After releasing the three bandits, the forest team fell into a deathly silence.

Meng Ruji sat cross-legged under a tree, hands resting on her legs, deep in thought. Mu Sui sat beside her, observing his heart through his eyes, as if in meditation.

Miaomiao was sleeping, and Ye Chuan was grilling fish. After quite a while, only Tuzi, who had recovered from the shock, spoke up with a sigh:

“How strange! When I left, the Golden Staff was clearly in Brother Chensha’s hands. He was so powerful and wielded the Golden Staff—how could someone usurp his power? And in just a few days? Which audacious scoundrel dared to do this!”

“The hidden stakes that Zhuliu City deployed in the surrounding villages—have you touched them?” Mu Sui spoke up, asking Tuzi.

“Those are Zhuliu City’s bottom line. How would I dare touch them…”

“Don’t return to Zhuliu City first. Tomorrow, let’s take a detour to the surrounding villages first to investigate the situation in the city.”

“Yes…”

Hearing their plan, Meng Ruji glanced at Miaomiao, but noticed Miaomiao’s hand at her side was indeed flickering in and out of visibility—the legendary… sign of impending disappearance…

“We should take Miaomiao to Zhuliu City first,” Meng Ruji said steadily. “Regardless of whether her mind is clear, we should at least fulfill her wish to see flowers first.”

Mu Sui didn’t speak, but Tuzi was the first to answer dissatisfiedly: “Seeing flowers is nothing important—let’s delay that!”

“She can’t hold on much longer.”

Tuzi answered again quickly:

“Bad woman, do you even know what the current situation is?”

“I know—it’s a power struggle.”

“Your names are carved on the Marriage Tree, visible to everyone.”

“I know—a life-and-death situation.”

“That usurper is plotting in secret to kill both of you at once!”

“So!” Meng Ruji interrupted Tuzi, staring at Mu Sui, boldly speaking, “Why don’t we divorce first?”

The forest fell into dead silence once again.

Tuzi couldn’t help Mu Sui answer this question, so she looked toward Mu Sui.

Ye Chuan was grilling fish on the side, quietly lifting his eyes to stare at Mu Sui.

It was too quiet, making Meng Ruji’s words seem a bit loud, so she lowered her voice and added to Mu Sui: “After all, I’ve eaten your cake and worn your clothes. The employer’s business must still be handled.”

At the center of everyone’s gaze, Mu Sui finally lifted his eyes, staring calmly at Meng Ruji.

“Meng Ruji.”

Rarely did Mu Sui call her by her full name.

“You’re dreaming.”

The rejection was straightforward, and Meng Ruji felt her face hurt a bit.

“You signed the marriage contract. ‘Until death do us part’—I said that. You can’t escape.” The firelight from Ye Chuan’s fish grilling danced in the forest, the orange-red light pulling and swaying the shadows on his face, but the light in his eyes was as firm as a nocturnal beast staring at its prey. “You and I must be bound by fate. The money must be split half and half.”

These words undoubtedly hit Meng Ruji right in the heart and throat.

It was somewhat choking and made her chest ache.

She thought she had schemed against a wealthy man, but discovered she had to invest half of her already meager assets.

Trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice…

How unlucky…

“What about Miaomiao’s matter?” Meng Ruji still tried to struggle. “We can’t break our word.”

Mu Sui fell silent, thinking.

Just then, Miaomiao coughed softly and woke up. After the initial confusion passed, she turned to look around, finally settling her gaze on Meng Ruji: “Sister Ruji.” She called out clearly.

“Ah, she’s regained consciousness!” Tuzi was very happy. “Then she can go to Zhuliu City by herself!”

“No.” Meng Ruji coldly glanced at Tuzi. “If she goes alone, will the new city lord strip her of all her money? Only if I go with her can I protect her.”

“What’s wrong?” Miaomiao weakly rubbed her chest, asking softly.

Ye Chuan, who had been silent all along, handed Miaomiao the first fish grilled tonight: “The matter of going to Zhuliu City has become somewhat complicated.” He explained softly, “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll escort Miss Miaomiao there. I can also protect her.”

“But I…” Miaomiao took Ye Chuan’s grilled fish, looking innocently at everyone, “I don’t want to go to Zhuliu City anymore.”

The forest fell silent once again.

Miaomiao glanced at Meng Ruji, lowering her head somewhat embarrassedly: “Sorry, Sister Ruji. Earlier, my memory seemed confused, and I mistook you for someone else. Now I seem to have connected all the events. I stayed in the Land of No Return too long and forgot memories, but I seem to have had a very long dream and remembered all these things.”

Miaomiao hung her head, her expression no longer as intense and frantic as before, but rather defeated and disheartened.

Seeing this, Meng Ruji felt some pity and scooted over to Miaomiao’s side, patting her head: “Did you remember your Brother Changyun?”

“Mm.” Miaomiao nodded. “He was my neighbor, my childhood sweetheart. At sixteen, he was conscripted to the battlefield. He promised that when he returned victorious, he would marry me. I waited for him to return from the battlefield, but didn’t wait for him to marry me…”

Miaomiao’s lips were somewhat pale, her voice low and hoarse.

“The day he died, we had arranged to meet on the small bridge in town. There were two Immortals in the sky who started fighting. Their magic pierced through his heart. I… I kept thinking, if only we hadn’t gone to that bridge that day. Later, I thought, why did the Immortals come to fight in our poor, remote place? What I couldn’t understand most was why, after Brother Changyun died, those two Immortals just left like that, never returning, never apologizing to anyone, without any guilt…”

The flames crackled, and Ye Chuan forgot to turn the fish still roasting.

Meng Ruji couldn’t find any words either. Tuzi and Mu Sui also remained silent at a distance.

“I left my hometown, wanting to find those two Immortals, wanting them to apologize. Brother Changyun’s mother was still bedridden. I wanted justice. I found many cultivators, but they all thought I was crazy. They spoke constantly of the world’s common people, but among their common people, there seemed to be no me, no Brother Changyun, no Brother Changyun’s mother, and no my hometown.”

“In the end, I never got that justice.”

Miaomiao’s tone was very calm, without even the fluctuation of the jumping campfire, yet it had already told the story of her entire life.

“So… that’s why you came to the Land of No Return,” Ye Chuan asked hoarsely.

“Mm. I stayed too long and forgot those things, but in these final moments, I suddenly remembered. Young Master Ye, earlier, I heard some words.” Miaomiao looked up at Ye Chuan. Her lips were pale, her expression haggard, her voice very muddled. She asked Ye Chuan:

“Is there anything wrong with gods destroying the world?”

“Shouldn’t this unjust world be destroyed?”

“If the common people in the cultivators’ words don’t include me, then I… don’t want them to fare well either. Is this thought wrong?”

Ye Chuan seemed struck in the heart. He parted his lips slightly but couldn’t say a word.

Mu Sui sat in the distance, his eyes indifferently watching them, like a statue in the rainy night, without joy or sorrow.

“Miss Miaomiao, I’m very sorry.”

After a long silence, Ye Chuan finally said hoarsely to Miaomiao, “Hearing about your past, those two Immortals were indeed excessive.”

Hearing this, Miaomiao’s eyes widened slightly. She stared at Ye Chuan with a dazed expression.

Ye Chuan didn’t notice and continued: “…You don’t know, the gods… the gods destroying the world isn’t for other reasons… Ten thousand years ago, the great war between immortals and gods was because humans tried to cultivate to become immortals, making the heavenly gods suspicious. For their own sake, they initiated the thousand-year war between immortals and gods. After thousands of years of conflict and the sacrifice of so many Immortals, they finally defeated the heavenly gods and protected the world. You…”

“Is that so?” Tuzi, nearby, spoke up. “I heard it was a dog-eat-dog story. The Immortals wanted the heavenly gods to kill a newly born god, and the heavenly gods thought the Immortals were overstepping, so they started fighting.” Tuzi curled her lip. “This is what I heard from demons who cultivate the demonic path.”

“That was a god of destruction.”

“How do you know it was a god of destruction?”

“This… the classics all say so.”

“Is what the classics say necessarily true?”

“You! What that demon said isn’t necessarily true either!”

“Enough, stop arguing.” Meng Ruji stopped this meaningless debate. She turned to look at Miaomiao beside her. “Let’s think about what to do now. Miaomiao, you don’t want to go to Zhuliu City—do you have somewhere else you want to go?”

Miaomiao shook her head: “No other place to go, just two things I want to do.”

“Tell us.”

“The first thing is, I want an Immortal to apologize to me.” Miaomiao looked at Ye Chuan. “Young Master Ye, just now, were you apologizing to me as an Immortal?”

Ye Chuan was startled, then looked seriously at Miaomiao: “Yes, Miss Miaomiao. I… after so many years, I can’t help you find those two Immortals. I can only apologize to you myself, although it can’t make up for anything…”

“One… is enough.” Miaomiao nodded. “One is enough…”

Ye Chuan was speechless, his expression sorrowful.

But Meng Ruji said calmly, “Miaomiao, what color was the magic that hurt your Brother Changyun? What shape? What characteristics? Tell me. Immortals live long lives—we might encounter them in the future.”

Miaomiao stared at Meng Ruji in surprise: “If we encounter them, what then?”

“Killing someone…” Meng Ruji’s eyes grew cold. “Naturally requires paying with one’s life.”

Wind passed through the forest.

Ye Chuan nodded.

Tuzi, nearby, secretly glanced at Mu Sui’s expression.

She was surprised to discover that Mu Sui was looking at Meng Ruji, and there was a miraculous curve at the corner of his mouth.

Tuzi discovered something but didn’t say much.

“Slender light…” Miaomiao recalled, “The color… the outside of the light was white, with some red inside, like an arrow. At the end of the light, it spread out like red feathers…”

“Remembered.” Meng Ruji patted Miaomiao’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ve eaten your cake and worn your clothes—you’re my employer, and I’ll handle your business properly. What’s the second thing?”

“I…” Thinking of the next matter, Miaomiao’s expression finally softened somewhat. “I want to watch you two perform the wedding ceremony.” She looked at Meng Ruji, then glanced at Mu Sui in the distance. “I want to see you under flowers and moonlight, bowing to heaven and earth.”

Meng Ruji’s hand on Miaomiao’s shoulder froze just like that.

In the distance, Mu Sui’s eyebrow raised slightly.

The two heard Miaomiao continue: “Lovers finally becoming spouses—the thing I couldn’t achieve, before I leave, I want to see you achieve it.”

Meng Ruji withdrew her hand from Miaomiao’s shoulder, placing it back in her embrace. Her fingers twisted together, almost forming a pretzel.

That is to say…

Miaomiao…

Sister now wants to divorce…

You know how to make requests at the perfect moment…