Yue Liangze felt she was asking this question seriously, and after a moment of silence, he asked earnestly, “Must you become a demon?”

Ling Luo was startled, and with a straight face said, “Didn’t I say ‘if’?”

“If it’s just hypothetical, I would try everything to stop you,” Yue Liangze said. “There are only two reasons for a human to become a demon: either out of desperation or because it’s their true nature.”

Ling Luo didn’t belong to the latter category.

Humans and demons were irreconcilable enemies. Even his senior brothers who doted on him ultimately only refrained from attacking him, but couldn’t save him at Mount Tiazhao.

Because their junior brother had chosen to side with demons.

Ling Luo didn’t like demons either.

During her years traveling the world, she had killed many, many demons. That demonic energy, full of evil and violence, lurking in dark corners to spy on the mortal realm, eyes filled with greed and bloodlust, bringing countless disasters to the human world, plunging one person after another into despair and death.

Between the two sides, it wasn’t a conflict of good versus evil, but life versus death.

That violent demonic energy had once made her lose control. Things she might have previously disregarded would suddenly provoke murderous intent because of the rampaging demonic energy, and she would act on it.

Ling Luo didn’t want to be influenced and controlled by demonic energy, becoming a true demon that wreaked havoc in the mortal realm.

At the very least, her murderous intent must be her own decision.

For this reason, she had been mocked by other Twenty-Six Demons as a monster.

Neither human nor demon.

“In South River City, I thought you had truly abandoned your past, standing against the cultivation world as their enemy, becoming a true demon, but you’re still a lapdog of the human realm.”

Mockery feels good for a moment, but in a melee, it’s a cremation ground.

This one of the Twenty-Six Demons had just met Ling Luo before being obliterated from existence by Sui Wu.

News of this battle quickly spread throughout the demon realm, and those demons who had been stirring to move against Ling Luo fell silent.

A demon feared by the mortal realm, hated by the cultivation world, and unrecognized by the demon realm.

Truly, there was no place for her in the world.

Ling Luo turned away, casually reaching out to touch the flower stems in the jars.

*Then let’s try, try to stop me.*

Yue Liangze asked, “Do you want red bean filling in your tangyuan?”

Ling Luo: “What fillings do you have?”

“There’s also purple sweet potato and sesame.”

“I want red bean.”

Yue Liangze said, “Then I’ll make more red beans.”

Ling Luo’s jade communicator sounded, but she didn’t look at it.

As Yue Liangze was wrapping the fillings, he asked in a neutral tone, “Ling Luo, have you practiced Symbiotic Spirit?”

Ling Luo: “…”

She blinked somewhat guiltily and said, “Wasn’t Symbiotic Spirit destroyed hundreds of years ago?”

Yue Liangze chose not to confront her directly and tactfully said, “You and Xu Shen both like ritual laws, or rather, he likes them even more than you do, and often secretly learns some forbidden techniques, but Xu Shen hasn’t gone too far yet.”

Ling Luo coldly replied, “He learned several demon spells this year.”

Yue Liangze: “…”

Instantly contradicted.

Ling Luo discreetly changed the subject: “You say he hasn’t gone too far, but I think he’s the dangerous one. Being too obsessed with ritual laws, when he hits a bottleneck, he can easily back himself into a corner. And he dares to learn and try everything. If he encounters more attractive demon spells, do you think he’ll do everything possible to learn them?”

Yue Liangze fell silent.

Ling Luo snorted, “When thousands of demons emerged from the Moon Palace, what he cared about was how to learn or break the Severed White Head curse.”

“Xu Shen still hasn’t given up looking for a way to separate Chang Fei and the Stone Jade Person. Chang Fei lives each day cautiously, afraid to endanger himself and expose his secret. Others privately mock him for being cowardly, lazy, and greedy. Despite his strong cultivation, he’s never willing to give his all. They think he looks down on ordinary people, has prejudices, and is arrogant.”

“Even his master is very disappointed in him and often scolds him. In the past two years, the master has taken a new disciple and focuses more on the junior disciple, increasingly ignoring Chang Fei.”

The more Ling Luo spoke, the more memories surfaced: “Chang Fei likes to make money, right? Although his methods are somewhat unconventional, he’s not someone who steals robs, or profits from others’ misfortunes, and Song Yuan Yuan usually supervises him. Once, he made a fortune selling medicinal pills I gave him, but when he returned to the sect, other disciples secretly reported that he had charged a rich merchant double the usual fee for demon extermination, breaking the rules.”

That night, a confused Chang Fei was taken to the Disciplinary Hall for questioning. The accuser spoke confidently, asserting that Chang Fei had returned with a large sum of money because he had threatened the merchant with double payment.

Chang Fei’s love for money was no secret.

Before he could even explain himself, the Disciplinary Hall asked where the money in his spirit pouch came from, and why it contained the merchant’s bank notes.

Chang Fei laughed angrily, “These notes are the payment for the demon extermination. What’s strange about them being in my spirit pouch?”

The Disciplinary Hall then asked, “So you admit to threatening him for double payment?”

Just then, his master arrived, and to Chang Fei’s surprise, his master didn’t listen to his explanation and immediately called him a wicked disciple.

Chang Fei was usually lively and not someone who would suffer bullying without fighting back, but that day, because of the disappointment and anger in his master’s eyes, he remained silent, unable to say anything.

All the rebuttals he had prepared, all the harsh words he had been ready to hurl at them, momentarily vanished from his mind.

Chang Fei explained that the other sum of money came from selling medicinal pills, but that day, Ling Luo wasn’t at Tianji. Since it involved Ling Luo, after the Disciplinary Hall reported the matter, Lady Mu Ya, who was managing Tianji’s affairs, directly determined Chang Fei’s guilt.

The relationship between Mu Ya and Ling Luo at Tianji was extremely tense. They couldn’t stand each other, yet neither could do anything about the other for the time being, so they could only find ways to make trouble for each other through the people around them.

Although Ling Luo wasn’t present, Second Senior Brother Yu Xiu often handled affairs at the sect. He came forward to testify, informing the Disciplinary Hall that Ling Luo had indeed given Chang Fei medicinal pills. He also checked Chang Fei’s records of selling the pills, and every penny matched up, which finally spared Chang Fei from punishment.

Chang Fei loved money, but he had never earned dishonest profits.

And most of the money he earned went to his friends to spend. How Ling Luo, who had refused everything Yun Shouxi offered her in this lifetime, relied on pocket money from Chang Fei and her two senior brothers to shop in East Island City.

Fortunately, after this incident, Chang Fei still laughed and joked with his friends, seemingly not too affected.

Ling Luo looked at Yue Liangze, who was bringing her tangyuan, and said, “Although he appeared unaffected, he was very sad, because his most respected master was thoroughly disappointed in him, and he couldn’t explain.”

Even if Chang Fei had cried and knelt before his master, confessing the existence of the Stone Jade Person within him, he might not have received his master’s understanding and forgiveness.

Not everyone would accept the existence of the Stone Jade Person.

Chang Fei knew clearly that he survived that day because of Yue Liangze.

If Yue Liangze hadn’t stopped Ling Luo, she would have beheaded him long ago.

Because of this, for a period of time, Chang Fei did everything he could to be good to Ling Luo, with an element of trying to curry favor.

Later, Ling Luo invited him for a talk and asked with a contemptuous look, “Are you afraid of me?”

Chang Fei’s face paled slightly.

“If you’re afraid of me because of that incident, I don’t care. Since I’ve promised not to reveal it, I won’t. But if you’re trying to please me out of fear, then from tomorrow on, you’d better not appear before me.”

The next day, Chang Fei stubbornly stood before her.

From then on, Chang Fei’s trust in Ling Luo never wavered.

Yue Liangze brought her the cooked tangyuan and asked, “Who framed Chang Fei?”

Ling Luo’s eyes widened slightly as she examined the tangyuan in the bowl and said, “An irrelevant person who has already been expelled from Tianji.”

Yue Liangze: “Did you do it?”

“Not me, your son did it,” Ling Luo said, holding a spoon. “As the personal disciple of the Disciplinary Hall Master, it’s appropriate for him to handle such matters. I just gave our Tianji Lady some trouble.”

Yue Liangze stood there, reaching out to stroke her head: “Were you happy at Tianji?”

Ling Luo didn’t look up as she said, “There were happy times and unhappy times.”

Yue Liangze: “Were the happy times more frequent?”

Ling Luo looked up at him upon hearing this.

Yue Liangze lowered his eyes, his expression serious, as if the answer to this question was very important to him.

Ling Luo smiled, “You don’t think I was very unhappy at Tianji without you, do you?”

Yue Liangze’s expression remained unchanged as he said, “Of course not. I hope you’re happy every day, but since you asked, during the days I wasn’t at Tianji, were you very happy?”

Ling Luo: “…”

She bit into a tangyuan from her spoon, and as the soft skin broke, she tasted the sweet flavor inside.

It was the red bean she had asked for.

Yue Liangze lightly traced his finger across her face and asked softly, “Hmm?”

Ling Luo replied irritably, “Not happy.”

After a pause, she asked him, “Are you happy?”

Yue Liangze smiled, his lips curving.

Ling Luo couldn’t stand his smile. Even the slight hint of joy in his eyes made her heart flutter.

She tried to appear calm by changing the subject: “Let’s talk more about your adopted son. He’s just as troublesome as the other two.”

Yue Liangze asked, “What trouble could he cause?”

In his view, Song Yuan Yuan was the most honest and upright person.

Ling Luo bit her spoon, her tone muffled: “He called me a little demon girl.”

Yue Liangze: “…”

He gently pinched Ling Luo’s puffed-up cheeks and said, “I’ll teach him a lesson later.”

Regarding the “little demon girl” matter, Song Yuan Yuan had already sent her dozens of messages.

At this point, Yue Liangze picked up the Flying Cloud Listener to call Song Yuan Yuan over, planning to formally introduce his adopted son to his future little mother.

But the first to arrive was Mu Sujing.

Mu Sujing was laden with bags large and small, his arms full of items, both edible and playful.

He stood at the courtyard gate with a wooden expression, hesitating whether to enter or not as he looked at the two people inside.

Ling Luo was stunned to see him carrying so many things.

Yue Liangze asked, “What are you carrying?”

Mu Sujing looked at Ling Luo and said, “The things she asked me to buy last night. I’ve bought them now.”

Ling Luo: “…”

Yue Liangze glanced at her, then walked forward to help Mu Sujing.

Ling Luo gave Mu Sujing a strange look: “You went shopping?”

Shouldn’t this guy be isolating himself in self-reflection?

Mu Sujing responded with a soft “mm,” lowering his eyes and saying, “I didn’t know what else to do.”

He had been waiting for the day when it would all end, but when that day came, he felt lost.

Ling Luo ate her tangyuan, stealing a glance at Yue Liangze, thinking, *Great, now that he’s here, he definitely won’t ask about the Symbiotic Spirit again.*

But in the end, she discovered that Mu Sujing wasn’t the only one who had arrived.

Song Yuan Yuan waved at Ling Luo, bringing two senior brothers behind him, enthusiastically stating, “On the way here, we learned that my little father was cooking, and the senior brothers expressed that after a tiring day, they wanted to eat something warm.”

Ling Luo looked expressionlessly at the arriving Chu Yi and Zi Xiu.

The two senior brothers scrutinized Yue Liangze, sharing a common thought: *Protect our little cabbage.*

Yue Liangze had no objection and simply said, “There are still some fillings that haven’t been wrapped. Since there are many people, let’s eat together.”

Ling Luo watched longingly as he returned to the kitchen.

Yue Liangze brought Song Yuan Yuan into the kitchen.

Song Yuan Yuan handed over a rolling pin, pleading, “Little Father, I didn’t know it was Ling Luo! If I had known it was Ling Luo, I would have approved with both hands and feet, without the slightest objection!”

Yue Liangze asked in a low voice, “What forbidden spells has she learned over the years?”

Song Yuan Yuan was startled and counted on his fingers, telling him everything he knew.

Yue Liangze looked out the window.

Ling Luo was teaching Mu Sujing ritual laws in front of the two senior brothers, correcting his hand seals. Mu Sujing was so criticized that he felt lifeless, yet he obediently continued to correct himself.

Finally, Chu Yi couldn’t bear to watch and joined in the instruction. With both brother and sister delivering cutting remarks, Mu Sujing looked toward the kitchen with a plea for help in his eyes.

Yue Liangze lowered his head, unable to stop wondering, what if Ling Luo became a demon?

What would make her willing to abandon everything in the mortal realm to become a demon?

Was it necessary to go to such extremes?

Could she give up her sect and friends, and even him?

Could he stop her?

If he couldn’t stop her, what then? What if after becoming a demon, Ling Luo no longer wanted him?

Yue Liangze experienced a rare feeling of helpless fear.

But the more helpless and confused he felt inside, the calmer he appeared outwardly. His movements were meticulous, wrapping the tangyuan fillings perfectly.

He gave the impression of being completely focused and serious, when in fact his inner self was falling apart, wanting to instantly appear before Ling Luo, hold her, and bury his face in her neck to repeatedly confirm whether she truly cared for him.

As for Ling Luo:

She ate tangyuan while gazing at Yue Liangze’s profile through the window, thinking to herself: So handsome, I’ll never get tired of looking at him.