His expression grew solemn as Shen Qiyuan asked her, “What did you see?”

Ruyi didn’t even know how to describe it.

Just moments ago, it had been the appearance of Divine Lord Puhua, but once through the door, he transformed into the Demon King. If it wasn’t that the Demon King’s boundless magical power could deceive Shen Qiyuan, then it was that Puhua’s divine power was so profound that he concealed himself from all the lesser demons in the ancient residence?

But what was his purpose? Why did he have to transform into the Demon King to save her?

Her mind in complete chaos, Ruyi collapsed into Shen Qiyuan’s palm in her magpie form, playing dead.

Shen Qiyuan poked her tail feathers, “I’m asking you a question.”

“Just let me be quiet for a moment.” Ruyi rolled over, burying her head under her wings. “I can’t figure it out!”

How could a Divine Lord be connected to a Demon King, especially under such bizarre circumstances? There must be something wrong somewhere.

Shen Qiyuan didn’t ask again, simply tucking her into his sleeve pocket before walking outside.

As Puhua had said, His Majesty truly had summoned him to the palace for discussions. He very much wanted to know whether this matter was something he had calculated through divination, or if there was some other origin. This was the second time—Master had a better grasp of His Majesty’s intentions than he, a celestial immortal in the mortal realm, which seemed rather unreasonable.

The one who came to fetch him was His Majesty’s trusted confidant, an old eunuch over fifty years of age. Shen Qiyuan rode in the carriage with him and casually asked, “When the ancestral temple was built, who decided which immortals should be enshrined there?”

The old eunuch, knowing he was currently in favor, was quite willing to explain, “Naturally, it was decided through discussions between the Empress Dowager and His Majesty. Initially, they set eight divine statues to guard the four directions. Later, His Majesty added more to make it a perfect ten.”

The other immortals were all those the Great Qian imperial family had worshipped for generations. The two that were added later were only the Mortal Azure God and Divine Lord Puhua.

The Azure God should have been worshipped among the common people, but after he blessed His Majesty’s fate, His Majesty had dreams at night, so the divine statue was moved into the ancestral temple. But how did Divine Lord Puhua, an immortal who had ascended less than a thousand years ago, earn such veneration?

At the time, he had only been happy for his master and hadn’t thought about this question. Now, thinking more deeply about it, it seemed rather strange.

Shen Qiyuan’s gaze gradually deepened.

“He failed.” Walking along the deserted palace path, Ruyi spoke from within his sleeve. “Though the magpie is my original form, it’s ultimately not my original body. It would be one thing if all three souls were intact, but using just a magpie to preserve one soul-aspect—that can’t be sustained.”

As expected. Shen Qiyuan said softly, “If he abandons trying to save you, what will happen to that soul-aspect of yours?”

“I’m betting he won’t give up,” Ruyi said earnestly. “If he’s truly as I suspect, then no matter what price he has to pay, he will preserve my life to use against you.”

“What if you lose the bet?”

“That soul-aspect carries my hearing and sight.” She snorted lightly. “At worst, I’ll be deaf and blind for a few hundred years.”

“You speak so casually about it.” Shen Qiyuan’s expression wasn’t pleasant. “Do you think losing sight and hearing is something easy to endure?”

“Oh my, when we first conspired together, you nodded your agreement. Why are you fretting about it now?” Ruyi grumbled.

It would have been better not to mention it—bringing it up only made Shen Qiyuan angrier. “Back then, you only said you’d use one soul-aspect to monitor and see what Puhua would do. You didn’t say that if it couldn’t be preserved, you’d lose that soul-aspect entirely.”

“It’s about the same thing.”

“What do you mean by ‘about the same’?” He stopped walking. “There are other ways to investigate who’s orchestrating things behind the scenes.”

“But no other method would be this fast.” Ruyi poked half her little head out from his sleeve opening, blinking innocently. “You saw it too—without using this method, given Divine Lord Puhua’s wariness, how could we possibly get him to take the bait so quickly and reveal his connection to the Demon King?”

Shen Qiyuan paused, “What connection to the Demon King?”

Ruyi scratched her head. “They seem to be the same person.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiyuan laughed first, “Haven’t you sobered up from drinking? A Divine Lord and a Demon King—one in heaven, one in the mortal realm—how could they be the same person?”

“I also find it puzzling, but he transformed from Divine Lord Puhua into the Demon King right before my eyes.” Ruyi pouted. “You wouldn’t mistake Puhua, and I wouldn’t mistake the Demon King. If they’re not the same person, what other explanation could there be?”

Shen Qiyuan fell silent.

The palace path stretched long, with high walls on both sides cutting the post-rain sky into a grayish-blue strip. Standing in the middle, his expression changed several times.

“Let’s look for more evidence then.” After a long while, Shen Qiyuan said this.

Ruyi rolled her eyes at him irritably, “Lord Shen, at this point, you’re still talking about evidence? If he’s truly a master who can transform freely between god and demon, where would he leave us any evidence?”

Just as the words left her beak, a flash of inspiration struck her mind, “Wait.”

It seemed there really might be evidence?

“What?” Shen Qiyuan lifted her to his palm.

Ruyi carefully recalled, “When I gave all my divine bones to the Demon King years ago, there was one bone that I had bitten, leaving tooth marks on it.”

“…” The person before her lowered his eyes.

Ruyi, thinking he didn’t believe her, hurriedly said, “It’s true! The bone removal was so painful that I grabbed a divine bone and bit down on it. I vaguely remember it should have been from my forearm. I bit with nearly enough force to break it—there must be deep tooth marks left on it.”

The divine bones had been given to the Demon King at the time, so finding this bone on the Demon King’s person wouldn’t be strange.

But what if it were found on Puhua’s person?

A cold shiver ran through her body as Ruyi jumped up and flew to his shoulder, “You believe me!”

“I never said I didn’t believe you.” He said in a muffled voice.

“Then what’s with this reaction of yours?” Ruyi pecked at him with her wing tip, displeased.

Pressing his index finger against the bone in his arm, Shen Qiyuan took a deep breath, “I’m just thinking—if only I hadn’t been in seclusion then.”

Having her divine bones stripped from living flesh—how much pain must she have endured? If he hadn’t been in seclusion then and had rushed over in time, would she not have had to suffer such torment?

Seeing the heartache in his eyes spilling out despite his attempts to hide it, Ruyi felt much more at ease. She smiled, “Each person has their fate. When disaster struck your family, didn’t I also fail to arrive in time?”

Bringing up this matter, Ruyi suddenly became alert, “Shen Qiyuan, when you went into seclusion then, was it your idea, or your master’s instruction?”

“Master said that without a cultivation partner, I would fall behind my fellow disciples, so he gave me several ancient secret manuals and had me enter seclusion.” Shen Qiyuan looked at her, realizing something. “You were the same back then?”

Ruyi nodded, “Isn’t it too much of a coincidence? He told me the same thing, but I wasn’t as patient as you—after cultivating for just over two months, I couldn’t continue, so I left the mountain early to find you.”

The two looked at each other and fell silent together.

“Let me test the waters first.” Resuming his forward steps, Shen Qiyuan said, “Before confirming that Puhua and the Demon King are the same person, it would be improper to make baseless accusations.”

“Alright.” Ruyi obediently agreed for once.

She didn’t make any more frightening speculations, because she realized the truth might be more terrifying than speculation—a cultivator of mediocre talent had suddenly become like a giant web-weaving spider.