So the underground palace they had seen earlier was the residence of the Jade Rat Great Lord. With an ancient demon clan entrenched here, that catfish demon probably wouldn’t dare act rashly.
Fucang nodded in return salute and asked: “Why is Senior Brother Shao Yi here?”
Shao Yi drank a mouthful of wine from the blue jade cup that Ning Ying brought to his lips and smiled: “I grew somewhat tired of the East Sea, so I came to the lower realm to see Ning Ying. I didn’t expect to encounter Junior Brother Fucang by chance.”
Everyone said that Shao Yi Shenjun of the Qingyang Clan was romantic and elegant. It seemed he wasn’t just romantic—his courage was also extraordinarily great. He even dallied with a princess of the ancient demon clans and openly drank wine and flirted on top of other people’s homes.
The Jade Rat Princess called Ning Ying sat in Shao Yi’s embrace, but her beautiful eyes stared fixedly at Fucang. Seeing his collar hanging open, exposing half his collarbone, her gaze became even more ardent, and she laughed softly.
Fucang’s expression remained unchanged as he adjusted his collar: “Senior Brother Shao Yi has such refined tastes.”
Shao Yi looked at his unevenly cut hair and the messy tears all over his clothes, and couldn’t help but laugh: “Why is Junior Brother Fucang in such a sorry state? Did you encounter some trouble?”
Fucang was about to speak when the loach in his embrace probably disliked the wine smell in the pavilion. She sneezed heavily and struggled forcefully inside the clothes. No matter how he tried to stop her, it was useless. She forcibly burrowed into his sleeve and scrambled around chaotically. Finally, she poked her head out from the sleeve opening and sneezed again.
The blue jade cup in Shao Yi’s hand dropped down as he exclaimed in shock: “A little loach?”
The Princess Ning Ying beside him, however, suddenly changed color. She hurriedly retreated several steps, her face showing fear: “A Zhuyin Dragon God?!”
She was a demon of the Jade Rat Clan. Upon seeing an upper realm dragon, she felt instinctive terror, let alone a Zhuyin Dragon God who was the most venerable of all dragons. She immediately transformed into a gust of yin wind, whooshing out of the bamboo pavilion, and spoke distantly: “Shao Yi, I cannot accompany you further. Remember to come see me often. Fucang Shenjun, until we meet again next time. I would be willing to dual cultivate yin and yang with the Shenjun, for you to pluck as you please.”
Female demons of the lower realm had always been bold and direct. She smiled sweetly, and the yin wind dissipated in mid-air.
Shao Yi picked up the blue jade cup and wiped away the wine stains on his sleeve, glancing at Fucang with a half-smile: “Ah, you steal my thunder as soon as you arrive. I’ll have to be more careful in the future. Female demons can be very clingy.”
As he spoke, he moved closer to look at that listless little loach. Seeing those two small dragon horns on her head were quite adorable, he couldn’t help but reach out to touch them. Fucang gently blocked him, saying in a low voice: “Senior Brother Shao Yi, she’s injured.”
“I know she’s injured,” Shao Yi only smiled. “Otherwise how could she reveal her dragon form? It looks like she’s quite seriously hurt. What exactly happened to you two?”
Fucang briefly recounted their experience. Shao Yi couldn’t help but draw in a breath: “You mean—that catfish demon who eats divine beings… is extremely beautiful?”
Fucang said flatly: “That’s right, extremely formidable.”
“Better looking than many goddesses?”
“More formidable than many divine beings.”
“Before eating divine beings, she first has romantic pleasures?”
“Before eating them, she first uses the Seven Malevolent Formation to drain away all their divine power.”
Shao Yi sighed repeatedly: “Why isn’t this my assignment? Master is so biased!”
Fucang looked at him for a few moments and said: “Senior Brother Shao Yi need not lament. With Senior Brother’s sincerity, how could you worry about not seeing her?”
“That would be perfect.” Shao Yi smiled slightly, then suddenly struck out like lightning, plucking that little loach from his sleeve. He pulled off the bandages on her right leg and held her between two fingers to examine carefully while laughing: “Oh my, injured in a place where scales haven’t grown. No wonder. Poor little loach, even I feel somewhat heartbroken seeing this. Let me help.”
He gently blew a breath toward this sleeping little loach. In an instant, a golden light spread across the loach’s belly. Soon, the golden light disappeared into her heart. The wound on her right leg that had originally been deep enough to see bone actually healed somewhat instantly.
Didn’t they say the Zhuyin Clan was immune to all methods? Fucang was secretly alarmed—what kind of technique was this?
Shao Yi placed the loach in his palm to examine closely. Just as he was about to rub those two rice-grain-sized dragon horns, he heard a “poof” sound. This loach instantly transformed back into human form. He caught her with one hand and without any courtesy reached to untie her waist sash. The moment his fingertip touched her clothes, Fucang across from him suddenly blocked him again.
“Senior Brother Shao Yi.” He slowly called his name. “To look at the wound, there’s no need to remove her clothes.”
Shao Yi smiled innocently: “You’re right.”
He bent down and lifted Xuan Yi’s skirt hem, very appropriately only lifting it to knee level. Indeed, the three deep lacerations on her right leg had stopped bleeding, and the curled flesh had even closed up slightly.
He had always heard that the Qingyang Clan and Zhuyin Clan had irreconcilable differences. He hadn’t expected that the Zhuyin Clan, who were immune to all methods, would be quite different in the hands of the Qingyang Clan. Fucang couldn’t understand it at all and asked: “What method did Senior Brother Shao Yi use?”
Shao Yi smiled and lowered the skirt hem: “It’s better not to know.”
He jostled Xuan Yi in his embrace and sighed deeply: “This little loach is really heavy and ice-cold. You hold her.”
Fucang was suddenly handed Xuan Yi by him and hurriedly supported her with his hands, rewrapping her right leg properly. This dragon princess was still sleeping deeply, her entire face buried in his outer garment. He didn’t know when she would wake.
The wind on the cliff top suddenly grew stronger, causing both deity lords’ robe hems to rustle loudly. Shao Yi finished the wine in his cup alone and was about to pour more, but the pot was already empty. He shook the wine pot, carrying a trace of tipsy drunkenness, and spoke: “So then, shall we go?”
This truly took audacious courage.
Fucang fixed his gaze into the depths of the night. He had already sensed that catfish demon’s demonic energy. Because this place was above the Jade Rat Great Lord’s underground palace, she also had misgivings and didn’t dare take action. If they left here, the consequences would be unimaginable.
He glanced at Shao Yi: “Senior Brother must be drunk.”
Shao Yi smiled: “As they say, to die beneath the peony flowers—even as a ghost, one would be romantic. If I could see the Wujiang Fairy’s jade countenance, even if she ate me, so what?”
As soon as the words fell, the Wujiang Fairy’s sweet, melodious voice rang out in the pavilion: “This little deity lord is truly one who knows sentiment and taste, unlike that Fucang Shenjun who injured me. It still hurts terribly even now.”
With that, her graceful figure appeared like ink poured into clear water, gradually becoming clear. She lazily reclined beside Shao Yi, examining him with a smile. Seeing his handsome appearance was not inferior to Fucang’s, she reached out to touch his face and said softly: “Who are you?”
Shao Yi reached out and unceremoniously embraced her shoulder. With his other hand, he lifted her chin and gazed down at her for a moment with a smile, asking in return: “And who are you?”
The Wujiang Fairy smiled charmingly: “I know now—you must be Shao Yi Shenjun. Do you know how many female demons in the lower realm suffer lovesickness for you to the bone?”
Shao Yi’s voice was gentle and sweet: “So I’m that famous. Then are you willing to become one of them?”
The Wujiang Fairy giggled: “I like both of you, and I also like that little princess of the Zhuyin Clan very much. What should I do? I can’t bear to give up any of you. Why don’t you all come with me?”
Her hands suddenly closed together. The two deity lords felt the scene before their eyes instantly transform—they were suddenly back at the River Deity’s residence.
Even Shao Yi’s expression changed slightly. This catfish demon’s cultivation was actually so unfathomably deep. Above the Jade Rat Great Lord’s underground palace, she still dared to take action.
“When Fucang Shenjun left, he struck with such a heavy hand, breaking the Seven Malevolent Formation I had worked so hard to build.” The Wujiang Fairy sighed distantly, floating down onto the pitch-black floor tiles. She pointed at herself—her form-fitting ochre-colored long dress had many small tears and was also stained with a few drops of blood. “And he injured me too. Such a cruel heart.”
Her gaze lingered on Fucang’s ice-and-snow-like face. He acted as if he hadn’t heard, only using his outer garment to wrap the sleeping Xuan Yi in his embrace into a meat worm again. Holding her with one hand, he removed the Chun Jun sword from his waist with the other.
The Wujiang Fairy said coquettishly: “How about this, Fucang Shenjun—give me the little princess of the Zhuyin Clan, and you two little deity lords keep me company for some conversation and tea. If I’m happy, I’ll let you two go. How about it?”
He still didn’t speak. Instead, Shao Yi circled around the River Deity’s residence that was covered with wild smoke, tangled grass, and filled with gray mist. With his hands behind his back, he sighed with admiration: “The Fairy has a face like flowers and moon, yet this River Deity’s residence is not managed very well—desolate and bleak. How can the Fairy live here?”