12 – She Sneaks Around Doing Bad Things While the Demon Lord is Asleep
Yun Sangsang’s thoughts were not betrayed in the slightest on her face; her smile remained as gentle and radiant as ever.
She patted Yuan Ning Wang’s little head and nodded in reply, “Of course! As long as I’m alive, and as long as you don’t let me down, I’ll always be good to you!”
Yuan Ning Wang met her gaze for three breaths, then smiled meaningfully. “Alright, thank you, Celestial Maiden.”
Let this venerable one see just how you plan to be good to me.
And for how long you can keep it up.
Since this venerable one has nothing better to do for now, I’ll just watch you put on your act.
I’ll wait and see—when the demon race army arrives, will you immediately push me out, trading my life for your own survival…
Such things, this venerable one has experienced many, many times before. I don’t mind being betrayed once more…
Yun Sangsang ruffled his hair. “Good boy.”
Seeing that Yuan Ning Wang didn’t bring up the matter of offering to her on his own, Yun Sangsang felt it inappropriate to urge him right after promising to be good to him—it would make her intentions too obvious.
She decided not to mention it tonight and bring it up tomorrow instead.
Glancing at the sky, she said, “It’s getting late. Go into the cave and sleep. Tomorrow, big sister will take you down the mountain. First, we’ll find your grandparents. I have a good deed to do for the day!”
“Huh…” Yuan Ning Wang looked at her in surprise, truly wanting to slap her forehead to see if this Broom Star’s brains had been swept away by a broom!
This wasn’t some Broom Star—this was clearly a bodhisattva, a living bodhisattva!
Didn’t she say earlier that she would help him teach his grandparents, uncles, and aunts a lesson, making those scum suffer for the rest of their lives?
Had she swallowed those words herself?
Yun Sangsang looked down and met his complicated gaze, then couldn’t help but burst into laughter!
She pinched his little ear and whispered, “Silly, doing good deeds and accumulating virtue isn’t just about helping people. It can also mean upholding justice, eliminating evil, and restoring clarity to the world…”
Yuan Ning Wang was taken aback.
Then he chuckled softly.
So that’s how it was.
He had thought this little Celestial Maiden was so merciful she could forgive all the wicked people in the world and even force him to forgive scum like his grandparents. Turns out, she was going to uphold justice and punish Xie Yuanning’s two scummy grandparents.
Her “good deed for the day” was actually a kindness done for Xie Yuanning, the orphan.
Seeing that she wasn’t some foolishly merciful, overly naive Celestial Maiden, Yuan Ning Wang’s gaze toward her softened slightly. “Alright, then I’ll go to sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll go uphold justice.”
Thinking his reaction might be a bit too flat, he put on a childlike act again, looking at her happily and thanking her, “Thank you, Celestial Maiden, for standing up for me.”
His voice was so sweet it made him sick to his stomach.
But Yun Sangsang didn’t find it sickening at all. She thought Yuan Ning Wang, this little kid, was super sweet and adorable. Having him as her worshipper was definitely worth it.
Such a sweet child—as long as she treated him extra well over these three days, warmed his heart, and healed him, he would surely agree to worship her!
She gently nudged his little shoulder. “No need to thank me. Go to sleep now.”
Yuan Ning Wang walked toward the cave, then turned back after two steps to ask her, “Aren’t you coming in to sleep, Celestial Maiden?”
Yun Sangsang glanced at the cave, her eyes filled with wariness…
She wanted to go.
She wanted to hold him in her arms like a loving mother, coax him to sleep, and build a good bond with him!
But she was afraid the cave might collapse!
After all, she was the God of Misfortune, brimming with misfortune!She regretfully withdrew her gaze and said to Yuan Ning Wang, “Celestial maidens don’t need to sleep. You go ahead by yourself. I’ll stay outside and watch over you. Don’t be afraid. If anything happens, just call out to me.”
Yuan Ning Wang saw the regret in her eyes and suddenly understood her hesitation.
He curled the corner of his lips.
Tsk, what nonsense about not needing sleep—she was clearly afraid of causing the cave to collapse like the stable before.
But this silly celestial maiden would probably never know that the collapse of the stable was his doing and had nothing to do with her misfortune…
Suppressing a smile, he walked step by step into the cave.
After circling the cave once, the Demon Lord lay down on the dry grass Yun Sangsang had prepared earlier, though he was quite disdainful of it.
With his eyes closed, he rested to conserve his energy while using his cultivation technique to nourish the damaged demon bone within him. Only when the demon bone was restored could he regain the power of his peak.
Outside the cave, Yun Sangsang rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the stars appearing one after another in the night sky, and sighed softly.
How she wished she could absorb the starlight radiance from the heavens.
The immortal power within her would gradually dissipate on its own each day, even if she didn’t use it, as it nourished her immortal bones. Once the immortal power was exhausted and the immortal bones lost their nourishment, they would dim and shatter. And once the immortal bones shattered, she would begin to undergo the five signs of decay, leading to her eventual death.
Now, only thirty percent of her immortal power remained. Even if she refrained from using any immortal techniques, this amount of power would only sustain her for another six days.
That was why she had set a three-day deadline for Little Yuanning.
She truly couldn’t afford to waste any more time; she could only spare three days for him.
The Parrot perched on a branch had been staring at Yun Sangsang with its dark, gleaming eyes for a long time. Unable to hold back, it sent a mind transmission: “Master, you’re much more patient and gentle with this child than with the previous eight predestined individuals. Is it because you share similar hardships and see yourself in him?”
Yun Sangsang looked at the Parrot and replied with a smile via mind transmission: “A little bit. Seeing him all alone reminds me of when I first became the Broom Star—everywhere I went, people avoided me, no one welcomed me, and everyone would retreat at the sight of me from afar. So, I could only spend my days holed up in my palace, lost in thought, with no one to talk to…”
She glanced back at the cave and continued her mind transmission with the Parrot: “That’s why I’m actually quite willing to stay with him. We’re both unwelcome people. If two lonely souls like us can come together, we can turn two portions of loneliness into one portion of happiness. How wonderful.”
The Parrot looked at its master with pity in its eyes.
It knew how lonely its master was. The reason she tolerated its sharp tongue and allowed it to live until now was because she wanted someone—or something—to keep her company.
If there were no people, a bird would do.
Following its master’s gaze toward the cave, the Parrot secretly offered advice: “Master, you want to win over that child’s heart, to make him love you like a beloved mother, right? Here, let me give you a tip! Have you seen how dirty that child is?
Although you shaved his head and got rid of his filthy hair, his body is even dirtier than his hair was. How can you ignore his filth? A true mother would help her son get clean!”
Yun Sangsang was taken aback.
She looked at the Parrot and asked hesitantly, “So, I should…”The parrot said, “Of course you should go help him bathe and wash his clothes! Later when he falls asleep, Master, you can prepare some warm water to wipe him clean. When he wakes up tomorrow morning and sees a brand new version of himself, he’ll surely look at you with the same warmth and reverence as if seeing his own dear mother!”