Seeing the other two leave, Tong Huanyou gritted her teeth and dragged Yu Qingci’s body toward the room step by exhausting step.
With every movement, she felt as though his weight increased by another pound.
“Black-hearted bastard, has nobody ever told you that you’re ridiculously heavy?!”
Only after using every ounce of strength she had did she finally manage to haul him onto the bed.
She had just turned around to look for a doctor when—
“Mother…”
The unconscious Yu Qingci suddenly grabbed her wrist while murmuring incoherently. With one pull, she lost her balance and fell straight into his arms.
Her cheek pressed tightly against his chest, and she could clearly feel the faint beating of his heart.
At such close proximity, the tips of her ears instantly burned hot. Startled, she hurriedly struggled free and stood up.
But the moment her gaze landed on that face—
That youthful, strikingly handsome face stained with blood at the corner of his lips, carrying an almost dangerous allure—
Her breathing abruptly stopped.
How could someone be this absurdly good-looking?
Just as she was spacing out, the familiar mechanical voice suddenly rang inside her head.
【System: Congratulations, Host! You have unlocked one shared-dream memory fragment.】
What the heck?
Before Tong Huanyou could react, a flash of white light exploded before her eyes.
A scene suddenly flooded her mind.
A woman stood trembling by a riverbank, her entire body covered in blood and wounds.
Most eye-catching of all—
Two white wolf ears stained crimson with blood stood atop her head.
Behind her, a child curled up fearfully.
Facing them were countless white-robed Daoists holding magical weapons, their faces filled with ruthless hostility.
Yet the woman still stood firmly in place, shielding the child behind her with her body.
The child cried uncontrollably, clutching tightly onto the woman’s tail while trembling in fear.
The woman turned around and gazed at the child with deep tenderness. Her blood-covered hand slowly covered the child’s eyes.
In a gentle voice, she whispered:
“Ci’er, be good. Close your eyes. Sleep for a while, and everything will be fine.”
At the final moment before the child’s vision disappeared—
He saw countless swords descend from the heavens like silver rain.
The memory ended.
The white light faded, and her vision returned to the room.
A tear silently slid down Tong Huanyou’s cheek and dripped onto the floor with a soft patter.
Frozen in place, she touched her damp face.
“…Why am I crying?”
“That scene… was that his memory?”
Fanning at her eyes with her hand, she tried to force the tears back and muttered in surprise:
“I remember the original novel never mentioning his parents… Could this be hidden plot content?”
Thinking this, she glanced at the unconscious Yu Qingci and couldn’t help mumbling:
“You’re a demon, yet you blocked the Demon-Slaying Formation for a human. Injuries are supposed to be weaker against humans anyway…”
He was so hopelessly devoted to the heroine—what chance did she even have?
She originally intended to continue searching for a doctor, but then another thought crossed her mind.
Could human doctors even treat demons?
What if they noticed differences in his body structure?
“…Hmm.”
Tong Huanyou: System, do you have any medicine that can heal injuries?
【System: Host, using healing medicine on story characters requires deduction of plot points~】
Tong Huanyou: Plot points? What’s that?
【System: Points generated through advancing the plot. After returning to reality, they can be exchanged for rewards.】
Tong Huanyou: Wait—does that mean the rewards exchanged with these points can actually be brought back to the real world?!
【System: Correct, Host. While the novel world traps your soul, it also prepares equivalent rewards upon clearing the story.】
Tong Huanyou: What kind of rewards are there???
【System: That depends on how many progression points Host earns.】
Tong Huanyou: Then how many do I have right now?
【System: Starting points: 10. Current plot advancement points: 4. Affection points: 0. Total: 14 points.】
Tong Huanyou: Huh? That little…? Then how many points does healing medicine cost if used on a character?
【System: Six points~】
Tong Huanyou: Holy crap! One healing medicine costs six points?! I only got four points from advancing the plot! That’s highway robbery!
【System: Host, pills and support items provided by this system are free when used by you as the Executor.】
【However, using them on characters within the story world doubles the cost.】
Tong Huanyou fell silent for a moment.
She finally understood.
Using items on herself was free.
Using them on novel characters required paying a price.
The realization left her conflicted.
…Forget it.
She could always slowly earn the points back through plot progression and affection points anyway.
Spend it, then.
Tong Huanyou: I still want to exchange for the healing pill.
【System: Understood, Host. Please confirm item exchange.】
The moment the voice ended, a blue holographic screen appeared before her.
A pale cyan medicine bottle floated at the center, with two buttons beneath it:
Confirm. Cancel.
Tong Huanyou pouted, hesitated for a second, then pressed Confirm.
A flash of code-like light flickered, and the medicine bottle instantly appeared in her hand.
She poured out the pill into her palm and leaned down to feed it into Yu Qingci’s mouth.
“You really shouldn’t treat your own life like it’s worthless,” she muttered to herself. “Don’t you understand the principle of only giving half your heart away?”
A breeze carried a flower petal into the room. It spun a few times before landing beside Yu Qingci’s forehead.
Tong Huanyou casually picked it up and looked out the window.
Suddenly, she frowned.
“Crap, I almost forgot—there’s still someone outside in the courtyard.”
Only then did she belatedly rise and head outside.
Unbeknownst to her—
The moment she stepped out the door, the figure lying on the bed slowly opened his eyes.
“There’s still a pulse.”
Tong Huanyou crouched beside the young girl and checked her breathing with relief.
Just as she prepared to pick her up in one go—
“Miss Tong.”
The sudden voice rang out sharply in the silent night.
“Holy shi—!”
Startled so badly her heart nearly stopped, she whipped around in panic.
Yu Qingci was leaning half against the doorway. He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with his sleeve, his gloomy eyes fixed on her like a wolf lurking in the darkness.
Tong Huanyou patted her chest, still shaken.
“Can you not suddenly talk like that? You scared me half to death.”
Though honestly—
That medicine worked frighteningly fast.
Yu Qingci said nothing.
He simply walked directly toward her.
Something felt wrong.
Tong Huanyou instantly sensed that the aura around him was completely different. Instinctively, she turned to run.
A gust of wind swept past.
Before she could react, Yu Qingci had already seized her throat and lifted her slowly off the ground.
“Why do you know that sentence?”
A faint scarlet glow surfaced within his eyes, his voice hoarse and dangerous.
Tong Huanyou clawed desperately at his hand, struggling to breathe.
“W-what… sentence…”
She knew it.
This black-hearted bastard always resorted to choking people!
At that moment, another memory suddenly flashed through her mind.
The wolf demon woman crouched down, her fingers trembling slightly as she gently caressed the child’s face.
Her eyes were filled with endless sorrow.
“Ci’er… when you grow up and love someone, only give half your heart and keep the other half for yourself. Don’t suffer your whole life the way Mother did.”
The scene vanished instantly.
Tong Huanyou’s face had already turned bright red from suffocation, tears filling her eyes.
You damned system!
Why the hell did you only show me this memory NOW?!