Xiaoxiao felt that the prince had acted righteously in helping them, and if they treated their lifesaver so coldly and rejected his goodwill, it would be completely lacking in honor among heroes.

As the saying goes, when there’s wine in life, one must drink to one’s heart’s content. Moreover, she felt that drinking a cup with the prince would surely let her hear some interesting stories.

Thinking of this, she turned to Wei Jie and said: “Since the prince has graciously invited us, we might as well drink a cup before we leave.”

Wei Jie smiled, picked up the wine pot the prince had just set down, sniffed it, and said: “Yongcheng’s West Phoenix Wine? This smells like thirty-year-old aged wine!”

The prince laughed heartily: “Sir has such discerning taste! This wine has been buried underground for thirty years and has finally found someone who appreciates it, not disappointing its long, mellow fragrance.”

Sometimes the friendship between men warms up faster than the passionate fire between men and women.

After Wei Jie casually lifted his robes and sat across from the prince, and they had toasted each other several cups, the two became like old friends of many years, pouring wine for each other without any politeness or unfamiliarity.

Prince Xia Chenghong hadn’t drunk with someone so freely, without regard for rank, in a long time. He also laughed openly and heartily clinked cups with Wei Jie, then invited the two to eat and continue drinking.

The three of them had met by chance, and their statuses were vastly different. By all logic, sitting together drinking should have been extremely awkward.

But all three had somewhat unconventional personalities, so these unrelated three people sat together comfortably, toasting and drinking as if they were family.

The prince repeatedly filled Wei Jie’s cup, and Wei Jie drank it all without ceremony.

The prince looked at this pair of young people. Although the woman wore heavy makeup, he could see her natural beauty underneath. As for the man, his beast tattoos added wild charm.

If they were assassins, not wearing face coverings but dressing up like this to enter the manor for assassination would certainly be unique.

The prince smiled and asked with a laugh: “May I ask how my imperial uncle offended you two that you would go to assassinate him?”

Xiaoxiao picked up a piece of sweet and sour fish, squinting as she tasted it while saying: “It wasn’t assassination. We just went to retrieve something he stole. We master and disciple truly aren’t great villains! But you, Your Highness – you don’t look like someone who would be on guard against others, yet you didn’t drink his drugged wine?”

Seeing the prince raise his eyebrows, Xiaoxiao told him about what she had discovered when spying on the kitchen – the “Seven Day Drunk” situation.

The prince smiled bitterly and didn’t answer this question, instead saying: “May I ask if you two are Cui Xiaoxiao of Lingshan Talismonger Sect and Wei Jie of the Wei family from Qilao Mountain?”

Xiaoxiao knew their faces had been posted everywhere, but even disguised as they were, the prince could still recognize them – quite impressive!

She just didn’t know if, once they admitted it, this prince would be so frightened he’d overturn the wine table.

So Xiaoxiao nodded and readily admitted it.

Hearing this, the prince smiled again, but asked probingly: “Then… were those villagers in those villages killed by you two?”

Xiaoxiao lost her appetite. She put down her chopsticks and said honestly, “If we did it, we’d probably be too busy running to come to Luoyi City and walk into a trap. If I said all these bloody cases were committed by people your imperial uncle sent, to frame us, would Your Highness believe it?”

Prince Xia Chenghong looked at Wei Jie and said quite confidently: “I believe in the Wei family’s character, and I believe that the grandson so highly praised by the Wei family’s grandmother would never commit such bloody crimes!”

Wei Jie raised his eyebrows, not expecting the prince to suddenly mention his grandmother.

The prince smiled slightly and said with some emotion, “Your grandmother was stunningly beautiful in her youth and once knew my father, the emperor. The private friendship between the Wei and Xia families hasn’t been broken in a hundred years. Your situation – your grandmother mentioned it in letters to my father. When I came this time, I also received my father’s instructions that if I encountered any difficult matters, I could seek help from the Wei family…”

After speaking, the prince took out a waist token bearing the Wei family’s demon-subduing mark from his chest and compared it to Wei Jie’s waist.

Wei Jie’s waist was wrapped with a whip, and the handle of that whip also bore the Wei family’s demon-subduing mark.

Only now did Xiaoxiao understand. The prince hadn’t seen through their true appearance, but had recognized them through Wei Jie’s whip marking.

So the Wei family grandmother had such a relationship with the current emperor. According to the prince, the Wei family grandmother had once saved the current emperor’s life during her youthful travels, and thus the long-severed friendship between the Xia and Wei families was renewed.

Today, when Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie burst into the prince’s bedroom, the prince saw the Wei family mark and deduced their identities, which was why he devised a plan to save them from the royal manor.

As for why the prince was guarded against Lord Can, it was also related to the Wei family matriarch.

Prince Xia Chenghong sighed: “Before I came here, I heard from your grandmother that Lord Can’s manor raised venomous insects. But in my memory, my little imperial uncle wasn’t such a deeply scheming person. After going to Luoyi City this time, not only were the questions in my heart not resolved, they became even stronger… You ask why I would be wary of my imperial uncle? Because… he’s not Lord Can at all!”

Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie had already guessed this point. It seemed that when this prince entered the manor, his seemingly casual reminiscing about childhood had deep meaning in every sentence, making the fake Lord Can somewhat unable to cope.

Hearing this, Xiaoxiao couldn’t help asking: “If he’s not your imperial uncle, then who is he? How dare he be so audacious as to impersonate the imperial family?”

Prince Xia Chenghong still smiled bitterly and said slowly: “While appearance can change with age, some physical details cannot be altered. Lord Can and I were extremely close as children. Although there was a generational gap, we were like real brothers. I remember being mischievous and taking him to climb trees to catch cicadas. He was injured by a tree branch behind his ear, bleeding profusely. I was afraid of the grandfather emperor’s punishment, so I had a eunuch secretly stop the bleeding. Later, he had a raised scar behind his ear. But when I saw Lord Can this time, his ear was completely smooth with no trace of scarring. Instead, there’s a red mole behind one earlobe… I’ve only seen such a mole on one person in my life…”

Xiaoxiao was listening intently when she saw the prince suddenly pause, so she asked: “Who?”

The prince seemed to fall into deep thought, sometimes shaking his head thoughtfully, sometimes frowning in confusion.

Finally, he seemed to give up sorting through the doubts in his heart, only dipping his hand in wine and taking a jade axe used for playing, slowly writing the characters “ear” and “city” on the axe head, then wiping away the water traces.

Xiaoxiao frowned, unable to figure out what riddle the prince was posing.

But Wei Jie’s brow moved slightly, as if he suddenly understood the prince’s meaning.

“This… is it true? That person is no longer…”

The prince, knowing Wei Jie understood, couldn’t help but smile bitterly and say softly: “I also suspect I’m thinking wrongly, but that mole is too distinctive, like a reclining Buddha – not commonly seen. You two are cultivators and surely know many supernatural powers. I wonder if there might be some way to return from the dead?”

Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie exchanged glances without speaking.

In these past few days, they seemed to have seen quite a few people brought back from the dead. That Wei Di and Wan Lian Shi seemed to be people who should have died. Yet they could change their appearance and still live in the mortal world. From the conversation between Wan Lian Shi and Qinhe, it seemed that Lord Can had the ability to borrow life from others!

So Xiaoxiao thought and said, “Your Highness’s suspicions make sense. If a person can borrow life from elsewhere, then he would be the King of Hell on earth, more noble than… the emperor, and the connections and power in his hands would be more reliable than the emperor’s!”

Hearing Xiaoxiao’s highly disrespectful words, the prince wasn’t angry but only smiled bitterly: “Actually, my father emperor, has been sidelined for a long time. Whether it’s him or me, we cannot act as we wish when governing. That group of old ministers left by the late emperor firmly controls the court, and the father emperor is just a puppet on the throne, unable to control his fate! It’s just that this doubt in my heart is too shocking. Without proof, if I rashly expose it, it would surely cause tremendous upheaval throughout the realm.”

Wei Jie drank a whole pot of wine and said, “Having drunk such fine wine from you today, I should naturally resolve your worries. Regarding Lord Can’s identity, allow me to confirm it first before informing Your Highness. However, this place is dangerous, and Lord Can has many eyes and ears. Since you covered for us today, you’ll likely face some complications too. Please take great care, Your Highness!”

The prince smiled slightly: “In others’ eyes, I’ve always been a wine-and-meat wastrel. Such a good-for-nothing probably won’t attract too much scheming attention. You two needn’t worry – I’ll naturally be more careful.”

Thus, Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao hastily parted with the prince under the moon.

According to Wan Lian Shi’s intention, the black water splashed on Cui Xiaoxiao wasn’t enough – they still wanted to slaughter the village where Xiaoxiao and the others had once stayed.

Time was of the essence now. They had to rush back immediately and catch that mastermind in the act!

On the return journey, Xiaoxiao suddenly had an epiphany and stopped in her tracks: “He wrote ‘ear’ and ‘city’ on the axe. ‘Ear’ plus ‘city’ makes ‘ye’ – isn’t that the character for ‘grandfather’?”

Though she could read and write, these were foundations taught by her mother, so she was slightly slower than Wei Jie at guessing word riddles.

Wei Jie made a silencing gesture to her, then nodded silently.

“Grandfather” in northern customs referred to one’s father’s father.

In other words, the prince suspected that Lord Can was his imperial grandfather, the late Emperor Xia Yuansong, who had died over twenty years ago.

But Lord Can looked to be only in his early thirties, while his imperial grandfather Xia Yuansong was over ninety when he died!

No wonder the prince had hesitated earlier, unable to convince even himself!

But if this were true, all the mysterious aspects about this Lord Can could be explained!

The original Lord Can was indeed sickly from childhood. When he came to his Luoyi fief, it was also arranged by the late emperor Xia Yuansong.

Xiaoxiao boldly guessed that the real Lord Can had probably died young long ago. And Xia Yuansong, using some unknown method, had managed to return from being a white-haired, wrinkled old man to youth, then assumed his youngest son’s identity to continue being an idle prince in Luoyi, thereby evading the tribulation of life and death and escaping the fate recorded in the Book of Life and Death.

But even if the people of Luoyi didn’t know Lord Can, there was still a huge difference between a teenage boy and a man in his twenties or thirties.

The fake Lord Can’s appearance and age differed too greatly from the original, which was why Lord Can hadn’t seen outsiders for ten years after coming to his fief.

After more than ten years had passed, this fake Lord Can could naturally explain his appearance differences with “boys change greatly as they grow up.” Believing this fake prince had planned for so long, he should have been thorough and wouldn’t have aroused suspicion.

Only the prince’s sudden visit caught Lord Can somewhat off guard. After all, the prince was someone familiar with both the imperial grandfather and little imperial uncle.

And this prince was also one who played the pig to eat the tiger, actually seeing through the deception.

She had originally thought this Lord Can was plotting for imperial power. But if he were Xia Yuansong, then the emperor’s throne was something the old emperor had already tired of.

What exactly was this Xia Yuansong seeking? Could it be the immortality that all emperors yearned for?

Thinking of this, Xiaoxiao said: “Wan Lian Shi said this Lord Can could borrow and extend life… He was originally a decrepit old man, so whose life did he borrow?”

Wei Jie was also thinking about this point and said lightly, “Lifespans are predetermined. If he greedily wants more, he naturally takes from others… If I’m not mistaken, the real Lord Can probably also performed filial piety for his greedy father emperor…”

Xiaoxiao blinked and took a deep breath silently.

She had long heard of the sins in the imperial palace, but also knew that even tigers don’t eat their cubs. If it was really as Wei Jie guessed, then Xia Yuansong’s pursuit of immortality had reached the point of demonic obsession. Did he use his son to extend his life?

Thinking of this, and then recalling Lord Can’s seemingly refined and gentle smile, Xiaoxiao felt nauseated.

The two had caused a great disturbance at the royal manor all night, which could be considered quite fruitful. Xiaoxiao had completely deflated Wan Lian Shi’s arrogance, and together with Wei Jie had severely injured him, vindicating the Lingshan Talismonger Sect’s reputation.

Moreover, the two had befriended the prince and glimpsed Lord Can’s secrets.

But now they didn’t know the situation in their temporary village. Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er were still in the village.

If they encountered people sent by Wan Lian Shi, the fox clan people would be fine, but her master, Tang Youshu, would be powerless to resist.

Thinking of this, Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but quicken her pace. Unfortunately, her lightness skills couldn’t even be considered rudimentary, so to go faster, Wei Jie needed to carry her on his back as they leaped forward.

The insect powder’s effects had weakened considerably after encountering the cool wind, but when Xiaoxiao was carried on Wei Jie’s back, she had to press against him. Smelling the man’s scent, she couldn’t help but rub her face against his back again…

Wei Jie’s eyebrows twitched involuntarily. He couldn’t help but stop and turn to ask: “Do you want to… mmph…”

Before he could finish speaking, his master’s soft hand covered his mouth.

Cui Xiaoxiao naturally knew she was acting somewhat abnormally!

But silently enduring the lewd insect poison was already enough – she didn’t want to hear her disciple say any more suggestive things!

So while rubbing her cheek against her disciple’s face and neck, Xiaoxiao closed her eyes and said softly: “I’ll be fine in a moment. No talking!”

Wei Jie, with his mouth covered by her small hand, couldn’t remind his master that her words sounded like those of an unscrupulous client at a brothel, with an attitude of “I paid money, so you have to let me play” – the kind who pulls up their pants and leaves within a cup of tea’s time!

But he also knew they couldn’t delay, so he put aside thoughts of teasing his master, took a deep breath, and ran all the way while enduring his master’s occasional small movements.

His poisoning wasn’t as deep as Xiaoxiao’s, and he already had a succubus bloodline, naturally having more resistance to such aphrodisiacs than ordinary people.

However, he knew that in the tunnel earlier, he had almost lost control.

The little girl on his back seemed to have some kind of magic power, as if she were medicine specially prepared by heaven just for him. When it took effect, it burned like fierce fire with no antidote…

Fortunately, as he ran swiftly, the night wind blew continuously. Soon, Xiaoxiao, who had had enough of her disciple’s tender tofu, finally returned to normal.

When the two returned to the village, looking from afar, the village was still shrouded in darkness.

Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao exchanged glances and decided to quickly enter the village.

Just as they were about to step forward, two large trees beside them suddenly manifested two bark-like people who placed swords across their necks and said eerily, “Don’t move!”

Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie looked at each other, then glanced at the newcomers. They saw several more people in bark clothing emerge from their hiding places.

The leader wore a bark mask and sounded like a woman. She placed a knife at Xiaoxiao’s neck and said coldly: “May I ask where you two are hurrying to so late at night?”

Xiaoxiao felt her voice was familiar, but couldn’t remember who it was. She only said, “We’re from the village below, preparing to go home and rest. Are you heroes planning to rob us for toll money?”

The woman sneered as she looked them over: “What do you do? Why are you returning to the village so late?”

Xiaoxiao knew she still had heavy makeup on her face, and Wei Jie’s tiger stripes hadn’t been washed clean either. Neither of them looked like decent people, so she only smiled apologetically: “There was a flower parade in the city, and my third aunt’s second cousin was short-handed at the pleasure house, so my brother and I went to help out and earn some pocket money… Here, take this bag of coins, heroes.”

While Xiaoxiao was speaking with a smile, Wei Jie suddenly struck from behind, knocking unconscious several men holding knives to his neck.

And Xiaoxiao’s immobilization talisman landed perfectly on the woman’s neck.

In an instant, the would-be highway robbers became the Talismonger Sect master and disciple duo, and it was the woman’s turn to ask urgently: “What… what are you going to do?”

Xiaoxiao didn’t waste words and immediately went to remove the female bandit’s mask. But when she pulled it off, she was somewhat stunned.

Because this woman was none other than the Palace Master of Two Instruments Palace from two hundred years in the future – Ling Zhishan.

She was Qin Lingxiao’s junior sister. Originally, if she hadn’t brought the Demon Pearl of Obsession and gone crazy with jealousy, the two pearls wouldn’t have combined with the divine statue to send Cui Xiaoxiao and Qin Lingxiao back two hundred years.

Now seeing Ling Zhishan’s familiar face, Xiaoxiao couldn’t immediately determine whether this was a reunion with an old friend from two hundred years in the future, or if she had encountered the Ling Zhishan from two hundred years ago.

But seeing Ling Zhishan’s slightly immature face and expression of mild terror while unable to move, she roughly confirmed that this should be the original from two hundred years ago.

Wei Jie didn’t know about Xiaoxiao’s situation. After sealing the spiritual points of the knocked-out men, he asked if they were Wan Lian Shi’s people.

Those men were quite frustrated and said breathlessly, “What, Wan? What Shi? We’re not highway bandits. We just accepted official duties to capture the two demon heads from the Lingshan Talismonger Sect. Release us quickly – we were just questioning you and didn’t mean you any harm!”

Ling Zhishan also quickly said, “Miss, we’re truly not bad people. I wonder if you’ve heard of Miaoxian Mountain? I’m Ling Zhishan, daughter of the late Miaoxian Mountain sect leader. We’re all righteous cultivation sects. We only stopped you because we saw you walking toward the village so late and suspected you might be those two blood-sucking demons!”

After listening, Xiaoxiao only said “Oh,” then found a stone to sit on slowly, mentally calculating these complex character relationships.

If what she said was true, then the Two Instruments Palace Master was the daughter of one of the four great sects’ Miaoxian Mountain sect leader!

According to the original trajectory, people at that time all thought it was Wei Jie who killed the Miaoxian Mountain sect leader.

In other words, when Ling Zhishan joined Wei Jie’s sect back then, like Qin Lingxiao, she was hiding her identity and enduring hardships to avenge her father.

Wei Jie had a good eye for choosing disciples! It seemed that in the previous life, to enter the Demon Lord’s sect and become an inner disciple, one had to have blood debts with him and be irreconcilable enemies!

Now that circumstances had changed, though the Miaoxian Mountain sect leader still died from being too deeply affected by puppet gu, everyone knew this was a bloody crime committed by Lord Can’s retainers Wei Di and his daughter, having nothing to do with her and Wei Jie.

Why was this woman still persistent, insisting on finding trouble with the Lingshan Talismonger Sect?

Hearing Xiaoxiao ask this, Ling Zhishan wasn’t surprised. She could also see that these two people, despite their inappropriate appearance with heavy makeup, seemed to possess considerable cultivation.

As cultivators, it was normal to have heard about the tragic death of Miaoxian Mountain’s sect leader.

Now unable to move, she could only honestly answer others’ questions: “Although Wei Jie and Cui Xiaoxiao had nothing to do with my father’s death, they became demonic and harmed people – this is something all righteous paths should eliminate. I brought sect members to capture them. What’s wrong with that? May I ask who you two are? Can you release us?”

It turned out that after Miaoxian Mountain’s sect leader passed away, the selection for a new sect leader became heated.

Several of the old sect leaders’ senior brothers with greater seniority all wanted to compete for the position. But the sect leader’s loyal disciples supported the sect leader’s only daughter, Ling Zhishan, for the position.

Unfortunately, Ling Zhishan’s qualifications were too shallow, and she was coldly mocked by several martial uncles. Ling Zhishan knew she needed to accomplish something significant to intimidate them.

As a result, when she couldn’t stay at Miaoxian Mountain and led people down the mountain, she saw the government’s notices, which even bore the prince’s seal, saying that capture would bring special rewards from the prince.

Ling Zhishan felt that finding these two demon heads would be enough to prove her capabilities. So she brought people to wait outside the village, but instead caught these two returning late.

After hearing the whole story, Xiaoxiao nodded, then exchanged glances with Wei Jie.

This girl had openly said she came to capture them both. If they continued hiding and concealing, it would seem rather ungentlemanly…

So Xiaoxiao looked around, went to the nearby stream to wash her face, then handed a wet handkerchief to Wei Jie.

After the master and disciple washed away their disguises and revealed their true faces, a disciple who had seen them before cried out: “Junior sister, they… they are Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie from the Talismonger Sect!”

Ling Zhishan was greatly shocked. She hadn’t expected to have chatted with the demon heads she wanted to capture for so long.

When her gaze moved from Xiaoxiao’s beautiful and lively face to that tall man, this single glance encompassed all of Wushan’s clouds and seas, and henceforth she could see no other floating clouds…

The man standing beside Cui Xiaoxiao, after washing away his tiger stripe paint, revealed angular features full of allure.

Especially this face with its demonic charm, framed by thick, flowing hair, added several degrees of wildness.