Thinking of this, Qin He forcibly suppressed the anger on his face and said to Wan Lian Shi in a gentle tone: “Senior Brother, I lost my composure just now. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Wan Lian Shi understood this junior brother of his all too well.

Compared to himself, cowering in the prince’s manor like a dog, his junior brother had lived like an immortal these years. He had truly eaten meat for a few days and forgotten he was also a dog—he had even dared to glare at him just now!

So when Wan Lian Shi heard Qin He’s apology, he only sneered coldly: “Junior Brother, I know what you’re thinking. After all, being a sect master without having to obey others must be quite pleasant. But don’t forget—your life was ‘borrowed’ for you by the master. Without him, you couldn’t survive even a single day! Since there’s nothing else, go back quickly. Remember! You must ruin Cui Xiaoxiao’s reputation. She must experience every tribulation she’s supposed to face!”

These words fell into Xiaoxiao’s ears verbatim, making her head buzz.

That Lord Can… knew about her taking Wei Jie’s demonic fate as well!

And he even wanted to fan the flames and make her demonization solid?

Xiaoxiao could curse out a thick volume of Talismonger Sect secrets without repeating herself!

She was even more certain that the page from the Book of Life and Death mentioned by the Wei family grandmother had fallen into Lord Can’s hands.

This page from the Book of Life and Death, like herself, was something that shouldn’t exist in these two hundred years past.

With Lord Can’s unfathomable mind holding such a thing, it would truly cause chaos throughout the world!

She just didn’t know where he would store the torn page.

As for Wei Jie, upon hearing these people conspiring to ruin Xiaoxiao’s reputation and force her into demonization, he silently clenched his fists.

He was thinking that if one day she truly became demonic and turned against the whole world, if he also let go and ignored her, who would be there to protect her?

Imagining her alone and isolated, sitting solitary on a cliff, actually overlapped with his countless lonely nights accompanied only by night winds.

That kind of cold loneliness he knew too well, yet he couldn’t bear for this frail woman to endure it alone…

Thinking of such desolation, he unconsciously gripped Xiaoxiao’s hand tightly.

In this moment, he completely forgot that he and Cui Xiaoxiao were having a quarrel and should treat her coldly, absolutely not being clingy like dog-skin plaster.

He unconsciously gripped too tightly, making Xiaoxiao feel some pain, but fearing discovery, she could only let him pull her.

They were both invisible and couldn’t see each other, so they held hands to avoid getting separated. But his excessive force was unnecessary—could he be doing it on purpose?

After Wan Lian Shi’s secret meeting with his junior brother, he stepped toward the front hall again.

The hand-holding Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie didn’t dare follow too closely, so they returned to the front hall after a while.

At this time, the great hall was in the midst of festivities, with cups and plates scattered on the tables, and a group of dancing girls in thin garments dancing gracefully.

Probably the pill Wan Lian Shi had administered was taking effect—the Crown Prince was drunk and swaying, with a side consort beside him unable to support him, yet he was still mumbling about wanting to drink.

Lord Can smiled and had Wan Lian Shi arrange for servants to guide the Crown Prince and his consorts to rest.

After the guests dispersed, leaving only lingering wine vapors and lone lamp shadows, the smile on Lord Can’s face also faded.

He recalled the Crown Prince’s unrestrained behavior before him, dark currents rippling in his eyes.

Wan Lian Shi had settled the Crown Prince and his party and returned to report.

Hearing that the Crown Prince’s side had settled down, Lord Can snorted coldly: “His father sent him here to inspect the military supplies and provisions of three regions, yet he’s been playing all the way, completely forgetting his duties! That courtesan parade in the city was also arranged by local officials at his command?”

Wan Lian Shi bowed his head: “I don’t know who smooth-talked the Crown Prince about the songstress Siling’s beauty, so the Crown Prince clamored for local officials to summon Siling. But Siling has long since disappeared, so to please the Crown Prince, those people arranged tonight’s courtesan competition. But with the Crown Prince in this state, he probably won’t be able to get up for several days. I’ll have people drive those flower carts out of the city.”

Lord Can said coldly: “The curfew in Luoyi City these past days was to prevent people from sneaking in during the chaos, and it was nearly ruined by this wine sack and rice bag… Have there been any reports of suspicious people infiltrating the city these past two days?”

Wan Lian Shi quickly reassured him: “Please rest assured, Master. My blood talisman net has covered the entire city. If anyone climbs over walls to enter, no matter how high their cultivation, they will be marked by blood talismans that can’t be washed off! The city gates are guarded by snake-eyed people, making gods and demons invisible. Others are hard to say, but Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie absolutely can’t sneak in! I’ve already identified the village where they’re staying. After tonight, I’ll send people to massacre the village. Then all the famous righteous sects will arrive on schedule, just in time to catch the demon woman red-handed…”

Lord Can nodded and closed his eyes in thought, but unfortunately, noisy sounds came from outside again.

He stood up and walked out of the front hall, looking up at the vast stars in the sky, but hearing the sounds of silk and bamboo coming from the Crown Prince’s courtyard.

Soon, someone came to report that although the Crown Prince was heavily drunk, his habit of needing silk and bamboo music to lull him to sleep hadn’t changed, so that courtyard still needed soft music and clear songs, playing tunes for half the night.

Xiaoxiao, hidden in the darkness, clearly saw Lord Can’s still smooth and lustrous face suddenly show a weary, aged feeling inconsistent with his years.

His features showed an indescribable, powerless melancholy. Looking up at the brilliant starry sky, he only spoke after a long while: “I originally refused to accept fate, but looking at this Great Qi’s heir… how long can the realm last when handed to such a wastrel?”

When he said this, Xiaoxiao was invisible not far from Lord Can, able to see this prince’s eyes full of disappointment in the Great Qi’s Xia family imperial house—that tone of desolation was truly moving.

Such frustrated loss and concern for the world would never come from someone unrelated to the Xia clan.

She had originally guessed this Lord Can was an impostor, but seeing this prince’s barely concealed grief and indignation, he didn’t seem like a fake.

So Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but fall into contemplation: Was this prince Lord Can or not? Had her earlier judgment been wrong?

She also thought of the original timeline where this prince presented the Enlightened Beast, causing great drought throughout the land, with rumors flying everywhere, making the current emperor’s throne unstable.

Previously, she had only thought Lord Can coveted imperial power, but he later chose a supposedly adopted young child from the clan to ascend the throne while not becoming emperor himself, which didn’t seem like someone obsessed with imperial power.

However, Xiaoxiao recalled the background of this imperial power change two hundred years ago—this Crown Prince had indeed aroused Lord Can’s displeasure like this, then through the prince’s machinations, both father and son lost the imperial throne.

If this was truly the case, this Lord Can’s methods were extraordinarily brilliant—a prince far away in his fief could manipulate the entire imperial family in his palm…

Calculating the time, two hundred years later, would be when Great Xia’s fortune was about to end. But when Xiaoxiao traveled back through time, it was still a scene of peace throughout the land…

Just then, Wei Jie suddenly pulled her toward the eastern courtyard.

Reaching a secluded spot, Xiaoxiao asked: “Why did you pull me here?”

Wei Jie said tensely: “This courtyard has a particularly heavy smell of blood…”

Having grown up in Qilao Mountain, following his clan in frequently hunting escaped underworld beasts, he was especially sensitive to the blood scent of underworld fierce beasts.

When entering the prince’s manor earlier, he had sensed something wrong with the smell, but the manor was filled with heavy incense everywhere, masking some of the bloody scent and making it impossible for him to identify the location.

Now, after the banquet, with maids removing incense burners everywhere, he could again capture the unmistakable scent of the underworld fierce beasts.

When the two reached what looked like a study, Wei Jie sniffed and confirmed the smell was coming from underground beneath this study.

If it were a private garden beast park, that would be understandable. After all, Lord Can seemed to have a hobby of collecting rare, fierce beasts.

But having the bloody smell of underworld beasts beneath a study for reading and writing was incomprehensible.

Of course, this smell was masked by earth layers—without Wei Jie’s dog-like nose, ordinary people wouldn’t detect it. It was just unclear what Lord Can was up to.

Wei Jie whispered, “That Book of Life and Death is an underworld object that can’t be contaminated by mortal yang qi. Lord Can doesn’t seem to love keeping pets, yet he spends vast sums purchasing various strange beasts. Perhaps what he needs is these exotic beasts’ blood to nourish the torn page with their blood.”

His reasoning was extremely sound! This meant the torn page was underground beneath the study! But how could they enter the underground secret chamber?

Wei Jie looked at Lord Can approaching from a distance and said, “Following him will naturally lead us there!”

The nonsensical words Wan Lian Shi had spoken earlier made Wei Jie frown deeply.

He didn’t understand why they targeted Cui Xiaoxiao so specifically, expending effort to frame a small sect master who had no major conflicts of interest with them.

After all, this so-called Lingshan Talismonger Sect only had Cui Xiaoxiao making convincing claims—apart from her, no one else had heard of this title.

This wild chicken sect that spent all day eating and drinking while occasionally cultivating a little—who could it possibly obstruct?

Yet Lord Can took her so seriously, rather like using a dragon-slaying blade to kill a chicken. That treacherous prince’s mind was quite deep—there must be a reason for doing this!

Wei Jie knew his master seemed to have many secrets, but her mouth was like a clamshell—when she didn’t want to talk, nothing could pry it open.

Wei Jie felt that the torn page might solve Lord Can’s mysteries while also solving his master’s. He wanted to obtain that torn page as quickly as possible.

Lord Can walked unhurriedly. When no one was around, his gait suddenly became much slower and more aged. Xiaoxiao watched him walking with his hands behind his back—if you didn’t look at his face, you’d think this was a decrepit old man.

Walking like this for a while, Lord Can suddenly stopped before a high-hanging lamp in the study.

This lamp differed from the manor’s other new palace lamps, showing the dim yellow color of great age. Looking carefully, one would find the lamp densely covered with red silk patterns.

Lord Can reached out to adjust the lamp’s height, then casually glanced behind him. After confirming no one was there, he entered the study alone, opened a secret passage, and walked in.

As Xiaoxiao passed that lamp, she couldn’t help but look up, discovering with amazement that the lamp’s patterns were dense blood vessels, with blood seemingly flowing rapidly inside…

This lamp was alive?

She had no time for a closer look as Wei Jie pulled her to follow, but found it pitch black inside. Even with Xiaoxiao’s extraordinary eyesight, she needed to adapt before gradually seeing her surroundings.

However, Lord Can had disappeared. The two held hands, groping in the darkness for a while before hearing Lord Can’s footsteps again.

Fortunately, after walking a few steps, night-luminous pearls were embedded in the secret passage walls, casting soft light under torch reflection.

Lord Can walked alone in the secret passage, not very quickly. The passage was also intricate and complex. Without following Lord Can, they would get lost in this maze-like passage.

The two feared discovery by Lord Can, so they kept a distance from him.

Xiaoxiao looked up at the figure ahead, though still the same build and clothing, there seemed to be subtle differences…

When reaching a narrow corridor section, Lord Can suddenly quickened his pace, almost breaking into a run.

Wei Jie’s eyes narrowed, knowing the treacherous prince must have detected something. He moved swiftly and decisively, rushing ahead to grip the man’s neck from behind: “Be honest and don’t move!”

Wei Jie’s movements were quick and clean. With Lord Can’s throat gripped, even if he wanted to cry out in terror, he couldn’t.

But the moment Wei Jie’s hand touched this person’s neck, his heart sank.

Because this neck’s texture… was wrong! That rough feeling was the disguise material commonly used in the martial world to conceal true appearance!

He immediately spun Lord Can around and pulled with his hand, indeed tearing off a layer of false face skin!

By the secret passage’s night-luminous pearl light, Xiaoxiao saw that the terrified person wasn’t Lord Can at all—just someone with a similar build! No wonder she had felt this person’s gait seemed to change earlier…

Terrible—they’d been tricked.

Xiaoxiao immediately called out: “Retreat quickly!”

But it was too late. Just as Xiaoxiao moved, meteoric iron grates suddenly dropped before and behind them, trapping all three together.

These meteoric iron grates had been forged with iron dragon bone powder, making them indestructible. Even with the Heavenly Punishment Sword, without deep true qi, they couldn’t be split.

Just then, the fake prince suddenly showed an agonized expression, desperately clutching his stomach and crying out in despair: “No!”

Xiaoxiao cried out in alarm and immediately formed a talisman to create a water shield, covering herself and Wei Jie.

The next moment, that person’s stomach suddenly swelled, then exploded with a thunderous sound! The splattered poisonous blood sizzled and burned even the stone walls.

If they had been splashed by this exploding person just now, the consequences would have been unthinkable!

But with Xiaoxiao creating this water shield, her spiritual power was no longer concentrated, naturally revealing her form.

Just then, clear laughter echoed through the secret passage: “This prince was wondering who was so bold as to break into this prince’s private residence. Miss Cui, you truly are skilled and daring!”

With the laughter, Lord Can appeared in the secret passage, his bright eyes staring at the pair of Talismonger Sect master and disciple.

Though Wei Jie was trapped, he wasn’t panicked, just smiled at the prince: “Lord Can’s hospitality is still so thorough! I just wonder when Lord Can discovered us two?”

Lord Can smiled slightly, pointing to a dim lamp carried by a servant beside him: “Beize snake eyes come in pairs! One is at the city gate, while the other is on this lamp. Though your two’s invisibility technique is excellent and ordinary lamplight can’t reveal shadows, when you two passed the study doorway earlier, you were detected by this snake-eye lamp…”

Xiaoxiao understood—no wonder Lord Can had paused by the lamp earlier. He had used this lamp with blood vessel eyeballs to discover them!

It seemed Lord Can had just discovered suspicious people wanting to infiltrate the study, so he went with the flow, arranging people in the secret passage and using a body double with poison insects in his belly to lure them here.

Thinking of this, Xiaoxiao simply asked: “Having caught us, how does Lord Can intend to deal with us?”

Lord Can looked at this handsome man and beautiful woman before him, saying with some regret, “If it were another time, this prince would spare no expense to recruit such talents. Unfortunately, we are fated to be enemies… Cui Xiaoxiao, you’ve already become demonic and are notorious. Now, all the sects want to capture you. This prince doesn’t wish to interfere in righteous cultivation matters and can only hand you over to those righteous practitioners…”

Only by having Xiaoxiao suffer slander and humiliation from everyone could her greatest demonic nature be triggered. Since she had taken Wei Jie’s fate, she naturally had to endure his tribulations.

Xiaoxiao smiled: “What those dirty accusations are about, Your Lordship should know best—why this pretense? And if the righteous practitioners of the world knew you held an incredible torn page and the deeds you’ve committed, do you think they would tolerate you?”

Lord Can seemed to have developed an interest in chatting with these two tonight. He sat in a chair brought by servants, saying comfortably, “You know about this, too? It seems the Wei family, having no other options, revealed everything to you! But if you don’t care about the Wei family members’ lives, feel free to speak out.”

Lord Can had truly grasped the crucial point, confidently manipulating people. He was certain Wei Jie and Cui Xiaoxiao wouldn’t tell the righteous sects about the Book of Life and Death.

As for Xiaoxiao’s demonization, this was already a foregone conclusion—what harm was there in adding a few more false charges?

Wei Jie walked to the barrier edge, asking in confusion: “You’ve schemed so elaborately to frame Xiaoxiao—what exactly are your intentions? What benefit is there to you if she becomes demonic?”

Lord Can glanced carelessly at Wei Jie. Now this boy’s demonic fortune had transferred to Xiaoxiao.

So to Lord Can, he was already a useless discarded piece. However, seeing that he hadn’t let go of Cui Xiaoxiao’s small hand since earlier, and remembering Wan Lian Shi’s mention of their public embrace and kiss in the forest, they were lovers caught in passion’s net!

These young men and women, being master and disciple, were indeed unreliable! Spending so much time together, how could they not develop feelings over time?

Thinking of this, Lord Can’s eyes suddenly brightened—according to reason, while Xiaoxiao experienced slander and hardship, she should also experience the pain of losing her mother, becoming cold-hearted through losing beloved relatives.

Unfortunately, he had Qin He ask Qin Lingxiao indirectly, and Cui Xiaoxiao seemed to have no relatives, being just an orphan.

How to make a woman of unknown origins experience the grief of losing relatives had become a major problem.

But now, if this Cui Xiaoxiao had secretly developed feelings for Wei Jie, inseparable from him, wouldn’t that be equivalent to a relative?

As long as Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie deeply loved each other, then killing Wei Jie before her eyes would complete the fourth tribulation perfectly!

Thinking this, he smiled meaningfully and probed: “Seeing you two have a close relationship, have you already become a pair of immortal cultivation dao companions? How wonderful and congratulatory!”

Xiaoxiao looked down at her hand, tightly gripping Wei Jie’s, and quickly let go, laughing: “How is that possible? We’re just master and disciple—don’t talk nonsense!”

Wei Jie also remained coolly aloof, letting Xiaoxiao release his hand without denial, looking truly like an ordinary master and disciple.

Lord Can realized: “So you two still have a layer of window paper between you that hasn’t been broken! What to do about this?”

Just then, Wan Lian Shi, standing beside Lord Can, suddenly whispered something in his ear.

Lord Can’s eyes moved slightly, seeming somewhat disdainful, then stood up and said gently to Wan Lian Shi: “These two immortal masters have graced the prince’s manor—we must make them feel at home. The rest… proceed as you suggested…”

After saying this, Lord Can strode away and disappeared at one end of the secret passage.

Wan Lian Shi smiled evilly at this pair behind the meteoric iron bars, grinning without warmth: “The prince worries that Master Cui is lonely and desolate without relatives to depend on. Rather than choose another day, why not today? Though this prince’s manor is crude, we can still prepare a bridal chamber for you two. Under my witness, you two should marry as soon as possible!”

Finishing this, he laughed and waved his hand. Suddenly, countless bamboo tubes emerged from the secret passage walls, then streams of light pink dense smoke poured from those tubes into the entire passage, while Wan Lian Shi left the passage laughing loudly with his servants.

Among the unusual practitioners Lord Can recruited were many who raised poisonous insects and evil parasites. Wan Lian Shi had seen much and knew the best poison parasites required more effort to nurture, patiently waiting for them to grow bit by bit.

Now the master wanted to raise a demon—one who experienced all manner of human suffering, with a heart soaked in resentment and fury, a generation of demon lords!

Cui Xiaoxiao’s human trials had only just begun. He would make this little girl experience every one of these myriad sufferings!

Thinking this, Wan Lian Shi laughed even louder, quickly leaving the smoke-filled secret chamber.

As for the two people still trapped in the cage within the secret chamber, Wei Jie was experienced and immediately detected that something was wrong when the pink smoke dispersed!

This smoke… was made from ground powder of Southern Marsh lustrous insects, then ignited with musk as a catalyst.

These lust insects, as the name suggests, were insects that could go into heat daily. Using such insects to prepare medicine and powder naturally followed the lowest path. Whether male or female, old or young, as long as they weren’t completely dead, they would be aroused by this smoke beyond self-control. Even without inhaling it, contact with the insect powder would be effective.

Though Wei Jie held his breath in time, his skin was contaminated with considerable insect powder.

Though Xiaoxiao alertly raised her water shield again, she still inhaled some.

Though only a little, this bit of insect powder quickly made her feel weak in her limbs and restless in heart. The just-formed water shield immediately dissolved in the pink smoke, completely defeated.