Journey to the End of the Night
Chapter 648 - 574: Wash Hands Before Eating

Chapter 648: Chapter 574: Wash Hands Before Eating

Baili An could feel the sliver of goodwill from her, but he still found this woman extremely awkward and couldn’t help but frown as he said,

"You say these things aren’t hard to achieve, but since you insist on not seeking my affection, shouldn’t your future behavior be more restrained? Stop casually coming to my bed."

Ning Feiyan looked at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, "What, are you afraid you can’t control yourself?"

Baili An answered seriously, "I am a man, you shouldn’t just casually get into my bed to sleep."

"A man?" Ning Feiyan curved her lips in amusement, her gaze teasing, "Little corpse demon, has your hair even grown fully for you to claim to be a man?"

Baili An looked into her eyes, "How do you know it hasn’t fully grown?"

Ning Feiyan was choked by this remark; she failed to catch her breath and started coughing repeatedly, her ears turning red as she glared at him angrily, "Are you flirting with me?"

Baili An propped up his chin, sighing, "But I feel, usually, it’s you who flirts more with me."

Ning Feiyan didn’t want to continue this topic any longer, finally stopping her coughing, and the wound on her back was paining her.

She shifted to a more comfortable position, propped between the pillows, and asked, "You defeated Shu Ci, and you can ask for two rewards, what are you thinking of asking for?"

"What do you think I will ask for?"

"You risked suffering severe injuries and became a caged cat to venture into the Demon World, all for that young miss in Shifang City, the first reward must involve Mi Lu, but for the second..."

Baili An flashed an ambiguous smile, interrupting, "The second reward, I haven’t decided yet, what do you think I should ask for?"

Ning Feiyan fell silent for a while, her eyes showing no sign of tangled emotions as she calmly spoke, "If possible, I hope you can save Hong Zhuang’s life. Of course, as an equivalent exchange, I can offer Hong Zhuang to you. She is a fine assassin and bodyguard, with high loyalty; you don’t need to worry about betrayal.

I know a mere Hong Zhuang cannot be enough for a hard-earned favor. If you think it’s insufficient, just state your demands; I’ll satisfy them within my capabilities."

Baili An’s eyes sparkled with laughter, "So the reason you didn’t want to leave the Capital of the Ming Continent with me was because of Hong Zhuang who was still here?"

Ning Feiyan laughed, "Why should I stake my life for her? It was just that the situation at the time left me no choice to retreat; it was unrelated to Hong Zhuang.

Now that you have won the battle, perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to save her—to spare the trouble of that woman seeking death every other day."

Baili An nodded, showing understanding, then said, "What if I said I could ask the Demon Lord to make you the second in command in Mohe in exchange for Hong Zhuang’s life?"

Ning Feiyan, who had been smiling just a moment ago, suddenly lost her words.

Her gaze turned extremely bitter.

She had never been bullied like this before.

Baili An laughed heartily, thinking he had found in the world Fang Geyu who was already so proud, and here Ning Feiyan seemed just the same.

He thought he had teased her enough and didn’t continue making fun of her. Under her bitter gaze, Baili An gradually stopped his laughter, pressing his lips together, "Alright, alright, I understand. I’ll save her."

They hadn’t even discussed the conditions yet, and he had agreed so readily.

Ning Feiyan was still pondering whether she should further emotionally affect him, and he already knew?

Ning Feiyan, who prided herself on seeing through people’s hearts, found herself completely unable to understand Baili An’s thoughts at this moment.

Having achieved her goal, this oddly made her feel a sense of defeat, as if her abilities were useless.

She mulled over this complex feeling for a long time before saying, "Is it that you want to save those trapped at Tian Gan Mountain?"

Baili An looked at her in surprise, "How did you know?"

Ning Feiyan glanced at the jade in his fingers, "When you were captured, I looked through your stuff. There was a tasseled token of the Taixuan Nine Classics, so I guessed you had a close relationship with Wen Hanwei. Tian Gan Mountain, I can accompany you there."

Though according to her usual style, achieving her goals effortlessly would have been ideal.

But with Baili An, getting what she wanted from him never felt justly earned, bereft of any sense of achievement.

Baili An was quite surprised by her initiative but still tactfully refused, "You are injured, you should focus on healing. If by chance you die up there in the mountains, I’d still have to find a place to bury you."

Is that something a person would say?

Ning Feiyan: "..."

Baili An slept for an entire day in the hall, and at the same time Shu Ci, who had been severely injured and had passed out, was only now beginning to stir in her seat at the banquet of the Six Rivers.

No one dared to move her casually. When she woke up, the men’s clothing that did not fit her was half-soaked by the rain, clinging bone-chillingly cold to her body.

As her consciousness returned and she opened her eyes, her gaze was slightly bewildered, not understanding how she had suddenly returned to the Monarch’s Return Banquet from being in the sea.

Raindrops fell in lines, and the silhouette of Tian Gan Mountain loomed hauntingly and majestically in the world beyond the grand fortress.

Inside Tian Gan Mountain, heavily armed patrols were on guard, and the torches in the hands of the demon guards almost lit up the entire mountain.

Baili An possessed Wen Hanwei’s tasseled token in his jade; having been nurtured close to her body for a century, it had gained spirituality, creating a vague connection with its owner.

Although the Array inside Tian Gan Mountain was incomplete, an Ancient Array still remained, and the patrolling demon guards were not under the mountain’s command; thus, although the Array in the mountain did not distinguish between friend and foe, luckily, their numbers were not many.

Baili An had to go to great lengths to avoid these demon guards, and through the spirituality contained within the tassel, he was extremely fortunate to capture the trace of Wen Hanwei’s presence.

Eventually, he found Wen Hanwei in a cliffside cave,

SCRIPTORIST

where she was taking care of the unconscious Ye Lian and Jiachen.

The sight of Baili An did not shock or astonish Wen Hanwei, who had even prepared fresh blood food in a stone utensil in advance.

Though it had been nearly half a year since they last met, she remained composed and calm, as if he had just left briefly and now returned to wash his hands for a meal.

There was an exquisite peculiarity about Baili An who, having returned from his ordeal in the Demon World, burdened with wounds and weariness, felt an inexplicable sense of belonging upon seeing this woman, light, and shadowy like a blossoming branch. Instantly, his heart settled as if he had found where he belonged.

No excessive greetings were necessary between the two; they simply knew what needed to be done.

Baili An collected some dry branches and leaves outside the cave and set up a Barrier to block light and scents.

His own blood, originally the main river controlling the mountain’s Array, now, the Array seemed readily at his disposal, easily utilized.

Stoking a strong fire, Baili An held the stone utensil and slowly sipped all the fresh blood it contained.

Apart from the four of them, there was no one else in the cave, making it seem vast and empty.

Baili An suddenly asked, "Sister Wen, did you kill Su Xi and dispose of the body?"