With things being like this, if Cui Xiaoxiao didn’t accept Yu Ling’er, she would practically be forcing the little fox to scatter her cultivation and revert to her original form!

There was no choice—if Yu Ling’er wanted to follow, then let her follow!

However, Xiaoxiao made the ugly truth clear from the start: she wasn’t taking Yu Ling’er as a disciple or servant. Yu Ling’er could follow if she wanted, and leave if she didn’t—Xiaoxiao would never stop her.

As for meals and such, it would be best if Yu Ling’er practiced grain avoidance and didn’t need earthly food, but if she had to eat, she’d have to figure it out herself.

There was no helping it—Xiaoxiao felt sorry for Master. His money now came from the hard work of taking pulses and selling medicinal plasters, earned penny by penny.

Originally, a young man supporting her, plus Wei Jie who ate and drank voraciously, was already hard enough. Adding another hundred-year-old fox demon, she feared Master was too young to support so many people and would be exhausted.

When they descended from Tuyun Mountain, although there was an extra burden following behind and her arm still ached with burning pain, Xiaoxiao felt extremely fortunate—after all, she had originally prepared for a severed arm.

Perhaps because she and Wei Jie had simultaneously received the heavenly lightning, the tribulation that should have severed one arm was shared between two people and greatly reduced.

Although her injuries were severe and her arm was splinted and bandaged, she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

After all, through this tribulation, the chain between her and Wei Jie had finally broken, and even the rings clasped around their wrists had been struck to ash by heavenly thunder—a blessing in disguise.

Even with one arm severely injured, it was worth it!

However, Wei Jie had many doubts in his mind. If Cui Xiaoxiao’s return to Tuyun Mountain was to fulfill her promise to the Fox King and take on disaster for the fox clan, that would be easy to explain.

But she seemed to have known long ago that there was an ancient treasure sword in Tuyun Mountain that could block disasters—how could this be explained?

When he asked, Xiaoxiao blinked and lies came readily to her lips: “Our Talismonger Sect’s grandmaster and the fox clan of Tuyun Mountain were old acquaintances, and he knew the secret of the sword hidden behind the mountain. This sword was left by Goddess Nüwa in the past—daring to struggle against heaven, it can naturally withstand heavenly punishment.”

Her half-true, half-false words indeed fooled people. Wei Jie nodded and asked no more questions.

After leaving Tuyun Mountain, the first thing on Xiaoxiao’s mind was to find a restaurant and order four substantial meat dishes, bury her face in a large bowl, and eat heartily with all her might!

During this time, when Wei Jie tried to reach his chopsticks for another piece of meat, he was blocked by his master’s chopsticks and had to endure her fierce glare.

Wei Jie could see that competing with his master for meat was like fighting a vicious dog for food—not something a smart person should do!

So he wisely stopped eating, only occasionally adding a chicken leg or pig’s foot to Xiaoxiao’s bowl since she had trouble using chopsticks with her injured arm.

The fox demon Yu Ling’er wasn’t allowed at the table, only sitting beside an empty table, her slender fingers kneading the small bundle she brought, looking at it resentfully.

Only after Xiaoxiao filled her stomach did she lean back, satisfied yet disappointed, then apologetically said to Tang Youshu: “Master… Young Master Tang, you should eat too! Why have you barely touched your bowl of rice?”

Because of the Talismonger Sect’s flexible informality, Xiaoxiao always called her grand-disciple “Young Master Tang.” After all, she knew in her heart that this person was her benefactor—calling him grand-disciple would be treasonous, and she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

Upon hearing his grandmaster’s concern, Young Master Tang quickly used his chopsticks to shovel rice into his mouth and swallow.

After all, he had witnessed his grand-master’s food-guarding skills, nearly poking chopsticks into Master Wei Jie’s throat, which scared him from daring to pick up any dishes.

Xiaoxiao quickly transferred large pieces of fish from the plate into Tang Youshu’s bowl.

What a joke—all these meals were bought with Master Tang Youshu’s money. If he couldn’t eat, who could?

Yu Ling’er originally didn’t understand why Cui Xiaoxiao wouldn’t let her eat with them. But seeing Cui Xiaoxiao’s famine victim eating style, she somewhat understood the Talismonger Sect’s dining practices—it was like tigers and wolves competing for food.

She sat for a while, felt hungry, then quietly got up and went to the tavern’s back courtyard.

Before long, Yu Ling’er returned with her head lowered.

Xiaoxiao was packing up the remaining food when she heard someone shouting from the restaurant’s back courtyard: “What’s going on? Why are there two fewer chickens in the courtyard? Oh my, what’s this pool of blood? Did a damn weasel get in here?”

After listening for a while, Xiaoxiao turned to look at Yu Ling’er and saw her delicately licking her tongue, with two chicken feathers still stuck to the corners of her mouth…

My ancestor! Xiaoxiao quickly went over and pulled off her chicken feathers.

Tang Youshu hurriedly went to settle the bill, using the excuse of giving a tip to pay extra for two chickens.

After leaving the restaurant, Xiaoxiao earnestly lectured the fox woman: “This is a village town, full of people everywhere. Don’t you think you should follow human rules? Stealing chickens like this will cause trouble sooner or later! Besides, wasn’t one chicken enough? Why did you have to eat two?”

Her tone was quite gentle, but Yu Ling’er’s eyes were already brimming with tears, her lips trembling as she choked out: “I didn’t want to… but I was hungry…”

Speaking of the feeling of hunger, Xiaoxiao, who had fasted for many days, deeply empathized.

Although this was a little demon forced upon them by the fox clan, if she ignored her completely, this little fox would eventually die under people’s clubs for theft.

Xiaoxiao thought about how Master had not disdained her for being a street swindler and pickpocket, and gladly accepted her as a disciple. Now that it was her turn, how could she abandon Yu Ling’er just because she was a demon?

So she solemnly said to Yu Ling’er: “In the future, if you’re hungry, tell me—you can’t steal anymore! If you’re dedicated to goodness, the Talismonger Sect might consider accepting you as a disciple in the future…”

Wei Jie, listening from the side, couldn’t help but laugh.

Xiaoxiao asked what he was laughing about. Wei Jie smiled lazily: “I’m happy for Master—the Talismonger Sect is growing again… But I want to ask, if the Talismonger Sect accepts both children of Numei and fox demon women… are we heading toward the demonic path?”

Nonsense! Sect Leader Cui glared: “Our Lingshan Talismonger Sect is a dignified, righteous path in the mortal world! How can we be confused with the demonic path?”

Oh, Wei Jie nodded with sudden understanding, just smiling and saying nothing more!

But with his question, Xiaoxiao felt quite dejected.

Speaking of it, she was striding along the path Wei Jie had taken to become a demon in his previous life.

Think about it—she carried the Demon Lord’s demon pearl in her body, wore the Demon Lord’s sharp sword “Yu Tiandou” at her waist, and was followed by the demon Wei Jie and his former right-hand men.

The righteous banner of Lingshan Talismonger Sect had been shaky two hundred years ago—if things went wrong, a demonic sect leader would be born.

But if she used this pretense to clean house, that wouldn’t be bad either!

Thinking this, halfway through their journey, she used casual conversation to probe: “Actually, our Talismonger Sect isn’t a righteous path… I’ve always had this wish to try entering the demonic path, and probably the Talismonger Sect will take the demonic route in the future… You’re a descendant of the Demon-Subduing Wei family—how can you go astray? Otherwise, let our master-disciple relationship end here.”

Wei Jie looked down at his master, who spoke so brazenly about wanting to enter the demonic path, half-smiling: “Enter the demonic path? Not bad. I think the so-called righteous path of the mortal world isn’t very interesting anyway. As they say, children don’t despise their mother’s ugliness, dogs don’t despise their family’s poverty—please be assured, Master, whether you’re immortal or a demon, this disciple will follow you all the way!”

Xiaoxiao was struck speechless by his pure childlike devotion, and could only nitpick and scold: “Stupid! Couldn’t you see I was testing you? How could our Lingshan Talismonger Sect take the evil demonic path? You have no resolve—truly learning to bite from evil dogs! Won’t you be led astray by evil demons and lose your true heart in the future? I think it’s better to expel you from the sect early!”

After speaking, she wanted to drive Wei Jie away.

Before the to-be-abandoned disciple Wei Jie could speak, Tang Youshu hurried over to mediate: “Grand-master, Master was just joking with you—please don’t take it seriously! If Master is expelled from the sect, then… wouldn’t Master and I both become abandoned disciples of Lingshan Talismonger Sect? With such a reputation, how… how could I live…”

Seeing Master Tang’s eyes moisten with hurt, Xiaoxiao was frightened and quickly pulled out a handkerchief to gently coax: “You are you, your master is your master—how can they be confused? Oh my, don’t cry, I… I was just joking with your master too…”

While she was flustered, the fox woman added to the chaos: “I’m hungry, when are we eating? I only eat chicken organs and breast meat—one isn’t enough. Rabbit meat is fine too, I’m not picky…”

This group of Talismonger Sect people walked so slowly, taking half a day to travel—it was too appetizing.

At this moment, Wei Jie, who had almost been expelled from the sect and was in a bad mood, said coldly, “In my opinion, we should eat roasted fox tonight. I’ll handle the knife to slaughter and skin the fox—it’ll be perfect for Master to see whether this disciple’s resolve to subdue demons is firm or not?”

Hearing these words, Yu Ling’er burst into tears with a “wah,” her cries mixed with sharp fox calls.

Xiaoxiao was helpless—this chaotic household was enough to give her, the sect leader, a headache!

Xiaoxiao’s earlier words had hurt Wei Jie’s self-esteem. After scaring Yu Ling’er to tears, he didn’t say another word, just turned cold-faced and vanished into the air without a trace.

Seeing Wei Jie disappear in the blink of an eye, Xiaoxiao was stunned, then touched her still-unhealed arm and slowly let out a long breath.

It was best that he had the sense to leave on his own!

As for the remaining tribulations in his bumpy life, he could complete them slowly by himself.

She didn’t want to get mixed up with him anymore and continue being his scapegoat!

Tang Youshu hadn’t expected his master to leave so suddenly, so he could only urgently ask his grandmaster: “Grandmaster, should we go chase after Master?”

Xiaoxiao comforted Master, then said to the still-sniffling Yu Ling’er: “Alright, he’s gone, you don’t need to be afraid anymore. Weren’t you hungry? This place has high mountains and dense forests—you can catch some pheasants to eat yourself.”

But Yu Ling’er shook her head: “No, I’m scared…”

Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes and pressed: “Scared of what?”

Yu Ling’er looked at the gradually setting sun and said quietly: “I’m afraid of the dark…”

She was the fox clan’s precious pearl—from childhood to adulthood, clan members had always hunted prey and let her pick the tender parts to eat. And even when hunting, she generally wouldn’t be alone.

Cui Xiaoxiao wanted her to hunt alone at night—what a joke! Was she trying to scare her to death?

Xiaoxiao understood—her own experience was too shallow, she didn’t know there were fox demons afraid of the dark!

Didn’t all the books say fox spirits knocked on scholars’ doors in the middle of the night?

Now thinking about it, the Fox King sending such a delicate fox demon princess to her, saying what about being a maid to warm her bed and fan her—wasn’t this retaliation?

In similar situations before, where they were in the middle of nowhere, Wei Jie would go hunting. But now Wei Jie was gone, the fox demon was unreliable, Tang Youshu was powerless, so only she, the sect leader with an injured arm, could hunt alone.

Tang Youshu originally wanted to go too, but Yu Ling’er by the campfire kept crying that she was scared alone, so Xiaoxiao had Tang Youshu stay while she went to see if there were any pheasants or rabbits to catch.

Her hunting always relied on Soul-controlling Talismans—laying the talismans on the ground and waiting for prey to walk into the trap.

Unfortunately, her luck was bad today. After guarding in the dense forest for a long time, the Soul-controlling Talisman only caught passing small lizards and some crawling insects.

She didn’t know if that dark-fearing little fox was picky and whether she could eat a lizard first to fill her stomach.

Xiaoxiao herself was very hungry too, and her still-unhealed arm was aching dully.

If Wei Jie were here, she would already be roasting meat by the campfire.

It had to be said that although Wei Jie was a future demon lord, he was more reliable in daily life than the senior brothers.

Along this journey, many things Xiaoxiao had overlooked had always been done by him.

When Xiaoxiao returned carrying a lizard, she smelled the aroma of roasted meat.

She walked quickly with suspicion and discovered that two roasted chickens and a roasted rabbit were already set up over the campfire.

And Wei Jie, who should have left in anger, was sitting leisurely by the campfire, chatting and laughing with Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er, occasionally sprinkling salt on the roasted meat.

When he saw Sect Leader Cui approaching with a finger-length lizard, Wei Jie said half-mockingly: “Master is changing tastes? Going for something this exotic?”

Xiaoxiao casually threw away the lizard, then slowly sat down, eyeing Wei Jie sideways: “Didn’t you leave?”

Wei Jie tore off a rabbit leg and handed it to Xiaoxiao, then said casually, “Just went hunting—where could I go?”

This kind of repaying evil with good behavior was worthy of a gentleman, making her, the master, seem petty by comparison.

Xiaoxiao slowly gnawed the rabbit leg, not knowing how to continue maintaining a stern face to drive him away. After all, they weren’t bound together now—if she continued mixing with him, she’d be walking straight into hell’s gates.

Just then, Wei Jie sat beside her and used a handkerchief to wipe the mouth of his injured master.

Xiaoxiao was caught off guard and didn’t dodge. When she looked up to scold him for being meddlesome, she met his light purple eyes directly.

Under the flickering campfire, his slightly turned face was handsome and charming, with endless depth. As he wiped her greasy mouth, he didn’t seem to think he was overstepping at all, saying with slight indulgence: “Look at you, eating like a child—you even got oil on your nose…”

Xiaoxiao was somewhat speechless. She suddenly felt Wei Jie was being overly paternal—what was going on?

Just then, Wei Jie said, “Oh, I suddenly remembered there’s a Ghost Doctor in Luoyi City who might be able to treat your arm. It’s not far from here to Luoyi City, and there are only a few days left before his consultation time—we should make it.”

Hearing this, Xiaoxiao suddenly thought of Wei Jie’s next tribulation, which seemed to be related to Luoyi City.

According to his original trajectory, he should have gone to Luoyi City to treat his severed arm.

The Demon Pearl had said that even if Wei Jie’s life was slightly changed, the suffering he was meant to endure couldn’t be missed.

Even if he didn’t bear it himself, someone had to bear it for him.

But Wei Jie’s injuries weren’t severe—if she parted ways with Wei Jie here, would he go to Luoyi?

Thinking this, she probed: “Actually… my injury isn’t serious… and I want to let you travel and train around. I wonder, if you were alone, where would you go?”

Wei Jie raised an eyebrow—he noticed that today, Master loved to bring up topics of “parting.”

But since Xiaoxiao asked, he thought: “I’d probably travel to the Northern Darkness. I heard the kun fish are appearing there again—maybe if I’m lucky, I could see the spectacular sight of a kun transforming into a great roc.”

Xiaoxiao bit her lip. The Northern Darkness was extremely far from here—if he went, it would take several years to return. Wouldn’t the next tribulations in his life all be disrupted?

The rumbling sound of heavenly punishment seemed to still echo in her ears. She knew she temporarily couldn’t separate from Wei Jie—she had to guide him to Luoyi and complete the tribulations he should walk through.

But she didn’t need to think of everything so pessimistically. For example, on Tuyun Mountain, hadn’t she and Wei Jie, who should have each lost an arm, escaped the severed arm tribulation by bearing the tribulation simultaneously and offsetting the heavenly punishment?

Next, she just needed to lead Wei Jie through the ordeals he should have suffered in his past life again, guiding him to successfully become a demon, and then she could gracefully withdraw and return two hundred years later.

Thinking this, Xiaoxiao’s spirits lifted again, and she no longer spoke coldly about expelling Wei Jie from the sect.

Besides diligently sprinkling some freshly picked wild scallions on Wei Jie’s chicken leg for flavor, she also took a handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

Seeing his grandmaster and master reconcile again, Tang Youshu was relieved and passed the wine gourd to his master.

At this moment, the campfire was bright, roasted meat was fragrant, the master was loving, the disciple was filial—everything was so harmonious.

Yu Ling’er had never eaten much grilled chicken before. After tasting it, she found it was much more delicious than bloody organs!

It seemed this eating and drinking sect indeed had some skill—following these people, at least her mouth wouldn’t suffer.

But thinking of her beloved in Lingyun Pavilion, the little fox felt lovesick again, gnawing chicken meat while occasionally letting out mournful fox calls, causing roosting birds to fly about in chaos…

Since they had clarified their next destination, the group’s travel became much faster.

Although Wei Jie knew shape-shifting techniques, he could only take Xiaoxiao alone for rapid travel.

As for Yu Ling’er, she walked absent-mindedly the whole way and couldn’t be counted on to carry Tang Youshu quickly.

So at the next village, Wei Jie simply had Tang Youshu buy a horse cart, which would be faster.

Yu Ling’er was afraid of horses and sat at the cart’s rear. Tang Youshu was responsible for driving, while Wei Jie used the light-body technique to leap back and forth around the cart.

Xiaoxiao finally got some peace, lying alone in the cart reading Master’s secret manual.

Thanks to Master’s excessive addiction to writing autobiographies, she could calmly experience Great-Master Wei Jie’s glorious journey two hundred years ago.

Master wrote in great detail. After subduing the fox clan at Tuyun Mountain, Wei Jie brought Tang Youshu and the fox clan group to the prosperous capital, Luoyi, to visit the Ghost Doctor.

In Luoyi City, Wei Jie accidentally encountered his mother, who had been lost for many years.

Numei didn’t age for a thousand years—even having given birth to a son over ten years ago, she still looked like a charming young girl.

This Numei used the alias Siling and settled in the city’s largest song and dance brothel. Every time the moon rose and ghosts walked at night, she would appear on a platform eight zhang high, her singing voice enchanting, bewitching people—countless high officials and nobles were infatuated with her.

After Wei Jie met his mother, he learned of her intentions. Numei was heartless, treating men as playthings. But Siling had fallen for the Wei family head Wei Jingling, and it was this bit of mortal affection that allowed her ghostly body to give birth to human flesh and blood.

But back then, her beloved was forced to death by the so-called righteous cultivators of the four great sects right in front of her.

This hatred lingered, and the Numei Siling fell into heart demons, determined to destroy the four great sects and avenge her beloved.

Unfortunately, while she lurked in Luoyi City, the four great sects discovered her traces. So the Lingyun Pavilion master gathered people to capture the Numei.

To save his mother, Wei Jie killed the sect leader of Tianxin Gate among the four great sects, while he became infamous for revealing his demonic arts, despised by cultivators throughout the world.

Wei Jie accepted his mother’s dying admonitions and made destroying the four great sects his mission, laying the groundwork for the future massacre of the four great sects.

In short, Luoyi City was full of trouble.

Xiaoxiao closed the secret manual and sighed again.

Before her sigh had faded, someone lifted the cart curtain, and Wei Jie crouched on the cart’s edge, asking Xiaoxiao: “Where do you feel unwell?”

Xiaoxiao stared blankly at Wei Jie—that face was truly handsome and distinguished…

Looking at him, she sighed again.

The current Wei Jie, though somewhat unrestrained due to his difficult background, was still a sunny young gentleman.

But once he entered Luoyi City, he would be trapped in his parents’ blood feud, planting seeds of slaughter in his heart—he’d probably never again show his current bold and cheerful demeanor.

Thinking this, Xiaoxiao’s heart ached, feeling sad for Wei Jie.

Wei Jie had originally heard Xiaoxiao sighing and thought her wound was hurting, so he lifted the curtain to ask. But unexpectedly, she just stared at him blankly, and soon her eyes became teary.

Though he was used to this little master’s emotional volatility, seeing her large eyes filled with tears made him feel pity, and he unconsciously softened his voice: “Does it hurt that much? Bear with it a little longer—we’re about to enter Luoyi City…”

Speaking thus, he handed her a large handful of freshly picked mountain plums and stuffed a round one into her mouth.

Seeing Xiaoxiao wrinkle her nose from the sourness of the mountain plum, Wei Jie couldn’t help showing his fangs in a smile: “This is Tang Youshu’s prescription—he said you’ve eaten too much meat these past few days, so eat more of these to stimulate appetite and strengthen the spleen…”

It seemed Wei Jie understood the ways of their sect well, knowing he couldn’t compete with Tang Youshu for favor, so he let his good disciple take the blame for teasing his master.

Hearing it was care from Tang Youshu, Xiaoxiao finally forced down the sour fruit, then poked her head out of the cart with eyes watering from the sourness.

Indeed, ahead was a tall city, with surging crowds on the road becoming gradually livelier.

She had eaten well these past few days—her originally thin cheeks had filled out again. In the sunlight, her cheeks were rosy, with fine strands of hair playfully dancing in the wind…

Xiaoxiao was a very attractive girl. Wei Jie stared at her willow eyebrows and starry eyes, accidentally staring for quite a while.

When Xiaoxiao turned her gaze back, she met her disciple’s unbridled stare directly.