Two dancing girls saw that Xiaoxiao hadn’t done her hair or makeup and very enthusiastically brought rouge and powder to help apply it for her.

However, whether it was because they feared Xiaoxiao’s bright beauty would steal their spotlight, when Xiaoxiao looked in the mirror, her eyes jumped in shock.

This makeup was… truly eyebrows were eyebrows, eyes were eyes, and nothing went together! It looked exactly like a little girl had secretly used her mother’s rouge and powder.

Those two thick black eyebrows and the unblended blush were quite eye-catching!

However, painted like this, Xiaoxiao was quite satisfied!

She wasn’t going to compete for the courtesan title anyway—she just didn’t know if this crude disguise could escape those supernatural heterochromatic eyes.

But now that she was disguised, how would Wei Jie deceive people’s eyes?

When the carriage reached the city gate and lined up to enter, she found out.

She heard several singing girls who had gotten off the carriage first suddenly exclaim in amazement. Xiaoxiao stuck her head out the carriage window and also silently gasped.

It turned out that somehow, Wei Jie had also disguised himself as a dancer.

After all, music houses didn’t only have singing girls and dancing girls—they also needed male dancers for variety and flavor.

However, such male performers couldn’t outshine the dancing girls—they were merely supporting acts.

But Wei Jie’s androgynous handsomeness—how could it be easily concealed?

He wore Western Region-style loose pants and tight clothing, but his solid, well-built arms and chest were exposed. To match the upcoming flower cart night parade, the exposed skin was painted with tiger stripes in colorful pigments, and even his face was outlined with matching patterns.

Those intense colors, paired with his lean and solid muscles, truly gave one the feeling of a fierce tiger emerging into the world.

He had somehow hidden his purple eyes, and combined with the full face of stripes, one couldn’t make out his original appearance for a moment…

The dancing girls were quite discerning, quietly saying this new dancer looked rather handsome, but unfortunately, the paint and grease were applied so thickly that they couldn’t see his actual features.

Wei Jie also saw Xiaoxiao after her careful “makeover” and was momentarily stunned.

Xiaoxiao knew she looked ugly now and was too lazy to listen to Wei Jie’s mockery, so she made a face at him.

Normally, Wei Jie would have been amused by his playful master, but now, seeing Xiaoxiao frowning at him, his expression remained cold as he turned his head away, no longer looking at her.

It seemed Xiaoxiao’s blunt rejection earlier had hurt his male pride—from the looks of it, he was unwilling to say another word to her.

Xiaoxiao felt angry and was about to go over to explain things properly when five or six soldiers, attracted by these chattering women, walked over with leering smiles.

The lead soldier indicated with raised eyebrows that recently the city gates had been checked strictly, and if the ladies wanted to enter the city, they needed to be “thoroughly” searched by them individually.

Those women were also sensible, happily hanging on these soldiers’ arms, coquettishly asking how thoroughly it needed to be.

During this flirtation and pulling, they let the soldiers have their way, taking some liberties.

Seeing the soldiers working their way over, with one about to hook Xiaoxiao’s slender waist, Xiaoxiao cleverly turned to avoid him, smiling as she suggested: “Officers have worked hard—we’re about to enter the city. How about we get on the cart and dance for you?”

As she spoke, she lightly turned and mounted the flower cart hanging behind the carriage, and the other girls gigglingly followed her up.

Wei Jie then jumped onto the flower cart after her, taking up drumsticks to begin beating the drums.

This type of street parade drumming wasn’t just about keeping rhythm—it required the drummer to constantly flip, jump, and spin the drumsticks in time with the movements.

In the sound of drumbeats, the leaping, hammer-wielding drummer became part of the performance. Even people leaving the city began gathering to watch and appreciate it, with several women quietly praising the male drummer’s waist and back like rolling distant mountains.

Such vigorous beauty required accumulated virtue and diligent incense burning to witness!

Accompanied by Wei Jie’s drumbeats and the musicians’ playing, the dancing girls began to dance gracefully.

Though Xiaoxiao had an outstanding figure, compared to those dancing girls with seductive movements, her slightly immature fox dance repeated over and over wasn’t particularly attention-grabbing.

She was buried among a cart full of hip-swaying, waist-twisting girls, not as eye-catching as that tiger-striped youth beating the drums.

That heterochromatic-eyed supernatural being was also attracted by this flower cart performance, but he had no leisure to look at the drumming male performers. Instead, he squinted his eyes, savoring as he carefully examined each dancing girl’s graceful figure and the snow-white calves occasionally revealed beneath their skirts…

After all, who would think that the wanted female demon would so brazenly stand on a flower cart, dancing gracefully with a group of lowly dancing girls?

Wei Jie had learned drumming from somewhere and played quite convincingly, also being the most eye-catching part of the flower cart.

His performance was too spectacular, and with the exaggerated grease paint, people would only appreciate his exaggerated yet vigorous and graceful dance moves, not carefully examine his facial features.

This was truly the most brilliant “darkness under the lamp” deception technique!

Never mind one drumming man—even what all the women on this cart looked like wasn’t as important to these superficial men as those snow-white thighs and voluptuous figures.

That supernatural being, confirming there were no stowaways on the cart, lustfully hummed along with the tune, watching as he let the flower cart enter the city.

As Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief, she felt Wei Jie was too good at understanding men’s psychology.

This “using beauty to blind eyes” technique wasn’t something any innocent youth could devise!

After the flower cart entered the city and paraded through the main streets, it stopped beside the Listening Moon Bridge by the inner city river.

Soon, the leading courtesans from inside and outside the city would gather on the bridge, waiting for the city’s famous nobles to evaluate and select a champion.

It was said that the city had been under curfew for a while recently, but had only resumed its former lively atmosphere because of distinguished guests entering the city. Some people swore that this distinguished guest was the Crown Prince on a private inspection tour.

It was said this Crown Prince loved folk entertainment but unfortunately couldn’t enjoy it freely in the capital, so local officials competed to transfer the most beautiful courtesans from their cities to Luoyi City for the Crown Prince’s pleasure—that’s why there had been frequent flower carts in the city these past few days.

Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao had already slipped off the flower cart when no one was paying attention.

By the time they had changed into night clothes in an alley, night had fallen, and all the city’s people had flocked to the Listening Moon Bridge.

Xiaoxiao saw that Wei Jie’s collar wasn’t straight and reached out to adjust it for him, but unexpectedly, he stepped back, showing he didn’t need her help.

Fine if he didn’t need it, but he also glanced at Xiaoxiao sideways with that look-down-on-everyone expression—that dead look was as irritating as it could be!

Xiaoxiao was also angered by him, tying her belt while muttering: “Are all you men so petty? Getting rejected once and you have to put on a sour face…”

She was complaining quietly, but Wei Jie caught the key point. He turned his head slightly, looking at Xiaoxiao sideways with his handsome eyes: “Are you comparing me to Qin Lingxiao?”

Xiaoxiao thought about it and said loudly: “Not really—Young Master Qin is slightly more generous than you. Didn’t you see he even bought me pastries?”

Wei Jie sneered coldly: “True enough—being rejected yet still able to pester shamelessly with such thick skin is indeed admirable.”

But seeing him like this, he was determined to be completely different from Young Master Qin and would never do anything like persistent pestering.

That made sense, too. According to Master Tang Youshu’s description, the demonized Wei Jie had always been cold and emotionless, not arrogantly looking down on people, but fundamentally lacking human warmth.

Though there were reasons for falling into demonic cultivation, it was also related to Wei Jie’s originally cynical personality and unwillingness to get close to people.

Unfortunately, the current Wei Jie—whether due to her appearance disrupting world events—had none of the aura of a world-weary demon lord, just a bad-boy handsome rogue!

However, with him giving her the cold shoulder, probably this ambiguous relationship wouldn’t continue its absurdity.

Xiaoxiao was too lazy to argue with him, handing Wei Jie the invisibility talisman she had drawn with silver foil. After both applied the invisibility talismans and concealed their auras, they headed to Lord Can’s manor.

Standing atop a large tree and looking down, just like last time, Lord Can’s manor had feng shui that gathered and concentrated energy.

However, this time recalling Master Tang Youshu’s assessment that this place had signs of gathering and stealing others’ feng shui, Xiaoxiao could only nod secretly in admiration.

Master was indeed master—truly a deeply hidden feng shui master!

The Xia family could be called century-long victims, having a perfectly good five hundred years of imperial destiny cheated away by two hundred years.

Calculating now, the Xia family, having been swindled out of their underwear by the celestial god, probably didn’t have much continuing fortune left.

As a descendant of the imperial Xia family, if Lord Can learned this background from the Book of Life and Death, he was probably psychologically unbalanced, thinking to follow the same pattern and steal some feng shui fortune from others to make up for his family’s losses!

However, right now, she couldn’t think too much about Lord Can’s despicable aspects, because high in Lord Can’s manor, there was still a Xiezhi sacred statue that could detect people’s thoughts at any time, blocking all who harbored ill intentions toward the mansion’s master from entering the garden.

Xiaoxiao didn’t know whether her newly made invisibility talisman with silver foil would work against the Xiezhi.

The moment the invisibility talisman was applied, she immediately felt her aura seemed completely suppressed—the invisibility talisman’s effectiveness was indeed greatly enhanced.

However, this invisibility talisman also had a time limit—they had to exit the prince’s manor within an hour, or both would immediately become visible.

So, taking advantage of the manor’s wide-open gates and the coming and going of guests, the two of them brazenly entered Lord Can’s manor following several carriages of distinguished guests.

The high and mighty Xiezhi embedded in the highest tower seemed to detect nothing, remaining motionless like an ordinary statue.

It was said that the distinguished guest entering the manor this time was Lord Can’s nephew—the current Crown Prince.

He had brought several close ministers and his own Crown Princess, along with several side consorts, who happened to be on official business near Luoyi and decided to visit by boat, resting at his imperial uncle’s manor.

Though Lord Can was an elder, as a subject, he had to come out to welcome them respectfully.

It was said this Crown Prince was similar in age to Lord Can, often playing together in the palace as children. Though called uncle and nephew, they were as close as brothers.

It was just that after the new emperor ascended the throne, following the deceased previous emperor’s decree, this young imperial brother was enfeoffed to Luoyi.

From then on, the Crown Prince had never been able to see this little imperial uncle again.

Now that over ten years had passed, the uncle and nephew meeting again was naturally a joyful reunion with much to discuss.

But when the Crown Prince got off his carriage and saw Lord Can, he first froze, then laughed loudly: “Imperial Uncle, you look quite different from when you were little!”

Lord Can smiled and hadn’t finished his greeting when the Crown Prince grabbed him, putting an arm around his shoulders as they walked forward together.

Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie hid in the corridor of the reception hall, only steps away from this chatting uncle and nephew.

Xiaoxiao noticed that the steward Wan Lian Shi was still dressed as a steward following Lord Can’s side. The scar on his face from Yu Tiandou’s slash had healed more than half, leaving only a red mark. This greatly surprised Xiaoxiao.

She knew that sword contained the power of heavenly punishment—once cut by it, it couldn’t possibly heal as easily as an ordinary sword wound! It seemed Wan Lian Shi had some ghostly methods.

Just then, the Crown Prince asked Lord Can enthusiastically, “Imperial Uncle, do you still remember the black-haired general you raised as a child? This time I’ve gotten one even better than yours—I wonder if your manor has any good specimens?”

Lord Can listened with a smile, squinting thoughtfully before tentatively asking: “Is the Crown Prince referring to the black-backed hunting dog Father Emperor gave me? I do have a few for guarding the home, but they probably can’t compare with the Crown Prince’s beloved dog…”

The Crown Prince laughed and waved helplessly: “Imperial Uncle, you even forgot this? Back then, Imperial Grandfather didn’t know you were afraid of dogs and insisted on rewarding you with hunting dogs—you wouldn’t even look at them normally! You even cried, wanting to trade with me for a poetry-reciting parrot! The black-haired general I mentioned was the black-shelled, long-whiskered cricket you raised! The one that bit five of mine to death!”

Only then did Lord Can seem to just remember, smiling as he nodded in sudden understanding, then said: “Those were all childhood pastimes—I don’t play with such things anymore…”

The Crown Prince thought about it and agreed—after all, over twenty years had passed, and yesterday’s bean sprouts had grown into vigorous middle-aged men.

Like this imperial uncle—if his features didn’t resemble the late emperor’s, standing before him now, he wouldn’t dare recognize him!

However, this imperial uncle’s memory was really poor. He had enthusiastically talked about their childhood adventures all along, but Lord Can responded half-heartedly, mostly not remembering.

Having walked halfway with the atmosphere growing cold, the Crown Prince was also losing interest and didn’t want to mention childhood stories anymore.

When their group entered the great hall, Xiaoxiao, who had been listening to their conversation, somehow felt that something indescribable was wrong.

Just then, Wei Jie, who had been holding her hand, suddenly tugged at her.

It turned out Wei Jie saw Wan Lian Shi suddenly leave the prince and head toward the kitchen courtyard in the back residence.

The two followed all the way, watching Wan Lian Shi go straight into the kitchen, dismiss the cooking maids, then take out a pill from his bosom and throw it into a golden soup tureen.

After the medicine dissolved in this bowl of golden Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup, Wan Lian Shi turned to a servant behind him: “Arrange for someone to make sure this soup reaches the Crown Prince’s table.”

That servant looked like Wan Lian Shi’s disciple and whispered, “Master, if the Crown Prince has an accident at Lord Can’s manor, you and I can’t escape responsibility!”

Wan Lian Shi sneered: “Only you think you’re smart? I just added a Seven-Day Drunk pill—the Crown Prince will only become dead drunk as if from drinking! He talks too much, and the prince is tired of entertaining him. With this one pill, he won’t even be able to get out of bed for the next few days. Go!”

That disciple, hearing this, dared not delay and quickly carried the drugged soup away.

After Wan Lian Shi finished his instructions, he turned toward the west garden.

After he left, Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie came to a secluded back garden. Seeing no one around, Xiaoxiao whispered to Wei Jie: “Though the Crown Prince talks densely, that he could provoke the deep-scheming Lord Can to drug him into silence surely isn’t simply about being annoyed, right? What do you think the reason is?”

Wei Jie was also pondering this problem. After all, the other party was the dignified Crown Prince—no matter how tiresome a local prince found entertaining him, he shouldn’t so simply and crudely silence the Crown Prince… unless he feared the Crown Prince would continue asking questions he couldn’t answer.

So Wei Jie thought and said, “Did the Crown Prince say anything important just now?”

Xiaoxiao thought: “That Crown Prince didn’t have many serious words—all about his childhood games with Lord Can. Could Lord Can be impatient precisely with the Crown Prince chatting about those childhood memories?”

Such entertainment shouldn’t normally be difficult, but thinking back carefully, Lord Can seemed to have trouble keeping up, repeatedly answering wrongly, even obviously trying to change the subject several times…

Could it be because of this that Lord Can wanted to give the Crown Prince Seven-Day Drunk, completely knocking him out?

Wei Jie had noticed this too, so finally he said thoughtfully: “Unless this Lord Can… isn’t the same Lord Can who played cricket fighting with the Crown Prince as a child!”

Xiaoxiao gasped. Actually, on this point, her thoughts coincided with Wei Jie’s!

It was said that after this, Lord Can came to Luoyi, and he had lived in seclusion for a full ten years, never seeing anyone, supposedly because of a serious illness. But looking at Lord Can now, his complexion was as rosy as a man in his twenties—he didn’t look like someone who needed ten years of recuperation!

It seemed this Lord Can had yet another strange aspect.

After saying a few words, they saw Wan Lian Shi walking away, so they followed to see what the Ghost Sect was up to now.

In the west garden’s side room, Wan Lian Shi was having a private meeting with an old acquaintance.

Qin He, who should have returned to Lingyun Pavilion, was currently arguing with Wan Lian Shi.

Qin He’s wound from Xiaoxiao’s earlier attack had been bleeding continuously. Having no choice, he had come to Lord Can’s manor.

At this moment, he glared at his senior brother Wan Lian Shi, grabbing his collar: “In that forest, you kept using me as a shield—what were your intentions?”

Wan Lian Shi looked helpless. He pulled away the collar Qin He was gripping and snorted coldly: “If I hadn’t done that, then both you and I would have died in the forest. It’s a small matter if I die, but if you died with me, your posthumous reputation wouldn’t sound very good!”

Qin He remained furious, glaring hatefully at his senior brother without speaking—it seemed this had hit his weak spot.

Unlike Wan Lian Shi, his current reputation was spotlessly white, with a complete family. If not for being controlled by the prince, how enviable would such a great cultivation master be? He really couldn’t die together with Wan Lian Shi.

Wan Lian Shi rolled his eyes and comforted softly: “Actually, both you and I suffered—my injuries were worse than yours, yet aren’t they healed now? When the master returns from the banquet, he’ll surely treat you. And haven’t you noticed? The demonized person the master has been seeking has appeared! You and I have achieved merit this time!”

Qin He also forgot about the pain, whispering: “But… how did it become that girl Cui Xiaoxiao? Could there be a mistake?”

He had previously heard the master mention that Wei Jie would become demonic in the future. Regarding predicting the future, Prince Lord Can had never been wrong—why did it change to a female demon this time?

Wan Lian Shi didn’t want to get entangled in these details and said quietly, “This Cui Xiaoxiao is extremely important. But to make her fall deeper into demonic cultivation, we need to ruin her reputation. Now in nearby towns, rumors about the Talismonger Sect harming people are spreading like wildfire, plus the high rewards—she’ll probably become a target for famous righteous practitioners.”

Qin He, still recalling his encounter with Cui Xiaoxiao in the forest, still felt lingering fear.

Hearing this, he unconsciously looked around, as if suspecting that the demon woman was hiding invisibly nearby.

Seeing his paranoid appearance, Wan Lian Shi couldn’t help but sneer: “Rest assured, she can’t sneak into the prince’s manor! Even if she could get in, with her crude invisibility talismans, she would leak aura and couldn’t last long! This Lingshan Talismonger Sect copies cats and tigers, plagiarizing my talismans but learning neither fish nor fowl—they deserve to fall completely! When she becomes demonic, you have disciples as witnesses—don’t forget to spread word about this Cui Xiaoxiao’s demonization among the four great sects. The more she’s reviled and rejected, the deeper her demonic nature will become!”

Regarding ruining Cui Xiaoxiao’s reputation, even without Wan Lian Shi’s instructions, Qin He would go all out.

Cui Xiaoxiao had shattered his spiritual bones in one grab—even if the flesh wounds healed, he would lose most of his cultivation!

If this revenge went unavenged, he swore he wouldn’t be human!

Most hateful was that his son Qin Lingxiao had been bewitched by that wild girl, secretly running off again behind his back, probably to find Cui Xiaoxiao, and still hadn’t returned.

Qin He knew his son’s reserved, face-conscious nature well—as long as Cui Xiaoxiao’s reputation was ruined, no matter how much his son liked her, he’d have to give up this relationship!

Thinking thus, Qin He’s heart relaxed slightly, just waiting for Lord Can to come and graciously heal his injuries.

Like Wan Lian Shi, he was someone who had luckily extended his lifespan and escaped life-and-death calamity with Lord Can’s help.

Lord Can said that since they were people who should have died, they needed to change their names. So, Wan Lian Shi now called himself Master Cui, while he became Qin He.

From then on, Wan Lian Shi became the manor’s steward, while he transformed into a Lingyun Pavilion disciple, eventually marrying the previous sect leader’s daughter and rising smoothly from there.

As people who should have died early but luckily survived, besides hiding their identities to deceive heaven’s eyes, another requirement was that they couldn’t leave Lord Can’s blood to sustain their lives!

Unlike Wan Lian Shi, Qin He was somewhat tired of this controlled existence.

He was now Lingyun Pavilion’s master with a complete family and external reputation, greatly respected. Even if he couldn’t achieve great cultivation in the end, he lived freely and comfortably enough.

Unfortunately, he had no choice but to obey Lord Can’s commands. Thinking of his double-agent situation, Qin He sighed gloomily.

Now he could only take things one step at a time. He hoped that after Lord Can successfully controlled that demon woman, he would soon return his freedom…