Poisonous Goddess: I'm just lazing around in the mortal realm.

Shen Mu's face showed some anger, clearly indicating that he had just lost his temper at the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Haojing swallowed hard, his mouth trembling, and quickly replied.

"We're here to discuss things concerning Young Master Zhou Jinghuai." He subconsciously touched the wooden hairpin in his pocket, feeling immense pressure at that moment.

He originally wanted to discuss with Xie Qiao how to deal with the wooden hairpin, but he never expected that after finally explaining the reasons to Xie Qiao, he would be in trouble.

But Shen Mu arrived at this moment!

Hearing the sound, Xie Qiao quickly turned around and met Shen Mu's somewhat gloomy eyes, which startled her.

"Yes, we were discussing it. We heard that Young Master Zhou is going back to Xichen." It was rare for him to be able to think straight in time, and he covered for Haojing a few times.

"Is he going back to Xichen?"

Shen Mu frowned slightly; he had obviously only just learned of this matter himself.

He slowly walked forward, his black and red outfit highlighting his strong waist. Standing between the two of them, Hao Jing and Xie Qiao seemed shorter than him.

"He said he would be setting off soon, and that an old friend would be going back with him," Hao Jing said truthfully. Although he appeared calm, he was actually quite anxious, wondering whether he should tell the official about Zhou Jinghuai asking him to hand over the token.

After all, just looking at the surface, it's obvious to anyone with eyes that the thirteenth is of extraordinary significance to the adults.

He was willing to give her his life-saving medicine and was very considerate towards her.

Clearly, their relationship was extraordinary.

But if he doesn't hand the wooden hairpin over to Thirteen, then...

How confident was he that he could dodge Zhou Jinghuai's iron fist?

Haojing lowered his head involuntarily, secretly lamenting how difficult both ends of the road were.

"Why are you so upset that he's going back to Xichen? Why don't you go with him?" Shen Mu naturally couldn't see through Hao Jing's thoughts, but he felt that Hao Jing was acting strangely.

He was already acting strangely on a daily basis, but now that he was standing there, he looked even stranger.

Seeing this, Xie Qiao was afraid that Hao Jing might accidentally let something slip, so she quickly tried to smooth things over.

"My lord, I haven't had a chance to tell you yet, but on the day Chongming appeared, I met Young Master Zhou first and told him about Chongming's appearance, hoping he could help me find you."

Xie Qiao naturally deduced from Hao Jing's reaction that the adult must not be able to meet with Zhou Jinghuai at the moment, or perhaps it was the girl in the secret room.

This must have been of extraordinary significance to the two of them.

“It’s only right that you tell him about this.” Shen Mu nodded. For the past two hundred years, he had been cooperating with Zhou Jinghuai to capture the Demon Lord Chongming.

Do we really need to ask him for permission to help each other, whether it's overt or covert?

He suddenly seemed to remember something, turned to look at the two men who also looked somewhat guilty, and slowly said...

"Are you two hiding something from me?" He always felt that whenever the two of them were together, they were plotting something bad.

"no"

"no"

As expected, Xie Qiao and Hao Jing both vehemently denied it.

Rather than offending the adults, Hao Jing chose to completely offend Zhou Jinghuai. After all, Zhou Jinghuai was about to return to the Western Divine Realm, so he wouldn't be able to control him for the time being.

They would also never know that he hadn't handed the wooden hairpin over to Thirteen.

"Really not?" Shen Mu narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he had already seen through the two's secrets.

Feeling a little guilty under the gaze, Xie Qiao took a step back, which happened to block Hao Jing's path.

The two didn't expect that Shen Mu would rush towards them the next moment and grab Hao Jing's collar from behind Xie Qiao.

Hao Jing was startled and looked at his master with terrified eyes.

"Sir, what are you..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Shen Mu reach into his arms.

But after Shen Mu searched for a long time, he found nothing.

When Shen Mu released his grip on his collar, Hao Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but glance at Xie Qiao to the side.

At this moment, Xie Qiao held the wooden hairpin that Zhou Jinghuai had given him.

Haojing had been by Shen Mu's side longer than Xie Qiao, and was also a close brother who had gone through thick and thin with Shen Mu. Because of the capture of the Demon Lord Chongming, he almost lost his life several times.

Although he was a bit slippery, he was also the one who understood Shen Mu the most among them.

He knew, of course, that his guilty look just now couldn't hide from Shen Mu.

Shen Mu frowned slightly and glared at Hao Jing with some displeasure.

"What? What is it that you're afraid to tell me?" He tilted his head slightly, his dark eyes seeming to churn with blood-red light.

Few people know that Shen Mu's eyes turn blood red whenever he harbors murderous intent.

Like a ferocious beast with fangs.

Haojing opened his mouth, but didn't know how to explain.

Seeing this, Xie Qiao naturally assumed Shen Mu was truly angry, and rushed to Hao Jing's side, handing him the wooden hairpin.

"My lord, please calm down! Haojing didn't do it on purpose!"

"What is this?" Shen Mu frowned as he took the wooden hairpin and examined it repeatedly for a long time before he realized that it was a wooden hairpin.

"grown ups……"

Xie Qiao wanted to explain for Hao Jing, but he only knew that this thing was called a wooden hairpin from Hao Jing, and other than that, he didn't know anything else.

Haojing naturally understood Xie Qiao's good intentions. He sighed deeply, patted Xie Qiao on the shoulder, and told him to step aside.

Shen Mu raised his head and met Hao Jing's gaze.

"What's so great about hiding this wooden hairpin? It's just that your taste has been terrible lately. You want to send something like this to Zuixianlou? I'm afraid you won't even be able to get through the door."

It was common knowledge that Haojing frequented brothels.

The courtesan Yi Sisi of Zuixianlou, who caused such a stir recently, is his current favorite.

However, Shen Mu also overheard from his subordinates that Yi Sisi was aloof and had never met Hao Jing.

"My lord, this isn't what I took to Zuixianlou, and besides, you haven't given me any money in a long time." Haojing said with a bitter expression.

Ever since the last time, when the adults discovered that he hadn't been keeping a close eye on Zhou Jinghuai and that Zhou Jinghuai was running to Thirteen's place every day, they angrily stopped his salary.

He hadn't smelled silver in a long time.

Not to mention, going to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion to find Miss Yi Sisi!

Thinking of this, Haojing lowered his head slightly, as if a few tears were falling.

Seeing his pathetic state, Shen Mu couldn't bear it and said...

"If you don't have money, just go to the manor to get some. Even if we're not as wealthy as the Zhou family, isn't that much silver and stuff enough for you?"

He couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted, after all, Haojing had risked his life alongside him, and he had seen it all.

Although he was somewhat strict with Haojing, he would agree to anything Haojing asked for, as long as it wasn't too outrageous.

Upon hearing that the adults had relented, Haojing quickly raised his head.

"Thank you, sir!"