Chapter 899: White Snow and Epiphyllum

The end of the first month.

In the coldest season of the year, only withered branches remained tangled in the renowned Epiphyllum Garden of Mount Taicang. The wind-blocking trees were all bare, looking extremely desolate.

Revisiting an old haunt.

Long Long Eying exhaled a puff of hot mist, her hands behind her back, stepping on the withered yellow grass like a small silver-white deer, strolling lightly through it.

Liang Qu stood where he was, arms crossed, watching quietly.

With someone by her side, even though the grass and trees were desolate and the sun, moon, and stars were cold and lonely, Long Long Eying didn't feel the slightest bit disappointed.

She stopped and turned back.

"I want to see snow!"

Liang Qu snapped his fingers; the drizzle turned silent, freezing into snow in mid-air, drifting down in abundance.

In no time at all, the mountaintop was covered in a layer of soft, pale white, and her embroidered shoes crunched as she stepped on it.

"It's too dark."

He snapped his fingers again.

The clouds broke and the moon emerged, a full circle hanging in the center of the sky. Large patches of black clouds cracked and dissipated, revealing the starry sky, the whole heavens filled with clear light.

The clouds scattered but the snow did not stop.

Snow in a clear sky.

Long Long Eying's heartbeat quickened, and a flash of inspiration struck her.

"Can Epiphyllums bloom?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Long Long Eying regretted them, feeling the request was too excessive and she was too willful. In this freezing weather, how could Epiphyllums grow from the ground? Would she, just as her godmother said, inadvertently consume their affection for each other...

"Hmm, let me think..."

Liang Qu pondered.

Her heart, which had sunk to the bottom, floated up lightly.

Long Long Eying's eyes glowed with brilliance, both nervous and expectant.

She knew her request was very excessive, but Liang Qu seemed to always be able to create many incredible miracles and solve many incredible difficulties.

In the Dragon-Man territory, "Cannot Move," who was busy consolidating the Azure Wood Great Array for the Great King's Lotus Field, received an urgent notification. Amidst the surprised gazes of the Dragon-Men, it dropped its work, flicked its tail, and slipped into the vortex waterway, shuttling through one after another.

The vortex water spread out.

A-Wei opened and closed its mouth, biting out a thumb-sized brown glass bottle.

Inside the glass bottle was a small amount of milky white liquid.

Drop Dew!

A-Wei's divine skill; it hadn't saved up much even after a long time, and it usually couldn't bear to use it.

But the atmosphere had reached this point.

Long Long Eying was in a special period of seeking a sense of security.

What could Liang Qu do?

Satisfy her, of course.

He squeezed out the wooden stopper with his thumb and poured out all the "Drop Dew," mixing it with the vortex water into a pale white water mass the size of a human head. With a spread of his five fingers, it turned into a white mist, falling evenly into every corner of the garden, soaking the soil.

Mount Taicang forest.

Snow drifted down. A hunter, steaming with heat, was working hard to dig a rabbit hole when suddenly a behemoth shuttled through the forest, whistling up the mountain, scaring him so much he fell to the ground. When he looked up again, the huge black shadow had vanished without a trace.

"Phew, scaring myself."

Mount Taicang often had tourists, and even wild beasts were rare, let alone monsters.

The hunter wiped away his hot sweat and picked up his small shovel to continue digging.

"Cannot Move" passed through multiple vortex waterways, arrived at Jiangling County, and ran up the mountain, arriving at the exact moment the "Drop Dew" was sprinkled!

Long Long Eying's anticipation was like a warm spring flood.

"Cannot Move" first spat out a grass seed; the grass seed fused with the sprouting Epiphyllum seeds, drilling out of the soil first.

Afterward, it exerted its talent to the fullest.

All Things Revive!

Then it planted a simple Azure Wood Great Array!

At the very end.

"Cannot Move" puffed up its abdomen and spat out a mouthful of green mist, and vibrant vitality permeated the mountaintop.

Green Mist!

Multiple methods used simultaneously.

"Cannot Move" was panting.

Liang Qu made part of the water vapor condense and seep downward, moistening the soil.

Tender green leaf tips rose from beneath the soft snow layer—not in one place, but hundreds, thousands, nearly ten thousand branches at once!

The leaves rose up, standing tall like a young girl, and then the curled leaves unfolded outward, swaying their figures as they sprouted white buds. The pure white petals had already bloomed, with slender stamens hanging down from the center, swaying gently with the cold wind.

Liang Qu smiled.

He was only trying it out simply; he didn't expect it to actually succeed.

The effect was not bad.

Epiphyllums only bloom until late autumn; very few people have probably seen Epiphyllum clusters in the white snow.

He plucked a fresh Epiphyllum from beside him and walked forward a few steps, spreading his palm. The water stains on the Epiphyllum that hadn't dried yet looked like morning dew.

Drip.

The dewdrop fell obliquely, splashing a small water flower on the snow surface.

Long Long Eying didn't go to catch it; she wasn't looking at it at all. She had been looking at Liang Qu the whole time.

She took off her embroidered shoes lightly.

Her bare feet stepped into the snow.

Whoosh!

The silhouette was tackled into the snow, snow dust drifting everywhere.

The Epiphyllums bloomed by non-human means were not special, and even less cold-resistant. They were like a gecko's tail, breaking at a touch. The stems snapped.

Stone warmth and moss grew.

Petals of pure white scattered in the wind, flying again in the moonlight, falling back onto the snow surface. The soft petals froze hard, like small pieces of white porcelain, spinning leisurely.

Life, ah.

"Ha."

Liang Qu's head felt dizzy.

Long Long Eying sat to the side, combing her hair in the mirror. She fastened the knot behind her back, and the breeze turned into a long dress.

"Husband, I'm going to build the Ice Crystal Palace."

"Water..."

Long Long Eying offered a teacup.

After Liang Qu finished drinking.

"Do you want more?"

"You go ahead and get busy."

"Mm."

"Phew."

Liang Qu sat on the edge of the bed, panting heavily for no reason.

Since satisfying Long Long Eying's need for security all at once the day before yesterday, everything had returned to normal.

Silently savoring it.

This special state was actually quite cute.

It really was a crazy twelve days...

Take a break.

Liang Qu sat up, put on his clothes, and planned to go to the Eastern Water Domain to explore serious matters.

Outside the bedroom, Long Yao and Long Li, one holding a bamboo basket and the other holding tongs, had been waiting for a long time.

Ignoring Long Li's eye-roll, Liang Qu didn't take it to heart and stepped aside to sit in the hall and drink tea.

Wu Long, lying at his feet, suddenly pricked up its ears.

Then, there was a commotion outside the door.

"Is Magistrate Liang at home?"

Chen Xiu in the kitchen hurried out and returned to report.

"Collecting debts?" Liang Qu raised an eyebrow. "When did I ever owe debts outside? Forget it, let them in."

Before long.

Two shopkeepers stood before him holding account books, introducing themselves.

One was from Langyun Tower, the other from Red Sleeve Boat.

The former was a luxury restaurant in Pingyang, the latter was a famous... on the Long River.

"Red Sleeve Boat? How could you go to such a place, Magistrate?" Long Li, who had just finished tidying up the bedroom, heard their introduction and couldn't believe it.

"Nonsense, if you were an official, you'd definitely be killing people indiscriminately." Liang Qu raised the account book, flipping through it with a rustle, and slapped it hard. "Look carefully, the accounts for the 16th, 18th, and 20th of the first month—when did I have time to go to such a place?"

Long Li calculated silently and realized it really didn't match up; it was all during those twelve days of entanglement. She felt awkward immediately, then glanced at the seal on the top, understood the reason, and spat.

"Old shameless and young shameless!"

"..." Liang Qu couldn't be bothered to argue and looked at the two shopkeepers. "My girl is young and doesn't know better; I hope you two don't mind."

"Not at all, not at all." The Langyun Tower shopkeeper bowed and apologized with a smile. "It is because Magistrate Liang is generous and kind that the servants dare to joke with their master like this."

"Alright, since it's Magistrate Su's seal."

Liang Qu pulled silver banknotes from his bosom.

He had boasted to Su Guishan on the first night that he would cover all expenses, but then he had been muddled for days and forgotten about it. Still, he had no reason not to acknowledge it.

He wiped the zero off the boat's consumption, totaling 1,800 taels. He didn't know what kind of fairy the Great Uncle had ordered on that big boat on the Long River.

He looked at Langyun Tower's account again.

"Pfft, 2,826?" Liang Qu choked on tea leaves. "This, in a few days, what did you eat? Dragon liver or phoenix marrow?"

Damn it.

A total of 4,600 taels for twelve days of playing and eating?

He ate five rations alone in the River Patrol Office; his annual salary was barely 60,000 taels. Without discounts, he barely made 5,000 a month.

A whole month's work for nothing!

The shopkeeper cupped his hands: "Magistrate Su had three meals a day, and during that time, he treated Garrison Commander Xu and Garrison Commander Wei to several meals. Before every meal, he had to have a bowl of clear shark fin soup to moisten his throat, followed by the best Liaodong..."

"Fine, fine, fine."

Liang Qu counted out the banknotes, slapped them on the table, and waved his hand.

The shopkeeper counted them—2,900—and was about to take his leave.

"Hey, hey, hey, give me the change."

The shopkeeper's footsteps paused, and he honestly took the money out of his pocket.

He had thought the extra was a tip...

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 900 =====