After hearing Sang Ying’s explanation, Xiao Lingzhou finally relaxed somewhat.
He’d honestly thought she’d been driven to some desperate extreme, willing to resort to any means to win Xie Lingyu back. He looked up. “So, little junior sister, you’ve decided to divorce him after all?”
Sang Ying nodded gently. “There’s no point trapping him like this anyway. I’d actually meant to talk to him about it days ago, but he’s never around.”
Xiao Lingzhou patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, little junior sister. A three-legged toad’s a rare find, but two-legged men are a dime a dozen [1]a three-legged toad is hard to find, a two-legged man is everywhere (san tiao tui de hama bu hao zhao, liang tiao tui de nanxiu bian di dou shi, … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389889_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389889_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, whatever type you want, there’s plenty to choose from.”
Sang Ying, not particularly enthusiastic, said flatly, “We’ll see. Anyway, second brother, what did you need me for?”
“Big Senior Brother sent word through a spirit butterfly, he’s coming out of seclusion in a few days. I’ve got matters keeping me tied up in the demon realm, so I wanted you to pass along my greetings for me.”
Sang Ying blinked, startled. “A spirit butterfly? I never got one.”
Xiao Lingzhou paused too. “You didn’t get it? Oh right, you’ve been recovering in your room these past few days, probably blocked by the barrier. Makes sense you wouldn’t have received it.”
He clicked his tongue softly.
“Setting everything else aside, that Xie Lingyu really has been thorough about protecting you, the barrier he set up has held back quite the mess of unwanted visitors.”
By “mess,” he clearly meant the North Wilderness demon king and Xu Baishen.
Sang Ying could understand the North Wilderness demon king’s persistence well enough, having saved him once before, but this Xu Baishen, she truly didn’t understand. Even accounting for their rivalry over succession, was it really necessary to go this far probing for information on his enemy?
Or was he perhaps looking for a chance to assassinate her?
“How’s the North Wilderness demon king doing?” Sang Ying asked.
Xiao Lingzhou naturally knew exactly what she meant, spreading his hands. “A grown male demon, pregnant? Of course it was a misunderstanding. Although shouldn’t that be good news? No idea why he looked like the sky was falling once the Immortal Alliance physician confirmed it, and locked himself away again.”
Sang Ying fell silent for two seconds, then changed the subject. “Second brother, I want to expand the merchant association’s business into the demon realm.”
Xiao Lingzhou said, “That’s actually not a bad idea. I can put in a word with Yin Cha on that front, judging by how things are going, the North Wilderness demon king should be receptive too. But the demon kings of the eastern and western territories, I’d guess, are a lost cause.”
The demon kings of the southern and northern territories were both relatively new to power in recent years, young and quite open to new things. The demon kings of the east and west, by contrast, were old-guard rulers, set in their ways, still holding onto their disdain for human cultivators to this day, let alone doing business with them.
Sang Ying shook her head. “That’s fine. Even just this much is enough.”
As long as one region of the demon realm could develop trade and experience the convenience it brought, the other regions would eventually grow restless too, unable to resist joining in.
Sang Ying discussed the specifics of the plan with Xiao Lingzhou, and after three years apart, they caught up on each other’s experiences as well. By the time she came back to herself, night had already fallen.
Sang Ying handed off the negotiations with the demon king to him and, mentally exhausted, returned to her room.
Xie Lingyu still hadn’t come back.
…Couldn’t he at least wait until after the divorce to go find his white moonlight? Was even that much patience too much to ask?
Insufferable man.
She stared at the door for a while, feeling rather annoyed, and decided she’d head home tomorrow without waiting for him any longer. She yawned, her body, only just recovering from serious injury, was utterly exhausted, and she collapsed into bed without even bothering to change.
Deep into the night, the young man, just back from the abyss realm, still carrying the chill of fresh bloodshed, was about to push open the door when he suddenly stopped, forming a hand seal to cleanse the dust and blood from himself.
She’d gone out today.
He looked down at the girl’s dirt-smudged clothes, as if she’d been lying on the grass, bits of grass leaves still clinging to her.
He pulled out the hairpin she’d forgotten to remove, reached over to loosen the sash of her robe, and gently took her hand to help slip the outer garment off.
The scent on her was a jumbled mix, clearly having met plenty of people again today.
Among them, Xiao Lingzhou’s scent was the strongest.
Xie Lingyu fell silent for a few seconds, folding up her outer robe, only for a few small items to tumble out. Recognizing what they were, his brow furrowed.
What had she gone and gotten these things for? Was she planning… to use them on someone?
Beside him, the girl suddenly rolled over, her slender arms wrapping around him. Her small face nestled against his chest, nuzzling until she found a comfortable position and went still.
Xie Lingyu, following her lead, wrapped his arms around her too, drawing her fully into his embrace, his arm circling her waist. Just as he was about to pull the blanket up over her, the little one in his arms mumbled something in her sleep.
He leaned in close to listen carefully, and heard her say—
“Big Senior Brother… I want…”
The air around them instantly turned rigid and cold.
“Xie Lingyu, this is my big senior brother, doesn’t he look great in white? Just like one of those immortal-bearing, chivalrous heroes. Not like you, always wearing black, not attractive at all. And by the way, you’re not allowed to call him that, big senior brother is mine alone.”
“Xie Lingyu, what do you think I should give big senior brother for his core-formation ceremony gift? A sword tassel? A hair ribbon? Or maybe a sachet? This is so hard to make. Don’t just stand there being useless, come help me, my hand’s gotten tangled in the yarn.”
“Xie Lingyu, can you even grill fish properly? Even Little Meow, who loves fish more than anything, won’t touch a single bite. Forget it, I’ll just ask big senior brother instead, his grilled fish is the best.”
“Little Ying, how have you been lately? Senior brother’s day of leaving seclusion is coming soon. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, do come visit Cloud Embrace Mountain when you can.”
Xie Lingyu looked at the intercepted spirit butterfly message, his lashes lowering slightly, the look in his eyes unreadable.
The girl in his arms stirred again, as if dreaming of something troubling, her brow furrowing even in sleep, murmuring under her breath.
“Xie Lingyu… you insufferable man.”
The next day, Sang Ying woke, rubbed her head, and sat up, only to find her dirtied outer robe had been laid at the head of the bed.
…Had she changed clothes before falling asleep last night?
Never mind, it wasn’t important.
Sang Ying lazily stretched, loosening up her stiff muscles. Perhaps because of her conversation with second brother, she’d dreamed last night of the old days back on Minghua Mountain, begging big senior brother to secretly make her oil-sugar cakes.
But since they weren’t healthy, she couldn’t eat too many, and Xie Lingyu had confiscated her oil-sugar cakes without a shred of mercy, leaving her so angry she’d called him an insufferable man.
The room was empty, clearly Xie Lingyu still hadn’t come back last night.
Sang Ying’s irritation grew. She got up to wash. Xiao Lingzhou had already arranged transport for her yesterday, knowing she planned to head back, she could leave whenever she wanted.
These past few days recovering, the physician had instructed her not to catch a chill, so she hadn’t bathed at all. Sang Ying, someone who loved being clean, had reached her limit, now that her condition had improved somewhat, she wanted a proper, thorough bath.
She dropped some flower petals into the tub, dipped her fingers to stir the water, undressed, and slowly stepped in.
After soaking comfortably for a while, her small face half-submerged as she blew bubbles, Sang Ying suddenly noticed what looked like a faint red mark on her calf.
She lifted her leg above the water’s surface to examine it more closely, the red mark was clearer now, as if something had wrapped around it, squeezing out that redness. Not just on her calf, either, there was one on her thigh too.
Her skin was delicate and easily marked, prone to bruising from even the slightest bump.
But looking closer, the faint outline resembled something like scales. Sang Ying’s heart clenched, could a snake have crawled onto the bed while she was sleeping?
Damn it, Xiao Lingzhou had sworn up and down that sachet would work, and it turned out to be some kind of counterfeit garbage! Couldn’t even keep out insects, let alone snakes.
The very thought of a snake crawling over her body while she slept gave Sang Ying goosebumps all over, and all desire to keep bathing vanished at once. She got up, wiped herself dry, and carefully checked her body for any other marks.
Going over herself thoroughly, she found nothing else besides the constriction marks on her legs. Just as Sang Ying was about to relax, something occurred to her. She threw on her undergarment and walked to the dressing table, turning her back to the mirror, slowly pulling down her collar.
Her damp hair was piled up at the back of her head, her pale neck and rounded shoulders showing nothing unusual, until further down. Above the red string binding her undergarment, right at the center of her delicate shoulder blades, sat several deep, dark red marks.
…?
Sang Ying stared blankly at the marks. She could understand a mosquito bite on her neck, but she’d clearly been wearing clothes, how had something managed to bite her on the back?
Puzzled, she frowned, reaching back to feel the spot, finding it exactly the same as the mark on her neck yesterday, no itch, no pain, just red.
Sang Ying got dressed and went to search thoroughly around the bed, but found no trace of any insect or snake at all.
She thought it over, then pulled out her glass mirror and sent a message to Xiao Lingzhou, whom she’d just added on the spirit network the day before.
Sang Ying: 【Second brother, is there any kind of bug or snake in the Southern Departure Territory whose bite doesn’t itch or hurt, just leaves a red mark?】
Xiao Lingzhou replied quickly: 【Little junior sister, did something bite you?】
【Wait, that’s strange, weren’t you wearing the sachet I gave you?】
Sang Ying: 【I was.】
Xiao Lingzhou: 【Odd. Yin Cha made that one, with his authority as the South Territory demon king, no insect or snake should dare come anywhere near you.】
【Is the wound serious? I’ll call him over right now to take a look.】
Sang Ying froze the moment she read this message, quickly replying: 【No need, it’s nothing serious.】
There was no way she’d let a male demon examine her in a place like that.
Xiao Lingzhou seemed to realize the bite might be somewhere too embarrassing to mention and didn’t press further, instead sending a small demon over with some medicinal ointment.
【Try this first, little junior sister, and let me know if it works. I’ll keep looking into it.】
Sang Ying tried applying the ointment, but aside from a cooling sensation, she felt no change in the redness at all.
She rested her chin on her hand, idly flipping through a book she’d grabbed at random, lost in thought. Perhaps it really wasn’t an insect or snake bite after all?
The book suddenly landed on an illustration of a man and woman entangled together, the female cultivator’s back exposed, the male cultivator bowing his head to kiss the small of her back.
Sang Ying’s distracted gaze landed on the image. The moment she registered what it was, her ears flushed instantly crimson, and she snapped the book shut in a fluster.
…This was the secret manual that Pleasure Harmony Sect cultivator had shoved into her hands yesterday.
Face flushed red, Sang Ying was about to bury the book at the bottom of a chest when something occurred to her.
Wait. That female cultivator’s back…
She carefully pinched the edge of the page, slowly turning it open again, her lashes trembling ceaselessly, her damp eyes creeping bit by bit toward the illustration.
Several deep red marks dotted the female cultivator’s smooth back, remarkably similar to the ones on her own body, while the male cultivator gripped her waist, creating fresh red marks further down.
Sang Ying: “…”
So it wasn’t an insect bite at all, it was from being kissed?
Sang Ying’s mind raced through the possibilities, and within seconds, she’d pieced it all together.
Not an insect or a snake, but a person… or perhaps a demon. That was why Yin Cha’s sachet hadn’t worked, why there were scale-like constriction marks on her legs, why there were kiss marks on her back.
Someone had been taking liberties with her while she slept!
The moment this thought crystallized in Sang Ying’s mind, a fire ignited in her chest at once. She’d originally planned to leave the demon realm and head home today, now she had no intention of leaving at all.
Whoever this was had come two nights running already, which meant they’d likely come again tonight too, the perfect opportunity to catch them in the act.
She wanted to see for herself exactly which shameless, brazen demon dared do something like this!
References[+]