Chapter 26: The Bellyband’s Revelation and a Fateful Encounter

“Bai Jiu’er?”

Bai Jiujiu’s eyes widened involuntarily. She had a nagging feeling she had heard that name before, yet it eluded her memory.

She could clearly see Long Zhi and Su Ling’er, but she found herself unable to pierce through the hazy veil obscuring Bai Jiu’er’s face.

“Then, I’ll go inform the little monsters on the mountain that I’m heading down, and also get some insurance for Master.”

Su Ling’er mused for a moment before deciding to descend the mountain with Bai Jiu’er. She couldn’t explain why hearing the name Bai Jiu’er instilled in her a trust akin to how she regarded her own master.

Not even her senior sisters evoked such a feeling.

Floating mid-air, Bai Jiujiu heard this and instantly understood why she had woken up bound to the bed, a piece of someone’s personal clothing draped over her snake head.

Initially, because the fabric was so flat, she had dismissed the idea that it was Su Ling’er’s bustier. Ling’er’s ample chest was second only to her own and her eldest disciple’s, so she hadn’t suspected Su Ling’er.

Now, reflecting on it, it could very well have been that wretched disciple’s bellyband!

‘It infuriates me!’

Unbeknownst to Bai Jiujiu, what had actually covered her face at the time were Su Ling’er’s panties, which had simply been tossed away by other monsters and replaced with her own bustier.

Despite her indignation, Bai Jiujiu finally understood why Su Ling’er had abruptly returned to the mountain on her birthday, offering the Azure Water Pearl to cure her narcolepsy.

From Bai Jiu’er’s words, this journey to the Great Chu Kingdom was certainly not going to be an easy one.

‘That little fox.’

Though she constantly claimed to dislike and despise her, she actually cared deeply for her in her heart.

As for Bai Jiu’er, she seemed intimately familiar with her, yet her titles varied… now ‘Mountain God,’ now ‘Bai.’ When had she acquired so many appellations?

Bai Jiujiu watched the replicated magical artifact, the Myriad Blossom Hand (Pseudo), in Su Ling’er’s grasp. This ability to duplicate artifacts was remarkably similar to her own.

This couldn’t be a mere coincidence.

This human named Bai Jiu’er must know something about her. Once she was out, she would definitely investigate thoroughly.

As Su Ling’er and Bai Jiu’er vanished from Long Zhi’s sight, Bai Jiujiu could no longer see them either.

After all, this was within Long Zhi’s memory, not a return to the past. What Bai Jiujiu could witness was precisely what Long Zhi had seen.

“I must also strive hard. Her Majesty didn’t despise my weakness; I must share her burdens!”

“Where should I absorb souls then? The souls on Cloudfall Mountain are mostly those of monsters, which doesn’t align with the path Her Majesty has assigned me.”

“To obtain human souls, must I really descend the mountain?”

Long Zhi paced back and forth. Though no longer a mere hundred-year-old demon, she was days away from full maturity, reaching the standard required to descend the mountain.

Having fused with a human soul, her understanding of human society surpassed that of the mountain demons, which now caused her considerable dilemma.

“Where should I go? I’ll go to Chongxi Town. I’m quite familiar with it, and the woman whose body I inhabit seemed to have married Huo Xian there.”

Long Zhi quickly decided to head to Chongxi Town, her most familiar place, determined to grow stronger so she could aid her revered Queen.

Bai Jiujiu floated in the air, following Long Zhi, witnessing her cautious descent from the mountain like a fleeting panorama. Along the way, Long Zhi was scorned by other monsters and pursued by cultivators.

Eventually, battered and bruised, she arrived at Chongxi Town.

It was largely unchanged from two hundred years later, save for a few alterations in house styles. The inn where Bai Jiujiu had once stayed hadn’t even been built yet.

Such was that era; without significant opportunities, most places remained stagnant for centuries, unchanging day after day.

Before Bai Jiujiu could finish comparing the past and present differences, her vision suddenly went black. She could see nothing.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Can memories also go black?’

Bai Jiujiu blinked, just about to search for something to tap on when she heard voices again.

“Hey, Sister Lin, I secretly brought back a little monster without Dad knowing!”

“Xiao Qi, be careful. Uncle Liu might punish you by forbidding dinner tonight.”

“Hmph~ It’s fine. I’m a celestial being with spiritual roots now! After seven days, once I get my Commoner’s Scroll, I can leave that home. A single meal? I don’t care if I miss it!”

“But you haven’t even practiced basic cultivation yet! I trained in fundamental techniques for a full year before becoming a Qi Condensation realm cultivator. Until you enter the Qi Condensation realm, you’re just an ordinary little girl.”

“Aiya, don’t pinch my face… Don’t worry, I’ll be leaving in a couple of days. Teacher Bu from the Duio Gate says I’m incredibly talented, a genius among geniuses! You didn’t see it—the dormitory assigned to me is enormous! Bigger than the town lord’s courtyard! Teacher Bu doesn’t even use a carriage when we travel; they fly on swords, gliding over the sea, shoulder to shoulder with the birds in the sky. It’s so cool! And, and, the food isn’t just wild vegetables mixed with tree bark. There’s palm-sized meat and lots of big, red shrimp. I just don’t know why immortals only eat the shrimp tails; isn’t that part poisonous?”

As Bai Jiujiu listened to the two girls’ conversation, she watched the image reappear before her eyes.

It seemed Long Zhi had collapsed near Chongxi Town and was eventually rescued by these two girls.

Bai Jiujiu frowned slightly. She remembered that among the vengeful souls that surged from Long Zhi’s body after she killed her, these two girls were present.

One, estimated to be seventeen or eighteen, wore a first-class constable uniform similar to Tong Qiu’s.

The other, no older than twelve or thirteen, wore a pure white undershirt with a blue-wave and swimming-fish patterned outer jacket. Her lower garment was a simple straight-cut white trousers with blue wave patterns at the cuffs, and a dark blue seashell motif on the right side.

The two girls quickly discovered the awakened Long Zhi. The younger one immediately crowded around, while the older one cautiously watched Long Zhi, her left hand instinctively resting on the sword at her waist.

“Wow, what a cute little monster! Hello, hello, I’m Li Qibao, and this is Lin Zhaodi. You need to be careful; she’s a constable!”

Li Qibao was clearly an outgoing personality, quickly spilling her and Lin Zhaodi’s identities, which earned her a dark look and a furious face-rubbing from Lin Zhaodi.

They were indeed two lively and adorable girls.

Bai Jiujiu smiled. The girls’ interaction always reminded her of when her own wretched disciples were small and well-behaved.

Considering her sensitive identity as a constable, Lin Zhaodi was reluctant to have too much contact with a monster and refused Li Qibao’s idea of helping Long Zhi.

“Monsters are monsters. What if she hurts you? You know your spiritual root body is a great supplement for monsters’ cultivation.”

“But look, she hasn’t hurt me now, has she?”

“That’s because this monster is very weak right now, and monsters are good at disguising themselves.”

“But I feel like this monster is just like me…”

“Regardless, will Uncle Li and the others agree to you bringing a monster home? Not to mention, you’re at a critical juncture right now. You were abandoned by Uncle Li and the others and thrown into the river, but you were lucky enough to survive and were chosen for a chance at immortal cultivation.”

“You are much luckier than I am, sister. You can’t let a monster ruin your bright future. Monsters are all two-faced; they might act weak and friendly now, but they could skin you, gut you, and dig out your spiritual roots to eat you in an instant.”

Lin Zhaodi earnestly advised her, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation and the horror of monsters, hoping Li Qibao wouldn’t abandon her promising future for a monster.

“But I feel that humans are even worse than monsters…”