The next morning, after everyone had rested well and was preparing to pack up and set off, Miaomiao discovered two things.

One thing was that the weather was gloomy and somewhat stifling, as if a heavy rain was about to fall.

The second thing was that Meng Ruji’s expression was also gloomy and quite unpleasant, as if she were holding back a belly full of anger.

At first, Miaomiao didn’t know why and didn’t dare to ask. It wasn’t until Meng Ruji was distributing breakfast to everyone that Miaomiao figured it out – it must be that Mu Sui had made Meng Ruji angry!

Because Meng Ruji was holding flatbread and had given some to everyone, even Tuzi got some, but she deliberately went around Mu Sui.

Miaomiao saw that Mu Sui’s hand was already extended halfway when Meng Ruji coldly went around him and handed the flatbread to Tuzi behind him.

Tuzi was a bit dull-witted and took the flatbread to eat by himself, not bothering to care about his master.

Mu Sui wasn’t in a hurry either. He just crossed his arms and leaned against their wooden cart, standing there with an air of leisure, watching Meng Ruji with his gaze, following her movements.

Meng Ruji didn’t even lift her eyes to look at him. After “finishing” distributing the flatbread, she sat at the other end of the wooden cart and began eating herself… but she covered the bread bag, not letting anyone else touch it.

Miaomiao bit into her flatbread and scooted over to Meng Ruji’s side, asking quietly: “Did you two fight?”

“A fight?” Meng Ruji bit into her flatbread, answering while eating. “I certainly didn’t. I just think that some deals don’t need to be discussed, and some cooperation doesn’t need to happen. That’s all.”

She spoke at just the right volume – not too loud, not too soft – so that everyone present could hear.

After wolfing down his flatbread, Tuzi heard this and realized what was happening. He looked up and saw that only his city lord brother’s stomach was still rumbling, without even a speck of flour on his fingers.

Tuzi became furious, his deep voice angrily scolding Meng Ruji: “What are you doing bullying my city lord brother! Hand over the flatbread!”

Meng Ruji laughed coldly, saying indifferently: “What are you yelling about? This business with Miaomiao – I’m the one negotiating it. Except for Miaomiao, how these supplies are distributed among you few, I have the final say. Considering you have to pull the cart, I’ll give you one flatbread. As for him, he has perfectly good hands and feet – surely he doesn’t need me to feed him. Let him go find fruit himself.”

“You’re bullying people!”

Before Tuzi could finish yelling, he saw Mu Sui walking toward the forest!

Tuzi was greatly alarmed: “City lord brother! Why must you suffer this bird’s anger!”

“You’re too noisy,” Mu Sui said as he walked.

Tuzi hurriedly followed. Though angry, he still went along with Mu Sui’s words and lowered his voice, complaining to Mu Sui: “I’m not pulling this broken cart anymore! I’ll accompany my city lord brother to find food! Brother hasn’t eaten well! I won’t take another step!”

“We’re not in a hurry to return to Zhuliu City,” Meng Ruji said leisurely while eating her flatbread. “You can take your time looking.”

Tuzi angrily turned back and pointed at Meng Ruji, starting to curse: “You venomous woman!…”

“Enough.” Mu Sui glanced at Tuzi, his gaze cold and thin, containing a hidden warning. “Shut your mouth.”

Tuzi was startled when he met Mu Sui’s eyes and immediately bit his mouth shut, not daring to make another sound. But his big feet still stomped on the ground as he walked sullenly into the forest.

Watching this scene unfold, Miaomiao’s eyes brightened as she looked at Meng Ruji: “Young Master Mu seems a bit different today… He seems to be somewhat… protective of you, Sister Ruji?”

“Protective like a pet?” Meng Ruji laughed coldly again. “I’m not an animal, nor am I a child. I don’t need anyone’s protection.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I just feel that today, Young Master Mu seems very protective of you.”

Meng Ruji glanced at Mu Sui’s retreating figure and viciously bit the last piece of flatbread into her mouth, as if she were chewing his flesh:

“He owes me.”

“Ah? Owes what?”

“Fair! Ness!”

Meng Ruji said no more about this matter, turning to join Ye Chuan, who had been crouching on the ground, tinkering with the wheels of the wooden cart.

By the time Mu Sui had finished eating, Ye Chuan had also adjusted the cart wheels better. Several people prepared to set off, but the weather looked increasingly bad, stifling beyond measure, with thunder faintly rumbling from within the dark clouds.

Smelling the scent of green grass at her nose tip, Miaomiao sighed: “Looks like we’re in for a heavy rain.”

“Why don’t we find shelter first?” Tuzi, who had been silently pulling the cart, suddenly spoke up. “I remember when we came this way, I vaguely glimpsed a broken house ahead.”

“That sounds good,” Ye Chuan nodded. “Don’t let the clothes and flatbread get soaked.”

No one objected. They hurried along and finally reached the broken house Ye Chuan mentioned just before the first raindrop fell.

But Meng Ruji hadn’t expected that this broken house was a small ruined temple.

The temple’s four walls had all collapsed, the roof tiles were scattered about, and the divine statue worshipped inside had a blurred face. The stone body was covered with moss that became even more azure-green after absorbing moisture.

Because half the roof had collapsed while the other half was supported entirely by the divine statue, there was still a dry area inside the temple.

Meng Ruji and Mu Sui, who were the first to enter the ruined temple, both paused simultaneously upon seeing the divine statue.

Then Meng Ruji, carrying the flatbread and clean clothes from their bundles, walked to the dry area and placed them in the most secure corner. While the rain wasn’t heavy yet, she began picking azure grass that looked like bamboo leaves beside the ruined temple.

Mu Sui stood before the divine statue for a while, saying nothing. As the rain grew heavier, he still didn’t move.

It wasn’t until Tuzi came in pulling the wooden cart, the sound of the wheels seeming to wake him, that he looked back. Miaomiao ran in with her hands shielding her hair, looking frantic. She didn’t look around at all and sat directly next to Meng Ruji.

“The rain in the Land of No Refuge is just like in the mortal world – it doesn’t consult with anyone before coming down hard,” Miaomiao complained while patting her clothes.

Behind them, Tuzi huffed and puffed, pulling the cart, getting it to a corner. The ground had become muddy from the rainwater, so Ye Chuan walked last, helping push.

“Finally made it inside,” Tuzi said, releasing the cart and immediately walking toward the area that blocked the rain. But Ye Chuan didn’t move.

Like Mu Sui, he stopped in his tracks upon seeing the divine statue.

But Mu Sui had already joined everyone in the rain-sheltered area, while only Ye Chuan remained, looking at the divine statue in shock, standing in the rain.

“This is a divine statue,” Ye Chuan said.

Only then did Miaomiao and Tuzi turn to look at the stone divine statue that was supporting the broken temple’s roof and sheltering them from the rain.

Tuzi responded with an “oh” and then walked to Mu Sui’s side, taking off his outer coat to lay on the ground as a cushion for Mu Sui, saying: “City lord brother, this spot is clean. Please sit down and rest.”

Mu Sui sat down as suggested, taking out the fruit he had been carrying and giving two to Tuzi. He peeled and ate the rest himself, remaining silent, though his eyes were as cold as the rainwater.

Miaomiao was confused, her gaze shifting several times between the divine statue and Ye Chuan:

“What’s wrong? Isn’t this quite common? Brother Ye, please come over quickly. The rain is getting heavy, your clothes and hair are getting soaked, you’ll get sick.”

“This isn’t common.” Ye Chuan stood stubbornly in the rain, staring fixedly at the divine statue. “The mortal world worships Immortal temples. This place worships a god.”

Hearing this, Miaomiao became even more confused, scratching her head in bewilderment.

“We should leave this place,” Ye Chuan said seriously.

“If you want to leave, you leave,” Tuzi said while peeling fruit. “In this rainy weather, this cart is so hard to pull. I’m not going out to get rained on.”

“Miss Meng,” Ye Chuan turned to call Meng Ruji. “As a cultivator, how can you rest in a place that worships gods?”

At these words, Meng Ruji, who was picking azure grass leaves nearby, paused in her movements. She turned to look at Ye Chuan.

On the side where neither of them noticed, Mu Sui also looked up, his black eyes tainted with the scent of rainwater, gazing at Meng Ruji, etching all her movements into memory.

“This time, Tuzi is right.”

Meng Ruji answered calmly.

Tuzi proudly pursed his lips: “See, city lord brother, even the bad woman thinks I’m right.”

Mu Sui lowered his gaze and took a bite of the peeled fruit, seeming completely unconcerned with their affairs. He just blinked once, and his expression looked somewhat gentler.

Meng Ruji shook the long leaf strips in her hands, walked back to the rain-sheltered area herself, sat cross-legged, and began weaving what was in her hands.

Seeing this, Ye Chuan became somewhat anxious: “Miss Meng!”

Meng Ruji calmly interrupted him: “I can hear you.”

“This is a temple that worships gods!”

“I can see that.”

“Don’t you know what gods used to be like! They wanted to destroy the world! Don’t you know!”

Meng Ruji’s hands quickly wove the azure grass. Soon, an azure grass cloak had roughly taken shape. As if taking time from her busy work, she answered: “I’ve heard something about it.”

“How can you be so indifferent?”

Mixed with Ye Chuan’s angry rebuke, a “rumble” sounded as brilliant white lightning struck down, illuminating the blurred face of the stone divine statue, vaguely revealing the divine features once carved upon it.

Those downward-looking eyes seemed to gaze down upon all the world’s chaos.

“The former Immortals, after thousands of years of war, finally defeated the tyrannical god clan and thus protected all living beings under heaven. How can you today hide in this temple that worships gods just because of some rain?” Ye Chuan looked at Meng Ruji with pain and indignation. “You are a cultivator…”

“No.”

Meng Ruji finally looked up at Ye Chuan.

“I’m just an unlucky person. Because of the arbitrary actions of an Immortal or demon, I was forced to become connected with this cultivation business. That’s all.”

Ye Chuan was stunned: “Who doesn’t cultivate from human to Immortal? And… didn’t the former Immortals protect ordinary people? You… you should follow the Immortals’ rules.”

“I respect and understand. You can stand in the Immortals’ position and condemn the former gods as tyrannical and evil. But I refuse to follow your rules.”

Thunder rolled. Though Meng Ruji spoke quietly, everyone in the rain curtain could hear her.

“Even if the Heavenly King himself came today, don’t think about making me go out and get caught in a single drop of rain.”

As she spoke, Meng Ruji finished weaving the first azure grass cloak. She bit the last blade of grass, tied a knot, then handed the cloak to Miaomiao: “Put it on, it’ll block those raindrops blowing in.”

“Oh…” Miaomiao obediently took it and put the cloak on.

Left standing in the rain, Ye Chuan’s face alternated between red and white. After a long time, when Meng Ruji had finished weaving her second cloak, Ye Chuan finally said: “If you insist on this, I also… have no choice. But I absolutely will not take shelter under the eaves supported by that god with you.”

Meng Ruji tossed the azure grass cloak toward Ye Chuan.

Ye Chuan almost instinctively caught it.

Meng Ruji’s expression remained unmoved as she continued weaving the next rain-blocking cloak with the remaining azure grass: “If you’re unwilling to receive the god’s protection, then let me temporarily protect you for a while. But since you’re standing in the rain, this cloak won’t be very effective at blocking rain anymore. Block what you can, just make do.”

Mu Sui, who was eating fruit with his head down, also let his gaze drift outward following that azure grass cloak.

He saw Ye Chuan gripping the azure grass cloak, his face no longer alternating between red and white but turning completely red.

Ye Chuan remained silent for a long time before finally putting on the azure grass cloak, turning around, and going outside the ruined temple’s crumbling walls.

He didn’t go far, just standing outside with his back to the ruined temple, like a flagpole planted there. It was unclear whether he was unwilling to look at the god or was guarding the people in the temple.

Mu Sui squeezed the fruit in his hand, his gaze falling once again on Meng Ruji’s hands weaving the azure grass.

She was weaving the third one…

“Are we not going to care about him?” Miaomiao sat beside Meng Ruji, looking at Ye Chuan outside with some worry. “The rain is so heavy. He’ll get sick…”

“People have their aspirations,” Meng Ruji said. “What cause you sow, what fruit you reap – it’s all your own choice. Pulling him in now would probably make him more miserable than giving him a knife wound.”

“Alright…” Miaomiao stopped trying to persuade and turned her attention to the azure grass cloak Meng Ruji was weaving. “Sister Ruji, how do you know how to weave this, and weave it so well?”

“I’ve raised many children.”

Meng Ruji tied a knot on the third azure grass cloak. With a nimble movement of her fingers, a different pattern appeared on the cloak – it looked like a rabbit head with upright ears. “Look, I can even make different patterns.”

Miaomiao exclaimed in admiration: “These rabbit ears are so cute!”

This one sentence made Tuzi stretch his neck out.

Mu Sui’s gaze also fixed steadily on Meng Ruji’s hands.

“Some children are very small. When you weave these patterns for them, they love them most.” After tying the final knot, Meng Ruji held the azure grass cloak and looked toward Tuzi and Mu Sui.

Tuzi stared at Meng Ruji with bright, sparkling eyes, while Mu Sui turned his head away, pretending to calmly eat the fruit he had peeled.

Meng Ruji asked: “Do you want it?”

Mu Sui swallowed the fruit in his mouth. Before he could open his mouth, Tuzi beside him answered in his deep voice: “I want it!”

Mu Sui: “…”

Then Tuzi got the azure grass cloak with the special rabbit pattern.

The cloak was a bit small on his shoulders. He didn’t mind and happily wore it, spinning around like a flower butterfly to admire it.

Mu Sui stared at him with cold indifference, watching his bearded face smile worthlessly: “This grass-woven rabbit pattern is really beautiful, city lord brother.”

City lord’s brother ignored him and snatched back a fruit he hadn’t had time to eat yet.

Finally, Meng Ruji finished weaving the fourth cloak.

Mu Sui glanced at her sideways. Meng Ruji didn’t waste a single look on him and put the azure grass cloak on herself.

Only some torn waste grass remained on the ground, not enough to make another one.

Thunder “rumbled” continuously.

The divine statue’s face showed neither sorrow nor joy in the dark clouds…

Neither did Mu Sui.

This rain lasted all day. By night, it had cleared, but the roads were still muddy and impossible to travel. Meng Ruji decided to simply spend the night in this ruined temple.

Though they hadn’t done much that day, Miaomiao quickly became sleepy. She wanted to sleep, but the ground was damp. Tuzi came up with an idea – everyone should take off their outer coats to make a bed for the “employer.”

Meng Ruji was a bit surprised that Tuzi had suddenly grown a brain.

Tuzi even took the lead, taking off his clothes first. So everyone followed suit, using their clothes to make a bed for Miaomiao to sleep on.

When Meng Ruji took off her outer coat, the stone from her sleeve fell to the ground.

Only then did she remember that Mo Li seemed to have been silent for a long time. He probably really had suffered greatly in Luo Yingfeng’s hands last time and needed to recover properly. Meng Ruji placed him beside Miaomiao’s “pillow.”

She then stood up to stretch her muscles.

With this movement, she saw Mu Sui walking outside the temple again.

Meng Ruji followed him out and saw Ye Chuan resting in a tree fork. He pointed in a direction for Meng Ruji: “He went that way. His expression looked somewhat strange.”

“I know,” Meng Ruji glanced at Ye Chuan. “Be careful sleeping in the tree tonight, don’t fall.”

Following Mu Sui to a place away from everyone, as expected, Meng Ruji once again saw Mu Sui leaning against a tree, his face pale with pain.

This time, Meng Ruji chose to stand in front of him with her arms crossed: “Your wounds hurt again?” Her words carried a somewhat theatrical tone as she crouched in front of Mu Sui and extended her hand.

Mu Sui, pale-faced and enduring the pain, watched Meng Ruji’s hand, which appeared even more white in the moonlight, reach toward him.

But she didn’t touch him. Her palm, carrying warmth, swept past where his skin could sense the heat, then she withdrew her hand.

Mu Sui knew she was doing it on purpose.

But he also knew that he was having his heartstrings plucked by her deliberate actions.

“Touching you would make you feel better, right?” Meng Ruji smiled happily, her palm hovering near his forehead and cheek at a distance of half an inch. “But I…”

Mu Sui raised his hand, wanting to grasp that warmth before him, but Meng Ruji quickly pulled her hand back.

He grasped damp, cold air and received Meng Ruji’s pleased light laugh: “Husband, how can you be so impolite?”

Mu Sui took a deep breath and looked up at her: “What do you want?”

Meng Ruji’s smile converged. She raised an eyebrow at Mu Sui: “One question, one answer. Finish the game.”

“Last night, at the beginning, I answered one of your questions,” Mu Sui said. “One question, one answer – you didn’t lose out.”

“I did lose out,” Meng Ruji said. “You didn’t answer in detail.”

Silence spread through the bone-chilling damp air of the forest.

Finally, Mu Sui spoke: “At Xuejing Cliff, the day I took your Inner Core, at the cliff edge, it wasn’t just you and me.”

“I know, there was also Ye Chuan.”

“Not him.” Mu Sui’s eyes held a cold light as he stared at Meng Ruji. “There were also some black monsters.”

Meng Ruji frowned: “Black monsters – what were they?”

“Perhaps they could be called shadow demons.”

“Be more specific.”

Monsters are formed by the gathering of malevolent energy. After I returned to the mortal world from the Land of No Refuge, I discovered that many places in the mortal world already had these kinds of monsters.”

Meng Ruji suddenly remembered that when she woke up that day, there were charred marks everywhere on Xuejing Cliff. She had thought Mu Sui did it, but it turned out to be traces left from Mu Sui’s battle with other monsters.

“That day, before I came to Xuejing Cliff, they had already arrived and broken your seal.”

“My seal was broken by them!?” Meng Ruji was shocked. “They have such ability?”

“Yes. Afterward, I fought fiercely with them. I killed them all and seized your Inner Core from their hands, taking it into my dantian.”

“My Inner Core was also taken by them!?” Meng Ruji was even more shocked. “You didn’t dig it out!?”

Mu Sui looked at Meng Ruji silently, essentially admitting it.

“You…” Meng Ruji was speechless for a long time before finally saying, “After you returned to the mortal world, you could defeat monsters that broke my seal. Are you… Still hiding your true strength from me?”

Mu Sui neither admitted nor denied, only summarized: “The malevolent energy in my body was left behind at that time.”

Meng Ruji found it strange: “If it’s only for this reason, why were you unwilling to tell me before?”

“This should count as the next question, shouldn’t it?” Mu Sui asked back.

Meng Ruji was silent for a moment: “Fine, I’ll dig out your entire background someday.”

Mu Sui quietly looked at Meng Ruji: “Is it fair now?”

“I suppose.”

“Your hand.”

His directness stunned Meng Ruji for a moment. Then she coughed lightly, sat to the side, stretched out her legs, and patted a spot just above her knees.

“Come here. If you negotiate deals properly, I won’t shortchange you either.”

Mu Sui looked at Meng Ruji’s legs. Surprisingly, he didn’t immediately lie down. He shifted his gaze to Meng Ruji’s face and asked a question he had asked before, but never received an answer to.

“Are you this good to everyone?”

Meng Ruji raised an eyebrow: “Should I be worse to you than?”

Before she finished speaking, Mu Sui lay down. Then he persistently said: “Your hand.”

Meng Ruji pursed her lips and placed her hand on Mu Sui’s forehead: “Is this better?”

“Mm.”

In the deep night, in the silence, the forest seemed to hold only the sound of their steady breathing.

After a long time, when Meng Ruji was almost falling asleep to these rhythmic sounds, she suddenly heard Mu Sui’s voice again: “You were more than just a little bad to me.”

Meng Ruji drowsily asked: “Hm?”

“The azure grass cloak…” Mu Sui’s voice was hazy, as if coming from a dream.

Meng Ruji couldn’t hear clearly and asked: “Do you want one too?”

For a long time, there was no answer. Meng Ruji thought he wouldn’t respond.

“No…” Mu Sui said, “I don’t want one…” His voice was very small, almost inaudible.

Meng Ruji pursed her lips: “Mu Sui, you’re so contrary.”

As she spoke, she thought to herself that tomorrow she shouldn’t tease him anymore – she’d make him one…

Who doesn’t want one? Only a fool wouldn’t want one (eating melon)

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This Ben Ru Ji – Chapter basically counts as a double update!!!