"Ling'er, why have you stopped trying to talk me out of it?"
The little maid bit her lip tightly, hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
"I suspect you want someone to bully you on purpose, Princess Consort."
"N-nonsense! I'm clearly doing this for revenge, to make sure that fiend dies without a place to be buried."
The Princess Consort looked solemn and spoke with righteous conviction, yet somehow, a trace of guilt crept into her expression.
There was no helping it. She called it an assassination attempt, but she had never succeeded-not even once. She had not even found an opportunity to strike.
Yet she kept studying that vixen's booklet, growing more practiced and more alluring by the day.
Probably no one would believe her if word got out.
"Then aren't you going to continue tonight, Princess Consort?"
The little maid's eyes lit up.
"C-continue."
A knock sounded at the door.
The little maid crawled under the bed. The Princess Consort... did not go out.
She no longer had the strength to go outside.
Fang Yang vaulted over the wall.
When they met again, the bed had already been made.
Their silhouettes overlapped.
Fang Yang switched to another bottle of pills, while the Princess Consort gripped her hairpin.
Still no opportunity to assassinate him.
Movements: practiced.
He arrived at midnight and left at dawn!
Fang Yang left six bowls of bird's nest soup.
The eighth day. Cultivation. Night.
"..."
The Princess Consort watched the little maid finish tidying the room, decide it was about time, and crawl under the bed without being told.
She no longer had even the strength to argue.
She simply bit her lip tightly and lay on the bed like a corpse.
A knock sounded at the door, noticeably weaker than it had been two days before.
The Princess Consort gripped her hairpin tightly. She had the will to slay the villain, but no strength to turn the tide.
In the end, she could only let out a long, forlorn sigh.
"Ling'er, go tell that fiend I've caught a chill today. Tell him to go back."
"Huh?"
A head suddenly poked out from under the bed. The little maid looked utterly astonished, but eventually nodded.
She soon went out through the courtyard gate.
Outside the gate, the summer breeze blew gently. Fang Yang stood propped against the gate, looking very weak himself.
Just then...
With a creak, the door opened.
A little maid wearing her hair in a maid's style and dressed in a bright yellow skirt poked her head out.
Her almond-shaped eyes were bright as she watched him warily. Fear lingered on her round, bun-like face; she was clearly terrified of him, the Demon Venerable whose fearsome reputation had spread far and wide.
"D-Demon Venerable, my Princess Consort is ill today. You can't bully her anymore. Please go back as soon as possible."
"She's ill?"
Fang Yang's eyes lit up, and excitement flooded through him. This was the first piece of good news he had heard in days.
He felt rather like a long-suffering daughter-in-law who had finally lived to become the mother-in-law.
It had been so hard!
The Demon Venerable's body had been tempered many times. Illness could scarcely enter it, and evil influences could hardly invade it. It was practically forged from iron.
The pills from Spring Passion Hall were also remarkably potent.
But no matter how potent they were, they could not withstand this kind of abuse.
For the past few days, he had cultivated during the day and cultivated at night as well.
He had nearly followed his predecessor into cultivation deviation and an early grave.
But there was no helping it. His eldest disciple was still on the mountain, and the Demon Cult's many enemies were still watching him closely.
He could not show the slightest sign that anything was amiss.
Besides, he needed the fated bond points and had to prepare for the grand gathering three months from now.
He could only struggle to maintain the diary's habit of uninterrupted daily updates.
But four double-hours every time.
It was truly inhuman.
He had wanted to take a day off for ages.
Fortunately, the Princess Consort was ill now. Otherwise, he still would not have been able to make up his mind.
"I understand!"
"Tell the Princess Consort to rest well. Tomorrow, I'll have someone send medicinal ingredients, along with some restorative tonics."
"For the sake of her health, let her rest a while longer."
With that, Fang Yang strode away.
The little maid watched his tall figure recede and murmured under her breath.
"So... this is the Demon Venerable?"
"Why is he different from what I imagined?"
She stood rooted to the spot, racking her brains. Even after thinking for a long time, she could not work out what was going on.
In the end, she could only tap her head and hurry back inside to take better care of the Princess Consort.
Inside the Demon Venerable Pavilion!
Fang Yang returned, panting heavily and looking utterly exhausted.
Recalling the maid he had just met, he felt a little puzzled.
In fact, the Demon Venerable's diary had mentioned this maid. When the Demon Venerable captured the Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King, he had brought back two women and a cat. Fang Yang had known all of this perfectly well.
But...
Despite visiting Wutong Courtyard so many times over the past few nights, he had never seen any sign of the maid.
He had assumed she had left the mountain long ago-or died young.
Yet tonight, he had unexpectedly run into her.
That raised a question: where exactly had the little maid been before this? Why had he never seen her?
Could she actually turn invisible?
Fang Yang pondered for a long time without arriving at an answer. In the end, he simply shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.
He got straight down to cultivating.
Night wrapped around everything, and the cicadas outside were especially noisy that evening.
The back mountain had also grown tranquil and refined.
The hot spring water still rippled, with layers of mist drifting over its surface.
Only three figures were missing.
The Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King, the White Snow Lion Cat, and Ye Qinghong...
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Chapter 20: The Demon Venerable Is So Powerful
The Demon Cult's outer courtyard.
Amid the deep darkness of night, a black-robed man looked at the young man kneeling before him.
"I told you to find out whether the Demon Venerable suffered cultivation deviation and was gravely injured. Why haven't you gone yet?"
His hoarse voice carried a thick undercurrent of murderous intent.
The black-robed man's eyes were blood-red.
He seemed to be growing impatient.
The young man shuddered and spoke cautiously.
"The Demon Venerable hasn't been in the Demon Venerable Pavilion at night these past few days. It's hard for me to sneak in."
"Then go in during the day."
"But... there are lots of guards during the day. It's too dangerous."
"If it weren't dangerous, why would I choose you? Don't forget, I'm paying you handsomely. Cultivation methods are exceedingly hard to come by in the cultivation world, especially our Demon Cult's foundational methods. Plenty of people outside would fight until their heads split open to seize them. It's your honor that I'm giving you this opportunity. If you don't want it, I'll choose someone else."
The black-robed man's voice was icy.
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