In the original text, under the investigation of the female lead’s group, it was discovered that during the village massacre there had also been a young stone demon acting together with the blood demon. However, for some unknown reason, after killing everyone, the stone demon chose to self-destruct, using its own true body to form a stone grave, as if protecting something.
Later, the female lead’s group forcibly broke open the stone grave, yet they saw nothing but a pile of worn, multicolored cloth.
Stone demons were spirits born of heaven and earth, extremely rare, and in the book there was only that one young stone demon.
So Xue Zhuang’er was the stone demon in the book who had massacred the village together with the blood demon.
As for the reason behind the massacre, although it was not written in the book, Jiang Yin had personally witnessed Sun Zhuzi’s father attempting to force himself on Liu Niang. It had only been interrupted by her and Xie Huaian. But in the book, neither she nor Xie Huaian had appeared, so who would have saved Liu Niang?
If Sun’s father had succeeded, then afterward, what would the others have done?
Jiang Yin did not know, but she thought that in the original text, Liu Niang must have experienced pain beyond what ordinary people could imagine, which led to Xue Zhuang’er completely transforming into a demon.
Fortunately, none of that had happened now. She still had a chance to change things.
But first, she had to bring Liu Niang back.
Jiang Yin brought Xue Zhuang’er and the newly awakened Xie Huaian with her. When the villagers saw them, they also found several strong men to follow them down the mountain together.
No matter what might happen in the future, at least for now they truly did not feel at ease about Liu Niang. Jiang Yin did not say anything and tacitly allowed their behavior, which appeared to be helping but was in fact monitoring.
The path down the mountain was easier than Jiang Yin had imagined. At first, she had worried that after overusing her legs these past two days, she might have trouble walking, but once she started, she moved with swift, steady strides, as if all the fatigue and soreness in her body had been swept away.
She glanced at her smooth, fair hands, completely free of any wounds, then leaned closer to the young man. “Just how many pills are you carrying on you?”
Chu Nanci’s gaze fell on her lips as they moved while she spoke. “You want them?”
“No, I mean you should use them sparingly. These pills must be very expensive, right? There’s no need to use them on me.” Jiang Yin’s tone was full of regret. “These are just superficial injuries. They’ll heal after a few days.”
When she woke up that morning and saw that the wounds on her hands had healed, and learned that the young man had used medicine on her, her first reaction had been that it was a waste.
The Eastern Profound Continent was only a low-magic setting. Although cultivators possessed spiritual power, it could not be used for healing. On top of that, medical cultivators were rare, so pills and talismans capable of healing were equally scarce and expensive.
The talisman she had bought earlier, although fake, had still cost a full three hundred taels. Pills produced by the Xuantian Sect were likely even more expensive.
Chu Nanci said calmly, “They are very expensive.”
He was not lying.
The reason nine-tailed foxes were so rare was because their demonic power possessed healing abilities. Even when used on humans, it would not trigger any backlash.
Because of this, ten thousand years ago, the nine-tailed fox clan had been regarded as spiritual beasts and were the only demon race that maintained friendly relations with humans.
But human nature was greedy. Once people discovered that the bodies of nine-tailed foxes could be used to refine healing pills, large-scale hunting began.
Logically speaking, as great demons, even if nine-tailed foxes were hunted, they should not have declined toward extinction. However, what people did not know was that not all demon beasts lived on the essence of the sun, moon, and stars. Just as blood demons fed on blood, there were also demons that relied on external offerings or powerful desires. Nine-tailed fox demons, by nature adept at understanding the human heart, fed on emotions.
Emotions such as excitement, happiness, and joy would generate special spiritual fluctuations within their bodies. The happier they were, the stronger they became.
Conversely, if only negative emotions remained in their hearts, they would grow weaker and weaker, until they could no longer perceive happiness at all, at which point both body and soul would be extinguished.
Being betrayed by the humans they had been close to, the nine-tailed fox clan not only became a laughingstock in the demon realm, but also suffered damage to their heart meridians. In just a hundred years, the clan elders dissipated one after another, leaving only a few young and ignorant little foxes hidden away, barely continuing the bloodline.
Even so, at present, he was the only nine-tailed fox demon left in the world.
So when he took the initiative to heal someone, its value was far more than just expensive. Calling it a miracle would not be an exaggeration.
Jiang Yin took out her purse. “How much is it? I’ll pay you back.”
Chu Nanci, his expression unchanged, named a number. “Six hundred taels.”
Jiang Yin looked at the five hundred and ninety-nine taels of silver in her purse. “……”
It was even a whole number, so she could not say to round it off.
She placed the entire purse into the young man’s hand and said seriously, “I still owe you one tael. I’ll definitely repay you when we get home.”
“Alright.” Chu Nanci accepted the overly pink purse without hesitation and calmly tucked it into his robes.
He had already sounded her out. Jiang Yin and her fiancé’s family lived in Lin’an City, not too near yet not too far from here. There was a lake between them, and one had to cross it by boat, with each ticket costing three taels.
Now that all her money was in his hands, whether she could afford a boat ticket depended entirely on his mood.
“Oh right, there’s one more thing.” Jiang Yin glanced at Xue Zhuang’er behind them, who was currently playing around with the chicks. She shifted her steps slightly, blocking the boy from view, then asked in a seemingly casual manner, “Did you hear anything strange last night?”
Chu Nanci took in her small movements completely, and truly could not understand.
Last night, she had clearly seen with her own eyes that Xue Zhuang’er had turned into a stone demon. Yet after waking up, instead of exposing Xue Zhuang’er’s identity as a demon beast to him, this ‘Xuantian Sect cultivator,’ she chose to conceal it for him.
She even probed cautiously, afraid that he might notice something amiss.
Chu Nanci frowned slightly, as if recalling something. “Before night fell yesterday, I felt unwell, so I returned to my room early to rest. When I woke up, you had already come back. You said I had been afflicted by a demonic curse and fed me blood, but the effect was minimal. So you took the initiative to kiss me.”
He deliberately paused, admiring the instant flush on Jiang Yin’s face, then asked unhurriedly, “Is there something I should have heard?”
“…No, I was just asking casually.” Jiang Yin waved her hand. “We’re almost there. I’ll go find Liu Niang first.”
She walked a few steps ahead to create some distance, then casually struck up a conversation with a villager, as if the young man’s words had not affected her in the slightest.
But upon closer look, one would notice that the tips of her ears remained tinged with red, which refused to fade. Even those few steps she had just taken were awkward, with her arms and legs moving stiffly in unison.
Jiang Yin could feel the young man’s gaze still following her. That undisguised look seemed almost tangible as it fell upon her face, radiating a burning heat that made her uncontrollably recall the scene from last night.
The handsome face that had grown larger as she drew closer, the thin lips that had turned striking after being stained with blood, and finally…
“Miss Jiang, are you very hot? Why is your face so red?”
“Ah… no, I mean, yes, it is a bit hot, haha, it’s nothing, we’re almost there.” Jiang Yin brushed it off hastily, only feeling as though her face was about to catch fire.
‘No, Jiang Yin, calm down. You two are already engaged. It was just a kiss. That’s perfectly normal.’
…But that was her first kiss.
‘Ahhh, I can’t calm down!’
‘Losing my first kiss is one thing, but the key is I don’t even remember what it felt like. Wasn’t that kiss for nothing!’
Jiang Yin felt deeply regretful. If she had known earlier, she would have eaten more red dates and pig liver to nourish her body. Then she would not have lost too much blood last night and missed out on experiencing her first kiss.
However, this was ultimately a good thing. Her relationship with Xie Huaian had now undergone a qualitative change. As long as she resolved Liu Niang’s matter and settled the mother and son properly, she would immediately take him back to get married.
The success of the mission was right before her eyes!
Half an hour later, Jiang Yin led the group to the place where she had parted ways with Liu Niang the previous night.
But beneath the tree, there was no one.
Only the extinguished fire on the ground remained, its ashes stirred up by the wind.
Liu Niang was gone.