Chapter 8

Mao Time

The crimson lantern hanging under the eaves flickered dimly, the sky barely hinting at dawn.

The spring in Jiuyou was damp and misty, with the Extreme Night Palace, its black tiles and red columns, nestled in the chaotic mountains shrouded in smoky trees. Wrapped in this thick mist, it was hauntingly beautiful, as if with a blink of an eye, it would vanish along with the white fog, turning into a graveyard across the hills.

But it was indeed a beauty distinct from Xian Du Yu Jing.

“Lord Chao Ming.”

A female servant handed over a memorandum and a red pen. Chao Ming withdrew his gaze from the scenic view below the mountain and opened the memo, circling a few points.

“The young lady’s appetite isn’t good. The dishes from yesterday should not be served again within seven days. However, she did eat a little more of the golden-cooked jade dish. Since it is spring, today we should add a dish of bamboo shoots and fern dumplings, along with chestnut cake and honey-fried olives…”

As he was reviewing the menu, Chao Ming suddenly heard a snicker from behind.

Turning around, it was indeed that familiar blue-clad, silver-adorned demon ghost, the mountain monster.

“You, come here.”

The mountain monster waved its hand, calling over a black-robed ghost servant wearing a hood.

“Master, what is for breakfast today?”

The ghost attendant glanced at the mountain monkey.

The master was always indifferent about food. Whatever the kitchen prepared, the master would eat as long as it wasn’t poisoned, never asking further.

“…I do not know, I will go ask right away.”

“No need to ask,” the mountain monkey waved his hand. “The master exterminated the plague ghost last night and consumed quite a bit of energy. Let the kitchen prepare three pounds of beef, a roasted goose, and ten meat pies.”

Still calling herself a young lady, eating so simply.

Today, let her see the grandeur of Jiuyou.

In the distance, the morning fog sneered.

Country bumpkin.

These foods were what the lower-class families in their celestial capital of Yujing would eat.

High-ranking sect families would never eat greasy food; they preferred refined, delicate dishes. In recent years, eating jade chips was fashionable, considered a sign of sophistication.

“Wow—what a long knife.”

The ghost woman guarding the Extreme Night Palace today was uninterested in the subtle tension between the two. Seeing Chao Yuan sharpening his knife under the tree, she curiously squatted beside him and watched.

“Can I touch your knife?”

The girl in black robes turned her head and sized her up for a moment.

The ghost woman appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old, with a round face. When she smiled, there were two dimples, making her look like a piece of white jade cake.

She loved eating white jade cake.

Chao Yuan sheathed his knife and expressionlessly reminded her:

“It’s heavy, be careful.”

The ghost woman regarded the knife like a precious treasure and began to figure out how to draw it, considering her short stature compared to the tall blade.

The mountain monkey observed this and felt somewhat displeased.

She was actually laughing and chatting with someone from the celestial capital.

He would have to maintain the master’s dignity.

Chao Yuan’s ears twitched slightly, and he glanced upstairs.

“Miss is awake.”

Upstairs.

Mo Lin, woken by the noise outside, was staring at the girl in his arms.

Unlike the clear separation between them the night before, the two of them were now almost inseparable.

It seemed the girl had originally been resting her head on his shoulder while sleeping. When she woke up groggily and looked up at him, she inadvertently rested her small chin on his chest. Her sleeping attire was slightly disheveled, and from his angle, he could almost make out the outline of her butterfly bones on her back.

He instinctively moved, only to realize his arm was still tightly around her waist.

After a couple of moments, they both quickly snapped awake and distanced themselves.

Liuyu regained her composure and narrowed her apricot eyes in displeasure.

Who exactly was taking advantage of whom?

Why did he still have that innocent, chaste appearance?

Upon thinking, it seemed he had been like this during their wedding night.

Though he looked cold and intimidating when he wasn’t smiling, his indifferent yet affectionate peach blossom eyes didn’t resemble a man of strict propriety.

Liuyu thought back to their wedding, where she had tried to show off her experience with men to make him see that she was no innocent. But she hadn’t expected him to remain unaffected by her beauty, and in the end, it had been her who had to strip him of his clothes for him to finally react.

…What was he pretending for? In the end, he had been completely captivated by her.

Liuyu’s eyes darkened as she stared at him without speaking.

Mo Li, however, thought she was blaming him for crossing boundaries. He leaned back and thought for a while, finally saying:

“It was you who came closer.”

Liuyu couldn’t help but laugh at his words, her beauty glowing with a slightly provocative arrogance.

She extended her index finger and pointed at the area between his abdomen and thighs.

“Before you say anything, take care of that first.”

After a night passed, Mo Lin’s clothing was disheveled. He was leaning against the bedpost, with his collar slightly open, revealing faint scars on his thin, muscular frame. One long leg was bent, and it was clearly visible.

Even when Liuyu pointed it out directly, Mo Lin showed no sign of covering up. His mesmerizing features remained calm, with no hint of shame.

“I’ll take care of it, but you were the one who came closer.”

While his bedding was neat and tidy, Liuyu’s side was already a mess from her overstepping.

Liuyu ground her back teeth, about to say something, but noticed the bandage marks visible from his open clothing.

Her brows furrowed slightly as she looked up and asked:

“When did you get hurt?”

No wonder she smelled the scent of morning mist grass—he must have used healing medicine.

Mo Lin glanced down and then replied:

“Last night, just a minor injury.”

Liuyu’s brows furrowed even more.

Demons and ghosts had strong healing abilities; external wounds usually healed on their own without needing treatment.

If he had told her, she would have just had him change his clothes and clean up, not let him bathe and suffer through it.

…It was his fault for not saying anything, not hers.

At that moment, footsteps approached, and the doorbell outside rang, causing the silver bell in the room to chime in response.

Liuyu, who was lying on the inner side of the bed, kicked his leg with her toes, signaling for him to move.

However, Mo Li raised his gaze to look at her, sneering coldly:

“You demand that I only touch you once a month, but you’re free to do whatever you want. The standards of a young lady are quite flexible.”

Liuyu ignored him and simply said:

“If you’re not happy, you can sleep on the floor.”

She then lifted her skirt and stepped off the bed, stepping on his foot as she did so.

As she stepped on him, she made sure to grind her foot down, as if she were trying to break his bones. If it were anyone else, they might have had their foot broken.

However, Mo Li didn’t even flinch, thinking:

Such a pampered young lady.

Her feet were delicate and fair, almost like jade, with not a single callus.

Liuyu didn’t know what he was thinking. She got off the bed, undid the restriction on the door, and the female servants entered, bowing to Mo Li before starting to groom Liuyu.

After she was back to her usual self, Mo Li got up and went behind a screen to change.

When he came out again, Liuyu was still not finished tidying up, so he went out from the inner room first and just happened to see two groups of people coming in and out, bringing breakfast. The square table in the hall was even filled to the brim.

“… What is this?”

The mountain demon looked at the half-table of hearty dishes, full of big fish and meat that could be considered lunch, and said solemnly:

“This is the breakfast for the Lord today.”

After the words were spoken, the green-clad demon slowly raised his eyelids, and his eyes clearly showed a few words:

“Are you out of your mind?”

Mo Lin shifted his gaze, then looked at the other half of the table, which had lighter, more traditional breakfast dishes.

He had never thought that his subordinate, the mountain demon, had any issues, but ever since the people from Xiandu Yujing arrived at the Extreme Night Palace, he couldn’t help but admit—you get what you pay for.

However, before he could even eat the breakfast, Bai Pingting, one of the Twelve Nuo Gods (the one who had healed Mo Lin’s wounds last night), appeared outside with a group of demons.

Liuyu was heading toward the hall and briefly met her gaze. Bai Pingting could only hurriedly greet her, then walked with a serious expression toward Mo Lin.

“Lord, something has happened.”

Bai Pingting, who was usually calm and composed, rarely used such words.

Mo Lin put down his chopsticks and looked at her, asking:

“Who?”

Bai Pingting tightly pursed her lips and spoke a name:

“Luzhu.”

Then, Bai Pingting quickly explained the situation.

After the puppet spider incident, Luzhu, the leader of the Twelve Nuo Gods, felt deeply humiliated. However, he dared not show any resentment toward Mo Lin and didn’t have the ability to confront Liuyu. Therefore, he could only vent his anger on the one responsible, the Jade Spider, vowing to find a way to take revenge and regain his dignity.

Unexpectedly, following the clues, he traced it all the way to Yushan, but instead of capturing the Jade Spider, he apprehended someone completely unexpected.

At this point, Bai Pingting glanced at the girl sitting at the table.

“He caught the Ninth Fang Clan’s young master, who was negotiating jade mining business with the Jade Spider in Yushan.”

Mo Lin’s fingers, which had been tapping the table, froze for a moment.

“From what they said, that person seems to be called Jiufang Xinglan.”

Liuyu was a bit surprised.

“Ah, it’s him.”

Mo Lin’s stiff fingers slowly relaxed, and he casually picked up the tea cup but didn’t drink.

“Do you know him?”

This question was clearly directed at Liuyu.

While spooning some wontons from her bowl, Liuyu replied:

“Yes, he’s Zhanghua’s— the younger cousin of the eldest son of the Jiufang Clan, also studying at Lingyong Academy. His talent is… nothing special, but he’s quite clever, sweet-tongued, a year younger than me, but the elders of the Jiufang Clan trust him greatly and have him learn many things… I didn’t expect them to send him to Jiuyou.”

Upon hearing a certain name, the green-clad demon beside them lowered his gaze and sipped his tea.

Bai Pingting, who was puzzled about this person’s background, immediately understood after hearing Liuyu’s clear explanation.

But soon, her expression became even more serious.

“Such a valuable background…”

Currently, the relationship between Jiuyou and the Great Chao was rather delicate.

To put it bluntly, everyone knew that another war was inevitable sooner or later, but both sides were secretly preparing, waiting for the right time to strike with minimal loss.

Whether it was the Great Chao or Jiuyou, during this period of mutual hiding, both wanted to avoid conflicts as much as possible.

“It’s not that valuable,” Liuyu leaned on her chin and said, “If they can send him to Jiuyou to negotiate jade mining, how valuable can he be? Truly valuable aristocratic heirs wouldn’t be sent to Jiuyou to suffer.”

The mountain demon, hearing Liuyu’s detailed explanation of Jiufang Xinglan’s background, originally had some inexplicable sense of reliability. But upon hearing her last sentence, his face darkened again.

“Why is coming to Jiuyou considered suffering?”

“He’s not a big deal, since they caught the wrong person, they should apologize and release him…”

“It’s probably not that simple.”

Bai Pingting said sternly:

“Because… when Luzhu caught him last night, he also accidentally killed three of Jiufang Xinglan’s personal guards. Luzhu, due to the Lord’s orders, dared not confront the people from Xiandu Yujing, so now, Jiufang Clan has captured him and said they will publicly whip him thirty times to avenge their people—”

The air in the inner room suddenly froze.

Indeed.

With people dead, the situation had completely changed.

After a moment, Mo Lin put down his cup and a cold, mocking smile appeared in his eyes.

“Since it’s three lives, how could thirty lashes be considered fair? It has to be life for a life.”

Bai Pingting quickly said:

“Lord, it’s said that Luzhu claimed he didn’t intentionally kill anyone, and this might—”

Halfway through her words, Bai Pingting suddenly realized.

Mo Lin’s “life for a life” wasn’t referring to Luzhu, but to the Jade Spider.

Luzhu had gone to capture the Jade Spider, but instead, he caught Jiufang Xinglan, who had business dealings with the Jade Spider. Moreover, he accidentally killed Jiufang Xinglan’s people, which placed him in an unjust position.

What a coincidence, right?

“Absolutely not.”

Bai Pingting firmly stopped him.

“Lord, you must not act impulsively. You’ve tolerated the Jade Spider all this time because he was once the leader in the minds of the previous generation of Jiuyou’s demons. If you tear apart your relationship with him, it will surely lead to an internal conflict in Jiuyou.”

“We can die for the Lord, but Lord, you are the only one who can stand against the Great Chao. If you show even a hint of weakness, the Great Chao will not miss this opportunity. At that time, demons and ghosts will once again become slaves to humans, in the blink of an eye…”

The mountain demon came to his senses and understood the situation, immediately shouting for him to go.

Amidst the noisy voices…

Liuyu, elegantly finishing half a roast duck, set down her chopsticks in the face of Chao Ming’s stunned gaze.

She slowly rose, stepping over the chaos, and headed towards the door.

Mo Lin, who had been paying attention to every move she made, suddenly spoke:

“Where are you going?”

The girl paused in her tracks and turned her head to glance at him from a distance.

His fingers, hidden in his sleeves, slightly curled.

If the Nine Netherworlds really erupted into internal strife today, she would have no reason to stay in the Nine Netherworlds.

Was she about to meet Jiufang Xinglan?

Had she already become so eager to leave the Nine Netherworlds and return to the world she truly belonged to?

He couldn’t tell what his expression looked like at that moment—whether it was calm or dark and twisted, trying to conceal something.

But then he saw the girl suddenly smile—

“What nonsense question are you asking?”

The unparalleled girl slightly tilted her chin, her hair glistening in the light of the clear day outside the window, looking as beautiful as a dream.

“Of course, I’m going to support my own people.”