The scene teemed with undercurrents, everyone calculating and scheming in their hearts. While Liao Tingyan thought nothing of her nap, in reality, she had attracted everyone’s attention.

Especially Sect Master Shi Qianlü, who secretly thought that this woman appeared to have no scheming nature, but precisely because of this, he became certain that she was extremely deep and calculating. Could a woman capable of winning over Sima Jiao truly be such a naive and simple character? Moreover, her suddenly falling asleep, seemingly casual, had perfectly avoided seeing the Clear Valley Heaven disciples in action below. She had skillfully evaded his test!

This Liao Tingyan was certainly not ordinary. Could such a disciple truly be just a minor disciple from a small branch of Clear Valley Heaven? Shi Qianlü doubted her identity. He had previously sent people to investigate but discovered no suspicious points—her selection seemed merely due to good luck. Now he doubted again and secretly sent a message to his disciples, ordering them to investigate more thoroughly.

It seemed he needed to quickly move to win over this woman, lest someone beat him to it. He would not allow any unpredictable variables around Sima Jiao, the last member of the Feng Mountain clan.

Yuan Shang of the Yuan family, who had arranged for Liao Tingyan’s role in the Gengchen Immortal Manor, was also present today. His status was one generation below Shi Qianlü, so his seat was slightly further back. Due to his usual low profile and somewhat solitary nature, few noticed him. He witnessed with his own eyes Daoist Lord Cizang’s indulgence toward Liao Tingyan, and the joy in his heart was beyond expression. Initially, he had never thought he could succeed through such a woman, but now heaven itself seemed to be helping his cause.

Yuan Shang could hardly contain his impatience at the thought of finally taking revenge on his enemy and destroying this Gengchen Immortal Manor. He must get Liao Tingyan to meet him!

Although White Deer Cliff was under the control of the Sect Master’s faction, as the son of the Yuan family’s main branch in the Four Seasons Palace, his authority was not small. While he couldn’t make major moves, arranging for a message to bring her out for a meeting wasn’t impossible.

Liao Tingyan had slept through the afternoon, almost getting a stiff neck, and hadn’t slept well. The Ancestral Master’s cool constitution truly made him unsuitable as a pillow. After finishing her complaints, she began to wonder why Sima Jiao had allowed her to sleep on his thigh. Could it be for sustainable development? Letting her rest during the day so he could continue torturing her at night?

That would be truly depraved.

Sima Jiao’s interest wasn’t very high today, and he left early with his entourage. Liao Tingyan was delighted—she could collapse on her soft, comfortable bed. Who would want to take a nap in such a noisy place with so many people watching?

Just like yesterday, as soon as they returned to White Deer Cliff, Sima Jiao disappeared. Liao Tingyan returned to her room, kicked off her shoes, and headed straight for the bed, looking like someone who had just gotten off work and collapsed exhausted.

Eat first, then sleep, or sleep first, then eat?

After considering for ten minutes, Liao Tingyan began reciting the menu to the puppet person who looked after her daily needs.

The puppet person turned to fetch her meal.

This time, the meal was served in the small sitting room outside her sleeping chamber, where cloud chairs and flower arrangements were placed, with floating crystal lamps nearby. Liao Tingyan leaned against the soft cushions, poking at the floating crystal lamps while the puppet person brought her tea. They were silent but incredibly efficient professional service staff. In just two days, Liao Tingyan was already being pampered into a helpless person who expected clothes to be put on her outstretched arms and food to be delivered to her open mouth.

But it felt so good.

Exquisitely plated dishes were served, each one emitting a delicious aroma and rich spiritual energy: main dishes, desserts, soup, and… a flower letter.

A flower letter? Liao Tingyan picked up the pink-colored letter and looked at the puppet person who had delivered the meal. “What is this?”

The puppet person had no reaction, standing quietly at the side with a lowered head, looking like a wooden statue.

Liao Tingyan examined the flower letter, feeling that the color was quite inappropriate. Such a girlish pink, with flowers drawn on it, carrying a faint fragrance—it seemed like a love letter. After hesitating, she put down her chopsticks and opened the letter to read it first.

【Tonight at the midnight hour, below White Deer Cliff, beside the Blue Glow Flowers, I’ll be waiting.】

The letter contained only these sixteen characters, but Liao Tingyan felt that between the lines there was an atmosphere filled with ambiguity. Could this be the original owner’s lover? Why else would someone secretly invite her out in the middle of the night, besides Blue Glow Flowers—wasn’t that essentially a moonlit rendezvous? The more she thought about it, the more it seemed that way. Cold sweat broke out all over Liao Tingyan’s head—what to do now! She wasn’t the original person; she couldn’t possibly go to the meeting in her place.

The flower letter in her hand was caught by the wind and suddenly scattered into several pink petals, falling through her fingers onto the ground.

Liao Tingyan remained silent for a moment, then picked up the petals and threw them out the window, pretending nothing had happened, and picked up her chopsticks to continue eating. Since the letter had scattered into petals, she would pretend it didn’t exist. She wouldn’t go, regardless of the circumstances. Whatever the situation, she wouldn’t go.

Yuan Shang had sent that secret message via a puppet and was now waiting for the evening meeting. Due to his hatred, he had turned to the Demon Realm, and Liao Tingyan was a gift prepared for him by that realm. The Demon Realm’s methods of controlling people were unparalleled. Liao Tingyan had been raised with special techniques in the Demon Realm, her heart already inclined toward it. Adding to that the bone-corroding poison, Yuan Shang was certain she couldn’t possibly betray him. When she didn’t respond the last time, he was angry, but upon careful reflection, he thought it might have been because Three Saints Mountain was special, and she couldn’t leave from under Daoist Lord Cizang’s watchful eye.

If she had truly betrayed him, he wouldn’t still be living safely in Gengchen Immortal Manor.

As for this time, Yuan Shang had calculated that at midnight, the moonlight would be at its peak, and Daoist Lord Cizang would inevitably be burning with the Feng Mountain Spirit Fire, staying in his cold pool. At such a time, he certainly wouldn’t have Liao Tingyan accompany him, so she would have time to come out for the meeting. For this secret meeting, Yuan Shang had gone to great lengths to prepare a treasure that could temporarily blind the heavenly mechanism—the Sky-Concealing Mirror—to avoid detection.

Shi Qianlü, meanwhile, had almost filled the entire White Deer Cliff with his spies. Without preparation, they would surely have been detected immediately.

Everything was ready, only missing Liao Tingyan.

Liao Tingyan… had gone straight to sleep. Whether it was a mysterious letter or the possibility of the Ancestral Master coming for a nocturnal visit, if it wasn’t right in front of her, it didn’t exist.

Over there, Yuan Shang waited most of the night without anyone coming. His excited, feverish brain finally cleared a bit, and he woke from his beautiful dream of using a beautiful woman to kill Daoist Lord Cizang and destroy Gengchen Immortal Manor. All his schemes and calculations turned to anger.

“Could she have the courage to betray us, to betray the Demon Realm!” The gray-robed figure beside Yuan Shang spoke with a harsh tone.

Yuan Shang’s expression was also ugly. He hadn’t expected all his preparations for tonight to be for nothing. Now he too suspected whether Liao Tingyan had truly betrayed them.

“It seems she has indeed grown too bold. Previously, she didn’t respond to my summons, without sending even the slightest message. Now she’s completely ignoring the master’s letter. She must be taught a lesson!” The gray-robed person spoke angrily.

Yuan Shang’s face darkened as a string of bells appeared in his hand. There were three bells, and he first shook the string, shaking it for quite some time. Still seeing no one coming, he snorted coldly and directly crushed one of the bells.

This string of bells was Liao Tingyan’s congenital object. The bone-corroding poison in her body, though named a poison, was a sinister technique. The Demon Realm had few people, so they often smuggled many children from the mortal world back to the Demon Realm to raise from childhood. These people were all arranged as spies in various cultivation sects, with loyalty being the most crucial. Thus, from childhood, this special Demon Realm technique was planted in their bodies, with the bells serving as a medium. Over many years, it became congenial to them. Once someone possessed these bells, they controlled life and death. To completely remove this technique was extremely difficult.

Generally, those who had been planted with this bone-corroding poison would never betray the Demon Realm and their masters. However, Liao Tingyan had no idea that she was a Demon Realm spy.

As the bell sound rang, the sleeping Liao Tingyan was awakened by pain. She lay alone in bed, touching her aching stomach with a despondent look.

What was going on? Couldn’t they let her sleep? The Ancestral Master hadn’t come tonight—why was she having stomach pains? She got up to visit the bathroom, finding it wasn’t her period.

It seemed similar to last time. Liao Tingyan recalled when she had stayed at Three Saints Mountain, experiencing period-like pain without actually having her period.

That time she had been in severe pain, coughing blood and fainting, thinking she was going to die. When she woke up and saw Sima Jiao, she had been startled. Upon reflection, she was inclined to believe Sima Jiao had saved her, guessing this body probably had some problem.

Now the pain started again. After sitting on the edge of the bed for a while, uncomfortable with pain, Liao Tingyan still got up, taking a lamp to find Sima Jiao. She was most susceptible to pain, which was why she changed her usual “push once, walk half a step” lazy approach and actively sought out the murderous Ancestral Master.

Crystal lamps floated throughout White Deer Cliff. She walked out of her side hall, wearing an outer garment, heading toward the brightly lit main hall, feeling like a white lotus offering herself in the middle of the night.

Hunched over, bent at the waist, with a dejected face, she arrived at Sima Jiao’s main hall, pushed open the heavy door, and walked in, softly calling: “Ancestral Master?”

“Ancestral Master?”

“Hiss—” The big black snake coiled around a pillar and slithered down.

Liao Tingyan’s face had turned pale with pain. She asked it: “Where’s our boss? I’m dying of pain here.”

The big black snake tilted its head and led her to where Sima Jiao was, though this coward was too frightened to enter the doorway. Liao Tingyan wasn’t very brave either, but with her stomach still hurting like it was going to kill her, she could only push open the door and poke her head in.

The air inside the hall was particularly cold, with a layer of white mist on the ground. As soon as the door was pushed open, Liao Tingyan shivered from the cold air. Two crystal lamps were lit inside, but it wasn’t very bright through the curtains. She saw a pool inside, with a blurry black figure soaking in it.

She remembered encountering a similar scene at the Central Tower—that time, the big black snake had also taken her to Sima Jiao’s private domain, where she had seen him soaking in a pool.

He probably didn’t like sleeping in such cold water but had other reasons. Coming to disturb him now didn’t seem wise.

Liao Tingyan hesitated for a moment, then walked in, holding her stomach. With each step forward, she felt like she was stepping on landmines, not knowing if the next step would explode. Walking cautiously to the edge of the pool, she placed her crystal lamp aside, crouched down while hugging her stomach, and peered at Sima Jiao soaking in the water. He was in the water with his eyes closed and expressionless, showing no reaction to her arrival.

Just as Liao Tingyan was about to call out, she suddenly heard a clear sound in her mind, like a bell shattering. Her whole world spun, and she fell forward into the pool. Almost instantly, excruciating pain robbed her of all senses, and she coughed up a large mouthful of blood in the water.

It felt as if all the organs in her body were being crushed. Yet despite this pain, she didn’t lose consciousness but remained in a state where she could perceive everything outside while feeling the internal agony of her body.

The moment Liao Tingyan fell into the pool, Sima Jiao’s eyes snapped open. He reached forward, grabbed her around the waist, and stood up from the pool with her.