Don't scare my grand-grandaunt

Everyone perked up at the sight of her.

It was no secret that the Ning Lineage's ancestor was undergoing mortal transfiguration in Yongning Commandery. The powers behind them had even divined her precise location.

Calculating the years, she would now be seventeen or eighteen.

With the White Household's young lady about to marry, her identity was all but obvious.

"Nishang, you've come at just the right time." The head of the White Household wore an affectionate expression.

Yet that fatherly love was tinged with reverence.

He did not know whether this was a blessing or a calamity.

That great figure had not possessed his daughter, but had simply happened to reincarnate as his child.

Fortunately, he had always doted on his daughter before this.

Even after she had been found to have no talent for cultivation, he had never neglected her.

"These thirty immortal masters will be the guards escorting you on your wedding day," the head of the White Household introduced.

"Nishang pays her respects to the immortal masters." Bai Nishang curtsied slightly. When her gaze fell on Xuan Shi and several other handsome young men, her shyness deepened.

She did not know that she was a great figure's Mortalized Body.

She had only heard that Evil Fiends had been running rampant throughout Yongning Commandery lately, which was why so many immortal masters had arrived.

"You're too kind, Miss Bai."

"We wouldn't dare accept such courtesy."

Everyone returned her greeting.

Even the arrogant Xuan Shi dared not be disrespectful.

"Hearing of you a hundred times cannot compare to meeting you once. Miss Bai, your beauty truly is peerless-a phoenix among mortals!" The man with golden eyes cupped his hands, undisguised admiration in his expression.

"Ahem!" The head of the White Household interrupted. "Please stay in our residence for the next two days. Your Guard Tokens will allow you to come and go freely."

With that, the head of the White Household left with Bai Nishang.

Although he very much wanted to arrange a marriage between Bai Nishang and one of the talented young men among the thirty, forging ties with the powers and traditions behind them, it was unrealistic.

Bai Nishang had no talent for cultivation, after all. That was dictated by her Mortalized Body.

If he rashly canceled this marriage for the White Household's benefit and incurred her wrath as a result, the White Household could never bear the consequences.

Thus, he could do nothing. Everything had to follow its predetermined course.

Unlike the others and their enthusiasm, Li Yang remained indifferent.

This so-called Mortalized Body was no different from any ordinary woman.

Presumably, Ning Xinyao's grand-grandaunt simply had heaven-defying cultivation talent and the Ancient Immortal Ning Lineage's limitless resources, making her a sweet, innocent airhead who knew nothing but cultivation.

How many innocent people had she indirectly killed for the sake of her own cultivation?

"I think your Household Ancestor Ning is desperately short of men. This Mortalized Body certainly is, and I imagine her true self is too."

At such offensive words, Ning Xinyao merely rolled her eyes without arguing.

Because it was true.

She had never heard of her grand-grandaunt having a cultivation partner. With so little experience of the world, she needed mortal transfiguration to experience the warmth and coldness of human relationships, the fickleness of society, and love, hate, affection, and vengeance.

Over the next two days, the White Household's wedding preparations proceeded steadily.

Almost none of the thirty guards left the White residence.

Most spent every day lingering outside Bai Nishang's chambers.

Some even used protecting Bai Nishang as an excuse to remain stationed outside her chambers.

The way they wanted to strike up conversations and curry favor, yet desperately restrained themselves, made Li Yang want to laugh.

He even suspected that if no Evil Fiend came to steal the bride, one of them might do it instead.

But that had nothing to do with him.

All he had to do was wait for the wedding day and slay the Evil Fiend.

"Oh, enough already! Aren't you tired of this?" Harassed every day by the cultivators outside the door, Bai Nishang's maid was utterly fed up. "My young lady is already betrothed, and her wedding is nearly here. How can you still shamelessly ask about her tastes?

"I'm going out to buy intimate necessities for my young lady's wedding. Don't disturb her while I'm gone!"

Her hair tied into two buns, the maid angrily pushed through the crowd.

No one cared about her.

Despite those words, Bai Nishang had accepted the treasures they offered.

Xuan Shi had given her a wondrous stone. Keeping it on her person would gradually strengthen her constitution, perhaps granting her a chance to cultivate someday.

The Golden Eyes male cultivator was even more lavish.

He had directly given the White Household Spirit Artifacts, Talismans, Pills, natural treasures, Spirit Stones, and other cultivation resources in enormous quantities, worth who knew how many times more than the betrothal gifts.

He had also given Bai Nishang a special Demon Core, supposedly containing a wondrous power that could make the impossible possible. Perhaps it could break the rule that a Mortalized Body could not cultivate.

But the most successful of them was the male cultivator wearing a feathered crown and brocade robes.

Apart from Li Yang, he was the only cultivator who showed Bai Nishang no reverence whatsoever.

His gift had nothing to do with cultivation. It was merely a poem:

Ten miles of spring breeze cannot compare to you; one song of Nishang stirs my heart.

In this life, I envy not the moon above; I wish only to wax and wane with you.

Since Bai Nishang had no cultivation talent, she was quite interested in poetry.

Many talented scholars in Yongning Commandery had written poems for her before.

But none had moved her heart the way this one did.

It was not because the poem was particularly good.

Rather, his identity as a cultivator placed him at a different height, lending his words a different resonance.

Such an unabashed and straightforward declaration of courtship had, instead, produced excellent results.

He became the first cultivator to enter Bai Nishang's chambers, leaving all the other male cultivators green with envy.

"Junior brother, since you're not interested in forging a connection with my Household Ancestor Ning, why not come explore Yongning Commandery with me? We're free these next two days anyway."

Li Yang nodded.

He truly could not stand watching a crowd of cultivators fawn over a mortal woman.

It was not that he looked down on mortals. Rather, Bai Nishang struck him as a whore who wanted to erect a monument to her own chastity.

She was clearly about to marry and already had a fiancé, yet she still accepted expensive gifts from other men.

And she seemed to thoroughly enjoy being surrounded by these gifted young male cultivators, like a moon cradled by a host of stars.

Of course.

One was willing to strike, and the other willing to take the blows. There was nothing more to say.

The two walked along the bustling streets.

Only then did Li Yang learn that it was not just the White Household marrying off a daughter. The Third Miss of the Qiu Lineage in Yongning Commandery was also scheduled to marry tomorrow.

The Qiu Lineage's influence in Yongning Commandery rivaled the White Household's, and quite a few gifted young cultivators were serving as their guards as well.

They only knew that Household Ancestor Ning was undergoing mortal transfiguration in Yongning Commandery. Opinions differed on exactly who she was.

What was certain, however, was that a mighty expert had divined that her Mortal Transfiguration would face a tribulation tomorrow.

That narrowed it down to either the White Household's young lady or the Third Miss of the Qiu Lineage.

Since Ning Xinyao had brought him to the White Household, it was presumably Bai Nishang without a doubt.

"Senior sister, do you also make a habit of strolling through mortal markets?" Li Yang followed behind Ning Xinyao.

Ning Xinyao looked at this and touched that.

"I used to. These days, I mostly browse cultivation cities." Her gaze swept toward a distant Silk Shop and settled on Bai Nishang's maid inside.

"Junior brother, do you sense anything?"

Li Yang's expression sharpened.

He frowned slightly. "There's a faint trace of evil fiend aura nearby, but it's very well concealed. I haven't developed Divine Sense yet, so I can't locate it."

Ning Xinyao prompted him.

"Miss Bai's maid."

Li Yang immediately focused his gaze on her-

A moment later.

He shook his head. "I can't tell."

But since his senior sister had said so, she must have noticed something.

He immediately strode into the Silk Shop.

"Why have you followed me all the way here?!" Bai Nishang's maid frowned. "I'm here to collect my young lady's custom-made undergarments. Do you want to look at those too?"

Li Yang frowned and snapped at her.

"Shut up!"

But Ning Xinyao, who had followed him inside, felt her heart jolt at his shout.

"My dear junior brother, don't scare my grand-grandaunt!"