The Wicked Saintess Who Transmigrated into the Book Will Never Reveal Her Secret Identity

Chapter 75 : The Flower God Festival

The Flower God Festival==============================

"Wake up,"

Lyle, somewhat speechless, nudged the girl sleeping soundly beside him.

"Jiang Cheng, how come you've only just started class and already dozed off? You're usually full of energy."

"Yawn~"

Jiang Cheng transmitted sleepily as she yawned, "Why even listen to this kind of stuff? You're not a flower mage anyway."

"We're just here to experience what going to school feels like. Sleeping in class is part of the experience too."

Jiang Cheng said this with conviction, leaving Lyle at a loss for words.

"It's still good to listen in,"

Lyle replied. "Maybe we'll get a clearer picture of what the Flower Capital is like."

"After all, we're not locals here, so we don't really understand the special professions and social customs."

Lyle grinned sheepishly as he spoke.

"Oh, that?"

Rolling her eyes, Jiang Cheng replied, "You could've just asked me about it."

"You know about it?"

"Of course I do,"

Jiang Cheng shrugged. "In fact, most things you ask, I probably know."

"How about this then?"

As he spoke, Lyle casually picked up a textbook from the desk and read aloud one of the example questions.

"Given that the laboratory purchased a batch of yellow roses, which were cultivated and self-crossed by volunteers, and red rose individuals appeared among the progeny, briefly explain the possible genotypes of this rose variety and the reason..."

"Get lost,"

Jiang Cheng interrupted with a curse before Lyle could finish. "That one I actually don't know."

"Oh."

Lyle scratched his head, nodding. "I thought you were really all-knowing."

Rolling her eyes again, Jiang Cheng said, "So, what do you want to know? Just ask."

"It's about that kid Noxia; something you said really caught my attention."

"About that child..."

Jiang Cheng thought for a bit. "Didn't you ask before?"

"I did,"

Lyle nodded, "but you didn't seem to tell me anything important."

"That's true,"

Jiang Cheng nodded in turn. "You should know, in the Flower Capital, the strongest cultivator of each flower will automatically be granted the title of that flower."

"Of course,"

Lyle nodded. "I know that much. After all, the principal of this school is an over-tier powerhouse who holds a flower's name—Ms. Morning Glory."

Morning Glory, also known as Bindweed, is named for its bloom at dawn each day.

"As long as you know that. If you listened carefully to my conversation with Noxia, you should know that right now, she is the Mandrake of the Flower Capital."

"Yeah, I caught that,"

Lyle nodded. "But what does that have to do with revenge, or with those other flowers you mentioned?"

"No, no."

Jiang Cheng shook her head. "This is the Flower Capital. Don't bring outside logic here. That black mandrake acknowledged her precisely because of all those feelings of revenge she holds."

"How can that be? The other students in the academy—their flower mages don't need to get any sort of recognition."

Lyle asked, puzzled.

"That's why they're just ordinary people mass-produced by the Flower Capital. While at least they won't fall to the Breeding District, they'll never see the sea of flowers in the Flower Capital; their lives are limited to the flowerbed districts."

Jiang Cheng said coolly.

"So do you get it now? Think with the Flower Capital's mindset—do you know what the flower language of the black mandrake is?"

"Uh, no..."

Lyle blanked for a moment.

"Looks like you really don't know a thing."

Rolling her eyes again, Jiang Cheng said,

"The black mandrake's flower language is: unpredictable death and love, undying love and revenge. It completely matches her experience of inheriting others' hatred and death because of love."

"So is that why she's so strong?"

Lyle asked. "Because her experience perfectly fits her flower?"

"Not just that."

Jiang Cheng shook her head. "She's extremely talented, too."

"In the Flower Capital, everyone is grouped by their compatibility with flowers into different talent levels—those only fit to stay in the Breeding District are called flower soil, the untalented ones are flower vases, the ordinary are flowerbeds, and the geniuses are called flowerbeds."

Nodding, Lyle added, "So when we came in, someone said Noxia was a flowerbed—that means she's a genius?"

"No, no."

Jiang Cheng gave a playful smile. "Don't forget, she's using her sister's identity right now. Her sister is the flowerbed."

"So what about her?"

Lyle frowned. "What level of talent does she have?"

"She..."

Jiang Cheng squinted her eyes as she smiled. "She has the highest talent of all—divine-level. She's of the flower sea, named after the highest districts."

"I see..."

Lyle murmured, "So, even a genius with such strength would have trouble taking revenge?"

"Mhm~"

Jiang Cheng lifted her head and rubbed her long, pale, aching neck. "Those useless fools at the top are desperate to cultivate a truly perfect flower to offer to the god, that's why."

"To offer to the god?"

"In a month, it'll be the Flower God Festival. By then, all the flowers will be in full bloom, and the new generation's strongest flower mage from the academy will present the most perfect flower cultivated in the Flower Capital that year to the god, who will bestow rewards according to how much he likes it."

"The god? He really lets himself be seen by mortals and grants such rewards so casually?"

"Of course."

Jiang Cheng nodded. "The Flower Capital is one of the cities closest to the gods. Look—"

As she spoke, Jiang Cheng pointed out to the bright spring sunlight outside and the warm wind scattering countless petals.

"What is it?"

Lyle asked, puzzled—he hadn't noticed anything strange.

"What season is it now, do you remember?"

Jiang Cheng smiled.

"Autumn... wait, you mean—?"

"That's right,"

Jiang Cheng nodded. "Because the main host likes flowers, the Flower Capital is always in spring and summer. Only a few specific places are kept in autumn and winter, to allow the rare flowers that bloom in those seasons."

"A permanent, citywide climate change just because the main host likes it?"

"Of course,"

Jiang Cheng nodded. "Because the main host likes it, so spring and summer are eternal in the Flower Capital. I think you get it now—back in Adventurer City, that thing people call a false god? Even calling it that gives it too much credit, compared to a true god, it's nothing."

Nodding, Lyle's expression grew serious.

"Relax,"

Jiang Cheng said, patting Lyle on the head. "Why so tense? You don't have to go up against him. We just need to deal with those people Noxia wants revenge on."

"After all... our hero's task here in the Flower Capital couldn't be simpler—just attend the Flower God Festival."

Nodding, Lyle said, "So, we have to help Noxia."

"Exactly,"

Jiang Cheng snapped her fingers. "Looks like you're not totally hopeless after all. The one to offer the flower at the Flower God Festival as the strongest will definitely be Noxia, so we need to help her."

"You're really scheming, huh,"

Lyle said, glancing at Jiang Cheng. "I thought you just wanted to help someone out of kindness."

"Ha, as if,"

Jiang Cheng laughed, shaking her head. "You know what kind of person I am."

"So—"

Jiang Cheng curved her lips in a devilish grin and lured, "Hero, I wonder if these reasons are enough to get you to join me for some late-night murder?"