Yun Ruoyan walked out of her rooms with furrowed brows.

“Second Miss, you’re finally up!” Hong Yu was very pleased to see that Yun Ruoyan had finally been awoken by her ruckus. “Madam An wishes to discuss an important matter with you in her quarters.

But Yun Ruoyan pretended that Hong Yu didn’t exist. Instead, she looked toward Peony and Xi Lan. “It’s so bright and early. Where did such a noisy, squawking bird come from?”

When Hong Yu heard herself described as a squawking bird, her face reddened, but she didn’t dare to refute Yun Ruoyan’s words.

During this period of time, she’d heard Madam An and the three misses discuss how Yun Ruoyan wasn’t a human, and Xiangcao and Qiuhong had gossiped to her about how she had a strange power that inflicted direct pain to their hearts. As a result, she was still quite cautious around Yun Ruoyan.

But just as Peony was about to reply, Xi Lan interrupted, “Miss, it’s indeed an obnoxious pest. Shall we beat it away?”

“Alright,” Yun Ruoyan responded coolly.

Xi Lan rolled up her sleeves and picked up a broom by the side of the cottage, smacking the handle against her palm as she prepared to wave it around.

Startled, Hong Yu had no choice but to retreat. It had been quite a while since she had last come to Yun Ruoyan’s residence. Not only had Yun Ruoyan changed, so had Xi Lan and Peony.

Had Xi Lan and Peony also been possessed by demons? “Xi Lan, how dare you hit me!” Forced back to the cottage’s entrance, Hong Yu could only point at Xi Lan and shout with false bravado.

As Xi Lan raised the broom in her hands high up in the air, she shouted, “So what if I’ve hit you? Do you think we’re pushovers?!” She hurled the broom at Hong Yu, who was so scared that she yelled out in panic and leaped out of the cottage. Before she left, she shouted once more that Madam An was summoning Yun Ruoyan for an urgent matter.

Xi Lan put her hands on her hips and laughed loudly as she saw Hong Yu stumbling away.

“Miss, it’s been quite a while since Madam An last tried to cause trouble for you,” Peony commented. “I wonder what she’s up to this time?”

Yun Ruoyan smiled. To deal with someone like Madam An, she had to face her head-on without trying to hide. “Peony, help me comb my hair. I’ll be going to Madam An’s residence.”

Yun Ruoyan turned and headed back into her rooms to dress. Moments later, she emerged. In a lotus-colored gown and with a lotus-flower gauze patch on her cheek, Yun Ruoyan walked over to Madam An’s residence.

As soon as she stepped into the yard, she saw huge swathes of peonies. Their scent was overwhelming, as was their mistress, who was dressed in a flamboyant, peony-red dress.

“Ruoyan, you’re here! Quick, come in. The sun’s just about to start burning.”

Yun Ruoyan smiled as she let Madam An pull her inside. “Mother, I heard Hong Yu say that you had an urgent matter that you needed me for. What’s the problem?” Yun Ruoyan appeared to be gentle and affectionate. If Madam An wanted to pretend to be the warm, caring mother, then she would let her do so.

When Madam An heard Yun Ruoyan’s obedient voice, her scalp couldn’t help but prick. Her gentle, smiling face suddenly reminded her of the red fox from her past. She immediately released Yun Ruoyan’s hand, her expression equal parts terrified and fearful.

“Mother, are you alright?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” Madam An patted her hair in an attempt to hide her discomfort before sitting down at her tea table. “Come sit, Ruoyan.”

Yun Ruoyan was quite curious as to why Madam An appeared so discomfited today.

Madam An instructed one of her maids to begin serving tea. When Madam An said nothing even after Yun Ruoyan had two sips, she finally asked, “Mother, didn’t you have an urgent matter that you needed me for? I still have to pay my respects to Grandmother today…”

“Oh, the thing is,” Madam An began, “My nephew went out hunting recently and gave me a red fox pelt as a gift. The color’s too flamboyant for me, so I thought I’d pass it along. If you’re interested, take it and have a vest or scarf made out of it.”

She glanced at Yun Ruoyan as she spoke, trying to detect any abnormalities in her appearance. Although the spiritual master had judged that Yun Ruoyan wasn’t, in fact, a demon, Madam An wasn’t quite so certain.

More questions popped up in Yun Ruoyan’s mind. Giving a fox pelt to her in the middle of the summer? “Mother, you should leave such a wonderful gift for Ruoyao,” Yun Ruoyan countered. “How could I accept it?”

“Oh, I’ve already given all your sisters part of it, so you can’t refuse. Otherwise, people might think that I’m prejudiced toward you.” Madam An signalled for Hong Yu to retrieve the pelt and laid it out in front of Yun Ruoyan. The fiery-red fur was lustrous and attractive, indeed a top-tier pelt by all standards. “Well, Ruoyan? Do you like it?”

Madam An scrutinized Yun Ruoyan once more. Not quite understanding her intentions, Yun Ruoyan could only smile and decline cautiously, “It really is quite charming, but I think it’s too flamboyant for me as well. Why not give it to Qianying? I’m sure she’ll love having more!”

“Oh, no, it suits you just fine!” Madam An insisted. “Won’t it suit your phoenix-orchid gauze patch? Come winter, if you wear both this pelt and that gauze patch, you’d look just like a phoenix from afar!”

Yun Ruoyan really couldn’t reject a gift from her mother without coming off as grossly impolite. In addition, she couldn’t detect anything amiss with the pelt. After another bout of hesitation, she finally relented and accepted it.

As she left with the pelt in hand, Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help but wonder what had come across Madam An today. She looked at the pelt in her hands once more, frowning. It would be better to have Lin Qingchen take a look as well, just in case there was something that she’d missed.

After Yun Ruoyan left, the spiritual master stepped out from behind the curtains in Madam An’s rooms. “Well? She accepted the pelt, didn’t she? If she were possessed by a fox demon, she wouldn’t have accepted it so readily. In addition, she didn’t seem to be panicking upon seeing the pelt at all.”

“Could my suspicions really be misplaced?” Madam An mumbled to herself. “But she’s clearly behaving like a different person entirely…”

“Perhaps it’s because she’s finally wisened up to the error in her ways, or perhaps there’s some other reason,” the spiritual master murmured, stroking his beard. Suddenly, he turned to Madam An. “Madam, is there some other reason you’re trying to get rid of this daughter of yours?”

Not expecting the spiritual master to ask such a question, Madam An was temporarily caught unprepared. The spiritual master suddenly began to laugh. “Did you know that demons have a surprising propensity to show up in noble households? After I’ve caught so many of them, some things naturally become clear. Regardless of whether she’s possessed or not, Madam, don’t you want to get rid of her?”

Only after some reflection did Madam An respond to the spiritual master’s questions. With a calm expression plastered on her face, she stated, “The Yun family has always been well regulated, and we can’t have someone breaking this peace. That’s why…” Madam An slowly turned to the spiritual master and continued earnestly and solemnly, “Even if it’s unclear what exactly that girl is, for the sake of the Yun family, I have to get rid of her!”

Madam An finally revealed her true intentions, burdened though they were by a tenuous leap of logic.

After hearing Madam An’s solemn words, the spiritual master couldn’t help breaking out into laughter. “In that case, I can surely lend you a hand, Madam. I have only one condition.”

“As long as you can handle it, Master, money’s not a problem,” Madam An replied anxiously.

“I don’t require money, Madam.” The spiritual master shook his head.

“In that case, what condition do you have in mind?”

The spiritual master opened his mouth, his features screwed up as if he were about to cry. He slowly enunciated, “I want the girl.”

“What?” Madam An could hardly believe what she’d heard. “You want the girl, Yun Ruoyan?”

“Yes!”

“What for?”

The spiritual master’s smile vanished, replaced once more by grave dignity. In a low voice, he warned, “Madam, you don’t have to worry about this. I’ll remove her from the Yun family, but I want her person.”

Madam An looked at the spiritual master. After a moment, as if she suddenly realized something, a trace of anger seeped into her features, and the spiritual master’s sanctified, priestly image crumbled to pieces in her mind.

There wasn’t a single good man in this world, and even Daoists…!

This was a little too much for Madam An. No matter how she detested Yun Ruoyan, she was still a young miss of the Yun family, Yun Lan’s child by blood. Even if she were to kill her, it would be a clean death. Allowing her to be defiled, however, was still a step too cruel for Madam An.

“If you’re unwilling, Madam, then forget it.” The spiritual master began to walk out.

“No, I’m willing.” Madam An finally overcame her mental hurdle. No matter what, she couldn’t let Yun Ruoyan stay in the Yun family!

“Good!” The spiritual master turned toward Madam An, not a hint of his passion and excitement

Showing on his face. When Yun Ruoyan entered the room, he had discovered a tremendous secret.

This so-called demon was actually a legendary human furnace!

The spiritual master wasn’t a particularly talented individual. Except for his cultivation as a blademaster and some experience at catching demons, he had no other skills to his name. Nevertheless, after many long years of cultivation, along with rare and esoteric methods, he had somehow advanced all the way to a peak ninth-rank blademaster. He was only one small breakthrough away from the mythical tenth-rank, the apex of blademaster cultivation!

But that was almost impossible. As far as he knew, in the thousand years since the Chenyuan continent had first formed, no human had ever managed to ascend to tenth rank. He, just like everyone before him, would remain stuck at peak ninth-rank.

But today, the spiritual master saw a route forward: Yun Ruoyan, the legendary human furnace.

As long as he had the human furnace in hand, he would be destined to become the strongest cultivator in the world! The spiritual master was so excited by the prospect that he was even able to ignore the implications of the scathing glance that Madam An had shot him.