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

"It's Haojing."

Shen Mu nodded to Thirteen, then got up and opened the door.

Haojing entered the house, looking travel-worn, his face covered in dust. He bumped into Shen Mu as soon as he entered.

How did you know I was here?

Shen Mu looked displeased and patted the dust off his clothes.

Haojing touched his nose, somewhat embarrassed.

"I met Xie Qiao as soon as I entered the city. He told me that you were at the Thirteenth Sister's place, and that it would be convenient for me to come and find you."

Thinking about it, he was lucky.

Just as they entered the city, they met Xie Qiao. Upon inquiring, they learned that Thirteen had already been rescued by Prime Minister Pei, but had been delayed in sending a message due to too many trivial matters.

This caused him to exchange a few words with Xie Qiao before he could finally vent his resentment.

Shen Mu coughed a few times, glanced at the flowerpots trampled and broken on the low wall outside, and then understood.

"You climbed over the wall to get in. Didn't you know to keep it quiet? What if outsiders saw you?"

"what?"

Hao Jing looked up and followed Shen Mu's gaze to the flowerpot he had trampled outside the window. He immediately shrank back guiltily, afraid that Shen Mu would take his anger out on him again.

"That flowerpot is no problem. I suppose Lord Hao has been working hard, hasn't he? You haven't rested along the way, have you? Why don't you have some water first?"

Thirteen quickly changed the subject and poured Haojing a cup of tea.

Haojing immediately felt that Thirteen was like family, and quickly stepped forward to thank him.

"Thank you, Miss Shi. Miss Shi is so kind!"

He subtly dodged Shen Mu's outstretched right foot, then walked to the table, sat down, and drank the tea that Thirteen offered him in one gulp.

"Miss Shi?"

Shen Mu frowned slightly and closed the door behind him.

Haojing glanced at Shen Mu, then looked at Thirteen Dao.

"Yes, Xie Qiao and the others said that's what they call Thirteen Girl, so I just followed suit."

Seeing the questioning look Shen Mu gave him, Thirteen also seemed a little awkward and said...

"Prime Minister Pei and the others felt that if everyone continued to call me Thirteenth Miss, people in the capital would eventually find out about this. Rather than letting people overthink it, it would be better to change my name. Anyway, my original surname was Shi."

Upon hearing this, Shen Mu's expression cracked, and a hint of unease flashed in his eyes.

Even Haojing looked at Shen Mu.

Is her surname also Shi?

Then wouldn't that be a match?

"You said your surname is Shi, which Shi?"

Shen Mu stepped forward and sat down next to Thirteen.

Thirteen frowned slightly, tilted her small face up, and asked with some confusion.

"Didn't I tell you? The 'shi' of time, the 'wan' of evening breeze, the 'yan' of clouds and smoke."

She had barely finished speaking when she suddenly remembered that she had only told Zhou Jinghuai about it. Given his personality, he certainly wouldn't have told Shen Mu.

Hao Jing gasped, turning to stare at the two of them as they looked back and forth. He suddenly felt like he'd been superfluous in the room.

Shen Mu suppressed his impulse, his expression slightly unnatural.

"You...you...you are a disciple of Lord Cangqiong Mountain? According to the ranking, you should be thirteenth?"

"how do you know?"

Thirteen looked at Shen Mu with some surprise, as she had never mentioned this matter to anyone.

When she woke up from her amnesia, she had indeed been abandoned at the foot of the Cang Qiong Mountain. Her master, Cang Qiong Shan Jun, took pity on her and made her his last disciple.

Since there were twelve senior brothers and sisters ahead of him, he adopted the pseudonym Thirteen.

As they called out

She rarely mentioned her real name.

Shi Wanyan

Seeing his master's dazed expression, Hao Jing suddenly became clear-headed.

He had initially resented Shen Mu's high regard for Thirteen, feeling truly unwilling to accept that a mere girl from the God Realm could be treated so well by Shen Mu.

But when he finally learned from Thirteen that she was Shi Wanyan...

He then realized why Shen Mu valued Thirteen so much.

Perhaps he had already discovered that Thirteen was the girl he and Shen Mu had rescued in the Demon Realm years ago.

"Will I be silenced?"

Haojing's mutterings broke the silence in the room. When Shen Mu and Shisan looked at him simultaneously, Haojing realized that he had spoken his mind aloud.

"It's nothing...or perhaps...or perhaps I should go out first?"

He quickly stood up, turned around, and started to flee.

He realized he had heard something he shouldn't have.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Shen Mu grabbed him and turned to look at him, her eyes seemingly filled with anger.

"Shouldn't I have left...?"

Haojing started to stammer; he tends to stutter when he's nervous.

"Why are you leaving? We're all on the same side here. Are you afraid I'll poison you in the middle of the night just because you know my name?"

Thirteen, of course, was unaware of what had happened between the two of them; his delicate face was full of confusion.

She really couldn't understand why Haojing was reacting so strongly.

Shen Mu licked his lips, gestured for Hao Jing to sit down, then suppressed his inexplicable excitement and slowly began to speak.

"Do you remember why you appeared at Azure Sky Mountain back then? Was it... someone who sent you there?"

He wanted to confirm

Does Thirteen still remember what happened back then?

But Thirteen's reaction disappointed him somewhat. She shook her head, looking bewildered.

"I don't remember anything before I woke up on Mount Cangqiong. My master said it was because the time was not right yet. When the time comes, I will remember everything."

In fact, her master did not know

She was no longer the same Shi Wanyan she once was.

She traveled to this era.

The Shi Wanyan of the past had long since vanished with her appearance.

"Don't you remember anything?"

Haojing asked with some surprise

"Yes, I don't know anything else except that I remember my name."

"Did you have anything on you at the time?"

For the first time, unease appeared on Shen Mu's face. He frowned as he looked at Thirteen, his curiosity and eagerness pressing him to know if Thirteen was truly her.

Thirteen's expression immediately became somewhat unnatural, her small hands tightly gripping the hem of her skirt, and she said anxiously.

"I can't tell you about this. I'll tell you the rest when we get back to Cangqiong Mountain. Right now... the timing isn't right."

She remembered what her master had mentioned to her.

Her compass pendant was an object that sealed away ancient divine power.

Unless in a life-or-death crisis, no one should know of the existence of this compass pendant. Even her senior brothers and sisters were unaware that she possessed such a divine artifact.

Now that her divine power has been completely dissipated, although she knows that Shen Mu is sincere towards her, she still cannot tell him the truth about Si Nanpei's existence.

Taking advantage of the moment he touched his nose, Haojing secretly glanced at Shen Mu out of the corner of his eye. He saw that Shen Mu's face was ashen, clearly indicating that he was in a bad mood.

But he knew

For Shen Mu, whether the jade pendant existed or not was no longer important.

After all, it's rare to find people with the same name who also look so alike.

Indeed, very few.

Not to mention back then

It was he and Shen Mu who together sent Thirteen to Mount Cangqiong.

Everything is on the surface.

Shen Mu's judgment

That's not wrong!

She is who she is...