Chapter 29

“What are you talking about?”

Mo Li slightly turned his head.

The girl approaching with light footsteps disrupted the stagnant air around him. The faint fragrance emanating from her bones seemed subtle to ordinary people, but to Mo Li, whose sense of smell was sharp, it felt as though she were pressed up against his nose, with no place to escape.

“Just some casual conversation,” he said, his eyes briefly scanning Liuyu’s smiling eyes, asking casually, “You finished already?”

Liuyu was somewhat surprised:

“Already? What could be discussed in half an hour? We’ve been talking for an hour… I actually missed Father at first, but by the end, I started to think he was talking too much.”

Mo Li lowered his eyes and remained silent.

When he left earlier, he had indeed seen that Liuyu’s eyes were slightly red, as though there were tears.

Had she missed home so much after less than two months?

Fang Fucang glanced at the green-eyed demon’s cold and gloomy expression, still unsure about the true feelings between this married couple.

He would need to observe further. Compliments shouldn’t be given lightly.

So, Fang Fucang shifted the topic. He first greeted them respectfully before saying:

“We were talking about Yue Niang earlier. The child indeed has some talent. Though her brother offers some guidance, he’s not often around. Most of the time, it’s just her practicing on her own, observing the depth of the Qi Sea. She’s just entered the third realm—considering her age and background, it’s impressive.”

The last part was added after Fang Fucang thought about Liuyu’s background.

In the Great Zhao, few people didn’t know that Yin Shan Liuyu opened her Qi Sea at the age of five. It was said that by ten, she had already entered the fifth realm. She was so young that her family only allowed her to enter the Ling Yong Academy at thirteen.

Family background was naturally part of strength, but students at Ling Yong Academy mostly competed with peers of similar backgrounds. Even in prestigious families with abundant resources and heritage, Liuyu’s abilities were exceptionally outstanding.

What ordinary people regarded as talent, she probably found trivial.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Liuyu simply nodded slightly:

“The entry standard for Ling Yong Academy is at least the fourth realm. Half a year should be more than enough.”

Fang Fucang broke out in a cold sweat.

If she hadn’t been drawing such a big picture, and if Yue Niang didn’t actually have some talent, he might have had to say something naive.

“Yue Niang—”

Liuyu saw that Yue Niang had almost finished her practice and waved her over.

The little girl, beads of sweat covering her forehead, ran over with bright eyes.

“How may I assist you, Lady?”

Liuyu smiled and asked, “Are you tired?”

“Not at all!” Yue Niang replied energetically, “I can wake up even earlier tomorrow! When I got up today, it was already bright. The early bird catches the worm; we must seize every moment!”

Fang Fucang was speechless.

She was certainly making the most of every second—did she consider how her master felt, who was probably kicked out of his room early this morning?

Liuyu patted the little girl’s warm head, her smile deepening:

“Good, since you’re so full of energy, you can start preparing for the family record now—what steps do you take when creating a family record?”

Earlier, when talking to Yin Shanze, he had mentioned it.

Some of the families south of the Demon Wall had already started clashing over the control of Taiping City.

Just last night, Yin Shan’s intelligence network reported that two families had fought in the suburbs of Taiping City, resulting in over a hundred casualties. Another family had secretly sent messages to other families south of the Wall, pretending to mediate and urging the families not to let this city cause discord. However, they were discovered this morning—members of their family had already infiltrated Taiping City.

At this time, Liuyu naturally could not openly seize Taiping City.

Even with the three thousand demons and ghosts under her command, led by her female attendant and the mountain spirit dragon bell, conquering Taiping City would be as easy as a snap of the fingers.

But that was her as Yinshan Liuyu.

As the [Jimo Gui], she was first and foremost from a fallen family.

The Jimo family had no prominence among the noble clans and therefore couldn’t muster many hands.

Liuyu had to resort to crafty means to take Taiping City, so that [Jimo Gui] could reasonably enter the noble families’ field of vision.

The timing had to be right.

In the meantime, she could make ample preparations for that moment.

“Steps—”

Yue Niang pulled out a scroll from her mustard bag.

“We need to start by selecting the land.”

The scroll unfurled, and everyone realized it was a fish scale map.

A fish scale map is a geographical map that marks various mountains, fields, terrains, soil types, and the families to which the land belongs.

Each noble family has their own fish scale map.

However, the one Yue Niang presented specifically highlighted land not belonging to any noble family or wealthy power.

Liuyu looked at the undulating mountains on the map, somewhat surprised.

“…Where did this map come from?”

A bead of sweat formed on Yue Niang’s nose as she replied, “It’s from our family’s survey.”

Without the skill of an expert, how could one create such a map?

Other less skilled mapmakers usually place their family’s land near remote and barren mountains. But even in such desolate places, the land could still belong to someone else. Presenting such a map in dealings with others, even among the third-tier families, would easily expose the falsehood.

The Yan family was different.

With this fish scale map, they knew the land in a radius of a thousand miles and even the last three generations, making their maps convincingly authentic.

Mo Li took a longer look at the young girl.

“This must be a family heirloom of yours. Did you steal it?”

Yue Niang’s bright smile stopped abruptly.

“—I didn’t steal it!” Yue Niang said sternly, “This was my mother’s dowry. The family’s land and property are all being left to my older brother, but my mother gave this to me. She said if things go badly, I could sell it to a noble and get quite a bit of money.”

It was indeed a valuable item.

Noble families only survey their own land, and they don’t waste manpower on land that’s of no competitive value.

Surveying the land should be the responsibility of the dynasty, but as the imperial family weakened, they didn’t have the energy to do such things.

After the land was shattered, they couldn’t even piece together a complete fish scale map.

Liuyu felt a bit wistful.

“Find me a barren mountain,” Liuyu’s gaze scanned the map. “The more barren, the better, but the area must be rich in stone resources.”

The [Jimo Gui] were skilled in refining stone essence, so they must have grown up in an area known for stone production.

“Preferably near the Demon and Ghost Wall.”

Mo Li added, “Otherwise, if you frequently pass through the Demon and Ghost Wall and deal with outsiders, it will create too many potential problems.”

Yue Niang diligently wrote down the request, while Fang Fucang, who was listening, felt increasingly drenched in sweat.

Why would Yinshan Liuyu be frequenting the Demon and Ghost Wall?

As the daughter of a noble family, why was she having someone forge fake family documents?

Now she wanted to select barren land—was the next step—

“It’s you,” Liuyu said, her eyes holding a teasing smile as she looked at the dazed Fang Fucang. She tilted her head and tapped her cheek. “Take a team of demons and ghosts to clear the land, and build a decent estate. I will then send another team to find servants for you, and I’ll write the entire history of the Jimo family. Then, you and the servants can all have the same story, how about it?”

How about it?

It wasn’t a choice.

Could he quit now?

Fang Fucang wished he could hit himself to forget everything he had just heard.

“No need to struggle. You have no other choice,” Liuyu said, flicking her fingers over the fish scale map’s image.

“When you were at the cliff that day, you were supposed to be dead. But I was short on manpower, so I couldn’t bear to waste a person at the eighth level of military path.”

Fang Fucang couldn’t help but ask, “…You let me know such a big secret, and sent me away from Jiuyou, aren’t you afraid I’ll escape halfway?”

Liuyu wasn’t worried.

As soon as Fang Fucang was two miles away, she would send the news to the parents of the deceased Seventeenth Young Master of the Jiufang family.

That couple were no good people. They had allowed their youngest son to shoot servants for fun. If they found out their son had died, but his bodyguard was still alive, they would certainly pursue Fang Fucang across the country to bury him with their son.

But before she could speak, Mo Li interrupted.

“I’ll send your wife and daughter to reunite with you,” he said.

Fang Fucang: “…I’ll go! Just remember to provide the out-of-town allowance.”

As the two wandered around the Ghost Path Academy, Liuyu occasionally cast complicated glances at Mo Li.

Mo Li asked, “What do you want to say?”

“Nothing… I just wanted to ask, was that really true, or were you just scaring him?”

Mo Li frowned slightly, then turned to her and said, “Why would it be scaring him? Shouldn’t it be luring him with benefits?”

Liuyu froze for a moment, then realized Mo Li wasn’t threatening Fang Fucang with his wife and daughter, but rather implying that as long as Fang Fucang did their bidding, Mo Li would find a way to reunite him with his wife and daughter.

Liuyu laughed out loud.

Seeing her laugh, Mo Li first was distracted by her smile, then realized what she was laughing about.

Mo Li’s eyes darkened slightly.

“That idiot…”

“Well, you can’t blame him,” Liuyu said, trying to hold in her laughter, glancing at him. “Your expression really does make it seem like you’d say something like, ‘If you don’t behave, I’ll kill your entire family.’”

Certainly! Here’s the revised translation with Mo Li instead of Mo Lin:

The demon lord with a cold expression slightly stiffened.

Even when his mind was empty, a glance from him still carried a murderous intent. Anyone who met his gaze wouldn’t feel like they were looking at a living person.

Liuyu couldn’t help but speak up.

“Don’t even mention him, I used to think…”

Her words trailed off.

“What did you think?”

He seemed very interested in her opinion, sensing that she hadn’t finished her sentence, and, as if to extend his thoughts, his gaze turned even colder.

“Did you think I was cold-blooded and terrifying?”

As the two walked side by side, they passed a few study halls and arrived at a small water pavilion shaded by willow trees.

At this time, the students from the Ghost Path Academy were heading to the dining hall. The surroundings were quiet, with only the sound of birds chirping.

Liuyu answered briskly, “Yes.”

Her heart felt like it was being pulled downward by a heavy stone.

After their engagement, Mo Li had also pondered a question:

How would she see him?

Would he be the evil ghost who burned the colorless city to the ground?

The villain who caused the Yinshan family to be condemned by the immortal families?

Or perhaps the culprit who tore her apart from her childhood sweetheart, forcing her to marry a demon?

No matter how he thought about it, he felt like Liuyu must hate him.

But Mo Li couldn’t suppress a certain subtle hope.

He thought—

She didn’t have to like him much; as long as she didn’t hate him to the bone, that would be enough.

On their wedding night, her indifferent and dismissive gaze had crushed his faint hope.

Only in the past few days, when those cold barriers had melted like floating ice, did Mo Li realize that he hadn’t done anything; it was she who willingly moved closer to him.

Was it because of their cooperation?

Mo Li thought that was the most likely reason.

Seeing the demon lord beside her fall silent, Liuyu turned her head and knew he was starting to overthink again.

She stepped in front of him.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

His gaze shifted from Liuyu’s face and landed on the distant water surface.

“What do you want me to say?”

Liuyu, seeing him cross his arms in a defensive posture, narrowed her eyes.

It was always like this.

He never spoke, so how could anyone guess what he was thinking?

“If you won’t speak, then I’ll say something.”

Mo Li still turned his face away and didn’t look at her.

“Just now, I was talking to my father about Jiufang Zhanghua—”

His long eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Liuyu deliberately dragged out her words, speaking slowly:

“He said, maybe we should just divorce. The Yinshan family is so large and powerful, there’s no need for a daughter to marry. We can just go ahead with the original plan and let Jiufang Zhanghua marry into the family. He seems to like me, and he probably wouldn’t mind…”

“Dream on.”

When he heard the word “divorce,” the demon lord with a dark expression immediately turned his head.

At the mention of “marrying into the family,” he looked as if he were about to devour someone.

“If he dares to marry into the family, I’ll dare to go to the Immortal Capital and kill him.”

Liuyu smiled and raised her arm, gently hooking her fingers around the back of his neck.

Mo Li’s whole body stiffened.

“What about me?”

Liuyu tilted her head, blinking as she asked:

“Are you not going to take me back to Jiuyou?”

He was too tall. As Liuyu hooked her arm around his neck, he had to slightly bend his back.

But he still kept a stern face, turning his head to coldly respond:

“…If you’re unwilling, no one can take you away.”

“You know that, huh?”

The girl sighed and hummed, her cherry lips close to his ear, her breath whispering by his ear like feathers brushing.

“If one day I divorce you, it will only be for one reason—”

“Because I feel you have no affection for me.”

The slender willows swayed in the wind.

Mo Li paused for a moment.

How dare she—

How dare she say such a thing?

Liuyu, seeing that he was moved, smiled with her eyes squinted:

“Want to say something? If you don’t say it, I won’t know.”

She looked at his eyes, which were filled with turbulent emotions, and couldn’t help but imagine.

Would he confess?

She couldn’t picture him saying romantic things.

Liuyu saw his lips move.

Then she felt a force at her waist, pulling them close together.

“What do you want me to say?”

His chest was hot, and his arm around her was so strong that it felt like he could crush her.

Luckily, Liuyu wasn’t that fragile.

She said, “Say whatever you want. Do I need to teach you?”

He seemed to remain silent for a moment.

Liuyu heard him swallow.

“I’ve wanted to say this for a long time—”

Liuyu gently held her breath.

He spoke in a calm voice:

“Once a month… isn’t that a bit too long?”