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

"Mind your own business? Why aren't you acting like a man today?" Zhou Jinghuai rolled his eyes at her, then turned to see Xie Qiao had moved behind Gu Shining.

In an instant

"Be careful--"

Zhou Jinghuai's face darkened, and he quickly pulled Gu Shining away.

An arrow suddenly appeared where the two of them had just stood. Fortunately, Xie Qiao was standing a little off-center, and the arrow grazed his hair, leaving a strand of hair behind.

The three looked down at the ground, where the archer had shot an arrow with such force that half of the arrow shaft was deeply embedded in the ground.

"Be careful."

Xie Qiao sensed that the visitor was up to no good and wondered if it might be Chongming, who had never shown himself before. Just as he was about to draw his sword, a large hand pressed him down.

"Protect her."

Zhou Jinghuai pressed Xie Qiao's hand down, then covered his face with a black cloth with one hand, his eyes, which were exposed, swept over Gu Shining with a scrutinizing gaze.

He doesn't know the other party's identity yet, but Xie Qiao's identity is known to be that of a member of the Imperial Guard responsible for protecting the palace.

He, on the other hand, didn't seem to care.

He looked up and just then, a light rain began to fall.

Under a bright moon, the other person stood atop a towering rooftop. Dressed entirely in black, with an upright posture, he held a bow in his left hand, and his face was covered with a black cloth, obscuring his features.

"Are you also here at Mingyue Palace?"

Zhou Jinghuai's tone was somewhat harsh. Although he stood facing the palace wall, his right hand had already reached for the short blade at his waist, ready to charge at the enemy at any moment.

The other party did not answer, but instead drew three more arrows with his right hand, drew his bow, and aimed at them.

"Take her away."

Before Zhou Jinghuai could finish speaking, he had already swiftly climbed onto the palace wall, and his arrow flew towards Xie Qiao and the other person on the ground like a whirlwind.

Xie Qiao deftly raised his hand and snapped the arrow in two. He then dragged Gu Shining, who was already stunned, to a corner of the wall as if he were picking up a chick.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Gu Shining couldn't hide her suspicions. She had first seen Zhou Jinghuai furtively pouring kerosene when she passed by Mingyue Palace. The two had only exchanged a few words when a member of the Imperial Guard suddenly appeared, and now he was an assassin trying to kill them.

She had never seen anyone who could embed an arrow so deeply into the stone ground during her years at the border.

Upon hearing this, Xie Qiao's expression darkened. Taking advantage of Gu Shining's glance at the two people on the roof, Xie Qiao swiftly struck Gu Shining unconscious.

Shen Mu has given the order that the Bright Moon Palace must be burned down tonight.

He hid Gu Shining behind a rock, trying his best to keep her hidden from people.

Then he looked up and saw that Zhou Jinghuai was already engaged in a fierce battle with the other party, so he immediately picked up the oil barrel next to him and spread the remaining oil throughout the entire Mingyue Palace.

With plans changed, he wasn't sure if the light rain would be enough to set the Bright Moon Palace ablaze. He could only try to spread the oil as much as possible before the rain intensified.

On the glazed tile roof, Zhou Jinghuai raised his short blade and thrust it down at his opponent.

The man reacted quickly, brushing past him and striking him squarely in the chest. The force wasn't great, but it almost caused him to lose control and fall off the roof.

Before he could even regain his footing, the enemy's arrow flew towards him again. He reacted quickly and knocked the arrow away.

At this moment, the other party had already taken advantage of Zhou Jinghuai's distraction to increase the distance between them.

The opponent remained calm, drew his bow, and shot an arrow.

Zhou Jinghuai dodged by flipping over, and instantly appeared in front of his opponent again.

The man swiftly tucked his bow and arrows behind his back and drew his soft sword from his waist, blocking the short blade. In the rain, the two exchanged blows, neither gaining the upper hand.

After Xie Qiao spread the kerosene all over the place, he hurriedly ran to the foot of the palace wall.

"week……"

Xie Qiao wanted to call out to Zhou Jinghuai, but then realized it wasn't convenient here, so he swallowed his words. Seeing the two fighting so fiercely, he worried that it would be difficult to explain if more people arrived later.

Xie Qiao's voice still distracted Zhou Jinghuai. When he caught a glimpse of Xie Qiao out of the corner of his eye, the other's soft sword struck his face, tearing off the black cloth covering his face.

"you--"

The other person froze on the spot, and fearing that her identity would be exposed, she quickly swallowed her voice.

As the black scarf fell, Zhou Jinghuai's handsome face was immediately exposed to the moonlight, which unfortunately gave him another opportunity. He swung his knife at the other party.

Seeing that he couldn't dodge, the other party grabbed Zhou Jinghuai's hand holding the blade, turned his body, and caused the two of them to fall off the palace wall and land straight in the foundation pit of Mingyue Palace.

"grown ups!"

Xie Qiao lowered his voice and rushed to the edge of the pit.

The two who fell into the pit at Mingyue Palace kicked up layers of sand and soil. Rainwater mixed with mud, and the already softening pit became even looser after their fall.

Instead, the wooden frame supporting them toppled over towards them.

"Cough-cough-"

Zhou Jinghuai felt that when he fell, he was accidentally hit in the waist by a rock on the edge of the pit, and he couldn't move. He could only watch helplessly as the huge wooden frame crashed down on him.

He instinctively raised his hand to block, but the wooden frame did not fall on him as he had expected.

When the dust settled, Zhou Jinghuai realized that it was the person he had fought with who had blocked the wooden frame with his body.

"you--"

As soon as Zhou Jinghuai began to speak, the black cloth that the man had used to cover his face came off.

As the dust settled, a stunningly beautiful face appeared, instantly captivating him.

"who are you?"

Zhou Jinghuai was speechless. The girl's familiar face seemed to have crashed straight into his heart. In an instant, memories long buried deep within him appeared before him like a miracle.

The girl supported herself with both hands on the wooden frame, no longer caring about the black cloth covering her face.

Because she knew that no one here knew her.

She thought the person she bumped into at Mingyue Palace was the Taoist priest she had been searching for for months.

"grown ups--"

Xie Qiao couldn't see anyone at the edge of the pit, so he simply jumped in as well.

As soon as he landed, he froze on the spot when he saw the girl's face.

"you are?"

Xie Qiao was somewhat incredulous, but she was the first to regain her senses and rushed forward to support the toppled wooden frame. After the girl released her grip, she dragged Zhou Jinghuai aside.

Seeing their probing gazes, she seemed to open her mouth as if to speak, but then hesitated, unsure of what to say. She could only awkwardly cover her face with the black cloth again.

"If you're going to burn this place down, hurry up, people will be here soon."

After she finished speaking, she used the stones on both sides to climb onto the ground.

"Wait a moment--"

Zhou Jinghuai endured the pain, staggered to his feet, and tried to catch up with the girl. But the sharp pain in his back seemed to pull at his nerves, causing him to fall straight to the side.

"grown ups."

Xie Qiao quickly caught Zhou Jinghuai, and with his help, the two soon left the pit.

As soon as they returned to the ground, the two saw the girl light the oil on the ground.

Clearly, her goal was also the Bright Moon Palace.

Shen Mu prepared special kerosene to prevent rain from falling when the Bright Moon Palace was burned down.

The flames quickly spread throughout the entire Bright Moon Palace.

At the same time, because the fire spread so quickly, it created a wall of fire between the girl and the two of them.

Zhou Jinghuai opened his mouth, but before he could call out to her, the girl's figure quickly disappeared into the rainy night.

"Shi Wanyan—"

A desperate cry echoed through the sky, tearing a rift in the silent, rainy night.