Granny Li's cooking skills were excellent. Xue Chenjing could finish an entire pot of sour fish by himself - it was indeed delicious. Accompanied by rice steamed in bamboo baskets, even though it was brown rice, Yu Yi ate two large bowls.
She removed the talisman from Crane Senior Brother and released him, feeding him some food as well. Since Crane Senior Brother wasn't fully satisfied, she still had extra dried food in her storage pouch.
Under the moonlight, Granny Li stared at the red-crowned crane whose feathers seemed to glow, her eyes widening so much that even her wrinkles smoothed out. She carefully reached out to touch it, circling around the crane repeatedly while expressing endless amazement.
Crane Senior Brother thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention, holding his neck high and spreading his broad wings proudly. Even when he scared all the chickens and ducks in the courtyard into scattering everywhere, Granny Li didn't mind - instead, she doubled over with laughter.
Since Granny Li planned to join her daughter tomorrow, she brought out all her stored delicacies tonight. After dinner, she produced a jar of her homemade fruit wine, wanting to share a few drinks with Yu Yi.
Seeing how happy Granny Li was, Yu Yi gladly drank with her.
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the moon in the sky was large and bright, already showing its full round shape. In the mountain village, the scattered ground lights made the moonlight appear even more pristine, and the distant rushing river gleamed like the Milky Way.
The mountain breeze was crisp, insects chirped incessantly, and the combination of moonlight and fine wine created an unprecedented sense of leisure.
The troubles from Zhaohua Palace temporarily faded from her mind. Yu Yi accidentally drank a bit too much, and it wasn't until nearly midnight that she stumbled into bed, feeling dizzy.
Granny Li let her stay in her daughter's room. Although her daughter rarely came back since getting married, she regularly maintained the room, keeping the bedding clean and frequently airing it out. The bedding was made of quality fabric.
It was too late at night to heat water for bathing. Yu Yi remembered her earlier fierce battle with Xue Chenjing, so she cast several cleaning spells on herself before crawling into bed and snuggling into the warm blankets.
Crane Senior Brother had also tired himself out from all the excitement and stood in the chicken coop with his head tucked under his wing.
Perhaps due to the alcohol, or because the effects of the Desire Pearl hadn't completely dissipated from her body, Yu Yi fell into a dream as soon as she closed her eyes.
The feeling of suffocation crept back into her consciousness, followed by a tingling sensation on her tongue as she was kissed. Her body was wrapped in soft yet firm tentacles. She kept trying to escape but couldn't get away.
Yu Yi struggled between consciousness and surrender, hearing a disappointed sigh near her ear, "Even in dreams, do you want to avoid me?"
Her emotions softened - after all, this was just a dream, and she hadn't dreamed in a long time.
Her fingertips touched wet eyelashes, and her lips were pressed against and caressed by another's, passionately entangling. Yu Yi completely surrendered to this sticky, breathless dream.
At the height of passion, she suddenly heard him whisper in her ear with satisfaction, "Now, you're of no use anymore."
Yu Yi jolted awake, and the intimate scenes from deep within her consciousness shattered like broken crystal, splitting into pieces. The gasps and whimpers from her dream vanished.
The clear crow of a rooster pierced her ears. She dazedly turned to look out the window, and through the gaps, she saw the morning light pouring down. The crowing startled Crane Senior Brother, who pulled his head out from under his wing and viciously pecked the crowing rooster.
The crowing abruptly stopped.
Yu Yi lay there blankly for a while before rubbing her brow and sitting up. She looked at her fingers with a complex expression - the feeling of tears wetting them seemed to linger in her palm.
What hadn't been completed in Zhaohua Palace, she had somehow finished in her dream.
Back then, under the influence of the Desire Pearl, her consciousness had been hazy, but she could still remember everything she had done afterward. She remembered that moment of impulse, and she remembered the words she heard after the impulse cooled.
Yu Yi vigorously rubbed her palm against the cotton blanket, as if trying to erase the sensations from the dream. She fell back onto the bed, waiting for the heat in her cheeks to subside.
Her initial guess had been correct - Zhaohua Palace had indeed planned to use her against Xue Chenjing. She didn't know what had happened in Zhaohua Palace after she was teleported away, but none of that concerned her anymore.
From the beginning, none of these messy affairs had anything to do with her.
Yu Yi touched the Yin Wood in her storage pouch. Whether or not Zhang Zai's talk about retrieving items from the formation was just an excuse to lure her there, the contract he held was real. As the inheritor of Daoist Qingxuan's legacy, she should complete his unfinished business.
After leaving, she would send it to Moon-Touching Palace through an immortal post station to fulfill that contract.
Since Granny Li was leaving today, she got up early to pack, giving away perishables to neighbors down the mountain and only keeping important items to pack.
Yu Yi sat in meditation for a while, and when she got up and came out, Granny Li had just returned from down the mountain, accompanied by a young man from the village.
When the young man saw Yu Yi, his eyes grew round, clearly showing "amazement" in his gaze. His dark face turned red at a visible speed, becoming as red as a glazed braised egg.
Granny Li gave the dazed young man a slap and pointed to a box by the doorstep, saying, "Help me carry this down first."
The young man finally picked up the box with his reddened face and headed down the mountain, unable to resist looking back several times along the way.
Granny Li chuckled, "Our village has never seen such a beautiful girl as you, don't mind him."
Yu Yi laughed along, not taking it to heart. She had already prepared a storage pouch to help Granny Li pack and planned to ride Crane Senior Brother with her to the city.
However, seeing that Granny Li had packed everything onto an ox cart, she decided to ride along in the cart instead. Swaying slowly along the village path had its own charm.
Her lap was filled with boiled eggs and fresh corn buns that Granny Li had stuffed there for her to eat along the way.
The ox cart driver was the young man who had helped Granny Li move her things. His name was Zhao Li, and he was sturdy and robust, with a broad face and round eyes, and particularly prone to blushing. Granny Li called him Da Lang, so Yu Yi followed suit and called him Da Lang once. Just that one time made his face flush red enough to be seen from two li away.
Along the way, Crane Senior Brother ran wild in the countryside, sometimes flying up to catch birds, sometimes diving into the woods to chase rabbits. When tired, he would return to Yu Yi to have her peel an egg for him.
The large basket of eggs Granny Li had boiled in the morning was basically all eaten by this single bird.
She watched the crane with hearty laughter, "Let him eat, let him have them all."
The journey from Liuya Village to Fengsheng County took a day, and they didn't enter the city until dusk. Fengsheng County was much more prosperous and bustling than Rounan County, with a major river flowing through it and many surrounding villages, making the county town more developed.
Especially during this month of the Autumn Moon Festival, both inside and outside the city were filled with festive atmosphere.
On the way, Yu Yi had heard Granny Li talk about the Autumn Moon Festival. Mid-Autumn was a major celebration like the New Year, with garden lantern festivals and ceremonies to worship the Moon Goddess, making it the most lively time.
Mid-Autumn was also a festival for family reunions, and Granny Li's hurry to enter the city was because she wanted to reunite with her daughter before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Granny Li's daughter, named Zhao Zhi after the gardenia flower, had married into a carpenter's family in the county town. From outside the gate, one could see wood and bamboo materials piled up in the courtyard.
Under the eaves were stacks of completed lantern frames. The Autumn Moon Festival included lantern displays to worship the moon, making this their busiest time.
Yu Yi saw Granny Li off at the street corner and bid her farewell. Granny Li wanted to invite her to stay, but looking back at the messy courtyard, she had to give up the idea.
Granny Li, missing her daughter terribly, had hurriedly packed up and rushed to the county town as soon as she could. Only when she reached the doorstep did she regretfully realize she should have sent word ahead.
However, seeing the joy that bloomed on her daughter's face upon seeing her, these concerns were instantly forgotten.
As mother and daughter embraced happily, before they could exchange more than a few intimate words, Zhao Zhi suddenly let out a muffled groan, clutching her lower abdomen. Her forehead instantly broke out in a fine sweat, and her face turned pale.
Granny Li quickly supported her, anxiously looking her daughter up and down, urgently asking, "What's wrong?"
When she looked closely, she discovered her daughter was terribly gaunt, with a haggard face so drawn that her cheeks had sunken in, and wrists as thin as kindling beneath her sleeves. Only her belly, which she was gently cradling, showed a slight swell.
Zhao Zhi recovered her composure and smiled, taking her mother's hand and placing it on her stomach. "Mother, I'm with child."
Granny Li was initially overjoyed, but upon seeing her daughter's wan appearance, she asked worriedly, "You're pregnant, hasn't Du Qian been taking good care of you? Why have you become so thin?"
Zhao Zhi held her belly and explained, "I can't keep food or drink down, my stomach always feels heavy. And Ruo Er has been sick lately - listless during the day and waking up crying at night."
Only then did Granny Li notice her granddaughter hadn't come out to greet her. She asked anxiously, "How is she now? Let me see her."
Zhao Zhi shook her head, her voice heavy with exhaustion, "A few days ago, when I wasn't watching carefully, she cut her leg on a bamboo splinter. Du Qian took her to the medical clinic to change the dressing, they haven't returned yet."
Because of all their recent family matters, they hadn't finished the custom lantern frames for their customers. Du Qian had been working through the nights to catch up, but there were still some lanterns incomplete, requiring another all-nighter tonight.
Zhao Zhi sighed softly, "Mother, you and Brother Zhao Li should come inside first."
After unloading the ox cart, Zhao Li stood by the courtyard gate, still gazing down the street. Only when called did he reluctantly lower his head and follow them inside.
The person he'd been watching had already vanished into the early evening streets. Yu Yi had bid farewell to Granny Li and, carrying the drowsy little bird in her arms, went to find an inn.
Having heard Granny Li speak of the Autumn Moon Festival during their journey, she was quite curious. Since she was here, she definitely wanted to experience the festival's excitement and also inquire about which immortal sect governed this area.
Though the Mid-Autumn Festival wasn't until tomorrow, colorful festival lanterns already hung from the eaves of homes throughout Fengsheng County. Vendors had begun selling moon laurel branches, moon paper, flower lanterns, and other festival goods.
Yu Yi spotted a mooncake stall where the vendor's skilled hands had crafted many adorable shapes - flowers, animals, and even little plump birds.
The drowsy crane in her arms caught the sweet scent of pastries and suddenly flipped over in her palm, fluttering its wings and jumping into the pastry box.
Yu Yi quickly pulled it back. Finding the mooncakes utterly charming, she bought one of each kind, filling three large boxes. The delighted vendor gave her an extra wishing slip made of thin wood with a red cord and silk tassel attached.
It was said that if you wrote your wish on it and hung it on the moon laurel tree, the Moon Goddess might choose to grant your blessing.
The vendor pointed toward the outskirts of town, saying, "The Moon Goddess Temple outside the city is very efficacious. Whether you're seeking marriage, children, or career advancement, you can try your luck there, miss."
Yu Yi thanked him and packed away her purchases. She and her bird companion enjoyed mooncakes as they strolled, finally finding an inn to stay at as night fell.
Crane Senior Brother, his belly round and full, fell asleep immediately.
The evil desire pearl's influence hadn't fully faded from her body. Whenever Yu Yi closed her eyes, she was plagued by chaotic dreams. Instead, she sat cross-legged to meditate, sinking her consciousness into her sea of awareness and practicing from the First Sword of Spring Pursuit.
At Liuya Village, the night wind cut sharply through the mountain forest. In the bright moonlight, a dark shadow emerged from the silver disk of the moon, its vast wings nearly obscuring the moonlight.
In the blink of an eye, the shadow descended from sky to earth, landing at a house halfway up the mountain. As the shadow dispersed, it revealed the form of a tall youth.
Xue Chenjing was severely wounded and had traveled far, now nearly at his limit. His face was as pale as a ghost in the moonlight, and he almost collapsed upon landing. His excellent night vision allowed him to spot chicken droppings in the dirt, causing him to barely maintain his balance.
With a look of disgust, he kicked down the fence, quickly walked out of the chicken coop, and vigorously scraped his shoes on the steps. His eyes rolled back, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
Why had he set the directional transmission array's endpoint here? In a farmer's house in this remote mountain village?
Xue Chenjing wracked his brains but couldn't remember when or why he had set up the transmission array here, in a farmer's home. As a born demon species, none of his lives had been easy, and even when he had control over his body, he lived mostly as a wanderer.
Even a crafty hare has three burrows, so naturally, he, a born demon species, had prepared countless escape routes for himself. Things like buried spirit stones and cultivation techniques, like directional transmission arrays.
He knew he wouldn't live just one life.
If he hadn't set this up, then it must have been his previous life, or the life before that. Xue Chenjing clicked his tongue, "...truly absurd."
Xue Chenjing surveyed the empty farmhouse and found the hidden room behind the woodshed, discovering spirit stone powder scattered across the floor.
His demon spirit drifted through the air, quickly searching the entire courtyard, and detected Yu Yi's aura in the westernmost room. She had stayed in this room; her subtle fragrance still lingered in the air.
Xue Chenjing was all too familiar with this scent - the sweet, intoxicating fragrance that had recently overwhelmed his senses.
Just catching this scent caused fierce fire to course through his veins.
Xue Chenjing's blood surged, and he coughed up blood. He wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, glanced at the stripped bed frame with only a layer of dry straw remaining, swayed, and collapsed onto the straw.
In the darkness, mist from the ground licked away the blood. A blood-red skeletal hand reached out from under the bed, grabbed his bloodied sleeve with a ripping sound, and quickly retracted beneath the bed.
Xue Chenjing, half-conscious, furrowed his brow, buried his face in the straw, and gradually relaxed as he breathed in the familiar fragrance.
