A slap, I hate you!

Hearing the voice outside the wall, Master Fu's hand trembled slightly around the copper kettle.

He put it down and hurried over, nearly tripping in his haste.

"Xiao Tang, you're here."

Master Fu opened the courtyard gate, scratched his head, and smiled somewhat sheepishly.

Outside stood a woman in a long, pale yellow dress. There was a hint of valor in her features, but when she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents.

Her smile left Master Fu momentarily entranced.

"Aren't you going to invite me in? Am I not welcome?" Shen Xintang asked.

"Of course you're welcome. Come in, please."

Master Fu hastily stepped aside and ushered her into the courtyard.

The courtyard was filled with flowering crabapples: red, pink, and white, all blooming through the midsummer night in a riot of color. Their fragrance filled the garden.

"Wow."

Like a young girl, Shen Xintang's eyes lit up. She walked a circle around the courtyard, praising the flowers again and again.

"They're blooming beautifully." She looked back at the man in the thin shirt beneath the night sky, her red lips curving upward. "Impressive. How about I name you the god of flowering crabapples?"

Master Fu smiled sheepishly without answering, but the way he looked at Shen Xintang was just like the way he looked at the flowers.

Suddenly, the words in his heart slipped out. "Now that you're here, the whole garden of crabapples has come to life."

Shen Xintang froze for a moment.

She lowered her head slightly, a faint blush coloring her face in the darkness.

"Dawn's almost here."

She made the passing remark as she sat down in the pavilion. "Help me put on some hair ornaments."

She opened her delicate hand, placing several jade hairpins and floral ornaments on the stone table.

"Are you teaching the Demon-Slaying class at the Divine Strategy Manor this morning?"

Master Fu stepped forward and stood behind her, silently picking up the jade hairpins and floral ornaments.

"Who else would it be?" Shen Xintang said, somewhat irritated. "There's nothing in it for them, so they wouldn't come."

"Yes. People these days care far too much about profit," Fu Yun said with a sigh.

As he spoke, he placed a floral ornament in Shen Xintang's hair and adjusted its position.

"It's more than caring about profit. They've completely lost their minds."

At the mention of "them," Shen Xintang's brief good mood vanished. Her expression turned cold. "Do you know who was behind what happened to the late emperor?"

Master Fu's eyes dimmed. "I don't dare say."

"What's there to be afraid of saying?" Shen Xintang's voice was icy. "It was the Xiao Clan. They guided the Prison Devils from the Nine Nether Purgatory. I don't know whether any other major clans or powers were involved, but the Xiao Clan was involved, without a doubt."

"Don't be angry." Fu Yun patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"I just can't understand it." Shen Xintang turned to look at him. "Tell me, aren't they afraid that consorting with demons will come back to bite them in the end? Demons are demons, after all! Humans and demons are colluding and throwing Great Cang into chaos. When the kingdom falls and its people are wiped out, how can they hope to come away unscathed?"

"Xiao Tang, you don't understand. I suddenly realized something tonight: Great Cang will never fall," Master Fu said.

"Why?" Shen Xintang asked, puzzled.

"The demons live in the Nine Nether Purgatory. They don't need land on the Divine Scion Continent; it means nothing to them. All they want are human corpses and human blood. So they only need to shatter our peace and prosperity and plunge us into the whirlpool of troubled times. Then they'll have an endless supply of flesh and blood to feed on."

Master Fu pressed his lips together and continued, "As for the Xiao Clan, or any other clan, their goal isn't to bring down the kingdom either. Whether there's a kingdom or not, whether there's law or not, none of that matters to them. What matters is that they can use their martial might without restraint, seize and plunder, suck the lifeblood of the people, and strengthen their clans."

"No wonder Her Majesty Huangxi is still around..." Shen Xintang lowered her head, her expression bleak. "The way you put it, the only ones who suffer are the common people with no martial strength. And the most frightening thing is that if they're allowed to keep running rampant, this mortal sea of suffering will have no end."

"Yes. Treacherous clans run rampant, and the Prison Devils throw the world into chaos. The night over Great Cang will never give way to dawn again."

Master Fu gazed into the vast darkness, his Adam's apple bobbing several times.

"The Xiao Clan is annexing land and property across the country, and the Universal Salvation Chamber of Commerce is selling human corpses nationwide. Why doesn't the Nation-Protecting Divine Church do anything?" Shen Xintang slapped the stone table, her face turning purple with anger.

"The Nation-Protecting Divine Church has done something. They protected Her Majesty, kept the Great Cang Kingdom alive, and distributed fertility drugs to the people," Master Fu said.

Shen Xintang froze.

"Fertility drugs? Did you see it with your own eyes?" she asked, staring intently at Master Fu.

Master Fu was silent for a moment before lowering his head. "They were mixed into the disaster relief food. I tested it. The drugs stimulate desire, induce childbirth, and hasten maturation."

"Damn them! Damn them!"

Tears suddenly spilled from Shen Xintang's reddened eyes, and her voice broke into sobs. "What savior true god! What Eye of Heaven! They're all bloodsucking fiends!"

"Xiao Tang." Fu Yun shook his head blankly. "Could you keep your voice down? In Great Cang, you can curse the Prison Devils, but the Nation-Protecting Divine Church is not to be spoken of."

"I know..."

As though all her strength had left her, Shen Xintang stared wordlessly at the flowering crabapples blooming in the night.

"Try to put it aside. You have to teach at daybreak, and there'll be more than three hundred Three Stars Pavilion children in the audience," Fu Yun said softly after a silence.

"A tenth of them are Xiao Clan bastards!" Shen Xintang said coldly.

"They certainly have a flourishing population and produce geniuses in droves," Master Fu said.

"They seized it! They stole it!"

Shen Xintang clasped her hands, her nails digging into her flesh.

"Alas." Master Fu sighed as well. "The saddest thing is that most of those Xiao Clan children will probably pass the demon bone test, become demon suppression masters, and enter your Demon-Slaying Headquarters."

Shen Xintang smiled bitterly. "The Xiao Clan, which has the highest demon bone compatibility in the Great Cang Kingdom and is the largest clan faction in the Demon-Slaying Divisions nationwide, is actually the demons' lackey! That's the greatest mockery of the words 'demon slaying.' Of the five division sages at the Demon-Slaying Headquarters today, four belong to the Xiao Clan faction. Only my uncle doesn't. What demons are they still slaying? If they just wiped out my Shen Clan, they'd all be happy..."

Seeing the grief and anger in her eyes, Master Fu could find no words to comfort her.

"Fu Yun, leave the Divine Strategy Manor. You have the Demon-Slaying Blade. Come with me to the Demon-Slaying Division. I'll have my uncle arrange a position for you. Don't waste your talent teaching kingdom law when it means nothing." Shen Xintang seized his hand. "Ghosts and demons have thrown the world into chaos, and all living beings are in a sea of suffering. We need someone like you to stand up."

Master Fu froze for a moment, then gently withdrew his hand. "Xiao Tang, I can't leave."

"Why?" Shen Xintang asked urgently.

"If the law dies, the kingdom dies. I must stay at the Divine Strategy Manor and uphold the dignity of the Great Cang Kingdom Law," Master Fu said.

"Stop deluding yourself." Furious, Shen Xintang said, "You've had all your edges worn smooth. You're afraid. You're running away from everything!"

Master Fu stared blankly at her furious face, then silently lowered his head. "Xiao Tang, if scolding me will make you feel better, go ahead."

Shen Xintang laughed in anger.

She sat on the stone table without a word, taking a long, long time to calm herself.

Master Fu remained standing behind her, looking at her cascading hair in silence.

"Fu Yun, marry me."

Looking at the flowering crabapples blooming throughout the courtyard, she suddenly spoke through tears.

Master Fu trembled slightly at her words, tears glistening in his ashen eyes.

But he quickly wiped them away with his sleeve.

His Adam's apple bobbed several times before he spoke, his voice trembling slightly. "I'm sorry."

"Why? What's wrong with me?"

Shen Xintang sprang to her feet and looked at him in despair.

Master Fu bowed his head deeply. "There's nothing wrong with you. I'm not worthy."

"What do you mean, not worthy?" Shen Xintang shoved his shoulder and said through tears, "You've been using excuses like your background for more than twenty years. Can't you come up with something new?"

"But that's the reality!" Master Fu's voice was full of anguish. "You come from the illustrious demon-slaying Shen Clan, a family loyal and heroic for generations in the Great Cang Kingdom. I, Fu Yun, am nothing but a speck of dust in this world. I don't even dare defy a Xiao Clan child. What right do I have to marry you? Xiao Tang, you have your own connections. I don't want your colleagues laughing at you every time you take me out."

"Shut up." Shen Xintang's eyes were red. "I've heard the same thing for so many years. It's meaningless."

Master Fu sighed softly. "Yes, I'm not young anymore. I didn't have you back then, and I'm even less blessed now. So many talented young men and powerful people admire you. Don't wait for me anymore."

Slap!

Shen Xintang suddenly reached out and slapped him, crying bitterly. "If you have no feelings for me, why did you plant all these flowering crabapples? Since you know I've been waiting for you, why won't you take a single step forward?"

Master Fu bowed his head deeply after the slap, his eyes red.

"I hate you! You've wasted my whole life!"

Shen Xintang thrust out her hand, and the flowering crabapples throughout the courtyard suddenly burst apart.

Fallen flowers covered the ground, along with broken branches.

She gave Master Fu one last look, then left, her eyes filled with sorrow.

Master Fu stood where he was for a long, long time...

He went into the courtyard and silently gathered the ruined flowers and mud scattered across the ground.

As he gathered them, he suddenly fell to his knees in the mud, tears pouring down like rain.

"Xiao Tang, I'm already a cripple. Who knows how many days I have left to live?"

"I'm sorry!"