Li Zhaoying and the others all watched in stunned silence.

In their impression, Shen Qiyuan was a person who was taciturn and aloof. Forget having him bow his head and admit fault like this—on ordinary days it was difficult to even get a pleasant expression from him.

Yet now he stood before Ruyi, completely disregarding others’ gazes, holding her hands and looking dejected, like a Suanni that had done something wrong.

Ruyi couldn’t help but smile as she stood on tiptoe to pat his head: “Forgiven.”

Li Zhaoying was shocked: “Sister Ruyi, didn’t we just say on the road…” Didn’t we say to torment him for a while longer?

“Princess, why are you still here?” Shen Qiyuan said gently. “It’s getting late, you should return to your manor.”

“Ah, but…”

“What are you standing around for? Why aren’t you helping the Princess to her carriage?”

“Yes.”

Though they were servants of the Princess’s manor, when he called out, they were so frightened they didn’t care about anything else and hastily helped Jinghong into the carriage.

Shen Qiyuan watched the carriage depart with satisfaction, then turned to ask the customers at the tables in the main hall: “Are the dishes to your taste?”

“Yes, yes, very delicious.”

“Then you’ll come again tomorrow?”

“Definitely.”

“Good, see you tomorrow then.” Politely seeing them out, Shen Qiyuan nodded slightly and closed and barred the shop door.

The customers walked away in a daze, only realizing after walking half a street that they were still clutching their chopsticks: “…”

Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Zhao Yanning retreated with Fuman, and He Tinglan also had business and returned to her room. The hall was suddenly left with only the two of them.

Shen Qiyuan stood back in front of her, drooping his head again and looking at her with innocent, clear, dark eyes: “I just said today that I wanted to return to the Nine Heavens, and His Majesty summoned me to the palace to bestow marriage. If it were someone else, it would be one thing, but it happened to be you. It’s like a piece of candy-coated pastry placed in the middle of the road—naturally, I wouldn’t dare eat it.”

Ruyi caught the key point: “Someone doesn’t want you to return to the Nine Heavens?”

“Yes, but I haven’t figured out who yet.” Shen Qiyuan pulled over a stool to sit down and looked up at her. “Lord Lao, who granted me the position of Azure God, may be somewhat disappointed in me, but our grievances aren’t deep. The Divine Lords I’ve met once may have had some friction with me, but they haven’t left any great hatred. Supreme Lord who guided my path is even more innocent—he’s inherently a gentle person.”

Finding suspects from among these meant it was an immortal who didn’t want him to return to the Nine Heavens.

Ruyi raised an eyebrow: “Why don’t you suspect your master? Divine positions in the Nine Heavens have set rewards—one Divine Lord and two Real Persons every three thousand years. If you had stayed in the Nine Heavens then, your master might not have become a Divine Lord.”

Shen Qiyuan looked at her reproachfully: “Your words are too biased. Master has cultivated far longer than you and I—how could I shake his position? Besides, when I wanted to descend to the mortal realm, Master was the first to disagree.”

“I’m only speaking from the perspective of interests.” She pursed her lips. “There are so many immortals in the Nine Heavens, most with only passing acquaintance with you. Only your master has deep connections with you.”

Without deep connections, how could someone take action immediately after he said he wanted to return to the Nine Heavens?

His knuckles twitched. Shen Qiyuan unconsciously shook his head, but his mind became active.

He was unwilling to suspect his master, but he wouldn’t blindly trust either. Since there were irregularities, why not test it?

“Do you have a way to enrage me?” Shen Qiyuan asked.

Ruyi’s willow eyebrows lifted slightly: “Qingyi has a softer figure than you.”

“…”

Zheng Qingyi, who had retreated to the back courtyard, was just preparing to sleep when he suddenly felt a chill down his spine and couldn’t help shivering.

No way? He looked up toward the main hall.

There had been some talking sounds earlier, but somehow it had quieted down. Someone stomped upstairs step by step, closed the door, and then the entire inn became silent and peaceful.

Scratching his head, Qingyi shrugged innocently and lay on his side to continue sleeping.

Outside the barrier was silent and peaceful, but inside the barrier was deafening. Sticky sounds accompanied by helpless gasps scraped down one’s spine. Shen Qiyuan’s forehead was covered in sweat, but his expression was tense.

Ruyi said pitifully, “Didn’t you ask me to anger you?”

“I asked you to think of an idea, not to use real tactics.” He pressed against her desperately, his teeth grinding audibly. “Softer figure?”

“No, no, no, your figure is better.”

“Oh? How is it better?”

“Shen Qiyuan, you were the one who said the wrong thing today!”

“I apologized. What about you?”

“I didn’t say anything wrong, though?”

“…” Shen Qiyuan viciously bit her earlobe.

In the red gauze, this person pitifully curved her eyes, struggling and dodging, pretending to be shy. But when he inadvertently looked up, he saw the cunning and seduction leaking from her eyes. Her fair neck arched upward like a proud and satisfied peacock, bewitching him to fall into the web of love.

What a demon.

His eyes turned completely red as he cursed under his breath.

Ruyi lazily held him, stroking his dark hair again and again.

Hair like silk—truly irresistible to touch.

Angering him was too simple for her, as simple as seducing him to passion. If possible, she would want to find a cave with him and dual cultivate for hundreds of years, no longer caring about worldly affairs.

Unfortunately, heaven doesn’t fulfill one’s wishes.

Half-closing her eyes, she moaned and thought: if there were immortals who also didn’t want him to ascend to the Nine Heavens, could immortals be colluding with demons? Otherwise, how could her master always have that faint immortal aura about him, as if he had devoured several immortal children alive?

Spring nights are short, and she soon had no energy to think about these things.

The barrier that had been maintained around the Meeting Immortals Inn suddenly broke. Street vendors and distant coachmen all pretended to casually glance in that direction.

In the noisy inn, one room had its door tightly closed, and a thick, bloody scent wafted from within.

“Do you distrust me this much?” Ruyi covered her shoulder with a pale face. The wound from the Demon-Slaying Sword caused her demonic power to go chaotic, leaving her without even the strength to stand.

“What did you call out just now?” Shen Qiyuan’s face was even paler than hers, his lips trembling slightly.

Ruyi lowered her head: “I naturally called out Ziyan.”

“Ziyan?” He sneered. “It was Zijue, wasn’t it?”

Throwing down his long sword, he staggered two steps and collapsed onto a stool: “Gods and demons walk different paths. I should have understood this long ago, yet I still held onto the last shred of hope, wanting to ask you for an answer. As long as you dared to disregard everything, I would dare to accompany you in disregarding everything. But Liu Ruyi, just how many people does your heart contain? It crowds me painfully.”

Ruyi looked up, a trace of resentment flashing in her eyes: “Since you can slay over a thousand of my fellow demons before my eyes, why put on this hypocritical act here, talking about answers? We two have long had no future. These days of shamelessly following you around were nothing more than obeying my master’s orders. Now it’s good—I can’t do it, so I don’t have to do it anymore.”

“You!” Rising in extreme anger, Shen Qiyuan struck directly at her heart meridian with his palm.

With a tremendous bang, Liu Ruyi flew like a kite with a broken string, falling through the window and landing heavily in the pile of grain in the back courtyard below.