Ning Ying had to admit, food tastes best when someone else is paying.
Gazing at the table full of dishes shimmering with spiritual energy, she poured herself a glass of wine and took a leisurely sip: “Since Senior Brother Gu has been so sincere as to treat me to dinner, I naturally won’t reveal that you’re ‘Demon Lord’s Little Fangirl.'”
“Shh—” Gu Qi’s expression changed, and he quickly raised his hand to cover her mouth. “I know what you’re trying to say, but we can just understand each other implicitly. There’s no need to say it out loud—what if others overhear?!”
“Mmph mmph!” Ning Ying floundered in Gu Qi’s arms like a salted fish trying to escape. “Senior Brother Gu, it seems like you’re the one talking loudly here.”
The corner of Gu Qi’s eye twitched, but he finally released her, casually forming a soundproofing seal before speaking. “This matter shouldn’t be broadcast. I hope you understand, Junior Sister. Just now I was… momentarily anxious and meant no offense.”
Ning Ying naturally knew he had no ill intentions. Besides, she herself needed to hide her true strength, which was why she pretended she couldn’t break free.
After all, her senior brother was at the Nascent Soul stage, while her apparent cultivation had only just reached Foundation Establishment.
“I naturally understand you, Senior Brother,” Ning Ying said seriously. “After all, you’re one of the most talented disciples of the younger generation in our sect—ranked on the Prodigy List, the Beauty List, and the Outstanding Youth List. You even won first place in the sect competition. Quite a few junior sisters secretly admire you. If they found out you’re Teacher ‘Demon Lord’s Little Fangirl,’ they’d probably question their life choices…”
Gu Qi’s expression shifted slightly. He had once been the suave and elegant Demon Lord—if he ranked second in vanity, no one in the demon realm dared rank first. He cared quite a bit about his image.
“I implore you, Junior Sister, don’t spread this around. Let everyone keep their wonderful impression of me.”
“Naturally.” Ning Ying nodded. “By the way, Teacher ‘Demon Lord’s Little Fangirl’s’ work After the Substitute’s Death, the Immortal Lord’s Regret Crematorium has been quite popular in the sect lately. The junior sisters who secretly admire you are all reading it.”
“No, don’t mention that name…” Gu Qi wore an expression of utter social death, nervously looking around. Even with the soundproofing seal in place, he still felt guilty as sin.
Watching her suspicious senior brother, Ning Ying couldn’t help the smile tugging at her lips. “I’ve actually always been a loyal reader of yours, Senior Brother. Uncle-Master Ye likes your work too…”
Gu Qi’s pupils contracted. “Speaking of which, whatever you do, don’t show that After Being Abandoned by the Sword Master, I Won Over the Demon Lord to Uncle-Master Ye!”
“Why not?” Ning Ying blinked, curious.
“Because I used some artistic creative techniques—it’s somewhat exaggerated…” Senior Brother looked like he had a mouthful of bitterness he couldn’t express. “Anyway, you’ll understand once you read it.”
That night, Ning Ying burned the midnight oil, staying up to finish the storybook.
‘After Being Abandoned by the Sword Master, I Won Over the Demon Lord’ was a story about the second male lead getting promoted in the crematorium genre. The female lead was an unremarkable junior sister in the sect who secretly possessed ancient phoenix blood. She had always adored the Sword Master and sacrificed much for him, but the scumbag Sword Master neither accepted nor rejected her. To save his disciple, he feigned affection, only to trick her into giving her heart’s blood to cure his apprentice.
Having lost her heart’s blood, the female lead fell into a weakened state, exposed her demon clan true form, was expelled from the sect, and ended up in the demon realm. There, by a twist of fate, she won over the Demon Lord. The ending, naturally, had the female lead returning with the Demon Lord to slap some faces, while the Sword Master regretted his actions bitterly and spent his life in remorse.
In short, the storybook had only one main theme:
Righteous path cultivators are all scumbags. Come join the demon race—gold, silver, treasures, stunning beauties, yours with just a click!
Ning Ying closed the storybook.
The prototype for the Sword Master in the book was clearly Uncle-Master Ye. No wonder her senior brother wanted to hide it, not letting her show it to Uncle-Master Ye.
But who was the prototype for the Demon Lord?
The storybook described the Demon Lord in glowing terms—half the author’s prose was spent praising how handsome the Demon Lord was.
Ning Ying thought of a possibility.
Senior Brother Gu said he wasn’t gay… Could it be that this guy was actually a narcissist?!
Ning Ying sat bolt upright in bed in the dead of night. “No way—could Senior Brother Gu actually be the Demon Lord? Him infiltrating the Immortal Sect must mean he has some scheme. Without delay, I need to inform Master immediately!”
This was urgent—a matter of great importance. Not even properly dressed, wearing only a thin gauze robe over her nightgown, she picked up an octagonal palace lantern and quietly slipped into her master’s cave dwelling.
Cultivators had no need for sleep. Though night had deepened, the Immortal Lord still sat in meditation. Hearing the faint footsteps outside, his snow-white lashes trembled slightly, and a hint of amusement seemed to flicker in his clear, handsome brows and eyes.
There were restrictions and arrays outside her master’s dwelling, but they had no effect on Ning Ying. He never set up defenses against her.
Ning Ying hurriedly burst into her master’s room, disregarding propriety, and poured out a flurry of words, voicing her suspicion that her senior brother was the Demon Lord.
“…The Demon Lord surely has some sinister scheme. I hope Master will see clearly!”
“I’ve known for quite some time,” the aloof, elegant white-robed Immortal Lord said coolly. “That Demon Lord isn’t very bright. Better to keep him here causing minor mischief than letting him commit murder and arson elsewhere.”
Ning Ying: !
Master had known all along? Then her rushing over in the middle of the night was completely unnecessary?
Only then did she notice that while speaking to her, her master’s frost-like long lashes were lowered. He hadn’t looked directly at her, and the tips of his jade-cool ears showed the faintest trace of a blush.
She scratched her head.
She rarely saw her master embarrassed. What was going on?
A gust of wind blew out the lantern in Ning Ying’s hand and swept the thin gauze from her shoulders to the ground. Now she wore only a dress that barely covered her chest, her slender shoulders exposed to the cool air, her chest rising and falling gently with each breath. Her snow-white skin gleamed like moonlight in the darkness.
“…Master?” Ning Ying said softly. “The lantern seems to have gone out. I’ll relight it right away.”
“No need.” In the darkness, Yun Qingyuan’s voice was as elegantly calm as ever. “I’ll keep an eye on the Demon Lord myself. Try not to get too close to him in daily matters.”
“Yes, Master.” Ning Ying said obediently. “Then I’ll go back to rest now?”
Yun Qingyuan rose, removed his cool, simple outer robe, and draped it over her shoulders. “I’ll see you back.”
Ning Ying’s pupils dilated slightly, her heart feeling as if gently brushed by a soft feather. Though her master’s robes looked simple, the material was excellent—the touch against her skin was indescribably comfortable, and the fresh fragrance of secluded mountains and valleys wafted into her nose, making her involuntarily think of… wrapping her arms around his slender waist, burying her face in his embrace.
No, Ning Ying, what are you thinking!
Respect your master, keep a low profile. Don’t think about such frivolous things. Master-disciple romance was treatment reserved for protagonists—as a cannon fodder female supporting character, she needed to know her place QAQ.
Ning Ying quickly sealed her heart. “It’s so late now, Master, you should hurry back to rest.”
Yun Qingyuan shook his head faintly, his tone clear and slightly distant, as if merely showing concern for a junior. “I’m worried about you.”
Ning Ying knew her master’s nature and understood she couldn’t sway him, so she simply nodded.
By now, the two had reached the entrance of the cave dwelling, when they unexpectedly ran into the Demon Lord returning from his midnight mischief-making. He wore a night-robe, outlining his slender figure, his dark hair tied high, a cloth mask covering his face—revealing only a pair of sharp, handsome eyes.
But upon seeing her, the Demon Lord’s gaze turned somewhat complicated.
Demon Lord: “…”
Demon Lord: “???”
Ning Ying: “…”
She didn’t need to think to know—seeing her emerge from Yun Qingyuan’s cave dwelling wearing his robes, the Demon Lord had already mentally filled in eight hundred words of steamy fanfiction.