Chapter 285 A Battle of Stratagem

Nature’s Masterpiece, the peony Fatty Cui gave Li Xi’er as a present, was originally given to him by a jade merchant who does business with him. Fatty Cui is not a big fan of plants while Lucy is very naughty. He gave Nature’s Masterpiece to Li Xi’er only because it would be a waste to keep it himself.

“My friend told me he bought it at a newly opened flower shop opposite the Temple of the Marquis Wu. Is it fake?”

His question makes Lin Luoran amused and speechless. Fatty Cui has been in the jade trade for so long that it has become an instinct for him to ask the “fake or real” question once he sees everything.

“Of course, the peony is real. We want to visit the shop and buy flowers from them exactly because the peony is of good quality. Do you know their address?

Fatty Cui smiles in a low voice and says, “Go ahead. The shop’s easy to find, right in the alley diagonally opposite the Temple of the Marquis Wu. The owner is a young lady whose surname is Yang. Ask around and you’ll find her.” In fact, what his friend told him was the young lady who owns the shop is more attractive than flowers. Otherwise, why would Fatty Cui spend a fortune on some so-called precious peonies he knew nothing about?

Lin Luoran then invites Li Xier to go to the flower shop together after she gets the address.

The shop is not too far away. They drive there. The alley is very lively. The shop is the only shop that sells potted plants in the alley so is easy to find as Fatty Cui said.

There are few customers. Lin Luoran takes a look at flowers put outside. Their prices vary from hundreds to thousands of Yuan. Potted plants used as room decorations cost just about ten dollars nowadays. People who are not enthusiastic about plants would hardly buy such high-end flowers sold at the shop.

Lin Luoran sees two old men at the entrance checking an orchid thoroughly with a magnifying glass. They seem to want to find out the authenticity of the breed. There are many tourists who admire the potted plants from afar. Only those who think they can afford will come close and look at the plants because one can easily break their vulnerable leaves and flowers.

Thus, the young lady at the shop doesn’t really have much work to do. It surprises her when Lin Luoran and Li Xi’er enter the shop. She pauses for a short while and welcomes them with a smile.

“You can look around as you like.”

Lin Luoran moves her eyes away from the orchid to the shop owner. She is very young, probably in her early twenties, and definitely a beauty in the crowd. However, Lin Luoran has seen so many beautiful girls in the world of cultivation. As far as she knows,White Fairy has the beauty of Helen of Troy. Xin Yuanping is also an extremely beautiful girl, Li Xi’er’s outstanding appearance could make her a famous actress even if she cannot act, let alone those who are not close to Lin Luoran. The lady of the flower shop, on the other hand, doesn’t have any outstanding facial features, but her face is in a perfect proportion, especially her dimples which make her amiable.

Her vital energy and blood are the same as ordinary people. There is no abnormality. However, Lin Luoran starts to be nervous about how she feels about her.

She never feels someone is amiable just because of their appearance. The only exception was Xin Yuanping. Lin and her family completely fall for Xin Yuanping’s every twinkle and smile when she talks. Lin Luoran still remembers the great price she paid because of Xin Yuanping’s beauty.

“My friend here loves flowers and plants. A man gave her a peony a few days ago, but its leaves are shriveled up now. We tried a lot of ways to treat it, but nothing works. So, we come here to ask if there are any ways to save it. Oh, I forgot to say that my friend said it was bought in your shop.”

She sounds like the kind of unreasonable customer who blames the seller when their flowers get sick. If they were not all girls, the two old men who’ve been appreciating flowers would stand up and say something for the owner.

Yang Lisha is not offended at all. She smiles and asks, “Miss, you can call me Miss Yang. Do you remember when did your friend buy that peony? We have records of everything we sell. Even if you bought it in other stores, I can give you some advice anyway.”

What a flawless answer! Yang Lisha impresses all of the customers in the shop with her response and generosity.

Lin Luoran is surprised, “Actually, it’s a gift so we don’t know when our friend bought it.”

Yang Lisha’s smile remains the same, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t know. Can you tell me more about the symptoms of the peony?”

“I don’t know much about plants. Its leaves wither and turn yellow.” At this moment, Lin Luoran really looks like a rich yet difficult customer who doesn’t know how to spend her money. She notices the two old men finally have some facial expressions, so she immediately adds, “But I brought it here. Xi’er, take it here and let Miss. Yang have a look.”

Li Xi’er comes in with a dying peony with yellow leaves. The two men admiring orchid give a few glances at them and whisper “It looks like the precious breed from Yangzhou we saw last time. The buyer turns out to be them. What a pity! They even don’t know how to take good care of it.”

Li Xi’er is irritated by their conversation. They have been talking too much. She glares at them regardless of respect.

Yang Lisha knows what happens once she sees the peony. “It is sold by us. I am afraid that aphids ate the stems. If you trust me, you can leave it here and pick it up in two days. I’ll kill the aphids and let it be in full bloom.”

She naturally stands in front of the slightly opened door leading to the backyard. Lin Luoran is taller so she can see many more precious flowers are put in the yard. A big tree with a girth of one person’s arm span is standing in the middle. It looks very similar to the Acacia tree Lin Luoran once saw in a picture album.

The two old men keep praising the shop owner’s excellent skills in floriculture and say that most of the precious flowers here are cultivated by Yang.

Li Xi’er wants to respond while Lin Luoran nods and agrees to leave the peony at the shop. After leaving her address and phone number, she orders some potted flowers and leaves.

Li Xi’er has been with Lin Luoran for a long time. She knows how Lin Luoran would react under different circumstances. Sending the peony back is not as simple as how it looks. She doesn’t say a word until they drive far away from the flower shop.

Lin Luoran creates a Mini World to block sound transmission. Li Xi’er takes a deep breath and asks, “Luoran, do we need to do something about her?”

“Good question. You’ve made progress.”

Li Xi’er mutters, “Don’t treat me like a three-year-old, Luoran. Is the shop owner a cultivator too? She’s not a demonized cultivator, is she? I didn’t realize at all.”

Lin Luoran laughs, “Me neither.”

A light of alert comes into Li Xi’er’s eyes, “There must be something wrong.”

I agree. I didn’t see anything on her. There must be some problems. It’s uncommon for a girl at her age to open a flower shop with that many precious flowers. If she is just some ordinary girl, wouldn’t she be afraid of thieves? I can feel Wood Reiki rushing out from the Acacia tree in the backyard and nourishing the precious flowers there.

However, Miss Yang doesn’t have any personal abilities. The Reiki-devouring worms love Reiki. If the Reiki-devouring worm got into Lin’s mansion with the peony, why did it choose to live in an ordinary peony instead of the Acacia tree with abundant Wood Reiki? I’m afraid there’s only one explanation. Miss Yang owns it. The Reiki-devouring worm doesn’t have the gut to touch that Acacia tree without her consent.

Lin Luoran takes a look at the business card she took unintentionally from the shop. Yang Lisha is such an ordinary name.

Nevertheless, all the mysteries will be solved tonight.

The Reiki-devouring worm is kept at Lin’s mansion. Will Miss Yang come to find it?

Will the moon shine bright tonight?

……

Shortly after Lin Loran leaves, Yang Lisha closes the shop earlier today. She pulls out the peony and carefully digs into the soil under it.

“You naughty bug, hiding in the peony behind my back. I almost sold you to those two young cultivators. You should be glad they didn’t recognize you and sent you back because they couldn’t treat the peony.”

It is true that the two young cultivators didn’t recognize the Reiki-devouring worm, but Lin Luoran has two experts in her space. Yang Lisha would never know about this and in a short time she frowns.

The soil in the flowerpot falls all over the yard yet there is no trace of the worm. Yang doesn’t think Lin Luoran took it. She frowns because she thinks the Reiki-devouring worm stays at other’s home and doesn’t want to leave. Thinking about Lin Luoran’s personal abilities, Yang Lisha suddenly realizes something. She grabs the address book and finds her address. Everything makes sense now.

“So, it is you. Fate has brought us together.”

She replants the peony and puts it under the Acacia tree. Then, she washes her hands and sweeps a ladybug off the trunk.

“I didn’t expect to find someone involved so quickly. Although she’s not the true owner, there is no much difference. Voiddy, are you helping me silently?”

The Acacia tree has a name. She stands in the middle of the yard and doesn’t answer.

Yang Lisha stands under the tree for a while. She blinks her eyes, trying to hold back her tears. Then, she raises her head.

……

Night falls soon. Li Xi’er is too excited to fall asleep. She has to peep through the window and looks outside because Lin Luoran asks her to hurry up and go to bed.

Lin Luoran makes a pot of scented tea and puts it on the stone table in the front yard. Koi fish in the tank jump out of the water from time to time, competing for the peanuts Lin Luoran occasionally throws into the tank.

The peanuts are big. Their seeds were sowed in Lin Luoran’s space yesterday and ripened overnight. Koi fish go crazy again. The peanuts must taste good.

Lin Luoran feels the protection circle she spent great efforts to build moves a bit. The water magic circle of attack shuts down before it launches. The shadow that shows up on the wall seems to belong to an ordinary passerby. It all looks like a false alarm.

Seeing Lin Luoran sitting in the yard drinking tea and is not surprised by her visit, the intruder stops and jumps off the wall.

“Are you waiting for me?” Does this female cultivator see through her? Yang Lisha hesitates for a while then sitting down and pouring herself a cup of scented tea. The tea is really good. Its scent reaches every corner of Yang Lisha’s mouth. However, she still doesn’t believe that Lin Luoran knows who she really is.

Lin Luoran puts the bamboo tube on the stone table and gives her a faint smile, “I also know you are looking for this.”

Yang Lisha is not surprised as well, “You seem to know the Reiki-devouring worm as I do. It’s in your hand now. Why don’t you keep it yourself?” Reiki is in great shortage recently. A Reiki mine is hundreds of, even thousands of times more valuable than before. A Reiki-devouring worm can help you find one.

Lin Luoran takes a sip of tea and says,

“I show it to you because I’m greedy. I want more than this, like……the place you find it.”