The face before her was both familiar and strange. On this face were scars that Meng Ruji had personally inflicted, running from the left temple to the right corner of his mouth.

The scars looked terrifying. New flesh had already healed the wounds, but left traces completely different from his original skin tone, reminding Meng Ruji of the hatred that had once existed between them.

Meng Ruji suddenly swung her hand, knocking his away, while her other hand quickly grasped all the silver coins in her palm.

In the next instant!

The silver condensed, and Meng Ruji formed an array in her palm, conjuring from the formation a long sword glowing with blue light. Curse symbols flowed along the blade’s edge. Without a word, Meng Ruji swung the sword to strike.

Zhan Ye dodged sideways. The blade returned and pressed close again, forcing Zhan Ye to retreat continuously.

Meng Ruji pressed her advantage, giving Zhan Ye no chance to breathe, until she forced him to retreat outside the inn.

On the street, the wind was desolate, and no one was in sight.

Zhan Ye retreated several steps, steadied himself, then calmly raised his eyes to look at Meng Ruji, who had followed him out of the inn.

Her expression was icy cold as she stood holding her sword, overlapping with past images in his mind. Zhan Ye couldn’t help but grin, his eyes full of madness and obsession.

“You want to protect the people in the inn. You’re still the same as before.”

Meng Ruji gripped her sword tightly. Not one of Zhan Ye’s words entered her ears. Her only thought now was how to kill him.

Looking at the malevolent aura surrounding Zhan Ye, Meng Ruji knew she couldn’t defeat him. Without her Inner Core, the silver on her body couldn’t support her casting higher-level magic. The sword in her hand was already at the maximum power these silver coins could maintain.

Meng Ruji reached into her bosom with her left hand, grasping the gray-black stone.

She tapped it twice lightly, but still no response…

Mo Li was still sleeping. If she called Mu Sui and the others over…

Inner Core power could indeed deal with a malevolent aura, but the Inner Core was with Mu Sui. Although they had defeated Ye Chuan in the illusion last time, the malevolent aura on Zhan Ye was many times greater than Ye Chuan’s…

If she called Mu Sui over, could they win…

If not… she would be harming Mu Sui.

Compared to Meng Ruji’s wariness, Zhan Ye seemed much more relaxed. He even spread his arms and walked slowly toward Meng Ruji, as if to embrace her.

“Meng Ruji, I’ve slept here for many years. Do you know how happy I am to see you again?”

Meng Ruji raised her sword, her eyes devoid of emotion as she watched Zhan Ye’s movements, adjusting her breathing frequency, waiting for an opportunity…

“Swoosh!” A flash of light came from the side, striking directly at Zhan Ye!

It was Ye Chuan, who had been knocked down in the inn, now awake. The light he struck was just a copper coin—not powerful enough, but sufficient to make Zhan Ye turn his attention to Ye Chuan in that instant. Zhan Ye raised his hand, sending a malevolent aura straight at Ye Chuan. As expected, Ye Chuan was struck, but at the moment he acted, Meng Ruji’s figure shot forward like an arrow, stabbing straight at Zhan Ye. The blade broke through the air, creating turbulent waves, piercing directly through Zhan Ye’s heart.

Blood dripped down.

But Meng Ruji’s expression grew even more grave, because…

Zhan Ye had grasped her sword-holding wrist, gripping tightly the branches woven around her wrist, almost embedding them into her skin.

Blood rolled in his throat as he smiled and spoke: “After so long apart, you’ve forgotten that this can’t hurt me.”

Yes, ordinary magic couldn’t hurt him.

Last time, she had used the power of the Inner Core to “kill” him. Now…

Zhan Ye’s grip on Meng Ruji’s wrist grew tighter and tighter, as if he wanted to crush her wrist. Meng Ruji gritted her teeth and endured the pain without making a sound.

“I’m taking you back to the mortal realm.” Zhan Ye stared at Meng Ruji. “Meng Ruji, this time, you’ll stay by my side forever…”

Before Zhan Ye finished speaking, the wind stirred. Without any light or sound, like a gentle spring breeze passing by, the next moment, Zhan Ye’s eyes widened—his arm had separated directly from his body.

The hand gripping Meng Ruji’s wrist was still applying force, but the strength diminished in that instant.

Meng Ruji immediately reacted, turning and retreating to distance herself.

Horrifyingly!

Zhan Ye’s arm on her wrist didn’t let go, following her as she retreated.

In a moment of suffocating silence, Zhan Ye’s body and the arm that had left his body finally gushed forth torrents of terrifying blood!

The sword in Zhan Ye’s chest disappeared as Meng Ruji’s magic withdrew. Covered in blood but still pressing his bleeding wound, he stood in place, looking behind him with a sinister expression.

Mu Sui approached slowly, a fluffy rabbit on his shoulder. But the rabbit wasn’t as docile as usual—it bared its teeth with blood-red eyes, looking somewhat terrifyingly ready to devour people.

Mu Sui’s expression was no different from usual, yet inexplicably carried more authority. In his hand, a formation rotated. The formation was golden, with curse arrangements that were the Inner Core usage method that Meng Ruji had taught him in the illusion last time.

So he had learned it long ago…

Meng Ruji violently tore off the severed arm from her wrist and threw it aside.

She looked at Mu Sui, who had arrived, gazing at the formation in his hand, feeling somewhat envious of his comprehension ability.

That Inner Core—she had spent who knows how many times more effort than he did to gradually master it back then.

This guy had only learned it once in the illusion a few days ago, and now he could use Inner Core power to chop off Zhan Ye’s arm…

“Where did you want to take my wife?”

Mu Sui’s voice was cold but carried a hint of hoarseness.

Meng Ruji looked at him, frowning slightly. For some reason, she felt something was off about Mu Sui.

Hearing this, Zhan Ye smiled grimly: “It’s you, Qianshan Jun. You actually… obtained her Inner Core.”

“I’m asking you—where did you want to take her?”

As his words fell, a strong wind passed, carrying a trace of anger. Zhan Ye’s throat seemed strangled by an extremely fine thread, directly severing his head!

But the moment his head hit the ground, Zhan Ye’s entire form instantly turned into a black malevolent aura and disappeared. Along with him disappeared the severed arm on the ground.

Taking advantage of his disappearance, Meng Ruji immediately ran to Mu Sui’s side.

Seeing that Mu Sui was about to attack the malevolent aura floating in the air, Meng Ruji grabbed Mu Sui’s hand, forcibly pulling down his spell-casting fingers. She glared at Mu Sui seriously.

Mu Sui met her gaze and said nothing, only silently lowered his hand.

“That wasn’t him.” Meng Ruji said. “I could tell when you severed his arm—this was just a mass of malevolent aura he controlled.”

The malevolent aura floated for a moment, then gathered into a mass in the air.

From within the aura came Zhan Ye’s nearly manic laughter:

“I was so happy to see you that I only focused on gathering this bit of malevolent aura to take form and meet you. But this person beside you is truly in the way. Meng Ruji…” The malevolent aura dispersed, leaving only his voice in everyone’s ears. “Next time, we’ll meet alone.”

Tuzi jumped down from Mu Sui’s shoulder and fiercely chased after it.

Meng Ruji wanted to call him back, but his figure quickly disappeared.

Meng Ruji was anxious: “Call him back! He can’t chase!”

“He has sense—he’ll only track a direction.” After Mu Sui spoke, he looked at Meng Ruji again, grasping her hand and pulling her up.

Only then did Meng Ruji see that her wrist, where Zhan Ye had gripped it, had become red and swollen, with bones aching faintly.

“Fortunately…” Meng Ruji smiled self-mockingly, “I only suffered this small injury.”

Mu Sui held a piece of silver, covering Meng Ruji’s wrist. Light rotated, and Meng Ruji’s wrist healed at a visible rate.

Meng Ruji watched in amazement, about to praise him, when she saw Mu Sui’s somber face staring at her coldly.

“What’s wrong…”

“Why didn’t you contact me?”

Mu Sui stared coldly at Meng Ruji.

Meng Ruji was startled.

“If you and I encountered the real Zhan Ye now, it wouldn’t be this situation. He might spare my life, but he won’t spare yours.” After Meng Ruji answered, she pondered: “It’s just strange—given Zhan Ye’s temperament, when he discovered me, he should have come personally. What important business does he still have in Zhuliu City…”

“Meng Ruji.”

Her hand was completely healed. Mu Sui released her hand. Meng Ruji’s gaze followed their clasped hands downward, but in the next instant, her face was cupped by Mu Sui’s other hand and lifted. This glance led straight into Mu Sui’s night-deep pupils.

“Next time, contact me immediately.”

“But… what if it’s a death trap…”

“Even if it’s a trap of ten thousand deaths.”

In a trance, her heart seemed to skip a beat.

Meng Ruji looked at Mu Sui, even forgetting to look away.

“Cough!” A violent cough startled Meng Ruji awake.

Meng Ruji blinked and immediately looked aside. Ye Chuan, who had been struck by Zhan Ye earlier, struggled out from a pile of debris beside the inn: “The malevolent aura on him is so powerful!” Ye Chuan said hatefully, “Such a villain! He must not be spared!”

Covering his chest and straightening up, he saw only Meng Ruji and Mu Sui standing in the middle of the quiet street.

“Where is the villain!?”

Meng Ruji cleared her throat and immediately pushed Mu Sui away.

Mu Sui also stepped back accordingly. He looked up toward where Tuzi had chased, then raised his hand with his index finger to his lips for a light whistle. Tuzi immediately came running back from the distance, leaping down from the rooftops above, transforming into his burly man form and standing before Mu Sui.

“City Lord! He flew toward the direction of Zhuliu City’s Chiying Hall! It must be that thief who stole the Golden Staff!”

“Why were you previously unaware of such a person heavy with a malevolent aura?” Ye Chuan asked strangely while coughing and walking over. “If not for Miss Meng’s swift action earlier, I would probably be dead by now…”

Tuzi looked at Mu Sui: “I’ve never heard of him. During the time City Lord was away, I never saw him either. Where did he come from…”

“He said…” Meng Ruji spoke up, “he had been sleeping here for many years. Is there a place in your Zhuliu City where someone could sleep for many years?”

Tuzi wondered: “Where would there be… But Brother Chensha said before that the day I left Zhuliu City to find City Lord, that person suddenly appeared and snatched the Golden Staff. Could he have been sleeping under the Marriage Tree before?”

“Who is Chensha?” Meng Ruji inquired.

“One of my subordinates.” Mu Sui answered briefly.

“Oh…” Meng Ruji looked at Mu Sui. “When you said ‘before,’ how long ago was that?”

Mu Sui glanced at Tuzi.

Tuzi bit his lip and smiled awkwardly.

Meng Ruji crossed her arms, looking at both of them: “It wasn’t just now, was it?”

Mu Sui had to look elsewhere and say: “I didn’t plan to hide it from you—I just wanted to split up to gather information faster.”

“Where is he now?”

“I sent him to secretly contact former subordinates.”

Meng Ruji snorted coldly and smiled: “Qianshan Jun is quite thorough.”

Seeing the situation turning bad, Tuzi immediately changed the subject, staring at Ye Chuan: “You, you, you—didn’t you say that after coming to the Land of No Return, you spent every day under the Marriage Tree waiting to die? Did you see him?”

Ye Chuan shook his head: “I only arrived recently. From Miss Meng’s meaning, that person seems to have been sleeping in Zhuliu City for a long time.”

“Of course.” Meng Ruji said coldly, “He died by my hand over a thousand years ago…”

Tuzi drew in a sharp breath: “Then wouldn’t that be… two hundred years earlier than when City Lord came to the Land of No Return? At that time, Zhuliu City didn’t even exist…”

“Miss Meng,” Ye Chuan couldn’t help asking, “what connection do you have with this person? You say you killed him, but I see he still has many obsessions with you. Could it be… he’s the same as I was before?”

At this point, all three looked at Meng Ruji.

Ye Chuan was genuinely curious. Tuzi was looking back and forth between Mu Sui and Meng Ruji.

Only Mu Sui…

His only action was to cross his arms like Meng Ruji had done earlier.

“Mountain Lord Meng, your past is quite colorful and varied.” This tone was identical to Meng Ruji’s praise of his being “thorough.”

“No wonder you two can be husband and wife,” Tuzi muttered quietly.

Meng Ruji glared at Tuzi, then glared at Mu Sui: “I’ve told you about my relationship with him. You don’t need to be jealous.”

“Now you’ll probably have to tell us in detail. This person has taken control of Zhuliu City and is extorting gold and silver everywhere. I’m afraid he’s now extremely difficult to deal with.” Ye Chuan said seriously, “What kind of person is he exactly? What does he want to do?”

“He…” Meng Ruji lowered her eyes slightly, “wants to become a perfect person.”