As per Zhang Yue's memory, the family shrine was supposed to stand somewhere along the northern edge of the Zhang estate.
At least, that was where it had always been.
Yet the farther Zhang Yue wandered into the sprawling grounds, the stranger everything became. Stone walkways gave way to patches of untamed grass. The carefully tended gardens ended, replaced by towering trees that swallowed the evening light. Before long, she realized there wasn't even a proper trail anymore.
No shrine. Not even a weathered stone marker.
She frowned.
"Did they seriously build an entire mansion and forget to construct the family shrine?"
That couldn't be right.
A guardian deity wasn't something a prestigious clan simply misplaced.
She continued deeper into the woods.
The air grew cooler beneath the thick canopy. Leaves whispered overhead as the last rays of sunlight slipped between the branches. Somewhere in the distance, birds called to one another before settling for the night, leaving the forest wrapped in an almost sacred silence.
After nearly half an hour of wandering, Zhang Yue finally admitted defeat.
"Well..." She sighed, wiping off the sweat with the back of her palm. "Either I'm hopelessly lost, or, my dear Wu Qian Jun..."
She looked toward the sky accusingly.
"...your shrine doesn't exist."
She had barely turned around when something caught her attention.
A fragrance.
Soft. Sweet. Familiar.
She stopped walking.
"Wait." She inhaled again.
"Osmanthus?"
Her brows knitted together. It was impossible.
The season was wrong.
Osmanthus shouldn't have been blooming yet.
Yet there was no mistaking that delicate floral scent. It drifted through the forest as though carried by invisible hands, growing stronger with every passing second.
Her heartbeat quickened.
The Zhang family's ancestral shrine had always stood in the middle of an osmanthus grove.
Could...
Could she simply be in the wrong place?
Following nothing but the fragrance, Zhang Yue pushed through the undergrowth.
The scent grew richer.
Sweeter. Almost intoxicating.
Then the trees suddenly parted.
Her breath caught.
Standing before her was the largest osmanthus tree she had ever seen.
Standing before her was the largest osmanthus tree she had ever seen.
Zhang Yue had never imagined an osmanthus could grow to such proportions. Back in her world, they were usually cultivated as ornamental shrubs or carefully pruned garden trees. This one, however, had been left untouched for centuries.
Its gnarled trunk was thick with age, the bark weathered into deep silver-gray ridges. Powerful branches spread outward in every direction, sturdy enough for a person to climb with ease, while its dense canopy stretched across the clearing like a living roof.
Even more astonishing were the blossoms.
It wasn't the flowering season, yet every branch was laden with clusters of delicate ivory flowers, their fragrance drifting through the entire forest.
The flowers glimmered beneath the fading sunlight.
Not brightly.
Just enough to make the entire tree seem quietly alive.
"...Wow."
The word escaped before she realized it.
It was beautiful.
Almost impossibly so.
Yet...
There was no shrine.
No altar.
No incense.
No guardian diety.
Nothing.
Just endless rows of blooming osmanthus trees surrounding the ancient giant.
Zhang Yue looked around once.
Then twice.
Finally, she sighed.
"So I followed a magical flower smell into the middle of nowhere."
She folded her arms.
"Wonderful."
A moment later, practicality won over disappointment.
"Well..." she murmured.
"If they're blooming anyway..."
A grin slowly spread across her face.
"I might as well make osmanthus cakes."
She gathered her skirts and walked toward the tree with complete seriousness, as though harvesting flowers in the middle of a mysterious forest was the most sensible thing anyone could do.
Reaching upward, she stretched onto the tips of her toes.
Almost.
Just a little higher...
The blossoms swayed teasingly above her fingertips.
She jumped once.
Missed.
Twice.
Still missed.
"You're kidding me."
She glared at the branch.
"You're flowers. What exactly are you trying to prove?"
Above her, hidden among the sea of white blossoms,
Someone chuckled.
Wu Qian Jun reclined lazily upon one of the highest branches, one arm resting behind his head.
His long silver hair flowed over the bark like moonlight poured from the heavens, disappearing among the blossoms until it was impossible to tell where the flowers ended and the immortal began.
The breeze stirred his robes.
His almond eyes followed the young woman below with open amusement.
She had come searching for a god.
Instead...
She had decided to steal his flowers.
For the first time in a very long while,
Wu Qian Jun found himself smiling.
"So..."
Wu Qian Jun rested one elbow against the broad branch, looking down at the young woman with open amusement.
"You came all this way..."
His crimson eyes drifted toward the cluster of blossoms she was reaching for.
"...just to steal my flowers?"
The words dissolved into the evening breeze before they could reach mortal ears.
His crimson robes stirred gently among the white blossoms, brilliant as embers hidden within snow. Long silver hair cascaded over the ancient branch, blending so perfectly with the moonlit petals that he seemed less like a man and more like part of the tree itself.
To Zhang Yue, however, there was nothing there.
Guardian deities rarely revealed themselves to mortals. Mischievous ones like Wu Qian Jun preferred to remain unseen.
Below, Zhang Yue gathered her skirts and eyed the lowest branch with determination.
"No shrine. No deity. Just a giant tree."
She clicked her tongue.
"The least you could do is let me borrow a handful of flowers."
Wu Qian Jun let out a quiet laugh.
"Borrow? You're negotiating with a tree now?"
She began climbing anyway, muttering under her breath with each careful step.
Wu Qian Jun watched her with growing curiosity.
"Interesting little mortal. Most people would think twice before stepping inside this grove. But you came to steal my flowers."
A smile tugged at his lips.
"I want to know which family breeds such unusual maidens."
Just as Zhang Yue's fingers finally brushed a bundle of flowers, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching. She froze, her heart skipping a beat.
The sound of footsteps wasn't far off. Someone was walking nearby, and they were getting closer.
She lifted her head cautiously, her eyes scanning the surroundings for the source of the sound.
A man.