After finishing all this, Luan Ling felt a little weak again. She quickly took a bite of the pastry her junior brother had given her before leaving. Then she carefully examined the ground and realized that these people were guards of the Sixth Prince.

All of the guards were here—but Xie Yuling himself was nowhere to be seen.

Since he had been affected by the insect demon’s spell, it was impossible for him to have gone very far. And since even his guards had collapsed, yet he had still managed to walk away, it meant his condition was probably not as severe as theirs.

However, having just used a powerful technique, Luan Ling wanted to conserve her strength. She therefore asked the vines,

“Did you see where the remaining person in this group went?”

The vines extended forward again, following the river. Luan Ling followed along. She walked for quite some time, from the river deep into the forest. It felt as though she was almost walking back to the vines’ own homeland—the place was so primitive that she could even sense the spiritual energy growing denser.

Just then, she finally noticed traces that seemed to have been left by Xie Yuling.

Several branches blocking the way ahead had been neatly cut through by a sharp weapon, forcibly clearing a convenient path.

At that moment, the vines began pounding the ground again. This time, however, not gently like before, but with obvious emotion. They first pointed at the cut branches, then at themselves, looking extremely indignant.

Oh no. Seeing how angry they were, could it be that they wanted her to go over there and deal Xie Yuling a blow?

But her suspicion was immediately dispelled by the vines’ next action.

The vines trembled slightly, then returned to a huge “cocoon” woven from countless vines. As the leading vine rejoined it, all the vines slowly withdrew, and a person fell out.

Luan Ling stepped forward and saw that it was Xie Yuling—the one who had gone missing from the group.

She immediately wrapped his nearly lifeless body in divine power and examined him. She discovered that the demonic energy inside Xie Yuling was originally far less than that in the other guards. However, because he had still used his internal energy while leaving, the demon insect had fed even faster and in greater amounts.

Now the insect had spread throughout his body and had nearly reached his brain.

Luan Ling reacted at once, blocking the demonic energy that was about to reach his brain. With a forceful pull, she expelled the demon insect—now bloated and white from feeding—straight out of Xie Yuling’s mouth.

Xie Yuling gagged and vomited, coughing up an entire long demon insect. At the same time, he struggled to open his eyes and looked at Luan Ling.

“It’s you… who saved me.”

Oh no.

How could he still open his eyes at a time like this?

Luan Ling instantly grew nervous. When mortals witness divine magic, their memories must be erased or altered—and that spell consumed a great deal of power. She had planned to avoid that situation perfectly. She had not expected Xie Yuling to see her casting a spell.

But… her technique just now had not been very flashy, had it? She could probably explain it as some kind of internal-energy healing technique. Yes—that was it. She would confirm what he remembered after he woke up, and then tell him so.

Luan Ling cast another healing spell on him. Not long afterward, Xie Yuling slowly came to—recovering even faster than the guards on the ground.

The moment he sat up, he grabbed the sword beside him and pointed it at her.

“Huh?”

Luan Ling was stunned. She had not even had time to make up an excuse.

Xie Yuling was still pale, but his mind was much clearer now. With the tip of his sword aimed at her, he asked coldly,

“When I first met you, you were standing alone in the forest, and your companions gathered from different directions. Now I have gone deep into these woods, and you are still alone here. Where are your companions? Are they, as before, scattered throughout the forest, each assisting a different prince?”

Luan Ling’s eyes widened slightly. She had not expected that, even in such a weakened state, he could still think so clearly. It was also her own fault for forgetting all the instructions Xie Yuyan had given them earlier. She had kept thinking that she could simply erase a mortal’s memory if something went wrong, and had therefore acted rather carelessly.

“No—listen, I…”

Before she could finish, Xie Yuling lifted his sword tip again and said coolly,

“I do not know who you are. You saved me, and I should thank you for that. But whether you are friend or foe, I cannot be certain. So I thank you—and I ask you to leave my vicinity.”

Luan Ling really wanted to scratch her head, but this was clearly not the right moment.

She stood up and said to him,

“Very well. You are right. Saving you was simply what I should have done. As for my identity, you need not dwell on it. Just think of us as forest wardens who protect the spiritual veins of this mountain. If possible, you should leave as soon as you can. Your arrival has already harmed the plants and living creatures here. If you do not leave soon, I cannot guarantee that I will not be forced to intervene a third time.”

Xie Yuling said nothing. He simply stared at her, still on full alert.

Seeing this, Luan Ling met his gaze and slowly stepped backward. Once she had retreated a certain distance, she turned around and ran off.

She really should have left immediately after curing him.

But it seemed she had not had the chance.

Even when he was on the verge of death, this man had remained so vigilant. Just as her senior sister had said, she only hoped nothing else would happen afterward. With Xie Yuling’s cautious personality, after an incident like this, he certainly would not continue going deeper into the mountains.

There were seven princes. Excluding Xie Yuyan, that still left one extra for Qilin Hall.

So she would just capture another one. And another. And another…

Luan Ling pushed aside a clump of bushes—and locked eyes with a group of people directly in front of her.

She froze for a split second, then quickly let the branches fall back into place.

Why was she so unlucky?

It was Xie Yuling’s group again.

She was just about to slip away when she suddenly heard a voice from behind her.

“Stop.”

Before she could react, she heard the sound of blades cutting through branches. She turned around and saw Xie Yuling, now mounted on a horse.

He urged the horse forward to the front of the group. After hesitating briefly, he asked her,

“Do you know what is going on with these paths in the mountains that we can never find our way out of? We have already tried to retrace three routes. Not only did we fail to return to where we started, but the surroundings only became more unfamiliar.”

So he needed her help after all.

Luan Ling immediately felt much more confident. Just moments ago, he had looked as if he wanted nothing to do with her. Now, because he was lost, he had no choice but to ask her.

It seemed that although he still did not accept her identity, he trusted her abilities.

Even though Luan Ling was a righteous immortal, she still remembered very clearly how he had just driven her away. So she put on a troubled expression and said,

“That won’t do. I don’t know whether you are friend or foe either. For safety’s sake, it would be better for us to keep our distance.”

“How dare you! This is—”

Before Xie Yuling could speak, one of the guards beside him was already reaching for his sword. Xie Yuling immediately shot him a look, then said to Luan Ling,

“I still do not believe that your appearance is a coincidence. But I do believe you bear us no ill will. If you had wanted to kill me, you would not have saved me just now.

“So I would like to formally ask you to guide us out of the mountain. Once we are out, I will repay you with everything I can reasonably afford—including the cultivation method you are searching for.”

Luan Ling considered it for a moment.

Fine. She would forgive these mortals this time.

Escorting him out was not difficult anyway, and it was also part of her duty. Once they reached a relatively open and safe area, she could simply guide them with her divine sense and then return. As for the reward…

“You mean,” she asked curiously, “I can ask for whatever I want?”

“You can really afford it?”

She did not actually want anything, but if she refused outright, this boy would probably suspect her of having some ulterior motive. It was better to look a little greedy.

The guard seemed ready to scold her again, but since his master had not spoken, he dared not overstep. He merely thought to himself,
Do you even know who our Sixth Prince is? A common street girl like you—clearly someone who has never seen much money.

Luan Ling immediately glared at him.

So what if she was a commoner?

Who did he think paid taxes to support the royal family?

As if she had never seen money before.

Although she usually studied in the heavens and did not visit the mortal realm very often, Qilin Hall and Xie Yuyan were on very familiar terms. And who was Xie Yuyan? He had taken over his extremely wealthy maternal grandfather’s estate and expanded it into a powerful commercial network. All of their normal expenses in the mortal world were paid by Young Master Xie himself.

How could she not understand what money meant?

Besides, even if she had not seen mortal wealth, she had seen what lay beneath the sea. When she had once been punished and sent down to the mortal realm, she had briefly seen the vast oil fields and gold mines owned by Si Zhuo’s family. The treasures of the sea were truly countless. Even though the Heavenly Empress was not extravagant and she herself had rarely spent lavishly, she had at least seen what abundance looked like.

The guard felt her glare, and although neither of them spoke, he suddenly felt inexplicably guilty—as if she had somehow read his thoughts and cursed him with something particularly nasty.

Xie Yuling, however, appeared much calmer.

“As long as what you ask for is within a reasonable range that I can bear, I will certainly repay you,” he said.

See? This Sixth Prince really did know how to leave himself a way out.

After all, they had many men with them. On the surface, it seemed she did not have much room to refuse—or to extort them outrageously. All of this had surely already been considered by him.

Dealing with mortals required many layers of caution. But this, too, was part of growing up. After all, to become a true deity, learning how to interact with mortals was a required course.

So Luan Ling joined Xie Yuling’s group.

She used her divine sense to explore the way ahead, but still pretended to carefully study the terrain, so as not to be suspected again.

In truth, even without divine sense, she knew some geomantic techniques. After all, these were subjects that mortal princes had to study—and naturally, so did they. Not only did they have to learn them, they had to learn far more, and pass far more examinations.

When it came to exams like these, Luan Ling was always the top student.

She rarely had the chance to put her knowledge to practical use and usually preferred to take shortcuts with divine perception. But today, she finally had the opportunity to practice properly.

As she investigated, she genuinely began to discover certain patterns in the mountain’s terrain. Before she knew it, she had almost forgotten about Xie Yuling entirely, fully immersed in the growing excitement of exploration—like discovering a brand-new world.