"A tainted body is truly sickening!"
The tree demon's voice carried a hint of anger, lacing every word with disgust. "To look so young yet have already engaged in such illicit acts, what is the world coming to!"
Chai Xiaomi froze for a second before a surge of inexplicable anger shot straight to her head.
This old monster eats people and still has the nerve to be picky? She had been a neat freak her whole life. Ever since she transmigrated here, she had been covered in dirt and grime. She had finally managed to take a bath after so much suffering, and now this thing had the audacity to call her "dirty"?!
Even though she knew the tree demon meant something entirely different, the word "dirty" pierced Chai Xiaomi's heart like a sharp thorn. She completely lost it, tossing all her fear out the window. Her eyes widened, making her look like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
"You're the dirty one! Your whole family is dirty! You're an old monster who has lived all these years without knowing a thing about personal hygiene. You don't even take a bath! No wonder your branches are rotting and stinking, and your bark is oozing putrid juice. How dare you judge others?!" Chai Xiaomi yelled until her voice almost cracked. "I absolutely despise unhygienic, sloppy things like you! Ptui!"
Even though she cursed fiercely, her body honestly shrank tighter into Wu Li's embrace. Her hands gripped his collar in a death grip, wishing she could embed herself into him as she glared warily at the surroundings for any cunning branches that might pop out.
Wu Li was momentarily stunned by her sudden outburst. Her courage was clearly smaller than a mouse's, and the body pressed against him was trembling and shivering, yet her temper was surprisingly huge.
He couldn't help but recall the trivial matters of the past few days: getting angry when teased, getting angry when someone accidentally saw her body, and even getting angry when he dried her clothes for her. So much anger...
In all his life, he had never met a woman who loved to get angry more than her. Were all girls from the Central Plains like this?
Now, being called dirty by this monster, her small face was flushed purple with rage. Her watery almond eyes widened even further, looking as if two small clusters of flames were crackling and burning inside them.
Wu Li lowered his head, his gaze falling upon her face, which was exceptionally vivid with anger.
So she hated dirtiness this much.
No wonder she had constantly frowned over the past few days, only becoming as happy as a fluttering butterfly the moment she changed into clean clothes. It seemed that bathing was her top priority.
Especially when she encountered filth, the disgust in her eyes practically overflowed.
If... if she had seen him as a child, crawling in the mud to drink foul water, fighting dogs for food, his entire body gnawed into a bloody mess by Gu insects until his white bones showed, yet unable to die as putrid new flesh repeatedly grew from the rotting meat... how disgusted would she be?
She would probably be just like the others, covering her nose, retching, and cursing endlessly.
Wu Li's eyes darkened. Within those glass-like heterochromatic eyes, the scattered specks of light seemed to shatter and fall silent.
Suddenly, a warm sensation touched his face.
He snapped back to reality and slowly lowered his gaze.
He saw that Chai Xiaomi had, at some unknown point, cupped his face with both hands. She tilted her small face upward, looking at him with a beaming smile.
Her eyes were as clear as water and sparkling brightly. They looked like a little daisy stubbornly pushing its way out of dead leaves and rotting mud, carrying an innate, vibrant life force. It was as if with just a little sunlight, she could bloom with unparalleled radiance, pure and agile.
"Forget it," she said in a serious tone, her crisp voice ringing out word by word. "You old monster, no matter how much you wash, you'll never be clean! If the branches rot, they can still be chopped off, but if the roots are completely rotten, then there's no saving you."
She paused and exerted a little force with her hands, bringing Wu Li's face closer. Her smile was radiant. "Unlike my husband. Even if a bright pearl is temporarily covered in dust, once you wipe it off, it's still a supremely beautiful pearl!"
Wu Li's entire body stiffened as he stared blankly at the smiling face so close to his.
The young girl's voice carried a unique crispness, mixed with a deliberately softened tenderness. Yet, like small pebbles dropping with perfectly measured weight, her words struck the most silent corners of his heart's lake, sending out ripples he didn't even realize were there.
He slowly raised his hand, his large palm covering the back of her hands that cupped his cheeks. As if by accident, his fingertips gently brushed over the lifelike venomous scorpion tattoo on the back of her hand, lingering for a brief moment.
Chai Xiaomi felt a slight heat from the tattoo on the back of her hand, followed by a stinging sensation similar to when she was first stung.
Suddenly, her chin was lightly pinched by two cool fingers, and her face was tilted up slightly.
Caught off guard, she met Wu Li's eerie, leaning eyes. It felt like falling into a dreamy sea of starry light, except that deep within this starry sea lay an impenetrable layer of gloom and darkness.
"Then how do you know what the bright pearl looks like once it is cut open?" His facial expression was extremely flat, his voice low and slow, and his lips curled into a cruel arc. "Perhaps it is even dirtier than the dust covering it. Rotten to the core, reeking to high heaven, making you want to vomit at a single glance."
Even though he knew the sweet words coming from her mouth were mostly blurted out under the influence of the love Gu, he insisted on being this aggressive, almost masochistically wanting to tear apart that illusion.
Instead of loosening her grip on his collar, Chai Xiaomi forcefully yanked it apart to the sides.
The young man's exquisite collarbones were instantly exposed to the cool air, his skin emitting a cold, white luster in the dim light.
"Isn't that simple?" She blinked, her tone light and breezy. "Just pry it open and let me take a look. I have to see with my own eyes exactly how dirty and rotten it is inside to know if it can still be cleaned up."
"You!" Wu Li grabbed her misbehaving hands, momentarily rendered speechless.
Chai Xiaomi's eyes curved into crescents, smiling like a little fox that had just stolen a treat. Since he insisted on cornering her with his words and making things difficult, she would simply refuse to play by the rules.
"Husband don't be so stingy! We're so close, what's wrong with letting me see?" She dragged out her words, her voice sweet and cloying. She called him "Husband" so smoothly, deliberately teasing him.
"Oh my, we even have a baby together, what are you still shy about?"
"Huh? Husband, why is your face so red? Your ears are red too... Do you have a fever?"
Wu Li felt a murderous urge, yet it was firmly suppressed by a much more unfamiliar emotion. He pressed his thin lips tightly together and, in the end, did nothing.
......
"Enough!!!"
The tree demon's furious roar echoed through the pavilion, reverberating in all directions.
The surrounding walls, floorboards, and pillars seemed to come alive. Countless thick, twisted, dark brown vines and branches burst through the wood, their surfaces covered in bizarre, uneven textures that looked like the veins of a living creature.
The air instantly became thick, damp, and cold, filled with a heavy stench of decay.
It was bad enough that the Plantain Demon had been subjected to a torrent of disgust and mockery from this little girl, but to its disbelief, she was now shamelessly flirting with her young man as if there was no one else around.
A figure hobbled out from the deepest shadows of the drum tower in an incredibly bizarre posture.
Its steps were stiff, and its joints seemed completely uncoordinated.
As the figure drew slightly closer, Chai Xiaomi could barely make out its identity. It was actually the Yuebai clan leader, Qi Lao!
The two segments of legs exposed beneath the hem of his clothes had actually taken on the appearance of tree branches. No wonder he looked so strange when he walked.
Youtiao's analysis appeared right on cue: "The real Qi Lao must have died a long time ago. The current Qi Lao is a disguise created by the Plantain Demon. This monster is hermaphroditic. If it wants to permanently take on a pure female form, it must devour a hundred pure virgins. No wonder it took so many brides, demanding they be both beautiful and chaste."
"I originally wanted to peacefully enjoy my food here, but you ruined my plans! Tonight, none of you will leave!"
Qi Lao's face twisted. As he spoke, the human skin on his face wrinkled, looking as if it might peel off at any moment.
Chai Xiaomi immediately demanded, "Where are the other two?"
She was naturally referring to Jiang Zhiyu and Song Yueyao. Ever since she stepped into this drum tower, she hadn't seen them.
"Those two? Let them linger in the illusion for a little while longer." The Plantain Demon's amused gaze was firmly locked onto Wu Li's handsome yet icy face. "This handsome young gentleman is quite capable. Over the years, I have seen all sorts of Daoist priests and sorcerers, but you alone did not fall into my illusion."
"Your appearance suits my taste quite well. I only need to consume two more virgin bodies to transform into a woman and remain forever young. Seeing as you don't seem to have much interest in that wife of yours anyway."
"Why don't you be with me instead?"
Wearing Qi Lao's old, withered face, the Plantain Demon made this incredibly jarring proposition.
