In the darkness, the Demon Lord's expression was unclear, but his silence served as his answer.
Jian Lin felt like laughing after calling out, admitting her shamelessness, but she was tired of being a maid.
Being a disciple was so much better. She ate, drank, and played, while her master paid. She caused trouble, and her master cleaned up. This kind of relationship was truly perfect.
The Demon Lord sighed softly, took out a lantern from his embrace, lit it with a fire starter, and walked forward himself, not even calling out to Jian Lin.
"Master, for safety, you can't call me by my name anymore. If it's heard by those with intentions, it will cause a lot of trouble," Jian Lin followed behind, actively suggesting, "Call me your beloved disciple."
The Demon Lord couldn't stand it, stopped, and gritted his teeth, "Jian Musheng!"
"I told you not to call me by my name," Jian Lin said aggressively. "Jian Musheng is a great traitor of Guanlan Sect, and she's already dead. Master, I'm really not kidding, you're not allowed to call me that anymore."
The Demon Lord took a deep breath, raised the lantern to illuminate each other's faces, his gaze cold, and said expressionlessly, "You can actually say that. I wouldn't take such a stupid disciple even if I were beaten to death."
"It's all fake, just a name," Jian Lin's eyes were bright, the firelight flickering within them, and she retorted playfully, "Master, why do you care so much? Do you want to treat me as a real disciple?"
"Dream on," the Demon Lord gritted his teeth, finally defeated. "Call me whatever you want, it's just a name. Let's be clear, I won't manage you."
"I know," Jian Lin knew when to stop and enthusiastically took the lantern from the Demon Lord's hand. "Come, come, I'll light the way for Master."
Traveling the mountain road late at night, Jian Lin's mood was completely different from when she was in the demon realm. She couldn't suppress her happiness, her steps swaying, which gave the Demon Lord a headache, but he ultimately endured it and didn't scold her.
Following the mountain path downwards, the trees gradually thinned, revealing large areas of rice paddies. The moonlight reflected on the water, like mirrors.
"This is called hilly terrain," Jian Lin explained to the Demon Lord. "It's not easy to farm in the mountains, so we have to reclaim it step by step. It's really not easy."
The Demon Lord looked out. It was just farming. He didn't understand what was so difficult. He turned his head, looking at her excited face, and didn't understand why she was so happy.
She was a cultivator of Guanlan Sect, who lived a simple and pure life, yet she was so interested in farming. It was truly strange.
Perhaps she was a farmer in her past life? Well, it was probably so.
It was not convenient to find lodging late at night, so the Demon Lord didn't consider resting and walked with Jian Lin all night. As dawn broke, they arrived at a small town.
The town was still half-awake, half-asleep. Jian Lin stood on the street, took a deep breath, and murmured, "The smell of breakfast, my heavens, I can still smell it. It's truly a blessing from heaven!"
"Hey, Jian, where are you going?" The Demon Lord quickly changed his address, almost biting his tongue.
Jian Lin didn't seem to hear him. As if sleepwalking, she turned into a small alley and followed the scent to a wonton stall.
A young couple was busy. The woman, wearing a cloth headscarf, was rapidly wrapping wontons. The man was squatting on the ground, adding firewood to the pot to boil the soup. Then, he stood up and lifted the pot lid, releasing a thick white steam that brought a sense of earthly warmth.
Jian Lin suddenly stopped. For some reason, this scene felt familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.
While she was in a daze, the Demon Lord caught up and asked in a low voice, "What? Do you want to eat breakfast?"
"Ah, yes," Jian Lin came back to her senses, shook her head, attributed everything to her strong desire to go back, and smiled. "Master, can I eat?"
The Demon Lord frowned. He had intended to refuse, but upon seeing her eyes, he changed his mind.
If she wanted to eat, then let her eat. It wasn't a big deal.
"Yes, go ahead," the Demon Lord withdrew his gaze and said faintly.
Jian Lin's face lit up with a smile, and she grabbed the Demon Lord's hand and ran forward. "Eating alone is so boring. Master, you accompany me!"
The Demon Lord was caught off guard and could only let her lead him forward to the wonton stall.
The proprietress greeted them warmly. Jian Lin pulled the Demon Lord to sit down and directly ordered two portions.
The wontons were served quickly, with thin wrappers and large fillings, the soup fresh and delicious, sprinkled with a few chopped scallions. Jian Lin was so moved she almost cried. This was life!
Because they arrived so early, there was only one other table of customers. Jian Lin chatted with the proprietress, asking about how many bowls they sold in a morning, how much money they made, and what time they had to wake up to prepare.
The conversation soon turned to them. The proprietress asked where they came from and where they were going, and if it was hard to travel so early in the morning.
"This is my master," Jian Lin introduced enthusiastically, stating her origin. "We are rogue cultivators from the immortal realm, traveling, and we happened to pass by here and wanted a bowl of wontons to warm our stomachs."
"As I said, you two have outstanding appearances and extraordinary bearing. You don't look like ordinary people at first glance," the proprietress came over, clasped her hands together, and bowed to the Demon Lord. "Master, I won't charge you for these two bowls of wontons today. Can you give me a protective charm to ensure my household's peace and prosperity? Consider it a good deed."
Jian Lin was stunned. This proprietress was really clever and eloquent. Two bowls of wontons for household peace and prosperity. She was a good businesswoman.
The Demon Lord glared at Jian Lin, annoyed that she was talking too much and causing trouble. Now, how would they resolve this?
Jian Lin looked apologetic. She hadn't expected this; she was just chatting. She didn't know the proprietress was so eloquent. She then showed a pleading look, begging the Demon Lord not to mind a village woman.
The Demon Lord closed his eyes to calm himself, then looked up at the proprietress and said, "There are no such protective charms. Peace and prosperity can only be achieved through your own efforts. However, I can give you two pills. One makes you immune to all poisons, and the other prolongs life."
The proprietress was not greedy and happily agreed. "As the Daoist says, whatever you give is fine. Thank you, thank you. Amitabha."
Jian Lin found it amusing. People in remote towns didn't understand cultivation and just called out and worshipped randomly. It was truly interesting.
The Demon Lord didn't mind. He took out a blue and white porcelain bottle from his embrace and handed it to the proprietress, earnestly instructing, "The red pill makes you immune to all poisons, and the black pill prolongs life. Don't mix them up."
The proprietress carefully took it, her face beaming with joy. She bowed and thanked them repeatedly, asking her husband to add two more bowls for them.
Jian Lin ate two large bowls of wontons, feeling stuffed. She held her stomach and said goodbye to the proprietress, then struggled to catch up with the Demon Lord.
"Master, wait for me," Jian Lin panted, grabbing the Demon Lord's sleeve. "Walk slower, I'm too full and uncomfortable. Give me some time to recover."
"It's all your own fault," the Demon Lord said coldly. "You had to talk so much. What's the point of knowing how much a wonton stall earns? Do you want to sell wontons in the future?"
"Speaking of which," Jian Lin scratched her forehead, saying in confusion, "I feel like I must have sold wontons in my past life. I understand all the hardships the proprietress mentioned."
"Selling wontons, and you want to farm too?" The Demon Lord remembered her excited demeanor last night and couldn't help but criticize her. "You truly have no ambition. I think you're not suited for cultivation at all."
"That's true," Jian Lin recalled the original owner's thoughts. "When I left home at seven, I cried my eyes out. I didn't want to cultivate at all; I just wanted to do small business with my parents and live a stable life. Unfortunately..."
If the original owner hadn't gone to Guanlan Sect, her parents wouldn't have taken the risk to earn spirit stones and wouldn't have gone missing with their whereabouts unknown. Now, the family would be living a happy, small life together.
"If that were the case, I would probably be engaged by now," Jian Lin envisioned according to the original owner's memories. "My partner would likely also be a rogue cultivator. If he had some ambition, he would do small business. By now, he would have accumulated some spirit stones and would be giving me a grand and enviable betrothal gift."
For some reason, the Demon Lord felt a pang in his heart. He carefully examined Jian Lin's expression and suddenly realized she had changed. She had always followed him closely, her words and gaze constantly probing, trying to get him to look at her more.
She would never have said these things before, talking about marrying someone else and living a peaceful life away from the world.
She would only probe him, asking if he wanted to marry her. She had clearly said that she wanted to be his wife.
Jian Lin had indeed changed. Ever since she learned about the Demon Lord's past with that mortal girl, she had given up. She no longer wanted to seduce the Demon Lord; she just wanted to be with him and have a relaxed and happy time.
Like friends, like family, but absolutely no other emotions involved.
Jian Lin wouldn't know that it was precisely her stepping back that made the Demon Lord unable to resist stepping forward.
"In that case, we won't leave. Why are we still going to Guanlan Sect?" the Demon Lord said sarcastically in a cold tone. "I'll find you a good husband right here. You can stay here and farm and sell wontons!"
"Master, are you angry?" Jian Lin's smile froze on her face. She felt he was being unreasonable. "It's not that serious, is it? I was just chatting and saying things casually, why are you taking it seriously?!"
"When you chat casually, you often speak your true feelings," the Demon Lord couldn't control his inner anger and continued to speak coldly. "I'm serious, I'm not joking. You can consider it."
Jian Lin's face also turned cold. She was tired of the Demon Lord losing his temper at her. She didn't want to be a maid precisely because of this. She hadn't expected that calling him Master would have no effect.
"Mo Yan!" Jian Lin called him by his full name. "My cultivation isn't high, and I admit you've always taken care of me, but I haven't treated you badly, have I? I protected you, took care of you, and was willing to die with you. When we were in the demon realm, I clearly said I wanted to leave, but you insisted on keeping me! Why are you acting crazy now?"
"What did you call me?" the Demon Lord asked incredulously.
"Mo Yan, what's wrong? I just called you that!" Jian Lin stood on tiptoe to appear more imposing. "Mo Yan, you're truly an unreasonable big jerk!"
After Jian Lin finished cursing, she turned and left angrily, wanting to leave a dashing figure.
However, fate didn't help her at all. She walked two steps with her head held high and chest puffed out, but her foot suddenly slipped. She stepped on something unknown, let out a scream, and fell forward.
With a very awkward and tragic motion, she face-planted directly onto the street, falling face-first.
Heavens, why are you treating me like this?
Jian Lin lay motionless on the street, wanting to pretend to faint to escape the embarrassing aura, praying that the Demon Lord would come to help her up. She wanted to appear as a delicate white lotus, not a comical and pathetic woman.
However, the Demon Lord never came. Suddenly, she heard a ding in her mind, followed by the system's emotionless voice.
"Heartbeat value +1, congratulations to the host for obtaining 5000 points."