"From then on, I was consumed by self-blame. After a long silence, I stopped speaking altogether and got used to speaking with my ventral voice," Tu Shan Honghong said in a low voice. If she had been calmer at the time, would she have been able to avoid killing the little Taoist priest by mistake?

From then on, whenever a Taoist priest offended Tushan, she would beat him up, drive him away, and leave him some money for his journey. She never took his life again, perhaps as a result of her vow to make peace between humans and demons.

Tu Shan Honghong gave a bitter smile. Telling others about her weaknesses seemed like a foolish thing to do.

"Chi Musheng, am I really that different from what you imagined?"

Chi Musheng, who was fiddling with her hair, suddenly snapped out of her daze, withdrew her hand, and said seriously.

"No, Chief, after you've done your best, just let things take their course."

Sometimes, what traps you is not someone else, but yourself!

Human hands are only so big; there are too many things they can't hold! Too many things!

Humans are born to please themselves, not to be bound by others. There is no need to be demanding, because the soul is a flower that is difficult to cultivate.

A gust of wind blew by, making a "rustling" sound.

Tu Shan Honghong looked up at the petals scattered under the starry sky and reached out to pick one up.

"I'll go with the flow and do my best, but I, Tu Shan Hong Hong, am a very greedy demon; there are too many things I want to hold onto."

Protecting Tushan, her younger sister, keeping Chi Musheng alive, finding her wet nurse, and achieving peaceful coexistence between humans and demons—each task is difficult, and she doesn't want to give up on any of them.

Chi Musheng stood up, swung his longsword, and several bitter love flowers fell onto the sword, appearing before Tu Shan Honghong.

"These scattered bittersweet flowers, shimmering like stars, are breathtaking, but their beauty is fleeting. How many can the chief possibly hold? And if he could only choose a few, which one would he abandon?"

Asking your conscience is the most difficult question in life, and also the most important question on the road to growth.

What can a person who doesn't even understand their own heart do? What is the point of them? They are nothing more than pitiful people controlled by their immediate desires.

Tu Shan Honghong slowly stood up, looked at Chi Musheng's face, and said slowly.

"Chi Musheng, you are the first person who can enter her heart and talk to her."

She didn't like looking up to others, not even Chi Musheng.

Upon hearing this, Chi Musheng smiled. He understood what Tu Shan Honghong meant by the first thing. In essence, the two had very similar experiences, or rather, they were kindred spirits.

"So, which one will the leader choose?"

Tu Shan Honghong's palm slid across the sword, grasping all the bitter love flowers on it in her hand.

"Do we really have to choose? Can't we have it all?"

Chi Musheng put down his longsword and did not answer directly, but said...

"Boss, even humans have their limits, and demons have their moments of exhaustion."

Of course, I look forward even more to the day when the leader succeeds, speaks, and smiles.

He wasn't lying; he saw in Tu Shan Hong Hong a courage he never possessed, or rather, a beating heart.

"You want to hear me speak?" Tu Shan Honghong asked, somewhat puzzled.

Is there anything special about her voice?

"Hmm, I'm wondering if the Boss's voice should be cuter, or as aloof as it is now," Chi Musheng teased.

Even when Tu Shan Hong Hong was drunk and groaning, he knew that Tu Shan Hong Hong's voice, even if it wasn't a loli voice, was a soft and sweet voice, definitely not the cold, belly voice she had now.

"Chi Musheng, have I been too good to you? You've got some nerve!" Tu Shan Honghong confronted Chi Musheng, pinning him against a tree.

In the past three hundred years, Chi Musheng was the first person to dare to say such a thing to her. If it were any other person or demon, she would have already used her exorcism technique to let him try whether the fist of the Tushan chief was soft or hard.

Chi Musheng's eyes darted away, and his tone was disbelieving.

"If wanting to hear the leader's voice is considered a mistake, then it's probably a mistake."

He has now figured out Tu Shan Hong Hong. She is someone who easily softens and becomes shy when told sweet words. She may appear cold on the surface, but inside she is still a little girl.

The anger that Tu Shan Honghong had finally mustered vanished like smoke.

I don't know if it's hitting or scolding. Just like he said, is it wrong to just want to hear my own voice?

No, it's just that if she opens her mouth to speak, where is her authority as the head of the household? Does she even need to be?

After waiting for a long time, Tu Shan Honghong neither threw a punch nor let go of Chi Musheng, and they remained locked in a stalemate.

After a while, Chi Musheng couldn't help but ask.

"Boss, isn't our posture a bit inappropriate?"

His wrist was still pinned to the tree by Tu Shan Honghong, and his other arm was also being held by Tu Shan Honghong, putting him in a completely pinned-down position.

"Give me a reason to let go," Tu Shan Honghong said with a slight upturn of her lips.

Compared to being able to look but not touch, she preferred to hold Chi Musheng in her arms and let the feeling of peace fill her whole body.

Chi Musheng lowered his eyelids and said timidly.

"Reason? Does the rule against men and women touching hands count?"

At this moment, Chi Musheng resembled a virtuous man being teased, his pitiful posture turning the tide in their relationship.

Tu Shan Honghong let go of his hand in embarrassment. It was clearly Chi Musheng who was verbally flirting with her, but now it seemed like she had become the perverted woman who was harassing an innocent woman.

"Calculate"

Yu Ling once said that when a man likes a woman, he wants to be glued to her. Chi Musheng is unwilling to do so, which must be because he doesn't like her enough.

No, she has to go again later to ask her best friend, Cui Yuling, for advice. She'll be away for a few days, and she'll make sure Chi Musheng falls for her.

Chi Musheng glanced at Mingyue and asked.

"Boss, where and when do we depart tomorrow?"

He really can't sleep with Tushan Honghong today. There's also Xiaobai at home. He'll be away for a few days, so he should prepare Xiaobai's food in advance. Otherwise, it would seem like he's taking the money but not doing the job and abusing the cat.

Tu Shan Honghong pondered for a moment and said.

"Tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM), in the bamboo forest behind the mountain."

If she were traveling alone, she could simply walk through the main gate. But with Chi Musheng still around, she didn't know what kind of rumors would spread if the demons saw the two of them traveling in a carriage together. She didn't want to take any risks until Chi Musheng was completely by her side.

Besides, there's Ya'er, who will definitely think I'm biased towards Chi Musheng and get angry, and then cause him trouble.

"Alright, it's getting late, Chief, get some rest." Chi Musheng turned around, picked up his longsword, and left. There was still a little white dog at home waiting for him.

As Chi Musheng's figure gradually disappeared, Tu Shan Honghong also leaped up and flew directly to Tu Shan Medical Hall. She could skip sleep; there were some questions she had to figure out.

Inside the clinic, Cui Yuling was holding a book, laughing like a lovesick girl, with drool even dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"I want some too. I wonder what it feels like to force a kiss on someone, you little rascal? Is it sweet or painful? Hehe."