Chapter 57

When Li Qing woke up, he felt quite refreshed, as if the demons that had plagued his heart for decades had been extracted from his body, leaving him feeling unburdened.

However, the first thing Li Qing thought about wasn’t the demons. He opened his eyes in alarm and looked to his side.

Dong Xia was quietly curled up next to him, her back turned. A small patch of her white shoulder was visible from under the blanket.

Li Qing’s heart pounded as countless memories flashed through his mind. His hand involuntarily reached out, lightly touching behind Dong Xia’s ear.

Dong Xia was immediately startled. Without turning her head, she swatted Li Qing’s hand away, her voice slightly nasal as she said, “Go away.”

Li Qing’s hand stung from the slap. He hesitantly pulled his hand back a couple of inches, then uncertainly reached out to touch Dong Xia’s hair.

He really couldn’t be sure if this was a dream, an illusion, or a false image presented by his inner demons.

Li Qing remembered everything about Dong Xia – all the little details about her, the look in her eyes when she was deeply moved, even the feeling of her hair sliding through his fingertips.

Everything before him felt too real, so beautiful that Li Qing dared not believe it.

Another “slap” sounded as Dong Xia impatiently turned to face him.

She looked down at Li Qing with half-closed eyes: “Are you being annoying on purpose?”

Li Qing stared at her, mesmerized, not daring to look away for even a moment.

Dong Xia snorted and sat up: “I’m not sleepy anymore… move aside.”

Li Qing instinctively shifted his gaze to Dong Xia’s waist, where he could faintly see a tattoo-like mark – the edge of a lush flower petal.

His mind went blank, and he pressed his palm against it.

Of course, before he could touch her, Dong Xia had already wrapped herself in an outer garment and stood up.

Li Qing’s hand missed Dong Xia’s calf and was instead stepped on by her as she stood.

“Behave yourself,” Dong Xia lightly ground her foot on Li Qing’s wrist bone, her movement neither light nor heavy, like a warning.

After the warning, she quickly released Li Qing and lightly leaped off the bed.

Li Qing sat up, somewhat dazed: “The demons…”

“Feeling better?” Dong Xia walked out barefoot, replying without looking back, “Get up and set up the formation.”

Li Qing: “…”

Memories finally flooded back into his mind, including how they had stumbled from outside into this room; and how he had insisted on kissing her mark against Dong Xia’s will before letting her go, the scene vividly replaying.

There was also his repeated murmuring of “You like me too” in Dong Xia’s ear, and Dong Xia’s unclear yet sharp response.

“I did like you, and I’ve also forgotten,” she had said.

Even the crisp bell sound from Dong Xia’s ankle now carried an indelible different meaning to Li Qing’s ears.

Extreme enchantment mixed with a hint of foreboding.

Blood rushed from all over his body to his face. Even without looking in a mirror, Li Qing knew what a flushed appearance he must have.

Because when Dong Xia turned to look at him after changing, her face bore a mocking smile.

“It’s not like it’s the first time, why are you acting so pure and shy?” she said, “It was just to quiet your inner demons, don’t think it means anything.”

Li Qing calmed down a bit.

But only a bit.

“You’re lying to me,” he said softly, “You haven’t been with anyone else.”

Dong Xia raised an eyebrow: “So what if I’m lying to you? Is that not allowed? Haven’t you lied to me plenty?”

Li Qing was left speechless: “…Fine.”

He silently watched Dong Xia tying her hair in front of the mirror for a while, then couldn’t help but ask her again: “What do you want me to do?”

“What else can you do?” Dong Xia asked mockingly in return.

Li Qing fell silent: “But this doesn’t mean… you’ve forgiven me.”

“Of course not,” Dong Xia replied flippantly, “After all those unspeakable things you did to me? How could I?”

“…”

After leaving Li Qing speechless, Dong Xia walked to the table, took a sip of water, cleared her throat, and then left first.

Li Qing sat dumbfounded for a moment before belatedly realizing that Dong Xia’s voice just now seemed to carry a hint of hoarseness that wasn’t usually there.

He stared at the water cup on the table for a while, and the heat that had just receded from his face gradually returned.

The inner demons that had been intensifying day by day for seventy years now seemed to have never existed, silent and still.

Whatever Dong Xia’s reasons for doing this, it had worked.

Even if Dong Xia were to order him to do something outrageous and unethical the next moment, Li Qing felt he would be able to do it.

When Li Qing composed himself, changed, and went out to find Dong Xia, she was already standing in front of the formation diagram.

Since Li Qing had handed over the formation diagram, Dong Xia had been studying this formation tirelessly every day, determined to ensure she could enter Wen Tian Gate unhindered and capture Sun Zhuo Er.

At first, it was because she didn’t trust Li Qing, but after several tests, she finally acknowledged that this was a complete formation diagram.

However, expanding this formation diagram from the size of a courtyard to cover the ninety-nine sword peaks of Wen Tian Gate was another matter entirely.

Li Qing tactfully came forward to help set up the formation, recklessly using his abundant spiritual energy. He quickly filled in half of the grand formation that Dong Xia had recently destroyed and rebuilt.

Dong Xia was still staring at the formation diagram, lost in thought, as if she had found some new problem.

“When you go to Wen Tian Gate, I’ll go with you,” Li Qing couldn’t help but suggest.

Dong Xia looked at him.

Before she could refuse, Li Qing quickly said, “Listen, there’s no thunder.”

Dong Xia gave a cold smile and was about to speak when a message arrived in front of them, which Dong Xia caught with one hand.

Li Qing recognized it as Bai Ze Yue’s message spell.

Just as Li Qing was the supreme being of the Immortal Realm but didn’t manage affairs, Dong Xia also had her own agent – that was Bai Ze Yue.

Bai Ze Yue was Dong Xia’s spokesperson throughout the Demon Realm, handling all matters big and small on her behalf.

Moreover, this Bai Ze Yue was also half a disciple personally trained by Dong Xia.

Li Qing stared at the flickering blue light at Dong Xia’s fingertips, narrowing his eyes slightly.

He felt a bit jealous, but this jealousy was different from before.

If he had to describe it, it felt more “normal,” at least not carrying the dark, destructive desire to destroy everything.

Dong Xia quickly finished listening to the message. She frowned and turned her gaze to Li Qing.

Li Qing’s back immediately tensed, and he inappropriately recalled images he shouldn’t have been thinking about at that moment.

“I’m going out for a bit,” Dong Xia said, “You…”

“I’ll go with you,” Li Qing said immediately.

“Of course,” Dong Xia said, furrowing her brow, “Did you think I would let you stay here with those defenseless people?”

Li Qing: “…I won’t harm them.”

But even without divine thunder striking, Dong Xia clearly wouldn’t believe him.

“That’s just what you think now,” Dong Xia snorted, “This formation will serve as protection for now. This place isn’t as safe as it used to be.”

In the past, Dong Xia’s two identities were clearly separated, and she didn’t have to worry about this peach blossom spring being discovered. But since Li Qing had chased after her, it became difficult to keep the secret of this place.

Since it was the place Dong Xia protected most seriously, Li Qing also put 120% effort into setting up the defensive formation.

Neither immortals nor demons could easily break into the formation.

Even if someone wanted to forcibly break the formation, the resistance time would be enough for the two of them to rush back and rescue.

As they were about to leave, a woman came to greet them, with two children by her side.

One of the children was the woman’s own, fearlessly walking towards Dong Xia with outstretched arms, swaying as he went. The other was an unfamiliar face, seemingly very timid, only daring to peek out from behind the woman with longing eyes towards Dong Xia, but not daring to come forward because of Li Qing standing to the side.

Dong Xia bent down to catch the little one who was about to fall at her feet, and said to the woman, “Get ready, I’ll bring people back later.”

The woman paused, then smiled in understanding: “I understand.” Her gaze fell on Li Qing, “Are you two going together?”

“I don’t trust him,” Dong Xia said as she stepped forward and directly handed the little rascal to the woman.

The woman smiled, pressing her lips together: “It’s us you don’t trust.”

They were standing at the doorway talking, while the extremely wary little boy continued to stare vigilantly at Li Qing, looking ready to flee at the slightest movement.

There was only one door.

Li Qing: “…” Maybe he should just climb over the wall.

“What are you dawdling for?” Dong Xia asked impatiently.

Just as Li Qing was about to take an unusual route, Dong Xia lowered her head and patted the shy boy’s head, conjuring a bit of Nightless Flower from her fingertips for him to play with.

“The Sect Master of White Cloud Sect ultimately died by his hand,” Dong Xia said.

Li Qing paused and turned his head to look at the thin, small boy.

The boy was also looking at him, the wariness in his eyes having faded considerably.

Li Qing immediately understood the boy’s identity – he was the furnace that Dong Xia had rescued from the Immortal Realm camp and the hands of the White Cloud Sect Master, which was also the reason Dong Xia had chosen to reveal her hand early that day.

Looking at this boy who was little more than skin and bones, Li Qing let out a soft sigh in his heart.

In the end, he didn’t go through the door, but took a detour instead.

The boy’s gaze was like two cold points of knife light, firmly fixed on Li Qing’s back until he leapt down from the wall, making him feel a hint of unease and guilt.

In Dong Xia’s peach blossom spring in Dong City, she had sheltered at least several hundred people.

And this was after accounting for births, deaths, and illnesses – these were the several hundred who were still alive.

Such a vast and dark industry chain had been operating openly in the spirit world for so many years, never exposed.

Even worse, the source of this dark river was none other than the master Li Qing had respected for many years.

Like everyone else, Li Qing had never been able to detect anything amiss about Sun Zhuo Er.

“What are we going to do?” Li Qing sighed and asked.

“Bai Ze Yue said they found another possible hiding place,” Dong Xia didn’t conceal anything, saying expressionlessly, “If it’s true, we’ll rescue the people and return.”

Li Qing wasn’t surprised. At this point, only matters related to the furnaces could make Dong Xia spare attention and handle them personally.

“The formation will be fully understood in a few more days. When are you going to Wen Tian Gate?” He asked another sensitive question.

“When it’s fully understood, that’s when I’ll go,” Dong Xia said indifferently, “Letting him live one more day is a crime against heaven and earth.” She paused, then asked Li Qing in return: “If you really come with me, the title of Immortal Realm traitor will be cemented. The people of the Immortal Realm who once relied on your protection will probably turn their spears towards you without hesitation, right?”

These words sounded like concern, but were actually just meant to poke at Li Qing’s wounds, truly malicious.

But Li Qing answered quickly: “You’re not going on a killing spree, and I haven’t betrayed my own principles.”

Dong Xia was only going to capture Sun Zhuo Er, she wouldn’t waste effort on killing people, naturally it was best to get in and out as quickly as possible.

“But there will always be people blocking the way,” Dong Xia said carelessly.

“I’ll clear the path for you,” Li Qing said.

Dong Xia laughed, as if she had seen through Li Qing’s thoughts, and asked: “You think that as long as I don’t kill anyone and just capture Sun Zhuo Er and leave, the Immortal Realm won’t hold this against me? No matter what, Sun Zhuo Er is still the sect master of Wen Tian Gate. If I take him away in front of everyone, it will hurt the face of the entire Immortal Realm no matter what. Li Qing, don’t you understand this simple logic?”

“…So, there’s still a way to avoid this conflict,” Li Qing hadn’t finished explaining his idea when Dong Xia coldly interrupted him: “You don’t need to say it, I won’t accept it.”

They both knew this solution.

Instead of Dong Xia, Li Qing would enter Wen Tian Gate and bring Sun Zhuo Er out.

This would simplify everything by half.

Firstly, Li Qing was more suitable than Dong Xia to break through the formation: he still had a half-immortal body, and was as familiar with Wen Tian Gate’s protective formation as his own arm.

Secondly, although Li Qing’s inner demons were out of control, before completely becoming a plaything of the demons, the people of the Immortal Realm still saw him as “one of their own” to some extent, so there would be much less obstruction when entering Wen Tian Gate.

These two huge advantages couldn’t outweigh one point in Dong Xia’s mind.

She wasn’t willing to entrust this matter to anyone but herself.

It wasn’t specifically targeting Li Qing.

Li Qing wouldn’t do, and neither would anyone else.

Even if it was extremely dangerous and she might be seriously injured again, Dong Xia had to personally capture the old thief Sun Zhuo Er for interrogation.

If Li Qing betrayed her at the critical moment, Dong Xia couldn’t afford that loss.

Before Li Qing spoke, he knew his suggestion would be rejected by Dong Xia, and could only sigh inwardly.

But no matter what Dong Xia said, he was determined to go with her.

Li Qing could only do his best to minimize the conflict between Dong Xia and Wen Tian Gate on that day.

As for Sun Zhuo Er…

In these days, there had been no news from the Immortal Realm about Sun Zhuo Er confessing his crimes, so Li Qing knew his master had made his choice.

Fame and status, Sun Zhuo Er indeed couldn’t let them go.

*

Dong Xia was actually half skeptical about the news Bai Ze Yue had sent this time.

Nothing else, the timing of this intelligence was just too perfect.

But since Bai Ze Yue had sent the news to her, he must have some certainty, and Dong Xia certainly couldn’t ignore it, she had to go and check.

Even if it was just to save one more person, it would be worth it.

With this thought in mind, Dong Xia arrived at the location Bai Ze Yue mentioned in half a day.

She didn’t enter the city immediately, but circled around outside, using her divine sense to probe the buildings inside the city, and found nothing unusual.

There were no concealing formations, nor any overly frequent spiritual energy fluctuations.

To thoroughly search the entire city would be too time-consuming.

As Dong Xia stood in the air pondering her approach, Li Qing, who had been quietly following her, spoke up.

“I know the location.”

Dong Xia didn’t even turn her head: “Keep making things up.”

“It’s true,” Li Qing said, “I can tell you the position immediately, and you can check it out.”

Hearing Li Qing speak so confidently, Dong Xia finally turned her head to give him a bit of attention: “Where?”

Li Qing looked down at her, not speaking immediately.

Dong Xia frowned, then decisively stepped forward, grabbed Li Qing’s collar, pulled his head down and gave him a kiss: “Speak.”

It was more of a bite than a kiss, obviously not intending to waste more time on this matter.

Perfunctory and rough, completely different from before.

Li Qing: “…”

He hadn’t actually intended to trade like this.

But it wasn’t bad to get something in return.

Li Qing swallowed what he was originally going to say, and pointed out several locations: “You can’t find anything unusual because there’s nothing unusual to begin with. The people who set this up had no intention of hiding it—these places are not ordinary households.”

Dong Xia unconsciously bit her lip as she looked for a while, and when she let go, there were still teeth marks.

“They’re pretending to be families with children, and have dispersed the furnaces among them…” She quickly saw through the trick, and clicked her tongue lightly, “It’s going to take some time.”

There were who knows how many families with children in a city, and it would naturally take a lot of effort to distinguish them one by one.

“You search half, I’ll search half,” Dong Xia hesitated for a moment before assigning tasks to Li Qing.

Li Qing would never be confused about such fundamental issues of right and wrong, but she was afraid that if he left her sight for too long, he would lose control.

After giving the orders, she didn’t hear Li Qing speak for a while. Dong Xia frowned and turned to look at him, only to find his gaze fixed on her face as if it had taken root.

To be precise, on her lips.

Dong Xia: “…?”

She kicked Li Qing off the cloud along with his flying sword, “Think of something useful.”

After licking the teeth marks she had bitten while thinking, Dong Xia also went to the other side of the city.

Her divine sense permeated the city like water, covering all the streets and alleys, which was easy; but judging which children among them were furnaces hidden among ordinary people took some time.

But the number of hidden furnaces in this city was far more than Dong Xia had imagined. She had searched less than a fifth of the city and had already rescued eight children.

She had to temporarily set up a simple formation outside the city to place the children she had rescued first, and repeat the process.

In this process, she couldn’t avoid confronting people who tried to stop her, but Dong Xia dealt with these small fry as quickly as possible.

Although it was confirmed that Bai Ze Yue’s information was not false, and indeed many innocent children were rescued, as the process dragged on longer and longer, the unease in Dong Xia’s heart spread wider and wider.

The inner demons in Li Qing had already been suppressed by drinking poison to quench thirst, so even if Sun Zhuo Er wanted to use him for something, it wouldn’t work; the formation in Dong City had been personally checked by her, it was very well-made, and neither immortal cultivators nor demon cultivators with ill intentions could sneak in, the people there were very safe; the Immortal Realm lacked Li Qing as a great general, and wouldn’t have the courage to attack the Demon Realm in the short term; Sun Zhuo Er couldn’t take a step out of the range of Wen Tian Gate before he figured out a way.

Everything was arranged perfectly, what had been missed?

Dong Xia frowned as she killed a demon cultivator who was kneeling and begging for mercy, then carried the trembling girl and flew towards the outskirts of the city, still pondering this question in her mind.

The girl, shaking with fear, hugged Dong Xia’s neck and asked softly: “Who are you, big sister?”

Dong Xia stroked her back, comforting her gently: “I’m the person who came to save you.”

The girl blinked at her, her bright eyes filled with pitch-black fear: “Then… can I go home now?”

“As long as you still remember where your home is, of course you can.” The people sheltered in Dong City were also those who had no home to return to, or were unwilling to go home. Many people would choose to return home and reunite with their families.

The girl broke into a smile through her tears: “My home is in the Immortal Realm, can big sister take me back?”

Dong Xia made a sound of agreement, and as she spoke, she had already arrived outside the city.

She placed the newly rescued girl within the range of the formation, and swept her gaze over the children huddled together as if trying to keep each other warm.

Dong Xia was very familiar with the mental journey of those who had been captured as furnaces.

At first, of course, there would be resistance and attempts to escape. After these failed, many people would turn to passive resistance—most would choose to end their own lives.

Until finally, it would turn into despair and numbness.

These children who had just been rescued mostly looked like they had been captured not long ago. Several boys even still had hatred and anger in their eyes.

Dong Xia couldn’t help but stop her steps. She crouched down and asked them: “How long have you been brought to this city?”

“I just arrived yesterday…”

“I came the day before yesterday…”

“I… I also came yesterday…”

Hearing the timid answers, Dong Xia’s brow furrowed even tighter.

The timing was too concentrated and close. Except for one who had been in the city for over half a month, the others had all been sent here within the last three days.

…This was almost like a nest that had been deliberately created by a large-scale placement.

Or rather, a trap.

Dong Xia comforted the children, but still had to go back into the city again.

Even if this was just a trap, the kidnapped children were still real, she couldn’t ignore them.

Moreover, in the city, she still hadn’t sensed the birth of a crisis.

If it wasn’t a crisis, then there was only one possibility left.

A decoy to divert attention.

If it was to lure her here… but Dong City was still as stable as Mount Tai.

Before Dong Xia and Li Qing returned to Dong City, even Bai Ze Yue couldn’t break into the Peach Blossom Spring.

Dong Xia couldn’t think of any ideas for a moment, so she sped up her rescue efforts.

Until she met up with Li Qing in the city, Dong Xia went back and swept her divine sense over the entire city once more, confirming there were no stragglers, before leading a group of half-grown children to meet up with Li Qing.

Compared to the harmony of the children here helping each other, Li Qing’s side was vastly different.

He was almost driven to a dead end by that group of children. Although it looked like both sides were at a standoff and Li Qing remained expressionless, Dong Xia could somehow sense a hint of helplessness from him.

At any other time, Dong Xia would definitely tease Li Qing a bit more, but today she wasn’t in the mood.

“The formation is foolproof, right?” she sought confirmation from Li Qing.

“You watched me set up the formation,” Li Qing said, “Unless it’s you or me, it would take at least a quarter of an hour to enter.”

“But we’ve already spent two hours here,” Dong Xia said heavily.

“The formation hasn’t been touched,” Li Qing said, glancing at Dong Xia’s displeased expression, “We’ll know when we get back, don’t worry.”

Dong Xia couldn’t listen to this at all.

Top experts always have some inexplicable intuition, honed from surviving life-and-death battles.

This intuition now felt like a thousand needles pricking Dong Xia’s back, making her restless.

“Let’s go back using that method, your way of traveling,” Dong Xia decided.

Li Qing couldn’t recall for a moment: “What method of mine?”

Dong Xia frowned and glared at him: “The method I forgot!”

Li Qing: “…?”

It took him a while to understand.

It was the night when Dong Xia first lost her memory, and he took her to an uninhabited island to rescue furnaces, using a travel method that seemed desperate and anxious.

“It’s the night you acted coquettishly…”

“Nonsense!” Dong Xia stepped on Li Qing’s foot to interrupt him, “When have I ever acted coquettishly towards you?”

Li Qing: “…”

There were too many times, although they were all gained through his deception.

Moreover, he had received a segment of Dong Xia’s memory, which was all from Dong Xia’s perspective.

…That night, Dong Xia definitely acted coquettishly, and did so quite skillfully.

But saying this out loud would definitely not end well, so Li Qing wisely swallowed his words. He enlarged his Yu Xu sword and set up a stable formation to allow the children without self-protection abilities to pass directly through the void.

Naturally, Dong Xia couldn’t travel on her own either. She coaxed the children one by one onto Yu Xu, then jumped on herself, keeping an arm’s length distance from Li Qing, clearly not wanting to deal with him.

Li Qing: “…”

He confirmed the formation’s stability and carefully used his fallen true essence to tear open the void.

Dong Xia sat not far behind him, at least separating those children that Li Qing had no idea how to deal with.

Li Qing maneuvered Yu Xu sword to jump and shuttle between the cracks of the void, feeling that something was amiss in their previous conversation.

…Hadn’t Dong Xia turned that initial memory into an Essence Pearl and returned it to him?

How did she still remember what happened that night?

…

Dong Xia knew she had misspoken, but there was no time to make amends now. She sat on Yu Xu sword with a tense expression, her fingers tapping on the sword body intermittently.

It couldn’t be said that she was extremely anxious, but she was definitely uneasy.

She repeatedly pondered whether she had left any loopholes, but still couldn’t think of that point.

Only by quickly returning to Dong City could she be certain.

Fortunately, Li Qing’s method indeed saved a lot of time. When it suddenly brightened before her eyes, Dong Xia looked up and saw the bustling Dong City.

She jumped off Yu Xu with relief, rushing towards the Peach Blossom Spring ahead of Li Qing. Her divine sense detected from afar that the defensive formation was still standing there, slightly easing her mind.

Since the formation hadn’t been broken, it meant no one had broken in.

Dong Xia hurriedly landed, not rashly undoing the formation, but walking to two spots outside the door. Her five fingers formed a claw, pulling out a hidden figure from a seemingly normal patch of air.

The other party clearly didn’t expect to be discovered despite hiding so well. They stared at Dong Xia in terror for a moment, and just before Dong Xia coldly placed her fingers on their dantian, they hurriedly shouted: “Demoness, do you want everyone here to die with you?”

Dong Xia stopped her movement.

Her thorns, formed from demonic energy, had already pierced into the other’s abdomen, just half an inch away from shredding the nascent soul within.

“…Continue,” Dong Xia said coldly, “You’re outside the formation, even if you self-destruct your nascent soul, the aftermath won’t reach inside the formation, let alone harm me.”

A nascent soul cultivator might seem unattainable to many, but to Dong Xia, it really wasn’t much.

“Why… why use me?” Sweat flowed down the intruder’s forehead, but they didn’t dare to even raise a hand, “I may not be able to get in, but someone can, right?”

“Neither immortal nor demonic cultivators can break in without breaking the formation; especially those with malicious intent,” Dong Xia sneered, the thorns continuing to pierce into the other’s dantian.

Terrified by the movement in their own stomach, the person quickly revealed their trump card: “But what about a powerless mortal without any malicious intent?”

Dong Xia’s heart suddenly sank.

A formation, of course, wasn’t meant to defend against mortals.

After countless calculations, this blind spot was actually missed!

Seeing Dong Xia’s movement freeze, the person she had captured licked their lips, becoming slightly smug: “Hehe, demoness, you’d better release me, otherwise… all the furnaces you’ve hidden here for so many years will turn to ashes in an instant!”

“Sun Zhuo Er?” Dong Xia asked softly, “He arranged all this, didn’t he?”

As she asked this, her eyes were looking straight at Li Qing who had just arrived.

“You don’t need to worry about whose idea this was,” the person hissed like a venomous snake, “Just make a deal: either you cripple your cultivation, or I detonate the xxx buried in that mortal’s body. You might be fine, but how many of those powerless wastes inside can survive?”

The two were at a standoff for a while, then Dong Xia slowly retracted her five fingers, shaking off the fresh blood on them.

The hidden intruder who had just saved their life took two steps back, gasping for air, and grinned: “Demoness, you choose, do you want your life, or their lives?”

Dong Xia turned to look at the door just a few steps away: “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Hehe… you can call someone to ask if two mortal vegetable deliverers went in today?”

Dong Xia didn’t need to ask.

She knew the other was telling the truth just by calculating the days.

Unlike Dong Xia, many people living here needed to eat daily, so meat, fruits, and vegetables were essential. People came regularly to deliver supplies, and for safety, they always chose mortals to deliver.

Sun Zhuo Er could think of this loophole, which was quite clever of him.

“Then why don’t I just kill you?” Dong Xia asked calmly.

Even though she didn’t move a finger, the other person was still scared back several steps.

“Of course that won’t work either! When it comes to fighting, who can match you and Li Qing in this city? The trigger is buried in my dantian, once I die or am controlled, the xxx will detonate instantly! Or do you want to compete with xxx to see who’s faster?”

Dong Xia stood by the door, pondering for a moment, then raised her eyes to find Li Qing’s gaze.

Li Qing was silently watching her, holding Yu Xu sword in his hand, with a subtle light slowly flowing along the blade.

“I don’t have time to wait any longer, demoness!” The intruder seemed to finally confirm that they had grasped Dong Xia’s weakness, and shouted triumphantly, “Hurry up and make your choice!”

Dong Xia’s mind raced through countless methods, but in the end, she found there was only one path to take.

That path still relied on Li Qing.

The 100% confidence in Dong Xia’s heart suddenly dropped to only 30-50%.

…But this was the only path left.

Dong Xia moved her gaze from Li Qing’s face, raised her hand to grasp the mask on her face, and gently lifted it from her jawline.

The intruder, attracted by her deliberate and somewhat careless movement, unconsciously swallowed and stared fixedly at the half-exposed light red lips from the edge of the mask.

By the time Dong Xia had completely removed the mask, this person had widened their eyes, showing an expression of disbelief and intense desire.

They even unconsciously took a step towards Dong Xia: “You… you actually have such a beautiful appearance!”

Dong Xia let go of the mask, smiling slightly: “Sun Zhuo Er chose so carefully, yet he sent such a lecherous man as a messenger, that’s just perfect.”

The intruder snapped back to reality from the hell of beauty within reach, turning back in shock to look behind them.

Where was Li Qing’s figure?!

They immediately rushed outwards, unhesitatingly mobilizing their true essence to try to detonate the xxx trigger in their body, while shouting: “Aren’t you afraid they’ll all be blown to pieces!”

But Dong Xia’s figure was faster. She caught up from behind, lightly blocking the intruder’s path. Her five fingers plunged into their chest, brutally pulling out the trigger, while the remaining demonic energy ruthlessly destroyed their dantian.

“…Compared to gambling with Sun Zhuo Er, I’d rather trust Li Qing a bit,” she said softly.

The intruder died on the spot with eyes wide open, and the trigger almost simultaneously exploded in Dong Xia’s hand.

Dong Xia’s five fingers closed, extinguishing the explosive disturbance, then she turned to look towards the Peach Blossom Spring.

Two breaths passed, and no unusual sounds or vibrations came from there. Dong Xia couldn’t help but quietly sigh in relief.

It seemed Li Qing had torn through the void to enter, and should have made it in time.

She casually threw away the blood-stained fragments and powder in her hand, leapt to the door, and was about to walk in when she heard a series of screams.

Dong Xia’s heart tightened, and she hurried towards the screams, only to see a group of people surrounding Li Qing.

The people on the outermost edge saw Dong Xia arrive and quickly made way: “My lady, the gentleman you brought back is injured and coughing blood!”

As one person spoke, everyone noticed Dong Xia’s arrival, and quickly cleared a path to Li Qing’s side.

Dong Xia pressed her lips together, bent down to check Li Qing’s pulse. The true essence in his body that had just been smoothed out was now as chaotic as if he had just suffered three defeats, clearly caused by external force shocks.

The woman explained to Dong Xia: “Just now, Li Qing suddenly appeared and grabbed the person delivering vegetables. Then somehow, that person’s body suddenly emitted a golden light, swelling up like a balloon…”

“Yes, yes, then the liar big brother shielded us!”

“Then the liar big brother coughed up blood!”

“My lady, my lady,” a child boldly tugged on Dong Xia’s arm, “Did the liar big brother get hurt to save us? Will you save him?”

“Even if he’s a liar, at least he saved us…”

“Yeah, yeah, the liar big brother looks so pitiful, he’s coughing blood! Please save him, my lady!”

Dong Xia’s head ached from the chorus of requests from the little radish heads around her. She lifted the unconscious Li Qing with one hand: “Alright, alright, as long as he doesn’t die, okay? When did he buy all of you over?”

The little radish heads eagerly raised their hands to answer.

“The liar big brother is handsome!”

“My mother said, no wonder the liar big brother could make even the lady angry!”

“What… you little brat, I never said such disrespectful things!”

Amidst the clamor, Dong Xia lifted the weakly breathing Li Qing and headed towards her room with a headache.

After a few steps, she turned back to the woman: “The people we brought back are still outside, go receive them.”

The woman gently agreed, and then helped Dong Xia by stopping the others and sending them off to their own business, finally giving Dong Xia some peace.

Dong Xia dragged Li Qing back to her room, casting an annoyed glance at the pitiful Yu Xu sword following behind: “He won’t live for many more days anyway, isn’t this just making use of waste? Why bother treating him, wasting my energy and medicine.”

Yu Xu sword circled her pitifully a couple of times, looking as if it was trying to please her.

Dong Xia flicked it away three feet with her finger, then threw Li Qing onto the bed with one hand and re-examined his injuries.

Actually, Li Qing’s injuries weren’t severe. Left alone, he could heal himself. The only drawback was that the inner demons Dong Xia had just suppressed for him were now trying to resurface, baring their fangs and claws.

Thinking that last night’s work had been in vain, Dong Xia became angry.

As she was picking out medicines Li Qing could take, the person on the bed woke up and coughed softly twice: “I…”

Dong Xia glanced at Li Qing: “Try pretending to have amnesia again.”

Li Qing: “…”

He sat up, swallowing his original words and replacing them with “I’m fine.”

Dong Xia finally chose the right medicine and stuffed it into Li Qing’s mouth: “Eat it—Since you were injured due to my mistake, I have to take some responsibility. We need to settle accounts.”

Li Qing obediently swallowed the bitter medicine. Its effects quickly spread through his meridians, repairing them.

He had known Dong Xia was a great alchemist, but this was truly the first time he had used her medicine.

If she hadn’t stuffed it into his mouth, he might have even wanted to cherish it and look at it daily in the future.

“We won’t test the formation anymore, we’ll go tomorrow,” Dong Xia said.

Li Qing turned to look at Dong Xia, and sure enough, her expression was as gloomy as the sky before a blizzard.

Sun Zhuo Er had reached into Dong City, the place Dong Xia least tolerated. Naturally, he would either succeed or perish.

If he couldn’t cripple Dong Xia, he could only bear her wrath.

And Li Qing had long since chosen his stance in this matter.

He was about to speak when he was interrupted by an “Oops!” from outside the door.

It was the little radish heads who had been eavesdropping outside, pushing and shoving each other. They lost their balance, and one fell, bringing two down, then two brought four down, all tumbling to the ground.

Originally, if they had been quiet and just eavesdropped, Li Qing and Dong Xia could have pretended they didn’t exist. But now with such a commotion, Dong Xia could no longer ignore it. She turned her head and said, “What’s all the noise? Go back and study.”

But the demoness feared by all in both the immortal and demon realms had no intimidating power in this Peach Blossom Spring. The fallen little ones got up one by one and ran towards her with cheeky grins: “My lady has saved the liar big brother!”

“Isn’t it enough that he’s not dead?” Dong Xia said impatiently with her arms crossed, “Are you satisfied now?”

“We want to see the liar big brother thank you!”

“That’s right, that’s right, he should repay the kindness of saving his life with his body!”

Li Qing: “…”

If this were anywhere else, he would fear those who spoke so rashly would be splattered with blood.

But these were precisely the people Dong Xia would never harm.

…Perhaps Dong Xia would do as they said?

Thinking of this, Li Qing’s heart suddenly raced. He carefully stole a glance at Dong Xia, only to meet her cold smile head-on.

“What, do you really want to repay with your body?” she asked with a half-smile.

Li Qing opened his mouth, but didn’t dare to say “I don’t want to.”

“Gone mute?” Dong Xia pressed.

Li Qing: “…I want to.”

He squeezed out the answer, then immediately defended himself, “Be careful of heavenly lightning.”

It wouldn’t matter if he and Dong Xia were struck a few times, but the group beside them couldn’t withstand it.

Dong Xia took a deep breath, clearly trying to control her anger.

“Wow, send them to the bridal chamber!”

“May you live in harmony for a hundred years!”

“Have children soon!”

But this didn’t stop the children, who didn’t yet understand the ways of love between men and women, from joining in the commotion, reciting the folk sayings they half-understood.

Fortunately, the woman quickly arrived and bundled up the little radish heads, chasing them away. Otherwise, Li Qing truly believed Dong Xia would personally dig out the medicine she had just fed him from his stomach.

The woman smiled as she looked Li Qing over: “It’s good that Young Master Li is alright. Thank you for saving them earlier.”

“It was my duty…”

“He’s fine now,” Dong Xia said impatiently, “He won’t die, but my efforts from yesterday were wasted. He’s not a hindrance anyway.”

The woman clasped her hands together and gently changed the subject: “I’ve settled the children you just brought back.”

Dong Xia gave a low “Mm” in response: “I’ll set up a new formation today. We’ll set out for the Immortal Realm early tomorrow morning. During this time, no one is to enter or leave, and no one can be trusted until I return.”

The woman was stunned for a moment, but didn’t ask Dong Xia for the reason. She lowered her head and agreed, then asked, “Will Young Master Li also go with you, my lady?”

“I will,” Li Qing spoke up before Dong Xia could, “Dong Xia, let me help you.”

He paused, then added, “I can help you, as long as you trust me.”

Dong Xia glanced at him: “Smooth talker.”

Li Qing moved his fingers, but in the end didn’t reach for Dong Xia’s hand. He only said softly, “As you said, I don’t have many days left to live. It’s just making use of waste. You have nothing to lose.”

The woman turned to look out the window, smiling meaningfully: “I haven’t heard any thunder today.”

Dong Xia: “…Whose side are you on?”