Dawn was just breaking.

Atop Jade Maiden Mountain.

Under a pine tree with branches weighed down by snow, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao were sound asleep.

Despite the bitter winds swirling atop the mountain, the abundant Yang Energy surrounding Chen Hao provided enough warmth for them both to sleep comfortably; this was particularly true for Ye Yuqiao, who snuggled within Chen Hao's embrace, her face flushed red with warmth against his chest.

And within the Nether Acupoint at Chen Hao's left eye, Xie Xiaofeng, Tang Jing, and Ye Fei remained unconscious.

All of a sudden, an intense wave of Yin Qi approached!

Feeling this Yin Qi, Ye Yuqiao's eyes snapped open abruptly, but before she could move away from Chen Hao's chest and arms, Zhao Chong had already appeared before them.

Seeing Ye Yuqiao and Chen Hao so intimately close within Chen Hao's embrace, a hidden pain surged in Zhao Chong's heart. He hated that the man holding Ye Yuqiao wasn't himself, but Chen Hao.

A man should not gaze upon things that breach propriety, so Zhao Chong hurriedly turned his gaze elsewhere.

"Boyfriend, wake up," Ye Yuqiao whispered into Chen Hao's ear. She then rose from his legs and began to straighten her clothes gently.

After hearing Ye Yuqiao's call, Chen Hao took a few seconds to open his eyes, then sleepily looked towards Zhao Chong with a languid and sluggish tone, "Rich and handsome guy, why have you come?"

Zhao Chong turned back, his expression stern as he stared at Chen Hao and after a long pause said, "You've still the mood to sleep soundly here, do you know that if Qian Feng and I hadn't stepped in to stop them in time, those six Dharma Kings would've already come here to seek vengeance on you?"

"But they ultimately did not come, did they?" Ye Yuqiao said coldly.

"Your Majesty, it's just that..."

Before Zhao Chong could finish, Ye Yuqiao sharply interrupted, "Isn't Qian Feng busy recruiting and buying horses lately? How could he afford for us to die right now?"

Hearing Ye Yuqiao say this, Zhao Chong was taken aback. He had always thought that the only person Ye Yuqiao could trust in the Netherworld was him alone; he hadn't expected that Ye Yuqiao had other sources of information and had already heard about Qian Feng's troop recruitment.

"Your Highness, so you already knew about Qian Feng's actions!" Zhao Chong said with emotion.

"I just learned of it not long ago, that's why I had no reservations about resting here after eliminating King Xin. There's nothing improper about that, right?" Ye Yuqiao asked, her tone still icy.

Zhao Chong hastily shook his head, bowing with his hands clasped, repeatedly saying, "Nothing improper, nothing improper at all."

Instantly, many anxieties and questions flooded into Zhao Chong like a ferocious torrential flood: Did Ye Yuqiao also know about his recent activities? If Ye Yuqiao knew, would she expose him or pretend to be ignorant? If Ye Yuqiao were pretending, what was she planning to do next?

"Zhao Chong!"

"Ah!" Zhao Chong, lost in thought, was startled by Ye Yuqiao's sudden cold call, "Your Highness, what is it?"

"Nothing," Ye Yuqiao's tone was still icy, "What's wrong with you? Why do you look so uneasy?"

"To report to Your Highness," Zhao Chong bowed again, the picture of deferential respect, "This subject is worried. Although we stopped the six Dharma Kings for today, if they again desire to—"

"Zhao Chong, what happened to you?" Ye Yuqiao interrupted him again, her eyes full of suspicion, "If the six Dharma Kings wanted to kill us, they would've acted just now; since they did not, it means they have other plans. Such a simple matter, how could you, Zhao Chong, fail to see through it?"

"Your Highness is correct to chide me," Zhao Chong replied darkly, "Perhaps I'm too concerned about Your Highness' safety, which is why my thoughts got jumbled."

Zhao Chong said outwardly while in his heart he was still guessing whether Ye Yuqiao knew about his recent actions of secretly gathering troops, stocking grains, and crafting weapons. For now, it seems Ye Yuqiao would pretend to be unaware, and therefore he must consider his next moves. Furthermore, the fact that Ye Yuqiao did not expose him meant that he was still of use to her.

The biggest question weighing on Zhao Chong's mind was which forces in the Netherworld supported Ye Yuqiao from the shadows. To solve these mysteries, he'd only be able to inquire from the woman in the Purgatory Fire Pool in the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

That woman knew everything about Ye Yuqiao's affairs.

"Rich and handsome guy, you haven't answered my question yet?" Chen Hao said at this moment.

"Of course, I've come to check on how Your Highness and you are doing!" Zhao Chong said, "And to ask what your plans are next?"

"Now that King Xin is gone, there will surely be chaos in the Netherworld. As an Onmyoji, it's only proper for me to subdue demons and quell the unrest, increasing my Yin Qi Spiritual Power and Yang Energy Power in the process. When Queen Your Highness feels it's time, we'll move on to the territories controlled by the other Dharma Kings!"

"Hmm," Zhao Chong nodded, "That's a good plan indeed. Although there aren't many days left until the Ghost King emerges, we can't act rashly and mess up. As long as you both remain on the land of King Xin's Manor or King Ning's Manor, there's no need to worry about the other Dharma Kings seeking revenge."

After speaking a few more words, Zhao Chong left.

Only when she was sure that Zhao Chong was gone did Ye Yuqiao turn to Chen Hao and ask, "Boyfriend, don't you think Zhao Chong was a bit odd today?"

Chen Hao shrugged and then leaned against a tree trunk. After shrugging, he closed his eyes and said, "I don't know. I'm not familiar with him. How would I know what's normal or abnormal for him? Anyway, just remember one thing: in this world, you can't fully trust what anyone says, except for your boyfriend's words."

After laughing, Ye Yuqiao sidled up to sit on Chen Hao's legs and rested her head on his chest, her hands hooked over his shoulders. She then asked, "Why can I trust everything my boyfriend says?"

"That's for you to figure out why you'd want a boyfriend!" Chen Hao countered.

"It was you who shamelessly hounded me to become my boyfriend!" Ye Yuqiao laughed.

"Exactly!" Chen Hao nodded and then left a kiss on Ye Yuqiao's forehead. "It's because of my shameless persistence that your heart was moved by my relentless sincerity, and that's why you agreed to be my girlfriend. In that process, you've already tested the reliability of my word, so you can trust what I say."

"Alright then!" Ye Yuqiao laughed helplessly, "Lately, you've been spouting more and more nonsense; in the future, you'll certainly become a big liar, especially when deceiving girls."

"That's because little girls are easy to deceive."

"You!" Ye Yuqiao moved away from Chen Hao's chest and pretended to be very angry as she reached for Chen Hao's ear. Giving it a light twist, she huffed, "How dare you say I'm easy to deceive!"

"Mercy, my queen of little girls!" Chen Hao laughed and begged for mercy, his face all smiles, "You're so wise, how could I possibly deceive you?"

After biting Chen Hao's cheek lightly, Ye Yuqiao finally let go and then rested her head on Chen Hao's shoulder. She whispered into Chen Hao's ear, "Boyfriend, Mount Jade Maiden is situated in the middle of King Xin's Manor's surface, and it's so far from Feishi Town. Are we going back to Feishi Town?"

"Yes, we're going back, of course!" Chen Hao immediately said. "You mustn't forget, our super battleship Exorcism Special Vehicle is still docked at the port of Feishi Town. We need to go back to it if we want to set sail. Let's take a train back. It'll probably take Xie Xiaofeng, Tang Jing, and Ye Fei a day and a night to wake up. By then, we should be almost back in Feishi Town."

"Okay!" Ye Yuqiao nodded. "I haven't taken a train with you yet, nor have we enjoyed the scenery along the way together."

"Haha!" Chen Hao laughed. "For me, you are the most beautiful and wonderful scenery in my eyes."

"What am I to do?" Ye Yuqiao suddenly let out a soft sigh, "Even though I clearly know you're fooling me, little ol' me is moved by your sweet talk again."

"I'm not fooling you!" Chen Hao hugged Ye Yuqiao tightly and then continued in a soft voice, "From now on, I can't let you be in danger anymore. You just need to be responsible for being beautiful, my constant and most beautiful scenery."

"Okay," Ye Yuqiao agreed, her cheeks tinged with a touch of red.

Two hours later, as the sunrise dispersed the thick fog atop the mountain, Chen Hao carried Ye Yuqiao on his back and leapt straight from the top of Mount Jade Maiden to the bottom of the mountain.

After waiting by the roadside at the foot of the mountain for half an hour, the two of them finally caught a ride to Changqing Town.

The driver was a man in his thirties and looked preoccupied from the moment Chen Hao saw him.

After driving for a while and almost running the car into a ditch, Chen Hao couldn't help but ask, "Brother, are you in a bad mood or something?"

The driver glanced back at Chen Hao, then nodded his head. After a long while, he finally spoke, "You two are a couple, huh? Ever thought about asking for the Old Man under the Moon to secretly tie the red thread of fate for you two?"

"The Old Man under the Moon tying the red thread of fate?" Chen Hao exclaimed with intrigue in his voice.

"Yeah!" the driver nodded, trying his best to focus his scattered attention on the winding road ahead. "If you're considering that, I'd strongly advise against asking for it!"

"It actually exists?" Chen Hao said in surprise, "Why shouldn't we ask?"

"Once asked, there's no backing out!" the driver explained, his face suddenly suffused with a gloomy bitterness and helplessness, "I made the same request with my wife, and now we can't even get a divorce."

"Why can't you divorce?"

"A divorce would harm our child!" the driver lamented, "The day before we planned to go get our divorce papers, our son came down with a high fever. A week in the hospital with injections and he still didn't get better. Having no choice, we consulted a local Onmyoji only to find out that since we'd vowed before the Old Man under the Moon to never leave each other for life, any attempt to break that vow meant punishment."

"Well," Chen Hao was taken aback, "what's that got to do with your child? Logically, it should be you who end up with a fever and in hospital."

"Alas!" the driver shook his head helplessly, "Anyway, we just can't separate! Once we gave up the idea of divorce after learning about this from the Onmyoji, our child really got better the next morning."

"Where is this Old Man under the Moon anyway?" Chen Hao asked, "Seeing how pretty my girlfriend is, I'm afraid she'll dump me one day. I want to ask as well, right now!"

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