Meeting a Fellow Countryman in a Foreign Land

Lu Qiancha raised her eyes to look—

A clear, winding stream, like a silver ribbon, quietly separated the bustling peach grove from the open fields of mulberry and bamboo.

On one side was a sea of blossoms like mist, with petals falling in a colorful shower; on the other was a crisscrossing network of paths and vast, fertile plains, the fields dotted with verdant mulberry groves and dense, green bamboo.

‘Where the forest ends and the water begins, one finds fertile, open plains, a thousand li of peach groves, crisscrossing paths, mulberry, and bamboo, with houses in neat rows. The Tales of the Peach Blossom Spring didn’t get a single detail wrong.’

Lu Qiancha silently recited the words in her mind; the scene before her was an exact match to the record in the Tales of the Peach Blossom Spring.

In the distance, the faint silhouette of a village could be seen, built against the mountain from gnarled peach wood.

The people in the village moved about with an unhurried grace, their faces all bearing smiles of peace and contentment.

With smiles on their lips and leisure in their steps, it was a picture of perfect peace and harmony.

“We won’t be accompanying you any further.”

Having led Lu Qiancha to this point, Li Qiang and the other guard gave a respectful bow and turned back the way they came, as if their duty ended with guiding her here.

Lu Qiancha gave a slight nod and walked straight into the village.

In this place where no one knew her, her youthful appearance was a natural disguise, saving her a lot of trouble.

Her gaze swept across the faces of those in the village, whether busy or resting, and sure enough, she spotted several of the “missing persons” recorded in the case files.

Just as she was observing in secret, her heart filled with suspicion—

“Eh? Qianqian?!”

An incredibly familiar voice called out from behind her, filled with absolute astonishment!

That cry nearly made Lu Qiancha jump out of her skin.

Why would there be someone who knows me in this godforsaken place?!

She whipped her head around.

A brilliant figure, as vivid as a flame, was dashing toward her with a look of incredulous joy.

Shangguan Yunzhu?

What was she doing here?!

In the instant her mind went blank, the red figure, carrying a fragrant breeze, had already pulled her into an embrace without a word, squeezing her so tightly she could barely breathe.

“Qianqian? How did you end up here all by yourself?”

Shangguan Yunzhu hugged the small body tightly, her icy demeanor completely melted away, her face a mix of surprise and confusion as she subconsciously looked around.

“Where’s your mother? Why isn’t she with you?”

Lu Qiancha’s mouth twitched when she heard this.

‘Those are my lines, you know!’

“The Tianyuan Sect was getting boring… I-I snuck out to have some fun…”

She blurted out a clumsy excuse, just wanting to get through this quickly.

“Qianqian!”

Shangguan Yunzhu’s expression immediately turned serious.

She put on a stern face, adopting the rare air of a big sister.

“You’re not allowed to run off like that anymore, you hear me? Your mother will be worried sick if she can’t find you!”

“Mmm…”

Lu Qiancha replied distractedly, immediately turning the question back on her to cut the lecture short.

“Yunzhu… Sister? What about you? Why are you here?”

“You remember my name?!”

Shangguan Yunzhu’s eyes lit up in an instant, her voice rising a full octave, her delight impossible to hide.

“I was punished to exterminate demons near the sect for three months… and then… ahem, I accidentally got lost again,” she said, scratching her cheek with a hint of embarrassment.

“I just stumbled my way here.”

Getting lost…

Lu Qiancha couldn’t help but take a second look at Shangguan Yunzhu.

She remembered that the last time in Beiju Luzhou, it was also because she got lost that she ran into Qingfeng and fell into danger.

‘It seems this iceberg has a bit of a directionally challenged streak.’

“So… Sister Yunzhu, how long have you been here?”

“About… almost two months now, I think?”

Shangguan Yunzhu recalled.

“That long?!” Lu Qiancha was astonished.

“Why haven’t you thought about going back?”

“This place…” Shangguan Yunzhu’s gaze swept over the village in the distance.

“Every few days, demonic beasts rush out of the peach grove to attack the village. I figured, what’s the difference where I exterminate demons? So I stayed for a while to help guard the place.”

Her tone was frank, filled with a sense of duty to protect the weak.

“If that’s the case, why not set up some repelling formations at the edge of the peach grove? A formation like that shouldn’t be difficult for you, Sister Yunzhu, right?”

After she finished speaking, Lu Qiancha suddenly realized that Shangguan Yunzhu was staring at her without blinking.

This made Lu Qiancha a little flustered.

She reached up a paw to touch her own face and asked, “Is there something on my face?”

Shangguan Yunzhu shook her head, then her eyes sparkled as she looked at her and said, “Qianqian, you’re so smart! That idea… why didn’t I think of that before!”

“…”

‘It’s clearly because you’re too dense.’

Lu Qiancha silently swallowed the retort that had almost escaped her lips.

‘Yep, no doubt about it. Still the same Shangguan Yunzhu, pure of heart and bubbling with adorable foolishness.’

“Wait, Sister Yunzhu, you said this place is often attacked by demonic beasts?”

Lu Qiancha suddenly spotted the flaw in the story and quickly asked.

“Mmm, that’s right. Demonic beasts often rush out of the peach grove, but they’re all very weak and don’t pose much of a threat.”

Shangguan Yunzhu nodded, not thinking there was anything strange about it.

“But the guards who led me here claimed that this is a quiet and peaceful ‘paradise,’ completely free of danger!”

Lu Qiancha’s pupils constricted as she pointed out the huge contradiction!

If it was as Shangguan Yunzhu said, and this place was under constant threat of attack, why would those people abandon everything just to stay?

Why would they tolerate this potential danger?

“A paradise? Huh?!”

Shangguan Yunzhu looked utterly baffled, as if she’d just heard the most outlandish fairy tale.

“Isn’t this just a slightly remote, ordinary little village? It’s a bit scenic at best!”

Hearing Shangguan Yunzhu’s words, the doubts in Lu Qiancha’s heart multiplied.

Just as Lu Qiancha was pondering this in secret, Shangguan Yunzhu scooped her up and said with a smile, “Hehe, enough talk, it’s getting dark. Qianqian, you must be hungry.”

Her smile was bright, and she cooed as if to her own little sister, “Come on, big sister will take you to get something good to eat.”

Before Lu Qiancha could refuse, she was already carrying the warm and soft little loli in her arms, walking with light steps toward her small wooden cabin in the village.

Lu Qiancha rolled her eyes helplessly in her arms.

She had long since achieved a state of not needing food.

How could she possibly be hungry?

Eating was, at most, just to satisfy the cravings of her palate.

But Lu Qiancha had no leads at the moment.

This whole situation felt like a giant net that had ensnared her in this peach blossom land.

To put it simply, she’d been set up.

With the clues in disarray and finding herself deep within the trap, she could only go with the flow, allowing Shangguan Yunzhu to carry her into the warm, smoky cabin.

Inside the small wooden house, Lu Qiancha sat obediently on a creaking wooden chair, her two short legs dangling in the air, swinging back and forth out of boredom.

The rich aroma of meat soup filled the air.

“Come and try my cooking.”

Shangguan Yunzhu came over carrying a steaming earthenware pot.

She carefully used a wooden spoon to ladle out a bowl of fragrant soup, dotted with tender chunks of stewed meat, and gently placed it on the small wooden table in front of Lu Qiancha.

The enticing aroma wafted straight into her nose, and Lu Qiancha couldn’t help but stick out her little pink tongue to lick her lips.
She reached out her paws, trying to grab the wooden spoon on the table…

“Clatter—”

The smooth handle of the wooden spoon, without a shred of doubt, slipped from between her soft, warm, fluffy paws.

Lu Qiancha’s movement froze.

She silently looked down at her own paws, which were all form and no function, and helplessly jumped off the chair to pick it up.

“Clatter—”

She had just picked it up, but before she could get a firm grip, the wooden spoon once again slipped precisely from the center of her paw and fell back to the ground!

Shangguan Yunzhu, who was ladling a second bowl of soup nearby, heard the noise and hurried over to pick up the spoon.

“Oh dear, look at my memory, I forgot it’s not convenient for you to use a spoon…”

Her gaze fell on Lu Qiancha’s adorable fluffy paws, and she couldn’t help but chuckle.

She quickly retrieved a brand-new little wooden spoon from the cupboard.

“Here, Qianqian, don’t move. Let big sister feed you!”

Her voice was gentle, her eyes filled with pure affection.

She scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it to cool it, and carefully brought it to Lu Qiancha’s lips.

“Aah~ Open up.”