The Dragon Princess’s Purple Mansion didn’t seem much like the frozen world of ice and snow one might imagine. Everywhere red and jade-green interwove—it was planted full of Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry trees. She was standing beneath one of the Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry trees, her scarlet figure seeming as if it were about to take flight. She truly was very well-suited to the Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry.

Fucang placed the tea service he had retrieved from Qi Nan beneath the tree, pulled her to sit down, and without mentioning what he had just discussed with Qing Yan in the Divine Intent Tower, only said gently, “It’s very beautiful here.”

Xuan Yi silently poured a cup of Radiant Scenery Flower tea and picked up a Peach Blossom Hundred Fruits pastry. These had once been her favorites, yet now she didn’t want to eat them at all. She forced herself to take a bite—in her mouth it was utterly tasteless, like chewing wax.

Well, this was just great. Even tea and refreshments had no flavor now. With tears in her eyes, she set the teacup back on the tea service. She might as well just perish directly.

Fucang turned her head around and looked down at her intently. “What’s wrong?”

Xuan Yi was silent for a moment, then suddenly tumbled into his embrace, curling up like a cat. Her flame-red fingernails lazily picked at the cloud patterns on his chest—she had almost completely picked away the cloud patterns on this war general’s uniform of his.

“Fucang-shixiong.” She called to him in a low voice. “If I…”

“What?” he asked softly.

Xuan Yi paused, then continued, “If I wanted to go see that Qing Di Temple in the mortal realm, would you come with me?”

Fucang stroked her hair, his voice gentle. “The mortal realm is not like the upper realm. Earth, wood, brick, and stone decay. The Qing Di Temple is probably long gone.”

She let out a disappointed sigh. That’s right—so many years had passed. The imperial mausoleum was probably gone too. She had wanted to take him to see his mortal tomb—it had been quite grand and imposing.

“That Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry should still be there. Trees from the divine realm last ten million years without decay.” Fucang gathered her hair to one side. “Want to go see it?”

Who would have thought she’d shake her head. “You died there. I’m not going.”

…What kind of thing was that to say? Fucang pinched her waist several times in succession, tickling her until she nearly fainted, laughing so hard she almost cried.

The secluded autumn wind brushed past. The Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry leaves overhead made clear rustling sounds. Xuan Yi stared at them for a long time, then her gaze fell on Fucang. In a trance, the white-robed deity seemed to transform back into that mortal prince, telling her with his eyes that they could still go to many, many places and see many, many sights.

She raised her hand to touch his face and smiled faintly. “Let’s go see that Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry after all. Right now.”

*

The wind carrying turbid energy brushed against her hair and clothes again. That once paste-like uncomfortable feeling had disappeared, replaced by a strange sense of oppression. Xuan Yi reclined sideways on the lion’s back with her hand supporting her chin, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath—being in the lower realm was somehow making her severely dizzy.

The Nine-Headed Lion beneath her was trembling. The circle of eight small heads on its neck twisted around in terror to gaze at her. When her eyes swept over them, they tearfully shrank back.

Bullying Little Nine again. Fucang tapped her forehead lightly. Whenever the Dragon Princess mounted the lion’s back, Little Nine was either trembling or crying. The Pressure Aura of the Zhuyin Dragon God made all mounts fearful.

“Just returned to Zhongshan and you’re descending to the lower realm—won’t you stay a few more days?” The Zhuyin Clan acted in sinister, odd ways. Even among blood relatives they were strangely peculiar. When they said they’d risk their lives for someone, they’d risk their lives. When they said they were leaving, they’d leave immediately without wasting words. No one would try to stop them either.

Xuan Yi shook her head and suddenly said quite plainly, “Right now I want to be with you more.”

She had almost never spoken such intimate words. Now that she suddenly spoke them so casually, like everyday conversation, it actually made Fucang pause for a moment. But then he smiled, held her reclining body in his embrace, and stroked her head.

The Nine-Headed Lion shuttled through the sea of clouds. The wind blowing toward them grew inexplicably stronger and stronger, until their hair was blown backward.

Fucang gripped the reins and gazed into the distance. He saw masses of blood-red demonic fog colliding with auspicious light at the distant horizon. The mountains and terrain of the lower realm had already changed countless times over ten thousand years. What had once been the royal city was now a wasteland, and now it had become a battlefield where gods and demons clashed.

He had never seen this blood-red demonic fog before. The masses were extremely enormous, covering half the sky. Auspicious light flickered but couldn’t suppress it—this must be some extremely formidable Dajun.

Fucang instinctively tightened his hold around Xuan Yi’s waist and said in a low voice, “We won’t go over there.”

With the Dragon Princess present, he really didn’t want a repeat of the incident with Sui Hu Dajun last time. Who would have thought this princess who feared nothing would have her eyes light up, grabbing his sleeve and shaking it vigorously. “Let’s go see which Dajun it is.”

Fucang frowned and pressed down on her hand. “Don’t make trouble.”

He drove the Nine-Headed Lion to turn in a different direction. They had just flown for a short distance when they saw countless rays of auspicious light speeding toward them from the opposite direction. Immediately after, Prince Chang Qin’s voice suddenly rang out. “Fucang! What brings you here?”

He inwardly thought this was bad. Sure enough, those rays of auspicious light landed nearby—all were war generals from the Dingmao Division. Prince Chang Qin landed at his side and looked him up and down with delight. “Your injuries have healed? I heard from my family’s divine officials that they were severe. I thought we’d have to wait a while longer. Your timing is perfect. The Yiwei Division just issued a muster order. The Ba Snake Dajun is causing havoc. He slept for ten thousand years previously and only recently awakened—he’s extremely formidable. We’re in great need of your Huaxu Clan sword technique.”

After saying this, he looked at Xuan Yi somewhat impolitely and said coolly, “The Princess’s Zhuyin White Snow can probably be put to use as well.”

What did he mean “probably be put to use”? Xuan Yi’s brows furrowed, but Fucang had already spoken before her. “She won’t take action.”

Prince Chang Qin was after all the commanding general of the Dingmao Division. Arranging for his subordinate war generals to go into battle to exterminate the demon clan was perfectly normal—he absolutely couldn’t refuse. Fucang grabbed Xuan Yi’s shoulder and rarely showed her a stern expression. “If I see you make even one move against that Dajun, you know the consequences yourself.”

So fierce. Xuan Yi widened her eyes to look at him. Fucang struck her forehead heavily, then drove the Nine-Headed Lion to follow behind the Dingmao Division war generals, speeding toward where the demonic fog surged.

Before they had completely approached, they could already see that the wasteland had long been swallowed by dark green poisonous liquid. The war generals who had rushed over upon receiving the muster order were locked in fierce battle with a colossal pitch-black Ba Snake. Because this Ba Snake Dajun was poisonous all over, the war generals couldn’t get close and could only avoid him from a distance while randomly hurling techniques at him, having already torn apart a section of his waist.

Fucang before her rose to depart on the wind. Xuan Yi suddenly couldn’t help but grab his sleeve.

Fucang turned his head back, cupped her face in both hands, leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Be good. Stay here and don’t move.”

She quietly watched him depart on the wind. Chunjun transformed into an enormous golden dragon, its cold golden eyes also fixing on her—what are you looking at, ignorant thing? She glared at it. Fucang recited an incantation. The golden dragon turned and shot toward the Ba Snake Dajun swift as lightning, transforming into myriad tides that pried open the iron-like snake scales one by one.

Thick, heavy turbid energy rushed toward her face. Xuan Yi only felt a wave of dizziness. Her back split painfully and several more dragon scales fell off. She pressed her hand against her back. A buzzing sound filled her ears.

The Nine-Headed Lion beneath her let out a trembling whimper, shaking so much it was about to fall from the sea of clouds. Xuan Yi struck its largest head heavily. This stupid lion was truly useless.

The Ba Snake Dajun opposite them seemed to have been beaten into desperation by the war generals. His body suddenly swelled several times larger. He opened his gaping bloody maw and sucked violently. The gods only felt as if a large hand had pushed them hard from behind. Quite a few war generals with weak divine power were actually sucked directly into his belly.

He straightened his body vertically and opened his mouth to suck again. A slender scarlet figure was actually sucked toward him as well—in the blink of an eye she was about to fall into his giant maw.

Fucang’s gaze turned grim. The Zhuyin Dragon God being sucked away by a Ba Snake? Was this a joke? She was making trouble again! He was just about to recite an incantation, ordering Chunjun to swallow this disobedient Dragon Princess, when he saw the golden dragon open its giant maw beyond his control and actually bite down hard on her body. Then it flung her away, and the Ba Snake Dajun happened to take his third suck—she was forcibly sucked into his belly.