After Siling was brought back to Qilao Mountain by Elder Wei, she was ordered by the matriarch to cultivate body and mind here, dissolving her malevolent energy.

She had indirectly caused the death of the Wei family’s former head, Wei Jingling. Besides Elder Wei, other Wei family members all disliked her, so she rarely left the Buddhist hall. Her three daily meals were all brought to the Buddhist hall.

Only yesterday, several young maids came, saying that Qilao Mountain was entering a period of confinement. Fearing that Underworld demon beasts might emerge, Elder Wei had ordered several evil-warding bronze mirrors to be added to the Buddhist hall.

Siling was copying Buddhist scriptures at the time and couldn’t be bothered with such matters, letting those young girls arrange things as they pleased.

After that, no one came to disturb her. But after those bronze mirrors were hung up, they continuously reflected candlelight and shadows. In her daze, she felt increasingly drowsy and closed her eyes.

Half-dreaming and half-awake, she returned to when she first met Wei Jingling. After experiencing the sweetness of falling in love and understanding each other, came the painful memory of Jingling taking his own life at the foot of the mountain.

Siling tried to stop him again and again, but could only watch her beloved spill blood five steps before her repeatedly.

This helplessness of knowing the outcome yet being powerless to change it was the most painful.

So much so that though Siling knew this was a dream, she still indulged in it and couldn’t extricate herself, finally shedding hot blood from her heart in grief and despair.

Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er had also followed and come. They were originally guarding outside the door, but when they heard Xiaoxiao’s alarmed cry, they also rushed in.

Hearing this, Yu Ling’er said angrily: “There’s someone who set up a soul-confusing magical array here. Could it be that Elder Wei can’t tolerate Madam Siling and allowed her servants to harm her? Come, let’s go find Elder Wei and get to the bottom of this!”

After hearing Siling’s description, Xiaoxiao had been frowning in deep thought. Yu Ling’er’s words were also her first instinct.

But after hearing Yu Ling’er’s words, she suddenly looked up at Wei Jie.

Since entering the demonic path, Wei Jie’s emotions had been quite unstable. Now, seeing his mother nearly lose her life in the Buddhist hall, his eyes were also gradually turning black.

Xiaoxiao couldn’t help reaching out to grasp his large palm, saying softly, “Wei Jie, I feel this matter isn’t so simple. Please stay calm…”

Wei Jie turned to look at Xiaoxiao. Her large eyes were now full of worry for him, her clear pupils reflecting his image completely.

Her voice was crisp and clear. When it sounded in his ear, it immediately smoothed the sudden anger rising in his heart.

Because of his mother’s experience of abandoning him and leaving Qilao Mountain when he was small, Wei Jie always had a lingering sense of loneliness.

When he was still a child, every night he would dream of his mother and couldn’t sleep peacefully. He always wondered: if his mother didn’t care for him, and if she met with an accident and was gone, then he would have no more relatives in this world.

The fear of losing his mother tortured little him, making his personality somewhat withdrawn and incompatible with other Wei family children.

Later, when he left the Wei family and wandered north and south, he was also alone.

That sense of loneliness was rather similar to the feeling of being disconnected from this world when possessed by divine essence.

However, since he met Cui Xiaoxiao, for a very long time, he had forgotten what loneliness tasted like.

Xiaoxiao was like a glowing, warming little sun, unconsciously gathering a group of people around her.

During these days, though adventures continued, it was never lonely, even carrying indescribable sweetness and sourness.

Now her warm hand held his tightly, and her large eyes were filled with his reflection. It gave him the feeling that besides his mother, he had another close relative.

At this moment, the heart demon stirred by fear of losing his mother was slowly suppressed thanks to Xiaoxiao.

Xiaoxiao kept watching Wei Jie until his eyes returned to purple again, then she quietly exhaled a long breath.

If Wei Jie had just been overcome by demonic nature, wouldn’t that be… Xiaoxiao suddenly paused, seeming to remember something. The more she thought about it, the more she drew a sharp breath.

Because Xiaoxiao suddenly realized: from her and Yu Ling’er being tricked into the Underworld, to Wei Jie entering the demonic path, to Madam Siling nearly dying from shedding all her bloody tears due to nightmares. These various incidents seemed unrelated on the surface, yet led to the same destination. It seemed someone was scheming deliberately to accelerate Wei Jie’s transformation to demonhood!

She was now only afraid of one thing in hindsight—what would have happened today if last night she had ignored Wei Jie and left in anger?

Based on Wei Jie’s current condition, if she weren’t there, he would probably lose his temper and have another demonic outbreak. But having shed bloody tears that injured his vital energy, he wouldn’t be able to move for a while.

He probably wouldn’t have paid attention to Tang Youshu then, much less taken his Underworld God Pills.

And this morning, the Wei family would still have sent people to find Wei Jie.

Wei Jie had entered the demonic path yesterday, nearly destroying the Underworld’s seal. Given Wei Jingfeng’s personality, he would still have cursed Wei Jie. After entering the demonic path, Wei Jie’s temperament was unstable. Assuming she wasn’t there, whether Wei Jie could have endured his uncle’s anger was another unknown suspense.

Most critically, if uncle and nephew had quarreled, it wouldn’t have been settled with just a few words like earlier.

Even if Wei Jie had caused a great disturbance in the Wei family and then gone to see his mother, he would probably have seen Siling collapse in the Buddhist hall with bloody streaks all over her face.

It was even possible that, because he came too late, Siling had already shed all her heart’s bloody tears and died!

At that time, seeing this arrangement like a murder scene, then seeing the medicine bowl filled with his mother’s bloody tears, would Wei Jie, like Yu Ling’er, think the Wei family had mistreated his mother, or that they had harmed her to obtain the succubus’s heart blood, causing her to die alone in the Buddhist hall bleeding miserably?

All these things combined would ultimately result in triggering the demonic nature in Wei Jie’s heart.

Once Wei Jie’s demonic nature erupted, he would recognize neither ghosts nor gods, killing Buddhas that blocked his path and demons that blocked his way!

In the end, Wei Jie would very likely lose his reason and slaughter the entire Wei family!

If she had still been somewhat annoyed this morning by Wei Jie’s entanglement and hadn’t left in time, now she was extremely grateful that she had stayed and prevented things from becoming much worse.

If her guess was correct, the chess player arranging everything behind the scenes was someone countless times more terrifying than Lord Can.

Once these arrangements succeeded, Wei Jie would instantly return to his original destined trajectory, eliminating the changes Xiaoxiao had made to his fate.

However, this person had calculated everything except Wei Jie’s thick skin. Wei Jie had clung to Cui Xiaoxiao shamelessly, not letting her leave.

That mastermind behind the scenes couldn’t calculate for Cui Xiaoxiao, this variable from the wrong era. So as long as she stayed by Wei Jie’s side, Wei Jie’s fate would undergo unpredictable changes, never allowing anyone to control the initiative and set traps to harm Wei Jie.

After Tang Youshu gave Madam Siling the Underworld God Pill to take, he finally stabilized the succubus’s surging blood and energy. However, her constitution was different from Wei Jie’s.

For a pure-blood succubus, losing heart blood caused even greater damage to body and spirit.

Siling’s hair turned grayish-white all at once, and her voice became hoarse and dead, no longer able to produce melodious songs.

But seeing Madam Siling’s changes, then looking at Wei Jie, who seemed to have anemia, both had lost heart blood and tears, yet Madam Siling immediately showed signs of aging.

But Wei Jie had only collapsed from exhaustion. After sleeping and waking up, he could still gather strength to put his arm around her shoulders and take advantage.

From this, it could be seen that this man’s strength seemed even more unfathomable than what met the eye…

However, now wasn’t the time to explore Wei Jie’s strength. After all, the person who framed Madam Siling ultimately targeted Wei Jie.

When Elder Wei got word and hurried over, she discovered someone had falsely transmitted her orders and set up a soul-confusing array in Siling’s Buddhist hall that disturbed people’s hearts and souls.

When they went to investigate those maids who had acted, all of them had disappeared. Soon, someone found their bodies floating in the pond water in the valley behind the mountain. However, when examining their corpses, they found Ghost Sect control talismans on all of them…

It seemed these people should have been dark pieces planted in the Wei family by the deceased Ghost Sect’s Wan Lian Shi, who had previously placed control talismans on them.

This conspiracy was closely related to that “dead” Lord Can again.

Siling now also knew she had nearly been used as bait to trigger her son’s heart demons.

After hearing Xiaoxiao describe their encounters in the Underworld, Siling couldn’t help but feel fear for her son.

For a mother, knowing her son had great origins and was a deity undergoing tribulation wasn’t a joyful matter.

She had been trapped by love, left the Ghost Realm to stay in the human world, and relied on hatred to support herself, remaining in the human world seeking opportunities to avenge her lover.

But Siling, controlled by hatred, had heartlessly abandoned her young son. Only when her son reached adulthood did she meet him again.

Though he was her flesh and blood, when they met, there was additional estrangement and unfamiliarity.

When she was trapped by those bronze mirrors, repeatedly reliving her life’s regrets, besides the parting of life and death with Wei Jingling, there was also young Wei Jie’s helpless sobbing as he called for his mother when they separated.

These days of chanting Buddhist scriptures had dissolved much of Siling’s malevolent energy. If time could return, she didn’t know if she would make different choices, but at least she wouldn’t abandon her young son again and be separated from him for so long.

If he became an immortal in the future, wouldn’t he be even further from his mother in the Ghost Realm?

Thinking of this, Siling couldn’t help wanting to touch her son’s cheek like when A’Jie was small.

But Wei Jie instinctively dodged, leaving Siling’s hand frozen in mid-air.

It wasn’t that Wei Jie was sulking with his mother. He simply didn’t like being too close to people. Even with his mother, when she had cried and embraced him several times before, Wei Jie had endured it with his whole body rigid.

After all, he was no longer a crying infant who needed his mother’s kisses and hugs.

After dodging, he felt somewhat regretful, just frozen there, unable to actively approach his mother.

Who would have thought that at this moment Xiaoxiao slapped the back of his head: “Why are you so far away? Don’t you see Madam can’t reach you?”

With Xiaoxiao’s slap, Wei Jie’s body leaned forward, his face landing right in Siling’s palm.

Xiaoxiao also thoughtfully pushed Wei Jie forward a bit, then said to Madam Siling, “Don’t worry too much. Look at his strong, healthy appearance—there should be no major problems. His disciple is skilled with medicine and herbs. That Underworld God Pill you took was very suitable. In a few days, you’ll surely recover.”

Siling watched her usually cold and stern son being subdued under this little master’s hands, and couldn’t help smiling slightly.

When her son, god-like as he was, stayed with Cui Xiaoxiao, he indeed had much more warmth… This young lady was indeed taking very good care of Wei Jie…

However, speaking of yesterday’s red moon, Siling, coming from the Underworld’s Ghost Realm, knew some historical origins.

“When the red moon is full, it’s an omen of great misfortune. I once heard elders of the Ghost Realm clan say that a divine being once wanted to enter the Underworld to take something important. Unable to enter through its gates, he engaged in a fierce battle with the emperor who controlled the Underworld. The day they dueled happened to be during a full moon. The two were evenly matched, and while both suffered mutual defeat, they stained the round moon red. Both the emperor and that divine being had their divine essence destroyed and fell to the human world… From then on, every ten years, the moon turns red. Within three days after the red moon, the River of Forgetfulness’s water level drops, ferries for the dead cannot set sail, and the Underworld’s gates frequently suffer attacks, requiring the demon-subduing clan to stand ready in strict formation and guard carefully.”

Hearing this, these mythical past events suddenly connected for Xiaoxiao.

Originally, a divine being had wanted to break into the Underworld but was stopped by Lord Gu Yan. After their entangled, fierce battle, both had their divine essence destroyed and had to fall to the mortal realm for tribulation.

Lord Gu Yan was an honest child. Besides secretly playing tricks and sealing his divine essence, he honestly endured reincarnation.

But that divine being was shrewd to the extreme. He turned around and deceived the Xia family’s imperial destiny to supplement his divine essence, completely avoiding tribulation.

Moreover, taking advantage of the Underworld master’s absence, every ten years during the red moon, he would come seeking opportunities to enter.

In the original trajectory, had that divine being succeeded? When the Underworld’s ghost gates opened wide, Qilao Mountain would fall into a sea of flames?

But now everyone’s destinies had become a tangled mess.

In his previous life, after Wei Jie suffered losses, he left behind a hidden chess piece—his loyal disciple, Tang Youshu. He then obtained the statue of Zhu Jiuyin that could reverse time and space, completely overturning the defeat and resetting everything to the starting point.

This time, with his disciple Tang Youshu’s cheating assistance, Wei Jie had recovered his divine essence early and was on the verge of ascending to immortality.

That master hiding behind the scenes finally couldn’t restrain himself and had to personally take action to set things right.

When this master made his move, it was extraordinary. With just a little arrangement, he nearly made Wei Jie return to his tragic destiny again.

It was truly just that close—Wei Jie would again enter demonhood, lose his mother, kill blood relatives… all the tragic ordeals would be complete without exception!

However, besides ruthlessly trapping Wei Jie, that master had another important purpose—to take something from the Underworld.

But what exactly was he scheming to obtain?

When Xiaoxiao asked Siling and Elder Wei, they both shook their heads, indicating they didn’t know.

That divine being seemed to have hidden everything about himself properly, then hypocritically used the imperial destiny he had deceived to continue his leisurely immortal days.

By comparison, Wei Jie, the former Underworld master, was not very bright!

But hearing Xiaoxiao accidentally voice this thought, Wei Jie raised his eyebrows and asked: “You mean I’m stupid?”

Xiaoxiao was digging herbs from stone crevices, saying carelessly, “I’m not wrong. Compared to that divine being, haven’t you always been at a disadvantage?”

Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie were currently gathering medicinal materials in the valley behind Qilao Mountain.

Tang Youshu was grinding and brewing medicine at the Wei family, preparing more for Madam Siling. Siling was too severely injured. Unlike Wei Jie’s resilient body, which only needed rest to recover, after losing so much blood, Siling could only return to her Ghost Realm clan to recuperate quietly. Otherwise, even the yang energy of the human world would harm her.

Before leaving, Tang Youshu wanted to prepare more medicine. So Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao helped gather herbs, coming to the cliff where they had initially fallen together.

Hearing Xiaoxiao praise some unknown scoundrel, Wei Jie reached out to embrace Xiaoxiao: “Even if I am that Lord Gu Yan, falling into the mortal realm isn’t necessarily a loss! Otherwise, how could you and I meet and fall in love?”

Xiaoxiao wanted to shake off his arm: “Who fell in love with you? You descended for tribulation—are you supposed to practice making your face thicker before going back?”

Wei Jie raised his eyebrows: “Better to die under peonies than live without romance, but I haven’t even smelled the flowers yet, and you want me to go back. Even if I become immortal, I’ll have regrets in my heart… Master, when shall we practice dual cultivation to promote your Bliss Sect?”

Xiaoxiao knew his “dual cultivation” was not any proper immortal cultivation path, and couldn’t help but blush: “Who wants to dual cultivate with you… What? You know how? With whom have you practiced?”

After Wei Jie left the Wei family, he was like an unmanaged wild horse, very free and easy. This person was wild, and his ways were wild too.

Thinking again of how he mingled with singers and servants in Luoyi City, he wasn’t some pure, innocent young gentleman!

Could it be that he had done it with others before…

Wei Jie watched his master’s pretty little face slowly puff up like a bun, so adorable it made his heart itch.

He couldn’t help lowering his head to kiss her: “Didn’t you come from two hundred years later? Tang Youshu’s broken book established a chastity memorial arch for me—I’ve guarded my body like jade, very much avoiding women! How about it? Want to reward me by letting me taste a woman’s flavor?”

Xiaoxiao stared at the incredibly handsome man before her, who spoke words completely inconsistent with his cold, shadowy appearance, and could only gape half-open, somewhat speechless: “You… have the nerve to say that. I’ll reward you with…”

Before she could finish cursing, Wei Jie was already laughingly sealing her lips.

Heaven knows, when he first saw her in this valley, she was also tilting her face up, seriously saying she wanted to take him as her disciple. He had thought this girl’s lips were deeply red, her eyes sparkling bright, very beautiful.

But at that time, he hadn’t expected he would become so deeply entangled with this girl.

The Underworld master’s destiny originally had no romantic fate, but once tainted with the taste of “love,” it made one savor the marrow and become unable to stop.

In the deep kiss, he pressed Xiaoxiao into the grass by the pond, impatiently tearing off her sash in one go…

After returning from gathering herbs in the valley that day, when Yu Ling’er was helping Xiaoxiao organize the medicinal plants, she inadvertently discovered that Xiaoxiao’s sash seemed to be tied wrong—this black sash was Wei Jie’s!

Xiaoxiao hadn’t expected Yu Ling’er would notice and ask about this, and couldn’t help but blush.

Looking more carefully, Yu Ling’er also found wild grass roots stuck to Xiaoxiao’s back of head and back.

Fox clans were all good at outdoor activities. Seeing Xiaoxiao’s flushed face, Yu Ling’er immediately guessed: “Oh my, you two did that in the valley?”

Xiaoxiao vigorously pounded the medicine pestle in her hands, pretending to be calm: “What nonsense are you talking about? We didn’t!”

But Yu Ling’er knew better: “Didn’t do it? What? Wei Jie can’t perform?”

Xiaoxiao panicked: “How would I know if he can or can’t? It’s just… just got a little bit closer than before…”

Yu Ling’er didn’t believe it at all!

Wei Jie looked like someone who dared to take action, not like Master Tang with his gentlemanly, refined manner. He and Xiaoxiao went to the deserted valley to gather herbs for so long before returning—how could there be no reason to eat some tender tofu?

Otherwise, how would Xiaoxiao’s sash break and end up wearing Wei Jie’s?

Xiaoxiao felt this matter became more obscure the more she explained, so she simply stopped talking.

But Wei Jie indeed wasn’t as honest as she claimed. Though he had truly avoided women in his previous life, in this life, he seemed to have never been intimate with any woman besides her.

Such a man, pure as white paper, could be so naturally gifted and varied in his methods… So this proved that all men are born lechers!

Fortunately, she used the excuse that Madam Siling was waiting for medicine to stop him; otherwise, who knows how he would have tormented her!

However, Yu Ling’er looked at Xiaoxiao’s spring-glowing face and sighed deeply.

Though her Master Tang was much better than Wei Jie as a person, when would he become enlightened and stop being such a perfect gentleman?

Their fox clan was very uninhibited—hillsides, fields, even trees were all fine!

But he insisted on treating her like his own little sister, caring for her thoughtfully but showing no other signs.

Yu Ling’er sighed deeply again, feeling she had no charm and was truly embarrassing the fox clan!

The gentleman Tang Youshu didn’t know he had disappointed a beauty. His heart was entirely focused on preparing medicine, so he quickly finished the medications, and Madam Siling could set off properly.

Elder Wei, feeling she hadn’t taken good care of Wei Jie’s mother, personally ordered people to escort Siling back to the Ghost Realm.

Though the red moon had faded, the next three days would be when the River of Forgetfulness’s water level dropped, and the Underworld’s seal still needed strict guarding.

Plus, with the incident of someone plotting against Siling, the Wei family became even more vigilant. Each of them didn’t even dare sleep, all staying up with red eyes.

As parting approached, Madam Siling had words for Xiaoxiao. She said rather emotionally, “Actually, when I first saw you, I felt you resembled Wei Jie’s father.”

Xiaoxiao was startled, not understanding what Madam Siling meant.

Siling seemed to fall into memory, smiling: “We succubi are naturally cold-natured and don’t easily develop feelings, yet can keenly perceive those with naturally warm natures. Wei Jie’s father was such a person. Even when he didn’t speak much, he would attract me to involuntarily approach him. Miss Cui is also such a person—A’Jie should also be irresistibly attracted to you. This is the emotional tribulation our succubus clan cannot escape. But A’Jie’s constitution is too special, and he’s entered demonhood. After I return to the Underworld, you’ll be the only one who can care for him! I thank you in advance, Miss.”

Xiaoxiao wanted to speak but stopped. Looking at Siling’s haggard appearance, she wanted to say she might eventually have to separate from Wei Jie, but couldn’t bring herself to say it.

If such a day really came, their separation of two hundred years would be beyond control.

Like his mother, Wei Jie had also suffered emotional tribulation and shed heart blood. When the day of separation truly came, would Wei Jie, like his mother, also have his lifespan damaged?