Yelu Qi had no choice but to pick up the wild chicken and deliver it to her. Yelu Xunru glared at him and snatched it away: “Get lost! Reeking of cosmetic powder!”

Yelu Qi smiled and walked away without taking offense. The snow mountain female disciples were all watching from hiding places, but none approached—they felt it beneath their dignity to argue with such a vulgar woman.

Of course, they wouldn’t admit that this woman’s display of enormous strength and fierce temperament actually made them wary.

As for the village girls, they dared even less to confront Yelu Xunru. Earlier, some had tried to make her tone down her arrogance, but after Yelu Xunru ripped off that family’s entire roof in one go, no one entertained such thoughts anymore.

Yelu Qi carried the washed vegetables back. Along the way, snow mountain disciples took over various tasks. No one saw that the moment he lifted the basket, a small wax pill in his palm slipped into his sleeve.

Then he went to the kitchen to fry, sauté, and cook. The delicious food made personally by Yelu Qi could naturally only be enjoyed by the Lady, but Yelu Qi had always been skilled at winning people over. He would always prepare extra portions to share with the disciples. The snow mountain emphasized ascetic cultivation and sparse desires. The disciples, accustomed to bland food, had long since surrendered to this culinary master.

A plain-clothed woman waited at the kitchen door, keeping her distance from the cooking smoke. When Yelu Qi brought out the dishes, she stepped forward to receive them. Yelu Qi smiled and pointed at a small clay pot on the fire, whispering: “Come back once more later.”

The woman smiled knowingly, glanced at him, and said softly: “In half an hour then.”

Yelu Qi watched her gracefully depart to deliver lunch to Xu Pingran, then walked slowly toward his own quarters under the surveillance of several disciples, calculating in his mind.

The plain-clothed woman was Xu Pingran’s last disciple and also her personal maid. Though Xu Pingran was difficult to approach, staying by her side for so long meant she would inevitably reveal bits of information intentionally or otherwise.

Recently he had been giving this girl special treatment, having her come for food after serving Xu Pingran. The first few times, she could only come an hour after lunch, but now she was coming earlier.

This meant Xu Pingran’s practice sessions were also starting earlier.

For someone of Xu Pingran’s cultivation level as the snow mountain sect master’s wife, everything had been fixed into routine. There should be neither need nor reason for casual changes. Once changes appeared, it meant something had shifted within herself.

Either she had begun practicing a new, more powerful martial art, or she was healing from injuries.

When Xu Pingran returned to the snow mountains, she had experienced a battle whose details they knew nothing about. No one could tell the outcome at the time, but looking now, it seemed even after all this time, there were still lingering effects.

Yelu Qi opened his door and entered his room, a shallow smile on his lips.

He also went to bed to practice, not lowering the bed curtains because he knew that on the wall directly facing the bed was a mechanism—what appeared to be a wall was actually a mirror where someone monitored him, able to see all his movements in the room. The moment he did anything unreasonable, someone would immediately enter.

He sat in meditation as usual, hands overlapped, palms upward, eyes downcast, appearing to regulate his internal energy.

The wax pill slowly melted, and the wrapped paper strip silently fell into his palm. Yelu Qi remained motionless.

“The old witch goes out at midnight to hunt living creatures and drink fresh blood, and seems to be searching for strange beasts.”

His sleeve dropped, and the paper strip silently disintegrated in his palm.

Xu Pingran seemed to have grown impatient—what kind of skill was she practicing? And what did she need strange beasts for?

He had seen the monsters Xu Pingran kept, all confined in cellars, looking neither human nor beast, living worse than pigs and dogs. They were clearly combinations of humans and beasts. Heaven knew that the seemingly otherworldly Heavenly Gate would stoop to such base acts.

What did she need strange beasts for now? Yelu Qi estimated they were prepared for him.

He knew he should leave. His sister’s message was urging him—staying longer would be dangerous.

But he didn’t want to go.

Xu Pingran would definitely harm Jing Hengbo. He hoped to understand this lifelong great enemy more and more. Unfortunately, this woman had always been too vigilant. Having stayed so long, he could only protect himself, deducing some conclusions from scattered peripheral information, but couldn’t get close to her, let alone gain her trust.

Not just him—even her personal maid and last disciple couldn’t get close to her. That woman was like wind on a mountain peak, wandering alone only in cold, empty silence.

He had another hope: completely healing Xunru. Getting close to the Heavenly Gate would surely provide greater opportunities, right?

Half an hour later, Xu Pingran’s last disciple and personal maid Su Nian came for her special meal. Yelu Qi personally handed the small clay pot to her, and the woman smiled shallowly.

The two stood very close. Yelu Qi’s smile was warm and gentle, the sunlight bright and beautiful, yet neither compared to his dark, brilliant eyes that made hearts tremble.

Su Nian bashfully lowered her head, suddenly hearing Yelu Qi say: “Don’t move.” He raised his hand to brush past her temple.

Su Nian’s heart began pounding. She instinctively wanted to dodge yet was reluctant to, her face radiant and glowing like sunset clouds.

“A small insect.” Yelu Qi smiled and showed his open palm to her. Su Nian’s gaze fell directly on that jade-white palm—where could she see any insect? She mumbled incoherently in response, not knowing what she was saying.

Yelu Qi quickly withdrew, as gazes from the shadows had already shot over.

Su Nian carried the small clay pot and reluctantly departed, her fluttering dress hem carrying the fragrance of tendon stew.

The tendons had been slowly simmered over low heat and were quite sticky, very difficult to wash completely clean. He was confident that after she ate today, her sleeve cuffs and palm edges would definitely be somewhat sticky.

Yelu Qi retreated to his room. At the moment of closing the door, he glanced at his fingernails.

Under his nails was something he’d gathered from Su Nian’s hair earlier—faintly pinkish powder.

Yesterday he had treated her to jade gelatin drink, instructing her to drink it while hot, and that after drinking she could use the gelatin skin for a facial mask to moisturize and beautify. The Heavenly Gate didn’t emphasize enjoyment, living austerely. Young women had no cosmetics, but which young woman didn’t love beauty? He bet she would definitely use it, and this girl had slightly plump cheeks. To hide this flaw, she always wore very long side-swept bangs—a hairstyle that was quite troublesome, easily picking up various substances when bowing to work.

Gelatin skin was also very sticky and would definitely catch on her bangs. And yesterday wasn’t Su Nian’s hair-washing day.

Yelu Qi carefully scraped the powder from under his nails, wrapped it in paper, and stuffed it in the door frame crack. He moved quickly because he knew that entering the room meant entering the surveillance area, and being outside was also monitored. Only at the moment of entering would the watchers relax their vigilance—though he couldn’t linger too long or it would arouse suspicion.

That evening, after Su Nian finished serving Xu Pingran, she found time to return the small clay pot. Yelu Qi took the pot but wasn’t hurried to bid farewell, accompanying her for a stroll in a secluded part of the courtyard. Su Nian’s smile deepened accordingly.

In the unclear nighttime light, as the two walked in the secluded area, Su Nian suddenly tripped on a stone and swayed. Yelu Qi quickly moved to steady her, and Su Nian’s hand happened to fall on his. Both paused.

The moon was bright with sparse stars, floating clouds like ribbons. The early summer evening breeze was sweet-scented as if mixed with honey. Summer insects chirped in the deep shadows, and green moss on red tiles gleamed with moist freshness.

Su Nian felt his gaze gathered all the moon and stars, the wind and fragrance, all the most beautiful things of this early summer night.

Footsteps seemed to approach from not far away. Both hurriedly withdrew their hands. As Su Nian let go, she felt Yelu Qi squeeze her hand tightly once.

This burned not only her palm but seemed to scorch her heart as well.

She lifted her skirts and hurried away, never having run in such embarrassed fashion. Moonlight was trampled to pieces on the gravel path, and cherry-red petals scattered on both sides of the path.

Yelu Qi looked at his palm, his expression seeming to savor the earlier soft jade and warm fragrance, yet his gaze fell on a deep purple mark at his palm’s edge.

According to Su Nian, Xu Pingran maintained her dignity and never personally took action. Large and small matters were all handled by Su Nian.

This naturally included matters like preparing and fetching medicine.

The deep purple at his palm’s edge was very thin. When he entered the room, his sleeve dropped, cold light flashed, and the piece of skin stained with medicine at his palm’s edge had already been sliced off.

He casually grabbed some dirt by the door frame to stop the bleeding, wrapped that piece of skin and also stuffed it in the door frame crack.

This night passed peacefully, with slight disturbances from the distant tall building, though they seemed to attract no one’s attention.

Early the next morning, yesterday’s activities repeated as usual. Village girls gathered by the clear stream, Yelu Qi cheerfully washed vegetables and prepared for cooking, until Yelu Xunru arrived carrying a large basin of wild game, scattering all the romantically inclined village girls.

This time Yelu Xunru didn’t make things difficult for Yelu Qi, nor did she tip over basins and wash wild game, dirtying the entire stream. Each did their own work. Yelu Qi washed a plump domestic hen—Xu Pingran didn’t like eating wild game.

Seeing this from upstream, Yelu Xunru suddenly threw over a wild rabbit, calling loudly: “Hey, trade for your hen! I’m sick of eating wild game all the time—I want to change flavors too!”

Yelu Qi caught it but immediately threw it back, smiling: “Sorry, my mistress doesn’t eat wild game. I need this hen to make soup for her today. Next time, perhaps.”

“Stinking boy, ungrateful!” Yelu Xunru turned hostile and with a splash, kicked over the entire basin. Immediately dirty water flowed everywhere and wild game blocked the entire waterway.

Yelu Qi wore a “good men don’t fight with women” expression, sighed, stood up, and returned with his basket.

Over there, Yelu Xunru washed wild game while cursing. After finishing, she shouldered everything. That basin could fit a person lying down, plus the wild game and water-soaked weight—she easily hefted it onto her shoulder.

Snow mountain disciples watching from all sides snorted disdainfully, all feeling that arguing with such a wild girl who only had brute strength was truly a degrading affair.

Yelu Xunru walked with heavy steps. She lived in a three-room thatched house on the village’s west side, left by a lonely old person. She had originally lived in a neighboring village and once saved this old person’s life while in the mountains. After the old person died, she inherited the house and moved here.

Since the snow mountain people had settled in this small village, they had naturally investigated everyone’s background. Though Yelu Xunru had only come after the Heavenly Gate’s arrival, the villagers all confirmed that she had indeed saved the old person, had indeed lived in another village, and had appeared in this village before. She was considered an outsider whose suspicious points had been cleared.

At this time in the thatched house, there was also a man silently weaving grass rope with his head down. The villagers knew this was her brother, somewhat simple-minded, always dependent on this sister for support—which was why this sister had never been able to marry.

Of course, this was Yelu Xunru’s own external explanation. Whoever she wanted to be a brother could be a brother. She had grown accustomed to being disabled before; now it was Third Young Master’s turn to experience it.

Hearing her footsteps entering, Yelu Tan looked up once, a complex expression flashing across his face.

Initially, bringing her to seek secret remedies for survival had led them to this area near the villages at the snow mountain’s base. He had once maintained good relations with a certain steward in the inner sect who had guided him, knowing there was a medicine pool nearby that the Lady used to cultivate superhuman beings.

The Lady’s places for cultivating superhuman beings were all treasure sites capable of stimulating human potential and tempering flesh and meridians. But the domineering medicinal properties naturally had consequences, with unpredictable side effects. Yelu Tan could coldly watch those half-human, half-beast monsters being forced into the pool, yet couldn’t make a choice about Yelu Xunru’s fate. In the end, it was Yelu Xunru herself who jumped in.

Three days of torment. Yelu Tan and Master Ziwei took positions on either side, never blinking, afraid that what emerged would be Yelu Xunru’s corpse or a monster.

The Yelu Xunru who finally emerged made Yelu Tan wildly joyful at first glance—not only had she gained vitality, but one eye had even recovered some sight. She had even displayed unprecedented enormous strength, as if reborn as a different person.

It was Master Ziwei who, after carefully examining Yelu Xunru, frowned.

To consolidate the medicinal effects, Yelu Tan and Yelu Xunru found a village near this medicine pool to settle down, ready to adjust treatment at any time, hoping to restore sight to the other eye or further improve this eye’s vision. During this period, she had traveled through surrounding villages, becoming familiar with the local people, saved that lonely old person, often cared for them, and even learned the local dialect.

During her period of settling down for treatment, Master Ziwei had run off, busy all day with unknown activities. He would return periodically to check on her. Each time he saw her, he was happy on the surface but frowned behind her back. Yelu Tan observed this and gradually became suspicious. He had checked her pulse—it grew stronger and more vigorous daily, clearly signs of recovery. Where did Master Ziwei’s worries come from?

Later, Xu Pingran and Yelu Qi appeared.

The sharp Yelu Xunru immediately sensed something wrong and decisively moved to that small village. To avoid being recognized by snow mountain disciples, Yelu Tan had to become her simple-minded brother, confined to the house all day weaving grass rope.

Yelu Tan looked distantly toward the snow mountain peak and pursed his lips.

The Lady and fellow disciples were close at hand. He knew he should go find them, yet he couldn’t move his feet from this woman’s side, even though this life was hard, exhausting, impoverished, and completely unsuitable for his precious, pampered status.

She was the filling for his loneliness. Even hearing her strong, heavy footsteps felt like being trampled on the heart—stuck there, unable to be pulled away.

Yelu Xunru’s robust stride became calm and steady after entering the door.

She extended her hand holding a small paper packet. He took it and opened it, seeing a bit of pinkish powder inside and a piece of skin stained with deep purple.

He looked questioningly, used his nail to crush the powder for a careful smell, then held the purple-stained piece up to the sunlight.

His expression gradually changed.