I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

"Shinten, tell me, why do humans turn into demons?"

Just then, Zhen Tian walked by, and Bai Qingyu spoke.

"A human turned into a demon?" Zhen Tian was also a little confused, not understanding the meaning behind Bai Qingyu's words.

"Yes, this book of demons records a demon. This demon was originally a human, but after experiencing some events, it turned into a demon with a human body and a snake tail."

Bai Qingyu's words attracted the attention of several children in the yard, clearly showing that they were very interested in the topic.

The little snake spoke first, "Could it be a problem with one's heart? In the mortal world, it is said that only those with ugly hearts can become demons."

"There are so many evil people in the world, yet I have never seen an evil person turn into a demon," Zhen retorted mercilessly.

"That might not be a problem in your heart. Maybe it's because you're too desperate, or maybe it's a curse?" The little snake transformed, its legs instantly turning into a snake tail.

"But then again, snake tails are actually quite nice."

It held a thick tail in both hands, and the tip of the tail swayed in front of Bai Qingyu.

"Ling'er, have you gained weight recently?"

No, absolutely not!

As soon as Bai Ling'er finished speaking, Zhen Tian whispered, "Could it be a punishment from heaven, or perhaps he already has the bloodline of a snake demon in his body, which was just suddenly activated?"

"Sister Bai, did something happen that you suddenly said that?"

"Yes, I met a young girl before named Kiyohime..."

Bai Qingyu briefly explained Qingji's situation to everyone, and the children immediately started discussing it even more intensely, with even Yuzhanjin and Xiaoyao joining in.

Everyone chimed in with their own comments.

Tamamo-no-Mae, who was silently cultivating on the roof, glanced up but showed little interest, so she simply closed her eyes and continued cultivating.

Bai Qingyu left the group halfway through to prepare lunch in the kitchen, and Shuten took her place to debate.

·

At the same time, in Shannan Village, Xianta Prefecture.

It's more like a small town than a village. The Li family is a well-known wealthy family in the village, but they are more famous for their youngest daughter than for their wealth.

The villages within a hundred miles all knew that the Li family had a daughter named Qingji, who was exceptionally beautiful and skilled in singing and dancing.

Kiyohime was only fourteen years old, yet matchmakers had already practically worn down the threshold of the Li family's gate.

There were too many young men who liked Kiyohime. In this era, a fourteen-year-old was old enough to get married. Almost every young man of marriageable age in the entire Shannan Village who had seen Kiyohime did not like her. Among them was one such person.

The young monk wrote his heartfelt wishes into the envelope.

That was his boundless love for the girl.

As a person who has renounced worldly life, one should not have such feelings, yet these feelings have indeed arisen.

The girl danced lightly under the cherry blossom tree, and from the first moment I saw her, I could never forget her.

On one hand, there are the precepts of a monk, and on the other hand, there is boundless love for a young girl.

Torn by this profound inner conflict, the young monk named Anzhen dared not knock on the door to convey his love to the girl. Instead, he wrote his thoughts in letters every day, not even daring to reveal his name, and secretly placed the letters in front of the girl's door.

Anzhen felt content every day watching the girl open the door, pick up the letter, and show a happy and shy expression on her face.

It's nice to just watch her every day.

Today, he hid the letter under the bricks in front of the door, and waited nearby for the girl to notice it and open it herself.

However, the girl did not appear today.

Anzhen had been waiting outside for a whole morning, sitting cross-legged under an old tree reciting scriptures.

People passing by all turned to look at him, their gazes no longer so strange. They had long been used to the young monk's presence, but they were puzzled as to why he had been sitting there all morning without leaving.

What Anzhen didn't know was that Kiyohime didn't come out today to keep her mother company and dance for her mother who had regained her memory in the courtyard.

The family was enjoying themselves so much that no one noticed the letters outside.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Kiyohime remembered something, pushed open the door, noticed the letter under the bricks, picked it up and opened it. Sure enough, the contents of the letter were almost the same as a few days ago.

With a slight blush on her pretty face, Kiyohime looked left and right, wondering who had written it.

In my field of vision, there was only a young monk sitting under a tree reciting scriptures, his eyes half-open and looking very serious.

Kiyohime had also suspected that the letter was written by the monk, but upon reflection, the possibility seemed almost nonexistent.

How could a monk possibly be moved by such worldly emotions?

Just then, a young man carrying farm tools happened to pass by. When he saw Kiyohime, he gave her a bright and sunny smile.

This young man was at most three years older than Kiyohime. He was muscular and strong, and while not particularly handsome, he was clean-cut and had a masculine air.

Kiyohime blinked, and as she looked down at the letter in her hand, she suddenly remembered something, and her face flushed red.

Could this letter have been written to himself...?

I heard that he did indeed study under a teacher in the county town for several years.

By the time Kiyohime came to her senses, the young man had already walked far away. She gazed at his retreating figure from afar, feeling the weight of the letter in her hand.

Unexpectedly, the person writing to her these past few days was Brother Wang from the next village...

With her hands cupping her cheeks, Kiyohime quickly hid in the courtyard, looking every bit like a shy young girl.

All of this was observed by Anzhen, who was meditating under the old tree.

His eyes showed nothing but helplessness and disappointment, and his voice suddenly paused as he recited the scriptures, unsure of how to continue.

In the following days, Anzhen continued to write letters to Kiyohime.

It has never stopped, not even once a day.

Regardless of the wind and rain, he sat under that old tree every day, watching the girl's joyful and shy expression.

Anzhen didn't know how long this would last.

But he felt that it was fine to continue like this.

The more letters he sent, the more Kiyohime could feel the deep and genuine love within them.

I always thought it was Brother Wang from the next village, and I had no interest in him at first, but now I'm slowly starting to develop feelings for him.

Even an iceberg of the heart can be melted.

·

Tongzhou.

After hesitating for a few days, Bai Qingyu finally decided to go and visit her temple.

She had visited this small temple before, and at that time she felt quite conflicted.

In her eyes, temples were places where the gods were either dead or didn't exist at all. It was absurd that she, a living person—no, a living bird—was being worshipped.

What's even more outrageous now is that the temple has been expanded.

What was originally a small room, with almost nothing in it except a wooden statue and an altar, has now been upgraded into a large courtyard, with incense burners, jade statues, and a group of monsters bustling around like temple keepers.

More importantly, there were quite a few people inside burning incense; you couldn't get in without queuing...

The power of the incense was somewhat like the power of faith, continuously flowing into Bai Qingyu's body.

She tried listening to the voices of the believers, and as soon as she started listening, a female voice entered her ears.

"Goddess Phoenix, please bless me to have a son! You must bless me to have a son..."

No sooner had that voice fallen than another voice rang out.

"May the Divine Phoenix Goddess protect me, protect my child so that he/she can be born safely, may the Divine Phoenix Goddess protect me..."

The next few voices were almost all pleading for the child, with very few offering blessings.

Bai Qingyu opened her mouth slightly and decisively blocked out the voices of the believers.

This is horrible.

What's the use of begging her? She doesn't have any children of her own; all the kids in her family are adopted...

And also, wasn't there a woman just now asking her and her sister to have a child together?

Sorry, I really can't do that. If she had that ability, she would have gone to find Zhen Tian long ago...

Please vote for me, sob sob sob

Volume 1: Chapter 148 Xu Yuanqing's Despair

Bai Qingyu didn't enter her own temple because it was too awkward. She had no idea how to communicate with these believers. If it was about discussing experiences in raising children, she could talk for a whole day and night over a cup of tea. But discussing childbirth was really too difficult for her.

Silently returning home, Bai Qingyu felt it was better to be a lazy bum. Let the temple and the like develop as they pleased, as long as it didn't become the kind of cult that harmed people, it didn't matter.

Back home, I'll play with Xiao Yao, teach Miketsu to read and write, check on how Xiao Die's clothes are coming along, then call Tamamo-no-Mae down from the roof, groom her fur, and see how much her power has increased and when she'll be able to transform.

If you have nothing to do, go chat with Zhentian, or drag Zhen and the little snake over to use as clothes hangers and try on the new clothes Xiaodie made.

Life is so simple yet fulfilling. Day after day passes by, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

A year is indeed not a long time for Bai Qingyu now, nor is it a long time for the people and demons of Tongzhou. The cycle of blooming and withering is just a single cycle.

For many demons, a year is just a few naps.

The biggest event of the year was probably when a group of demons found her, first expressing their admiration, and then a powerful demon came forward to discuss with her the matter of recruiting demon students for her private school.

In the words of the demons here, "Your Majesty, you are a demon, you can't always favor humans. Could you consider having a few demon children join the private school?"

Despite Bai Qingyu's explanation that the private school didn't teach any magic or cultivation techniques, only reading, writing, and arithmetic, the demons insisted on sending their children over. Helpless, Bai Qingyu had no choice but to agree. In her view, human children and demon children were essentially the same.

As a result, Tongzhou was bustling like never before.

The city was not only inhabited by humans, but also by many demons.

The streets used to be filled with nothing but ordinary people, but now you can often see demons with parts of monster bodies walking around. Most importantly, humans and demons are mixed together, and the atmosphere is surprisingly peaceful.

At first, the people were not used to it, after all, they were surrounded by demons who could take their lives at any time.

Under the supervision and management of the demons and some cultivators at the Niangniang Temple, all the demons in the city were very well-behaved.

Bai Qingyu could only guess that these cultivators from Tianyang Palace were doing this on purpose.