The years I was in the human world

"You keep this." At night, the oil lamp was lit in the tent, and Lu Zhouxue handed the feather hairpin given to her by Yu Zhao to Xiao Fengzhuo.

At that time, the latter was spreading the bedding on the ground. There was only one bed in the tent, and Xiao Fengzhuo gave it to Lu Zhouxue to sleep on. He planned to sleep on the ground. When he saw the other party handing him something, he did not take it. He said without raising his head, "She gave it to you. Just keep it. The feathers on it are phoenix tail feathers. They are very precious."

"You've already given me a hairpin, and I can't wear it even if I keep it." Lu Zhouxue pursed her lips, still a little unhappy, "I give this to you as a keepsake."

"My lady Lu, what are you talking about?" Xiao Fengzhuo stopped what he was doing, looked up at Lu Zhouxue with a half-smile, and said, "Then Yu Zhao and I are at most an elder and nephew, what should I think of?"

Lu Zhouxue stopped talking. He was thinking that Xiao Fengzhuo came for Yu Zhao because he came for nothing after the person died. If he had a hairpin in his hand, it would be an explanation. He didn't come out with the hairpin on purpose because he was jealous.

Little did he know that all his mental activities were seen by Xiao Fengzhuo, who chuckled, stood up, pinched his nose, and said jokingly: "Look at you, your face is wrinkled like a bitter gourd."

Then he took the hairpin from Lu Zhouxue's hand, gathered up his silver-white hair that fell to his waist and hips, tied it into a bun, and put the hairpin on, and then commented: "Lu Damei is as elegant as the breeze and the bright moon, but this feather hairpin makes her look tacky."

After saying that, she took off the hairpin and put it in her bosom, then took out another white jade hairpin and put it on Lu Zhouxue: "This is very good."

"As for this feather hairpin, it belongs to Zhu Huang after all. Why not take it back and give it to Kong Qing as a keepsake? What do you think?" Xiao Fengzhuo said.

Lu Zhouxue nodded, and sat beside him obediently, watching Xiao Fengzhuo squat down and continue to sleep on the floor. After a moment, he asked softly: "Are you going to sleep on the floor tonight?"

"What else? Could it be that Mianmian wants to sleep on the floor?" Xiao Fengzhuo looked up at him with amusement, rolling his eyes, and then asked, "Or does Mianmian want to share a bed with me?"

He was just joking, but who would have thought that Lu Zhouxue would just look at him and ask hesitantly and hopefully: "Is it okay?"

"..." Xiao Fengzhuo didn't know how to respond to Lu Zhouxue's words for a moment. He looked up and saw that he was serious. He thought he must have some special reason, so he asked: "But what's wrong with you?"

"Cold." Lu Zhouxue said concisely. He grabbed Xiao Fengzhuo's hand and held it in his. His hand was as cold as ice. In contrast, Xiao Fengzhuo was as warm as a stove. "Azhuo's body is warm."

"So Mianmian is using me as a hot water bottle?" Xiao Fengzhuo gritted his teeth and was actually amused by Lu Zhouxue's innocent and matter-of-fact attitude. He wondered if he had spoiled this guy too much, so that Lu Zhouxue was now lawless.

"Is it not possible?" Lu Zhouxue blinked. They were both men and their relationship was innocent. There was nothing wrong with them sleeping together.

"Okay, why not." Xiao Fengzhuo didn't even spread the bedding. Lu Zhouxue herself was not afraid, so what was he afraid of? He threw the quilt on the bed, cast a cleansing spell, and began to untie his belt.

Lu Zhouxue looked at Xiao Fengzhuo's half-covered gauze dress, which exposed his entire thighs. She seriously suspected that if he took off his outer robe, there would be nothing underneath: "You... are you going to take it off again?"

Although Lu Zhouxue didn't mind sleeping together, he was not ready to be honest with Xiao Fengzhuo.

"Is Mianmian shy?" Xiao Fengzhuo deliberately teased him while unbuckling his belt. The outline of his chest and abdomen could be seen in the open collar. His muscles were smooth and he had a beautiful figure. Unfortunately, although he was joking, Xiao Fengzhuo had no intention of actually being naked in front of Lu Zhouxue.

Lu Zhouxue's ears blushed quietly, and he avoided looking at people. Xiao Fengzhuo looked at him in surprise and laughed out loud: "Mianmian, you are really interesting. You are brave enough to sleep with me, but you are too embarrassed to look at me?"

Lu Zhouxue lowered her eyes and didn't look at him. She only saw Xiao Fengzhuo's gauze clothes slide down and pile at his feet. She thought that he had taken them off completely. Lu Zhouxue's face also turned red. She pursed her lips and said, "Hurry up and put on your clothes."

"Ha." Xiao Fengzhuo chuckled, turned around, threw off the quilt and huddled in bed, "I'll do whatever you tell me to do, but there's no such thing. I just like sleeping like this."

"This is not good." Lu Zhouxue said softly, her eyes fixed on the ground. Next to her was the gauze dress that Xiao Fengzhuo had just taken off. "You'll catch a cold."

"Mianmian is afraid of the cold, isn't this just right?" Xiao Fengzhuo's teasing voice came from the other side of the bed, "Why don't you come over and rest?"

Lu Zhouxue took a deep breath and inexplicably felt that her original plan to share a bed with Xiao Fengzhuo might not have been so wise. However, he was the one who brought up the idea after all, so no matter how embarrassed she was at this moment, she had no choice but to go ahead with it.

But when he raised his head, what he saw was not what he had imagined. Xiao Fengzhuo was wrapped tightly in a snow-white inner garment, half leaning on the bed and looking at him with a smile: "Mianmian is thinking wrongly, isn't she?"

Lu Zhouxue: “…” He did it on purpose.

"What are you still standing there for? Aren't you cold? Why don't you come over here?" Xiao Fengzhuo waved at Lu Zhouxue, smiling like an old fox.

"You don't look like a cat demon, but more like a fox spirit." Lu Zhouxue sat down on the bed, lowered her eyes and looked at Xiao Fengzhuo, her tone was calm but quite teasing, "Just like Yu Zhao said, you are not young anymore, but you are still as frivolous as a teenager."

"I'll just take it as a compliment from Mianmian." Xiao Fengzhuo moved inside wrapped in the quilt, lifted a corner of the quilt and patted the bed below, "Come on, Mianmian, brother will coax you to sleep."

"You're already old, and you still act like a brother." Lu Zhouxue mocked him, but still huddled into the quilt obediently. Xiao Fengzhuo pulled him into his arms and tucked in the quilt. His warm body temperature immediately enveloped him from all directions, and even Lu Zhouxue's fingertips were warm.

"Are you old?" Xiao Fengzhuo's voice came from above. He pressed Lu Zhouxue's head and said half seriously and half jokingly, "If we really want to discuss this in detail, Mianmian will have to call me uncle-master."

"Hmm? Call me uncle so I can hear it?" Xiao Fengzhuo lowered his head and pressed it against Lu Zhouxue's forehead. His joking tone was like coaxing a child. Lu Zhouxue looked up at him helplessly and said, "Compared to those young men, you are probably even less sensible."

Xiao Fengzhuo knew that he couldn't make the man anxious, so he laughed, patted the man's back gently, and coaxed him, "Go to bed, it's getting late."

At night, it was just after three o'clock.

There was a faint and miserable knock on the door outside the tent. You Rong shouted from outside, "Are you two asleep? The general sent a servant to bring some food."

Lu Zhouxue had a light sleep and woke up at the second sound. Just as she was about to get up, Xiao Fengzhuo beside her reached out and held Lu Zhouxue down. His eyes were also clear, not like he had just woken up. He made a gesture to keep quiet, pointed at the door, and shook his head gently.

He whispered to Lu Zhouxue, "That brat treats me with indifference, how could he speak to me so respectfully? Besides, Yu Zhao just told us not to send food to you and me, but now he's doing it again, how could there be something fishy going on?"

The two of them snuggled in the bed without moving. The person outside knocked on the door for a long time but got no response, so he gave up. It soon became quiet outside the tent. Xiao Fengzhuo then let go of Lu Zhouxue, lifted the quilt and stepped out, intending to open the door to check.

When getting out of bed, Lu Zhouxue grabbed the sleeve of Xiao Fengzhuo's inner shirt and silently pointed to the gap under the curtain of the tent door. A black shadow that seemed to have life meandered in from outside the door and gradually formed a black swamp.

Xiao Fengzhuo's face became serious, he picked up the scimitar on the bedside, and walked over quietly. Lu Zhouxue also got off the bed, holding a piece of talisman paper in his hand, and looked at the black shadow on the ground that was gradually taking shape with a vigilant look.

The two exchanged glances, and Xiao Fengzhuo decisively reached into the shadows, and then grabbed a limp, long-necked evil ghost. The evil ghost was limp all over, as if it had no bones. Xiao Fengzhuo pulled it out and immediately threw it aside with disgust: "Eh, so disgusting."

Lu Zhouxue was quick to slap a talisman on the evil ghost's forehead. He looked up and down at the naked evil ghost with pale skin, nodded and agreed, "It's really disgusting."

"But how did this thing suddenly appear?" Lu Zhouxue kicked the white-skinned evil ghost. It was soft and seemed to contain something round. The touch gave people a bad association.

"Something may have happened in the military camp." Xiao Fengzhuo walked to the tent and gently lifted a corner of the curtain to look around quietly. It was indeed a mess outside, but for some reason all the sounds seemed to be muted. It was so quiet that the two of them didn't hear any movement at all.

"It seems they can't win." Lu Zhouxue frowned. The bonfire in the military camp was trampled down to only sporadic flames due to the chaos. The mortal soldiers were fighting with the evil spirits from the underworld with ordinary forged swords. They were not at an advantage in numbers, and the evil spirits would not get tired or stop.

"How can mortals fight against evil spirits?" Xiao Fengzhuo had an expected look on his face. He took a look and then lowered the curtain. He didn't intend to meddle in other people's business. It was just a residual image of the past. Even if he helped, what could he change?

"Mortals?" Lu Zhouxue asked. He lifted the curtain and took a closer look. He found that the soldiers who were fighting against the evil spirits with swords did not have any cultivation. Some of them did not even have the roots of cultivators. They had no chance of winning against the evil spirits. "It is the cultivators' responsibility to eradicate the evil spirits. Why are mortals taking the lead?"

Lu Zhouxue was a little surprised. He knew that the monk Zhongting was just a figurehead, but he didn't expect that he was so useless that he didn't care about his own life and let ordinary people take the responsibility: "He can't help his master, and he can't benefit the people. What a good Zhongting."

"What's so strange about this?" Xiao Fengzhuo said, "How many cultivators are there? How can they handle so many evil spirits? Most of them send their disciples to recruit people to help eliminate the evil spirits. They are called Dengren, and most of them are mortals or low-level cultivators with low cultivation. The Dongshan military camp is just an exaggeration."

"This is also the reason why the Dongshan injustice was suppressed. Most of the people who died were fatherless and motherless. Their lives were no longer their own after they were recorded in the 'registration book.'" Xiao Fengzhuo said with emotion, "It was because Yu Zhao valued friendship and loyalty and tried his best to protect them. Otherwise, according to the past, these people would have been killed or injured long ago."

"Registration book, what is that?" Lu Zhouxue keenly grasped the key point.

"The so-called 'registration book' is actually a list of information about recruited mortals, including identity information and battle experience, and even the battle in which they died." Lu Zhouxue asked, and Xiao Fengzhuo explained to him, "Originally, this thing was used to reward meritorious service, but later it evolved into a slave document to control the registration. It's also ironic, Mianmian, why are you asking this?"

"Azhuo, Yu Zhao was convicted for colluding with evil spirits. The register contains information on people killed in battle, and there should also be records of battles against evil spirits. If that thing is found, can her charges be re-examined?" Lu Zhouxue looked at Xiao Fengzhuo, looking a little excited.

Xiao Fengzhuo did not respond to him immediately. He just held his shoulder to signal him to calm down, and then asked him a very realistic question: "That's true, but Mianmian, you have to understand one thing. You and I are now in a secret realm. I don't know where the registration book from that year was lost. How can we find it?"

"The reason why Yu Zhao's unjust case is difficult to redress is never because there is no evidence, but because someone does not want the truth to come out and has hidden the evidence." Xiao Fengzhuo looked at Lu Zhouxue. Yu Zhao's case might be a done deal in the eyes of others, but those who truly hold power will know that there is something fishy.

Couldn't Baili Changqing see it? But if he could see it, why did he investigate? To redress Yu Zhao's wrongful conviction was only a superficial reason. More importantly, he had to find out what conspiracy was behind Yu Zhao's wrongful conviction. That was the most important thing. Just like what those people in the Final Court were trying to conceal, it was not the life or death of a human-demon hybrid phoenix, but the purpose achieved by murdering the phoenix.

"Azhuo, when a jade pot has become a defective product, what difference does it make whether the first thing that appeared on the bottle was a crack or goose feathers?" Lu Zhouxue understood what Xiao Fengzhuo meant. He was a little slow in interacting with people, but he was not unable to see through Zhong Ting's conspiracies.

He did not need to find out the conspiracy behind Yu Zhao's affairs. His purpose was only to prove Yu Zhao's innocence. Now the so-called "registration" was the goose feather he used to prove that the jade pot in the "Dongshan old case verdict" was a defective product. The authenticity of the registration was not important. What was important was that Baili Changqing and Gu Yin believed it, and they would naturally clear Yu Zhao's name because of their old friendship.

From the beginning to the end, Lu Zhouxue had no intention of really finding any evidence from Dongshan. If the evidence could really be found, why would Yu Zhao be dragged to death? He went to Dongshan just to give him a reasonable source for the evidence he was about to fabricate, and being listed in the register was an unexpected gain from this trip.

After all, solid evidence is always more credible than his fabricated stories.