Lou Yue abruptly shoved the person in front of her away and, bracing herself against the tree trunk, walked off.
She had barely taken a few steps when an arm as hard as iron hooked around her waist and pulled her back.
“Let go!”
“The Mist Tide is at its thickest.” The man’s low, hoarse voice sounded beside her ear.
Ha. The Mist Tide was at its thickest? She would rather stumble around in the mist than stay here with him!
“I said, let go!”
Her voice trembled. She herself could not tell whether it was from anger or because she still had not recovered.
Her lips and tongue were still tingling, and her entire body was so weak that she could barely muster any strength. Yet the other person continued to take advantage, tightening his embrace and burying his head deep in the hollow of her neck.
His hot breath slowly brushed across the skin at her throat.
Lou Yue’s body trembled almost imperceptibly, and her struggling paused for half a beat.
The man noticed her stiffness and seemed to freeze for a moment as well.
“Let—let go. Release me—”
Before she could finish, her pupils suddenly contracted.
Xiao Rangchen kissed the skin at the side of her neck from behind.
He nibbled lightly, then ground his lips against her.
The crisp chill of frost and snow, mixed with an aggressively possessive aura, wrapped around her in layers.
Lou Yue bit down hard on her lower lip, barely suppressing the soft, broken sound that almost escaped her throat.
Ever since that night two years ago, her neck had become exceptionally sensitive. Even touching it herself would leave her numb, much less being kissed by him.
A shudder shot from the base of her spine all the way to the top of her head, and weakness spread through every inch of her body.
The kisses at her neck gradually became more urgent. Everywhere his lips passed felt scorching, as though branded by fire.
She parted her lips, a trembling breath escaping them. “Don’t…”
The kisses stopped.
The Mist Tide surrounding them seemed to fall silent as well. Only their ragged breaths mingled in the air.
The man took a deep breath before his burning lips slowly, inch by inch, moved away from the skin of her neck.
Neither of them moved.
They remained in the same embrace, his body pressed against her back.
Strength gradually returned to Lou Yue’s hands and feet. She immediately reached up to pry away the arm across her waist, but just as her fingers touched it, a low, restrained voice sounded beside her ear.
“I can’t give up.”
“I know you don’t like me, but I still can’t control myself.”
His arm tightened, and his entire body sank against her, his chest pressing to her back.
“I only ask that you…”
“Could you occasionally look at me, too…?”
Perhaps it was the near-humble plea in his voice. Or perhaps it was some hidden corner of her heart that had been touched. She lowered her eyes to the arm around her waist and spoke evenly.
“What you love is nothing more than a pretty face.”
“If it were someone else, you could feel the same way.”
“Last time it was the medicine. This time it’s the Heart Demon. You’ve been influenced, and your judgment is compromised.”
“Xiao Rangchen, you’re not actually as devoted as you think.”
“You think you like me now, but after a few years, you’ll want to kill me.”
“Nothing remains unchanged forever.”
Xiao Rangchen abruptly cut her off, his voice sharp. “That’s not true!”
Lou Yue pried his arm away. This time, she slipped free with ease.
She took a step forward and turned around, raising her eyes to meet his sharp, somber gaze. Her voice was light and detached.
“There’s no need to deny it so quickly.”
Xiao Rangchen’s eyes remained fixed on her face as he spoke, each word distinct.
“Lou Yue, I’m certain that I like you.”
Lou Yue pressed her lips together. “Fine. Then answer one question for me.”
“Do you like me as I was when I had a man’s body, or as I am now, in a woman’s body?”
Xiao Rangchen was visibly stunned.
Lou Yue gave a low laugh, though there was no warmth in it. “You can’t answer, can you?”
“Xiao Rangchen, even if you do like me, your feelings are too shallow and too thin. They can’t withstand the slightest test.”
“Turn back.”
“We’re not suited for each other.”
She turned and walked ahead, her voice cold and distant. “Don’t follow me again.”
Lou Yue left the hollow beneath the tree and walked straight into the Mist Tide.
She had no idea how much time had passed. Judging by how much thinner the Mist Tide had become, it should be close to dissipating.
Only after she was certain she had gone far enough from the tree hollow did she stop.
The main reason was that the Heart Demon would not stop chattering in her mind. It was making her terribly annoyed.
“He couldn’t answer. You’re disappointed.”
“You know that if he truly liked you, he would love your inner soul.”
“That line about not being suited for each other was something you were saying to yourself as well.”
“You’re falling for him.”
Lou Yue let out a mocking laugh. “Are you ever going to stop? You keep repeating the same few lines over and over. If you have the ability, say something else and impress me.”
The Heart Demon fell silent.
“Go on. Impress me.”
The Heart Demon remained silent.
“With talent like that, you call yourself a Heart Demon? Go back and sulk in a corner.”
The Heart Demon stayed silent for a long while.
At last, it rallied and launched another attack.
“You’re lashing out because your heart is unsettled.”
“You’re refusing him because you’re afraid to face an uncertain future.”
“You don’t trust him.”
“You don’t trust yourself, either.”
Lou Yue leaned against the tree with her arms crossed, watching the purple mist begin to fade. “Keep it up. You don’t have much time left.”
The Heart Demon fell silent again.
“Why care about so much? Give in to one night of pleasure and make him fall hopelessly in love with you. Then the future will change.”
“A shortcut is right in front of you. Why push it away?”
…
The purple mist completely dispersed, and the Heart Demon’s voice sank into silence along with it, retreating to the deepest depths of her heart.
Lou Yue lowered her lashes and murmured softly, as though speaking to the Heart Demon—or perhaps to herself.
“How do you know that’s a shortcut and not a path to self-destruction? Even if it truly is a shortcut, staking my future on someone else has never been the path I wanted to take.”
She lifted her eyes, gathering away every trace of turmoil. Then she straightened and strode forward with her head held high, firmly making her way toward the mountain summit.
There was no distinction between day and night within the Mist Tide region. Lou Yue could only estimate that more than ten hours had passed by the ebb and flow of the mist.
Along the way, she encountered several people. Some had been driven mad and lost all composure after becoming trapped by their Heart Demons. Others had lost their minds and summoned magical artifacts to take flight, only to be instantly burned into nothingness by the ghostly blue flames surrounding the mountain.
When she reached the edge of the pale-purple mist, thinking she had passed through the first trial, she looked up—only to discover that she had returned to the foot of the mountain.
“…”
What a damnable mist!
She turned around and went back into the mist. Another six or seven hours passed before she finally emerged from the Heart Demon Mist Tide for real.
An open expanse lay before her. Several cultivators were sitting cross-legged and regulating their breathing. There was no sign of Liufeng Xin, Hong Chou, or Qiao Qiniang.
Lou Yue did not pause. She lifted her feet and continued forward, but a hand suddenly barred her path.
“Wait a little longer.”
Lou Yue glanced at Cangya Xun, who was blocking her, then walked around him and continued on.
“My people went in ahead of us. They’ll send word once they have news. Don’t you want to know?” Cangya Xun said calmly from behind her.
Lou Yue ignored him and kept walking.
Cangya Xun’s gaze deepened. He stood there for a moment before following after her.
The instant Lou Yue stepped into the second trial, the scenery around her changed in the blink of an eye.
In the next moment, she was standing atop a black-stone cliff a thousand zhang high. Beneath her feet, a sea of white clouds surged without end.
Countless sheer cliffs rose from the sea of clouds, their imposing forms filled with an eerie majesty.
According to the novel’s setting, the second trial was a realm that was both real and illusory. Magical treasures were scattered throughout it, but the vast majority were merely phantoms. Only a very small number were real.
The danger lay in this: once a cultivator took a second genuine treasure, that treasure would self-destruct, powerful enough to leave the cultivator seriously injured.
Yet if one did not take even a single treasure, one would instead be granted a magical artifact suited to one’s cultivation technique upon leaving.
To put it plainly, this trial was designed to test the greed inherent in human nature.
That was exactly why she had said those words to Qiao Qiniang earlier.
If Qiao Qiniang managed to get past the Heart Demon mist tide and enter this realm of illusion and reality, as long as she did not give in to greed and did not touch any of the alluring magic treasures scattered around, she would naturally obtain a truly suitable treasure for herself when it was time to leave.
Lou Yue had no intention of doing anything else. There was no so-called exit to this trial. She only needed to stay here for seven days, ignoring all the magic treasures around her, and the illusion would dissipate on its own when the time came.
Suddenly, a dragon's roar cut through the silence.
A ferocious demonic beast shaped like a pterosaur dove down from the tall cliff at her side.
The Xiangxiang Square on Lou Yue's wrist instantly transformed into a giant crossbow. Just as the crossbow bolt was about to shoot through the air, a sharp, fierce sword qi slashed straight at the demonic beast from not far away.
The demonic beast was still in its diving position when it was sliced cleanly in two, crashing heavily onto the edge of the cliff.
Cangya Xun sheathed his sword and walked slowly toward Lou Yue.
Lou Yue turned around, and the giant crossbow at her side shifted with her movement, its tip pointing straight at him.
Cangya Xun stopped in his tracks, his tone carrying an innate arrogance, as if he were doing her a great favor out of charity, "Come with me. I will protect you."
Lou Yue lifted her gaze, her expression even more haughty than his, her tone sharp and unsparingly direct, "No need. I have no interest in you."
With that, she walked around him from a distance and left.
"Then you have eyes for him?" Cangya Xun's tone turned icy in an instant, his arrogance overwhelming, "What does he have that could possibly be better than me?"
Lou Yue did not even bother to answer him. Little did she expect that Cangya Xun would start clinging to her, following her wherever she went.
Whenever a demonic beast attacked, before she could even make a move, Cangya Xun would take care of it first, deliberately using over-the-top, grand moves that were far more than necessary for the task.
This tailing went on for three whole days.
Lou Yue finally turned to face Cangya Xun, who was standing a dozen feet away, her voice laced with clear impatience, "Have you followed me enough? I said I'm not interested in you. Can't you understand that?"
Cangya Xun wore a self-assured, triumphant look on his face, "I have plenty of time. It's no trouble to accompany you for a walk."
Lou Yue let out a scoff, "Can't you tell I'm disgusted by you?"
Cangya Xun replied, "Sooner or later, you'll realize I'm the better match for you."
If it weren't for the fact that rolling her eyes in public was unseemly, she would have done it right then and there.
"You're just wasting your time. Aren't you afraid that someone else will snatch the inheritance away?"
Cangya Xun laughed, full of conceit, "No one can take what belongs to me right in front of me."
"And that includes you."
Lou Yue sneered, "Cangya Xun, you think far too highly of yourself. Be careful not to capsize."
"And one more thing — I don't belong to anyone."
Cangya Xun said with absolute certainty, "You will belong to me."
Lou Yue knew that Cangya Xun was arrogant, narrow-minded, and ruthless in his methods. No one he had set his sights on had ever ended up well. But right now, her strength was no match for his, and a head-on confrontation would only lead to her getting hurt.
She looked at him, slowly stepping back until she reached the edge of the cliff, then suddenly curled her lips into a smirk, "In your dreams."
The next second, she leaned backward sharply and plunged over the edge into the sea of clouds.
Cangya Xun froze for a moment, only to see a pair of pitch-black wings spread out from Lou Yue's back. She turned into a dark shadow and glided away, vanishing into the vast expanse of clouds.
He stared at the receding figure, the interest in his eyes growing stronger, "You will be mine, no matter what."
Lou Yue had no idea that her impulsive, clever escape move had only made Cangya Xun even more determined to claim her.
She glided for a long time before landing on a hidden, sunken lawn.
She had finally shaken off that impossible-to-shake nuisance.
Calculating the time, the Yingrong Pill was about to lose its effect soon. She sat down casually and slowly took out the medicine bottle Liufeng Xin had given her.
She had just twisted off the lid and tilted the bottle when a foul, cold wind swept over her, accompanied by a bone-chilling hissing sound.
Every hair on her body stood straight up.
Six huge, eerily green snake heads lifted up, their cold vertical pupils locking onto her as their forked tongues flicked in and out nonstop.
The primal dread that rose from the very depths of her soul made her fingers suddenly go slack, and the medicine bottle slipped out of her grasp.
The bottle fell to the ground. Before she could even bend down to pick it up, the six snake heads lunged at her. Their thick, terrifying serpentine bodies crushed over the bottle, shattering it instantly. The Yingrong Pills inside were ground into fine dust along with it.
Damn it.
