Adam Harris’s gaze swept darkly over the long procession fading into the distance. He thought, not only can you not understand her, but even he, who has known her for a thousand years and dealt with her several times, has never once guessed her intentions.

For example, this time, he hadn’t expected her to suddenly speak up and save a demon ghost.

Or, for instance, her current attitude toward Brian Clark. Would she later order Yorktown to intercept and kill him, or would she, out of old feelings, simply let things be?

He couldn’t figure out any of it.

===

Eric Bennett hadn’t expected to survive the judgment platform.

The person who came to fetch him wore an iron mask with a blue face and fierce fangs, his clothes covered in crimson arcane patterns. Every aspect of his conduct exuded the arrogance inherited by the various clans of the Holy Land. He looked at him as if at a dying, struggling ant, his gaze indifferent and cold, brimming with barely concealed disgust.

The Xihe steward in charge of guarding him roughly tore off the shackles from his hands and feet. Many of his wounds from punishment split open again, oozing fresh blood, and in the worst places, flesh was turned inside out.

Eric Bennett’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest.

He had seen and endured such looks and treatment many times before, and had long since developed a heart that didn’t care.

A demon ghost—being alive was already a stroke of luck.

Did he still want to be treated as a person?

Daydreaming.

The steward dutifully informed the newcomer, “This one was born rebellious, his vicious nature remains. Please tell the lady not to trust him easily, and to be on guard.”

“No matter,” the person from Yorktown glanced at him and said, “A demon ghost who’s lost his cultivation—what could the lady possibly have him do? Even being exiled to die in the wilderness is already a stroke of fortune for him.”

The steward was reassured and said, “I have other matters to attend to. You take this demon ghost back first.”

Peter Evans reached out with a large hand, about to grab Eric Bennett by the collar and take to the skies, when he saw someone hurrying over from afar. Looking closely, it was Mark Cooper, who worked at Grace Turner’s side.

“Uncle Peter Evans, please wait.” Mark Cooper approached, carefully looked Eric Bennett over, and said, “The lady has given orders—bring him to see her.”

Peter Evans instinctively frowned, but Mark Cooper cut him off before he could speak: “If we delay any longer, the lady will be kept waiting.”

With others, Peter Evans could rely on his status as a native of the Holy Land to look down on them, but Mark Cooper was his equal in status, with a sister highly valued in the clan and currently in the limelight, and he himself worked at the lady’s side. Calling him “uncle” was already polite; Peter Evans couldn’t use this as leverage.

Peter Evans released Eric Bennett’s collar and repeated what the steward had just said. Mark Cooper nodded and smiled politely, “Uncle Peter Evans, don’t worry, the lady has her own considerations.”

With that, he led the group into the air, swiftly heading toward the exit of the Holy Land. In just a moment, the enormous gate that seemed to prop up the sky was already close at hand.

After narrowly escaping death at the judgment platform, someone had “washed” Eric Bennett. To call it washing was generous—it was just a bucket of cold water dumped over his head, with no regard for the fact that he was now just a mortal of flesh and blood. After a rough rinse, he was made to change out of his prison clothes into a coarse, dark blue hemp garment, with not even a hairpin left to him. Yet even so—

Mark Cooper still glanced at him more than once.

At first, he hadn’t understood why his lady had chosen him at the last moment, but thinking it over now, perhaps the lady had taken a liking to his face.

In this world, what young girl doesn’t like a handsome young man?

No matter how calm and steady the lady usually was, at heart she was still a girl in her prime.

While thinking this without showing it, Mark Cooper turned to the silent, wooden Eric Bennett and said, “You heard what they said just now—the one who saved you was my lady, Princess Yorktown.”

Beneath his black hair, Eric Bennett’s clear, dark pupils were full of mockery. Those sitting on the judgment platform all put on airs, never having experienced anything themselves, relying on their good fortune at birth, and with a few words, deciding life and death.

How could they ever regard a demon ghost’s life as a life?

Mark Cooper didn’t know what he was thinking and continued, “Our lady has a good temperament and a kind heart. As long as you truly repent and don’t cause trouble again, there will be a place for you in Yorktown.”

Before joining Yun San Sect, Eric Bennett had made a small name for himself in the mortal world through hardship and struggle. When he was doing well, a few lively little demons would gather around him, and when bored, he liked to talk about famous people and events from various places.

The heirs of the Holy Land were all stars in the sky, famous everywhere. Even though he wasn’t interested, over the years he’d heard plenty.

Princess Grace Turner of Yorktown was the one they talked about the least.

This lady was cold-faced and taciturn, didn’t care for pomp when out and about, and never appeared unless absolutely necessary—there really wasn’t much to say about her.

On the judgment platform, even the North Wasteland, known for its compassion, hadn’t spoken up. Just how kind-hearted must this princess, in charge of detaining demon ghosts and evil beings, be to lend a hand to a demon ghost?

Was it his inner core she wanted, or just his face?

Under the bright sun and clear breeze, the youth’s skin was so pale it was almost transparent, the slender veins on the back of his hand especially prominent. With his face, made all the more strange by his demon ghost bloodline, he exuded an indescribable sense of frail sickness.

As if about to face something amusing, he curled his lips wickedly and thought, if that “kind-hearted” little princess wanted his inner core, he’d just self-destruct.