The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

Not long after winter began, snow began to fall on Zixu Peak.

That was the first snow of the year, arriving silently, yet within just two hours it had turned the entire mountain peak white.

The snowflakes are as light and fluffy as willow catkins, falling one by one on the upturned eaves, among the needles of the ancient pines, and on both sides of the winding stone steps.

As dawn approached, the entire Zixu Peak was already covered in a thick blanket of silver. Clouds drifted lazily along the mountainside, sometimes obscuring the snow, and sometimes being gilded by the morning light. From afar, it truly resembled the legendary fairyland, only lacking the hustle and bustle of human life and possessing the tranquility befitting a place of cultivation.

Inside the cave at the summit of Zixu Peak, however, was a completely different scene.

The spacious hall was a hundred feet square, and the dome was inlaid with nine luminous pearls, illuminating the interior with soft light as bright as day.

At each of the four corners stood a bronze incense burner, burning "soul-warming incense"—a fragrance that has a nourishing effect on the soul, and when the smoke rose, it carried a faint aroma of sandalwood and amber.

In the center of the hall stood a square table made of rosewood, its surface covered with brocade embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns, surrounded by four high-backed chairs.

At this moment, a fierce mahjong battle is underway at the table.

"Bang!" Little White, wearing a red cotton-padded jacket, shouted crisply, reaching out to grab the "Nine of Bamboo" card played by the opponent and bringing it to his own hands.

Today, she wore a red coral beaded flower in each of her hair, paired with a bright red cotton-padded jacket embroidered with golden plum blossoms, making her look like a lucky boy who had stepped out of a New Year's painting—although the New Year was still a long time away, this outfit had already brought a festive atmosphere to the cave.

The three beauties opposite Xiaobai were all somewhat ethereal and transparent. When light passed through their bodies, it cast faint, water-like shadows on the ground.

Although the three beauties are now only souls, the spirituality in their eyes has not diminished but increased. In fact, because they are no longer bound by their physical bodies, they have gained an even more otherworldly and ethereal quality.

The person sitting at the head of Xiaobai's seat is Seventeenth Sister.

She wore a moon-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with a light blue vest over it. Her long hair was loosely tied into a "fallen horse" bun, adorned with a white jade hairpin.

When she smiled slightly, the cinnabar mole at the corner of her eye would tilt up slightly, like a peach blossom in March glistening with morning dew: "Young senior, you'd better think it over carefully. If you touch this one, you won't be able to get your 'Pure Suit'."

"Mind your own business!" Little Bai puffed out his cheeks, rummaged through the deck of cards with his little hands, stared at the thirteen cards in front of him, and frowned.

The tail behind her—a pure white dragon tail with scales as fine as porcelain and a slightly curled tip—was gently patting the chair leg, making a soft "pat-pat" sound because of its owner's anxious mood.

As a true dragon with the body of a dragon, and having already cultivated to the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage, Xiao Bai was already immune to both heat and cold. No matter how heavy the wind and snow on Zixu Peak were, they were nothing more than meaningless coolness to her.

But she insisted on wearing this ordinary winter outfit, even choosing tiger-head style cotton shoes, so that the tiger whiskers on the toes of her shoes trembled as she walked.

In her own words, it is like this: "Being a dragon means having a sense of ritual in life, and you can't be without a set of clothes for all four seasons."

As for the mahjong they were playing—

Of course, there is no mahjong in this world.

The mahjong set they were playing was made by Zuo Qingqiu himself using the shell of a fifth-tier demon beast (Foundation Establishment Great Perfection) "Jade Armored Black Tortoise" during the free time between the return of the Zuo family and the destruction of the Demon Sect after he awakened his memories as a transmigrator from his previous life.

That jade-armored tortoise lived for over a thousand years. Its shell was harder than iron, yet it possessed a warm and smooth texture like jade.

Zuo Qingqiu used immortal-like skills to slice the entire back shell into thin slices, cutting out 136 cards. He then carved the characters "万", "筒", "条" and "东", "南", "西", "北", "中", "发", and "白" on them. The strokes were clear, and each stroke contained a faint Taoist charm.

The surface of the card has a smooth feel and is warm in winter and cool in summer.

For a cultivator of Zuo Qingqiu's level, making a set of mahjong tiles is a piece of cake.

The methods of immortals are comparable to the most precise industrial machine tools, yet they possess an added touch of the wonder of creation.

Zuo Qingqiu originally made this deck of cards as a pastime when she had nothing else to do, but after teaching the rules to Xiaobai and several beautiful soul beings, she played a few rounds with them and then couldn't stop playing.

This is not surprising.

Although this world is a cultivation world, its entertainment level is still largely at the level of the ancient times of the previous life.

The righteous path emphasizes a pure heart and few desires; elegant pastimes are nothing more than playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, composing poems, and writing couplets.

The Demonic Path has more tricks up its sleeve, but those blatant and vulgar pranks are hardly something that naive girls and beauties would even look at.

Mahjong is a game with simple and easy-to-learn rules, yet it also involves mathematical reasoning and provides a fun atmosphere—it's practically tailor-made for beginners like me who are illiterate and afraid of being alone.

As for the beautiful souls, they entered Zixu Peak and, although they found a place to live, they had nothing to do on a daily basis.

Some people who loved elegance during their lifetime would go to Plum Blossom Villa to play the zither and paint during the day, or browse through classics in the cave library.

But most beauties were confined to their boudoirs during their lives, and all they learned was needlework and housekeeping. Where would they find so much refined interest?

The emergence of mahjong perfectly filled this gap.

Closer to home.

At this moment, there were still more than a dozen beautiful souls surrounding the mahjong table.

Some of them stood, some leaned, and some held incense burners;

Some whispered among themselves, discussing the card game.

Others held celadon teacups, but instead of tea, they contained "Soul Nourishing Dew," a spiritual liquid beneficial to the soul. When drunk, a faint glow would emanate from the lips.

"Damn it!" Thirteen Sister, who was sitting opposite Xiao Bai, suddenly exclaimed.

She was straightforward and decisive. At that moment, she pushed over the four "East Wind" tiles and reached out to draw one from the back of the deck.

The moment her fingers touched the cards, her eyes lit up. "A perfect hand! A pure suit, a clean hand—thank you so much, junior!"

"Huh? It's you again!" Xiaobai wailed, slumping back in her chair.

The chair was too high for her; when she sat down, her short legs couldn't reach the ground. The way she lay there looked just like a cat that had been grabbed by the scruff of its neck and given up struggling.

Seventeen Sister laughed and pushed over her cards: "I also have a small three of dragons here. Although it's not a big hand, it's enough to collect some pocket money from you guys."

Ninth Sister was a gentle and graceful woman. She simply and softly pushed down her tiles: "A simple win, one point."

Xiao Bai looked at the messy hand in front of him, unable to even form a decent set, and pouted so much his lips could hang an oil bottle.

She angrily pushed her cards away: "I'm not playing anymore! I'm not playing anymore! Seventeenth Sister, you definitely cheated! You've won three rounds in a row!"

"Young senior, you're wronging me!" Seventeen Sister covered her mouth and chuckled, her eyes sparkling with undisguised charm. "Mahjong is three parts luck and seven parts strategy. You're just too impatient, always thinking about making a big hand, and in the end you even let others win small hands."

The surrounding beauties let out a good-natured chuckle.

A beautiful woman in a pale yellow dress floated up behind Xiaobai and reached out to pat her head:

"Young master, you're a typical example of someone who's bad at mahjong but loves to play. You always lose the most, going from a nobody to a nobody. But next time you play mahjong, just call me and I guarantee you'll be the first one there."