After leaving Bai Zhi, by the time Yusang returned to Hulliu Town, the sun had already set behind the western mountains. The streets were empty of pedestrians, eerily quiet with an almost sinister atmosphere, but Yusang was too absorbed in her thoughts, head lowered, to notice anything amiss. Only when she bumped into what felt like a human wall did she startle back to her senses, stumbling backward while hastily apologizing: “Sorry, sorry…”

But when she looked up clearly and saw that the person before her was Yan Qige, she let out a sigh of relief, weakly rolling her eyes as she said: “Oh, it’s you. What are you doing standing here so late at night?”

Yan Qige didn’t answer her question, merely regarding her with neither warmth nor coldness, one hand held behind his back, the other carrying a lantern, his bearing distinguished and remarkable.

“Why are you staring at me like that? Don’t tell me I’ve grown flowers on my face.” Seeing Yan Qige just watching her without speaking, Yusang muttered irritably again.

Yan Qige remained silent, continuing to gaze at Yusang in that same manner, his eyes seemingly clear as crystal yet deep as a well. Yusang unconsciously felt heat rising in her cheeks, somewhat unnaturally waving her hand as she said: “Fine, fine, you win. I’m not in the mood to bicker with you. If you want to stand here, then stand here.”

Having said this, Yusang somewhat frantically sidestepped around Yan Qige, avoiding his gaze that was fixed upon her as she headed toward the front street. After walking more than ten steps, she heard footsteps following behind her. Yusang couldn’t help but stop and turn back to look at Yan Qige.

Yan Qige was still standing there watching her, the bright moonlight highlighting his white robes with an air of nobility, the lantern’s glow casting luminous light before him, making him appear as if he’d stepped out of a painting.

“You’re not going to stand there staring at me all night, are you?” Yusang pointed at his feet, and after feeling his gaze continuously lingering on her without moving away, her face grew even hotter for reasons unknown.

Just when Yusang no longer knew what she should say, Yan Qige finally moved, still maintaining his usual leisurely, confident gait as he carried the lantern toward her, walking directly past Yusang’s side and continuing forward.

Yusang stood in place, not understanding what this meant. Fortunately, after walking some distance ahead, Yan Qige didn’t continue his silence. Though his voice was quite indifferent, at least he finally spoke: “Aren’t you going to follow?”

“Oh…” Yusang drew out the sound, as if extremely reluctant, but her feet were not slow at all as she trotted to catch up.

The two walked along the street for a while without speaking. After grumbling internally for some time, Yusang was the first to lose patience, turning her head to tentatively ask: “Did you come out specifically to find me?”

“What do you think?”

“I’m asking you, don’t make me answer for myself every time. What’s the point of me asking you then?”

“Then you don’t have to ask.”

“You… you… You aren’t a good person, always determined to infuriate me.”

“I’ve never heard of many mortals being angered to death. You’re a demon – if one day you’re angered to death, that would only mean you lack backbone.”

“Yan Qige!” Yusang gritted her teeth and roared, stopping in her tracks as she stood glaring at him instead of following his steps.

Yan Qige walked a few more steps, and upon discovering that Yusang had stopped and wasn’t following, guessing that she might truly be somewhat angry, he finally stopped and slowly turned around.

“I’m a demon, but I’m not an idiot, nor am I made of stone and steel. If you truly dislike me that much, you could just say so directly and tell me to leave. I won’t die without you, nor will I shamelessly cling to you…” Yusang angrily spoke out, venting all the frustration she’d accumulated over the past two days.

Seeing Yusang’s outburst, Yan Qige remained very calm, as if this anger wasn’t directed at him at all. He quietly watched her vent her frustration completely, then leisurely blinked and said, “I know you’ve suffered grievances these past two days. Seeing you bottling it up inside, you looked exactly like a little wife who’s been wronged but doesn’t dare speak up. Do you feel better now?”

Yusang hadn’t expected Yan Qige to say such things. She was stunned for a moment, and after understanding that Yan Qige had deliberately provoked her anger to prevent her from keeping everything bottled up inside, her original fury dissipated, replaced by a sweet, warm feeling in her heart.

“Let’s go.” Yan Qige extended the hand he’d been keeping behind his back toward Yusang, his lips rarely showing a hint of a smile. Though not very obvious, it was already quite remarkable.

This had all happened in an instant, but perhaps the situation had changed too quickly. Although Yusang was no longer angry about anything, she felt that following him just like that would make her seem too easily appeased. So she turned her face aside, pouting as she looked up at the moon in the sky, imitating Yan Qige’s manner by putting her hands behind her back to play at being profound.

Seeing this, Yan Qige sighed and softened his tone accommodatingly: “Alright, I did come out specifically to find you. Is that acceptable now?”

Upon hearing this, Yusang’s heart bloomed with joy. She turned to look at Yan Qige and said, “Really? You said this yourself, you know.”

But Yan Qige, who had just shown kindness, returned to his usual coldness after Yusang showed her smiling face, turning to walk forward with his typical calm composure, as if the person who had just softened and coaxed Yusang wasn’t him at all.

However, Yusang truly wasn’t a demon with much integrity. Having gotten those words just now, she was so delighted that she no longer cared about anything else. She trotted to catch up with Yan Qige, quite smugly saying: “Actually, I’m very important to you, aren’t I? You can’t do without me. I’m a good demon who can manage both the reception hall and the kitchen. Not only can I help you catch demons, but I can also help you save people. The key point is that I know water magic – without me, you’d lose such a great helper…”

“Why don’t you mention that every time we catch a demon, you take their demon cores to stew for yourself as supplements?”

“It’s mutual benefit, no waste. Even if you took those demon cores, you’d just store them in little boxes – you can’t even use them for cultivation.”

“You shouldn’t have mentioned it. Now I’m inclined to ask – I had more than ten demon cores stored in my jade box from previous collections. Do you happen to know where they went?”

“This… this, well, perhaps… perhaps they dissolved, or maybe you dropped them when you opened it yourself.” Yusang’s eyes darted around as she feigned ignorance to deflect.

Both Yan Qige and Yusang naturally knew that all those demon cores had been secretly eaten by Yusang when Yan Qige wasn’t around. However, Yan Qige didn’t pierce through this pretense, merely giving Yusang a teasing glance.

“Oh… I see. Since they dissolved and were dropped, I won’t pursue the matter.”

Yusang was as delighted as if she’d heard wonderful news. To prevent Yan Qige from changing his mind, she quickly stepped in front of him and extended her palm toward him, saying: “You said this yourself – let’s seal it with a handshake. No matter what happens in the future, you’re not allowed to pursue the matter of me eating demon cores.”

Yan Qige had always been solitary, making his own judgments about matters, and what he decided upon he would certainly do. What he was unwilling to do, not even anyone could constrain or force him in the slightest. Regarding the matter of sealing agreements with handshakes, having never made promises to anyone, he had never done such a thing before. But seeing Yusang smiling as she waited for him, he found himself somewhat unable to refuse her, unconsciously raising his wrist to lightly tap hers.

“Ha! You fell for my trick! From now on, you can’t pursue me no matter how many demon cores I eat from your box, otherwise you’d be breaking your word and going back on your promise.” Yusang was extremely excited about successfully playing this word game.

Only then did Yan Qige realize what had happened – she had secured herself a “get out of jail free card” for her theft. Though this matter wasn’t particularly serious, he, Yan Qige, had rarely had anyone dare to scheme against him. If this had been anyone else, he might have struck them senseless with a single move. But with this little demon before him, he felt no anger at all. Instead, seeing her looking like she’d obtained some treasure, he found it quite amusing.

“It’s late. Let’s go back.” Yan Qige continued forward carrying his lantern, with Yusang happily following along.