After the Villainess Awakens

Xiao Mian's sweetness was just right, not too much, not too little.

Leng Mushi didn't rush to find a way out with Xiao Mian. Their injuries were fully healed, their spiritual power and cultivation had recovered. This place was full of spiritual herbs they could pick freely, food was easy to find, the mountains and water were beautiful, peaceful, and warm. There was no better place for cultivation.

Xiao Mian helped her find recognizable spiritual plants and herbs everywhere. Leng Mushi set up the cauldron and refined one batch of pills after another, day and night.

The spiritual energy here was abundant, they didn't even need to rest. Leng Mushi's days were very busy.

In the past, she only needed to focus on refining pills and recording the evolution of pill recipes. Now, she had to learn how to control her spiritual roots, evolve pill recipes, try to seal Xiao Mian's moves, find time to eat and rest, and of course, the most important thing was to spend time with Xiao Mian and cultivate their relationship.

Leng Mushi refined pills during the day, and Xiao Mian practiced his sword beside her. When Leng Mushi opened the cauldron, he would be the first to try the new pills.

In addition, he would find different ways to get Leng Mushi food. From the initial grilled fish, Xiao Mian had now found green fruits that could be used as seasoning. He grilled all kinds of small animals for Leng Mushi and even found a small stone pot to stew soup for her.

He had always taken care of Leng Mushi in this way, but in the past, Leng Mushi only had the Dao of Pills in her eyes. Everything else was blurry. Now, she could see clearly what Xiao Mian had done for her. After a whole day of exhaustion, being able to talk to Xiao Mian for a while made her feel like she could stay up for a few more days and nights without getting tired.

"Brother, where did you find the wild fruits today? They're delicious," Leng Mushi would specifically set aside an hour or two every night after dark to do nothing but spend time with Xiao Mian.

Sometimes the two of them didn't even speak, they just leaned on each other quietly under the stars. Occasionally, their lips would touch, but it was incredibly heartwarming.

"It's at the end of the valley, I found a formation there," Xiao Mian said. "It's the grand formation of the Demon Realm's ruins. We're now behind the Demon Realm's ruins. That Shadow Demon took us out from an underground cave in the Demon Realm's ruins. The barrier there was a loophole, and I've reinforced it."

Xiao Mian asked, "When are we going back to the mountain?"

"I don't want to go back." Leng Mushi rested her head on Xiao Mian's arm and rubbed against him like a spoiled child. "Don't you want to stay here? The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, the four seasons are like spring, it's the best place to live in seclusion. It's just the two of us, I'll refine pills, you cultivate, what could be better than this?"

Xiao Mian chuckled. Leng Mushi slid down his arm and rested on his lap. The exhaustion from days and nights of endless work was evident between her brows, but her eyes were shining brighter than the stars in the sky.

As the saying goes, time flies in the mountains. Indeed, the passage of time was as fast as sand through fingers. In the blink of an eye, they had spent ten days and nights here.

Leng Mushi learned to suppress her other spiritual roots while refining pills. It was the Law that kept its promise and taught her. However, Leng Mushi found it strange that the Law didn't tell her a mental method or anything. Instead, one day, it suddenly pressed against her waist and warmed her up for a while, then told her that she could try to look inside her spiritual roots, suppress the others, and release the one she wanted.

Although Leng Mushi was not proficient in her first attempt, she could do it.

She didn't know how she did it. If it had been before, she would have thought that the Law was magical and could transmit skills from afar, or that she was a natural talent. But now, she just felt it was a little strange.

It felt like… someone who hadn't spoken for a long time started practicing speaking. The pronunciation was not because they couldn't speak, but because they used to be able to. It was because they hadn't spoken for a long time that they became clumsy.

Leng Mushi had a ridiculous illusion that she might have been able to suppress other spiritual roots before.

But how was that possible? In her short life, she could count the things that had happened on one hand, and she remembered most of them clearly.

She couldn't figure it out, and she didn't bother to dwell on it. Anyway, she could now use her spiritual roots freely. She also told the Law clearly, "I want Xiao Mian, whether he is the male protagonist destined to awaken as the Heavenly Demon, or just a wisp of consciousness, I will not give him up to anyone. He likes me, it has never been Leng Tianyin."

The Law was silent at that time.

Leng Mushi then talked about her doubts about its existence. Although some of its warnings were correct, they always went against what actually happened, which meant that the plot was not unchangeable.

The Law kept playing dead. After Leng Mushi said a lot and tried to throw it away to no avail, it finally spoke when Xiao Mian went to collect spiritual plants. "You will regret it, your choice now."

Leng Mushi was not rebellious by nature, but since the year her mother died, all her bones had been broken in the fear of her youth. Since then, they had been chaotic and overgrown, forming a suit of flesh and blood armor together with the old scars, which served only to protect herself.

The more the Law wanted her to do something, the more she refused to do it. What fate? She had come this far by herself, she didn't believe in fate.

"I won't regret it," Leng Mushi said resolutely.

The Law didn't speak after that, and Leng Mushi refused to communicate with it again. However, after trying to throw it into the stream twice, it quietly returned to the storage bag, and Leng Mushi didn't bother with it anymore.

Now, Leng Mushi had also found a way to store moves. As long as she tried a few more times, she would have the capital to exchange with the Shadow Sect for a pill recipe that could suppress demonic energy, so that Xiao Mian wouldn't awaken as the Heavenly Demon.

She reached out and touched Xiao Mian's chin. Xiao Mian smiled and lowered his head towards her. Their lips touched, not in a hurry to get entangled, but slowly and intimately rubbing against each other.

"Brother, do you want me?" During a break between kisses, Leng Mushi sat up, wrapped her arms around Xiao Mian's neck, and asked in his ear.

She was actually shy too. If Xiao Mian was a little more proactive, Leng Mushi wouldn't be like this. But Xiao Mian was always very restrained and polite. The most excessive thing he did was to hug Leng Mushi and kiss her, and he never let his hands wander.

"This place is so nice, don't you want to leave some good memories?" She kissed Xiao Mian's earlobe, sensing his changes. "Don't worry about the virginity mark, I have a way to deal with it."

As she spoke, Leng Mushi pulled open Xiao Mian's collar. Her bloodstained tongue slid over the virginity mark on his shoulder. Sure enough, the tearing pain that Xiao Mian was trying to endure quickly disappeared.

Leng Mushi didn't look up, but dropped light kisses on his shoulder. She grabbed Xiao Mian's hand and placed it on her collar. "Brother, we're not young anymore, do you want to try?"

Xiao Mian was aroused, the corners of his eyes were flushed red, and the veins on his forehead were bulging. But he just smiled helplessly at Leng Mushi, his fingers turning white from gripping her collar. In the end, he just apologetically kissed the tip of her nose.

"A cultivator's Yuan Yin and Yuan Yang are very important to their cultivation. We've just advanced, we need some time to stabilize." Xiao Mian pressed Leng Mushi's neck. "Stop teasing me, we need to go back to the mountain first. We need to inform your master and senior brother about our relationship, and I need to inform my master too. We need to set a date for our Dao Companion ceremony…"

"Set a date for our Dao Companion ceremony, once we are officially husband and wife, I can do whatever I want."

Leng Mushi repeated Xiao Mian's words for the umpteenth time, her tone teasing. "You don't look like a blockhead, why aren't you as open-minded as I am? Maybe…"

Leng Mushi clicked her tongue. "Fen Lian is about to have a litter of little monsters with Senior Brother Xiao Mei. You and I are stuck in this paradise, but you always ask me when we are going back to the mountain."

"Are you afraid of my master and senior brother?" Leng Mushi deliberately said, "Don't you know what it means to present a fait accompli? If I work hard and go back to the mountain with a big belly, my master and senior brother won't be able to do anything to you…"

Xiao Mian was already finding it hard to restrain himself. Young men were at an age where they could easily get aroused. Although cultivators had methods to calm their minds and suppress their desires, they couldn't help it when the person they liked was right next to them, constantly fanning the flames.

Xiao Mian had always been a planner. It was never his style to do something rash and then try to fix it later. But after hearing Leng Mushi's "shameless" words, he suddenly burst out laughing.

The ambiguous atmosphere dissipated. Xiao Mian scraped Leng Mushi's nose. "With a big belly? You even stopped your period with pills. I don't have the ability of Senior Brother Xuan Zhu to give birth to bamboo shoots."

Leng Mushi clicked her tongue. "So you really want me to bear your child?"

"No." Xiao Mian shook his head and hugged Leng Mushi, slowly calming down the fire she had ignited in him. "It's dangerous for ordinary women to give birth, and it's even more dangerous for cultivators. It will affect your cultivation and body, and it will also consume your lifespan."

Xiao Mian said, "Having you is enough. Before I went up the mountain, I lost all my memories. In the illusion of the Dream Fox, I remembered a little. My family should be gone."

Xiao Mian thought of the woman who died beside him in the illusion, his mother.

He sighed and repeated, "Having you is enough."

Leng Mushi was not surprised at all that Xiao Mian would say that. She lowered her head and bumped her forehead against his. "My family is gone too. After my mother died, I had no relatives. But now I have you."

Leng Mushi said, "Having you is enough for me too."

Cultivation was a lonely road, but Leng Mushi now thought that having Xiao Mian by her side made everything better.

The path of cultivation was long, they didn't know how far they would go, but no matter where they went, where they stopped, having each other was enough.

Young people always liked to plan for the future when they were in love, making vows of eternal love. They were no exception.

Leng Mushi and Xiao Mian stayed in this paradise on earth for another five days. Leng Mushi used the spiritual plants that Xiao Mian found to refine a lot of pills, and for the first time, she successfully stored one of Xiao Mian's moves.

Although it was only a move with weak attack power, it was a huge leap forward, proving that her attempt was in the right direction. The two of them named the pill that stored the move the Sealing Spirit Pill.

In addition, as they were about to leave this place, they encountered the Shadow Demon that was crawling and swimming back and forth in the valley. Leng Mushi noticed the change of light by the cliff and, after sensing it keenly, she and Xiao Mian quietly approached it and cut off a piece of its huge body.

Leng Mushi added other spiritual plants to the cauldron and refined a furnace of pills that could make one invisible in the dark, naming it the Shadow Hiding Pill.

The two of them left the valley with a fruitful harvest and flew away on their swords. Leng Mushi hugged Xiao Mian from behind, looking at the scenery that was gradually disappearing below, and couldn't help but say, "Say, if we… in the future, when we reach the end of our cultivation journey, shall we come back here and live in seclusion?"

Cultivators avoided talking about the end, about heart demons and bottlenecks. But Xiao Mian replied with a smile in his voice, "Okay, we'll be here then. You refine pills, I practice swordsmanship. From time to time, we'll go to the nearby towns to sell something in exchange for a taste of the mortal world, and then come back here. We can build a small wooden house by the river."

Xiao Mian paused and said, "Actually, I've been keeping an eye out for usable wood in the forest." He had even made a note of it.

As soon as Leng Mushi heard this, she knew that she and Xiao Mian were thinking the same thing. Her heart was filled with joy, as if two little rabbits were jumping up and down inside her chest.

She hugged Xiao Mian tighter, but for some reason, she felt like crying.

She didn't believe in love, but she had met such a good person. She thought, if her mother was still alive, she would like Xiao Mian very much.

Xiao Mian was startled by her hug and the sword shook. He helplessly raised his hand and pressed her hand, patting it gently, but didn't ask her to loosen her grip.

He liked this feeling of not being able to breathe. Leng Mushi always liked to hug him tightly, which made Xiao Mian truly feel that she liked him too, liked him as much as he liked her, so much so that she wanted to rub him into her flesh and blood, to become one.

"Actually, I think Second Elder and Senior Brother Xuan Zhu are not bad either," Xiao Mian suddenly said.

Leng Mushi understood what he meant and giggled. She pushed Xiao Mian's back and said, "Good and not so good."

"Come closer." Leng Mushi beckoned Xiao Mian.

Xiao Mian lowered the speed of the sword. Below them was now a place of blue sea and green mountains. They were already above the grand formation of the Demon Realm's ruins. Xiao Mian didn't fly the sword very high, he skimmed the edge of the grand formation, carrying Leng Mushi slowly forward, taking in the scenery that was not affected by the seasons.

He tilted his head, bent down, and offered his ear to Leng Mushi. He heard her say in a hushed, warm tone, "They won't be separated that way, but how can they be intimate…"

Xiao Mian's sword suddenly shook violently. The Water Cloud Sword trembled for a long time before it stabilized. Xiao Mian's earlobes turned red. He didn't turn back and no matter how Leng Mushi called him, he didn't look back.

Leng Mushi hugged him, burying her head in his back. She smelled the faint scent of herbs on Xiao Mian's body, which was similar to her own, and felt an indescribable sense of peace.

Her journey in pill refining had been smooth sailing, she had never wasted a single pill. Leng Mushi was confident that she would be able to find a way to solve Xiao Mian's situation.

Even if this world was really a storybook, and the plot had already been disrupted so much, it wouldn't hurt to change it a little more. They would definitely find a balance.

The two of them flew over the Demon Realm's ruins on their swords and saw a town in the distance. It was Wanbo Town, where they had stayed before entering the Demon Realm's ruins.

The two of them descended from the sky on their swords and landed in front of the inn where they had stayed before. As soon as they got off the Water Cloud Sword, they saw a figure shoot out from the door and pounce towards Leng Mushi.

It was startling, but somewhat familiar.

Leng Mushi was knocked back a step by the impact, then she saw clearly that it was Leng Tianyin who had pounced on her.

"Sister! Where have you been? Wuwuwu!"

Leng Mushi and Xiao Mian had already made up a story, saying that Leng Mushi had been swept off the cliff by a demonic beast that day, and Xiao Mian had chased after it.

But before the two of them could explain, they saw Xing Zhou run out of the inn towards them. "You're alright, that's great!"

Xing Zhou hugged Xiao Mian and gave him a hard squeeze, which stunned Xiao Mian.

Because Xing Zhou had always been reserved and rarely acted like this.

Leng Mushi and Xiao Mian were pulled into the hall. Xiao Mian was puzzled and asked Xing Zhou why he was still here and hadn't returned to the sect.

Xing Zhou didn't answer immediately. They stepped into the hall of the inn and then met… You Zishu, who had lost an arm, in the hall.

You Zishu was slightly surprised to see them, then he nodded to them and said, "It's good that you're alright."

Leng Mushi and Xiao Mian looked at each other, both feeling that something was wrong. After they sat down, the injured disciples spoke one after another, explaining to them everything that had happened in the past few days.

It turned out that after they disappeared from the bottom of the cliff, everyone couldn't find them, but they sensed that the life force in their Binding Life Belts had not been extinguished, so they decided to leave the Demon Realm's ruins first and then return to the sect to ask for help.

Their journey went relatively smoothly, escorted by puppet beasts. They had already reached the entrance of the Demon Realm's ruins safely, but then the unexpected happened.

They encountered another abnormally advanced demonic beast, a Scale Beast with a spear-like spike growing on its head. The battle was extremely fierce, and the newly initiated disciples fled in all directions. It seemed that if they didn't open the ruins, the injured disciples who couldn't escape would be skewered by the spike on the Scale Beast's head.

At the critical moment, You Zishu was entangled by other demonic beasts and couldn't escape. He resolutely cut off his own arm and threw it to Yin Yi of the Shadow Sect. Yin Yi used his severed arm, along with the palm prints of the leaders of the other three sects, to activate the entrance to the Demon Realm's ruins and send the injured disciples who couldn't escape out of the Demon Realm's ruins.

Although You Zishu was lucky enough to survive, and the rescue disciples from the various sects arrived soon after the Demon Realm's ruins were opened, his severed arm had been swallowed by the Scale Beast, and it was too late to reattach it.

Now, the high-level disciples and elders of the various sects were entering the ruins in batches to search for the low-level disciples whose life force had not been extinguished. For half a month now, very few disciples who were rescued were still in one piece.

"Many of the demonic beasts in the Demon Realm's ruins have advanced for unknown reasons," You Zishu said. His severed arm prevented him from joining the other disciples in rescuing people from the secret realm, so he stayed outside to take care of the injured disciples. His face and attire were still the same, as if he didn't care about anything, including his own severed arm. "I've reported the situation inside to the sect. My master and the elders of the other sects went to Blood Demon Mountain. The news they brought back is not optimistic. The four demon generals of the Heavenly Demon show signs of awakening. Most of the demonic beasts in the Demon Realm's ruins were once under the command of the four demon generals, and they are affected by them."

Leng Mushi and Xiao Mian's expressions were grave after hearing this. Xiao Mian hurriedly said, "My injuries are healed, I can go into the Demon Realm's ruins with the high-level disciples to rescue the others!"

Leng Mushi's heart clenched when she heard this. Xiao Mian couldn't come into contact with any more demonic beasts, he couldn't get hurt anymore, otherwise even the Five Elements Pill wouldn't be able to suppress the awakening of the Heavenly Demon Pill.

But she couldn't tell the truth about Xiao Mian having the Heavenly Demon Pill. Once the sects found out and tried to remove the pill to prevent future troubles, Xiao Mian's wisp of consciousness would have no way to sustain itself, and he would surely die.

Leng Mushi tightly held Xiao Mian's hand under the table and squeezed it hard. Meeting his gaze, she shook her head slightly. "It's more appropriate for me to go. I can save people, I have the Soul Control Pill, and the Sealing Spirit Pill, remember? I'll go!"

Just as Xiao Mian was about to say something, Xing Zhou said, "No need to argue, neither of you can go. It's not just the high-level disciples from the various sects who are going in this time, but also the elders. Those with insufficient cultivation and strength will die if they go in."

Xing Zhou said, "You were lucky to survive being swept off the cliff by the demonic beast. Don't run around, the Sixth Elder and Third Elder of the Tai Chu Sect have gone in, and so has Senior Brother Xuan Zhu. You two just wait here."

You Zishu looked at Leng Mushi. "If you have any good medicine for injuries, please distribute it to the injured disciples."

Leng Mushi nodded and hurriedly took out her storage bag, pushing all the healing pills she had refined during this period to You Zishu.

You Zishu's expression softened slightly. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly frowned and took out a jade token from his storage bag with his remaining right hand.

Then he sighed and said, "The rescue is over."

Xing Zhou opened his mouth but didn't speak.

Leng Tianyin, whose tears had stopped, asked in a hoarse voice, "Are they all… dead?"

You Zishu glanced at everyone with his light eyes. He didn't nod, but everyone understood. The disciples were all dead inside. The life force in the Binding Life Belts was held in the hands of the sect master and senior brother. If the life force on his jade token was extinguished, it meant that the disciple's Binding Life Belt was broken.

His expression didn't show any sadness, but it made people feel heavy-hearted. Leng Mushi didn't know why, but no matter how much she hated his arrogance in the past, she felt very uncomfortable now.

He had cut off his own arm to save others. Although he could still hold a sword, what about some of the talismans and hand seals?

He was the most prestigious senior brother in the sect, the one who would inherit the position of sect master in the future. But now, his cultivation was probably going to stop here.

Leng Mushi regretted not coming out with Xiao Mian earlier. But thinking about it carefully, it wouldn't have been useful to come out earlier. All the demonic beasts were affected by the four demon generals and advanced in cultivation. Even the elders would be injured if they went in. What use was her and Xiao Mian's current cultivation?

On the contrary, her fall off the cliff, which took away Xiao Mian, the source of the Heavenly Demon, was the most correct choice to delay the advancement of the demonic beasts.

Suppressing the Heavenly Demon meant suppressing the awakening time of the four demon generals. She looked at Xiao Mian, the previous lightness in her heart was gone, replaced by a heavy weight like a mountain.

Although the plot mostly described the love-hate entanglement between Xiao Mian after he awakened as the Heavenly Demon and the female protagonist, Leng Tianyin, what Leng Mushi thought of was the tragic description of the four demon generals wreaking havoc on the world.

She had to do everything she could to suppress the Heavenly Demon, both to save Xiao Mian and to prevent the demon generals from awakening and harming the world.

She had seen it with her own eyes in the Dream Fox's lair. Xiao Mian's physical body was the vessel of the Heavenly Demon Pill, and also its cage. The Heavenly Demon Pill was dormant because it was wrapped in spiritual energy and isolated from demonic energy.

The plot described that once Xiao Mian was tainted with demonic energy, the Heavenly Demon Pill would awaken. That meant that even if it was dug out in advance, it would only accelerate the awakening of the Heavenly Demon. At that time, it would only be Xiao Mian who would die.

But how could she explain to the world that the world they lived in was just a storybook, that she was the female supporting character in the storybook, that she accidentally learned the direction of the world and the plot, and that she wanted others to act according to the words of an unknown pill cultivator like her?

She was afraid that in such a world where demons ran rampant, if she told the truth, she would be the first to be locked up as someone bewitched by demons.

Leng Mushi now understood what the Law meant when it said that she would regret it.

Between her personal feelings and the countless lives that depended on Xiao Mian, she loved Xiao Mian, she wanted Xiao Mian. Choosing to keep his consciousness meant bearing this heavy secret that she could not tell anyone.

Leng Mushi slowly inhaled and then slowly exhaled.

Could she really fight against the plot and prevent the Heavenly Demon from awakening?

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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