The entire sect is obsessed with love, but I'm the only one who's truly insane.

Dusk gilded the window and imbued the talismans on the table with a glorious divinity.

After Ni Jinxuan finished drawing the last stroke of the talisman, she turned to look at Qi Zhen beside her.

"Have you learned how to use this exorcism talisman?"

She has a naturally small face with soft features that show no aggression. Her eyes are clear and round, like those of a fawn in the forest, and she always looks at people with utmost sincerity.

Qi Zhen met those eyes and smiled faintly, "I should know it."

Ni Jinxuan smiled and said, "Really? Draw one for me to see."

Qi Zhen picked up his brush, raised his hand, hesitated, and then made a stroke.

Ni Jinxuan watched him finish drawing intently, her long, curled eyelashes trembling slightly. She picked up the talisman and said, "Something doesn't look quite right. Let me take a look."

She infused it with spiritual energy to activate it, then casually placed it on the person's sleeve. The talisman fluttered slightly in the evening breeze, without any reaction.

Qi Zhen was taken aback for a moment. "Senior sister, this is my first time drawing. Maybe I made a mistake. Let me try again."

Ni Jinxuan tilted her head and smiled, "Okay, go ahead and try. I have a dinner appointment with them down the mountain today, so I'll be going now."

Qi Zhen asked, "Senior Sister, is there anything fun to do down the mountain?"

"Want to come see the lanterns?" Ni Jinxuan tilted her head. "Yan Qing and Yuan Ye are going down the mountain to buy materials. I can go with them to see the lanterns."

The lantern festival in Dingjiu City is always lively. Before the New Year, the Ice Lantern Exhibition was not held due to the arrival of the Demon Tide. The lantern festival after the summer fire god worship ceremony is particularly lively.

Although the crystal world carved by ice lanterns is as dazzling as a fairy palace, the man-made lanterns are also exquisite.

Ni Jinxuan loves excitement and had already made plans with those people to go down the mountain.

Qi Zhen asked instinctively, "Is Martial Uncle going too?"

"Junior Uncle is very busy, so he probably won't go." Ni Jinxuan said with some disappointment, "Junior Uncle's lanterns are so beautiful. He even made me a rabbit ice lantern when I was little. It's a pity that ice lanterns don't last long, and all I have left is Mingzhu."

Qi Zhen's eyes flickered slightly, "So Senior Sister likes rabbits."

As night falls, the flower market is as bright as day.

Jinxuan and her group walked down the street, where tourists thronged and the lanterns hanging from the buildings on both sides resembled a sea of ​​stars.

Under the radiant light, almost everyone carried a lantern with a flame, from auspicious beasts to lotus flowers, all exquisitely crafted.

"I'm not saying this to be mean, but after Xiangmanlou changed its roast duck chef, the taste has become somewhat worse than before," Yuan Ye said with a shake of his head and a sigh.

"When we came here, our master was already quite old. Cultivators in the Qin Xin Realm are also getting on in years," Yan Qing said, hands clasped behind her back. "Along the way, we've encountered fewer and fewer familiar faces."

Ni Jinxuan looked dejected upon hearing this, like a soup dumpling that had been overcooked, her whole demeanor listless.

Qi Zhen glanced down at Ni Jinxuan's downcast eyes and said, "Senior sister, I want to go take a look over there."

Ni Jinxuan didn't look up. "Go ahead."

Yuan Ye watched Qi Zhen's retreating figure. He was familiar with Ding Jiucheng, and that direction seemed to lead to a shop specializing in glassware.

He clicked his tongue softly, "Hey, junior sister, I'll show you something funny."

Before Ni Jinxuan could even look up, a bamboo lantern ball was thrust in front of her. It was an exquisite rolling lantern, with a candle still burning inside, illuminating the entire lantern warmly, making the bamboo appear as if it had been infused with jade-like color.

Yuan Ye flicked his finger, tossing the rolling lantern upwards. The candle holder rolled and changed direction, but remained suspended inside, never falling no matter how it rolled.

Ordinary rolling lanterns are extremely large; I don't know how he made them so delicately.

"Fun, isn't it?" Yuan Ye chuckled, took out another one, and then tossed it with one hand and caught it with the other, like a circus act. "The rolling lantern described in the book can move in all directions. You can toss it around and play with it, or even kick it like a ball."

Ni Jinxuan turned her head, spotted a small ball that Yuan Ye had tossed into the air, and snatched it before he could catch it. The ball was only slightly larger than a fist, just the right size to hold in one hand.

"We can go back and kick it around like a ball, or you can whip it and spin it like a top, whatever you want." Yuan Ye then tossed the one in his hand, "I spent three days figuring it out before I made it. It'll sell for a few dozen mid-grade spirit stones at the Treasure Pavilion, and I even kept a big one that can roll down the mountain."

"Let's go!" Ni Jinxuan exclaimed eagerly. "These past few days, my senior brother hasn't been sparring with me, my second senior sister is in seclusion, and it's hard to even run into my junior uncle at the library. I'm so bored! Shall we play like a football and bet some money?"

Yuan Ye raised his hand, "The loser has to pay for a month's worth of takeout!"

Recently, my uncle has been busy raising his child, and my senior brother is not focused on cooking. We can only barely survive by eating out from down the mountain.

Yan Qing initially didn't care, but after hearing that footwork could be used, she perked up, "I will win!"

"And Qi Zhen, Qi Zhen doesn't have a disciple's token, so he can't just enter the mountain gate." Ni Jinxuan only remembered this halfway through the journey.

"That's easy, I know where he is." Yuan Ye pulled the person aside and, sure enough, bumped into Qi Zhen, who had just come out of the store.

"Let's go, junior brother, we're going back!" Yuan Ye shouted loudly.

Qi Zhen was startled. Seeing Yan Qing and Yuan Ye standing on either side of Ni Jinxuan, he quickly put away what he was holding and said, "They're here."

Under the bright lights, Yuan Ye was suddenly met with a pair of deep, dark eyes. He raised an eyebrow slightly. Ah, that familiar feeling.

Before each incident, the emperor would give this determined look in his eyes and stand up straight, like a venomous snake ready to attack.

Even though it looks colorful and even extremely gorgeous, when the snake raises its body high and flicks its tongue, it doesn't give off any warmth.

Yuan Ye withdrew his gaze; such a snake could never become a dragon.

He smiled and looked at Qi Zhen, who had walked up to Ni Jinxuan. "We've been waiting for you, kid. Hurry up and go, we're going back to play soccer. Want to come? The loser has to buy takeout for a month, okay?"

Qi Zhen's face stiffened. It wasn't that he didn't have spirit stones, but for someone of his status, there were indeed not many.

A dignified demon lord, yet now he lives in such dire straits.

He glanced at Ni Jinxuan, "Is Senior Sister going?"

Yuan Ye inexplicably felt a surge of palace intrigue within him. "Junior Brother, why don't you come if Jin Xuan doesn't go? Do your Senior Brother Yan Qing and I not have the face to do so?"

"No, I was just thinking that if my senior sister didn't go, I would ask her for the contents of the scriptures."

Qi Zhen seemed troubled by what he said, her eyes lowered, her fine eyelashes revealing a pitiful look, and her voice was soft and aggrieved.

"It's not that I don't want to be close to my senior brothers, it's just that only my senior sister takes care of me in the sect. My senior brothers are usually busy, so I don't dare to bother them..."

Yuan Ye hissed and leaned back slightly. "Is this Xia Tian, ​​Yan Qing?"

"Yes." Yan Qing still had her hands in her pockets.

"Ouch, why are all the hairs on my body standing on end? Look at that."

Yuan Ye rolled up his sleeves and moved sideways to Ni Jinxuan and Yan Qing. He imitated Qi Zhen's tone, suddenly lowering his slow and elegant tone into a light and airy whisper, which he blew into Ni Jinxuan's temple.

"Ah, it's so cool."

Ni Jinxuan also hissed and shuddered. She immediately slapped him. Qi Zhen didn't think much of it when she said it, but when Yuan Ye tried to imitate it, he inexplicably felt that the tone sounded weak and lacked strength. "Try to act like a human being."

"What's wrong with me?" Yuan Ye grimaced and withdrew his hand, his skin now a bright red patch. "You're criticizing me when Junior Brother doesn't say anything?"

"He really has kidney deficiency. Do you have kidney deficiency?" Ni Jinxuan's voice was very clear.

Qi Zhen's expression suddenly froze.

What is that?