As expected, after that day, peace returned to the garden. Duan Fei never brought another woman back. This only confirmed what Hong Ning suspected: Duan Fei was indeed tainted with demonic energy. It wouldn’t be long before something happened.
She was anxious, of course—but every time she asked, Duan Fei would brush her off with vague words and kept a polite distance. The garden was vast, and the demon had concealed its aura well. Detecting it was difficult. In the end, Hong Ning secretly placed talismans around. Several months passed without incident.
Flowers drifted on the water, leaves scattered in the west wind—before long, it was autumn.
The sound of the zither was like a whisper—intimate, as though murmuring heartfelt feelings to a lover. It banished all loneliness.
Hong Ning paused outside the door, momentarily stunned by the music, before striding in. “Did you tamper with my talismans?”
Duan Fei sat before the zither, head lowered, fingers gliding across the strings. He didn’t look at her. “Do you even understand it?”
Hong Ning didn’t answer. “Did you move my talismans?”
Duan Fei continued as if to himself: “Someone does.”
No wonder she hadn’t sensed a trace of the demon for so long. It was him—he had been protecting it all along.
Hong Ning’s heart sank. She pressed, “Who?”
The music stopped abruptly. Duan Fei lifted his face and smiled faintly. “Just as you said—I’ve found her.”
Hong Ning’s eyes widened. “You… don’t tell me…”
Duan Fei smiled without answering.
Hong Ning immediately took his hand to check his pulse. Everything was normal. Only then did she believe him. So he had touched her talismans. He must’ve been in contact with the demon for a while—and it seemed the demon had no intention of harming him.
Duan Fei glanced at her hand, his tone laced with familiar teasing. “You’re always grabbing onto me like this. If she sees, she’ll be jealous.”
Women are strange. When something is truly theirs, they take it for granted. But once it’s given to someone else, they suddenly mind.
Hong Ning let go and gave a self-mocking smile. “You’ve really fallen for her. You truly believe she won’t hurt you.”
Duan Fei said, “Upset? All that worrying for nothing.”
Hong Ning replied, “Humans and demons walk different paths. You two…” She hesitated for a long while before forcing herself to finish, “You can’t be together.”
Duan Fei asked, “Afraid we’ll incur Heaven’s wrath?”
Hong Ning nodded. “Aren’t you?”
Duan Fei rose and put the zither away. “I’m already tired of living. Now that I’ve found her, what else is there to fear?”
Hong Ning couldn’t help but warn him, “But if this continues, she’ll be dragged down by you. She won’t become immortal, won’t remain human. She might even be destroyed entirely. She’s a demon—she should understand the consequences…”
Duan Fei cut her off. “If Heaven strikes, I’ll bear it all. I won’t let her suffer.”
Seeing she couldn’t dissuade him, Hong Ning said nothing more.
There has never been a happy ending between human and demon. Just like Hu Yue and Lord Qi—he shielded her from divine punishment, yet in the end, she still failed to overcome her trial. Years of cultivation traded for a fleeting romance in the mortal world.
And then, there was that man… the one who had protected her across three lifetimes.
Now that everything had become clear—that the demon girl bore no harmful intent—Hong Ning naturally saw no need to pursue the matter further. Yet she didn’t leave right away. Perhaps it was because of a faint hope rising in her heart: a strange desire to see with her own eyes how this romance between a human and a demon would ultimately end. She even wanted to ask someone who might understand—but it had been nearly a year, and Jin Xiu had yet to reappear.
Lately, Duan Fei often sat in the Pavilion of Listening Bamboo, playing the zither. The loneliness in his music had returned. But Hong Ning paid it no mind. What couple in love didn’t have their share of ups and downs? It was rare enough that he was willing to give his heart. If a little demon had managed to capture it, then she was surely not ordinary.
After the New Year, the weather grew warm again. In her free time, the maid Xiaoyun would take her on walks.
“Has construction on Moon-Plucking Terrace not begun yet?”
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