Although the name "Buxiao Town" was a bit odd.
Changing it to "Buxiao Town" was even stranger, wasn't it?
However, upon careful reflection, it seemed that no one had smiled since they entered the town.
The mother and son who had turned against each other were naturally not worth mentioning. When they arrived at the He residence, the steward was serious and steady, and although Squire He was respectful, he had never smiled either.
Could there really be such a peculiar thing?
This time, even Zhou Jiannan, who prided himself on being well-read and knowledgeable, fell silent. He stared in astonishment: "No, how could there be such a bizarre town name?"
Squire He also found it hard to explain. He sighed: "To be honest, this town was originally called Xile Town, but just a month ago, strange things started happening. Whoever smiles gets their heart ripped out. Gradually, everyone became too afraid to smile, and over time, the name spread. To be safe, we even carved a stone tablet to warn passersby. There were twenty inscriptions on the tablet—did the immortals not see it?"
Lian Qiao scratched her head: "When we arrived, two groups were arguing fiercely, and the tablet was splattered with dog blood."
"So that's what happened," Squire He said with some embarrassment. "It was our recklessness that implicated the immortals. Now that the immortals have smiled, the demon has likely noticed. What should we do?"
Lian Qiao raised an eyebrow: "Come looking for me? Isn't that even better? I insist on smiling. I want to see what kind of demon can't tolerate others smiling."
With that, she deliberately opened the door, afraid the demon wouldn't find her. However, aside from the rustling of the night wind through the bamboo forest, there was no other movement.
Lian Qiao curled her lip: "See? Nothing happened."
Squire He wiped his sweat: "It's nighttime. This demon prefers to strike during the day."
Lian Qiao was slightly surprised. Most demons and ghosts favored dark, windy nights when all was quiet, but this one was unusual.
"What other quirks does this demon have? Tell me everything, so we have some clues."
Squire He elaborated further: "If we're talking about quirks, it forbids people from smiling and likes to kill during the day. Oh, and all the victims, though their hearts were ripped out, had smiles on their faces."
Lian Qiao pondered this. Logically, having one's heart ripped out should be excruciatingly painful, yet these people died with smiles on their faces. It seemed this demon was likely skilled in Illusion Arts, perhaps creating some Illusion Realm to make people willingly offer their hearts.
"Anything else?"
"Anything else?" Squire He frowned. "As I mentioned earlier, it particularly targets brides. The butcher Wang's daughter died that way."
Lian Qiao thought deeper: "Is it necessarily because they're brides? On their wedding day, brides are bound to be overjoyed. Perhaps it's because they smiled?"
Squire He replied: "We thought of that too. So, when someone married off their daughter a few days ago, they repeatedly warned the bride not to smile. To be safe, they even glued her mouth shut with paste. But… two brides in a row still died!"
Forbidding smiles, active during the day, fond of ripping out hearts, and particularly targeting brides…
Lian Qiao couldn't recall any demon with such characteristics for the moment. She said to Squire He: "I'll look through the Hundred Demon Codex these next two days to see if I can find any clues. If the demon comes looking for me, that would be even better—saves me the trouble of searching for it."
Squire He was naturally immensely grateful and took the opportunity to hand over the case files from recent days.
"However," Squire He hesitated again, "there's another matter at hand. Seven days isn't particularly long, but it's not short either. The town is small, and after all, we don't have that much food. What should we do…"
Lu Wujiu asked, "Is the county office in the neighboring town to the west?"
Squire He replied, "Yes, Immortal Lu, are you thinking of borrowing grain from the west? To be frank, our county magistrate probably isn't the easiest to deal with…"
Lu Wujiu slightly raised his eyes: "I have my own methods. Squire, you needn't worry."
Squire He glanced at the Three-Legged Golden Crow on his shoulder, and that very night, he saw Lu Wujiu send a child with a wax-sealed letter to the western county office.
Since Lu Wujiu had already taken action, Lian Qiao naturally refused to fall behind. She quickly began reviewing the case files from these days.
Her motto: if Lu Wujiu doesn't sleep, she won't sleep either.
Yan Wushuang next door couldn't take it anymore. She opened the side window and angrily stuck her head out, saying to Lian Qiao, "It's already so late. Can't it wait a little longer?"
Lian Qiao worked with both hands, one on the case files and the other checking demon records, not even looking up: "It's all Lu Wujiu's fault. His lamp hasn't been turned off until now—he must be secretly reviewing them too. I knew his aloof act during the day was just to deceive me, to make me let my guard down. Isn't he still working hard behind my back at night? He definitely wants to figure it out before I do."
Yan Wushuang glanced at the leisurely shadow on the opposite window: "…I don't think that shadow looks like someone reviewing case files."
Lian Qiao scoffed: "Eye-deceive technique, it must be an Eye-deceive technique. He's definitely using another book to cover it up, not wanting me to find out."
As the two were talking, Lu Wujiu's window opposite slammed shut with a bang, and the light instantly went out.
Lian Qiao bit her pen, looking certain: "See? I guessed right. He's embarrassed and angry now, isn't he?"
Yan Wushuang: "…"
Is that what it means?
But since Lu Wujiu had blown out his lamp, Lian Qiao blew out hers too.
Just as Yan Wushuang yawned, thinking the night was over, Lian Qiao pulled out a luminous pearl from her pocket to continue reading secretly by its light, justifying it as—just now they were neck and neck, but now this is called pulling ahead.
Yan Wushuang: ??
I've had it with you clever, hardworking dogs!
She slammed her window shut with a bang. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. Just then, Zhou Jiannan next door suddenly started snoring. Yan Wushuang kicked the wall, startling Zhou Jiannan awake from his dream. Panicked, he hugged his blanket and scurried around: "Is there an earthquake? An earthquake?"
Yan Wushuang: "…"
Fortunately, there's someone even more useless than me.
Only then did she feel satisfied and lay down peacefully.
Lian Qiao read and read. Finally, when the moon slanted westward, she estimated that Lu Wujiu should be asleep, let out a long yawn, and finally put down the case files.
But for some reason, it seemed a bit hot tonight.
She tossed and turned in bed, too hot to sleep, and couldn't help but open the window to ask Yan Wushuang if it was a bit hot tonight. The result was a pillow thrown out from the window…
So she decisively shut up before this sister got any more irritable.
And then, this heat grew stranger and stranger.
Lian Qiao finally realized something was wrong. This familiar warmth, this overwhelming restlessness—it didn't seem like simple heat. It was that damned Gu, actually acting up now!
Moreover, it seemed that just like Lu Wujiu, this episode was even more intense than the last?
But Lian Qiao absolutely refused to admit she was on the same level as Lu Wujiu!
Endure it.
She refused to believe such a tiny Gu could actually take her life!
A quarter of an hour later…
Lian Qiao, covering her face, stealthily made her way toward Lu Wujiu’s room.
This Gu really could kill her!
If she didn’t hurry over, it would boil her blood.
Finally, when she sneaked up to Lu Wujiu’s door, the symptoms eased slightly.
Wrapped up tightly from head to toe, Lian Qiao crept up and knocked.
Once, twice—no response.
She knocked again, and suddenly a Sound-proofing Barrier appeared on the door.
Lian Qiao: “…”
Fine, fine, so that’s how he was going to treat her. Just wait until it was his turn to suffer—she’d make sure to torment him to death!
But right now, if she didn’t get inside, the one facing unbearable agony would be herself.
Swallowing her pride, Lian Qiao had no choice but to move to the side window instead. Lowering her voice, she warned, “Open the door! If you don’t, I’ll run out and tell everyone what kind of Gu we’ve both been hit with.”
The window instantly swung open.
Lu Wujiu’s gaze was icy. “It’s you?”
Lian Qiao gritted her teeth. “Who else? Who besides me would come looking for you in the middle of the night?”
As soon as she said it, she suddenly realized—there really might be someone else visiting late at night. For example, that Miss He whom Lu Wujiu had rescued today…
Pointing at him, Lian Qiao exclaimed in sudden understanding, “Ohhh, you’re afraid…”
“Afraid of what?”
Lu Wujiu raised a brow slightly, his expression clearly stating that if she dared say another word, she wouldn’t be getting in tonight.
Lian Qiao promptly shut her mouth, but inwardly sneered. He was the one attracting attention, yet he wouldn’t let others talk about it!
Once inside, Lian Qiao was still unbearably hot. She fanned herself frantically a few times, then spotted water on the table and reached for it.
Before it reached her lips, Lu Wujiu’s voice drifted over coolly, “That’s Rootless Water. Are you sure you want to drink it?”
Painful memories immediately resurfaced. Lian Qiao dropped it as if it were a hot potato. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
She had no desire to go through the trouble of collecting Bamboo Dew for Lu Wujiu again.
Lu Wujiu replied indifferently, “If I’d said so earlier, would you have refrained? What exactly is wrong with you today?”
Lian Qiao felt a pang of guilt. “I’m hot, don’t you feel it?”
Without waiting for his answer, she added, “Oh, of course you don’t. I forgot—you’re cold-blooded.”
Lu Wujiu: “…”
Then he glanced subtly at her sweat-dampened hair. “It seems your symptoms are more severe than mine were last time. Last time it was within a few steps—three? So this time, it looks like you need to be even closer…”
Lian Qiao cut him off firmly. “Nonsense! I… I was just walking too fast earlier and worked up a sweat.”
“Oh?” Lu Wujiu raised an eyebrow, then casually drew a line on the floor with his sword. “In that case, you stay in the outer room, I’ll be in the inner room. After one hour, you leave on your own.”
Lian Qiao measured it carefully—the line was drawn exactly three steps away.
He was doing this on purpose, wasn’t he?
Just to see how many steps she could endure?
She turned her head and sneered. “Don’t worry, no need to rush me. I’m keeping track of the time.”
Then, Lian Qiao plopped down beside the Huanghuali wood table and began idly twirling her hair. Lu Wujiu retreated to the inner room, pulling the screen shut behind him, leaving them in separate spaces.
It had to be said—Lu Wujiu was truly, utterly boring.
Lian Qiao remained silent, and he actually didn't say a word either. So he's playing the aloof card? As if she couldn't do the same.
Perfect, this was a chance to secretly see what book he was studying.
Lian Qiao carefully rummaged through the shelves, but when she saw the titles, she was dumbfounded. Classic of Mountains—what was so fascinating about that to stay up late reading?
No, he must have hidden the important manuals underneath.
So Lian Qiao crouched down again, carefully scanning the titles. After looking for a long time, she found either Classic of Seas, Classic of Medicine, or even a book titled Notes on Raising Cats.
Lian Qiao: Questioning her life…
Could it be that every night he stayed up late reading, it was all this random stuff?
Then how did he manage to rank first in Daoist arts and Talisman arts classes?
And what on earth was this cat-raising notebook? It was already worn and dog-eared, but she had never seen Lu Wujiu raise a cat!
But he must be planning to. Hah, Taotie, your position isn't so secure anymore, is it?
So Lian Qiao decided to treasure this piece of information, saving it for the next time she argued with Taotie to deliver a crushing blow.
However, aside from these books, Lian Qiao truly didn't see anything related to cultivation.
She guessed Lu Wujiu must have hidden them by his bedside, out of her sight, but she couldn't go and check. So she could only silently count the sounds of the water clock to pass the time, waiting for this hour to drag by.
But the more unbearable it was, the slower the time seemed to pass.
Even more terrifying, the Gu was indeed growing stronger day by day.
A distance of three steps was far from enough. Slowly, even the soles of Lian Qiao's feet began to itch, and she couldn't help but want to get closer to Lu Wujiu, closer still.
She couldn't resist stealing a glance and noticed that his shoulders were quite broad—they looked like they'd be comfortable to lean against. His waist seemed slim and firm, as if it were quite hard.
Further down, those slightly bent long legs, with their smooth lines…
Lian Qiao unconsciously swallowed, the sound quite loud in the darkness, startling herself.
Ugh!
What was she thinking?
This damned Gu, always filling her head with all sorts of nonsense.
She should absolutely despise him!
But now, Lu Wujiu seemed to have fallen asleep.
In that case, wouldn't it be fine if she got a little closer, just to relieve the poison a bit?
So Lian Qiao shifted her stool, quietly moving a little closer to the inner room, then a little more.
Two steps, one step…
Indeed, she felt refreshed and clear-headed!
The effective distance for this episode really was within one step.
Overjoyed, Lian Qiao grew a bit bolder in her movements.
But as joy reaches its peak, sorrow follows. Just as she was about to reach Lu Wujiu's bedside, Lu Wujiu suddenly opened his eyes coldly.
Lian Qiao shuddered, her hand slipped, and she lunged forward. Then, with a tearing sound, a flash of pale skin appeared before her eyes…
It seemed she had torn Lu Wujiu's clothes off!
And, where, where, where was she lying on top of?!