"I have a very serious matter to discuss with you."
As dawn approached, Xin Mei crouched beside Lu Qianqiao and nudged him awake. At that moment, he still seemed drowsy, with a strand of hair clinging to his lips. His dark eyes looked innocent and slightly bewildered.
"You're a man, and I'm a woman, right?"
Given Xin Mei's unusually solemn expression, Lu Qianqiao felt he ought to humor her. Shielding his eyes from the light, he nodded woodenly.
"Many supposedly learned old men have written books saying men and women shouldn't be too familiar, and that one shouldn't look at what's improper. If a man accidentally sees a woman's skin, he has to marry her, right?"
Lulled by the soft cadence of her voice, Lu Qianqiao nodded again.
"Then... I would absolutely never marry you! You know that, right?"
Nearly asleep, he nodded instinctively.
Xin Mei clapped her hands loudly. "So I just wanted to tell you—I need to relieve myself!"
The Demon Binding Rope tied around her waist was held firmly in his hand, making it impossible for her to go far. Relieving oneself was an activity that involved exposing skin... well, more than just "skin"...
Lu Qianqiao lowered his hand and stared at her expressionlessly, showing no reaction whatsoever.
Xin Mei repeated, "I need to relieve myself."
Still no response. He merely blinked, looking utterly lost.
Tears streaming down her face, she stood up and found a relatively sturdy tree to crouch behind, sobbing, "You... you better not peek!"
After pretending to hide for a while and hearing no sound from the other side, Xin Mei grew anxious. She poked her head out and shouted, "How can you really have no reaction? Peeking at someone relieving themselves is a terrible habit!"
Lu Qianqiao blinked blankly, then... then he yawned, rolled over, and immediately fell back asleep.
Turns out he was the type to laze in bed!
Xin Mei pounced on him and slapped his face repeatedly. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"
Her wrist was caught. Finally roused, Lu Qianqiao lay on his back, his expression icy, hair disheveled, glaring at her. "You've got quite the nerve!"
Furious, she yelled, "I need to relieve myself!"
"Relieve myself"—the phrase was somewhat unfamiliar yet vaguely recognizable. Lu Qianqiao's sleep-addled brain struggled to process it. After a long moment of contemplation, it suddenly clicked. His expression shifted rapidly from shock to guilt, then to anger, and finally settled on embarrassment.
He released her hand as if burned, watching helplessly as Xin Mei dashed into the dense forest.
Now wide awake, Lu Qianqiao sat up and ran a hand through his hair. A piece of talisman paper fell from his clothes—unfamiliar, definitely not his. The paper was made from thousand-year-old phoenix tree bark, suitable for avian spirit beasts to inhabit. It must have fallen from Xin Mei during her earlier frantic movements.
Her mount, that pelican, perhaps?
He examined it briefly, folded it once, and tucked it into his robe.
This... he had no experience in this area. That... how long did women need? One incense stick's time? Two? Fine, he'd give her the time it took to eat a meal. If she didn't return by then, he'd... wait another meal's worth of time...
Checking the sky, how much time had passed? She still hadn't returned. Should he go after her? No, better wait a bit longer... just in case... better wait a little more...
For the first time in his life, Lu Qianqiao found himself agonizingly conflicted.After the time it took for three meals had passed, he suddenly stood up, about to go search, when he heard the faint sound of footsteps on leaves behind him. Turning around, he saw Xin Mei, looking thoroughly displeased, carrying a bundle of fresh mushrooms, her clothes damp with dew.
"You..." He was still somewhat at a loss for words, unsure what to say.
Xin Mei expressionlessly tossed the mushrooms onto the ground. That had been such a perfect chance to escape! But after searching everywhere, she couldn’t find the talisman paper where Qiu Yue was hiding—probably lost when she had struck him earlier. Damn it! Without her mount, traversing this endless, dense forest was nearly impossible, let alone escaping.
"...Do you have Qiu Yue?" she asked.
Lu Qianqiao thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Don’t you dare hurt it!" Remembering his comment last night about roasting the pelican, she panicked. "Qiu Yue is very old, its meat is tough—it wouldn’t taste good at all!" (Qiu Yue, nestled in Lu Qianqiao’s arms, wept silently: I’m not even six years old yet, how am I old?)
Lu Qianqiao was silent for a moment before replying, "That depends on whether you behave."
Xin Mei hugged her arms and took a step back, defiant to the end. "Hmph! You might have my body, but you’ll never have my heart!"
...He realized that trying to have a serious conversation with her was definitely a mistake.
After roughly selecting and washing the fresh mushrooms she had just picked, he tossed them into the leftover noodle broth from last night. Once it boiled, it was ready to eat. Just like the previous evening, he ladled a bowl and placed it by her feet. Xin Mei turned her head away, putting on a show of unyielding pride. "I won’t eat! Not unless you give Qiu Yue back to me!"
Fine, if she didn’t want to eat, so be it. Lu Qianqiao calmly began eating his own portion. The dried meat in the broth, having soaked overnight, had released its rich aroma, and by the looks of it, had softened considerably.
He was definitely doing this on purpose—his bowl was piled high with meat, and the delicious scent wafted through the air as he ate heartily.
Xin Mei stole several glances at him. Seeing him focused solely on eating and not paying her any attention, she quietly reached for the bowl. The moment her fingertips brushed the rim, he shifted slightly. She yanked her hand back lightning-fast, resuming her proud defiance.
He seemed to let out a helpless sigh. After a pause, he said, "Stop fooling around. Eat."
His tone was calm, devoid of mockery.
Tears streaming down her face, Xin Mei picked up the bowl: Qiu Yue! I’m such a terrible owner! Just let me finish this meal first, then I’ll figure out how to rescue you from this demon king!
Xin Mei had assumed he would drag her off to White Head Mountain to find Meishan Jun. But after days of traversing mountains and valleys, the two of them ended up back at the Imperial Mausoleum.
Walking down the cherry blossom-lined sacred path for the second time, she felt she had grown quite composed. Fortunately, this time Lu Qianqiao didn’t lock her in a room but kept her by his side the entire time until they entered a small hall called Returning Flower Hall.
"General, you’ve returned."
Si Lan brought tea, shooting Xin Mei a venomous glare. He still remembered the night she had knocked him out—it was undoubtedly the greatest humiliation of his life!
Xin Mei pretended not to notice, looking around at the hall’s decorations while straining her ears to listen to Si Lan’s report about the various demons in the mausoleum over the past few days."Ever since General retrieved Tao Guoguo's inner core from the tiger demon, he's been in seclusion cultivating. He fully recovered yesterday and his appearance has returned to normal... Zhao Guanren said he recently poured his heart into writing a new operatic script, which will definitely be worthy of the twelve puppets carved by the General... The bear demon from the northwest came to propose to Miss Ying Lian for the fifty-third time, paving the path with white lotuses, only for Miss Ying Lian to burn them all..."
She listened bored, barely suppressing a yawn. Finally, when Si Lan finished speaking, Lu Qianqiao left the Returning Flower Hall and walked up the sloping hillside covered in snow-white pear blossoms. Two people were talking in the woods and turned around upon hearing footsteps. Recognizing Lu Qianqiao, they beamed with joy.
"Brother Qianqiao!"
A tall youth of seventeen or eighteen called out shyly. His face was handsome enough, though his round eyes and round cheeks still held a childish air. Large pale yellow wings spread from his back, rustling slightly from excitement.
Lu Qianqiao nodded. "All better now?"
The youth blushed. "Yes, fully recovered. Brother Qianqiao, I'm always causing you trouble... If you hadn't stopped me, I would have committed the grave mistake of stealing a mortal's soul... I'll never run off to play recklessly again."
A melodious feminine laugh sounded from behind as a beautiful maiden in pink silk robes approached the youth, smiling. "Guoguo's been repeating this ever since he recovered. Personally, I thought you were cuter when you lost your inner core and looked eleven or twelve."
Tao Guoguo turned redder. "Sister Ying Lian, you're always teasing me..."
Then he suddenly noticed the peach-blossom-faced, willow-waisted girl standing beside Lu Qianqiao, staring blankly at the sky as if lost in some fanciful daydream. He shuddered, jumped up and pointed at her, shouting, "It's you?! Why are you here?!"
Xin Mei snapped out of her reverie to look at him, studying him up and down before suddenly clapping her hands in realization. "Eh? Aren't you that little bird demon who pretended to be a fierce ghost?"
Tao Guoguo trembled with fear and resentment, his finger shaking uncontrollably. "Y-you... you wicked woman..."
Xin Mei regarded him seriously. "Hmm, you've grown up. Those aren't chicken wings anymore... you've become a proper birdman now."
Tao Guoguo's face turned green. With trembling hands, he retracted his wings, then suddenly his lips quivered and he burst into tears before turning to flee.
Ying Lian laughed, glancing between her and Lu Qianqiao with gentle warmth. "Brother Lu has never been close with women before. Who would have thought he'd take to Miss Xin so well. It seems I may get to toast at Brother Lu's wedding."
Si Lan couldn't help interjecting from behind, "Miss Ying Lian, you're mistaken. She's the General's prisoner! How could the General possibly... hmph!"
Ying Lian looked genuinely surprised. "How could that be?"
Lu Qianqiao remained silent, merely tugging the Demon Binding Rope. Xin Mei had no choice but to follow as she declared, "I want to bathe."
His hand twitched again as he turned to stare expressionlessly at her.
She maintained a stern face. "Men and women shouldn't be too familiar. Let me go now, unless you're planning to peek."
"You already bathed this morning."
He stated the fact.
"I want to bathe again."
She was utterly unreasonable.
Lu Qianqiao didn't respond, continuing to drag her forward.
Xin Mei grew frantic. "Y-you want to peek?!"He seemed to smile—a mocking, slightly teasing smile. "I suppose it's not much different from being a doorkeeper."
"You..." She was furious.
Ying Lian watched as the two of them walked away, talking as if no one else was around, and remained silent for a long while.
Si Lan couldn't bear it and said softly, "Miss Ying Lian, she really is just a prisoner. That girl knows how to break the cloud mist array, and the general fears she might reveal it, which is why he keeps her close with the Demon Binding Rope."
Ying Lian smiled faintly and turned to leave. "Brother Si Lan, you're overthinking it. I was merely curious."
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