Returning to the East Garden, Yusang saw that the old madam was sitting alone by the window, staring outside in a daze. She touched the teapot wall with her hand and discovered the teapot was still hot, realizing the tea had been refilled just recently.

“Old madam, which sister helped me with the work just now?” Yusang guessed that perhaps another maid in the household had come to help her add hot water, thinking she would thank her if she encountered her later.

“She came, she returned…” the old madam murmured twice, then looked up at Yusang as if awakening from a trance, changing her tone: “Don’t tell me you think I’m so old that I can’t even add tea water myself?”

Yusang knew the old madam had flared up again. She quickly lowered her head without speaking and secretly cast a silencing spell on herself. No matter how much the old madam nagged, Yusang couldn’t hear a single word.

By the time the old madam was tired of nagging, it was almost completely dark. After eating some pastries, the old madam washed and went to sleep early. Coming out of the old madam’s room, Yusang saw a graceful woman in white robes standing in the courtyard ahead – fair-skinned and beautiful, it was Huayi.

“Girl, you’re a perfectly good spirit who won’t stay as such, but runs off to serve an old woman – what’s the point?”

“You think I enjoy it? Isn’t this all for you people? There should be a demon creature in this residence that I need to capture.”

“A demon creature? Where’s there only one?” Huayi smiled as she looked at Yusang.

“You know?”

“Aren’t there a whole group in the back garden? I’m one of them.”

“Not you all – it’s an evil demon that cultivates by absorbing people’s vital blood. I tracked it to Yunsui City.”

“I wondered why you suddenly came to Yunsui City. So it was to capture demons. You truly don’t keep this sister in your heart.”

“This matter is quite strange, and moreover… I seem to have sensed some special things.”

Hearing this, Huayi completely abandoned her playful attitude, her willow eyebrows moved slightly as she asked tentatively: “Those things?”

Yusang nodded, then shook her head, saying: “Though I’m not entirely certain yet, the Soul Collector lantern has already appeared. Everything has begun – I must figure this out.”

“If it’s truly so, I should also contribute some effort.”

“Rest assured, if I need your help, I definitely won’t be polite.” Yusang smiled smugly and raised an eyebrow.

After bidding farewell to Huayi, Yusang first made a round of the courtyard where the servants lived, letting everyone know she had returned, then quietly flew out through the back window and landed on the rooftop.

From the servants’ courtyard to the West Garden where Lu Shi resided, Yusang carefully landed behind a tree, watching from afar as the indoor lamplight cast the shadow of a seated woman onto the window paper. Walking quietly to the artificial mountain she had seen during the day, where cold wind blew out, the stone cave remained pitch black and bottomless. Yusang picked up a small stone from the ground and carefully placed it at the cave entrance, giving it a gentle push. The stone rolled down into the cave entrance.

Yusang pressed her ear against the artificial mountain. After a series of sounds of the stone rolling down in the cave, it seemed to stop, then rustling sounds came from inside, as if something was moving.

Yusang was secretly pleased that her speculation was correct – there was another world beneath this artificial mountain. Just as she was about to bring her face close to the cave entrance to look, suddenly a dark red snake head shot out from the cave. The snake head was as large as a bushel basket, with extraordinarily large emerald eyes and fearsome fangs – it seemed that with just one bite, it could easily swallow a whole living person.

Yusang retreated and dodged, but because the snake’s head appeared so quickly, she was startled and couldn’t quite recover. Her footing became unsteady, and she fell backward to the ground.

“Do not harm her.” Just when Yusang thought the snake head would attack her again, suddenly a cold reprimand rang out behind her. At the same time, a sword light passed over her head, grazing her scalp as it struck toward the snake’s head, lunging at her.

The great snake was forcibly driven back. Yusang, still shaken, looked up to see the white-robed young man she had encountered outside Huakui Tower that night standing behind her, holding the lantern in one hand and curving his fingers in incantation before his lips with the other.

“What are you staring at? If you want to live, quickly get behind me.” Before Yusang could be stunned for long, Yan Qige had already spoken.

Yusang couldn’t spare time to examine him closely. Rolling and crawling, she quickly hid behind Yan Qige, saying: “Dao—”

The word “Daoist” had just reached her lips when Yusang remembered that the demon creature at Huakui Tower that night had lost its life merely for calling him a Taoist. She quickly changed her words: “Young master, thank you, thank you.”

Yan Qige paid no attention to Yusang’s words. He tossed the lantern in his hand up to suspend it in mid-air, condensed a phantom sword in his hand, leaped forward, and swung his sword, using domineering sword energy to force the red-headed snake back into the artificial mountain cave.

“Why did you let it go? That’s a snake demon.” Seeing the red-headed snake return to the cave, Yusang pointed and questioned.

Yan Qige seemed not to have heard Yusang’s words. He stepped back, dismissed the phantom sword condensed by magic in his hand, raised his wrist to catch the lantern suspended in mid-air, and flicked his robe front before slowly turning his gaze toward Yusang. Slightly raising his chin, he said slowly: “You’re also a demon. Should I capture you right now, too?”

“You…” Yusang was immediately speechless.

“Don’t think I can’t see through you just because you’ve concealed your demonic aura.”

“Hmph, identifying ghosts and recognizing demons is just a small trick for Taoists. I don’t see anyone else being so smug about it.” Yusang muttered quietly with her head lowered.

Hearing this, Yan Qige’s expression immediately changed, his voice rising a notch as his eyes flashed with menace: “Who did you call a Taoist?”

Indeed, this was Yan Qige’s weak spot. Yusang, well-versed in the ancient wisdom that a wise person doesn’t suffer immediate losses, quickly smiled apologetically and corrected herself: “No, no… Young master is not a Taoist. How could a young master be a Taoist?”

“What a demon without backbone.” Yan Qige showed contempt.

Yusang secretly gritted her teeth, but smiled on her face: “Then what would I need to do to be considered having backbone?”

“At the very least, you should fly into a great rage, then fight me desperately without regard for your life to demonstrate your determination to defend your dignity.”

“And then?”

“Then I could justifiably take action to capture you, showing no mercy.”

“You…” Yusang wanted to be angry, but knowing it wasn’t the right time, she could only swallow this bitter anger. With a flick of her sleeve, she turned toward the house where Lu Shi resided.

Yusang carefully approached Lu Shi’s bedroom, changing her hiding spots several times before quietly reaching outside the door. Just as she was about to crouch down and peek into the room through the door crack, suddenly a foot in a black boot extended from behind her. With a loud crash, the door was kicked wide open.

Yan Qige, holding a lantern in one hand and the other behind his back, glanced at Yusang with raised eyebrows, then strode through the door with the swagger of a champion scholar, full of high spirits. Yusang coughed twice and stood up from the ground. After looking around and finding no one had discovered them, she entered the room with feigned composure.

The room was empty except for a white candle burning on a round pear wood table, thicker than ordinary candles. A small paper figure cut from white paper was placed on the table. The candlelight, blocked by the paper figure, cast a shadow on the doors and windows that looked like someone sitting at the table.

Yan Qige approached the white candle and was about to reach out to touch the paper figure on the table when Yusang suddenly called out to stop him: “Don’t touch it!”

At the same time, a needle-thin as a hair shot out from the flame’s core. Yusang couldn’t think much – she quickly condensed a bamboo leaf between her fingers and flicked it out to knock down the silver needle. When the needle touched the bamboo leaf, the leaf lost its form and turned to powder, while the needle transformed into a strand of hair and fell to the ground.