”

She picked up the small lantern on the table. “It’s very well made. Can you teach me?”

Qiu Ran’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Liu Hu triumphantly.

Liu Hu rolled his eyes at him—a gesture only the boy could see—and then bowed respectfully to Chang Wan. “Then this disciple will go finish the cleaning.”

Qiu Ran made a face at Liu Hu’s back and said happily, “I’ll teach you!”

Making a clunky little orange lantern made Chang Wan quite happy.

She lit the small candle inside and hung it by her window.

Though it wasn’t much to look at during the day, she was in high spirits.

She opened the window. “It’s a beautiful day.”

The System ignored her, but there were bird calls outside.

She looked up and saw the two partridges cooing in the poplar tree.

In a good mood, Chang Wan greeted them, “Have you eaten your fill today?”

The two partridges chirped a few times and hid among the leaves.

Chang Wan ignored them and, in high spirits, packed up and headed down the mountain.

She was going to buy materials for mooncakes; she had promised that rebellious youth she would visit him for Mid-Autumn, and she couldn’t break her word.

After Chang Wan left, Qiu Ran came in to help sweep the leaves in the courtyard when he heard a coo.

He instinctively looked up and saw the two partridges standing side-by-side on the poplar tree, singing.

Qiu Ran was in a good mood. “What are you two doing here?”

One partridge glanced at him, then flew off to another tree.

Playful as he was, Qiu Ran watched it fly away.

He didn’t see the remaining partridge suddenly dive from the tree, its claws expertly snatching the orange lantern from the window before flying off.

Qiu Ran turned back: “…”

“Hey, stop!! Stop right there!!! Stop!! You bad bird!! You even steal a lamp!!!”

The beast plague below the mountain had been severe lately. Chang Wan found a relatively peaceful town, hoping to feel the holiday atmosphere.

However, troubled by the plague, the people’s faces rarely held a smile, let alone holiday cheer.

“I heard the towns to the south are also suffering… so many people died…”

“What a disaster…”

“Sigh.”

Chang Wan borrowed a kitchen to make mooncakes, kneading flour and mixing eggs with oil.

Good oil was hard to find in this town, so for the sake of flavor, Chang Wan specifically went to the cultivators’ market to buy spirit plant oil to mix in.

The Taoist selling the oil claimed it was a rare treasure from heaven and earth and asked for an exorbitant price of ten thousand spirit stones.

Chang Wan didn’t care for his boasting. Amidst his heart-wrenching cries of “this is daylight robbery,” she slashed the price from ten thousand to one hundred spirit stones plus a “kind” smile before happily walking away with his little green bottle of oil.

A small bottle of oil for ten thousand high-grade spirit stones? He was the one doing the robbing.

Chang Wan didn’t know what kind of flavors Chu Changqing liked, so she made pork, chicken, and mixed nut fillings.

She pressed them one by one into the mooncake molds sold in town, brushed them with egg yolk, and baked them again.

The aroma of mooncakes filled the air. Perhaps due to the spirit oil, Chang Wan felt these mooncakes smelled different from the ones she used to bake in a modern oven.

The scent seemed richer and more concentrated.

Chang Wan wrapped her hand in spiritual energy, picked one up, blew on it, and took a bite, letting out a small hiss of heat.

The soft mooncake enveloped a tender, juicy meat filling; it was exceptionally delicious.

Simultaneously, a strange surge of spiritual energy spread from between her teeth, flowing down her throat to her internal organs, bringing a sense of tranquility.

Chang Wan was surprised.

“Huh?”

Chang Wan took another bite.

The gentle spiritual energy soothed her meridians, and her True Essence seemed to grow stronger, running more steadily and powerfully.

She was shocked, not understanding why a mooncake would have this effect.

Logically, all mortal food—grains and such—would have a negative impact on cultivation, unless it was a spiritual fruit meant to aid practice.

Her materials were mostly ordinary, except for the oil she bought from the cultivator…

Chang Wan looked at the little green bottle.

Was this oil that cost ten thousand stones actually worth its astronomical price??

But before she could think further, she heard a piercing scream!

“The beast plague is here—!”

Then came a thunderous crash!!

Chang Wan’s pupils shrank. With a wave of her hand, she swept the finished mooncakes into her bracelet.

She was using a family’s kitchen. Now, following the desperate shouts outside, there was an angry beast roar.

“Miss, run quickly!! A disaster is coming!!”

The house belonged to a young couple and an elderly woman.

Only the elderly woman was home now. She leaned on her cane, trembling. “The beasts are finally coming…”

“Don’t panic, ma’am…”

Before Chang Wan could even finish her sentence, there was another roar.

In the next moment, like the spine of a dying elder being snapped, the entire roof was ripped away by a violent wind.

A massive bird claw tore into the fragile walls, revealing the clear blue sky.

But even more terrifying was the owner of that claw. It lowered its head, looking down at Chang Wan and the old woman with a hideous gaze.

The moment the roof was torn away, Chang Wan had shielded the old woman and cast a barrier.

Wooden debris fell, only to be deflected by the barrier!

The blue bird was massive, estimated at over sixty feet. Its enormous claws gripped the roofless walls, making them sway.

It opened its beak, and in the next moment, a surge of flames erupted!!

Chang Wan’s pupils shrank!! The long sword at her waist was about to be unsheathed.

In the next second, the flames died down as if the source had vanished.

In its place was a long, slender neck spraying blood and a massive bird head falling from the sky.

Without the blue bird’s support, the fragile walls finally tilted and the entire house collapsed.

Blood sprayed down like rain. Beyond the fallen walls, the townspeople were screaming and fleeing in all directions; the holiday atmosphere was now so thin it was non-existent.

The flames outside the barrier burned away the blood rain. The blue bird’s head landed heavily on the ground.

The old woman had long since fainted from fright.

Amidst the flickering firelight and the rain of blood, a youth sat lazily on the massive bird corpse, holding a small orange lantern in his left hand and a scrap of paper in his right.

The green flames burning around him scorched away the blood rain. His dark gaze looked toward her through the crimson mist.

Chang Wan: “…”