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

Shen Mu slightly lowered his sharp eyes, his distinct knuckles tapping on the armrest of the armchair beside him.

He slowly lifted his eyelids to look at Zhou Jinghuai's foot resting on the table, his tone carrying a subtle warning.

"Put it down."

"you--"

Zhou Jinghuai wanted to continue acting like a big shot, but knowing Shen Mu's personality well, he could tell that Shen Mu was suppressing his temper, so he had no choice but to awkwardly withdraw his foot.

He stood in front of the desk and suddenly realized why he had to feel so wronged.

It was clearly Shen Mu who hid it from him first!

"Tell me, is that military doctor Thirteen or not?"

"What military doctor?"

"The girl next to the second young lady of the Pei family that you had Haojing and Xie Qiao guarding there right now! Tell me, isn't she Thirteen?"

Zhou Jinghuai was so excited that he was trembling, and he managed to keep his voice down with great difficulty.

If he wasn't mistaken, Pei Suisui, who was in the army at this time, must have also run away. That probably explained why Thirteen and his group were at the back of the line.

"You know what I'm talking about, Lord Shen!"

"I do not know."

Shen Mu leaned back lazily in the armchair, his eyes slightly narrowed, a smile playing on his lips that was hard to decipher.

He knew, of course, that Zhou Jinghuai was referring to Thirteen.

"You old fox, why didn't you tell me she was right here? Did you already know she was a girl?"

Zhou Jinghuai's eye twitched, and his expression changed from anger to calm. He suddenly remembered that he was alone on Shen Mu's territory.

If the two of them really had a conflict, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to beat Shen Mu.

Whether I know it or not, you didn't tell me I needed to tell you.

"Are you trying to be a scoundrel?"

Zhou Jinghuai found it somewhat amusing; even after searching for so many years, Shen Mu must have known something about him.

Back then, he was injured and carried by the sea to the bottom of Haohai Cliff.

He was saved by that girl, which is why he was left with a breath.

"..."

Shen Mu stared at him blankly, without answering his question.

Zhou Jinghuai suddenly felt as if he was not being respected, and he couldn't suppress his anger.

"You know how important that girl is to me, Lord Shen! She saved my life! I've been searching for her for over a hundred years!"

He swept all the memorials on the table onto the floor, trying to vent his dissatisfaction.

He had always respected Shen Mu as a friend, not only because Shen Mu's divine power was superior to his own, but also because Shen Mu's attitude towards others made him unconditionally trust him.

However, on this matter, he simply could not accept that Shen Mu had kept something from him!

Shen Mu glanced indifferently at the folded document on the ground, his voice slightly hoarse.

"So you mean Thirteen is the girl who saved you at the foot of Haohai Cliff back then? You've confirmed each other's identities?"

His tone carried a hint of uncertainty.

Zhou Jinghuai's breath hitched; he hadn't expected Shen Mu to ask him that.

"I...they look exactly alike, it must be!" He felt a little guilty and didn't dare to look up and meet Shen Mu's gaze.

Instead, Shen Mu slowly stood up and bent down to pick up the memorials on the ground one by one.

“You’ve already lost your temper with me before anything has been confirmed. And because of this, you’ve completely forgotten your mission to kill the Demon Lord Chongming.”

His attitude was cold, and his tone was serious.

Instead, this moment seemed to awaken Zhou Jinghuai.

Shen Mu's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over him.

"You... I didn't think that way! I know our mission, and I dare not forget it!"

"Then tell me, do you know that the Demon Lord's second avatar is colluding with the Western Regions and hiding within the Southern Barbarian territory, intending to interfere in the war between Nanyang and the Southern Barbarians?"

"I……"

Zhou Jinghuai was a little flustered and quickly pulled up his sleeve to wipe the fine sweat from his forehead.

Indeed, he didn't know, or rather, he had long forgotten to verify this matter.

"So you don't remember your mission, nor do you remember the instructions General Qin Rao gave you. Just because Thirteen looks like your old friend, you're willing to go to any lengths to get an explanation from me?"

Shen Mu's tone grew increasingly somber, and a strange emotion flickered in his eyes.

He stood quietly beside Zhou Jinghuai, meeting his somewhat guilty gaze, and said...

"Where were you when Sun Youzhi tried to kill Thirteen? Do you know she almost lost her life?"

He tried his best to control his emotions, not wanting Zhou Jinghuai to easily notice.

But Zhou Jinghuai still keenly noticed his odd behavior and hesitated somewhat before speaking.

"I did go, but at that time..."

"General Qin Rao intervened and stopped you then, right?"

Such a trivial matter could not be kept from Shen Mu, not to mention that when Qin Rao first appeared in the mortal realm, he had already sent people to guard Qin Rao's side.

At that time, Qin Rao was still unsure where the deity came from.

Naturally, he was also fully aware of the conversation between Qin Rao and Zhou Jinghuai at the foot of the city wall.

"Aunt Qin had something to discuss with me; she wasn't intentionally preventing me from visiting you," Zhou Jinghuai said kindly, thinking Shen Mu had misunderstood his aunt.

“But if I remember correctly, it was your dear aunt who hurriedly summoned you back to Xichen from Haohai Cliff back then.”

Shen Mu naturally took Zhou Jinghuai's words to heart.

When he first met Zhou Jinghuai and heard him mention his past at Haohai Cliff, he immediately sent people to investigate in secret.

What he didn't expect was that things back then weren't as Zhou Jinghuai had described.

It's that simple.

It turns out that everything was planned in secret all along!

Thinking of this, Shen Mu took a deep breath and tried his best to control his emotions, not wanting to continue arguing with Zhou Jinghuai at this moment.

After all, the Demon Lord's breakup is imminent, and their problems shouldn't affect their plans.

Not to mention, Qin Rao is, after all, a native of Xichen, and he would never cause them any trouble at this time.

"What do you mean? Are you saying that Aunt Qin did this on purpose?"

Zhou Jinghuai naturally didn't want to let this topic go, after all, if he hadn't left Haohai Cliff in a hurry back then, he wouldn't have been unable to find that girl again.

He frowned slightly, thinking that the reason Aunt Qin had summoned him back then was also inexplicably absurd.

Upon seeing this, Shen Mu felt a headache coming on.

"I can't say for sure about this. I just hope that we won't make any more mistakes before we get rid of the new clone. If your matter in Xichen isn't that important, then try to stay in the mortal realm and help me."

“You…” Now it was Zhou Jinghuai’s turn to hesitate.

“I cut off Sun Youzhi’s arm, and the price was that Thirteen lost all his divine power. If we have to pay such a price for that one Sun Youzhi, I’m afraid the remaining two clones will be even more difficult to deal with.”