The next day, the city was suddenly under martial law. The grand, ancient imperial capital was drenched by torrential rain, the sky seeming turned upside down – black and heavy clouds above, while the ground was illuminated pale and jagged by dragging lightning.

They didn’t go out again. After much consideration, they decided to trust their instincts and stay in this secluded mansion to study those seven sheets of paper detailing the soul-stealing technique’s forms.

The small bamboo building stood firm in the violent storm. Shan Shu and Nine Phoenix huddled together, practicing coordinated moves.

They still didn’t know the demoness’s cultivation level, but as the leader of a clan, even if this race had only existed for a few hundred years, she couldn’t be ordinary. Binding and soul-stealing techniques tailored for such a figure were major arts. Moreover, due to the gap between ancient and modern times, spiritual power and demonic power were vastly different forces, making practice stumbling and particularly difficult.

Only Xue Yu, as the designated “demoness,” didn’t need to prepare these things. She was currently bent over copying patterns on the bamboo building’s floor – ancient array formations, every stroke providing crucial guidance for spirit array masters.

Two connecting segments went wrong again, and sparks exploded mid-air with a bang. Nine Phoenix’s palm was burned by the spiritual wave and demonic power backlash, raising blisters. Shan Shu also hissed softly.

“I still don’t understand.” Having been burned too many times, Nine Phoenix was too lazy to open her storage ring for healing salve. She casually shook her fingers, speaking rather irritably: “Isn’t this just making us kill each other?”

“Xue Yu is the ‘demoness.’ we’re practicing soul-stealing techniques to catch the ‘demoness.’ These seven incantation segments are extraordinary. Once cast, severe injury would be lucky – what if something goes wrong?”

Nine Phoenix tapped the cabinet edge with her fingertips, producing messy, chaotic sounds. “This mission gives no useful information. No matter how many times we ask on the streets, it’s the same responses. They won’t let us interfere with this world – everything follows given clues. But at the end, who knows what Xue Yu’s fate will be?”

With her straightforward nature, after several days together, she spoke even more freely: “If Xue Yu gets hurt, even just unconscious, Su You definitely can’t hold it together. Of eight people in the mission, two links immediately break – the two who are best at strategizing.”

“If we’re doing a mission, just do the mission. If there’s really something to solve, why not say it directly? Must you create this scene to forcibly increase difficulty?” Nine Phoenix spoke angrily, her cheeks red and moist like sunset clouds on clear evenings. Finally, she waved her hand dejectedly: “I think we needn’t consider the Secret Realm Abyss’s opportunities – we won’t complete this mission in ten years.”

Shan Shu also looked worriedly at Xue Yu: “Though the Heavenly Mechanism Book is a sacred object, like Sacred Land duties, it arranges missions first to train the younger generation, second to solve occurred or impending problems. It basically never deliberately arranges internal conflict to increase difficulty.”

When Xue Yu heard Nine Phoenix’s blurted “Su You also can’t hold it together,” a strand of black hair fell from her temple, hanging by her cheek. She stopped moving, hesitantly, uncertainly turning her head slightly.

“It’s not that complex.” Her pupils fixed on the intricate array diagram on the ground, eyelashes constantly lowered at one angle, forming an unmoving straight line. After a moment, she explained: “These seven diagrams each represent one array formation. Combined together with incantations as support, they interlock to form a vast net. Such a grand formation consumes enormously for the casters – it wouldn’t target just a secondary body.”

“Even so.” Nine Phoenix continued: “If the main body dies, the secondary dies too. If the demoness truly has an accident, you can’t remain unaffected either.”

“I can’t feel the connection that should exist between main and secondary bodies.” Xue Yu said: “Given the Heavenly Mechanism Book’s perfect style, since it arranged this identity, all due connections and sensations wouldn’t be missing.”

But she felt nothing.

“Speculating based on the Heavenly Mechanism Book’s nature is still too risky.” Shan Shu said: “We still have some time. Let’s look for other clues to see if there are any hints.”

Xue Yu nodded.

After a while, Shan Shu heard Shen Jingshi’s raised voice from downstairs. Her brow ached faintly. After sighing, she tucked her skirt and stood to go downstairs.

Outside the window, rain poured and wild wind raged, sounds growing louder by waves. But due to arrays laid in the courtyard, all disturbances were deliberately weakened, keeping the building quiet.

Xue Yu looked toward Nine Phoenix.

“What do you want to say to me?” Nine Phoenix squinted while rubbing the dense blisters burned on her palms and backs of hands, looking up at her: “Honestly, your eyes can’t hide anything.”

What you want to say can be seen with one glance.

Xue Yu didn’t deny it. She frowned, using a serious expression that made Nine Phoenix feel like facing a great enemy, speaking unexpected words: “I remember you have a fiancé, the legitimate eldest son of the Wutong clan.”

For a moment, Nine Phoenix thought she’d misheard.

Coming to her senses, she carefully observed Xue Yu’s expression. Seeing her completely serious, not joking, she also became serious: “Yes, the entire Demon Capital knows. Don’t you know him too? I heard Chen Longzhi say you once traveled together for several days.”

Xue Yu thought, then asked: “Do you like him?”

What a thing to ask.

If they weren’t standing face to face, Nine Phoenix would almost suspect the person before her had been replaced, or the Heavenly Mechanism Book was secretly playing tricks, truly turning her into a demoness.

But looking carefully, Xue Yu was still that Xue Yu. Even speaking about matters of men and women, her expression remained clear and light, no different from discussing business.

“Why suddenly ask this?” Nine Phoenix restrained her casual smile, looking at her warily and suspiciously, red lips slightly parted: “Don’t tell me you’ve taken a fancy to him?”

“No.” Xue Yu denied quickly, casually making up a reasonable excuse: “Analyzing the demoness and Marquis Ding Jiang situation.”

“Among the eight of us, only you have experience in this area.”

What a thing to say.

Nine Phoenix was already dispirited by the four big words “mission progress.” She casually pulled over a chair to sit, nodding resignedly: “Fine, ask away. I’ll answer what I can.”

So Xue Yu repeated: “Do you like him or not?”

To speak fairly, equally eye-catching as the Yedu Princess and Sacred Land inheritor status was that face. Willow-leaf brows, almond eyes, elegant straight nose bridge, delicate small lips – beautiful as a lotus flower. But such looks, on her, only became decorative embellishment. Under her thousand-li-distant coldness, even direct gazing seemed offensive.

Nine Phoenix looked at that face repeatedly, feeling the word “like” was indescribably incongruous with her.

“Like, definitely still like.” Nine Phoenix also felt uncomfortable: “Feng Shangyu and I grew up together, too familiar with each other. We’ve seen each other’s most pathetic, embarrassed states being chased by elders. Over time, it’s like… like another self.”

Xue Yu continued asking: “Since you’re so familiar, how do you know you like him?”

Honestly, in Nine Phoenix’s entire life so far, this was the first time being asked such a question.

She choked, then looked at swaying branches outside the window for a while before slowly speaking: “You should have heard about what the Nine Phoenix family’s legitimate heirs’ inner courtyards are like. My mother often tells me that in life, one must enjoy everything, and the strong never wrong themselves.”

“There are so many men in the world – gentle, innocent, cold and beautiful – attractive ones emerge endlessly in waves. One’s gaze can’t always stay on the same person.”

“Just recently, I still thought my mother was completely right. Shouldn’t people live this carefree way?” Nine Phoenix charmingly played with her temple hair, her nails painted bright colors, each one gleaming under the lamplight. “But Feng Shangyu minds this extremely. He controls me, and every time this comes up, he gets extremely angry, exploding like gunpowder on the spot.”

“Not long ago, I fought with him – fundamentally, still over this matter.”

“The things he said after hearing them really infuriated me.” Recalling the situation, Nine Phoenix’s voice involuntarily rose: “He said the Wutong clan has more than one legitimate heir. If I insist on this, I should look at his brothers. Then the two clans would still marry, everything matching the elders’ expectations.”

Except for a different groom.

Feng Shangyu’s brothers, each one capable of handling affairs. Hearing the rumors, they all crowded forward. Honestly, these young masters raised by great families – whether in strength or appearance – none were lacking.

But it was just strange, strange everywhere.

“I’ve known him since childhood, understanding from youth that we’d be together long-term. Everything developed naturally, so I actually never thought about liking or not liking.”

“After this incident, I thought seriously. If I married someone else, I could do anything I wanted – unrestrained, unobstructed. Life would be exactly as imagined. This choice would neither affect me nor bring countless benefits. But it just won’t work.”

Nine Phoenix said no more, not thick-skinned enough to speak love words in front of Xue Yu.

Finally, she looked at Xue Yu’s grave expression, her voice uncertainly weakening: “Then this must be liking, right?”

“How about this.” After much thought, Nine Phoenix felt Xue Yu could do anything except analyze emotions – that really might not be reliable. So she spoke: “Tell me your thoughts, I’ll sort them out.”

“No need.” Xue Yu stood, her mottled green skirt swaying in circles. She asked one final question: “According to what you said, liking someone means thinking he’s better than all the men around you, right?”

This was the pattern she’d summarized from listening throughout.

At this, Nine Phoenix couldn’t say either. After a long while, she nodded, then changed to a precarious explanation: “No need to go round and round comparing these things. Whether you like someone, how much you like them – the body is always more honest than the mouth.”

She leaned forward, approaching Xue Yu: “When he approaches, holds hands, kisses, even sleeps together, you’ll have heart-fluttering feelings.”

Seeing her wanting to ask more, Nine Phoenix raised her hands in surrender: “That’s all I know. Don’t ask me what heart-fluttering feels like. Someday when you meet a man you like, you’ll naturally understand.”

Xue Yu truly didn’t understand. Her thousand years with Song Heng were circumstantial, but undeniably, she had once paused for his eyes, that youthful spirit of daring to be first in the world. That was like exquisite artwork – even after knowing it was all illusion, at least then, few people wouldn’t be attracted.

That should have been liking.

He had also tentatively held her hand, kissed her forehead. She’d never felt heart-fluttering, but later, watching Song Heng, she could clearly distinguish that heart-like-still-water feeling.

That night, Xue Yu used insights from the Sentient Formation to open one of the two letters. Unfolding it, she saw the same handwriting as the previous white paper – neat and simple, clear at a glance—

【Demoness Zi Peng severed a incarnation, used spiritual objects and plants to reconstruct its body, making it bear no red marks on its forehead, no demonic energy in its body, and taught it demon-slaying techniques. Changing its appearance completely, she sent it into the Demon Slaying Bureau to discover the Bureau masters’ opinions on her marriage to Marquis Ding Jiang, subsequent plans, whether there were ambushes, etc.】

【The demoness’s secondary body was discovered, but everyone pretended ignorance, everything as usual, never mentioning the soul-stealing array.】

【Fifteen days later, the demoness’s secondary body emerges from the Demon Slaying Bureau, dressed in red wedding robes and full regalia, entering Marquis Ding Jiang’s wedding procession.】

At that time, Su You stood beside Xue Yu. Reading each word on the paper clearly, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, immediately followed by natural joy and nervousness.

After everyone understood the paper’s meaning, they each added scenes they could imagine. Finally, Shan Shu connected beginning and end, explaining eloquently: “The demoness thought of the Demon Slaying Bureau and the Human Emperor’s attitude, feeling this marriage was fraudulent. But ultimately unable to abandon her beloved, she severed a split body, reconstructed its form to be unbound by the main body – conversely, the main body wouldn’t lose strength significantly from the secondary body’s death. She planned to wait until the secondary body married Marquis Ding Jiang and confirmed the marquis’s mansion was safe before appearing.”

“In other words, even if Zi Peng’s main body dies, it won’t affect A-Yu. To some extent, her current body is supported by spiritual plants and objects, not the main body’s power.”

Nine Phoenix commented: “Still clever, not bewildered by a man’s sweet words.”

Just as her words fell, the steward who’d been subjected to much magic and hadn’t appeared for several days stepped into the courtyard again. He shrank his neck looking at the ground, respectfully requesting Su You: “My lord, your wedding approaches. People from Qiongzhou Demon Island have come urging.”

This meant separating him from the others.

Watching the others somehow scatter, Xue Yu retrieved a communication spiritual pearl from her storage ring, handing it to Su You with instructions: “Contact me immediately if anything happens.”

Su You’s features were profound. He accepted the pearl with residual warmth from her palm, clenched it, bent to look into her eyes, slightly and slowly lifting his eye corners, lips moving slightly, his voice containing some burning, scorching emotion: “Does the young lady find this difficult?”

Light rain fell outside. As he leaned over, his hair and shoulders quickly developed a dark layer. Xue Yu looked at him with wide eyes, dazed for a moment: “What?”

“Marrying me.” At this moment, he seemed determined to peel away the layers of paper covering their eyes, speaking with utmost clarity, even his lip corners’ arc appearing especially real.

Finally, he repeated the causes and effects, his breath burning: “Marrying me – does the young lady find this difficult?”

“Su You.” Xue Yu called him, her gaze falling scrutinizingly on his flamboyant, passionate features, stating word by word: “You’re overstepping.”

Actually, he’d overstepped long ago.

Like someone unarmed being cornered against a wall, finally calling out for help, her silent tolerance of his step-by-step pressure had finally reached a point of no retreat.

This was almost an instinctive self-protective reflex carved into her bones.

And Su You clearly understood what this meant.

While desperately longing for her closeness and care, struggling in the whirlpool wanting to see her, then feeling lost and found again with her momentary emotions after emerging, realizing things were beginning to spiral beyond control, he had also scolded and warned himself this way.

A shocking thunderclap streaked overhead with vast momentum, illuminating both their expressions in perfect detail.

Xue Yu saw him restrain his smile, straighten up, his slender bamboo-like fingers gripping an umbrella, holding it over her head. In the wind and rain, she remained dry while he stood outside the umbrella, his upright figure melting into the night, even his long eyelashes dotted with raindrops, revealing a different kind of charming allure.

In just one breath, he seemed to retreat gracefully back to his “minister” identity, even his words carrying the tone of sharing his master’s worries with meticulous care: “If the young lady is unwilling, I have other methods to resolve the current predicament.”

Just being a bit more base, a bit more unscrupulous, stepping through that door, in ten days he could see a magnificently dressed Xue Yu.

A bride belonging to him.

But he still burned the midnight oil, sleepless for nights, formulating a complete plan that neither required their marriage nor affected the main storyline.

With every step, she actually had a way out.

The one with no retreat was him.

Xue Yu frowned, stating matter-of-factly: “That’s too troublesome. We don’t have much time to waste on this.”

“Not troublesome.” His pupils were two points of deep black: “I can lure the demoness’s true body to Marquis Ding Jiang’s mansion. Our subsequent plans remain unchanged.”

Only the one doing the luring would suffer some rule-breaking injuries.

“The young lady needn’t do anything she’s unwilling to do.”

The path ahead seemed to truly split into two – one inside the house, one outside.

Xue Yu’s fingers lifted slightly, the horn lantern in her hand swaying forward accordingly. The orange-yellow light fell impartially right on his face.

The flamboyant, passionate, rebellious little fox skilled at seduction had been beaten by rain into a wet, wilted flower.

Though injury was commonplace for cultivators, though being in Sacred Lands with high positions made injury, bloodshed, even sacrifice unavoidable, Xue Yu still had to admit she didn’t want to see him hurt again.

Even stepping back further, even this dispirited, dejected expression shouldn’t appear on that face.

Frankly speaking, his boldness and impudence today were all silently encouraged by her time after time.

The moment their eyes met, Xue Yu held her breath slightly. After a long while, she handed him the lantern, her slender fingers pointing to the pitch-black doorway, lips moving: “Follow your guide back to your marquis mansion.”

As her words fell, Su You’s eyelashes suddenly lifted in an arc. Soon after, he leaned close, his voice misty with heat, each word seductive: “Mm?”

“Then will the young lady wait for me?”