The morning sun painted the village in warm gold, but for some reason, every villager they passed looked strangely… tense.
Whispers followed them like guilty shadows.
"That white-haired goddess… she passed by…"
"Her beauty is too divine… My heart can't take it…"
"Aiya, don't say it too loudly! What if the goddess hears us!?"
Yue twitched.
Lin Xuan glanced at her. She was smiling the dangerous kind.
"You are… calm, right?" he asked slowly.
Her smile widened in a way that suggested homicide.
"Of course, Master. Perfectly calm," she said, voice sweet as poisoned honey. "After all, why would I be angry just because ignorant mortals keep calling me a goddess?"
Ah.
So she was very much not calm.
Lin Xuan and Yue continued walking, and unfortunately, fate decided to test her patience.
A merchant rounded a corner, pushing a cart of vegetables. The moment he saw Yue, his jaw dropped.
"O-Oh heavens above… the goddess has descended!"
Yue froze.
Lin Xuan froze.
Even the wind froze.
The merchant blinked. "Um… is the goddess perhaps–"
Yue was suddenly in front of him.
No wind. No footstep. No warning.
Only a sweet smile that could make demons weep.
"Call me goddess again," she whispered, "and I will bury you under your own cabbage patch. Do you understand?"
The poor merchant nearly ascended on the spot.
His soul visibly left his body.
His cabbage rolled away in slow-motion despair.
"I-I-I'm sorry!!" he cried, throwing himself onto his knees. "Forgive me, Miss-Miss-Miss–"
"Yue," she said cheerfully.
"Yes!! Miss Yue!! Not goddess!! Never goddess!!"
She stepped back with a satisfied nod and returned to Lin Xuan's side as if nothing had happened.
"Master," she said. "The villagers are so noisy today."
"They are noisy because you terrify them."
"That is an unfair accusation," Yue replied. "I am a gentle person."
A child ran by, tripped, and, upon seeing Yue, instantly reversed direction and sprinted away, screaming.
Yue blinked. "See? Children adore me."
"…Yes," Lin Xuan said diplomatically. "They adore you so much they flee for their lives."
Yue sniffed and looked away.
The two of them headed toward the village plaza, where more whispers awaited them.
"That white-haired lady… a goddess, surely—"
Yue's fingers twitched.
"Uh, an angel! I meant angel!!"
Yue's eye twitched harder.
"I mean, holy maiden! Holy maiden!!"
Yue inhaled.
"Master," she said. "May I make one request?"
"No," he said immediately.
"You haven't even heard it."
"You are about to ask for permission to threaten the entire village."
She pouted. "That's not true. I was going to ask for permission to discipline the entire village."
"I refuse."
"Master, they keep calling me a goddess. It's embarrassing!"
Embarrassing, yes. However.
"They call you a goddess because you're beautiful," Lin Xuan said casually.
Yue froze.
Then slowly, slowly turned red so red it looked like steam might rise from her ears.
"M-Master…" she whispered. "If you say such things so casually, I might… I might…"
"Might what?"
She clasped her hands together, trembling.
"…explode."
Before Lin Xuan could ask what that meant, an elderly villager approached them.
"Oh! The goddess and her husband—!"
Yue's aura exploded like a volcanic eruption.
But instead of destroying the old man, she suddenly froze mid-rage.
"H-Husband…?"
Her voice shrank to the size of a grain of rice.
Her entire face went crimson.
Her hands shook.
Her brain clearly blue-screened.
Then—
She went completely silent.
No threats.
No violence.
No explosions.
Just Yue, red as a boiled shrimp, staring at the ground.
He blinked. "Yue?"
No answer.
She merely covered her cheeks with both hands and quietly whispered
"…husband…"
Ah.
She would not recover anytime soon.
They continued walking, with Yue trailing behind him like a shy ghost. Even her footsteps were small and hesitant.
The villagers watched in disbelief.
"She's quiet…"
"Is she sick?"
"Did the goddess fall in love?"
"HEY! Don't say that! We'll all die!"
Lin Xuan pretended he didn't hear any of it.
...
By the time Yue regained her composure, they had already left the village and started approaching the nearest city.
And what a city it was.
Tall stone walls.
Banners fluttering in the wind.
Merchants shouting.
Nobles traveling in elegant carriages.
Rows of guards patrolling the massive gates.
Life. Noise. Wealth. Chaos.
I liked it already.
"This city is… lively," Lin Xuan said.
Yue nodded, though she kept her head lowered. She had wrapped herself in a thin veil of mist, subtle, elegant, drifting around her like a soft fog that blurred her features.
A concealment technique.
She must still be embarrassed.
"Yue," He said. "You don't need the fog."
"I-It's fine," she murmured. "I don't want anyone else staring at me today…"
Which meant she didn't want anyone else mistaking her for his wife.
They reached the gate. A group of armored guards moved to intercept them.
"Halt! State your purpose—"
The captain suddenly stopped talking.
His eyes went wide.
His legs shook.
He nervously reached for his sword.
"T-That aura…! You–You're not human, are you!?"
The other guards paled.
"Is it a demon?!"
"A demon trying to look human?!"
"Call Elder Yi!"
"RUN FOR YOUR—!!"
Lin Xuan sighed.
"I am not a demon."
The ground trembled slightly as his suppressed aura leaked for half a second.
Stone cracked under his feet.
Several guards fainted instantly.
Yue sighed. "Master… you're killing them."
"They accused me of being a demon."
"Yes, because you look like one to mortals."
"That is rude."
"No, Master. What's rude is that you're leaking enough aura to suffocate a mortal."
"Fine"
Lin Xuan cleared his throat and forcibly pulled his power back.
The guards gasped for air like drowning fish.
The captain slowly got up, trembling.
Before the captain could say anything else, Yue grabbed Lin Xuan by the sleeve and dragged him away.
"Master," she hissed through her misty veil, "please stop terrifying mortals. If you say one more word, someone will faint again or worse."
"I wasn't trying to cause trouble."
"That is exactly why you cause trouble."
Once they were out of earshot, she crossed her arms, her face hidden behind the foggy cover that still concealed her embarrassment.
"Master, before we enter the city, you must disguise yourself."
Lin Xuan blinked. "I already look human."
"Yes, but your aura doesn't."
Yue pointed at him like she was scolding a misbehaving child. "You must suppress your cultivation to the Qi Refinement 9th Realm. Nothing higher. If you enter the city with your true power, they won't just assume you're a demon, they'll evacuate the entire province."
He blinked. "Just lowering my aura isn't enough?"
Yue shook her head furiously.
"Of course not! Your true body alone is strong enough to destroy the world by accident. Even if you suppress your aura, the space around you still trembles! We need a disguise, a new vessel."
She said it with the seriousness of a doctor diagnosing an incurable disease.
Lin Xuan sighed. "Fine."
He snapped his fingers.
A new body formed out of thin air, shaped from divine essence and compressed into mortal form.
A tall, elegant figure, handsome, youthful, perfectly balanced.
The kind of mortal appearance that was attractive but wouldn't make people faint on sight.
The moment it stabilized, He stepped into it, possessing the vessel seamlessly.
Yue nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. This body is at Qi Refinement 9th Realm strong enough to be respectable, weak enough to avoid suspicion."
Then she hesitated.
"…And I'll remove my concealment technique too. If I hide my face, the guards will be suspicious."
Her cheeks reddened instantly.
With a quiet breath, she dispelled the fog around her face, revealing her gentle beauty, though she kept her eyes lowered in embarrassment.