Chapter 21

Mo Lin’s world fell quiet for a moment.

The moonlit spring lanterns hung high, and the hawthorn flowers along the bridge fluttered in the rippling creek, drifting with the water in the darkness.

It was unclear who had solved the riddle, but suddenly, amid the bustling crowd, a sharp sound rang out. A heavy Ming bird lantern transformed into a blue flame, soaring above the street and spinning in the air.

All eyes turned toward it, and even Liuyu looked up.

“It’s so crowded,” came a complaining voice from behind.

Mo Lin, frozen in place, snapped back to his senses.

He soon realized that the crowd, drawn by the fireworks overhead, was surging from all directions, pushing toward him and Liuyu.

The Demon Lord’s heart tightened.

Liuyu, distracted by the sound, hadn’t noticed that she was being pushed further and further from Mo Lin.

But in the next moment, she suddenly felt something tightly coil around her waist.

A slippery, soft sensation, with a warm and firm force, constricted around her.

At first, Liuyu thought it was an arm, but as the force perfectly wound around her waist, the unnatural feeling sent a chill down her spine—this was not a human’s hand but a demon’s tendril.

Her feet left the ground.

Liuyu felt herself lifted, then abruptly yanked toward Mo Lin.

But just as she was about to crash into his chest, the force withdrew like flowing water, replaced by a half-embrace that steadied her.

Instinctively, Liuyu grabbed onto him, expecting to feel some strange tendril or serpent-like tail.

But there was nothing.

The sharp, cold fragrance of foggrass flooded her senses.

The hand that met hers was wearing a dark glove, and beneath it, she could feel the warmth of a human touch.

As she met Mo Lin’s slightly surprised gaze, the hand holding hers tightened, almost imperceptibly.

…What had he just done?

He had actually touched her with his own tendril.

He recalled the cold, rejecting look in her eyes on their wedding night, the moonlight reflecting in her dark pupils. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find a trace of affection in them.

When had the change begun?

She no longer mentioned moving out of the Extreme Night Palace. She smiled at him, urged him to bathe and wash his hands, and after falling asleep, she no longer resisted him, even proactively drawing closer.

—She had clearly told him she didn’t like him showing the monstrous side of himself.

But in his moment of distraction, he had used the very form she despised to touch her.

Would she, because of his loss of control, withdraw the smiles and intimacy of these days and return to the coldness she had shown that night?

The fireworks overhead suddenly shot into the sky, scattering like sparks in the dark.

Everyone was looking up at the fireworks, but the Demon Lord lowered his gaze, staring at the girl in his arms. In his eyes, the deep, swirling green was like a vortex, and with just one look, it seemed as though it could pull a person’s soul into it.

He was waiting for Liuyu to push him away.

But Liuyu felt that his grip was a little too tight.

“…Fine, I won’t say anything. It was just a joke, no need to get so upset about it.”

Liuyu looked toward the crowd, which had stirred because of the one lantern, and tilted her chin.

“It’s just one lantern. Let them see what a whole street full of lanterns looks like—Ghost Girl, Mountain Demon, you two choose.”

After finally squeezing her way back to Liuyu’s side, the Ghost Girl and Mountain Demon hadn’t had time to recover from the shock of their intertwined hands before they heard Liuyu’s words.

The Ghost Girl, who had never seen the Lantern Festival, was naturally excited.

Even the Mountain Demon was eager to try.

—They had always seen others light lanterns, but it was the first time for their side to take the spotlight.

Both of them immediately grinned widely and said:

“I want a rabbit lantern!”

“I want a Candle Dragon! A Wind Fox! And a Zhu Yan!!”

“You’re too greedy—Lord, pay for my rabbit lantern first!”

Mo Lin stood in place, waiting for Liuyu to break free from his grasp.

But all he got was a glance from the girl, who tugged his hand and turned her head, saying:

“Why are you still standing there? Aren’t you going to pay?”

His blood, which had been frozen, suddenly surged back. Mo Lin’s face momentarily blanked.

…She didn’t mind.

Even though he had touched her with the limbs she hated most, there wasn’t that expression of resistance and disgust on her face like that night.

The girl began walking down the street lined with lanterns, unraveling word riddles and charms as she went.

The common folk, who had been shopping at the night market, gradually noticed the movement.

Commoners rarely knew how to read, and even fewer could understand poetry and word riddles.

It would be normal in places like Xiandu or Wangji, or in prosperous cities like Yanggu and Yuyuan, but here, near the Demon Wall, the area was a remote borderland. It was mostly merchants passing through, few noble families came this way, and most people could only recognize a few characters.

So when the lanterns along the way gradually transformed into fireworks soaring into the sky, it was hard not to draw the attention of passersby.

The group of four, with the girl leading, walked in front.

Her words were sweet, especially when she recited the rhymed verses, her voice was pleasing, and her words flowed like pearls, causing the lanterns along the way to shine brightly.

The young man in dark robes, walking behind her, took out a silver coin from his sleeve each time, flicking it with his thumb, sending it toward a small stall that hung the lanterns.

There was no shortage of silver, and the shopkeeper laughed heartily, his teeth flashing.

The Mountain Demon floated, basking in the admiring gazes of the crowd.

The Ghost Girl, on the other hand, raised her head and gazed at the night sky, her eyes intoxicated by the fireworks, which lit up the long night as bright as day.

There was no sunlight in the Beast Hunt Arena, and she had never seen a Lantern Festival night before.

So this was what it was like.

How wonderful.

“Is it beautiful?”

After they had passed the street, Liuyu turned around to look at the three behind her.

“It’s damn beautiful—what the hell! Who are you?!”

The Mountain Demon reluctantly pulled his gaze from above and, when his eyes briefly met the Ghost Girl’s face beside him, he was startled.

Why did the face of the person beside him change after looking at the lanterns?!

The Ghost Girl squinted her eyes, “Don’t use foul language in front of the Empress.”

Hearing this voice, the Mountain Demon finally recognized that it was indeed the Ghost Girl’s voice, but—

“Lord, you too…”

The demon in the dark robes placed a finger gently on his lips, signaling for silence.

“It’s a disguise illusion.”

Liuyu smiled and explained:

“You walk around the vicinity of Taiping City often, so it’s easy for people to recognize you. While not many people recognize the faces of the Ghost Girl and Mo Lin, just in case, it’s better to cover up during such an attention-grabbing moment.”

The Mountain Demon belatedly realized.

The Empress had come to Taiping City in disguise. If she were seen walking with him, one of the Twelve Ancestors, it would indeed attract attention. He had been too careless.

But the Mountain Demon was a bit surprised.

Disguise illusions were not considered a high-class technique. Usually, they were used by common practitioners to deceive or hide their identity when committing crimes.

Why would a noblewoman from an immortal family learn such a technique?

Mo Lin also had doubts in his heart.

An illusion technique was, in fact, a transformation of energy. It didn’t alter the practitioner’s true face but made others see a different appearance when they looked directly at it.

Although special glazed mirrors could break the illusion, cultivators above the seventh level didn’t need them to detect the effect of the illusion.

Yet, as Mo Lin looked at the faces of the Mountain Demon and the Ghost Girl, if he didn’t know the truth, he wouldn’t have sensed any trace of illusion at all.

This meant that Liuyu’s illusion technique had reached perfection, far beyond the level of a noblewoman playing with it.

Mo Lin stared at the girl beside him.

Why was she so proficient in illusion techniques?

As the precious daughter of the Yinshan family, when would she need to hide her identity?

The Ghost Girl cupped her face, thoughtfully saying:

“Ah, if I had known, I wouldn’t have asked for so many lanterns in one go. What if someone notices and trouble arises?”

Liuyu was confident in her illusion technique. If she hadn’t learned it, how could she have survived and maneuvered through the siege of the great families for ten years?

But even though her illusion technique was perfected, it could still be broken by a small glazed mirror.

That’s why, in her past life, when she infiltrated the Jiufang family’s wedding to rescue Tan Ning, Liuyu could only resort to the most primitive method—disfiguring her own face—to fool those who knew her well.

Liuyu gently touched her face.

It really hurt back then.

“It won’t be so easy to be discovered.”

Liuyu looked up, a subtle smile forming between her brows and eyes.

“And besides, tonight, I want the whole Taiping City to recognize our faces.”

The ghost girl showed a slightly confused expression.

“This face?”

But isn’t their current face all a disguise made with illusion magic?

Liuyu didn’t explain; she just casually said, “If you were given the opportunity to become a noble family, what surname would you want?”

The mountain demon and the ghost girl looked at each other in confusion.

Us? A noble family?

What was the master saying today? How strange.

But since it was just casual conversation, the mountain demon spoke frankly.

“Of course, it would be the same as the master’s surname, Mo.”

The ghost girl scoffed, “So silly. There are no single-character surnames for noble families. The surnames of noble families are always two characters.”

Liuyu pondered as she walked, “Mo… There is an ancient place called Jimo, and if you trace it back a hundred years, there was a wealthy family with the surname Jimo. This surname seems quite fitting. What do you think?”

The Jimo family.

It really did sound like the name of a celestial noble family.

But…

“Fitting for what?”

The mountain demon looked confused. Weren’t they just talking nonsense?

Liuyu didn’t answer his confusion. She only smiled mysteriously and turned to ask Mo Li:

“Do you think it sounds nice?”

Mo Lin met her gaze silently.

A deep green haze swirled in his eyes, and Liuyu, looking through his eyes, couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

“Never mind. You don’t know how to read, so you have no room to be picky.”

Liuyu continued speaking to herself.

“Let’s call it Gui. Jimo Gui. Kings and demons are both called Gui. Oh, it’s really a small trick right under their noses. I wonder if they’ll notice…”

Though she said this, Mo Lin glanced at Liuyu, seeing nothing but the mischievous, innocent joy of a child on her face. He saw no trace of fear.

“You don’t have to listen to their nonsense,” Mo Lin suddenly spoke, “The Jimo family has fallen for many years. Now, there are no remaining branches of their bloodline. You should choose a surname that has some remaining family members, one that’s more convenient for your plans.”

Liuyu glanced at him. “Do you know what I want to do?”

“Not hard to guess.”

From what she had hinted before, it seemed like she wanted to get rid of the Yinshan family and take over Taiping City.

Now that Yinshan Qi was faking his death, Taiping City appeared leaderless. To completely remove Taiping City from the Yinshan family’s territory, they would need to take control of the city with a force that had no ties to the Yinshan family.

But the difficulty was, where could they find a force that had no connection to the Yinshan family and was trustworthy enough?

They couldn’t find one.

This was about handing over all of their assets to someone else in the future. Even if they were blood relatives, such a vast fortune could lead to betrayal if not handled carefully.

Thus, there was only one solution—

She would create her own force and openly swallow the entire Yinshan family, causing the Yinshan family to vanish from the surface.

For this, she needed a fake noble family.

Mo Lin had seen this plan’s outline in every move she made since she arrived in Taiping City.

This plan, one had to admit, sounded truly terrifying.

Forging a celestial family tree was nothing more than a trick used by wealthy families to look impressive.

But creating a fake noble family, blending in with those real celestial noble families who believed in their superior status, sitting with them, calling each other brothers—

Was this even possible?

Family trees, family members, real estates, and tenants—all had to come from somewhere.

This kind of plan wouldn’t even cross the mind of an ordinary person.

—But the person who came up with this idea was Yinshan Liuyu.

The noblest of the noble families, the most esteemed of the young ladies, no one understood the roots and branches of noble families better than her, no one knew how they spread and took root in this world.

If she was truly planning this…

Then it seemed she really had the ability to pull it off.

Their gazes met.

A moment later, Liuyu flashed a smile of approval.

Though she didn’t know how to read, this demon lord was truly smarter than many well-educated noble families.

In her past life, Liuyu had stayed in the Nine Netherworlds for a century. While she never directly intervened in the affairs there, just by observing the accounts of the Nine Netherworlds, she could see the changes that had occurred over the century.

Externally, celestial noble families were watching closely.

Internally, there were conflicts between demons, ghosts, and human commoners.

The so-called demon lord was actually just a slave who had grown up in captivity, never receiving any formal education.

Yet Liuyu, looking out from the top of the Gathering Spirit Terrace at the ever-expanding cities of the Nine Netherworlds, and the diminishing number of wars each year, found it hard to believe that this was something a slave, born into suffering and living beneath others, could accomplish.

She once felt dissatisfied and privately compared: if she had the same background as him, could she have achieved what Mo Lin had?

Liuyu’s hypothesis faltered at the first step.

Because she couldn’t figure out how, in the situation where the Five Major Families heavily guarded the Colorless City, Mo Lin had managed to break out.

After the fall of the Yinshan family, there were rumors that a group of unknown people had come forward, claiming that Mo Li’s escape from Colorless City had been secretly aided by the Yinshan family.

This sounded reasonable.

Unfortunately, the Yinshan family had no reason to help demons. It was just a frame-up by other noble families.

“Since you know what I want to do, you should think the name Jimo Gui is quite fitting. They think that because I married into the Nine Netherworlds, I’ve become a worthless peasant. I’ll show them that I can take the demons back to the Celestial Capital, standing before those people—”

She stopped in front of a shop, which was the address written on the list that the leader Wu Zhi had given her earlier.

Standing on the steps, Liuyu turned around and smiled at him.

“Let them see how easily their so-called noble bloodline can be faked.”

Mo Lin stared at the young girl’s figure under the lanterns, stunned.

He knew it was impossible to achieve.

But hearing it from her lips made it seem as if no mountain was too high, no river too wide.

There was a vitality in her words that could captivate and mesmerize any onlooker—

Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed her slender wrist.

“You’re beautiful.”

Liuyu froze at his unexpected words.

The Demon Lord gazed up at her, as if looking at a goddess untainted by dust on a divine pedestal. Yet, in his eyes, a slow, aggressive smile began to form. Each word he spoke was deliberate:

“One day, I will conquer all those cities for you. When you reveal your true form to the world, you will be even more beautiful.”