Chapter 34

The next day, Wei Die indeed went to Madam to ask for a job.

Zheng Shufeng was quite surprised that the Fourth Miss wanted to take on a job, but since it was a good thing, she didn’t refuse. She let the Fourth Miss decide what she wanted to do, and Wei Die chose to be the head of the garden's floral arrangements.

Afterward, Wei Die rather sheepishly told Tang Jie that she had taken this job because she wanted Tang Jie to help her. After all, Tang Jie was now the gardener of the Tranquil Garden, and she felt a bit crafty about it.

To her surprise, Tang Jie burst out laughing after hearing this, saying that this clever move was right. If she couldn’t do it herself, choosing someone who could was also a skill, which showed that the Fourth Miss was indeed very wise.

Wei Die, flattered by his praise, felt a warm glow in her heart and immediately appointed Tang Jie as her deputy. Together, they meticulously planned the garden arrangements of the manor. Tang Jie was thus quickly promoted from a gardener in the Tranquil Garden to the head gardener of the entire manor, an unexpected gain.

Since the old lady’s birthday was a major event with many guests, neither of them dared to be careless. They spent their days together, discussing how to handle the various gardens.

Tang Jie had been a gardener for over a year, and with his past experience and broad-minded thinking, he could propose fresh ideas in both design and execution.

Wei Die, while not particularly knowledgeable about floral arrangements, had the advantage of being the Fourth Miss. She knew how to appreciate beauty and was well-versed in the preferences, habits, and family taboos of the manor’s residents, knowing which things to do and which might backfire.

This pair, one divergent and the other convergent, complemented each other perfectly, forming an excellent team.

Through their joint efforts, the Wei manor’s gardens soon began to transform. Everywhere, blooming flowers formed various lively and interesting patterns for the birthday celebration, with birds, fish, insects, and more. Each scene was unique, yet together they formed a cohesive theme, creating a delightful and beautiful landscape.

Since gardening is different from other tasks and cannot be kept secret, the masterpiece created by the two was noticed by the people of the Wei manor before it was even completed. They all praised it, saying it might be the most beautiful birthday celebration in the history of the Wei manor.

Zheng Shufeng originally didn’t expect the Fourth Miss to accomplish much, but she was pleasantly surprised by her outstanding performance and praised her. Even Wei Qingsong, her father, looked at her with new respect. This made Wei Die extremely happy, knowing that she was getting closer to her dream. At this moment, she finally truly understood the words Tang Jie had said before.

It turned out that to gain her parents' trust, it wasn’t that difficult; she just needed to do her job well.

Of course, all the hard work would ultimately be tested by the guests.

The day of the old lady’s birthday finally arrived.

The Wei manor welcomed countless guests from all over, and almost all the important figures in the Canglong Prefecture were present. Even the Prefect of Canglong and the four major families, Jin, Zhang, Gu, and Zhou, sent representatives to celebrate, presenting one gift after another. The servants were busy, and even the Tranquil Garden’s attendants, such as Shimo and Shimeng, were called to receive the guests.

The sound of gongs and drums filled the air, as the hired opera troupe performed for the old lady.

The footsteps were continuous, as the invited guests toured and admired the Wei manor.

Fireworks lit up the sky, and lanterns hung high, creating a scene of prosperity, but it belonged only to a select few.

At this moment, Tang Jie wasn’t busy—his job didn’t allow him to be busy at this time.

Moreover, unlike the Fourth Miss, who had to receive guests, Tang Jie became one of the few idle people in the manor. While everyone was feasting in the main hall, Tang Jie strolled alone in the Tranquil Garden, admiring his floral arrangements and thinking about the array formations.

During this period, his array skills had improved, and he had basically mastered the layout of small arrays, lacking only the support of spiritual energy.

As he was thinking, Tang Jie inadvertently looked up and noticed something wrong with a flower arrangement.

The flower arrangement was a seven-colored deer made from red mandarin ducks, green calyxes, white mist, and orchids. The seven-colored deer symbolized auspiciousness in the Qixia Realm, and it was said that encountering one would bring great fortune. Since Wei Tianchong was about to start school, Tang Jie and the Fourth Miss had decided to create this seven-colored deer.

However, when Tang Jie looked at the seven-colored deer again, he felt something was missing. Upon closer inspection, he found that one of the green calyxes forming the deer’s eye was gone, leaving a black hole.

"Which kid is so undisciplined?" Tang Jie was quite angry.

At that moment, a black shadow suddenly flashed by, and Tang Jie turned sharply but saw nothing. Puzzled, he turned back to look at the seven-colored deer and found that the missing eye had reappeared, the green petals fluttering in the wind, exuding an eerie atmosphere.

A chill ran down Tang Jie’s spine.

He took a few steps back, then said loudly, "I wonder which great person has arrived, playing tricks on me. If I have offended you, please forgive me."

"Xixi..." A faint, tinkling laugh echoed in the air, coming from all directions, and sounded like a child.

The voice was clear and pleasant but unfamiliar.

Tang Jie was most afraid of the manor’s people suspecting his identity, followed by the Heavenly God Palace finding him.

Since it was clearly not someone from the manor, and the Heavenly God Palace would not be so polite to him, Tang Jie felt relieved upon hearing the voice.

He didn’t want to tangle with the other party and turned to leave. However, as he took a step, the surroundings suddenly became dark, and the noise and fireworks disappeared. The Tranquil Garden became eerily quiet, like a ghostly realm.

"An illusionary array?" Tang Jie exclaimed, then quickly crouched and rushed forward.

Just as he had taken a few steps, the scenery changed, and he found himself facing the garden that was originally behind him.

"Reversing the world?" Tang Jie whispered, then took a step to the side. The surrounding scenery changed again, and the garden seemed to come alive, circling around Tang Jie. All the flowers in the garden flew up, forming a shower of petals.

"It’s the Small Maze Array," Tang Jie said with a smile.

He was very familiar with this array. Initially, Xu Muyang had used it to trap him.

Illusionary arrays generally achieve their effects through two methods: one is to create a real illusionary space, where a small area contains a vast world; the other is to confuse the five senses to create illusions.

The Small Maze Array was the latter, and its greatest feature was that it could even deceive one’s actions.

When you thought you were walking in a certain direction to get out, your actions were already off, and you were just walking in circles.

There were many ways to break this array, and Tang Jie knew at least two. One was to use spiritual energy to control his movements, using qi instead of feet, which would be a true straight line, allowing him to walk out in a few steps. The other was to destroy the array itself.

Tang Jie was so familiar with the Small Maze Array that he didn’t bother to walk out. He simply pointed, and a strand of spiritual energy escaped.

He hadn’t learned secret techniques or divine arts, and this point was just a release of absorbed spiritual energy, with no real power. However, the position he pointed at was very clever, right at a hidden array pattern. With just one point, he cut off the flow of spiritual energy, and the entire illusionary array disappeared.

"Ah..." A light cry sounded, and this time Tang Jie identified the source. He turned sharply to grab behind him but missed. Just as he was surprised, a light flashed on the ground and flew into the garden.

Although he only caught a glimpse, Tang Jie saw what it was.

It was a small creature, no bigger than a palm, with green leaves hanging from its body, and it had a girl’s face.

"Grass spirit?" Tang Jie exclaimed.

The world is filled with spiritual energy, nurturing all things and giving birth to spirits.

Plants become spirits, animals become demons, souls become ghosts, and minerals become monsters, collectively known as spirits, demons, ghosts, and monsters.

The one that had set up the illusionary array to play tricks on him was clearly a plant spirit.

However, plant spirits usually form in remote mountains and places rich in spiritual energy. How could one appear in the Wei manor?

Tang Jie was very puzzled.

Just as he figured out the origin of the grass spirit, it had already disappeared into the garden, and he couldn’t find it again.

Tang Jie was puzzled and thinking when he suddenly noticed that the eye of the seven-colored deer was black again.

Tang Jie realized and chuckled, "So it’s the green calyx that has become a spirit. No wonder... I understand."

Although the Canglong Prefecture itself was low in spiritual energy, it still existed, albeit in a much more scattered form. These days, Tang Jie had been using the Tranquil Garden’s flower beds for his array practice, naturally drawing on the surrounding spiritual energy.

Thus, the Tranquil Garden’s flower beds had become a concentration of spiritual energy, but Tang Jie had used arrays to conceal it, making it hard for others to notice.

The green calyx was a relatively rare flower, bought by the Wei manor a few years ago. At the time, they bought two plants, and due to the difficulty in cultivation, they now had only twenty. Therefore, even Tang Jie had been careful to protect them. Unexpectedly, after being immersed in the array for over a year, one of the green calyxes had developed spiritual awareness and become a spirit, which was quite rare. After all, not every plant in a place rich in spiritual energy could develop spiritual awareness.

Since the array in the flower bed had always been an illusionary array, the green calyx spirit, upon birth, had mastered the ability to create illusions. However, it had clearly used it in the wrong place, trying to play tricks on Tang Jie, which was why it was easily broken.

"Such a mischievous little thing," Tang Jie said with a smile. He knew that the green calyx spirit was still new and didn’t understand much, like a child. Its use of the illusionary array against him was not to harm him but to play, so he wasn’t angry.

However, if he let this little thing continue to cause trouble, the Wei manor would have a lot of fun. Once it attracted a spirit master, it would likely be captured and used as medicine—spirits were the best materials for spirit medicines. With its current abilities, it couldn’t even defeat Tang Jie, let alone a spirit master, who would surely kill it.

"Green calyx spirit, come out now!" Tang Jie said sternly. "Do I really have to catch you?"

There was no response.

Tang Jie huffed, "Don’t hide. You grew here and just developed spiritual awareness, so your power is still weak, and your range of movement is limited. The green calyx has a unique fragrance, and I can easily find you by following the scent. If you don’t come out, I’ll dig out your body and burn it!"

This threat was effective, and a small head appeared behind the seven-colored deer, wearing a flower crown, with a pink, tender face and big, sparkling eyes, pouting cutely.

She looked at Tang Jie with wide eyes, and he said, "Go back to your place and don’t show yourself easily. This Canglong Prefecture is full of hidden talents. If they discover you, you won’t be able to escape. Your ability to develop spiritual awareness is a gift from heaven; don’t waste it."

The green calyx spirit shivered, then climbed to the eye socket of the seven-colored deer. A flash of light, and it transformed back into a green calyx, trembling as if in the wind.

Tang Jie didn’t rush to interact, just saying, "Very good, just like that. Remember not to show yourself again."

He then turned and left.

He didn’t try to catch the green calyx spirit for two reasons: one, he didn’t want to destroy the garden, and even if he could catch it quietly, a missing eye on the seven-colored deer would look terrible. There were only twenty green calyxes, and there was no way to replace it. The other reason was that the green calyx spirit had developed due to him and was familiar with him. If someone else were here, the green calyx spirit might not have played this trick.

In other words, by slowly building a relationship, Tang Jie had a good chance of taming the green calyx spirit.

Although this little spirit currently had no special abilities, no one knew what it would become in the future. But at least now, its talent for illusionary arrays was quite good.

Even if it had no future, it could still be a good pet.

Just then, someone walked toward him, and it was the Fourth Miss, Wei Die.

Tang Jie was about to greet her but noticed that her face was tear-streaked, and she had been crying.