The wind on Luoyun Mountain blew gently, and the little demons who had come to seek guidance from their master silently retreated.
It wasn’t that they were cowardly—it was just that the atmosphere was far too eerie! The oppressive aura emanating from the powerful figures present was not something their kind could withstand.
“That was my disciple’s gift to me!” Purple Song Sage flew over, his eyes fixed on the remaining piece of cake in Yun Ye’s hands.
*Gulp!* Yun Ye swallowed the cake in his mouth and glared at Purple Song Sage. “Whoever holds it owns it!”
*My daughter made this—why should I give it to an old bachelor like you?* →_→
“Will you give it or not?” Purple Song Sage’s gaze suddenly turned sharp.
“No!” Yun Ye stood firm.
The wind whispered past…
“Are they going to fight?” Little Demon A asked quietly from a distance.
“Probably… maybe… perhaps not? It’s just a special kind of food. Master and Senior Yun… surely they wouldn’t be so… childish, right?” Little Demon B replied uncertainly.
“Hard to say! The world of experts is beyond our understanding,” Little Demon C chimed in.
“Honestly, I’d love to see a fight between masters!” Little Demon D said eagerly, practically waving an imaginary flag in excitement. *Stop talking and just start fighting already!*
“There’s nothing left to say,” Purple Song Sage sighed, looking at Yun Ye.
“There was never anything to say in the first place!” Yun Ye clutched the cake tightly.
A streak of purple light shot toward him—no, more accurately, toward the cake in his arms—with lightning speed.
Yun Ye swiftly dodged.
*Boom!* A bolt of heavenly lightning struck down, barely missing him. Then, a plume of black smoke rose from the ground, surging toward Purple Song Sage.
Yun Qingxue was utterly speechless…
Standing in the wind, she began to wonder if she should ever make cake again.
Every time she made it, people fought over it. She was starting to question her life—and whether her cooking skills were cursed.
“Um… Master, Senior Yun, if you’re fighting over the cake, I made plenty. There’s really no need for this…” Yun Qingxue called out to the battling pair.
The two, locked in fierce combat, immediately disengaged and landed gracefully.
“Where’s the cake?”
Purple Song Sage and Yun Ye asked in unison before glaring at each other.
“Aren’t you already eating? Hmph! Eyes bigger than your stomach—what a mighty Demon King you are!” Purple Song Sage mocked.
“If you’re so mighty, then don’t eat any!” Yun Ye shot back.
“My disciple made this for me—why wouldn’t I eat it?” Purple Song Sage retorted.
Yun Qingxue rubbed her temples in exasperation. “If you keep arguing, neither of you gets any!”
Purple Song Sage and Yun Ye immediately fell silent.
Dai Se, as if anticipating their quarrel, had already gone back and fetched two more slices of cake.
Yun Qingxue handed one to Purple Song Sage, then turned to the little demons watching from afar. “There’s plenty of cake—come and have some!”
“Senior Sister is too kind! I’m currently fasting!” Little Demon A hastily retreated.
*No way! No matter how delicious Senior Sister’s cake is, we dare not eat it. After seeing how Master, the senior brothers, and Senior Yun fought over it, we’d be terrified of offending these great figures. Who knows what would happen to us afterward?*
“I—I’m fasting too!” Little Demon B quickly added.
“Right, right! We’re all fasting. No cake for us—thank you, Senior Sister!”
The little demons laughed nervously before vanishing like the wind.
*Cake is dangerous—this place is not safe!*
The noisy day passed quickly. The sun dipped lower and lower until it disappeared completely, replaced by the veil of night.
But for Yun Qingxue, every minute, every second, felt like an eternity.
For the first time in her life, she felt time crawl by so slowly.
Finally, when only an hour remained before her meeting with Feng Zihuang, she could bear it no longer and left early for their rendezvous point.
But the moment she left Luoyun Mountain, regret set in.
She feared that arriving so eagerly would make Feng Zihuang think her immodest—that she was a frivolous woman!
Gritting her teeth, she stopped some distance from the waterfall, scrambling to come up with a thousand plausible excuses for her early arrival.
*Maybe… I couldn’t sleep tonight, so I came out early to enjoy the night view.*
*Or when Feng Zihuang arrives on time, I’ll say I only just got here a moment ago…*
Lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice a nightingale fluttering through the darkness, landing by the waterfall where she and Feng Zihuang were to meet.
“Your Majesty!” The nightingale transformed into a delicate maiden, bowing to Feng Zihuang, who stood by the waterfall as if he had been there all along. “The Flower Queen has arrived—she’s just beyond the hill.”
“I know.” Feng Zihuang waved his hand, and the maiden turned back into a bird, perching on a nearby tree.
With a flick of his wrist, Feng Zihuang summoned a crimson jade flute.
He raised it to his lips and began to play, his eyes closed in concentration.
The nightingale watched from the tree, her gaze filled with longing as it lingered on the red-clad figure beneath the moonlit waterfall.
*He is the noblest king of our avian kin… and the one who has held my heart for so long…*
*Yet… he has never noticed my feelings…*
A graceful figure approached from afar. The nightingale snapped out of her reverie, casting an envious glance at Yun Qingxue, who had been drawn by the flute’s melody.
Yun Qingxue stood not far from the waterfall, her eyes alight with unconcealed joy as she gazed at Feng Zihuang, clad in fiery red.
She had thought herself early, but he had arrived even sooner.
The flute’s song ceased abruptly. Yun Qingxue looked up to see Feng Zihuang flying toward her.
“Qingxue, why are you here so early?” he asked with a smile.
“I… had nothing to do, so I thought I’d come out to enjoy the night,” she replied softly, her cheeks tinged with a maiden’s shyness. “Zihuang, why are you here so early too?”
“Because I wanted to come early—so I might see you sooner.” His smile was dazzling, brimming with charm.
Yun Qingxue’s face flushed uncontrollably, her heartbeat quickening.
Feng Zihuang’s amused voice sounded above her once more.
“Qingxue, don’t you think this means we share the same heart?”
She smiled without answering, but suddenly, he reached out and grasped her shoulders. His mesmerizing phoenix eyes locked onto hers as he spoke in a voice full of sincerity:
“Qingxue, I love you…
Do you… love me too?”
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