He walked along, glancing at her from time to time.
Each glance made the corner of his lips lift a little higher.
But on the surface, this demon lord seemed quite dismissive of her actions today, even solemnly advising her:
“This seat is not some delicate pretty boy like Su Liuyun who needs protection. This kind of thing takes effort and gains nothing. Don’t do it again in the future.”
The expressionless sword cultivator suddenly asked: “Then are you happy?”
The handsome demon lord froze, turning his head to hide the upward curve of his lips, and reluctantly said, “A little.”
She paused. “Then take it as me… making you happy.”
The great demon lord: …
His pupils shrank.
The lawless Demon Venerable actually froze in place, like a rigid stone statue.
After a long time, when he turned back again, he found that the sword cultivator had already drifted away.
—What does making him happy mean?
—Why did she leave without explaining anything clearly?
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Because of the victory in the Guangming Hall, Taixuan Wuji was now truly treating Chao Jinsui as an honored guest.
Even though they hated her to the core now, at least for the moment, Chao Jinsui’s treatment had reached an unprecedented height among Taixuan Wuji’s cultivators.
After returning to the resting warm pavilion, Chao Jinsui began meditating.
She entered that Kunlun Sword Art again, once more testing the third realm, the Qianjun Realm.
She had a premonition that after entering the middle stage of Nascent Soul, she was only one step away from entering the fourth realm of the Kunlun Sword Art. But she had tried several times recently and always felt that she was missing that one opportunity.
After a long while, she opened her eyes.
She thought: Must she really encounter a situation like facing that great spider again to find that “opportunity”?
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
As night was about to fall, a heavy rain began.
Chao Jinsui pushed open the window, but saw Shi Chunqiu’s figure—kneeling in the rain.
Shi Chunqiu was indeed old now. His temples were streaked with white, and he looked very aged.
Chao Jinsui lifted her gaze and looked around, but did not see Chao Xiaotu. Instead, she saw many disciples of Taixuan Wuji, all staring at her with deep resentment and anger.
Shi Chunqiu had not truly come to humiliate himself. While begging for mercy, this old fox also wanted Taixuan Wuji’s reputation to sound better, and to conveniently apply a bit of moral pressure.
But kneeling before a junior especially in full view of everyone—Shi Chunqiu had likely never lost such face in all his long life. One could imagine his mood. He almost had to forcibly suppress the twitch at the corner of his mouth just to maintain the expression on his face.
“Miss Chao, Xiaotu and you are sisters of the same father—blood is thicker than water. For the sake of this, please do not take issue with Xiaotu’s misunderstanding of you.”
Chao Jinsui, however, looked at Shi Chunqiu, somewhat lost in thought.
Chao Xiaotu truly had a fortunate life. From childhood until now, she had never lacked elders who devoted themselves wholeheartedly to her, willing to worry and labor for her sake. Even when driven to the end of the road, at the very least, Chao Xiaotu still had a grandfather willing to kneel for her.
But she and Chao Zhaoyue had never dared take a single wrong step. From a young age, they learned to assess situations carefully. Because they both knew—no one would ever cover for their mistakes. In a certain sense, Chao Xiaotu’s fortune was truly good.
But would she pity Shi Chunqiu? Of course not.
The “misunderstanding” in Shi Chunqiu’s words had nearly taken her life.
She looked at him steadily and suddenly asked: “Elder Shi, you raised Chao Xiaotu after all. How can she bear to watch you kneel?”
Shi Chunqiu never expected her to say such a thing. His face instantly turned pale. Though he knew Chao Jinsui’s words implied Chao Xiaotu was heartless, it still struck directly at his sore point.
Chao Jinsui stared at him for a long time, then finally let out a faint sigh, as if truly moved by him. “You are an elder. I will not make things difficult for you. I will not take action against Chao Xiaotu. The rain is getting heavy—you should go back first.”
Shi Chunqiu looked at Chao Jinsui, deeply suspicious. How was she suddenly so kind? Then who was the one pressing so relentlessly this morning?
But with so many people watching, she would not go back on her word, would she?
Chao Jinsui maintained her smile as she watched Shi Chunqiu leave.
She spoke softly: “Lingyun.”
Lingyun poked her head out from the back courtyard.
“Didn’t you say you also wanted to accuse Chao Xiaotu once?”
“I won’t make things difficult for her. You go make things difficult.”
“Vent your anger however you like.”
Lingyun: ?? There’s such a good thing?
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
That night, the rain over Taixuan Wuji fell heavier and heavier, as if the sky itself had split open—a very fitting scene, perfectly matching Taixuan Wuji’s current state.
With such heavy rain, Chao Jinsui naturally could not go out for a night exploration of Taixuan Wuji. She lit a candle by the window and carefully studied Taixuan Wuji’s map.
Before long, however, she heard the sound of a window breaking next door.
—Right. She remembered. That demon lord had said he would go to Taixuan Wuji’s forbidden grounds today.
She rose and pushed open the door next door, and saw a tall figure in the dim room.
He did not want to wake her, so his movements were very light.
Today, he had led the demons to Taixuan Wuji’s forbidden grounds and finally found that Mingxin Art. The process, however, had been somewhat tortuous, delaying him, and by the time he came out, he had suffered a minor injury.
He was bare from the waist up, his soaked clothes tossed aside. Unhurriedly, he ignited a cluster of black flames in his palm.
The flames swelled and soon evaporated the moisture from his clothes and his dripping long hair.
But even the heavy rain clearly could not wash away the bloody killing aura around him. His two demon horns made him look even more like an extremely ferocious beast.
He casually flicked away Xiao Yanjing that had crawled over. Xiao Yanjing, which yesterday had wanted to abandon darkness and turn to the light, now obsequiously ran off to fetch him two new garments.
Just as he was about to put on his clothes, the door was pushed open.
He subconsciously tossed the blood-soaked clothes into the fire.
The demon lord changed the subject. “You’re that kind-hearted? You really won’t make a move against Chao Xiaotu?”
Chao Jinsui said, “How are you so well informed?”
The Demon Venerable shifted the blame. “Xiao Yanjing—eager to earn merit.”
Xiao Yanjing: …?
She said, “I didn’t lie to Shi Chunqiu. I won’t make a move against her—wouldn’t it be better to leave the opportunity to someone else?”
“Lingyun was thrown to the spiders by Chao Xiaotu. With such deep hatred, why should I stop her from accusing Chao Xiaotu? Why should I stop her from taking revenge?”
Watching the gentle expression she wore when she spoke—
He felt an extremely uneasy emotion brewing. Suddenly, he realized that she was truly a very good person.
The demon lord suddenly asked, “Why?”
She looked at him in confusion.
“Are you this good to everyone? Do you protect every single person like this?”
She did not speak.
In the heavy rain, his voice suddenly seemed distant, faintly amused yet not amused.
As if he had just awakened from a great dream.
Clear-headed and cold.
In the darkness, like a wounded, self-mocking ferocious beast:
“You think it’s unfair, so you help Lingyun.”
“You think it’s wrong, so you help me too?”
“Is it also for that… fairness and justice?”
She was silent for a while.
“I really am good to others.”
She could not deny that she truly believed that even demons could receive fair treatment.
But once spoken aloud, it seemed to take on another meaning.
His long hair was still slightly damp, like a big dog that had been caught in the rain outside.
But now, this somewhat bedraggled big wolf-dog turned his head away, forcibly restraining his emotions, no longer looking at her. Yet his back teeth were clenched tightly, his fingers gripping until they turned pale.
For the demon race, it seemed that restraining emotions was something extremely difficult.
Like someone on the verge of drowning and suffocating, he suddenly stood up. Without even putting on his upper garment, revealing the crisscrossing scars across his body, he almost fled, trying to escape the reach of her gentle gaze.
He threw on his outer robe and walked out.
He was afraid he might do something irreparable to her—while he still had reason left.
Halfway there, he tossed a pendant in his hand to her.
He said, “Don’t follow me.”
But the footsteps behind him did not stop.
A self-mocking smile curved at the corner of his lips. “What—do you think I’m pitiful, so you came to comfort me?”
“You really think I’m that kind-hearted?”
In the darkness, his voice was extremely dangerous:
“If you come any closer, I might not be able to guarantee what I’ll do to you.”
She was silent.
After a long while, “Yan Xueyi, from childhood until now, I have only coaxed one person.”
His footsteps stopped.
“Yan Xueyi, you’re different.”
After a long while, he asked, “Different how?”
She said, “I always coax you.”
“I’ve never coaxed anyone else like this.”
He said nothing.
But he did stop standing there without leaving.
She said, “Yan Xueyi, you’re just like a little girl, you know?”
“You can’t run away every time you get angry, like a little girl running away from home.”
He turned back and suddenly strode toward her:
“A little girl?”
He suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist.
This tall demon lord directly seized her waist and lifted her, pressing her against the wall.
The handsome demon lord’s long hair still carried a damp chill, but his breath was scorching hot. His taut, beautiful muscles were like a cheetah poised to strike. His striking phoenix eyes were fiercely aggressive, and even his breath felt like molten lava:
“What kind of little girl would climb mountains of blades and cross seas of fire to snatch back half a stone you wanted?”
“Who would risk being buried alive in the forbidden grounds, rushing in to grab this worthless stone?”
—He did not know what she wanted, nor what she wanted it for. But he had seen the Butian Stone before, so when he saw this somewhat similar stone in the forbidden grounds, even knowing the danger, he rushed back in. In the forbidden grounds that were about to collapse, he snatched this pendant back.
She looked at the pendant in extreme astonishment.
This piece of Butian Stone was cracked—only half of it remained, shaped into a crescent pendant.
So that was why he ended up in such a miserable state. He did not even know what she wanted it for, or whether this was the right piece—yet he still snatched it back.
Just because she wanted it.
She suddenly did not know what to say.
His temper was truly bad, jealous, unpredictable—a genuine chaotic demon king by nature.
The demon king was silent for a moment, recalling what she had just said:
She had actually said he was like a little girl who runs away from home when angry.
—For once, this demon had no retort.
He truly feared loss and gain, afraid everything was just a dream.
“I won’t leave anymore. I won’t be like that again.”
She finally let out a breath of relief.
He stepped back slightly, his phoenix eyes fixed on her, and solemnly declared:
“I will be like the venomous snake in those stories, coiling tightly around you.”
“So tonight, you cannot drive me away.”
Why was that?
He gripped her waist and threatened, “From now on, you’re not allowed to drive me away at night either.”
She thought: these two things have nothing to do with each other—
But she was still holding that half piece of burning-hot Butian Stone in her hand.
And she could still smell the scent of blood on him.
He hid it well, as if he did not care at all—but she was very sensitive to the scent of blood.
—In this regard, he was not like a little girl.
After a long silence, she finally relented:
“You can’t stare at me while I sleep.”
“You can’t disturb me when I’m working.”
“And you have to be reasonable, you can’t even be bothered when I treat Lingyun well.”
The great demon lord narrowed his beautiful phoenix eyes.
Suddenly he leaned closer and lowered his head:
“Didn’t you say before—”
“Once one falls into demonic cultivation, one’s heart becomes narrow-minded.”
