Chapter 70: A few kisses, a hug, and a few comforting words will make everything alright.

The next day, Jiang Zhishui opened her eyes to find herself lying in bed with her hands and feet bound. The little white fox Pei Yan was also gone. She turned her head and saw a big black chicken standing on the table.

Jiang Zhishui, who had been struggling, froze the moment she met the big black chicken's eyes. The big black chicken held its head high and its light gray eyes flickered. Jiang Zhishui's face stiffened, and the air seemed to freeze for a moment. Suddenly, she burst into laughter.

Although Jiang Zhishui was tied up, she still laughed until tears streamed down her face. The big black chicken was enraged and flapped its wings, trying to peck at her, but it was too clumsy to fly and fell directly off the table to the ground.

Jiang Zhishui laughed even harder, giggling incessantly. The big black chicken got up and hopped over in a few steps. Its red comb stood up, its eyes turned red, its feathers stood on end, and it kept flapping its wings at the edge of the bed, but it couldn't get onto the bed no matter how many times it jumped.

Jiang Zhishui laughed until her stomach hurt. She shifted her body and peered towards the bedside. Suddenly, she exclaimed, "Wow!"—the chicken had jumped onto her.

The big black chicken pecked at her with its sharp beak and scratched her face with its little claws. Jiang Zhishui was pecked so much that she crawled all over the bed and screamed repeatedly.

"Ouch, it hurts! Li Mo, you've turned into a chicken, not me... Ahh, stop pecking me!"

"Stop, stop, stop! I'm not laughing anymore! I'm not laughing anymore! Ouch, it hurts! If you don't stop, I'll stew you!!"

Just as the battle between man and chicken was reaching its climax, Jiang Zhishui, with a black chicken feather still dangling from her beak, heard the door creak open. The two, panting, stopped fighting and looked towards the doorway.

Jing Qianheng walked in.

Jiang Zhishui, with a chicken feather in her mouth, was perched on the edge of the bed, almost falling off. Her hair was a mess from the chicken claws, and she looked disheveled as the serene and refined Jing Qianheng approached her.

Jing Qianheng slightly raised his eyes and glanced at the big black chicken standing on Jiang Zhishui's head. The black chicken originally had its neck stretched out and was very arrogant. But after being glared at by him, it swept its wings and was able to fly up. However, it did not fly far into the air, paused for a moment, and then fell heavily back down.

The big black chicken limped away, its back view showing signs of weariness.

After it went out, it remembered to close the door behind it.

Jing Qianheng walked to the bedside unhurriedly, helped Jiang Zhishui sit up straight, and casually plucked the chicken feathers from her mouth and tossed them aside.

He gently stroked her hair, his eyes lowered, his gaze falling on the streaks of blood on her face. He lightly touched her cheek with his fingers and asked softly, "Does it hurt?"

Jiang Zhishui felt uneasy despite hearing his gentle voice. She slightly curled the corners of her lips and asked awkwardly, "What are you doing here?"

Jing Qianheng bent down to help her untie the ropes. His hands were marked with red welts from the rough ropes. He rubbed them with his fingertips, then looked up at her. "You were laughing so happily just now."

Jiang Zhishui looked around. This wasn't the Wu residence. The clear, melodious birdsong outside seemed to echo from the mountains. She looked at Jing Qianheng, puzzled, and asked, "How...how did you find me?"

He knew about the personnel change?

According to Liu Chuxi, the puppet thread and her blood were all transferred to that person, making her almost identical to "Jiang Zhishui" and extremely difficult to distinguish.

Even if he had some suspicions, it would be difficult for him to figure out that something had been tampered with.

But... how did they find us so quickly, and they seemed so calm, as if nothing had happened?

Jing Qianheng gently grasped her wrist, his fingertips caressing her hand. When he heard her question, his fingers unconsciously tightened, pressing down on the bruised area. Jiang Zhishui cried out in pain, pulled her hand back, and looked at him warily.

Jing Qianheng reacted a beat late, slowly raising his head as if only now realizing what he had just done. His expression was indifferent as he said in a low voice, "The divine artifact is gone, and the corpse in the ice coffin has also disappeared. You took that golden feather, didn't you?"

"You replaced her... What were you thinking?" Jing Qianheng stared at her, a hint of malice flashing in his eyes. "Am I so annoying to you that you can't even wait a little longer, forcing you to find a substitute to appease me?"

"You don't care what I've done with others, do you? All you want is the artifact. To get the artifact, you're willing to push me to someone else without hesitation. Would it be better for you to get rid of me completely?"

Jiang Zhishui stood up. "No, it's that big black chicken... No, the substitution was a scheme orchestrated by Li Mo possessing Senior Sister Liu. I was acupunctured and taken back. Don't be fooled by Li Mo; he did it on purpose..."

Jing Qianheng interrupted her, "Then why didn't you come to find me after you got out?"

Jiang Zhishui choked for a moment, "I....."

"What?" Jing Qianheng stared intently at her, shook off the ropes binding him, and stood up, saying, "Because I will never be as important as anything else to you. You have more important people to take care of, and more important things to do!"

Jiang Zhishui, with her messy hair and scarred face, opened her mouth with difficulty, wanting to say something in her defense, but couldn't utter a single word.

Jiang Zhishui knew that Li Mo coveted Jing Qianheng's body and wanted to use it to be reborn. All of this was orchestrated by Li Mo, and she couldn't let him succeed. Jiang Zhishui stepped forward and grabbed Jing Qianheng's hand, urgently saying, "Now is not the time to talk about this. Let's leave. That Li Mo has ill intentions; don't listen to him. I'll explain later."

"No!" Jing Qianheng shook off her hand and said in a deep voice, "It's too late."

Jiang Zhishui asked, "What do you mean it's too late?"

Jing Qianheng pressed her down to sit on the bed, staring at the small wound on her face, and said softly, "You need to apply medicine to this, otherwise it will leave a scar."

As he spoke, he turned around to get the medicine.

“This is Qing’an Town. I bought a small house here. The courtyard isn’t big, but it’s very quiet. There are no neighbors, so no one usually bothers us.” Jing Qianheng rubbed the ointment between his fingertips, then looked up with a smile. He gently applied the ointment to Jiang Zhishui’s face, his movements extremely light, as if afraid of hurting her. “I know I didn’t explain things to you in enough detail before. You…you felt it was a long way off, hopeless. Well, I’m telling you now, if you can stay with me for three months, I promise, I promise, I will disappear from your sight and never appear before you again.”

“You don’t need to worry about Li Mo. I’ve set a rule with him that he won’t cause any more trouble in these three months. I’ll keep an eye on him.” Jing Qianheng leaned forward slightly and whispered in her ear, “He’s only helping me because he’s in it for himself, but I won’t let him have his way. I won’t give this body to anyone. On the last day, I will destroy it myself and take him with me, making him disappear from this world.”

Jing Qianheng stared intently at Jiang Zhishui, "I've arranged everything. You don't need to do anything, just... stay by my side."

Jiang Zhishui listened in a daze, and it took her a while to suddenly understand what he was saying.

Jing Qianheng made a deal with Li Mo, which is why Li Mo kidnapped her and brought her to Jing Qianheng. The three months they agreed on was a deadline they set. Once the deadline was up, Jing Qianheng would fulfill his promise and hand over control of his body to Li Mo.

...To disappear from this world?!

Jing Qianheng had a backup plan; he intended to perish together with Li Mo!

All these events happened too quickly. Jiang Zhishui noticed that Jing Qianheng was acting strangely. She didn't want to argue with him anymore, so she simply went along with his wishes and settled down in this small courtyard.

The white fox Pei Yan had its intelligence suppressed by Jing Qianheng's spell, and could only dig in the yard like an ordinary animal. It was being bullied badly by the big black chicken and wanted to dig a hole to hide in.

Li Mo possessed the black chicken's body, already in a bad mood, when Jing Qianheng happened to arrive. Seeing his own descendant in such a pathetic state, he vented his anger on Jiang Zhishui, pecking and biting her relentlessly.

For several days in a row, Li Mo chased the white fox around the yard, venting his anger. This was the first time he had possessed a domestic animal, and he couldn't get rid of it and switch to another person. He was anxious and angry, and the rooster's comb stood up all day long, howling incessantly.

As for Pei Jing, Jing Qianheng asked Jing Chengrui to handle it. Jing Chengrui plucked a handful of white fox fur and put it into a brocade pouch. He then took the pouch to negotiate with Pei Jing.

Jing Chengrui acted decisively, and his statement, "Your brother is in my hands," temporarily suppressed Pei Jing. Pei Jing then led a group of demons back to the Demon Realm to deal with the more troublesome internal strife.

After learning that Jiang Zhishui had escaped from the Ziyang Immortal Mansion, Liu Chuxi and Lin Ye also searched for her whereabouts. Sheng Yuchen deliberately gave some false clues to lure the people of the immortal sect away.

Having prepared all that, the mischievous devil, silently simmering soup in the kitchen, exuded an aloofness that seemed to freeze the surroundings, making them feel chilly. Jiang Zhishui leaned on the railing watching the white fox and black chicken fight, her gaze catching sight of the handsome young man, whose face held no trace of a smile.

Jiang Zhishui went back to her room and sat down. After a while, Jing Qianheng brought in the food and set it on the table. Jiang Zhishui saw that there was only one serving and asked, "Aren't you going to eat?"

Jing Qianheng glanced at her and said gently, "I have no appetite."

Jiang Zhishui took a sip of the soup, finding it delicious and sweet. She looked at Jing Qianheng in surprise, not expecting him to be such a good cook.

Seeing him sitting quietly to one side, Jiang Zhishui felt a little awkward. She took the initiative to start a conversation: "Yesterday you weren't here, and a few people passed by. I invited them in to sit for a while..."

Jing Qianheng did not restrict Jiang Zhishui's freedom; she could move around the house freely. However, if she wanted to run away, the big black chicken had its own way of dealing with her. Although Li Mo was trapped inside the chicken's body, she could still cast some restrictions and barriers. The white fox Pei Yan had lost consciousness and had become Jing Qianheng's lackey, and it was also helping to keep an eye on Jiang Zhishui.

Jiang Zhishui bit her chopsticks, glanced at his indifferent expression, and continued, "There's a very kind old lady named Wu, who's also very talkative. She asked me who I lived here with, and I said... I lived with my husband. Then she asked how long we'd been married, what I did for a living, and many other things... She even said we should have children while we're still young..."

Jing Qianheng's stiff expression cracked slightly as he frowned and looked at Jiang Zhishui.

Seeing that he was starting to react, Jiang Zhishui pressed her advantage, saying, "I did something wrong and made my husband angry. He won't even touch me. My aunt gave me some advice. She said that if I kiss him a few times, hug him, and coax him a few times, everything will be fine. A real man wouldn't be so petty."

"Qianheng, tell me, is what Auntie said right or wrong?"