Today, The Villain Couple is Settling Scores Again

Midway through their journey, Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi parted ways with the Baili family.

Ran Mu'er's True Bodhi Pagoda had been stolen, and fearing their tracks would be exposed, the Baili family decided to settle in a smaller town for a while to lay low.

The two of them mounted the spirit horses they had 'borrowed' from Ran Mu'er and hurried back to Approaching Immortal City.

A night passed.

The morning sun, brimming with vitality, filtered through the loquat tree in front of the house, casting dappled light on the young man and woman beneath it.

The light was a bit too bright, so Jian Huan raised a hand to shield her forehead as she watched Shen Jizhi tying the horse's reins.

Suddenly, the closed door creaked open, and she looked up.

Medicine Granny, her face lined with wrinkles, appeared behind the door. She wasn't surprised to see the two of them and simply said, "Come in. I'll take you to see her."

Both Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi had been to Medicine Granny's place before. The second floor was reserved for patients who couldn't get out of bed, while Medicine Granny herself lived on the first floor.

The room was right under the stairs.

It wasn't large—just a bed, a medicine cabinet filled with various herbs, and several stacks of books piled in the corner.

The pages of the books were yellowed, mostly medical texts.

Medicine Granny, hunched over, walked to the bed and bent down to touch something underneath. A flash of spiritual energy later, the medicine cabinet split in two, revealing a shimmering, rippling light on the wall, resembling the entrance to a secret realm.

Inside was a fully furnished cave.

Ran Mu'er lay on a stone bed, her face pale, with a faint black aura emanating from her body.

Shen Jizhi stopped three steps away, scrutinizing her for a moment before frowning. "Has she fallen into demonic cultivation?"

Medicine Granny stood nearby, her lips tightening slightly. "No."

Shen Jizhi: "?"

Generally, when demonic energy manifests, it's like a terminal illness, gradually turning the person into a bloodthirsty demon.

On either side of the stone bed, the cave floor had been dug into small plots of land, where freshly planted spirit herbs had already sprouted.

"You've come from Luo'an City, so you must know about Elder Yu," Medicine Granny said as she walked over and crouched by the plots, inspecting them. "Mu'er's condition is exactly the same as Elder Yu's and the others. The demonic energy has manifested, so she is undoubtedly a demon, but they didn't become demons because they developed inner demons and cultivated demonic techniques."

"Everyone knows that as long as a person's heart is pure, even in a place thick with demonic energy, they won't become a demon. The Demon Heart Worm only turns people into puppets, not demons," Medicine Granny said, tenderly stroaking the fresh, tender sprouts. Her face twisted into a mocking smile. "Becoming a demon is always a problem of the Dao heart—it's self-inflicted, a sin that can't be forgiven..."

Her aged, hoarse voice echoed through the cave, lingering in the air.

As she listened, Jian Huan walked around to the other side of the bed and crouched down by the stone bed, keeping a wary eye on Ran Mu'er in case she suddenly 'revived.' She lifted a corner of the blanket and peeked underneath.

Ran Mu'er's shirt had been cut from her chest to her waist, now wrapped in white bandages stained with blood.

Black blood.

Medicine ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‍Granny plucked a leaf that had been eaten by insects. "I don't know about the others, but I'm certain Elder Yu wasn't, Mu'er isn't, and neither were Mu'er's parents..."

Jian Huan lowered the blanket and walked back to Shen Jizhi's side.

He glanced at her and, without her needing to speak, obediently leaned down.

Jian Huan blinked and whispered a few words into his ear, telling him what she had seen.

Shen Jizhi nodded and straightened up.

Jian Huan turned to Medicine Granny and said, "Auntie said they were all framed."

Medicine Granny crushed the insect-eaten leaf in her withered, bark-like hand, her gaze distant.

"Yes, they were all pitiful souls..." She was old now, her eyes cloudy, surrounded by age spots, but as she reminisced, a glimmer of light shone in her eyes. "On South Dust Immortal Island, there's a group of old folks who have been researching spirit pills to save those who have developed inner demons. You know about that, don't you?"

Shen Jizhi: "Yes."

Jian Huan nodded like a chick pecking at rice. "Su Tian's master is one of them."

"Right," Medicine Granny said. "Su Tian's master is my junior brother."

Shen Jizhi's eyelashes flickered slightly, a hint of surprise in his expression.

Medicine Granny's medical skills were extraordinary, and Shen Jizhi had long suspected she was no ordinary person, but he didn't care.

After all, Medicine Granny charged the lowest fees, and she was effective. Who she was didn't matter to him.

Jian Huan was astonished. "Granny, you were once a elder of South Dust Immortal Island?"

Mentioning South Dust Immortal Island brought a nostalgic smile to Medicine Granny's face. "Yes."

Jian Huan excitedly tugged at Shen Jizhi's sleeve, shaking his arm. "We've hit the jackpot!" She paused, then added, "Especially you, Shen Jizhi!"

Over the years, Shen Jizhi had been seeing Medicine Granny for treatment. Getting treated by a elder-level figure from South Dust Immortal Island for so little spirit stones—it was practically a steal!

Thinking back, Jian Huan sighed regretfully. "It's a shame I haven't been injured much. I only had Medicine Granny treat me once."

Shen Jizhi: "..."

Medicine Granny: "..."

The somber mood was lightened by the girl's antics. Medicine Granny shook her head, chuckling. "Treating you two over the years has really cost me a lot!"

They were like bad omens, especially Shen Jizhi.

Shen Jizhi didn't respond.

Jian Huan asked curiously, "Granny, how did you end up in Approaching Immortal City?"

"Someone wanted to harm me, spreading rumors that I had an affair with Elder Yu and was making excuses for demons. I sensed something was wrong and fled in time," Medicine Granny said, recounting the life-threatening ordeal that had damaged her cultivation as if it were just another day. "If I hadn't run, I would have ended up like Elder Yu."

Medicine Granny looked at Ran Mu'er on the bed. "Back then, I was ordered by my master to investigate Elder Yu's condition along with those old folks. From a medical perspective, he did show signs of demonic possession—his consciousness was unclear, and he grew more bloodthirsty and insane by the day. But something felt off to me, and I argued with my fellow disciples."

Jian Huan interjected, "Granny, are you saying the elders had something to do with it?"

"No, not them. They're just stubborn, inflexible, but their hearts aren't evil. My arguments with them were normal debates," Medicine Granny said, her gaze deepening. "It's the person behind it all. The one who targeted Elder Yu."

Shen Jizhi: "The person behind it?"

"Yes, there's a force operating in the shadows across the Nine Provinces Continent, connected to demons. They have a method to corrupt those with a stable Dao heart, turning them into demons, and they've harmed many innocent people. They didn't want me to speak out, so they tried to kill me, to silence me," Medicine Granny said with a cold laugh, standing up and walking toward the stone bed. "But after all these years, we still haven't discovered who this shadowy figure is. Instead, we've been scattered like stray dogs, hiding in corners of the Nine Provinces, barely surviving!"

Jian Huan's gaze followed Medicine Granny as she walked.

Her brow furrowed, sensing the complexity of the situation.

What Medicine Granny was describing hadn't been mentioned at all in the original story.

In the original story, the greatest villain was Shen Jizhi, who later fell into demonic cultivation. There was no mention of Elder Yu or Medicine Granny's past.

But judging by the timeline, these events happened before Shen Jizhi was even born.

Yet in the original story, it was as if none of this had ever occurred.

"The person who stole the Bodhi Pagoda from Mu'er might be the key to unraveling this mystery," Medicine Granny said as she sat down by the stone bed, gently brushing away the strands of hair from Ran Mu'er's forehead. She turned to the two of them and sighed softly, a hint of pleading in her voice. "Sell me a Earth Fruit."

"After years of research, the Earth Fruit might be the only way to remove the demonic energy from Mu'er's body and wake her up," Medicine Granny said, knowing their personalities well, and added, "Two hundred thousand spirit stones for one."

Jian Huan was stunned.

Two hundred thousand?

A Earth Fruit usually sold for around a hundred thousand spirit stones.

This was double the price!

Wait.

...Earth Fruit?

Earth Fruit?!

How did Medicine Granny know they had Earth Fruits?

The Earth Fruit Spirit had only borne two Earth Fruits, and the third one would probably ripen in another month or so.

Her Earth Fruit was stored in her spatial pouch, unsold.

Shen Jizhi's Earth Fruit must have been used—either when he advanced to the Golden Core stage or sold to pay off his debts. So...

Jian Huan turned to Shen Jizhi, about to accuse him of revealing their secret to Medicine Granny, but when she saw the same look of surprise on his face, she paused.

Shen Jizhi straightened up, his eyes locked on Medicine Granny as he asked coldly, "How did you know?"

Jian Huan clenched her fists at her sides, suddenly realizing something. A sword technique was already half-formed in her mind. She spoke softly, her gaze sharp and unfriendly, "Medicine Granny, was it… you who knocked us out back then?"

The one who had been hiding behind her and Shen Jizhi, who had ambushed them after they emerged from Qi Wan's formation, knocked them out, and stolen that tree—the sneaky thief!

Even after three years, the thought still made her furious!

Facing two pairs of wolf-like eyes that seemed ready to devour her, Medicine Granny quickly replied, "It wasn't me."

She glanced at Ran Mu'er and said, "It was Mu'er's brother."

Shen Jizhi's face turned icy. "Who?"

Jian Huan gritted her teeth. "If you don't explain clearly, I'll never sell it, even if I die."

Medicine Granny sighed. She hadn't planned to hide it anyway. "You know him. It's…"

"Yin Yusheng."

Yin Yusheng?

Yin Yusheng?!

Damn it.

Holy hell.

Damn, damn, damn!

Jian Huan hid the pouch containing two hundred thousand spirit stones, her heart filled with turmoil. She and Shen Jizhi left Medicine Granny's residence and hurried toward the Jade Clarity Sect.

Now that Yin Yusheng had taken the fake Bodhi Pagoda to the Demon Abyss, his fate was uncertain.

But they still weren't sure if the Earth Fruit Spirit they had raised at home had been stolen!

Inside the carriage, the pale moonlight-colored curtains were half-torn, and the strong wind rushed into the compartment, tousling Shen Jizhi's black hair.

He said coldly, "You didn't draw a new talisman for it?"

"No," Jian Huan replied, sitting on the opposite side of the carriage with her arms crossed and one leg over the other. She shot him a glance. "Are you questioning me now?"

Back then, Qi Wan had drawn a talisman on the Earth Fruit Spirit, binding it to Jian Huan.

That was why the Earth Fruit Spirit had obediently followed them back to the Jade Clarity Sect.

But when Jian Huan underwent her Golden Core lightning tribulation, the talisman had been destroyed.

After returning from Yujiang City, she had spent a long time researching and had finally figured out how to draw the talisman again. However, when she emerged from seclusion, she found that the Earth Fruit Spirit was still there, hadn't left, and was living quite comfortably. It even greeted her when she appeared.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

So, Jian Huan hadn't drawn a new binding talisman for the Earth Fruit Spirit.

Besides, they had agreed beforehand that the Earth Fruit Spirit would only stay with them until the binding talisman was removed.

But even after the talisman was gone, it hadn't left. She felt it would be rude to draw a new one.

Shen Jizhi paused, rubbing his brow. "No," he said, his voice icy. "I just want to kill Yin Yusheng."

That was why his tone was like that.

He had no objections to her actions.

Jian Huan snorted lightly.

After a moment, she couldn't help but curse, "To hell with Yin Yusheng!"

At the small hill of the Jade Clarity Sect, the 'First-Grade Spirit Tree' was lush and thriving. From a distance, it seemed to embrace the three exquisitely crafted houses within its branches.

Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi tied their spirit horses in the front yard and hurried forward.

Hearing the commotion, a small green matchstick figure quietly peeked out from the soil, took a look, and then hopped out. It wrapped its tiny hands around a branch and swung among the leaves, chirping, "Humans, you're back?"

The two of them stopped in their tracks, simultaneously letting out a sigh of relief.

The little fruit spirit, however, let out an old-fashioned sigh and complained, "I just took a nap, and you're already back?"

"…"

Jian Huan chuckled dryly. "You better remember whose home this is!"

It was her and Shen Jizhi's land, their newly built house that they had pooled their money for. And she had only slept in it for one night!

Shen Jizhi looked up at the little fruit spirit perched above, his brow lifting slightly. "The third Earth Fruit…"

The little fruit spirit jumped nimbly, landing on a branch. It covered its tiny ears with its slender hands, exasperated. "Ahhh, stop nagging! I knew you'd start as soon as you got back! It's growing, it's growing! It'll ripen in another month! You humans are so annoying!"

Shen Jizhi's expression remained calm. "…Alright then."

Hearing this, Jian Huan glanced at him, patted her robe, and smugly said, "I knew you were jealous. You're envious of me."

Shen Jizhi's gaze followed her movement, his eyelashes fluttering slightly before he silently looked away.

After a moment, he gave a faint smile and walked off. "Not at all."

What was there to be jealous of?