Blooming of the Red Spider Lily: The Enchanting Pavilion Master - Chapter 42 - The Blossoming Pear Flowers in Spring

It was the season when the pear flowers bloomed in spring, with branches laden with pure white blossoms. Li Bai utilized her magical powers to make her flowers appear more full and vibrant, resembling a blanket of white clouds from a distance, captivating anyone who looked upon them.

However, to those who did not understand the beauty of flowers, like children who were still naive, those trees were merely a playground, no different from the dark, muddy ground below. To them, it was just a form of entertainment, with no way to discern what was better or to appreciate the beauty present.

Thus, when a group of children gathered around Li Bai, brainstorming how to play with the pear tree, Li Bai felt like crying without tears. She had witnessed the ways these little ones played, and how they could torment even the cutest little kitten to the point where it would run away at the sight of them. What could she, a non-moving tree, do?

Admittedly, she could not be considered a true tree, but she couldn’t reveal her true form in front of a bunch of little brats either. If she accidentally frightened one of them, and it got reported to that self-proclaimed astrologer in the Fengli Kingdom, she imagined she might be captured. If things were to get worse, perhaps it could even lead to her soul scattering.

After struggling for a long time to take on a human form, Li Bai was truly reluctant to ruin her carefree days just to deal with a group of children. However, as the kids nimbly climbed the pear tree, she couldn’t help but silently weep in her true form, thinking about how a demon who had cultivated for hundreds of years ended up being harassed by a little kid with barely any teeth. If word got out, her friends in the demon realm would surely laugh themselves to death!

Becoming a demon to her level was probably a rare exception.

Oblivious to Li Bai’s thoughts, the child focused entirely on climbing the tree. He swiftly climbed to a thick branch adorned with a variety of pear blossoms, extending his small arms, which were only half the size of the branch. He desperately tugged at the flowers, causing large clusters of pure white petals to fall from his careless actions, resembling a vibrant rain of flowers-a breathtaking sight.

Seeing him appear beneath the cascading pear blossoms that day, and watching him carefully pick up the fallen petals from the ground, felt like a fateful moment destined to happen. From that moment on, it became both the greatest calamity and the greatest happiness in Li Bai’s life.

While nature would surely inspire some poetic talent to craft verses for their beloved during such a stunning scene, sadly, the current scenario involved a group of innocent children, unaware of the world around them.

Li Bai watched helplessly as the child’s movements became increasingly rough, her heart growing more sorrowful. Those petals could be likened to her own hair! How could a lively and adorable young demon like herself become bald?

The thought of potentially transforming into a girl with no hair made Li Bai unable to hold back her tears. The whole pear tree shivered slightly with her weeping, producing soft, low whimpers. But who could hear a tree’s crying?

Ultimately, Li Bai and humans were not of the same kind. They could neither hear her cries nor would they care about the weeping of a tree even if they did.

The ground around the pear tree was covered with a blanket of white petals, resembling a sheer white veil, adding an air of mystery to the scene. The children played and bounced joyfully on the petals, expressing their respect and admiration for the boy with them. The boy sitting in the tree laughed heartily, filled with pride.

Li Bai felt increasingly angered by the children’s laughter. Just as she was about to recklessly punish this group of kids, she noticed that the once noisy children had suddenly fallen silent. She opened her eyes, swollen from crying, in surprise to see a clean, fair-skinned child standing among the muddy ones, looking particularly out of place. Notably, the child held a book in his hand, clearly a well-behaved boy.

What could such a child do here?

“Hey, you guys are playing here instead of doing your homework. Be careful, or the teacher will punish you tomorrow!” Li Bai thought to herself. Meanwhile, the small child tilted his head back. His face was not particularly remarkable, yet at that moment, Li Bai inexplicably felt he might be the most handsome boy in the world.

“Le Zimu, don’t you dare tell the teacher, or I won’t let you off!” The boy up in the tree shouted at the others, shaking his small, rosy fist in feigned anger. Although his tone carried a hint of menace, he quickly climbed down and hurriedly led the raucous children away.

It seemed they had some apprehension towards Le Zimu, or perhaps it was just the childish nature to have a great respect for the stern teacher.

The little boy stuck out his tongue playfully, donning a smug smile as he approached the pear tree. He took out a white handkerchief and squatted down, carefully picking up the scattered petals. His movements were gentle, as if he were treating a beloved person with utmost care.

The handkerchief was not large enough to hold all the petals, so the child squatted there, his fists clenched in thought for a moment before quickly turning around and running off. A short while later, he returned with something that resembled his mother’s dressing box to carry the fallen blossoms.

The child spent the whole afternoon meticulously collecting the petals. When the ground was mostly clear, he closed the box with a sense of triumph and placed it carefully into his satchel. Then, he walked slowly to the pear tree, gently stroking its sturdy trunk, and said cheerfully, “Were you crying just now? Don’t cry, it’s not pretty for a girl to have a tear-streaked face.”

The child’s soft voice was like sweet Osmanthus Cake, pleasant to hear, but Li Bai suddenly turned pale. She was puzzled-could this child be the descendant of a Taoist priest? How could he know that the tree was actually her, Li Bai, a girl? And that she had been crying moments ago?

Years later, when Li Bai asked Le Zimu about that day, she learned that Le Zimu had no idea the tree was female. He had instinctively thought that such a beautiful pear tree must surely be a girl, and as for the idea of petals crying, he felt that it must be painful for someone to be tugging them-just like his little sister from his noble family, who would always cry when her braids were pulled.

But that was a conversation that happened after they had become familiar with each other. At that time, Li Bai was a young demon who had cultivated for only a few hundred years, while the scholar Le Zimu was just around ten years old. They were different kinds and different ages, and aside from that small incident of pity, they should have had no further interactions. Yet, the ways of the world are unpredictable.

This encounter-if it could even be called that-brought together an impossible pair of human and demon. From that day onward, the group of children no longer dared to come near the pear tree, while Le Zimu often sat in its shade, reading and writing. He would occasionally share amusing stories from school, talk about his parents, his family, and his weepy little sister, who loved to wear red but always cried, which made everyone around her weary.

Le Zimu enjoyed sharing his tales endlessly, seeming entirely unbothered by the fact that the pear tree wouldn’t respond. Meanwhile, Li Bai listened quietly, and the more she listened, the more she understood Le Zimu. Her feelings for him began to shift and deepen.

They were like soulmates who never met face to face; one shared everything, and the other would never speak a word. Yet, there was a tacit understanding between them. This peculiar way of interacting continued for several years. Le Zimu gradually lost his childish innocence, transforming into the kind of scholar Li Bai had imagined.

Accustomed to Le Zimu’s cheerful optimism and his calm demeanor, Li Bai was taken aback by the sight of him suddenly appearing under the pear tree, eyes filled with sorrow. Not to mention, Le Zimu leaned against the tree’s thick branches, and a single tear sparkled in his eyes, abruptly catching Li Bai’s attention.

Li Bai had once heard her teacher at the academy say: “A man does not shed tears easily.” So, she thought about how much pain Le Zimu must be enduring to cry silently, struggling to control his tears. She had known him for nearly six years, and this was the first time she had seen him so vulnerable and heartbroken, losing his usual calm demeanor. It made her heart ache, and she felt an impulse to comfort him.

With this thought in mind, Li Bai couldn’t help but use a simple illusion to disguise herself, transforming into her true form. Before she fully realized it, she found herself leaning over the pear tree and looking down at the still-sorrowful Le Zimu. “Hey, silly, why are you crying? Didn’t they say men shouldn’t shed tears so easily?”

Li Bai didn’t know how to comfort others, and no human had ever taught a tree how to provide solace. So, she could only use her own feelings to try to shift Le Zimu’s attention. At the very least, if he stopped thinking about his sorrow, perhaps he wouldn’t cry anymore.

Le Zimu was genuinely startled by the sudden voice. He had chosen this quiet spot near dusk to cry, hoping to go unnoticed, and he had not expected to hear a clear, melodic voice that sounded like a girl’s!

Looking up toward the top of the pear tree, Le Zimu saw a charming young girl perched on a branch, her gaze fixed intently on him, her upper body leaning far over the tree trunk, looking as if she might fall at any moment.

The girl appeared to be no older than fifteen, with her hair styled into two round buns. Her brows and eyes arched in a delightful way, making her look quite adorable. Le Zimu’s cheeks flushed red. Just as he was about to ask her about herself, the girl straightened up, teetering on the branch, and then, without a moment’s hesitation, jumped down.

Her skirt fluttered in the wind, and as she moved, a shower of white petals cascaded down like snowflakes. She seemed to merge with the petals, blending in with the falling blossoms.

Le Zimu instinctively rubbed his eyes, feeling that for a brief moment, the girl had vanished from his sight, only for a splash of red to appear amid the white petals, resembling the hair ribbon she wore. He stared in a daze for a moment, but that moment of distraction quickly faded as he saw the girl falling closer to the ground. Without thinking, he reached out his hands to catch her.

Li Bai, who was almost about to land safely, never expected this silly boy would try to catch her. In her surprise, she had no time to evade him and ended up colliding hard against Le Zimu’s chest. The impact knocked the breath out of him, and unable to remain upright, they both fell to the ground, rolling several times. Despite Le Zimu’s best efforts to protect Li Bai in his arms, her white garment, which resembled the pear blossoms, became stained with dirt.

When the momentum finally subsided, Le Zimu sighed in relief, but the very next second, he pushed Li Bai away and jumped up, his face beet-red. Embarrassed, he looked at the stunned Li Bai, feeling a surge of guilt. He had only remembered the propriety of keeping a distance between the genders but hadn’t realized he had roughly pushed the girl aside.

“Miss, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to be so abrupt,” Le Zimu finally mustered the courage to say as he rubbed his hands together awkwardly while pulling Li Bai to her feet.

Li Bai didn’t seem bothered at all. Although the shove had caused her a bit of discomfort, she was not one to hold grudges. With a smile, she waved her hand dismissively at Le Zimu. Then, she tilted her head and blinked her large eyes, curiously asking, “Silly, why were you crying just now?”

The question brought back the sadness Le Zimu had just momentarily forgotten. Lowering his eyes and considering his words, he finally spoke slowly under Li Bai’s surprised gaze: “My mother… she… passed away.”