The long carriage bearing the Huaxu Clan’s cloud-pattern totem stopped before the imposing mountain gate of Zhongshan. The carriage door quickly opened, and a brilliant scarlet figure leapt down lightly, leisurely turning her head to gaze at the mountain gate. The next moment, several figures rushed before her swift as lightning, nearly crushing her in their embrace.

Xuan Yi exclaimed “Aiya!” and looked at them with a beaming smile. Her sentimental father and Qi Nan both had swollen eyes from crying. Qing Yan was somewhat better off, though the gloom on his face had truly almost congealed into dark clouds.

Before her and behind her—all the most important people in her life were here. For their sake, she had truly accomplished something earth-shattering and world-shaking.

She smiled faintly and spoke. “I’m fine. The Heart Feather ties have been severed, and my heart injury has healed too.”

This wretched girl—clearly she was fine yet hadn’t returned to Zhongshan, only confirming her safety through the Golden Seal divine official technique. She had nearly driven them mad with anxiety. Qing Yan was simultaneously blazing with fury and filled with joy, and he struck her heavily on the head.

It was quite a while later before they calmed down. Zhongshan Dijun didn’t even notice Fucang was there until now, and his expression immediately turned rather unpleasant. It was because of this Huaxu Clan brat that A’Yi’s heart injury had relapsed. Yet when A’Yi encountered calamity, it was he who accompanied her to the Sea of Parting Regret. He himself as a father, and Qing Yan as an elder brother, had been unable to move like dead meat at that time. This matter was simply the greatest humiliation of the Zhuyin Clan.

At this point he had no grounds to blame others for keeping A’Yi away for several days, so he could only pretend not to see.

Qing Yan looked at Xuan Yi. She was linking arms with the teary-faced Qi Nan, chattering away. Based on his understanding of this little sister, he feared that asking her anything wouldn’t yield any answers. He simply turned to Fucang and for the first time revealed a sincere expression. “Fucang Shenjun, this time my little sister was able to escape danger thanks to your assistance. This debt of gratitude—the Zhuyin Clan will surely repay it.”

The Huaxu Clan member who had received such weighty courtesy immediately returned the courtesy with elegance. Without waiting for him to say polite words, Qing Yan smiled again. “The world’s number one hot potato—now that you’re holding it, you absolutely cannot drop it again.”

It truly was the world’s number one hot potato. Fucang couldn’t help but laugh despite himself.

Xuan Yi linked arms with Qi Nan with a beaming smile, looking him up and down. “Qi Nan, your face is all swollen—quite ugly.”

Qi Nan had been utterly exhausted in heart and mind these past days. The three of them in their family had all inexplicably disappeared. Later, the Dijun and Xiaolong Jun were deposited before the mountain gate without any warning—no one knew who had sent them back. When those two returned, the Princess was missing. Now seeing her safe and sound, he had nothing left but streaming tears.

Xuan Yi laughed as she used her sleeve to wipe his tears. Looking up, she saw that Qing Yan was planning to invite Fucang into the Divine Intent Tower, presumably intending to inquire about the Sea of Parting Regret. She narrowed her eyes and suddenly said, “Let this matter end here. Don’t go seeking revenge.”

Qing Yan and Father would definitely not be willing to let the Qingyang Clan go, but first, Shao Yi had the divine soul of an emperor who had lived for several million years. If it really came to a desperate fight, Father and Qing Yan would absolutely be no match for him. Second, who the hell knew whether Shao Yi had truly recalled the Heart Feathers that the Qingyang Clan’s emperor had planted in them. If she were Shao Yi, she would most likely not recall them—that way she’d have a means to threaten them not to speak of the Sea of Parting Regret.

Zhongshan Dijun said angrily, “That junior of the Qingyang Clan toyed with the Zhuyin Clan in such a manner—how could we possibly let him go like this!”

Xuan Yi said coolly, “We don’t know if our Heart Feathers were truly severed. I don’t want to have worked hard for nothing. Please contain your anger, Father.”

Zhongshan Dijun was rendered speechless by her words. When it came down to it, this entire matter arose from his philandering bad habits. Not only had it caused A’Cui’s annihilation and A’Yi’s critical injuries that nearly killed her, it had also resulted in him being planted with Heart Feathers. In this half-lifetime, whether as a husband or as a father, he had truly been too inadequate, far too inadequate.

He let out a long sigh. Without saying another word, he turned and actually left the Divine Intent Tower.

Xuan Yi paid him no mind. She was just about to head to the Purple Mansion when she heard Qi Nan ask carefully, “Princess, you and Fucang Shenjun…”

Although he was so agitated his head was spinning, he had still seen the Huaxu Clan’s long carriage before the mountain gate clear as day. The Princess should have been together with Fucang Shenjun these past few days. This situation left him completely bewildered—he didn’t know whether to be happy that the Princess and Fucang Shenjun were entangled together again, or worried that the two of them would torment each other to death once more.

The Princess, who had returned full of the Zhuyin Clan’s domineering style, suddenly pouted, her voice going soft. “What are you asking? He and I don’t have anything going on.”

…If she said it like that, it proved they truly did have something going on.

Qi Nan was simply dazzled by their relationship that alternated between extremely vile and tenderly romantic. He hadn’t expected the Princess would get tangled up with him again. So it turned out he had been the big stick breaking up a pair of lovebirds for over twenty thousand years. He hadn’t even realized he was that wicked.

Xuan Yi broke through the cloud barrier. The lush, verdant Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry trees in the Purple Mansion immediately came into view. She slowly walked beneath the trees and looked up at the leaves interwoven with red and jade-green, standing lost in thought for a very long time.

An unsealed letter was suddenly presented before her. Qi Nan’s expression was somewhat hesitant.

“Princess, forgive me for only giving you this letter now. Originally I didn’t want you to have any more entanglements with Fucang Shenjun.”

Xuan Yi accepted the envelope with confusion. There wasn’t a single ink mark on it—only the Huaxu Clan’s cloud-pattern crest was stamped on it.

“I guess this should have been sent by Fucang Shenjun over twenty thousand years ago, probably around the time when the Princess’s heart injury relapsed and she fell into slumber.”

She slowly drew out the letter paper. As expected, not a single word was written on it. A sense of amusement suddenly rose in her heart, but after that amusement came a wave of bitterness. After that bitterness came some sourness. Finally, all the ripples ultimately settled into calm.

“I understand.” She folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. With a flick of her fingertip, the letter flew into her sleeping quarters and landed in a drawer.

Seeing her look of “I get it,” Qi Nan was immediately bewildered. “Princess… you understood it?”

Xuan Yi nodded.

But he completely didn’t understand it! Qi Nan very much wanted to ask, but as a middle-aged divine official, inquiring about such matters of romantic love would be terribly boring. He could only retreat two steps. “I’ll go prepare tea and refreshments for the Princess.”

Xuan Yi stared at the Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry for a while, then turned and walked toward Yuanzhan Hall. Beneath the windows of her sleeping quarters stood row after row of crystal racks, all filled with various small objects she had molded with Zhuyin White Snow over the years. Under the brilliant autumn sunlight, this white snow overflowed with pure energy, dazzlingly white.

She picked up a white snow peony and gazed at it in her palm for a moment. Then her wrist turned, and the snow mass in her palm became pitch-black as night.

Actually… pitch-black snow looked quite nice too.

When she had awakened inside Chunjun, she had felt something was wrong with her body. It felt heavy and weighted down. She inexplicably kept getting drowsy, but each time she could only sleep briefly before being inexplicably startled awake again. Was she about to perish? Or was she turning into something like those monsters in the Sea of Parting Regret?

Words that Shao Yi had half-jokingly said several times suddenly echoed in her ears: “You’re probably more likely to become a Demon King Dajun than I am.”

She wouldn’t really be about to become a Demon King Dajun, would she? Though it sounded not bad—more interesting than being Wangshu—right now was precisely the time of the heavenly edict to slaughter demons. Because of the Heart Feathers in Qing Yan and Father, she probably still couldn’t speak of the Sea of Parting Regret. This time she had truly inexplicably transformed from a savior into a demon. Just thinking about the war generals coming in swarms to deal with her the way they would deal with a Dajun made her feel it was utterly absurd.

Xuan Yi tossed and caught the black snow mass, then put it away listlessly. She had just turned and taken two steps when she suddenly felt a tearing pain on the back of her hand. She reflexively pressed down, but her palm caught a piece of icy, detached dragon scale.

She narrowed her eyes at this palm-sized pitch-black dragon scale, then looked at the back of her hand. Pitch-black turbid energy was seeping strand by strand through her flesh and blood. The injury rapidly healed, and the pain also instantly dispersed.

The autumn wind blew past her scarlet skirt hem, making her feel a bone-chilling coldness for the very first time.

The cloud barrier was broken through. Familiar footsteps sounded. Xuan Yi put the detached dragon scale into her sleeve and turned around. The white-robed deity was walking toward her.