The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus

“Who was it?” Ling Miaomiao looked at the blood-red crescent on the shaft and asked curiously.

“My mother came to Wufang Town before the Mu family’s accident.”

Mu Yao lowered her eyes, “She came to look for the resentful banshee. If the resentful banshee hadn’t come back here after she escaped from her trap, she might still be with us.”

Mu Yao was holding the sleeping Er Bao in her arms, and her voice was so soft that any other emotions could hardly be heard: “Mother’s health was already very poor at that time, and she felt that her time was numbered. Thus she asked for the Broken Moon Scissors at the cost of her own life span, in order to prevent the resentful banshee from using Ah Sheng as a puppet for revenge. 

“She delivered two letters in Wufang Town, one to my father to explain the situation and the other to the Bai family for backup. The one to the Bai family was not sent out, but was instead acquired by me and Fuyi.”

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Liu Fuyi added: “In truth, the letter to the master of the Mu family also failed to reach him.

At that time, Mu Huaijiang had already been fooled by the resentful banshee, and Bai Jin was a piece on the playing board who could not easily see the whole picture.

The resentful banshee played this game of chess very patiently. In the shell of Bai Yirong, she secretly taught Mu Sheng to write the reverse talisman. Slowly gaining his trust and before the two could react, she suddenly attacked. Mu Sheng used the power of the night moon to practice his sorcery for the first time, but completely lost control of his power, causing the Mu family to collapse. There was some speculation about whether or not this was a strange realization of Bai Jin’s sacrifice.

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*

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Fbl oldv shla yde yv vbl qzwvvlakdt ldep sq bla vklp vblal oyp y pxyzz nblaau czsppsx lxcaskelale.

It was rumored that Miss Ling was married, but how come she still looked like a young girl.

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Several people laughed in surprise and looked behind her.

Behind her was a person dressed in black. Their satiny black hair was without the slightest bit of frizz, reaching all the way down to their ankles, an envious sight.

Oh, she was here again with that person.

Their eyes were lowered and only half of their face could be seen beneath their hair as well as a little bit of their curled eyelashes. But even so, it was a very attractive profile.

——A servant, or companion?

The Jiangnan girls were shy, they didn’t tease, nor flirt. They only looked on with a pair of deer-like eyes, quietly peeking.

Ling Miaomiao was walking when she heard the noise around her suddenly dim, and then turned her head to see that the women on the porch were all sticking their necks out and staring at Mu Sheng curiously. Mu Sheng was not aware of it, but when he realized that she had stopped, he raised his eyes and looked at her with innocent eyes.

She paused, walked past him, looked warningly at the girls around them, reached out, and dragged him into the room.

This bath was Miaomiao’s private bath, and after she arrived at her own place, no other strangers could be seen. A few of the maids who were keeping watch there came up and skillfully undressed Ling Miao Miao and prepared the headscarf.

Everyone knew no one was to touch the man in the back, so there was no one around Mu Sheng for several meters, and he was sitting alone on the side.

Before meeting the protagonist group, the public baths were useless to Ling Yu because she was a loner and had an inferiority complex. She seemed to be ashamed of taking a bath in front of everyone and preferred to stay at home and make do with a small tub. It was after Ling Miaomiao came, that this hot spring came in handy. There was no other reason, just by looking at her husband’s extraordinarily long hair, her small tub could not accommodate this Buddha, Ling Miaomiao had tried it once and it caused half of the room to look like it was flooded, and she herself was as wet as a chicken in the soup, and she cut an awful figure. 

After knowing that there was a pool for her own use, Miaomiao’s entire body breathed a sigh of relief.

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This pool of water was around half the size of a room. Water vapor gracefully spread throughout the air, the curtains fluttered, and a fragrant breeze passed through the hall. An animal head sprayed a stream of warm water, and as it hit the pool, it caused a gurgling sound and stirred the floating flower petals, pushing them away.

Miaomiao was squatting at the edge of the pool with difficulty, holding a box of soap beans¹These come from chinese honey locust seed pods and have been used as a detergent in China for at least two thousand years. in her arms, and was concentrating on applying it.

Mu Sheng’s long hair was scattered in the pool. He tilted his head and looked up at her face intently, with water droplets hanging from his eyelashes and his dark eyes seemingly stained with wet vapor.

When she finally reached the edge of the pool, the maids all retreated and drew the curtains. The top of the hall was extremely high, and only the two of them were left in the large space. Ling Miaomiao did not dare to casually speak as there would be echoes.

It was only when she couldn’t hold it anymore that she couldn’t help but open her mouth: “Turn around for a moment.”

Mu Sheng tilted his head to look at her, seemingly not understanding.

Ling Miaomiao let out a breath. The air around her was so hot that her back was covered in sweat, but the damp areas were cold from the wind, which was uncomfortable.

She handed him the box with the soap beans: “Will you wash it yourself?”

“……” His eyelashes blinked and he reached out to recieve the box and set it aside.

“Then you……”

As soon as Ling Miaomiao started talking, he suddenly reached out and pulled her arm. Miaomiao instantly lost her balance, let out a scream, and was dragged straight into the water by him.

There was a huge splash of water, more mist steamed out along with the fragrance of flowers, and warm water continued pouring into the pool. She choked on a mouthful of water in a panic and felt someone gripping her waist to lift her up. The next second, she immediately felt for the bottom of the pool with her hands and feet and sat up.

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Ling Miaomiao’s face was red, her wet hair was pasted onto her forehead, her eyelashes were laden with water droplets, and she glared angrily at the person who caused all of this.

Mu Sheng looked at her for a while, lowered his eyes and rubbed her red cheeks fondly, and then raised his hand to hold her tightly in his arms. It was only then that he sighed very comfortably, and also slowly leaned against the side of the pool wall and closed his eyes in satisfaction.

Just now, he kept feeling that something was missing, and now he felt comfortable.

“You still have the face to sigh? Ling Miaomiao was furious. She grabbed his clothes and struggled, reaching out to the box of soap beans placed by the pool.

Mu Sheng’s sitting posture was extremely relaxed; his eyelashes did not move and it looked like he was asleep, but the hand on Ling Miaomiao’s waist was extremely firm. It was like she was caught in a mousetrap. Her strained fingertips were just a few centimeters away from the box but she could not reach it.

Miaomiao withdrew her hand, suspecting in her mind that this man was doing it on purpose.

“Ziqi?” Her clear voice echoed over the surface of the pool, and the water vapor drifted in front of her eyes.

Mu Sheng opened his eyes and licked his lips unconsciously. Miaomiao was pressed tightly against him and his chest shook as she spoke. He then turned towards the source of the sound to kiss her.

Ling Miaomiao reached out quickly and put her hand against his lips: “Do you still plan on washing?”

Mu Sheng paused and shook his head.

“Then let’s go out.” After staying in the hot pool for a long time, one would feel a bit dizzy, as if having drunk wine. She played with the water for a little, and ripples appeared on the surface of the water.

Mu Sheng looked at the tipsy look in her eyes and shook his head again.

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“Then what do you want to do?” Ling Miaomiao laughed despite being angry, and took a brought a large scoop of water to his face.

Mu Sheng closed his eyes and dodged. The water ended up dripped down his jaw. At the same time, he let go of her waist.

Ling Miao Miao hadn’t reacted yet, only to see his hands carefully scoop up a handful of water and slowly pour it from her shoulders, wetting the few early cherry blossoms embroidered on the front of her bathrobe, the water flowed so gently that it was no different from sowing seedlings.

Ling Miaomiao: “……”

“Are you watering flowers?” The girl looked down at her chest and giggled.

“Hm.”

“Hm?” Miaomiao was alarmed. Just as she stood up in surprise, she was pressed back into the water, and a familiar scent enveloped her. A petal from the pool was held between his lips, plump and crimson, all crushed on her fair neck.

*

“What a pity.”

The comb ran through his long, wet hair, barely encountering any resistance, and saving hair oil.

The curtain in the small compartment was drawn, and only a little sunlight came in through the heavy silk cloth, filtered into a yellowish color.

“What’s a pity?” The young man’s voice was a bit husky.

Mu Sheng’s expression was quite relaxed. When Ling Miaomiao combed his hair, his expression was like a cat whose hair had been smoothed, a soft lazy light was cast on his face, like a painter’s hand blurring the softest colors.

“I wanted to see the process of your transformation.” Ling Miaomiao took a look at the person in the mirror, pursed her lips, and sighed with great regret.

Seeing what you would look like when you changed from an fool to a normal person.

Mu Sheng raised his eyes and held the back of her hand, holding it extremely firmly.

“How am I to comb your hair if you don’t let go?” Ling Miaomiao laughed and deftly switched the comb to her left hand, crookedly combing it down, like a small snake shaking its body and slithering downward. Her tone very smug, “Unfortunately, I have two hands.”

An infrequent smile was hidden in Mu Sheng’s dark eyes, and the crimson color at the corners of his eyes seemed to be filtered away by the sunlight that could not be blocked, and only the raised ends of his eyes were left with a clear stroke.

How many years ago was it, that there was a pair of hands outside a red gauze canopy which combed his hair. There was melancholy in the woman’s eyes, and the gem-like glistening teardrops all had blurred into one. Little Sheng’er sitting in the chair before her, kicking his legs in the air, had become him in a flash.

The girl’s face in front of him carried a striking vibrancy.

In the end, he still managed to keep a little bit of everything which was not meant to be kept. The river-like years, stopped for a moment in the unrelenting rush and a person took his hand and brought him out of the infinite darkness.

Ling Miaomiao put the cold Broken Moon Scissors against his back and gestured: “Should I cut it?”

“Hm.” He answered without hesitation.

He was a sprout that grew from a crack in the stone. With just a little bit of light, it brought him back from death’s door.

The hair fell to the ground and grew more and more. Ling Miaomiao used the shears so much that the web between her thumb and forefinger hurt, and only then did she realize that he had so much hair.

She let out a long breath: “So much hatred. From today onwards, there will be no more.”

Ling Miaomiao’s fingers occasionally brushed his neck as pulled his hair up from his ears, but she was very unskilled, and there would always be some falling down occasionally.

She was flustered as she brought his hair up. When she brought it up on the left side, the right side would fall down. It was only after a long while that she was finally able to bring it all back together and into a higher position on his head. By that point, a thin layer of sweat had formed on her palms. 

The ears and neck were exposed, and the person in the mirror showed a completely different face, with a crisp, youthful charm.

“Hold it just like that, I’ll do it.”

Mu Sheng suddenly spoke out, held her hand down, took out the hair band from the box, put his hand behind his back, slightly lowered his head, and skillfully tied the hair band. The bewitching blood red color at the ends of his eyes faded away, and the light in his eyes gradually brightened.

This time, he was willing and this was exactly what he wanted.

Ling Miaomiao jumped over the hair covering the floor and pulled the curtains to either side. The early spring sunlight quickly slid across her face and caused her pupils to shrink.

The bright light suddenly poured into the room, occupying the whole compartment in a few moments.

Ling Miaomiao turned her body around and stood against the light. The sunlight lit the edges of her chestnut hair gold and her whole body seemed to turn into a warm mass.

“Is it bright?”

The east wind blew her clothes. The fragrance from the pond drifted over faintly, and a petal fell from pear blossoms placed at an angle on the dressing table. The tiny petal flew out of the window spritely.

The young man tilted his head to look at her, his black eyes like a calm lake, the hair band at the top of his head was like a white butterfly lying prone, followed by it stretching out its body and spreading its wings.

Yes, from now on, it will all be bright.