Half-Demon
Shuangjian was not late.
Even though he had returned in such a terrifying state.
The calmness and composure Yingshi had forced herself to maintain completely shattered. She threw herself into Shuangjian's arms, no longer caring if her roughness would aggravate the pain of the wounds covering his body.
Burying her face in Shuangjian's bloodstained chest and tightly wrapping her arms around his waist, she wailed, Han Shuangjian, you scared me to death!
The disappearance of the black aura had truly caused her to break down.
When she followed the two protectors here earlier, her mind had been in a complete daze. She simply could not accept that something had happened to Shuangjian.
Thank goodness, he was actually alright!
Of course, Shuangjian's current appearance suggested he was not far from not being alright; he had indeed been hanging by a thread.
Yingshi's crying startled the two protectors who were still kneeling on the ground. Maoyu and Shangyou were undeniably shocked and suspicious.
Although they were a step late, they had already realized that having the same aura did not mean the one who descended here was the Demon King himself. So what did this mean?
The Demon King who had ordered them to enter the Demon Realm to capture someone had not even waited for their return before... Or was there another possibility?
Shangyou tightened his grip on the bone whip in his hand, his knuckles turning white. The shock in his eyes quickly transformed into wariness and murderous intent.
Maoyu also lost all her flirtatious expressions. Looking up at Shuangjian, her red lips parted slightly, but she could not make a sound.
Shuangjian tightened his arms, firmly embedding the crying girl into his embrace, but this tender moment lasted for only a very brief time.
He raised his eyes, his gaze passing over the top of Yingshi's head to land on the two people glaring at them like tigers watching their prey from a short distance away.
The moment their eyes met, the bone whip struck decisively, tearing through the air. Shangyou flew forward, and demonic energy morphed into whip trails that viciously attacked Shuangjian's face.
Maoyu was only half a second slower. In the next instant, she followed her partner's offensive momentum, her figure dissipating like smoke. When she reappeared, she was standing perfectly to the side and slightly behind Yingshi. Purple light flowed from her fingertips, wrapping toward Yingshi's ankle in an attempt to drag her away from Shuangjian.
This person before them, who had stripped himself from the giant demon's hand, was the very culprit who had turned the Burning Heaven Scorched Earth upside down.
They might not be able to face him head-on; after all, even the Demon King was likely doomed.
But looking at his current state, if they did not take his life while he was weak, what were they waiting for?!
Shuangjian did not even loosen the arm holding Yingshi.
His other, free hand made a grasping motion forward. The nether ghost mist permeating the surroundings instantly answered the call, condensing in the blink of an eye into a semi-transparent, grayish-black barrier.
Smack!
The bone whip lashed fiercely against the barrier, creating a ring of ripples on its surface, but it failed to strike even a single crack into it.
Meanwhile, the demonic energy flowing from Maoyu's fingertips had long been swept up and mixed into the barrier, becoming a part of the enemy's defense.
Startled by this sudden turn of events, Yingshi finally stopped crying. She hurriedly assumed a stance to channel her spiritual energy, intending to protect the battered Shuangjian.
A water-blue spiritual wave shot out from her palm, forcing the two bewildered demon cultivators half a step back like a high-pressure water gun.
What happened?!
The intense energy fluctuations at the crossing had already alerted the nearby demons.
The group of demons who had originally been playing cards in Mr. Hundred-Thousand-Know-It-All's cave dwelling were the first to arrive. They had all been somewhat concerned about Yingshi, who had been taken away.
Subsequently, more demons attracted by the commotion rushed over from all over the Demon Realm to watch.
Not all demons in the Demon Realm knew what the ancient demon core or the Blessing Tree was. Even during the Blood Moon Festival, the crossing was sparsely populated. It was mixed with foul air from the Nether Realm that even demons repelled, so it was the first time it had been this lively.
As a prominent figure here, Mr. Hundred-Thousand-Know-It-All did his best to maintain order and disperse the crowd of demons.
Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Maoyu and Shangyou quickly flew up and escaped through the eye-like rift.
The rift in the sky rapidly closed, and the passage was sealed once again.
Only after those two disappeared did Shuangjian let out a muffled groan. He finally spat out a mouthful of suppressed dark blood, and his body weight leaned slightly toward Yingshi.
Shuangjian! Yingshi was terrified and hurriedly supported him. Quick, let's go back to Senior Hundred-Thousand's cave!
...
Returning to the messy mouse hole, Mr. Hundred-Thousand-Know-It-All hastily set up layers of restrictions, blocking all the onlookers outside.
It could be said that half the Demon Realm had come—because after Shuangjian spat out blood, he suddenly revealed a new physical transformation.
His originally deep black eyes suddenly shimmered with a pale golden halo at that moment. A pair of pointed wolf ears covered in silvery-white fluff also poked out from his dark hair. Although his fluffy wolf tail hung down behind him, it was not completely hidden.
Even without paying attention to these physical traits, that pure demonic energy was impossible to ignore. This person who had traveled far from the Demon Realm had extraordinary demonic energy flowing through him!
And all of this... was too much like the former Demon King of the Demon Realm!
Could he be a descendant left behind by the Demon King?!
Except for the all-knowing Mr. Hundred-Thousand-Know-It-All, the other demons seemed greatly shocked.
Now they had surrounded the mouse hole layer by layer, like packs of paparazzi waiting for gossip.
Inside the mouse hole, Yingshi's feelings were equally complex.
Heartache and lingering fear intertwined, mixed with a bit of anger.
After getting over the initial shock, she quickly realized that Shuangjian had done this on purpose.
For this final demon slaughter, he deliberately placed himself in danger, thereby forcing the demon core to merge with him!
He was too good at using his own body and even his life. He was far too accustomed to and skilled at exchanging near-death experiences for something else.
He let the Demon King of Eight Sufferings swallow him, artificially creating a deadly situation for himself in order to survive and grow stronger.
And she could not even bring herself to blame him, because he did this for their future!
The most infuriating part was that the fear and worry she endured because of this were entirely her own fault. She was to blame for being too worried, to the point of constantly pestering Mr. Hundred-Thousand-Know-It-All to watch the live broadcast, which ended up scaring herself half to death.
Otherwise, if Shuangjian had returned in this state, she probably would have been able to accept it.
As long as he could appear before her, it definitely meant there were no more problems...
She thought it through clearly, but Yingshi still felt stifled in her heart. However, if she stared at Shuangjian's face, that bit of resentment would quickly dissipate. So, she had no choice but to stare at the wall, sighing faintly.
...
Shuangjian silently and quietly held her hand.
The movement caused her to lower her eyes, involuntarily looking toward the pair of animal ears on top of Shuangjian's head.
They were even more exquisite than she had imagined. The fluff even had a slight sheen under the dim light, and they were not purely white; the tips of the ears were adorned with a small tuft of grayish-black points, very much like the legendary smart hair. Yingshi never knew before that wolf ears also had such characteristics.
Seeing that pair of ears twitching slightly right now due to their owner's weakness, revealing a fragile softness that was hard to see on Shuangjian, Yingshi's eyes went a bit glassy.
She swallowed hard, her gaze continuing to move downward, landing on Shuangjian's tail.
It looked more substantial than the ears. Right now, it rested somewhat limply by the edge of the bed, yet it still allowed one to imagine what it looked like when healthy. It definitely felt amazing to the touch.
...Then, when Shuangjian is happy, would he wag his tail?
Just as she thought this, she saw Shuangjian's tail actually start to wag. It was just a gentle, slow movement, seemingly an unconscious little sway.
The gentle swaying arc of that silvery-white wolf tail looked exactly like a cat-teaser wand.
Yingshi reached out her hand completely without thinking, grabbing that tempting tail right into her grasp.
The texture was entirely different from what she had imagined!
It wasn't just soft fluff; instead, it felt very dense, supple, smooth, and slightly cool. She could even feel an indescribable sense of power beneath the fur...
So much so that not only did she forget to let go immediately, but she even gripped it tighter, deliberately giving it a squeeze—she couldn't wrap her hand around it completely, leaving more than half of the fur spilling out.
"..."
Shuangjian's body stiffened slightly.
Yingshi then suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing what she had done. Her face instantly burned up. She looked up, her eyes darting around as she said, "...Does it hurt a lot? I saw your ears twitching and your tail swaying, and I got a little worried, so..." So that's why I touched it!
"It's not pain."
Shuangjian looked at her quietly and shook his head, his voice slightly hoarse due to his injuries.
He paused for a moment, lowering his gaze. His tone was as calm as ever, yet there was inexplicably something "off" about it.
"I am trying to please you," he said.
"..."
Yingshi was stunned.
Shuangjian nonchalantly raised his eyes to meet hers again, exposing his slightly trembling wolf ears more fully to her line of sight, and added, "You looked like you really wanted to touch them."
...Good heavens, there wasn't a hint of teasing or flirtation in his tone!
It was just a statement, as if he were stating "the moon is beautiful tonight," but it was exactly this that forced Yingshi to feel a sense of "being seduced"!
Her heartbeat started acting up again, and her brain instantly filled with gigabytes of wicked thoughts. Even if she opened her mouth to retort now, she had already missed the best opportunity.
Besides, that soft tail was still gripped in her hand—irrefutable evidence that left no room for denial.
Throwing caution to the wind, Yingshi lunged at Shuangjian as if to vent her frustration, gently pinching his ears with both hands.
She had originally thought this was a demonstration to "show him what she's made of," but when the warm, soft, and elastic sensation actually transmitted from her fingertips, her mind simply started to wander...
Good lord, no wonder furry lovers exist...
If she returned to reality and couldn't touch ears like these, she would really cry...
Right, speaking of reality...
Yingshi's heart tightened slightly, and she instantly became serious again, silently pulling her hands back.
It couldn't be helped; there were clearly more important problems that needed to be solved right now.
"Tomorrow is the night of the full moon in the Demon Realm." She poked Shuangjian's chest with her finger and said solemnly, "Although Mr. Hundred-Thousand-Know-It-All just said you were fine, I want to hear it from your own mouth... Shuangjian, when will all these injuries of yours heal?"
"Very soon," Shuangjian said lightly.
He wasn't lying.
Now that he had integrated the demon core and was in the Demon Realm under the Blood Moon Festival, he would recover to his peak condition once the moon reached its zenith and the blood radiance was at its strongest.
Even if he didn't, that "weakness" itself could serve as a bargaining chip for him to be blessed by the Tree of Blessing.
"I found out the method to obtain the ancient demon essence from Mr. Hundred-Thousand-Know-It-All," Yingshi added. "It's still at that ferry crossing. Once the fifteenth arrives, the Tree of Blessing will appear there, but only individuals recognized by it can get close... I won't be able to go over, so when the time comes, I'll hold Xiangxiang and watch you from afar."
Saying she would hold Xiangxiang was actually just a form of "house arrest" for this mysterious little pig.
Yingshi had already made up her mind to feed all the opportunities to Shuangjian—Shuangjian was a definite ally, but Xiangxiang's stance was terrifyingly ambiguous.
"Oink..."
Xiangxiang seemed anxious about this and started spinning in circles on the spot again.
This scene looked too much like the time before Jing Fengliu modified the settings of the Tree of Blessing. Terrified of waiting for another "stroke of genius," Yingshi quickly seized the little pig's four limbs and said sternly, "Xiangxiang, until we successfully rush to Mount Holy Spirit, don't even think about your piggy freedom!"
