Ye Ling

Li Qinglin left, but Ye Ling did not follow. She remained standing there stiffly, neither speaking nor sitting. Li Qingjun sat to one side, watching until her balls ached. She had things she wanted to say to Qin Yi, but with someone standing there like a post, it was hard to speak. So she said, "Step aside for a moment."

Without even offering a salute, Ye Ling vanished directly.

Li Qingjun shook her head. "I don't know where Big Brother found this little guard. Her skills are decent enough, but she's a bit strange. She wears that weird cloak every day, and who knows what for. Hey, are you really going to let her be your guard? A lone man and woman..."

Qin Yi's teeth ached from hearing it. "In front of her, you praised her for being quiet. Now that she's gone, what are you saying?"

Li Qingjun gave two little huffs. She did not know why she had said those things either. After pausing for a while, she finally said, "With Big Brother's affair stirring things up, Second Brother probably won't have the mind to plan anything else for the time being. If you get bored here alone, you can come find me at the Princess Residence. The Princess Residence is..."

"I'm not bored," Qin Yi said. "I'm alone at home too. I can go a whole month without leaving the house. Reading and refining medicine are enough to pass the time. Oh, right—help me find some books, as well as medicinal ingredients and a pill furnace. You promised me..."

Li Qingjun choked, then flew into a rage out of embarrassment. "Have the people at the Royal Palace find them for you!"

With that, she flicked her sleeve and left.

Qin Yi sat there in a daze. You asked someone to step aside just to say that?

Had he answered something wrong? Qin Yi was quick-witted. He could practically hear Liusu's laughter already, so he struck first, stuffing the Wolf Tooth Club beneath the bed.

Liusu did not know whether to laugh or cry. This was the first time it had seen the usually cautious and composed Qin Yi act so foolishly. Even stuffing it under the bed to plug his ears while stealing a bell—none of this was like Qin Yi at all.

Under normal circumstances, it really would have mocked him. Yet this time, for some reason, it remained quietly silent, as though it had recalled something from a time long past.

Not long afterward, Ye Ling appeared again.

This time, the look in her eyes as she watched Qin Yi was somewhat strange, as if she could not make sense of his relationship with the princess.

Qin Yi also pulled his mind back from his embarrassment and looked at Ye Ling before him with considerable speechlessness.

She had actually stayed behind so naturally, as though she truly regarded herself as his guard.

"If I remember correctly, I said no. Hey, you're not my guard." Qin Yi sighed. "You're a Transformation Stage demon with powerful Mana. Why don't you have even a shred of pride? You'll be someone's guard just because they say so? I nearly hurt you just now, and you don't even have a temper?"

"Pride?" Ye Ling said coldly. "I gained intelligence while still muddleheaded, answering a summons from deep within my soul in a daze, and went straight into Dong Huazi's Demon Refining Array. Only when I saw the demon bones scattered across the ground did I learn the purpose of my birth. Where would I find any pride?"

Those solemn, icy words of a little adult, paired with her childish appearance, were strangely demonic and incongruous. Qin Yi grew interested. "What happened?"

"I was originally an ordinary little snake. Dong Huazi's Demon Transformation Poisonous Mist forced my growth, awakened my intelligence, and turned me into a demon. I do not know why, but wings grew from my body. He set up Demon Transformation Poisonous Mist everywhere to force the birth of lesser demons, all so he could obtain Demon Cores, refine and consume them, and use them to cultivate and extend his life. That was the meaning of our birth."

There was some hatred on her childish face, but even more than that, there was indifference—toward others and toward herself. Qin Yi pressed his lips together, feeling that this child's very birth had been a tragedy. No wonder her behavior did not match her age.

At her age, she ought to have been carrying a schoolbag to class, not talking like some little adult about slaughter and piles of bones.

He sighed softly.

So this was Dong Huazi's purpose in spreading the Demon Transformation Poisonous Mist. It was not to throw the world into chaos, nor to cultivate a faction, but to kill demons for their cores, using them for cultivation. That matched what Minghe had said. Minghe believed Dong Huazi killed demons without mercy—of course he showed no mercy.

Ye Ling continued, "I do not know why I broke through so quickly. That Demon Refining Array could not hold me, and I fought desperately to break out. But I had only one breath left when I escaped. His Highness saved me. Even my name was given by His Highness then. He said I was like an immature feather, revealing a startled blood-red color in the night."

Qin Yi said curiously, "I never thought Li Qinglin was such an artsy type."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, I meant that he actually had compassion for a demon."

"It was not compassion. I offered to submit to him through a blood oath in exchange for him saving me. And when His Highness learned that I had escaped from Dong Huazi, he felt I might be useful to him..." Ye Ling looked a little sad. "Just now... your Peach Wood Sword was going to kill me, and he merely watched. Perhaps it would be better for him if I died now..."

Qin Yi vaguely understood why Li Qinglin had not stopped him. It was very likely that Ye Ling being dead truly was better than her being alive.

So much for the romance of the man who saved a snake and the snake who repaid him. Qin Yi felt as though something had shattered all over the ground. He shook his head slightly. "You were born through Dong Huazi's methods, so there must be something he can use to restrain you. Can you deal with him?"

"Yes. And my abilities awakened on their own while I was still muddleheaded. I do not know much about cultivation, much less the principles behind many things, so His Highness was very disappointed."

Qin Yi felt that this little girl probably did not merely fail to understand many principles of cultivation. She might not even understand much common sense about life. She had probably learned it all gradually at the Royal Palace... Even her little-adult wording and tone—who knew how much of it had formed under Li Qinglin's influence? Not cute at all.

But this time, he felt Ye Ling was useful.

At the very least, his understanding of Dong Huazi had deepened another level.

She also understood Li Qinglin very well... and she held no real loyalty or reverence toward him, casually speaking of his thoughts like this.

She truly would be a helpful assistant to him, so he would not be left feeling around blindly in the dark... Unfortunately, there was an enormous hidden danger.

Qin Yi finally asked, "Do you know why I don't want you as my guard?"

With a trace of a cold smile, Ye Ling said, "I'm ugly. Compared to the Zhaoyang Princess, I am like a winged monster standing before a true phoenix."

"What do you know at your age? Why compare yourself to people over something like that?"

Ye Ling kept a straight face and did not answer.

"It has nothing to do with that," Qin Yi said. "I actually think your wings are very cool. I wish I had a pair like them myself."

"..." Ye Ling's expression stirred slightly.

But Qin Yi continued, "The real reason is that a very powerful cultivator has set their sights on you. If I truly get mixed up with you, even I'll be finished. I suggest you run away instead..."

Ye Ling's expression finally changed. "So you knew."

"So you knew too!" Qin Yi burst out laughing. "It seems you came looking for me today for another reason."

Ye Ling said nothing. She lowered her little head and stared at the tips of her shoes. She seemed a little embarrassed. Qin Yi found it rather amusing. This little girl looked cold, but her skin was much thinner than Li Qinglin's.

No wonder. She was not some humanoid aphrodisiac—why else would a powerful demon cling to him? So she had done it to save her life, mistakenly thinking he was incredibly formidable...

Qin Yi sighed softly. "Li Qinglin had you follow me just for this?"

"It wasn't entirely that..." Ye Ling said softly. "I think His Highness truly values you."

Her feelings were far too obvious. Li Qinglin's attitude toward Qin Yi and toward her was truly as different as heaven and earth.

"He's that obsessed with Dong Huazi?" Qin Yi asked curiously. "You're such a powerful demon—would he really be willing to give you away just to win me over?"

"He definitely would. Let alone a demon with scales and horns in his eyes, he would give you even more if you asked. Besides, Dong Huazi is also my mortal enemy. No matter whom I follow, it makes no difference when it comes to his dealings with Dong Huazi." Ye Ling spoke with absolute certainty. "Driving Dong Huazi down from his divine altar is His Highness's greatest obsession—more important than even the throne."

Qin Yi grew even more curious. "That exaggerated? Don't tell me Dong Huazi once exposed his... ah, never mind."

Ye Ling did not understand. Her expression remained blank.

Qin Yi pondered for a while before finally saying, "I mean, there's no need for a guard. It'd be inconvenient for a lone man and woman to be together. We can be friends instead. As for Dong Huazi, I'll still need to consult you often."

Ye Ling had no idea Qin Yi was carrying a whole pile of secrets himself—how could he dare let her follow him around? In any case, hearing this made her gaze soften by several degrees. She nodded. "I'm not His Highness's guard anyway. It was always more in the nature of Cooperation..." As she spoke, she gestured with her small hands. "I have a little courtyard. You can come find me."

Seeing her use those little hands to show the size of her courtyard, she finally seemed childlike, as though she were showing off something she was very pleased with. Qin Yi could not help laughing. "You can come find me too. When I was telling Journey to the West, you listened very seriously. I suppose you liked it?"

Ye Ling seemed a little embarrassed, then suddenly vanished.

Qin Yi felt that this "Journey to the West" was truly damn amazing. Li Qinglin, Li Qingjun, and Ye Ling all seemed to have found different points of identification within it, each seeing their own shadow in its pages.

Once more, Qin Yi was the only one left in the room. A Wolf Tooth Club slowly rolled out from beneath the bed. Qin Yi looked at it, not knowing what to say. His stomach was full of words, yet for a moment, he was speechless.