Compared to the icy mood that enveloped the palace halls, dinner at the Feng Residence was warm and joyful.
After Feng Jiu had finished dinner with her father, she went outside for a walk with Guan Xi Lin. As they passed the pavilion, a cool, gentle breeze blew by, prompting Leng Shuang to bring over a wine jug. Taking the jug, Guan Xi Lin and Feng Jiu went into the pavilion and sat down. Shortly after, Old White and Little Ball came by and lay down at their feet.
"Little Jiu, the men that the Green Gallop Crown Prince brought along are great and mighty, and I was thinking that maybe you should abscond yourself to the Peach Blossom Ridge? If you appeared as the Ghost Doctor, they would never dare to mess with you. As the Young Miss Feng, well, it's hard to say what things they may have in mind." the look of contentment that had been on Guan Xi Lin's face after dinner and chatting was gone, replaced with worry and contemplation. Her opponent was the prince of a sixth-grade country, after all, and he had arrived with eight immortal cultivators. If they truly wished to take her by force, even the full force of the Feng Residence would be no match against them.
"You have nothing to worry about. They won't be taking me by force." Feng Jiu said with a laugh. Seeing that Leng Shuang come over carrying a jug of wine, she said, "To the prince of a sixth-grade country, the notion of doing something by force would be utterly insulting to him. If he truly wished to take a woman for himself, the act itself would never be tied to him."
"What makes you so sure?" Guan Xi Lin asked skeptically, failing to understand her confidence.
"I'm not sure, but I know that the man's self-esteem would not allow him to do so. Put yourself in his position. If this happened to you, would you take a woman by force?" Feng Jiu asked sportively as she sipped from her cup of wine.
"Never!" he exclaimed without a second thought. It was only after he had said this that he paused and began to roar with laughter. "So! That's how it is, huh? Alright, Little Jiu, how do you know so much about what goes on in a man's mind?"
Feng Jiu smiled slyly and said, "Have you forgotten what a spitting image I make when I dress as a man?" As the Ghost Doctor, she always presented herself as a man, and not even the perceptive Hell's Lord had noticed that something was amiss!
Although…
Thinking of the Hell's Lord's homosexual cravings, she couldn't help but shudder.
Disgusting! That guy had actually tried to kiss her. After all this time, he still gave her goosebumps.
Meanwhile, on their way to Sun Glory Country, Hell's Lord, with Grey Wolf and Shadow One in tow, stopped for a rest under the moonlight, for they had traveled the entire day. Warming his hands in front of the fire they had built up, Hell's Lord suddenly sneezed. Then, opening his eyes as black as pools of ink, he looked in the direction of Sun Glory Country.
Seeing an untimely opening, Grey Wolf, who was standing off to the side, asked him, "Master, have you caught a cold? Shall I get you another cloak to wear?"
Hearing this, Shadow One smirked. After glaring in his direction, he looked off into the distance where his master's gaze fell and said, "The Ghost Doctor must be thinking of our Master."
Turning to look at Shadow One, Hell's Lord's lips curled slightly, revealing a smile across his ruggedly handsome features. Glaring at the laughing Grey Wolf, he got up, brushed off his robes and cleared his throat.
"Let's get going! We mustn't waste our time on the road."
He had to admit that he was thinking of her as well. The closer he got to her, the more he thought of her, especially after he had heard of the recent troubles that had befallen her household. A part of him secretly worried whether she could withstand such tribulations, not to mention that Nie Teng, Crown Prince of Green Gallop Country, who naively believed that she belonged to him! Oh, how he was courting with death!