[Fantasy] Sun Wukong's Seven-Day Holiday (Complete) - Chapters 31-33

Chapter 273 A Long Chase

Wukong was puzzled. Why couldn't he tell that Ye Fang, the former demoness of the Wutong Night Rain, was an anomaly, even though he had met her several times and even had physical intimacy with her? Could she have cultivated the ability to conceal her demonic aura? He, the mighty Great Sage Equaling Heaven, had been deceived by a seductive fox spirit—it was unbelievable, and he couldn't help but feel a little displeased.

Just then, Sha Wujing chuckled and said, "What a coincidence! Speak of the devil, and he appears. We were just talking about fox spirits, and one has delivered itself to our doorstep."

"A fox spirit? It caught up so quickly?" James shuddered and hurriedly shrank behind Sun Wukong. Wukong smiled and said, "What's there to be afraid of? With me here, any fox spirit will have to give me a wide berth!" He looked in the direction Sha Wujing was pointing, but there was no fox spirit at all. Only a handsome young man was walking towards them.

"Brother Sha, are you seeing things? There's no fox spirit here!" Wukong thought Sha Wujing was just trying to scare James.

“This is the man coming from ahead,” said Sha Wujing. Xiao Bai had already met the young man several times, so she recognized him; the one

approaching was the fox spirit Wu Nai. Xiao Bai went up to him and said, “Wu Nai, where are you going?” Wu Nai also recognized Xiao Bai and Sha Wujing, and said with a smile, “The weather is nice today, I’m just taking a walk. What a coincidence, running into you again.”

Sha Wujing said, “Wu Nai, this foreigner says he’s being relentlessly pursued by a fox spirit. See if that fox spirit is your friend?” Although his identity had been exposed in public by Sha Wujing, Wu Nai didn’t care at all, saying, “There are countless fox spirits in the world, how could I possibly know them all?”

“Are you really a fox spirit? I don’t sense it at all. Are you an imposter?” Sun Wukong asked curiously.

“I’m not an imposter, but my identity is special, allowing me to hide my true face very well,” Wu Nai said calmly. When Tang Sanzang heard him admit to being a fox spirit, he panicked and stumbled back a few steps, saying to Wukong, "Wukong, there's a demon! Seize him!" Wukong shouted, "Fox spirit, show yourself, or I'll spare your life!" He reached for his golden cudgel from his ear.

Sha Wujing grabbed Wukong, saying, "Brother, don't be violent! Although he's a demon, he has a kind heart. We mustn't kill him!" He then recounted how he met Wu Nai to everyone. Tang Sanzang nodded in praise, "Although you are a demon, you have a good heart. That's rare, very rare." Wukong echoed, "Since that's the case, then I'll spare you. But you mustn't do anything evil, or my golden cudgel won't let you off the hook!"

Wu Nai nodded and said, "Although I am a fox, I am not an evil fox. Old Sha, where is that fox spirit you mentioned earlier?" James said in a panic, "She's been following me. She's probably nearby now."

As they were talking, a red light suddenly flashed, and a charming woman appeared before them. Without even looking at anyone else, she pounced on James and said fiercely, "You rascal, running around everywhere, making me search for you for so long. Now I've caught you! Let's see where you run now!"

Poor James didn't dare to resist at all. He just kept trembling and desperately glanced at Wukong, begging him to come and save him.

Before Wukong could speak, the woman had already become fierce: "Why are you blinking

? Let me tell you, you think you can leave me so easily? Blink again, and I'll gouge your eyes out!" She changed her tone and continued, "You're really good at running, coming all the way from the US to China. If it weren't for my excellent tracking skills, I wouldn't have been able to catch you. Why did you run away? Wouldn't it be better to be my lover? I'm so beautiful, and I'm kind, and..."

Wukong crossed his arms and rolled his eyes repeatedly. Did this woman have something wrong with her eyes? There were so many of them standing there, and she didn't even glance at them, only knowing how to grab James and yell at him.

When this woman appeared, Wu Nai's eyes widened. Wasn't this his sister, Ye Fang? He wondered how she had managed to escape from the demon realm this time, but for now, he needed to divert Ye Fang's attention from James.

"Ahem, Ye Fang!" Wu Nai called out from the side, but failed to get Ye Fang's attention. She just waved him impatiently, "Don't bother me, we'll talk later." After saying that, she started lecturing James again, "Kid, let me

tell you, I..."

"You should look at me first!" Wu Nai pulled Ye Fang in front of him, so she wouldn't be unable to see him.

"What are you doing... uh... Big brother??" Ye Fang, who was extremely displeased at being interrupted, stopped abruptly when she saw Wu Nai's face, looking incredulous, "You're my big brother???"

"What, it's only been a few years, and you don't even recognize your big brother?" Wu Nai said, feigning displeasure, but his smiling eyes betrayed his joy. The reunion of long-separated relatives is naturally a joyous occasion, especially for his beloved younger sister.

Upon confirmation, Ye Fang hugged Wu Nai tightly, jumping up and down excitedly, "Big brother, it really is big brother! Wow! Wow! I've finally found big brother! If Father knew this news, he would definitely praise me!"

Wu Nai smiled and gently pulled Ye Fang off his koala-like embrace, affectionately ruffling her hair, "You're still the same as before, not changed at all. I thought you'd become more sensible while big brother was away!"

Ye

Fang pouted, about to argue, but then remembered the important matter and asked with concern, "Big brother, have you been in the human realm all these years? Why haven't you returned to the demon realm? Do you know how worried Father and Mother were? They sent people to the human realm to search for you several times, but to no avail." Touched by something he didn't know, Wu Nai's smile faded instantly. "How could I not know? It's just that I still have some unfinished business in the human realm, so I can't return to the demon realm for the time being. Besides, my abilities have only awakened a portion; they haven't fully recovered."

Ye Fang then carefully examined Wu Nai, her beautiful eyebrows furrowing immediately. "Brother, how did you become a human with a demon body? Did you possess someone's body?" She immediately dismissed the idea, "No, possession couldn't be this perfect. Could it be... could it be that your current body is from a reincarnation?" She stared wide-eyed, waiting for Wu Nai's answer.

Wu Nai nodded somewhat helplessly. "That's right. I was seriously injured while on business in the human realm, barely managing to preserve my primordial spirit. Fortunately, a woman about to give birth passed by, and I took advantage of the situation to possess her womb

, becoming her child."

"And what about that thing?" Ye Fang suddenly asked, as no one except Wu Nai knew what she meant by "that thing."

Wu Nai's expression changed, seemingly reluctant to answer, but he ultimately replied to Ye Fang's question: "The item is here, but it can't be retrieved yet. I'll take it back to see Father when the time comes, so don't worry about it. By the way, you still haven't told me why you reappeared in the human realm and kept chasing after this foreigner." He didn't want to dwell on that previous question, so he changed the subject.

Upon hearing this, Ye Fang immediately lowered her head guiltily, twisting her fingers together, and her voice became much softer: "I... I'm here, of course, because Father agreed. Otherwise, how could I have come out?" "

Is that so?" Wu Nai stared at Ye Fang, drawing out his words. Just from Ye Fang's expression, he could tell that her words weren't entirely true, and that twisting her fingers was her signature move whenever she lied since childhood. How could she hide it from him, her older brother?

Ye Fang knew she couldn't hide it from her older brother, whom she had grown up with, so she stomped her foot and said, "Okay, okay, I admit I snuck out on my own, alright? You're the worst, big brother." When she said the last sentence, she showed a girlish expression, adding a touch of cuteness to her beautiful face.

Watching from the sidelines, Wukong and the others felt a wave of dizziness. If they hadn't believed Wu Nai wouldn't lie, they wouldn't have believed that the person before them was Ye Fang, who had once stirred up trouble in the Wutong Night Rain. She seemed more like a child.

However, they quickly realized this doubt was unnecessary, because Ye Fang only showed this girlish demeanor in front of Wu Nai; she was completely different with others, almost like a different person altogether.

Before Wu Nai could speak, Ye Fang quickly threatened, "You're not allowed to tell Mom and Dad about me here, or I'll never speak to you, my older brother, again!" What

could he say to this spoiled little sister? He could only smile wryly and agree. Anyway, with him watching over her,

nothing serious would happen. He could persuade her to return to the demon realm later.

After catching up, he pulled Ye Fang aside to introduce her to Wukong and the others. Wukong chuckled and said, "No need for introductions, we're all old friends!" Ye Fang then shifted her attention from Wu Nai to Wukong, her eyes widening in surprise. She said awkwardly, "It's you?" No wonder, her mind had been entirely on James and Wu Nai; she hadn't noticed anyone else around her.

"Yes, it's me. Surprised?" Wukong said with a grin.

"Surprised? A little surprised, indeed. But, will you hurt me again?" Ye Fang asked seductively. Wukong shrugged and said, "Not for now. Hey, didn't Xiaobai call you Wu Nai? Why isn't your sister surnamed Wu?"

"Oh, that's my name after reincarnation. When I was in the fox clan, I was called Ye Han," Wu Nai replied.

Wu Nai introduced Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie to Ye Fang. Ye Fang was astonished to learn that her older brother was so familiar with Sha Wujing and Wukong, her eyes widening with intense curiosity.

Wukong asked again, "Ye Fang, I really want to ask, didn't you go to the US with McGee? Besides

, what did James do to offend you that you had to chase him all the way to China?"

Facing Wukong, Ye Fang dropped her previous expression, adopting one perfectly suited to her natural allure. She parted her red lips slightly and said, "Don't mention McGee, okay? He's a complete heartbreaker! As for why I'm chasing after James... that would take three days and three nights to explain." She glanced at James, making the poor boy jump like a startled rabbit. She giggled and continued, "He owes me a debt of gratitude, and I'm chasing after him to repay it. What's wrong with that? Besides, I'm not trying to kill him, just make him repay my feelings. Unless..."

"Unless what? If I can do it, I will definitely do it," Wukong finished her off. After all, James had asked him for help, and he couldn't go back on his word.

Ye Fang smiled slightly, revealing a thousand charms that dazzled the men present, even James, who had always avoided her like the plague. No wonder she was a vixen; just a slight smile was enough to make people dizzy. It was no wonder she held the third-highest position in the Wutong Night Rain sect. Of course,

this had no effect on Tang Sanzang. Seeing Ye Fang's expression, he simply turned his head away calmly, as if he hadn't seen her. Wu Nai smiled wryly. This younger sister had loved to bewitch people since she was little; her greatest pleasure was enjoying the admiring gazes of others.

"Unless you agree to be my lover, I can let this James go." These words nearly made the burly men present burst into laughter, and even made Wukong laugh heartily, saying, "Ye Fang, I have absolutely no interest in you!" Pigsy, drooling, said, "If my eldest brother isn't interested, then I, Old Pig, admire you greatly. Miss Ye Fang, what do you think of me? I'm full of strength; I guarantee you won't go hungry!" He then struck a pose like a muscular man.

叶芳转过身去干呕了一会，皱着眉说：“拜托，你饶过我吧！要你这粗蠢的汉子，不如要我的洋情人詹姆斯呢！”

八戒大受打击，沮丧地问：“为什么？究竟是为什么？天啊，太不公平啦！”

第274章情有独钟

虽然当众向悟空示爱被大家嗤笑，叶芳还是满不在乎地把玩着自己的指甲道：“条件我已经提出，达不到我的意愿可就不能怪我了，反正……”她停了一下，把涂着鲜红丹蒄的食指朝詹姆斯一伸：“反正，如果姓孙的不答应和我好，詹姆斯你就一定要做我的男友的！”

詹姆斯听得噩运难逃，险些背过气去，这要是落得那位魔女手中他可算是彻底完了，那位大姐的手段他可是领教过了，一会儿冷若冰霜，把他揍得半死；一会儿又热情似火，甚至于大半夜跑到他家里来色诱他。 Although he wasn't a gentleman, he wasn't a lecherous fool either, so he firmly refused. Seeing that her seduction had failed, Ye Fang beat him mercilessly, nearly killing him. Surviving in such a harsh environment was indeed difficult. After much agonizing thought, he desperately fled to avoid dying at the hands of this female demon.

Seeing

his sister's face flushed with anger. He said angrily, "Ye Fang, you have no shame! A girl, yet your skin is thicker than a man's! Does anyone else fight over a man like this?"

"I'm just pursuing what I love, is that wrong?" Ye Fang retorted without backing down.

"You...you're too willful!" Wu Nai was so angry he almost had a stroke. He said in a deep voice, "What if your older brother asked you to do him a favor and let James go?"

Seeing Wu Nai's interference and his apparent siding with James, Ye Fang's face turned cold. "Brother, this is between me and someone else, don't interfere." She didn't want to clash with her newly reunited brother.

"If I insist on interfering, what are you going to do? Are you planning to fight your elder brother?" Wu Nai emphasized, his eyes fixed on his beloved younger sister.

"You!" Ye Fang was speechless with anger at Wu Nai's words. She turned and glared fiercely at Zhu Bajie, who was drooling beside her. She considered Bajie's words an insult. She thought to herself, "Although I, Ye Fang, am promiscuous, I don't like just any pig or dog."

She

and Wu Nai had always had a deep bond, and she was hesitant to go against her elder brother over this. However, Ye Fang hadn't lived for nothing, and besides, she was a fox spirit known for her cunning and intelligence. After a few quick glances, she had an idea.

Ye Fang smiled again and said, "Since you've said so, brother, of course I, as your sister, should give you face. Alright, I won't force James to be my lover. Anyway, it's not like you can't find lovers like that; there are plenty of tall-nosed foreign devils everywhere."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone present was a little stunned. Although women are fickle, she changed her mind far too quickly. Just now she was vehemently disagreeing, but now she agreed. And she agreed so readily and happily—did her brother Wu Nai really have that much influence?

Regardless, James was still very happy. He had finally escaped the clutches of this witch. How could he not be happy? Although he owed Wu Nai a favor, he was happy to do so.

James felt like he had escaped a sea of suffering. If it weren't for so many people around, especially the witch, he would have jumped for joy.

"However…" Just as James's eyes narrowed into slits with delight, Ye Fang suddenly said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, James immediately knew things were going to go wrong. Based on experience, in Chinese, phrases like "however…but…" rarely indicate anything good. He suspected Ye Fang was up to something again, and what happened next confirmed his suspicions.

"However, from now on, I'll be by his side every day." With these words, she extended her finger, and James froze, then collapsed to the ground. The intense stimulation finally overwhelmed him, and he fainted.

After saying this, Ye Fang blinked her seemingly innocent eyes at Wu Naihong and said, "Big brother, you don't even care who your sister is with, do you? At most, I promise you I will never use violence!"

Wu Naihong felt his head was about to explode. How come he never realized Ye Fang was so troublesome before, and she even made him not know what to say? Sha Wujing and Xiao Bai

looked at , and then looked at Wu Naihong, who didn't know how to answer. They felt sorry for them for getting involved with such a witch and having such a sister.

Tang Sanzang clasped his hands together, sighed softly, and said, "Well said, well said, female benefactor, you must let go when it's time to let go! Sometimes letting go is a gain." Ye Fang chuckled and said, "You're so funny. Letting go means losing, how can you gain anything? That's nonsense."

After a long silence, Wu Nai finally managed to stammer, "Of course I don't care who you like to be with, but don't joke about this kind of thing. Are you trying to say you really like this foreigner?" Not only did he not believe it, but anyone with a brain in the room wouldn't believe it either.

But Ye Fang answered with unwavering conviction, "Of course I like him. Why would I chase after him all this way if I didn't? I'm not just wasting my time." Her expression didn't seem like she was lying, but considering what had just happened, it was clear she was lying. Wu Nai and the others really couldn't tell which of her words were true and which were false.

“Ye Fang, listen to me, this is no joke…” Wu Nai was about to persuade her further when Ye Fang interrupted him halfway: “Big brother, you don’t need to say anything. You should know my temper. Once I’ve decided to do something, no one can change my mind!” Ye Fang’s words were serious, as if she were telling everyone that she was not joking at this moment.

Hearing her say this, Wu Nai, who had been her brother for many years, understood perfectly well that Ye Fang was now beyond redemption. However, he didn’t believe that Ye Fang was truly in love with James. Her words just now were merely an excuse to pester James. Her real purpose was probably just to find someone to play with and kill time.

Not only Wu Nai, but Wu Kong and the others also thought so. After all, liking someone is not a trivial matter. Wu Nai lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, "Alright, I can let you stay by James's side, but you must promise me one thing: you must not harm James or anyone here."

Ye Fang smiled seductively, like a cunning little fox who had succeeded in her scheme: "Of course! Even if you want me to hurt him, I wouldn't dare! There's a powerful person here, I'm so scared!" As she said this, she pretended to

be frightened and patted her chest with her soft, boneless hand. However, the smile in her eyes betrayed her true thoughts. It seemed that she had figured out that Wukong wouldn't be rough with her today, which was why she was so unrestrained.

Faced with Ye Fang's provocative behavior, Wukong was immediately displeased, and said with a forced smile, "It's good that you know your place. Although I'm not some great expert, I can still handle one or two ignorant wolf demons or fox demons. Do you want to give it a try?"

Bajie eagerly said, "Eldest Brother, you don't need to go yourself. I'll exchange a few blows with her." Bajie had just been mocked by Ye Fang and was holding back his anger, wanting to find an opportunity to show off in front of her.

Ye Fang said nonchalantly, "You? Haha, let's try it then! Who's afraid of who! Don't forget, you were once my defeated opponent!" Ye Fang brought up the time when Bajie was tied up by her. Bajie blushed and said, "That time doesn't count. I was careless. This time, I'm getting my revenge!" Bajie was embarrassed to say that the reason he fell for her trick last time was because he was bewitched and fell for her scheme

.

With a flick of her wrist, her long, wavy hair and red coat billowed without wind, and a fox-shaped flame appeared around her. This flame was incredibly hot, hundreds or even thousands of times hotter than ordinary red flames, even scorching the wild grass in front of Ye Fang.

Bajie, eager to show off in front of Ye Fang, naturally wouldn't back down, and immediately unleashed a palm strike, the wind whistling towards the transparent flame.

A battle seemed imminent, but it didn't happen. A shout of "Nonsense!" rang out as Wu Nai stepped between them, yelling at Ye Fang, "You're getting more and more audacious! You've only just met and you're already fighting, even unleashing something as powerful as foxfire! Don't you even respect your older brother?!"

Wu Nai was genuinely angry. In the years he hadn't seen her, his younger sister's temper hadn't improved; in fact, it had worsened, and she was quick to resort to violence at the slightest provocation. He knew that if Ye Fang were to truly fight these people to the death, she would be utterly defeated. He had witnessed the power of Sha Wujing and Bai Suzhen, not to mention the

composed and senior brother Sun Wukong. With Ye Fang's strength, she would likely be defeated very quickly. Of course, Sha Wujing would not truly go all out for his sake. But Ye Fang's willful temper would surely lead to her suffering if she encountered a master, so he had to suppress her a few times first.

"Big brother, why do you always side with outsiders? I'm your family!" Ye Fang shouted indignantly, but she still didn't dare to anger Wu Nai too much. She immediately put away the foxfire, and the transparent, fox-like flame rose to the top of her head and then disappeared inside.

Wu Nai shouted in an unprecedentedly stern voice, "You've only been in the human realm for a short time and you're already causing trouble again. Don't think you're so powerful. There are people in the human realm who can destroy you. If you don't want to die, change your willful nature and stop fighting recklessly. Otherwise, I'll inform Father right now and have him take you back!"

Ye Fang's eyes flickered uncomfortably when she heard the word "Father." She knew, of course, that if her older brother told Father she was here, she would probably be dragged back by Father the next moment. After weighing her options, she stomped her foot angrily and said, "Fine, fine, I agree. Big brother is getting fiercer and fiercer!"

After persuading Ye Fang, Wu Nai turned back to say something to Wukong, but Wukong raised his hand first and said, "Alright, I guessed what you were going to say. There's no need to say anything more. Anyway, as long as she doesn't provoke me or hurt innocent people, I won't touch her. As for James..." He turned to look at the still unconscious James and said, "Let him handle this himself."

Seeing that the two sides had temporarily reconciled, Wu Nai finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, Bajie, who hadn't gotten a chance to speak, worried that he'd be sold off for being mute, quickly seized the opportunity to say, "Are you done talking? If you're done, hurry up and find something to eat! Master, Eldest Brother, I'm hungry!" He said the last three words with a sense of righteous indignation, after all, food is the most important thing for people, so it 's only natural to eat when you

're hungry. Wukong hadn't felt it before, but now that Bajie had said that, he really did feel a little hungry. So he patted Bajie's head

and said, "Hungry, huh? Brother will take you out for a big meal!" "Ye Fang, are you hungry?" Wu Nai asked Ye Fang when he saw this,

but she was still angry and just snorted without answering. Faced with this willful sister, Wu Nai had no choice but to smile wryly and say to everyone, "How about this, I'll treat everyone to a meal today, what do you say?"

"I have no objection!" Wukong shrugged. Of course, he had no reason to object if he didn't have to pay.

"I object!" a discordant voice rang out loudly. Without even looking, it was Ye Fang. She glared angrily at Bajie and said, "Why should I eat with him? I protest!"

Bajie chuckled indifferently, "I didn't say I wanted to eat with you, but this foreigner is definitely coming with me. If you're so capable, then don't come."

Without even glancing at Ye Fang's complexion, which shifted between pale and flushed, he walked directly to James, slapped him awake, and then invited him to eat. James, of course, didn't object; being away from Ye Fang for a moment was a good thing for him.

Seeing that James would rather eat with this group than see her, Ye Fang's anger flared even more. She put her hands on her hips and pointed angrily at

James saying, "You don't want to see me, do you?"

Nodding repeatedly, like a chicken pecking at rice, James was secretly delighted, thinking that Ye Fang was finally going to let him go. However, Ye Fang's next words immediately plunged him into the deepest abyss.

"Big brother," Ye Fang turned to Wu Nai, smiling brightly, "Then let's go eat with them. I can take this opportunity to get to know Mr. Sun better, okay?"

Now it was James's turn to cry out, his face pale, "I protest! I object! Protest, object, resist..." His originally impassioned shouts subsided after catching a glimpse of Ye Fang's murderous glare.

Wu Nai and Sha Wujing exchanged a smile. These two were truly sworn enemies. They couldn't understand why Ye Fang was so insistent on clinging to James. Could it be that she really had taken a liking to him? Did Ye Fang have a particular fondness for foreigners?

Chapter 275 A World for Two

Wukong and the others had chosen a long-established halal restaurant. As they approached it, they saw a man and a woman emerge from a teahouse next to the halal restaurant.

While the others didn't notice, Ye Fang stopped with a surprised "Eh!" and walked up to the man and woman with a wide smile. "What a coincidence! We've met twice in one day. I wonder if this is what they call fate?"

The two were Situ Yangguang and Liu Yueyue. They had just come out of the teahouse and were surprised to see Ye Fang again so soon. Earlier on the street, Yueyue had been chatting and laughing with Situ Yangguang and had accidentally bumped into Ye Fang. Although they hadn't argued, they were still a little annoyed. Yueyue hadn't gotten over the earlier collision with Ye Fang, so when she saw her, her cheeks puffed out: "Why are you following us? How annoying!" Without thinking twice, she assumed Ye Fang was with them; otherwise, what a coincidence!

Ye Fang's expression changed, her face darkening, but she quickly regained her composure, smiling gently, a smile as beautiful as a

blooming . But in that smile, her right hand, which had been hanging by her side, suddenly transformed into a series of afterimages, slashing towards Yueyue's chest. It was so fast that Yueyue had no time to react; if the blow landed, Yueyue would certainly be injured. However, Yueyue's lack of reaction didn't mean others were too slow. Wukong behind her had already seen everything clearly and met Ye Fang's attack the instant she made it. In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged blows, then immediately separated, their speed so fast that it was impossible to see clearly. Others only saw Ye Fang and Wukong's hands rise and then immediately fall; they couldn't possibly realize that the two had already clashed in that instant. Ye Fang's body drifted backward several feet like a willow catkin before stabilizing, her face flushed red with rage.

Yueyue was overjoyed to see Wukong suddenly appear and exclaimed, "Brother Sun, what are you doing here?" Wukong grinned and said, "Why can't I be here? Am I an inappropriate person in an inappropriate place?" He then deliberately glanced at Situ Yangguang.

Yueyue blushed and said shyly, "Brother Sun, you're teasing me! I'll never talk to you again!" Situ Yangguang also realized that Ye Fang had tried to harm Yueyue earlier, but Wukong had intervened in time. Situ Yangguang stepped in front of Yueyue and said, "Miss, Yueyue was just saying something casually. Why did you have to hurt her?"

Wu Nai and the others noticed the strange behavior on Ye Fang's side and came over to see what was going on. Ye Fang smiled and said, "Easy for you to say. You should know that many times, trouble comes from the mouth. Your friend distorted the facts, saying I was following you. Of course, I had to teach her a lesson. That's already giving you a lot of face, isn't it? Besides, I haven't even taught her a lesson yet. Why are you so agitated?" "Move?"

Wu Nai interjected, seeing this, "Ye Fang, how many times have I told you? Why can't you change this habit? You've hit someone again!"

Ye Fang was even angrier upon hearing this, and she looked up angrily and said, "Are you even my older brother? Why are you always saying I'm wrong? Am I such an unreasonable person? It's all because of her." She pointed at Yueyue and said, "I met them once on the street before, and when I met them here, I kindly came over to say hello. Who knew that this person would slander me for following them? My good intentions were taken for granted. How can I not be angry?"

"Hmph, why don't you mention that you tried to hurt me just now? If it weren't for Brother Sun blocking me, I'd probably be injured by now!" Yueyue said resentfully. After Situ Yangguang said this, she also knew that Ye Fang had hit someone earlier, and she couldn't wait for Ye Fang to be scolded a few more times.

Situ Yangguang said to Ye Fang, "Although my friend's words were a bit inappropriate, it's a bit much for you to resort to violence at the slightest disagreement."

Aside from Wu Nai, Ye Fang wouldn't listen to anyone's advice. She raised her chin arrogantly and said, "I like it, what's it to you?"

Shaking his head—Wu Nai had been shaking his head ever since meeting Ye Fang—he gave her a warning glance before turning to Situ Yangguang and Yueyue with a gentle smile, "Gentlemen, I'm truly sorry, this is my younger sister. She's been spoiled by her family since childhood and doesn't know how to act recklessly. I hope you won't take offense."

While they were talking, Bajie whispered to Sha Wujing from behind

, "Brother Sha, Situ Yangguang and Yueyue came out to the teahouse alone..." "Drinking tea, do you think there's something fishy going on between them?" Sha Wujing said with his hands clasped together, "We monks don't concern ourselves with worldly affairs. You're asking me this kind of question? Who am I supposed to ask?"

Bajie chuckled and said, "Right, right, talking to you about this is like casting pearls

before swine." Situ Yangguang was naturally good-natured; if Ye Fang hadn't intervened, he wouldn't have gotten angry. He nodded slightly to Wu Nai and said, "You're too kind. Yueyue was also somewhat at fault in this matter. Since it's been explained, let's leave it at that."

Wu Nai smiled calmly and said, "Sir, you have a truly magnanimous heart. It's fate that we meet. May I ask your name? My name is Wu Nai, and this is my sister, Ye Fang." He introduced himself first.

"So pretentious, so incredibly pretentious," Bajie muttered softly from behind. He really couldn't stand this kind of affected, literary tone.

Since the other person had registered, Situ Yangguang couldn't keep quiet and said, "No need to be polite, my name is Situ Yangguang, and this is my good friend Liu Yueyue."

James hadn't said a word since then, staring intently at Liu Yueyue's gentle and elegant face. The more he looked, the more beautiful she seemed. Not only was she pretty, but even her voice was so pleasant—truly rare, much better than that witch beside him. Yueyue's elegance as an Eastern woman was refreshing to him.

He was completely unaware that the witch beside him was staring at him with fiery eyes. Ye Fang had noticed James's strange behavior when Wu Nai and Situ Yangguang were talking. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that he was staring infatuatedly at the woman surnamed Liu, completely ignoring her.

Damn it, what's so great about that woman? Her figure isn't as hot as hers, and her face isn't necessarily prettier than mine, Ye Fang's. So why is that damn James staring at her so intently?

Hmph, that stinking foreigner, sooner or later he'll learn how powerful I am, and see if he dares to look at other women like that again!

Ye Fang hadn't yet realized that she now harbored a strong possessive desire for James, no longer simply regarding him as a fun toy.

They were standing in a

busy street area, hardly a place for conversation. Wukong, however, was curious why Yueyue and Situ Yangguang were alone. Yueyue was always Situ Yu's shadow, so why wasn't Situ Yu there this time? Intrigued, Wukong suggested they go to the previously agreed-upon halal restaurant together.

"But we just ate..." Situ Yangguang hesitated.

"You can eat again! Little one, stop nagging and come in quickly, I'm hungry." Zhu Bajie eagerly pulled Situ Yangguang into the restaurant.

Chapter 276 Searching and Searching

Liu Yueyue looked a little unhappy, seemingly disliking sitting with Ye Fang. However, Situ Yangguang seemed quite interested, readily accepting Wukong's invitation and saying, "If you don't mind, please sit in the teahouse behind me. Their set meals and snacks are quite good." Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, he explained, "I just finished negotiating with the teahouse owner to buy it. It's mine now, so let me treat you all to a meal. I hope you'll all patronize this little shop in the future."

"You? You bought this teahouse? Where did you get so much money? Do you even know how to run it?" Bajie asked, his eyes wide. Situ Yangguang smiled calmly and said, "Actually, my adoptive parents agreed to my purchase of this teahouse. I want to use it to find someone who is passionate about tea and skilled in it. Perhaps I'll have some unexpected gains."

"Oh, I see. Congratulations, Your Majesty, on your refined taste!" Tang Seng congratulated him.

Since Situ Yangguang had extended the invitation so sincerely, they naturally wouldn't refuse. Although Ye Fang was a little

unhappy , since

Wu Nai and James had already gone inside, she couldn't just stand outside any longer. After being led into a private room, they all took their seats. Tang Seng sat in the main seat, with Situ Yangguang to his left. Just as Wu Nai was about to sit down, James, who had been behind him, suddenly stepped forward and whispered a few words to Wu Nai apologetically. Wu Nai smiled knowingly and switched seats with him, separating him from Ye Fang.

However, Wu Nai still couldn't sit still. Before he even reached the edge of the chair, someone grabbed his shoulder and pulled him up. Turning his head, he saw Ye Fang's face, smiling brightly: "Big brother, can I switch seats with you too?" The last two words were almost squeezed out between her teeth, carrying a strong warning.

Wu Nai could almost imagine that if he disagreed, Ye Fang would definitely throw a tantrum on the spot. Reluctantly, he agreed to switch with her, ending up sitting at the back, while Sha Wujing and Xiao Bai sat opposite him.

"Thank you!" Ye Fang unexpectedly uttered such a polite phrase. After sitting down, she was still smiling, a beautiful smile indeed. But James felt a chill run down his spine and moved to the side, wondering what he had done to offend this young lady again.

"Hehe, hehehe, hehehehe!" Ye Fang kept laughing at James. Although James turned his head to look at Liu Yueyue, the laughter was like an unstoppable demonic sound that kept penetrating his ears, forcing him to turn back and say with a bitter face, "Ye Fang, can you please not laugh so...so scary? It's making my heart pound."

Ye Fang's smile didn't diminish as she said, "Is that so? Then you sit properly and don't look at things you shouldn't see, and I won't laugh, okay?"

She had already said it so bluntly, what could James do? He could only raise his hands in surrender: "Okay, okay, I won't look, and you don't laugh either. Let's both sit properly."

Although it was a teahouse, they could also eat, just a little simpler than those dedicated restaurants. Not long after they sat down, waiters brought in dishes, one after another, with meat and vegetables, so everyone could take what they wanted. Everyone

present was no ordinary person, so they didn't stand on ceremony and each took what they liked to eat. Tang Seng was used to a light diet, so a bowl of white rice and a few green vegetables were enough for him

. Bajie, however, ate and drank heartily, oblivious to everyone else, devouring everything, meat and vegetables alike, leaving Wu Nai and Ye Fang dumbfounded. After everyone had finished eating and drinking, the atmosphere became more relaxed, and everyone except Ye Fang and Yueyue chatted and laughed.

"Mr. Situ, may I ask, how did you come up with the idea of opening a teahouse here?" Wu Nai asked, taking advantage of the harmonious atmosphere.

Situ Yangguang said with a wry smile, "To be honest, I opened this teahouse to find someone. If I find her, I might not have to keep it open anymore. Wu Nai, I know you're a cultivator, maybe even a master..."

"What do you mean 'maybe'? He is a master." Hearing Situ Yangguang's words, Bajie, who was contentedly burping on the table, answered for Wu Nai, but was scolded by Wukong for it: "Stop talking! Children shouldn't interrupt adults!"

Ye Fang, who had been playing with her nails, suddenly said, "You're so hospitable in inviting us to dinner, you wouldn't be doing anything to the food, would you?"

Hearing this, Liu Yueyue's temper flared up instantly. She slammed her hand on the table, pointed at Ye Fang, and cursed, "You brat, what did you say? Say it again if you dare!"

Ye Fang glanced at her sideways and said indifferently, "Don't say it once, I dare say it ten times. What can you do to me?" Then, as if in revenge, she threw out three words: "You brat!"

"Ye Fang!" Wu Nai whispered, "Don't cause trouble!"

On the other side, Situ Yangguang pulled Yueyue back to her seat, saying, "Yueyue, can you not be so impulsive? Let others talk, as long as we haven't done anything wrong!"

"Situ Yangguang!" Yueyue didn't think so, "You're just too kind-hearted, that's why others bully you. That brat was clearly slandering you, how can you not be angry at all?"

Situ Yangguang patted her hand, saying, "Alright, alright, I know you mean well, but listen to me this time, don't be angry with Ye Fang."

Since Situ Yangguang had said so, Liu Yueyue had no choice but to swallow her anger,

turning her face away and refusing to look at Ye Fang again, lest she feel nauseous.

James stared at Liu Yueyue's gentle and beautiful profile, thinking to himself, perfect, so perfect. Not only does she have a beautiful appearance, but she also has an equally beautiful inner self. This is clearly the perfect woman in his heart. It's so good to have met her.

James pressed his hand to his chest, feeling his heart pounding at two hundred beats per minute. Though it was still the chilly autumn outside, he felt as if it were the sweltering heat of July.

He seemed to have fallen for the gentle woman before him—no, not "seemed," but "definitely." He was certain he had fallen for Liu Yueyue; this gentle and beautiful woman was the woman he had searched for all his life.

He hadn't expected that after being chased by the witch across the ocean to Lingwang City in China, he would encounter the person he had been searching for all his life in less than a day. He owed this all to the witch Ye Fang's torment. Thinking of this, James's gaze towards Ye Fang softened with gratitude, making Ye Fang's heart race. She thought James, after much comparison,

had finally realized he was more beautiful than Liu Yueyue, completely unaware that she had misunderstood.

Poor Ye Fang…

After this little interlude, Wu Nai brought the conversation back to the previous question: “Mr. Situ, you said you were looking for someone. Could you tell me who you are looking for? I know quite a few people in this city, and maybe I can help you out. Consider it repaying the favor of this meal.” Situ

Yangguang smiled wryly: “To be honest, I don’t know what the person I’m looking for looks like now, or what her name is. After all, many years have passed, and her appearance and name are no longer what they used to be. Even if she stood in front of me now, I might not recognize her. I can only search slowly by feeling. I appreciate your kindness.”

“Since you don’t know each other anymore, how do you even begin to look for her?” Wu Nai stared intently at Situ Yangguang, somewhat puzzled.

"I don't know how to find her, I can only rely on fate. Maybe when the time is right, I'll find her." At this point, Situ Yangguang's eyes welled up with tears. "I believe God will definitely let me find her. Our

fate won't end so soon."

Liu Yueyue comforted him, "Situ Yangguang, don't be sad. We will find her. You will definitely meet again. Maybe you'll find her tomorrow?"

Chapter 277 A Chance Encounter

James kept glancing furtively at Liu Yueyue, but she seemed oblivious, never even giving him a proper look. James's mood plummeted.

No one noticed his change in mood. After Wukong and the others exchanged a few more words, Wu Nai extended his hand to Situ Yangguang, sincerely saying, "I hope we can become friends, and I hope you find the person you're looking for soon."

"Definitely," Situ Yangguang replied, extending his hand in return. Although they weren't close friends after this conversation, they had at least gotten to know each other somewhat. Friendships always begin with strangers, even if this friendship was a little unusual.

They then switched to lighter topics, such as the future management of the teahouse and how to attract customers. They also agreed to use this place as their gathering spot to avoid having to find a new location each time. Because it wasn't in a prime location, the teahouse's business hadn't been very good; otherwise, the owner wouldn't have agreed to transfer it.

“I think we could do a tea ceremony performance,” Situ Yangguang suggested first.

“This would deepen customers’ understanding of tea art. What do you think?”

Wu Nai objected first: “A tea ceremony performance is good, and it could be a regular feature, but isn’t it a bit outdated? After all, many teahouses use it to attract customers. Using it again might not be any better for us. We should think of some new ideas.”

The atmosphere became lively after that, with ideas popping up one after another. In no time, several ideas had been gathered, many of them quite creative. Only Ye Fang remained silent; for her, the success or failure of the teahouse was none of her concern.

When the discussion was almost over, James suddenly suggested coming to help at the teahouse. His reason was that he had left the US and didn’t want to go back for the time being, so he wanted to help out to pass the time.

Ye Fang was very suspicious of his intentions. From the beginning, she had noticed that this man had been staring at Liu Yueyue; perhaps he was using this opportunity to get close to her. So, upon hearing James say he wanted to help at the teahouse, she immediately objected, saying, "No way! You foreign devil can't even speak Chinese properly, you'll only make things worse!"

Unfortunately, her objection was rejected by Situ Yangguang, who couldn't bear to disappoint others, and he actually agreed to James's request. Ye Fang was furious. She gritted her teeth, almost breaking them, and after a long while, she finally managed to squeeze out, "If he comes, I want to come too!"

"What are you going to do here? Become a waitress like me? Do you even know how?" James asked, exasperated. Honestly, he was fed up with Ye Fang's constant stalking, but he couldn't beat her, so he could only endure it.

All eyes were on Ye Fang, waiting for her answer. Of course, Ye Fang couldn't possibly be a waitress. Back in her Wutong Night Rain days, she was renowned, and at home, she was pampered by everyone. She'd never do such a thing. Serving others with a subservient attitude? She wouldn't do it even if her head were chopped off.

So what was she going to do at the teahouse? Her eyes darted around, and an idea immediately came to her. She said sweetly, "I'll sing!"

"Nonsense! Who sings in a teahouse?" Wu Nai was the first to reject her idea, and the others shared a similar sentiment. Ye Fang, however, had her own

reasoning: "Precisely because no one else does, we should try! Maybe this idea will attract more customers than the ones you were thinking of. With my voice and beauty, charming some stinky men will be a piece of cake." As she spoke, she unconsciously began to use her fox-like allure.

Wu Nai coughed lightly, signaling her to stop, and then said, "Your suggestion is indeed a bit absurd. I think we should forget about it."

"Why? I think it's great," Ye Fang retorted indignantly.

Seeing her get the short end of the stick, Liu Yueyue was overjoyed and said smugly, "If you want to sing, go sing somewhere else. This teahouse is owned by Situ Yangguang, and I'll be a senior manager here. We're too small to accommodate

someone as important as you. Go sing somewhere else, however you want, nobody cares." Unfortunately, since James was coming, Ye Fang wasn't about to be left out. She was always willful and didn't care whether Yueyue was willing or not. She immediately retorted, "Anyway, I'm here to sing. If you don't agree, I'll make sure your teahouse can't

stay open, hmph!" She used her most familiar threatening method again.

It's unclear whether Ye Fang and Yueyue were born enemies; the two hadn't stopped bickering since they entered. Situ Yangguang, not wanting to cause trouble, immediately said, "Since Ye Fang wants to come, let her come. Like she said, maybe this method will be more attractive."

"Situ Yangguang, how can you always give in to her? This kind of person has no sense of propriety; she might make even more outrageous demands later." Yueyue couldn't stand Ye Fang's smugness.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Situ Yangguang was about to say something more when he suddenly heard a commotion outside the private room, as if something was happening. He immediately decided to go out and see.

As he exited the room, Ye Fang and Yueyue were huddled together again, each wanting to go out first, neither willing to give way, making it impossible for them to get out. Wukong, unable to bear it any longer, pulled the two apart, saying, "Stop arguing, I'll go first!"

When they got outside, Wukong and the others were already standing at the door. There stood a

young Taoist priest, dressed in a Taoist robe, with a peach wood sword on his back and a compass in his hand. He looked to be in his early twenties, and his appearance was clean and fair, but his eyes were too cunning, making him seem like an untrustworthy person.

"What happened?" Situ Yangguang asked, leaning closer. Wukong frowned slightly and recounted what he had just heard.

Apparently, while they were talking in the private room, this Taoist priest came in, introducing himself as Zhang Yifeng. He immediately said that the place was filled with demonic energy and ghostly aura, and if it wasn't exorcised, everyone here would die a violent death. Upon hearing this, some timid tea drinkers immediately ran away, and several female waitresses were also quite frightened. Then they left.

Ye Fang asked softly, "Is he really able to see it, or is he just talking nonsense?" Although there were no ghosts here, there were two demons.

“I’m not sure either.” Wu Nai hadn’t been out much earlier than her, and his observation of this man who called himself Zhang Yifeng was only superficial. He added, “But he doesn’t seem quite real to me. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he react at all when we’re standing in front of him?” Sha Wujing nodded to himself, “Let me test him.” He walked up to Zhang Yifeng and said, “Master, may I ask which mountain or sect you belong to? I know a master, do you know him?”

Hearing Sha Wujing’s words, a hint of nervousness flashed across Zhang Yifeng’s young face, but it disappeared in an instant. However, none of this could escape Sha Wujing’s notice.

After his eyes flickered a few times, he raised one palm to his chest and bowed, saying, “Amitabha, I am the sixty-fifth generation descendant of Zhang Tianshi. May I ask what you wish to teach me?”

“I dare not presume to teach you. I only wonder if Master Zhang knows a master with the Taoist name Bao Yuanzi. He is an old friend of mine.” Sha Wujing brought up Bao Yuanzi, since he was a genuine old Taoist priest.

Zhang Yifeng pondered for a long time, not answering immediately. He was considering the veracity of Sha Wujing's words. Looking at his monk's attire, it was impossible for him to know a Taoist priest. It was highly likely that this Bao Yuanzi wasn't a Taoist priest at all, but someone he had fabricated to test him.

Wu Nai's guess was correct. The Zhang Yifeng before him was neither a disciple of Zhang Tianshi

nor a Taoist priest, but a charlatan. Wherever he went, he would frighten people with stories of demons and ghosts, then extort money through his supposed demon-slaying and ghost-catching methods. Unfortunately for him, this time, he had met his match.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Yifeng looked up and said, "Since completing my studies, I have been traveling and exorcising demons and ghosts, and haven't returned for a long time. Therefore, I don't know this Baoyuanzi. The Baoyuanzi you mentioned is probably a newly initiated Taoist, whom I don't recognize."

*Pah!* Sha Wujing spat inwardly. What newly initiated Taoist? Baoyuanzi is a veteran! This person not only doesn't recognize him but also mistakes him for a new disciple. This person is probably a fake Taoist.

This charlatan is lucky; the demons here aren't the kind that kill without blinking an eye. Otherwise, he would probably be in deep trouble, not even having a chance to be left with bones. Uh, these kind demons don't include Miss Ye Fang. She doesn't care about good or evil; she just wants to have fun.

Sha Wujing decided to teach him a lesson, so he whispered a few words in Situ Yangguang's ear. Situ Yangguang nodded repeatedly and said to Zhang Yifeng

, "Daoist, is what you just said true? Is there really a demon haunting this place?" He even put on a slightly fearful expression, which made Zhang Yifeng secretly delighted, thinking that another prey had taken the bait and he could make a big profit. He immediately said solemnly, "Of course it's true. Would I lie to you, benefactor? If you don't believe me, I can leave now. Your life or death is your own business." After saying that, he pretended to leave, but before he could reach the door, he heard voices calling for him to stay, so he stopped.

Situ Yangguang said softly, "Daoist, it's not convenient to talk here. Why don't we go to the back to talk?" Seeing Zhang Yifeng nod, Situ Yangguang then asked Yueyue to tell the waiters to close early for the day and go home, and then locked the door.

Sure enough, after only a few words, Zhang Yifeng declared that the only way to resolve the situation was to perform a ritual to exorcise the demon and subdue the ghost, thus ensuring peace. Ironically, he was completely unaware that he was now showing off his limited skills before a true master, still thinking he had fooled people again. He was secretly pleased, thinking he had caught another big fish.

Chapter 278 A Credible Statement

Everyone watched Zhang Yifeng's self-directed farce with amusement. Especially Wukong, who was particularly interested, asking him, "Master Zhang, are you really sure there's a ghost in this teahouse? What does it look like?" Zhang Yifeng casually retorted, "Why would I lie to you? There really is a ghost in this teahouse! I can guarantee it with my own head. If there isn't a ghost, I'll cut off my own head! The ghost looks terrifying, even more frightening than this gentleman!" As he spoke, he pointed at Sha Wujing.

Bajie almost collapsed with laughter, saying, "Hahaha, hahaha, Brother Sha, so you look almost like a ghost!" Sha Wujing chuckled, saying, "When did I become like a ghost? You Taoist priest are spouting nonsense. If you're so capable, catch it and let me see, or I'll sue you for defamation!"

In the afternoon, after Situ Yangguang promised Zhang Yifeng five thousand yuan as a reward for subduing the demons and monsters in the shop, Zhang Yifeng set up an altar and began his ritual.

After all the incense and candlesticks were prepared, Zhang Yifeng solemnly drew his peach wood sword from behind his back,

stood before the incense table, and chanted incantations. The sword whistled, and whenever the tip of the sword pointed at the candle flame, the tiny flame would suddenly burst into a continuous burst of fire, as if a divine miracle had truly occurred—realistic and frightening.

Ordinary people might be amazed by his supposed magical powers and believe him, but that's about it. None of the people standing behind Zhang Yifeng are pushovers. Even Ye Fang, let alone Wukong, would scoff at his tricks. This Taoist priest has no real magic; his actions are nothing but empty pretense. Only Yueyue watched with great interest, finding it more real than what she saw on television.

Wukong, watching from the side, was both angry and amused. Today was truly hilarious; he'd encountered a charlatan. He wondered how many families this man had deceived. If he wasn't taught a lesson, he'd probably continue his swindling. But who should he send to teach him a lesson?

Wukong looked left and right, finally fixing his gaze on Ye Fang. She was probably the most suitable person for the role. Thinking this, Wukong leaned close to Ye Fang's ear and whispered a few words.

Ye Fang, who initially harbored mixed feelings of love and hate towards Wukong, suddenly became interested upon hearing this. She loved doing this kind of thing, so she nodded with a mischievous smile, "Alright, since I once liked you, I'll help you out." With that, she used an invisibility spell, disappearing from the spot.

The others nearby saw Ye Fang vanish, but didn't stop her. They felt it was right to teach this fake Taoist a lesson, as long as no one died. Yueyue was overjoyed at this. If Situ Yangguang hadn't been holding her back, and if she hadn't been at odds with Ye Fang, she probably would have already joined Ye Fang in preparing to trick the Taoist.

The Taoist priest, focused on his ritual, hadn't noticed anything amiss behind him. After finishing, he wiped the sweat from his brow, pointed to a small, unidentified black object on his peach wood sword, and turned to Situ Yangguang, saying, "Boss Situ, the monsters and ghosts lurking in the shop have been subdued by my magic. This is their black blood. As for the true form of those monsters, it's best you don't look at it; you'll probably have nightmares tonight. You can now run your shop with peace of mind. I guarantee you safety and prosperity!"

"Thank you, Master!" Situ Yangguang nodded in gratitude. A hint of pity flickered in his eyes, but it vanished quickly. It wasn't that he intended to tease him; it was simply that the Taoist priest shouldn't have been so blatantly deceiving him.

Zhang Yifeng bowed deeply and said, "I wouldn't dare, the ghost has been exorcised, I won't linger here any longer. But I wonder about the opening ceremony fee..." Before he could finish, a sudden gust of wind swept through the tightly closed teahouse, biting cold and making it impossible to open one's eyes—except for Zhang Yifeng, who seemed to be the only one blinded. The wind seemed to be chasing him.

Zhang Yifeng didn't know what was happening, only that the wind was strangely erratic. He held his arms across his face to shield himself from the fierce wind, allowing his eyes to open slightly to observe his surroundings. What he saw immediately disoriented him. He realized that he was no longer in the teahouse, but in a desolate wilderness. Those who had been following him had all vanished; he was alone in the vast wilderness.

The wind continued to blow, and frighteningly, it was black

—no, it was more like black mist swirling into a gale, whipping everything in its path.

Such a bizarre and strange event was something Zhang Yifeng had never witnessed in his life. He couldn't help but wonder if he was dreaming. He immediately put his finger in his mouth and bit it hard, hoping to convince himself that he was dreaming. Unfortunately, he was disappointed. The sharp pain from biting his finger reminded him that everything before him was real, not a dream.

Although Zhang Yifeng had always pretended to be a Taoist priest to swindle people out of demons and ghosts for money, he had never seen a real demon or ghost, and therefore he wasn't sure if ghosts and gods truly existed in this world.

But what on earth was going on? He couldn't have suddenly found himself in a strange place. Could it be... could it be that demons and ghosts really existed in this world, and he had just stumbled upon them by sheer luck?

Thinking of this, Zhang Yifeng's face was a truly colorful mix of emotions. What should he do? What should he do? He kept asking himself these questions, thankfully the strange occurrence hadn't terrified him into losing his mind. After pondering for a while, he mustered his courage and shouted loudly into the deserted wilderness:

"This humble Taoist priest, Zhang Yifeng, has offended some great immortal, causing you to manifest your power. If I have been disrespectful, I am willing to correct my mistake. Please

forgive me, great immortal!" His words only made things worse. The moment he finished speaking, a sinister laugh echoed across the desolate wilderness, startling Zhang Yifeng so much that he fell to the ground, dropping the peach wood sword he had been holding. He stammered, "You...who are you? What...what do you want?"

The laughter, which had been coming from all directions, now focused on Zhang Yifeng's ears. A shrill voice said, "How dare you, brat! This great immortal is enjoying myself here, and you dare to disturb me? Do you think you can disrespect me just because you have some cultivation? Do you want me to scoop out your brains and eat them?"

Zhang Yifeng then realized that he had truly kicked a hornet's nest. A powerful demon actually lived in this teahouse. "My life is in danger! My life is in danger!" he kept repeating to himself, his legs trembling uncontrollably. He was terrified that the demon, whom he hadn't seen, would

rip out his brains and eat them, just as it had said. For the sake of his life, he had to suppress his fear and say, "Great Immortal, Great Immortal, please understand! I am not... I am not a Taoist priest at all, and I didn't know you were here. I only said that to trick the owner into giving me some money. I truly didn't mean it. If I had known you were here, even if I had a hundred times the courage, I wouldn't have dared to act so recklessly. Please, Great Immortal, spare my life!" His plea was fluent and without much hesitation.

Zhang Yifeng, terrified and desperate to survive, was completely unaware that outside the illusion, Wukong and the others were watching him. When he admitted to being a fake Taoist priest, they all showed expressions of "I knew it." Among them, the kind-hearted Situ Yangguang shook his head slightly, feeling sorry for him. What could a perfectly good young man do? Why did he have to do something so deceptive? It's not a bad thing that he was frightened now, so he won't have to live by deceiving people forever.

The strange voice rang in Zhang Yifeng's ears again: "You brat, how dare you talk nonsense in front of this great immortal! You just swore that you are the 65th

generation descendant of Zhang Tianshi, with the Taoist name Zhang Yifeng, but now you say you're not. Do you think this great immortal is easy to fool?! Also, didn't you just say you swore on your life? Aren't you going to keep your promise?"

Chapter 279 Prank

Later, the terrifying voice in the illusion suddenly changed tone, becoming extremely shrill. A pair of blood-red eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth appeared in the black wind, poised to pounce at any moment. Although it was impossible to see what it was, it was definitely not a kind creature.

Zhang Yifeng was so frightened he almost cried. He had never hated himself for impersonating a Taoist priest so much. Of all the things to scam, why did he have to swindle money from these monsters and demons? He might even lose his life. He pleaded repeatedly, "Great Immortal, please have mercy! My real name is Zhou Zhenlong. I am not a Taoist priest at all. I only impersonated a Taoist priest to swindle money to make a living. Great Immortal, please spare my life! I have an elderly relative waiting for me to give her money for treatment. If I die, she will not survive either. Please, Great Immortal, spare my life!" As he spoke, he kowtowed with tears streaming down his face. People say that a man's knees are worth gold, let alone kowtowing and begging for mercy. Seeing this, the group's impression of him worsened, and they were quite disdainful of him.

Seeing someone kneeling and begging her, Ye Fang found it incredibly amusing, almost laughing herself sick. But she had to maintain a serious demeanor, saying, "Oh, so your name isn't Zhang Yifeng, but Zhou Zhenlong. A grown man, how could you change your name! Spare me? Didn't you just say you'd stake your life on it? Hahaha, the word 'spar' doesn't exist in my dictionary. Anyway, I have no food today, so I'll just use you for dinner. You should feel honored!"

Hearing that this monster wanted to eat him, Zhou Zhenlong was terrified, his body trembling, his limbs completely powerless. He could only repeatedly beg the immortal for mercy: "What I said about staking my life on it was just a joke, it's not a promise! Please don't take it seriously, immortal!"

Seeing that he was sufficiently frightened, Ye Fang smiled inwardly, preparing to dispel the illusion. But suddenly she changed her mind. A mysterious smile crept onto her face, and she completely revealed her body hidden in the black wind. A silver-white fox, several meters long, lunged at Zhou Zhenlong. Its gleaming eyes and claws screamed death.

Seeing the fox spirit attack, seemingly intent on killing him, Zhou Zhenlong knew begging for mercy was

futile. He closed his eyes, awaiting his demise.

Those outside the illusion were startled by Ye Fang's sudden action, especially Wukong, who was utterly surprised. They hadn't intended for her to do this; they only wanted her to frighten the imposter Taoist. Was she suddenly becoming ferocious and preparing to devour Zhou Zhenlong?

Wukong's face turned extremely grim. He had suggested this charade, intending only to scare the charlatan, never to kill him. If he were to die because of this, it would be no different than killing him himself.

Ye Fang, this fox demon, was utterly disregarding him. Things had come to this point, and Wukong couldn't stand idly by. Just as he was about to intervene, a white figure rushed into the illusion faster than him, white demonic energy emanating from his palm, blocking Ye Fang's attack.

"Let him go!" Wu Nai said to Ye Fang in a deep voice. Behind him was Zhou Zhenlong, terrified. Seeing that there was no immediate danger, the others also entered the illusion. Wu Nai said angrily, "Ye Fang, what are you doing? Why did you hurt someone for no reason?"

Ye Fang, having revealed her true form, spun a few times in the air, red demonic energy surrounding her like smoke and mist. After the smoke dissipated, she had returned to her alluring human form.

"Give me a reason why I should let him go?" Ye Fang said to Wu Nai, a half-smile playing on her lips. To be fair, her smile possessed a captivating beauty, surpassing even Liu Yueyue's in some ways. Otherwise, how could she have charmed so many men? However, this beauty was too alluring, and her personality was equally wicked. She acted on her whims without regard for consequences or the lives of others, making her incomprehensible to most. This was why James avoided her like the plague.

Wu Nai was taken aback. A reason? He hadn't really thought of one. He simply didn't want this man surnamed Zhou to die in vain, but he didn't want to say that. He had to come up with another excuse: "I won't allow you to kill people indiscriminately. Is that a valid reason?"

As they were speaking, Zhou Zhenlong, who hadn't yet felt death approaching, curiously opened his eyes. He immediately saw many familiar faces—the same people from the teahouse earlier. How did they end up here?

Just as he was wondering, he noticed that

everyone's gaze wasn't on him, but elsewhere. Following their gaze, he was surprised to find that the young lady named Ye Fang was floating in the air, surrounded by a layer of smoke-like clouds, as if to proclaim her extraordinary nature.

What surprised him most was Ye Fang. She could float in the air without any support, which was completely beyond his knowledge. Could this Ye Fang not be human? Based on this sudden thought, and recalling everything that had just happened, he was almost certain that Ye Fang was not an ordinary person.

Thinking of this, his face turned as white as paper. But that wasn't all. He thought of something else: Wu Nai, who was blocking his way, had this misty substance on him, so he didn't seem to be an ordinary person either. Looking at the others, they didn't react at all to Ye Fang floating in the air, so they must have known about it beforehand. In that case, they probably weren't ordinary people either. Were they all demons or ghosts?

With this realization, his face lost all color and expression. He just sat there dumbfounded on the ground, his whole body stiff. He didn't understand where he was. It was just

a small teahouse, so how did he end up with so many monsters? It was all over. He had entered a monster horde, and it seemed impossible for him to get out alive. Now, instead of making money, he had become food for the monsters. Alas, he had brought this upon himself!

Ye Fang nodded at Wu Nai's explanation without saying anything. She slowly floated down from the air and walked to the still angry Wu Nai. She looked up and said in a sweet voice, "Big brother, don't be angry. I was just teasing him. I didn't want to eat this silly boy. He's dull and stupid and not tasty at all. I have no appetite. I just thought he was funny, so I scared him."

Wu Nai's anger subsided. He patted Ye Fang's hand and said, "That's right. Since you've come to the human realm, you should abide by the rules of the human realm. Don't kill people indiscriminately. Anyway, you've already scared him enough, so don't make things difficult for him. Remove the illusion."

Ye Fang nodded obediently and waved her hand to remove the illusion. They were still in the teahouse, as was Zhou Zhenlong. There was no wilderness at all. It was as if everything just now was a dream.

"Ah, that's right! Since he hasn't done anything terribly wrong, let's let him go!" Liu Yueyue said, clutching her chest, still shaken. Ye Fang's prank had really frightened Yueyue. This female demon was quite capable; she could transform and fly in the sky—it was unbelievable! Wasn't this something you only see on TV?

What Wu Nai and the others didn't see was the coldness in Ye Fang's eyes after she lowered her head. Just as she had said, she hadn't really intended to eat Zhou Zhenlong at first; she was just putting on a show to scare him. But now it was different. She had decided to kill Zhou Zhenlong without their knowledge. As for the reason, well, there was only one: Liu Yueyue's pleas. The more Liu Yueyue pleaded, the more she disliked Zhou Zhenlong and the more she wanted to kill him. Who told Liu Yueyue to attract James? James could only belong to Ye Fang; no one else was allowed to take him. Otherwise, don't blame her for being ruthless!

Liu Yueyue never imagined that her words would push Zhou Zhenlong into such a desperate situation.

Chapter 280 Settling Old and New Scores Together

Some say that a woman blinded by jealousy is terrifying, and this is absolutely true. Liu Yueyue didn't seduce James at all; it was James who was infatuated with Liu Yueyue. It had nothing to do with her. Unfortunately, Ye Fang didn't care about any of this.

At this moment, Ye Fang didn't care whether what she was doing was right or wrong, or whether it would cause trouble. She only wanted to get rid of what she didn't like. Actually, what she wanted to get rid of most was Liu Yueyue. However, although Liu Yueyue was an ordinary woman, with Sun Wukong by her side, it was difficult to make a move. If she did, she would definitely not gain any advantage, and it might even make James hate her more. So she could only suppress the anger in her heart.

Sun Wukong was furious at Ye Fang's unusual behavior. Although he hadn't done anything to her before because of Wu Nai, Ye Fang's current actions were simply unacceptable. Wukong roared, "You audacious fox spirit, you're incredibly bold! You dare to do evil in front of me, Old Sun! I'll wipe you out in the Southern Kingdom!" As he spoke, it was as if he were pulling his golden cudgel out of his ear.

Tang Sanzang

grabbed Wukong and said, "Wukong, don't be rash! I think this female benefactor was just being playful and went a little too far, but her crime doesn't warrant death. Please spare her." Wukong had no choice but to stop, and said fiercely, "Fox spirit, listen to me, remember this Southern Kingdom first. Whenever you anger me, I'll settle all the old and new scores!"

Ye Fang said lightly, unconvinced, "Hmph, what's so great about that? I'm not afraid!" However, she lacked confidence, and her voice was even softer than a mosquito's hum.

Liu Yueyue personally stepped forward to help the dazed Zhou Zhenlong to his feet. Only after he stood up did Zhou Zhenlong come to his senses. Seeing Liu Yueyue supporting him, he quickly jumped away, his eyes filled with wariness, as if he feared she would devour him.

James, unable to bear it any longer, angrily shouted at Zhou Zhenlong, "Why are you hiding? If we really wanted to harm you, would you still be standing here alive? You'd be in the underworld long ago. Don't be so ungrateful!"

Seeing him speak up for her, Liu Yueyue politely nodded in thanks. James scratched his head sheepishly, completely unaware of Ye Fangru's

burning gaze beside him.

Zhou Zhenlong's face flushed red and then paled. Even if James was right—they had no intention of harming him—he was still in their hands, and who knew what they would do to him next.

Liu Yueyue smiled dismissively and said softly to Zhou Zhenlong, "You don't need to be afraid. We have no intention of harming you. What happened just now was just a small lesson for you. We hope you won't do such deceptive things again, otherwise it won't do you any good. You have no real skills but you pretend to be a Taoist priest to swindle people, even lying that there are demons causing trouble. Luckily, you ran into us, and it's just a lesson for you. If you had run into those fierce and evil spirits, you would probably be a ghost by now."

Seeing Zhou Zhenlong lower his head, seemingly repentant, she continued, "You're still young. Why do you have to do such deceptive things?"

"I..." Zhou Zhenlong opened his mouth and uttered a single word. He seemed to want to explain something, but in the end, he didn't continue, just lowered his head and remained silent.

Liu Yueyue thought for a moment and said, "

If you don't mind, why don't you come work at our teahouse? The pay isn't much, but it'll definitely be enough to make ends meet. What do you say?"

Situ Yangguang was a little unhappy about this. He stepped forward and tugged at Liu Yueyue's sleeve, saying, "Yueyue, why should we take in a swindler here? He might not be able to change his ways and end up cheating our customers, which would be a huge loss for us."

Liu Yueyue frowned a few times, not quite satisfied with Situ Yangguang's words, but she thought that he was still young and inexperienced. His words and actions were inevitably a bit rough around the edges. She believed that he would become more mature with experience. Thinking this, she didn't argue with Situ Yangguang and continued to look at Zhou Zhenlong, waiting for his answer.

Seeing that Yueyue was ignoring him, Situ Yangguang was about to say something when Tang Seng interrupted him: "Brother, it is a great virtue to know one's mistakes and correct them. If you can persuade a prodigal son to turn back, that would be a meritorious deed. I think Yueyue thinks the same way. Can you understand her good intentions?"

Situ Yangguang thought it made sense, so he remained silent.

Just then,

Zhou Zhenlong, , finally spoke. He staggered back a few steps and said, "Thank you for your understanding, young lady and all the gentlemen, but I've always been lazy and averse to work. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. Please forgive me."

Upon hearing this, Sha Wujing, Wukong, and the others' first reaction was, "They're biting the hand that feeds them!" But regardless, since Zhou Zhenlong had refused, they had no reason to force him. Even Liu Yueyue, who most hoped he would agree, could only sigh slightly, with a hint of regret: "Since you insist, we won't force you. We just hope you'll be more careful in the future and do less deceitful things, Situ Yangguang." She turned to Situ Yangguang and said, "How much money do you have? Give some to Zhou Zhenlong first. He's taking such a risk to deceive people; he must have his reasons. Perhaps his family has already exposed him." "I'm not cooking anymore!"

Now it was Ye Fang's turn to mock, "You brat, are you crazy? This isn't how you do good deeds! You'd be better off giving that money to beggars. Why give it to him? He might just use it to squander it!"

Hearing this, Zhou Zhenlong's face flushed red and then pale, but he remained silent, gritting his teeth. Liu Yueyue, however, said unhappily, "It's not like I asked you to give me the money, what's it to you?"

Ye Fang sneered, "Ha, good intentions get you struck by lightning! I just don't want to see you get scammed!"

James was the first to react. Seeing the situation was getting out of hand, he quickly pulled out his wallet, took out a total of over five hundred US dollars, and stuffed it into Liu Yueyue's hand: "Miss Liu, please take this money."

Liu Yueyue was stunned, then shook her head and said, "Mr. James, you misunderstand. We have money, you don't need to give it to me."

“I know you have money, and I didn’t say I was going to give it to you. Just consider it a loan, and you can pay me back later.” Seeing that Yueyue was about to refuse, he added, “It’s a deal, you can’t refuse.”

Seeing how determined he was, Yueyue couldn’t refuse anymore. She took out three hundred US dollars and returned the rest to James: “This is enough, thank you. I’ll pay you back when I withdraw the money from the bank.”

Ye Fang, watching from the side, was so angry she wanted to bite her teeth. She wished she could pounce on James right then and there and ask him if he had lost his mind. How could he be so nice to a woman he had only known for less than a day? It was outrageous!

Hmph, you wait, Liu, I’ll make you pay, or I’m not Ye Fang! She secretly vowed in her heart.

Liu Yueyue, of course, had no idea what Ye Fang was thinking, nor did she know that Ye Fang already hated her. She simply took the money and handed it to Zhou Zhenlong: "Here, take this. Go home quickly; it's very cold outside. Don't come out to scam people unless you have something to do."

Zhou Zhenlong's face had never been so red, almost dripping blood. Although he had scammed people and money before, he had never been given charity like this before . Shame swelled infinitely in his heart, engulfing him completely.

He wanted to put down the money and leave gracefully, but for some reason, he had to shamelessly accept the money, say thank you in a very low voice, then push open the door and stumble out. At this moment, it was completely dark outside, the streetlights on both sides emitted a dim yellow light, and a light drizzle was falling, as if to shroud the entire city

in rain.

Chapter 281 Destitute

After the incident, Wukong and his group left the teahouse. When they stood at the crossroads preparing to part ways, they encountered a problem: where would Ye Fang stay? James has already settled things and is staying at Situ Yu's house; there are plenty of empty guest rooms there anyway.

But where should Ye Fang stay? Liu Yueyue doesn't welcome her, and Ye Fang herself isn't happy about it either. Wu Nai is used to being homeless and can spend the night anywhere, but Ye Fang is used to enjoying life and is very particular about where she stays. Seeing Wu Nai's worry about her accommodation, she chuckled and said, "Brother, don't worry about it. I'll just stay in a hotel. It'll be more comfortable and relaxing there."

Seeing no better solution, Wu Nai agreed to Ye Fang's suggestion. After all, she wasn't a three-year-old and he wasn't worried about her getting lost. Wu Nai said, "Ye Fang, do you have any money? If not, I'll give you some." He reached for his wallet, but Ye Fang stopped him with one hand. "I don't want your money, brother. I want it from him!" She casually pointed at James, her face showing her usual smile. "He's very rich. He gives other women hundreds of dollars without

batting an eye. He wouldn't be so stingy with me, would he? Besides, I came to Lingwang City to pursue him. I should at least take some responsibility."

"I..." If spending some money could get rid of this witch, James would be more than happy. The problem was, he had no money. He forced a smile and said, "I don't have much cash with me. I only have the two hundred dollars I had earlier. Here, take it all." He then took out the two hundred dollars and handed it to Ye Fang.

Ye Fang sneered and remained silent, refusing his money. She stared at James until he lowered his head. Only then did she say to Wu Nai, "Brother, I can find a hotel myself. As for money, do you think I'm short? Okay, I'm leaving. I'll call you after I find a hotel, so don't worry about me."

Without saying goodbye to the others, she left without bothering James, leaving him bewildered. Only after Ye Fang had disappeared from sight did James come to his senses and say, "Has she changed her ways? She let me go so easily?" Indeed, if it were before, Ye Fang would have probably beaten him black and blue. Sigh, James,

a renowned , had even lost the courage to throw a punch in front of this shrew, Ye Fang.

Wukong smiled slightly, about to say something. Suddenly, as if remembering something, her expression changed, and she said to Tang Sanzang and the others, "You all go back first, I have some things to do. You don't need to wait for me. Fox, you go back too." With that, she hurriedly left, leaving the others looking at each other in bewilderment.

Meanwhile, after Ye Fang left, she didn't go to find a hotel as she had said. Instead, she sniffed the air, then calculated with her fingers that the person she was looking for was ten kilometers to her left.

That's right, she was looking for Zhou Zhenlong. She hadn't said she would let him go. Earlier, when Zhou Zhenlong left, she had placed a colorless and odorless "Thousand-Mile Fragrance" on him. This fragrance could remain on a person for a month and couldn't be washed off. Combined with her mental calculation skills, she could pinpoint the person's exact location—a tracking technique exclusive to her family. She had used this to chase James around in circles.

With a flick of her sleeve, she became invisible, using her flying technique to chase him for miles. In just a short while, she caught up with

Zhou Zhenlong , who was carrying a plastic bag that hadn't been there before.

He looked rather pathetic. At first glance, it wasn't apparent, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that Zhou Zhenlong's body beneath his Taoist robe was incredibly thin; he seemed to be wearing very little clothing. Wasn't he cold?

Zhou Zhenlong was currently in a garbage-strewn area of single-story houses, the air thick with a nauseating stench. Ye Fang, hovering above him, had never been to such a filthy place before. She inhaled a breath without warning and nearly vomited, only feeling better after casting a purification spell on herself. She cursed Zhou Zhenlong inwardly, wondering what he was up to by coming to such a filthy place.

Zhou Zhenlong then took a winding, circuitous route, further disorienting Ye Fang, who already had a poor sense of direction. If she hadn't been certain that the person below her was a complete mortal, she would have suspected he was deliberately leading her in circles.

After arriving at a relatively clean-looking bungalow, Zhou Zhenlong slowed his pace. He stopped at the door of a small bungalow, first brushing the rain off his clothes, then taking off his Taoist robe and placing it in a small box behind the house. Only after doing this did he take out his key and open the door. "

Could this be his home?" Ye Fang wondered to herself. "But this place is far too dilapidated. Zhou Zhenlong posed as a Taoist priest, exorcising ghosts and swindling people. He must have made a lot of money. Why is he living in such a run-down place? Where did all that money go?" Questions filled Ye Fang's mind, causing her to temporarily forget her intention to kill Zhou Zhenlong.

Seeing him enter the house, Ye Fang immediately withdrew her flying technique, leaving only her invisibility spell to conceal herself, and followed Zhou Zhenlong inside. The house was pitch black; not a finger could be seen in front of one's face. She couldn't see anything inside at all.

Zhou Zhenlong skillfully found the light switch on the wall and turned on the only energy-saving light in the room. Once the light was on, he saw a bed in front of him, and on it lay an elderly woman with white hair. She wasn't asleep; seeing the light on, she immediately sat up and said to Zhou Zhenlong, who had just entered the room, "Zhenlong, you're back! Is it cold outside? Are you chilly? Mom will make you some food."

Zhou Zhenlong pressed the elderly woman down as she was about to get up, saying, "Mom, no need, I can cook. I

even ." He waved the bag in his hand, saying, "Wait here, I'll be done soon."

The kitchen was in this small room of about ten square meters. Zhou Zhenlong seemed used to this kind of work and handled it very well. Ye Fang had been looking around the room since she came in. To be honest, it was really small, but not dirty. Everything was neatly arranged, even the old cardboard boxes. It was just that the place was really poor; the most valuable thing in it was probably a seventeen-inch black-and-white television.

As for the old woman, she looked quite unwell, even unsightly, suggesting she was ill. However, she seemed to be in good spirits, especially when looking at Zhou Zhenlong; her face was full of kindness. It turned out Zhou Zhenlong really did have a mother, and she was indeed ill. It seemed he wasn't entirely a fraud; at least some of what he said was true.

Zhou Zhenlong quickly prepared the meal, then poured out the newly bought roast goose, along with some vegetables. During the meal, Zhou Zhenlong frequently put some roast goose into his mother's bowl, urging her to eat more, while he ate some leafy

greens . Occasionally, at his mother's urging, he would eat a piece of roast goose meat, but even then, he would try to eat only the smallest piece.

"Mom, why don't you turn on the lights or watch TV when you're home alone? Haven't I told you several times to use what you need and not to save money? Besides, you won't save much on electricity bills anyway," Zhou Zhenlong said halfway through the meal, remembering how dark the house was when he first entered.

"Sigh, Zhenlong, why should I turn on the light when I'm lying in bed alone? It's a waste of electricity," the old woman said softly.

Chapter 282 A Heart Full of Tenderness

The woman's expression darkened, and her chopsticks, which were picking up food, stopped. She said softly, "My illness has drained all the family's money, and you still have to run around every day trying to raise money for me. I'm useless, I've been a burden to you. If only I could die sooner, you wouldn't have to work so hard!" As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. Zhou Zhenlong, flustered, hurriedly wiped away her tears, saying, "Mom, why are you saying such things? To me, nothing is more important than your life. I'm happy to earn money to pay for your treatment. Please don't say anything discouraging."

Facing her son's words of comfort, the old woman nodded and wiped away her tears, saying, "I know, I won't say it again. I just feel so sorry for you. Although the electricity bill isn't much, it's the same if I don't use it when I'm home alone. Let's save where we can." At this point, a hint of difficulty appeared on her face, as if she was reluctant to speak. Zhou Zhenlong noticed her expression and said, "Mom, just tell me what's wrong."

“Well… today, the landlord came again to urge us for rent. He said if

we don’t pay it in the next few days, we’ll have to move out. Zhenlong, if it’s really not possible, I’ll just give up on my illness. It won’t kill me if I drag it out for a few more days, so let’s just pay the rent first.” As she spoke, she kept an eye on her son’s expression, knowing that her health was what he cared about most. She knew he wouldn’t be happy if she said this, but she had no other choice. “If we’re really kicked out, we’ll have to sleep under a bridge. I’m fine, but you…”

After she finished speaking, Zhou Zhenlong put down the rice bowl he had been holding and smiled. “Mom, don’t worry, I just earned three hundred US dollars today. I’ll exchange it at the bank tomorrow and then I can pay the rent.”

The old woman wasn’t happy about her son’s words; instead, her worries deepened. "Zhenlong, tell me the truth. What kind of work do you do outside? How do you have so much money for my medical treatment? You..." The old woman's expression changed, and she said urgently, "I've been uneasy about this. I want to ask you, but I'm afraid it will upset you. But this time, I really need to know the truth. Have you been doing anything illegal?"

Zhou Zhenlong quickly comforted her, "Mom, what are you thinking? Do you think I'm that kind of person? Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have the guts. Please, don't worry about it. I assure you, I earned all this money through my own hard work. I haven't done anything illegal. If you believe me, please don't ask anymore."

Seeing her son's resolute expression, the old woman finally relented. Seeing his mother nod, Zhou Zhenlong breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, he had lied to his mother and betrayed her trust.

Although he hadn't robbed or killed anyone, he had used deception and dishonest means to swindle 20,000 yuan. Today, he had almost been discovered and lost his life. But he had no choice. Without lying, he couldn't raise enough money for his mother's treatment in the short term. His mother couldn't wait much longer; she needed surgery within the next year, costing over 100,000 to 200,000 yuan. The money he'd swindled was now less than a few hundred yuan after numerous pre-operative treatments—far from enough. So he had to continue lying. Of course, he had to keep all this a secret from his mother; otherwise, she would never use the money he'd cheated.

Zhou Zhenlong's hand quietly slipped into his pocket, where three hundred US dollars lay burning hot. He still remembered the look in the eyes of the girl named Yueyue when she gave him the money—gentle and serene, without contempt or disdain, only pity and sympathy. She must have desperately wanted him to stop lying and live a stable life.

But not now. He had to wait until he had enough money for his mother's surgery before stopping, finding a job, earning money, buying a house, and taking care of his mother.

Hearing this, Ye Fang finally understood the fake Taoist priest. She had initially thought he was swindling money for his own pleasure, but it turned out he was actually trying to cure her mother's illness. Although his methods were improper, it was still an act of filial piety, and she felt deeply sorry for him.

A wave of emotion washed over Ye Fang. In this world, mothers can selflessly dedicate themselves to their children, but how many children can truly reciprocate? Zhou Zhenlong, though wrong, had a compassionate heart, and seeing his joyful interactions with his mother, Ye Fang couldn't bring herself to strike him down. Although Ye Fang

acted on her own whims, disregarding right and wrong, she wasn't an irredeemable villain. She had feelings and thoughts, especially after her conflict with McKee in the US, which had tempered her youthful impetuosity and taught her to consider the consequences of her actions.

This time, she traveled all the way from the US to China, not only to track James, but also to find a master who could restrain McGee and prevent McGee's grand conspiracy to dominate the world from succeeding.

Suddenly, Ye Fang recalled her days in the Aolai underworld gang, Wutong Night Rain. During that time, she had caused countless families to be torn apart, leaving countless bones scattered, and killing countless people with her own hands. At that time, she never felt she was wrong; on the contrary, she felt happy because of conquest. If it weren't for Sun Wukong's appearance, she would still be enjoying the thrill of conquest. As a fox princess, she was proud of conquering humans.

In Wutong Manor, Wukong's act of kindness saved her life, and she realized how precious life was. From then on, her temper subtly subsided, and she wouldn't

kill people so easily unless they truly angered her and had no value in living. Of course, she would still occasionally scare people.

Now, she wanted to kill Zhou Zhenlong, merely to spite Liu Yueyue. The reason she hadn't killed him on the way was to see what kind of person he really was before killing him, whether he truly spent the money he'd swindled on food, drink, and entertainment. If so, she would have acted without hesitation.

Now… she hesitated. Zhou Zhenlong wasn't exactly a gentleman, but he was an extremely filial son. As he had said when he begged for mercy, if she killed him, his ailing mother would also die, which would be equivalent to killing two people…

Should she really kill this man just to spite him? Ye Fang asked herself this question, as if a scale was swaying within her. After struggling for a while, she finally came to a conclusion.

At this moment, Zhou Zhenlong and his mother had finished their meal. He cleaned up the dishes and went for a walk with his mother. Ye Fang stood at the door without following, her hands forming a hand seal, dispelling her invisibility spell. After revealing herself, she wrinkled her small nose and whispered

to the departing Zhou Zhenlong and his mother, "Consider yourself lucky. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll spare your life. Remember next time, don't get caught and scammed again, or you won't be so lucky." Ye Fang finally decided to spare Zhou Zhenlong, not killing him in a fit of anger. In her distant gaze, a hint of warmth could be seen. Although familial love cannot be as unforgettable as romantic love, it is more memorable and lingering than many romantic relationships! Just as Ye Fang withdrew her gaze and prepared to leave the bungalows, a male voice entered her ears: "Hehe, I really didn't expect you to not kill him. Does the fox demon Ye Fang also have a soft heart?" Ye Fang snorted coldly, not turning her head, and said, "Say what you want." After saying that, she turned and left, disdainful of explaining. She heard it clearly; the male voice beside her was unmistakably Sun Wukong's—deep, resonant, and magnetic, a voice that had appeared countless times in her dreams. How could she not recognize it? However, her tender feelings were unrequited; the autumn wind could only carry them away. All that remained in her heart was endless resentment. (Chapter 283, April 25th)

A tall, handsome figure emerged from the darkness. Judging by his appearance, who else could it be but Sun Wukong? He had been tracking Ye Fang all along, undoubtedly fearing she might harm Zhou Zhenlong. He had been watching her every move, ready to intervene at the slightest provocation. Unexpectedly, Ye Fang had ultimately abandoned her plan to kill Zhou Zhenlong. This was truly beyond his expectations. Who would have thought that Ye Fang, always portrayed with a negative image, would show mercy to a mere mortal she could so easily kill? It was astonishing.

Watching Ye Fang's departing figure, Wukong smiled wryly. Ye Fang wasn't necessarily evil, but she was certainly willful, like a wild horse. Without a good rider, she would run rampant. He could only hope that this time, she wouldn't act as recklessly as before.

After muttering about Ye Fang, Wukong turned his gaze to the bungalow where Zhou Zhenlong and his mother lived. A complex mix of emotions welled up inside him. If it weren't for Ye Fang, he would never have imagined that this fake Taoist priest was hiding such a heavy burden. Although his behavior was somewhat erratic, it was also understandable…

Lost in thought, Wukong returned to his lodgings. In the living room, he saw Zhu Bajie, listlessly watching television. His once chubby face seemed much thinner, as if he were burdened with worries. Wukong already knew about what had happened recently; it seemed that Chang'e's departure had greatly affected Bajie. Wukong wanted to offer some words of comfort, but didn't know where to begin, and ultimately gave up. After all, emotional knots are things that only one can untie; others can't truly advise on them. Besides, Bajie was carefree; perhaps in a few days, everything would be alright.

Inside the living room, a few other people were also there. Xiao Bai and Sha Wujing were watching TV, which was showing the popular series *Journey to the West*. Wukong's brilliant performance had Sha Wujing and Xiao Bai cheering enthusiastically. James, on the other hand, was playing a newly released online game on the computer. The others were so engrossed in watching or playing that they didn't even bother to greet Sun Wukong when he entered. Even the most polite Sha Wujing only glanced at him before immediately turning his eyes back to the TV screen.

All of infuriated Wukong. Luckily, his heart had always been strong; otherwise, their blatant disregard would have certainly given him a heart attack.

Wukong plopped down on the sofa, right next to Sha Wujing and Bai Suzhen. "Hey, you guys... do you know where I went just now?" Before he could finish, Bai Suzhen impatiently interrupted, "Don't make a fuss, Senior Brother. Wait until we finish watching this episode before you say anything."

Poor Wukong was completely ignored. He stood up angrily and said, "You heartless bastards! You don't even care about me! Fine, I'm going to take a shower." With that, he stormed into the bathroom, turning the faucet on full blast, deliberately trying to keep the others from watching TV in the living room. He

showered for almost an hour. When he came out of the bathroom, drying his hair, the others were already lounging on the sofa, looking at Wukong expectantly. Sha Wujing smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Senior Brother, are you trying to tell us where you were just now?" Unfortunately, this time it was Wukong's turn to ignore them, determined to get revenge for what happened earlier.

Left with no other option, James

spoke , awkwardly saying, "Mr. Sun, what were you doing just now? Why did you take so long? We were getting really bored waiting for you."

"Yes, Senior Brother, we were getting really bored waiting for you!" Sha Wujing chimed in.

"Really?" Wukong said unhappily, "I saw you having a great time playing games on my computer just now, how could you be bored? And you two too." He turned his gaze to Sha Wujing and Xiao Bai: "You two are just the same, it's a shame I treated you so well before."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Xiao Bai lowered his head and admitted his mistake, not daring to speak. Sha Wujing, relying on his good relationship with Wukong, braced himself and said, "Alright, eldest brother. You've said your piece and vented your anger. Now tell me, where did you go in such a hurry to leave us?"

Wukong didn't deliberately keep them in suspense, and told them exactly what he had seen. He concluded, "I really didn't see it this time. Ye Fang can actually sympathize with people. The Ye Fang of today is really very different from the Ye Fang who was so arrogant in the night rain in Wutong."

Indeed, the Ye Fang of the past could be said to

kill without blinking an eye , killing without any reason, only for her own pleasure. As long as she was happy, she would do anything.

Now, Ye Fang, who was originally determined to kill Zhou Zhenlong, has actually softened her stance after seeing the difficult life Zhou Zhenlong and his mother are living. It's quite strange that she didn't kill him.

Before Sha Wujing could speak, James jumped up, so excited that he hopped onto the sofa in his slippers. Wukong immediately glared at him, as if to say: "Kid, if you don't jump down soon, you'll be sleeping on the streets!"

Faced with such blatant threat, what could James do? He obediently jumped off the sofa and hurriedly said, "Mr. Sun, don't be fooled by Ye Fang's act. She probably already knew you were behind her and was just putting on a show to avoid conflict. You know what kind of vixen she is; you can tell from how she chased me all the way here from the US. You absolutely mustn't have any feelings for her!"

Wukong didn't speak, but

looked at him with a strange gaze. At first, James thought Wukong had suddenly found him handsome, hence his unwavering stare. To match his own handsomeness, he even coolly smoothed his hair and struck a muscular pose.

But was that really the case?

After observing for a while, Wukong finally blurted out, "James, you have a deep misunderstanding of Ye Fang!"

That one sentence was incredibly powerful, causing James to lose his muscular pose and collapse to the ground. It took him a while to get up with difficulty: "Mr. Sun, how could you do this? You've hurt me so much."

Wukong flicked a towel onto his heartbroken face before calmly saying, "Isn't that right? You have a deep misunderstanding of Ye Fang, so no matter what she does, you think it's wrong, it's fake. You can't think about things purely rationally." "I feel that this incident has given me a deeper understanding of this fox spirit. Even ordinary people can change and transform, let alone an enlightened fox spirit like her? Perhaps she really has changed, and is no longer the same as before."

James angrily threw the towel back at Wukong, saying, "I really don't understand whose friend you are, you're always defending her."

Wukong shrugged and said, "I didn't, I'm just telling the truth. If you don't want to hear it, that's fine." After saying that, he continued to dry his still-wet hair, casually changing channels with the remote control in his other hand. He tried to search for European football matches, but couldn't find any, only a Chinese Super League match. Disappointed, Wukong threw down the remote and said disdainfully, "Damn, why are they only showing these lousy programs? There's no passion at all!"

Xiaobai interjected, "Senior Brother, what illness does that Zhou mother have? Why does she need so much money?" Wukong scratched his head and said, "Well... well... it's probably a difficult-to-cure disease!"

Chapter 284 The Trump Card

Xiaobai wasn't satisfied with Wukong's answer; it didn't satisfy his curiosity, so he pressed for details: "An incurable disease? What kind of disease is it?" Wukong had to honestly answer, "I really don't know. I only glanced at her from afar. I was afraid Ye Fang would cause trouble, so I kept an eye on her. But her complexion didn't look good; she seemed to have been sick for a long time." James

shook his head and said, "There are three mountains weighing on a person's life, and medical care is one of them. It's a bottomless pit; unless you get better or die, this mountain will keep pressing down on you."

"What about the other two?" Sha Wujing asked curiously, as he really didn't know much about the human realm.

James counted on his fingers, "The other two are housing and education. Some people are weighed down by these three mountains their whole lives." James wasn't exaggerating at all. Although he was talking about the US, the situation is even worse in China. For example, in Lingwang City, just buying a house costs nearly several hundred thousand yuan

. And that's just for ordinary people. The average wage earner can only afford a loan and then spend decades paying it off, becoming a lifelong mortgage slave, working for the bank. As for illness, it's an even bigger burden. Haven't you heard the common people say: "You can afford to die, but you can't afford to get sick." Alas! If you don't have money, you absolutely can't get sick. Entering the hospital and facing the bill, a small cold could easily turn into a burst blood vessel!

Mortals have their troubles, gods have theirs, and monsters have theirs. In the end, it turns out that everyone—humans, immortals, and demons—has their own troubles.

After shaking his head, Wukong didn't want to think about the problem anymore. He tossed his half-dry hair and walked to the computer, saying, "Alright, you guys go back to your rooms, watch TV, or go to sleep. I'm going to play games online now, so don't bother me, or I'll give you a good beating, understand?" Every night, if he had nothing to do, he would play his newly acquired computer game for a while, usually not wanting to leave the computer until the middle of the night.

Hearing this, the others didn't react much, but James immediately became anxious:

"No way! I made an appointment to go online with someone later. If you play now, what am I supposed to do?"

To this, Wukong gave a bright smile, then quickly put on a stern face: "Go do whatever you want, just don't take my computer! Sha Wujing and Xiaobai, take this foreigner back to his room to sleep!"

But this time, James refused to back down at all, insisting on using the computer. However, Wukong used his trump card, and James immediately surrendered obediently. Wukong simply said, "James, if you don't behave, you'll have to stay at Ye Fang's tomorrow!" James immediately shut up, repeatedly saying, "Please don't, Mr. Sun! I was just joking. How could I possibly fight you over the computer?"

In the brief battle for the computer, James ultimately lost, dejectedly following Sha Wujing out of the living room.

The next day, Wukong slept until almost nine o'clock. When he woke up, he found James wasn't in the room. Bajie told him that James had gone out early that morning, saying he was going to help out at Situ Yangguang's teahouse.

Wukong couldn't help but

smile . This James, so eager to please, could he really have taken a liking to Liu Yueyue? But he was probably dreaming. Not only was Liu Yueyue likely already flirting with that boy Situ Yangguang, but intuitively, Yueyue probably wouldn't be interested in a rough-skinned foreign man. However, he figured James wouldn't listen to any of this now, so he decided to let it go. As the saying goes, even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes, let alone an incorruptible official like himself.

After putting that aside, he began to consider where to have breakfast. Pigsy, who was already starving, heard him muttering to himself about where to have breakfast, and his mouth watered. He quickly said, "Brother Monkey, going to have breakfast? I'm a little hungry too, I'll go with you!"

Monkey was both amused and annoyed by his words, saying, "Pigsy, just say you're hungry, don't act all high and mighty. Come with me? I'm used to being alone, I don't need anyone to accompany me." Pigsy chuckled and said, "Hehe, then the other way around, you come with me!" Pigsy wasn't angry at Monkey's scolding; instead, he grinned broadly

. For him, having food was better than anything else, and even a few more scoldings wouldn't bother him.

After thinking for a while, Wukong's eyes suddenly lit up. He snapped his fingers and said, "I've got it! Isn't James helping out at the teahouse? Let's go there. There are plenty of snacks there anyway. We'll order a pot of tea and eat slowly. After we're done, I'll come back and continue playing games. I'm really getting addicted, hahaha!"

Having made up their minds, Wukong and Bajie went out.

When they arrived at the teahouse, the original signboard had been replaced with a new one and a new name.

"Yuanlai Teahouse?" Wukong stood at the entrance, looking at the signboard above him, a slow smile spreading across his lips. Yuanlai, Yuanlai—it meant the arrival of fate. It seemed the teahouse owner was hoping for fate to arrive quickly.

"Alas, since ancient times, love has only brought regret, and this regret is endless! It seems Situ Yangguang is also a romantic at heart. Of all the names, why did he have to choose Yuanlai? It's truly lamentable," Bajie sighed, looking up at the large signboard.

Wukong smiled but didn't speak, nor did he

directly criticize Bajie's sudden sentiment. However, he had already agreed with Bajie's opinion in his heart; Situ Yangguang was indeed a romantic at heart.

As soon as they entered the teahouse, a waitress greeted them with a smile, asking how many people were in their party and what they would like to order. Bajie said two people, ordered a pot of Longjing tea, and then ordered a lot of food, basically everything on the menu, before stopping. After they sat down, they glanced around but didn't see James, wondering where he had gone. They did see Situ Yangguang sitting behind the counter, but Liu Yueyue wasn't there. Wukong smiled and nodded to him, greeting him.

Situ Yangguang seemed to be in a good mood. Seeing Wukong arrive, he smiled and walked over to Wukong's seat. "Brother Sun, you're here so early? Are you looking for James? He's helping out in the kitchen. Should I call him out?"

"No need. I didn't come here specifically to see him. I was just wandering around and stopped by for a bite to eat." Wukong said casually, then added, "It doesn't seem like there are too many people here."

"Yeah, it doesn't matter. I've never thought about making any money anyway. I'll just keep it open. Maybe I'll close it down someday when the time is right." Although Wukong didn't quite understand what Situ Yangguang meant, he nodded and said, "The right time will come. It just depends on whether you can wait for it."

As he spoke, someone brought over the teapot and cups. "You ordered Longjing tea. Oh, Mr. Sun, is that you?" It turned out that the person who brought over the teapot and cups was James.

Wukong said with a half-smile, "What, does this mean only you are allowed here, but I'm not? Who made that rule?"

"Not at all, not at all, I welcome you both on behalf of Yuanlai Teahouse!" James said, bowing and scraping.

Chapter 285 A Fawning Smile

Looking at James's obsequious and comical appearance, Bajie couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying, "Big White Bear, being a lowly waiter is such a waste of your time! Did you really want to do this?" James smiled slightly, "Of course I wanted to. Did someone force me at gunpoint? To be honest, I'm very happy to do this job."

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, James ran back to the kitchen to help. Wukong watched James's back and said to Situ Yangguang, who was making tea, "He seems to be having a lot of fun. It's funny, really. Giving up a good boxer to work as a waiter, it's amazing he even thought of that."

Situ Yang Guang smiled, his hands moving without stopping. "I was surprised when he came this morning. I thought he was just joking, but I didn't expect him to take it seriously."

Wukong nodded, looked around and not seeing Liu Yueyue, and couldn't help but ask, "Why haven't I seen Miss Yueyue today? Didn't she come?"

Hearing this, Situ Yang Guang's expression brightened. "Yueyue went out, she

should be back soon." As he spoke, Situ Yang Guang had already brewed the tea and handed a cup to Wukong. "Here, try the tea I brewed myself, and see how it is."

Wukong took the tea and saw a few yellow-green tea leaves tumbling in the hot water, like fried dough sticks, emitting a fragrant aroma. Taking a sip, he felt the hot water mixed with the mellow aroma of the tea flow over his cheeks, past his teeth, and down his throat, warming his whole body. He couldn't help but praise, "Good tea, much better than the tea I brew at home."

Hearing the praise, Situ Yangguang couldn't help but smile: "Since you like it, come more often. I get quite bored in this teahouse anyway."

"If you find it boring, why did you take over this teahouse? The Situ family has plenty of money; they don't care if you make money or not," Wukong said, still puzzled by Situ Yangguang's intentions. Situ Yangguang looked down at the rising steam from the kettle, his brows furrowed in the steam, seemingly unreal: "I'm waiting for a kindred spirit in tea, or perhaps I'm waiting for a destined connection."

Speaking of destiny, Situ Yangguang smiled and

handed to Bajie. Bajie took it and downed it in one gulp, praising repeatedly: "Good tea, good tea! Really, I don't think I've ever tasted such fragrant tea before!" Wukong squinted at Situ Yangguang and said, "You're very persistent."

"Perhaps," Situ Yangguang replied, "but I'm just one of the many persistent people out there. Destiny Teahouse, Destiny Teahouse, when will my destiny arrive?" His expression was somewhat lost. Bajie thought of Chang'e, who had vanished into thin air. Fate—what an illusory word. "Those destined to meet will find each other even from a thousand miles away; those not destined will not meet even face to face.

" Like himself and Chang'e, though they were once very close, their hearts were far apart. Situ Yangguang opened this teahouse to wait for his destiny, but would destiny truly come? "Destiny is right beside you. I believe you will definitely find the destiny you seek, right, Situ Yangguang?" Wukong encouraged him.

Situ Yangguang smiled calmly and said, "Destiny is nowhere to be found. Perhaps I won't be able to wait any longer before it finally arrives."

"Why?" Wukong asked curiously. At this moment, someone brought the snacks and other food they had ordered. Bajie's hands began to busy themselves

, stuffing snacks into his large mouth, barely having time to speak.

"You know, I am the reincarnated Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty. I have no idea how many years I will live, but my wait is endless. Perhaps all I will get in return is emptiness," Situ Yangguang sighed softly. Fortunately, there weren't many people around, and their seats were rather secluded, so no one noticed what they were saying. Otherwise, Situ Yangguang's words might have caused a commotion.

"I want to know, who are you waiting for?" Wukong frowned and asked curiously.

"Consort Yang, my Consort Yang. On the day I passed away, she held my hand and promised me that if there was an afterlife, she would be my woman again. I remembered her words firmly. But, my Consort Yang, where is she? Perhaps she has changed, become unrecognizable to me. But it doesn't matter, I will use the fragrant tea I brew myself to draw her to my side," Situ Yangguang said emotionally.

Wukong held

a small pastry in his hand, but didn't eat it. He just looked at it from side to side, as if it were a work of art rather than a pastry. "I really can't do anything with you. Aren't emperors supposed to have countless concubines? Why do you only miss that Yang Guifei? Hehe, the emotional entanglements of you mortals are so complicated. I, Old Sun

, feel a headache just listening to you." While they were talking, Bajie took the opportunity to feast. The table full of pastries was quickly emptied by his whirlwind eating, but his big belly was clearly not satisfied. He urged the waiters to bring more pastries. Several waiters came and went like a revolving lantern, but Bajie still complained that they were too slow.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. By the way, do you have enough staff at this teahouse? Should you hire a few more?" Wukong saw that there were only a few waiters in the shop, which was really too few.

“We’re a bit short-staffed, and they’re really tired from working all day, so I’m planning to hire two more people and have them work in two shifts, taking turns resting on Saturdays and Sundays. But as you know, it’s almost the end of the year, and everyone wants to go home. Who’s going to apply? So we’ll just have to hold out for now and see what happens next spring.”

Speaking of hiring, Wukong suddenly remembered Zhou Zhenlong. Liu Yueyue had tried to persuade him to stay, but he refused. He hadn’t understood him before, but after yesterday’s events, he did. Yes, a monthly salary of a little over a thousand yuan wasn’t enough for even one medical visit for his mother.

“Do you remember that fake Taoist priest from yesterday? Now I know why he didn’t want to stay. Do you want to hear it?” Wukong asked him.

Situ Yangguang didn't understand why he would bring up this person, so he immediately asked him why. After Wukong recounted the whole story, Situ Yangguang finally understood and couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't realize he was such a loyal and filial son. No wonder he lied to people."

"What, are you overflowing with sympathy?" Bajie had almost finished eating and finally had a chance to chime in. Situ Yangguang smiled and said nothing more. Just then, someone called him to pay the bill, so he stopped chatting and went to the counter to collect the money. At this moment, another uninvited guest entered the teahouse

: Ye Fang. Today, she was wearing a tight-fitting red trench coat, a black short skirt, and black boots. She seemed to really like red, a color that represents passion and flamboyance, much like her personality. However, red also best complemented her appearance, constantly showcasing her flamboyant beauty and captivating charm.

When Bajie saw Ye Fang enter, his eyes lit up, and he plastered a fawning smile on his face, saying, "Hehe, beautiful Ye, we're really destined to meet! We just met yesterday, and we're meeting again today!"

Chapter 286 The Feeling of Heartache.

Ye Fang saw Wukong as soon as she entered and walked straight over, saying bluntly, "I went to the Situ family's house earlier but couldn't find James. The people inside said he came to the teahouse. Did you kidnap him?"

If it were before last night, Wukong would have been very disgusted by Ye Fang's impolite tone and might have given her a good scolding. But after yesterday's scene, Wukong's impression of her... There had been a significant improvement, so this time she didn't get angry. She pointed to the kitchen and said, "James's over there, go find him yourself."

Having received a reply, Ye Fang didn't bother to say anything more and turned to leave. But then she heard a voice behind her: "Don't say I'm being mean, but out of respect for Wu Nai's sister, I'm kindly reminding you: you need to change your bad temper and attitude, otherwise you'll easily offend people."

Although the words were direct, they weren't harsh. Ye Fang could tell whether it was well-intentioned or malicious, so this time she didn't retort, but she didn't say anything else either. After a pause, she went straight to the kitchen.

Afterwards, the kitchen, which had been quiet until now, began to make occasional

noises and sounds. Wukong was too lazy to go over and continued drinking tea and looking out the window. Just then, Wukong's phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was Situ Yu calling. Wukong listened urgently on the phone. Situ Yu said, "Wukong, come over quickly! Something strange has happened at my company. Please come right away." Wukong agreed, "Okay, I'll be right there." After saying that, he said to Bajie, "Bajie, something happened at Xiaoyu's company. I have to go there now. Will you come with me?" Having just finished eating and drinking, Bajie was full of energy. He immediately nodded and stood up with Wukong, saying repeatedly, "Yes, I'll definitely go! How can I not help Xiaoyu when she needs help?"

"What? Leaving so soon? Is something wrong?" Situ Yangguang asked curiously, noticing that Wukong hadn't even finished his cup of tea.

Wukong helplessly waved his phone and said, "Yeah, I got a call. Xiaoyu said some strange things happened at the company and she wants me to go over. I have no choice." He gestured towards the still noisy kitchen and said, "Keep an eye on those two in there, don't let them cause any trouble

, especially Ye Fang."

"Alright, I know, go ahead. Is my sister alright? I'm really worried. Should I come with you?" Situ Yangguang asked with concern.

"No need, your going won't help," Wukong declined Situ Yangguang's offer to go with him.

Wukong and Bajie left in a hurry, while the teahouse kitchen was bustling with activity. Ever since entering, Ye Fang had been fixated on James, constantly asking why he hadn't answered his phone and why he hadn't called her.

Please, James was trying to avoid her; why would he call her first? Unless he'd lost his mind. James pretended not to hear her, ignoring her and continuing to plate the freshly steamed pastries.

The chefs in the kitchen, seeing this, found it incredibly strange. A beautiful girl like Ye Fang would actively pursue a man, and even stranger, the man seemed reluctant to acknowledge her.

One of them, unable to bear it any longer, tried to speak up for Ye Fang, but she immediately snapped back. Her reason: their affairs were none of anyone else's business.

After this incident, they

finally understood why James had been avoiding Ye Fang; a woman being too fierce wasn't always a good thing.

No matter where James went, Ye Fang followed, relentlessly questioning him about why he was ignoring her. She wouldn't even let him go out to serve guests, driving James to the brink of despair and fueling his growing irritation. Situ Yangguang, who had been observing their reactions closely, noticed something amiss and called James over. Glancing at Ye Fang's displeased expression, he said softly, "James, why don't you go for a walk with Ye Fang? It's not busy right now, I can manage on my own."

"Okay!" Ye Fang agreed before James could, then dragged him out of the teahouse. James, looking dejected, shook off Ye Fang once outside, saying, "What do you want? I still have work to do. If you have nothing else to do, go back." He practically begged for mercy.

"What do you mean I'm fine? I'm in trouble!" Ye Fang shouted, her eyebrows raised. "Why are you always ignoring me? Do I look that scary? And why did you have to come here to help? Tell me, have you fallen for that little vixen surnamed Liu?"

These blunt words scared James half to death. If anyone heard this, there would be an uproar. Luckily, no one was around at the moment. He pulled Ye Fang to a corner and said, "What do you mean I like her? I came here to help because I had nothing better to do. What does it have to do with Miss Liu? Besides, even if I really like someone, it's none of your business."

"What do you mean it's none of my business!" Ye Fang's previously furious expression suddenly transformed into a radiant smile. "Don't forget, I'm pursuing you now."

This single sentence was more damaging than all her previous words combined. James, his face pale, stammered, "You...you're joking, right?"

Ye Fang maintained her smile, saying, "How could I joke about something like this? Don't forget, I said this in front of my older brother, and even your good friend Lao Sha heard it. I can't deny it even if I wanted to."

James's legs went weak at that moment, no wonder... Ah, the pressure of being chased by the witch was too much. He pleaded with a long face, "Witch... um, Miss Ye Fang, what exactly do you see in me? What's so good about me? I'll change, okay? Please let me go!"

James was practically begging on his knees, but Ye Fang remained unmoved. After a slight change in expression, she regained her previous smile: "It's no use saying anything now. I'm determined to pursue you. You have to help out here from now on, right? Okay, I'll come sing here tomorrow, we'll work together. Now I'm going back, hehe!" With that, James left, leaving the terrified James behind.

As she reached a corner, the smile on Ye Fang's face vanished, replaced by a look of utter dejection. She leaned against the wall, seemingly without any strength.

So this is how tiring it is to like someone who doesn't like you back. She'd never realized it before. Whether in the demon realm or in the Wutong Night Rain Club, it was always others who were infatuated with her; she never pursued anyone. Now, experiencing it for the first time

, this feeling… it really wasn't good!

Ye Fang gave a bitter smile, pressing her hand to her chest. Even now, she could still feel the pain in her chest. Just because of James's words, her heart ached for no reason. She never knew, never knew, that the heart could truly hurt!

At this moment, Ye Fang was very weak.

Chapter 287 Torture

Ye Fang finally truly felt the heartache she had once inflicted on someone.

A bitter smile, an uncontrollable bitter smile, lingered on Ye Fang's lips. But since she liked him, she would keep pursuing him, pursuing him to a conclusion—this was the vow she made to herself.

But only later did Ye Fang realize how naive, how beautiful her idea was. Pursuing him to a conclusion? Ah, what if she didn't have the strength to continue?

Once the heartache had mostly subsided, she put on a smile again and headed to the mall to buy CDs and sound equipment for her singing at the teahouse the next day. As for money, that wasn't a concern; with her abilities, how could she not get it? She wasn't going to abide by the laws set by humans like her older brother, Wu Nai.

Meanwhile, Wukong and Bajie arrived at Situ Nan's Huanyu Group. Situ Yu was already waiting there, along with several serious-looking detectives, all with grave expressions.

"What happened, Xiaoyu?" Wukong asked. Xiaoyu, pale-faced, came over and nestled against Wukong

's arm, weakly saying, "How terrifying! Wukong, it's so horrible!" Wukong comforted her, "Don't be afraid, I'm here!" Then he said to the detectives, "What happened? Take me to see." The detectives had already heard Situ Yu introduce Wukong beforehand, knowing that he not only possessed extraordinary skills but also seemed to have some mysterious supernatural abilities. Hearing Wukong's question, they didn't say much, but directly led Wukong to a men's restroom on the second floor, where a forensic doctor in his thirties wearing gold-rimmed glasses was dissecting a corpse. He nodded when he saw them enter and stopped what he was doing.

Although Wukong had dealt with many corpses and monsters, seeing a corpse with its chest completely opened and its internal organs clearly visible still made him a little uncomfortable. He only glanced at it briefly before looking away. Bajie, on the other hand, curiously followed beside him, looking around as if he didn't care about the environment at all.

"Mr. Sun, please come this way." The detective led Wukong to a closer area, where another corpse lay. When the detective opened the plastic bag covering the body, Wukong couldn't help but be shocked. What lay inside

wasn't a corpse at all; it was more like a pile of broken bones encased in skin. There was no blood, no flesh, just a layer of skin covering the bones, like a skeleton. But that wasn't all. The corpse's eyeballs had been gouged out, leaving only two dark holes. This sent a chill down one's spine, as if those two holes were laughing at people. It was incredibly terrifying. Even the seasoned detectives dared not look at this corpse for long.

At this moment, the forensic doctor explained, "These two bodies were discovered an hour ago. Both victims were male, between twenty and thirty years old, and ordinary employees of the Huanyu Group. The cause of death was complete blood loss—not just blood, but also all the flesh was gone. How it happened is unknown. Furthermore, all the victims' eyeballs were gouged out after death. The two murders are identical in method, suggesting the same perpetrator." This forensic doctor, whether from seeing countless corpses or simply being thick-skinned, showed no adverse reaction to the gruesome sight, only a slight frown.

Wukong suppressed his nausea and stepped forward to examine one of the corpses' heads. The skull and skeleton were intact, undamaged, and there were no wounds on either side of the neck. Both corpses were the same.

Wukong was now puzzled. When he looked at them earlier, he thought the killers were zombies or some kind of monster, since only they fed on blood. But now it seemed that wasn't the case. At least their necks were completely unharmed, without any wounds. Could it be on their bodies?

One of the detectives noticed Wukong's confusion and pulled him aside, whispering, "Mr. Sun, do you suspect that they weren't killed by humans, but by some other kind of monster?" Wukong nodded, lost in thought.

Seeing Wukong nod, the detective continued, "Before this, we thoroughly examined every corpse in the station. We found no new or fatal wounds on their bodies; it was as if the blood and flesh had been taken away out of thin air."

Wukong

frowned, hesitatingly saying, "Could this not be the kind of supernatural event we're thinking of? Because so far, I've never heard of any demon that would devour human flesh, leaving only bones and skin."

The detective smiled wryly, "But a normal murderer wouldn't kill like that, so it can only be classified as a supernatural event. Currently, we're told to suppress this matter and not disclose it to the media, otherwise... " This caused a panic, and all the police officers involved were given a gag order, forbidden from speaking about it. Of course, you are an exception. According to Miss Situ Yu, you are a highly capable person, and perhaps you can help us solve this case, so I don't want to hide it from you. However, this kind of thing can't be suppressed forever. If the murderer continues to kill, and we can't find him quickly, the truth will soon come out. Mr. Sun, I'm truly heartbroken by this. I hope you can help us catch the murderer and bring him to justice, so he can stop harming people. Only then can the people of Lingwang City live in peace. Please, Mr. Sun... " It's best to

decline ."

The detective waited a while but Wukong didn't reply. Assuming he was considering the reward, he said, "If you can catch the murderer, the higher-ups said they're willing to pay a certain reward."

Wukong gave a wry smile and said, "Officer, you misunderstand. I'm not short of money. I just can't understand why this murderer killed people, and why he gouged out their eyes. We know nothing about this murderer right now. Even if I wanted to catch him, I wouldn't know where to look. By the way, do you have any other useful clues?"

The detective gave the same wry smile: "To be honest, I don't have any clues. Logically, there should be some clues left, but that's not the case." "Just like that, there are no clues, no one who witnessed the crime, and no suspicious persons. The murderer seems to have appeared out of thin air."

Wukong nodded, paused for a moment, and said, "Since there are no external clues, we can only start with the corpse. At least we need to find out the real reason why their flesh and blood were removed." Saying this, he glanced at the forensic doctor and asked, "Is

this person reliable? Will he say something nonsense outside?"

Hearing this question, the detective immediately said confidently, "You can rest assured about that. He is a sensible person. He knows what he should and shouldn't say. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought you in to see the corpse like this."

"That's good!" After saying these three words, Wukong walked back to the corpse. Bajie, who had been observing the corpse, saw him coming and quietly shook his head, indicating that he had not found anything.

Chapter 288 Who is the murderer? Suppressing

his nausea, Wukong asked the forensic doctor for a pair of rubber gloves and put them on. Then he carefully examined the corpse from head to toe. After examining it in detail, he had to admit that there were indeed no wounds on the corpse, at least no new wounds.

The detective who had been watching suddenly said, "Mr. Sun, I've heard there's a way to see the last image a victim saw before they died through their pupils. Could the murderer have gouged out the victim's eyes to avoid being discovered?"

Wukong glanced at him, then looked down at the corpse again. "I don't know if others can do it, but I certainly can't. Once a person dies, it's like a light going out; nothing remains from their life. The image in the pupils disappears long ago; there's no way they could see anything. The murderer must have had some other purpose in gouging out the eyes."

As he spoke, Wukong widened his fiery eyes and examined the corpse. He found that the victim didn't possess the expected demonic aura; only a few extremely faint, almost invisible strands of black energy swirled around them. The aura was filled with the scent of death, yet it couldn't be properly categorized;

it was simply very eerie.

Continuing to examine the body without any further insight, Wukong withdrew his gaze and began fiddling with the victim's ears and fingers. He examined the lips and toes meticulously, trying to find even the slightest injury, but he was disappointed once again. He found no wounds on the fingers, toes, lips, or ears. From the deceased's appearance, there were indeed no wounds whatsoever. This strange discovery plunged Wukong into deep thought once more. Logically, this shouldn't happen.

Wukong sighed softly, suddenly feeling at a loss.

Suddenly, Wukong noticed something unusual about the corpse's mouth. It wasn't tightly closed; there was a gap, and it was slightly twisted, as if it had struggled before death. A mouth? Could there be a wound inside? With this question in mind, Wukong bent down, enduring the stench, and carefully examined the deceased's mouth. Upon seeing it, his expression changed drastically. He then hurriedly went to look at the other corpse. After examining it, he revealed his first smile since entering the room. The mystery had finally been solved. It turned out he had almost overlooked something, a very subtle detail.

Wukong smiled softly, pleased with his own attentiveness and intelligence.

The detective and the forensic doctor, seeing Wukong's confident smile, were invigorated; it seemed the situation had taken a turn for the better. They pressed him for details, asking if he had discovered anything. Wukong nodded and led them to the corpse, urging them to examine the mouth closely. Upon closer inspection, their expressions changed instantly.

Wukong laughed, "This answers the question of how the murderer completely drained the victim's flesh. Furthermore, I've deduced that the murderer is 90% likely a woman!"

Indeed, what they had just discovered was a tiny wound on the tip of the murderer's tongue, practically invisible without close inspection. The murderer used this wound to drain the victim's flesh.

As for why he said 90% likely a woman, it's even simpler: a wound on the tongue can only be created during kissing. A woman is undoubtedly the one who kisses a man. The remaining 10% refers to the possibility that both victims

were homosexual, in which case the person kissing them would be a man. However, this possibility seems unlikely.

Although the wound had been found, some of the people present were still skeptical, especially the forensic doctor. He said doubtfully, "Although there's a wound here, how could such a small wound suck a person's flesh dry? That seems a bit illogical, doesn't it?"

Several detectives shared the same doubt. Wukong smiled slightly and said, "Precisely because it's illogical, this matter is full of strangeness. However, it's now basically certain that the killer of these people wasn't an ordinary person, but a ruthless monster!"

"A monster? Are you kidding me? Where in this world are there monsters? Mr. Sun, forgive my bluntness, but your imagination is too good!" The forensic doctor looked completely unconvinced. The detective, however, was deep in thought. He was a quick-thinking person, and the facts before him made him ponder. Although it was absurd to speculate that the murderer of a murder case was a monster, it seemed difficult to find a better explanation.

Wukong said to the forensic doctor, "There are many things in this world that you

don't understand , but that doesn't mean that things you don't understand don't exist. Humans certainly can't suck out flesh and blood from a small wound, but monsters can."

The forensic doctor adjusted his glasses without speaking, seemingly unable to find a rebuttal. Although he had never believed in ghosts or spirits, faced with such a bizarre corpse, even after so many years as a forensic doctor, he couldn't find a reasonable explanation.

The detective, who had been silent all along, quietly made a phone call. A few minutes later, seemingly receiving instructions from above, he said to Wukong, "Mr. Sun, I have a clue that might be helpful to you."

"Oh? What is it?" Hearing about a clue, Wukong immediately perked up and gestured for the detective to speak quickly.

The detective cleared his throat, gathered his thoughts, and said, "When we found the first body, we noticed a red camellia next to it. We initially thought it was just a coincidence, but then we found the same flower next to the next body. So we realized this might be a symbol of the murderer, or perhaps a representation of himself, deliberately placed there.

We preserved these two camellias as evidence. Strangely enough, more than an hour has passed, and these flowers show no signs of wilting."

Both Wukong and Bajie, who was looking around anxiously, felt the mystery growing thicker after hearing this clue. Camellia—what kind of demon would use a camellia as a symbol?

Wukong dreaded anything that required thinking. His head had been tormented by the golden headband years ago, and although he was free now, some aftereffects remained. Therefore, he didn't want to delve into problems that required too much brainpower. However, this time, Situ Yu's company had run into trouble, and seeing her helpless and pitiful state, Wukong really wanted to help her find the murderer and put everyone's minds at ease.

But who was the murderer?

Chapter 289 Disgusting.

The detective's mention of camellias piqued Wukong's interest. "Can I see those camellias?" Wukong requested. After all, seeing is believing, and to verify whether these two camellias were related to the murderer, he could only do so in person.

The detective, of course, wouldn't refuse. He immediately retrieved the camellias, placing them in two separate plastic bags and labeling them with numbers according to the order in which they were found. Just as the detective had said, the two flowers remained as vibrant as ever, as if they had just been picked, with dew still clinging to the petals of one of them.

The flowers were so beautiful, so delicate, yet the murderer had placed them beside the murdered body, tainting their beauty with the stench of blood.

Through the plastic bag, Wukong noticed another commonality between the two flowers: they weren't fully open, still in bud, with only a few petals unfurled.

"Were they like this when we first found them?" Wukong asked the detective, pointing to the budding camellias.

The detective thought carefully for a moment, then said uncertainly, "It doesn't seem so

. I vaguely remember that when we first found them, these flowers were all closed, no petals open. Perhaps they opened later due to the indoor heating."

This explanation made sense, but Wukong's doubts lingered.

It was truly strange; why would the murderer place these camellias at the scene after the killing? Was it merely a habit to identify themselves?

And these camellias themselves were indeed odd. More than an hour had passed, yet there was still no sign of wilting. This didn't seem like something a normal flower should have. Could there be something strange about these flowers?

With this question in mind, and just to be on the safe side, Wukong once again used his Fiery Eyes of Truth. This time, what he saw was utterly disgusting. From the center of the two camellia buds sealed in plastic bags, countless tiny, pitch-black worms, only an inch long, were continuously emerging. These worms had no limbs, crawling by wriggling their bodies, somewhat like caterpillars, but far more terrifying. Their tiny mouths were filled with sharp teeth, like steel knives. Their two eyes on their heads were blood-red. There were dozens of these worms in each plastic bag, their bodies intertwined like black ropes, and their blood-red eyes were chilling to behold. However, their black shells seemed still soft, so they hadn't yet broken through the plastic bags. Once their shells fully molted, the confinement of the plastic bags would be nothing to them with their sharp teeth.

His scalp tingled. Even though Wukong was well-traveled and had seen many terrifying things, so many horrifying crawling insects were truly chilling. Luckily, he hadn't touched the plastic bag, or he would have vomited just looking at it.

Needless to say, these two camellias were used to hatch these strange insects. These insects were invisible to ordinary people; only those with spiritual insight could see them. Otherwise, even if possessed by these insects, one wouldn't know. Wukong used his Fiery Eyes of Truth, so of course he could see them.

Without time to explain, Wukong clasped his hands together and silently chanted, "Burn the sins of the world, redeem all evil deeds. Samadhi True Fire, go!" Wukong, bored in Leiyin Temple,

had once consulted several Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who used Samadhi True Fire. With his intelligence, he quickly learned it, and now it came in handy.

The power of Samadhi True Fire was unparalleled; it could melt even steel, let alone these newly hatched strange insects. Despite their small size, these insects possessed considerable intelligence. When they saw the ball of fire rushing towards them, extreme terror flashed in their blood-red eyes, and they retreated hastily, emitting strange chirping sounds, like scraping the bottom of a pot with a knife—sounds that sent chills down one

's spine! The true fire reached them in an instant. Seeing that they couldn't escape, these hundred or so strange insects opened their mouths simultaneously, spitting out thick black bubbles, attempting to use them as a shield.

Surprisingly, these hundred or so black bubbles actually managed to block the Samadhi True Fire, albeit with great effort. Wukong was secretly astonished. He hadn't expected these newly hatched insects to possess such abilities. Fortunately, he discovered it early; otherwise, it would have been much more difficult to deal with them once they were fully grown. Thinking of this, he increased the pressure in his hands

, wanting to unleash the true fire again, determined to annihilate these insects.

Before he could unleash his anger, the forensic doctor, who hadn't had a chance to speak until now, stepped in front of him and shouted, "Are you crazy? These are pieces of evidence in this case! How could you destroy them without a word? Are you the murderer?"

The detective didn't speak, but his eyes were filled with doubt, awaiting Wukong's answer. The charge of deliberately destroying evidence was no small matter; without a reason, he would be in a difficult position.

Wukong smiled coldly, looking at the forensic doctor with the gaze one would give a dead man: "You idiots! Didn't you see I was saving you? If I hadn't destroyed these flowers now, it wouldn't be long before everyone in your police station was lying here dead."

"Don't try to confuse me. I won't believe you," the forensic doctor insisted, but he quickly shut his mouth as Wukong flicked a drop of water into his eye, then did the same to the other detectives.

After doing all this, Wukong said, "This is

the Clear Water I concocted myself. It can temporarily open your spiritual eyes, allowing you to see things you couldn't see before. So, do you still want to accuse me of spreading heresy?" This last sentence was directed at the forensic doctor, who was staring at the camellia in a daze.

The people whose spiritual eyes had just been opened saw the hideous and terrifying insects surrounding the camellia, and even saw them using bubbles from their mouths to block Wukong's Samadhi True Fire.

Sharp teeth, blood-red eyes, pitch-black bodies—everything about them made their scalps tingle, even more so than when Wukong saw it. Their stomachs churned; if they hadn't been used to seeing corpses, they probably would have vomited by now.

"This...what is this...why..." The poor forensic doctor was now incoherent.

The detective, too, struggled to tear his gaze away from the swarm of insects. "Why are there these strange bugs in the plastic bag? Is this just a hallucination?"

The forensic doctor, recovering slightly from his initial panic, asked suspiciously, "Mr. Sun, you didn't catch these bugs to scare us, did you?"

Damn it, Wukong

almost died of anger at that question. Was he just bored and catching bugs to play a prank? Besides, he felt disgusted by bugs; why would he want to catch them with his hands? If this hadn't happened at Xiaoyu's company, he wouldn't have bothered with them! Wukong secretly scorned the trembling forensic doctor.

The detective, however, remained calm. After his initial shock, he rebuked the forensic doctor, "Don't talk nonsense. I believe Mr. Sun isn't that kind of person. If he had put them there himself, we wouldn't have seen them now." He then said to Wukong, "Mr. Sun, can these strange bugs be eliminated? We can talk about other things later. Getting rid of these bugs is the most urgent thing."

"I'll think of something," Wukong said, lowering his head in thought.

Chapter 290 Strange Phenomenon

Wukong carefully observed the disgusting, strange insects for a while, then smiled dismissively: "No problem, these insects are nothing to worry about, they won't threaten you anymore." He said no more, secretly circulating his inner energy, and unleashed two more streams of Samadhi True Fire from his hands. This time, the insects couldn't withstand it and were immediately engulfed by the true fire, emitting a nauseating stench.

Surprisingly, those insects were quite resilient; the Samadhi True Fire didn't instantly reduce them to ashes, but instead writhed and howled in the fire for quite some time before finally dying.

After burning these heinous items, the Samadhi True Fire, under Wukong's control, automatically extinguished. Only then did the detective and forensic doctor's expressions soften. The detective, still shaken, said, "What kind of strange things are these? They're disgusting! Just looking at them makes me want to vomit. Why are they in the camellias? What was his purpose in putting these insects in the camellias?"

Wukong gave a dismissive smile: "I think I already know the murderer's intention in leaving the camellias after the murder. On the surface, it seems he just wanted to mark his identity, but there's a deeper purpose behind it all. What a vicious intention! Luckily, it was discovered early, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable." Wukong himself felt a wave of fear. Fortunately, he had impulsively decided to examine the two flowers, and fortunately, the detectives had preserved them as evidence. Otherwise, these insects might have spread throughout Lingwang City, becoming impossible to find.

"Mr. Sun, what is this other purpose you mentioned?" the detective asked, enduring the foul stench, his expression unusually serious. He must have guessed something.

Wukong said in a deep voice, "If I'm not mistaken, these insects should be able to attach themselves to people. Right now, they're just larvae; they can only grow into adults after attaching to a human."

"Isn't that like the Alien movies?" This time, the forensic doctor was the first to react; his first thought was the Alien movies, indicating he'd watched quite a few.

Wukong glanced at him indifferently: "Maybe. I'm just guessing; it hasn't been confirmed, but it's probably pretty close. Otherwise, given their size and abilities just now, they

couldn't have caused any significant harm."

Everyone's minds conjured up images of the strange insects multiplied countless times. And there were countless of them—it was truly terrifying.

"Who on earth is so malicious?" the detective asked indignantly. There were too many things he couldn't understand today, but one thing he was clear about was that someone wanted to use these strange insects to harm people for nefarious purposes.

Wukong shrugged, spreading his hands helplessly, "That's beyond my knowledge, officer. What are you planning to do now? Continue investigating the murderer?"

The detective also felt extremely helpless. This kind of case, beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, was truly beyond his ability to handle: "Mr. Sun, the case must be investigated. But it's beyond our capabilities. We hope for your full support."

Wukong clapped his hands, "No problem! The case happened at Xiaoyu's company; it's my responsibility to get to the bottom of it. Remember the next time the murderer's trail appears, or the trail of Chahua..." "Don't act rashly. Call me first. Those gunpowder-powered firearms

won't be enough to deal with this. Also..."

He was about to say something when he suddenly noticed a glint of black light flashing in the empty eye sockets of one of the corpses. It was definitely not his imagination. After a moment's thought, he immediately understood and chuckled, "So there were still some who escaped the net. We almost fooled them." He turned to the forensic doctor and said, "Could you please open up this corpse's skull for me?"

Uh, the forensic doctor didn't react for a moment. Why would he need to open someone's skull? Hadn't the cause of death already been determined?

Finally, at the detective's signal, he took the specialized instrument and slowly cut open the skeletal skull of the corpse. Just as he grasped the skullcap, preparing to open it, Wukong suddenly grabbed his hand and quickly retreated towards the door, shouting, "Bajie, protect the scene!"

"Whoa, Senior Brother, what happened?!" Bajie roared, rapidly waving his hands a few times. A white light emanated from his palms, forming a protective layer in front of him and the detective, blocking any potential attacks.

This time, the detectives were truly dumbfounded. They knew Sun

Wukong was no ordinary person, but they hadn't expected this burly, seemingly clumsy man beside him to be so skilled. Truly,

a hidden master! But they had no time to marvel, because something even more terrifying flew out from the severed skull, chasing after Wukong. Wukong had already prepared himself when he retreated. Seeing the insect flying towards him, Wukong turned and unleashed two blazing flames at the insect. The insects, the same strange worms they had just seen, flew out of the corpse's head, but they were different. These insects were several times larger than the ones they had seen before, and they had an extra pair of wings on their backs, allowing them to fly. Their sharp teeth snapped open and closed with a "crackling" sound; anything bitten by them would surely break in two, including bone!

Fortunately, Wukong was prepared and had already unleashed his Samadhi True Fire before the insects could reach him. Caught off guard, the insects knew Wukong was not to be trifled with, let out a strange cry, and pounced on Bajie on the other side.

Bajie panicked and shouted at Wukong, "Brother, quickly find

a way to kill this dead insect! I can't hold on much longer!"

At the same time, the detective was frightened by the insects' ferocious appearance. Almost without thinking, he drew the gun from his waist and pulled the trigger. Several shots rang out, hitting the insects.

However, when the bullet struck the insect, the insect flapped its wings twice, and the bullet was deflected, grazing just past Bajie's big ear.

Bajie was startled and yelled at the detective, "Have you gone mad from being a cop? Didn't my boss just tell you these gunpowder guns are useless? If I hadn't reacted quickly, your bullet would have pierced a hole in Big Ear! You're a complete idiot!" After this tirade, Bajie's mood improved slightly. But the strange insect circled in the air for a moment, then swooped down, its target clearly set on Bajie.

Chapter 291: Silent Gratitude.

The detective's face flushed red and then paled as Bajie berated him. In all his years as a detective captain, he had never been scolded like this, especially not by an unremarkable fellow. He knew he had indeed been reckless and was in the wrong; even the forensic doctor was glaring at him, so he couldn't retaliate.

Seeing Bajie in danger, Wukong quietly took out his golden cudgel from his ear, swung it in the wind, and it transformed into an iron rod as thick as a wrist. He leaped over and slammed it down on the strange insect. The insect reacted quickly; seeing Wukong's cudgel coming, it actually stuck to it, stopping in the middle of the cudgel and opening its mouth to bite. However, Wukong's golden cudgel was no ordinary iron rod; it was the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the pillar that stabilizes the seas. Not to mention this tiny insect, even if you bombed it, it would remain unharmed. Seeing that it had been gnawing for so long without making a single bite off the cudgel, the insect became enraged. Its patterned belly heaved, emitting a strange croaking sound like a frog. A moment later, an echoing cry came from the head of another corpse.

Was it calling for its companion? The thought had barely crossed everyone's minds when a black arrow shot out from the head of another corpse, arriving beside the strange insect. The two insects then began gnawing at the golden cudgel with their sharp teeth.

However, of course, it was all in vain. The insects eventually gave up on the cudgel and immediately turned to pounce on Wukong.

If anyone had looked at the two heads, they would have noticed that their brains were empty; the insects had devoured them.

Seeing the ugly, repulsive insects attacking him, Wukong felt like vomiting. It was disgusting; where did these ugly insects come from, and how dare they release them?

Disgusting as it was, he still had to kill them, but he didn't intend to kill them all. He wanted to keep one as a sample to take back to Wu Nai and Ye Fang to see if they knew what these strange insects were.

Wukong gripped the golden cudgel tightly and aimed it at the insect. As Wukong infused his inner strength, the Golden Cudgel emitted a dazzling light, which grew increasingly intense. The strange insects, seemingly aware of the danger, stopped mid-flight and instead began

spitting out black bubbles, switching from close-range attacks to ranged attacks.

In fact, Wukong had already discovered the considerable intelligence of these newly hatched insects when dealing with them earlier; they were not mindless fools who could adapt their strategies.

Using the power of the Golden Cudgel, Wukong either blocked or smashed the bubbles, deflecting them one by one. The police captain nearby was touched by a bubble, and the skin immediately began to rot and spread rapidly. He hadn't expected the bubbles from these strange insects to be so corrosive; they were truly ruthless.

The police captain, caught off guard, was somewhat embarrassed and disheveled after being touched by such a troublesome substance.

Seeing the policeman in trouble, Bajie shouted, "Take care of your hand injury first, or your whole hand will be ruined!"

The policeman nodded silently. Even without Bajie's words, he could feel that the paralysis of his right hand caused by the venom was getting worse, and the wound was gradually widening due to the corrosive liquid.

The policeman was indeed a tough guy. He tried several treatments on

his hand, but he couldn't get rid of the venom. In desperation, he had to ruthlessly cut off the corroded part of his hand. Several ounces of flesh were cut off from his arm, and the policeman almost cried out in pain.

After the cut flesh fell to the ground, it corroded away in no time, as if it had never been there at all. It was truly ruthless. The policeman secretly wiped away a cold sweat. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he probably would have lost his hand. He tore a piece of cloth from his clothes and used it to bandage the wound, temporarily stopping the continuous bleeding.

Wukong condensed his inner energy, clutched his golden cudgel to his chest, and unleashed the full power of his Samadhi True Fire with both hands. A massive ball of fire, flashing red and white light, hurtled towards the strange insects. He hadn't used the Samadhi True Fire from the start to save one for identification, but the insects' bubbles were far too powerful, leaving him no choice but to kill them.

The two insects shrieked, their black tails bound together, and they spewed out thick bubbles, trying to withstand the Samadhi True Fire

. But could two insects withstand such a powerful and numerous bursts of true fire? Although they were much stronger than the previous insects, it wasn't enough.

One ball of true fire could be neutralized, but what about several, or even dozens?

With Wukong's current inner energy, if he so desired, he could instantly unleash the Samadhi True Fire engulfing the two strange insects, reducing them to ashes.

Sure enough, the two strange insects didn't last long before being engulfed by the true fire, emitting strange squeaking sounds. Their wings burned off first, and then they fell to the ground, rolling around in agony. Just as they were about to be burned to death, Wukong suddenly pointed a finger, withdrawing the true fire covering one of the insects. He then used his golden cudgel to firmly hold it down, rendering it immobile and unable to cause any harm. He intended to take it back as a specimen. The other insect wasn't so lucky; it was burned to ashes a short while later, no longer resembling its previous ferocious state.

After Wukong cleaned them up, the detectives and the forensic doctor were all deathly pale. If it weren't for Wukong and Bajie,

they would all have been swarmed by the insects, ending up like those two dried-up corpses, their brains drained and controlled by the insects.

If they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, who would believe that such an unbelievable thing could happen in broad daylight?

After calming his wildly beating heart, the forensic doctor asked the detective with concern, "Captain, is your hand injury serious? Should I send someone to take you to the hospital now?"

The detective captain glanced at the wound on his hand, his heart aching. He hadn't felt it when they were cutting his flesh, but now he truly felt the pain. That wretched insect dared to inflict such a serious injury on him! He was determined to find the culprit and grind it to dust.

He was both angry and a little scared. If it weren't for Wukong's help today, perhaps more than just this arm would have been injured. Therefore, the look in his eyes when he looked at Wukong was filled with admiration and unspoken gratitude.

Chapter 292

The police captain looked at Wukong with gratitude for a long time, then waved his hand at the forensic doctor and said, "No need, the bleeding has stopped anyway, I can handle it myself, I'll just apply some medicine and disinfect it later. What I'm most worried about is that mysterious murderer. I estimate that the murderer will continue to kill, and these worms will continue to appear. If we encounter them, we will definitely die."

After thinking for a moment, Wukong said to the police captain, "Now we can roughly deduce that after the murderer killed the person, he left camellias next to the body. The purpose was not to mark the identity, but to let these worms continue to spread. I guess that when you found the body, some worms had already entered the deceased's brain, eating his brain matter to evolve, and perhaps even control the body. As for the later worms, if you hadn't put them in the plastic bag from the beginning, they probably would have already possessed people. But that's only a matter of time. As larvae, they definitely need to possess someone to grow."

"Was the worm that just emerged from the corpse's head already an adult?" the forensic doctor asked cautiously. After what had just happened, his attitude towards Wukong had changed drastically; he now held him in much greater awe and had a new understanding of Wukong's extraordinary abilities.

"I don't know," Wukong shook his head regretfully. "This is the first time I've seen such strange worms. The worm that sucked the brain fluid was much larger than the newly emerged larvae, but we can't confirm if it's an adult. Perhaps it's just still in the process of growing."

"Mr. Sun, if we encounter an adult worm, or the mysterious killer who created the worms, can you handle it?" the captain asked, voicing his deepest concern. If even Wukong couldn't handle it, he didn't know what to do. Although he could request assistance from his superiors, could they do what even Wukong couldn't? He absolutely couldn't guarantee it.

Wukong smiled calmly and said, "I don't know. We can only be sure when we encounter such a situation, but I think it shouldn't be a big problem." Wukong was much more reserved at this moment, even Bajie was puzzled: When did this monkey become so humble? Actually, Wukong didn't want to be too flamboyant; this was the mortal realm, not Leiyin Temple

, and it wouldn't be good to frighten people.

"Then we'll leave it to Mr. Sun," the captain said heavily. Recently, many things had happened in Lingwang City, and each one was more serious than the last, now there was this mysterious murderer.

Wukong replied, "If there's nothing else, I'll go back first." Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly turned back and said, "If possible, burn both bodies to avoid future trouble. Next time you encounter something like this, remember not to act rashly." After giving the detective and forensic doctor a meaningful look, he drifted away, not forgetting to put the half-dead, strange insect into a plastic bag to take back with him.

Upon leaving the crime scene, Situ Yu was already anxiously waiting in the lobby, with Situ Nan beside her, looking equally anxious. Seeing Wukong and Bajie emerge, Situ Yu grabbed Wukong's hand and asked with concern, "Wukong, have you seen the scene? Is it disgusting?"

Wukong replied gravely, "Yes, I have. It's indeed a bit tricky. The murderer didn't leave any useful clues. However, since he chose to target your company, I absolutely cannot stand idly by. Don't

worry, I will definitely find the murderer!" Situ Nan said gratefully, "Thank you so much! Sigh, what's wrong with me lately? The company was doing perfectly well, and then this happened!"

"It's alright, I'm here!" Wukong comforted Situ Nan. Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure flash past the door. Wukong hurriedly said to Situ Yu, "Xiaoyu, I have something urgent to attend to, I'll go first. We can talk about it later." With that, he was already out the door. Bajie followed closely behind, hurrying along and muttering, "Hey, Senior Brother, why are you rushing off like your feet are on fire?"

Wukong didn't have time to explain, quickening his pace and already quite a distance away.

Turning a street corner, Wukong caught up with the hurried figure. From behind, it was clear that the graceful silhouette was Ye Fang. Wukong called out loudly, "Hey, Ye Fang, why are you walking so fast?"

Ye Fang was startled by the sudden voice, turned around, and seeing Wukong, breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "You're following me again?" As she spoke, hatred flashed in her eyes.

Hearing this, Wukong couldn't help but

chuckle , "Really? What do you mean 'following you again'? Last time I followed you because I was afraid you'd harm mortals. Do you think I enjoy following you that much?" Pointing to the Huanyu Group building, he said, "I was talking about something inside just now, and I accidentally saw your back. I haven't even asked you how you ended up here yet!"

Hearing Wukong's words, Ye Fang's tense face relaxed slightly. She replied, seemingly unrelated, "Strange, where are those strange auras? They seem to have vanished without a trace." Hearing

this, Wukong's expression hardened: "You sensed them too?"

Ye Fang rolled her eyes: "If I hadn't sensed them, how would I be here? Do you think I'm just bored and have nothing better to do? I was originally planning to buy sound equipment; I'm going to start singing at the teahouse tomorrow." Hearing this

, Wukong and Bajie exchanged a surprised look. They had thought Ye Fang was just joking, but she had taken it seriously. Singing at a teahouse? What a thought! They wondered if the customers would be scared away by her singing!

Ye Fang continued, “Just

now, as I was passing by in my carriage, I suddenly sensed an unusual aura emanating from the area. If it were just that, I wouldn't have stopped. Strangely, there were several other inexplicable auras, neither spiritual nor demonic, but a kind of aura I had never seen before, giving off a chilling and terrifying feeling. To figure out what these auras were, I got off the carriage midway. But shortly after I got off, the auras vanished without a trace.”

Hearing this, Wukong and Bajie smiled knowingly. So that's what Ye Fang came for! Of course the auras would disappear, since Wukong had already eliminated them all, and the last one was barely alive.

“Want to know what those strange auras were?” "Wukong asked her.

Ye Fang was about to ask him how he knew, but she quickly understood. Back at the Huanyu Group, he was probably the one dealing with that strange aura, so it wasn't surprising he knew.

"Okay, just tell me, I'm always very curious," Ye Fang said with a grin. "No extra conditions, right?" Wukong smiled and said, "

Look, what's this?" He then held up the plastic bag containing the strange insect's corpse in front of Ye Fang.

Ye Fang exclaimed, "Ugh, so ugly! How can you carry such an ugly thing around? Is it fun? Throw it away!" Ye Fang stared at the ugly insect in the plastic bag with disgust. It turned out she screamed because she saw it.

Wukong hadn't expected such a strong reaction. Her scream caused him to lose his grip, and the insect and bag fell onto Ye Fang, causing her to let out an even sharper scream that assaulted Wukong and Bajie's ears.

"Quick!" "Quick...take it away!" Ye Fang dared not touch the plastic bag containing the insects, nor dared to move, so she could only tell Wukong to take it away quickly. Wukong was both annoyed and amused. Hehe, so this female demon was also afraid of insects, unbelievable.

Chapter 293 Completely Unaware

To avoid further torture of his ears, Wukong signaled Bajie to quickly take the plastic bag away from Ye Fang. Bajie was more than happy to do so and bravely took the plastic bag away from Ye Fang, and took the opportunity to pat Ye Fang's shoulder, comforting her, "Fangfang, don't be afraid, I've taken that disgusting bag away!" Ye Fang opened her tightly closed eyes a crack, and only after confirming that the danger was over did she breathe a sigh of relief, covering her high breasts with her hands and saying, "Ugh, that was disgusting!"

Gazing at Ye Fang's heaving breasts, Bajie swallowed hard, wishing he could become her hands and kiss her. Wukong laughed and said, "

Seriously? You're so afraid of this little bug? You call yourself a virtuous fox spirit? You're a disgrace to the demon realm! I heard you're a fox princess, yet you have no courage at all." Wukong said with a slight smile.

Ye Fang rolled her eyes at him, not to be outdone: "So what if I'm a fox princess? What do you know? Even though I'm a fox spirit, I'm still an extremely beautiful one. I've never seen

anything so ugly and terrifying. Why did you bring this strange thing out? Did you just bring it out to scare me?" "

Oh my god, do you think I'd go catching bugs for no reason? Besides, I have no interest in catching such ugly bugs

. Here's what happened..." Wukong then briefly recounted what had occurred at the police station. Ye Fang looked disgusted upon hearing this: "No way, that's disgusting! It even eats human brains! Ugh, that's really disgusting! Where did this monster come from?"

Hearing her tone, Wukong couldn't help but glance at her. Seeing that her expression didn't seem to be feigned, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "I remember you were quite cold-blooded back in Wutong Night Rain, weren't you? Now you seem like a completely different person."

"People can change, foxes can change too." Ye Fang glared at Wukong, annoyed.

Bajie chuckled from behind, "That's right, foxes can change, monkeys and pigs can change too, haha, everyone changes. Fangfang, you're absolutely right!"

"Really?" Ye Fang didn't react much to these words, but lowered her head, her beautiful eyes dimming slightly, but then regained

their brilliance: "It's a pity that some people can't see the changes in others." As she spoke, she gave Wukong a meaningful look.

The autumn wind blew, ruffling Ye Fang's long, wavy hair, strand by strand, like seaweed or ripples on water. Layer upon layer, concealing Ye Fang's breathtakingly beautiful face. Beautiful beyond compare, as if she had stepped out of a painting. After a long silence, she murmured, "Perhaps all the regrets in the world begin with unchanging perspectives."

She then stared at Wukong with a strange gaze: "I couldn't control what happened before. But I hope to control what happens in the future, just like James. What I want, I will definitely get, including his heart!"

"You wouldn't actually have fallen for James, would you?" Wukong asked, though it was a question, but considering Ye Fang's words and recent behavior, it seemed highly likely.

Hearing his words, Ye Fang smiled slightly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear: "Don't ask me, I don't know either. I only know to follow my heart. But you..." She

deliberately paused, revealing a faint smile, dispelling some of the insincerity she had unintentionally revealed earlier: "Really, you have absolutely no feelings for me?"

Hearing this, Wukong almost fell to the ground: "You, you vixen, you're so bold! How could you ask such a question?"

Ye Fang said nonchalantly: "What's wrong with asking? I'm just that kind of straightforward person, and I can't stand people speaking in riddles." "She's showing her tail."

Wukong really couldn't do anything with her and didn't want to get entangled with her on this issue. He changed the subject and returned to the previous topic: "By the way, you really don't remember the murderer and the insects I mentioned to you?"

Ye Fang rubbed her arms and said with a disgusted look: "Please, don't talk to me about that insect anymore, especially that monster that breeds insects. I don't know it, I have no recollection of it at all. Besides, I just told you that the aura those insects emitted wasn't demonic, so we can basically rule out the possibility that they were demons. You know that too."

"Then what kind of

creatures are they?" This really puzzled Wukong. They weren't human beings, nor demons, and certainly not immortals. So where could they be?

"We'll talk about that after you catch them," Ye Fang said calmly.

"Then forget it, I'll go find out myself." Wukong said and turned to leave. Ye Fang caught up with him, asking, "Where are you going to investigate? Can I come along and join the fun?" To her question, Wukong smiled and revealed his destination: "I want to go to Zhou Zhenlong's house."

"What are you going there for?" At this point, Ye Fang seemed to realize something and exclaimed, "You don't actually think he's the murderer, do you? But didn't you say before that the murderer was most likely a woman? How come it's a man now?"

Wukong gave her a disapproving look: "You're the murderer! Zhou Zhenlong is just an ordinary person who makes money by pretending to be a ghost. If he really were the murderer, would he have let us make fun of him like that in the teahouse? People say foxes are clever, how come you're so stupid?" He and Ye Fang had stopped being at odds, and even their conversation

had become much more casual.

"Then why are you suddenly going to see him? Have you lost your mind?" Ye Fang asked, puzzled.

Wukong smiled casually, then suddenly turned to Bajie and said, "You tell her why your boss went to see Zhou Zhenlong?"

Bajie was dumbfounded. How could he know why his boss wanted to see that Zhou kid? There hadn't been any prior word. No need to ask, it must have been a spur-of-the-moment decision. His eyes darted around, and Bajie, with a pig-like face, leaned in and said in an extremely fawning tone, "No need to ask, boss must have felt sorry for Zhou Zhenlong and wanted to pay for his mother's medical treatment so he wouldn't have to make money by swindling people anymore! Boss is truly kind-hearted and compassionate!"

Wukong was unimpressed by Bajie's flattery and quickly walked away from him.

Chapter 294 Unexpected

"Sycophant! Haha, your flattery is so unskilled! No wonder your senior brother ignores you!" Ye Fang casually threw out this remark, making Bajie blush. Fortunately, he was thick-skinned enough that others couldn't tell whether he was blushing or not.

After mocking Bajie, Ye Fang turned her gaze to Wukong: "Hey, you don't really want to pay his medical bills, do you? His mother's illness is definitely not a small matter, otherwise he wouldn't need to go around swindling people."

As she spoke, the three of them had already arrived at the bungalow area. The roads here were no longer as smooth as before, but that didn't stop Wukong's brisk pace: "I don't do good deeds on the street every day, but sometimes I still have to do them when I encounter good deeds. This Zhou Zhenlong..." He seemed to be pondering the name, then revealed a strange smile: "I'm very interested in this person!"

Their memories were quite good; they didn't get lost in this winding road and soon arrived near Zhou Zhenlong's residence. Just then, they saw a familiar face standing

calmly at the door of Zhou Zhenlong's house.

"Liu Yueyue? What's she doing here?" Wukong said in a low voice. Ye Fang, however, overheard him and asked with a hint of surprise, "Liu Yueyue? How come we see her here?"

Hearing footsteps behind her, Liu Yueyue turned around and saw Wukong and the others. She had unintentionally learned that Zhou Zhenlong lived here and had even followed him home once. She had no particular intentions, but she felt that Zhou Zhenlong's shameless swindling must have a reason. Driven by curiosity, Liu Yueyue finally found out where Zhou Zhenlong lived. She had been there for an hour, but the door was locked, and neither Zhou Zhenlong nor his son were home. She had no choice but to stand outside and wait for them to return.

Ever since Wukong told her about Zhou Zhenlong, she had been troubled by it. She truly hadn't expected this seemingly shameless man to have such a burden. No wonder he was willing to be misunderstood to take that money; he was driven by his mother's illness.

Seeing Wukong smiling at her, Liu Yueyue's

eyes narrowed into slits as she laughed, saying, "Brother Sun, is that you? What brings you here?"

"I guess I'm just like you, too curious," Wukong said with a smile.

In the distance, a black dot appeared on the narrow path; it was Zhou Zhenlong, who was carrying his mother home from the hospital on a dilapidated bicycle.

Liu Yueyue saw him, her eyes filled with the joy of waiting; Zhou Zhenlong also saw her, but his eyes were filled with desperate fear, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, even his grip on the bicycle handlebars faltering. His mother noticed his abnormality and thought he was cold because he wasn't dressed warmly enough, saying with concern, "Zhenlong, are you very cold? Go home and put on some clothes. I'm much better, I can get off and walk by myself, we're almost there anyway."

Facing his mother struggling to jump off the back of the bicycle, Zhou Zhenlong forced a smile and said, "Mom, I'm fine, don't worry about me, it's okay, you sit still." After comforting his mother, his heart was heavy. He clearly recognized the woman standing in front of his house, it was Liu Yueyue, the one who had given him money, and the two men and one woman were all familiar faces

. Needless to say, they were definitely not ordinary people, but hadn't they already let him go? Why had they suddenly reappeared now? Had they regretted it and now wanted to take his life again?

Although he was afraid of losing his life, he was even more afraid of what would happen to his elderly mother if he were to die, how would she survive? No! I can't die. Even if these people in front of me really have extraordinary abilities, I will fight them.

Suppressing his fear, he bravely pushed the cart over. As he approached, Liu Yueyue's face radiated a captivating smile. This smile both fascinated and puzzled Zhou Zhenlong. He was captivated by the gentleness and familiarity of the smile, as if he had seen such a smile before in the depths of a dream.

What puzzled him was that, as her laughter faded, his fear gradually disappeared, as if a voice deep within his mind told him that this woman would not harm him, so certain and so unwavering that it left no room for doubt.

Zhou's mother was unaware of her son's turbulent thoughts. She was curious about the woman standing in front of her house—gentle and beautiful, yet a complete

stranger Why was she standing there?

As the car stopped in front of her house, she finally had a chance to ask, "Miss, what are you doing standing in front of my house? Are you looking for someone?" As for Wukong and the others, Zhou's mother simply nodded in greeting, her face also filled with questions.

Liu Yueyue smiled and nodded, "Hello, Auntie, my name is Liu Yueyue. I'm friends with your son. I came here specifically to see him. Sorry to bother you."

Hearing this, Zhou's mother seemed to understand something, and her eyes lit up with a smile as she said, "Not at all, not at all. Please feel free to chat." Then she said to Zhou Zhenlong, "You take good care of Miss Liu. I can go inside by myself. You two can go outside and have something to eat."

She had misunderstood, which was understandable. Her son was already in his mid-twenties but had never had a girlfriend. Now that such a beautiful girl had finally appeared, she was naturally delighted.

Zhou Zhenlong watched silently as his mother went inside, then walked a short distance away and said to Liu Yueyue behind him, "Miss Liu, what brings you here to see me? And with so

many people. Are you regretting letting me go last time and want to take my life again?" A self-deprecating glint in his eyes; he had never realized how worthless his life was. He had cheated and swindled, done anything, so this end was hardly surprising. But…

Liu Yueyue asked suspiciously, "Why do you say that? I never intended to take your life. I not only begged them to let you go, but I also gave you three hundred US dollars."

"Then what are you doing here?" Zhou Zhenlong stared wide-eyed as if looking at a monster. He couldn't understand what could possibly attract them here besides wanting to take his life.

Liu Yueyue said calmly, "It's nothing. I just heard from a friend that you were lying to people outside to pay for your mother's medical treatment, so I came here to see if there's anything I can do to help."

This was truly unexpected for Zhou Zhenlong. He had thought it was already a favor that Liu Yueyue didn't blame him, but he never expected her to care about his mother's condition. This was simply too unbelievable. Could there really be such a kind person in the world? Having experienced the coldness of the world, Zhou Zhenlong was somewhat skeptical of Liu Yueyue's words: "Are you sure what you're saying is true?"

Ye Fang, who was listening from the side, became a little impatient and said sarcastically, "So long-winded! A real man is more suspicious than a woman! We came here because we care about you, and you won't even invite us in to sit down? Is this how your Zhou family treats guests?"

Chapter 295 Overjoyed

Zhou Zhenlong blushed upon hearing Ye Fang's sarcastic words. Yes, he firmly believed that these people in front of him were no ordinary individuals; if they wanted to kill them, it would be an easy matter, without needing to go to such lengths. Thinking of this, his face flushed red. Had he been judging these people by his own petty standards?

Liu Yueyue looked at his expression nonchalantly, and waited until he seemed more relaxed before saying, "So? Are you willing to trust us? If so, let us go see your mother. My father is an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and I've been learning medicine from him since I was little, so I know a little about medicine, which might be of some help to your mother's illness."

Zhou Zhenlong responded softly, and then led Wukong and the others into the house without hesitation. After telling his mother, he had Liu Yueyue take her pulse. While taking her pulse, Yueyue's brows furrowed first, then gradually relaxed. After a while, she withdrew her hand and said to Zhou Zhenlong, "Don't worry, I'm 70% confident I can cure your mother's illness. It's just that it will take a long time, about a year to fully recover. After that, she'll need to rest well."

"Is there really a way to cure her? Really?" Hearing that his mother's illness could be cured, Zhou Zhenlong was overjoyed and grabbed Liu Yueyue's hand, asking her questions incessantly.

When he took her hand, Liu Yueyue's heart skipped a beat. It felt so warm, strangely enough, like when Situ Yangguang had held her hand like this before—a tingling, numb sensation. It was a truly wonderful feeling. One forgot to pull away, the other forgot to let go; they were clasped together as if under a spell. The

warmth of their hands flowed through their hearts, like threads or an electric current. When they awoke from their daze, they both blushed and quickly pulled away, but the feeling didn't disappear; instead, it took root in their hearts. After

the blush faded slightly, Liu Yueyue said to the embarrassed Zhou Zhenlong, "Yes, I've studied medicine with my father since I was little, so I'm quite familiar with medical techniques. Since I said it, I can definitely do it. As long as you treat her according to my method, I guarantee your mother will be fully recovered within a year."

Zhou Zhenlong had never been so happy; he was almost crying with joy. Since he

grew up, he had been running around trying to earn money to pay for his mother's illness, but the medical expenses were like a bottomless pit, never enough to fill. The burden on his shoulders grew heavier day by day.

Now, someone came to tell him that his mother's illness could be cured, and he no longer needed to seek medical treatment everywhere. It was like being released from a cage. Zhou Zhenlong felt more relaxed than ever before in his life. He rushed to Liu Yueyue, tears welling in his eyes, and said, "Miss Liu, I've done so much to wrong you, yet you don't hold a grudge at all and even helped treat my mother's illness. I, Zhou Zhenlong, have no other wish but to have this worthless life. Whatever you ask of me, I

will do without hesitation." Liu Yueyue hurriedly helped him up, saying, "What are you doing? Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Since I have the ability to treat her, of course I will do my best. I think anyone would do the same. You don't need to thank me; thank your pure filial piety. Otherwise, you wouldn't be standing before me today. This filial piety not only saved your mother's life but also your own." Zhou Zhenlong

didn't understand this , but Wukong and Ye Fang, who were listening nearby, did. Ye Fang, in particular, smiled quietly. She never expected that her impulsive act would turn into such a good thing—what an unexpected turn of events! Wukong silently shook his head. This Ye Fang, how dare she laugh! Who was it that was so determined to kill Zhou Zhenlong back then? Looking back into the room, Zhou's mother, having overheard some details of Zhou Zhenlong and Yueyue's conversation, asked suspiciously, "Zhenlong, you just said you did something wrong to Miss Liu? What exactly did you do? Tell me quickly, did you do something shameful outside?" Faced with his mother's questioning, Zhou Zhenlong stood there helplessly, unsure how to answer. If his mother knew that the medical expenses he had used were obtained through deception, her strong sense of pride would certainly not be able to accept it, and it might even worsen her condition. But what excuse could he come up with? Just as Zhou Zhenlong was in a dilemma, Liu Yueyue spoke up first, "Auntie, don't worry, here's what happened. I opened a teahouse nearby, and we were short-staffed , so I hired a few people, including Zhou Zhenlong. But he hasn't come to work for the past two days, and I was curious, so I came to check on him. Now I understand, it turns out he's worried about you being home alone, so he's not going to work. It's not his fault, Auntie, please don't scold him. As long as he goes back to work, that's fine." Upon hearing this, Zhou's mother's anger turned to joy. She took Zhou Zhenlong's hand and said, "Zhenlong, that's not right of you. Since you've already been hired, you should work hard. How could you not go to work just because of your mother? You didn't even say goodbye. Fortunately, Miss Liu is very generous and doesn't hold your mistake against you. She even helped me get treatment. Aren't you going to thank Miss Liu?"

Zhou Zhenlong knew, of course, that Liu Yueyue was covering for him, but he was still somewhat incredulous at her next words, asking, "Miss Liu, are you really willing to let me go back to work at the teahouse?"

Liu Yueyue chuckled, feigning displeasure, and said, "Of course it's true. I said it myself, how could it be false? Unless you don't want to work for me anymore?"

"No, no!" Zhou Zhenlong shook his head vigorously, afraid that Liu Yueyue would misunderstand, "I just didn't expect that Miss Liu would let me go back."

Zhou's mother interjected, "Zhenlong, since Miss Liu has agreed, you shouldn't doubt it anymore. The most important thing is to do a good job when you go back. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. Besides, Miss Liu said that my illness isn't serious and I'll get better soon, so don't worry."

Facing the two people who cared about him, Zhou Zhenlong nodded heavily, "Yes, I will definitely do a good job."

After talking for a while, Liu Yueyue got up to leave, telling Zhou Zhenlong that she would come often to help his mother with her treatment starting tomorrow, and that he shouldn't be in a hurry. She also reminded him to go to work tomorrow and not forget.

Grateful, Zhou Zhenlong insisted on seeing them off. Just then, Bajie chuckled and said, "Yueyue, I've known you for so long, and I didn't know you knew medicine. Could you prescribe some medicine for me sometime? My digestion hasn't been good lately; I feel full after eating twenty bowls of rice. This can't go on!"

(04-25
Chapter 296: Allure is Innate)

After bidding farewell to Zhou Zhenlong, Wukong and the others left the Zhou family. Upon reaching the door, Ye Fang suddenly let out a cold laugh. Bajie, somewhat puzzled, asked her, "Fangfang, what's with the sudden cold laugh?"

Ye Fang, walking at the back, said sarcastically, "I'm laughing at some people. They're such good at putting on airs. One moment they're philanthropists, spewing good deeds, and the next they're benevolent healers. They really have the heart of a bodhisattva. Look how little time it's taken, and they've already won over that mother and son. I admire them greatly. No wonder everyone who sees you is captivated by you. Miss Liu, when will you teach me this trick too?!" As she said this, a deep jealousy flickered in her eyes.

Liu Yueyue scoffed, "I don't need to report to you what I do, and I wouldn't dare teach you. Miss Ye Fang, I know you're unhappy because James is helping out in our shop, but I haven't provoked you, and I hope you won't provoke me either."

Ye Fang was about to speak when Wukong stopped her, saying, "Alright, you vixen, stop talking. We're still on the street; do you want to be a laughingstock

? Let's talk about it back home."

Ye Fang smiled coldly, ignoring Liu Yueyue, and turned to leave.

In the following days, everyone was busy with their own affairs.

Wukong secretly investigated the strange events at Situ Yu's company. He brought back the strange insect and showed it to Wu Nai and everyone else, but no one recognized it; they all said they had never seen such a strange insect before. It

was too mysterious; the whole thing was inexplicably eerie. Wukong secretly kept it in mind, determined to get to the bottom of it.

Since agreeing to help Zhou Zhenlong treat his mother's illness, Liu Yueyue visited the Zhou family almost every other day, using acupuncture and herbal medicine. Sure enough, Zhou's mother's health improved day by day, and she didn't go to the hospital or have any relapses for a whole month.

Because his mother's condition improved, Zhou Zhenlong was extremely grateful to Liu Yueyue and worked extra hard. Since he no longer needed to swindle money by treating his mother, he no longer needed to pretend to be a Taoist priest and could peacefully work as a tea server at the Yuanlai Teahouse.

Previously, he had harbored great

fear of Wukong and the others who frequently visited the teahouse, but as time went on, he gradually realized they were just like ordinary people, easygoing and approachable. Slowly, he became familiar with Wukong and the others and was no longer as afraid as before.

Of course, Ye Fang wasn't included in this fearless group. Zhou Zhenlong vividly remembered Ye Fang's earlier attempt to eat him. Although Liu Yueyue repeatedly explained that it was just a joke and that he shouldn't take it to heart, Zhou Zhenlong couldn't let it go. So, he usually avoided Ye Fang whenever he encountered her, keeping as far away as possible.

Ye Fang didn't bother to argue; plenty of people were afraid of her anyway, so she didn't care about him.

Speaking of Ye Fang, it's worth mentioning that she actually sang in the teahouse, her purpose being to keep an eye on James and prevent him from constantly fawning over Liu Yueyue, which infuriated him.

Singing in a teahouse was indeed strange, but her voice captivated all the tea drinkers the moment it rang out. Unlike Ye Fang's usual arrogance and willfulness, she sang songs that sounded melodious and melancholic. Coupled with her soft and gentle voice, it

was instantly captivating. While singing, Ye Fang's eyes always carried a faint sadness and a hazy quality.

Her songs were unlike anything anyone had ever heard before, yet the melody and the voice were unforgettable. She was like a fairy from a thousand years ago, singing in the present world the songs she had sung in her past life.

Wukong stared at Ye Fang on stage more than once, wondering if two people existed within her. Why could she, so cruel and willful, possess such a sensitive and moving side when singing? It couldn't be faked; it truly came from her heart.

Because of Ye Fang's singing, the Yuanlai Teahouse's business improved day by day, often packed to capacity. This was something Situ Yangguang and Liu Yueyue had never imagined. Not only were songs being sung in the teahouse, but they were being sung with breathtaking beauty.

Many tea drinkers recorded her songs, filmed them, and listened to them repeatedly at home. Then, her songs began to circulate, quickly spreading to various places.

Ye Fang became famous, and so did Yuanlai Teahouse. Everyone knew that

there was a beautiful singer with a wonderful voice in Yuanlai Teahouse, owned by Situ Yangguang. People from Lingwang City and even beyond came from far and wide, spending lavishly just to catch a glimpse of Ye Fang.

Some offered high prices to have Ye Fang perform at their establishments, while others presented her with contracts, promising to release an album and hold a national tour if she agreed. But Ye Fang refused them all. She wouldn't sing anywhere else but at Yuanlai Teahouse.

All of this was because of James. She sang only to see James, to see him captivated by her voice. For Ye Fang, that was more important than anything else.

A record company approached Ye Fang several times, lowering their standards each time. Ye Fang finally agreed to let them record an album for her, but that was all. She refused all other offers, including concerts.

With her approval, the record company quickly recorded the album and released it nationwide. In its first week, the album sold incredibly well, with the title track, "Heartbroken," topping the music charts. The song could be heard humming everywhere. The

album's sales were unprecedented, unsurprisingly topping the charts, and Ye Fang became a wildly popular singer.

Her beautiful voice and stunning looks made her unparalleled in popularity, yet she remained at the Yuanlai Teahouse, refusing to participate in any activities.

Despite this, Ye Fang's exceptionally beautiful voice, coupled with her alluring face, captivated countless people. Every day, the line to see her at the Yuanlai Teahouse stretched from one end of the street to the other.

The album cover featured Ye Fang flawless, like a fairy stepping out of a painting; her beauty was mesmerizing. And indeed, she was a princess of the fox clan; seduction was her forte.

Everyone who knew her had a copy of the record, but James and Liu Yueyue didn't. Liu Yueyue didn't care to have it, and James didn't want it either. To him, everything about the witch was terrifying, so he resolutely refused to have it.

But would Ye Fang let him go? She coaxed and threatened him, making James not only buy the record but also promise not to lose it. Only then was Ye Fang satisfied and let him go.

Sitting by the window in the teahouse, Wu Nai smiled as he watched Ye Fang sing on stage, an enlarged record cover pasted behind her.

The past seemed so vivid.

Young and naive Ye Fang nestled beside him, asking him to tell stories of the human world. He, of course, knew nothing then, merely adding his own embellishments to what he'd heard from his tribe, and then told Ye Fang. Perhaps Ye Fang's longing for the human world began then.

If he had known that this would lead Ye Fang to sneak into the human world and commit so many evil deeds, he certainly wouldn't have told her those stories.

He'd never understood how Ye Fang, who was at most a little willful and capricious in the demon realm, could become so cruel and ruthless in the human world, leaving no room for others or even herself in her evil deeds.

He'd asked Ye Fang about this, but she just smiled, dismissive.

Wu Nai was lost in thought, completely unaware that someone was standing behind him. He was startled when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw

Wukong standing there. Wu Nai asked in surprise, "Why are you here so suddenly? Where's Mr. Pig? Didn't he come with you?" Pigsy was practically Wukong's shadow, following him everywhere. But today, only Wukong was there; Pigsy was nowhere to be seen.

Wukong waved and sat down in front of him. They each had a designated spot, usually empty, even when the shop was packed. "Pigsy's sleeping in today, he's not coming," Wu Nai said, though his tone was a complaint, there was no displeasure in his eyes.

Wu Nai smiled faintly. The freshly brewed oolong tea steamed gently, and through the misty vapor, Wukong didn't appear unreal, but rather more real. He could also hear Ye Fang's beautiful, penetrating voice.

He picked up the tea, took a small sip, and let the tea slide from the tip of his tongue down his throat. Wu Nai's expression was calm but filled with great satisfaction. Ordinary days and an ordinary life are really, really good. Just like now, drinking tea and listening to his loved ones sing, this

satisfaction is something that nothing else can replace. He didn't understand before, but he does now. Surely it's not too late.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Seeing that Wu Nai hadn't reacted, Wu Kong waved his hand in front of his eyes until he snapped out of it. "Do you have any leads on that matter?"

"Uh, what?" Wu Nai didn't understand at first, not knowing what Wu Kong was talking about. After a moment's thought, he understood and frowned. "No, I've inquired everywhere, but there are no leads. It seems the murderer did it very cleanly. Apart from that camellia, nothing was left behind. No one in the demon realm knows who did it."

Wu Kong tapped his fingers lightly on the table, deep in thought. "It's been a while since this happened, but we still have no clue. I'm worried something else might happen."

Chapter 297 Doubt

"This is difficult. We have too little useful information. We don't even know what the other person looks like. Finding such a mysterious person in such a big city is like looking for a needle in a haystack," Wu Nai said. Seeing Wu Kong's brows furrowing, Wu Nai added, "There's one more thing we need to keep in mind."

"What is it?" Wu Kong asked.

Wu Nai leaned closer and said in an even softer voice, "That's about the strange insects. Although you destroyed them in time when the camellias and corpses were discovered last time, no one can guarantee that none escaped. Once these strange insects possess a person, their brains will be drained, turning them into a mindless zombie controlled by the insects. Although we don't yet understand his purpose, we must not let our guard down."

Wu Kong sipped the tea the waiter had just brought, but the fragrant aroma couldn't soothe his anxious heart. Each time his fingernails tapped the teacup, a crisp sound echoed in his ears and struck his heart: "Why is he doing this? Does he want to control humanity through these strange insects? But is that realistic? There are

so ; how many can he control?"

"Maybe it's for the food?" a voice suddenly interrupted. It turned out that Pigsy had somehow wandered onto their table. He continued his analysis, "Maybe that person felt it was too tiring to search for food one by one, so he came up with the idea of using insects to control others, making those controlled voluntarily be eaten. That way, he'd have it much easier. What do you think of my hypothesis?" Pigsy said quite smugly.

"Hehe, Pigsy's only thought about is food. He's finally willing to leave that warm bed? He must be hungry," Monkey teased. Bajie chuckled and said, "You understand me best, Brother Bajie. Indeed, I am hungry, otherwise I really wouldn't want to get up. Lying in bed is so comfortable! Fox, do you think my guess was right?"

Wu Nai initially thought it made some sense, but then he thought again and felt something was off: "What you said is possible, but I think it's unlikely. Leaving aside that person's abilities, just look at where that camellia was placed. If that person really wanted the insects to control more people, as you say, then why would he put the flower at the murder scene? Wouldn't it be better to put it in a crowded place? That way, we wouldn't know the flower existed, and we wouldn't be able to eliminate the insects. I think this person probably already knows we're looking for him." Hearing

this, Bajie, who had been somewhat unconvinced, immediately fell silent. Indeed, if he wanted to control more people, he could just throw the flower down in a crowded place; why put it at the murder scene?

"Perhaps..." A vague thought surfaced in Wukong's mind as he listened to their conversation. He gripped the thought tightly, trying to hold onto it, and said slowly and hesitantly, "Perhaps the murderer didn't place the crime scene to control people or anything, but simply to create panic and see people's bewildered reactions?"

"Is that possible?" Wu Nai and Bajie said in unison. Would anyone be so bored? Without any purpose, just for fun. To create panic?

As these words were spoken, Wukong became increasingly convinced of the possibility, saying, "If that's really the case, it

's a good thing. At least these flowers and insects are still traceable; they won't just run off everywhere, and we won't suddenly be surrounded by people possessed by insects overnight." The thought sent a chill down Wukong's spine. "However, one thing is certain: the murderer is a woman, and she really likes camellias. Perhaps we can start our investigation from there."

Wu Nai, who had been expressionless, suddenly shuddered upon hearing this, raising her head and fixing her sharp gaze on Ye Fang on the stage. She was currently singing the album's title track, "Heartbroken," and the audience below was completely captivated, the teahouse falling silent for a moment.

Bajie was the first to notice Wu Nai's strange expression and casually asked, "What's wrong? Look..."

He meant to say, "Look at what?" but when he followed Wu Nai's gaze to Ye Fang on the stage, he couldn't utter the words. His expression was a mixture of shock and disbelief: "Could it be... could it be that Ye Fang also likes camellias?" He managed to say these words with great difficulty, his voice trembling with disbelief. Was he afraid?

Afraid that Ye Fang was really the murderer they were searching for? How could that be? Now she was the prime suspect—a woman, a demon, and someone who loved camellias. And there was something else Bajie remembered clearly: on the day of the incident, he and Wukong had seen Ye Fang at the entrance of the Huanyu Group. Ye Fang had said that she had come to investigate because she sensed that strange aura. Now, thinking about it, it was possible that she had deliberately said that to probe the truth.

Wu Nai finally understood what Wukong and Bajie meant. They suspected Ye Fang was the murderer. Wu Nai's face turned uncontrollably pale, even his lips turned from red to white. He seemed to be afraid of something, afraid that Ye Fang really was the murderer.

After his expression changed several times, Wu Nai forced a smile and said to Wukong and Bajie, "You...you're being too sensitive. Ye Fang...how could Ye Fang be the murderer? You must be mistaken!" Wu Nai's expression was somewhat flustered.

If it were any other day, Bajie would definitely have teased him, but now he had no such intention. He just stared blankly at Ye Fang on the stage, as if trying to see through her body and into her heart. Ye Fang

on the stage

also noticed that all three of their gazes were focused on her. She couldn't help but smile at them. In her singing, that smile was gentler than ever before, revealing a hint of evil and stirring up a sense of reverie in people's hearts.

Ye Fang's beauty was already exquisite, like a meticulously painted portrait, unparalleled in its perfection. Now, coupled with her melodious singing voice and gentle, beautiful smile, how could anyone not be captivated? Even women would be mesmerized.

Wukong calmly said, "It can't be Ye Fang. Ye Fang possesses a demonic aura, different from that mysterious aura. Besides, I know Ye Fang's temperament quite well. Perhaps she's a bit willful and ruthless, but she wouldn't do something so heinous."

A warm feeling welled up in Wu Nai's heart. Wukong's words dispelled his concerns, and he felt somewhat guilty for having doubted Ye Fang earlier. Wukong lowered his head, playing with the cup in his hand, clearly deep in thought. After a long while, he looked up and said, "Of course, I hope it's not Ye Fang, but if—I mean, if she is—then don't blame me!" As he finished speaking, his hand gripping the teacup tightened, even his knuckles turning white.

Silently, the teacup turned to dust in Wukong's palm. He opened his hand, and the dust drifted and scattered to the ground.

Chapter 298 Forgetting the Passage of Time.

Wukong and the other two fell silent. Ye Fang on stage, however, was completely unaware of their conversation, focused solely on singing her song. The audience was large, completely absorbed in Ye Fang's performance, drawn into the atmosphere of the song, "Heartbroken."

Heartbroken… wasn't that exactly what she felt in the US? McKee's infidelity had left her heartbroken, almost causing her to lose faith in life. Who could understand the heart hidden behind the song? Perhaps only she herself understood.

The song gradually faded, eventually disappearing into nothingness, into silence. The song had come to an end. The people in the teahouse gradually left, leaving only a few still sitting there, sipping tea. At some point, James sat down next to Wukong, lost in thought, seemingly still immersed in the atmosphere of Ye Fang's song.

Ye Fang quietly approached, circled around James, and then wrapped her arms around his waist like a boneless snake, saying with a grin, "Hey, James, what are you daydreaming about?" James suddenly jolted awake, realizing that Ye Fang had somehow appeared behind him and was intimately wrapped around his waist. He jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "You, you, you, what are you doing? Don't you know men and women shouldn't touch each other?"

Ye Fang, annoyed by James's overreaction, wrinkled her nose and said, "What? Bringing up something from eight hundred years ago? Aren't you ashamed? You're supposed to be a foreigner, yet you're so old-fashioned!"

Hearing her say this, James couldn't help but curse himself inwardly. Why did he have to come out like that? Wouldn't it have been better to stay in the kitchen? Wasn't he just asking for trouble? This seductive woman, how could she be so alluring? She didn't have any of the gentleness and purity of Liu Yueyue, the kind of girl from a modest family.

"I'm not talking to you anymore, I still have things to do." With that, James ignored Ye Fang and went to help in the kitchen, infuriating Ye Fang. Just as she was about to chase after him, the tightly closed teahouse door opened, and a woman in a long grey trench coat and a black hat entered.

A

gust of cold wind rushed into the warm teahouse, causing everyone inside to instinctively shrink back. Ye Fang didn't care about the chill, but her gaze lingered curiously on the woman in the trench coat, scrutinizing her without any restraint, seemingly unafraid of being discovered. An

extremely faint warmth; Ye Fang had never seen anyone possess such a faint warmth. Even if there was, it was usually found on someone near death. But this person was clearly alive and well, not at all like someone about to die, otherwise she wouldn't have come outside to drink tea.

The woman in the trench coat pulled the brim of her black hat low, almost half her face hidden in shadow, only her thin lips visible.

"Miss, what would you like to drink?" Zhou Zhenlong, who worked at the shop, politely asked the woman in the trench coat.

"West Lake Longjing!" the woman in the trench coat said simply and forcefully. It was these four words that made Situ Yangguang, who was originally calculating the bill at the counter, look up in surprise, staring at the woman in the trench coat whose face he couldn't see clearly. If one looked closely, one would see that his surprise

was mixed with boundless excitement.

Zhou Zhenlong went back to make tea, but Situ Yangguang came out from behind the counter and went straight to the table where the woman in the trench coat was. His eyes flickered a few times, and a layer of tears unconsciously rose to his eyes, which surprised Ye Fang, who was sitting a few tables away. She didn't understand what was wrong with Situ Yangguang.

Situ Yangguang said to the woman, "Miss, I am the owner here. My surname is Situ. May I have the honor of saying a few words to you?" His voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement.

The woman seemed unwilling to say much, only glancing at him briefly before asking indifferently, "Is there something you need?"

Situ Yangguang tried to control his excited tone, saying, "Well, I think your voice sounds a lot like an old friend, so...so..." After hesitating for a long time, he finally mustered his courage and said, "Could I see your face, Miss?"

"See my face?" The woman asked as if she had heard something strange. "What's so interesting about me?" Her hat brim was still pulled low, obscuring not only her face but also her voice.

Situ Yangguang

seemed to be struggling internally, but finally he said, "To be honest, Miss, I opened this teahouse to wait for an old friend. Now I think your voice sounds a lot like him, and he especially loves West Lake Longjing tea. So, please, if I may, take off your hat so I can see him?"

"But I don't know you, so it's obvious I'm not your old friend. Boss, I think you've mistaken me for someone else." The woman in the trench coat didn't buy Situ Yangguang's explanation and directly refused him.

Situ Yangguang seemed a little anxious, waving his hand and saying, "No, it's not like that. My old friend may not recognize me now, but I know her, so please, Miss, don't refuse. Consider it a plea!"

Zhou Zhenlong brought up the tea, and seeing the word "plea" in Situ Yangguang's last words, he was somewhat surprised. He didn't understand what his boss wanted to ask this strange woman for, but he was just a waiter and couldn't interrupt. He could only put down the tea and leave with a belly full of questions.

The woman in the trench coat, hearing Situ Yangguang's sincere words, didn't seem to be

lying . After considering it for a moment, she said, "Alright then, it's not a difficult thing anyway. Boss, if you want to see, then see." As she spoke, she took off the hat she had been wearing since entering.

Thinking that the mystery was about to be revealed, Situ Yangguang's heart pounded fiercely, and even his breathing became rapid. Was it really true? Was it the fate he had been waiting for? Was it?

Dark eyes, thin lips, gentle and graceful demeanor—all these elements combined to form the face that Situ Yangguang had longed for day and night. It was her, it really was her. His painstaking wait had finally paid off; he had finally waited for her, the love of his life.

Amidst the astonished gazes of countless onlookers, the corners of his mouth slowly curved into the most beautiful sight in the world.

His eyes were fixed on the face that had appeared a thousand times in his dreams, and he stared blankly, forgetting the passage of time and everything around him.

Chapter 299 The Mysterious Consort Yang

Seeing Situ Yangguang's eager expression, Wukong and Wu Nai vaguely guessed what was going on. This woman in the trench coat was probably the long-awaited destiny Situ Yangguang had been searching for; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so distraught. But this was truly a coincidence. Could it be that they were destined to meet here?

"You've finally come! I've finally waited for you, Consort Yang!" Situ Yangguang murmured, his eyes and heart filled only with Consort Yang, completely oblivious to the astonished looks on Wukong and the others' faces.

However, the woman simply smiled calmly and said, "Boss, you must have mistaken me for someone else. Although I don't know how you know my name is Yang Fei, we are not acquainted."

Situ Yangguang was overjoyed: "You really are Yang Fei? It's alright, it doesn't matter if you don't recognize me. I'll show you something." With that, he hurriedly found the Four Treasures of the Study, spread out Xuan paper, and excitedly began to write. In no time, a magnificent calligraphy work appeared on the Xuan paper, inscribed with a poem: "With a sigh, I stroke my long sword, seeking no fame in saving the world. Banners flutter like lightning, sun-like wings sweep across the sky. Ten thousand cavalrymen are stationed across the fields, five camps are encamped on the plains. I climb the mountain, waving my martial insignia, I unleash my divine troops with my back to the river. In the past, war raged; now, the universe is at peace."

Wukong looked at it with admiration and said, "Hehe, this calligraphy is quite good, so elegant and flowing, it's as if each character is about to take flight. I didn't know you had this skill."

"Consort Yang, do you remember this poem? Back then, of all the poems I wrote, this was your favorite. You said it was magnificent and full of genuine emotion, so you could recite it from memory. Consort Yang, do you remember it?" Situ Yangguang looked at Consort Yang with expectant eyes. Unfortunately, Consort Yang shook her head indifferently and said, "I'm sorry, I really don't understand what you're talking about. Besides, this poem you wrote is completely unfamiliar to me."

Situ Yangguang was disappointed by Consort Yang's reaction. He muttered, "How could that be? Consort Yang, think back carefully. Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, is that name familiar to you?" Consort Yang said unmoved, "Boss, I think you've really mistaken me for someone else. I don't know you, and you're not the Consort Yang you're talking about. You've mistaken me for someone else! I've heard of Li Shimin; it's recorded in history books. Could it be you

? You're lying!"

"I didn't! I am Li Shimin." Situ Yangguang stared intently at her, as if trying to etch her into his heart. "I won't be mistaken. Your appearance and voice are exactly the same as before, nothing has changed. It's normal that you don't recognize me, after all, so many years have passed. But it doesn't matter. As long as I unlock your sealed memories, you will remember me. I will use my true feelings to awaken your memories." At this point, Situ Yangguang was almost moved by his own words. Yes, he had waited so long to see Consort Yang, but she had no recollection of him at all. Although it was because of reincarnation, did she really have no memory of his past life?

All of this was what Situ Yangguang most wanted to ask, what he most wanted to know. But he also understood that Consort Yang's indifference was not feigned. Asking now would be pointless. Consort Yang, who remembered nothing, could not possibly answer his questions. Only after unlocking her memories from before reincarnation could he possibly get an answer.

"But I just wanted to have a cup of West Lake Longjing tea. I don't want to be

disturbed while I'm drinking tea. The atmosphere of your teahouse isn't quite right for me, so I think I'll take my leave." Yang Fei said calmly, a hint of mockery and coldness flashing across her eyes. She got up and left without a trace of intention to stay.

Ye Fang inadvertently caught that chilling mockery in her eyes, and her heart tightened. Why would she smile like that? She was just an ordinary mortal.

Startled by this, Ye Fang recalled how Yang Fei's yang energy had been so weak when she first entered, like someone on the verge of death. Why would Yang Fei happen to be in the Yuanlai Teahouse? Was it really fate? Or was someone deliberately orchestrating it? Did she know that Situ Yangguang was waiting for her?

Ye Fang kept all of this in mind, not saying it aloud, but she became more wary of Yang Fei. She wanted to see just who this Yang Fei really was! Seeing Yang Fei leave, Ye Fang also made an excuse to go out and follow her. Wukong took it all in. He then made an excuse to leave. Outside the teahouse, Wukong transformed into a small dragonfly and followed Ye Fang.

"Yang Fei, please wait a moment

, I have something to tell you," Ye Fang said, catching up with Yang Fei. Yang Fei stopped and looked at Ye Fang. "What is it?"

"I'm a friend of the man you were talking to earlier. We hit it off immediately, and I'd like to be friends," Ye Fang said with a smile. Yang Fei expected a quick refusal, but to her surprise, after a moment's hesitation, she readily agreed, saying, "Alright, I have no relatives or friends here. Having a friend would be good."

Ye Fang walked over and affectionately took her arm, saying, "Great! Then we're best friends! Come, come, let's sit down at my place and have a good chat." Although Ye Fang's excessive enthusiasm was a bit affected, Yang Fei seemed to enjoy it. After a few polite words, she followed Ye Fang to her hotel.

After entering the room, Ye Fang pulled Yang Fei to sit down and chatted for a while, exchanging tips on clothing and skincare. Then, Ye Fang tentatively asked, "At the teahouse earlier, Situ Yangguang said you were an old friend of his, but you seemed to have no recollection of him. Were you pretending not to know him?" Yang Fei shook her head and said, "I really don't know him. He must have mistaken me for someone else." Ye Fang took her

hand and said with interest, "I'll play a game with you. Please close your eyes."

"What game?" Yang Fei smiled.

"Don't be nervous, it's okay. It's just a little game. I've studied hypnosis before. It will help you remember things from the past without having any negative effects. Now, please close your eyes," Ye Fang reassured her.

Yang Fei met her gaze and nodded slightly. She took off her trench coat and placed it on the floor along with her hat, then sat cross-legged on the bed. The smile hidden deep in her eyes grew wider, but Ye Fang, focused on helping her regain her memory, remained completely oblivious.

Ye Fang placed the middle and index fingers of both hands together on Yang Fei's temples, releasing a beam of white light that shot into Yang Fei's head. As the light intensified, Ye Fang focused intently, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead. Although she had told Yang Fei it was just a game, the burden on the caster was considerable, requiring complete mental control and allowing no room for distraction.

Just as Ye Fang was fully focused on unlocking Yang Fei's memories,

Yang Fei, who had been keeping her eyes closed, suddenly opened them. Not only were her eyes smiling, but her mouth also slowly parted, a thin, forked tongue dancing behind her teeth. The smile was so ferocious and terrifying; she was no ordinary person!

However, no one could see that Ye Fang, sitting opposite her with her eyes closed, was completely unaware that Yang Fei, sitting cross-legged, was staring at her with a death stare!

Wukong, who was flying low and circling the room, saw it all. He chuckled inwardly, "Heh heh, finally showing his true form. What will happen next?" Wukong revealed himself, coldly smiling at Yang Fei, and said, "You've been hiding really well, almost fooling even me! What kind of demon are you? Show yourself quickly!" Yang Fei was startled, her eyes widening as she asked, "Who are you? How did you get in?"

Ye Fang also opened her eyes at this moment, seeing Wukong in front of her, and felt a little confused. She asked in surprise, "It's you?" Wukong smiled and said, "You almost fell for it. Open your eyes wide and look, who is this person in front of you?"

Ye Fang said, "Yang Fei! You've seen her at the teahouse too." A cold expression appeared on Yang Fei's pretty face as she said to Wukong, "You're meddling in other people's business; you'll suffer the consequences!" She muttered something under her breath.

Just then, a loud bang came from the door, as if something was trying to force its way in. The sound grew louder, clearly heading towards them.

Wukong became alert. As the sound drew closer, the door collapsed with a crash, and they finally saw what had broken in.

It was dozens of people, but calling them people wasn't quite right, because they all had bloodshot eyes and were emitting low, beast-like growls. They swung their arms and lunged at Wukong and Ye Fang, looking somewhat like zombies from television.

"What the hell are these things? Where did they come from?" Ye Fang had never seen anything like them before and had no idea why they had suddenly appeared in her room. She was momentarily panicked.

Wukong scoffed, "No need to doubt, it must be Yang Guifei's sorcery. Come on, let's see what you ghostly things are capable of!"

They had no time to exchange

words after that, as the zombie-like creatures charged forward, splitting into two groups and surrounding them.

Ye Fang's weapon was undoubtedly her precious sword. A flash of blue light appeared, each strike landing squarely on the zombies, but it was useless. Even with the sword's sharpness, it only managed to create tiny scratches, posing no real threat.

Ye Fang was dumbfounded. What were these monsters made of? Her sword was a demonic weapon capable of cutting through gold and jade, not a human sword, yet it couldn't cut through these monsters' bodies.

Wukong unleashed a flurry of fire from both hands, sending Samadhi True Fire into the zombie horde. Once again, things took an unexpected turn; the zombies didn't react at all. Even as their clothes burned fiercely in the Samadhi True Fire, they showed no sign of alarm. Wukong was a little puzzled. This wasn't ordinary fire; why weren't they afraid at all?

Seeing the zombie horde closing in, Ye Fang, finding her sword ineffective, had no choice but to unleash her inner core. Her inner core, cultivated over many years, was a round, emerald-green bead the size of a pigeon pellet. From this bead radiated countless rays

of light, and all the zombies encountering the light were blocked as if by an invisible wall, unable to take a single step.

Wukong, seeing Ye Fang successfully stop the zombies, was about to praise her when Ye Fang interrupted, "Don't just stand there like an idiot! Quickly think of a way to defeat these zombies! My inner core is the foundation of my cultivation; it can't be exposed for long, otherwise the cultivation within it will slowly disappear."

Wukong replied, "Dealing with these zombies is easy! Watch my Golden Cudgel!" Saying this, he took the Golden Cudgel from his ear, and with a flick of his wrist, it shrank to the size of a bowl. Wukong brandished his golden cudgel with great flair, exclaiming with boundless pride, "Come on, come and experience the power of my golden cudgel!"

The zombie horde was stunned by the glittering golden light emanating from the cudgel and hesitated for a moment. Yang Fei chanted incantations again, and the zombie horde stirred, surging towards Wukong like a tide.

Chapter 300: Similar in Form but Strange in Spirit

After being ravaged by Wukong's golden cudgel, the zombies' bodies were broken in two or even several pieces, unable to stand up again. Wukong and Ye Fang both breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could exhale comfortably, a sudden change gripped their nerves once more.

From the skulls of the fallen zombies flew out black worms, several inches long and slightly thicker than chopsticks. These worms had a pair of equally black wings on their backs, flying in the air like the buzzing of mosquitoes, but several times louder.

It was them! Seeing these insects, the two understood what had happened to the zombies earlier. These insects had sucked out their brains, controlling them and turning them into mindless zombies.

These insects were the same ones Wukong had shown Wu Nai and the others, asking them to keep an eye out. Undoubtedly, these insects were here under the control of their master. But they had never fought the murderer, not even seen him. Why would he send these insect-controlled zombies here? Could the murderer be

Yang Guifei, now sitting cross-legged on the bed chanting incantations?

With this question in mind, the two confronted the insects. Ye Fang's sword, while not killing them, at least knocked them away, temporarily preventing them from harming her. Wukong's golden cudgel, however, displayed its power. Surrounded by golden light, the strange insects fell one after another, like moths drawn to a flame, needlessly losing their lives. The strange insects' bodies snapped in half and fell like rain. Nothing could withstand the power of the Golden Cudgel; these insects, though powerful enough to withstand even demonic swords, were utterly vulnerable to its might.

The two were so engrossed in fighting the insects that they heard Yang Fei, sitting cross-legged on the bed, let out a shrill scream. Turning around, they saw she was gone.

Looking at the corpses of the insects scattered on the ground, Ye Fang said coldly, "Hmph, it's hateful that she escaped when we weren't careful. I never imagined such a charming woman could be so vicious!"

"She can't escape. We've seen her face, after all. Even if she flees to the ends of the earth, I will find her and prevent her from harming the world again! Let's go,

we'll split up and search." Wukong said, walking out of the room. Ye Fang followed suit.

At the Yuanlai Teahouse, Situ Yangguang and Wu Nai were quietly drinking tea in a private room. In the afternoon, all the other customers had left, and the teahouse was quiet. Wukong and Ye Fang hadn't returned yet, and they waited, enjoying the tranquility of the autumn afternoon.

Suddenly, a faint rustling sound came from outside the door. Although very soft, it didn't escape Wu Nai's ears. He opened his eyes wide and shouted alertly, "Who's there?"

After waiting for a while without any answer, the sound outside grew louder. Wu Nai stood up and carefully opened

the door. What he saw astonished him, and a look of tension appeared on his face. What he saw was a camellia bud, and strange, ugly black insects were crawling out of it. The rustling sound he had heard was the sound of these insects crawling on the ground.

Seeing this, Wu Nai was both surprised and delighted. He was surprised to encounter insects here, but delighted because the presence of insects meant their master was nearby. He immediately shouted, "What kind of monster are you? Stop sneaking around and come out now! Today, I'll definitely have a good fight with you!"

A wind blew, its whistling sound incessant, but no one responded to his words. Wu Nai smiled hatefully, his expression turning stern. "Hmph, you won't come out, huh? Fine! Then I'll kill all these insects you released first!"

Seeing that no one spoke, Wu Nai took out his Fiery Soul-Hooking Whip, flicked it with his finger, and a continuous red light emanated from it. When he swung the whip, red light shone through, striking the ground and carving countless deep marks. As for the insects crawling out of the flower buds, they were all half-dead when they encountered the red light. This was understandable; these strange insects had only just hatched and their bodies were still very weak, unable to withstand the power of the Fiery Soul-Hooking Whip.

In just a few strikes, the insects were completely wiped out, and the camellia flower was reduced to dust by Wu Nai's fiery, soul-snatching whip. Situ Yangguang, who had been watching nervously the whole time, breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw Wu Nai easily eliminate the strange insects.

After Wu Nai finished doing all this, the surrounding silence was finally broken by a sound.

"Hehehe!" A soft laugh, carrying a bewitching charm and an alluring tenderness, was enough to evoke endless fantasies.

If an ordinary person were here, they would probably collapse the moment they heard the sound. Even if the owner of the voice told them to die, they wouldn't hesitate for a moment, let alone resist.

The alluring power was best embodied in this voice. Even Ye Fang paled in comparison, as Ye Fang wasn't skilled at imbuing her voice with bewitching magic.

Although Wu Nai's cultivation was already quite advanced, he still felt a slight dizziness upon hearing the voice. Wu Nai shook his head, temporarily suppressing the dizziness, and then shouted loudly towards the source of the voice, "Who is it? Stop playing tricks! Show yourself if you dare!"

"Don't you remember me so quickly?" The person didn't come out as he commanded, remaining hidden in the shadows, but unexpectedly spoke. Judging from her words, she seemed to recognize Wu Nai.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Seeing that he couldn't force the person to reveal themselves, Wu Nai spoke while carefully listening to the direction of the voice to try and locate it. Unfortunately, he was disappointed again. The voice was elusive, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, sometimes underground, making it impossible to pinpoint its exact location. Situ Yangguang shouted back, "What kind of hero hides in the shadows? Who are you? Come out and show yourself!"

The voice spoke slowly and deliberately, "Me? Aren't I the person you're looking for? Have you already forgotten why you opened this teahouse?"

Situ Yangguang's previously barely composed expression changed drastically upon hearing this. He knew perfectly well why he opened the teahouse, but how did this voice know? Could she be Consort Yang? But the voice didn't sound like it; Consort Yang didn't have such a seductive voice.

Before Situ Yangguang could speak, the voice continued, "Actually, I've been waiting for you all along. Now the opportunity has finally arrived, and I'm so happy, hahaha

!" The voice changed from seductive to sweet, as if she were genuinely delighted to see Situ Yangguang.

Situ Yangguang, however, felt no joy whatsoever. He began to have a feeling that he had fallen into a grand conspiracy. Even though he didn't yet know the specific purpose of this conspiracy, he could already feel that he was being used: "Who exactly are you? How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"Don't you really remember me? Don't you remember me?" Her voice repeated. An echo appeared, and suddenly, it seemed that she was everywhere, as if she were right next to his ear. Situ Yangguang's heart panicked and he felt afraid, until he secretly bit his tongue to calm himself down with the pain before shouting: "What are you doing playing tricks here? If you're so capable, come out now!"

"Since you insist on seeing me, then I will come out and see you!" After saying this, there was no sound around, as if she had vanished without a trace. Situ Yangguang looked left and right but couldn't find her anywhere. Just as he didn't know what to do, a pleasant but slightly eerie voice suddenly came from behind him: "

What are you looking for? I'm right here."

Situ Yangguang turned around in horror and saw a person standing silently behind him, and he didn't even know when she had appeared.

Behind Situ Yangguang stood a woman in white, with long hair reaching her waist and a strikingly beautiful face. It was a beautiful sight at first glance, and Situ Yangguang's heart skipped a beat. This woman's appearance was clearly identical to Consort Yang's; yes, it must be her. However, what he saw next made him doubt himself. The woman's beauty was completely ruined by something wrapped around her—a strange worm several meters long. It looked exactly like the worms he had previously discovered, only much larger and more ferocious.

Blood-red eyes, sharp teeth, and a jet-black body—it was utterly hideous. Situ Yangguang felt nauseous just to be entangled by it, let alone to be near it. Yet, the woman seemed to be enjoying it.

White, originally a color of purity and innocence, a color Consort Yang greatly favored, was now worn with a terrifying, sinister air by this woman

, like the capricious hand of hell, ready to take a life at any moment.

Although Situ Yangguang tried his best to tell himself not to be afraid, he couldn't help but swallow hard. This woman gave off a very sinister feeling, so sinister that even just standing there, she exuded a deep sense of oppressive death. "Who exactly are you?" Situ Yangguang asked, his voice trembling as he tried to control himself.

The woman raised her hand and laughed, her voice like a demonic whisper piercing Situ Yangguang's brain. After she finished laughing, she finally spoke: "Who am I? Aren't I the person you're looking for?"

"The person I'm looking for?" Situ Yangguang unconsciously repeated the woman's words. The person he came out to find was indeed Consort Yang, but this woman only resembled her in appearance, not in spirit. Consort Yang was a gentle and virtuous woman, how could she have such a terrifying appearance? ... A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and Situ Yangguang abruptly raised his head and demanded: "Are you impersonating Consort Yang to harm me?"

The woman stroked the strange insect's head with one hand, and with the other, as if by magic, produced a budding camellia, which she held to her nose and inhaled deeply, her expression seemingly intoxicated. Her every move was extremely elegant, but to Wu Nai and Situ Yangguang, it only seemed terrifying and sinister. Yang Fei coldly said, "Impersonation? Why impersonation? Haha, when the fake is taken for the real, the real becomes fake; when the real is taken for the fake, the real becomes fake. In this world, things are a mix of truth and falsehood, who has the time to examine them closely?"

Since the woman appeared, the strange worm on her body had been staring intently at Situ Yangguang, its eyes filled with greed and naked desire: to eat! It was as if Situ Yangguang was merely a delicious meal in its eyes.

When the woman looked up, the camellia between her fingers suddenly flew away. The flower bloomed instantly in mid-air. Its beauty was completely destroyed by the black larvae that emerged from it. At this moment, Situ Yangguang finally realized that the flower was actually produced by the strange worm on the woman's body. It was clear that all the worms they had seen before were the offspring of this one.

After doing all this, the woman looked at Situ Yangguang: "Li Shimin...hehe, I've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, haha. After this treasure I've been waiting for absorbs your energy, you'll have to

obediently follow my commands. We're going to achieve a great empire and rebuild an empire even stronger than the Tang Dynasty! Hahaha!" The treasure she was talking about was the black worm on her body. It turned out that the black worm's growth was also achieved by absorbing energy.

"You...you're not Consort Yang! You're not!" Situ Yangguang asked in confusion, "But how do you know that the person I'm waiting for is Consort Yang?" The woman laughed and said, "I'm not afraid to tell you, I can see through people's minds and know what they think about day and night. Only by understanding their desires can I better control their minds, understand?"

Situ Yangguang knew in his heart that his current situation was likely dire. This woman's sudden appearance here and telling him the truth meant she had ulterior motives. It was highly likely that she wanted to drain him dry as well, then control his actions and make him her puppet.

A deep, profound sorrow welled up in Situ Yangguang's heart. For the first time, he felt death so close. He felt no fear, only helplessness. He hadn't even seen the real Consort Yang, and his heart was filled with resentment. Situ Yangguang

said fiercely, "I want to know, what is your real name? Why are you impersonating Consort Yang? Don't tell me it's a coincidence; I won't believe such nonsense!"

The woman smiled coldly, "Unfortunately, my name is Consort Yang."

A smile spread across her face as she took a few steps closer, saying, "Speaking of which, I should thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had this wonderful opportunity, hehe!" She looked at Situ Yangguang with a half-smile, even the black insects on her body wore a half-smile—very eerie, truly eerie.

Chapter 301 Unresolvable Hatred

A slender tongue emerged from Consort Yang's mouth, greedily licking her luscious lips: "Hahaha, how about it? Did my appearance fool you?"

As Situ Yangguang listened to the woman's words, his expression slowly shifted from grief to resentment, from weakness to strength. He raised his head, his eyes blazing as he glared at the woman: "Although I still don't understand why you disguised yourself as Consort Yang to deceive me, I must tell you, your behavior is utterly despicable. I don't want to see you again. Get out of my sight!"

"You want to drive me away?" The woman covered her mouth and giggled: "Why should I? Hehe, my goal hasn't been achieved yet. I will absolutely not leave! I will use you to become the powerful queen of the world!" The woman's voice changed from soft to cold, and with a wave of her hands, the black worm wrapped around her flew away. It turned out that while she was speaking, Wu Nai had already spat out his inner core, striking the woman with lightning speed. Just when Wu Nai thought he could hit her, the strange insect wrapped around the woman reacted in time, turning its head and spitting out a black

bubble that enveloped her. The inner core collided with the bubble, only causing it to shake a few times, but it didn't break. Instead, the inner core was contaminated by the black bubble, its hazy blue color dimming considerably. Before it suffered further contamination, Wu Nai hurriedly withdrew the inner core. As soon as he swallowed it, he felt something was wrong with it. It was somewhat like poisoning, causing his previously smooth internal energy to become disordered.

Wu Nai's heart sank. The inner core was already one of his most powerful attack methods, containing years of his cultivation, but now it couldn't even break a bubble formed by an insect, and he was even injured himself. Let alone killing the woman of unknown origin.

Just as he was feeling frustrated, the woman commanded the strange insect to fly over. After springing up, the strange insect's wings, which had been hidden on its back, flapped skyward with a whooshing sound, flying towards Wu Nai. Its sharp teeth gleamed menacingly in its mouth; a bite from it would be fatal, if not death.

Seeing the insect's ferocious attack, Wu Nai dared not meet it head-on.

He made a hand seal, silently chanted, and a fiery, soul-hooking whip appeared in his hand, striking the insect with lightning speed. A crisp crack echoed as the fiery whip struck the insect squarely, sending up a burst of dazzling sparks, but the insect seemed completely unharmed. The strange insect nimbly turned and retreated back to Consort Yang's side. Consort Yang was not in a hurry at all; instead, she revealed a cold smile, like a cat catching a mouse, and said to Wu Nai, "Hmph, I didn't know you had some tricks up your sleeve. However, you seem to have oversimplified things. You think you can escape my grasp with just this whip? Not so easy! Let me tell you, you've actually been poisoned. You'd better take good care of your internal energy and don't be reckless, or you'll soon die from the poison."

Wu Nai, of course, knew that he had been ambushed, but he pretended to be nonchalant and forced a smile, saying, "What a joke, how could I be poisoned? " "Poison? Come and try me, I'll make sure you don't leave alive!" Consort Yang said with a charming laugh, "Don't try to hold on, the poison will take effect in an hour. Then I won't even have to lift a finger, you'll naturally be lying on the ground, hahaha!"

Faced with such a shameless person, Situ Yangguang didn't know what to say, he could only glare angrily and say, "Who exactly are you? You actually use this strange worm to harm the world, aren't you afraid of divine retribution?" Ever since Wu Nai's whip strike, the strange worm had been staring at Wu Nai and Situ Yangguang, its mouth opening and closing, believing that as long as Wu Nai made the slightest move, it would pounce on them.

"Heavenly Mandate? What is that? I don't know and I don't want to know. As for who I am... I've already told you, my name is Yang Fei." She stared at Situ Yangguang with interest. "Aren't you eager to know my origins so you can tell your friends and have them avenge you?"

"That's right! That's exactly what I'm thinking. What, are you scared and afraid to tell me? Coward!" Seeing that she had seen through his intentions and fearing she might be wary and not reveal his background, Situ Yangguang resorted to provocation.

His thoughts didn't escape the woman's notice, but she clearly didn't believe Situ Yangguang would reveal the information under her nose, so she generously said, "Telling you won't hurt, so you won't die a confused ghost!"

Hearing the woman's willingness to speak, Situ Yangguang was

overjoyed , but he didn't show it on his face, simply standing quietly.

"I can tell you my origins, but you'd better listen carefully, because this is your last time in this world, so cherish it!" Yang Fei said coldly.

Consort Yang raised her face slightly, her gaze becoming unfocused, as if she had returned to a distant land: "I was named Consort Yang from birth. I was originally just an ordinary rural woman. If the plague hadn't struck the village, and I hadn't been labeled a jinx and destined to be burned to death, I think I would have remained an ordinary woman my whole life." Her sigh was barely audible, but it was unclear what she was sighing about—her past fate or her present self.

"I remember that day the firelight was so bright and beautiful, yet also terrifying, because it came to devour my life. Hmph, to decide my fate based solely on a wizard's words—it's laughable! Of course, I refused to die an innocent and miserable death, so I had to run. They chased after me until they cornered me in a bottomless cave. There, I met my precious, beloved insect, and that changed

the course !" It turns out this insect wasn't originally hers; she encountered it by chance. Perhaps it was a karmic connection from a past life, but the insect recognized her as its master, causing her to cultivate from a human to a demonic being, neither human nor demon, possessing some demonic attributes. This was likely largely due to her insect.

It was precisely because of this ambiguous nature that her aura was so strange and mysterious; even a master like Wukong could hardly discern her true identity.

In addition, she learned a method to increase her power by absorbing human essence and blood. However, the energy contained in the essence and blood of mortals is limited, far less than that of cultivators or demons. Therefore, Yang Fei preferred to absorb the essence and blood of demons or cultivators.

However, she was very weak at the beginning and could only find some mortals or weak spirits to absorb energy with the help of insects. It took her more than ten years in the cave to make some progress.

At this point, Consort Yang looked at Situ Yangguang and said, "Do you want to know what I did after I returned to the village?" Before Situ Yangguang could speak, she burst into laughter, a laugh

filled with indescribable pleasure and a faint...sadness...

She abruptly stopped laughing and then shouted, "I drained the life essence of everyone in the entire village, a full 359 people, without exception, including my parents who wanted to send me to the fire platform. I drained their life essence and turned it into my own energy, and then burned them to ashes with a fire, hahaha!"

She stared at her hands as if in a frenzy, saying, "In just over a hundred years, I achieved what I have now, many times faster than some people who only know how to cultivate in vain! But it's not enough, not enough, I must continue to become stronger." After saying this, Consort Yang, her eyes bloodshot, walked step by step towards Situ Yangguang, her mouth uttering a thirsty sound: "My darling told me you are the reincarnation of Li Shimin. Eating you will increase my power a hundredfold, a thousandfold! I will eat you, and then eat everyone around you! Hahaha, I will eat them all!! I will achieve my hegemony, I will make everyone submit to me!"

With a monstrous insect eyeing him menacingly and Consort Yang pressing closer,

Wu Nai was secretly regulating his internal energy. Faced with this perilous situation, Situ Yangguang actually laughed, a laugh that bewildered Consort Yang, who said viciously, "What are you laughing at when you're about to die?"

Situ Yangguang continued laughing until Consort Yang was exasperated, at which point he stopped: "I laugh because you think things are too simple. You must know that there are mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people. No matter how deep your cultivation, such evil deeds will ultimately not escape the punishment of Heaven. I advise you to turn back as soon as possible, lay down your butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot—that is the right path." Perhaps because he had spent so much time with Tang Sanzang recently, Situ Yangguang's teachings were quite professional.

"Is that so?" Consort Yang laughed instead of getting angry. "What divine punishment? I don't care at all! Do you think anyone can save you? Don't even dream about it. Enough nonsense, you'd better obediently surrender your life!"

Having said that, she immediately launched her attack. At the very moment of her attack, a black and white light flickered on her hand. This light appeared and disappeared quickly, vanishing as she leaped into the air. Yang Fei's hand transformed from a human hand into a ferocious, terrifying beast's hand, its color and patterns bearing

a striking resemblance to the strange worm. It seemed she was almost assimilated into the worm.

Following Yang Fei's command, the strange worm also leaped up to attack Wu Nai. Although Wu Nai knew he shouldn't overuse his internal energy, as that would only accelerate the poison's effects, he couldn't bear to see Situ Yangguang harmed by the woman in this critical situation. Without hesitation, he stepped forward to protect Situ Yangguang, wielding his fiery, soul-snatching whip with impeccable skill. The crimson whip shadow enveloped Yang Fei and the strange worm, blocking their attacks.

Seeing the considerable power of Wu Nai's Soul-Hooking Whip, Consort Yang roared and leaped into the air, revealing her true form. A massive, green snake, tens of meters long and as thick as a bucket, appeared before her, its long, smooth body covered in beautiful green scales. The snake's tail swept towards the window, and with a loud crash, the window and a wall shattered, dust billowing into the air.

In

the billowing dust, the snake's tail nearly struck Wu Nai, but he reacted quickly, rolling several times on the ground to barely escape.

"How about it? How long can you hold out?" Consort Yang's eyes were filled with smug satisfaction; toying with the weak felt wonderful. At the same time, she curled her right hand into a claw and slowly approached Situ Yangguang, seemingly preparing to devour his energy.

Unable to fight back or escape, Situ Yangguang was like a caged bird, completely at the mercy of others. However, he was once the powerful Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, not an ordinary mortal, so he still possessed dignity and remained fearless in the face of danger. He glared hatefully at the approaching Consort Yang: "Witch, I'll risk my life to prevent your scheme from succeeding!"

His resolute tone reflected his unwavering determination, and at the same time, a bluish light appeared on his face, growing stronger with each passing moment.

Consort Yang, who had been smiling, saw this and her smile vanished instantly, her eyes flashing with anger. She shouted sharply,

"You're courting death!" Moving like the wind, she was beside Situ Yangguang in the blink of an eye, her already prepared right hand poised to grab his head.

Seeing his life-or-death energy about to be forcibly extracted from his body, the pain was excruciating, like skin being torn apart and tendons being severed. But beyond this pain, there was even greater humiliation. Why? Why was his own life at the mercy of others? He couldn't even die, and others were forced to use his energy for evil deeds. How hateful! How hateful!! Situ Yangguang got into position, waiting for Yang Fei to pounce. He was prepared; although the difference in strength was vast, he would fight with all his might, striving for a fight to the death. Wu Nai, who had just stood up, wanted to come to his aid, but it was too late.

At this critical moment, a series of melodious zither notes drifted in, as gentle as the wind rustling through bamboo leaves, as soft as falling petals. Yet, the music brought boundless comfort and solace. This music was untouched by the dust of the world, untainted by the vulgarity of humanity.

A thousand feet of soft red silk, the sound of the zither travels a thousand miles, tears fall like rain, who can accompany me…

The zither music started slowly and gradually

quickened , its sharp, piercing notes sending chills down one's spine. Everyone present, including Consort Yang and the black worm, stopped what they were doing, as if bewitched by the music. Her body involuntarily reverted to its charming, feminine form.

The person was not seen, but the sound had already arrived; following the sound, there was no trace.

“Since you’ve come, why don’t you show yourself? Hiding in the shadows like a coward, what kind of skill is that?!” After an unknown amount of time, Consort Yang finally awoke from the mesmerizing music. Consort Yang spoke tauntingly, trying to force the player to come out.

As soon as she finished speaking, someone immediately chimed in: “Who said I didn’t show myself? It’s just that you’re too incompetent to see me, and you still have the nerve to shout here!”

This voice, accompanied by the tinkling zither music, was very pleasant to the ear. A graceful figure drifted in from outside the large window that Consort Yang had collapsed. Her red dress resembled a dancing flame, or perhaps the flamboyant personality of its owner.

She held a zither in her left hand, her right hand occasionally stroking the strings, producing melodious sounds. Consort Yang's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the newcomer, then returned to her previous disdainful expression: "I wondered who it was,

but it's you! I never expected you to come and save them!"

Ye Fang walked in as if she hadn't heard her, her long hair flowing like a dance, a smile playing on her lips. Upon reaching Consort Yang, she gazed at her, a smile playing on her lips before she spoke, her red lips curving into a crescent moon: "You injured my elder brother Wu Nai, how could I not come to find you? You vixen, you are so treacherous!"

With that, she lightly touched the strings of her zither with her delicate, boneless hand, and an invisible sound wave emanated from them. She lowered her eyes and slowly walked to face Wu Nai, staring at him as he silently meditated for a long while. She sighed softly and said, "Brother, I was almost too late..."

"You're not too late, I should be able to hold on. I was just accidentally poisoned, sister, you must be careful too." Wu Nai, not wanting Ye Fang to be distracted by his condition, quickly comforted her.

"Consort Yang, your methods are despicable, you actually poisoned her!" Beneath her long eyelashes, her eyes were filled with icy coldness. Ye Fang silently turned, her cold gaze meeting Consort Yang's, without a sound.

Even though Consort Yang was cruel and bloodthirsty,

a sense of horror flashed through her heart at this moment. Ye Fang's eyes were filled with the message of death, which made people unable to help but feel afraid. However, while Consort Yang felt afraid, she also felt a little excited. If... if she could absorb Ye Fang's magic power, then she could reach another level and then she would no longer have to be afraid of anyone.

Just as Consort Yang was lost in thought, Ye Fang finally spoke: "Needless to say, you are the one who impersonated Consort Yang to get close to Situ Yangguang, right?" As she said this, she glanced at the strange insect on Consort Yang's body: "Not only that, you are also the culprit who committed the murder in Lingwang City, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?" Consort Yang stared intently at Ye Fang: "What good does it do to know? I'm about to become a dead person, so knowing more won't help!"

Ye Fang shook her head slightly: "Hehe, your confidence is too strong, isn't it? Maybe you're the one who's about to become a dead person!" When she said the last sentence, her previously narrowed eyes suddenly widened, and two sharp beams shot out from them, like arrows released from a bow, heading straight for Consort Yang's head.

Startled by the attack, Consort Yang

instinctively took a step back, then stomped her right foot on the ground, leaping three feet off the ground to avoid the attack range of the sharp light. Ye Fang smiled calmly, hooking a string on her zither with her finger, saying, "I haven't played this zither in a long time. You should be happy to hear me play!" With that, she released the string, unleashing another wave of sound towards Consort Yang.

Seeing Ye Fang's relentless pressure, Consort Yang knew she couldn't escape. Besides, she wanted to absorb Ye Fang's magical power, so she transformed both her hands into beast-like arms and attacked in return. At the same time, the strange worm coiled around it slid down, joining Consort Yang in the attack. Caught

in a pincer movement, Ye Fang's pressure increased dramatically, especially towards the strange worm, which she was clearly more wary of than Consort Yang. Therefore, she continued to attack from a distance with sound waves, determined not to let them get close.

What troubled Ye Fang the most was the jet-black bubbles that the strange insect spewed from its mouth. Not only were they difficult to resist, but the bubbles also had extremely strong corrosive toxicity. Her older brother, Wu Nai, kept reminding her not to get even a little bit on them, otherwise the toxicity would spread from that spot. So Ye Fang was extremely careful.

If a tiny insect, barely born, already possessed such terrifying abilities, then the monstrous insect before her, now a spirit, was even more terrifying. Strangely enough, this monstrous insect and Yang Fei shared the same aura—neither demonic nor monster, but possessing a certain demonic quality. Could they be creatures of the demon realm?

Thinking this, Ye Fang's expression darkened. The demon realm was an extremely mysterious space; Ye Fang had never been there and knew nothing of its specifics. Could Yang Fei be from the demon realm?

Actually, Ye Fang was only half right. The monstrous insect was indeed a demonic beast from the demon realm, but Yang Fei was not. She was initially just an ordinary person, and through a series of coincidences, this demonic beast recognized her as its master, ultimately leading her down the path of demonic possession. When Yang Fei spoke of this to Situ Yangguang, Ye Fang hadn't yet arrived; no wonder she was unaware.

As the fight escalated, Yang Fei gradually figured out Ye Fang's strength. Strictly speaking, Ye Fang's true power was slightly lower than her and the monstrous insect's combined, but not by much, just a tiny margin. The reason the two of them hadn't been able to defeat

Ye Fang despite their combined efforts was because Ye Fang's attack method was quite unique—it was sonic, something Ye Fang had never encountered before. Therefore, she wasn't used to it and had no good way to deal with it, only able to block it head-on.

However, Yang Fei's confidence was growing stronger. She believed that final victory would definitely belong to her side, but it would take a long time to determine a winner. If Wukong and the others found their way here during this time, she would be the one to suffer. How could she finish the battle quickly? Yang Fei began to calculate in her mind.

Not only Yang Fei noticed this, but Ye Fang herself also realized that the battle was going against her. She was gradually feeling the strain. It seemed that these methods alone wouldn't be enough to defeat Yang Fei and the strange insect. What should she do? Just

as she was pondering this, Yang Fei unexpectedly seized an opening and closed in on her. By the time Ye Fang realized it, the distance between them was only a few meters. Ye Fang swiftly waved her hands, unleashing a continuous stream of sound waves from her zither in an attempt to block Yang Fei's sneak attack. However, two fists are no match for four hands; the strange insects, already coordinating with Yang Fei's attacks, continuously spewed four or five bubbles at Ye Fang, leaving her

unable to defend against both.

Weighing her options, Ye Fang had to make a choice. She used most of her sound waves to block the strange insects' attacks, using only a small portion to block Yang Fei, while simultaneously circulating her internal magic power, hoping to withstand Yang Fei's attack head-on.

Normally, with Ye Fang's body operating at full power, it wouldn't have been impossible to withstand Yang Fei's attack, especially since it had already consumed a significant amount of her strength with the sound waves. However, to her utter surprise, Yang Fei's attack struck her precisely in the chest.

Waves of pain surged from that spot, causing Ye Fang to cry out in agony, staggering back five or six meters before barely managing to stop.

Yang Fei, having landed a successful blow, was initially stunned, then burst into laughter, pointing at Ye Fang and saying, "So, after all this time,

you're just all bark and no bite! Let's see what you're capable of defeating me now. Looks like I can kill two birds with one stone today, hahaha, how wonderful!" "You can say that after you've beaten me so badly I can't stand up!" Ye Fang, clutching her wound, struggled to her feet, her other hand holding the zither showing signs of strain. Judging from the current situation, if Ye Fang didn't have a

backup plan, she was almost certain to lose, as Yang Fei hadn't been injured yet.

"You filthy fox spirit, still so stubborn even when death is near!" Yang Fei was extremely dissatisfied with Ye Fang's attitude. With a furious shout, she and the strange insect attacked again, their attacks fierce and ruthless, determined to subdue her as quickly as possible.

Ye Fang suddenly laughed, a remarkably calm laugh, and then she did something astonishing: she threw the zither to the ground!

She seemed to be giving up, but was that really the case?

Consort Yang had the same question in her mind, but she soon found the answer, for Ye Fang began to howl towards the sky, the piercing cry carrying far and wide, seemingly tearing through the heavens.

With her howl, sharp teeth, claws, fox ears, and a fox tail emerged, her aura surging once more, seemingly even stronger than before her injury, almost matching the combined power of Consort Yang and the strange insect.

However, Consort Yang was not afraid. She believed Ye Fang's current strength was only temporary; in her half-human, half-demon form, she couldn't remain

so powerful indefinitely.

The fully transformed Ye Fang no longer possessed her former beauty, but was even more alluring. Now she was the true fox demon Ye Fang, demonic and fierce, ruthless yet seductive!

Ye Fang stared at Yang Fei with her narrow eyes, then licked her paw with her tongue: "It wasn't easy to force out my true demonic form. To thank you, I'll show you my true sonic attack!"

Before Yang Fei could understand what powerful moves Ye Fang possessed, Ye Fang moved. Her tail multiplied from one to nine, transforming into nine tails that coiled around her, becoming nine stringed instruments.

Only a nine-tailed fox demon could achieve this, and Ye Fang was undoubtedly one of them. This was her true trump card, unused for so many years, yet now she used it again.

Her hands moved like a thousand shadows, swiftly dancing across the nine instruments, producing bursts of music sharp as blades and fierce as wolves. Nine instruments, nine different sounds, combined, creating a powerful and poignant melody.

In an instant, the air was filled with this sharp and fierce music.

Chapter 303 A Difficult Struggle

At first, Consort Yang was cautiously wary of Ye Fang's sonic attack, but after waiting for a long time, no power of the sonic waves was unleashed, nor were any other attacks. It was as if Ye Fang was simply playing a few ordinary zithers, with no discernible difference.

After waiting a while longer, and still nothing, Consort Yang couldn't help but scoff: "Ye Fang, you don't need to bluff anymore. Although it looks intimidating, it's completely useless. Or are you planning to scare me off with just this zither music? That's ridiculous!"

Ye Fang didn't reply, continuing to frantically strum the strings, the nine notes blending and transforming. Only after the last note faded did she raise her head, revealing an incredibly beautiful smile to Consort Yang: "Is that so? If you think so, then come over and try it." The nine zithers returned to their tail-like shapes, swaying behind her. Her face was visibly pale, probably from expending too much internal energy. It turned out that Ye Fang's display of power required a great deal of cultivation, so she

generally didn't dare use it unless absolutely necessary.

"Sister, you..." Only Wu Nai knew what Ye Fang had sacrificed. He looked at Ye Fang with concern, hesitating to speak. Ye Fang smiled at Wu Nai and said, "Brother, don't worry, I'm fine."

"Hmph, what's there to be afraid of!" Yang Fei, confident in her high level of magical power, wasn't afraid of Ye Fang's schemes. She immediately took the strange insect and walked towards Ye Fang. However, as soon as they moved, they were inexplicably struck. Both Yang Fei and the strange insect had a cut on their bodies. Although not deep, this was the first injury they had sustained since their appearance, and its deterrent effect far outweighed its actual impact.

Consort Yang remained relatively calm, but the strange insect, writhing in pain, became ferocious. After letting out a few strange cries, it glared at Ye Fang with hostile eyes and lunged at her. However, the moment it moved, it was attacked again. This happened several times, each time leaving a deeper cut on its body. No matter how hard its exoskeleton was, it couldn't withstand the attacks. What was most chilling was that they couldn't find any trace of the weapon or magic that had attacked them.

Consort Yang felt sorry for the insect and quickly

stopped it, making it stay where it was. Then she shouted at Ye Fang, "What evil magic have you cast on us? Why are we attacked the moment we move?"

Ye Fang feigned innocence and said, "Don't you all know? Why are you asking me?"

Consort Yang was speechless with anger, retorting, "How would I know? If I did, would you have ambushed me?"

Ye Fang smiled leisurely, stroking a tail that extended in front of her, and said slowly, "Sonic attack? Don't you understand what a sonic attack means yet? It seems I overestimated your intelligence. Your brain is probably about the same as that reptile's!"

Not only Consort Yang, but even the strange insect understood Ye Fang's meaning; it was blatant contempt. If they weren't afraid of the omnipresent and incredibly sharp attack, they would have already pounced on Ye Fang and torn her to pieces.

Ye Fang chuckled and said, "The attack on you is still that sound wave, but this time it's not only invisible but also silent. I've set up an array around you, and the array is composed of these invisible and silent sound waves. If

you don't move, the sound waves won't attack. But as soon as you move and touch it, you will inevitably be attacked, as you've already experienced. The sound waves I condensed with my life force are not like the previous ones; they are not only sharper but also more persistent. Now, thousands upon thousands of sound waves have already formed around you. If you try to forcefully break the array, you'll probably be cut into pieces before you even get out."

Hearing that she was trapped silently, Yang Fei's first reaction was that it was impossible. How could sound waves form an array? Ye Fang must be lying to her. But she quickly realized she was wrong, because Ye Fang, to prove her point, cast a spell to make the persistent sound waves appear briefly, for less than a second, but enough to see clearly.

Just as Ye Fang had said, countless sound waves surrounded them haphazardly, not only on their sides but also above and below them, leaving them with no way out.

Seeing herself trapped, Consort Yang knew her only option was

to fight back. If she couldn't escape, she would surely be captured alive by Ye Fang. She was better off fighting; she didn't want her carefree days to end like this.

"You think you can trap me like this? You underestimate me!" Consort Yang said coldly.

Ye Fang smiled indifferently, "Since you think you can't be trapped, then break free and let me see." Her gaze turned cold. "While your power gained from absorbing human flesh and even magical energy is indeed greater than mine, don't forget, it's all other people's energy. Although you forcibly fused it into your own, it's still different from what you cultivate yourself. You can't freely manipulate it; you have energy but can't use it. This is the drawback of using evil methods to enhance your power. While I may not possess as much energy as you, I have advantages you can't match. Now that you're trapped in my formation, getting out is harder than climbing to heaven. I advise you not to waste your energy."

"Whether it's a waste of energy or not, we'll only know after trying." With that, Yang Fei gritted her teeth, added

several layers of protective barriers, and attempted to break the formation with the strange insect.

Hissing sounds echoed as the sound waves sliced through Yang Fei and the strange insects. After only a few steps, the barrier around Yang Fei shattered, and the bubbles enveloping the strange insects burst one after another. Although they replenished their strength, they couldn't keep up with the rapid depletion, leaving them covered in numerous wounds.

Ye Fang appeared unharmed, standing to the side, but only she knew the bitterness she endured. She had only spoken to Yang Fei about the powerful aspects of the sonic attack array, omitting the opposite—the burden on the caster. While the

sonic attack array was indeed powerful, it was a near-self-destructive technique. The powerful moves inevitably inflict damage; thousands upon thousands of sound waves were condensed from a mixture of the caster's own vital energy, making them indestructible and unbreakable. No matter what protective measures Yang Fei employed, they would ultimately be torn apart.

However, once a sound wave harms an enemy, it dissipates, and the energy attached to it also dissipates. The caster suffers a corresponding backlash and pain. This is the situation Ye Fang is in now. She has been silently enduring the backlash and pain of the spell, but she dares not show it at all, otherwise Yang Fei will definitely break the formation frantically.

Now it depends on who can hold on first, her or Yang Fei's. Once one side gives up and falls, the other side wins. So she must persevere no matter what, as long as she wins this round.

Even so, Ye Fang is enduring immense suffering, because she cannot cry out, nor can she show any emotion. She even has to swallow the blood that surges up due to the backlash. The pain during this time is unimaginable for ordinary people.

Within a distance of about two meters, Yang Fei and the strange insect had already suffered no fewer than a hundred cuts. Although the wounds weren't deep, the accumulation of cuts eventually led to a qualitative change. Yang Fei finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. Her face, body, and even her beast-like hands were covered with wounds of varying depths. The strange insect wasn't in much better shape, but at least it could still stand upright and hadn't collapsed.

Suddenly, a silence fell over the large room; even Yang Fei's breathing could be clearly heard

.

Chapter 304 Deep Sibling Affection

Yang Fei cursed incessantly in her heart. What kind of damned magic was this? How could it be so domineering? If she had known earlier, she wouldn't have allowed Ye Fang, that fox demon, to set up the formation so easily. It was truly hateful. Now, however, she was unwilling to give up. After all, she had already suffered so much pain. As long as she could get out of this ghostly formation, victory would be hers. But could she really hold on? She didn't have complete confidence. Taking advantage of the rest, she considered all possibilities, but ultimately rejected them all. She thought of escaping through the air, but there were sonic barriers in the air, and if she couldn't fly and fell, landing in a place with dense sonic waves would be suicide.

Just as she was worrying, Yang Fei's gaze fell on the strange insect. It seemed that only by joining forces with it could she possibly break out of the formation. Without hesitation, she let out a sharp screech. Hearing the sound, the strange insect ignored the sonic attacks between itself and darted towards Yang Fei like a black thread, wrapping around her several times and binding her, just like before.

Ye Fang, who had been smiling the whole time, found it hard to maintain her smile at this sight. Of course, she knew what Yang Fei was planning. If the two of them separated,

their strength would naturally be dispersed, and the attacks they would suffer would be doubled if they tried to break out of the formation. Now that they were together, their combined strength would reduce the attacks they would receive by half.

She had the same idea when she chose to set up the formation when Yang Fei and the strange insect were separated, but she hadn't expected them to be so tenacious, withstanding so many attacks without falling.

A helpless, bitter smile crept across Ye Fang's face. If they were to leave the formation, she would surely be the one to die. She was already severely injured, only suppressing her pain. Moreover, her elder brother, Wu Nai, seemed to be seriously poisoned; if she were to fall, his life would be in grave danger. Ye Fang's heart sank into an icy abyss.

With both sides working together to break the formation, the damage was indeed much less than before. Although both were badly injured, at least they still had some strength to conserve. Yang Fei hated Ye Fang intensely, hated the first person to injure her, and vowed not to rest until she killed Ye Fang.

Fueled by this resentment, Yang Fei struggled through the formation. As she and the strange insects traveled further and further away,

more and more sonic waves were destroyed from the sonic attack array. In truth, these destroyed sonic waves could be repaired, but in Ye Fang's current state, she simply didn't have the extra mana to do so. Even standing was becoming difficult for her.

"Pfft!" After enduring for a long time, Ye Fang finally couldn't hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood, her body swaying precariously as if she would fall at any moment.

"Sister!" Wu Nai, who was quietly recuperating, cried out in anguish.

Consort Yang was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter: "I almost fell for your tricks, you cunning fox spirit! I was already at my last gasp. If I could escape this ghostly formation, you'd be completely at my mercy. Hmph, you fox spirit, you've caused me so much suffering! Once I catch you, I'll subject you to every cruel torture imaginable before draining your magic power, leaving you utterly destroyed!"

Ye Fang, though struggling to control herself, refused to back down, managing to say, "Don't be too happy yet. We won't know who will win until the very last moment." After saying this, she immediately sat down to regulate her breathing. Since her trump card had been exposed, there was no point in hiding anything anymore. She might as well use this time to suppress her

internal injuries, making it easier to fight back later.

One step, two steps, three steps!

Yang Fei finally stepped out of the sonic attack array. Although she and the strange insect were covered in wounds, and their magical power had dropped to an unprecedented low, she was finally free. Overjoyed, Yang Fei laughed loudly, pointing at Ye Fang who was still meditating and recuperating, and said, "You filthy fox demon, now I'm going to make you pay ten times the pain you caused me! I want to see what other tricks you have up your sleeve!"

Ye Fang merely opened her eyes and glanced at her, then closed them again, appearing completely helpless. However, Yang Fei didn't immediately rush forward. Both she and the strange insect were seriously injured, their bodies a bloody mess, their magical power depleted. Moreover, she couldn't be sure that Ye Fang truly had no other tricks up her sleeve.

Therefore, Yang Fei first stopped the bleeding from her own external wounds. As for the strange insect, it could stop bleeding on its own and didn't need her help. After the bleeding stopped, Yang Fei, with utmost caution, cautiously approached Ye Fang, simultaneously preparing to retreat at any moment.

Even when she was a few steps ahead of Ye Fang, Ye Fang still didn't react. It seemed she was truly nearing her end, unable even to escape.

Now Consort Yang was relieved. She swung her beastly claws at Ye Fang, not intending to kill her outright, but as she had previously stated, to inflict excruciating pain before letting her die.

Ye Fang was instantly knocked to the ground, her clothes torn, revealing several deep, bone-revealing new wounds. Ye Fang clutched her wounds in agony, struggling to stand, but it was futile. She was injured both internally and externally, beyond what she could possibly suppress.

Yang Fei laughed arrogantly, "Beg me! Beg me! If you beg me, maybe I'll let you die a little easier!"

Ye Fang endured the pain and revealed a mocking smile, "Would you be so kind? So kind to an enemy who has caused you so much trouble? Don't make yourself a laughingstock!"

Yang Fei laughed loudly, "That's right, I'm not that kind. I just want to see you beg for mercy. Hmph, you fox demon, I will not only make you die a painful death, but I will also drain your magic power and use your corpse to feed my treasures.

I will make sure you are reduced to ashes! And you two, your fate will be the same! Hahaha, hahaha!" She glanced at Wu Nai and Situ Yangguang with disdain.

The strange insect wrapped around her stuck out its tongue, presumably it also hated Ye Fang to the bone. Since it came to the human world, it had never suffered such a great loss.

The wounds continued to multiply. Although not fatal, the blood was undeniably flowing. If this continued, Ye Fang would inevitably die from excessive blood loss combined with her severe injuries. Was she truly going to die at Yang Fei's hands?

But what was that faint smile on Ye Fang's lips?

The wounds weren't just on her body; even Ye Fang's once breathtakingly beautiful face, which had captivated countless people, was now covered in scars, a truly shocking sight.

Yang Fei stared viciously at Ye Fang lying on the ground and said, "Alright, it's time. It's time for me to absorb your magic power. I will definitely keep my promise and feed my treasure with your corpse!" Her

hand once again curled into a claw and reached for Ye Fang. But Ye Fang's face didn't show fear;

instead, a widening smile appeared. Her eyes were fixed on a certain spot, the smile expanding in her eyes.

"Stop!" A furious shout rang out rapidly, revealing the owner's urgent mood.

"Uh, someone else is coming?" Yang Fei was startled by the sound. Taking advantage of this moment of surprise, Ye Fang used the last bit of strength she had recovered to roll away from Yang Fei's attack range and then ran towards the figure rushing towards her. "Big brother..."

Chapter 305 Letting the Tiger Return to the Mountain

Makes Wu Nai Suffer Great Losses. The Black Bubble, which had suffered greatly before, was no match for the power of the Soul-Hooking Whip, only slightly blocking its momentum.

Two, three, seven, although the momentum of the Soul-Hooking Whip was blocked seven times, it still stubbornly penetrated all obstacles and stabbed hard into the thick body of the monster insect. Because much of its power had been dissipated earlier, the Soul-Hooking Whip could not penetrate the monster insect's body. Even so, it still caused the monster insect unprecedented damage.

Unlike the superficial wounds it suffered in the sonic attack array, this time it was a real wound that penetrated into the flesh, and even its internal organs were seriously injured.

On the other side, using the strange insects as cover, Yang Fei grinned maliciously as she brought her five outstretched fingers to Ye Fang's head. If the fingers landed firmly, Ye Fang would surely die. At this moment, Wu Nai was locked in combat with the strange insects; everything happened in the blink of an eye. Could he arrive in time to save her?

Although Ye Fang no longer had the strength to dodge or resist, she didn't close her eyes like someone on the verge of death. Instead,

she stared wide-eyed at Yang Fei. Even in death, she would remember her enemy's face

, remember it forever, and carry this hatred into the next life, or even countless lifetimes, to be avenged.

As Yang Fei's fingers slowly pressed down, Wu Nai's eyes turned bloodshot with rage. He roared and instantly activated his demonic transformation. Only in this state could he unleash his full power.

Five meters—five meters was the maximum range he could reach. He was currently five meters away from Ye Fang, which was why he only launched his long-prepared attack once he entered that range: Catalysis of All Things!

As his body transformed into a demon, everything within a five-meter radius of him grew wildly under his magic. Chopsticks, bowls, plates, teacups, and other objects instantly became enormous. Things that were previously insignificant now became life-saving tools. Under Wu Nai's command, the catalyzed objects wrapped around Yang Fei's arm that was pressing down on Ye Fang's head, preventing her from pressing her down any further.

Although Yang Fei could easily shake off these mutated objects with some effort, in this life-or-death moment, this delay was enough.

Taking advantage of this brief moment, Wu Nai

swung his fiery, soul-hooking whip, which wrapped around Ye Fang's body and pulled her forcefully towards himself, forcibly pulling Ye Fang away from Yang Fei's grasp. This prevented Yang Fei from killing Ye Fang, enraging her to the point of near madness.

Even with such timely rescue, she wasn't completely spared. From Yang Fei's blood-stained fingers and the blood seeping from Ye Fang's black hair, it was clear that Ye Fang had been injured on the top of her head, but fortunately, her skull wasn't broken; it was just some superficial wounds.

"Ye Fang, sister, how are you?" Once out of danger, Ye Fang, who had been forcing herself to stay awake, almost fainted. Wu Nai cried out in alarm, fearing she would fall asleep and never wake up again.

Hearing Wu Nai's anxious calls, Ye Fang barely opened her eyes, revealing a captivating smile: "Big brother, I'm alright, I'm alright."

Hearing Ye Fang's response, Wu Nai was overjoyed and tears streamed down his face. He hugged Ye Fang tightly: "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright!" He and Ye Fang had been separated for so long, and before he could recover from the joy of their reunion, he had almost suffered the pain of losing a loved one. Thank goodness,

thank goodness, thank goodness Ye Fang was still alive.

Ye Fang raised her hand to wipe away the tears that had appeared on Wu Nai's face without her noticing: "Big brother, don't be sad, I'm really fine, don't be upset."

Watching from the sidelines, Consort Yang was furious. She coldly said, "Well, that's it. You two siblings can go to hell together. Let me send you on your way." With that, she roused herself and led the strange insects to attack Wu Nai and his sister. Wu Nai, having already exhausted himself saving Ye Fang, was now worried about her injuries, so his reactions were slightly slow. By the time he realized what was happening and turned around, Consort Yang and the strange insects were already upon them.

"Brother, be careful!" Ye Fang, with her sharp eyes, saw the approaching danger and quickly warned him. However, Consort Yang's hand was already aimed at Wu Nai's head, while the strange insects' sharp teeth were biting into Ye Fang's tender neck. Wu Nai closed his eyes in despair.

A crisp "crack" sound, followed by a piercing scream, rang in Wu Nai's ears. Wu Nai opened his eyes and saw Wukong holding the Golden Cudgel, the other end of which was being bitten by the strange insects.

The screams came from the monstrous insect, its mouth full of sharp teeth, many of which must have broken.

"Haha, doesn't my golden cudgel taste a little off? Is it a bit too hard?" Wukong chuckled, pulling the cudgel from the insect's mouth. Then he leaped high, raised the cudgel, and slammed it down with all his might. The insect had no time to dodge and was smashed to pieces.

"My darling! My darling!" Yang Fei rushed over and hugged the black insect's lifeless body, wailing in anguish.

"Demon. You don't need to grieve for its fate; your end will be the same!" Wukong raised the cudgel, ready to strike as well.

"Wait! Wukong, have mercy!" Situ Yangguang, who had been silently watching from the sidelines, suddenly shouted. Hearing the shout, Wukong abruptly stopped, asking in confusion, "Why?" Situ Yangguang said, "She seems to be my Consort Yang. Although she has no recollection of me, her voice and demeanor are exactly the same as Consort Yang's."

"Heh, that's just her trick. Once I conquer the Southern Kingdom, I'll see what she's transformed into." Wukong raised his golden cudgel, ready to strike. Consort Yang, having witnessed Wukong's abilities, was already prepared. Seeing

the cudgel strike, she quickly transformed into a wisp of green smoke and vanished without a trace, leaving behind a pile of mangled remains of a strange insect. Wukong was about to give chase when Situ Yangguang grabbed him, saying, "Wukong, don't chase her. Since she escaped, let her go. Perhaps after this lesson, she can repent." In Situ Yangguang's eyes, there was too much reluctance.

Wukong shook his head helplessly and said, "Repent and start anew? I'm afraid your momentary mercy will have endless consequences!"

"Thank you, thank you for saving my brother and me!" Wu Nai sincerely thanked Wukong. Ye Fang also gazed at Wukong with affectionate eyes, her gaze full of gratitude and admiration.

"I never imagined that the aura we've been investigating all this time was the aura of the Demon Realm, the Demon Realm... I hope today's matter ends here, without any further complications." Wu Nai said, bowing his head. Indeed, the Demon Realm has always been a mysterious place for many. Wu Nai didn't know what the demons inside were like, but from the demon he encountered today, it was clear that demons were definitely not to be underestimated.

"It's a pity she got away again." Wukong said with regret. The brother and sister thanked Wukong again and were about to take their leave. However, Wu Nai had only taken two steps when his unsteady steps almost caused him to fall to the ground.

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[Fantasy] Sun Wukong's Seven-Day Holiday (Complete) - Chapters 31-33

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