Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

The morning mist slowly receded from the surface of Yunmengze Lake.

Newly dug irrigation canals meandered around the village, and clear water flowed through wooden sluice gates, splashing against the stone edges with a soft, rustling sound. Smoke rose from several half-built wooden houses, the smell of damp wood mingling with the aroma of rice porridge, finally overpowering the lingering stench of blood from the ruins that had remained for years.

Beside the village gate, the old stone wall has been leveled.

The two characters "Shou Ze" that Bai Yin personally carved last night are embedded in the stone. The knife marks are very deep, and the residual Geng metal energy flows along the strokes, echoing the death pulse suppressed by the broken knife recast at the bottom of the lake.

He stood in front of the stone wall and looked at the irrigation canal, granary and guardhouse one by one.

"The wooden sluice gate on the east side is manned twice a day, and the waterway is sealed off at night. Food and fodder are distributed according to the number of people, with young demons and the wounded receiving them first. Anyone coming from outside the swamp is first checked to see if they have the mark of the Demon Court."

The little demons carrying the timber nodded repeatedly, not daring to make too much noise while lifting the logs.

The mad tiger of yesteryear no longer kills indiscriminately, but his face remains chillingly cold. Especially when Bai Yin stands there holding the reforged broken sword, no one within three zhang dares to breathe heavily.

Su Xiaojiu straightened up from the side of the ditch.

She had just helped several young demons clear the mud, her hands still wet with soil. Clear water trickled through her fingers, washing the mud into the ditch.

She listened to Bai Yin's instructions for a while, and her eyebrows gradually rose.

"Bai Yin".

Bai Yin immediately turned around.

"What's wrong?"

"Yunmengze has just come back to life, and you've turned it into a demon court military camp."

"We cannot slacken our patrols. We also need to ensure food supplies—"

Su Xiaojiu walked over and grabbed his sleeve.

Bai Yin stopped speaking.

She pointed to Zexin. Morning light fell on the clear water, and a few fish darted through the water plants, their silver scales flashing before disappearing.

"Let's go catch fish."

Bai Yin glanced at her hand.

"I'll have someone send it over."

"don't want."

"Then I'll send two water sprites down to catch them."

Su Xiaojiu tugged at his sleeve.

"I want to catch it myself."

Bai Yin remained silent for a moment, then looked at the wooden building that was not yet fully arranged. The nearby demons immediately lowered their heads, pretending to be extremely busy.

He eventually took off his outer robe and draped it over the stone wall.

"Walk."

The river was shallow, the water only reaching above the calves.

Bai Yin rolled up his trousers and stepped into the water, his Geng metal aura instinctively protecting him. As soon as a white light appeared on the surface of the water, the fish that had been swimming nearby simultaneously flicked their tails and disappeared into the reeds and crevices of the rocks, leaving not even a single scale behind.

Su Xiaojiu stood in the water, looking down at the empty river surface.

A moment later, she looked up.

"Are you trying to catch fish, or are you trying to scare them all to death?"

Bai Yin frowned, glancing at the crevices in the rocks where the fish were hiding.

Not far away, several little demons repairing the irrigation canal quietly stopped what they were doing.

They had seen Bai Yin split a mountain in two with a single stroke, and they had seen him carry the heads of demon soldiers past the water fortress, but they had never seen this mad tiger standing in the shallow river, helpless against a group of fish.

Bai Yin noticed the gaze and looked over coldly.

The little demons immediately lowered their heads to dig the ditch, but their shoulders trembled from holding their breath.

"The evil energy has been absorbed," Su Xiaojiu said.

Bai Yin followed her instructions, suppressing the Geng metal energy back into his body. He then bent down and dipped his hands into the water, just like her.

A bluefish swam past his feet.

Bai Yin's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly slammed down with his right palm.

boom!

The water splashed up to half a person's height.

The bluefish had already darted into the water plants, but the falling river water soaked Bai Yin from head to toe. His wet hair clung to the sides of his face, and his two tiger ears peeked out from between his hair, with water droplets still clinging to the tips of his ears.

A short, muffled laugh came from the shore.

Bai Yin turned his head.

The little demons who repaired the canal all turned their backs.

Su Xiaojiu made no attempt to hide her laughter, clutching her waist and laughing so hard she couldn't straighten up.

"With that slap, you didn't catch any fish, but you almost collapsed the riverbed."

Bai Yin wiped the water off his face.

"Again."

Su Xiaojiu approached and reached out to brush aside his wet tiger ears.

Her ear trembled slightly between her fingers.

Bai Yin's ears were burning, but his mouth remained cold.

"Stop fooling around."

But he didn't dodge.

Su Xiaojiu squeezed it again before letting go.

Bai Yin refused to admit defeat, his right hand falling towards the broken sword at his waist. The reforged blade was connected to the deadly vein at the bottom of the swamp; with just a wisp of Geng metal perception, the fish in the water would have nowhere to hide.

His divine sense probed into the bottom of the river.

The trails of flowing water, crevices in rocks, aquatic plants, and swimming fish instantly entered my consciousness.

But when a school of fish emerged from behind the water plants, the Geng metal blade's intent instinctively spread along the water's veins. The river surface trembled slightly, its sharp killing intent aimed directly at the school of fish.

Bai Yin's hand suddenly stopped.

The blood-red altar of the Moon Palace, the knife Su Xiaojiu plunged into his heart, and the demon soldiers he had personally torn apart flashed past him once more.

When he gripped the knife, his first thought was still to cut.

Slay the enemy, break through the formation, and cut down everything that stands in your way.

Bai Yin tightened his grip, but dared not release even half an inch of his sword intent.

A string of water droplets suddenly landed on his face.

Su Xiaojiu withdrew her foot from the water and did not urge him.

"Put the knife on the shore."

Bai Yin looked at her.

"lay down."

Bai Yin pulled out the broken sword and planted it in the mud on the bank. The fox mark on the hilt shone quietly.

Su Xiaojiu lifted her clothes and took a few steps into the river. The phantom of the nine tails unfolded behind her, hovering low above the water's surface.

The foxtail did not drive away the fish; it only blocked the upstream current, slowing down the undercurrent among the aquatic plants.

"Close your eyes," she said.

Bai Yin closed his eyes as instructed.

"Don't think about cutting. Listen to the water."

The river water flowed around my ankles, and reeds brushed against the bank. Subtle sounds came from all directions: fish tails parted the water plants, scales brushed against the stone surface, and a fish darted across the shallow sand, kicking up a few pebbles.

Baek In's shoulders and back were still very tense.

Su Xiaojiu stood beside him, her fox tail gently brushing against his wrist.

"Relax your hands."

"It can run."

"If they escape, we'll catch them again."

Bai Yin remained silent for a moment before finally loosening his fingers, which had been gripping the knife for years.

There was no murderous intent, nor any malevolent energy from the Geng metal.

He slowly brought his hands together following the flow of water.

A fat fish emerged from among the water plants and swam close to his palm. Bai Yin suddenly bent down to scoop it up, but his foot stepped on moss and he fell straight into the shallow river.

Whoosh!

A large amount of river water splashed onto Su Xiaojiu, soaking half of her skirt.

The little demons on the shore all fell silent.

Bai Yin raised his head from the water, his wet hair plastered to his eyebrows and eyes, looking unusually disheveled. But he carefully clasped his hands together in front of his chest, protecting a plump, lively fish in his palms.

The fish scales were intact, and even the tail fin was undamaged.

He didn't use a single trace of murderous intent.

Bai Yin looked at the fish swimming in his palm, and something seemed to slowly loosen in his eyes.

Laughter finally broke out from the shore.

First, one little demon couldn't resist, and then even several young demons who were hiding far away from him poked their heads out, grinning and showing their sharp teeth.

Bai Yin did not get angry.

He stood up, holding the fish, and looked at Su Xiaojiu's soaked skirt.

"I'll buy you a replacement."

"Let's grill the fish first."

A fire was quickly set up on the shore.

Bai Yin raised his hand to ignite the fire with his Geng metal evil energy, but Su Xiaojiu grabbed his wrist.

"Be careful. Don't burn the fish."

Bai Yin suppressed the fierce, malevolent energy into a small, white flame the size of a fingertip. He tried to stir it using the same method he used in the cave, but the fire still leaped up several times.

Once, a flame nearly lashed at Su Xiaojiu's clothes, but Bai Yin immediately reached out and blocked it. The flame burned the back of his hand, leaving a red mark.

Su Xiaojiu grabbed his hand and glanced at it.

Are you stupid?

"You weren't hurt."

She stopped scolding him and simply pressed his hand back onto her knee.

After the fish was cooked, Bai Yin pulled out the broken knife from the shore.

The reforged blade sliced ​​through the fish flesh, picking out the tiny bones hidden within one by one. The intent of the blade was not revealed; not even the tender fish flesh was shredded.

Su Xiaojiu took the fish he handed her and looked at the fox mark on the knife handle.

"Isn't it beneath you to use a sword meant for guarding the marshland to pick out fish bones?"

Bai Yin glanced down at the broken sword.

"A knife can kill."

He picked out the last tiny bone and presented the most intact piece of fish to her lips.

"It can also protect people."

Su Xiaojiu looked at him for a moment, then lowered her head and bit into the fish.

Bai Yin's hand lingered near her lips, not immediately withdrawing.

"How is it?"

"It's too salty."

Bai Yin frowned.

"I'll bake it again."

"Need not."

Su Xiaojiu finished eating slowly and then raised her hand to rub his still-dry tiger ears.

"From now on, catching fish, grilling fish, and making nourishing soup are all yours. You're not allowed to be lazy, and you're not allowed to go to the cold pond and do anything foolish behind my back."

Bai Yin sheathed his sword.

"it is good."

"The irrigation canal also needs to be repaired."

"it is good."

"Don't stop me when I want to go out."

Bai Yin paused for a moment.

"it is good."

Zeshui flows quietly through the newly built irrigation canals.

Bai Yin sat on the shore, bending down to remove the remaining fish bones for Su Xiaojiu. The broken knife lay quietly across his lap, its blade reflecting the water and flames, now devoid of any blood.

The Yunmeng Marsh, where they could have parted ways at any moment in the past, is now only filled with the sound of water, cooking smoke, and the breaths of the two people so close to each other.