About half an hour earlier, Sheng Yuanyao looked strangely at Anu, who had come to see her. “Why do you want me to close down the Green Jade Garden? Do you know how much a cup of tea costs there these days?”

Anu honestly replied, “Because Master needs to deal with assassins there, and he’s afraid of accidentally hurting the visitors.”

“Why is your Master dealing with assassins by costing me money… wait, no, if your Master is dealing with assassins, why aren’t you there?”

“I’m going soon. Anyway, they’re also on their way.”

“They…?” Sheng Yuanyao’s vigilance was piqued. “Who else is with them?”

Anu quickly covered her mouth, her eyes darting around.

Sheng Yuanyao exploded. “Using my money, my garden! Is he going to be romancing Pei Chuyun there?!”

Anu turned to run, “Um, I’m going to help Master now…”

“Stop right there!” Sheng Yuanyao grabbed her. “I’m going too! It’s just ambushing assassins, right? Are they going to get scared just because I show up?”

“Yes, they will, yes, they will! Sister Yao is invincible! No assassin would dare to show themselves once they see Sister Yao!”

“Enough of that.” Sheng Yuanyao, still holding Anu, left her office. Just then, a subordinate entered, carrying manuscripts. “Editor-in-Chief, these are updates on new talents from the south, several of whom have very impressive records…”

“Just put them there for now. I need to take the afternoon off.” Sheng Yuanyao then hurried to the Deputy Chief Constable’s office. “Deputy Zhou, I have something to do this afternoon, so I’d like to request leave.”

The Deputy Chief Constable looked up from his desk, his eyes circling Anu’s face. “What is it? Don’t tell me you’re going to the Green Jade Garden again? The Chief has given an order that such requests are not to be approved anymore.”

Anu smiled.

Everyone understood Sister Gourd pretty well.

Sheng Yuanyao gnashed her teeth. So, telling the truth wouldn’t get her approval, she had to lie, huh? How hard could that be?

She said with righteous indignation, “My father is ill.”

Deputy Chief Constable Zhou looked confused.

He casually called a subordinate, “Go check if the Chief is in.”

Sheng Yuanyao panicked. “Why do you need to tell the Chief about such a small matter?”

Deputy Chief Constable Zhou was silent for a moment. “Just to see if he’s really ill… Editor-in-Chief Sheng, have you forgotten who your sick father is?”

Sheng Yuanyao was speechless.

The subordinate quickly returned. “The Chief is indeed not in today.”

Deputy Chief Constable Zhou was startled for a moment, then saw Sheng Yuanyao put her hands on her hips. “See? Do you think I’d lie?”

Deputy Chief Constable Zhou had no choice but to approve the leave. Sheng Yuanyao, still holding Anu, quickly scurried away.

Watching Sheng Yuanyao’s hasty retreating figure disappear, Deputy Chief Constable Zhou sighed. “If the Chief is truly unwell, I must gather some colleagues and go to the Sheng manor to inquire about his health.”

While Sheng Yuanyao was frantically rushing to the Green Jade Garden, a group of high-ranking officials from the Demon Suppression Bureau, carrying gifts, were heading to the Sheng manor.

When curious passersby asked, the reply was: “Chief Sheng is unwell, and we are going to visit him.”

Before long, news of Chief Sheng’s illness had spread throughout the capital.

It was quite unusual for a peak second-rank powerhouse to fall ill. Could it be that a powerful demon had attempted an assassination?

Sheng Qingfeng was not at work on time that afternoon because he was at home receiving Pei Qingyan.

Pei Qingyan had come to pull strings for his daughter. Pei Chuyun wanted to go to the second layer of the Demon-Slaying Domain to find a succubus, and had asked her father to put in a good word with Sheng Qingfeng. Although Pei Qingyan didn’t know his daughter’s true intention for wanting to go to the second layer of the Demon-Slaying Domain, he thought it was a suitable place for her to train, so he came to show his face.

Sheng Qingfeng was in the midst of saying that naturally, such a small matter as the second layer of the Demon-Slaying Domain was worth giving Prime Minister Pei face for. The two were chatting happily, when outside, a commotion arose. A house servant, wiping sweat, came in to report: “Master, colleagues from the Demon Suppression Bureau are here. They said they heard you were unwell and came to visit.”

Sheng Qingfeng was stunned. “What illness? How come I don’t know about it?”

“They said the young lady requested leave, saying her father was ill.”

Sheng Qingfeng was dumbfounded.

Pei Qingyan almost burst out laughing. He kindly reminded, “Chief, if this gets out, it won’t be good for your daughter’s reputation. I think you might as well pretend to be ill.”

Sheng Qingfeng retorted irritably, “How can someone at my cultivation level get sick? If word gets out that I went berserk, I’d lose my position.”

Pei Qingyan comforted him, “Just blame it on an assassin, and it’ll be over. It can even be considered a work-related injury… I, the Prime Minister, will testify for you.”

The new Chief of the Demon Suppression Bureau had been in office for a month. The northern demon tribes, fearing his reputation, sent a powerful demon to assassinate him. Chief Sheng, brave and invincible, repelled the assassin. Upon hearing the news, the Emperor bestowed many medicinal herbs to commend his loyalty and courage. All the Demon Suppression Bureau constables throughout the capital were dispatched to search for the powerful demon.

Amidst the commotion, Pei Chuyun and Lu Xingzhou sat side-by-side by the lake, watching the gently rippling water. “Speaking of which, the Green Jade Garden is usually so crowded. Why is no one here today?”

Knowing that people from the Pill Academy were lurking, the little demoness didn’t even dare to lean into the man’s embrace. This seemingly private meeting scene was even worse than Lu Xingzhou and Sheng Yuanyao’s private time back then; at least they weren’t afraid of intimacy.

Lu Xingzhou replied, “Of course, it’s because the people of the capital are sensible, and know that Miss Pei is having a secret rendezvous with her lover here.”

“Stop that.” Pei Chuyun said with a smile, “Why would he be my lover? Would a lover dare to touch me?”

Lu Xingzhou was speechless.

“Hey…” Pei Chuyun nudged him. “You used Sheng Yuanyao’s place and made her clear it out, but you’re using it to flirt with me. Won’t Sheng Yuanyao be furious?”

“Yuanyao and I are friends… It’s not what you think.”

“You two just keep lying to yourselves.” Pei Chuyun giggled. “But she’s suffering much more than I am. I just have to maintain some facade for the Pei family’s sake; personally, I don’t care. But she, she can’t let it go herself.”

Lu Xingzhou was silent for a moment, then said softly, “She deserves a better destiny too.”

“Your words don’t match your heart.” Pei Chuyun glanced at him and chuckled, “It’s just that right now, you really can’t confidently say you’re a good catch, let alone that you’re worth someone honestly becoming your junior partner.”

Lu Xingzhou didn’t brag, just smiled without answering.

Pei Chuyun’s words, though directed at Sheng Yuanyao, weren’t they also about herself?

In terms of cultivation speed alone, putting aside his past when broken meridians prevented progress, since his leg healed, Lu Xingzhou’s advancement has been unprecedented. Reaching Fourth Rank from Seventh Rank in just half a year is unheard of in history. Huo Heng even suspected he was popping pills…

Completing Fourth Rank is just a matter of energy accumulation; that’s easy. The critical challenge is the Third Rank breakthrough, which no one can confidently say they’ll achieve quickly. It’s something many people get stuck on for a lifetime.

It requires surviving a minor heavenly tribulation. Even the Heavenly Dao recognizes it as a huge turning point.

If he couldn’t break through, then nothing else mattered. Even a delay of a few years would be unbearable, not to mention anything else. Perhaps even the little demoness, so affectionate with him now, might abandon him.

But Lu Xingzhou never thought this would be a problem… If even such a hurdle could become an obstacle, then he wouldn’t have the face to stand before them.

He thought for a moment, and his final reply was: “There’s one thing you said that wasn’t quite right.”

Pei Chuyun asked curiously, “Which part?”

“You said a lover wouldn’t dare to touch you… Of course, he would.” Lu Xingzhou leaned closer. “If you don’t create an illusion of intense, passionate forgetfulness for others, how are you going to fish…?”

Pei Chuyun pushed his mouth away. “If you’re going to fish, what about my reputation…? Your master is watching…”

While she said this, her resistance was very weak.

She spoke harshly, saying things like “I want to break free from your influence” and “you’re not a good catch,” but in reality, these were just excuses to harden her heart for a departure. Inside, she suppressed a desire to snuggle into his arms and kiss him, a desire she’d been suppressing for who knew how long.

She had no resistance whatsoever to his advances, playing hard to get while secretly welcoming him.

In the eyes of those lurking and watching, this looked like Lu Xingzhou was taking advantage of the date to make advances, and Miss Pei was resisting.

Just because a young lady agrees to a date with you doesn’t mean she’s willing to get intimate so quickly, you lecherous scoundrel!

A flash!

Just as Lu Xingzhou’s lips were about to touch Pei Chuyun’s flushed cheek, a sword light flared up, like an immortal descending from the heavens, arriving in an instant.

The sparkling lake surface before them seemed to be illuminated by the brilliant sword light, as if they had fallen into an array of ten thousand swords.

The young man and woman, seemingly lost in their affection, simultaneously dodged aside. One’s graceful hand fluttered like a butterfly towards the swordsman’s pressure point, while the other’s leg whipped out, kicking sharply towards the swordsman’s waist.

Meanwhile, the swordsman’s seemingly world-shattering strike, just as it approached within several feet of the young couple, felt as though it had entered a quagmire, obstructed by a formation.

“A trap!” The thought flashed through the swordsman’s mind. Without lingering, he directly twisted his body, kicked Lu Xingzhou’s leg, used the momentum to float back, and immediately retreated.

The space behind him suddenly collapsed, as if he had fallen into another dimension.

Madam Ye, veiled, appeared some distance behind him, her hand forming a spell seal, her long hair flowing.

Although it was daytime, it was as if countless stars appeared in the sky, weaving a net of heaven and earth, from which there was no escape.

“First Rank!” The swordsman was horrified. With extreme decisiveness, he crushed a jade talisman.

“Bang!” The air at his original spot exploded, and the assassin had vanished.

“Spatial escape technique, instantaneous displacement…” Ye Tinglan glanced meaningfully at Pei Chuyun, quickly pinpointed the direction of the opponent’s escape, and instantly disappeared in pursuit.

Pei Chuyun broke out in a cold sweat. “Your master is so strong…”

“Her glance at you meant she knew you also possess such escape techniques.” Lu Xingzhou urgently asked, “Can you pinpoint where they went?”

“No. I don’t even know how your master pinpointed them…” Pei Chuyun’s blood almost froze from Madam Ye’s glance, and she was still shaken. “Does she suspect I’m allied with this assassin?”

Lu Xingzhou turned his head to look at the spot where the swordsman and Madam Ye had disappeared, and shook his head. “There are many types of spatial escape techniques, and it’s not just the Joyful Maiden Sect that possesses them…”

An unknown force, possessing a top demonic swordsman and spatial escape techniques.

Logically, any First-Rank power could achieve this. But if it’s not the Huo family, and not Prince Jin, then which family has this capability? Was Madam Ye’s glance suspicion towards the Pei family?

It’s not impossible… Pei Qingyan might not want his daughter involved with a ‘hooligan,’ so sending someone to assassinate him would be logical.

Pei Chuyun also considered this possibility, her face turning pale. “No, it shouldn’t be…”

Lu Xingzhou ruffled her hair. “It’s alright. Actually, if it’s your family, it’s a good thing. It means if I’m sensible enough to leave, there won’t be any further trouble. It would be troublesome if it were some other unknown force, as we wouldn’t even know their objective.”

Pei Chuyun’s expression was very grim. “Then I hope your master can catch the assassin and reveal the truth.”

Meanwhile, the assassin, having instantly teleported, was already somewhere within the city. He was even more alarmed than Lu Xingzhou.

Who was that veiled woman? She was so terrifying! She could even track his spatial escape technique that instantly moved him several *li*, and her aura was already close behind him. He had never seen anything like it in his life!

Fortunately, he had teleported first, always giving him a momentary head start. As long as he could hide in the aristocratic residential streets ahead, that woman wouldn’t be able to search for him there.

Just as he was thinking this, several powerful Demon Suppression Bureau generals swept past him from the front. “This person just emerged from a spatial escape technique! He might be the demon who assassinated the Chief! Capture him!”

The swordsman was bewildered.

How was the Demon Suppression Bureau searching for demons right now? Who the hell would assassinate the Chief at this moment?

With just that momentary obstruction, Madam Ye had already appeared behind him.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, the swordsman had nowhere to run. He gave a tragic smile, then suddenly severed his own meridians, falling dead to the ground.

Ye Tinglan frowned as she stepped forward to examine the body. She was also surprised, truly not expecting the opponent to be so resolute, severing his own meridians without a word.

A death warrior…

A Third-Rank expert, a rare powerhouse in this world; who had the authority to make such a person a death warrior? Even the Pei family or the Huo family, though they might have many Third-Rank experts under them, were not qualified to turn them into death warriors!

Whose person could this be?

“Madam.” The Demon Suppression Bureau officers stepped forward, surrounding Ye Tinglan. “What is your relationship with this person?”

“This person is the assassin who attacked the Pill Academy students in the Demon-Slaying Domain that day. This time, it was a trap set by the Pill Academy. Thank you all for your assistance. The exact details of this matter are clearer to your Editor-in-Chief Sheng, as she experienced it firsthand. Please have the Demon Suppression Bureau take the body back for a thorough investigation of his origin. Hmm… perhaps your Chief’s assassination attempt is also related to him?”

As Ye Tinglan spoke, she stood up, her beautiful eyes falling on a spot not far to her side.

The assassin’s instinctive escape point was here, so it was highly probable he came from here.

But this area was mostly occupied by noble mansions…

It contained not only Prince Jin’s residence, but many others as well.