At this moment, a strange man holding a flight-restriction token soared into the skies above Guling Mountain.
"Just a mere Guling Mountain, what is there to fear? That Shen Yuefu really is full of himself!" the man scoffed.
"That Golden Core cultivator can actually fly above Guling Mountain!" Zhou Lili's eyes widened in astonishment.
Zhou Shengqian's expression grew heavy. "Most likely, he's here for that female cultivator!"
Yao Ranran's lips curled into a faint smile. "Demon Stone, come to me!"
With a flick of her whip, the stone at the bottom of the pool shifted. The calm surface of the water erupted into waves. In an instant, the Demon Stone landed in her palm, and from the center of the black pool, a towering column of water shot skyward.
The man still looked disdainful as he prepared to set foot on Guling Mountain's peak. But then, a sudden rush of water roared in his ears. Glancing down, his face changed in an instant.
"What in the—?!"
Whoosh—
The man shot away like a streaking meteor.
Zhou Shengqian and his daughter could only stare, dumbfounded.
Yao Ranran tilted her head toward the sky, murmuring, "I thought I just heard someone's voice. But Guling Mountain is barren, not even birds bother flying over its peak. How could anyone be up here?"
Shaking her head, she turned toward the small hole deep in the pool.
"To think that taking the Demon Stone would stir up the underground waters… I wonder how long that column will keep spraying."
Meanwhile, at Jiang Shengxiang's home, Xiao Rong, who had been enjoying food without restraint, heard the distant roar of water from Guling Mountain. Snatching up a pile of wild fruits from the table, she bolted outside.
"What's going on? Is the Zhou father and daughter coming to attack us?" Xiao Rong clutched the food tightly.
Jiang Shengxiang scratched his head in confusion. "No… it's a sudden black water column that just shot up!"
Relieved, Xiao Rong smiled. "Then it's fine. Let's keep eating."
"You're not even worried about the boss?" Jiang Shengxiang asked, shocked.
With a mouthful of fruit, Xiao Rong mumbled, "If the boss dies, do you think we'd survive if we went there?"
Jiang Shengxiang smacked his forehead in realization. "Rong-yé is right!"
…
"Looks like that male cultivator is a friend, not a foe," Zhou Shengqian said solemnly.
"Father… should we still try to trick Yao Ranran into coming out?" Zhou Lili swallowed as she watched the fading meteor in the distance.
Zhou Shengqian turned to her, speaking with weight. "Lili, when I was young and preparing to travel the world, your grandmother gave me one important piece of advice. Do you know what it was?"
"What did grandmother tell you?" Zhou Lili asked curiously.
Zhou Shengqian's face softened with nostalgia. "She said… beautiful women are tigers, and roses always have thorns. When you see one, stay far away."
"Lili, we're going home."
Zhou Lili: "…"
…
A few days later.
Yao Ranran tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
"How can I sleep, knowing that demon cultivator who's supposed to tempt me into the demonic path still hasn't shown up? And there's still Zhou Lili, the sect leader's daughter who swore she'd return…
Hu… hu…"
Gentle snores filled the tranquil Taoist temple atop Guling Mountain.
-
Wanmo City.
Mingmo Hall.
"Demon Sovereign, My Lord—!" A tattered, flickering soul tumbled into the hall.
Li Luoqi, dressed in black, sat high upon a throne of purple gold. His crimson eyes were cold, yet carried a hint of lingering emotion.
"Protector Yuan Que, I merely sent you to the Eastern Wasteland for a simple task. How did you end up in such a pitiful state?"
The soul named Yuan Que floated up, his face twisted in misery. "My Lord, Heaven itself shows us no mercy! I had only just reached the Guling Mountain forbidden zone when a black pool suddenly erupted. The blast destroyed my physical body instantly! Were it not for a protective secret art, I would have been utterly annihilated, unable to see you again!"
Li Luoqi's gaze was sharp. "Before you left, I checked your fortune for this journey. Everything pointed to smooth sailing. How did it come to this…
Could it be… that Heaven itself has changed?"
Abruptly rising to his feet, Li Luoqi clasped his hands behind his back, gazing toward the heavens.
The sky was as clear as if freshly washed. Aside from being a touch bluer and brighter than usual, there was nothing unusual to be seen.
"Enough. This trip to the Eastern Wasteland, I will take myself."
…
Perhaps because she had gone to bed late, Yao Ranran didn't wake quickly the next morning. By the time the sun was already high and warm light was slipping through the cracks of her door, she finally stirred.
She opened the door to find the day well underway.
"As Master Lu once said, never berate yourself for sleeping in. Even if you woke early, you wouldn't create any miracles."
Saying this lifted some invisible weight from her heart.
A bright smile became her first expression of the day.
--
Longyin Village.
The Jiang household.
Grandma Zhang trembled before a group of overly eager visitors, shaking her head over and over. Seeing her like this, Zhou Shengqian and Zhou Lili actually felt more afraid than she did.
"Grandma Zhang, it was our fault. I failed in my discipline, and Lili made a terrible mistake. Please, let Jiang Shengxiang come out to see us. I brought Lili here today only to ask for forgiveness from him and Rong-yé."
Grandma Zhang shook her head without pause, muttering, "I don't know, I don't know anything. Xiang'er isn't here, Xiao Rong hasn't been by to play at all."
Zhou Shengqian, seeing she wouldn't budge, took a jeweled box from a disciple and revealed a gleaming pearl that lit up the old woman's eyes.
"This… I don't know anything, Xiang'er isn't here, Xiao Rong has never been here!" she repeated, squinting again as if the sight had never happened.
Growing anxious, Zhou Lili whispered, "Father, could it be they really aren't here? Did we come to the wrong place?"
Before Zhou Shengqian could answer, a long, slender dark green vine whipped in with lightning speed and snatched the pearl from his hands.
"Rong-yé, wait—!"
A faint voice came from the corner of the inner room.
Zhou Shengqian's eyes lit up. He quickly ordered two more treasures to be brought forward and called out, "Please, Rong-yé, Jiang-yé, accept these treasures and forgive my daughter's offense!"
Zhou Lili dropped to one knee beside him.
"Hand it over!"
The dark green vine swept through the room without mercy, even taking the emerald pendant hanging at Zhou Lili's waist.
"That's my personal pendant!" Zhou Lili could only watch as it flew away.
"This must be a trap! I, Jiang Shengxiang, will never trust you!" a voice inside declared.
"Xiao Jiang, here, take this pendant. The boss has always divided spirit stones fairly," Xiao Rong said.
"…Fine, I believe they're sincere," Jiang Shengxiang replied.
Zhou Shengqian and his daughter's mouths twitched.
Two figures, one tall and one short, emerged from the inner room.
"Rong-yé, Jiang-yé, the leader of Biluo Sect has brought his foolish daughter to apologize. Please, Fairy Ranran, forgive us!" Zhou Shengqian pleaded.
"Alright, I forgive you," Xiao Rong said with hands on his hips, proud as could be.
Jiang Shengxiang stared at him in disbelief. "That's it? You just forgive them?"
Zhou Shengqian and Zhou Lili quickly bowed. "Rong-yé and Jiang-yé are magnanimous! Fairy Ranran is magnanimous!"
Jiang Shengxiang's face flushed as he watched them leave with delight. His heart ached. "Rong-yé, why'd you forgive them so quickly?!"
Why not squeeze them for more?
Xiao Rong blinked innocently. "We can't beat them. Didn't you say this was a trap? With the boss not here, I was worried they'd see through us and hit us hard."
Jiang Shengxiang froze mid-expression. "That's true. We can only ride the boss's reputation while we can."