Inside and outside Yue’e Mountain were quite different.

The interior wasn’t as densely forested as the exterior. The mountain was covered with a thin layer of snow, and it was evening now. Sunset shone from a distance, coating the entire mountain shape in a layer of warm gold. Like a giant crimson ruby, it was extraordinarily beautiful. And no matter from which direction one looked up, one could see that beautiful white pagoda, almost merging with the golden setting sun hanging at its spire.

The people of Siyou Kingdom seemed to all be environmentalists. They rarely left Yue’e Mountain and cherished every blade of grass and tree on Yue’e Mountain extremely. They could also command animals through transmission techniques. The talking large birds and leopards earlier were achieved through transmission techniques by Qiongniang and Youlang. All the animals on the mountain had eyes—if anyone damaged the mountain forests, the two clans’ people could immediately discover it.

Zanxing had only seen transmission techniques used on people, never on beasts. She pondered in her heart whether it could be used on Mimi, but then thought that if one day Mimi also spoke to her with a burly man’s voice, it would be far too discordant. So she dismissed this idea.

Qiongniang and Youlang each rode on brown bears, leading the way for the group.

Gu Baiying walked right beside Zanxing, and Zanxing felt a slight stirring in her heart.

The young man’s fingers were slender and slightly cool, with fine calluses on his fingertips from years of gripping spears. When they brushed across skin, they brought a slight tickling sensation. In Zanxing’s heart, she suddenly remembered that when she had escaped from the Ten Thousand Kill Formation, Gu Baiying had once forcefully squeezed her hand. For him, that was probably his most proactive approach.

As she was thinking this, a cold voice suddenly came to her ear, seemingly containing slight anger: “If you’re holding hands, just hold hands. What are you touching around for?”

Zanxing raised her eyebrows and looked at Gu Baiying. Gu Baiying didn’t look at her, as if she were some flood or savage beast, deliberately pulling away some distance to the side. Thus, in their handholding, the space between them was so wide that even a Mimi could stand there.

She didn’t speak, only smiled. Putao, walking to the side, saw this, and her expression became somewhat ugly.

Over there, White Bone Woman was chatting up Mu Cengxiao. She smiled sweetly and lightly scratched twice in Mu Cengxiao’s palm, her tone ambiguous and lingering: “You spoke up for our Young Master earlier. Little brother, this slave sees you’re heroically handsome and talented. I wonder if you have a dao companion… It’s fine if you do—this slave doesn’t mind one more person…”

Mu Cengxiao ignored her, his gaze fixed tightly on Meng Ying and Xiao Shuang’s joined hands ahead, his face somewhat dark.

Xiao Shuang was always very courteous to women. When passing rough terrain, he would even gently remind Meng Ying: “Miss, be careful of the broken stones underfoot.” From a distance, they looked quite well-matched.

In comparison, Tian Fangfang wasn’t so fortunate. Lady Zhagling had been harmed by her husband, in life, the most hated man in the world. She kept a stern face as she grabbed Tian Fangfang and walked forward, her nails almost embedding into Tian Fangfang’s flesh. Meanwhile, Mendong and Earth-Eating Ghost supported each other—one was a child, the other had lost a leg. Their limping, slow-moving shadows looked quite touching in their shared adversity.

Of course, there were also those not-so-harmonious. The demon race and human race have already found each other mutually detestable. Even though they were reluctantly cooperating now, they still had to mock each other verbally.

Someone looked at Mourning Gate Star beside him and cursed: “What kind of outfit is that? Strange clothes—truly heretical and demonic.”

Mountain Spider nearby heard this and sneered coldly, contemptuously looking the person up and down before speaking unhurriedly: “Some people don’t know where their confidence comes from. So bland that no one wants to look twice, yet they can’t stand others being radiant and eye-catching.”

The cursed cultivator choked. It was an undisputed fact that cultivation world robes were always plain. He looked at the people walking ahead and decided to target Zanxing: “That’s still better than your green faces and fanged teeth, neither fish nor fowl! And that so-called Young Master of yours—even her hair is green. Wanting to seduce people from our cultivation world, she should look at her worth! Look how close she’s getting to Gu Baiying—trying to rekindle old flames. Though I dislike Gu Baiying, he’s still a prodigy of the cultivation world. How could he possibly be with this kind of demon? Stop having delusions!”

“Pfft,” White Bone Woman, who was chatting up Mu Cengxiao, turned her head. Her beautiful eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, but her words weren’t so polite: “Does our Young Master need to seduce anyone? Stop flattering yourself. In Chaos Palace alone, there are seven male favorites, each one docile, considerate, and devastatingly beautiful. Seduce? Is it worth the trouble?”

“Exactly, exactly! Really like carrying one’s butt upstairs—lifting oneself!” Mountain Spider quickly chimed in.

The mountain forest was silent, and all the spoken words fell into everyone’s ears. Zanxing’s expression remained calm, seemingly completely indifferent to others’ gossip. Gu Baiying’s brow twitched slightly, as if wanting to lose his temper, but he finally held it back.

According to Qiongniang, Yue’e Mountain’s topography automatically changed every few years. Lakes that were once here might disappear without a trace next time, while originally barren places might sprout flower clusters. No wonder the map Bujiang had given Zanxing didn’t match at all.

The group traveled in the mountains for a long time. When the sunset hanging on the white pagoda had only a bit of afterglow illuminating the raised hills, the two people ahead stopped. Youlang dismounted from his brown bear, patted the bear, and it let out a low call before walking away.

“This is Siyou Kingdom,” Qiongniang said.

Zanxing looked up ahead, her expression pausing. After a long moment, she spoke hesitantly: “This… isn’t this just a village?”

Before them was a settlement.

This settlement wasn’t large, built on a relatively flat spot on the mountainside. The dirt road was very smooth and clean, with rows of houses built on both sides. These houses were all earthen structures—one side had white roofs, the other black roofs. Their shapes and sizes were almost identical, looking very orderly.

Zanxing looked at Qiongniang: “This is Siyou Kingdom?”

Being a kingdom, it shouldn’t be so shabby. When Li’er Kingdom was on the sea island, though the island wasn’t large, the city had everything it needed. But this settlement before them—forget about prosperity—it didn’t even seem to have many people, even fewer than a single Taiyan Sect.

“The two clans of Siyou Kingdom don’t marry.” Qiongniang explained: “The population can only gradually decrease. So the people of one kingdom, by now, only these remain.”

“Didn’t you say they could have children just by looking at each other?” Zanxing asked.

Qiongniang smiled: “That’s just a legend. Without marriage, there can be no offspring. The people of the Siyou Kingdom will only gradually decrease. One day, Siyou Kingdom will completely disappear from the world.”

Tian Fangfang coughed lightly: “Forgive the offensive question, but do you not want descendants? Or can you not have them? Is it a physical problem?” He pulled Mendong forward: “Our sect’s little junior brother is very good at treating illnesses. If there’s a physical problem, maybe he can help you look at it!”

“Thank you for the kind intention, but it’s not necessary.” Qiongniang’s smile faded: “Heaven’s way is fair, with its meaning of balance. The Siyou Kingdom has been like this for a thousand years. Our two clans have no offspring and need no offspring. Reproduction is not necessary. After a hundred years, when our bodies return to dust and are scattered into the mountain, becoming one with the green mountains—this is also a form of continuation.”

She spoke with an expression that seemed to see through everything with transparency, yet also carried a slight weariness with the world.

Mountain people were always somewhat unusual.

Youlang said to everyone, “Today it’s already late, and the mountain nights are dark. We can only set out tomorrow morning. The Five-Wheel Pagoda is still some distance from the village. You’ll rest here tonight. There are some empty houses here—find your lodging.” After a pause, he warned again: “Don’t fight here. Mountain flowers and grass are hard to grow. This place was originally barren and only with great difficulty, became covered with vegetation. If it’s damaged…” He said, “Compensation will be required.”

Truly a complete environmentalist.

Originally, all the houses in this settlement were occupied, but later some clan members died and the houses became empty. Inside, they were quite clean. Several girls from the Sinü Clan came to bring everyone some quilts and went to cook food.

By evening, this place gradually became lively.

Cooking smoke rose from rooftops, and the clear fragrance of porridge and rice spread everywhere. Siyou Kingdom’s totem was a balance scale pattern, seeming to indicate they took the matter of ‘balance’ quite seriously—or rather, they all had obsessive-compulsive disorder. The pots, bowls, ladles, and basins in the houses were all neatly stacked, the placement of stools, folding of bedding, distribution of cups and vessels—Zanxing even suspected they calculated how many tea leaves to put when making tea.

Just as they found a house and sat down, they heard someone outside shout: “Senior Sister Sisi has awakened!”

The female Xiangling Sect disciple that Zanxing had rescued from underwater had finally awakened.

“Not waking early or late, but waking at this time.” White Bone Woman rolled her eyes: “Our Young Master has already taken all the scolding, and that girl wakes up now. Is she doing this on purpose?”

“Need you ask? Obviously on purpose.” Mountain Spider snorted twice: “Really like the father stealing melons and fruits, the son killing and arson—each generation worse than the last!”

Xiao Shuang gave them both a look, and they stopped speaking, silently retreating to one side. Xiao Shuang walked to Zanxing’s side and asked: “Young Master, what do you plan to do?”

Zanxing looked up: “What do you mean?”

“That Young Master Gu is now the leader of the demon-slaying army…” Xiao Shuang spoke while observing Zanxing’s expression. Bujiang had said that Zanxing was still young after all. Now, Gu Baiying not only stood on Zanxing’s opposing side but had completely forgotten her. Between young men and women, they always took matters of love particularly seriously. If Zanxing couldn’t think it through and did something foolish, that really wouldn’t be worth it.

Xiao Shuang was still considering words to comfort Zanxing when he heard her say: “You’re right. Gu Baiying isn’t someone easy to fool. Now that we’ve encountered him, it seems the plan to reap fishermen’s profits won’t work. If not, we can only forcibly snatch the Xiaoyuan Pearl. With the people we brought, would there be problems fighting the demon-slaying army… Xiao Shuang?”

Xiao Shuang came back to his senses: “Ah?”