Hearing Xiaoxiao introduce herself, eldest senior brother Ji Wuqi’s refined demeanor seemed unable to hold up, and his true nature emerged as he roared in a low voice: “What? You dare impersonate our Talisman Sect’s grand master ancestor! How bold of you!”

Ah? Xiaoxiao was stunned.

The second senior sister said quietly beside him, “Senior brother, have you forgotten the master’s words? Our Talisman Sect doesn’t accept loud, rude people. If the old master saw you like this, you’d be scolded and expelled from the sect!”

Hearing this, Ji Wuqi immediately lowered his tone and spoke in a pinched voice: “Little miss, if you’re pretending to be our Talisman Sect’s grand master ancestor, do you have some unspeakable difficulties? Tell us and see if this humble one can help you solve them?”

His manner was very much like Tang Youshu’s bearing. It seemed his master had indeed heeded Wei Jie’s instructions and put considerable effort into changing his disciple’s temperament.

But Xiaoxiao had no mind to praise the eldest senior brother for becoming refined and dignified.

Looking at the scene before her, she felt cold air rising from her head. She asked carefully: “Your grand master ancestor is also called Cui Xiaoxiao? She… where is she now? And where is your master?”

This question left Ji Wuqi stunned again, frowning: “Who doesn’t know that our Talisman Sect’s Grand Master Cui passed away two hundred years ago, and my master also achieved nirvana and passed away not long ago. What do you mean by asking this?”

At these words, Wei Jie beside Xiaoxiao said coldly: “Nonsense! What rubbish are you spouting?”

Just then, Jiang Nanmu beside Ji Wuqi seemed to remember something. She stared blankly at Xiaoxiao’s face and suddenly ran away.

Soon, Jiang Nanmu brought out a thick manual—the one Tang Youshu had passed down to his disciples, though it looked much thicker than the one Xiaoxiao had originally taken, as if much content had been added.

Jiang Nanmu flipped through quickly, then turned to the last page: “Eldest senior brother, you forgot our master’s deathbed words. He said if one day someone claiming to be the grand master ancestor appeared in the great hall’s feng shui mirror, we should show her this page!”

Saying this, Jiang Nanmu simply tore out that page and held it before the mirror: “…Um… look at this!”

Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie both stared intently at that page.

Tang Youshu, beside them, seeing the familiar handwriting, also gasped.

He knew this was indeed his handwriting, but he had no idea about the events written here!

Just then, outside Lingshan’s great hall, just like last time, there were sounds of many disaster victims wailing. It seemed that two hundred years later, Da Qi’s national fortune had still declined…

Just as Xiaoxiao finished reading and opened her mouth to speak, the moon in the sky had drifted into clouds. Without moonlight on the mirror surface, it flickered slightly, and the scene immediately vanished.

For a moment, the three people on this side of the mirror fell into silence.

Xiaoxiao raised her hand to look—she didn’t know if it was an illusion, but for a moment, she felt her arm seemed to become transparent, as if it might vanish into smoke at any moment…

Wei Jie had also seen the text description in the mirror. If those words were all true, then those who schemed against Xiaoxiao deserved death!

This method of cutting grass and roots was truly unavoidable!

Tang Youshu was the first to recover, saying quietly: “Buddhist scriptures say there are a billion Sumeru mountains and three thousand great thousand worlds—meaning identical yet different dharma realms can overlap and coexist. I never expected that today, through a mirror, we could see two parallel dharma realms separated by two hundred years communicating… If what was written on that page is true… Xiaoxiao, wouldn’t you cease to exist?”

That page had written the warning words from Tang Youshu two hundred years later to Cui Xiaoxiao—at this moment, someone had already gone to Cui Xiaoxiao’s ancestral hometown to engineer an accident, alter her ancestor’s lifeline, and make him disappear completely.

If in this lifetime Cui family ancestors died, then on the same lifeline, Xiaoxiao two hundred years later would also cease to exist… meaning the current Xiaoxiao would also disappear!

Wei Jie stared at Xiaoxiao, his fists involuntarily clenching.

Such methods of killing were truly inconceivable, absolutely not something ordinary people could devise!

No wonder the Book of Life and Death from the underworld had mysteriously disappeared again.

It seemed someone was making major moves again, altering others’ lifelines!

Fortunately, they weren’t without help. The mirror that the old monk had given them was meant to help them cheat on this life-or-death test by revealing answers in advance.

Wei Jie was too lazy to judge whether what was in the mirror was real or fake. Since there was doubt, he’d treat it all as real, because he couldn’t bear even the slightest possibility of losing Xiaoxiao.

Remembering that the book page had recorded Cui Xiaoxiao’s ancestor’s detailed address and the date of the accident, Wei Jie sincerely embraced his eldest disciple, Tang Youshu, for the first time.

If Xiaoxiao suddenly disappeared because her Cui family ancestor was killed, he would probably go mad with lost reason, letting demonic nature enter his heart and fighting desperately with those bastards like Dong Yuan.

But Tang Youshu, just like after his master died in the previous life, would silently do everything possible to remedy the situation. Heaven knows how much effort he spent investigating all this, and how much suffering he endured.

Wei Jie’s embrace contained gratitude from two lifetimes.

Tang Youshu had never had such a tender moment with his master in two lifetimes. He naturally knew Wei Jie’s embrace was sincere, but before tears could well up in his eyes, Wei Jie had already pushed him away.

It seemed his master still wasn’t quite used to being too affectionate with disciples. Somewhat awkwardly, he patted his shoulder again: “I owe you too much, and remember it all. In the future, I’ll repay you double…”

After saying this, he told Cui Xiaoxiao: “Tang Youshu will stay to guard the demon city to prevent chaos. Let’s go! We’ll immediately set out to save your ancestors!”

Cui Xiaoxiao’s ancestors, two hundred years ago, ran a small business, operating a tofu workshop in a suburban county not far from their hometown.

The Cui family’s tofu was tender, and business was thriving, all because the water for grinding beans came from mountain spring water that Boss Cui drew from Sweet Water Mountain behind the town.

Every morning, after selling the day’s tofu, Boss Cui would drive his little donkey pulling a water cart to fetch water.

The tofu business had continued day after day, year after year, like this.

On this day, he again drove his donkey and water cart to fetch water from Sweet Water Mountain’s hillside as usual.

There were stone steps on this mountain. Though going up and down was laborious, if you wanted to earn money to support a family, what work didn’t require effort?

He had been a bachelor for forty years and finally saved up enough property to marry a wife.

Now he was considered a newlywed. If he went home early and held his wife for a good sleep, perhaps next month his wife could conceive the Cui family’s only heir!

Old Cui hummed songs while carrying his water buckets up the mountain.

But today he wasn’t the only one fetching water. Someone who had fetched water earlier seemed unsteady on their feet, spilling water all over the stone steps.

Old Cui paid no mind. After fetching water, he shouldered his carrying pole and walked back.

It was early autumn, with scorching midday sun. Old Cui hummed mountain tunes and continued walking down, but suddenly felt his feet slip, and his whole body flew into the air.

Somehow, the water on these stone steps had frozen into ice under the blazing sun. With Old Cui unsteady, his head was about to strike the stone steps.

Old Cui flew too high—if he fell, his skull would surely crack with unthinkable consequences.

But at this critical moment, a tall figure quickly flew over, caught the flying tofu-maker Old Cui, and placed him on the stone steps.

Tofu-maker Old Cui was still in shock when he saw a slender-waisted young woman like a flying swallow suddenly attack the deep spring pool where he had just drawn water.

She casually threw out a flaming talisman, and the pool water gurgled and began boiling in an instant.

Accompanied by a piercing shriek, a red carp about ten feet long leaped from the water, flapped on the ground a few times, then went rigid and died.

But after the fish died, its body seemed to suddenly shrink considerably—it was just an ordinary ornamental carp commonly seen in pools.

Old Cui was frightened speechless by the scene before him, staring at the ice all over the ground, not knowing what to say.

Just then, the pretty young woman came over carrying the dead fish: “Um… are you alright?”

Though Old Cui couldn’t understand what had happened, these two young people who could fly around were certainly extraordinary, and without them, he would have been badly hurt in that fall. So he quickly bowed with clasped hands: “Thank you, hero, for helping me. May I ask your honored names?”

Xiaoxiao looked at tofu-maker Old Cui with considerable emotion: “My surname is Cui…”

Old Cui clapped his hands: “Oh my, we’re family with the same surname—I’m also surnamed Cui!”

Xiaoxiao smiled bitterly, thinking: “Aren’t we family? I’m your great-great-great-granddaughter!”

She had seen clearly that the fish in the water had cast a spell to freeze the water on the steps into ice.

But the spirit attached to this fish was too cunning, managing to escape just before she sealed the fish’s spiritual acupoints.

Xiaoxiao knew that if she didn’t catch this culprit, today it was slippery ice on the steps, tomorrow it might be a house fire.

The other party had made up their mind to cut grass and roots, eliminating any chance of Cui Xiaoxiao’s birth, so she and Wei Jie couldn’t leave temporarily.

Otherwise, pulling one hair would move the whole body—who knew what chaos this lifetime would be stirred into.

So that day, Wei Jie and Cui Xiaoxiao borrowed the excuse of missing lodging while traveling and stayed as guests in tofu-maker Old Cui’s home.

The Cui family’s household style had always been practical—their modest house was neat and cozy.

Old Cui’s new bride, Mrs. Hu, was originally a widow, now twenty-one years old. Now remarried to Old Cui, she especially treasured this second blooming.

Hearing that Old Cui had almost fallen on the steps today, she also thanked the two young benefactors and made dinner for them.

The hot, spicy tofu was very appetizing.

But Xiaoxiao, who usually loved eating, had no appetite this time and carefully examined inside and outside the house. She cut many small paper figures like those she had previously given to Princess Yongning and distributed them around the house perimeter, so any disturbance would be quickly detected.

But because of Wei Jie and Cui Xiaoxiao’s interference, they seemed to have frightened the other party. The hidden hand lurking somewhere didn’t seem inclined to act again immediately.

Wei Jie knew they couldn’t easily change Old Cui’s lifeline or make him relocate casually, otherwise his descendants’ lifelines would all change.

Though Buddhist scriptures say there are three thousand great thousand worlds and perhaps three thousand Cui Xiaoxiaos, he loved only this one who had lived and died with him through every detail.

She was his unique Xiaoxiao—how could he allow her even the slightest mishap?

That night, Xiaoxiao didn’t meditate but entered the room to help her ancestor pick through beans.

After all, this kind of opportunity to personally serve one’s ancestors wasn’t available to everyone.

Wei Jie washed a plate of sweet melons for her and took a fan to drive away mosquitoes.

After picking for a while, Xiaoxiao’s hands grew sore, so she simply grabbed a few small paper figures that had slipped in from outside and had them jump into the winnowing basket to pick beans.

The little paper figures held up the shriveled beans they found and hopped around, throwing them out. Xiaoxiao bit into a crisp peach Wei Jie handed her and suddenly sighed with feeling: “If you and I cannot achieve the righteous path in the future, even keeping a tofu workshop and making such a living wouldn’t be bad…”

She had seen during the day how her Cui family ancestor helped his wife add firewood to the stove—the harmonious husband-and-wife scene was quite enviable.

With cooking smoke curling up, it made one’s heart yearn.

Wei Jie knew that in Xiaoxiao’s memory, she had been sold when very young and had never experienced this common sight that ordinary people saw—the usual days of men farming and women weaving.

He wiped the corner of her mouth with his finger: “What’s difficult about that? When this matter is settled, I’ll open a tofu workshop for you and let you grind beans and sell to your heart’s content!”

Xiaoxiao giggled and pinched his straight nose: “Others have tofu beauties, but with your looks calling out wares on the street, even without using sweet water to make tofu, business would be booming!”

Wei Jie said seriously, “Business must boom—in the future, you’ll need to give me as many children as these paper figures. I need to earn money to support this litter of piglets!”

Xiaoxiao was both angry and amused: “Get lost! Go find some big-bellied sow to birth your litter of piglets!”

But joking aside, Xiaoxiao knew that what she and Wei Jie were discussing was just wishful thinking.

Wei Jie’s previous life identity was special—he was an immortal undergoing tribulation. In this life, if no villains were framing him and stealing his immortal fate, he would ultimately return to the immortal court and resume his position as Emperor Gu Yan.

But she was the demon clan’s saint—no matter how much she cultivated, she couldn’t ascend to heaven.

He and she were like the separated two hundred years—how their future would unfold, like the uncertain two hundred years later, probably no one knew.

For a moment, Xiaoxiao again recalled that old monk’s divination, saying that as long as Wei Jie could break through the word “love,” he could achieve great things…

Wei Jie seemed to notice her distraction and couldn’t help picking up a small paper figure, placing it on her nose tip, and teasing: “Little Paper, look at your mother—she’s daydreaming again!”

Xiaoxiao couldn’t help sneezing, blowing the little paper figure right out the window.

But as the paper figure floated out, it hung suspended about a foot above ground, as if stuck in mid-air and motionless.

After this little paper figure stuck, several other paper figures scattered on the ground slowly moved toward that little paper figure and attached to it.

Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao both saw this scene but turned their gazes away together, continuing to chat casually as if nothing had happened.

The Talisman Sect’s greatest skill was acting. Having spent so long with swindler master Xiaoxiao, Wei Jie’s technique had also reached perfection.

The invisible person seemed unaware that a paper figure had stuck to their body and continued following the couple who emerged from the mill at a moderate distance.

After walking several steps, Wei Jie suddenly turned around and cleanly used a soul-fixing talisman to immobilize the invisible person.

That person hadn’t expected to be discovered, even with an invisibility talisman.

After Xiaoxiao removed his invisibility talisman, she immediately saw from his graying hair and beard that this person should be a Ghost Sect disciple.

“Please spare me, both of you. I came on Lord Can’s orders to deliver a letter to you two!”

Saying this, the person took out a letter from his chest.

Wei Jie knew Lord Can habitually used poison and didn’t want to take it, asking: “He still dares to send letters? If it’s just delivering a letter, why be so sneaky?”

The person seemed to have been instructed beforehand, knowing Wei Jie would ask this, and quickly said: “You two don’t know—that person has returned to Qin Lingxiao’s body. Lord Can knows he’s watching you two closely, so he had me be clever about delivering this letter. I’m just a small fry—even if you two killed me, it would only vent anger and solve nothing. Better to read the letter before deciding.”

But Wei Jie extended his hand and burned the letter completely, showing no intention of reading it.

Only after Wei Jie burned the letter did Xiaoxiao smile and say: “Having dealt with your master several times, I understand his character eight or nine parts out of ten. Seeking skin from a tiger? Quite unnecessary!”

Seeing that Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao had no intention of reading the letter, the person suddenly rolled his eyes back, spat out fresh blood, convulsed once, and immediately died.

It seemed Lord Can still maintained his consistently cautious character, not wanting to leave any living witnesses.

Once this person had delivered the letter, the poison in his body activated.

Wei Jie didn’t want to cause any murder troubles for tofu-maker Old Cui’s family, so he directed fire with his finger and burned the corpse to ash.

But when he turned back, he found Xiaoxiao crouching on the ground, tilting her head to carefully study the paper ash that hadn’t yet been blown away.

He couldn’t help laughing: “What? You’re still curious about what Lord Can wanted to say?”

Xiaoxiao’s gossip interest now resembled Yu Ling’er’s by nine parts. With no outsiders present, she couldn’t help complaining: “You acted too quickly! I couldn’t stop you—at least you should have found a way to read it before burning!”

The paper had passed through open flame, naturally purging any possible remaining poison. With the messenger dead, she was itching to know what deadly poison Lord Can was selling in his gourd this time.

Wei Jie looked at the ash that hadn’t yet dispersed and thought he should do his utmost to satisfy Xiaoxiao’s curiosity.

He took out a piece of paper from his chest, placed it over the ash, then pulled out a small bottle containing the Po Hun Snake venom he had collected when he first met Xiaoxiao.

This snake’s venom, after sitting for some time, was very viscous and had the special property of absorbing ink color. So after sprinkling it evenly, the ink traces on the ash that hadn’t blown away actually transferred to the new paper.

But before the ink color had fully formed, Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie started playing a guessing game.

Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes and smiled at Wei Jie: “I think this letter contains Lord Can hoping we’ll join forces with him against that person!”