Chapter 26 He devoured her; all his suspicions were answered at this moment…

"Master?"

Bai Yuheng tentatively probed in a low voice.

Pei Yuan tidied up the used bandages, saying, "I refuse to answer."

"..." Bai Yuheng pouted, "Okay."

"Alright, you can go back now." Pei Yuan tied up the pheasant she had hunted and handed it to her.

"And what about you, Master?"

"I have something to do, so I'll be leaving now."

Bai Yuheng could only nod, "Then I'll go back first."

"Mm." Pei Yuan stood there watching her turn and leave, and suddenly wanted to say something to her, "I'll be waiting for you to come back at Wangxian Mountain."

Bai Yuheng walked very fast and had already gone quite a distance; it was unclear whether she had heard anything.

His words, like a gentle breeze, brushed past her ear.

After the others had completely disappeared into the forest, Pei Yuan stared seriously at the blood-stained bandage that had been removed from her.

With his palm facing up, as the light appeared, an old-looking snake-shaped object lay in his hand.

“This is a serpent with a bellows tail,” Yuan Guang Dijun handed him an iron snake. “It was used by cultivators in ancient times to identify the true form of their primordial spirit. At that time, many cultivators with evil intentions would put their primordial spirit into another person’s body to reshape their physical body so that they could commit crimes again and escape capture.”

"Later, a great master in the field of artifacts created a verification tool based on the shape of a snake in folklore, which could identify whether a cultivator's true form had been switched."

"Drip the blood of the person you are verifying into the snake's mouth, then transfer something containing the original body's aura and spiritual energy into the snake's belly. If the snake's tail rattles wildly, it means that this person is the same person, a physical body formed from the primordial spirit; if the snake's tail does not rattle violently, it means that part of the primordial spirit resides in this physical body; if the snake's tail does not move at all, it means that it is not the original body, and the two are unrelated."

Pei Yuan gripped the blood-stained bandage tightly in his other hand, his heart pounding uncontrollably. Even his hands, which were following the instructions of Emperor Yuanguang, were trembling slightly, and he nearly damaged the Belly-tailed Serpent several times.

We have Bai Yuheng's blood, but we still need something that contains the aura or spiritual energy of Emperor Hengluan.

Pei Yuan carefully took out a bamboo dragonfly from his bosom.

He carefully kept everything she gave him.

She made this bamboo dragonfly to tease him when she made him angry.

The bamboo dragonfly was made from a few simple bamboo pieces, and it looked incredibly lifelike. She imbued it with spiritual energy, which allowed it to fly continuously.

"Don't be angry anymore, okay?" Emperor Hengluan twitched his fingertips, and the bamboo dragonfly flew to his eyes. "This time, Master was wrong. Can you forgive Master?"

Pei Yuan sometimes wanted to tell her not to always treat him like a child. He had grown up and didn't like playing with children's toys anymore.

But he accepted it anyway.

"Um."

"Yuan'er is so good."

He liked seeing her smile at him.

Pei Yuan proceeded step by step, following the instructions.

My heart was pounding in my throat.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Pei Yuan lowered his eyes in disappointment.

Isn't it her?

Is she really not coming back?

The dark snake fell to the ground from his drooping palm.

"Smack!"

The phoenix, which had been resting, sensed his deep sorrow and dejection and came closer, its long beak trying to peck at the "insects" on the ground.

Pei Yuan concealed the raging storm in his eyes and turned to the phoenix, saying, "Duobao, come back."

"Shh shh shh—"

The moment he turned around and finished speaking, the snake's tail swung violently with an extremely rapid speed, making a loud noise.

Pei Yuan's back suddenly stiffened.

All his suspicions were confirmed at that moment.

*

When Bai Yuheng returned, she smelled the aroma of grilled fish and exclaimed with a smile, "You can actually catch fish?"

She leaned closer to take a look and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, two of them, and they're quite big!"

Cui Mingcan arrogantly raised his chin and said smugly, "That's right! Don't you even know who I am?! The most famous number one fish-catching expert of the Tianyan Sect! If I'm second, who dares to claim first?"

Cen Ying pouted.

"Some people shouldn't be jealous. My innate fishing talent is something you mortals can't compare to." Cui Mingcan snorted, glancing sideways at Cen Ying, who was grilling a small fish about an inch wide with a face full of dissatisfaction.

"Tch, who cares?" Cen Ying rolled her eyes at him, then noticed what Bai Yuheng was carrying.

"Hey! Yu'er, you caught a pheasant!?" Cen Ying put down the small fish she was holding and ran over, exclaiming, "Wow! It's really big!"

"?" Cui Mingcan also joined in the fun and peeked over, then looked down at the fish he was grilling and it didn't seem so appetizing anymore.

After a moment's thought, he tossed the grilled fish in his hand to Li Tiankuo, who was silently adding firewood beside him, and leaned over.

"Who among you knows how to clean it?" Bai Yuheng asked as she bled the pheasant.

Cen Ying shook her head and looked at Cui Mingcan, who was staring expectantly.

"Hey, you idiot, do you even know how?"

Cui Mingcan chuckled: "Of course—not!"

"whispering sound."

“As a pampered young master who has been pampered since childhood, I would never do such rough work.”

Cen Ying said speechlessly, "A piece of trash is a piece of trash, yet you put it so elegantly."

“I’m telling you, Cen Xiaoying,” Cui Mingcan said, hands on his hips and glaring at her, “all you know how to do is work?”

"……Won't."

"That settles it!"

Bai Yuheng said with some regret, "Then we won't be able to eat this pheasant tonight?"

If I'd known I wouldn't have been able to handle it, I might as well have just let it go.

"Give it to me."

Li Tiankuo handed the grilled fish to Cui Mingcan and took the pheasant from Bai Yuheng.

The three were shocked: "You know how to handle this?!"

Li Tiankuo nodded without saying anything more.

Although the three were curious, they also knew what it meant for a prince to be able to do such manual labor, so they tacitly changed the subject and stopped asking questions.

Li Tiankuo was quite skilled; not only did he clean the feathers meticulously, but he also had excellent culinary skills, able to roast fish and pheasants to a mouthwatering degree even under rudimentary conditions.

"Delicious! Delicious!"

"It smells so good!"

"Brother Li's cooking skills are truly excellent! I hereby appoint you as the head chef of our four-person team!"

The three praised him lavishly, and a rare smile appeared on Li Tiankuo's usually indifferent face.

The quiet, chilly mountain forest was now filled with a warm, playful atmosphere.

After eating and drinking their fill, the four chatted by the fire until the moon hung low over the branches, at which point the men and women each went to sleep separately.

"Get some rest, we still have to travel tomorrow morning." Cui Mingcan yawned, not forgetting to tease Bai Yuheng before going to sleep, "Tomorrow the three of us will lead the way separately, you just need to follow along."

Cui Mingcan patted her shoulder, winked mischievously, and ran off to sleep with a grin before she could do anything.

"..."

Bai Yuheng twitched the corner of her mouth, suppressing the urge to punch him. As she turned to another spot, she suddenly noticed a slippery, cold gaze clinging to her.

But after carefully scanning the dark surroundings, she found nothing. Bai Yuheng shook her head, thinking that she was probably hallucinating because she was too tired from traveling today.

"..."

After chatting with Cen Ying for a few minutes, they went to bed.

The desolate mountain forest was now only filled with the rustling of leaves in the wind and the occasional soft popping of firewood in the fire.

"..." Bai Yuheng suddenly opened her eyes, subconsciously holding her breath, as that cold and sticky feeling returned.

She stood up and turned her head warily, a ball of golden fire flickering in her palm, her expression cold and detached.

"Nobody here?"

She murmured in a low voice.

He sent out his divine sense to investigate, but found nothing unusual.

Was I really hallucinating from exhaustion?

Bai Yuheng yawned, set up a protective barrier around herself and the other three, and then fell asleep peacefully.

"..."

Under the deep moonlight, Duobao leaned against a tree, idly counting leaves, occasionally glancing at what its owner was doing.

Under the warm moonlight, a woman in red was fast asleep. Beside her lay a man with black hair and white clothes, propping his forehead up with his hand, his deep and restrained gaze fixed on her face, as if he wished he could tear her apart and devour her completely.

Duobao immediately looked away and started counting the leaves again.

Not suitable for children...

Pei Yuan suppressed the desire surging within him, carefully picking up strands of her hair scattered on the ground, winding them around his fingertips as if they were wrapped around his heart, gentle yet bringing waves of itch, making him want more and more...

He was like someone who had been thirsty for a long time, and when he saw a clear spring, he felt joy, astonishment, suspicion, and then he succumbed to it without any hesitation.

Pei Yuan gritted his teeth and placed his fingertips on the steady pulse beating in her neck.

I really want to bite it...

What will she taste like?

Is it as sweet as her smile? Or as bitter as the tears welling up in her eyes when she yawns?

Pei Yuan's heart began to race with anxiety, and he desperately needed to hold her in his arms to ease the tension. He did just that, pulling her tightly into his embrace.

He couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had used enough sedatives when he handed her the pheasant.

"Hmm..."

His heart pounded violently, his heart clenching like a bottomless pit, constantly demanding more. He buried his face in her neck, gently nuzzling her, and then took a deep breath of her scent, which traveled from his nostrils to his lungs and then spread through his blood to his limbs and internal organs.

He seemed to be addicted; the veins on his forehead and neck bulged as his breathing became increasingly heavy and rapid.

Suddenly I really want to eat her.

That way, she can truly belong to him.

Only then can they truly become one, never to be separated again.

Pei Yuan thought darkly, what if he tied her hands and feet and locked her in a place where no one knew her? Would she be afraid when she woke up? Would she find him disgusting? Would she curse him for being shameless, daring to covet her master?

Even if she dislikes him, he still wants to do it.

He had wanted to do this for a long time, so long that he would tremble with jealousy whenever he saw her speak an extra word or smile at anyone; so long that he had forgotten the exact day she sacrificed herself to save the so-called common people and the so-called human way; so long that he could hardly remember what she looked like anymore…

"Oh……"

Pei Yuan gritted his teeth and restrained himself from tightly holding her. Enough, that's enough, he told himself.

If I hug him any longer, she will get angry and say in a cold, distant tone that he has grown up and should know the proper boundaries between men and women. They are teacher and student and should not overstep their bounds.

But he just wanted to be close to her, always wanting to be close to her.

Sometimes he even hated himself for growing up so fast, for being a man, and for not being able to be intimate with her.

The heavy, hot breath hit Bai Yuheng's skin, causing her to let out a soft moan in her sleep.

"..." Pei Yuan stopped moving as if frozen, turned his head slightly and stared at her sleeping face with his dark eyes. After confirming that she had not woken up, he pinched her fingertips and gently rubbed them.

He only released the object with satisfaction when a faint red appeared on its white surface, and then played with it as if it were a precious treasure.

On the other side, Duobao, who was counting the leaves, had already closed his eyes and was dozing off against the tree trunk.

Suddenly, I shuddered, opened my eyes and quickly glanced at the person who was still excitedly and intently watching me, then closed my eyes again, thinking to myself, "Looks like I can get a good night's sleep tonight."

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Author's Note: Bai Yuheng (Catnip) and Pei Yuan (A poor little dog who loves cats and craves their pity) are a pair of cat-loving, cat-obsessed girls.