Le Gui had no interest in arguing with this family any longer. She was just about to hand over the money when Di Jiang, who had been silent, suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“I thought you injured him badly enough for them to come demanding compensation,” Di Jiang said calmly. “But it turns out his injuries are lighter than yours.”

Le Gui’s back stiffened. She exchanged a glance with Ah Hua, who immediately averted their eyes. At that moment, they both had the same thought—

They were doomed.

Wuyou Palace had one rule: mistakes could be made, but suffering losses was unacceptable.

“You fools,” Di Jiang chuckled, but the air around him grew heavier.

Le Gui trembled slightly and forced a laugh. “I did win, though. All his injuries are on his body—”

Di Jiang’s smile faded. Le Gui immediately shut up.

“What are you waiting for? Hand over the money!” Just moments ago, the woman had been leading the charge, but now that the silver was in sight, her husband rushed forward instead.

Le Gui dared not move without Di Jiang’s approval and hesitantly looked at him.

Di Jiang remained indifferent. “How much do you have left?”

Though he gave no context, Le Gui immediately understood. She quickly checked her pouch. “A little over 120 taels.”

“Give it all to him.” Di Jiang’s voice was calm.

Everyone in the room gasped. The couple was even more shocked, their faces lighting up with disbelief.

Le Gui was stunned for a moment. Then, realization hit her, and she wailed internally.

[No, Your Lordship! We still need that money to survive! Even if you want to punish me for disgracing Wuyou Palace, isn’t this a bit much?!]

“Give it,” Di Jiang said, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

Though she had been getting bolder around him lately, Le Gui knew better than to challenge him when he was truly angry. Without hesitation, she handed the pouch to the man.

The man took it with hesitation, still not quite believing his luck. He pulled out a piece of silver and bit into it. Seeing the clear tooth marks, he grinned and turned to his wife and son in excitement. “It’s real! It’s all real!”

“Quick, hand it over!” The woman urged eagerly.

Just as the man was about to pocket the money, Di Jiang suddenly spoke. “Five taels per punch, correct?”

“Huh?” The man instinctively turned around, only to feel a sudden gust of wind rush past him. In the next instant, a sharp pain exploded around his eye. He was sent flying like a leaf caught in the wind, landing hard on the ground. The coin pouch slipped from his grasp, scattering silver all over the floor.

The entire room was stunned. Before anyone could react, Di Jiang had already placed one foot on the man’s chest, casually gripping his collar with his left hand. With an elegant twist of his wrist, he secured the man in place. Then, with his right fist clenched, he delivered another blow.

“Ahhh!!”

The man’s scream suddenly echoed through the room. Di Jiang remained calm, his expression indifferent as he threw punch after punch. The woman shrieked and tried to rush forward, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier. She could do nothing but watch helplessly as the beating continued.

By the fourth punch, the man’s face was a bloody mess. He could no longer even scream. Mother Tiger’s legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed to the floor in terror. The boy beside her was frozen in shock. After what felt like an eternity, the two scrambled to collect the scattered silver, crawling on their hands and knees before Le Gui.

“M-Madam, we don’t want the money anymore! Please, please tell him to stop!” the woman pleaded, her voice trembling with fear.

Le Gui snapped back to her senses and hurriedly threw herself at Di Jiang, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Your Lordship, Your Lordship, this is too much! Please calm down. He’s going to die if you keep going.”

Di Jiang landed one final punch, sending blood splattering across his face—an arc of crimson from his brow to his lips, like a violent stroke across a tranquil painting. Only when the man on the ground lay motionless did he slowly straighten, his gaze indifferent.

Seeing the money pouch back in Le Gui’s hands, he spoke with quiet finality. “Give them thirty taels.”

Le Gui immediately grabbed a handful of silver and shoved it into the woman’s hands. The woman had initially wanted to refuse, but one look at Di Jiang’s cold expression made her swallow her words. She clutched her son tightly and dragged her nearly unconscious husband out the door as fast as she could.

The onlookers slowly came back to their senses, their gazes toward Di Jiang now tinged with fear.

They were all ordinary villagers. Disputes and conflicts were nothing new, but they had never witnessed such a brutal beating. The room fell into a suffocating silence, no one daring to utter a single word.

Then, a child’s voice suddenly rang out, breaking the tension.

“Brother-in-law is amazing!”

“Hush!” Aunt Li quickly covered the child’s mouth, glancing fearfully at Le Gui. “W-Well, since everything is settled, let’s all go home…”

“Yes, yes, let’s go.”

Just moments ago, the room had been packed with people. Now, in the blink of an eye, it was empty.

Di Jiang cast a glance at Le Gui. “You’re not leaving?”

“Why should I?” she asked, confused. Then, noticing the blood on his knuckles, she jolted in alarm and grabbed his hand.

“Thank goodness,” she sighed in relief after wiping away the blood. “It’s not yours.”

Her gaze then landed on the bloodstains on his face. The more she looked, the more uncomfortable she felt. Without hesitation, she dragged him to a chair, soaked a cloth, and began wiping him clean.

Di Jiang’s spiritual power had mostly recovered over the past few days. Even if it hadn’t, a simple cleansing spell would have done the job effortlessly. But as he watched Le Gui flitting around him, tending to his wounds with focused care, he suddenly felt no inclination to move.

“Your hands are all red. How much force did you even use?” Le Gui frowned, rubbing his knuckles lightly. “If I hadn’t stopped you, were you really planning to beat him to death?”

Di Jiang glanced at her. “If I hadn’t promised not to use my spiritual power, would I have needed to dirty my hands?”

Then, with some regret, he added, “I should have just killed them all.”

“…That’s really unnecessary,” Le Gui quickly reassured him.

She had barely finished speaking when Di Jiang’s expression darkened again. His gaze lingered on the bruise around her eye, and his voice dropped.

“If you hadn’t disgraced Wuyou Palace, then yes, it wouldn’t have been necessary.”

“I didn’t lose!” Le Gui protested. “He must have bruises all over his body from where I kicked him!”

Di Jiang cast her a silent glance and said nothing.

Le Gui sighed. “They might go to the authorities after this… If there’s an official system in this hidden realm, we should leave before things escalate.”

“No need,” Ah Hua, who had been silent, suddenly raised her hand. “I cast a Forgetting Spell on them amidst the chaos. By tomorrow morning, they’ll forget everything that happened today.”

Le Gui froze for a moment, then turned to stare at her. “If you had that kind of ability, why didn’t you just use it earlier?”

Ah Hua looked guilty. “I… forgot.”

Le Gui: “…”

A brief silence followed.

“…We should still leave,” Le Gui decided.

“Why?” Ah Hua asked, puzzled.

Di Jiang also looked at her, as if wondering how she could willingly abandon the rent she had already paid.

[Why else?! Didn’t you notice how the villagers were looking at us like we’re monsters?! If we stay, we’re definitely going to be outcasts!]

Le Gui sighed dramatically. “I just don’t feel like staying here anymore. Don’t you two want to see new places?”

Ah Hua had lived for over five thousand years, yet she had spent the first six trapped in a small courtyard and the rest sealed inside a mirror. The idea of traveling to new places immediately excited her.

“You’re not being honest,” Di Jiang suddenly said.

Le Gui blinked. “Honest about what?”

Di Jiang couldn’t be bothered to expose her little schemes. He glanced at her and stated flatly, “You’re leaving because you don’t want them looking at you like that.”

[I’m leaving because I don’t want them looking at you like that, okay?!]

Di Jiang paused.

[I already feel bad enough that you have to suppress your killing intent. I can’t let those people treat you like some kind of monster… Wait, no. When did I start feeling sorry for him just because he can’t freely kill people? This is insane! What happened to my moral compass?! My healthy psychological state?! My years of proper, law-abiding education?! Why am I like this?!]

Di Jiang suddenly let out a quiet chuckle.

Le Gui was stunned.

Earlier, when the house was full, they had kept a few candles burning for light. Now that everyone had left, the room was illuminated by a soft, natural glow, casting a warm ambiance. Di Jiang leaned against the table, his head slightly bowed as he laughed—not a deep, calculating smirk, but a simple, unguarded chuckle.

[If I pounced on him and kissed him right now, would he snap my neck?]

Di Jiang’s smile faded slightly as he lazily lifted his gaze to look at her.

Le Gui blinked a few times before finally mustering the courage to speak. “Your Lordship, before we leave, can I do one thing?”

Di Jiang stared at her for a long time before he lazily responded with a soft “Mm.”

A quarter of an hour later, the two of them appeared on the rooftop. Di Jiang’s expression was indifferent as he thought this whole thing was utterly ridiculous.

“We are leaving soon, and I have no idea when I will get to see such a clear night sky again,” Le Gui lay on the roof tiles, her mood lifted as she gazed at the vast, starry sky. “It’s so beautiful. It looks just like the stars in my grandmother’s hometown. Every time I look up at the sky like this, I feel like I’ve returned to my childhood.”

Di Jiang remained silent for a moment before following her gaze to the stars.

He could not understand what was so fascinating.

He had lived for tens of thousands of years and had seen countless breathtaking sights. No matter how grand the scenery, it no longer held any appeal for him.

“Your Lordship, you don’t understand. When I was a kid, I was so mischievous. Every time I went to the countryside, I spent my days catching fish, climbing mountains, and watching the stars. My grandmother would always sigh in frustration whenever she saw me. Oh, and once, I climbed to the top of a mountain alone and saw a meteor shower. There were so many falling stars, and it was an incredible sight. But no one else saw it. They all said I must have been half-asleep and dreamed the whole thing.”

Le Gui yawned, her eyes growing heavy as she continued gazing at the stars. “How could it have been a dream? I saw it with my own eyes. So many meteors streaked across the sky, like a downpour gifted just for my eleven-year-old self…”

Her voice grew softer, her eyelids drooping as sleep took over. Just as she was about to drift off completely, a meteor suddenly streaked across the sky. She paused, her eyes opening in dazed confusion. Then, all at once, thousands of meteors lit up the night sky in a dazzling display.

She sat up in a daze, feeling as if she had traveled back in time to that childhood moment.

After a long while, she turned to the man beside her, and her heartbeat suddenly spiraled out of control.