Chapter 13

“LI YUEYING, YOU’RE NOT WEARING ANY PANTS!!!”

Li Jiangying shut her eyes, cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, and bellowed with all her might.

In that instant, heaven and earth fell silent.

Li Yueying: “Li… Jiang… Ying!”

Liang Yiman: Farewell, Miss Jiangying. I will find you a scenic cemetery.

Having shouted, Li Jiangying felt great. She smiled and opened her eyes. The woman, standing with peerless elegance not far away, gave her a cold look and swept her sleeve. A black long skirt encircled her waist.

Barefoot, she strode out of the side hall with a terrifying aura, disappearing from Li Jiangying’s sight.

Li Jiangying thought for a moment, then shakily stood up, bent over, and grabbed her knees, gasping for air. That was terrifying, but messing with her felt so good.

Cold sweat slid down. She wearily wiped it and started walking out of the side hall.

As soon as Li Jiangying stepped outside, she saw two figures standing in the sky overhead, about a hundred meters apart. One was Li Yueying, a long saber in hand. The other was an unfamiliar, burly middle-aged man with bulging muscles.

Li Jiangying guessed the middle-aged man was Solitary Mountain Devil Venerable.

The distance was too great for Li Jiangying to make out their expressions clearly. She could only hear Li Yueying’s voice, cold and composed, saying: “What kind of guest arrives uninvited? Solitary Mountain, daring to flaunt your seniority before me—have you prepared to journey to the Yellow Springs alone?!”

Solitary Mountain Devil Venerable laughed heartily. “Moon Shadow Devil Venerable, as discourteous as ever! A jest, a jest. This humble one merely heard that Your Excellency was injured and came specially to check on you. A gesture of goodwill—don’t misunderstand, Moon Shadow Devil Venerable!”

Li Yueying replied, “Now that you’ve seen, get lost quickly. Otherwise, I truly will be discourteous.” As she spoke, her grip on the saber hilt tightened, the blade pointing towards Solitary Mountain.

Li Jiangying quietly walked in the direction away from them. She hadn’t taken more than two steps when a hand pressed gently down on her shoulder.

“Miss Jiangying, where are you off to?” Liang Yiman asked softly from behind her.

Li Jiangying composedly clasped her hands behind her back and turned to face her, not a trace of guilt on her face. “Perfect timing. I was looking for you.”

“What does this humble one owe the pleasure?”

Li Jiangying said, “Well, regarding that… let me think for a moment.”

Meanwhile, the two formidable figures above had already started trading blows mid-conversation. Solitary Mountain Devil Venerable had taken the trouble to come personally for one reason: to confirm whether Li Yueying was truly gravely injured.

They were all old monsters who’d lived for thousands of years. Everyone understood that seeing didn’t necessarily mean believing. There was no other method but to test it personally. So Solitary Mountain Devil Venerable deliberately provoked her. As everyone knew, Li Yueying was a bloodthirsty madwoman.

Sure enough, she’d already charged at him with a dark face, blade swinging. Solitary Mountain Devil Venerable didn’t dare underestimate her, rallying one hundred twenty percent of his focus to meet the attack. The moment they clashed, he knew things were bad.

Damn it! How is this madwoman still so strong?!

Solitary Mountain laughed heartily, forcefully withstanding the blow. Pretending to retreat with ease, he said, “Since Moon Shadow Devil Venerable isn’t welcoming, this humble one shall take his leave. I’ll visit again another day!”

Li Yueying stood mid-air and let out a cold laugh. Gripping her saber with one hand, she viciously slashed forward. A green spectral shadow flew from the blade’s edge, chasing after Solitary Mountain. His expression changed drastically. Caring no longer for appearances, he fled frantically.

Only after watching Solitary Mountain’s figure disappear into the distant horizon did Li Yueying gracefully descend to the ground. Turning her head, she saw Li Jiangying and Liang Yiman standing side-by-side under the eaves. She strode over.

She grabbed Li Jiangying by the collar and shoved her backward. Li Jiangying was forced against the wall, tilting her chin up to look at her.

“Li Jiangying. I gave you the chance, yet you didn’t escape. What, so eager to die?”

Li Jiangying: Not really. It’s mainly because Liang Yiman was standing guard nearby, and she couldn’t beat her.

But this Moon Shadow Devil Venerable merely sneered coldly, acting as if she hadn’t heard, and continued, “In that case, this Venerable One shall grant your wish! Li Jiangying, receive—”

Suddenly, she frowned. The words in her mouth could not form a sentence. She still maintained the posture of gripping Li Jiangying’s collar, but a trace of gravity and unwillingness flashed across her face.

Then, she opened her mouth and sprayed a mouthful of blood all over Li Jiangying’s face.

Li Jiangying slowly raised her hand and wiped her face.

The blood-spitting Li Yueying gave her one deep, profound look before closing her eyes and fainting.

“Your Highness!” Liang Yiman cried out in shock, reaching out to support Li Yueying. She called out anxiously a couple of times, frowned with a sigh, and carried Li Yueying into the side hall. “Miss Jiangying, you come too.”

Li Jiangying silently followed in.

Just then, Cui Yu also arrived with a young man. The youth looked about seventeen or eighteen, with a thin, frail build and a hunched back, appearing very shy. Seeing Li Jiangying’s blood-covered face, he shrank back in fear, then felt his reaction was rude and gave her an embarrassed smile.

Li Jiangying politely returned the smile. Instantly, she saw a flash of terror in the youth’s eyes, and his gaze darted away.

“Jiangying, don’t be afraid. As long as Her Highness is here, nothing will happen.” Cui Yu cast a spell to wash Li Jiangying’s face clean. She hadn’t witnessed the scene of Li Yueying gripping Li Jiangying’s throat and still believed her Highness and Miss Jiangying were deeply affectionate.

Li Jiangying gave a perfunctory smile. “Thank you.”

“Hm? Why is your chin bruised?” Cui Yu asked in surprise, healing her.

Li Jiangying rubbed her chin and smiled. “Bumped into something by accident.”

“Right, this child is called Chai A’gou. He’s also a subordinate of the Devil Palace. He handles all sorts of odd jobs. Jiangying, just call him A’gou. You can also ask him for help with tasks. A’gou, this is Miss Jiangying. Remember to greet her when you see her in the future.”

Chai A’gou wasn’t actually short, but he habitually hunched his back and shoulders, making himself look much smaller and slighter. Upon hearing this, he gave Li Jiangying a simple, silly grin and stammered, “M-M-Miss Ji-Jiangying, h-hello.”

“Hello to you too, A’gou.” Li Jiangying now roughly understood why he always seemed so timid and shrinking. Turns out he was a stutterer.

Cui Yu and Liang Yiman discussed Li Yueying’s injuries in hushed tones. Their conclusion was that for now, they could only rely on Her Highness to tough it out. To recover faster, she’d need medicine—and that medicine was not easy to acquire.

Worry. It worried them to death.

Li Jiangying looked down at Li Yueying’s quietly sleeping face. After a moment of thought, she asked, “Is the medicine that rare?”

Cui Yu sighed. “Rarity is one issue. But, Jiangying, you should understand the Moon Shadow Devil Palace’s current situation by now. Not to mention we don’t have enough Spirit Beads in the palace to buy it—even if we scraped together enough, getting the medicine delivered here safely is a challenge in itself.”

“I understand.”

Li Jiangying crouched beside Li Yueying, her brows furrowed tightly.

Seeing her so worried, Cui Yu took Chai A’gou and left to patrol, not wishing to disturb Jiangying and Her Highness. Only Liang Yiman knew: Li Jiangying was probably pondering whether she could escape.

Liang Yiman had no choice but to warn her again: “Solitary Mountain Devil Venerable came here risking danger for one thing only—you, Miss. If you’re thinking of leaving here to become medicinal ingredients for Solitary Mountain Devil Venerable, this humble one won’t stop you.”

“What are you talking about? I wasn’t thinking about that.” Li Jiangying gave her an odd look. “Didn’t I say I had something to discuss with you?”

“It wasn’t an excuse?” Liang Yiman raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

Li Jiangying raised a hand to shield her mouth and leaned in with a grave expression. “What I wanted to tell you is… your Devil Venerable—she… she wasn’t wearing underpants!”

Liang Yiman: “…”

“When she flew up into the sky, wasn’t she, you know, exposed? Quickly, find her some and put them on.” Li Jiangying urged hastily.

Liang Yiman couldn’t help the corner of her mouth twitching slightly. “Miss Jiangying, are you referring to undergarments? Her Highness’s bedchamber has them. Please wait a moment; this humble one will fetch them.”

Liang Yiman not only brought undergarments but a pile of other miscellaneous items, turning the side hall into the semblance of a temporary bedchamber.

Li Jiangying went to the neighboring Scripture Pavilion to grab a book, then dragged a chair over to sit by Li Yueying’s bedside to read. But her mind was a tangled mess—she couldn’t focus at all.

Towards evening, Li Yueying woke up.

Li Jiangying noticed immediately. Holding her book, she tilted her head and secretly observed her expression.

When she saw a lost look appear in Li Yueying’s eyes and her head shake left and right, and when her gaze found Li Jiangying and lit up with sudden joy and excitement—only then did the heart Li Jiangying had been holding up finally settle.

“Jiangying!” Li Yueying happily spread her arms and scrambled up from the bed into Li Jiangying’s embrace in one fluid motion.

Li Jiangying smiled and petted the snake head, gritting her teeth. “It seems you really don’t remember what happened before, do you?”

Li Yueying narrowed her eyes in bliss, constantly rubbing against her palm. “Hiss!”

Li Jiangying gave a dark chuckle and rolled up her sleeves. “Doesn’t matter. I still remember.” And she prepared to fulfill her vow—to make sure she learned exactly why flowers are so red!