Then there is even less reason for you to try to persuade me.

"Well, well, let me see who we have here."

"Master, is that you back?" Liang Si did not know how far he had walked, completely without the protection of any profound energy.

The howling wind and drifting sand in the great desert were biting, and before long, Liang Si grew dizzy and lightheaded from dehydration and exhaustion.

He had no idea how many times he had tripped in the desert. He only remembered pressing on in a single direction—the road was the one they had taken here, marked with plenty of trail signs.

They were already a great distance from Mogan City. By now, Shan Hongxing must have long since led the others away toward the Qinghe Mountain area.

Without Master present in this trial, Senior Brother Shan would not have been injured, and surely those demons wouldn't be able to find a scapegoat anymore!

That was fine, too. At least that silly, naive version of himself might be tricked just a little bit less.

"Oh, really! Why are you in such a pathetic state?"

Wen Jingev took out a waterskin and slowly poured water into his mouth, only for him to spit it all out. "Master, even at a time like this, you're still thinking of saving me. You're so good."

Wen Jingge looked at him as if he were staring at a severely mentally ill person.

Wen Xueshan had hit the road with the chicken essence, going in search of the messengers sent from the heavens. Without a doubt, those messengers all needed to be nipped in the bud on their way to look for Wen Jingge.

Right, the chicken essence now had a much nicer name chosen by Wen Jingge: Ji Jing. Simple, easy to understand, and still the exact same flavor.

"What did you just say? I didn't catch that."

Wen Jingge dug at her ear.

Either this brat's skin was itching for a beating, or something was wrong with her ears.

Between the two options, the skin itching for a beating seemed highly probable.

She rolled up her sleeves and delivered a sharp smack. "You've lost weight."

Lu Wei: ...

"Master! You hit me, go ahead and hit me more... come on..."

"Ugh..." Wen Jingge's lips twitched slightly. Convinced that Liang Si had completely lost his mind, she turned and bolted. To her surprise, the previously half-dead Liang Si suddenly leaped to his feet.

Wen Jingge ran, and he chased after her. Though he was gasping heavily, the more he ran, the more energetic he became, and the instinct for survival eventually forced him to summon his profound energy.

His face flushed red.

Earlier, it really seemed like it had been Master, Master...

Could it be that she ran away just because she thought he had lost his mind?

Right, he had hurried over covered in dust, with plenty of dirt clinging to his clothes. Master must have found him repulsive.

With this thought, he hurriedly cast a cleansing spell on himself to tidy up.

"Hey! He's back to normal."

Lu Wei stayed quietly within her body. Ever since parting ways with Wen Xueshan, the two of them had been quite leisurely. The elderly demon elder, having been struck by lightning for hauling a cart full of malevolent heterodox entities, had essentially gone on strike and was currently recovering inside Wen Jingge's spatial ring, leaving them no choice but to travel on foot.

If they ran into another thunderstorm, Lu Wei swore he would never ride that so-called ghost carriage again. The moment the thunder rolled, the old man had no choice but to run, and he ran faster and faster. Fortunately, being in a soul form, he had nothing to throw up, whereas Wen Jingge and the others had vomited miserably.

"Back to normal, you say?"

Wen Jingge took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and upon seeing Liang Si standing rigidly in place, not even daring to approach, she finally let out a pent-up sigh.

She waved at him. "Come here!"

"Master!" Liang Si smiled broadly. "You—you're still alive!"

Instantly, a large lump swelled up on his forehead, courtesy of Wen Jingge's knock.

"You really hope I'm dead, don't you!"

"No, it's wonderful that Master is alive. I hope Master lives a long life for all eternity, and stays alive forever."

"Wouldn't that make me an old monster?"

"Still better than being dead."

"You used to be so tight-lipped and rarely spoke a golden word. How did coming down the mountain turn you into this?"

"I..." Liang Si scratched his head sheepishly. "I'm just overjoyed."

"Enough." Wen Jingge pinched his cheek, finding none of the plump texture from before. "Where have the others gone?"

"Master... do we still have to go back...?" Liang Si didn't understand.

In his understanding, Wen Jingge should have been reincarnated just like him. It was impossible that Wen Jingge would want to go back; hadn't she already proven that method was wrong?

"Of course!" Wen Jingge seemed to just now notice his complexion. "You abandoned all your junior brothers and sisters?"

Unsurprisingly, he received another blow from Wen Jingge, this time right on top of his head.

"Master, it hurts!" Back when he was Liang Si, Master had never been willing to hit him. Was she angry now purely because of Qiao Yu?

Yet it made him so furious!

Why should Qiao Yu receive so much doting and pampering, only to turn into an ungrateful ingrate in the end?

He smiled coldly, and without fail, received yet another knock on the head from Wen Jingge. "Master..."

"I now have ample reason to suspect you are not my eldest disciple Liang Si. Off you go! Stop following me."

"Master... Eldest Master..."

"I suspect it too." Lu Wei cleared his throat. "Let's go! Head east, thirty miles."

"Shut up, he can hear you!"

"Oh? Really? Then I'll keep my voice down."

"Are you an idiot!" Wen Jingge shot him a sideways glance. "If I'd known, the very first thing I did when I woke up would have been to strangle you. Watching you act like a fool is painful."

"Then don't look!"

Wen Jingge: ...

Liang Si smiled, hearing that this must be the Eldest Master speaking up for him. He decided to just follow from a distance, doing his best not to anger Master.

Did Master like the way he was before up on the mountain?

It seemed he would have to go back after all!

"Master!"

"I didn't say you couldn't follow. Follow if you want!"

"Okay." He chuckled stupidly. Even he couldn't remember how long it had been since he last smiled. The movement pulled at the muscles on his face, stinging slightly.

"Master, if possible, could you not go to Qinghe Mountain?"

"So it really is Qinghe Mountain!" Wen Jingge was momentarily startled. "I thought I remembered wrong."

"Master... you haven't answered me yet."

"Then, little Liang Si, in what capacity are you begging your master not to go to Qinghe Mountain?" Wen Jingge narrowed her eyes. Liang Si was not the Liang Si of her past life; she had guessed as much when the old Daoist priest appeared.

The Xuanyun Sect exerted a suppression on him, much like it did on her—and what got suppressed was precisely their memories.

After descending the mountain, as that suppression eased, at the right moments, they would always manage to recall some unrelated fragments of the past.

"I... as your disciple!" He dropped to his knees, kowtowing to Wen Jingge. "This disciple swears by Master's trust, every word is the truth. If there is any falsehood, may the hea—"

"May auspicious clouds descend from the heavens!" Wen Jingge hurriedly hijacked the sentence.

Thunderclouds descending from the heavens simply would not do.

She was in no condition to be struck by lightning right now. Everything about her that could absorb thunderclouds, including that coffin, was already stuffed to maximum capacity.

"Master, this disciple is speaking the truth."

"I'm speaking the truth too." Wen Jingge pulled him up. "How about we write down what's in our hearts in the dirt together? I'll guess yours, and you can tell me mine. Just don't write it too obviously, your Eldest Master is still around, and Master doesn't want to get struck by lightning."

"Yes, it was this disciple's oversight." He began to reproach himself.

The two of them stood back-to-back, and Wen Jingge reminded him, "You can only write a single character."

"A single character!" Liang Si hurriedly swept away the marks in the sand and scratched out a new character. "This disciple is done writing."

"Two."

"Two."

Wen Jingge smiled. "Then there is even less reason for you to try and dissuade me."

"Ah..."