When the small city on the ground became faintly visible from the clouds, Xiang Su unconsciously held her breath. So this was the “town” that Bai Zhicao and Jin Zhan had spoken of—such a lively place! Square city walls, roads extending from the city gate in all directions. On the large and small roads within the city, people tiny as black dots walked through streets and alleys. Various shop banners stood tall and fluttered, appearing extremely bustling.

This was the mortal realm, the town, that she and Yingchun Hua and the others had discussed so enthusiastically countless times?

Thinking of them, Xiang Su’s heart wrenched with pain.

Don’t think about the past—that was the rule Sister Junshang had established. She felt this phrase truly possessed great power. As soon as she thought it, her heart didn’t hurt as much.

The Kunpeng instinctively detested the mortal realm, especially crowded places, and descended from the clouds with a furrowed brow.

“Wait, let me look some more.” Xiang Su’s tone made the Kunpeng glance at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected she could have moments of low spirits. When her brows and eyes were tinged with faint loneliness, it made one’s heart soften unreasonably, more than crying or laughing would.

The Kunpeng snorted—whether at her or at himself, who knew. The cloud stopped steadily in mid-air, making even him feel somewhat unwilling.

The Kunpeng frowned. The time exceeded his patience. “We’re going down!” he announced in an unfriendly tone. Though his words had clearly finished, he heard himself continue, “You can see more clearly!”

Xiang Su nodded, revealing an expression that seemed like crying yet not crying, smiling yet not smiling. The Kunpeng felt conflicted watching it. “What’s wrong with you now?!” Wanting to speak a proper sentence with her was truly too difficult. Just looking at her complex, incomprehensible expressions was enough to drive him crazy, repeatedly losing his divine beast’s dignity.

“The spirits at Lingze Mountain who haven’t taken form yet all wanted to see these things, but only I get to see them.” Xiang Su sniffled. Regarding crying, she already had some experience—first her nose and eyes would sting together, then tears would flow out.

The Kunpeng fell silent for a moment. He wasn’t skilled at comforting women. “That’s your good fortune, encountering Junshang.”

These words made Xiang Su feel indignant again. Though Dong Tianyun had saved her when she was between life and death, she had also paid a terrible price! She was a perfectly good spirit of the Wood realm, yet had to follow a temperamental Metal Dijun. Setting aside friends she’d known since childhood, unable to be with them, having to work alongside a “divine beast” like the Kunpeng who had learned his master’s vile temper to perfection, and always having to encounter fierce and intimidating figures like the red phoenix and purple dragon maiden—she was wronged too!

When one becomes angry, hunger comes even faster. Gurgle gurgle, splash splash—with these sounds, the earlier tragic atmosphere was completely destroyed. The Kunpeng’s face was cold, silently looking down on her. Even she herself felt it was quite mood-breaking. No more grieving spring and pitying autumn—filling the temple of her five viscera was more important. Taking one more look at the small city beneath the clouds, she only felt strong yearning. Were there su bing?

Though the gods and demons of the Celestial and Earthly Realms possessed heaven-destroying and earth-annihilating power, when it came to luxurious enjoyment, the mortal realm truly ranked first.

Xiang Su remembered Bai Zhicao saying that the most delicious food was in the mortal realm, the liveliest markets were only in the mortal realm… She also felt herself quite heartless and ungrateful—thinking of these things, she couldn’t feel sad at all anymore.

To avoid drawing attention, they landed in a sparsely populated grove outside the city walls. When they emerged, because Xiang Su was acting sneaky and furtive, she attracted ambiguous looks from a passing woodcutter. The Kunpeng’s face turned iron-blue from such gazes, wishing he could slap the back of Xiang Su’s head. Why must she act so shifty?

After the woodcutter saw their appearances clearly, he didn’t continue on his way but actually went weak in the knees, sitting on the ground staring at Xiang Su in infatuation. Xiang Su was busy standing on tiptoe peering toward the city, completely unaware.

The Kunpeng glared fiercely at the woodcutter, frightening him into scrambling away. The Kunpeng frowned, looking at Xiang Su clutching his sleeve like a silly goose craning her neck to gaze into the distance, sighing inwardly. Flower spirits and tree monsters were prone to producing beauties in the first place. She had also been touched by Junshang’s blood—this appearance was truly a calamity.

Seeing her foolish, oblivious manner, he was tempted again to reveal his true form and peck her head full of bumps. He couldn’t let her enter the city with such an obvious demon appearance. He silently recited an incantation, transforming her into an ordinary-looking maiden. Xiang Su was too focused on peering ahead and completely unaware. She tugged his arm joyfully, urging him to hurry. Having been transformed to ordinary looks, she appeared even more foolish. The Kunpeng was quite satisfied watching this.

Approaching the city gate, more pedestrians appeared on the road. Xiang Su suddenly cried out loudly and hid behind the Kunpeng’s back. The Kunpeng pinched the corner of his forehead. If he truly had to serve Junshang alongside her in the future, he really didn’t know how long he could persist!

“What’s wrong with you now?!” He even felt her trembling.

“So… so frightening!” Xiang Su’s face was buried in the clothing behind the Kunpeng’s back, her hands tightly clutching the clothes by her cheeks as if trying to shield herself. Her disordered breathing passed through the fabric and brushed against the Kunpeng’s back. He suddenly felt powerless to scold her.

“What’s wrong?” He was actually impatient, but when he asked, it came out quite gentle.

“So scary! So scary-looking!” Xiang Su trembled again. “Wrinkles on the face, and the chin… the chin has receded into the mouth!”

The Kunpeng looked at the old beggar at the city gate and understood.

“Xiang Su, humans are different from us. They experience birth, aging, sickness, and death. What you saw is what they look like when they grow old.” The Kunpeng paused. “They… generally don’t look good.”

The Kunpeng suddenly understood one issue—the reason she hadn’t shown a “normal” reaction to Junshang’s and his own appearance.

Xiang Su was originally a small flower tree from an uninhabited place. Qingsui and the mountain god’s education of these small spirits had been quite unsuccessful. She had basically only seen flower spirits and tree monsters who had taken form, whose appearances were generally beautiful. She herself also had this calamitous looks, so she mistakenly believed all living beings should be born to this standard. Seeing humans’ appearances and aging frightened her.

Thinking of it this way, Xiang Su’s disregard for his appearance no longer bothered him so much. In the end, she simply hadn’t seen the world!

Precisely because he understood this point, the Kunpeng had extraordinary patience, standing by the small road at the city gate, enduring Xiang Su’s fearful observation of the passing humans.

Xiang Su tightly clutched the Kunpeng’s clothing, hiding and peeking at the crude farmers, shabby scholars, nagging corpulent women, unfamiliar livestock, and the various unpleasant smells on their bodies. A thief pickpocketed a scholar’s purse and ran quickly. The scholar shrieked and chased but couldn’t run fast, slipping and falling in a pothole flooded with sewage. No one helped him up. Instead, everyone jeered and laughed heartily.

Xiang Su suddenly felt very dejected. The mortal realm she had imagined wasn’t like this! Her long-held fantasies were shattered by the reality before her eyes. She felt her heart continuously sinking.

The Kunpeng actually wanted to comfort her. “To humans, you’re the monster. They should be the ones afraid of you!”

These words made Xiang Su even more sorrowful.

“Alright, alright, let’s enter the city.” The Kunpeng pretended to be fierce but was actually somewhat ill at ease. Dealing with a Wood spirit newly in human form—he was truly at a loss. Unlike other spirits—those that flew in the sky or ran on the ground—even without spiritual awareness, they knew the mortal realm inside and out.

Not far inside the city gate was the South Market, with many food shops and small stalls. Xiang Su practically hung from the Kunpeng’s arm. Every human who nearly brushed past her made her feel like she faced a great enemy.

The Kunpeng saw a stall selling su bing and, remembering her foolish look when she said she was called Su Bing, couldn’t help but smile at the corners of his mouth. He dragged her forward and bought six. Xiang Su was busy staring at the pitch-black dirty oven for baking su bing. The vendor wrapped them carelessly in oiled paper, his greasy fingers and fingernails with black dirt all touching the su bing. She timidly raised her head to look at the vendor—old and ugly… far more monster-like than her!

“Let’s go.” Having bought the items, the Kunpeng didn’t want to stay longer. He nudged the pale-faced Xiang Su with his arm. Though clearly afraid, she kept staring at the vendor—truly a fool courting suffering!

Xiang Su numbly followed the Kunpeng as he turned around. Across the street was a cheap jewelry stall where a plain-looking young woman was selecting jewelry. From the corner emerged a vulgarly dressed young man with a rat-like face, quite detestable-looking. He walked behind the young woman and quickly pinched her bottom, lifting his leg to run. The young woman alertly turned and slapped him, the crisp sound of the slap echoing. “You bastard thief, taking advantage of this young lady!”

All this happened very quickly. Xiang Su felt it was just the time it took her to widen her eyes. People from both sides surrounded them even faster. Xiang Su had just finished hearing the young woman’s words when the parties involved were already encircled in the center.

The Kunpeng’s path was blocked. His face was particularly gloomy. He decisively dragged Xiang Su around the crowd toward the city outskirts. Xiang Su’s ears were full of the onlookers’ condemnation of the one who “took advantage.”

So this was “taking advantage”… and the person being taken advantage of seemed to have suffered tremendous loss. Thinking of Junshang being treated this way by Dragon Maiden Ziyin…

That was impossible. Couldn’t Junshang crush Dragon Maiden Ziyin into powder with one finger? Unless Junshang was willing to be “taken advantage of”! To have Dragon Maiden Ziyin weave the fire-repelling silk sash? She felt utterly dejected. Even someone as formidable as her new Junshang still had so many helpless situations.

That sense of disappointment she once felt toward Sister Qingsui reappeared.

The Kunpeng summoned his cloud and looked at the dazed, contemplative Xiang Su. He felt this ordinary appearance truly didn’t suit her—foolish, stupid, and inexperienced. Only her looks barely salvaged the situation somewhat. He restored Xiang Su’s appearance. What made him again feel the country bumpkin Wood spirit was hopeless—she still hadn’t noticed he had been transforming her back and forth.

“Eat!” He shoved the su bing at her. Most critically, with such low magical power, she couldn’t avoid eating, drinking, and other bodily functions. The Kunpeng miserably foresaw that Junshang wouldn’t have the patience to lead her through resolving these vulgar troubles. That would leave only him, this pitiful one! The magnificent Lord Kunpeng, reduced to a nursemaid-like figure—how could he bear this?

Xiang Su timidly held the bing, unable to understand why the Kunpeng was suddenly so angry, glaring at her with all his might, looking exactly as if she had dug up his old roots. She sat sulkily on the cloud eating the bing. Though this was something she had longed for one or two hundred years, when she actually ate it, the taste was quite ordinary. Moreover, the vendor, the pot, the black fingers… all tormented her terribly. Indeed, eating was a burden. No wonder everyone cultivated desperately, wanting to cast off this trouble. Drinking clean, clear, sweet water was better!

The Kunpeng looked at the sky and announced: “We’re going to Qingsui Manor to deliver the sacred pool water.” They couldn’t return so early—Dragon Maiden Ziyin would think they lacked perception.

Xiang Su nodded repeatedly, stuffing the su bing into her mouth in a few bites. This terrible day finally had something to make her happy. She repeatedly looked ahead at the road, for the first time feeling the Kunpeng didn’t fly so fast.

When she saw Qingsui Manor in the distance, Xiang Su felt her nose sting. Though she had only lived here for one day, she felt quite attached. At least she had never felt Qingsui Manor had anything frightening.

Before even entering the main hall, Jin Zhan and Bai Zhicao had already rushed over upon hearing the news. Xiang Su actually shed tears, throwing herself into Jin Zhan’s embrace. Rarely, Jin Zhan, who was always cold and sarcastic, said nothing and didn’t push her away. Instead, he comfortingly stroked her loose hair.

The Kunpeng noticed Xiang Su seemed to enjoy burying her face in other people’s clothing—probably a bad habit developed from being buried in soil for so many years! Remembering the feeling of her breath warmly brushing against his skin, he found Jin Zhan’s pretended indifference particularly offensive.

“Why are you crying?” Jin Zhan noticed the Kunpeng kept staring at them unfriendly and returned an impolite look. “Did someone bully you?” he asked pointedly.

Xiang Su shook her head, continuing to bury herself in Jin Zhan’s clothing. “The mortal realm is scary, everywhere… everything is different…”

What she said was disjointed, but Jin Zhan, as a fellow Wood spirit, understood completely. When Qingsui had first taken him to the mortal realm’s towns, though he had pretended to be composed, inwardly he had also experienced tumultuous waves.

He sighed, patting Xiang Su’s head lightly. “Alright, be brave. When you’ve lived more years and gained more experience, you won’t be afraid. Though we differ from those birds and beasts, we’re all living beings of the Three Realms. Gradually getting accustomed, you’ll find nothing strange.”

The Kunpeng ground his back teeth. “Birds and beasts”—was he referring to him? His impression of this narcissus became increasingly poor! A spiritual mark on his forehead flashed—Junshang was summoning him. The Kunpeng hesitated. He had estimated that Junshang would be delayed at the Ziwei Palace for at least two or three days. How could it be so fast?

“Quickly finish your proper business. Junshang is summoning.” The Kunpeng said coldly, disdainfully breathing onto his palm. The jade gourd was delivered to his palm, returning to normal size.

Only then did Xiang Su remember the purpose of returning to Qingsui Manor. Remaining in Jin Zhan’s embrace, she explained the origin of the sacred pool water.

“Qingze Pool water?” Bai Zhicao nearly jumped up, shaking his head in amazement. “Following Shenghuan Dijun, your status is certainly different now. Even such precious things you can obtain! Xiao Huai has benefited greatly! I’ll go find him right away!” Bai Zhicao was so happy he became somewhat improper, snatching the jade gourd from the Kunpeng’s hand and running out without even glancing at the Kunpeng.

“Let’s go!” The Kunpeng came forward to grab Xiang Su’s arm but was shaken off.

“I… I still have things to say to Jin Zhan.” She really liked this feeling of being mentally connected with her own kind. Though Jin Zhan spoke little, every sentence comforted her heart. She nestled against him. That feeling of growing together with everyone at Lingze Mountain had returned—very solid, very reassuring. Not like talking with birds like the Kunpeng—they never understood each other!

“You have no choice!” When the Kunpeng glared like this, she was still afraid. Timidly, she let go of the arm around Jin Zhan, her face full of grievance and dejection.

Jin Zhan frowned with displeasure. Though he disapproved of the Kunpeng’s tone toward Xiang Su, given Xiang Su’s special situation with Dong Tianyun, he didn’t speak to make her stay. “You go. Endure for a while longer. As long as Dong Tianyun finishes forging his sword, you’ll be free.”

“Audacious!” The Kunpeng scolded coldly again. How dare he directly call Junshang by name!

“Alright, let’s go, let’s go.” Seeing trouble brewing, Xiang Su instead came over to pull the Kunpeng outside. Jin Zhan had a sharp tongue but limited ability—he was no match for the Kunpeng at all. If they fought, he would suffer.

The Kunpeng snorted. When he turned, he even flicked his sleeve. Xiang Su secretly shook her head. He had learned this insufferable manner too well—clearly he had followed Dong Tianyun for many years.

“Xiang Su!” Just as they reached outside the hall, someone called her name with deep emotion, also running over.

Xiang Su turned her head and saw Xiao Huai, whose facial skin had already become delicate. “Xiao Huai, you’ve become so good-looking!” Xiang Su and Xiao Huai excitedly held hands, almost jumping and spinning in circles.

“Thank you, Xiang Su! My wish for so many years has finally come true!” Xiao Huai was crying.

Xiang Su wanted to comfort him with a few words but was roughly pulled by the Kunpeng. “Alright, let’s go! You,” he indicated Xiao Huai with his chin, “should thank Shenghuan Dijun. Just with her,” his eyes swept the indignant-faced Xiang Su, “hmph!”

Xiang Su was truly infuriated. On the cloud, she didn’t want to say another word to the Kunpeng! That phrase of his: “Just with her, hmph!” was enough for her to resent for ten thousand years!