That slip of paper fell into Prince Zhao’s hands like igniting a fire, burning his internal organs until they all smoked, making even his hair tremble and stand on end.

What kind of compensation was this? Calling it extortion wouldn’t be excessive!

Under normal circumstances, Qiu Zhao would have long since lost his composure and flown into a rage. But at this moment, kneeling publicly, one glance up revealed Qiu Tong’s dark gaze ten steps away. That look was like a sharp blade, seeming to say that if he dared show half a bit of behavior inappropriate to his status or the situation today, he needn’t continue being a prince.

Seeing this, Qiu Zhao knew he could only swallow this bitter pill while pinching his nose.

Provoking Xue Yu, involving the ghost infant, wasting years of effort—Qiu Tong’s patience with him had reached its limit.

He gnashed his teeth hatefully, waved that paper, forced his mouth corners into something resembling a smile, and looked at the scholar who’d come to report, saying: “The attendants beside Sacred Land successors have quite precious bodies too.”

He bit down hard on the words “attendants,” as if expressing some kind of resentment and dissatisfaction.

The young scholar paid no mind, not even changing the curve of his eye corners that bent with mirth. He only bowed slightly: “Prince Zhao, please allow me to report—my master has always been benevolent toward subordinates. Everything listed on this bill is are necessary item for healing. After all, since the person was injured so severely by you, complete recovery truly isn’t easy.”

Having reached this point, Prince Zhao originally wanted to make a few more sarcastic remarks, saying things like “mere demon creature” to sting, but thinking it over, he was still constrained by Qiu Tong standing there and forcibly swallowed back his words.

He gloomily raised his eyes, handed the list to the mansion’s steward who was kneeling beside him with lowered brows and submissive eyes, struggling to contain his anger: “Go to the storehouse to get them.”

Qiu Tong stood with hands clasped behind his back. Even without wearing imperial crown and robes, he displayed an elegant, refined bearing. He looked toward the young scholar, his face showing not half a trace of the previous days’ gloom, even carrying a hint of a smile: “Go back and tell your master that Ah Zhao was reckless. I will properly restrain him in the future. I hope Miss Xue Yu will forgive him this time.”

Having said this, he turned sideways, his wide sleeves falling: “Bai Su, take three more nine-section red ginseng roots and two bottles of jade bamboo dewdrop nectar as my apology for lax supervision.”

As his words fell, Prince Zhao’s heart, which had just calmed somewhat, began bleeding again.

Nine-section red ginseng and jade bamboo dewdrop nectar were extremely precious items. It could be said that Qiu Tong’s physical condition had barely stabilized after becoming Human Emperor without continuing to deteriorate, entirely sustained by these kinds of heavenly treasures.

Unfortunately, they were ultimately mortals—the effectiveness of these things on them couldn’t even exert one percent of their power.

But even so, it shouldn’t be their turn to benefit the Sacred Land people for nothing.

The young scholar quickly bowed: “Your Majesty, ten thousand years of prosperity. This humble one will report truthfully to my master.”

After the person left, Prince Zhao knelt and shuffled forward, lowering his voice incomprehensibly: “Imperial Brother, this is extortion. Xue Yu is trying to scam us. A hundred demons wouldn’t be worth those things. And the nine-section ginseng and dewdrop nectar—Imperial Brother could even reward court ministers with them. Why give them to them?”

“Ah Zhao, you did well just now.” Qiu Tong sat down in the wide chair, his bamboo-joint-like long fingers tapping the teacup’s rim intermittently, creating distinct “tap tap” sounds. “You are a prince, the Human Emperor’s blood brother. Since today’s compensation is unavoidable, saying more is useless. We’ll give what we must. This is imperial bearing.”

“As for the nine-section ginseng and dewdrop nectar you mentioned.” Qiu Tong coughed lowly, laughing indifferently: “They’re merely external objects. If we can use these things to make peace with a person in power who possesses both wisdom and strength, then we’ve profited. Never mind these—I’d be willing even if it were ten times more.”

“Ah Zhao.” Qiu Tong looked at his pale palms, sighing: “When things have reached an irreversible situation, what we should do isn’t endlessly regret and be depressed, cursing our opponents, but do everything possible to minimize our losses.”

“Take this time, for example. You disregarded my words and acted privately. When the matter was exposed, you still didn’t contact the palace immediately to report truthfully. Afterward, knowing that person’s background, you insisted on using torture, giving Xue Yu a legitimate opportunity to break into the prince’s mansion, making yourself the unreasonable party.”

“They made one wrong step; you made wrong steps throughout.”

“This complete defeat, with all our covert actions forced to stop—by rights, I should strip you of rank and sentence you to death.” Qiu Tong looked down at the face below that resembled his own by three parts, using light, cruel words to inform him of reality: “But I didn’t do that. Because this matter has reached its final step. I’ve lost many things and can’t lose a brother too.”

Prince Zhao immediately fell silent, hanging his head, clenching his fists as he promised: “Imperial Brother, your subject brother knows his crime. There absolutely won’t be a next time.”

He knew how difficult Qiu Tong’s life had been before ascending the throne, and knew even more how deep his schemes were, how ruthlessly he could act.

Thinking back, when the two brothers had to yield everywhere under the light of three flourishing princes, they could rise above others entirely due to Qiu Tong’s careful planning, step by step. Every success required killing many people.

Those people, whether loyal or not, no matter how they wept and begged for mercy on the ground, Qiu Tong had never shown mercy.

Only toward him, his blood brother from the same mother, did he show restraint repeatedly, showing special leniency time and again—one could say it was all thunder with no rain, raising high but setting down gently.

Precisely because he knew what kind of person Qiu Tong was, that tolerance seemed especially precious and moving.

Hearing this, Qiu Tong narrowed his eyes slightly, waved his hand to dismiss him. When Prince Zhao had retreated to outside the threshold, he heard him speak again in warning, neither salty nor bland: “Qiu Zhao, once, twice, but not thrice. Grow some sense. If you cause trouble again next time, no one can save you.”

Prince Zhao’s emotions, which had been completely moved and scattered by Qiu Tong’s previous words, now respectfully replied: “Imperial Brother, rest assured. Your subject brother understands everything.”

Seeing this scene, Bai Su, who had followed Qiu Tong the longest and understood his cold heart best, couldn’t help but lower his head even further.

With just a few words, combining kindness and authority, he made someone so moved they didn’t know what time it was.

If even his blood brother was treated this way, what more of others?

This was imperial manipulation at its finest.

Su Zhou had light rain for two consecutive days. With gentle breezes, the vigorous life force that had accumulated underground all winter suddenly burst forth after several drizzles. When sunlight fell again, the entire city seemed submerged in waves of green.

Xue Yu was working with Shan Shu to organize and confirm details and follow-up handling of the Wordly Lamp mission.

The two stood before the desk, discussing the gray, dusty Wordly Lamp.

Xue Yu ignited a cluster of fire at her fingertip, which floated down like cotton onto the lamp’s wick. With the demon monk’s death, this lamp became an ownerless spiritual object—it could neither gather yin energy nor stabilize souls. Within two days, the lamp’s exterior was covered with a layer of gray that couldn’t be wiped away no matter how much they tried.

Now, with Xue Yu’s magical technique burning it, the cotton wick seemed infused with copper and iron, showing no reaction, no matter how much it burned.

Seeing this, Xue Yu frowned: “This lamp recognizes neither you nor me. How should we handle it?”

After the mission’s completion, the unreliable master of Purple Micro Cave breathed a huge sigh of relief. When Xue Yu mentioned having Sikong Jing and others return the Wordly Lamp to its original owner, he refused with a very ashamed yet firm tone. In his words, the Wordly Lamp wouldn’t recognize him as master, so it was useless in his hands. If it caused more trouble, he would truly be unable to escape blame even in death.

In other words, this useless thing, most of the time, but always caused major incidents when it was useful, should best remain with the Sacred Land and not return to harm him.

So the lamp ended up in Xue Yu and Shan Shu’s hands.

Actually, such situations weren’t uncommon. After Heavenly Mystery Book missions were completed, occasionally various spiritual treasures and objects would become ownerless, defaulting as rewards falling into their hands.

When two people cooperated to complete missions, whichever person the spiritual object recognized would own it, or if one person needed this reward, they could exchange other things as compensation with their companion.

But situations like the Worldly Lamp, which recognized neither of them and neither needed, were the first Xue Yu had experienced.

“You take it back to Yedu.” Shan Shu said, “Northern Wilderness practices Buddhism uniformly. This thing has heavy Yin energy, so it’s not very useful for us. But Yedu has many capable people from various schools and sects, and often deals with ghosts and monsters. This lamp would be more useful in your hands than mine.”

“Throughout this journey, from Mountain Sea City to Su Zhou, Miss A Yu charged ahead to solve everything. If I took this thing too, I’d be embarrassed.” Shan Shu smiled warmly, continuing: “Honestly, being able to complete this four-and-a-half-star mission, I’m already completely satisfied and relieved.”

After listening, Xue Yu didn’t decline further. She picked and chose from her spirit ring for a while, pulling out two jade porcelain bottles and pushing them to Shan Shu’s side: “Jade mushroom pills and life-breath pills. They’re best used by you all. Take them.”

With her small, delicate face covered in frost, when she said such words, asking someone to accept things, she unexpectedly showed concern, making it difficult to refuse.

Shan Shu’s smile deepened: “Alright, thank you for Miss A Yu’s kindness.”

Just then, Prince Zhao’s “apology gifts” arrived.

After listening to Qing Luo’s report, she raised her eyes slightly, slowly raising her tone to hum in acknowledgment, then said: “Go call Su You over.”

Qing Luo softly responded and was about to step out toward the western wing room when, just after turning a corner, she saw Su You also coming this way.

For some reason, although Su You had only changed in height and appearance after passing his growth period, with all other mannerisms and speech remaining the same, even when he smiled and spoke before my lady, she still felt oppressed by an aura that made breathing difficult.

It was like some kind of natural suppression.

Just like how minor demons and spirits like them, when facing an existence like Jiu Feng, even breathing represented submission.

But Su You was just a demon-ghost of the impure bloodline.

Unable to understand, Qing Luo didn’t delve deeper. She ran in quick steps to Su You’s front, looking up at him, speaking low and fast: “Su You, my lady wants you to go to the side room.”

“Fo Nu is there too,” she reminded.

Su You nodded, quickly walked around her, toward the front. His snow-white robe fluttered in the oncoming wind, his back silhouette like the solitary, upright branches of an ancient tree.

He reached the side room door and was about to knock when he heard Fo Nu’s voice inside, each word carrying laughter: “Speaking of that young man beside you, he truly is a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. The commotion two days ago—” She sighed: “No wonder they say heroes emerge young since ancient times.”

“Don’t praise him.” Bringing this up, Xue Yu couldn’t help but frown: “To put it nicely, it’s just called impulsiveness. To put it harshly, there’s no difference from seeking death.”

Her direct words made Shan Shu laugh: “Speaking of which, I met Jiu Feng on my way here. She asked me to tell you something.”

Xue Yu quietly stopped her movements, looking toward Shan Shu.

“She said she has a Vast Sea Demon Pearl and wants to trade it for the young man beside you.”

Outside the door, Su You suddenly raised his eyes, his breathing slowing accordingly.

“She said she just likes such spirited young men. She’s been looking for a satisfactory personal attendant and hasn’t found one. Su You is good—good-looking, good character, good comprehension. When needed, he can charge into battle, and normally, he can write poetry and prose with refined taste. Moreover, he has a demon clan bloodline, so she made this request.”

“Most importantly, that day Su You revealed his wings, she kept saying they looked familiar and seemed very interested.”

“So she asked me to inquire with you.”

Hearing this, Su You could guess the answer. Xue Yu could show respect even to Liu Er, so regardless of whether Jiu Feng wanted Chao Nian, Qing Luo, Liang Yan, or him today, she wouldn’t agree.

Sure enough, the next moment, Xue Yu refused without blinking: “No need to ask.”

“Tell her not to think about it.”

Shan Shu looked at her in surprise: “I thought with your personality, you’d ask him face-to-face before deciding.”

“It wouldn’t matter if he wanted to go.” Xue Yu pushed a thick stack of papers beside her to Shan Shu: “Look at this—Su You gave it to me last night.”

Shan Shu curiously took it and looked, flipping through several pages. The handwriting was strong, the language direct and simple, from Chen Huainan and Yun Lai in Mountain Sea City to Luo Cai in Su Zhou, written patiently and in detail.

Even the case report they needed to write after mission completion, he had neatly drafted for Xue Yu.

While hers still lay untouched on the desk.

Shan Shu’s expression changed several times. When she set it down, she was already filled with envy. She sighed: “Seeing such thoughtfulness, I can’t help but want to steal him away myself.”

Xue Yu tugged at her mouth corner, perhaps also feeling relaxed, rarely showing a shallow smile, saying seriously: “No one coming would work.”

“Don’t you think about it either.”

“I don’t agree.”

Shan Shu laughed and clicked her tongue, rising gracefully: “I won’t chat with you anymore. With no one to help me, I still have to hurry back to write the case report. The Heavenly Mystery Book jumps on my desk daily, urging me to submit.”

She lifted the door curtain and saw the snow-like youth turn sideways, nod to her respectfully, then enter the room gracefully. Those naturally formed bearing and temperament were even better than before.

Truly, after the demons passed their maturity period, they were indeed different.

Today, Su You wore white robes, his jet-black long hair bound high with a hair tie. Standing quietly, he was like a handful of white snow fallen in early winter.

Xue Yu tapped the box that had just been carried in, raising her chin to indicate: “The compensation I demanded for you has arrived. Go open it and see.”

Su You stepped forward two paces, bent down slightly, and opened the small lock hanging above, revealing the neatly arranged contents inside.

Soon, he discovered the contents were divided into two portions—one larger portion of various bottles and jars for healing, and one smaller but more refined and particular. For example, a palm-sized bronze mirror inlaid with gold and jade, and some expensive spices and cosmetics that girls would like. At the very bottom was even a priceless rainbow feather robe worth ten thousand gold.

Who they were for was obvious at a glance.

Su You lowered his eyes, his long fingers suddenly moving.

“Su You.” Xue Yu seemed to notice his abnormality and suddenly called his name.

Su You looked toward her.

Who knew that Xue Yu, after scanning his face twice, spoke quite seriously: “Jiu Feng has ill intentions toward you. Stay away from her in the future.”

“Don’t let your wings show anymore either.”

Su You was stunned, his eyes sparkling like deep night stars with bright gleams. Under Xue Yu’s gaze, he slightly curved his eye corners, answering solemnly: “Alright.”