My Shijie Seems Intent on Destroying the World – Chapter 16
by Little PandaQuestioning the Heart
“You’re Not Broke, Are You?”
The horse had traveled through the night. By the time they reached Qingxi Commandery, Qi Zhi was huddled in the carriage clutching her bundle, her neck aching from sleep.
She hadn’t rested well. When she climbed down from the carriage, she was still in a daze.
Turning back in confusion, the kindhearted driver asked if she planned to return. Seeing her rub her eyes and shake her head, he drove the empty carriage back to Qingshi Town.
Clutching her bundle, Qi Zhi walked blankly down the unfamiliar streets, letting the cold wind mixed with fine snow chill her to the bone.
Suddenly, she shivered. Coming back to her senses, she hurried her pace, glancing around until she found an inn to stay at.
It was too cold outside. She soaked her feet in hot water, and only then did her body gradually warm up.
Not having slept well on the road, Qi Zhi sleepily gnawed on a cold steamed bun to slightly fill her stomach, then burrowed into the blankets, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
When she next woke, it was the morning of the next day.
Qi Zhi had been thinking about the hot pot that the waiter mentioned would “keep you warm all day.” As soon as she finished washing up, she grabbed her little bundle and ran downstairs to ask the innkeeper about it.
“Hot pot…” The innkeeper thought for a moment, then told her, “If you want the best, you’ll have to find Lady Yue.”
“Lady Yue?”
“Head to North Street, walk straight along it until you see a small courtyard with firethorn1 planted inside. Find that courtyard, then turn into the alley just past it, and you’re there!”
“Oh, firethorn…” Qi Zhi memorized this carefully.
“Her lamb hot pot has the finest flavor. Pair it with a pot of her own-brewed fine yeast wine2, and you’ll be warm from head to toe.” The innkeeper spoke as if tempted himself, swallowing lightly. “In this freezing weather, so many people crave that one taste—they’d walk any distance just for a bowl…”
Qi Zhi’s mouth watered at the description. Braving the cold outside, she eagerly set off following the innkeeper’s directions.
This place was quite far from the inn. Qi Zhi felt like she’d walked for at least a shichen before she finally spotted a few branches of firethorn peeking over a courtyard wall in the distance.
Falling snow half-concealed those clusters of bright red—her favorite berries to pick for Ah Yun in wintertime.
Qi Zhi stood outside the wall, head tilted up for a while, then couldn’t resist rising on her tiptoes to pluck a cluster, eating as she walked.
She hadn’t even turned into the alley yet when a mouthwatering fragrance hit her.
The hot pot place that the innkeeper had mentioned was indeed called “Lady Yue’s Hot Pot.”
The shop door was closed. A large wooden signboard stood at the entrance, listing their signature dishes—not just hot pot, but also fine wine and good food.
Qi Zhi bent down to look for a while. Before she could even decide what to eat, the aromas drifting from inside had nearly made her forget how to read.
“It’s not even mealtime yet—how is there already a customer?” A seductive voice floated from deep inside. “Huaixu, go check!”
Soon, footsteps sounded from within, and the door was gently pulled open.
Qi Zhi came back to her senses and looked up at the girl who had opened the door for her.
Their eyes met for an instant, and a glimmer of delight appeared in Qi Zhi’s.
If she wasn’t mistaken, this girl named Huaixu was, like her, a demon.
In all her days since leaving the mountain, this was the first time she’d seen a member of the Demon Race in a human settlement.
Huaixu: “Here to eat?”
Qi Zhi: “Mm!”
Huaixu: “You’ll have to wait a bit. The soup hasn’t finished simmering, and the rice hasn’t started steaming yet.”
Qi Zhi nodded and followed Huaixu inside.
Perhaps to keep the warmth in, the door was closed again. A charcoal brazier burned inside—the charcoal was high quality, nearly smokeless, and the room was very warm.
Qi Zhi rubbed her hands together as she leaned over to warm them by the cozy charcoal fire.
Before long, that seductive voice rang out once more.
Qi Zhi instinctively followed the sound and saw an enchantingly beautiful woman gliding toward her.
“Guests who come this early are quite rare!”
The woman spoke as she wove past the tables and chairs, her steps so light they seemed to float. Smiling, she settled beside Qi Zhi and opened with: “And a little demon, no less.”
Qi Zhi blinked, suddenly at a loss.
“We’re both demons, no need to be nervous.” The woman propped her chin on one hand, looked Qi Zhi up and down, and said with curved brows, “My name is Yue Jinzhu. People around here call me Lady Yue. And you?”
“I’m Qi Zhi,” Qi Zhi answered softly. “I heard your hot pot is really good.”
“Of course it is!” Yue Jinzhu rose and gave Qi Zhi’s shoulder a gentle pat. “You wait here, I’ll go get it for you.”
Qi Zhi nodded and waited obediently where she sat.
Before long, Huaixu brought over a steaming lamb hot pot.
A small charcoal brazier burned beneath the pot. The table was covered with plates of thinly sliced meats and vegetables. Lady Yue told Qi Zhi that the meat in the pot was already cooked, and the items on the table just needed to be swished in the broth for a moment before they could be eaten.
As she spoke, Lady Yue ladled her a bowl of soup, saying that the very first bowl—before any ingredients had been cooked in it—was the most flavorful.
Qi Zhi had never seen this style of eating before. It was so novel to her that once she picked up her bowl and chopsticks, she never set them down again.
Perhaps because she’d come so early, there were few other customers. Lady Yue sat beside her the whole time, helping her add ingredients to the pot, pouring her wine, and even telling her that soaking rice in soup made it taste even better.
As they ate, Yue Jinzhu began asking her a few things.
“Where are you from, little demon?”
“Just, just from the mountain.” Qi Zhi ate earnestly and answered vaguely. “A wild grass.”
“From the way you’re dressed, you look like a little disciple from some immortal sect.”
“No, no…” Qi Zhi didn’t even dare to look up, just burying herself in the food in her bowl. “My aptitude is poor. No immortal sect would want me.”
“In those big and small immortal sects, there are plenty of people with mediocre aptitude. For those of us demons who’ve already taken human form, no matter how poor our talent, how bad could it really be?”
Qi Zhi swallowed a mouthful of tender, slow-cooked lamb, let out a little burp, and looked up at Yue Jinzhu with a self-deprecating smile. “Bad enough to be like me. My spiritual root is damaged—I can’t store spiritual power.”
Yue Jinzhu: “Then how did you take human form?”
Qi Zhi: “I don’t know.”
Yue Jinzhu poured her a cup of wine thoughtfully and offered it. “So, you’re on your own?”
Qi Zhi took the cup and nodded.
“Truly not from any immortal sect?”
“I’m not!” Qi Zhi said, downing the wine in one go.
Finally, gazing at the barely remaining meat and vegetables in the hot pot, she let out a long, satisfied breath.
This was entirely too delicious!
No one had ever told her that people outside the mountain ate this well!
“Thank you, Lady Yue!” Qi Zhi patted her round, stuffed belly, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Yue Jinzhu. “Can I come eat here again tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Mm!”
Yue Jinzhu smiled with curved brows. “Of course. But first, you need to pay for today.”
Qi Zhi tilted her head, a hint of confusion in her eyes.
“That’s right.” Yue Jinzhu turned to glance at Huaixu. “Come, let’s settle the bill.”
Huaixu picked up an abacus and began clicking through calculations. Qi Zhi instinctively sat up straighter.
What money, what bill—Qi Zhi didn’t understand.
But this abacus, she recognized all too well.
In the past, every time she went to receive her daily provisions, she’d have to stand there listening to the clatter of the abacus for ages, calculating how much her meager contributions entitled her to.
Looking at it this way, things outside the mountain weren’t all free for the taking…
Qi Zhi listened as Huaixu calculated for a long time and stated a price she couldn’t comprehend. Her heart sank, and she didn’t dare make a sound.
Yue Jinzhu: “You’re not broke, are you?”
Qi Zhi: “…”
Yue Jinzhu: “There’s no such thing as a free meal in this world.”
Qi Zhi shrank her neck and quickly took the bundle off her shoulder, setting it on her lap and rummaging through it.
Yue Jinzhu sat to the side with crossed arms, watching her with an amused, half-smiling expression.
Qi Zhi pressed her lips together. Blankly, guiltily, uncertainly, and not looking very bright, she placed her unfinished cold steamed bun onto the table.
Then, without much hope yet still carefully testing the waters, she slowly pushed it toward Yue Jinzhu—attempting to bluff her way through.
Lady Yue raised an eyebrow, lifted the paper bag open with two fingers, took a glance, and couldn’t help but laugh.
Qi Zhi instantly buried her head low.
“A steamed bun?” Yue Jinzhu tilted her head, the smile in her eyes deepening. “Are you teasing me, little grass?”
Qi Zhi didn’t dare say a word.
Yue Jinzhu: “Surely you must have something of value on you?”
Qi Zhi: “…This is all I have.”
Yue Jinzhu: “I don’t believe that.”
She spoke softly as she reached for Qi Zhi’s bundle and began rummaging through it casually.
If Qi Zhi had dared to look up right then, she would have noticed that Yue Jinzhu’s expression was full of playful teasing—clearly, she didn’t really care about the cost of one meal.
But suddenly, her expression shifted slightly, and something strange appeared in her eyes.
After a moment’s thought, Yue Jinzhu curved her lips in a light smile and pulled out the white jade hairpin that had been carefully tucked among the soft clothing.
Yue Jinzhu: “I’d say this one is quite nice.”
Hearing this, Qi Zhi timidly raised her eyes.
The moment she saw what was in Yue Jinzhu’s hands, her heart clenched. She instinctively reached out to snatch it back, only to grasp at empty air.
Yue Jinzhu moved too fast—before Qi Zhi could even register the movement, she had already circled behind her.
“I can work for you! I’m very hardworking, I can do anything!” Qi Zhi turned around, her voice urgent. “Lady Yue, I beg you… I can’t give you this!”
“Oh?” Yue Jinzhu stepped back several paces, putting distance between them, and looked at Qi Zhi with amused interest. “You care so much about this hairpin. Was it a gift from some handsome young lord?”
“It wasn’t…”
“Then you must have stolen it.” Yue Jinzhu continued teasing. “Hiding it so deep because you’re afraid someone will find out.”
“I—I didn’t steal it!”
Qi Zhi hurried to explain, so anxious that her eyes reddened.
Seeing her look as though she might cry, Yue Jinzhu stopped teasing. In one fluid motion, she circled behind Qi Zhi and, while she wasn’t paying attention, slipped the jade hairpin into her hair.
Then she drifted back to the side, leaned against the table, and smiled faintly as she looked at the hairpin now in Qi Zhi’s hair.
Qi Zhi froze for a moment. Belatedly, she reached up to touch the jade hairpin in her hair. Realizing that Yue Jinzhu had truly returned it to her, she let out a breath of relief.
“Lady Yue, tha—”
Before Qi Zhi could even finish her words, her vision went black, and she slumped limp across the table.
Huaixu walked over, hands resting on her knees as she bent down, carefully examining the unconscious little demon before her.
Low cultivation—she looked quite ordinary.
Huaixu: “I thought you didn’t eat demons?”
Yue Jinzhu stepped forward slowly, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath near Qi Zhi. The corner of her lip curved upward. “I couldn’t resist. Her spiritual root… it smells different.”
Huaixu: “How is it different?”
Yue Jinzhu opened her eyes and gently stroked Huaixu’s nose bridge. With curved eyes and brows, she teased softly, “Matters of scent can’t be explained to someone whose nose exists purely for aesthetics.”
Huaixu fell silent. After a long while, she said flatly, “Your expression just now was off.”
Yue Jinzhu: “Look at that hairpin.”
Huaixu: “There’s no spiritual energy on the hairpin. Isn’t it just an ordinary piece of jewelry?”
“Far from ordinary.” Yue Jinzhu looked up at Huaixu, her smile turning knowing. “This is a Heart-Inquiring Hairpin.”
“Heart-Inquiring Hairpin?”
“Mm~!” Yue Jinzhu explained with a smile, “The Heart-Inquiring Hairpin must be forged using our Fox Clan’s secret arts. The process is extremely troublesome and requires sacrificing a portion of one’s cultivation. While it can’t be called rare in this world, it’s not something just anyone can obtain, either.”
“Is it some powerful magical implement?”
Yue Jinzhu shook her head and smiled faintly. “It is nothing more than an answer.”
“An answer?”
“We foxes, you see—we use Charm Arts so much that we can never quite distinguish the true from the false in people’s hearts.” Yue Jinzhu spoke softly, gazing at the pure white flower bud nestled in Qi Zhi’s hair. “And so, the world has the Heart-Inquiring Hairpin.”
She said that within the hairpin resides a spiritual gu that acknowledges only one master in its lifetime.
When the hairpin’s flower is closed, no technique or spell can force it open. Only when the person wearing it truly loves the blood-bonded master might the hairpin’s flower bloom.
“…You foxes really are no fun.”
“No fun?” Yue Jinzhu slowly shook her head. “No, this is far from no fun.”
Unfulfilled expectations—are what make people cling most stubbornly to their delusions.
Just thinking about someone using their whole devoted heart, only to receive such a bone-chilling truth—she already found it endlessly fascinating.
So fascinating that she even wanted to meet the one who had given this hairpin.
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Ah Yun: Qingshi, don’t listen—it’s a bad review hhhhhhh
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