Helan Ying shook his head, flicking the satin ribbon that had drooped over his ear away, and slowly opened his eyes that had been unable to see clearly for days.
His vision blurred for a moment, then gradually focused and cleared.
"Sister!"
Helan Ying stepped forward, a delighted glint flashing in his eyes, and his hand holding Yuan Shu's tightened slightly, as if he was afraid she would shake him off again.
His dark green eyes were like a magnificent green gem, glistening and dazzling in the sunlight.
They were truly stunning.
Helan Ying had been watching Yuan Shu's expression closely the whole time.
Seeing her staring at his eyes without blinking, he immediately stepped forward, pulled her hand, and gently laid it on his own face.
His dark green pupils stared fixedly at her.
Yuan Shu pressed her lips together softly, looking at her own reflection in Helan Ying's eyes, a hint of complexity flickering in her long, narrow phoenix eyes.
Yet her hand involuntarily stroked his eyebrows and eyes.
They bore a faint resemblance to Helan Zhao's features, but their personalities were worlds apart.
Even the way they acted docile was completely different.
When Helan Zhao was being docile, there was a simple, silly naivety in his eyes, but Helan Ying was nothing like that.
This man was far too clever. All the docility in his eyes was an act.
Yet the things he put on were so authentic that it was almost impossible to tell they were fake.
"Helan Ying, you wouldn't... be lying to me again, would you?" Yuan Shu asked slowly in a soft voice.
Helan Ying shook his head hurriedly, took her hand and pressed it to his lips for a light kiss, saying, "No, I'm sincere!"
Seeing Yuan Shu silent, clearly not believing him fully, he bit his lip, and suddenly reached out to yank open the collar of his tunic on the left side of his neck.
Beneath the fabric, near his collarbone, a wickedly enchanting dark green Earth Fiend Demon Tatoo slowly surfaced.
Then he held out his right hand.
His fingertips pressed hard into his own skin, and with a sharp tug, he ripped the Earth Fiend Demon Tatoo right out of his flesh, along with fresh blood.
"Sister, this is the most crucial fiend spirit of the Earth Fiend Demon. It is tied directly to my life. I am giving it to you now."
"Surely this proves my sincerity?"
The Earth Fiend Demon Tatoo, much like the demon marks of the Demon race, was a symbol of status and power.
Whoever held it in their grasp held the Earth Fiend Demon firmly under their control.
Yuan Shu glanced down at the crumpled Earth Fiend Demon Tatoo in Helan Ying's palm, then at his pale face, drained of color from the pain and blood loss.
"You won't regret this?"
"Never!"
Helan Ying's expression was earnest, his gaze unwavering.
Yuan Shu lowered her eyes, and with a wave of her hand, she took the wisp of Earth Fiend Demon Tatoo away.
This was Helan Ying's own choice, not something she had forced him to do.
Yuan Shu had been observing Helan Ying's expression the entire time.
Seeing his face still lit with unchanging joy, not a hint of reluctance after having his fiend mark taken away, she relaxed a little.
Her gaze fell on the wound on his neck, she frowned, stepped forward and pulled out medicinal powder to dress his injury.
"Sister."
Helan Ying turned his head to look at Yuan Shu's beautiful profile, which was so close he could nearly touch it. He seemed to think of something, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
Yuan Shu glanced at him, "Being mischievous?"
Helan Ying's fair face flushed bright red in an instant. He stammered in a flustered rush to explain, "No, I, I'm not..."
Yuan Shu finished sprinkling the last of the medicinal powder, then covered the wound with a self-made medicinal bandage.
When she looked up, she caught sight of Helan Ying's shimmering green eyes, looking at her with three parts shyness and seven parts burning longing.
Yuan Shu let out a soft chuckle, turned to leave, but Helan Ying suddenly grabbed her wrist.
A wisp of playful Earth Fiend Demon qi coiled around her finger, crept up her wrist, and slipped into her sleeve.
A cool, tingling sensation spread across her skin.
Yuan Shu tensed up, just about to move to stop him, when Helan Ying, who was holding her wrist, pulled her sharply into his arms.
"Sister, the source power of the Earth Fiend Demon is me. Anything Helan Zhao can do, I can do in other ways, even better than him!"
"Sister, relax..."
The black Earth Fiend Demon qi moved like a lively, clever mouth, leaving a strange, new sensation everywhere it glided across.
Yuan Shu had been about to reject him, but the Earth Fiend Demon Tatoo she had just taken into her palm suddenly glowed bright.
In just a split second, her body went soft and limp, and she leaned weakly against Helan Ying's chest.
She could do nothing as the demon qi coiled around her waist through her clothes, then slipped in under the edge of her bellyband.
Yuan Shu gasped sharply.
"He, Helan Ying, you gave me the Earth Fiend Demon Tatoo, didn't you do it exactly... exactly to make it arouse my passion... mmph..."
Yuan Shu's voice trembled. If her reason hadn't still been holding on, she would have barely been able to string a complete sentence together.
Helan Ying knew exactly what he was doing.
The Earth Fiend Demon qi shifted and changed at his will.
It was even more excessive than anything Helan Zhao had ever done.
This man had already shared dual cultivation with her long ago, and knew every inch of her body like the back of his hand. The source power of the Earth Fiend Demon qi was completely under his control, moving exactly as he wished.
Helan Ying heard her accusation, and a slow, triumphant smile curled at his lips as he leaned close to her ear.
"Sister, you know I love you. Last time in the cave, if I hadn't had to leave to heal my wounds, I could have stayed with you forever and ever!"
"All these days, I thought you were truly dead. I was so miserable, so heartbroken."
"And you even played tricks on me with Helan Zhao. You were right there in front of me, yet you pretended not to know me, and made me listen to the two of you enjoying each other."
"I could let it go when I didn't know it was you, but the moment I realized it was, you have no idea how jealous I was!"
"If you like the way Helan Zhao serves you, then I will serve my sister far better than he ever could."
His voice was as melodious as a ringing bell. Controlling the Earth Fiend Demon qi was affecting him with waves of rising passion, making his tone deep and husky, utterly magnetic.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Helan Ying bowed his head and crushed his lips to hers in a fierce, hungry kiss. It was as if he was pouring every last bit of the Earth Fiend Demon's power that had been meant to claim her into that searing kiss.
When Yuan Shu's mind went blank, the Bai Ze spirit core in her dantian slipped out of her control, letting a wisp of white spiritual energy leak out. It was immediately caught by the fiend mark in Yuan Shu's palm.
Helan Ying, who was in the middle of the deep kiss, glanced down, his eyes lighting up with sudden joy.
The Bai Ze spirit core truly was on Yuan Shu. His earlier senses had not been wrong!
Helan Ying's heart swelled with elation, and his kisses grew even more fervent. He trailed his lips down her long, elegant white swan neck, then slowly down to her collarbone...
Moments later, Yuan Shu's dress came undone and slipped off her body, pooling on the ground.
Helan Ying's dark green eyes narrowed slightly, and with a wave of his hand, all his own clothes fell away.
He wrapped his arms around her, and whispered in a low, seductive, husky voice thick with desire, "Sister, I've missed you so much..."
...
A figure suddenly landed in the quiet clearing of the woods.
Right after him, dozens of his Earth Fiend Demon clansmen followers dropped to the ground.
"Lord Lu, this place only has the residual spiritual energy left from dual cultivation arts. There's no trace of Earth Fiend Demon qi at all!"
The subordinate had searched the entire area, and stepped forward trembling, forcing himself to report.
Lu Huai's face was dark with cold rage. He waved his hand, and black Earth Fiend Demon qi appeared in his palm. Then he began to sense carefully, sweeping his detection across the four directions all around him.
