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

When Haojing landed in front of the two, he was covered in sweat.

He was panting heavily, gasping for breath.

"That...that person is here!"

"Who?"

Shen Mu frowned slightly and suddenly stood up.

Suddenly, a nameless panic exploded from the bottom of my heart.

"Young Master Zhou! Zhou Jinghuai!"

Before Haojing could finish speaking, a splash of bright red appeared in front of them.

Zhou Jinghuai, dressed in a bright and flamboyant red robe, stood steadily by the lake. He casually swept his long hair down to his waist and smiled at the crowd.

"Long time no see, Shen Mu!"

Shen Mu instinctively stood in front of Thirteen, shielding her from Zhou Jinghuai's burning gaze, and said in a somewhat indifferent tone...

"Didn't you go back to Xichen? Why are you here?"

"Of course I missed you, didn't I?" Zhou Jinghuai thought to himself that he hadn't appeared for a long time, and everyone had probably already forgotten about him.

"You've seen it? Then you can leave now." Shen Mu's tone was undisguisedly hostile.

Even Hao Jing, who was standing to the side, noticed something amiss. He suddenly looked up at Thirteen behind Shen Mu. Even though Thirteen was afraid of being recognized by Zhou Jinghuai, he had already shrank behind Shen Mu.

Suddenly, he remembered that Zhou Jinghuai probably didn't know Thirteen's current identity.

"Don't rush me to leave, Lord Shen. Who is that young lady behind you?" Zhou Jinghuai gave him a look. He had seen a beautiful woman by the lake when he came over.

Even he had never seen Shen Mu with a woman by his side.

That's why he made such a flamboyant appearance, just to catch a glimpse of the beauty.

Shen Mu's face darkened, and he said with a hint of displeasure.

"This girl has nothing to do with you. What brings you here to see me? Or are you not going back?"

When Thirteen heard Zhou Jinghuai mention him, he quickly shrank back, afraid that Zhou would discover him.

"Oh dear, I already told you I came to see you. I finally managed to get a few days off from Aunt Qin just to accompany you on your trip to the Southern Barbarians."

After Zhou Jinghuai finished speaking, he took out a sharp blade inlaid with gemstones from his pocket.

"What is this, Young Master Zhou?"

Haojing quickly stepped forward and blocked Shen Mu's path.

"I got this from Aunt Qin. With this, Sun Youzhi will be annihilated and will no longer be able to stay in the mortal world and cause harm to people."

Zhou Jinghuai raised an eyebrow at Hao Jing with a smug expression, completely ignoring the crescent-white figure behind Shen Mu.

Seeing that Zhou Jinghuai was blocked by Shen Mu and the other person, Shisan quickly tiptoed and carefully ran back.

Zhou Jinghuai keenly sensed someone nearby. He looked up, about to look, but Shen Mu grabbed him and pulled him to the ground.

"Shen Mu—"

He naturally didn't realize that Shen Mu would attack him.

Zhou Jinghuai fell flat on his back to the ground. Although he had divine power protecting him, the fall caused his old back injury to ache again.

He sat up, baring his teeth, and glared at him angrily.

"What are you doing? You treat me like this after all this time! I haven't even asked you where you've been all this time, I've looked everywhere for you and can't find you!"

He looked displeased, forgetting that there had been people nearby just now.

Shen Mu clapped his hands and stood there calmly.

"How long will it take you to deal with Xichen's matter? The other two clones of Demon Lord Chongming have been located, and it's clear that I don't have enough people under my command."

"two?"

Zhou Jinghuai was somewhat surprised and quickly got up.

He dusted himself off and hurriedly said...

"You mean the two clones besides Sun Youzhi? Where are they? Should I call Aunt Qin over?"

"Aunt Qin? Why does that name sound so familiar?"

Hao Jing muttered to himself and returned the sharp blade in his hand to Zhou Jinghuai.

He has been taking care of Thirteen all this time, and is clearly unaware of what is happening outside.

"Ouch—"

An unfamiliar voice broke the conversation between the three.

Shen Mu subconsciously gripped the sword behind him and said coldly.

"who is it?"

Clearly, none of them noticed that someone dared to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Zhou Jinghuai instead raised his hand and pressed Shen Mu's sword back down, then shouted towards the bushes.

"Come out, Qingfeng!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Qingfeng emerged from the bushes, his little face all scrunched up in a disheveled state.

His disheveled appearance was quite different from Hao Jing's.

Seeing his disheveled appearance, Haojing couldn't help but laugh.

"Qingfeng, did you flee from disaster? How come you've fallen into such a state after just a few days?"

He pointed to the holes in Qingfeng's body. Judging from those cuts, he must have been jostled around on the road for a long time, which resulted in all those abrasions.

Qingfeng pursed her lips and subconsciously looked at Zhou Jinghuai.

"I was thrown out here. Aunt Qin said that if Young Master Zhou doesn't come back with me, she'll make me disappear into nothingness..."

"Aunt Qin?" Shen Mu frowned.

She thought to herself, "How dare Aunt Qin touch someone close to Zhou Jinghuai?"

Could it be that person...?

His icy expression cracked slightly as he looked at Zhou Jinghuai.

"Are you referring to Qin Rao, the female general from Xichen?"

Although he had always stayed in Cangling, he had heard of this famous female general of Xichen in his early years.

Aside from the four deceased divine rulers, Qin Rao's divine power should probably rank among the top three in the divine realm.

Zhou Jinghuai was somewhat surprised; he naturally hadn't expected Shen Mu to know Aunt Qin.

"You know her? She's my aunt, but she relinquished her general's title years ago and now spends her days indulging in pleasure and debauchery in the mortal realm..."

"Who are you talking about? Zhou Jinghuai."

A pale purple figure appeared silently before everyone.

Everyone looked up and saw Qin Rao leaning against a tree with an angry expression.

She crossed her arms, her face contorted with malice, and stared directly at Zhou Jinghuai.

Zhou Jinghuai was naturally afraid. He originally intended to return to Xichen with Qin Rao, but because he was so eager to find Thirteen, he had Qingfeng temporarily hold off Aunt Qin so that he could slip away.

However, he did not expect Qingfeng's abilities to be so poor.

Thinking of this, Zhou Jinghuai glared at Qingfeng, who had fallen to the ground in fright.

"You're really useless!" He couldn't help but feel annoyed, naturally because Qingfeng had ruined his plans once again.

"Like master, like servant. General Zhou, when you talk about others, have you ever thought about yourself?"

Qin Rao clapped his hands, stood up straight, and walked directly toward them.

Because of her immense divine power, she looked like a young girl after descending to the mortal realm, and it was impossible to tell that she was an old god who had lived for thousands of years.

She slowly walked up to the group, but the moment she looked up at Shen Mu, her expression suddenly darkened.

"It's you!"

She stared at Shen Mu in astonishment. Even after living for over a thousand years, she never imagined that she would see an old friend here again!