A cold mist rose from the snow beneath the thatched eaves, carrying a clear, chilling scent.
Yin Jiu Ruo loved the feeling of the chill sinking into her bones, especially after being locked in this sunless hut for who knew how long.
In the deepest part of the hut, a group of people, just as ragged as she was, huddled together on a dirty reed mat. Their eyes were filled with fear, and they swayed like pigs in a pen, waiting for slaughter.
The sound of footsteps, mixed with the scrape of a sharp weapon being dragged across the ground, grew closer. The people in the hut shrank back, pressing themselves into a tight ball.
Only Yin Jiu Ruo, still clinging to a sliver of hope, leaned out, trying to taste the fresh, cold snowmelt.
Two armored demon soldiers bowed obsequiously to the stunningly beautiful and deadly Demon Lord behind them.
“My Lord,” one of them said, “this batch of mortals is of the lowest quality. They’re missing limbs or are just hideously ugly. They’re not worthy of being your dual cultivation partners.”
As he spoke, the demon soldier shot a vicious glare at Yin Jiu Ruo, but only saw the back of a messy head and the web of dark red markings on her cheek.
“Is that so?” The Demon Lord let out a seductive little laugh. Her enchanting, rose-red eyes swept provocatively over everyone present, making them tremble in fear. They were terrified of being dragged out to have their life force drained or be swallowed whole.
This demon had held them captive for months, committing every evil imaginable from eating people to drinking their blood. No cultivator had come to slay her, which spoke volumes about the terrifying extent of her power.
“Then clean them all up and I’ll give them to you as a reward,” the Demon Lord said to her soldiers, her voice dripping with charm. Her crimson tongue darted over her red lips. “You can steam or braise them.”
Instantly, the hut filled with wails and pleas for mercy. This only made the Demon Lord smile, her captivating beauty revealing a bloodthirsty desire for slaughter.
Yin Jiu Ruo turned her head, just in time to meet the cruelty and delight in the Demon Lord’s eyes behind her veil.
She watched as the Demon Lord pointed a finger at her and said, “Bring her to my room.”
Yin Jiu Ruo was dragged into a room thick with the scent of seductive incense. The Demon Lord was reclining on a couch, dressed in a light, red gauze robe.
Her long, jade-like legs were barely hidden by the thin fabric, and her soft, captivating eyes looked over, showing none of the terror of a man-eating demon.
“Your blood smells very sweet,” Yin Jiu Ruo heard the Demon Lord whisper in her ear.
The Demon Lord’s veil fell, revealing a face that was surprisingly cool and gentle. She was exquisitely beautiful, with skin as smooth as polished jade, yet she coiled around Yin Jiu Ruo like a snake.
It’s over. Looks like I’m really going to be eaten by a demon this time, Yin Jiu Ruo thought, unwilling to accept her fate.
After her soul had transmigrated into this world, she had suffered from frequent memory loss. She only remembered her name and nothing else. Yet this body held many secrets. Even if she had to die, she wanted to die knowing the truth.
“Am I going to die?” Yin Jiu Ruo murmured softly, closing her eyes.
But the Demon Lord only breathed warmly against her ear and chuckled. “How could I ever bear to let you die?”
Hearing this, Yin Jiu Ruo’s eyes snapped open. The Demon Lord pressed closer, her fair, delicate body almost completely exposed as the gauze robe slipped away. A dark fragrance wafted from her, tempting and dangerous.
A cultivation cauldron.
The words flashed in Yin Jiu Ruo’s mind. She was going to lose her innocence right before she died.
It seemed that the only thing worse than amnesia was being unable to cultivate in a world of immortals, without even the strength to resist.
“You have some spine. You’d rather die than submit?” The Demon Lord’s long, pale fingers lifted Yin Jiu Ruo’s chin, caressing her pale lips. She took the opportunity to slip a red pill into her mouth. “It is your fortune, earned over a hundred lifetimes, to be able to dual cultivate with me. You will do it, whether you want to or not.”
The small, slick pill slid down her throat. A cooling sensation quickly turned into a scorching fire, and Yin Jiu Ruo couldn’t help but let out a low moan.
The Demon Lord, her hair pinned up high and the corners of her eyes flushed a faint red, was about to bite the tip of Yin Jiu Ruo’s finger, which had been cut by the frost earlier.
The next moment, a loud crash echoed through the room. The sandalwood door was shattered by a blade-like gust of wind and snow, sending splinters of wood and thatch flying.
The icy moon hung high in the sky. A majestic, immortal aura swept in, kicking up snow that almost blinded Yin Jiu Ruo. It was like a stream of light, brilliant and extraordinary.
A figure of breathtaking grace stood there. A woman, suspended in mid-air, held a paper umbrella the color of green jade. Her white robes billowed around her, and her beauty was immense. As she looked down upon the world, her gaze was one of holy compassion, ethereal and transcendent.
The woman had appeared at just the right moment. Yin Jiu Ruo stared, mesmerized, her heart pounding like a drum.
“Fu Qing, my dear Daoist Lord Chang Fan, what took you so long?” the Demon Lord asked. She maintained her intimate and ambiguous posture with Yin Jiu Ruo, her tone as familiar as if she were greeting an old friend.
The woman, Daoist Lord Chang Fan, whose name was Fu Qing, remained silent. Her expression showed neither joy nor sorrow as she toyed with a green, twin-fish jade pendant in her palm.
The wind and snow around her coalesced into sharp, icy swords, all pointed directly at the Demon Lord.
“Alas, we haven’t seen each other in a thousand years, yet you’re still colder than any demon I know,” the Demon Lord sighed dramatically. She then turned to Yin Jiu Ruo, a tender smile on her blood-red lips. “Someone has come to save you. Are you happy?”
A tide of heat was already coursing through Yin Jiu Ruo’s veins, a gnawing sensation like ants chewing on her bones. Cold sweat beaded on her smooth forehead as a mix of awe and terror washed over her.
Because the noble, frost-like Daoist Lord Chang Fan and the seductive, murderous Demon Lord—
The two of them had the exact same face.
Seeing the fear on Yin Jiu Ruo’s pale, innocent face, the Demon Lord’s smile widened. With a flick of her wrist, she brandished a fiery red snake whip and called out to Fu Qing.
“This mortal’s blood is quite fragrant. Why don’t you come over and enjoy her with me? I imagine the sight of the three of us sharing a bed would be breathtaking.”
“Utter nonsense.”
The wind and snow surged again. Yin Jiu Ruo heard only those four simple words from Daoist Lord Fu Qing. The immortal beauty’s voice was as cool and detached as her appearance.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t understand how a Daoist Lord and a demon could look identical.
“It seems you have no desire to share this earthly pleasure with me,” the Demon Lord said, her painted fingers gently tracing the dark red patterns on Yin Jiu Ruo’s face. Beneath the icy moon, the strange, dark fragrance grew stronger.
Fu Qing still stood silently under her umbrella, only the tip of the jade-green umbrella glowed faintly.
“What a pity, Fu Qing. Since you remain so stubborn, let me see just how you plan to transcend all emotion and achieve the Unfeeling Heavenly Dao.”
As the Demon Lord’s casual, flippant words fell, Yin Jiu Ruo saw her swallow a red aphrodisiac pill of her own before charging toward the sword intent that Fu Qing had forged from wind and snow.
A clash of dazzling red and brilliant white produced a thick, oppressive demonic energy.
Yin Jiu Ruo, a mere mortal caught in the center of the flashing swords, coughed up a mouthful of blood the moment she tried to move.
The Demon Lord had already summoned her snake whip. A blood-red mist of spiritual energy swirled around her as she exchanged several blows with the white-robed Daoist Lord. A trickle of blood appeared at the corner of her lips.
“If only you’d arrived a little later,” she said, “and let me and that mortal enjoy a few days of pleasure. It’s a shame she’ll have to die without ever knowing a shred of true affection.”
“I will ensure her safety,” Fu Qing replied, her features like frost. She closed her umbrella and waved it gently, and the blood-red mist scattered like thousands of falling petals.
Without even drawing a sword, the Demon Lord who had brought chaos to the mortal realm was so easily defeated by Daoist Lord Fu Qing.
The wind fell silent, the snow fell silent. Everything was still. Yin Jiu Ruo struggled to crawl out of the courtyard.
But in that extreme silence, the blood roiled in her veins. The scabbed-over wounds on her hands split open again, and her body felt like it was on fire. It felt like she was about to die.
She never knew an aphrodisiac poison could be so potent and unbearable.
Knowing she was defeated, the Demon Lord’s smile only grew more radiant and alluring as she faced the vast wave of sword energy rushing toward her.
“Fu Qing, the higher one’s cultivation, the stronger this aphrodisiac poison is. Since I cannot taste its delights, you will have to experience it for me.”
Without waiting for Fu Qing’s hesitant frown, the Demon Lord sent a secret message directly into Yin Jiu Ruo’s mind.
“Her name is Fu Qing. She’s here to kill you.”
Yin Jiu Ruo was incredibly weak. Though her will to live was strong, the Demon Lord’s voice, laced with demonic power, felt like it was burning her from the inside out. A ringing filled her ears, blood trickled from her nose, and she almost fainted.
The Demon Lord’s soul was extinguished. Fu Qing opened her umbrella once more, not a single snowflake marring her pristine robes.
She was about to summon the disciples of the Canglan Sect to clean up the aftermath when she noticed a crimson mist fly into her palm.
It was a sign that the aphrodisiac poison had entered her body.
Yin Jiu Ruo remembered fainting in a muddy field in the dead of winter, her body wrapped in icy water while a fire raged within her.
Now, that fire was burning even hotter.
Because she was leaning against the side of a warm pool, and she could feel the body heat of another person beside her.
The cool, frosty woman had removed her cloud-like white robes. Their skin touched, like clouds drifting across the sky.
The water in the hot spring rippled. The Daoist Lord, who had always been so clear-headed, had a faint blush at the corner of her eyes. Her gaze was still cool and detached as her slender hands reached for a white gauze cloth by the pool, trying to cover her mark-laden body.
But the poison ran deep. Clarity was only temporary; sinking into desire was eternal.
Yin Jiu Ruo’s slender eyes were clouded with lust. She saw the unmelting ice that coated the dark, phoenix eyes of the woman in her arms—eyes that held all the beauty of the world.
As they shared an intimate moment, her heart rippled with emotion, yet she vaguely remembered that she didn’t know this woman at all.
This person’s title was Chang Fan, her name was Fu Qing. Fu Qing was…
She was here to kill her.
The Demon Lord’s final, teasing words exploded in Yin Jiu Ruo’s mind like thunder, and her clarity returned.
But just then, the woman in her arms suddenly reached up, grabbed the collar of her tattered clothes, and pressed her lips against hers.
Yin Jiu Ruo’s palm touched the twin-fish jade pendant in the other woman’s hand. It was cool to the touch.
In an instant, an electric current sparked from where their lips met, spreading through their bodies and leaving them numb and trembling.
The sensation was even more intense than the tender affection from moments before.
Yin Jiu Ruo suddenly understood. They were in a spiritual sea. The Demon Lord’s poison targeted the soul, forcing those afflicted to entwine their primordial spirits.
In other words, she was having a spiritual union… with someone who might kill her.
The pleasure of a spiritual union was hundreds, even thousands of times more intense than that of a mortal body.
Fu Qing sensed her partner’s distraction. Her dark eyes, clouded with desire, blinked slowly. She had always been indifferent to emotion, passionless and without desire, yet the first touch of their souls merging sent a jolt through her, making her heart tremble uncontrollably.
In the sea of consciousness, their spiritual union knew no day or night, and they were inseparable.
When the aphrodisiac poison finally faded, Yin Jiu Ruo woke up. The aloof, dignified woman beside her was still asleep.
Fu Qing’s hand was still clenched around the jade pendant. Her skin, like the finest white jade, was covered in marks that spoke of the past few days of debauchery.
Ignoring the soreness that wracked her body, Yin Jiu Ruo climbed out of the hot spring, which was lined with mermaid silk, and stumbled away.
Fu Qing’s resemblance to the Demon Lord, and the fact that she had slept with Fu Qing—either one of those things was enough to get an ordinary mortal killed without a proper burial.
Though she knew the danger, Yin Jiu Ruo hesitated. She looked at the sleeping woman, and a strange emotion flickered in her dark eyes.
It felt as if leaving just like this would mean losing something precious.
After weighing her options, she steeled herself and walked away. She didn’t notice the woman’s tear-stained eyelashes tremble, as if she were about to wake.
Waah more…no next button?