Tang Huo'er suddenly turned cold

“...Excuse me.”

After a long while, she squeezed out three words from her throat, her voice so low it was almost inaudible.

Then she suddenly stood up, not even glancing at Shen Wen again, and quickly turned to walk towards a cabin at the other end of the flying boat, her steps somewhat hurried.

Her retreating figure revealed a forced stubbornness and an undisguised embarrassment.

Shen Wen watched her leave almost as if fleeing, without a word of retention or comfort.

Some things are better made clear than dragged on ambiguously.

He closed his eyes again, his mind sinking into the deduction of the possibilities of combining the Heavenly Flame Three Mysterious Transformations with the power of the ancestral talisman, casting aside the small interlude just now.

For the rest of the journey, Tang Huo'er indeed never appeared before Shen Wen again.

The flying boat traversed the clouds, transferring through several large spatial wormholes. In just a few days, it arrived at the special spatial teleportation plaza outside Holy Pill City.

The flying boat stabilized, and the array light gradually faded.

As soon as Shen Wen stepped out of the cabin, he saw Tang Huo'er already standing by the gangway. She had changed back into the red and black short skirt she wore when they first met. Her posture was still upright, but her face lacked its previous radiance and boldness.

Seeing Shen Wen emerge, she quickly lowered her gaze, staring at the ground, and said in a low voice, “Grandmaster Shen... I have arrived in Pill City. I will proceed to the valley’s outpost to settle in. Farewell.”

Her tone was polite, distant, and carried a deliberate boundary.

After speaking, without waiting for Shen Wen's response, she hurried into the bustling crowd in the plaza. The bright splash of red quickly disappeared into the complex background, without a single glance back.

Shen Wen watched her depart, his face unperturbed, then turned and headed towards his residence within the inner city of the Pill Tower.

Returning to his residence, he walked through the familiar courtyard corridors. It was quiet. Today seemed particularly peaceful.

In the small flower hall next to the main hall, he saw Cai Lin.

She was half-reclining on a soft couch, holding a new brief from the Northwest Snake-People Clan. Her slightly bulging lower abdomen was clearly outlined beneath her light dress.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up, a gentle ripple spreading in her purple eyes.

“You’re back.” She put down the brief, her tone habitually cool, yet tinged with warmth.

“Mm.” Shen Wen walked over and sat beside her, naturally reaching out to gently caress her abdomen. “Why is the residence so quiet? Where are Xiao Yi Xian and Zi Yan?”

Cai Lin leaned against his shoulder, replying, “Sister Xiao Yi Xian had a slight realization a few days ago, saying she had new ideas for Cultivating the Calamity Poison Body. She went into seclusion in the underground fire quiet room you usually use and asked not to be disturbed.

As for that girl Zi Yan,” she shook her head almost imperceptibly, “she found the city boring. The day before yesterday, she pestered Xiong Tao, saying she wanted to go ‘explore’ the Snake-People Mountain Range. Xiong Tao asked for Sister Cao Ying’s permission and took her. They said they’d be back after a few days of fun.”

“Qing Lin also went along, saying she’s about to Break through to Dou Huang and wants to see if she can find some more Dou Huang-level snake-type Demonic Beasts.”

Shen Wen nodded after listening.

It was good that Xiao Yi Xian was diligent in her Cultivation. Zi Yan was lively and active, and going to the Snake-People Clan's territory was fine. With Xiong Tao accompanying them, Qing Lin and Zi Yan’s safety was assured.

“How was the trip to Burning Flame Valley?” Cai Lin asked, putting down the brief in her hand.

Shen Wen returned to his residence and recounted the general situation of his trip to Burning Flame Valley to Cai Lin.

His tone was calm, as if narrating an ordinary event, briefly detailing everything from refining the eighth-grade fire bodhisattva pill, to Tang Huo'er's perilous Fusion of the Heavenly Flame, and even the final rampage of the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame and his intervention to suppress it.

He only omitted Valley Master Tang Zhen's subtle hints and Tang Huo'er's unspoken thoughts.

Cai Lin listened quietly, her purple eyes serene, until Shen Wen finished speaking. Only then did she gently raise her delicate willow brows, catching a detail that seemed to have been glossed over: “That Tang Huo'er... she also came to the Pill Tower with you?”

Shen Wen pulled her closer, his chin lightly rubbing against the top of her head, saying indifferently, “Yes, she said she's responsible for Burning Flame Valley's business dealings in Holy Pill City and gaining experience along the way. It’s just a small interlude.”

“A small interlude?” Cai Lin looked up, her clear gaze meeting his, and shook her head, her tone carrying the understanding of someone who had been there before. “For a woman, at her most desperate moment, believing her past nightmare was replaying.

Someone descends like a Heavenly God, dispelling all storms with a wave of a hand, protecting her future... This is more than just a ‘small interlude’.”

Because she knew very well that Shen Wen had saved her in the same way, taking on her greatest burden.

Hero saving the beauty, though cliché.

But effective.

Shen Wen chuckled, “I intervened at the time because the rampage of the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame was related to my Fallen Heart Flame. Strictly speaking, I was the one who caused the trouble.”

He paused, then added, “Besides, she knows I’m already married, so I imagine her thoughts should have settled.”

After all, Tang Huo'er didn't seem that persistent.

“Settled?” Cai Lin glanced at him, her look a mix of reproach and sigh, and lightly poked his chest.

“Back in the Tagor Desert, didn’t you, this fellow, know I was a Queen of my clan, with a cold and tough Heart-Nature, yet you still... provoked me?

And later with Sister Xiao Yi Xian, wasn’t it the same?

What, now that you’ve returned to the Pill Tower, guarding me and Sister Ying, you suddenly seem to have settled your Heart-Nature and started talking about propriety?”

She withdrew her finger and instead caressed her slightly bulging lower abdomen, her tone lingering, with an unidentifiable mix of teasing and pride: “Just wait and see.

Once she gets over her initial awkwardness and finds out you have more than one wife, she might even find it easier to accept. After all...”

Cai Lin looked up, her fingertip gently touching Shen Wen’s brow. Her gaze, as it shifted, held her certainty and approval: “Among her peers, in terms of talent, strength, Heart-Nature, and future prospects, who can compare to my husband?

If she truly fell in love, this ‘obstacle’ probably wouldn’t count for much.”

Let alone among her peers, even going back decades or centuries, there might not have been anyone as outstanding as Shen Wen.

Shen Wen was somewhat amused by her words, yet he knew what she said was true.

He caught Cai Lin’s hand, which was touching his brow, and kissed it, shamelessly accepting the “praise.”

Then he changed the subject: “Right, that Heavenly Flame Three Mysterious Transformations has some profound aspects. It’s not quite like the explosive secret techniques I imagined before; it seems to touch upon a deeper activation of power.

I need to go to the Quiet Room to study it.”

Cai Lin knew his thoughts had turned to Cultivation, so she said no more, only nodding slightly: “Mm, go. Don’t overexert yourself.”

Shen Wen kissed her forehead again, then got up and left.

Cai Lin watched her husband's departing figure and shook her head, having long anticipated that Shen Wen would attract romantic entanglements on his trip.

After all, she knew just how much charm a man like Shen Wen held for a woman.