Chapter Twenty

The pearl, perched on the tree, felt a pressure it had never experienced before in its life.

It was the deep-seated fear she felt when facing her natural enemy; her body stiffened, unable to move, and she could only watch helplessly as the monster walked towards her.

Baozhu closed her eyes.

The expected pain did not come.

After a long while, she slowly opened one eye and looked down at the tree.

That incredibly powerful monster has already left.

Baozhu instantly went limp, clutching her chest and gasping for breath.

Even though she had lived two lives and always stayed obediently by Li Zhi's side, she had never seen such a monster before, and she felt a chill of fear.

How did Li Zhi and his companions provoke such a monster?

Baozhu wanted to return to Ruan Garden immediately, but her limbs were still weak, so she could only lean against the tree branches and wait for her emotions to stabilize.

Within her sight, first Li Zhi appeared carrying a man on his back, and then Master Pei also helped Master Zhang walk outside.

Baozhu was astonished to see that Zhang Tianshi's face was ashen, and he was pressing a cotton ball against his bleeding forehead. Clearly, he had been defeated in the battle with the monster and was badly injured.

The four people under the tree had just escaped from an extremely dangerous situation and were in a state of unease, so none of them glanced at the tree.

"Although that monster has left, we don't know if it will return. We just received a message from the Temple of Strange People that reinforcements are on their way. We shouldn't wait here; we should hurry and meet up with the Temple of Strange People." Zhang He's face was pale, but he kept talking.

The remaining three naturally did not refute him, and the group returned the way they came.

Seeing this, Baozhu was afraid that, as Zhang He had said, the monster would return, so she quickly climbed down the tree and quietly followed behind the group.

Because of the wounded, the group didn't walk very fast. Zhang He took the opportunity to ask Zhou Huan on the way, "When did you meet these two classmates?"

Zhou Huan had broken his leg and spent the entire day in the cellar. Even though his consciousness was already somewhat blurred, he still mustered his strength to answer Zhang He's question: "I arrived at Xiandu Prefecture seven days ago and met them five days ago."

Zhang He frowned and said, "It's been only five days before you made your move. Isn't that a bit too hasty?"

Pei Xuanji interjected, "They mentioned the Supreme Being to you before, didn't they?"

"It was mentioned that they seemed eager to pledge their loyalty."

"The name itself sounds sinister. How did two scholars fall into this trap? Was it because of the thing inside their stomachs?" Zhang He muttered to himself. "But I didn't see what the worm looked like, and I don't know what it is."

Of the four people present, only Pei Xuanji, who was lying in ambush on the roof, saw what the insects looked like. She pulled out a hand to gesture and said, "They were about the length and thickness of a forearm, and seemed to have sharp mouthparts. I couldn't see the rest clearly."

"I still don't understand." Zhang He smiled bitterly. "It seems my knowledge is ultimately shallow. Let the higher-ups figure out what kind of monster it is."

Pei Xuanji responded, her expression shifting between light and shadow, seemingly lost in thought.

Zhang He's gaze swept across her face several times, and he couldn't help but whisper, "What's wrong?"

Pei Xuanji asked uncertainly, "He recognizes the Wufeng Sword. Why would he recognize it?"

With outsiders present, she didn't say the rest of her words aloud, but instead exchanged a subtle glance with Zhang He.

Zhang He remained silent, and the others lost interest in exchanging words. On their way back to the city, the group encountered the Yiren Temple group arriving in several mule carts. Li Zhi took the opportunity to separate from them, stating that he would go into the city to cooperate with the Yiren Temple if needed.

The Taoist priests of Yiren Temple did not make things difficult for him. One group went to collect the bodies of the two scholars, while the other group took Zhang He and the other two back to the city.

Just as they were about to part, Pei Xuanji suddenly called out to Li Zhi and handed him a small booklet.

"Regarding the question you asked last time, although I can't show you the original, I've copied down some things that might be of interest to you."

Li Zhi quickly thanked them, and the group parted ways.

Seeing Li Zhi return to Ruan Garden alone, Baozhu finally didn't have to follow far behind and could get a little closer.

She had lagged behind and didn't know what they were talking about, but she saw Pei Xuanji hand Li Zhi a booklet at the end.

What is it?

But the booklet was immediately put into Li Zhi's arms, and Baozhu only had time to see the yellow cover.

Baozhu's curiosity surged, and she scratched her head. Seeing that they were almost at Ruan Garden, she simply left Li Zhi behind and went back on her own.

Baozhu only regained her sense of security after stepping into Ruan Garden.

She had just arrived home when it started to drizzle.

As the steam dissipated, Baozhu's emotions changed even faster than the weather, and a gloomy mood welled up in her heart.

Rainy days at Ruan Garden always made Baozhu sentimental.

She sat in the main room waiting, watching the raindrops fall from the eaves, pattering on the ground in circles.

Li Zhi returned at this time.

He was not as fast as Baozhu and had been soaked by the rain. His clothes were now completely drenched, the thin layer of fabric clinging tightly to his strong body.

Baozhu looked at him without blinking and said casually, "Young Master Li, you've been caught in the rain. Be careful not to catch a cold. Quickly change into clean clothes."

Li Zhi responded from afar, and as he drew closer, he unexpectedly met Baozhu's deep, dark eyes.

He swallowed slightly and chuckled, "I'm afraid Miss will have to get up before I can go in."

Baozhu quickly stepped aside.

Li Zhi climbed the steps and entered the house almost touching Baozhu's nose.

After a long journey, a wisp of heat emanated from his body and lingered around Baozhu.

Baozhu stood at the door, her gaze following Li Zhi's movements.

She watched as Li Zhi took clean clothes and went behind the screen—these were clothes he had found in the small courtyard, set up for Baozhu's convenience.

The screen was slightly transparent, but Li Zhi seemed completely unaware as he took off his soaked clothes one by one.

How dare he? He actually dared to do that!

A strong, handsome mortal man, completely unguarded before the fox demon, removed his already weak protective gear. His fiery masculine energy filled the room, tempting the weak-willed pearl.

In a daze, Li Zhi from her previous life overlapped with the Li Zhi before her eyes. Baozhu seemed to see his naked back, with faint scars, and a thin layer of sweat on it from the intense movements just now.

Did the fox demon lure the scholar, or did the scholar lure and capture the fox demon?

Baozhu silently stepped into the inner room.

"Young Master Li," Baozhu's voice trembled slightly, "would you like some hot water?"

Li Zhi paused.

They were only separated by a silk screen, but it couldn't block out the stagnant feeling in the air.

Baozhu watched as Li Zhi slowly straightened up, her gaze involuntarily drifting downwards.

She saw it.

"Miss, did you just come to ask if I needed hot water?"

She heard Li Zhi's voice, hoarse and strained.

Baozhu's gaze continued downwards. Li Zhi's wet clothes, which he had changed out of, were crumpled into a ball—a rare moment of disarray for Li Zhi—and—

Hidden inside was a small booklet with a yellow cover.

Behind the screen, Li Zhi did not receive a reply from Baozhu; she had already left sometime earlier.

Li Zhi frowned.

After changing his clothes at a leisurely pace, Li Zhi walked into the main room and saw Baozhu busy at work.

"This is my first time making it, so I don't know how it will taste."

Baozhu smiled and turned around, her eyes clear, as if the ambiguity just moments before was nothing more than Li Zhi's illusion.

Li Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly and stepped forward to take the bowl and chopsticks from Baozhu's hands.

"Just wait for me."

Baozhu said she had cooked a meal, but Li Zhi glanced at the table and saw only a plate of ready-made pickled vegetables and two bowls of thick porridge.

The porridge was slightly steaming; I wonder how Baozhu managed to do it in such a short time.

Neither of them spoke, and after sitting down, they ate their food in small bites, holding their bowls.

Li Zhi picked up a piece of pickled vegetable with his chopsticks and said casually, "By the way, Miss, do you still remember the corpse on Yonglian Mountain?"

"How could I not remember? Didn't you make a special trip to the city for this matter?"

“Actually, I noticed something strange when I went to the city to look for my classmate a couple of days ago. I happened to run into two celestial masters, Zhang He and Pei Xuanji—we met in Fuxia Village before, do you remember?”

Li Zhi casually brought up the reason why the Celestial Masters were related to him, which startled Baozhu: "Of course I remember."

"That strange thing seems to be related to what happened on Yonglian Mountain, so I made an appointment with them to go find the clue together, and we have just found it."

"You told me before..."

"The matter is dangerous, and I'm afraid that if I tell you, Miss will worry."

He spoke naturally, but there was something wrong with what he meant.

Baozhu realized what was happening and said reproachfully, "Why should I worry about you?"

Li Zhi feigned a pained expression: "So Miss wasn't worried at all. I was being presumptuous."

He looked injured, which made Baozhu agitated again. She only calmed down a little when she accidentally brushed the booklet on her chest.

Baozhu was not a clever fox.

But she wasn't that stupid.

The rain outside subsided, and by the time the two put down their bowls, the sun was already up in the sky again.

Li Zhi got up to clear the dishes, and Baozhu followed him as they strolled into the courtyard.

Looking out from the small courtyard, the sky after the rain was an exceptionally blue, without a single cloud in sight.

Baozhu stared blankly for a while, then suddenly noticed that wisps of smoke seemed to be rising in the distance.

Is this heading in the direction of Chen Garden?

Thinking of the strange things that happened in Chen Garden, Baozhu felt a sense of foreboding.

Will Sai Xue be alright?

"Young Master Li, I need to go out for a while."

After saying this, without waiting for Li Zhi's reply, Baozhu hurriedly left the courtyard.

Outside Ruan Garden, the thick smoke billowing from Chen Garden became even more clearly visible, and faint screams could be heard.

Baozhu was startled and darted into Saixue's courtyard.

But Sai Xue is not here, and no one knows where she went.

Baozhu thought for a moment, then scrambled onto the roof and jumped towards the thickest part of the smoke, where she indeed saw Saixue.

"What's wrong?" Baozhu sat down next to Saixue.

"Chen Yongchang came to the garden to see Liu Xueyu again today. I don't know what he said, but Liu Xueyu cut off his head and set the house on fire."

"You cut off his head?" Baozhu stared in disbelief.

Sai Xue slowly turned her head, her expression not much better.

They sat on the roof above the main courtyard, looking at Chen Yaozu, who was slumped on the ground in the courtyard, his body soaked.

He was shouting incoherently and tried to get up several times but failed.

The servants in the courtyard had already abandoned the mother and child and run away. Chen Yaozu watched helplessly as his home burned down, but there was nothing he could do.

A woman covered in blood emerged from the house, clutching a head that was still smiling even after it had been severed, and walked toward Chen Yaozu.

Chen Yaozu looked at his mother in fear, tried to run away, but fell to the ground in a sorry state.

Liu Xueyu leaned down and said softly, "The Chen family is yours. Even if I kill your father, and you turn me over to the authorities, it won't implicate you. You are my son, and everything in the Chen family belongs to you. Even your father cannot give it up."

"But... but I'd rather not have any of these things. All I want is for you and Dad to live well."

Chen Yaozu was sobbing uncontrollably, his face contorted in pain, wailing hysterically.

"Useless thing! This is the family fortune your mother risked her life to earn for you!"

Liu Xueyu, looking like a demon, reached out and grabbed Chen Yaozu's collar, forcefully pushing the smiling head in her hand towards him.

"He's going to destroy you! It's him!"

Chen Yaozu tried desperately to back away, mumbling "no" as he cried so hard he could barely breathe.

Seeing her son like this, Liu Xueyu withdrew her head, stood up straight, and looked into the distance.

"You good-for-nothing, I can only help you one last time."

She murmured.

Liu Xueyu put her head on the ground and muttered something under her breath.

Chen Yaozu temporarily forgot to cry and asked, "Mother, what are you doing?"

“Bring me the soul of that cat demon of yours to suppress your useless father and the lifeline of the Ruan family.”

“Sai Xue, but, but…” Chen Yaozu looked shocked.

The cloudless sky suddenly darkened, a strong wind howled in the courtyard, and the flames died down.

Liu Xueyu asked her son, "Do you want wealth and glory, or that cat demon?"

Chen Yaozu lay on the ground, looking up at his mother whose features he could not see clearly.

After a long pause, he mumbled, "I want wealth and glory."

Liu Xueyu chuckled softly.

"That's just how you are."

Baozhu and Saixue ran as fast as they could.

Before she could even step out of Chen Garden, Sai Xue's body involuntarily flew towards the main courtyard.

Baozhu grabbed Saixue's foot with one hand and gripped the eaves with the other, using all her strength.

She could tell that Liu Xueyu was just an ordinary woman. The reason she could unleash such a powerful curse was because Chen Garden itself was a huge formation that could be activated with just a little power.

"Why would an ordinary Chen family create such a massive magic array! Even if he absorbed all the fortune of the Ruan family through generations, could he possibly digest it all?"

"Who on earth would resort to so many insidious methods for the sake of the Ruan family?!"

Baozhu struggled against the formation, while Saixue in her hand remained silent.

She couldn't help but look back.

Sai Xue stared blankly in the direction of the main courtyard, like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Cheer up! She's just a mortal; her strength will be exhausted soon. With the two of us combined, we won't let your soul be taken away!"

Baozhu's voice was carried away by the strong wind, and it was quite a while before she heard Saixue's reply.

"Now that they know I'm a demon, they want me to die."

"I thought he treated me differently after all."

Baozhu shouted incredulously, "You actually think you're his cat? You just told me that no mortal is unafraid of monsters, so why can't you see that?"

As they spoke, the wind subsided, and the power of the magic array also diminished.

Baozhu's spirits lifted, and she used all her demonic power to rush out of Chen Garden.

A moment later, she and Sai Xue fell down together in the woods outside.

Sai Xue stared blankly, motionless, and Bao Zhu suspected that she had ultimately been hurt.

She herself was so exhausted that she was panting and couldn't utter a single word.

After a while, Baozhu, who had regained some of her strength, managed to sit up and wanted to check on Saixue's condition.

At that moment, a small booklet in her arms accidentally fell out and lay open on the ground.

Baozhu looked down, and a line of delicate handwriting, blurred by water, came into her view.

"How do monsters devour the life essence of mortals, and how should mortals protect themselves?"

Her hand, which was reaching for the booklet, froze in mid-air.