Chapter 2

Summer is hot, just sleep.

    Hua Xi'er presents a soft silk quilt. She stretched out her hand to hold the soft pillow that she used to hold when she slept. Aww! She holds it, her lips were contently hooked.

    But after a while, she felt weird again. Why was her soft pillow embracing strangely, warm and fragrant? Not so much like a pillow, but rather like ...

    She opened her sleepy eyes and disbelief── "Wow!"

    “Hmm.... What’s the matter? What happened?" Woken up by a scream, a pair of round eyes opened vaguely, reached out and rubbed with her hand, and yawned lazily.

    "Y_ you...." Hua Xi'er glared at the woman sleeping next to her, unable to speak for a long time, and then yelled and shouted. 

   "Shui Wa'er! When did you come up to my bed? Don't sleep on my bed, get up!"

    Her aunty hadn't finished speaking, but the dead woman closed her eyes and planned to continue to sleep.

    Hua Xi'er was so angry and shook Shui Wa'er, just not letting her to sleep.

    "Don't shake. Please, stop. Ugh… My head is so dizzy." Shui Wa'er surrendered and opened her eyes, sitting up lazily and glancing outside. 

     It's already dawn. “Xi'er, I'm hungry, and I want to have breakfast."

    Shui Wa'er yawned, touching her empty belly. Her belly is very cooperative, immediately issued a grunt.

    "Eat your head. I asked you, when did you get into my bed?" Hua Xi'er stared at Shui Wa'er angrily. Question is who dumped her? 

    "Last night." Shui Wa'er muttered, scratching her messy hair. “You slept like a dead pig and didn't even notice when I climbed onto your bed. Be careful! There are so many people out there, how dare you sleep so soundly. Someday, someone will attack you in the middle of the night, and your life would be gone!"

    "Shui Wa'er, are you done?" Hua Xi'er glared at her. This woman - A filthy mouth cannot utter a decent language.*

    "Yes." Shui Wa'er smiled, blinked and looked at Hua Xi'er pleasantly. "Xi'er, I'm hungry. I want to have breakfast."

    "Y_ you...." Stare and stare again, but can’t win those shiny bright eyes, Hua Xi'er gave up. "Xi Que." She called the maid.

    Xi Que quickly entered the door. "Miss, why do you wake up so early today..." Before she finished speaking, she was shocked to see Shui Wa'er.

    "Hello, Xi Que!" Shui Wa’er greeted with a smile.

    "Go prepare breakfast and feed this starving ghost." Hua Xi'er said angrily.

    "Yes." Xi Que didn't ask much, and immediately went out to prepare breakfast.

    "Tsk Tsk, your family maid is as smart as ever." Shui Wa’er smiled, and a small pink face was even sweeter with a smile.

    "Let’s change the subject.” Hua Xi'er stepped out of bed, picked up the outer garment and put it on. Beautiful eyes glanced at Shui Wa'er. "So, how could you be here in the middle of the night when you have no problem and person who don’t go out of the valley?”

    Shui Wa’er woman seems to have lived in seclusion in the Valley of Stealing Gods. If she has nothing to do, she will never leave the valley. Even if she does, she will go back to the valley immediately after finishing the work, which makes people think that she is ill.

    No matter how, you might think is homesick, isn’t it? But she doesn’t look like a homesick person at all.

    "Well, it's hard to explain." The smile on Shui Wa'er's face faded. She turned to sorrow, and her mouth narrowed. "It’s all my elder brother’s fault. I ran to steal a princess and came back. But I also came to a show of jealousy. And as result, the place where the Valley of Steals was stolen was exposed and not it is not secret nor safe anymore.”

    Hua Xi'er listened for a moment, she had heard about Wa’er’s Brother stealing a princess, but she didn’t expect that things would be that serious.

    "But isn't there a formation outside the valley? If you can change the formation no one can get in?" She remembers that the people who stole the gods were not only very good at it, but also have no knowledge of mechanism formation.

    "Hmm.. If only things were that simple..." Shui Wa'er sighed even more, looked helpless and pitiful. "As a result, my brother only remembered chasing after the princess who didn’t want him actually, so he left me in the valley and I didn't want to stay there alone. It was terrible! Xi'er ..."

    Shui Wa'er raised her head and looked at Hua Xi'er pitifully. Her eyes were bright and watery. She looked so pitiful. "Please let me stay."

    "No." It’s no use pretending to be pitiful to her. Hua Xi’er snorts coldly, her beautiful eyes rising. "Are you afraid of staying alone in the valley? Haha.. Shui Wa’er, since when you became so timid? What else are you hiding?"

    Huh! When only she can easily be cheated!?

    "Hmph!" Shui Wa’er put away her tears, and pursed her mouth, seeing that the pretense was pitiful and useless to Hua Xi’er. "Hate it! Why are you always so suspicious?"

    "Oh! If I’m not being suspicious, I'm afraid I've been sold one day and still yet to know the truth!" Hua Xi'er curled her lips, sat down on the chair, and poured herself a cup of tea.

    Knowing that pretending will be useless and stupid, so Shui Wa’er has to be honest about the reason. 

    "If I continue to stay in the valley, I'm afraid I will be caught."

    "Haha! So not only me provoke people. But you too? Well, well… So, you are not any better than me.” Hua Xi’er laughed without sympathy. “Wa’er, why? Why are you afraid of being attacked?"

    Shui Wa’er stared immediately. "I'm not afraid of others, but that person..." She pursed her lips and had to admit it. 

    "I'm afraid."

    Hua Xi'er stopped laughing and saw that the situation seemed to be really serious, her expression changed to serious. "Who is that person?"

    Shui Wa'er glanced at her, took a deep breath, and reluctantly told the story of sneaking into the "Blood House" five years ago when she was twelve years old.

    "That time, I was lucky that my brother rescued me but he was also spotted. Blood House issued a wanted message – looking for me and kept tracing the place of stealing Shengu*. So, I did not dare to go out of the valley. I was very careful every time I go out of the valley. I almost got caught several times. I was scared to death, and I didn’t dare to go out of the valley."

    After hearing this, Hua Xi'er couldn’t believe it and exclaimed, “My God! You even got into that cold inexcusable, the current Blood House owner?"

    Blood House is a well-known killer group of Jianghu. Leng Wu’she was a well-known cold-blooded killer of Jianghu before he succeeded the landlord.

    It is rumored that as long as he takes over the task, he has never failed, and the silent effort makes people die before he can detect his trace.

    Like a ghost figure, no one has ever seen his true face, and the mysterious identity is even more frightening.

    "White hair, white eyebrows, brown eyes, and skin as white as snow... Is he a ghost? Is there anyone in the world who looks like this?”

    "If it's a ghost, I'm not afraid," Shui Wa’er said angrily, "But he’s not and I don't know where I offended him, that he keeps chasing after me."

    Thinking of the weird boy that year, immediately she felt uneasy. She still remembered those gloomy brown eyes, cold, indifferent, and could not see any emotion at all.

    Hua Xi'er looks down and ponders for a while, then looked up at Wa'er again.

    Shui Wa’er, as her name implies, petite and exquisite. Even her face and facial features are small. Only those bright big eyes account for almost half of her small face, and the crescent-shaped bangs make her look more lovely and beautiful. Cute, like a pure lily.

    "Wa'er, you know, a man will chase a woman so persistently, usually for only one reason..." Hua Xi'er looked at her sympathetically. "Besides, you’ve already seen people’s naked body. Who knows, it was their first time being seen this way by a big girl! Hehe. No wonder that they have been non-stop chasing you. I’m afraid you’re responsible for that.”

    In the end, Hua Xi'er was almost is gloried.

    Shui Wa'er got shivered and stared at Hua Xi'er angrily. "Come on! Don’t be so horrible. I was only twelve years old. How can I know anything!? And he was more beautiful than any girl I’ve had seen, and I just didn’t see him as a woman..."

    Honestly, when she saw him naked at that time, her gaze kept on that evil beauty's face and she dared not look anywhere she shouldn't be.

    Recalling the scene five years ago, Shui Wa'er felt that the ears were a little hot. Then looking at Hua Xi'er, blushed and stared back angrily. "Furthermore, I don't think he will look after me. That guy doesn't look like someone who loves people at all." She tooted her little mouth and snorted.

    "Why do you say so?" Hua Xi'er raised an eyebrow.

    "He... is weird." Shui Wa'er frowned, thinking desperately. "He is very beautiful, and to this day, I haven't seen anyone who looks more beautiful than him. He was kept in a cage. It looked like a beautiful beast, but it's a very beautiful ... "

    She paused, thinking about how to describe the boy in the impression. "Evil ... It feels like a demon or a monster. His face was not only cold, but also strange and weird. It’s like no emotion..."

    How can a person without emotion know how to love someone?

    "Anyway, I don’t think he chased me because he fell in love with me." If so, it will be scary. It is too scary to fall in love with a man like a ghost!

    The more I thought about it, Shui Wa’er couldn't help feeling the fluffy in her heart.

    "Oh really?" Hua Xi'er looked at Shui Wa'er disapprovingly.

    "Not matter anyway. Xi’er, please let me stay here for a while." Shui Wa’er said with a small tooted mouth. "Even if you don’t allow me to. I will still stay here."

    "You want to stay here with me?" Hua Xi’er was just a civilian. She couldn't fight that terrible bloody landlord.

    "It should be okay for me to hide for a few days anyway. I have to find another secret place. In short, I can't go back stealing Shengu until my elder brother marries that beautiful woman."

    If her elder brother is here, at least there’s someone can protect her. But now her brother not around, she worried about her own safety.

    Well, she can only pray that she can live through these few days in peace.

- - - -

How good! It is right to hide in Huanxi City.

    Shui Wa’er was sitting on the railing, her legs were shaking, her little hands were holding hot pancakes and nibbling. Her ordinary eyes were beautiful and big.

    These days she stayed here in Huanxi. Happily eating, enjoying her life happily every day. She feels so happy.

    At first, she was still trembling. She went around with different faces every day. Until nothing happened, she settled down and took a strong ordinary face and pasted it on her face. She could easily look like an ordinary little lady.

    At this moment, she was sitting on the railing of Longteng Restaurant, interestingly watched the annual July Lantern Festival in Huanxi City.

    People say that the ghost gate opens in month of July, and Huanxi City has the custom of holding a lantern festival every July. They want to drive away those lonely ghosts with bright lights.

    The lantern festival is held for seven consecutive days. These seven days are the liveliest days in Huanxi City. Lanterns of various shapes are hung in rows on the street to brighten the entire city. The hawkers’ shouting and the crowds’ roaring, and giggling intertwined into a bustling picture.

    A pair of big eyes looked at the street view. The small mouth still did not forget to savor the delicious pancakes. The eyes were full of satisfaction.

    "Oh my God, I'm so happy!" Hua Xi'er sat on the chair, looked at the busy street with Shui Wa'er, sipped her tea gracefully and glanced at her lightly.

    "Indeed very happy!" Shui Wa'er nodded and ate the pancakes in three or two, eyes staring at the hot sweet scented Osmanthus cakes just out of the street.

    "I want to eat Osmanthus cake." She licked her lips and drooled.

    "Wait, I'll get it right away." Xi Que, who was on the side, heard it and immediately ran downstairs.

    "Thank you." Shui Wa’er smiled happily. "Xi'er, your family's Xi Que is so sweet."

    "Yeah. Only there are those thick-skinned people who live and eat for nothing and they don’t realize it at all.” Hua Xi’er said coldly.

    "Omg! This tea is so delicious. It’s fragrant and sweet! It’s great!" Shui Wa’er stretched out her hand and poured herself a cup of tea, as if she didn't hear it.

    Hua Xi'er stared at Shui Wa'er. "Shui Wa'er, is it true that you’re targeted?" Seeing her leisure appearance these days. Nothing happened, which made her doubtful whether Wa’er is cheating.

    Shui Wa'er sighed. Holding a tea bowl, blinking with her big eyes and looked at Hua Xi'er innocently. "Xi'er, do I look like a liar?"

    "Very much." Hua Xi'er didn’t hesitate and answered sharply.

    Shui Wa’er immediately pursed her mouth. When she was about to speak, she heard a scream from the street. She was stunned and immediately looked to the place where the voice came out.

    "What happened ..." Before she could finish her sentence, she saw a wounded man with bloody staggering across the roof.

    But in a moment, several men in black immediately surrounded him.

    "Revenge in Jianghu?" Hua Xi'er frowned at the men in black, notice that the fabric on their right arm is embroidered with a bloody ghost fire.

    The mark...  Cannot be..….

    She immediately looked at Shui Wa'er, who was already looking pale and speechless.

    Because a ghostly figure suddenly appears in the middle of the men in black. He is white, covering the upper half of his face with a ghost-tusk mask, revealing only his graceful lips, and his white hair floats with the wind.

    As soon as he appeared, there was a moment of silence around him. The atmosphere fell into freezing point. No one dared to speak. The wounded man looked at him with a pale face and frightened look.

    "L_ landlord ..."

    "Betraying the Blood Tower is not a light crime." The man opens his mouth, the voice is light, without any emotion but it makes people cold to the bottom of their bones.

    The big man shivered constantly. His sword hand was dripping blood. His heart was sweating because of fear. His palms sweat, and cold sweat could not stop coming out.

    "Tell me, what kind of death do you want?" The man draws up the good-looking lips, the extremely pale brown eyes do not take a single silk of sentiment. The atmosphere was more tense after his words, as if they were on the verge of fire.

    Clang──

    Suddenly, the sound of broken glass broke the solemn atmosphere.

    "Leng Wu’she, I will fight with you!" The big man seemed to be scared, and he couldn't care less about killing the man with his sword.

    When he moved, the men in black immediately surrounded him and both sides were pinching and start killing; While the man in white didn’t move at all, his pale brown eye look across the pavilion, suddenly saw a pair of stunned bright eyes. The brown eyes behind the mask gestured.

    It’s not surprising at all that she’s just an ordinary little lady, but those eyes are very familiar. He had seen as like as two peas, the same big eyes, just like five years ago….. The looks are different, but the eyes are the same....

    "Wa'er." He soft voice, light voice, not very light or heavy but very clear to the ears of Shui Wa’er.

    She was horrified. Seeing a flicker of fire in his brown eyes. She could not help but take a deep breath and turned and ran without hesitation.

* Idiom: 狗嘴吐不出象牙来，开口就没好话
* Shengu: (神谷) – Kabeya, Kamiya - Valley of the Gods