A few moments later, she was unceremoniously thrown out of the bedroom, and the door slammed shut behind her.

She sighed, bored, and went to sit in the courtyard. The Seer Mirror was still resting on the stone table, and since Ah Hua hadn’t been able to follow her inside the room, she had no idea what had just transpired.

Even so, she had clearly heard Di Jiang’s “Out,” loud and clear. Just as she was about to mock Le Gui, the latter suddenly asked, “Did you make the chicken soup for me?”

“Of course—”

“Ah, I see. I was too quick to assume the worst before. To make it up to you, how about I take you out for some fun today?” Le Gui suggested thoughtfully.

The words Ah Hua had been about to say were swallowed instantly. “Sure!”

“Now, where should we go…” Le Gui pondered.

Before she could come up with an answer, the chubby kid from Aunt Li’s house ran up to their yard, clinging to the fence and calling out, “Sister Le Gui!”

Le Gui crossed her arms and spoke before the boy could even open his mouth.

“I’m not roasting sweet potatoes.”

She had been in the village for almost ten days and had joined the kids in their sweet potato roasting several times. At first, it was fun, but after doing it a few times, she lost interest.

“We’re not roasting sweet potatoes. We’re catching grasshoppers and roasting them!” the chubby boy exclaimed.

Le Gui paused. “Grasshoppers?”

“Yeah, grasshoppers! Have you ever eaten them?” the boy asked.

Le Gui rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Of course! When I was little, I was the best grasshopper catcher for miles around at my grandma’s place!”

“That’s great! Let’s do it together!” The boy’s eyes lit up.

Seer Mirror, floating nearby, nodded vigorously. “Let’s go, let’s go! I’ve never been before!”

It was decided in an instant. Le Gui tucked the mirror into her arms and followed the chubby boy.

With that, the house fell into silence. Di Jiang focused his mind and began meditating. As a being formed from condensed demonic energy, no matter how severe his injuries were, his body would heal itself as long as he had enough demonic energy.

After days of recovery, his spiritual core was no longer completely depleted. His own rich demonic energy was no longer overwhelming his emotions, meaning he would be fully healed soon.

After just two cycles of circulating his energy, nearly two hours had passed. By then, it was already noon. Likely on Le Gui’s instructions, Aunt Li had left lunch outside the fence instead of calling for them as usual. A quick scan with his divine sense told him that the food box contained sweet potatoes and corn again.

Di Jiang sat in silence for a long moment before casually parting the air with a flick of his fingers. The space trembled, revealing a dark rift. A roast duck, still on its plate, floated through the tear and landed lightly on the table.

At the same time, in the kitchen of Wuyou Palace, someone was cursing.

“Where’s my roast duck?! My roast duck is gone!”

“What roast duck? This kitchen has been unused for years. How could there be roast duck ?”

The cooks exchanged confused looks. The one who had secretly roasted the duck for himself quickly changed his story, saying he must have been half-asleep and dreaming about food.

The others dispersed, but he remained, glancing around the empty kitchen nervously. First, the chicken soup had disappeared, and now the roast duck was gone. Could someone have discovered his secret use of the kitchen and was warning him?

Meanwhile, Le Gui, Seer Mirror, and a group of children were running wildly across the fields.

Originally, it had just been her and the chubby boy. But as they made their way out of the village, they ran into more kids. One called another, and soon, they had gathered a whole gang.

For an “adventure” like this, the more people, the better. The group carried all sorts of makeshift tools—some caught grasshoppers, others searched for wild fruits, and a few collected firewood, ready to start roasting at any moment.

Seer Mirror, though unable to manifest physically, was still thrilled to be running around with everyone. In her excitement, she accidentally reverted to her ghostly, blood-soaked appearance, making Le Gui—who was the only one who could see her—gasp in shock.

“…Restrain yourself. You have to restrain yourself,” Le Gui reminded her while the other kids were busy.

Seer Mirror quickly returned to her normal appearance, looking a little embarrassed. “I’ve never done this before. I got too excited.”

Le Gui hesitated, then suddenly remembered Seer Mirror’s past life and what she had been through. Her tone softened. “Forget it. Don’t hold back. If you’re going to play, play to your heart’s content.”

“Mm!” Seer Mirror nodded enthusiastically.

By noon, many of the kids had been called home by their families, including the one who was best at starting fires. In the end, only five or six children remained.

They looked at each other in silence until Seer Mirror nudged Le Gui. “Hey, it’s noon. Shouldn’t we go back too?”

“No, I want to eat roasted grasshoppers,” Le Gui refused. She knew that lunch at home would be the same as always—corn and sweet potatoes. Right now, she just wanted something meaty. Even if grasshoppers were small, they were still meat!

“But isn’t it bad not to go home for lunch?” Seer Mirror asked.

“Why would it be bad?” Le Gui countered.

Seer Mirror blinked in surprise. Yeah, why would it be bad? Not every parent insisted their kids come home for lunch. Besides, a few other kids had stayed behind too.

“Then we’re staying,” Seer Mirror declared decisively.

Le Gui nodded in satisfaction. “That’s more like it.”

The remaining children glanced at each other, exchanging silent looks.

They had played together several times now and were already familiar with Le Gui’s odd habit of talking to herself. They had all quietly agreed not to mention it to their parents.

Every village had a few “slow” kids. It was nothing unusual. And besides, Le Gui wasn’t like other slow-witted people who got violent for no reason. Aside from talking to herself, she was completely normal.

The chubby boy, being her neighbor, cleared his throat and raised a hand. “Actually, I can start a fire too—just not as well as the other kid.”

“I brought some flatbread. We can roast it along with the grasshoppers!” another child added.

With that, the remaining kids got to work. Some stacked firewood, others skewered the grasshoppers. Once everything was set up and placed over the fire, a delicious aroma filled the air.

After running around all morning, everyone was exhausted. Now, watching the grasshoppers cook, they couldn’t help but swallow their drool in unison.

“Is it ready yet?” Le Gui asked.

“Almost, almost! Grasshoppers cook fast,” the chubby boy reassured her.

“When they’re done, let me try one too,” Seer Mirror whispered into Le Gui’s ear. She didn’t really have a sense of taste but was curious about the experience.

Le Gui nodded absentmindedly. Just as the chubby boy gave the signal that they could eat, she raised her skewer to take a bite—

A sudden splash of water poured down on them, drenching everyone.

“Hahahaha! This is hilarious! Look at them!”

“A bunch of greedy little fools! Who eats grasshoppers? How dumb can you be?”

Laughter rang out from a distance. Le Gui, holding her soaking wet skewer of grasshoppers, turned to see a group of older boys from the neighboring village standing there, sneering at them.

Even children tend to form cliques and compete with one another. Their factions are usually divided by village. The children from the neighboring village were generally older than the chubby boy and his group, so they often bullied them.

As the “adult” in the eyes of these children, Le Gui’s presence in the chubby boy’s group initially made the older kids wary for a couple of days. However, they soon realized she was even more childish than they were, nothing like the elders they knew, so they resumed their provocations.

Le Gui usually avoided conflicts whenever possible. But this time… She looked at her soaked clothes, then at the equally drenched children opposite her, and finally, in frustration, threw her string of grasshoppers to the ground.

“Fight them!”

The chubby boy and the others had been about to endure it as usual, but before they could react, Le Gui charged forward like a gust of wind and shoved the tallest boy in the opposing group to the ground.

That boy was over ten years old and, according to village customs, would be old enough to take a wife in two years. He was notorious in the area for being a troublemaker. Yet, Le Gui knocked him down without hesitation. Seeing this, her companions immediately grew emboldened and, shouting at the top of their lungs, charged at the enemy.

The children from the neighboring village, being relatively wealthier and older, had never expected these little brats to fight back. They hesitated for a moment before attempting to retaliate. However, the moment they raised their fists, it was as if they were weighed down by a thousand pounds, making their movements sluggish. Their attempt to strike back resulted in them toppling over instead.

The chubby boy and his group had no idea what was happening, but they seized the opportunity and started throwing punches. Meanwhile, Ah Hua, floating above them, was frantic, pressing down on this one and that one. Unfortunately, there were too many opponents. Though they had the upper hand overall, Le Gui still took a few hits.

“How are you even helping? Hit them!” Le Gui, now sporting a bruised eye, shouted in anger.

Ah Hua was just as frustrated. “I would if I could! But what if I hit them too hard?”

Le Gui fell silent upon hearing that.

…As annoying as those little punks were, it was true that they didn’t deserve to die.

Unknowingly, dusk had arrived. Le Gui and Ah Hua were still nowhere to be seen. Di Jiang glanced at the now-cold roast duck and raised an eyebrow. Just as he was about to use his divine sense to locate them, the fence gate creaked open cautiously.

That sound alone made it obvious they had done something wrong.

Di Jiang smirked and leaned lazily against the bed, waiting. Sure enough, a moment later, there was a soft knock at the door.

“Your Lordship, are you asleep?” Le Gui asked sweetly.

How polite.

Di Jiang lifted his eyelids and glanced at the door. “Come in.”

The outside fell silent for a moment before the door was slowly pushed open. When Le Gui stepped inside with one foot, her upper body remained outside. “Come on, hurry up. You can’t make me go in alone, can you?”

“I don’t want to—”

“Just get in!”

Under Le Gui’s urging, Ah Hua reluctantly floated into the room. With that, Le Gui’s panda-eyed bruise was fully exposed to Di Jiang’s view.

Di Jiang chuckled in amusement. “What happened?”

“…Got into a fight,” Le Gui muttered, looking guilty.

Di Jiang’s smile grew even more genuine. “This place is filled with mortals, isn’t it?”

“Well, so am I,” Le Gui grinned sheepishly. “So getting hurt is perfectly normal.”

“…I wanted to help, but I wasn’t sure if those mortal children could handle it. So I figured it was best not to interfere,” Ah Hua said awkwardly.

Le Gui nodded. “Exactly. It was just a little scuffle, nothing worth going all out for.”

Di Jiang’s smile gradually faded. “Who won?”

“I did!” Le Gui instinctively blurted out, knowing full well that if she admitted to losing, she’d be in serious trouble. “Under my leadership, the children of Taoyuan Village won a glorious victory, beating those from the neighboring village until they ran for their lives.”

“You sure are capable,” Di Jiang remarked coolly.

[Of course, I am. Exceptionally capable.]

Le Gui sniffled and put on a pitiful look. “I’m sorry, Your Lordship. I was wrong.”

“If you won, what are you apologizing for?” Di Jiang cast her a sidelong glance.

Le Gui let out an awkward laugh and was about to say something when an unfamiliar woman’s sharp voice suddenly rang out from outside. “Where is your man? Why hasn’t he come out yet? I want to see how he handles his wife! How could she beat my child like this?!”

Le Gui: “…”

As soon as the cursing started, it became endless. Le Gui cleared her throat and put on an innocent look. “The kid’s parents have come looking for trouble. Your Lordship, you might need to step outside.”

Di Jiang: “…”