I could tell at a glance you weren't human!

By the time they pulled apart, She Xilu was blushing so fiercely that her face looked ready to bleed. She did not dare lift her head to meet Lin Zhishui's eyes and could only listen as Youchan's icy voice rang out in her mind:

"Finally willing to pull away?"

She Xilu's cheeks burned as she muttered inwardly, It wasn't like I initiated it, and you saw the whole thing...

Had today's suicide attempt not left her shaken and sent her emotions through such violent swings, she would never have let Lin Zhishui "run wild" like that.

"You should be all right now, shouldn't you?" Lin Zhishui asked with a smile.

She Xilu did not dare look at him. She merely buried her head in his embrace, raised her little fist, and gave him a gentle thump.

"You've probably been too lonely lately. After all, there really aren't many people you can talk to," Lin Zhishui said with a smile. "How about I find you a pet?"

She Xilu froze. "N-no... You don't need to go to all that trouble..."

She had actually considered getting a puppy before, so she could talk to it when she was bored. She simply had not expected Lin Zhishui to move in with her.

"Don't you like puppies? Let me pick one out for you," Lin Zhishui said cheerfully.

"Anything's fine..." She Xilu said, her head lowered.

But Youchan sneered in her mind. "Find you a pet? If he truly knew what we were, he should understand that we are the very reason all things are prevented from becoming demons. Why would he give you a pet for company? Heh... No matter how you look at it, his attitude makes it clear he thinks you're a mortal..."

Time flew, and another day soon passed.

Morning came, and the sun rose in the east.

After two full days of frantic activity, the Four Seasons Courtyard in the East Garden District had finally settled down completely. Property management and security personnel had made repeated door-to-door inspections to ensure that no more serious incidents like gas leaks and explosions would occur.

On a gravel path, a short-haired woman in a gray business suit strolled slowly along the artificial lake, holding a registration form and a resident list.

She swept a discreet glance over her surroundings, as though admiring the scenery, while slipping one hand back into her sleeve to gently feel the changes in temperature radiating from the hard scale inside.

"Nothing..."

With her expression unchanged, she put the scale away, drew her hand out again, and continued toward a nearby villa.

Before long, she arrived in front of a villa nestled beside the artificial lake.

She pushed open the courtyard gate and walked inside. As she followed the covered walkway to the entrance of the Eastern garden-style villa, she suddenly looked up and saw a tall, thin, bald young man emerge from within, smiling at her.

The short-haired woman gave him a natural, polite smile. "Hello, sir. I'm Yuan Sishui, manager of the Four Seasons Property Customer Service Department. We sent someone here to inspect your property yesterday, so I've come today to confirm whether you have any other issues. If everything is fine, please sign here."

"Hello."

The bald young man smiled. "Come inside, then. There is indeed a problem here. Please help me take a look."

"Is that so?" A trace of puzzlement appeared on the short-haired woman's face. She glanced at the resident list in her hand. "Are you the owner? I remember the owner being an elderly gentleman surnamed Cheng."

"Oh, he went out to take care of something today." The bald young man shook his head casually. "Come in."

The short-haired woman nodded in understanding, then followed him up the steps and through the villa's front door.

Yet the instant she crossed the threshold, her expression changed abruptly, and she whipped her gaze toward the bald young man.

The bald young man turned to her with an ambiguous smile. "What's wrong?"

The short-haired woman looked at him but could discern nothing. She forced a smile. "Sir, I just remembered that I still have some things to attend to. How about I send someone over to look at your problem?"

"That won't do."

The bald young man spoke with a gentle smile. "Only you can solve the problem here, because... you are the only problem!"

As he finished speaking, a magnificent golden light suddenly erupted from his entire body, and an overwhelming aura surged outward like a tidal wave!

"You bald bastard from Eternal Night Spirit Mountain!"

The short-haired woman's pupils contracted sharply. She abruptly turned into a blur and shot backward at full speed, dark blue light swirling around her.

She had only just retreated into the air when she heard a woman's cool snort from the ground.

At that moment, even the sky seemed to dim, as though draped in a faint, almost imperceptible veil that completely enveloped the surrounding area, leaving no gaps above or below.

She knew the Sealing Barrier was already in place.

At the same time, a small, exquisite short sword suddenly flew up from the ground. With a flicker in midair, it transformed into dozens of streaks of sword light that spread out in every direction and surrounded her. The paths traced by the circling sword lights formed something like a prison.

"An Immortal Sword?"

The short-haired woman looked down and saw a graceful woman in white seated in the pavilion in the courtyard below. She held a teacup in one hand, sipping with her head lowered, while the slender fingers of her other hand formed a murderous sword seal, controlling the changes in the Sword Array from afar.

"Fairy Featherfall..." The short-haired woman recognized her at once and narrowed her eyes.

"Death is upon you, and you still think you can escape?"

With a furious rebuke like a lion's roar, the bald young man strode through the air toward her. The golden light radiating from his body grew ever more dazzling, seemingly forming the phantom image of a Buddha, with golden dragon silhouettes faintly visible circling around it.

The short-haired woman sneered. "So it's Venerable Dragon Subduer of Eternal Night Spirit Mountain, and Fairy Featherfall of Infinite Heaven."

"The instant you stepped into the Moonless Array, you exposed yourself!"

The bald young man's face was icy as he thundered, "Insolent Heavenly Dog! I could tell at a glance you weren't human! I'll make you reveal your true form!"

"Dharma-Protecting Heavenly Dragon!"

Like a wrathful Buddhist guardian, he thrust his palm toward the short-haired woman from a distance. Golden light that blotted out the sky transformed in midair into the enormous phantom of a golden dragon. Its roar, powerful enough to pierce the heavens, was stopped by the Sealing Barrier, while the golden dragon itself twisted and surged toward the short-haired woman!

In the pavilion, the woman in white also raised her eyes slightly and shifted the sword seal at her fingertips. The sword lights filling the sky changed with it, and murderous intent soared into the heavens!

"Do you really take me for an ordinary heavenly dog?"

The short-haired woman sneered. The dark blue light abruptly exploded outward, accompanied by a low growl that sounded like both a wolf's howl and a dog's bark.

A short while later.

The storm subsided, and everything fell quiet.

The once elegant courtyard was now a scene of devastation. The lake water had evaporated, the rockery had shattered, deep craters and cracks scarred the ground, and half the villa had collapsed.

Only the pavilion where the woman in white sat remained completely intact.

"Another self-detonation... And its primordial spirit still managed to escape."

The bald young man's brows were tightly furrowed, his expression grim. "This heavenly dog really is different from ordinary ones. An ordinary heavenly dog would have died on the spot from a single palm strike of mine, but who knows where this one came from... Even with the two of us working together, it escaped."

"No matter. My sword intent injured its primordial spirit as well. With its strength, it cannot purge my sword intent."

The woman in white calmly held her teacup and said lightly, "Even if it can recover in a short time, as long as it isn't hiding in disguise, I'll be able to sense its location the moment it activates its outer demon power. We can kill it then just the same."

"I wonder what it's searching for, to dare return to the Cheng Family again," the bald young man said with a frown.

"According to my investigation, it seems to have a Hidden Dragon Scale. Perhaps it's looking for something connected to the Hidden Dragon."

The woman in white frowned slightly. "But this time, it has probably realized that the Cheng Family doesn't have what it wants. Who knows where it will go next?"

The bald young man considered this for a moment. "That old fellow Zhu Chenghuo seems to have found another immortal opportunity. He has reached the end of his lifespan, yet he's still brimming with vitality. Shall we ask him to help?"

PS: (Please send recommendation votes~~)