Jiang Shengxiang's face showed open surprise. "Fairy, why am I kneeling all of a sudden?"
He scratched his head in confusion, utterly baffled.
Yao Ranran was equally unsure, only replying, "Village Chief Jiang, perhaps you should stand up first."
Jiang Shengxiang blinked, then tilted his head back. "No, no… actually, talking while kneeling isn't so bad!"
Yao Ranran: "…"
Since when did Jiang Shengxiang develop this strange taste for self-abuse?
"Fairy, you…" Jiang Shengxiang glanced at Yao Ranran, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.
"What do you want to say? What's wrong with me?" Yao Ranran looked down at herself. Nothing seemed out of place—her clothes weren't even inside out.
"Fairy, you… you're becoming even more beautiful!" He let out a long sigh of admiration.
Yao Ranran could only stare at him in speechless silence.
After a pause, Jiang Shengxiang pulled himself together. "Right, why has the Fairy come down the mountain?"
Yao Ranran answered calmly, "Has anyone unfamiliar entered the village recently? Or any villagers behaving strangely?"
Jiang Shengxiang frowned, thinking for a moment. "Fairy, to ensure the safety of everyone, I haven't allowed outsiders into the village these days. But…"
A flicker of doubt flashed in his eyes.
"But Physician Ye, who returned a few days ago, seemed… different!"
"Physician Ye?" Yao Ranran asked in confusion.
Jiang Shengxiang slapped his forehead. "Ah, I forgot Fairy wasn't in the village at the time, so you don't know this yet.
Doctor Ye is Ye Hai, a friend Miss Tang brought back. He's a cultivator, but he gets along with the villagers quite well."
Yao Ranran's gaze sharpened slightly. "Ye Hai's cultivation is not low. For someone like him to prefer living among mortals… that is unusual."
"That's not even the strangest part!" Jiang Shengxiang recalled what he had seen that night and continued, "When he returned and learned that Kuang Lei of Mingxia Sect was dead, he suddenly left Longyin Village.
He had just come back that very day, yet in the middle of the night, he rushed off again. I haven't seen him since."
Yao Ranran frowned faintly. "…Could it be him?"
"What is the Fairy saying?" Jiang Shengxiang hadn't caught her murmur.
She thought silently for a moment, then fixed him with a steady gaze. "Yesterday, a thief entered my room."
Jiang Shengxiang turned pale. "Ye Hai stole from you and fled?"
Yao Ranran shook her head. "No, nothing of mine is missing."
His jaw dropped, trembling as he asked, "Then how can you be sure a thief was there?"
Yao Ranran answered seriously, "Because my things were disturbed, and the room… became cleaner than ever before."
To make him believe, she used her recording stone to show the scene.
"Look at this! My room has never been this spotless!"
Her teeth ground slightly in frustration. It had to be that the thief wanted to steal treasures from her smithy. After failing to find anything, he had covered his tracks by tidying up the mess he left behind.
He must have been trying to put on the act of a secret admirer, hoping to fool her!
But after watching thousands of episodes of Detective Conan, Yao Ranran was far too clever to be deceived by such a cheap trick.
"Village Chief Jiang, that Ye Hai is definitely suspicious!"
Jiang Shengxiang looked at her determined expression, utterly dumbfounded. In fact…
"Fairy Ranran, could it be that Ye Hai actually has feelings for you?"
After all, nothing was stolen, the room was cleaned spotless, and he'd even been seen wandering the snowy night alone.
Jiang Shengxiang began to seriously suspect that Ye Hai was deeply insecure, secretly pining for Fairy Ranran. And since his affection had no outlet…
He could only sneak into her room at night to clean it!
"Impossible!"
Yao Ranran denied flatly.
She had never seen any trace of love in Ye Hai's eyes. He did enjoy talking to her, but…
This man had approached her from the very beginning only to pry into her secrets. Her hand tightened around her sleeve, unease growing in her chest. Could it be that her smithy was what attracted him?
Jiang Shengxiang couldn't understand why she was so certain, but a Fairy's judgment was beyond question. "Then should I send men to investigate him at once?"
Yao Ranran nodded. "It's possible even his name is false."
Jiang Shengxiang stroked his beard gravely. "If he was the one who cleaned your room yesterday, then Ye Hai never actually left Longyin Village."
Yao Ranran had already considered the same possibility.
"He might be hiding somewhere, waiting until suspicion fades before appearing again."
His expression hardened. "Fairy, rest assured. If he dares show himself again, I will have men keep a close watch on him."
With that promise, Yao Ranran said no more.
"Good. But… what happened to this house? Where is Grandma Zhang?"
She lifted her gaze upward. Snowflakes drifted through a gaping hole in the roof.
Jiang Shengxiang gave her a pleading look. "Fairy Ranran, this is all Miss Tang's fault! This isn't even the first time. She's a cultivator, why should cooking matter so much to her?"
Yao Ranran seemed to piece it together. "So Xiang Yin blew a hole in the roof while trying to learn cooking?"
He nodded frantically. "Fairy, please persuade Miss Tang! With her talent, there's no need to waste it on the culinary path!"
If this went on, not just his house—Grandma Li's, Grandma Zhao's next door—none of them would escape unscathed.
Yao Ranran looked at his desperate expression and felt a trace of pity. "Just how terrifying could Xiang Yin's cooking be?"
"…I'll try to talk to her."
Tears of gratitude welled in Jiang Shengxiang's eyes. At last, someone might save him from this culinary demon!
Before leaving, Yao Ranran glanced back.
"Village Chief Jiang, aren't your legs tired after kneeling this long?"
He froze, inhaling sharply.
"Ah! I can't even feel my legs anymore!"
He was a cultivator, yet in the moment he saw the Fairy, he had even forgotten to use his spiritual power.
And worse—he had meant to ask her something important, only to forget completely!
Slapping his forehead in regret, Jiang Shengxiang stared blankly at the shining white light of her departure, still kneeling in place.
…
"The items are ready. Meet at Huicui Tower in Shiyan City. That place belongs to me."
Yao Ranran was mildly surprised.
Even Shiyan City had people under Li Luoqi's command. She truly could not underestimate this Demon Sovereign.
"Fine." Yao Ranran gave her answer without hesitation.
On the other end of the Dark Underworld Marrow, Li Luoqi's lips twitched.
"When you were demanding treasures, you rattled off a pile of things even I had never heard of. But today, when I summon you, one little 'fine' is all you have to say?"
Was she truly insane, or only pretending?
For a fleeting moment, Li Luoqi wondered if he was being toyed with.
His slender fingers moved slightly. The demon infant within him exhaled a heavy breath, cultivation method running, continuing its practice on its own.
A cold smile curved Li Luoqi's lips.
"The Seed of the Child Demon Art is already deeply planted in her body."