The Heavens Smile

That's right, he cultivated his way right into a cavity.

Pretty unbelievable and bold, right?

But then again, considering that this world even has a Plague-Poison constitution who trips over tree roots, a lovestruck junior sister who commands spirit beasts to attack her own sect, a peak master who draws his sword to cut down his own disciple during the sect tournament, a core disciple who openly targets a new recruit at the initiation ceremony, and a sect leader who travels all the way to the Demon Beast Mountain Range just to kill a third-layer Qi Refinement cultivator—only for four junior Nascent Soul disciples to have their strange fire stolen by a Foundation Establishment senior through cunning scheming...

Ye Shu couldn't help but smile in relief.

The Heavenly Dao is a little loli—what's so strange about cultivating a cavity?

It all makes perfect sense.

"Open up."

He put on a stern face, pressed one hand against her chin, and gently blew a breath. Jiang Xin felt a cool surge flow into her teeth, and the piercing pain vanished without a trace.

She was both overjoyed and annoyed.

Overjoyed, because the deadly poison that had plagued her for so long turned out to be just a tiny cavity.

Annoyed, because such a tiny cavity had this majestic Nine Nether Empress writhing in agony, and she'd even shown weakness in front of this heartless bastard—her face was completely lost.

"So... you really didn't poison me?"

Jiang Xin covered her cheek, still unable to believe it.

"Come on, young lady," Ye Shu shook his head helplessly. "Aren't you the Nine Nether Empress? If I'd poisoned you, wouldn't you have noticed?"

"Even if I had poisoned you, for argument's sake—"

Ye Shu spread his hands and sighed. "With that brain of yours, why would I leave an antidote lying around and let you stay home alone? If I came back and found you dead from poison, what then?"

"Then it's still your fault for being a jerk..."

Jiang Xin muttered under her breath, reading between the lines of Ye Shu's words—

He was worried about her. He cared.

The thought sent sweetness rushing through her heart. Her grievance and embarrassment faded, her confidence swelled, and her spoiled, wilful nature immediately bubbled back up.

She planted her hands on her hips and glared at Ye Shu.

"It's all because of you! You made the antidote taste so good, I finished it all in one go, and then I was scared out of my wits for so long."

"All your fault! All your fault!"

"Wait—there was no poison to begin with!" Ye Shu cried out in exasperation.

"I thought you'd poisoned me, but you didn't, but then that means you still kind of did!" Jiang Xin said with her hands on her hips, utterly shameless in her twisted logic.

"Hiss—"

Ye Shu sucked in a breath and nodded.

Oh, well.

That... actually made some twisted sense, because that had indeed been his original plan. He didn't think this silly girl would actually figure it out.

This girl wasn't dumb after all.

"I don't care! You have to give me two more as compensation." Jiang Xin let out a coquettish hum and held out her hand, palm up, with all the determination of a child demanding sweets.

"Little Glutton."

Ye Shu's mouth twitched, but he still rolled two rainbow candies between his fingers and handed them to her. "Try not to get another cavity this time."

"Mmmph—"

Before he even finished speaking, Jiang Xin snatched the candies, popped them into her mouth, and savoured them with her eyes squinting in pure bliss.

This was the taste!

"Let's go home!"

She opened her eyes and looked at Ye Shu with sparkling brightness, her tone utterly matter-of-fact. "I'm telling you, I just saw a whole bunch of bad people blocking the exit in Xing Emperor City. They're probably waiting for you to walk right into their trap."

"Good thing I'm smart—I came to this little corner of the mountains to fish you out."

Hearing this, Ye Shu was briefly stunned.

So the old bastards outside must have already learned what happened inside, and they were blocking the exit, waiting for him to surrender himself.

In that case...

Ye Shu glanced at Jiang Xin with surprise.

So he owed her one.

"But how did you know they were waiting for me?" Ye Shu asked, a little puzzled.

"That's simple!"

Jiang Xin raised her chin proudly and said casually, "A big bad guy like you? Wherever you go, chaos follows. Of course they're waiting for you."

"Haji Jiang, you—"

Ye Shu's face darkened, and he flicked her forehead hard. "Is that how you talk to your husband? Let's go home!"

"Oh..."

Jiang Xin clutched her head and trailed behind Ye Shu with a pitiful look, like a little wronged bunny.

Before long, Ye Shu suddenly stopped mid-step.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something."

"Ah, whatever. If I can't remember, it can't be that important."

He shook his head and continued walking toward the Mo family estate.

Ye Shu hadn't come out.

But Mo Shisan was still alive, and life had to go on.

And right behind them, Jiang Mingyue sat on the ground, staring dumbfounded at their retreating figures.

"Wait... what about me? You two just forgot about me?"

Utter disbelief was written all over her face.

Wait, what?

She'd been outdone by that idiot Jiang Xin? Are you kidding?!!!

Inside the ruins, Mu Xi was frantically searching through the vast hidden realm: "Come on, such a big person—how did he just vanish?"

"He's not in danger, is he?"

Meanwhile, outside the ruins in Xing Emperor City.

Zhao Zhixia, Liu Ruyi, and the others who had been waiting endlessly had no idea that their coveted target had already been snatched away through the back door. They stood in tense, sword-drawn confrontation.

But just as the atmosphere grew heaviest—

Heaven itself seemed to be playing a joke.

A few emerald-green leaves, as if born from nowhere, drifted down from the sky, spinning softly, landing on the heads of Zhao Zhixia and Liu Ruyi.

Both froze for a moment.

"Leaf?"

Liu Ruyi plucked the leaf off her head, a red smile curling at her lips.

A leaf falling on her head—what did it mean? It meant Heaven itself was on her side, declaring that the heartless man belonged to her!

And Zhao Zhixia had the exact same thought.

She stared hard at the grey, misty ruins exit, gritting her silver teeth: "Brother Ye, don't be afraid. Zhixia will drown Xing Emperor City in battle today if that's what it takes to keep you safe!"

(This day finally came—we got sent to the corner, boys. But whatever, the spicy content was useless anyway. Whatever section they flagged, I deleted it. We should be out soon.)