The village dared not neglect guests from the Sacred Land. Five people were given four rooms, constructed with smooth, flat mountain stones stacked together. From the outside, they appeared square and plain, unadorned, serving merely to shelter from wind and rain, but inside, they concealed hidden splendor.

“Tsk.” Chao Nian carefully circled the stone house once and finally understood: “The people in this village have money.”

The stone house was furnished with exquisite taste. On a tall, long wall cabinet stood a delicate, pure white mutton-fat jade vase, from which plum branches extended diagonally, looking as if someone had painted this powerful and vigorous stroke in mid-air, full of spiritual energy.

Above that stood a laughing jade Buddha with eyes crinkled shut in joy, its surrounding garments adorned with pure gold trim. Behind sixteen panels of landscape screens, pearl curtains swayed, creating melodious sounds.

Regardless, such interior furnishings were undoubtedly too extravagant for a village that made its living by fishing.

One couldn’t blame those villagers for deliberately preparing such rooms. In their imagination, these things wouldn’t be considered rare in any family with some foundation, let alone in the Sacred Lands.

The Sacred Lands, they believed, probably had gold everywhere and jade covering every wall, with rooms piled high with endless heavenly materials, earthly treasures, and spiritual objects.

Xue Yu didn’t care about such material possessions.

Chao Nian had served her the longest and most often accompanied her to places that were either the cold, dark Yedu Prison or the bustling Hundred Crowds Mountain, where great demons constantly flexed their muscles, wanting to cause trouble. Even when accepting Heavenly Book missions outside, they traveled hurriedly every day, sleeping rough and eating in the open.

Xue Yu leaned against the wall with closed eyes, contemplating many things.

In her previous life at this time, she had drawn a three-and-a-half-star mission, also not simple, taking two months from start to finish. When the mission ended, the reckoning time was approaching. She felt it impossible to complete the remaining two missions, so after much consideration, she returned to Yedu with Song Heng and others, whose spirits hadn’t yet recovered.

This life was different. From the Judgment Platform, keeping people to the difficulty of Heavenly Book missions, everything was changing in ways that hadn’t happened in her previous life.

Up to this point, she could nearly confirm this was a real world completely unrelated to arrays, secret treasures, or time arts—the world of a thousand years ago.

During the days and nights after learning of Yedu’s incident, she had thought countless times that if only she’d had a little time, if only she’d discovered the slightest clue, the story’s ending would have been completely different.

She had cultivated Song Heng and completely trusted Song Heng, but Yedu’s power hadn’t been dispersed—it remained firmly in her control. The Celestial Clan had heavy troops, and so did she.

The mistake was that he had planned carefully, while she knew nothing and was caught off guard.

So what about now?

“Miss.” After finishing his admiration, Chao Nian turned around and asked her unknowingly: “Are we taking this case?”

Xue Yu was pulled back from her thoughts by his words. She rose and walked to the small window, where the moist sea breeze poured in fearlessly, lifting her plain white sleeves backward like clusters of flowers blooming in mid-air.

“Let’s stay a few days and see.” Xue Yu pressed her brow, saying: “Since we’ve seen demons, we can’t just sit by and ignore them.”

Chao Nian nodded repeatedly, then lowered his voice mysteriously, seeking opinions left and right: “Hey, don’t you all think that old village chief wasn’t telling us the truth earlier?”

“Yes.” Among the people in the room, only Qing Luo was the most gullible and best at flattering others. She said quietly, “That village chief walked the whole way, coughing after every two sentences, never daring to make eye contact with Miss.”

Cat demons possessed eyes that glowed even in the night, able to observe people minutely and perceive the slightest details.

Xue Yu found this annoying.

She’d rather face demons and monsters directly and fight—that was always something that could be resolved quickly. But once humans were involved, things always became infinitely more complicated.

For example, if this matter ultimately revealed that everything was caused by the villagers’ selfish motives, Xue Yu couldn’t take action against them or bring them back to Yedu for trial like guilty demons and evil spirits.

She’d have to notify the local authorities to arrest them.

The rewards and punishments, the life and death of ordinary people, were all decided by the imperial court.

Xue Yu’s eyes shifted slightly. She raised her chin toward Su You, asking about business: “Has the Tracking Array taken shape? Did you discover anything?”

“Track, Tracking Array?” Chao Nian looked at Su You in shock, like looking at some strange monster as he came to his senses: “You mean those few strokes you made on the ground with a tree branch?”

Could that form an array?

Chao Nian’s voice was full of incomprehensible emotion.

Su You first answered Xue Yu’s question. He shook his head, saying: “No turbid aura. From beginning to end, very clean.”

Xue Yu seemed to have expected this result and showed no different emotion. She casually pulled over a chair to sit down, opening her clear, rippling eyes. Her gaze fell on Su You with what seemed like observation and examination, and only after a long while did she slowly speak: “Given the clues we currently have, tell me, what should our next step be?”

Hearing this, Chao Nian unconsciously straightened his back.

Having grown up beside Chao Hua from childhood, he naturally knew that Xue Yu only asked such questions of those she appreciated or whose work abilities gained her recognition, just like his sister Chao Hua, whose official rank had jumped up level by level through such questions.

He had never received such treatment.

Su You lowered his eyes, his long lashes casting a melancholy shadow beneath his eyelids. “We don’t know exactly how many demons are causing thunder nearby, but the one we witnessed with our own eyes indeed hadn’t harmed anyone. Its purpose in coming seemed merely to strike those trees.”

“That sea is called Nine Phoenix Sea, and the villagers also included Nine Phoenix’s name in their rituals, proving that Nine Phoenix indeed dwells in those waters.”

“One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. Ordinary demons wouldn’t dare steal Nine Phoenix’s thunder year after year like this.”

Like humans, the higher they climbed, the more they had to bow low and act small when facing those stronger than themselves.

Su You spoke softly: “Unless it obtained Nine Phoenix’s permission beforehand for this action, or this was Nine Phoenix’s intention.”

“The Nine Phoenix clan is born powerful, landing as kings among the demon race. They are proud and untamed, with ferocity flowing in their bones. If they truly disapproved of this village, not a single person inside or outside the village would survive.” Xue Yu continued his thought: “Since it’s not for its reasons, then for what else would it allow a subordinate great demon to intimidate the human race in its territory for ten years?”

Long enough that Nine Phoenix Sea had become the Thunder Sea in people’s word-of-mouth, yet it remained unmoved.

“That great demon sought it out and reached some kind of irrefutable deal with it.” Su You followed her line of thinking, speaking word by word.

Something clear flashed through Xue Yu’s mind. Just as she was about to think deeper, the spirit talisman at her waist suddenly ignited before her eyes.

“Miss A Yu, it’s me.” At any time, Shan Shu’s tone carried moistening gentleness and elegance. From the jade talisman, the woman paused, seemingly choosing her words carefully. After a moment, she delivered a shocking statement: “Golden Light Temple is under demon attack. I may need to trouble Miss A Yu to come once.”

Xue Yu rose abruptly, her expression uncertain.

Xue Yu once again used Lu Chengze’s identity token to break through the fog to the city. Shan Shu was already waiting for her in the room. Seeing her arrival, she couldn’t bother with pleasantries and got straight to the point: “Half an hour ago, the abbot and Wudao City’s mayor returned to the temple, preparing to perform rituals for dozens who died in a fire.”

“Just then, a loud crash suddenly came from the southeast. When I rushed over, that room looked as if it had been covered with snow overnight. Breaking into the room, I saw the mayor’s younger brother lying on the bed, fully dressed with bedding properly arranged, but his entire face was swollen blue-purple, with a deep purple strangulation mark around his neck that was shocking to see.”

“When I arrived, the demon hadn’t left yet, standing by the window.” Shan Shu glanced at Xue Yu, continuing: “It was a woman in human form with extremely long hair trailing to the ground.”

“I could have detained her originally.” Shan Shu fingered the small-leaf rosewood Buddhist bead bracelet on her wrist, pointing eastward: “She had no intention of fighting us. Seeing people arrive, she only glanced indifferently and dispersed her form in the air. As we were about to pursue, a—” she paused, then completed her statement: “carriage suddenly flew out from the sky.”

“That carriage blocked our path.”

“A carriage?”

“Yes.” Shan Shu smiled somewhat embarrassedly: “The Northern Wastes rarely have demons causing trouble. My knowledge is shallow, and I cannot distinguish their types. That’s why I wanted to trouble Miss A Yu to take a look and point us in a direction.”

So-called specialization in different fields—asking someone who spent all day with gods and Buddhas to recognize Bodhisattvas was fine, but recognizing demons and evil spirits left Shan Shu completely in the dark, understanding nothing.

“That carriage is still there. I haven’t let anyone touch it, only used a simple spell to surround it.”

Xue Yu followed Shan Shu to see the strange carriage that had descended from the sky at midnight. As soon as her foot stepped out the door, she discovered the temple inside and out was brightly lit, with soldiers in cold armor wielding swords and blades continuously pouring in like dumplings.

“The one injured tonight was the mayor’s second brother, sickly since childhood and an ordinary person. After this ordeal, he woke up coughing terribly, and everyone is guarding him over there now.” Shan Shu whispered in her ear: “Wudao City’s mayor is called Chen Jianxi, famous for his explosive temper. He just severely scolded the guards at the gate. If there are any inappropriate words later, don’t take it to heart or personally.”

Anyone who could become a city’s mayor must be a long-established figure. Though the Sacred Lands stood high above, before they revealed their identities, in his eyes, they were just wet-behind-the-ears youngsters spouting grand ambitions. As an elder and strong person, he certainly wouldn’t deliberately restrain his personality or choose his words carefully when speaking to them.

Soon, Xue Yu saw the “carriage” Shan Shu had mentioned.

The carriage was real, but the horses were false. In mid-air, bronze horses neighed angrily, rearing as if to trample. Lotus-pink gauze curtains hanging outside the carriage were lifted by the wind, revealing emptiness inside. When the wind blew, the silver bells tied to those gauze drapes jingled, like children’s giggling laughter. The entire carriage frame was surrounded by an inescapable, heavy death aura.

“It’s not a carriage—this is Nine Phoenix’s ghost carriage.”

“Nine Phoenix?” Shan Shu’s gentle, smiling eyes froze. Even as the Buddha Continent’s saint who lived year-round in a demon-free region, she had heard of such a great demon’s reputation.

“Yes. Nine Phoenix is born with a ghost carriage. When the ghost carriage lands at someone’s home, it represents that disaster will befall that household.”

Xue Yu pressed her lips together, looking at the lotus-pink drapes hanging on the bronze carriage frame: “She’s warning us.”

“We guessed correctly—something indeed obtained her permission and even moved her to act.”

“This matter has become somewhat troublesome.” After a long while, Shan Shu slowly spoke: “If Nine Phoenix is involved, it might implicate the Demon Capital…”

“Now I understand why, with Thunder Sea causing trouble for so many years, none of those seniors took action.” Shan Shu showed a bitter smile: “My luck is truly… I don’t know what to say.”

“Their inaction indicates this Nine Phoenix is about our age, and this matter can only be handled by us.” Xue Yu, who had the worst luck and was constantly caught by the Heavenly Book for hard labor, was silent for a long while before saying, “Let’s go see the mayor’s second brother, who was targeted by the demon.”

As soon as they stepped into the eastern courtyard, medicinal vapors so thick they nearly formed mist plastered across their faces. Servants carried medicine back and forth, their faces wooden, making not the slightest sound as they moved. The entire house from inside to outside was quiet to an almost eerie degree.

Chen Jianxi had entered the martial path, possessed a square face and robust build, appearing especially sturdy. When he spoke, his voice was like thunder: “Old Wu, you say he can recover, but he keeps coughing, even coughing up blood, with no sign of improvement. Are you reliable or not!”

Beside him stood a kind-faced old monk who, seemingly accustomed to his hurried temper, didn’t take offense. He extended his hand to the wrist of the second young master, who was coughing unconsciously on the bed, concentrated for a while, then straightened up, squinting until only a thin line remained: “Don’t worry, nothing serious.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the second young master who had barely escaped death began coughing earth-shakingly again.

Chen Jianxi’s arrow-sharp gaze fell directly on the Golden Light Temple’s abbot.

“Why are you looking at me?” Abbot Wu Neng slowly pulled a round pill from his sleeve, saying: “It’s not that I won’t give it. It’s that your second brother has taken this medicine many times—it’s useless now.”

“In my opinion, maybe we should just let him…” Wu Neng hesitated, glancing at his expression while speaking, finally sighing and stopping his words.

Hearing this, the gloomy expression on Chen Jianxi’s face deepened. He snatched the medicine from Wu Neng’s hand and lifted the frail man on the bed, trying to force the medicine down his throat.

At this moment, Xue Yu noticed that the unreliable Abbot Wu Neng subtly turned his head aside as if anticipating something unpleasant would happen, his gaze drifting toward the bed curtains.

She observed the two brothers by the bedside without showing emotion.

Compared to Chen Jianxi’s large frame, Chen Huainan was undoubtedly frail. At this moment, with their forms overlapping, it even created a bizarrely delicate impression.

The reason was simple—Chen Huainan was too thin. So thin he was almost just skin over protruding bones. A few coughs made the veins on his hands and forehead bulge.

He retained some conscious awareness, clenching his teeth tightly, refusing to take that pill even unto death. The bitter medicinal liquid flowed into his snow-white undergarment, spreading dark water stains.

Chen Jianxi set the medicine bowl down heavily beside him, staring with both eyes but saying nothing. He simply reached around Chen Huainan’s neck, precisely applied pressure with his fingers, and the man went limp like noodles into the bedding.

Chen Jianxi then calmly grasped his jaw and stuffed the pill in his palm into his mouth, washing it down with medicinal liquid.

After completing all this, he looked at that face sunken in the bedding, exhausted beyond description, and closed his eyes to calm his emotions.

“Ladies, you’ve seen Huainan’s condition. He’s just an ordinary person, sickly since youth, yet often suffers schemes from demons and spirits because of me, his brother—” Chen Jianxi tucked in his brother’s quilt corner and led people outside, speaking as they walked: “The family has protected him since childhood, and he’s obedient himself—he couldn’t and had no opportunity to contact those demon creatures.”

“This point is beyond doubt.”

This immediately stuck the questions Xue Yu and Shan Shu wanted to ask about whether Chen Huainan had any old connections with tonight’s visiting demon in their throats.

“Regarding the lost Buddha treasure, I’ll have to trouble you ladies. For the next period, I must guard Huainan closely.”

“Hey, hey hey, there’s no reasoning with you.” Wu Neng muttered quietly, then looked at Shan Shu and Xue Yu: “Let’s go, no point arguing with this stubborn mule.”

Chen Jianxi was concealing something and not telling the truth. To understand the situation, Xue Yu could only start elsewhere—the Golden Light Temple abbot before her was a breakthrough point.

Thinking this, Xue Yu nodded and readily agreed.

Wu Neng led them west into a small side hall with several simple meditation cushions and low chairs on the floor, plus a brazier. Nothing else was there.

Both Xue Yu and Shan Shu took seats. Su You stood alone with his sword by the door, his shadow stretched thin and long by the light, half his face sunk in shadow, showing a hint of youthful pride.

Just as Xue Yu was about to introduce herself, Wu Neng followed her gaze toward Su You and cheerfully praised: “The young man is truly handsome, like a snow doll.”

In the distance, Shan Shu gave her a helpless, apologetic smile.

Xue Yu’s eyes flowed, seeing Su You suddenly tense like a drawn bow after being praised, and nodded, softly agreeing: “Yes. He is good-looking—people often praise him like this.”

For the next half hour, the three conversed quietly inside, you one sentence, me one sentence. Su You stood stiffly by the door, his dark pupils reflecting the suddenly bright morning light from the horizon.

After an unknown time, he suddenly tilted his head and extended his long, distinct fingers, lightly and hesitantly touching one side of his cheek.

Really.

Was he very good-looking?