Bai Fanlu wanted to bid farewell to Ling Qingzi, only to find out that his master had already gone back into seclusion. With Yun Zhan temporarily acting as sect leader and about to descend the mountain, the affairs of Tianxu Sect were currently entrusted to Wang Chongyu.

Wang Chongyu escorted the two of them to the foot of the mountain, offering Bai Fanlu a reminder to “be careful in all matters” and merely exchanged a brief, unreadable glance with Yun Zhan.

Once outside the mountain gate, they immediately took to the skies on their swords. As Bai Fanlu stepped onto his new sword, he found it quite smooth and responsive. Perhaps it was because his body had recovered, or maybe he was simply more skilled now, but flying through the clouds felt like balancing on a hoverboard.

They flew until they reached a teahouse at a relay station, where they finally stopped to rest.

Yun Zhan remained silent during the journey, and Bai Fanlu was glad he didn’t have to make small talk.

As for the issue of how to address Yun Zhan, Bai Fanlu had thought it over multiple times the day before and concluded that it would be best to continue calling him “Junior Brother.”

Since Bai Fanlu had already expressed his desire to distance himself from Yun Zhan, if Yun Zhan ever questioned him about it, he could simply say that he was treating Yun Zhan as just a junior brother, and therefore it wasn’t appropriate to use the old form of address.

Though they were both immortal beings and didn’t need to drink water, there were other people at the relay station. When the waiter came to ask, Yun Zhan still ordered a pot of tea.

It was already noon, and the sun was high in the sky. While they hadn’t felt it during their sword flight, after sitting down and drinking tea, Bai Fanlu began to wonder why they hadn’t just teleported directly to their destination if they were going to be flying for so long.

Given that Bai Fanlu had only successfully teleported short distances before, he hadn’t fully grasped the mechanics of teleportation yet, but it wasn’t something he could just ask Yun Zhan about.

As he sipped his tea, he overheard the waiter chatting with some customers at another table.

“What? You’re here to visit relatives? Oh dear, haven’t you heard? The Yufang City isn’t safe these days!”

“Huh? Even Yufang City has demons? That can’t be right! Isn’t that place…”

“Well, I’m not sure if it’s demons, but something strange is definitely going on. People from the city say it’s even scarier than demons. There have already been several deaths…”

Yun Zhan’s long fingers traced the rim of his cup as he gazed down at the murky tea, seemingly indifferent. But Bai Fanlu knew that Yun Zhan had heard those words too.

How could he not, given that the story was now aligning with the plot of the novel? They had been sent down the mountain on a mission to secretly investigate a disturbance in the human world caused by out-of-control demons. Their primary destinations were Yingzhou in the far east and Lingcheng in the extreme north. However, upon hearing the rumors about Yufang City, they decided to check it out first.

Bai Fanlu had no desire to go to Yufang City. In the novel, the original Bai Fanlu was deceived by Yun Zhan there, forced to crossdress as a woman, and nearly assaulted. While Bai Fanlu believed he could avoid such a fate, he also didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks.

A sudden idea came to him, and Bai Fanlu leaned in slightly, speaking softly, “Junior Brother, Yingzhou and Lingcheng are both far away. We can’t afford to delay.”

“Hmm.” Yun Zhan’s fingers gently tapped the wooden table.

Bai Fanlu guessed that the protagonist’s compassionate nature was causing an internal struggle over whether to alter their course. Perfect—he would give Yun Zhan an easy way out.

“How about we split up? I’ll go to Yingzhou first to investigate. What do you think?”

Yun Zhan looked up at Bai Fanlu upon hearing this.

His eyes were slightly narrow, and when he glanced at someone sideways, the blue light in his pupils resembled frost on cold stone. Bai Fanlu’s heart pounded, afraid that Yun Zhan would see through his true intentions, but he maintained a calm exterior and returned the gaze naturally.

To ensure peace of mind in the future and avoid further confrontations with those eyes, Bai Fanlu had to hold his ground now, no matter what!

“Alright.” Yun Zhan replied, his tone somewhat cryptic.

He actually agreed! Bai Fanlu suppressed his inner joy and said calmly, “In that case, I’ll set off immediately. The sooner I arrive, the better.”

He didn’t forget to add a bit of pretense, “Junior Brother, be careful in Yufang City. If anything happens, send me a message right away.”

Yufang City was closer to their sect, so if something did happen, Yun Zhan would find it more useful to handle it himself rather than reaching out to Bai Fanlu from miles away.

Bai Fanlu had calculated this point carefully. Although their master had given them a pair of bluebirds to use for communication, long-distance help was often ineffective in emergencies.

In essence, it was like a direct phone line, but just because you could call someone didn’t mean they’d pick up.

Surely Yun Zhan wasn’t foolish enough not to realize that once Bai Fanlu was far away, Yun Zhan could handle things on his own without any interference.

As for the situation in the east, Bai Fanlu already knew how the plot would unfold. If it weren’t for needing to make an appearance, he could almost report the results directly to Ling Qingzi.

If he and Yun Zhan went together, things wouldn’t be as simple as putting on a show—they’d end up having to fight a real battle.

But now that they were separating, Bai Fanlu could handle things alone. As long as the story went according to plan, he could tell Yun Zhan that he’d completed the investigation by the time Yun Zhan caught up.

It was a perfect strategy—speed up the process, avoid more encounters with Yun Zhan, and take the opportunity to explore the world.

Perfect! It was like killing multiple birds with one stone!

Without further delay, Bai Fanlu quickly made his move, eager to leave before Yun Zhan could change his mind.

Yun Zhan remained seated, sipping his tea leisurely, neither bidding him farewell nor offering any parting advice. He didn’t even mention what they should do next.

As Bai Fanlu walked away, he felt it might have been too easy to escape the situation. Could it be a trap?

He took a few more steps and then quickly hid behind a tree, glancing back. The relay station was now far away, but that blue figure under the wooden structure was still quite noticeable.

Bai Fanlu immediately performed a hand sign, silently recited a location, and executed the teleportation technique.

This time, Bai Fanlu figured out the basic rules of teleportation. Last time, he had only thought about going to the human realm without specifying a place, so he ended up randomly in He Guanzhen. This time, he aimed for Yingzhou, and although the general direction was correct, he landed just outside Dongchang City, still a thousand miles away from Yingzhou.

Dongchang, as Bai Fanlu recalled from the book, was a place one had to pass through to get to Yingzhou. So while teleportation could roughly get you to the right area, it had its limitations and couldn’t take you directly to the final destination.

In that sense, teleportation might not be much faster than flying on a sword, and relying solely on spiritual energy for long distances wasn’t practical unless it was an emergency.

Bai Fanlu found a secluded spot outside the city to rest and recover his energy before entering Dongchang.

Dongchang City was much larger than the town of He Guanzhen he had visited before, and the crowd was more dense. So even though Bai Fanlu was dressed in white and didn’t bother to disguise himself, he didn’t stand out too much.

It was certainly a big city. Despite it being the afternoon when most people should be at home, the main streets were still bustling, and the restaurants were filled with diners. The sound of melodies and songs drifted from the windows, interspersed with cheers and applause.

Bai Fanlu wanted to buy some street food but couldn’t find any, so he entered a restaurant and took a seat by the window on the second floor.

When the waiter came over, he said, “Give me two good dishes, one meat, one vegetarian, but skip the wine.”

Having finally regained his freedom, Bai Fanlu wanted to indulge his mortal cravings.

“Very well, sir, please wait a moment!”

Bai Fanlu leaned against the window, looking out. The houses in the city were square and neatly arranged. He observed the scene for a while, but soon heard a clear voice coming from a performance stage below. Earlier, someone had been playing the pipa, but now there was a young man in gray short-sleeves standing there.

Bai Fanlu glanced over casually and saw that a large crowd had gathered around the stage. From his position at an angle behind the stage, he couldn’t see the performer’s face clearly as the young man was wearing a straw hat. However, that voice was surprisingly pleasing to his ears.

“Thank you all for coming! Next, I’ll perform ‘Monkey Steals the Peach’ for everyone! Watch closely!”

Bai Fanlu rested his chin on his hand, watching with interest.

The young man

 took off his hat with one hand, showing the hat’s completely hollowed-out top to the audience as he circled the stage.

When he reached Bai Fanlu’s side, Bai Fanlu caught a brief glimpse of his profile and couldn’t help but be stunned.

It was a rather handsome young man, and that profile…

In the moment Bai Fanlu was distracted, the young man returned to the center of the stage, whistled loudly, and a pure white monkey suddenly appeared from somewhere. The monkey climbed nimbly onto the young man’s shoulder, jumped twice, then landed on the ground, rubbing its hands and feet.

The cute antics of the monkey made the audience burst into laughter.

The young man pretended to grab something from the hat with his left hand, reminding the audience with an air of mystery, “Don’t blink…”

Everyone fell silent, their eyes wide open.

Suddenly, the monkey jumped into the hat, fell through the hole, and when it landed back on the ground, everyone saw that it was holding a small peach in each hand, chirping happily.

“Haha! It really stole some peaches!”

The audience clapped enthusiastically, laughing along. The young man put the hat back on and bowed to the crowd.

The little monkey then carried a bowl and approached the audience one by one, collecting coins from the delighted onlookers.

Bai Fanlu watched the entire performance from above, smiling and shaking his head.

Just then, the waiter brought his dishes. Laughter erupted again from downstairs, but Bai Fanlu didn’t pay attention this time. Instead, he focused on eating, and by the time he finished, the young performer had already left.

Bai Fanlu didn’t think much of it and wandered the streets aimlessly for a while before finding an inn at dusk and booking a room.

Since he wasn’t sure if he would need to spend the night in the wilderness after either flying or teleporting, Bai Fanlu decided it was safer to wait until the next day to set off.

To avoid any mishaps, Bai Fanlu shut himself in his room as soon as he arrived at the inn and spent an hour meditating.

When night fell and the innkeeper asked if he needed dinner or a bath, Bai Fanlu declined, casting a cleansing spell on himself before lying down to rest.

If all went well, he should reach Yingzhou in two days. Although he had already planned how to avoid confrontation, it was better to be safe than sorry, so he needed to stay well-rested and prepared.

But no matter how good the plan, old habits of insomnia were hard to shake.

Bai Fanlu lay in bed, recalling the plot of the novel while counting sheep. Half-asleep, he vaguely heard the distant sound of the night watchman’s clapper. He opened his eyes slightly, intending to fall back asleep when he suddenly heard an unusual noise from the roof.

To the left and above—two sets of footsteps, differing in weight.

The sound was chaotic and disjointed, with the occasional crack of tiles breaking. Now it was directly above him!

Bai Fanlu sat up abruptly, just in time to hear a loud crash. The roof caved in, and a figure fell from above, landing directly on top of him before he could dodge.

With another crash, the bed collapsed.

Bai Fanlu had initially intended to push the person off, but when the bed gave way and they lost balance, both of them rolled onto the floor together.

As they rolled, Bai Fanlu keenly noticed that the person’s face was buried in his abdomen, and they were clinging to him with both hands—one arm wrapped around his waist, while the other… was grabbing his butt.

Bai Fanlu’s brow twitched.

Crash! Another part of the roof collapsed, and a few broken tiles fell, hitting the person on the head with a series of “Ow, ow” cries of pain.

Hearing that voice, the energy Bai Fanlu had gathered in his palm instantly dissipated, freezing just an inch from the person’s body.