Yuan Shu raised her eyes slightly, her gaze sweeping over Liye, who was grinning smugly across from her.
Liye was very tall, likely inheriting his stature from the Demon King.
However, compared with Li Xie, he was somewhat more slender. His black brocade robes were cinched tightly around his waist, accentuating his long, lean figure.
His brows and eyes bore a slight resemblance to Li Xie’s, but the mockery and disdain in his expression made him look especially sharp-tongued and unpleasant.
The Demon King did nothing to stop Liye from belittling Li Xie. In fact, after hearing those words, he merely tugged at the corner of his mouth and cast Li Xie a mocking glance.
His silent gesture made it clear that he was joining in the ridicule.
Yuan Shu pressed her lips tightly together, anger rising in her heart. But remembering that this was still the Demon King’s territory, she restrained herself from making a move.
Li Xie, on the other hand, seemed to have grown long accustomed to such treatment. He remained utterly unfazed.
His handsome face lowered slightly as he quietly listened to the malicious laughter surrounding him.
Only when Liye finally grew bored, spat on the ground, and snarled, “Useless!” did the Demon King wave his hand.
“All right, Liye. Take some men and scout ahead again. You must find a route through the formation!”
Liye raised his brows confidently and answered with respect, “Yes, Father!”
With that, he led his men in the direction from which Li Xie had just returned.
The underground maze was laid out according to the Eight Trigrams. The farther in they went, the more complicated the formations and mechanisms became.
Sometimes, all the entrances before them would lead to small directional formations within the underground palace.
At times like that, people had to test the paths in advance, determining which one was the easiest to pass through. Only then would the group choose its route.
The Demon King had sent Li Xie first. After confirming that there was no danger to his life, he had sent Liye to scout the path as well while simultaneously suppressing and ostracizing Li Xie.
The man’s favoritism had gone completely off the rails!
Sure enough, when Liye returned not long afterward, there were signs of fighting on his body, but it was obvious that he had suffered little harm.
Clearly, the most dangerous parts of the cavern had already been cleared by Li Xie.
Liye’s trip had merely been for show!
The demons, however, acted as though this were perfectly normal and eagerly showered Liye with praise.
“His Highness the Third Prince is incredibly powerful and moves like the wind. The Eldest Prince can’t compare at all!”
“Exactly! The Third Prince didn’t suffer a single injury. Look at the Eldest Prince—he’s covered in blood and barely alive!”
“The Third Prince is truly amazing! His strength is all thanks to His Majesty the Demon King’s excellent teaching!”
“…”
Yuan Shu stood among the ranks, displeasure written across her face as she watched the group of flatterers in the distance.
Not until Li Xie returned, enduring the pain as his subordinates helped him hobble along, did she move to meet him.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Li Xie shook his head. “I was careless and suffered a minor injury. It’s nothing serious.”
“Is that so?” Yuan Shu didn’t believe him. Her gaze fell on the blood-soaked fabric over his chest, and her brows drew together.
“Really.” Li Xie nodded and pulled open his robes, revealing a chest that was only faintly reddened.
Yuan Shu raised a brow. “This…”
The corner of Li Xie’s mouth lifted. “You know this is exactly what they most want to see. I’m merely putting on an act to satisfy them.”
Yuan Shu blinked. She had nearly forgotten that Li Xie had once disguised himself as her Second Senior Brother and infiltrated the Fallen Immortal Sect.
With how clever he was, how could he truly allow himself to be injured?
And she had to admit, his performance had been remarkably convincing.
Yuan Shu glared at him, but he only chuckled and swept his cloak around her, enveloping her in it.
“Shushu, let me hold you.”
When a charm demon encountered his master and caught the familiar, intoxicating fragrance of her body, he would find it nearly impossible to resist the impulse.
He wanted to press close, to kiss her, to receive even deeper comfort!
Li Xie usually did disguise his failures, using them to earn the Demon King’s and the other demons’ contempt.
But today, he had indeed suffered some injuries.
He had worried about Yuan Shu and hurried back from the underground palace to protect her, fighting his way through with all his strength.
At this moment, most of the spiritual power in his body had been depleted, and he was somewhat exhausted.
Yet simply holding Yuan Shu like this…
The soothing power that came from deep within his body, a force belonging exclusively to the master’s comfort of her charm demon, seeped into his meridians and flesh like spring rain, leaving his entire body relaxed and refreshed.
It was like someone who had gone hungry for a long time finally tasting a delicious feast.
He was so satisfied that he could ask for nothing more.
Hearing the weariness in his voice, Yuan Shu took the initiative to wrap her arms around his waist, allowing Li Xie to treat her like a human-shaped pillow.
After a long while, cries of surprise from the demons outside the cavern rang out again, accompanied by wave after wave of praise for Liye.
“The group is probably about to set out,” Li Xie said.
He lifted his head from the crook of Yuan Shu’s neck, exhaled softly, and released his arms from around her.
Yuan Shu turned to glance toward the cavern entrance. The demons were all focused on Liye, who had returned from scouting the path, and no one had noticed them.
After a moment’s thought, Yuan Shu took out a Hehuan fruit, tossed it into her mouth, and tilted her head up to kiss Li Xie.
Li Xie froze for a moment, his attention returning from the activity outside the cavern to Yuan Shu’s face, so close that he could almost touch it.
But before he could react, she had already pried his lips open.
The sweet juice of the Hehuan fruit mingled with the fragrance of pear blossoms and flowed into his mouth. To a charm demon, it was the most alluring thing in the world.
Li Xie’s body tensed. His large hand closed around Yuan Shu’s waist, and he responded to the kiss without the slightest restraint.
Only after the sweetness of the Hehuan fruit, carrying the fragrance of pear blossoms, had gradually slid down his throat did Yuan Shu pull away, breathing slightly unevenly.
“What are you doing? Do you want to devour me already?”
Yuan Shu looked up. Seeing the crimson light surging in his eyes, she curled her lips into a smile and let out a soft laugh.
Li Xie’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He stared at Yuan Shu without blinking, feeling the strength restored to his body by the Hehuan fruit. His voice was hoarse with desire.
“Yes. I really want to devour you right now…”
In the end, Li Xie was unable to devour Yuan Shu right then and there.
Liye had returned from scouting the path, and the Demon King had already ordered the group to move forward. Li Xie’s people had to leave with them as well.
He ground his teeth in frustration. Then, looking at Yuan Shu’s sly and beautiful face, he suddenly reached out and caught the back of her head. He ravaged her bright red lips fiercely before finally releasing her.
“Master, when we get the chance, you must… reward me.”
Yuan Shu’s eyes trembled slightly. Thinking of Li Xie’s beast ears and tail, her body suddenly tensed.
…
There was a reason the underground palace in the forbidden land was called a maze.
Back then, when Yuan Shu had controlled the formation spirit and entered the forbidden land through the Hehuan Sect’s teleportation array, she had needed to rely on teleportation formations to reach the underground palace at the center of the forbidden land.
If one relied solely on their legs, they would likely become lost amid the underground palace’s intricate routes.
This was already the ninth fork the demons had reached while following the route Liye had scouted.
It was once again a powerful offensive formation.
Such a formation posed no real challenge to the Demon King and the others, but it was quite difficult for the demon soldiers behind them.
“Another six dead? Liye, when you came here before, didn’t you notice the formation changing beyond this array?”
The Demon King’s expression was grim.
At each of the nine forks, at least five or six people had died. In barely half an hour, they had lost dozens of men!
The losses at the previous forks had not been nearly this severe, even when casualties were taken into account.
And the dead were all people under his and Liye’s command.
If this continued, wouldn’t there be no one left by the time the group reached the central underground palace?
Liye’s expression shifted, and he didn’t dare argue.
“Father, I… I didn’t know the formation would be so treacherous…”
The Demon King moved his lips, almost blurting out the word “useless.” But then he remembered that this was Liye and swallowed it back.
“Take some men and investigate again…”
“Yes!”
…
