When Xue Yu left Xihe, the setting sun’s afterglow was sinking into the sea bottom. Many people were craning their necks to look up at the sky, crowds bustling and pressing together layer upon layer. Perhaps having waited long, now finally seeing movement, whispered discussions spread everywhere.

Xue Yu disliked the ostentation of public appearances. She briefly swept her gaze over the grand scene below, touching down in the air light as a dragonfly on water. A circle of spreading water ripples invisibly spread beneath everyone’s eyes, and in the next instant, she was already inside the West Tower.

Her figure was slender, dressed in pristine white robes. When gliding lightly through the air, the flowing tassels and lotus ornaments at her waist all fluttered with the wind. Because she kept a cold face without smiling, she appeared even more dignified and graceful in people’s eyes. Therefore, even though she only showed herself briefly, she still caused much discussion among the crowd.

“—Who was that who just came out? Which profound immortal was that?” A woman holding a child who had come out to watch the excitement asked curiously while murmuring: “So young, and so handsome too.”

Standing beside her happened to be a young cultivator who smiled upon hearing this: “Auntie, that was a Saint from the Sacred Lands.” Having just begun learning the cultivation path, he didn’t know much about places like Sacred Lands, only knowing that the person who just emerged had such a long retinue following behind, so her status must be extremely precious, but he couldn’t distinguish her specific name.

Someone behind picked up the conversation: “That should be the Princess of Yedu.”

“Saint Yin Ling is more lively. When the Buddha’s Daughter travels, the Buddha boys clear the way with Sanskrit sounds falling to earth. Only about Yedu’s princess do people know little, but I’ve heard she’s steady and dignified, never smiling carelessly, which matches what we just saw.”

“It’s good there are places like the Sacred Lands, producing people like them, otherwise how could we have the good days we have now?” The woman bounced the child’s bottom and shook her head: “A nest of demons here, a pile of monsters there – just thinking about it is chilling.”

“…”

Such conversations traveled from outside the West Tower to inside.

When Xue Yu flashed into the third floor of the West Tower, Liu Niang was leaning against a red lacquer pillar with gold patterns, holding a delicate silver wine flask in her hand, eyes half-closed, her lazy beautiful face turned toward that wide-open Sacred Land gate, not knowing what she was thinking.

Hearing movement, Liu Niang slowly turned around. Seeing Xue Yu, she blinked and quickly composed her expression into a smile: “The young lady came early and left early too.”

“I returned after the judgment assembly ended.” Xue Yu’s gaze imperceptibly slid over the delicate wine flask in Liu Niang’s hand as she said: “I still have some matters to handle, so I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble the West Tower for one more night.”

“What trouble or no trouble?”

“In our West Tower, the young lady can stay as long as she wishes.” Liu Niang handed the wine flask to a young attendant behind her, her slender fingers like green onions pointing to the corridors, eaves, deep gates, and large courtyards built like imperial palace gardens behind her: “This third floor is specially reserved for the Sacred Lands. Ordinary people can’t come up, so it’s usually quite deserted, only lively once or twice a year.”

“Xihe maintains strict security and doesn’t open for years at a time, so we hope to go in and take a look.” Liu Niang’s body carried rich wine fragrance, with two patches of rouge-like red blooming on her delicate cheeks. “Why did the young lady come out so quickly?”

Xue Yu wasn’t averse to this charming West Tower proprietress. She paused and said, “Staying there wasn’t interesting. Sacred Lands all look the same after you’ve seen many.”

All with thousands of mountains, myriad waters, and endless major and minor affairs to handle.

“True.” Liu Niang looked downstairs: “Everyone says my West Tower is a place of pleasure and enchantment, but only after staying long yourself do you know what it truly feels like.”

Xue Yu glanced sideways. Having interrogated demon ghosts many times over long periods, she possessed intuition beyond ordinary people’s imagination.

This Liu Niang was shrouded in heavy emotions – not a simple character.

But Xue Yu didn’t concern herself with these things. As long as there was no malice toward her and no crimes committed that fell into her hands, she wouldn’t bother interfering.

After the two exchanged a few polite pleasantries, Xue Yu turned to return to her courtyard.

Liang Yan came forward, her expression grave: “Young lady, Lady Chao Hua sent word that there was unusual activity in Bai Zhong Mountain late at night.”

Xue Yu sat in a wide chair, her long and slender finger joints resting on a teacup. She didn’t even lift her eyes as she asked: “Which two this time?”

Liang Yan didn’t dare look at her expression. After a moment of silence, she lowered her brows and spoke: “It was Ju Mang and Ling Yu.”

No wonder Xue Yu was unmoved. Liang Yan, following beside Xue Yu, had heard such news if not a hundred times then eighty. The six words “Bai Zhong Mountain has unusual activity” were simply heart-stopping.

“Who started the fight?” Xue Yu asked: “How many mountain peaks were blown up?”

“Lady Chao Hua said Ling Yu couldn’t stand Ju Mang constantly swaying in front of its eyes, and with last night being a full moon, Ling Yu’s temper was particularly violent. As soon as Ju Mang approached, they started fighting.” Liang Yan reported truthfully: “Two mountain peaks were blown up.”

After hearing this, Xue Yu moved her fingers from the teacup to her temples, pressed twice, her tone exceptionally cold: “Tell Ling Yu that if it dares cause trouble again, the Palace Guard Department will skin it alive.”

As common as the Bai Zhong Mountain demons fighting was, this threat from Xue Yu was. Initially, heart-chilling to hear, but later seeing that troublemaking great demons at most got a beating and afterward lived more comfortably than anyone, when hearing these words again, they carried no emotional impact whatsoever.

When Chao Nian brought in the severely injured demon ghost, what he heard was exactly such a fierce statement.

Su You unsurprisingly lowered his chin, his long and smooth black hair falling on both sides of his cheeks, covering his entire face. He was someone who had crawled out of hell – a few subtle movements, one careless angle, without even showing his face, already appeared twelve parts wretched and vulnerable in people’s eyes.

Like a startled bird that had been wounded.

Completely different from that fierce and violent wolf cub on the Judgment Platform.

Xue Yu’s gaze fell upon him. Chao Nian cupped his hands upward and said, “Young lady, the person has been brought.”

After bringing the person down from the Judgment Platform, Xue Yu had considered how to arrange the person before her. Learning from experience, thinking of cultivating someone the way she had cultivated Song Heng before was impossible. But since she had saved him, letting him fend for himself or directly confining him in Yedu would be worse than not saving him at all.

“I’ve looked at your file.” Xue Yu waved her hand, stopping Chao Nian’s move to forcibly press the person to kneel. She glanced at the sky and said concisely: “I ask, you answer.”

Between the waterfall-like long hair, the demon ghost with whip marks covering his wrists nodded.

“Before destroying Yunsan Sect, did you know what you would face?” Xue Yu asked.

“I knew.” Su You didn’t answer immediately. He seemed like he hadn’t spoken for a long time, or was slowly weighing his words, only spitting out two words after a moment.

It must be said that inconsistent with this demon ghost’s rebellious nature was that he was born with a moving face and a clean, clear voice.

Perhaps all demon ghosts knew how to seduce human hearts, how to maximize their advantages. Su You thought that if she had ulterior motives regarding him, she should reveal her true purpose now.

Sacred Land inheritors – wanting a man was nothing special. Look when they wanted to look, discard when they didn’t want to anymore. It wasn’t a big deal. Just put on a show on the Judgment Platform in front of so many eyes, and once off the platform, a waste of a person wasn’t worth a busy princess’s effort to fabricate excuses.

“Before being captured by the Sacred Lands, your cultivation was already considerable. Yunsan Sect was just an obscure small sect. To kill a few people at the cost of your own life, you and they must have had irreconcilable hatred. For what reason?” Xue Yu spoke with clear logic, laying out point by point, blocking all his chances to say “no” or “it wasn’t so.”

This time Su You was silent even longer. Xue Yu didn’t speak or urge him, but clearly wanted his answer.

“They slandered me.” Su You spoke very softly, his face lifting slightly to reveal smooth jaw lines and a half-face glowing pale white. His tone, supposedly answering, was more like some kind of complaint, lacking confidence. With a slight tilt of his head, he revealed two patches of collarbones flying into his collar like mountain ridges.

His eyes were very beautiful, pupils extremely deep in color. Looking at someone for long would give the illusion of deep affection and focus, then slightly lowering his lashes, combined with innocence and fragility. When he was still very small, he had relied on this skill to arouse a human couple’s compassion, who carried him home and fed him rice porridge spoonful by spoonful to survive.

The demon ghost skilled at seducing hearts observed Xue Yu’s reaction from the corner of his eye. She still sat upright, her face small and delicate, but unfortunately always tense without expression. Her pair of eyes was clear and cold, unexpectedly clean and pure, without a trace of the coveting and possessiveness he had anticipated.

Getting such an answer, she only nodded and asked again: “Are your parents alive? Do you have relatives or friends?”

Su You’s expression quickly turned gloomy. He lowered his head to admire the overlapping meridians on the back of his hand, words bouncing out of his mouth one by one: “No father, no mother.”

Xue Yu paused briefly.

Indeed, she wasn’t a fool who could be easily deceived. She didn’t believe a single word of the answers to the previous questions. Only this sentence she felt was the truth.

“Your talent and comprehension are extremely high, and you’re someone who’s been on the Judgment Platform. I can’t let you leave.” This time it was sect annihilation – if released and he caused some earth-shaking incident again, not only he but she too would be questioned. “The handbook says you cultivated demon arts. If I help restore your meridians, I hope you’ll study Sacred Land or human cultivation methods.”

The corner of Su You’s mouth, full of mockery, stiffened for an instant.

“I won’t return to the Sacred Lands for half a year and will wander the mortal world. You’ll follow me to train your temperament. When I feel you’re sufficiently rational and calm, that’s when you’ll be free.” Xue Yu looked at the demon ghost standing below. He was tall with a slender build, appearing docile but having every bone in his body growing in opposition.

“Before this, I need you to take the Jade Clarity Pill.” The Jade Clarity Pill was a common method Sacred Lands used to control demon ghosts. After taking it, it wouldn’t affect movement or cultivation, usually causing no pain or discomfort, but it was equivalent to placing one’s life in another’s hands. If he took the pill, with one thought from Xue Yu, he would become a corpse.

Though it sounded severe, for the current Su You, there was no difference.

If Xue Yu wanted to kill him, it would be easier than crushing an ant – she didn’t need such external means at all.

And from beginning to end, she hadn’t shown any special thoughts about his face or eyes.

“I won’t hide it from you, you’ve already developed a demon core, so switching to cultivate immortal arts will be several times more difficult than for others. You don’t have to take this Jade Clarity Pill, but if so, I won’t help you break the restrictions or restore your meridians. You can only be an ordinary person and live only in Bai Zhong Mountain.”

“How to choose is for you to consider.”

Xue Yu was kind-hearted but not overflowing with kindness. If he didn’t follow her rules, she wouldn’t bother with him.

On the other side, Chao Nian handed Su You a white jade bottle. As the bottle mouth tilted, a jade pill rolled into his palm.

Su You raised his head for the first time since entering the room, revealing his full face. Eyes meeting, he carefully observed Xue Yu’s eyes.

Seriousness was there, coldness was there.

Only absent were disdain for demon ghosts and disregard for life.

Just as he had thought.

She did not need to fabricate lies to deceive him.

And no need to.

“Good.” He quickly lowered his head, softly agreeing, his overly pale fingers pinching the pill and sending it into his mouth.