Chapter 423

Rustling—

By the flickering bonfire, dry pine branches occasionally cracked with sharp pops as they burned.

Ye Han sat cross-legged before a green stone, holding a brush as he wrote a letter to the human race; ink dripped softly onto the paper, detailing the success of the mission and briefly describing its particulars.

As the current head of the Heavenly Book Academy had said, the resurgence of the Descendants is not merely a calamity for humans—it is a great disaster for all under heaven.

Thus, despite having once been used as mere pawns, the demon clans now must consider allying with humans, for even another thousand years in the snowfields is preferable to being enslaved and consumed as blood food by the Descendants.

Meanwhile, the humans are still holding back the Descendants’ main force in the south; this letter must be sent urgently—not only as a report, but as a gesture of sincerity before any alliance.

When the letter was finished, he waved his hand lightly, summoning a demon general from behind him.

“Go. Travel stealthily, avoid the Descendants guarding the land, and deliver this to Lingzhou.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The demon general took the letter and vanished into the night.

Just as that general departed, two guards returned walking through the gorge.

Ye Han blinked in surprise: “Why are only you two back? Where’s Fengyang?”

“Your Highness, the princess just finished treating a human, then suddenly said she wanted to take a casual stroll and refused to let us follow.”

“This whole area is shrouded in mist—where could she possibly go?”

“We don’t know…”

Ye Han set down his brush, thinking: his sister was already a Great Demon of the Heavenly Demon Realm, sharp-witted and clever—she wouldn’t be tricked. Let her wander if she wants.

But as time slowly passed, he, as her elder brother, began to grow increasingly uneasy.

At this moment, by the wild lake to the east of the encampment.

Fengyang still stared blankly at the man before her, lost in thoughts of the farewell from tomorrow, endlessly foolish.

In truth, this demon princess had never demanded anything from Ji You; as she had once said, her affection could be like fondness for stars, for sun and moon—unseen by him.

Had his death not come as a sudden shock, this quiet state might have lasted her entire life.

But precisely because she knew he was dead, this faint emotion suddenly surged into intensity.

So she sought to pursue him, to dig to the root of it, to prove he still lived.

Yet even if she proved he lived, Fengyang never imagined marrying him or clinging to his side; she still believed that if they shared the same snowfall, it would be enough to count as growing old together.

But she never expected him to hold her in his arms, to stroke her waist, and to say he loved her.

In an instant, her crimson vertical pupils trembled violently, her delicate eyelashes quivering uncontrollably.

Ji You’s spiritual essence could sense the outside world; now he felt the little demon’s body temperature rising steadily, her breath—like a Youlan —growing hotter, making him utterly dumbfounded.

This girl was usually composed, elegant, and poised—but at this moment, she suddenly became adorable.

Fine, let the body be muddy then.

Ji You murmured inwardly, then bent down and kissed her soft lips, instantly tasting the unique sweetness belonging to this princess.

Fengyang shuddered instantly; even after Ji You pulled away, she kept her hands clenched tightly, gazing at him in a daze.

She seemed to have a husband now…

“Fengyang?!”

“Fengyang, where did you go?”

“Your Highness…”

“You search west, we go south!”

From the nearby forest, a cascade of shouts suddenly shattered the silent night.

At that moment, Princess Fengyang was nestled helplessly in Ji You’s arms; hearing the distant cries, she froze slightly, then rubbed against his chest, turning her head Mangran ly toward the sound.

Only when Ji You gently pinched her cheek did the demon princess realize who was calling her—then her eyes flew wide open.

“Should I leave first?” Ji You recalled the look the demon prince had given him in Shengjing, and whispered softly.

Fengyang nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking grain.

“Then I won’t say goodbye tomorrow morning. If I succeed in breaking through after this, I’ll definitely return to see you.”

“Fengyang understands.”

Hearing her soft reply, Ji You gently released her waist, turned, stepped away—and vanished into the forest in an instant, circling back to their encampment along a curved path.

Just moments after his departure, a sharp whistle cut through the night sky, and Ye Han, along with his guards, rushed to the lakeside.

Seeing his sister standing alone by the river, gazing blankly at the night sky, Ye Han’s expression flickered with confusion.

“Fengyang?”

“Elder brother…” Fengyang turned, feigning calm as she looked at him. “Why are you here?”

“It’s so late, and Descendants often appear around here—I naturally worried about where you’d gone. But tell me, what are you doing here?”

Fengyang spoke softly, expressionless: “Couldn’t sleep, so I came out for a walk.”

Ye Han paused slightly at her voice: “Did you catch a cold?”

“N-no… Elder brother, why ask that?”

“Your voice sounds strange.”

Ye Han studied his sister closely, then noticed her cheeks faintly flushed, her ears slightly raised, her eyes shimmering like a pool of clear water.

These were unmistakable signs of a demon woman in love—leaving the demon prince deeply puzzled.

Ever since that human yellow-hair died, his sister’s heart had been as dead as ash; even her smiles had turned pale, never before showing such vitality as today.

Ye Han instinctively glanced around, saw no one else, then turned to his sister: “You came out alone?”

Fengyang nodded lightly: “Just me.”

“Why didn’t you bring even one of the guards I assigned you?”

“I just wanted to think, and figured I wouldn’t go far—no need for guards.”

Ye Han decided he’d overthought it; within a hundred li, there wasn’t even a weasel, let alone any yellow-hair.

Besides, if his sister were truly so fickle, she wouldn’t have grown thinner day by day after learning of the human yellow-hair’s death, nor would she have carved a memorial tablet for her dead husband and carried it with her always.

“Do you want me to keep walking with you?”

“No, I think I’ve figured things out. I’ll go back and rest.”

“That’s good—tomorrow we still have to escort our people to Liangzhou.”

Fengyang nodded obediently, then followed her elder brother through the forest, returning to the encampment.

At this moment, the yellow-hair sat beneath the ancient tree, calm and composed—as if he’d never secretly seduced the princess—sitting upright with perfect decorum.

But only he knew: his mouth still held the princess’s lip-sweetness, his palm still retained the warmth of her slender waist.

Three now… each more formidable than the last. Truly, a vast and powerful household…

The couplet Kuangcheng had once written for him had indeed become prophecy.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but gaze at the soft silhouette illuminated by the firelight—only to see the little demoness, just returned, gazing back at him from afar.

At that moment, the others who had scattered in all directions to search for the princess began returning, rushing forward in alarm: “Where did Your Highness go?”

“She wandered alone by the lake,” Ye Han answered for his sister.