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

Thirteen's fingers tightened around the teacup, but he feigned indifference.

"I've already discussed your sister's matter with Shen Mu, and we've secretly sent quite a few people to guard the Pei residence."

Pei Suisui's face darkened, her brows furrowed with worry.

"This time I was so worried about Father that I forgot about my sister's safety. If you hadn't reminded me, I'm afraid I would still think that the capital is the safest place."

Although Thirteen tried to avoid talking about her Pei family's affairs along the way, she still overheard a few words while she was dozing off in the car.

She never expected that the emperor would try to harm her father during this military campaign.

Right now, the only thing she can be thankful for is that when she appeared in front of Thirteen, she deliberately disguised herself as a man, so apart from Haojing and a few others, no one else knew that she was the second young lady of the Pei family.

Seeing this, Thirteen could only gently comfort him.

"Don't worry, Shen Mu's men will definitely be able to protect your sister. We've already lost two days of our journey, and we'll have to get up early tomorrow to continue our journey, so you should get some rest."

She slowly stood up, preparing to leave the room.

"It's so late, are you still going out?"

Pei Suisui looked at her departing figure with some confusion, her mind in turmoil.

Right now, she really wanted to be alone for a while.

"I'll go check if they've started fighting. You go to sleep first, I'll be back later without disturbing you."

Thirteen gave her a smile, then left the room.

Pei Suisui looked up at the tightly closed door and sighed deeply.

She thought to herself that she had been far too willful and reckless this time, so audacious as to sneak out of the mansion, but she never expected that her sister would have to face the conspiracies and schemes of the capital alone.

If she had known about this sooner, she probably would have chosen to stay at home with her sister.

Outside the inn

Hecheng is located by the river, and the inn where the group of thirteen stayed was situated at the highest point in the entire city. Therefore, standing in the courtyard outside the inn, one could enjoy a panoramic view of the city's nightscape.

Zhou Jinghuai and the others stood outside the inn, gazing at the distant scenery.

Perhaps it was Thirteen's shout just now that calmed them down a lot.

"If one day we eliminate that demon lord, would you continue to stay in the mortal realm?"

Haojing spoke first, looking at Xie Qiao standing to his left.

Xie Qiao, sword in hand, stood silently in the night wind, his clothes billowing in the breeze, looking like a chivalrous knight-errant.

He spoke coldly, his face expressionless.

"No, there aren't many capable fighters in the mortal realm."

"..."

"..."

Hao Jing naturally exchanged a glance with Zhou Jinghuai on his right, thinking to himself that they were thinking the same thing.

Xie Qiao's greatest ambition in life, besides killing the Demon Lord, was to find someone in this world who could fight him and defeat him with all his might.

This was the wish that this blockhead had sought throughout his life.

"If you ask me, the only reason Shen Mu has been able to tolerate the two of you for hundreds of years is because he has a good temper."

Zhou Jinghuai spoke sarcastically, which was completely out of place.

"It's only because our Lord Shen has a good temper that he allows you to keep following him around and fish in troubled waters," Hao Jing retorted just as bluntly.

They first met while hunting down the Demon Lord.

Now, more than two hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye, and it is quite a rare thing that they can still stand together and chat.

You should know that, given Shen Mu's personality, he doesn't have any friends besides these few people.

Zhou Jinghuai is indeed one of a kind.

"Look at what you're saying. You can't beat me in a fight, but you're good with words. I guess you don't study much and you've only practiced by arguing with people?"

Zhou Jinghuai wrapped his arms around Haojing and pressed his entire body against him.

They were all about the same size, and if you didn't look closely, they looked like brothers from behind.

"That depends on who it is. After all, Young Master Zhou, if you're going to confront our Lord Shen, he'll just be good-natured and won't stoop to your level. This kind of rough work is naturally left to me."

Hao Jing gave him a cold glance, but secretly steadied himself, afraid of causing this young master Zhou to fall.

Zhou Jinghuai snorted coldly, and moved his arm with obvious satisfaction.

Why don't you ask me if I'll stay in the mortal realm? Aren't I your brother?

"No, you're flattering me too much, aren't you?"

Haojing immediately retorted, although they had initially joined forces because they shared the same stance and both wanted to eliminate the Demon Lord Chongming.

However, upon closer examination, it can be said that Cangling, which they belonged to, and Xichen, which was behind Zhou Jinghuai, had a history of conflict.

"You seem quite bold; why don't you tell me the truth?"

"what?"

Hao Jing frowned slightly. He turned to look at Zhou Jinghuai, who was practically pressed against him, and his heart suddenly began to pound.

He always felt that this person was harboring a lot of bad intentions and waiting for him.

Zhou Jinghuai laughed smugly.

"Did you send that osmanthus candy? If I remember correctly, when I first came looking for you, you were outside Pei Suisui's tent."

He naturally remembered that when he and Aunt Qin came to meet Shen Mu, he accidentally discovered Thirteen's female form on the hillside.

When he shamelessly followed Thirteen back to the camp, he happened to bump into Haojing standing outside the camp.

Although Thirteen was present just now, he couldn't expose him.

But he had a feeling that this kid had taken a fancy to the second young lady of the Pei family!

"What osmanthus candy?"

Xie Qiao, who hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly spoke up. He turned his head to look at Hao Jing, whose face was flushed. He hadn't seen Pei Sui Sui when he arrived.

Naturally, they knew nothing about the osmanthus candy.

Haojing pursed his lips, clearly not wanting to answer Zhou Jinghuai's question.

He subconsciously raised his hand to push Zhou Jinghuai off him, deliberately speaking in a serious tone.

"Who are we? Why would I send her these trinkets when she's just a mortal? Aren't the girls in brothels gentler and more charming than her?"

He turned around to look at Zhou Jinghuai with feigned seriousness, but his expression changed drastically when he saw the figure behind him.

"Why did your face change? I was just asking a casual question, and you're getting angry?"

Zhou Jinghuai, naturally unaware that someone was behind him, simply waved his hand and continued.

"Speaking of the girls in this brothel, I have indeed been there a few times, but unfortunately I have someone in my heart. These girls... what a pity."

At this point, he couldn't help but shake his head regretfully, as if lamenting the brevity of life.

"I think you've lost your mind..."

Xie Qiao also turned around to look at Zhou Jinghuai, but like Hao Jing, she paused for a moment, and swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

What's wrong with you two?

Zhou Jinghuai naturally noticed the expressions on their faces, as if they had seen a ghost.

He suddenly felt a chill down his spine, and along with that chill, a clear, cold voice came from behind him.

"If Young Master Zhou thinks it's a pity, then marry them one by one. You're so wealthy, do you think you're short of a few taels of silver?"