My heart tensed. Unwilling to remain pinned down at anyone’s mercy, I formed a hand seal and stood up. Spiritual energy around my body transformed into blades, cutting through the golden net completely.

The golden net burst open with a “boom,” scattering fragments throughout the tent.

Wu Cheng looked startled, blinking at me: “That was a celestial binding net… How… Jiu Xia, when did your cultivation techniques advance so much?”

Having been a high immortal for five hundred more years than Xiaxia, even after traveling through time and consuming much energy, I was naturally superior to her in quickly mobilizing internal energy.

I glanced at Wu Cheng: “I have not entered the path of evil spirits. This is the last time I’ll say it. If you don’t believe me, I don’t care.”

Wu Cheng stood dumbfounded, seemingly intimidated by my presence, not knowing how to respond.

I looked toward Jing Nanshou. The broken strands of the golden net had naturally fallen on him as well.

Jing Nanshou showed no anger. Instead, he calmly removed the broken strands from his body, patted his clothes, and spoke in a moderate, fair tone:

“Matters concerning evil spirits are of great importance. Commander Fu should not feel offended. I am merely carrying out my duty. If there is no evil spirit energy in Commander Fu’s body, I certainly won’t make things difficult.”

Hearing his official tone with me, I gave a cold laugh and retorted:

“Indeed, matters concerning evil spirits are of great importance. I notice the Wisteria High Immortal’s complexion is unusual, resembling symptoms of conflicting spiritual energies. Many who have just entered the path of evil spirits show similar signs. Since the High Immortal wishes to determine the truth, why don’t we go before Xi Wang Mu for judgment?”

I turned the accusation of evil spirits back on him. Wu Cheng was surprised, and Jing Nanshou was stunned.

I folded my arms and looked at him, thinking: Didn’t expect that, did you? I even come with prophetic abilities.

If I were truly Xiaxia, I might have been intimidated by your status as a high immortal. But… who here isn’t a high immortal? And who doesn’t know that among the three of us, you’re the only one with a guilty conscience?

This Jing Nanshou would, in the future, consume forty-eight immortals from Kunlun. Judging by his actions just now, he seemed to have designs on me already. How could I casually allow him to examine my internal energy, making it convenient for him to know whether to use salt or sugar when eating me later?

Better for us all to go see Xi Wang Mu, resolve his case early, and save innocent lives.

“What’s wrong? The High Immortal is unwilling?”

Jing Nanshou was silent for a moment, then suddenly lowered his head with a smile: “Commander Fu…”

I was waiting for his words when Jing Nanshou unexpectedly transformed into a shadow, instantly appearing behind me. My heart tensed as I raised my hand to block one of his hands. In that moment of contact, I realized…

It was over. Although he had just ascended to high immortal status and appeared physically weak, he was still much stronger than someone like me, who had just traveled through time.

I couldn’t win. I needed to retreat…

I tried to flash away, but unexpectedly, Jing Nanshou’s other hand moved extremely fast, grabbing my arm.

With a “hiss,” accompanied by my sleeve being torn, I felt a burning pain on my arm.

I retreated, stopping at the tent flap, my back to the entrance, clutching my arm.

My arm had been clawed open, leaving three deep wounds. Even though I covered the injuries, fresh blood still seeped through my fingers and dripped to the ground with a “plop, plop” sound.

“High… High Immortal!” Wu Cheng hadn’t expected him to attack directly. Seeing my blood, he was immediately alarmed. “This hasn’t been confirmed yet, High Immortal cannot…”

Jing Nanshou didn’t even look at him. He simply raised his hand, flicked his finger, and a wave of light hit Wu Cheng, who rolled his eyes and fainted.

I frowned, watching as Jing Nanshou completely ignored Wu Cheng. He discarded my torn sleeve, raised his fingertips stained with my fresh blood, and then licked the blood off his fingertips with his tongue…

Seeing his actions, I felt a chill of disgust run down my spine.

“Commander Fu…” he seemed to savor my blood, then walked toward me like a predator approaching its prey: “The energy in your body truly is… untainted.”

Disgust sent another chill down my spine.

I almost instinctively leaned my body back slightly, but at that moment, a warm palm pressed against my back, alleviating my coldness.

Almost instinctively, a name and figure appeared in my mind—

Xie Zhuo…

I turned my head, but was stunned with surprise.

The newcomer was smiling with curved eyes, the hair hanging beside his temples somewhat lazy and casual. It was none other than that fox worth three high-grade spirit stones…

“Lao Qin?” I stared at him blankly.

He was here to…

Lao Qin had one hand against my back and held his ever-present fan in the other. He flipped his hair with the fan, appearing somewhat rushed.

“Commander Jiu Xia.” He greeted me with a smile, then looked at the person in front of me, and glanced at the unconscious Wu Cheng beside us. “What’s this? Is fighting allowed within the Kunlun Defense Forces? That would never be permitted at our Cuihu Terrace.”

Hearing these words, I understood—he was here to help me.

After Lao Qin finished speaking, he flipped his fan, causing the tent flap to fall to the ground. The soldiers outside could now see in. Some people seemed to notice Wu Cheng lying unconscious and gathered around, curiously peering in.

Some asked, “Why did Wu pass out?” Others looked at me: “Jiu Xia, what happened to your arm? Did you fight? You didn’t really…”

Faced with everyone’s gaze, Jing Nanshou remained completely calm: “I knocked Commander Wu unconscious.”

His attitude was so gentle that if I didn’t know he truly ate people, I might have been misled.

“I wanted to check whether Commander Fu had evil spirit energy within her body. Commander Fu was unwilling to cooperate. I became impatient and resorted to force. Commander Wu tried to intervene, so I put him to sleep first. Unexpectedly…”

Jing Nanshou cast a mild gaze at Lao Qin: “Cuihu Terrace’s… Manager Qin. You’re a merchant demon who typically avoids Kunlun affairs. How coincidental that you’ve come to the Kunlun Defense Forces camp today. What brings you here?”

Jing Nanshou’s words sounded harmless but were dangerous.

Lao Qin was the manager of Cuihu Terrace, a place prone to spawning evil spirits and frequently raided by our defense forces. He usually avoided our defense forces at all costs, yet today he had delivered himself directly to our doorstep—quite strange. Even stranger was his interference in Jing Nanshou’s investigation of evil spirit energy within me.

Sure enough, after Jing Nanshou finished speaking, the defense forces outside all looked toward Lao Qin.

The thousand-year-old fox remained unperturbed, smiling gently: “Checking for evil spirit energy is simple enough, but Wisteria High Immortal has already injured Commander Jiu Xia’s arm like this. Haven’t you figured it out yet?”

Lao Qin pulled aside my hand that was still covering my wound, revealing the three bloody gashes for everyone to see.

The defense forces members began to show signs of discontent.

My Kunlun Defense Forces showed no mercy to evil spirits, but internally, we were extremely protective of our brothers and sisters.

“Wisteria High Immortal, on your first rotation duty, you’ve already knocked one person unconscious and injured another…” Lao Qin sighed beside me, exaggerating and stirring emotions with his despicable manner. “And this was just to check for evil spirit energy…”

Seeing everyone’s dissatisfaction, I glanced at Lao Qin and quickly leaned against his arm, feigning weakness to cooperate with his performance. “I think I’ve lost too much blood. I feel dizzy…”

Lao Qin supported me as I placed a hand on my forehead, peering through my fingers at Jing Nanshou.

He was composed, showing no panic at this coordinated attack from me and Lao Qin. His expression even carried a hint of regret as he sighed, “I apologize. I’ve just ascended and haven’t handled these matters before. I was too hasty.”

What a man-eating high immortal! No wonder he could conceal his identity for so long after consuming so many people in Kunlun. With acting skills like these, who would suspect him?

I elbowed Lao Qin.

Lao Qin understood immediately: “The High Immortal is not to blame. Since Commander Jiu Xia has no evil spirit energy in her body, I’ll take her to rest now. Please take care of Commander Wu.”

“Manager Qin…”

Before Lao Qin could leave with me, Jing Nanshou spoke again with a peculiar tone, “You still haven’t answered me. Why have you come to the Kunlun Defense Forces?”

“Oh?” Lao Qin turned back, looking at Jing Nanshou with the most innocent eyes, “Hasn’t the Wisteria High Immortal figured it out? I’m here to court Commander Jiu Xia.”

He spoke with utmost seriousness, as if it were perfectly natural.

“What’s wrong?” Lao Qin pretended to be surprised. “Are the women of the Kunlun Defense Forces forbidden from being pursued by outsiders?”

Hearing this, the other members of the defense forces subtly inhaled and raised their eyebrows. No one spoke further, merely watching as Lao Qin and I walked away.

I knew he was just putting on an act, so I quietly praised him.

“Well done. You almost had me believing it.”

I immediately received Lao Qin’s reply: “Then please do not accept my courtship. This humble Qin cannot bear the burden.”

His response was strange. I glanced at him but didn’t ask further.

When we reached a secluded area, I broke free from Lao Qin’s arm.

“Thousand-year fox, thank you for your rescue.”

Lao Qin waved his fan and smiled: “I am merely fulfilling a request with loyalty.”

I raised an eyebrow, staring at Lao Qin, suddenly feeling a sense of danger.

“Whose request? Loyal to whom? How did you know I was in trouble? Why did you suddenly come to save me?” The more I asked, the more suspicious I felt. “We’re not that familiar with each other, are we?”

Lao Qin continued smiling, but as he smiled, he flicked his finger at me. A beam of spell light immediately wrapped around me, binding me tightly.

“Someone predicted you would come looking for me today,” Lao Qin said. By then, I had already formed a bold guess, and his words confirmed it word by word—

“I had set a trap at Cuihu Terrace, waiting for you to walk into it. Unexpectedly, you encountered trouble on the way, so I was called to rescue you.”

Lao Qin pointed to his ear.

On his ear was a small square white dot, similar to the Yin-Yang fish on my and Xiaxia’s ears!

Damn it…

“Fu Jiuxia.” Lao Qin smiled at me, but at this moment, I seemed to see Xie Zhuo’s face behind Lao Qin’s, and could transform Lao Qin’s voice into Xie Zhuo’s.

Lao Qin said, “He wants you to go to him.”

I immediately turned around. Even with my body bound, I tried to hop away, but I couldn’t get far.

Lao Qin grabbed the back of my collar and lifted me into the air.

After a rush of wind, I was thrown into the cave in the Snow Bamboo Forest.

In the dim cave, sitting against the wall—who else could it be but my ex-husband, Xie Zhuo!

I gnashed my teeth in hatred, pounding my chest: “Damn you, Xie Zhuo! You turned my people against me?”

Xie Zhuo gave no response.

Instead, it was Lao Qin who answered: “Commander Jiu Xia, that’s incorrect. When did I become your person?”

I glared at Lao Qin: “You helped me last time!”

Lao Qin was confused: “What last time?”

I couldn’t explain.

I could only grit my teeth and stare at Xie Zhuo.

Xie Zhuo finally glanced at me, but his gaze fell directly on my arm.

He stared for a long time, then turned away: “Using him was inspired by you.”

So, should you thank me, Xie Zhuo?

I stared at him, afraid he might take out the Pangu Fu and take me back five hundred years. So I decided to bluff, trying to scare him: “Xie Zhuo, even if you’ve captured me today, don’t think you can just take me back five hundred years later…”

Lao Qin interrupted me: “He can take you back five hundred years?”

I looked at Lao Qin in shock. What? This old fox knew about the five hundred years? Had Xie Zhuo told this thousand-year-old fox everything?

This person, Xie Zhuo…

When did Xie Zhuo start trusting others? And seeking help?

As I was marveling at how fake our marriage was, Lao Qin looked at Xie Zhuo and said:

“He’s so severely injured now that he can’t even use the wind-riding spell, let alone the Pangu Fu.”

Hearing this, the chaotic and restless emotions in my heart settled down.

He can’t even use the wind-riding spell…

I looked at Xie Zhuo. He was sitting in the same place as yesterday, truly having not moved an inch. But beside him, fresh blood had seeped out, pooling on the ground. It seemed his wounds had reopened.

“If he could travel, the person appearing at the defense forces camp wouldn’t have been me.”

Hearing Lao Qin’s words, I fell silent for a moment.

I could vaguely piece together what Xie Zhuo had done.

It seemed that after Xie Zhuo came back this time, to prevent Xiaxia from meeting Xie Xuanqing, he not only sent a secret report to Wu Cheng but also found Lao Qin. Through some method, he convinced Lao Qin to cooperate, giving him a Yin-Yang fish for communication.

Xie Zhuo probably anticipated he would be injured and immobile for a period, so he had Lao Qin handle his affairs, like capturing me.

Previously, when Xie Zhuo had Xiaxia communicate with me, he wanted to learn my plans. He deduced I would seek out Lao Qin again.

So he had Lao Qin set a trap at Cuihu Terrace, planning to capture me as soon as I arrived. Unexpectedly, I ran into trouble at the defense forces camp.

The blood oath force in Xie Zhuo’s body sensed I was in danger. He tried to save me but tore his wounds open in the struggle, unable to use even the wind-riding spell. Then he contacted Lao Qin through the Yin-Yang fish to go to the defense forces camp…

My ex-husband…

Finding Lao Qin too talkative, Xie Zhuo glanced at him: “You should leave.”

Lao Qin smiled and waved his fan: “I won’t disturb you.”

The old fox turned and left.

Leaving bound me, and equally immobile, Xie Zhuo.

He sat on one side of the cave, and I sat opposite him.

“Don’t you want to kill me? Why not let that man do it for you? Wouldn’t that be convenient?”

“That’s exactly why I wanted to dissolve the blood oath. You think I want to save you?” With his body covered in fresh blood from struggling to save me, he stared at me fiercely, saying:

“Fu Jiuxia, when we return five hundred years later, I will kill you with my own hands.”

I pursed my lips: “You’d better shut up.”