(This is one of my favourite chapters in the book! I hope the translation has done it justice! Enjoy!)
While Tang Bao was still excitedly looking at all the immortals and collecting information on them, Hua Qian Gu’s anticipation and curiosity towards Bai Zi Hua had already far surpassed her interests in all the other happenings at the Immortal Pool.
Finally, Hua Qian Gu heard someone outside announce “The High Immortal of Chang Liu has arrived –“. All the immortals rose to greet him.
……
That person who will be her master…
……
He descended slowly from the sky, a light gust of wind underfoot.
……
Fragrance floated from the sea of flowers and the five coloured Immortal’s Pool rippled quietly, it was a scene that had been unchanged for over tens of thousands of years. The breeze swept up layers of tiny ripples on the pool and the falling flowers seemed to form a rain that shined in every hue and shade.
Hua Qian Gu lightly turned her body. The light that was as pure and calming as moonlight seemed to pierce in front of her eyes. It was so brilliant that she could barely open her eyes.
As Bai Zi Hua slowly made his way towards her, it seemed as though flowers seemed to open with step he took and each movement he made stirred up a slight storm.
A pale silver light enveloped him. His pure white robe was intricately embroidered with beautiful silver patterns. A few pink peach blossoms petals softly landed on his shoulder. At his waist the Gong Yu ( The token of authority that signifies the rank of a immortal. A Gong Yu is the token of the sect leader of immortal sects and it is a token of the highest ranked immortals. It is shaped like a feather), which was so flawless that it was almost transparent, danced in the wind, making him seem even more otherworldly and ethereal. The immaculate white tassle on his sword touched the floor and seemed to flow and ripple like water with each step he made. His knee length jet black hair luxuriantly and grandly swept across his body.
All the surrounding immortals reverently bowed to him. Even the sea of peach blossoms billowed as they followed his each and every step, as though they were forming pink clouds under his feet. A pure white lotus, clean and bright blossomed underfoot with each step he took.
Hua Qian Gu, did not know why she was getting so flustered. She breathed heavily, fearing that she would suffocate because she had forgotten how to breathe. But her eyes did not leave that white figure and ethereal figure.
Absolute silence had descended on the feast. It was as though this was no longer the Immortal’s Feast anymore. There was only Zi Hua who had walked out of a painting, surrounded by tens of thousands of pink clouds as he made his way forward. He was the only immortal present there and his presence so powerful that it suppressed even the winds and the clouds.
His beautiful visage could not mask the aloofness and otherworldliness in his face. His thin lips were pale and the bright red mark of the sect leader shined between his brows. His calm yet cold gaze was as beautiful as the moon. His gaze piercing into Hua Qian Gu’s heart. She unknowingly felt a sudden ache in a heart. Why did she feel that way, she wondered.
He was beyond what mere words and phrases could describe.
His elegance, his calmness, the iciness in his gaze and the coolness that seemed to emanate from his very core made him seem so ethereal and otherworldly, placing him beyond anybody’s reach.
Tiny blossoms danced in the air and a fragrance wafted the air. A light fragrance carried on a breeze brushed gently across her nose leaving a slight tingle that seemed to travel down to deepest recesses of her heart.
The world was covered in a sheet of silver white……
The world was covered in pitch black darkness….
The world was covered in a sheet of gold light…
The world was covered in the soft light that shone off the waters of the pool, reflecting and refracting the tiny ripples on the water surface……
Bai Zi Hua, on the Path of Death (Hua Quan Lv literally translated as Yellow Spring Road), at the River of Forgetfulness, beside the Stone of Three Lives, at the head the Nai He Bridge (This is a bridge that all souls have to cross when they die to cross the River of Forgetfulness before they are reincarnated), have I ever seen you?
Hua Qian Gu was in a daze for a long while before realising that he was sitting under her tree.
A large gust of wind blew past and all the peach blossoms on the tree seems to leap as they were blown into the wind. In that moment, the tens of thousands of flying petals seemed to dance and float in the golden light.
As she lightly twirled a few rounds in mid-air, Hua Qian Gu saw a flustered and shell shocked Tang Bao looking at herself, She turned around puzzled. When she finally returned to her senses, she was already floating down the tree with the peach blossom petal she was seated on.
It was as if she was riding a sail, she gracefully twirled and sailed in the air before landing right in the middle of Bai Zi Hua’s wine cup.
Hua Qian Gu dazedly lay on the petal which drifted lazily on the surface of the wine like a tiny raft. The fragrance of the wine was intoxicating.
Bai Zi Hua lowered his head and looked at her. A small glint of amusement shone in his eyes and the edges of his lips curled up ever so lightly. That was probably the greatest display of emotion he was capable of.
Hua Qian Gu felt her entire body shudder and felt more afraid than she had ever been in a life – even more than when she had seen ghosts or other more horrifying scenes.
Bai Zi Hua looked at the small worm that had mistakenly fallen into his wine cup and excitedly stretched out two finger to pick her tiny body up from the cup.
I am gonna die, I am gonna die……
Hua Qian Gu shut her eyes as she repeatedly muttered this in her heart.
He actually used his fingers to touch her. She did not need to wait for him to squish her to death. Her heart was beating so fast that she would die of a hart attack even before he did that.
He placed the tiny worm in his left palm. Bai Zi Hua looked at her closely, He found that her small body was translucent and shiny. Finding her irresistibly adorable, he couldn’t resist using his fair and slender finger to gently pet her a few times.
Hua Qian Gu bit her lip tightly and her body gave an involuntary shudder. She felt as if her soul gave as involuntary shudder as well. As she felt the gentleness and warmth in Bai Zi Hua’s touch, it was as though her entire being was about to melt into a pool of water. A strange tingling seemed to erupt from the deepest recesses in her heart like magma from a volcano, occupying every corner in her being and soul. She could no longer see anything before her. The comfort and joy she felt was so intense she almost wanted to cry.
This was too scary! If only she could just die there and then……
Examining Bai Zi Hua’s face at such close proximity, the tip of his nose seemed to be within an inch from her. Hua Qian Gu could not hear her heart beating or feel the flowing of her own blood.
Bai Zi Hua slightly pinched her stiff body. He could not help but give a small smile. In that moment, time stood still.
Hua Qian Gu did not think that such a person was capable of smile. Those eyes that looked on lovingly at her seemed suddenly become dazzling beyond measure, like ancient constellations, like a setting sun, like a grand fireworks, like a bouquet of flowers, so dazzling and spectacular that she could not resist the urged to fall deep into his gaze.
All the nervousness and unease in her heart was quietened. Such a gentle and benign smile could reach the softest corners of the human heart. Time and space seemed to cease as everything turned to a blank. Like the rolling thunder and the billowing waves, this scene among the rain of peach blossoms dancing in the sky would become the greatest trial in her lifetime.
“Did you accidentally fall down?” He moved his lips and let out as a voice as melodious a shattering jade(sorry I really don’t know how to translate it, it literally means shattered jade in chinese, its supposed to describe a very nice voice)
As he said this, he lifted his cup and drank the clear wine in one gulp– including the peach blossom petal that was still floating in the wine.
Hua Qian Gu was stunned when she saw that not a drop had been left in the cup.
Bai Zi Hua lowered his head and blew a breath at her. The clear fragrance of Wang You (Wang means to forget, while You means troubles) wine engulfed her.
Hua Qian Gu felt as if her soul had been stolen away. As she looked at the slight dampness at the corner of his mouth, she felt the sudden urge to lick it. Was she drunk from the scent of the wine?
She felt her body slowly ascend. Suddenly, she did not want the leave warmth of his palm and she stretched out her hands to grab on, but failed as she felt her body fly higher and higher.
As she saw herself drifting further and further away from the figure under the tree, she suddenly a stinging sensation in her nose.
Once again, she was safely and securely on the tree branch lying in a peach blossom. However she felt as though a lifetime had went past.
Hua Qian Gu was no longer the Hua Qian Gu that belonged to herself.