Fairy, please have some self-respect. I am not the reincarnation of your deceased husband.

The purity of the Jade-Faced Fox clan's bloodline depends entirely on the number of its tails; the more tails a person has, the nobler and rarer their bloodline becomes.

The nine-tailed jade-faced spirit fox is even rarer.

"!"

Xiao Qingyao seemed to have seen through Su Jiu'er's disguise long ago, and even saw through the last digit of her name.

"..."

Chen Lianshu did not respond immediately.

But his gaze met Xiao Qingyao's.

Those eyes were extremely clean and insightful, but there was no hint of covetousness in them.

"take it easy."

Seeing that Chen Lianshu seemed to have some misunderstanding, Xiao Qingyao quickly raised her hand to show her innocence.

"I didn't mean anything by it."

"Fellow Daoist Xiao has discerning eyes."

Upon hearing this, Chen Lianshu relaxed somewhat, but remained vigilant.

However, now that he had been exposed, he no longer concealed it:

"All of my actions just now were indeed for this purpose."

"How long has it been sealed?"

Xiao Qingyao took a few steps closer, squatted down, and looked directly at the little fox in Chen Lianshu's arms.

His movements were natural, as if he were simply curious.

"I don't know either."

Chen Lianshu answered truthfully.

"It was already like this when I met it."

At the moment, Xiao Qingyao truly harbors no ill intentions.

Since the other party could see through Jiu'er's condition at a glance, he decided to give it a try.

Let's see if the other party can help resolve the issue of the little guy's disordered spiritual energy.

"Does Fellow Daoist Xiao have a solution?"

"This is a seal placed by a demon hunter. Although it's troublesome, it's not insurmountable."

"For now, it just needs to recover on its own through gentle care."

"but…"

Xiao Qingyao changed the subject.

Immediately, a spiritual herb appeared in his hand. This herb was even more lustrous and had a richer spiritual energy than the Fengyoulan from before.

"If you take a special spiritual herb that targets the seal, you can break the restriction faster."

"..."

Chen Lianshu looked down at the spirit herb in the other person's hand.

The introduction is almost identical to that of Feng Youlan, and although the rank is the same, it is clearly more suitable for Jiu'er's situation.

"What would you like in exchange, my friend?"

He naturally didn't believe that Xiao Qingyao was truly so kind-hearted, helping with everything she saw without expecting anything in return.

But the other party's reaction was somewhat unexpected.

"We don't need anything, how about we just make friends?"

She extended her other hand in a handshake gesture, then took another step closer.

"?"

A money-scattering boy?

These four words immediately came to Chen Lianshu's mind.

Does he... have that much influence?

Is it true that making friends will get you a high-grade spiritual herb as a gift?

This…

"!"

But this only provoked Su Jiu'er's hostility.

Too close!

It's way too close!

Why does it feel like this girl is constantly trying to get closer to her husband?!

"Thank you very much."

After thinking it over, Chen Lianshu decided to play it by ear and take it one step at a time, and reached out to hold the other person's hand.

"Let's be friends."

After all, with the system's information display, he wasn't worried about any shady dealings with the spiritual herbs.

"Then it's settled."

Xiao Qingyao nodded slightly and smiled softly.

"Waaaaah!!"

The moment the two shook hands, Su Jiu'er, who had been relatively quiet in his arms, began to struggle.

If Chen Lianshu hadn't been holding her back, she probably would have rushed up and scratched that face the next second.

She hasn't even held her husband's hand yet!

This tomboy, whoever came from who-knows-where, actually got her!

Although she had been trying to remind her husband that the other party had concealed their gender, she was now unable to speak and could not openly reveal it in front of him.

Therefore, they had no choice but to express their dissatisfaction in such an intense way.

"This little fox is very protective of its master."

Xiao Qingyao naturally noticed this action.

She looked down at Su Jiu'er, her smile widening, showing no displeasure whatsoever.

"Oh, right."

Seeing that Chen Lianshu had already put the spiritual herb away, Xiao Qingyao reminded him at the opportune moment:

"Remember not to take the two spiritual herbs at the same time; wait a day or two between them."

"Take the Fengyou Orchid first, and then take this spiritual herb."

"This way, the drug's efficacy can be maximized without putting a burden on its body."

"Understood."

Thank you.

Chen Lianshu nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.

But he grew increasingly curious about this "wandering cultivator".

"But you're quite lucky."

Xiao Qingyao, oblivious to the strange look in Chen Lianshu's eyes, continued:

"Two spirit pets—"

"One is a nine-tailed jade-faced spirit fox."

"And the other one has ancient blood."

Clearly, this refers to Master Pei Wanyun's spirit pet, "Snow Flame".

"!"

Xueyan's little ears perked up instantly, and she stared at Xiao Qingyao with equal vigilance.

That reaction was even more intense than Su Jiu'er's earlier.

Seemingly realizing she had said too much, Xiao Qingyao waved her hands repeatedly, afraid of causing a misunderstanding:

"I won't tell anyone."

"I just wanted to remind you of something, fellow Daoist."

"In the secret realm, there are many people and many eyes."

"If these two little guys are recognized, it could cause quite a bit of trouble."

"Yes, thank you for the reminder, fellow Daoist."

Chen Lianshu nodded slowly, understanding dawning on her.

"You're welcome."

Xiao Qingyao stood with her hands behind her back.

His posture and demeanor truly resembled that of a chivalrous knight-errant who was always ready to help others and uphold justice.

However, Chen Lianshu then changed the subject, asking curiously:

"Fellow Daoist Xiao is a rogue cultivator, a sword cultivator, and not from the Beast Taming lineage, yet you possess such profound knowledge of spirit beasts?"

"Well…"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingyao blinked, momentarily speechless.

In an instant, the aura of a chivalrous knight-errant that he originally exuded faded somewhat, replaced by a guilty conscience as if he had been caught red-handed.

"Ahem!"

She coughed lightly twice, crossed her arms, and tried to appear calm.

"After all, one who has traveled the world has seen and learned a lot."

"And we, as chivalrous heroes, travel far and wide, naturally..."

He paused slightly, but his voice grew softer and softer.

"Of course I know more."

"..."

Chen Lianshu did not press the matter further.

Now it's completely confirmed that the other party is not a rogue cultivator.

However, the other party was unwilling to say, and he had no intention of exposing it.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, it is fate that we meet today."

Xiao Qingyao had no intention of answering further, and even tried to evade the questions:

"If you ever need any help in the future, feel free to come to me."

"Although I am just a rogue cultivator, I may be able to help."

Having said that, he raised his hand and gestured.

Eleven flying swords reappeared, one of which hovered in front of her.

"Until we meet again—"

As soon as she finished speaking, she leaped up and stood on her sword.

But before they had flown far, they heard a voice from behind:

"Thank you very much, Miss Xiao."

"!!!"

The voice struck Xiao Qingyao's mind like a thunderbolt.

Apparently—

The other party seemed to already know her gender.

When exactly did they recognize her?

Was it from the very beginning, or did I only just recognize her?

If it were from the beginning, then my feigned arrogance, my deliberately lowered voice...

Doesn't that mean everything has been seen through?!

Thinking of this, she paused slightly in mid-air, almost falling off the flying sword.