In the temple.

Ruyi irritably waved away Yunque: “There are so many sleeping people here. If I don’t watch over them, they’ll be eaten by demons.”

Yunque flapped her wings frantically: “Elder Sister! We ARE demons!”

Ruyi choked for a moment, then still waved her hand: “Wait a bit longer. They’ll wake up in another half hour, and you can go with them to the next city.”

Half an hour? Yunque grew anxious: “That won’t work! Master said I must be sent out immediately, or there won’t be another chance!”

“I’m still here, so what do you mean no chance?” Ruyi tossed her several small demon cores she had obtained today. “I promised you, so I’ll get you out. Don’t worry.”

The gleaming demon cores belonged to demons with over five hundred years of cultivation. Eating just one would be equivalent to a hundred years of her practice. Yunque’s eyes lit up as she chirped and opened her mouth to catch them, swallowing them one by one. Her belly instantly swelled into a ball, and she tumbled onto the wooden table beside her, covering her mouth with her wing as she burped.

“Such powerful demon cores! Elder Sister has so many?” Her eyes sparkled.

“Just some I picked up randomly,” Ruyi answered casually, but then remembered to ask her, “Have you ever seen a green demon in the Ten Thousand Demons’ Cave? It should be a man-eating flower that achieved cultivation.”

“Man-eating flower?” Yunque rubbed her belly. “There are plenty of those. Several served under Master before.”

Ruyi thought for a moment: “How come I never saw any?”

“Elder Sister, considering your status, it would naturally be difficult for those little demons to see you. Unlike me—flowers, grass, cats, dogs—I’ve seen everything.” Yunque said. “Master used to value the man-eating flower clan quite highly, saying they had good comprehension and were obedient. He often sent them on tasks in the mortal realm.”

Ruyi’s expression changed slightly as she pinched her thumb, thinking. Tasks in the mortal realm?

Those little demons today said they were just passing through, planning to rob grain supplies. It would be fine if that were true, but what if it wasn’t?

They killed the grain transport team here. With the precedent of the forced labor incident, who would Shen Qiyuan blame for this?

Her spine felt a bit cold. Ruyi shook her head.

It should just be a coincidence. Master had no reason to have her handle affairs while simultaneously sending another team she knew nothing about to cause trouble—that wouldn’t benefit him at all.

Yunque was happily digesting the demon cores, calculating how many more years she needed before she could take human form, when suddenly the sound of galloping hooves arose outside.

“Oh no!” She clumsily jumped up. “Elder Sister, that blue god is back!”

Her belly was so swollen she could barely fly. Ruyi pressed her lips together and simply swept Yunque into her sleeve to hide her.

Just as she finished hiding her, Shen Qiyuan stepped through the doorway.

He swept a glance around at the people and, seeing they were merely sleeping, breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up at the woman across from him, but his expression remained tense: “Hand over that little demon.”

Ruyi glanced at Song Zhenshan behind him with his traveling pack, thought briefly, then smiled: “If My Lord lets Lord Song stay in the city to properly accompany the Princess, I’ll hand Yunque over to you. How about it?”

Shen Qiyuan frowned.

She wanted to send messages to Great Xia before the city walls were completed; he wanted to finish the city walls before Great Xia learned the news. Both understood each other’s purposes perfectly well—how could they accommodate each other?

“She won’t get out,” Shen Qiyuan said in a low voice. “As long as she remains within Great Qian’s borders, with her level of cultivation, she can’t escape my divine consciousness.”

“That was before,” Ruyi said provocatively. “My Lord should probe again—can you still detect where she is?”

Shen Qiyuan lowered his eyes to search secretly, only to discover that the little demon he could sense moments ago had now completely vanished.

“How is that possible?” He was puzzled. “What demon could cultivate several hundred years’ worth of power in the blink of an eye?”

Ruyi had no intention of solving this puzzle for him. She only stared at Song Zhenshan behind him and said leisurely, “Lord Song, aren’t you afraid of punishment for privately using magical power to interfere in mortal affairs?”

“I’m merely going to travel and enjoy myself. How does that constitute interfering in mortal affairs?” Song Zhenshan touched his nose tip. “You and I have some friendship—you wouldn’t attack me, would you?”

“Even if I don’t attack you, you’ll encounter other powerful demons on this trip.” Ruyi stopped smiling and said seriously, “You used half your divine bones to change fate and achieve your marriage with Zhaoying. If you perish at Nine Rivers now, what will happen to Zhaoying?”

Song Zhenshan’s expression grew serious: “If I don’t go, and Great Qian’s mountains and rivers collapse, what will happen to her then?”

“With you there, she’ll be safe and sound. But if you’re not there, that really can’t be guaranteed.”

Shen Qiyuan sneered coldly: “Do you think I’m dead? I’d like to see which demon in Great Qian’s territory dares to come out and deal with him.”

Within the reach of his divine consciousness, he was fully capable of protecting Song Zhenshan’s life.

Just when their relationship had seemed to ease considerably, now they were at loggerheads again. Song Zhenshan felt a headache coming on and simply retreated outside first. Seeing him about to leave, Ruyi refused to let him go and immediately moved to pursue. But Shen Qiyuan blocked her, his gaze falling on her slightly bulging sleeve: “Found you.”

Ruyi immediately released a wave of demonic energy with her backhand.

Shen Qiyuan retreated to avoid it, his robes flying as he reached toward her sleeve. She protected her sleeve pouch and concentrated to form a dark-colored long whip, suddenly binding Song Zhenshan’s horse’s legs.

A pure white long sword severed the dark whip. Horse hooves sounded from that direction, while Yunque flashed out from Ruyi’s sleeve and disappeared into the wind.

She came up empty; he came up empty, too.

The two glared at each other, both angry and helpless.

Wei Zijue woke up and asked the deputy general in confusion: “How did we fall asleep here?”

The deputy general held his face and said mournfully, “This subordinate doesn’t know either. My face looks like it was stung by hornets. Hiss.”

Everyone opened their eyes one after another. After moving about, they began counting the grain supplies to continue their journey. Wei Zijue rode his horse at the very front, inexplicably looking back.

Green shadows swayed in the forest—nothing else.

Withdrawing his gaze, he muttered: “I dreamed that Miss Liu came along too.”

The deputy general laughed: “The Commander has reached the age for marriage. When we return after achieving merit this time, we should go ask for her hand.”

His face reddened as Wei Zijue whipped him once.

Shen Qiyuan hid among the green shadows, following until they safely left Lin’an’s jurisdiction before speaking indifferently: “When we return after achieving merit this time, we should go ask for her hand.”

Liu Ruyi stood beside him and said irritably, “Only parrots mimic speech.”

“I was just trying to congratulate the shopkeeper,” he scoffed. “Successfully sending someone out of Lin’an, fulfilling your wish, and even earning someone’s special favor—they’re planning to pledge themselves to you.”

“Are you jealous?” She teasingly raised her eyebrow.

“No,” Shen Qiyuan answered without hesitation. “Who would be jealous of a mortal?”

Ruyi looked at him in surprise: “I didn’t say you were jealous of him. I asked if you were jealous of me.”

Shen Qiyuan: “…”