Di Jiang left.

Di Jiang left again.

After declaring that she was unworthy, he disappeared and never returned. Not only that, but the music from Cangqiong Palace also stopped, and the entire Diyun Peak felt eerily quiet, like the calm before a storm.

At first, Le Gui, who had been on edge for days, finally managed to get a good night’s sleep and ended up sleeping for an entire day and night. When she woke up and realized he was still gone, she began to feel uneasy.

[What does this mean? Why did he suddenly stop coming?]

Although she didn’t care about her boss’s well-being and would prefer he never returned, she couldn’t shake her worry. The worst-case scenario was that he would brood over their last conversation, grow angrier over time, and one day come back just to kill her.

The anxiety affected her so much that she lost her appetite for days, and her waistline noticeably slimmed down. However, when stress reaches a certain point, people start to give up and stop caring. Her nervousness faded, and she even made a trip to Cangqiong Palace to scout for the location of Wuliangdu. But she accidentally triggered a restriction and was nearly sliced in half, so she decided to behave for the time being.

“I asked around. Apparently, some ancient powerhouse from the Celestial Realm emerged from seclusion after thousands of years and immediately challenged Wuyou Palace to a duel. You know His Lordship’s temperament—he would never back down from something like that. So, he went straight to accept the fight.”

Le Gui and Juzi each held a large apple, crunching away as a young girl with twin braids chattered on. The moment Le Gui turned her head, she saw Juzi finishing its apple and taking a huge bite out of hers.

“…AHHHH! Spit it out!” Le Gui exploded, prying at its mouth. “That’s mine! Mine alone!”

“Are you even listening to me?” the young girl sighed.

Le Gui wrestled with Juzi while answering absentmindedly, “Hold on, Yaoyao! Let me deal with this beast first!”

Yaoyao was the girl’s name. She was one of the four fruit delivery attendants. One of the older men who used to deliver fruits had mysteriously vanished after drinking water from the lake, and she had taken his place. Since they were of similar age, she and Le Gui became fast friends and often chatted when they had free time.

But right now, friendship meant nothing! Watching Juzi finish the last of her apple, Le Gui was filled with righteous fury.

Yaoyao coughed. “Is it really that serious? Next time I deliver fruit, I’ll sneak you an extra apple.”

Le Gui gave her a skeptical look. “You said that last time too.”

“…Our daily quota is limited. There’s only so much I can do,” Yaoyao said awkwardly, realizing her excuse had failed.

Le Gui sighed and leaned against a rock, gazing at the sky with sorrow. “When will I finally achieve fruit freedom?”

“What’s so great about fruit? Cultivators should focus on eliminating worldly desires,” Yaoyao said as she handed Le Gui a handful of fasting pills.

Le Gui accepted them enviously. “More handouts from your department? You guys have such good benefits.”

Yaoyao replied casually, “This is nothing. If your spiritual roots weren’t completely ruined, I could even give you some cultivation-enhancing pills.”

“Yaoyao, you’re too kind!” Le Gui was deeply moved. She turned to see Juzi lazily dozing off and instinctively gave it a slap.

Juzi: “…”

After the slap, Le Gui returned to her envy. “Are you sure your department isn’t hiring?”

“They’re not. I asked for you the other day, remember?” Yaoyao cleared her throat. “Anyway, stop changing the subject. Did you hear what I just said?”

“Hear what?” Le Gui blinked in confusion. Then, upon seeing Yaoyao’s exasperated expression, she suddenly recalled. “Ah, right. His Lordship went off to fight someone.”

Once Le Gui realized that Di Jiang hadn’t left because of her, she finally relaxed and stopped worrying about it.

Yaoyao glanced around cautiously before lowering her voice to gossip, “I heard that His Lordship’s opponent this time is the most powerful cultivator in the Celestial Realm. He was born with the strength to overturn mountains and shift the heavens. Even with His Lordship’s abilities, he might not win.”

Le Gui thought for a moment. “If he’s really that powerful, why haven’t I heard of him before?”

Yaoyao scoffed at her ignorance. “The Three Realms are full of powerful cultivators. Some spend all their time in secluded cultivation. You’re just a mortal—how could you possibly know them all?”

That made sense. After all, novels could only cover so much. Just like how Di Jiang’s bizarre preference for having multiple opera troupes perform at once had never been mentioned in the book.

Yaoyao sighed, looking troubled. “Do you think His Lordship might be in danger?”

The evening light cast a glow over her features, making her expression seem even more serious. Le Gui’s heart skipped a beat. “Wait, don’t tell me—you like him?”

Yaoyao was momentarily stunned. When she realized what Le Gui meant, she let out an awkward laugh.

“Yaoyao, wake up!” Le Gui grabbed her face in distress. “Do you remember what happened to the people who liked him?!”

Ever since coming to Diyun Peak, Le Gui hadn’t dared to leave the area around the lake after being frightened by vengeful spirits. Most of her information about the outside world came from Yaoyao, her only real connection here.

For example, on the first night Di Jiang came to sleep by the lake, he was in a bad mood because yet another woman had tried to seduce him, disrupting his focus on cultivation. And that middle-aged man who secretly drank the lake water—he didn’t stop delivering fruit because he didn’t want to, but because after drinking the water, his entire body festered and bled until he died. Safe to say, he wouldn’t be coming back.

Thinking about it made Le Gui furious. That man had seemed quite capable, yet he still died from drinking the lake’s water. And Di Jiang had the audacity to try to force her—a fragile mortal—to drink it? Absolutely outrageous.

“Hey, hey!” Yaoyao pinched Le Gui’s face, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Le Gui came back to reality and immediately resumed her lament. “Yaoyao, wake up!”

“Thanks, but I’m perfectly awake,” Yaoyao sighed, prying Le Gui’s hands off her. “I respect His Lordship, but I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him. Don’t talk nonsense.”

Le Gui was skeptical. “Really?”

“Really.” Yaoyao nodded firmly.

Le Gui sighed in relief. “Good. As long as you don’t.”

Yaoyao raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so worked up? Afraid I’ll start competing with you for his favor?”

Since Di Jiang had spent so many nights lying on the grass in the open air, everyone on Diyun Peak had more or less assumed that he and Le Gui had something going on.

Le Gui had tried explaining, but no one believed her, so she had given up. Still, hearing Yaoyao say that out loud was a bit surprising. “Why would you even think that? Aren’t we friends?”

Yaoyao was caught off guard by her straightforward attitude and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. “I was just joking. Don’t take it so seriously.”

The two of them chatted a while longer. When the sun was about to set, Yaoyao got up, preparing to leave. Le Gui lazily stood to walk her out.

“No need to see me off. You should rest,” Yaoyao said. Then she suddenly remembered something. “The fruit delivery is done for today, so take a fasting pill in case you get hungry later.”

“No worries. I’ll take it when I’m actually hungry,” Le Gui replied casually.

Yaoyao gave her a sidelong glance. “You should take it now. Did you forget that my pills are low-grade? They take a while to work.”

Le Gui thought about it and realized she had a point, so she quickly took a pill.

“I’m off then. Tomorrow, I’ll try to get you an extra apple,” Yaoyao said, then glanced at Le Gui’s slim waist with disapproval. “If I can find anything else, I’ll bring that too. You’re way too skinny. If His Lordship sees you like this, he’ll definitely blame us.”

“Yeah, right. If you guys really thought he’d blame you, you wouldn’t keep delivering the same amount of fruit every day, even though you know there’s an extra person eating it.”

Yaoyao laughed, waving her off before leaving.

Now that she was alone by the lake with Juzi, Le Gui felt a little bored. Juzi, having stuffed itself with an extra half an apple today, was already lying on its side, fast asleep.

Le Gui, left with nothing to do, started thinking about Di Jiang’s fight again.

[…Is there really some super-powerful character that wasn’t mentioned in the novel?]

She couldn’t figure it out, so she decided not to think about it anymore. Instead, she planned to enjoy this rare period of peace while Di Jiang was away.

But she didn’t expect that her peaceful days would end so soon.

Two hours later, she was jolted awake from her sleep. The moment she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into a pair of cold, unreadable eyes. The owner of those eyes was reaching toward her, his hand poised as if to—

[…Is he seriously about to strangle me?]

“Good evening, Your Lordship,” Le Gui greeted as calmly as she could.

Di Jiang’s expression remained unreadable. “Your alertness is decent.”

Before she could respond, his hand closed around her throat.

Le Gui: “…”

[He’s actually strangling me?!]

Still half-asleep, her mind lagged behind her body. By the time she realized what was happening, Di Jiang had already plucked the fasting pill from her hands. In a panic, she scrambled away from him.

Di Jiang gave her a cold glance. “Come back here.”

[…Am I an idiot? What if I go back and he strangles me again?]

Le Gui had every intention of resisting this time, but the moment Di Jiang narrowed his eyes, her survival instincts took over. She immediately abandoned her pride and shuffled back to him with a nervous smile. “Hehe… Your Lordship, what’s the matter?”

“Where did you get the fasting pill?” he asked.

[Office rule number one: never let your boss find out how well you get along with your coworkers.]

Le Gui cleared her throat. “Oh, uh… I just asked someone for it.”

Clearly unconvinced, Di Jiang studied her for a moment. Then, instead of pressing the issue, he tossed the pill back to her. With a flick of his fingers, he pulled her straight into his arms.

Le Gui blinked in confusion, looking up at him, but before she could see his expression, he buried his face in the crook of her neck—

And took a deep breath.

[Is this progressing so fast? Did he have an epiphany after his trip and now feels it’s a waste not to use the stunning beauty at home?]

Di Jiang curled his lips into a smirk. As his nose brushed against Le Gui’s skin, his lips inadvertently grazed her as well, bringing a wave of warm dampness.

Le Gui was so tense she nearly turned to stone. She didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly, afraid of disturbing His Lordship’s refined enjoyment.

But then, Di Jiang didn’t do anything else.

[Why isn’t he moving? Things have come this far. Shouldn’t he be tearing off my clothes next, spreading my legs apart, forcing his hand between my knees with an irresistible grip, and then—water sounds filling the air, stirring me until my vision goes blurry, making me utterly surrender beneath his feet?]

[Or maybe he’s into something more thrilling. Does he find my passive attitude too dull? Should I moan or something? But how do I do it? ‘Your Lordship, don’t…’ or ‘This humble one can’t take it anymore’? Ahhh, this is so embarrassing…]

The man buried in the crook of her neck let out a low chuckle, his warm breath sending goosebumps down her skin.

Le Gui swallowed hard. Just as she was about to say something to break the awkward silence, Di Jiang suddenly let go of her.

“You smell nice,” he said.

[What does that even mean? Are we switching to foreplay first before getting down to business? Please don’t, Your Lordship. This doesn’t suit you. Just go all out, trample me, humiliate me, and let me witness your true strength.]

Le Gui put on a bashful look, full of obedience. “Thank you for your praise, Your Lordship.”

Then silence fell again.

Nearby, Juzi was snoring without a care in the world, its occasional grunts sounding particularly loud in the quiet of the night. Unable to endure the awkward atmosphere, the dedicated employee rubbed her face and feigned concern for her boss.

“Your Lordship, I heard you were away for so long because you went to fight someone?”

Di Jiang didn’t ask her where she got the news from. He simply gave her a glance and replied, “Mm.”

“Did you win?” Le Gui asked curiously.

Di Jiang countered, “What do you think?”

“Of course, you won,” Le Gui immediately responded. “Who in the three realms doesn’t know that His Lordship is the most powerful of all? The word ‘defeat’ simply doesn’t exist in your dictionary!”

Di Jiang’s lips curled into a pleased smile. “You certainly know how to talk.”

“So, you won, right?” Le Gui looked at him expectantly.

Di Jiang nodded. “Yes, a grand victory.”

The words had barely left his mouth when he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Le Gui: “…”

[You call this a grand victory?!]