“Correct, this thing has no fixed form and can transform at will. You see it as a collar now, but later it could become a knife, spear, sword, or halberd—any metal form is possible,” Yun Ya summarized. “It’s not a living organism, and can’t be classified as a demon species.” It was more like an extraordinary anomaly of the natural world beyond living beings.

“It can transform into metal, but why would it take this form?” She pointed at the small weasel, endlessly amazed.

This creature’s imitation was remarkably lifelike. “Besides, even if metal could take form, how can it speak?”

Yun Ya shrugged: “That depends on what’s special about its true form.”

“I possess a mirage pearl that allows me to transform into countless shapes and produce sounds. Is that enough?” The liquid metal demon left lying on the ground, turned into an elegant bracelet adorned with several luminous pearls, looking quite magnificent.

“A mirage pearl? You even have such a precious item!” Feng Miaojun picked it up, admiring it while exclaiming in amazement. She had read about such treasures in more than one ancient text. Legend had it that mirages over the sea were illusions created by mirage demons to confuse and prey on humans—illusions with both sound and form, sometimes even simulating entire cities, causing humans to become deeply immersed in sensual pleasures without realizing the danger.

The core pearl was the mirage pearl. “The mirage demon who originally possessed this must have been a powerful creature with profound cultivation.”

She had only heard that mirage pearls could create illusions, not that they could fabricate an entire body from nothing. The pearl’s original owner must have achieved remarkable feats during its lifetime.

“This mirage pearl formed before the current era began. It accompanied its master to immortality and sainthood, thus developing extraordinary transformation abilities after being nurtured by me for many years.” The liquid metal demon, seeing her eyes practically gleaming with greed, quickly retracted the mirage pearl. “It has become one with me, transformed into my core life pearl. You cannot take it away.”

Cao Qinghe stared at it for a long while, then suddenly burst into loud sobbing.

Feng Miaojun had never comforted a child before and felt somewhat helpless. Just then, Uncle Liu walked in from outside and, seeing the situation, quickly wiped the boy’s tears: “What happened?”

“My weasel is gone,” Cao Qinghe pointed at the liquid metal demon. “It must have eaten it!”

With his limited experience, he couldn’t understand what a “liquid metal demon” was, assuming this demon had eaten his white weasel and taken its place.

Having been pampered by the Cao family, he had already suffered the catastrophe that befell his family, with all his relatives dead. Now even the white weasel that had accompanied him for years was suddenly gone. The bitterness in this small boy’s heart was difficult to express.

The liquid metal demon changed back into the white weasel, its button-sized eyes full of helplessness: “Little master, please don’t cry. The white weasel is me, and I am the white weasel. I’ve lived in your family for over fifty years, but from today onwards, our fated connection has ended.”

Cao Qinghe cried so hard he could barely speak, and it wasn’t clear if he had heard.

Feng Miaojun felt sympathetic and stroked the top of his head: “It’s alright, you’ll feel better after crying. Just have a good sleep.”

As she gently stroked, Cao Qinghe’s sobbing gradually subsided, his expression became calmer, and finally, he yawned, falling asleep in Uncle Liu’s arms.

Tears still hung at the corners of his eyes, but he slept peacefully.

This was the work of the sleep bug that Feng Miaojun had nurtured.

Feng Miaojun retrieved her spirit insect, then pointed at the liquid metal demon: “This is the treasure Master Cao mentioned in his letter.” She took the letter from Yun Ya’s hand and showed it to Uncle Liu. After reading it word by word, his eyes also grew moist. He wiped his old eyes and said, “Thank you, young lady. The Cao family has fallen, and no longer needs such a guardian spirit. Please take it with you.”

He invited the two to stay for a meal, but Yun Ya shook his head: “We’ve been gone too long and must return now.” The Wei King would certainly want to consult with him about the next battle plan.

Uncle Liu then escorted them out of the estate, bidding them a sincere farewell.

The liquid metal demon remained bound, looking feeble. Feng Miaojun poked it with her fingertip, still finding such an existence incredible.

In her world, metal had no life.

“It seems Uncle Liu also knew you were the River God of Ji Yuan City.” Otherwise, how would he have called it a “guardian spirit”?

The liquid metal demon’s voice was full of disdain for mortals: “That old fool pretends not to know what he knows very well.”

“Why did you stay with the Cao family for fifty years, and in this form?” Feng Miaojun hadn’t missed the important message in its words. “‘After today our fated connection has ended’—what does that mean?”

The white weasel form of the liquid metal demon glanced at Yun Ya, who was leaning against the carriage with his eyes closed, apparently sanctioning the girl’s questions, so it answered: “It was my misfortune. I owed Cao Budao a favor. Fifty years ago, he told me that sooner or later, great calamity would befall the Cao family. He didn’t ask me to save everyone, only hoped that I would secure a single bloodline for the Cao family.”

It snorted angrily: “The old fox was very cunning. This condition sounded simple, but to fulfill it, I couldn’t stray too far from the Cao family, or I wouldn’t be able to rescue them in time… This effectively bound me to Ji Yuan City for fifty years, unable to leave!”

This fellow had been schemed against. Feng Miaojun couldn’t help but laugh: “So your way of fulfilling the agreement was to lead Cao Qinghe away from home?” Cao Qinghe had quietly left the mansion to find his weasel and hadn’t escaped with his family through the tunnel, thus avoiding the Wei army’s capture. Now it seemed there weren’t so many coincidences involved.

“After my battle with this… Wei State Preceptor yesterday, I was slightly injured. When I returned, Ji Yuan City was about to be breached by the Wei army. The Cao family planned to escape through the tunnel, but I saw Wei soldiers at the other end and knew it was an ambush. So I used the white weasel form to lead Cao Qinghe away. Saving just one of them fulfilled my promise to Cao Budao.” This wasn’t being cold-blooded—at that point, the River God was already powerless to change the situation. There were dozens of people in the Cao household, and it couldn’t save them all. “From now on, our debt is settled.”

“And what about being the River God?” No wonder Yun Ya couldn’t find the River God’s lair in the depths of the river. This fellow lived on shore, usually transformed as a white weasel residing in the Cao mansion.

“That was also a title Cao Budao requested for me.” The liquid metal demon said with frustration, “He probably felt guilty for hindering my cultivation, so he asked the Jiao King to bestow the title of River God upon me.”

Being consecrated as a water spirit allowed it to accumulate local worship, greatly benefiting its cultivation. Thus, the liquid metal demon would be more dedicated to the Cao family.

From this single incident, Feng Miaojun understood Cao Budao’s meticulousness and thoughtfulness. Unfortunately, with the rules of heaven and earth changed, his descendants had become ordinary people, unable to inherit his arts and breadth of vision. The Cao family had declined, and was now almost completely extinguished by the Wei army.

How many once-glorious cultivator families in the world ended with such a miserable fate?

The white weasel’s shiny black eyes were fixed on Yun Ya. Though defeated, it remained unconvinced: “How did you see through my disguise?”

It believed its deception was flawless—after all, how many people in this world had ever seen a true serpent dragon?