What a pity.
He had originally intended to spare her life, but she insisted on seeking death herself.
Chu Nanci’s gaze sharpened. Spiritual energy gathered behind Jiang Yin, condensing into an invisible blade. Its razor-sharp tip hovered, faintly aimed at the fragile heart beneath her thin clothing.
After a brief pause, it slowly shifted away.
Her flesh was quite delicate. To peel it off directly would be a waste.
A more interesting method suddenly came to his mind.
Since she wanted to touch him, he might as well cloak himself in demonic energy. The moment her fingers made contact with it, every meridian in her body would be pierced through, and then—
With a “bang,” she would explode.
A firework tinted pale white and blush red would surely be beautiful.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Here, Chu Nanci had just decided on her manner of death. The next moment, the girl’s slender, fair fingers had already landed on his waist.
The anticipated spray of blood did not erupt.
Jiang Yin was a mortal and could not see the fluctuations of spiritual energy in the air. But in Chu Nanci’s eyes, her hand was passing through the pale aura covering his body. With just a slight movement of his thoughts, the demonic energy could surge into her body and blast her into a mangled mass of flesh and blood.
But in that instant, his heart seemed to be fiercely clenched by an invisible hand, then abruptly released. What followed was a strange yet intense palpitation.
All killing intent quietly dissipated along with that palpitation.
Chu Nanci lowered his lashes slightly, his gaze dark as it settled on Jiang Yin.
She was intently searching for the jade pendant on his body. She had leaned in very close, her head nearly buried in his chest.
The sunlight leaking down from the top of the cave illuminated the fine down on her cheeks with perfect clarity. The dark mud smeared upon it instead made the skin beneath appear as white and smooth as congealed cream.
The hand at his waist did not remain still.
As she fumbled around, her soft, boneless fingers roamed across his waist. A tingling itch quietly arose along the path her touch traced, thread by thread, seeping into his flesh and bones, making the corners of his lips lift uncontrollably.
When Jiang Yin’s fingers slipped in from the edge of his loose outer robe and began to rub against his waist and abdomen through only a thin layer of inner clothing, the intense itch surged from his tailbone all the way up to his scalp.
Chu Nanci lightly pressed his trembling lips together, a deep, unmistakable interest spreading in his eyes.
Leaning against the cave wall, he simply spread his hands, allowing Jiang Yin to continue exploring his body.
When the protective spell was triggered, Jiang Yin herself felt nothing. She had no idea she had just brushed past the gates of death. Failing to find the jade pendant, she grew so anxious that fine beads of sweat formed at her temples.
“It clearly said it was worn close to the body. Why can’t I find it?”
Without the jade pendant to prove her identity, Xie Huaian would definitely grow suspicious. At that point, the difficulty of winning him over would only increase.
‘If I had known, I wouldn’t have brought up the fiancée thing. I should have just taken him away first as his lifesaver. That would still be better than looking like some scheming liar now.’
She was truly anxious. Seeing that she could not find it over the inner garment, she subconsciously tried to probe deeper. The moment her fingertips touched warm skin, a current-like tingling sensation exploded instantly.
The silent young man seemed to have sensed the strange sensation as well.
Jiang Yin heard a faint, slightly hoarse sigh fall from above her head.
“Mm…”
His voice was already gentle and pleasant. Now, lowered and carrying a slight tremor at the end, its husky, muted tone brushed against her eardrums, burning the tips of her ears and instantly pulling her attention away from searching for the jade pendant.
It was only after this lapse that she realized just how ambiguous the situation was.
The man was pressed against the cave wall by her without any resistance, his collar disheveled and spread open. Her fingers had already slipped halfway inside, able to feel the warm, firm texture beneath.
He actually had chest muscles.
Almost instinctively, Jiang Yin lightly pressed her fingertips against that solid yet not overly bulging layer of muscle.
A deeper, lower breath escaped from the young man’s throat.
She snapped back to her senses as if waking from a dream, her face flushing red as she hurriedly withdrew her hand. The movement was too abrupt. His already loose clothing was pulled even further open, and beneath the disordered collar, a corner of cool, pale skin was half-revealed.
“S-sorry! I’m sorry!” Jiang Yin fumbled as she hastily gathered his loosened collar back together. “I just wanted to find the jade pendant so you would believe me. I didn’t mean to take advantage of you.”
“Take advantage?”
Chu Nanci was not unaware of what “taking advantage” meant. It was simply that he had never imagined anyone would dare take advantage of him, nor had he ever imagined that being taken advantage of could bring him pleasure.
He looked at Jiang Yin, and there was even a trace of regret in his tone.
“Won’t you continue?”
That gentle, unhurried tone sounded entirely different when it reached Jiang Yin’s ears.
He had been injured by a demon, his cultivation temporarily lost, and his leg broken. At such a moment, a woman suddenly appeared claiming to be his fiancée. With no proof of her identity whatsoever, she even began touching him. For him to ask that question, he was likely enduring humiliation, trying to confirm whether he could still preserve his chastity today.
Seeing that the first impression she had left was growing worse and worse, Jiang Yin hurried to salvage the situation. “Don’t worry. Before you believe my identity, I absolutely won’t do anything to you again. As for the jade pendant, we can talk about it later. I’ll get you out first.”
She had been too anxious. She should have taken him out first. As long as they returned to the original host’s hometown, there would naturally be plenty of people to testify for her.
With that thought, she immediately took action.
The rope she had used to descend into the cave had fallen, but it was not a big problem. She had not planned to use that rope to bring up someone with a broken leg anyway.
Since she had come to rescue him, she had already made thorough preparations.
Jiang Yin took out a yellow talisman paper from her bosom, bit her fingertip, and let a drop of blood fall onto it. Closing her eyes, she murmured a few incantations in a low voice. When she opened them again, she raised her hand and slapped the talisman onto the young man’s forehead with a “pa,” shouting at the same time, “Manifest your power at once!”
The blood-stained talisman carried a faintly sweet metallic scent that spread through the air. This was originally a smell Chu Nanci detested the most. If it were any other time, if someone dared to smear such filthy blood upon him, he would have already flayed that person alive.
But recalling the strange and intense pleasure from before, he rarely felt no killing intent. Instead, with some interest, he asked, “What exactly are you doing?”
“Healing your injuries.” Jiang Yin said, “I spent a lot of money to buy this healing talisman. The seller said that whether it’s torn tendons and broken bones or unstoppable bleeding, once the talisman is used, the illness will disappear. How do you feel now? Does your leg still hurt?”
Feel?
He wanted to laugh.
Not to mention that healing talismans capable of mending bones and stopping bleeding were all considered high-grade talismans, something even ordinary cultivators would find hard to obtain. Even if Jiang Yin had truly been lucky enough to buy an authentic one, the method of use would absolutely not be like her superstitious chanting, nor would it require her to drip her own blood onto the talisman.
Chu Nanci removed the talisman from his forehead and held it between his fingers, idly toying with it. With a faint, ambiguous smile at the corner of his lips, he looked at Jiang Yin. “How did you know my leg needed treatment?”
“I guessed,” Jiang Yin said, pretending to give a well-reasoned explanation. “This cave is so high. If you fell down, you would definitely injure your legs. Besides, you haven’t moved at all since earlier. It’s easy to figure out, right?”
“Yes.” Chu Nanci asked again as if casually, “Then how did you find me? Was that also a guess?”
Or was it that between her and that so-called fiancé, there was some way to contact each other?
The young man lowered his long lashes slightly, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Yin without leaving a trace.
The slow-witted girl noticed nothing and continued answering obediently. “More or less. I originally planned to go to Xuantian Sect to find you, but this morning when I passed through the small town at the foot of the mountain, I heard people say that a young cultivator had entered the mountains to eliminate a demon. So I thought I’d try my luck. If I ran into a disciple of Xuantian Sect, I could even ask them to deliver a letter to you. I didn’t expect to run into you directly.”
This was a reason Jiang Yin had prepared long ago. To make it convincing, she had deliberately gone to the town that morning and taken a walk around, buying talisman paper along the way.
Including the reason she could still recognize him after not seeing him for ten years, she had also prepared in advance.
“The clothes you’re wearing were sewn by your mother herself. I was right there watching at the time. She likes to hide fine stitching within normal embroidery. Although your clothes look white, under sunlight they shimmer with faint golden threads.”
And at this moment, the sunlight was just right. Even though the bloodstains on his clothes had nearly soaked through the entire garment, the fine glimmers could still be seen.
Jiang Yin clasped her hands to her chest and sighed, “It seems even the heavens are guiding me to find you, so that lovers like us can finally be united.”
Chu Nanci let out an “Ah” as if enlightened. “So that’s how it is.”
The situation was now completely clear.
Because of the clothes on his body, which he had taken from a puppet demon, Jiang Yin had mistaken him for the fiancé she had not seen for many years.
If he told her now that she had mistaken him for someone else, perhaps he could still let lovers be united in the end.
Unfortunately, he was not the heavens.
To him, tearing lovers apart was far more interesting than bringing them together.
Moreover, the pleasure Jiang Yin had brought him just now was pure and intense. He had not yet had his fill, and there was absolutely no possibility that he would hand over such amusement delivered right to his door at this moment.
Thus, when Jiang Yin sensed that his attitude seemed to have softened and asked eagerly with shining eyes whether he believed her, Chu Nanci’s eyes curved slightly at the corners, forming an almost bewitching arc.
“Mm, I believe you.”
His tone paused slightly, as if savoring words that were far too unfamiliar to him.
“You are my… fiancée.”
The excitement on Jiang Yin’s face lasted only three seconds.
The young man then said, “Now, you may take advantage of me.”
She herself had said earlier that before he believed her, she would not do anything to him. Now that he believed her, she could continue.
Jiang Yin: “……”
Where was this him believing her? He was clearly still testing her.
A sense of helplessness washed over her, as though even jumping into the Yellow River would not cleanse her name. “I’m really not the kind of person you think I am.”
“What kind of person?” Chu Nanci’s gaze was gentle as he patiently waited for her answer.
He had a pair of exceptionally beautiful eyes, long and slightly upturned, with a lighter shade in his pupils. At this moment, they clearly reflected Jiang Yin’s flushed face, inexplicably making her feel a bit guilty.
She avoided his gaze, her eyes involuntarily falling upon his still somewhat disordered collar.
The jade-white skin flickered in and out of sight through the gaps in the fabric, reminding her of the sensation from earlier. Her fingers grew faintly warm, and the words that had reached her lips all got stuck in her throat.
At first, she really had only been looking for the jade pendant, but that last touch on his chest muscles…
Fine. She had a guilty conscience.
“Um, isn’t your leg better now? Hurry and get up. Let’s figure out a way to leave first, in case that great demon who injured you comes back,” Jiang Yin said, stiffly changing the subject.
Chu Nanci looked at her clumsy attempt to cover it up, amusement filling his eyes. “My leg? It doesn’t seem to have healed.”
“Did the healing talisman not work? Or did I use it wrong? Give it to me, I’ll try again.”
Jiang Yin reached out to take back the talisman from between his fingers, but the moment she saw it clearly, her arm froze midair.
The originally ink-black symbols were gradually turning bright red, while the blood she had dripped onto it was visibly fading.
It was as if the talisman was devouring her blood.
“What is going on?!”
Chu Nanci wore an innocent expression. “I was just about to tell you, this isn’t any healing talisman. It’s a demon-summoning talisman.”
Jiang Yin sucked in a sharp breath.
A demon-summoning talisman was a type of charm used to summon demonic beasts.
In the original story, when the male and female leads tried to seal the villain, the Nine-Tailed Fox, they had also considered using such a talisman. However, demon-summoning talismans were not fixed in form. Every demon had a unique summoning method, and no one knew what kind of talisman could summon the Nine-Tailed Fox. In the end, they had no choice but to abandon the idea.
Seeing the demon-summoning talisman in the young man’s hand dissolve into a wisp of blood-red smoke, Jiang Yin grew even more frightened, her voice trembling. “Why did it disappear?”
“Because…” Chu Nanci’s gentle tone concealed a trace of malice, “the demon that was summoned has already arrived.”
The shadow that suddenly loomed over her head cut off the question Jiang Yin had been about to ask.
Her neck tilted upward with extreme stiffness. The unknown fear made her instinctively want to grab onto something.
The closest thing to her was the young man’s hand.
She could no longer care that he had just been holding the demon-summoning talisman. With both hands, she gripped his fingers as if clutching a lifesaving driftwood, tightening her hold more and more.
It would be fine. She still had three chances to save her life. Nothing would happen.
Even so, when Jiang Yin looked up and saw a gigantic beast face baring its grim fangs as it lunged down from the cave entrance, the sudden horror right in her face made her vision go black instantly.
Before losing consciousness, she stared at that ferocious beast face and thought vaguely, ‘Is it a dog or a wolf? It doesn’t seem like either… more like… a fox.’
Chu Nanci, at the moment her fingers loosened, subconsciously reached out. The girl’s limp body happened to fall into his arms.
That scent, like orange blossoms warmed under sunlight, once again filled his breath. He curled his fingers slightly, the ones that had been gripped to the point of tingling, and lowered his gaze as he called softly, “Jiang Yin?”
No response.
“She fainted just like that?” He seemed surprised, yet also amused. “What a timid one.”
He made no mention at all of the fact that he had deliberately summoned a beast form to frighten her.
The person in his arms had her eyes tightly shut. With nothing restraining him now, his gaze swept slowly over her eyes and lips.
To be honest, judging by her looks alone, she was far from qualified to be his fiancée.
Fortunately, it was fake.
Further down, her somewhat slender back came into view. At her narrow waist, a small creature with a yellow beak and pointed bill was clinging there. Its size and appearance were no different from an ordinary chick, making it hard to associate it with the legendary blood demon.
But in truth, the blood demon that others saw as bloodthirsty and tyrannical was, like the girl in his arms, nothing more than a coward who could not withstand a scare.
Both had been frightened unconscious by his beast form. The girl lying in his arms made him feel a sense of novelty and amusement, but that little chick sprawled at Jiang Yin’s waist only looked more and more like an eyesore the longer he stared at it.
He was just about to raise his hand to brush the annoying thing away when a series of deliberately lightened footsteps approached the cave entrance from afar.
After a brief flicker in his gaze, Chu Nanci chose to close his eyes, as if, like Jiang Yin, he had fallen unconscious.