“Do you want to die?”
The young man pinched the back of her neck, yanking her head back with almost brutal force.
“Ow~” Rong Yao cried out from the pain of his grip.
Yin Yanxiu’s face was dark as he glared fixedly at the reckless girl before him.
The soft sensation on his lips from that moment still seemed to linger—he had never imagined she would actually dare to kiss him!
Rong Yao looked at the young man’s suddenly livid face, completely unaware of what she had done wrong.
She had kissed him exactly as he’d told her to, so why was he still acting like this…
“Weren’t you the one who told me to kiss you?” Rong Yao said, feeling wronged.
Seeing the girl looking at him so pitifully, Yin Yanxiu’s expression grew even uglier. ”If I tell you to kiss me, you just do it?”
He never imagined she could be so shameless.
“Shameless!” the young man spat out, his face gloomy.
“…”
Rong Yao was about to argue back when she accidentally caught sight of his reddened ears.
He… was he blushing?
Knock knock knock—
Just then, a sudden knocking came from outside the door.
“Little beast, are you up yet?”
Hearing the voice, both of them in the room were startled.
A man and a woman alone in one room first thing in the morning—if anyone found out…
Rong Yao didn’t even dare think further.
Just as she was at a loss for what to do, the young man standing by the bed moved first, pulling up the blanket beside him and covering her with it.
“Mmph—” The blanket covered Rong Yao’s face, plunging her into darkness.
Seeing that the young man was slow to open the door, the two people outside knocked even harder.
“Little beast, are you dead or what? Hurry up and open—”
The tightly shut door was pulled open from the inside, and the man knocking stumbled forward, only saved by his companion steadying him in time.
Yin Yanxiu stood at the doorway, looking coldly at the two men. “Is there something you need, Senior Brothers?”
“Tch, like we’ve got nothing better to do than come find you?” the man said, his tone particularly unfriendly. “Big Senior Brother sent us to tell you—you’re in charge of cleaning the Treasure Pavilion today.”
Yin Yanxiu said coldly, “The Treasure Pavilion isn’t my job.”
“It’s Big Senior Brother’s order. He said if you don’t do it, you don’t eat today. Figure it out yourself.”
Yin Yanxiu remained silent, only staring at them coldly.
The two men, pinned by the young man’s gloomy gaze, felt their scalps go numb. Just as they were about to turn and leave, a soft noise suddenly came from inside the room.
“What was that sound in there?”
Before Yin Yanxiu could answer, the man shoved past him and barged straight into the room.
A damp, moldy smell hit him in the face, making him pinch his nose in disgust.
The room was tiny—just a bed, a cabinet, and a table as far as the eye could see, along with neatly stacked firewood and miscellaneous items in the corner.
The room was kept very clean; it was clear its owner was quite tidy. But the room was simply too run-down, and the wood itself gave off waves of musty odor.
The man covered his nose and looked around, finding nothing unusual.
Then he turned to glance at Yin Yanxiu. Seeing the young man’s calm expression, without the slightest hint of anything amiss, he said to him, “Don’t let me catch you!”
Only then did he turn and leave.
After the two left, Yin Yanxiu gazed at the empty bed and the window left half open, his expression indifferent.
“Hiss, hiss~” A small crimson snake slithered toward him across the floor, a short sword coiled in its tail.
Yin Yanxiu crouched down and took the sword from its tail. The Crimson Snake slid up along his hand and wound around his arm several times.
Yin Yanxiu looked at the harmless blade in his hand.
“Did that woman leave it behind?” he asked.
The Crimson Snake nodded, rubbing its head against his arm through the fabric several times.
Seeing the snake flick its tongue at his arm repeatedly, Yin Yanxiu pulled back his sleeve—there were several scratch marks from fingernails on his arm.
Recalling what had happened the night before, and the girl’s words: I like you.
He ran his fingertip lightly over the cold blade, a faint glint of chill flashing through his dark eyes. After thinking for a long while, he finally spoke slowly:
“Perhaps… it would be best to just kill her.”
“Achoo~ Achoo~”
Rong Yao had finally escaped through the window, but on the way back, for some unknown reason, she sneezed several times in a row.
In the early morning, the sect disciples were already rising one after another. Afraid of being recognized, Rong Yao scurried anxiously toward Pure Dust Palace the whole way, not daring to look back.
Fortunately, she didn’t run into anyone. When she finally reached her quarters, she leaned against the door, panting heavily.
That… that was close!
“You brat! Where on earth did you go last night?! Coming back only now!”
Hearing the commotion, Taotao flew out of the room and saw the girl leaning against the door, slightly out of breath, her little face flushed red.
“When the Immortal Venerable returns, I’ll tell him, and see if he doesn’t break your legs!”
She had been gone all night, and Taotao had been worried to death. If she’d come back any later, it really would have reported her to the sect!
“Master would never break my legs!”
Rong Yao lifted her skirt and walked into the room, Taotao flying right after her. “Hmph, you just rely on the Immortal Venerable doting on you.”
Rong Yao entered the sleeping chamber and drank several cups of water before finally calming down.
Taotao circled around her and happened to catch sight of a glaring bite mark on the girl’s fair, tender neck. Its eyes went wide as it cried out, “You brat! You were gone all night—don’t tell me you eloped with a man!”
“Pfft—”
The water Rong Yao had just taken in sprayed out before she could swallow it.
“Cough, cough—”
Rong Yao was shocked. “Taotao, what nonsense are you spouting?!”
“Look at your own neck!”
For Taotao, who had read countless romance novels, such a bite mark on a girl’s neck was highly suspicious!
“Could it be… could it be that man named Yin Yanxiu—mmph…”
Before Taotao could finish, Rong Yao grabbed a grape from nearby and stuffed it into its mouth.
Taotao mumbled for a good while before finally finishing the grape.
The moment it was done, the girl stood before it, looking at it with a serious expression. “Rong Taotao, I have something very, very, very important to tell you. This matter concerns not only the future of the Immortal Gate Sect, but the future of the Three Realms as well!
Promise me—only you and I may know of this. Heaven knows, earth knows, but not a third person may ever find out!”
The girl spoke with such a serious expression that Taotao was startled by it, biting her fingers as she nodded vigorously.
……
Rong Yao held nothing back from Taotao, telling her everything about her rebirth.
“So you’re saying that this Yin Yanxiu will one day become the Demon King who strikes terror across the Three Realms? That he’ll not only wash the Immortal Gate Sect in blood, but also plunge the Three Realms into utter misery?”
“Exactly!” Rong Yao nodded firmly.
Not only that—he had also locked her away in his palace in the Demon Realm, where every single day he did all sorts of unspeakable things to her…