Yun Ruoyan’s dagger cleanly penetrated the heart-ripping demon’s chest. His eyes bulged wide open as he stared at Yun Ruoyan. Arduously, he forced out, “If you kill me, His Highness will surely seek revenge, as will my comrades in the mansion.”

“In that case, I hope you enjoy waiting in the underworld for them to do so.” Yun Ruoyan’s voice was as cold as sleet. Even after she removed the knife and the youth crumpled to the ground, he continued spasming on the floor, not quite dead yet.

At the same time, a pair of jade-green pupils appeared on the street leading up to the brothel, and it quickly approached Yun Ruoyan and the fallen demon. It was a thick python with the bloody head of a wild boar within its maw—the true body of the scholarly demon. Of course, the wild boar’s head belonged to the fatty.

Yun Ruoyan took two steps back and commanded the python to drop the wild boar’s head on the ground. Subsequently, it bit the spasming body of the fallen demon, bisecting it in half. His lower half-body fell to the ground, spilling out his organs and intestines. His two feet turned into the cloven hooves of a mountain goat.

After swallowing half the youth’s body, the python began smashing its head against the stone walls on either side of the road: once, twice, thrice…

To Yun Ruoyan, each smash felt like a minor earthquake. The commotion rapidly drew the attention of the nearby residents. By then, Yun Ruoyan had hidden by the side of the road, continuing to oversee the scene until she could confirm that the python had also died.

She returned to Li Sheng’s rooms. “Your Highness, I’ve already dealt with that demon. Come morning, I’ll be leaving with Physician Ceng.”

“You’ve already dealt with the situation, Miss Yun?” Li Sheng seemed quite surprised: because he knew that Yun Ruoyan was intending on killing the demon, he had been quietly observing the neighboring mansion from his room.

He retired at midnight, not having noticed any commotion at all. Initially, he had thought that Yun Ruoyan had been scared away by the overwhelming demonic aura in the region, but he had woken up to Yun Ruoyan telling him that the demon had been vanquished!

“Your Highness, Your Highness!” Frantic knocks could be heard from outside, and Yun Ruoyan hurriedly hid behind a screen.

“What’s the matter?” Li Sheng called out.

“Masters Wang, Liu, and Chang started a fight by a brothel!”

“Started a fight?” Li Sheng seemed a little confused, but quickly followed up with, “What happened?”

“All of them died! And because they all ended up revealing their demonic forms, there’s a clamor on the streets—the townsfolk are claiming that they must be the demons responsible for the spate of gruesome crimes recently! Your Highness, do you want to make a public appearance to quell the crowd?”

The messenger speaking outside was likely a demon himself.

“I will be remaining in secluded meditation for two months. Handle this matter yourself,” Li Sheng replied coolly.

The messenger hesitated for quite a while before replying in the affirmative, then turning to leave. Only when Yun Ruoyan heard his footfalls down the stairs did she emerge from behind the screen.

“These demons are crafty and easily suspicious. If I’m still not out in two months’ time, they’ll surely suspect that something’s wrong,” Li Sheng murmured, somewhat worried.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. Even if I can’t return to help myself, I’ll surely send someone else of at least equal cultivation to do so.”

Yun Ruoyan’s reassurance actually did calm Li Sheng down. She returned to the inn at which she was staying. By mid-morning, Physician Ceng had entered the inn and found her on Li Sheng’s orders. “You must be Miss Yun! On the Farsighted King’s orders, I’m here to accompany you to see a patient,” he began respectfully.

Yun Ruoyan had an impulse to ask him about Lin Yuemei’s condition on the spot, but she knew that this wasn’t the appropriate place or time. “Physician Ceng, we’ll be heading to the capital. Have you eaten breakfast?”

“Yes, I have.”

“In that case, let’s leave immediately.” The carriage that she had requested from Li Sheng had arrived in the morning. Physician Ceng entered the carriage; Yun Ruoyan would be the driver. They were out of the city in an hour’s time. Because the carriage was clearly marked with the Farsighted King’s insignia, none of the guards had stopped her on the way out.

Not long after she exited the city, a flamesteed rushed up to greet her from the opposite direction.

“Brother!” Yun Ruoyan steered the carriage closer. “Brother, what are you doing here?”

When Yun Moxiao saw Yun Ruoyan, he quickly turned around. “I was still somewhat worried about you, so I begged Father’s leave and came to have a look.”

“In that case, let’s head back together.” Yun Ruoyan smiled—although she felt that Yun Moxiao was being overly cautious, she could clearly feel her brother’s care and concern through his thoughtful gesture.

“Did you manage to find Physician Ceng?”

“Yes, he’s right in the carriage. I encountered a few problems along the way that delayed me for a day, and I’ll talk to you about them once I have time.”

Because Physician Ceng was still in the carriage, Yun Ruoyan didn’t want to chance telling her brother about the Farsighted King and the demon infestation in the city. Instead, they focused on riding.

A flamesteed would be able to reach the capital in a day’s hard ride, but Yun Ruoyan’s carriage was clearly somewhat slower. Furthermore, given that Physician Ceng had to rest from time to time, the two siblings took one whole day and night to arrive at the capital once more.

“I’ll handle Physician Ceng. You’d better head to the Slaughtering King’s manor,” Yun Moxiao advised.

“What’s wrong? Is Li Mo mad?”

“You don’t know this, but the second day after you left, the Slaughtering King came to the Yun manor asking for your hand in marriage. When he found out that you weren’t there, his face was even colder than Father’s—you know what I mean! That’s partly why I rushed to find you.”

“Did Father accept?” Compared to Li Mo’s anger, Yun Ruoyan was clearly more concerned about what her father thought about the affair.”

“Initially, he was against it, but when the Slaughtering King took out the fruit of cloud and sky, Father relented. He said that he would wait until you returned to decide; after all, as a member of Kongming Academy, your words carry weight,” Yun Moxiao recounted. “Actually, Father has always understood that there was something going on between you and the Slaughtering King. If you insist on marrying him, I’m sure Father would agree.”

More like he’s just agreeing because of that fruit! Yun Ruoyan knew of it: a legendary treasure that could advance someone from the peak of ninth-rank to the level of a sword saint. Even if one’s cultivation were to stagnate at that level, that person would still be at the peak of cultivators on the Chenyuan continent.

This betrothal present seemed to have been specifically designed for Yun Lan, and Li Mo had surely given up something precious for it. Yun Ruoyan could almost imagine Li Mo’s face when he arrived at the Yun manor with the fruit in hand, only to find her missing.

Yun Ruoyan was somewhat scared for her upcoming confrontation with Li Mo. However, having gotten used to his moods, she couldn’t help smiling upon trying to guess his expression when he realized that she was missing.

“In that case, Brother, I’ll hand Physician Ceng to you and have a look around the Slaughtering King’s manor. She handed him the reins to the carriage and swapped horses with him, then galloped over.

“Miss Yun, you’re finally here!” The moment she arrived at the Slaughtering King’s manor, the pair of fat and skinny guards that she had seen last time quickly approached her.

“What’s the matter?”

“Miss Yun, over the past few days,Miss Li Luo has been around the front gates so often, asking whether you’d shown up, that we’re both going crazy!”

“Stop complaining to her and delaying things further! Quick, Miss Yun, please enter.” The fatter guard took over the reins to her flamesteed.

“Sorry for the trouble,” Yun Ruoyan apologized, then entered the manor. As she entered his residence, she called out, “Li Mo, Li Mo!”

“Miss Yun, you’re finally here!” Li Luo walked out of a side room and greeted her.

“Sister Li Luo, is Li Mo inside?”

“Yes, but he hasn’t said a word after returning from the Yun manor yesterday,” Li Luo whispered.

“What’s he doing now?”

“Reading.” Li Luo turned around and glanced at the room before continuing, “However, he’s remained on the same page since morning. I don’t know what he’s thinking, and I’ve never seen him like that before. I think you’d better have a look for yourself.”

Li Luo walked off, leaving Yun Ruoyan to brave Li Mo’s fury all on her own. She stood by the doorframe and saw Li Mo resting crookedly on a futon, his gaze fixed to the book in his hands. She waited for quite a while, but didn’t see him turn a single page...