I Snatched the Male Lead’s "Cool Novel" Script - Chapter 23

When Yan Yu woke up, she was already in the carriage.

Her dry eyes rolled twice, and she saw that her bundle had been placed on the seat to the left front. Beside it was Yin Beiqing, leaning diagonally against the soft seat. Beside her was Zhongpu, who had folded up her burly body and was squatting in the corner, looking rather aggrieved.

At the meeting before departure, it had been decided that Yin Beiqing would bring three people to Yaochi Mountain this time: Teng Jingjie and Xueji, whose destructive power was high enough, and the last one was Zhongpu, the most steady and honest in the way she handled things.

She was casually wearing a beast-fur vest and long trousers tied at the ankles. She was around seven chi tall, and the muscles of her exposed arms were beautiful and smooth. Her skin had a healthy bronze sheen. Her neat short hair paired with upturned phoenix eyes made her look very imposing.

The long strip of leather earring on her left ear was a token of her family tribe.

“You’re awake.” Her attention had been on Yan Yu the whole time, so she noticed the moment Yan Yu opened her eyes.

Yan Yu was wrapped in the fox-fur cloak she had made herself. One of them had probably covered her with it, and it really was useful, keeping her very warm.

She gathered the collar of the cloak with her hand and supported her slightly weak body as she sat up. “Did I trouble you all again?”

“It was all right.” Zhongpu had always said whatever came to mind. “The Valley Master suggested waiting until you woke up before setting out, but Sister Ruan vetoed it with one vote. She said you were simply physically exhausted and there was no need to make such a big reaction, so we still set off on time. Calculating it, we didn’t delay anything.”

As soon as she finished saying this, a sharp killing gaze from Yin Beiqing flew over. A finger beneath her sleeve flicked, and the crisp date pinched in her palm shot toward Zhongpu.

Zhongpu easily raised her hand and caught it, then turned and handed it to Yan Yu. “The Valley Master invites you to eat a date.”

Yan Yu awkwardly accepted it, but only pinched it in her palm, not daring to actually eat it.

“Eat. You haven’t eaten anything all day.” Zhongpu handed over another plate of stuffed pancakes. “These were specially prepared for you.”

True. Among this group of people, Yan Yu was the only useless Beast Arts Master who would starve to death if she did not eat.

Yan Yu saw through the lifted curtain that the sky outside had already darkened. This morning, she had not even had time to eat breakfast before being pulled to the Starwatching Pavilion.

She really had not eaten all day.

After realizing this, she suddenly felt the emptiness in her stomach.

“Eat.” Zhongpu extended her arm forward a little more. “If you think it’s too dry, there’s water in the water pouch beside you.”

Perhaps because she was hungry, Yan Yu felt that this dark cuisine from Langdie Valley actually smelled rather fragrant.

She thanked her softly, wrapped one piece in a handkerchief, picked it up, and put it into her mouth. Only then did she realize it was warm.

Although it was something that could be done with very simple fire-element spiritual arts, Yan Yu still silently praised Zhongpu’s attentiveness in her heart. She even daydreamed a little, thinking that if everyone in Langdie Valley had a personality like Zhongpu’s, then her career of pretending to be the goddess would be much more pleasant.

Beside her, Yin Beiqing, who was chewing on dates, suddenly sneered softly. “Pretentious.”

She was probably talking about Yan Yu’s habit of using a handkerchief just to eat a stuffed pancake.

Yan Yu ignored her little mockery and turned to ask her about the important matter. “Where is that sword?”

“Here.” Zhongpu pointed behind her.

The Demon-Slaying Blade was wrapped in a layer of miscellaneous cloth and leaned crookedly in the corner. Its treatment was not even as good as the plates holding food in the carriage.

“Speaking of which, it’s strange. This sword seems to be something only you and the Valley Master can pick up. No one else could pull it out.”

So Yin Beiqing had also been the one to bring it along.

“Mm…” Yan Yu drank some water, swallowing down the thick, dry pancake skin, and began recalling what had happened before she fainted.

Although she did not know what was going on, she seemed to have been forced into a combined beast form with Jiwu earlier.

A Beast Arts Master could combine with a Beast Soul to form a beast form. In this state, both sides’ soul power would receive a massive boost, and their combat strength would greatly increase. However, because this combat form consumed an enormous amount of soul power, ordinary people would not use it lightly unless they encountered an extremely difficult opponent.

It was not strange that Yan Yu could combine with a Beast Soul to form a beast form. The problem was that Jiwu was not her Beast Soul at all.

One had to know that although forming a combined beast form was not difficult, it tested the understanding, trust, and cooperation between the Beast Arts Master and Beast Soul. Between her and Jiwu, forget understanding—one could not even say they got along amicably.

However, there was one thing she had some idea about.

At first, because the original author had not carefully explained why Guo Lu could pull out the Demon-Slaying Blade, Yan Yu had simply categorized it under the crude and simple “protagonist halo.” But now, she could almost be certain that what the Demon-Slaying Blade recognized was not Guo Lu as its master, but Jiwu, the golden finger on his body.

The Demon-Slaying Blade was bloodthirsty by nature. Every one of its previous masters had been an executioner with hands stained in blood. Coincidentally, Jiwu’s traits complemented it perfectly. As long as it was beside Jiwu, its power would be infinitely amplified.

Jiwu’s sudden intense reaction earlier should also have been because she sensed the Demon-Slaying Blade’s power. And what was very miraculous was that there seemed to be some kind of connection between her and the Demon-Slaying Blade, which indirectly gave Yan Yu and Yin Beiqing the ability to wield it.

“What are you spacing out for?” Yin Beiqing flicked the back of her head. “Friendly reminder: if that stinky brat doesn’t listen, there’s no need to go easy on her.”

Even if she did not go easy, she could not beat her!

Yan Yu nodded perfunctorily, planning not to discuss the issue of educating Beast Souls with this person any further.

“Wait.” Yin Beiqing seemed to notice something and suddenly narrowed her eyes, staring at Yan Yu. “Why do you look completely fine?”

“Ah?”

“The Valley Master probably isn’t cursing you.” Zhongpu quickly guessed the meaning behind Yin Beiqing’s words. “She means that since you cannot control Jiwu’s soul power, why did you not suffer backlash? Instead, you look safe and unharmed.”

Yan Yu tugged at her pale lips. Honestly, she did not really count as “safe and unharmed,” did she?

But there was no need to hide this matter from them. Yan Yu said directly, “I seem to have… awakened my Soul Domain.”

“Soul Domain?” Zhongpu cast a puzzled look toward Yin Beiqing.

Who could have thought that Yan Yu, who looked so weak she might collapse in the wind and coughed blood after running two steps, actually had soul power at the level of a Special-rank Beast Arts Master?

But when Miutan had done the background investigation earlier, she had clearly said Yan Yu was only a C-rank Beast Arts Master who had been rejected by Yuling Academy for three consecutive years.

“So you let her freely enter and leave your Soul Domain?”

“…Ah.”

Locking Jiwu inside the Soul Domain was the most effective and direct way to suppress her.

Yin Beiqing, however, had never done this. Of course, this was not because she adored Jiwu that much. It was purely because she did not allow anyone other than herself to enter and leave her Soul Domain.

Even when she was forced to the edge of demonic corruption by runaway soul power, Yin Beiqing had never wavered in this thought.

Thinking about it now, back in the treasure vault, Jiwu had probably been left with no choice and was forced to hide inside Yan Yu’s body. But as for why Yan Yu’s body could contain this violent Special-rank Beast Soul, there was still no answer for now.

“I have Fou Pills here. Would you like a few?” Zhongpu fed her another small bottle, wearing an expression that said, You’ve worked hard raising children.

Yan Yu waved her hand and took out an oil-paper packet from her own pocket. “Those pills are too valuable. Keep them for yourself. I’ll just eat this.”

After Lotus Bead Fruits ripened, they had a very short storage time. A large patch had ripened in Yan Yu’s Soul Domain earlier. She could not finish them, and letting them rot on their own felt like a waste. Remembering that the fruit had a high sugar content, she had made them into candy herself and wrapped them in oil paper. This way, their storage time could be greatly extended.

The process was not difficult either. She only had to crush the fruit, filter out the juice, boil the juice into syrup, then let it dry and break it into pieces.

This method saved time and effort. When she was young, her family had been strict, but she and her sister were both greedy for sweets, so her sister had figured out this method and taught her.

Lotus Bead Fruit eaten on its own was already a very nourishing medicinal ingredient for soul power. It was just right for Yan Yu, who had just consumed a large amount of soul power in the combined beast form.

She stuffed one into her mouth and pressed it to her left cheek with the tip of her tongue. She had never been used to biting candies apart. She liked holding them in her mouth like this, slowly waiting for them to melt.

“What is that?”

“Candy made from Lotus Bead Fruit. Its effect is about the same as Fou Pills.” Yan Yu was very good at reading the room and handed a piece to Zhongpu. “Want to try?”

“Thank you.”

That small piece of candy occupied half of Yan Yu’s palm, but once it reached Zhongpu, set against her broad and sturdy hand, it instantly looked much smaller.

Yan Yu felt a little embarrassed and stuffed a few more pieces over to her. Otherwise, she was truly afraid such a tiny amount would not even be enough to fill the gaps between her teeth.

Zhongpu smiled politely at her, unwrapped seven or eight pieces, and poured them all into her mouth at once. Hearing the crunch, crunch sound, one could tell her teeth were excellent.

“Very sweet stuff.” She tasted it carefully and nodded in evaluation. “And after eating it, it really does feel about the same as Fou Pills. It’s like all the pathways in my body have been opened. Very comfortable.”

“If you like them, I have a lot more.” Yan Yu was in a very good mood after the fruits of her labor were recognized, so she generously handed over all her stock. “I still have plenty back there.”

“Sickly weakling.” Yin Beiqing suddenly supported her forehead and called her lowly.

“What is it?” Yan Yu turned to look at her.

“My head is a little dizzy.” She said this with a wooden face.

“I think the Valley Master must be experiencing brief physical weakness caused by stagnant soul power, similar to your situation.” Under Yin Beiqing’s eye signal, Zhongpu spoke against her conscience. “Perhaps letting her try your candy will be effective.”

“…”

Yan Yu confirmed that both of these people were not used to lying. Their expressions were more flawed than the other’s.

But it was only a few candies. If it could smooth down her fur, it was not a loss.

“Do you want to try some too?” She moved her hand in front of Yin Beiqing.

Yin Beiqing leaned her neck forward, lowered her eyelids, and slowly opened her mouth at her.

Did you not grow hands?

Yan Yu silently complained, but still resigned herself to tearing open the oil-paper wrapper and stuffing one into her mouth.

Her fingers inevitably touched soft lips. The temperature, hotter than she had imagined, sent a numbing electric feeling through her fingertips. She remained calm and quickly withdrew her hand.

Yin Beiqing held that fruit candy in her mouth. With one curl of her tongue, she swallowed it directly.

After finishing, she even frowned. “No taste.”

Yan Yu resisted the urge to complain that her eating method was even more wasteful than Zhu Bajie swallowing ginseng fruit whole. She patiently peeled two more for her.

“This is candy, not medicine. Don’t swallow it. Hold it in your mouth and slowly wait for it to melt.”

Yin Beiqing raised the end of her brow and lazily opened her mouth at her again.

“Then I’ll try again.”

“…”

Yan Yu thought she might as well peel all of them and feed them to her directly, ending it once and for all. So she found an empty plate and rolled up her sleeves, preparing to work.

Just as her sleeve was folded to the middle of her forearm, out of the corner of her eye, she saw several dark-brown finger marks on her wrist. A thin layer of transparent ointment had been applied over these marks.

No wonder she had kept feeling something cool there earlier. She had thought it was because the bracelet was too cold against her skin.

“This is Xueji’s old habit,” Zhongpu explained for her. “Does it still hurt?”

“I know.” Yan Yu waved at her. “It doesn’t hurt.”

This kind of mark was left behind after touching refined miasma poison. It was a little prank Xueji often used. The poison was not strong, but if left untreated for a long time, it would slowly seep into the body like boiling a frog in warm water. Aside from physical weakness and drowsiness, the host would feel almost nothing. However, in the end, it would leave a burn-like scar on the wrist.

Most of Xueji’s prank targets were random. Almost everyone who had come into contact with her had suffered. The psychology behind her gaining pleasure from such behavior was probably similar to people who wrote “so-and-so was here” wherever they went.

“But fortunately, the Valley Master noticed early, and even specially gave you—”

“Zhongpu.” Yin Beiqing, holding candy in her mouth, raised her voice and stopped her. Her gaze moved outside. “Go outside and check the wind. Look for a place to stop tonight.”

“Ah? All right.” Zhongpu seemed not to realize that she had been deliberately interrupted. She honestly responded and lifted the carriage curtain to go out.

With one fewer person in the carriage, the air immediately became quiet.

Yan Yu sat upright, eyes lowered and nose aligned with heart, unmoving. Only after all the candy in her mouth had been eaten did she raise her head and tentatively glance at Yin Beiqing.

She discovered that this person had long since closed her eyes to rest in feigned sleep. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief, tightened the fox-fur cloak around herself, and lay back down.

She did not know how this carriage was driven, but it was very stable. Before long, heavy drowsiness enveloped her.

Just as she was sleeping comfortably, a burst of tinkling sounds suddenly rang in her ears. It was not loud, but it kept ringing nonstop, somewhat noisy and irritating.

This sound came from the Soul Domain inside her body.

She endured it for a while, but in the end, she compromised and pushed her consciousness inside. The prophecy tree covered by the glass dome was twisting its body and constantly shaking its leaves. The sound came from the collision of those golden leaves.

Panpan and Lujia were lying beneath the tree, head to head, studying a plant to see whether it could be eaten. Not far from them, the irritable Jiwu stood there with her arms crossed, the tip of her foot constantly tapping the ground.

Impatience was written all over her face.

“Hey, hurry up and pull it out. It’s so noisy.” Jiwu, who had finally waited until Yan Yu arrived, immediately spoke.

Yan Yu walked over and looked her up and down. “Are you all right?”

“What could happen to me?” She clicked her tongue. “Hurry up and deal with it. It’s so noisy. I can’t even sleep!”

“I’ll try…”

In truth, Yan Yu did not know why this tree had suddenly started acting up, let alone how to soothe it.

Only, based on her previous interactions with it, she could tell that it seemed to have spirituality. It could read people’s thoughts and even respond.

She walked forward and pressed her palm against the trunk. The instant her palm touched the rough bark, her consciousness was pulled into an unfamiliar space. Her mind began to empty, and her thoughts gradually slowed, as if all the exhaustion in her body had been pulled away.

The tree shook its branches and leaves, like an animal shaking its head. Then a long branch lowered, and the tip poked lightly at her waist.

As if asking for something.

Yan Yu opened her eyes and rummaged around in the inner pocket of her clothes for a while, pulling out the packet of seeds Yin Beiqing had given her earlier.

“This?” She lifted the seed packet.

The tree rustled twice, looking as though it was nodding.

Yan Yu crouched down and selected a few seeds of each type, tossing them into the soil. The miraculous phenomenon from last time appeared again. The ground seemed alive, opening a hole and swallowing all the seeds.

Clang— Another golden leaf fell.

Amber and Guilin descend; detoxify and strengthen the body.

“What is this?” Jiwu leaned over to look. “Why does your Soul Domain have all these strange things?”

Yan Yu tugged at the corner of her mouth, not knowing how to explain it to her. After all, she herself did not know the reason either.

“Why aren’t you talking? What are Amber and Guilin?”

“They’re both medicinal herbs.” Yan Yu casually picked several amber grass plants from the ground and put them away.

Amber Grass and Guilin Grass were both rare medicinal herbs that grew in extremely cold places. Yaochi Mountain was located in the north, where there was wind and snow all year round. It was precisely a good place for them to grow.

This tree seemed to know she was going there, so it had specially dropped a leaf to remind her.

The Amber-Guilin Pill could not only neutralize hundreds of poisons, but could also temporarily raise one’s physique rank beyond normal limits. During Guo Lu’s entrance exam at Yuling Academy, he had relied on taking this pill to obtain admission as the number-one new student.

Right now, Yan Yu only had one ingredient, Amber Grass. She was still missing another before she could make the pill. But Yan Yu was not planning to fiddle with it for herself.

The Amber-Guilin Pill did have significant effects, but to her, it was like a fatal poison. In the short term, it could indeed increase combat strength, but it treated the symptoms, not the root cause, and required overdrawing a huge amount of soul power. Her body could not withstand such torment.

But that did not mean it was useless. According to the plotline, later on Yaochi Mountain, Guo Lu used this pill to solve Lin Hegui’s urgent problem and gained her trust, being accepted as her disciple.

Yan Yu did not ask for that big shot to accept her as a disciple. It would be enough if it could offset medical expenses for Yin Beiqing, this troublesome person who never let others rest easy.

…

Zhongpu looked like a large, strength-type person, but she was the fastest on her feet in Langdie Valley. After getting off the carriage, she ran dozens of li in one go and returned in only a few minutes after scouting the road.

There was a cave ahead. The miasma there was not heavy, and the trees were dense. Compared with other places, having some cover at night made it slightly safer.

For Yan Yu, that was.

“Then go there.” Yin Beiqing nodded.

The two carriages drove smoothly all the way to the cave Zhongpu had pointed out, then stopped nearby. The five people got off the carriage.

It would take about two days to reach the foot of Yaochi Mountain. To save time, they would probably rest until early morning before setting off again.

The temperature difference between day and night here was even greater than in Langdie Valley. The night soon to arrive would be very difficult for the physically frail Yan Yu.

Zhongpu went out and returned holding a pile of leaves and broken branches. Yin Beiqing, leaning against a rock, seemed to casually snap her fingers. Orange-yellow flames immediately rose before everyone.

In the firelight, Yan Yu rubbed her hands, comfortably narrowed her eyes, and thanked them. “So warm.”

Panpan and Lujia also came out of the Soul Domain and curled up at her feet. The little fatty, now possessed by a spoiled spirit, rolled once in the pile of grass but was still not satisfied. It stuck up its butt and climbed onto Yan Yu’s knees.

“Fatty.”

“Pan!” Panpan angrily put its paws on its waist and looked toward Yin Beiqing. “Don’t call me fatty. It’s rude.”

Someone did not restrain the smile at the corner of her mouth at all. She crooked a finger at it. “Then come here.”

“What for?” Panpan twisted its body and hid behind Yan Yu. “I’m telling you, my master won’t be afraid of you!”

“Cough, cough—” Yan Yu, who had been holding a water pouch and drinking, was frightened by its words and choked until a large patch of her neck turned red.

“Is that so?” Yin Beiqing turned toward Yan Yu, her tone meaningful. “You really aren’t afraid of me?”

Clearly, every time Yin Beiqing approached, Yan Yu grew so nervous she looked like she wished to keep a hundred chi away from her.

Yan Yu had no intention of getting involved in this childish quarrel between them. Ignoring Yin Beiqing’s gaze, she screwed the water pouch shut and stood up. “I’ll go out and check on Teng Jingjie and the others. You two… play.”

As long as Panpan was not bullied into tears, this kind of interaction could tentatively be classified as “playing.”

“Don’t act alone.” Yin Beiqing stretched out her long arm and picked up Lujia, who was quietly digging soil beside her, then tossed it over. “Don’t go too far.”

“All right.”

Actually, even if she were alone, Yan Yu would be very safe. Given the Beast Arts Master ranks of the big shots traveling with her, they could immediately detect any movement within a hundred li.

Rather than worrying about being attacked by evil spirits, she might as well worry about being stabbed in the back by her teammates.

Speak of the devil, and the devil appears. She had just stepped out of the cave when she ran straight into Xueji, who was more than half a head shorter than her.

The little girl held a bundle of something in both hands. There were mottled bloodstains on her cheeks, and she was lifting her head, blinking those beautiful, translucent blue eyes as she looked at Yan Yu.

“Goddess Sister.” Her voice was crisp, and her speaking speed was a little slow. “Just now, on the way to pick fruit, I ran into an injured little fox. It was covered in blood and kept trembling. It looked like it was going to die.”

Yan Yu instinctively felt that her words could not be trusted. This was very likely another prank prepared in advance. Just as she was about to find an excuse to leave, that icy little hand took hold of hers.

The little girl bit her lip, her wet eyes full of hope as she looked at Yan Yu. It was as if the moment Yan Yu shook her head, two strings of tears would immediately fall.

“I heard Goddess Sister can cure all illnesses and bring people back from the dead. Can you save it?”

“…”

“Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Goddess Sister is such a good person. You definitely won’t stand by and watch it die, right?”

Yan Yu had always been immune to both soft and hard tactics. But as a doctor, what she could not stand most was someone using this sentence to provoke her.

The two stood at a stalemate for a while. In the end, under Xueji’s “pure” gaze, Yan Yu was defeated. “Where is it?”

Xueji broke into a smile through her tears and tugged her hand. “It’s over there. Hurry and come with me.”

She held Yan Yu’s hand and led her through twists and turns, finally stopping before a patch of grass as high as the knee. Then she walked over herself, back facing Yan Yu, and gently picked up something with both hands.

“Sister, look.”

The fox should still have been a cub. The fur on its body was still very new, only now it was already covered in blood. It weakly curled into a ball in Xueji’s arms, and the wound on its abdomen kept dripping blood.

“Give it to me.” Yan Yu reached out toward her. “I’ll take a look.”

“No.” Xueji took a step back, the corner of her mouth rising as she pulled out an eerie smile at Yan Yu. “Sister only needs to watch.”

After saying this, she instantly put away all the expressions on her face. She lowered her head and looked at the little fox with eyes so cold they contained not a trace of emotion, as if the obedient, sweet little girl from earlier had only been an illusion in Yan Yu’s eyes.

Xueji’s slender right hand pinched the fox’s tail and lifted it high into the air. The fox weakly twisted its body, and several urgent screams were filled with fear.

“Xueji.” Yan Yu stepped forward and grabbed her hand, repeating her words in a serious voice. “I said, give it to me.”

“Why?” Xueji opened her mouth wide and laughed. Her laughter was a little sharp, making chills rise all over one’s body. “I’m also trying to save it. Or does Sister think that someone like me isn’t worthy of saving others?”

“You want to kill it in front of me, don’t you?” Yan Yu calmly exposed her disguise. “You want me, as a healer, to personally watch life fade away. You’re looking forward to what kind of painful, despairing expression I’ll show. You want to take joy from that, don’t you?”

“Sister, how could you say that…” Xueji wrinkled her face, and tears immediately welled in her eyes. Her soft, delicate voice carried sobs, as if she had suffered a great grievance. “I’m the same as Sister. I’m also doing this for its own good.”

“Look at how badly injured it is. It will die sooner or later. If I end its pain early, how is that not a kind of salvation?” Her eyes were wide, innocent and pure, yet the words from her mouth made one’s hair stand on end. “I’m also looking forward to the day in the future when I let Sister feel my warmth too.”

Xueji’s words were a little difficult for Lujia to understand, but it could sense that most primal killing intent. Out of animal instinct, it opened its mouth and growled lowly at her.

“Shh!” Xueji glared at it. “I’m talking about something important with Goddess Sister. Can you not interrupt?”

“Xueji, I’ll say this one last time.” Yan Yu reached out to her. “Give her to me.”

“Why should I listen to you?”

The force in Xueji’s hand gradually increased. Feeling pain, the fox began to howl loudly and pitifully.

Slap— The palm collided with the cheek, producing a crisp sound.

Xueji covered her burning cheek and froze completely in place. Taking advantage of this opening, Yan Yu snatched the injured fox from her hand.

The most serious wound was the tearing injury on its abdomen, probably left behind from fighting a large fierce beast. There were also a few fractures and claw wounds that were not too serious.

She tore strips from the hem of her skirt and began cleaning the wound and stopping the bleeding.

Xueji, who had been slapped and then coldly left to the side, turned her head in disbelief. “You hit me.”

Yan Yu remained silent. Only the movements of her hands did not stop. Fortunately, before leaving, she had bought a few bone needles from Ruan Yuemin at a high price, so she could stitch it up.

“Go away!” Lujia suddenly shouted loudly. “Don’t get close to my master!”

Lujia’s rank was not enough. It could only use spiritual arts with its master’s cooperation. Sensing danger now, it could only growl in Xueji’s direction and try to drive her back.

Reminded by its voice, Yan Yu finally looked up and caught sight of Xueji raising the dagger hidden in her sleeve, pointing it in her direction.

“Try it.” She raised her voice, her tone calm without the slightest fear. “You should know Langdie Valley’s rules. If you really do this, how will Yin Beiqing punish you?”

“You’re threatening me!” Xueji wrinkled her nose and bared her teeth at her. The eruption and suppression of emotion made her face twist. “I hate self-righteous people in high positions like you the most! You think that once you have someone’s weakness in your hands, you can do whatever you want to us, don’t you?”

Yan Yu quickly finished stitching, held the fox, and stood up. “So? You want to use this method to experience the feeling of a strong person controlling the life of the weak? But you have experienced the latter feeling yourself. Isn’t this too cruel?”

As if provoked by her words, the twitching muscles on Xueji’s face suddenly loosened. The corners of her mouth pulled downward, and her gaze trembled as she looked at Yan Yu.

“I know you like Langdie Valley very much, and you don’t want to be hated by Yin Beiqing.” Sensing the change in her attitude, Yan Yu softened her tone and patted her fluffy head. “I won’t complain to her, but you have to be a little more obedient, all right?”

“Woof!” Xueji responded reflexively to this action. After barking aloud, she immediately covered her mouth in frustration.

Boss did not allow her to bark like this.

At this moment, Yan Yu also realized her careless action. She always used this head-patting “killer move” to deal with her little niece, and after it became a habit, she had subconsciously done the same to Xueji just now.

“Sorry. I won’t randomly touch your head next time.” She bent down and apologized. “No, that’s not right. There won’t be a next time.”

Xueji pressed her lips into a straight line and raised her eyes, carefully judging the sincerity in Yan Yu’s gaze. After obtaining the answer she wanted, she stepped back half a step and said very softly,

“It’s not like it’s completely impossible…”

…

“Valley Master, Xueji took the goddess away.” Zhongpu repeated what she had seen.

Yin Beiqing was lying on the pile of dry grass Zhongpu had spread for her. One hand supported the side of her face, and the other held a foxtail grass as she teased Panpan.

The little fatty had short legs, short arms, and a short body, yet it loved jumping toward high places. It clearly knew Yin Beiqing was deliberately being bad and teasing it, but when it saw the “flying back and forth” foxtail grass, it still could not help raising its paws to bat at it.

“It’s fine. If Yan Yu is really in danger, it’s more clever than anyone.” Yin Beiqing stretched out a finger and poked Panpan’s butt.

It did not look like she used much force, but Panpan, who had raised both front paws to reach for the grass, was already not standing as steadily as it would on four paws. After being poked by her, the whole beast fell forward and bit a mouthful of dry grass.

“Peh, peh, peh—” It turned its head angrily and glared. “What are you doing!”

Yin Beiqing laughed softly, not restraining herself at all as she pinched its cheek again. “Fatty, you’ve gained weight recently. Eat less. Your master won’t be able to carry you.”

“You’re talking nonsense!” This sentence clearly made Panpan even angrier than the poke just now. It straightened its body and copied human movements, placing both front paws on its waist. “My master said that I have a large frame. This weight isn’t fat at all!”

“She lied to you. She says that, but doesn’t she like those small, cute little white beasts the most? When you get so fat she can’t carry you, she’ll give you to me.” Yin Beiqing narrowed her eyes wickedly and pinched its nose. “Perfect. I love eating fatty meat.”

“Ah! Eating Beast Souls is illegal!” Panpan’s ear tips stood upright. In a panic, it crashed into Zhongpu’s arms, but quickly remembered that she was on the bad person’s side and hurriedly ran outside. “Master, Master, someone’s killing Beast Souls!”

Those short little legs had not even pitter-pattered out of the cave before they happened to crash into Yan Yu, who was walking back while holding the fox.

Standing short, the little fatty could not see clearly. It only knew that Yan Yu was very lovingly holding a fluffy little thing in her arms.

The words Yin Beiqing had said earlier sounded in its head again, and the threat it had originally not believed so much instantly gained more reality.

“Master, you don’t want me anymore!” It spoke with a crying tone. “How did you go out for just a while and come back holding another fluffy?”

As long as a creature had fur, Panpan called it “fluffy.” Things like Guilian and Jiwu were “bald fur monsters.”

Incidentally, in its eyes, humans also belonged to the latter category.

Hearing this, Yan Yu instinctively glanced toward Yin Beiqing. She did not ask anything, but had already accurately located the culprit who had threatened her Beast Soul.

“I just said it casually.” Yin Beiqing shrugged innocently at her.

Yan Yu shook her head and placed the fox in her arms onto a soft cushion.

Probably because it had confirmed it was temporarily safe, it had fallen asleep in Yan Yu’s arms earlier. Now, curled up on the soft cushion with its tail around itself, it looked pitiful and obedient.

Only then did Panpan notice the wound on its belly. “This fluffy is badly injured.”

“Mm.” Yan Yu reached out toward it.

The little fatty quickly whooshed up along her arm and lay in her warm, soft embrace. It broke into a smile through its tears. “So Master isn’t abandoning me. You were just saving the fluffy.”

“How many times have I told you? You and I are one. I could never abandon you.”

“What about Lujia?” The little pangolin lay on the ground and looked at her eagerly. “Lujia is only a beast pet. Will there be a day when…”

“No.” Yan Yu cut it off and picked it up too. Although holding two at once was a little difficult, she had to hold this bowl of water level. “Lujia is just as important to me as Panpan.”

This “mother kind, children filial” scene made Xueji extremely uncomfortable. She angrily stomped her feet, sat down beside Zhongpu, and used her dagger to stab at a rock.

“What’s wrong?” Zhongpu asked her.

“She bullied me.”

“Hahaha.” Zhongpu did not believe this at all. Who could bully this little ancestor? “But next time, don’t go looking for trouble with the goddess.”

“I didn’t go looking for trouble with her.” Xueji’s eyes reddened wetly, and she raised her dagger, about to stab Zhongpu.

“Don’t do that.” Zhongpu quickly grabbed her hand. “The dagger will break.”

Her skin was incomparably hard, impervious to blades and spears. When Xueji had nothing to do, she liked using sharp weapons to stab her and vent. So far, she had already broken seventeen daggers, three axes, and six large blades.

“So annoying!”

…

Everyone rested in the cave for one night and set off at dawn the next day.

After being fed Lotus Bead Fruit candy by Yan Yu, the fox’s healing ability sped up. When it woke, it could already walk on its own.

It probably knew Yan Yu was its lifesaver. Before being released, it very affectionately licked her cheek and called lowly twice before reluctantly leaving.

“Wipe it off. It’s filthy.” Inside the carriage, Yin Beiqing frowned and threw a handkerchief at Yan Yu. “Next time, don’t bring every dirty thing back.”

Yan Yu knew this person was used to having a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Almost half of Langdie Valley’s people were orphan girls she had “picked up casually.” Moreover, if she had really disliked it, she would not have silently allowed the fox to stay in the cave for the night earlier.

But fur still had to be smoothed. First, agree verbally. As for future matters, they could be discussed in the future.

“Mm, all right.” She accepted the handkerchief and symbolically wiped her face.

After another full day of jolting, Yan Yu sat by the window and watched the sky brighten, then darken. When the next evening was about to arrive, Zhongpu poked her head in.

“Ahead is a gathering place of the You tribespeople. It should be a scattered tribe. I went to scout it. There aren’t many households. Should we find a place to rest ourselves, or…”

Yin Beiqing lazily lifted her eyelids. “Just knock on any door. I’m not used to sleeping outside.”

Yan Yu heard this from the side and could not help complaining silently in her heart: What you’re doing isn’t knocking on a door and asking to be taken in. Bringing such a group of subordinates who look hard to provoke—frankly speaking, that’s intimidation!

Zhongpu nodded and continued controlling the carriage forward.

The sky darkened little by little. When the moon rose overhead, they finally approached the entrance of the tribe.

Yan Yu, who was a light sleeper, keenly caught some unusual sounds in the air and sat up to ask, “Is someone calling for help?”

Yin Beiqing had somehow been continuously pulling crisp dates from who knew where. She bit one. “Maybe.”

Yan Yu lost the desire to sleep and prepared to sit up to look at the situation outside. But just as she lifted the carriage curtain, the Demon-Slaying Blade, which had been lying quietly beside her, suddenly trembled and flew out with a whoosh!

“The sword!”

Zhongpu immediately stopped the carriage. Yan Yu crawled out of the carriage and watched helplessly as the cooked duck in her hands flew around wildly in the sky.

Bang! Bang, bang! Bang— It sounded like heavy objects striking the ground.

Yan Yu stood higher and looked into the distance. She finally understood why the Demon-Slaying Blade had suddenly become restless.

Not far from them, a huge evil spirit was “feeding.”

Its appearance was extremely strange. From afar, it looked like an inflated meatball with two hands. Half a deer head was stuck on the left side of its head, and behind it were three snake tails. Both pairs of “hands” were covered in thick black fur, its claw tips sharp. Its enormous tongue was six or seven chi long, hanging in front of it and swinging left and right as it ran. The miasma on its body was so strong that Yan Yu could smell it even from such a distance.

An evil spirit of this degree was at least A-rank, if not Special-rank.

And the food about to enter its mouth was a thin, long-limbed little girl.

The girl had a head full of thin braids and wore an outer robe with a beast-fur collar, typical clothing of the You tribespeople. She had probably gone out at night and, through bad luck, happened to run into a hungry evil spirit.

Although tonight was not a blue moon, night was when evil spirits appeared. In addition, the area near Yaochi had low temperatures, making it a highly active area for evil spirits.

“Don’t breathe it in.” A hand covered Yan Yu’s mouth and nose from behind.

The thick calluses in the palm, the body temperature a few degrees hotter than ordinary people’s, and that familiar cold fragrance—without turning her head, Yan Yu could recognize who it was.

“Can we only watch her die?”

Yan Yu knew that what Yin Beiqing disliked most was meddling in other people’s affairs. Although she greatly detested filthy, mindless creatures like evil spirits, she was the Living Yama, not some savior. Why would she have nothing better to do than save a You tribesperson unrelated to her?

“You want to save her?” Unexpectedly, Yin Beiqing’s answer differed from what Yan Yu had guessed. But her gaze did not give even half a glance to the crying girl fleeing for her life. She only stared at the person before her. “Fine.”

Yan Yu turned her head in surprise, only to see her hook her crimson lips and say, “But before ordering someone to do hard labor, you should at least give a reward.”

The implication in her words left Yan Yu half-understanding and half-not. She only instinctively felt that this probably would not be some easy condition.

Somewhat at a loss, she leaned back, pulling away from this dangerous person.

“What’s wrong, Lady Goddess?” But the dangerous person pressed closer relentlessly, barely stopping a few inches from her face. The warm breath from her lips lingered around Yan Yu’s nose. “Are you not saving all living beings anymore?”