Outside the ship, a fierce wave surged, its muddy waters climbing high onto the carved wooden window, threatening to flood the room.


    In an instant, the ship''s protective talisman array activated, an invisible shield blocking the massive wave and keeping the vessel steady.


    Inside the ship, a girl in a lotus-pink dressy on the bed, while a boy in ck crouched by the bedside.


    The sweet scent of apples filled the air as Jian Huan stared intently at him, not blinking.


    Shen Jizhi pursed his lips slightly, retreating a bit, knowing when to stop and preparing to leave.


    A bolt of lightning shed, and Jian Huan suddenly reached out, grabbing the boy by his cor.


    Shen Jizhi stumbled, falling onto the bedside under Jian Huan''s pull.


    Jian Huan leaned forward, her face inches from his, and said word by word, "There''s no option of ''not returning it,'' got it?"


    Shen Jizhi nced at her silently, then lowered his gaze, his slightly damp eyshes casting a small shadow.


    The boy, no longer exuding that faint air of dominance, obediently replied, "Yes, I understand."


    "Good that you understand." Jian Huan scoffed, releasing his cor and sitting up. She bit into an apple while continuing to draw talismans, ignoring him.


    Shen Jizhi remained crouched by the bed.


    Outside, the sky was gloomy, and Jian Huan, who preferred brightness, moved themp to the small table.


    The candlelight enveloped her, casting her shadow backward, where it fell onto Shen Jizhi.


    He hid in her shadow, head bowed, silent, lost in thought.


    The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, the only sounds being the scratching of the talisman brush on paper and the girl''s focused crunching of the apple.


    After a while, Shen Jizhi got up and left.


    The moment the door closed, Jian Huan, her cheeks stuffed with apple, stopped chewing.


    She continued to draw the talisman, but her strokes were mere muscle memory, her thoughts elsewhere.


    Something felt off.


    He seemed... not quite right.


    After finishing the talisman, Jian Huan braved the rain toplete the talisman array herself, not bothering to call Shen Jizhi.


    Returning, shey on the bed, lost in thought, and soon fell into a deep sleep.


    Late at night, the storm outside grew fiercer, with lightning bolts of varying sizes streaking across the sky, illuminating the room with each sh.


    With a creak, the door was gently pushed open.


    The boy in ck entered.


    He bent down, methodically sliding the bolt into ce, then slowly approached the bed.


    The guest rooms of the Xie family''s merchant ship were adorned with water-red silk curtains.


    The curtains fluttered gently, and with each sh of lightning, Shen Jizhi''s face appeared and disappeared in the flickering light.


    He reached the bedside, leaning over, his hands on either side of the sleeping Jian Huan, gazing down at her.


    After a moment of observation, he shifted his weight to one side, raising his right hand to gently caress her fair cheek.


    His hand moved downward, reaching the lotus-pink cor of her dress, and with a tug—


    Rip.


    The fabric tore, revealing her delicate, pale neck.


    In the darkness, Shen Jizhi tilted his head slightly, his eyes as ck as the night.


    Without warning, he pressed his right hand firmly against Jian Huan''s chin, lowered his head, and bit into her neck.


    His teeth pierced her skin, and as blood welled up, he drank deeply.


    "Damn it!!!"


    Jian Huan''s eyes snapped open, her face filled with terror.


    She bolted upright, frantically feeling her neck, only to find it intact, her clothes unharmed, and let out a sigh of relief.


    Damn, damn, damn, damn.


    She had dreamed that Shen Jizhi wanted to drink her blood!


    Jian Huan sat on the bed, rubbing her arms through her clothes, her heart still racing.


    She bit her lip, staring at the fluttering curtains, suddenly feeling uneasy.


    No... it couldn''t be, right?


    This nightmare suggested a possibility that something was wrong with Shen Jizhi.


    Could he be in the early stages of demonic possession...?


    ording to the original story, this was indeed the stage when he fell into demonic possession.


    The difference was, in the original story, Shen Jizhi was at the Nine Provinces Assembly with Jiang Qiaoqiao and Jing Chi.


    Now, he was in Ningzhang City, with her.


    The location was different, but the oue might be the same.


    Jian Huan frowned, rubbing her forehead, then pulled out the Xuantian Mirror.


    [Qian Duoduo has Talismans: Elder Yu, are you awake? I wanted to ask, what are the usual signs of someone falling into demonic possession?]


    Jian Huan waited for a moment, about to ask someone else when Yu Qing replied.


    [Feathers Are Green: It''s hard to distinguish someone who''s fallen into demonic possession from a normal person based on appearance alone. If they have a demon heart worm, their eyes will turn ck when the worm is active. Other than that, you''d need a demon-detecting mirror to be sure.]


    [Feathers Are Green: Why, have you encountered demons outside?]


    In her dream, Shen Jizhi''s eyes had turned ck!


    Jian Huan hesitated for a moment, then replied evasively.


    [Qian Duoduo has Talismans: No, I was just discussing demons with some friends, and we were curious about how to recognize them if we encountered one.]


    [Feathers Are Green: I see. The best thing would be to carry a demon-detecting mirror with you. If you don''t have one, you''ll just have to be extra vignt.]


    [Qian Duoduo has Talismans: Elder, what should we be vignt about?]


    [Feathers Are Green: Well, for example, demons be agitated, even violent, when they smell human blood. Their demonic arts are fueled by blood, drawing demonic energy into their bodies. They''re easily tempted by the scent of blood. However, this only applies to newly possessed demons. As they grow stronger, they learn to control their urges.]


    Jian Huan raised her hand, examining the veins on her wrist, deep in thought.


    Losing all desire to sleep, Jian Huan got up and continued drawing talismans.


    She hadn''t drawn many when the ship, previously steady, suddenly lurched, causing her to lose grip on the talisman brush, ruining the paper.


    The ship swayed violently with the waves, tilting at extreme angles, making it feel as if it would capsize at any moment.


    With the talisman array in ce, this shouldn''t happen.


    So, the talisman array had been destroyed?


    The talisman array had been destroyed?!


    Jian Huan quickly packed away her talisman desk, sword in hand, and without hesitation kicked open the door to her room.


    Shen Jizhi happened to be standing outside her door, having sensed something was wrong ande to call her.


    He was worried Jian Huan might be asleep. When she slept, she was usually oblivious to her surroundings, undisturbed even by thunder.


    But unexpectedly, with a loud bang, the door mmed into him.


    With a crash, the door was knocked clean off its hinges, falling to the ground with a heavy thud, leaving a human-shaped hole in its frame.


    Dust and wood splinters rained down on Shen Jizhi.


    Shen Jizhi: "..."


    Jian Huan: "..."


    Jian Huan looked at the disheveled figure and asked, "What are you doing here?"


    The disheveled figure replied expressionlessly, "Calling you. Your talisman array is broken."


    "Yeah, I noticed." Jian Huan nced at him, then asked, "Did you hurt your face?"


    Shen Jizhi cast a cleaning spell, restoring his appearance.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He calmly asked, "Take a look. Is it damaged?"


    Jian Huan''s eyes swept over his face and body, thinking to herself that sword cultivators really had tough bodies—such a hard hit and he was fine.


    She gave him a thumbs-up, praising, "Nope, your face is rock solid. Impressive."


    Shen Jizhi: "..."


    Shen Jizhi seemed to think of something, avoiding her gaze and coughing lightly.


    Not wanting to linger, he put on a mask and turned to leave. "Let''s go, we need to check the deck."


    Business came first.


    Without further dy, the two hurried to the deck as quickly as possible.


    Themotion had awakened everyone on the ship, and the sound of frantic footsteps echoed as people panicked.


    "What''s going on? Why is the ship suddenly rocking like this..."


    "Didn''t they say the experts had already..."


    "Monsters, monsters! Ahhh, there are monsters!"


    "No, how can there be monsters? We weren''t supposed to reach that area until tomorrow night... Ah!!"


    "Help, help!..."


    The closer they got to the deck, the clearer the voices became.


    Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi exchanged a nce and rushed onto the deck.


    The raging river had already flooded the deck, turning it into a shallow stream.


    Where Jian Huan had ced her talismans, there were signs of the talismans being torn off, the papers now missing.


    With the talisman array destroyed, monsters began emerging from the ink-ck river, leaping onto the deck and attacking the people there.


    These monsters were ghost fish, with human-like faces but gills, long and powerful tails, and sharp, jagged teeth.


    They swung their tails with force, knocking a burly crew member to the ground, then swam over, opening their fish mouths to bite into the man''s body. The scent of blood drove the monsters into a frenzy.


    The merchant ship was massive, with two distinct areas at the front and rear.


    Jian Huan quickly said, "I’ll go forward, you go back."


    Shen Jizhi had no objections, and the two of them went their separate ways.


    Jian Huan swung her sword, cleaving through a ghostly fish that lunged at her. With one hand, she grabbed the tail of another fish that had bitten a crew member, her spiritual energy surging as she yanked the fish up and mmed it onto the deck. The fish’s flesh split open, its head lolled to the side, and it died.


    The crew member clutched his wound, his face pale, and looked at Jian Huan with gratitude.


    Jian Huan nced at him briefly. She had arrived just in time; the injury wasn’t too severe, and he wouldn’t die anytime soon.


    She left him be and asked, "Where’s your master?"


    The crew member shook his head, struggling to reply, "I... I don’t know."


    Jian Huan nodded, hoisting the crew member up with one hand and cing him to the side. She quickly drew a protective array.


    The array would temporarily shield them from these ghostly fish, which wereparable in strength to Qi Refinement cultivators.


    She called out to the panicked crowd, "Everyone, stay inside this circle! Don’te out!"


    Hearing her words, the people on the ship changed direction and desperately ran toward the circle.


    Jian Huan left the area and continued forward, rescuing people from the jaws of the ghostly fish while scanning her surroundings.


    It was strange.


    With all thismotion, Xie Yuanying, Xu Yang, Jiang Qiaoqiao, and the other cultivators hadn’te up yet.


    Just as she was thinking this, a green-robed Taoist priest, trembling and hiding beneath a discarded nk in the corner, heard Jian Huan’s words and quickly crawled out.


    The priest hadn’t slept tonight. He had gone to the lower deck to drink and gamble with the Xie family’s servants.


    They had been gambling until the ship started rocking.


    He and a few other drunkards had climbed up to see what was happening, only to be met with the sight of these ghostly fish demons!


    The green-robed priest crawled and crawled, but suddenly, a ghostly fish appeared in front of him.


    Its ck, vertical pupils stared coldly at him as it opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and lunged toward him.


    The priest dodged quickly, but the fish bit off a piece of his green robe.


    As the fish swallowed the fabric and prepared to attack again, the priest panicked. Spotting a girl in a pale pink dress, he shouted, "Miss, five thousand minus one, I agree! I agree! Save me! Save me!"


    The rain continued to pour,rge droplets sshing onto Jian Huan’s face, soaking her hair and clothes.


    Her pink skirt fluttered in the wind and rain, and amidst the chaos of shouts, Jian Huan distinctly caught the words "five thousand minus one."


    She turned toward the voice, her silver sword unsheathing in a sh, and with one strike, she pinned the ghostly fish to the deck.


    The green-robed priest sighed in relief.


    He hurried toward the protective array, squeezing in with the others who had already gathered there.


    The storm raged on, the cold making everyone shiver.


    The priest pulled out a sk from his robe, his lips trembling as he took a sip.


    He looked at the scene before him. Though he was scared, he wasn’t as terrified as those around him.


    And he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was somehow familiar.


    Jian Huan continued to kill the ghostly fish.


    These fish, with strengthparable to Qi Refinement cultivators, were no match for a Golden Core cultivator like her.


    But the ghostly fish came in swarms, endlessly emerging from the river, making it impossible to kill them all.


    The river’s currents were fierce, and the ship was on the verge of capsizing. If it flipped, Jian Huan would be fine, but the ordinary people on board wouldn’t survive.


    The top priority was to restore the protective array, stabilize the ship, and block the endless onught of fish demons.


    Jian Huan pulled out a few talismans from her pouch. Thankfully, she had backups.


    Not many of the talismans had been torn off. As she fought the demons, she checked and found only four spots where the talismans had been removed.


    She took out the talismans, her fingertips glowing with spiritual energy, and began recing them one by one.


    As she was about to ce thest talisman, a sword came shing down at her!


    Jian Huan nced at the attacker but didn’t move, continuing to ce the talisman.


    Just as the sword was about to pierce her body, she vanished from the spot.


    When she reappeared, her silver sword was already at the man’s neck.


    Jian Huan looked at him coldly. "So, it was you who destroyed my array."