Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

"Xiao Mi, don't underestimate this Qiankun Bag," Jiang Zhiyu said seriously. "This is a magic treasure given to me by my master. This bag is called 'Mustard Seed Sumeru.' Although it looks ordinary on the outside, it contains a whole universe inside. It can hold the rice from an entire granary, the shops on half a street, and even rivers, lakes, and seas. However..."

He paused, then ran his fingertip across the opening of the bag: "Opening it requires spiritual energy as a guide. You currently have no cultivation, so I'm afraid you won't be able to use it for the time being."

"But since I've given it to you, I'll personally teach you when the opportunity arises in the future—"

Before he finished speaking, Wu Li suddenly reached out from the side, his slender fingertips gently hooking the seemingly ordinary bag opening, causing a ripple of pale golden light to spread out.

"What should I put in it?" He raised an eyebrow and casually picked up the celadon teapot on the table.

The moment the pot touched the mouth of the bag, it seemed to be swallowed by the invisible water and vanished instantly.

Chai Xiaomi's eyes widened.

Wu Li had already let go, and the bag fell back onto the table, as light as if it were nothing.

A slight smile played on his lips:

"It should be enough to fit a teahouse, but for a glutton, it could hold quite a lot of food."

Jiang Zhiyu was taken aback: "I thought the witchcraft clan was only skilled in witchcraft, but I didn't expect them to be so proficient in using spiritual power. That saves me a lot of trouble. Xiaomi, you should learn from your husband."

His tone was gentle, but his words carried a good-natured teasing tone. His gaze shifted back and forth between Wu Li and Chai Xiaomi, as if to say, "Since that's the case, I'm relieved."

Chai Xiaomi stared at the seemingly empty Qiankun bag, then looked at the teapot that had vanished from the table. After a long while, she swallowed hard, then cautiously reached out her finger and poked the bag.

Soft and empty.

Her eyes were fixed.

This isn't a bag; it's clearly a portable space!

Chai Xiaomi secretly made up her mind to pester Wu Li to teach her how to open the Qiankun Bag, so that she might be able to hide inside and save her life if she encountered danger in the future.

After the initial joy of receiving the generous gift, a sense of melancholy washed over them, for it meant that they would soon part ways with the protagonist and embark on a path completely different from the original story.

Chai Xiaomi was feeling a headache when she heard Wu Li suddenly speak:

"If you two are going to Liangya Prefecture, we may travel together. The place I am going to next happens to be within the territory of Liangya Prefecture."

Upon hearing this, Song Yueyao frowned. Although Liangya Prefecture was her homeland, it held little warmth for her. If it weren't for her mother, who was under house arrest, she would rather wander the world than set foot back in that palace.

Moreover, Liangya Prefecture is no longer peaceful.

Her muddle-headed and licentious father listened to the slander of treacherous officials and became obsessed with the evil arts of immortality, causing evil spirits to run rampant in the land and the people to suffer.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Youquan Town".

Song Yueyao frowned even more. It was an extremely remote town on the border of Liangya Prefecture. The more remote a place was, the more likely it was to breed evil spirits.

"What are you going to Ghost Spring Town for?"

"Visiting distant relatives," Wu Li answered calmly and confidently. "Let's set off as soon as possible while Xiaomi's body isn't too heavy. If we delay any longer, I'm afraid she'll have difficulty moving around."

Chai Xiaomi glanced at Wu Li discreetly, thinking to herself: This person is even better at lying than she is.

His previous fabricated "pregnancy" has become his most convenient pretext at this moment.

But what is he going to do in Youquan Town? This place has never been mentioned in the original story.

"In any case, there's no rush for us to go to the palace." Jiang Zhiyu noticed Song Yueyao's concerns and suggested, "Yaoyao, why don't we accompany Xiaomi and Wu Li on this leg of the journey first?"

Song Yueyao pondered for a moment, then looked up at the two of them: "If you don't mind, I'm quite familiar with the terrain of Liangya. We can go with you to Youquan Town, so we can look after each other."

"That would be too much trouble for you two." Wu Li raised the corners of his eyes slightly, his gaze clear and innocent, as if he were about to decline. But then he changed the subject, a sweet smile curving his lips: "Then, thank you very much, sister."

Chai Xiaomi never expected that, with just a few words, she would naturally integrate into the main group's itinerary.

The separation problem that had previously troubled her was suddenly solved.

But behind this smooth progress, she always felt that there was an unseen hand gently pushing things along. She looked up and her gaze fell on Wu Li's profile.

It's him.

Whether it was his elaborate scheme to get close to the protagonist in the original story, or their seemingly accidental journey together now—every step, seemingly unintentional, seemed to be within his calculations.

Is this meticulous planning and proactive alignment with the main characters all for Song Yueyao's sake?

Chai Xiaomi's knuckles tightened slightly as she gripped the soft fabric, her lips pressed into a straight line.

The low, hoarse voice seemed to echo in his ears again, those two words turning into a sour feeling in his throat, impossible to spit out or swallow.

Okay, okay, it's so easy for her to call other people "sister," but when it comes to her, all that comes to mind is "idiot."

That's enough.

Unlike this little bitter gourd, I don't usually fuss over such things.

Who can blame him when he fell in love with the female lead at first sight?

This is the inevitable plot, and it is probably... an inescapable fate.

The word "love" is inherently mysterious and beyond her control.

What is she? Just an observer who knows the ending and tries her best to change it; she has no way to manipulate anyone's thoughts.

Having been trained to be independent since childhood, Wu Li was exceptionally quick and efficient in her work.

She quickly and neatly gathered the clothes. Her movements seemed casual, but when Chai Xiaomi looked up, she saw that the edges of each garment had been smoothed out and the pieces were neatly stacked together.

Perhaps because he found her clumsy, he also tidied up her pile of clothes.

To make the upcoming trip easier, Song Yueyao specially sent over several sets of dresses worn by women from the Central Plains.

Girls' clothes are always layered and have many different patterns.

After Wu Li finished packing, Chai Xiaomi was surprised to find that her bag was twice the size of his, bulging and filling the cloth bag.

"It's not just that you have a lot of clothes, there's also a big bag of Duyun rice cakes. Don't you love eating that?" Seeing Chai Xiaomi's surprised expression, Wu Li glanced at her. "Once you leave Chishan, you can't buy it anywhere else."

"Eating like that, don't let me starve to death halfway there!"

He snorted and unceremoniously picked up the bulging bundle and threw it at her.

Chai Xiaomi hurriedly reached out to take it, but the heavy package bent her back so much that she almost lost her balance.

*

Wu Li had already prepared his explanation for any doubts that the Wugu tribe might have.

"Go find the young Gu worms."

He possesses pure blood, giving him a natural attraction to rare Gu worms.

Therefore, every year he would be ordered to leave Chishan and travel to various places to find rare Gu seeds. The clan rules strictly forbade the clan members from leaving Chishan at will, except for Wu Li, who was granted permission by the clan chief and the high priest.

No one was worried that he would never return.

The high priest had already planted a crimson silkworm mother worm in his heart meridian.

Wu Li could remove the other Gu worms on his own, but this one was specially treated with a secret technique, connecting it to his heart and flesh, making it impossible to separate from him for life.

If he dares to disobey the High Priest's orders, the queen insect will awaken, devour his heart and bones, and make him suffer the agony of being unable to live or die.

It was an invisible thread suspended inside his body, yet constantly tightening around him.