Two days later.

Before the veil of night descended, a light snow began to fall over Feishi Town, filling the sky with delicate flakes. Like faintly glowing stars, they transformed the desolate and silent night into a blanket of white.

At the entrance to Longyao Village, Chen Hao, accompanied by three others, and Ye Fei boarded a van, preparing to rush to Wangu Town's Wangu Mountain to meet the supposed Tao Hua girl.

After the car engine started, Ye Fei and Chen Hao waved goodbye to Liu Xiajun.

"Master, we're leaving!"

"Be careful!" Liu Xiajun instructed, his stern face furrowed with worry.

"We know!"

Watching the van disappear into the misty night ahead, Liu Xiajun's frown deepened. If it weren't for Chen Hao telling him that night about the powerful mysterious force inside Ye Fei that could keep him from dying, he wouldn't have allowed Ye Fei to accompany these youthful Onmyoji to face the seemingly formidable Tao Hua demon.

After a deep sigh, Liu Xiajun turned around, his steps light as he walked toward home, his eyes filled with anticipation. First, he longed for the safe return of Chen Hao's group along with his disciple, Ye Fei, and second, he looked forward to his duel with Chen Hao.

Two nights ago, Chen Hao did not agree to his request for a comparison of martial arts, instead saying that they would have an all-out match once the urgent matter at hand was resolved.

In Liu Xiajun's opinion, Chen Hao exuded a strong icy chill from the inside out, making him seem like an unparalleled great master with inscrutable inner strength. He felt incredulous and puzzled, for how could a young man under twenty achieve such a level? That was why he craved a bout with Chen Hao—to confirm whether Chen Hao's abilities were indeed beyond the ordinary, as he had surmised!

The night grew deep!

After traveling in the night for nearly an hour, the Exorcism Special Vehicle carrying Chen Hao and his companions finally neared the foot of Wangu Mountain.

Gazing at the misty and eerie mountainside around them, Ye Yuqiao couldn't help but feel nervous. She worried that perhaps everything that had happened recently was just a ruse by King Xin to lure them to Wangu Mountain. It could be that an ambush had already been set up on the mountain, and besides King Xin, a few other Dharma Kings might appear.

Noticing Ye Yuqiao's concern, Chen Hao gently placed his hand on Ye Yuqiao's right knee and shared a reassuring smile with her as their eyes met.

Influenced by Chen Hao, a faint smile appeared on Ye Yuqiao's face as well, and then a voice echoed in Chen Hao's mind, "Boyfriend, you look lovesick again!"

"Girlfriend, don't you look the same?"

Ye Yuqiao shook her head and laughed, "Your looks aren't enough to make me lovesick."

"That can only mean you've deeply understood my inner content and have been completely conquered by it!"

"Vain!" Ye Yuqiao chuckled and gave Chen Hao a playful glare, then couldn't help but raise her hand to pinch Chen Hao's cheek.

"Still nervous?" Chen Hao silently asked in his heart.

Ye Yuqiao laughed and shook her head, "Not nervous anymore, you've cheered me up."

"Then how do you plan to repay me?"

Ye Yuqiao leaned close to Chen Hao's ear and whispered, "What kind of repayment do you want?"

"Of course, it would be pledging oneself to another."

"Okay! Agreed," Ye Yuqiao said softly, resting her head on Chen Hao's shoulder. "From now on, I am yours."

"You've been mine for a long time," Chen Hao said, holding Ye Yuqiao's hand.

Watching Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao whispering intimately to each other, Ye Fei felt envious. Then he glanced at his cellphone. The girl he liked was mad at him due to a misunderstanding a few days ago and still did not want anything to do with him, which made him feel anxious and helpless. He just wanted to return to Y City as soon as possible to see that girl, Ye Yuqiao, especially now, under the influence of Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao, his yearning grew even stronger.

A few minutes later, the van stopped at the foot of Wangu Mountain. Compared to Feishi Town, the snow at the base of Wangu Mountain was much heavier. Looking up towards the summit, the entire silhouette of Wangu Mountain was clear, highlighted against the glow of the snow.

Wangu Mountain was but a small mound, its highest point seeming to be less than five hundred meters by Chen Hao's estimation.

After scanning the area, Chen Hao took out the Compass that could detect the presence of surrounding demons and monsters. At the moment, it was alternating between flashing dim yellow and purple, which meant there were only some Wandering Souls and ghosts around as well as cultivating fairies, and it also meant the Tao Hua demon hadn't shown up yet.

Ye Yuqiao breathed a sigh of relief because she also didn't sense any surrounding Yin Qi that was terribly frightening, which meant no formidable and terrifying opponent was lurking nearby.

"It seems very likely that everything was just a coincidence!" Ye Yuqiao thought to herself. King Xin didn't really take Chen Hao seriously; he was not enough to warrant her setting such a complex ambush to deal with or to appear in person.

"Let's go up the mountain!" Chen Hao said loudly, taking Ye Yuqiao's hand, then whispered to her, "Your Majesty the Queen, there are no ambushes around, so you can relax now, right?"

"Mhmm!" Ye Yuqiao showed a relieved smile on her face, then clung tightly to Chen Hao's arm, and they started walking up the mountain together.

Seeing the couple so affectionate with each other, Ye Fei suddenly stopped in his tracks, staring vacantly at their backs and felt a surge of envy, unable to stop himself from sighing, "If only Xiaoru and I could be like them every day."

"Ye Fei, why have you stopped walking?" Xie Xiaofeng suddenly patted Ye Fei's shoulder from behind and asked, "Do you find those two showing off their love in front of us disgusting? Haha, that's just how they are, you'll get used to it!"

"Ah!" Ye Fei twisted his mouth bitterly, thinking to himself, can I admit that I am envious of them?

After walking up the mountain for nearly twenty minutes, the group reached the halfway point of Wangu Mountain. On a flat area on the mountainside, they discovered a Taoist temple dedicated to the Peach Demon, with several withered peach trees planted at its entrance.

"The Taoist Temple of the Peach Demon!" Chen Hao read the gilded characters on the sign out loud, "This Taoist temple wouldn't be dedicated to that Peach Demon, would it?"

"Very likely!" Xie Xiaofeng nodded slightly, "It seems everyone wants to be revered, even demons. A Taoist temple dedicated to a Peach Demon – how ironic. But it's still better than the Wandering Souls and wild ghosts we used to worship back in Y City."

After laughing, Chen Hao said, "That Peach Demon is probably supposed to meet with the fierce ghost and wild ghost here for a transaction. Let's just wait for it to show up."

"It's 10:45 now, not much time left until the 'zi' hour," Tang Jing said, looking at her watch on her left arm.

Then the four of them entered the Taoist temple and sat side by side at the Eight Immortals table in front of the clay statue of the Peach Deity, waiting for the Peach Lady to appear.

Half an hour later, the Peach Demon still hadn't appeared. Chen Hao, who had been closely watching the compass in his hand, frowned and asked, "Do you think the Peach Demon might know that the fierce ghost and wild ghost are already dead, and that's why it's too scared to come?"

"Don't know!" Ye Fei shook his head blankly. Thinking of the upcoming confrontation with the legendary demon, his heart pounded with nervousness, and his face turned pale with fear.

"Ye Fei, don't worry!" Chen Hao patted Ye Fei's shoulder, "You definitely won't have a problem."

At that moment, Chen Hao wished he could tell Ye Fei: you have the heart of a merman inside you, there's nothing to be afraid of, you won't die anyway.

"Mhmm!" Ye Fei nodded his head and managed to force a smile on his face.

"The demon cultivated from the peach blossom must be pretty," Xie Xiaofeng teased, sitting beside Ye Fei, "Ye Fei, you're not nervous about meeting a beauty, are you?"

Tang Jing snorted disdainfully, "Xie Xiaofeng, if Ye Fei really was nervous for that reason, he would have been dead of nerves days ago when he saw Yuqiao, not just now. Could it be that the Peach Demon is even prettier than Yuqiao?"

"Yeah!" Chen Hao immediately agreed, then turned his head to look at Ye Yuqiao, who had a somewhat embarrassed expression.

"Naughty! Annoying!" Ye Yuqiao said, lifting her hand to pinch Chen Hao's cheek, "I'm being made fun of, and not only do you not stand up for me, you join in with someone else to tease me."

"You two really have a great relationship!" Ye Fei, who had been immersed in fear, suddenly laughed, his eyes filled with envy. "If I could..."

"She's here!" Ye Fei's words were cut off by Chen Hao's startled cry.

The compass in Chen Hao's hand was now emitting a dazzling red light, indicating that a demon was approaching.

Ye Fei's eyes sparkled, and he asked urgently, "Is it the Peach Demon?"

Chen Hao nodded, then he and Ye Yuqiao jumped down from the Eight Immortals table and quickly walked to the temple gate, with Xie Xiaofeng, Tang Jing, and Ye Fei closely following behind.

Beyond the temple gate, they saw, amidst the cold wind, not just the sparse snowflakes, but also several pale pink peach blossom petals.

As the group watched, the peach blossom petals quickly drifted inside, bringing with them a faint scent of peach blossoms.

When the petals reached the air not far in front of where Chen Hao and the others were, they suddenly gathered together, and in the blink of an eye turned into a woman with a graceful figure, wearing a light pink robe. Her hair was disheveled by the gusting cold wind, covering her face.

This woman was King Xin's personal maid, the Peach Lady — the same Peach Demon that with King Xin's help, had rapidly cultivated into a demon, as mentioned by the fierce ghost.

After landing, the strands of hair in front of her face were swept back by the wind, revealing her pink complexion and peach-like visage to Chen Hao and the others.

If it were not for Ye Yuqiao's unparalleled beauty, Chen Hao, Xie Xiaofeng, Tang Jing, and Ye Fei would surely have gasped in amazement at the Peach Demon's appearance.

"Are you Chen Hao?" the Peach Lady asked, looking at Chen Hao.

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