But she was overthinking.
One Day passed, and there was no movement from the Cave Dwelling.
Two days passed, still no movement.
Three days, four days, five days—
Hua Qian Gu sat on the Stone at the Cave Dwelling's entrance, as if rooted. She endured the wind and sand during the day and wrapped herself in a Cloak for warmth at night. When her dry rations ran out, she drank mountain spring water. Tang Bao's Egg grew warmer in her Embrace, as if cheering her on.
"Little girl, don't wait anymore." The captain of the Demon Soldier guards walked over on the fifth day, his tone a little better than before. "When the King is in Cultivation Retreat, he doesn't care even if the sky falls. You can sit here until next year, and he still won't come out."
"Then I'll sit until next year," Hua Qian Gu said.
The captain shook his head. "Stubborn."
On the sixth day, a sandstorm began.
Fierce winds swept sand and gravel from the Wasteland, turning the sky dark. Hua Qian Gu wrapped herself into a ball with her Cloak, her back to the wind, holding the Egg tightly in her Embrace. The sand hitting her face stung.
The Demon Soldiers all retreated into the doorway of the Cave Dwelling to shelter from the wind.
"That girl is still outside?" the captain asked.
"Still here." A guard peeked out. "She's wrapped in a Cloak behind the Stone, she hasn't left."
The captain was silent for a few seconds, then took off his own Cloak and handed it to the guard. "Give it to her."
The guard was stunned. "Captain, that's made of Demonic Beast hide..."
"Just give it to her if I tell you to," the captain glared. "It's bad luck if she dies at the Doorway."
The guard delivered the Cloak. Hua Qian Gu took it, glanced at the captain, and nodded in thanks. She wrapped the Cloak around herself and continued to squat.
The captain stood in the doorway, watching the small figure wrapped in several layers of Cloak, and a thought suddenly occurred to him—
This girl might actually be able to wait until the King comes out.
The seventh day.
The sandstorm stopped.
Hua Qian Gu's lips were cracked and bleeding, her face covered in sand, her hair matted into a tangle. She looked like a mud doll dug out of the earth.
But she was still sitting there.
Holding the Egg in her Embrace, her eyes fixed on the Cave Dwelling's door.
The Demon Soldiers had grown accustomed to her Existence and no longer mocked her. When the captain changed shifts in the morning, he even brought her a bowl of hot water.
"Today is the seventh day," the captain said. "If the King doesn't come out today, he might be in Cultivation Retreat for another One month. Are you still going to wait?"
Hua Qian Gu took the hot water and took a sip. Her throat burned painfully.
"I'll wait," she said.
The captain sighed and turned away.
The Sun moved from east to west, and the sky gradually darkened.
Hua Qian Gu thought the seventh day would also pass like this.
Just as she was about to close her eyes for a moment—
A low, deep Roar came from the depths of the Cave Dwelling.
The ground trembled slightly.
The Demon Soldiers guarding the door all knelt on the ground in unison, not daring to look up.
Hua Qian Gu suddenly Stood up, her Heart pounding.
The Cave Dwelling door opened.
A Powerful aura surged out from within, carrying the unique pressure of the Demon King, making it hard to breathe. Hua Qian Gu's hair flew backward in the airflow, her Cloak Rustling loudly.
She squinted, looking towards the Cave Dwelling's entrance.
A person walked out.
White Clothes and white hair, with a face so exquisite it looked like a painting, and an arrogant air of looking down on the world in his brows. His skin was almost transparently white, and his eyes were a deep purple, like two cold gemstones.
Sha Qian Mo.
The Demon King.
The most beautiful man in the Six Realms.
Also, the Fool who went mad for Hua Qian Gu for two hundred years in his Previous Life.
Hua Qian Gu looked at him, and her Eye Sockets immediately reddened.
But she held back.
I can't cry. In this Life, I am a stranger; I cannot show any Weakness.
Sha Qian Mo walked out of the Cave Dwelling, his gaze sweeping over the Demon Soldiers kneeling on the ground, Expressionless. His gaze finally landed on the small, Cloak-clad girl covered in sand at the Doorway.
His brow furrowed slightly.
"Who is this?" His Voice was low, hoarse from just coming out of Cultivation Retreat.
The captain knelt on the ground, not daring to look up. "Reporting to the King, she is a Mortal, saying she wants to see you and has been waiting at the Doorway for seven days and seven nights."
"Seven days and seven nights?" Sha Qian Mo's gaze returned to Hua Qian Gu, appraising her from head to toe.
Hua Qian Gu stood there, looking up at him.
He was much taller than her; she had to crane her neck to see his face. In her Previous Life, she didn't think he was that tall, perhaps because she was already the Demon God then. Now that she was a Mortal, she truly felt that oppressive presence.
But she didn't retreat.
She looked at him, and the Corner of her mouth slowly curved up, forming a smile.
That smile was exactly the same as the first time she smiled at him in the Demon Emperor Palace in her Previous Life.
"What are you smiling at?" Sha Qian Mo's Voice was flat, but his eyes flickered.
Hua Qian Gu untied the Cloak wrapped around her and stood up straight. Her legs were numb from sitting, and she almost fell, but she steadied herself.
"I've come to save you," she said.
Four words, light and airy, like the wind.
But Sha Qian Mo's Pupils contracted sharply.
He stared at her for a long time.
So long that the Demon Soldiers kneeling on the ground thought the King was about to get angry and trembled in fear.
"You?" Sha Qian Mo suddenly smiled, a cold smile. "A Mortal, come to save me?"
"Yes," Hua Qian Gu nodded. "Just me, a Mortal."
Sha Qian Mo's gaze fell on the Egg in her Embrace, then returned to her face.
He smelled a faint fragrance—not of perfume, but a peculiar, indescribable scent. This scent made him inexplicably... familiar.
Yet he was sure he had never Seen this Young Girl before.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Hua Qian Gu."
Sha Qian Mo murmured the name, his brow furrowing even tighter.
He hadn't heard of it.
But why did he have a strange Feeling?
It was as if... he had Seen her somewhere before.
"Come in," he said, turning and walking into the Cave Dwelling, throwing the words over his shoulder without looking back. "I'd like to hear how a Mortal is going to save me."
Hua Qian Gu, holding the Egg, stepped forward to follow.
Her legs were still trembling, but her Footsteps were Steady.
The captain knelt on the ground, secretly looking up, and just saw Hua Qian Gu's figure disappear through the Cave Dwelling's entrance.
He was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head, the Corner of his mouth unconsciously curling up.
After waiting for seven days and seven nights.
She really managed to wait.
【End of Chapter·Comment Section Discussion: Did Sha Qian Mo recognize Hua Qian Gu?】
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