chapter 44

On the day of the Zhongyuan Festival, did you…?

Hearing the voice of Yue Zhiheng, Zhan Yunwei's first reaction was that Yue, the head of the division, had chased her all the way here.

The last time they parted, their swords were drawn, and he had threatened Pei Yujing by choking her. She left without hesitation.

Now, faced with this unexpected reunion, Zhan Yunwei didn't know how to react to Yue Zhiheng.

His arm was strong around her waist, and the hand that held her firmly to prevent her from biting down on him showed no mercy. The monster was just on the other side of the wall. Which was more terrifying, Yue Zhiheng or the monster?

He seemed to understand her thoughts, and with a low, cold laugh, he said, "It seems that in Miss Zhan's mind, there's no difference between inside and outside the house. Yue is not someone who lacks tact, so I'll send you out."

Zhan Yunwei: "..."

No, she quickly relaxed and shook her head in acknowledgment.

It was different. Her hesitation just now was only because she was afraid of being caught after finally managing to escape.

"Thank you, Master Yue, for saving me."

Yue Zhiheng glanced at her, almost indifferently pushing her out of his arms.

Zhan Yunwei realized that Yue Zhiheng was probably also here looking for the flower nectar.

He had already said before that he didn't want to lose his cultivation.

Yue Zhiheng was not the type to just wait passively, so it made sense that he came here himself for the flower nectar.

Zhan Yunwei discreetly scanned the room.

The room was simple, like a guest room hastily set up by the villagers, with only a small wooden bed in the cramped space.

There were farming tools scattered on the floor, and half a red candle burned on the table.

After being pushed out, Zhan Yunwei leaned against the wooden table, looking up to see Yue Zhiheng.

Yue Zhiheng, clearly more experienced than Zhan Shujing, wore a dark blue cloak, the snow in the secret realm just melted, and the spring chill lingered. He looked like a noble from a wealthy family, distant and indifferent. His expression was indifferent as he looked down at her, as if she were a stranger.

Since the Qixi Festival, the fragile relationship between them had completely unraveled. Zhan Yunwei was neither his Dao companion nor his prisoner anymore.

Now, they had returned to their original roles.

He was the head of the Tianyu Division, a feared imperial enforcer, and she was the daughter of the mountain master in exile, waiting for the resurrection of the Immortal Sect.

Zhan Yunwei raised her eyes and asked softly, "Master Yue, are you going to arrest me?"

In the faint candlelight, Zhan Yunwei saw a trace of mockery in his expression. "I'm not interested."

Zhan Yunwei sighed in relief. It seemed that unless ordered directly by the Spiritual Emperor, he had no interest in using her to claim credit.

Or rather, her existence was probably a hassle for Yue Zhiheng.

Since he wasn't going to arrest her, she didn't consider him an enemy. With the oddities in Taoyuan Village and Zhan Shujing missing, having an ally was a good thing.

Zhan Yunwei noticed that Yue Zhiheng was alone. "Where's Master Fang?" Yesterday, Fang Huai had been with him.

Yue Zhiheng glanced at her. "You don't know?"

Zhan Yunwei was surprised, her brown eyes widening. "How would I know?"

Yue Zhiheng leaned against the wall, looking down at her. His tone was unreadable. "So, that guy from the Immortal Sect wasn't used as 'room rent' and paid to the village?"

This sentence was packed with meaning, and Zhan Yunwei couldn't help but stare at him.

What did he mean? Was Yue Zhiheng implying that Zhan Shujing had been used as "room rent"?

Finally, the oddities from before made sense. No wonder the villagers had insisted that she find lodging before dark. The village chief didn't accept her hairpin but then said she had already paid "room rent."

Hearing the deeper meaning behind Yue Zhiheng's words, Zhan Yunwei's expression became strange. "Did you use Master Fang as 'room rent' for the village?"

Yue Zhiheng answered indifferently, "Mm."

"…" It seemed Yue Zhiheng had taken the initiative to "pay," leaving Zhan Yunwei speechless for a moment.

But she knew there must be a reason for Yue Zhiheng's actions. "How did you figure out that the village only accepts living people as room rent?"

This story was long.

It turned out that Yue Zhiheng and the others had arrived in the village at noon, earlier than Zhan Yunwei and the others by an entire afternoon, so they had almost mapped out the layout of Taoyuan Village.

There were seventeen households in Taoyuan Village, but strangely, there were no women. Every household consisted entirely of men.

They worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, like a secluded, peaceful village.

The village was surrounded by peach blossoms, with neat houses that looked like a painting. According to the village chief, they survived by selling peach blossom wine.

Before dark, Yue Zhiheng and the others were also refused lodging.

Since Taoyuan Village had a complete system, even deliberately imitating human customs, there must have been a way to crack it. Before nightfall, everyone knew they had to find a place to stay.

So they tried bargaining.

Fang Huai offered spirit stones, magic tools, talismans, and array formations one after another, but the village chief just chased them away, not even looking at these things. Qu Lanyue's eyes turned, as if thinking of something.

Just when Master Fang was desperate enough to want to hit the village chief, Yue Zhiheng suddenly spoke, "I'll pay the room fee, how about that?"

The village chief abruptly looked up, a strange smile curling at the corner of his lips. This time, instead of chasing them away, he shook his head. "The distinguished guest doesn't quite fit."

Yue Zhiheng turned his gaze lightly to Fang Huai.

Fang Huai nearly wanted to cry—what kind of twisted thinking was this? Could he even refuse?

He hoped the village chief would refuse, but he wasn't Yue Zhiheng and didn't want to go. To his surprise, the village chief smiled slightly and accepted, "But this only covers the room fee for one person. The rest of you are still not allowed to stay."

Qu Lanyue offered herself, but when the village chief refused, she smoothly switched to Shen Ye, and only then did the village chief nod in agreement.

Before nightfall, the village chief assigned each of them a place to stay.

The moment the moon rose, everyone simultaneously activated their spiritual techniques. At the same time, Fang Huai and Shen Ye silently disappeared.

Zhan Yunwei didn't know what to say at that moment.

What kind of bizarre thinking could lead someone to use themselves or their companions as "room rent"?

At the same time, she was curious, "Why didn't the village accept you and Miss Qu?"

Yue Zhiheng glanced at her. "What do you think?"

If he had only suspected before, now that he saw Zhan Yunwei here, he felt his guess was almost certain.

Zhan Yunwei said, "I don't quite understand..."

After all, she had been trained as a righteous spirit master by the Immortal Sect. What kind of normal person could understand such bizarre things?

Yue Zhiheng looked at her and said calmly, "The village only accepts those with a living Yuan Yang body."

Zhan Yunwei froze for a long moment, her ears burning with embarrassment.

She regretted asking the question. If she had known that Yue Zhiheng would answer everything, she should have curbed her curiosity.

"Master Yue, what are your plans now?"

Yue Zhiheng said, "It will be clear after dawn."

Zhan Yunwei paused, knowing there was no point in worrying now. The ancient secret realms had their own prohibitions.

After entering Taoyuan Village, they couldn't use their spiritual power. Living people could disappear without a trace, and there was no way to resist. Such high-level restrictions must also be tied to the village itself.

Within the rules, the disappeared ones would temporarily be safe.

The two of them sat at the table, neither planning to sleep. Yue Zhiheng, with his indifferent expression, played with a magic tool, perhaps simply not wanting to look at her.

In the quiet night of Taoyuan Village, even his magic tool couldn't be used.

Thinking about it, it had been half a month since they last met. Zhan Yunwei wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Yue Zhiheng seemed somewhat diminished.

His usually cold face now seemed even sharper. Beneath his narrow eyes, the red tear mark that made him look emotionally distant added a touch of chill to his demeanor.

When they parted on the Qixi Festival, Zhan Yunwei hadn't considered Yue Zhiheng an enemy.

In fact, having lived two lifetimes, Zhan Yunwei could clearly tell that no matter how bad Yue Zhiheng's reputation was in both lives, he had never truly hurt her. If it hadn't been for his protection, she might have been handed over to the debauched and violent Third Prince from the start.

"Master Yue, has your injury improved?"

The candlelight flickered, illuminating Yue Zhiheng's face. He paused for a moment, then slowly lifted his gaze to look at her.

The night in Taoyuan Village was quiet, with only a few speechless butterflies resting in the grass.

When Zhan Yunwei asked the question, she didn't think much of it. But when she met Yue Zhiheng's gaze, she couldn't shake the feeling that the atmosphere had changed.

It seemed to have softened a little.

"It's fine now."

After a long silence, he lightly swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing: "On the Zhongyuan Festival, did you...?"

Zhan Yunwei thought to herself, just as she feared, what she dreaded had come. She knew Zhan Shujing shouldn't have looked around, and now Yue Zhiheng was clearly going to settle accounts with her.

To be honest, no one liked being spied upon.

She lightly twisted the belt of her robe and explained, "Don't misunderstand. I didn't use the The Mirror of the Cave World to do anything dishonorable, nor did I intentionally spy on you. My elder brother only wanted to check if the people were safe on the Zhongyuan Festival and if the evil spirits had been eliminated."

It was strange. After she said this, the tense atmosphere seemed to disappear without a trace.

Yue Zhiheng glanced at her and coldly said, "Alright."

Zhan Yunwei didn't know what to make of his reaction. It seemed like he wasn't pleased, but upon closer inspection, she couldn't quite tell. He had simply returned to his usual calm demeanor.

After dawn, the two of them left their quarters.

Yue Zhiheng seemed to have already dismissed their conversation from the previous night. After sunrise, he took out a censer that was very similar to the one Zhan Shujing had given her the day before.

This one, however, was silver-white in color, forged by the Cuiling Pavilion.

Both Zhaochuan Pavilion and Cuiling Pavilion had similar magic tools.

Zhan Yunwei knew Yue Zhiheng was searching for Fang Huai and the others, and on their way, they encountered Qu Lanyue.

Qu Lanyue was walking leisurely, holding an umbrella. When she saw Zhan Yunwei, she raised an eyebrow with a meaningful look.

"It seems a lot happened last night that I didn't know about," she said, eyeing Yue Zhiheng with an unreadable expression. No wonder Master Yue didn't stay in the same room with her.

There was no sign of camaraderie between them.

"Miss Qu, you've come as well?"

Qu Lanyue smiled and gave Zhan Yunwei a quick glance. "Yes, the secret realm trial is something you can't predict."

This time, she didn't say anything like "Master Yue brought me here." She could already tell that Yue Zhiheng didn't need her to add to his troubles, so she kept quiet.

Zhan Yunwei couldn't help but glance at her again. In her previous life, she had always thought of Miss Qu as a delicate and fragile girl, but in reality, Qu Lanyue did present herself that way to the outside world.

However, the fact that Qu Lanyue could remain calm and composed throughout the night in Taoyuan Village, without a change in expression, made Zhan Yunwei suspect something.

She couldn't help but glance at Yue Zhiheng. As expected, Master Yue had many secrets.

Qu Lanyue kept her eyes fixed on Zhan Yunwei's, sparkling with curiosity. Along the way, she either admired the scenery of Taoyuan Village or couldn't stop looking at Zhan Yunwei.

Yue Zhiheng shot her a cold glance, and only then did Qu Lanyue restrain herself.

Zhan Yunwei hadn't expected Qu Lanyue to seem quite interested in her. She had always been curious about Qu Lanyue as well, and since they were both women, she approached her and started a conversation.

Some people are different from what you imagine. After getting to know her, Zhan Yunwei realized that Qu Lanyue was witty and humorous—she was quite the charming person. Zhan Yunwei had laughed several times during their conversation.

Several times, Qu Lanyue seemed to want to pinch her cheeks. Spirit masters were indeed cute and beautiful, and when they smiled, they looked even more charming. What a lucky thing for Yue Zhiheng, a cold-hearted weapon forger, to have such a companion!

If Yue Zhiheng hadn't been ahead of them, Zhan Yunwei would have already made a move.

The three of them hadn't gone far when they encountered the villager who had been chasing Zhan Yunwei the night before.

Zhan Yunwei paused for a moment. The Immortal Sect usually didn't use magic on mortals, but Taoyuan Village was truly strange. These people carried the aura of ordinary mortals, yet they didn't seem like ordinary humans at all.

She subtly moved her fingers and cast Controlling Spirit Technique. However, the villager still carried his hoe and walked forward without a hint of reaction.

Zhan Yunwei couldn't help but focus her gaze.

The Controlling Spirit Technique, which even a hundred-year-old fox demon or a level-six cultivator could easily manipulate, had no effect on this villager. It was as if they weren't alive at all.

Yue Zhiheng seemed to understand her expression at once. More direct than Zhan Yunwei, he drew a dagger from his sleeve. As the villager passed, he swiftly slit the villager's throat.

The villager's eyes widened as he collapsed to the ground, but within a breath, he stood back up as if nothing had happened. Though this outcome was expected, it still left everyone silent.

With no one disturbing the villager, he walked on as if he hadn't seen Zhan Yunwei and the others. Muttering to himself, he said, "It's getting late. I still need to go back for spring plowing."

At this, even Qu Lanyue couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief, "These things... they don't die or disappear?"

Zhan Yunwei felt a chill run down her spine.

So, if they didn't pay the "room fee" by nightfall and were caught by the villagers, no matter how the villagers appeared like normal mortals, their fate would be all too easy to imagine.

At night, the spirit cultivators would die, unable to use their spiritual power under the restriction. Yet, these villagers wouldn't.

In a real fight, a group that couldn't die or be destroyed would never lose.

Now, all of them were thinking the same thing: the honey still hadn't been harvested, and the "room fee" people had been sent off—where were they, and how long would they be kept there?