The improved female villains regained their memories.

He continued, "But you, what did you say to your senior sister this time? I saw her go back to her room alone, carrying a food box, looking completely lost."

Yang Pingsheng said, "Senior brother cares about us a lot."

Li Zhujun laughed heartily: "This is not concern. I am a spy for the Li family. Of course I have to pay attention to your intelligence. Junior brother, didn't you also kidnap my people? You should have seen it too. What I write every day is all true."

Yes, it's all true, there's not a single bit of concealment.

Li Zhujun carried out her mission without reservation, and did not even intend to hide her identity.

You've really worked hard.

Yang Pingsheng wanted to say that, but he didn't. Everyone has their own thoughts and concerns. Yang Pingsheng could see that he had never been malicious towards them, and he hadn't even been malicious towards Ye Buxin at first. The reason he showed murderous intent was because of his sister.

He had never truly let go of it; his smiling eyes held a wealth of emotions.

Yang Pingsheng suddenly asked, "Senior brother, what do you think of senior sister?"

Li Zhujun was about to end the conversation when Yang Pingsheng's sudden remark left her speechless. It took her a long time to finally speak: "Junior sister is a good person."

Yang Pingsheng said, "How about you and her becoming close friends?"

Li Zhujun opened her mouth slightly, and her squinty eyes widened a little, revealing a slit.

After a long pause, he shook his head and sighed, "Junior brother, oh junior brother, you really are..."

Yang Pingsheng asked, "What's wrong with me?"

Li Zhujun smiled helplessly: "Nothing much, I just feel that maybe we're both having a tough time."

He took out a brocade pouch from his pocket and stuffed it into Yang Pingsheng's hand.

“Although I don’t know what kind of mission you’ve received from your senior brother,” Li Zhujun said, “you can open it if you encounter any danger.”

He lowered his hand and slowly walked deeper into the corridor, leaving Yang Pingsheng with the words, "Be careful."

Yang Pingsheng watched his retreating figure.

The second senior brother certainly looked like a petty person.

But in his heart, he never thought of Li Zhujun as a villain.

-------------

On the day of his departure, only Fusu saw Yang Pingsheng off.

He found the best steed in the manor and escorted Yang Pingsheng all the way to the outskirts of the capital.

"When you go to investigate Baiyue, you must prioritize your own safety." Fusu said, "You don't need to worry about Junior Sister. I will personally guard her. Even if I'm not there, I will have Meng Ying stay there. Since I promised to treat Junior Sister, I will definitely do it."

Yang Pingsheng was naturally reassured by Fusu's words. He mounted his spirit horse and said, "Senior brother, I see signs that the Heavenly Guardian Sect is leaning towards Li Si's side. Nangong Qingyang is not easy to deal with. You will be in more danger than me in the capital's court. No matter what, you must protect yourself."

Fusu laughed heartily: "Junior brother, don't worry. I value my life even more than you do. When you come back, I'll have to find you for another drink."

Yang Pingsheng nodded: "Okay, back then my senior brother and I would drink until we were drunk."

"That's right, we won't leave until we're drunk!"

All emotions are hidden in words.

Yang Pingsheng, riding his spirited steed, turned his head and saw Fusu standing on the hilltop, lingering there.

It was at this moment that he experienced a new emotion—an emotion completely different from that of Ye Buxin.

-------------

He gripped the reins tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly white from the effort. The horse's hooves clattered crisply on the busy road, flanked by lush, verdant forests whose leaves rustled in the breeze.

"My life."

In a daze, he seemed to hear Ye Buxin's voice and see her green figure floating beside him.

The greenery on both sides recedes into the distance, while the road stretches out beneath our feet.

He remembers every moment he and Ye Buxin went through from their first meeting to their deepest friendship. Therefore, he will not give up because of fate, nor will he admit defeat because of current events.

The most precious thing in a person's life is meeting someone who understands them.

From birth to adulthood, apart from receiving a little love from his teacher, Yang Pingsheng mostly grew up in solitude. The troubles brought about by his talent made loneliness an unavoidable companion, and all he could see was darkness.

It was Ye Buxin who pulled him out of there.

The moment his physical weaknesses were suppressed, he didn't show it on the surface, but he was already extremely excited inside.

He murmured, "Does this mean I'm normal now?"

Ye Buxin frowned. She didn't like hearing Yang Pingsheng say such things, so she moved closer, cupped his face, and forced him to look at her.

“Listen, we’ve never been normal or abnormal.”

"We are geniuses, geniuses that ordinary people cannot understand."

"Do you remember the first time we met? You also thought I was a genius, didn't you?"

"Yes," Yang Pingsheng laughed.

When did he become so indecisive? Like Ye Buxin, he also has his own principles and pride. Even with his physical disability, he still firmly believes that he is different.

That's why they became close friends.

Even if she faints now, it doesn't matter, because Yang Pingsheng hasn't fainted yet. They are confidants, they are one. Even if one of them falls, as long as the other is still there, they will pull the other up.

As the wind swirled the green leaves, Yang Pingsheng saw what appeared to be a woman ahead of him on the road.

Ye Buxin?

No, it wasn't Ye Buxin, not the confidante he longed for.

The person who arrived was Zhou Jinyu.

-------------

The disciples of Guigu School should never be underestimated, even if that person is the most mediocre Zhou Jinyu.

She stood quietly in the middle of the road, her white dress fluttering gently in the breeze, like a white lotus blooming in a chaotic world. The moment Yang Pingsheng appeared, her gaze was fixed on him, filled with the same reluctance, worry, and emotions that Yang Pingsheng could never understand.

This sight reminded Yang Pingsheng of when she first arrived in the capital; she stood there in the same way.

The official road was narrow, and he couldn't cross it. He could only stop his spirit horse in front of her, but he didn't dismount at all. He simply said, "Senior Sister."

Zhou Jinyu smiled and asked, "Junior brother, where are you going?"

Yang Pingsheng replied, "I don't necessarily have to report to my senior sister where I'm going, do I?"

These words made her smile freeze, and she said with a hint of disappointment, "Yes, you don't have to tell me everything, but junior brother, I'm not stupid. You and senior brother have no need to hide anything from me."

She stepped forward and handed over a storage-type magical artifact: "Junior brother, I'm not the kind of person who doesn't understand the bigger picture. I've said before that whatever you want to do, I will support you. There are things I've put in here; you can take them out and use them if you're cold, hungry, or thirsty. There's also medicine to cure the Gu worms; remember to take it on time..."

As she spoke, she sniffed again and said, "Junior brother, all I ask for is your safe return. Also, I hope you can remember that no matter what, I will always be behind you."

Don't worry about it, junior brother. I just wanted you to know that I've always been there for you.

Zhou Jinyu's feelings were so straightforward that they left Yang Pingsheng bewildered, and so passionate that they frightened him.

He was somewhat terrified; that inexplicable fear surged up again, but he simply couldn't refuse. His senior sister was truly kind, and both emotionally and rationally, he couldn't ignore her at this moment.

However, it is precisely because his senior sister is so wonderful that he cannot accept her.

So he said, "Senior sister, I don't understand your thoughts, but I think our relationship as fellow disciples is already very good. You give me information, and I help you with your work. That's already good enough. You have your own things to do, and I have my own things to do. We don't need to delay each other because of anything else."

His decisiveness caused Zhou Jinyu to take two steps back.

As fellow disciples of Guigu, it's already considered good if they don't kill each other. Helping each other and benefiting each other is a relationship that Yang Pingsheng is already satisfied with. That's why he made it very clear that he would repay the kindness his senior sister had shown him.

He doesn't need her to be unconditionally good to him.

There's no need for us to hold each other back; that was Yang Pingsheng's answer.

However, this was not the answer Zhou Jinyu wanted.

-------------

“Junior brother, why do you say that? Why do you think we are holding each other back? From the snow at Wangtianya to what you said to me the day we found the dark cloud, I have never felt that you have held me back. If I have held you back, I will try my best to make amends, because I never want to be the one who holds you back. I want to help you, no matter what you do, I want to help you.”

She clutched her chest and said devoutly, "Because I live for you."

Those earnest words, like the most intense sunlight, laid bare his true nature. What could he say? What could he reply? Just as Ye Buxin said, how could anyone live for another person?

As these words came to mind, he thought of Ye Buxin again.

The confusion clouded his mind, and he didn't know what to say. He could only take the things Zhou Jinyu handed him and casually reply, "Senior sister, don't do this."

He dared not say anything more, gestured for Zhou Jinyu to move aside, and then rode his spirit steed away into the distance.

The spirit steed galloped out, and he turned his head to see the figure standing there, just like Fusu.

But the feelings that were brewing were different from those of Fusu.

More intense and passionate than Fusu's, even Yang Pingsheng couldn't help but feel humbled in the face of such affection.

-------------

Baiyue was the place where Yu the Great and Xiangliu fought their decisive battle.

The further south they went, the more mountains there were, and the more unfavorable conditions there were, such as poisonous miasma, mosquitoes, and swamps. Finally, Yang Pingsheng found a place to release his spirit horse and walked into the deep mountains.

The poisonous miasma blotted out the sun and divided the area into tribes. Yang Pingsheng noticed that these tribes seemed to have no connection, but in fact they were ruled by a group of people wearing strange masks. The masks were very strange, with nine protrusions, and it was impossible to tell what they were. When people wore them, it looked like they had nine big bumps on their faces.

To find out the truth, Yang Pingsheng first transformed into an animal and infiltrated the tribe. He spent a month learning their language. After figuring out who the tribe consisted of, he dealt with one of them and cleverly transformed into his appearance to replace him.

He had already figured out that the masked people were building something underground and were taking people from the tribe every day. The people in the tribe called these people witch gods and dared not resist their rule.

He observed the group of witch gods up close and soon discovered a shocking fact—the methods they used were the secret techniques of the demon race.

It's utterly appalling that humans would use methods from the demon race.

In order to find out the secret, Yang Pingsheng, disguised as a human, was captured and entered their secret base along with many other tribal youths.

The cave connected to the underground, filled with countless secret passages, like an ant nest. The damp air underground made it difficult to breathe, and the bodies of exhausted slaves could be seen everywhere.

The leading sorcerer led them to a plaza underground and supervised the construction of a statue.

Yang Pingsheng could see clearly that it was a statue of Xiang Liu.

-------------

Using his status as a slave, Yang Pingsheng figured out the situation.

He endured hunger, exhaustion, and beatings, and finally found the answer—the sacrifices of the Xiangliu clan. These guys, who called themselves witch gods, erected statues of the Xiangliu clan in various underground passages, and gained power by worshipping the Xiangliu clan.