"How long are you planning to peek from the shadows?"
The young man suddenly spoke.
His voice was as clear as ice water, freezing without a trace of warmth, and a cold intent gathered between his brows.
It was a stark contrast to the expression he had when looking at the person in his arms; he was like a completely different person.
The little fox trembled in fear, suddenly realizing that these words were directed at it.
The moment he spoke, it clearly felt a terrifying murderous aura lock onto it, hovering around like the hands of a ghost, ready to easily snap its neck with just a slight tightening.
The little fox chose to continue playing dead, curling into a tiny ball, covering its head tightly with its tail, and shrinking into the shadows, chanting silently in its heart: You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me...
"If you don't want to die, roll out of there right now. I don't feel like killing today."
The cold warning fell once again.
The little fox blinked.
It decided to take back its previous thought that this young man was similar to Xiaoman.
They were clearly not alike at all.
Xiaoman was always proper and gentle to everyone, and his words were always like a spring breeze brushing against the face.
Nothing like the person in front of it, who was fiercely terrifying, like a bloodthirsty demon!
The little fox had no choice but to shrink its head, tuck in its four paws, and stealthily roll out from the shadows.
It had listened very carefully: he told it to roll out.
So it tried hard to curl into a ball, rolling round and round like a fluffy sphere, tumbling until it was not far in front of Wu Li.
Wu Li: "..."
This fox spirit was so stupid that he couldn't even be bothered to call it an idiot.
He felt that scolding it would be an insult to himself.
He cast his eyes down at the fiery red little thing, observed it for a moment, and withdrew the murderous aura lingering around it. His tone carried a hint of disdain, a disdain that bluntly revealed his mockery of the weak:
"You have already cultivated into a spirit, how come you don't even have a bit of demonic power? So useless."
"I can transform into a human shape," the little fox argued indignantly.
Before her words finished, a red light flashed softly, and a gentle and charming woman in red clothes stood in its place.
Hongxiao originally wanted to prove that she wasn't completely useless, but she didn't expect to receive even deeper mockery from the young man: "Is a demon being able to take human form something worth showing off? What difference is this from a bird being born able to fly?"
"Change back, don't stand in the way and be an eyesore."
Hongxiao didn't dare to look at the young man. Frightened, she turned herself back into a little fox.
This was the first time that after transforming in front of a man, she was met not with lust or amazement, but with undisguised disgust.
In the past at the Phantom Sound Pavilion, every patron couldn't bear to let her go. She could only take the opportunity of dual cultivation with men to absorb some of their life essence, using this to maintain her human form.
If she hadn't met that despicable, wicked man, she could have stayed by Xiaoman's side in human form for a long time.
But that night, she was dragged onto the bed by that wicked man.
In front of her were piled torture devices she had never seen before. Her hands were tied dead fast, and his lecherous laughter was sickening.
That patron wore a demon-suppressing artifact on his body, so she couldn't even absorb his life essence to protect herself.
She couldn't tell how much time had passed; she only remembered that in the end, she was thrown into a corner like a piece of torn silk, tortured until she had no intact skin left, her breath as weak as a thread.
Even Madam Liu of the Phantom Sound Pavilion thought she only had one breath left and wouldn't live long. To keep it a secret, she ordered the servants to carelessly wrap her dying body in a straw mat and throw her into a wild river.
She drifted along the icy river water to the outskirts, perhaps due to her deep concern and obsession for Xiaoman in her heart.
She didn't want to die just like that.
She desperately gnawed on the wild grass by the riverbank to satisfy her hunger, not expecting that the wild grass actually had healing effects. Relying on eating the wild grass bite by bite, she slowly recovered from her severe injuries.
Unfortunately, after the severe injuries, her demon core was greatly damaged. She could only hide in the barren wilderness, occasionally luring one or two passing men to absorb a scattered bit of life essence.
Even her human form was difficult to maintain for long.
"Um..." To show that she wasn't that useless, the little fox spoke submissively, carefully adding, "I... I also know how to play Go. I should be the best at playing Go among all demons."
"Furthermore, I originally had demonic power, it's just that... I traded it with the Goddess of Santu."
"Goddess of Santu," Wu Li repeated in a low voice. He had heard of this evil god many times from the local commoners, and it was said to be very responsive.
Every time he heard it, he just laughed it off, because he never believed in ghosts and gods.
If ghosts and gods were useful, then why didn't he die when he knelt in front of the ancestral temple as a child and begged for death countless times?
Since he couldn't die.
Then let all living beings die.
But he didn't expect that a demon would actually believe in an evil god.
"The Goddess of Santu is exceptionally good," the little fox's voice gradually lowered, carrying a slight choke. "She used my demonic power to exchange for a little light for Xiaoman... otherwise, Xiaoman's eyes would be completely blind, only seeing total darkness. At that time, I brought him to flee to the Phantom Sound Pavilion and begged Madam Liu to take us in. He couldn't do anything, just sitting in the woodshed all day in a daze."
She sniffled, her eyes turning red. "Xiaoman already has no home... I absolutely cannot let him lose his last bit of light."
"You are quite a loyal demon," Wu Li coldly snorted, his words dripping with mocking sympathy. "But I clearly saw that the Xiaoman you mentioned spends all day fooling around with a female musician. You traded your demonic power for a ray of light for him, yet he casts all this light upon someone else."
The little fox shook its head and corrected him seriously. "That is not fooling around, that is companionship. I am very glad that Xiaoman has someone to keep him company."
"When Xiaoman is happy, I am happy. When Xiaoman is sad, I am sad. Because the two of us, we are both Xiaoman!" As the little fox said the last sentence, it carried a bit of naive pride.
Wu Li suddenly fell silent.
He lowered his eyes to look at the girl sleeping peacefully in his arms. Perhaps the night breeze was blowing comfortably, for her brows were no longer tightly furrowed. Her sleeping face was tranquil, even exuding a trace of cozy sweetness.
Not knowing what she was dreaming of, she unconsciously rubbed against his chest, softly smacked her lips, and murmured dazedly, "This sugar figure is sweet... Lili... you should taste it..."
Looking at the shallow curve between her brows and eyes, he couldn't help but curl up the corners of his lips.
He answered in a low voice, "Okay."
It was just a pity that the Mimi sugar figure stuck in the blue and white porcelain vase had long melted into a pool of sticky syrup, quietly congealing at the bottom of the vase.
But it didn't matter.
The one in his arms was the real one.
He gently picked up her hand and placed an extremely light kiss on the tattoo on the back of her hand.
A dark tide of tenderness rippled in his eyes.
"I tasted it, it is indeed very sweet."
"Mimi..."
The little fox had long since taken advantage of the young man's distraction to slip away nimbly.
Leaping from one rooftop to another.
That bright fiery red fur under the thick moonlight looked just like a blooming peony flower.
Suddenly blooming, and suddenly vanishing.
Wu Li watched the gradually disappearing red shadow, his eyes darkening slightly.
A fox needs to cultivate for at least three hundred years before it can transform into human form and generate demonic power.
Yet it traded away its demonic power so easily, and now, apart from being able to change shapes, it was no different from an ordinary person.
A demon utterly incapable of self-preservation would only be effortlessly crushed to death wherever it went.
To sacrifice a lifetime of demonic power just to grant another a sliver of light, only to watch helplessly as the one they desperately yearned for spent the rest of their days with someone else.
What a fool.
Was it worth it?
If it were him...
If he had to watch the one his heart belonged to fall in love and stay with another.
Then they would all have to die.
And so—
He lowered his gaze to the girl in his arms, his fingertips gently caressing her cheek.
You must be good, and never let your heart fall for anyone else.
Do you understand?
