41 Beauty In the Lake (1/2)

The guards exchanged looks. They had heard all kinds of weird requests before so such wasn't foreign to them. A guard obliged with a smile. ”Go then, don't fall.”

”Thanks,” Meng Fuyao bowed. As she passed the guards, she flicked her fingers, causing both to instantly collapse to the ground.

”Wow, Zhangsun Wuji, you taught them really well, I'm impressed... how obedient of them,” muttered Meng Fuyao. Not spotting any other guards close by, Meng Fuyao quickly reached the top of the rockery, not casting the prince's hall a second glance.

Under the vast sky, her body could be seen jumping forward with her arms out, and into the pond.

”Freestyle! Here I come!”

Still, in midair, she flicked her fingers, and a broadleaf flew out, brushing across the water surface. With a flip of her body, she landed lightly on the leaf, on the tip of a foot.

Only a fool would jump into the water on a cold day like that.

Meng Fuyao happily scanned her surroundings and noted that there was another view behind the rockery. Before, she had only noticed a corner of the pool, but now, she realized that it wasn't a small artificial pond but a lake with jade-clear water that reflected all the strange-looking stones around. The fragrance of the vast stretch of camellia bloomed along with their deep red, pinkish-red, faint red and silk-white petals. Mixed in with those were exquisite Japanese allspices and Indian azaleas, their colors splendid and eye-catching.

In the center of the lake stood a jade-white pavilion that directly led to a long, emerald-green corridor, which was made from bamboo. It was a wonder that the rippling waves hadn't been able to strip off its beautiful color. Reflecting the bamboo's mild hues, the crystal clear lake water produced a refreshing and pleasing spectacle.

The wind grazed past, creating folds in the water layers and activating the bells hanging from the pavilion interior. The muslin ruffled, dream-like, in the wind, and amid it danced a human figure. The figure's head was lowered as it was playing the zither. The zither's music was clear and melodious, while its every note sounded like the tumbling of strings of beads into the water. Yet, the fingers that produced that solid tune were uncharacteristically beautiful and slender.

Meng Fuyao inhaled a deep breath, her chest instantly being inflated with the cool winter fragrance. ”This is nice,” she muttered unknowingly.

Broad leaves shot out non-stop from between her fingers as she continued advancing toward the pavilion. However, she stopped midway, as she sensed a dangerous aura floating in the air.

It was an incorporeal presence, everywhere within the plants. It drifted amid the breeze and moonlight and along the fluttering of the flower petals, and it was pressing in at a steady rate.

But it was definitely quiet, save for the zither...

Meng Fuyao's train of thought snapped. 'Right, why isn't there any other sound? Where are the natural sounds? The wind? The insects?'

Meng Fuyao flew on, but her mind froze. She could feel the murderous aura all around, except for the person in the pavilion, whose whole body was free from it. It was her only point of breakthrough.

The woman inside was probably the crown prince's entertainer and had no martial arts background. There wasn't anyone in this residence, but there seemed to be an ancient formation. Since Meng Fuyao had already charged her way in, the only exit was through.

The figure, vaguely concealed by the muslin, seemed to have noticed her as well. Her fingers stopped for a second before loosening, and a distant-sounding note rolled through the air, deep and thick.

The encircling aura had dispersed, and Meng Fuyao's body relaxed instantly as if being freed from shackles. It was utterly refreshing. She looked toward the hazy figure beyond the muslin and let out a sneaky smirk. 'You know I'm harmless, don't you, Beauty? Heh heh.'

As Meng Fuyao had calculated her movements in advance, she flicked forward the last piece of broadleaf that would get her to the pavilion. The beauty's graceful swaying of the head along with the music made it look as though he was casting glances over at Meng Fuyao, which cheered the latter increasingly.

'Almost... almost...'

The muslin was lifted, revealing not a beauty's slender fingers but a fat ball of white fur.

”Clap!”

A rock flew out, landing on the broadleaf, which caused it to spin out of control but without sinking.

Rather than assessing the situation in the pavilion, Meng Fuyao set her gaze upon the leaf, not wanting to be steered away from her calculated scope. ”Where's this trouble-causing rascal?” she shouted while doing a flip in midair.

However, as the rock had been dipped in an extremely corrosive poison, the leaf was already shriveled by then.

Seeing that there was no landing space, Meng Fuyao did another flip before running out of energy and plopping right into the water.