Blood and tears flowed together, yet her mouth still smiled with relief, though the smile brought unbearable pain. Three full days of bone-stripping torment—Ruyi had endured it by biting down on her divine bones. If her bones hadn’t been hard, she would have nearly bitten them through.

Such an unforgettable experience that she could never forget, even in death—if not for these countless gods and Buddhas standing by and watching people die, she probably wouldn’t have had this honor.

How dare they turn around and blame her?

Raising her eyes to stare directly at them, Ruyi shouted, “When heaven and earth were opened, wasn’t it agreed that as long as one cultivated divinity, they would receive divine protection? When I was stripping my bones, where were you all?”

“You stripped your bones willingly and did not beg the gods for salvation.”

“Then what about when my city was destroyed and my clan exterminated? Such loud pleas—could you not hear them either?”

“All mortal affairs have their destined course. We do not interfere. Though you suffered grievous injury then, your divine bones remained, so you would not have died.”

Ruyi laughed harshly. The demonic energy around her body suddenly surged violently. Ten-zhang-high black wings spread out behind her like a canopy, their feathers gleaming like blades.

A feather-blade fell past her brow. When she raised her head again, the blood red in her eyes swirled with dense black qi.

“You often speak of cause and effect, yet with me, you only care about effects and ignore causes. If this is what divine beings are like, then I was right to fall to demonhood back then.”

“Do you think to defy heaven?” The ethereal, echoing voice was irritating to hear.

Ruyi clenched her fists with reddened eyes, “I’ll kill as many as I can. Even if I cannot defy heaven, I will tear open a crack in it!”

Fierce winds swept up from beneath her wings, intense killing intent pointing straight at the nine heavens.

Early in the morning, Shen Qiyuan heard news that Liu Ruyi had left the city with Wei Zijue.

He sat hunched in the shadows of the soft couch for a long while before raising his head, “I understand.”

Demons always loved themselves most, but occasionally they would lose their heads. Ruyi was a great demon with three thousand years of experience who had passed through countless flowers without a single leaf clinging to her. What in this tedious world could make her lose her head?

Unless she truly liked Wei Zijue—perhaps more than just liking.

He stepped down from the couch and sat at the table, pouring tea for himself, thinking as he poured: what did it matter? Even if she loved him, Wei Zijue only had this one lifetime left. In the next reincarnation, whether he became pig or dog was uncertain—she couldn’t wait for that.

Tea water overflowed the curved rim of the cup, slowly spreading into a puddle on the table.

Shen Qiyuan came back to his senses, leveled the teapot, and pressed his lips into a tight line.

Why did she have to be a demon?

If she was destined to be a demon, why couldn’t he have been born a demon too?

“My lord, the remaining refugees have all gone to build civilian housing. The daily wage of fifty wen—the Ministry of Finance won’t budge, so it’s still being paid from your manor. Also, the disaster relief funds allocated from the palace have been used entirely to purchase timber and iron materials without missing a single wen. Your capable disciples have been supervising the entire process, so please rest assured.”

After Zhou Tingchuan finished reporting everything one by one, he sighed while holding the scrolls, “His Majesty is concerned about your health and has specially ordered you to rest today. Why did you get up after only sleeping two hours? It’s not even fully light outside yet.”

Shen Qiyuan looked at him, his brow suddenly moving, “What, you want silk from Water Moon Tower in the neighboring city?”

Zhou Tingchuan was stunned, “I, I don’t want any?”

“Or do you want it right now?” He frowned and stood up, reproachfully taking the outer robe from the screen, “You’re hopeless—you cannot pass through that demon-infested forest, so you just ask me.”

“No, my lord, I…”

“Alright, I understand. I’ll go right now. I can bring it back by noon. Stop kowtowing.”

The outer robe fluttered as it settled on that person, fitting and graceful. Before Zhou Tingchuan could reach out, Lord Shen had already disappeared beyond the main gate.

He knocked his head but still couldn’t figure it out: “How did I end up kowtowing and begging for silk from Water Moon Tower?!”

Then he felt something was wrong and ran while shouting, “My lord, please come back and rest first! Only sleeping two hours in several days—what kind of life is that for a person!”

The voice drifted out, trampled by horse hooves, and scattered into dust mixed with dirt.

Shen Qiyuan spurred his horse madly toward the city outskirts.

It wasn’t that he wanted to do anything specific, nor had he figured anything out. He just wanted to go look, hoping he might see something—anything was better than seeing nothing at all.

Water Moon Tower’s silk was famous. Even if he gained nothing else, bringing back a bolt wouldn’t make the trip worthless. That’s right, he wasn’t acting impulsively—he was weighing pros and cons.

“Hyah—”

The precious steed galloped, catching up to the suburban temple in the blink of an eye.

Shen Qiyuan had intended to pass by, but felt something was wrong and reined in his horse to take a look.

When had there been a temple here?

Moreover, why was there such heavy demonic energy at the temple entrance?

His heart tightened as he spurred his horse toward the temple gate.

Dark feathers filled the sky, transforming into sharp blades carrying thick killing intent as they flew down from above. The soldiers cried out in terror for help. Wei Zijue was shocked by the scene before him, but still instinctively rushed forward, shouting, “Sister, wake up!”

Ruyi looked back, her eyes thick with unscattered black qi. Seeing him approach, she struck out with a claw.

She had no long fingernails, yet this claw carried the force of ten thousand jun. The sand and stones raised by the wind shattered into powder before they could even touch anything.

Wei Zijue’s pupils contracted as he stared at her in shock.

“What are you standing there for?” Someone came up from behind, scolding as they tackled him to the ground.

The claw wind struck the trunk of a towering tree behind them. The tree that required three people to embrace snapped in half at the waist, crashing toward the temple with a thunderous roar.

Shen Qiyuan shoved Wei Zijue aside and advanced rapidly while forming hand seals. In an instant, a pure white light barrier shielded the people in the temple from the sky full of dark feathers. The towering tree was also pushed by white light to fall heavily in another direction, shaking the very ground.

At the same time, he closed in on Ruyi and deftly grasped both her hands.

Ruyi raised her eyes and kicked backward toward his head.

Wei Zijue watched in panic, a cry of “careful” stuck in his throat.

Shen Qiyuan seemed to have anticipated this move. Before her leg came down, he turned sideways, withdrew his hand to slap her ankle, then gathered his right hand to capture both her wrists together. He retreated left to avoid her rapidly stomping foot, finally crouching low and sweeping his left hand behind her knee to hoist her entire body onto his shoulder.

She became furious, her whole body erupting with demonic energy. He had already cast a divine power barrier before her anger flared, slowly tightening it to trap both her and himself inside.

Wei Zijue watched, dazzled yet amazed.

How could someone understand another person so well? It was like watching one’s left and right hands fighting each other. Hadn’t these two only just met recently?

“Wake up.” Shen Qiyuan struggled to hold her down and patted her back, “Liu Ruyi, wake up. You’re under an illusion!”

Ruyi wouldn’t listen, seizing every chance to strike back.

Restraining her again, Shen Qiyuan said seriously, “You’re forcing me to do this. I have no other choice right now—only this way can save you.”

With that, he turned to cradle her entire body in his arms, grasped her chin, and pressed his thin lips deeply over hers.