The system: Lord Ling, do you know how to speak? Are you not tired of courting death?
The system: She's just a woman, why are you arguing with her?
The system: Learn from Bai Yu... How gentlemanly! What human language are you speaking?
A series of barks echoed in his mind. Ling Xi pressed his temples, forcibly suppressing them.
The mention of Bai Yu made him regret it. He shouldn't have saved that fellow. He didn't know how many good things that guy would ruin for him in the future.
“Is it that I am incompetent and cannot help the Divine Maiden, or do you think I will ruin your plans, so you went to find Bai Yu?”
He thought she didn't ask for his help because she looked down on his minor position in the Heavenly Realm. Who knew that even with his high status, even if he transformed into Jun Lan, she wouldn't even look his way.
“……”
Ye Ziling avoided his gaze and was silent for a long time. Just as she was about to speak, a piece of fish blocked her mouth.
Ling Xi raised an eyebrow and faced her. Under her shocked gaze, he tore off another piece of fish, swallowed a mouthful himself, and smiled provocatively at her, “What does it taste like?”
Ye Ziling looked at the scorched crucian carp he was grilling. The fish in her mouth still carried the taste of being burnt. She swallowed it anyway.
A bitter taste with a hint of burnt fish flooded her tongue. Ye Ziling couldn't help but frown, her gaze towards Ling Xi filled with anger.
If you're going to criticize, why resort to personal attacks?
“Were you doing that on purpose?”
Seeing that the second point of conflict was about to erupt, Ling Xi suddenly felt that arguing with her was meaningless. He had originally wanted to quietly finish eating the fish before looking for an exit, but who knew that he had become so stubborn with her without realizing it.
If it continued like this, the old grudges wouldn't be settled even by next year.
Ling Xi pressed his eyebrows. Seeing her preparing to settle old scores beside him, he suddenly pushed her against the back wall, covered her lips with his palm, and let out a soft hum, imitating her tone, “Yes, on purpose.”
Seeing Ling Xi imitating her so well, Ye Ziling became instantly annoyed.
This guy was clearly looking for trouble, but perhaps she herself wasn't entirely in the right.
Seeing her quiet down, Ling Xi suddenly released his palm, his eyes lighting up. He pointed at the grilled fish in his hand and said, “Have some more?”
Ye Ziling, considering his injuries, temporarily swallowed her complaints.
Ling Xi took out another grilled crucian carp and offered it to her. He raised his eyebrows, leaned closer to her, and chuckled, “Consider it my apology to Miss Ye.”
Any more words and he might lose the chance for dual cultivation with her.
Never mind, let's deal with things one at a time.
Ye Ziling took a deep breath, took the grilled fish, tore off a piece, and savored it carefully, “This one is grilled okay.”
The sun was high in the sky. The two extinguished the fire and searched for an exit at the foot of the cliff.
Soon, a cloud boat stopped outside the cave, carrying two figures.
A slender figure jumped off the boat and suddenly appeared before her.
“Miss Ye!” Luo Yao, seeing that the two were unharmed, rushed to Ye Ziling’s side and smiled slightly, tilting her head.
Ye Ziling could only stiffly allow herself to be held by her and smiled, raising an eyebrow, “Miss Luo Yao.”
This girl said she was waiting for Ling Xi, but why did she seem to like me more?
Ye Ziling couldn't comprehend it. She had only spent less than half a month with Luo Yao, yet they were like friends who had known each other for years.
Bathed in sunlight, the young girl smiled like a red sun, two dimples blooming at the corners of her mouth, her delicate face filled with innocence.
“Hey, why call me Miss Luo Yao? Just call me Luo Yao!” Luo Yao held her, examining her as she spoke, “You and Ling Xi disappeared for a day and a night. You scared me to death.”
Mu Heng’s face was full of speechless exasperation, his expression as dark as the bottom of a pot. He said coldly, “Are we going or not? I’m tired of this. Whenever I encounter you two, it’s never good.”
Soon, the group landed on the shore in the cloud boat.
Ye Ziling curiously called out to Mu Heng, “Mu Heng, let’s go.”
Mu Heng turned his head, looked at Ling Xi and Luo Yao at the stern of the boat, and said coldly, “Which one of those two… is getting off? We’re going home.”
“Thank you both. I have something to attend to today, so I’m afraid we won’t be going the same way.” Ye Ziling’s gaze swept over Ling Xi’s wound before she quietly looked away.
With Luo Yao here, Ling Xi’s injuries should be fine.
Ling Xi heard this, his sword-like eyebrows furrowed. He stood up and walked to her, asking coldly, “Didn’t you say you weren’t going back to the valley?”
“I have something to do, but I’m not going back to the valley. You can rest assured.”
She was indeed not returning to the valley, as she had more important matters to attend to.
A strange illness had broken out in the capital. Her second brother had asked her to find a crucial medicinal herb, which would delay her for a while.
“You’re leaving again?” Ling Xi’s gaze was sharp, trying to find an answer in her eyes, “I’ll go with you.”
Ye Ziling tilted her head slightly, glancing at Mu Heng with her peripheral vision, signaling him to make the decision.
Whether Luo Yao went or not was of no consequence to her, but it was Ling Xi whom she couldn’t refuse easily.
Mu Heng was also understanding and spoke decisively, “Forget it. This boat can’t accommodate two great Buddhas like you.”
“If you want to go, you can go yourselves. You said you didn’t want me to follow before, and now you’re clamoring to go together. What’s the deal? Are you playing house?”
Mu Heng didn’t care about anything else. As long as he kept his distance from these two jinxes, that was good enough.
The cloud mist billowed, and the cloud boat ascended rapidly, gradually moving away under their gaze.
Ye Ziling sat at the stern of the boat, smiling faintly, and called out to the furious Mu Heng, “Well done! I’ll give you a bonus this month.”
Mu Heng’s face darkened, and he responded faintly, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
A spiritual bird circled in the air and landed on her hand, transforming into a stream of light that condensed into several lines of text.
Ye Ziling scanned it once, her brows knitted into a tight knot, and her expression turned somewhat stiff.
Mu Heng turned back and asked her, “What happened?”
Ye Ziling’s thoughts returned, and she said with some worry, “A disciple from the palace sent a letter. Many people from Jiuling Palace have also contracted the strange illness.”
“Rather than a strange illness, it’s more like a poison.”
If it were a common plague, let alone her cousin Jing Huai, even her unlearned second brother could easily develop an antidote. How could thousands of people have died overnight? There must be something fishy going on.
“Mu Heng, do you know about the Scarlet Boar?” Ye Ziling asked him with a serious expression.
She had read about this demonic creature in historical texts. The records were sparse, but its demon core had a significant effect on combating plagues. If it could be used as a medicinal ingredient, it would surely be useful.
Mu Heng’s origins were from the Demon Capital. Even if he couldn't recite the Hundred Demon Catalog completely, he was fortunate enough to have encountered the Scarlet Boar beast.
“I met her once. My cultivation was not enough back then, and I was no match for her, so she escaped. With her cultivation, she has likely cultivated into human form and is hiding in the mortal realm.”