Chapter 10 (Part 1) of Volume 5: How can you tell whether I am male or female?

  At dusk, the wedding procession was finally packed up and ready to go.

  Dozens of exquisite little dowry chests were pulled by the beetle carriage team, and only four ladybug sedan bearers followed us. In order to avoid suspicion due to the night frost, they did not dare to send many flower fairies, and even the bee warriors who guarded them were not arranged.

  The funeral procession was desolate and quiet, with no one seeing them off, no gongs or drums, and no firecrackers, making it seem more like a funeral.

  Before leaving, I never saw General Otori again. He didn't show up, and the little princess waited and waited, finally getting into the flower sedan chair. It wasn't until the procession was far away from the Flower Palace that Kan Uryuu finally caught sight of a lone figure at the gate with her lotus-heart eyes.

  At the forefront of the team, a row of round beetles carried their dowry and flew quickly through the flower fields. Hai Ji and Gan Zhen stood guard beside the flower sedan chair, not saying a word, looking somewhat somber. To ease the oppressive atmosphere, I chuckled and made some jokes.

  The old mouse looked at me, covering his mouth and chuckling: "Young master, you really look like a little flower spirit with this appearance."

  "You're not much better off either. Remember, don't call me Young Master, call me Peony!" I reminded him again and again as I held up the long hem of my skirt. In order to successfully carry out the assassination, I had deliberately put on women's makeup, worn a bright trumpet-shaped skirt, adorned myself with pearls and jade, and stuck a yellow flower on my cheek, disguising myself as one of Little Princess Gan Ning's maids along with Hai Ji. As for Mouse, he was just too ugly, so we had to shave off his beard, put a black mole on his left cheek, and pass him off as the matchmaker.

  Old Mouse nodded hastily: "Yes, yes, young master... no, Peony. Gan Xianzi is Snow Lotus, Hai Ji is Golden Basin, and I am Butterfly Orchid. I've got them all memorized!"

  "When the time comes and you reveal your true intentions, I'll be the first to kill you." I threatened him, thinking over the details of our assassination plan again. After shrinking down, the surrounding flowers seemed even taller and bigger, like pillars reaching into the clouds. With a little princess leading the way, we successfully avoided many strange traps - things like man-eating flower forests, soul-sucking pits, and powder-spewing mazes. We walked out of the flower field.

  "It turns out that from Huatian to Xigong Snow Mountain is so close, if we went on our own, it would take at least seven or eight days." Mouse Old Man habitually touched his beard, only to find that his lips were already smooth and hairless, and he hastily stopped.

  Outside the flower field, a majestic snow mountain stands tall, with half of it covered in lush greenery and the other half in pristine white snow. It resembles a jade dragon about to take flight. Upon arrival here, one has entered the realm of Night Flowing Ice. Beyond this snow mountain lies the Burial Flower Abyss.

  We followed the foot of the mountain, laboriously climbing up. The rocks that we could have stepped over before now required many steps to pass. We were also wearing flower skirts and pointed shoes with embroidered flowers, making the road even more difficult to walk. The ladybugs and beetles, on the other hand, climbed quickly, their ten or so legs proving to be more useful than our two legs. Mr. Mouse was exhausted and shouted: "Peony, why don't you use your blowing wind belt to fly us over?"

  I glared at him fiercely and entered the snowy mountain, where I had to be extremely cautious and couldn't reveal even a hint of my presence. Moreover, I still needed to observe the terrain carefully and calculate our future escape route.

  Another day passed. We climbed to the middle of the mountain. The lush trees, flowers and grasses became fewer and fewer, gradually covered by snow. When we reached the top of the mountain, it was already a world of ice and snow, with ancient tree branches standing upright, hanging with transparent icicles. The cold mountain wind blew, and the snowflakes fell down with a "whooshing" sound.

  I noticed that in some places, the snow didn't stick and revealed a bluish-gray surface. I couldn't help but wonder. The mouse told me that there were ground beetles hiding underneath. That's why there was no accumulated snow.

  "This snowy mountain is called Shegong Snow Mountain because it produces a lot of Shegong insects." said the mouse king with a smile.

  "Shè gōng chóng?" My heart skipped a beat, my Frost Snow hadn't reached Great Perfection yet, precisely because I lacked the Shè Gōng Chóng as a Dan-refining medicine. Unfortunately, there's no time now, otherwise I'd dig up a few Shè Gōng Chóng to cultivate the Dan Ding Liu Di Secret Rhizome.

  The little princess stopped the flower sedan, lifted the curtain and took a look: "It took two days to walk out of the flower field, two days to climb to the top of the mountain, plus two days to go down the mountain, just in time to arrive at the burial mound within seven days."

  I suddenly realized: "What a ruthless and poisonous night flow ice! He doesn't give you any time to consider. Once you delay sending the relatives, he has an excuse to occupy the flower field."

  The little princess nodded silently and lowered the curtain of the sedan chair. We were just about to go down the mountain. Suddenly, a swift and fierce gust of wind came from afar, and a black shadow appeared in the sky, rushing towards us rapidly.

  "It's a monkey!" Master Mouse cried out in alarm and hid behind my back.

  I was stunned, it was the first time I saw flying monkeys. These monkeys had a ferocious appearance, with black and red bodies, a white patch on their foreheads, and a pair of narrow wings on their backs, which created strong gusts of wind and swirling sand when they flapped them. They swooped down from mid-air at high speed, circling around us with bared teeth.

  "Where did you monsters come from? Hurry up and state your names! Otherwise, I'll make you look good!" A giant female demon sat on the back of a flying monkey, shouting loudly. Her yellow big buck teeth protruded from her lips, revealing a long tail that swished back and forth under her skirt.

  Because we had shrunk, everyone looked like a giant. In fact, the female monster's figure was normal, but her appearance was ugly, with a pointed mouth and sunken cheeks, a head of dry hair that stood on end, and a white patch on her forehead, with piercing eyes that shone brightly in all directions.

  It's not the Great Horse Monkey, is it? I muttered to myself, a flattering smile spreading across my face as I raised an elegant finger and said in a soft, sweet voice: "Greetings, Your Majesty. We are flower spirits from Huatian, sent by Ye Liuqing, the Night Ice King of the Burial Flower Abyss, to escort you. Please, Your Majesty, grant us an audience."

  The female demon glanced at us a few times, sneered coldly: "You've arrived quite quickly. The dog's tail had just returned to the Burial Mound of Flowers, and you're right behind. Where's the bride? Let me take a look." She jumped off the flying monkey, lifted the curtain of the sedan chair without saying a word, and gave the little princess a disgusted glance.

  I twisted my waist and asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, are you the Queen of Night Flowing Ice?"

  "What a big deal, it's so annoying. I'm Ruhua, the mountain patrol general of Ye Liu Bing, the Night Ice King." The female demon jumped onto the flying monkey and muttered to herself: "This little flower spirit bride is useless, just a decoration after marriage. Hey, get on the flying monkey, I'll take you to the Burial Flower Abyss."

  We sat on the flying monkeys, like flowers, and sped down the mountain. I exchanged a glance with Haiji and Gan Ning, feeling a sense of unease in my heart. Originally, our escape was most advantageous when I used my Wind Shield Technique. But now that we have these flying monkeys, it's become easier for them to track us down.

  The flying monkeys sped down the mountain, and soon they arrived at a hilly area. The hills were uneven and rough, but due to the magical weather being much hotter than the mortal realm, despite it being autumn, the hills were still lush and green, with many strange creatures roaming about. Many of the flying monkeys swooped down, hunting for prey, digging out their bloody hearts, and then swallowing them whole.

  The sweet lemon quietly bloomed in the lotus heart, silently observing for a long time, with a solemn expression. I knew she also saw it, on each hill, there were patrolling monsters coming and going, not a small number of them.

  The flying monkeys flew low and curved around the hills, entering a valley between two hills. Here was a dense forest of stone pillars, with an eerie atmosphere, and strange shapes that seemed to change constantly. From time to time, they let out mournful cries that sent shivers down one's spine. Upon closer inspection, the giant stones were covered in holes, and when the wind blew through them, it produced strange sounds. This forest of stone was deathly still, with only greyish-white rocks and thorny thickets covering the ground, not even a wild beast could be seen.

  All the way, I kept asking Ruhua in a roundabout manner, trying to trick her into revealing some secrets about Ye Lingshuang. But this female demon suddenly flipped up her eyelid and said: "Are you done yet? You're so annoying, if you keep bothering me, I'll kill you and feed you to the flying monkeys!"

  In front of an inconspicuous giant stone, the flying monkeys fell down one after another. The giant stone was square and flat, somewhat like a tombstone, but on its surface were deeply engraved the three characters "葬花渊" (Buried Flower Abyss), with a ring-shaped stone protruding below the characters. I secretly wondered about it, but didn't dare ask more questions, only silently memorizing the surrounding terrain.

  "Leave the bride behind, all other flower spirits and crawling creatures can scram. Take the tattered dowry with you too." Huahua gave a crude order to drive them away.

  My chest tightened, and the three Hai Ji also changed color slightly. The little princess suddenly lifted the curtain of her sedan chair and said softly: "These four flower spirits are my personal maidservants, who have taken care of me for many years. Can you spare their lives, sister? As for the dowry, some things cannot be missing, otherwise the Night Flowing Ice King will also lose face."

  Ruhua thought for a moment, then waved her hand impatiently: "Alright, it's really unnecessary, leaving two or three boxes of dowry is enough."

  I took the lead, carrying a deep crimson lacquered box with gold trim, inside which were the corpses of four female flower spirits, dressed and made up to look just like us, covered in several layers of cloud-patterned silk as disguise. This box absolutely cannot be lost; once the assassination is successful, we will use their corpses to replace the four of us, so as not to implicate the Flower Village.

  After the beetle demon and ladybug demon left, Ruhua stood in front of the giant stone, whispering three times: "Night Dream Open Door, Flowing Fragrance Open Door, Ice Flower Open Door."

  Suddenly, the stone ring on the giant stone emitted a strange light, "creaking", the door ring slowly moved upwards, and slowly opened. Ruhua grasped the door ring, "dang dang dang", lightly and heavily knocked nine times. On the giant stone, a series of strange mouths suddenly appeared. These mouths opened together, shouting and screaming, spewing out a large piece of eerie black fog that suddenly enveloped us.

  Suddenly before our eyes, we have magically entered the giant stone. From the outside, it was impossible to see that inside the stone there is such a deep and vast world, like a bottomless cave.

  The four walls were covered with thick moss, and icy water dripped from the stone crevices above, falling to the ground with a faint sound. The cave was pitch black, except for the eyes of the flying monkeys shining brightly in the darkness.

  I estimated that I had walked about seven or eight miles before reaching the end of the cave. There, there was a pitch-black deep pool. I had never seen water so black and dense in color. The surface of the water did not have even a hint of light, nor could our shadows be reflected on it.

  The little princess suddenly let out a soft cry, pointing at something black hanging from the top of the deep pool. At first glance, this thing was sticky and hung upside down from the cave wall by a thin black thread. It wasn't until I heard the faint sound of breathing that I realized it was a person! But it had completely lost its human form!