Chapter Nineteen: The First Encounter with Moon-Worship!

The journey to Chang’an needs no elaboration. Along the way, the Four Little Ones encountered the deeply devoted female thief San Niang, and the toad demon who abandoned his wife and children...

It can be said that this trip was exceptionally thrilling!

The various joys and sorrows they experienced further strengthened the Four Little Ones’ spirit, allowing them to absorb more power from the thousand-year-old Red Demon King, temper their spiritual energy, and truly master their cultivation!

Now, even the weakest among them, Anu, could skillfully wield exquisite Gu arts and had matured considerably.

A month later, the Four Little Ones finally arrived at the capital of the Tang Dynasty—Chang’an!

“Ah! Finally at Chang’an! I can finally have a proper meal!” Lin Yueru shouted happily to the sky the moment she saw the city walls... Aside from some good food in Hangzhou, what had she been eating all along? As a noble lady, she had endured so long only through the motivation of improving her cultivation!

Now, having arrived in Chang’an, her cousin’s territory, she could finally enjoy a hearty feast!

“Hehe, my uncle is the Minister of Rites. I’ll take you all to my aunt’s house right away!” Lin Yueru said with a grin.

“That’s right, it’s been a while since I visited Minister Liu,” Ling’er replied calmly as Yueru pulled her along. As a disciple of the Imperial Advisor, Ling’er often received guidance from the ministers of the Six Ministries in Suzhou... Minister Liu was practically her teacher.

“Really? If there’s good food, let’s go quickly!” Food-loving Anu couldn’t help but urge them on.

Tang Yu felt a bit shy and gently tugged on Anu’s sleeve... They were just junior disciples, while others were ministers—second rank officials. Was it appropriate for them to go just like that?

Lin Yueru caught Tang Yu’s movement from the corner of her eye, gave him a sharp look, and then grabbed Anu’s hand and took off running.

“Let’s go, let’s go! Today, I’m going to treat my cousin to a proper feast!”

...

After bringing everyone to the Minister’s mansion and arranging for Shi Gonghu at an inn, Ling’er led her friends into the residence.

“Miss Cousin, you’re here? Immortal Ling’er too? Please come in, please come in!” The guard at the gate hurriedly welcomed them as soon as he saw Ling’er and Yueru.

But upon entering, they felt something strange—not the warmth of welcoming family, but a tense, sorrowful atmosphere, with heads bowed and eyes downcast.

“Steward Li, what’s going on at home?” Yueru frowned, grabbing a passing middle-aged man rather brusquely to ask.

The steward turned his head, and the moment he saw Ling’er, his eyes lit up brightly!

“Ah! Immortal Ling’er is here? Just in time! I was about to send you a message—the young master is gravely ill and urgently needs your healing!”

His words were said so quickly that even Lin Yueru, the honorable cousin, hadn’t caught them all!

Yueru’s mood instantly turned grave. “What? Cousin is critically ill? Impossible! This is Chang’an!”

Indeed, this was Chang’an—the city where reforms were most thoroughly implemented, and the city with the strongest medical power!

The largest Imperial Medical Academy was right in the heart of Chang’an!

“Miss Cousin, no more talk. Let’s go see the young master first!” The steward hurriedly led the Four Little Ones to a back room. The moment they entered, Ling’er frowned sharply. Wait, there was demonic energy! And not just one source!

Scanning the room, a strong demonic aura radiated from the man lying on the bed; another emanated from the woman feeding him medicine at the bedside.

Moreover, the two auras weren’t even aligned—the woman’s demonic energy was noticeably weaker than the man’s!

“Cousin!” Yueru cried out, rushing to the pale young man’s side.

The woman feeding him medicine quickly blocked her. “Don’t come closer! Jin Yuan’s body is very weak now. He can’t withstand any shocks!”

“Where did you demon come from? Are you the one who harmed my cousin?”

Lin Yueru’s gaze immediately fixed on the woman as soon as she spoke, noticing something strange about her aura.

“I...” the woman hesitated.

“Yueru!” Before she could explain, Ling’er pulled her back gently. “Calm down. She’s trying to save him! Look at that medicine!”

Yueru glanced at the bowl in the woman’s hands and saw that it contained demonic blood!

Demonic blood was the essence of a demon. Losing even a single drop meant a loss of at least five years of cultivation! And the medicine contained a rich concentration—at least three drops of essence!

“You...” Yueru looked at her with complex eyes. “You must be my cousin’s wife, Cai Yi, the butterfly demon?”

Yes, Yueru had long known about Cai Yi. Jin Yuan had secretly informed her of her identity in a letter. Even Haoyun accepted Cai Yi due to the fate from their past lives.

But this was the first time Yueru had met her in person. Seeing the blood in the medicine reminded her of who she truly was.

“It’s me... Jin Yuan’s injury is all because of me. Yueru, you must save your cousin...” Cai Yi’s tears fell one by one.

Lin Yueru looked pleadingly at Ling’er. The Imperial Advisor was not present. Ling’er was the strongest healer in the Tang medical field.

“Ling’er?”

“I’ll give it a try.” Ling’er nodded and sat by the bedside.

“Detoxification spell, purification chant, Five Qi Returning to Origin...” She cast a series of special incantations. Jin Yuan’s appearance didn’t change at all—still that weak, sickly look—but a white light stirred by celestial magic surged toward his wound. Yet, the injury on his neck sizzled, continuously emitting demonic energy that eroded the healing power.

“No good. I’ve tried all my spells. The only way is to find the demon who poisoned him!”

After several rounds of incantations, Ling’er’s face grew pale as she shook her head. Her spiritual energy was nearly depleted and it was ineffective.

Though she had reached the Out-of-Body stage, these high-level celestial spells consumed tremendous spiritual power!

“Shall we call the Imperial Advisor?”

Yueru looked at her cousin on the sickbed, her heart aching.

Ling’er shook her head. “Master is too far away in Suzhou. I’m afraid Jin Yuan won’t last until the master arrives. Besides, as long as we find the demon and obtain its inner core, the problem can be easily solved. No need to trouble the master.”

“Sister-in-law?” Yueru turned to Cai Yi, who wiped away her tears. She was genuinely afraid the youngsters couldn’t defeat the spider demon. Otherwise, she would have taken them right away.

Looking at her husband lying on the bed, Cai Yi quietly made up her mind.

“I’ll take you there!”

The Four Little Ones followed Cai Yi toward the back mountain to find the spider demon. Meanwhile, at the front gate of the Minister’s mansion, Haoyun suddenly appeared.

He gazed into the distance at a shaky sedan chair approaching. The sedan bearers were dressed in the style of the Nanzhao Kingdom, playing instruments and singing as they slowly neared the mansion.

After a moment, the sedan stopped at the gate, revealing the occupant’s face.

Hmm... quite like Xu Jinjiang!

“Worshipping the Moon?”

“The Imperial Advisor?”