After the Villainess Awakens

Is it easy to make a young boy's heart flutter?

Sometimes, it only takes a glance, even just a figure seen from behind.

What's more, they've gone through life and death together, and he's even poured out his heart to her?

It's just that Xiao Mian's heart, which had just started to tremble, was almost stopped on the spot by a pill that Leng Mu Shi shoved into his mouth.

He sat up and clutched his chest. Leng Mu Shi quickly took out a water pouch, pulled out the stopper, and handed it to Xiao Mian's mouth.

Xiao Mian took the water and swallowed the pill in one gulp. After wiping his mouth, he turned to look at Leng Mu Shi. The emotions in his eyes, which had been flickering like shattered stars, were basically swallowed down with the water.

"What kind of medicine is this?" Xiao Mian handed the water pouch back to Leng Mu Shi, sat cross-legged on the ground, and circulated his spiritual energy, waiting for the medicinal power to take effect.

Now that the medicine was in his stomach, Leng Mu Shi dared to tell the truth: "The rest are good healing medicines, just with some of the blood of the magical beasts from the courtyard added."

She deliberately spoke lightly. After all, Xiao Mian had even tried the medicine with the Red Snake's blood. Although it was indeed painful every time, his cultivation had improved more or less.

Xiao Mian didn't ask any more questions upon hearing this. As usual, Leng Mu Shi stared at Xiao Mian, while Xiao Mian concentrated on circulating his spiritual energy to resist the medicinal effects.

But today was different from every other time. Xiao Mian was not tormented by the medicinal power.

The two of them sat by the cliff for almost two hours. As midnight approached, Xiao Mian's spiritual energy had circulated in his body for several cycles, but the medicinal effect was still nowhere to be found.

When he opened his eyes, Leng Mu Shi was looking down at a book. It was Hua Yanyue's alchemy notes, written in extremely cursive and flamboyant calligraphy. Fortunately, Leng Mu Shi, as the嫡 daughter of the Leng family, had read many books before her mother died, back when she hadn't started fooling around. This time, she could barely understand it.

She was so engrossed that she didn't even notice Xiao Mian approaching. Leng Mu Shi was quite intelligent, but in all these years, she had never seriously and diligently put her mind to anything.

Before her mother died, she always thought that the happiest thing in the world was to go on outings and admire flowers with her mother, to wear new clothes made by her mother. She even fantasized that if she got married in the future, she would still be able to go home often and tell her mother about her husband's carelessness and the difficulty of coaxing her young children.

At that time, her mother's weak shoulders couldn't bear any heavy burdens, but she was the pillar of her entire world. Without her mother, her home was naturally gone.

It was only after her mother's death that Leng Mu Shi began to regret. If she hadn't been so frivolous when she was young and had studied hard, she could have become an official in the country where she lived. Women were allowed to hold office there.

If she had become an official, perhaps her father, even for her sake, wouldn't have refused her mother's request to see her one last time when she was dying.

But all the time filled with regret could not be reversed. Leng Mu Shi was forced to grow feathers that could withstand jumping off a cliff, just so she wouldn't fall to her death.

And facing death was indeed the most inspiring courage. Leng Mu Shi had never known before that her brain, besides the exciting plots in storybooks, could actually remember so many boring and tedious things.

"Can you start a fire and refine pills now?" Xiao Mian asked Leng Mu Shi, following her gaze to the notes. "Has Second Elder let you try it?"

Leng Mu Shi paused and looked sideways at Xiao Mian. "Isn't the medicine strong today?"

Xiao Mian nodded. "I don't feel any pain."

Leng Mu Shi pondered for a moment, wondering if the pill formation had failed.

"In two months, it will be the entrance examination for disciples, and you will have to participate then," Xiao Mian said. "You need to learn combat techniques in alchemy too. Has Second Elder taught you?"

Leng Mu Shi moved closer to Xiao Mian and looked at him carefully. Xiao Mian leaned back slightly, his eyes flickering to look elsewhere. Leng Mu Shi backed away, and he felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

"Do you really not feel anything special?" Leng Mu Shi asked again.

Xiao Mian shook his head. "No, did you hear what I asked you?"

"I heard you," Leng Mu Shi said. "Wait for another half an hour. If there's no reaction to the medicine, you can go back. My master is busy refining pills and hasn't taught me any combat techniques. My spiritual energy is too thin and my aptitude is too low. If I rashly start refining pills, the spiritual energy accumulated in the cauldron will suddenly rush out. The last step of pill formation is to control the flow of spiritual energy into the pill. Therefore, defensive artifacts cannot be used. I don't have the control and will be blown up by the violent spiritual energy."

As Leng Mu Shi spoke, she looked down at the book again. Xiao Mian looked at her profile, and after a moment, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Leng Mu Shi's hand, which was flipping through the book, paused. Xiao Mian tried to probe into her meridians with his spiritual energy to check the condition of her spiritual roots.

Using spiritual energy to probe into another person's meridians required absolute trust from both parties. Otherwise, it simply couldn't be done. Xiao Mian should have said something beforehand, at least given Leng Mu Shi some mental preparation. However, with some unspeakable thought in mind, he deliberately didn't say anything.

He wanted to try, to try if Leng Mu Shi was on guard against him.

He wasn't actually stupid. When the effects of the medicine weren't messing with his head, when he wasn't being fooled by Leng Mu Shi's sweet talk, he could feel that her attitude would change drastically every time he was fed the medicine.

She was always moody, always blowing hot and cold.

Even if she said she liked him one moment, she could treat him as if he didn't exist the next. She had been like this from the very beginning.

But when she smiled and called him "Brother Xiao" and "Good Brother," the burning passion in her voice could always bake away her moodiness, making it as warm and comfortable as the setting sun. So Xiao Mian was a little unsure about her.

However, the next moment, his spiritual energy was like an army driving straight into an undefended territory. Leng Mu Shi was still holding the book in her hand, tilting her head to look at Xiao Mian in confusion, her entire being unguarded against him.

Xiao Mian's brief moment of clarity was lost again in Leng Mu Shi's meridians.

His fingertips, which were touching Leng Mu Shi's wrist, were burning hot. He moved them up and down restlessly twice before pressing down firmly.

He carefully probed Leng Mu Shi's meridians. Indeed, the unobstructed parts were weak and thin, and there was no way to guide the flow of spiritual energy.

He slowly withdrew his spiritual energy. This was innate aptitude; he couldn't do anything about it.

"You…" He hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Leng Mu Shi asked him. "Is there something uncomfortable?"

Xiao Mian shook his head, raised his hand to close the notes in Leng Mu Shi's hand, and pulled her up. Under Leng Mu Shi's bewildered gaze, he stuffed his Shuiyun Sword into her hand.

"I'll teach you a few swordsmanship moves," Xiao Mian said. "Even if you can't fight, you can at least escape."

Leng Mu Shi's mind was full of pill formulas. Holding the Shuiyun Sword, which was slightly trembling in her hand, she was stunned for a moment. Xiao Mian had already stood behind her, half-circling her, and was guiding her wrist to move the long sword. Then, thrusting, slashing, spinning, picking, knocking, sweeping…

The spiritual mist in the mountains was stirred by the sword energy and swirled around the two of them. The clear light of the cold moon scattered down, enveloping the two people who looked like they were embracing intimately.

"This move is called 'Flood Dragon Churning the Waves'—"

The Shuiyun Sword spun rapidly in their clasped hands, finally thrusting straight up diagonally, like a flood dragon entering the clouds and diving into the sea, reaching the heavens and earth.

"This move is called 'Dusting the Wind'—"

The Shuiyun Sword went straight ahead, but not directly in front, but slightly to the side. The key to this move was to suddenly reverse the blade when retracting the sword—the Shuiyun Sword was not a soft sword, but the sword energy wrapped in spiritual light was actually pulled by the suddenly reversed blade, creating a winding sword wave that instantly shattered. The floating light exploded, like dust being shaken off.

The two stopped. The shattered, fine fragments of floating light sword energy flew towards Leng Mu Shi. The icy cold sword energy and floating light made Leng Mu Shi shiver all over. She even had the illusion that her face was being cut by the floating light.

But Xiao Mian pulled her shoulder in time to face him, raised his hand to intercept the fragmented flowing light. He almost pulled Leng Mu Shi into his arms, patted the flowing light that fell on the back of her head, and said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "Why didn't you dodge your own move…"

Leng Mu Shi rested her head on Xiao Mian's shoulder, panting slightly. She felt Xiao Mian's palm move from the back of her head to the back of her neck. Her brows furrowed slightly.

Something wasn't right.

Where was it wrong?

Leng Mu Shi couldn't very well talk to the Law of Pink Lotus right in front of Xiao Mian, but she had already keenly sensed that something was off.

Xiao Mian's palm was slightly hot. It rested on her long hair at the back of her neck, and the heat penetrated through her hair to her skin. Leng Mu Shi's hairs stood on end.

She quickly took a step back, putting some distance between them, and forced a calm smile. "Thank you, Brother Xiao. I've memorized it. I, uh, it's getting late, I have to go back."

As she spoke, Leng Mu Shi picked up the notes, deliberately stumbled, grabbed the Law of Pink Lotus from the grass, and then turned and ran, as if being chased by a dog.

As she ran, she muttered in a very low voice, "The effects of the medicine are a bit strange today. Something's wrong with Xiao Mian! I have to go back and tell Master!"

Pink Lotus: …He's not the one who's not right, it's you.

Pink Lotus had already told Leng Mu Shi that Xiao Mian liked her. As a bystander, she had seen her fair share of heartless men, and a heartless man was definitely not like Xiao Mian. On the contrary, Leng Mu Shi was more like the heartless one.

But Leng Mu Shi not only didn't believe it, but she also thought Pink Lotus's mind was full of love and that she was not fit to be a great demon.

After being irritated and looked down upon twice, Pink Lotus didn't bother to say anything more. After all, from Leng Mu Shi's actions, she couldn't see even a tiny bit of affection.

The king had intentions, but the goddess had no feelings. It would be useless to say anything more. In Leng Mu Shi's eyes, Xiao Mian was just a pure medicine man who could be used.

The Law of Pink Lotus didn't say anything and just sighed faintly.

Leng Mu Shi ran back to the Cangsheng Courtyard in one breath, almost losing her shoes. This was originally a place more dangerous than a dragon's pool and a tiger's den, but now, entering it made Leng Mu Shi feel extremely safe.

The Red Snake, which used to spit out its tongue but didn't dare to attack her, now came to rub against her legs. The Bone Crusher Lizard, which had witnessed its companion being bled, was now trembling in the grass with its group. Even the Demon Spider, which had been on high alert on the beam, looked so cute.

Leng Mu Shi let out a breath. The terrifying feeling finally dissipated.

She hurried back to her room and put down the Law of Pink Lotus and Pink Lotus. Then, she told Hua Yanyue about what had happened.

"The effects of the medicine today were very strange. Xiao Mian didn't seem to be in any pain after taking it, but his whole person became strange."

"Strange in what way?" Hua Yanyue asked doubtfully.

Leng Mu Shi told her everything, from Xiao Mian's eyes to his actions, and how he suddenly taught her swordsmanship moves. Hua Yanyue frowned slightly, rubbed her cheek, and nodded thoughtfully. "That's really strange. I didn't expect the Poison Flame Beast's blood to have this kind of effect? An aphrodisiac? But those things give birth all year round. It seems like they do have strong reproductive abilities…"

"This didn't happen before when it was used in medicine?" Leng Mu Shi discussed seriously with Hua Yanyue. As they chatted, they went down to the cellar to refine pills again.

Pink Lotus, transformed into a small butterfly, flew around the room. Hearing their conversation, she came back and discussed with the Law of Pink Lotus, "These two are really not a family without entering the same door. They think that Xiao Mian's behavior is because of the Poison Flame Beast's blood acting as an aphrodisiac."

The Law of Pink Lotus didn't reply.

Hua Yanyue initially thought that Xiao Mian liked Leng Mu Shi, but based on the frequency of Leng Mu Shi feeding Xiao Mian medicine every three days for the past month, and even using a recording stone to record his pain, Hua Yanyue didn't think so anymore.

After all, if he still liked her after all this, did he have some kind of masochistic illness?

She heard that Leng Mu Shi had saved Xiao Mian once before, so she automatically attributed Xiao Mian's willingness to risk his life to repayment.

Yes, repaying kindness, what a good child.

As for Leng Mu Shi?

If a person was jumping back and forth at death's door every day, trying to learn everything she could get her hands on, busy usurping her master, raising a large group of demonic beasts, trying to become stronger and change her fate, even running to eat only once a day, and trying to break free from her destiny every day… Love?

To hell with talking to her about some romantic love. She just wanted to live a good life.

All the closeness was for the sake of feeding him medicine. If their positions were reversed, Xiao Mian liked her? Did he have some masochistic illness?

The master and disciple attributed Xiao Mian's abnormal reaction to the effect of the Poison Flame Beast's medicine and modified the pill formula, adding a few heat-clearing and blood-cooling herbs overnight.

However, the next day, the matter became a little serious because Xiao Mian came to find her early in the morning.

As dawn broke, Leng Mu Shi was still groggy when Hua Yanyue woke her up.

"Xiao Mian is looking for you outside the barrier," Hua Yanyue said and lay back down, nudging Leng Mu Shi with her butt. "Hurry up and go, he's calling for your soul!"

Leng Mu Shi got out of bed in a daze, put on her clothes haphazardly, and walked out rubbing her eyes. At this hour, even the demonic beasts were resting, and the entire Cangsheng Courtyard was silent.

Leng Mu Shi walked towards the door. The sky was not yet fully lit. From afar, she saw Xiao Mian standing at the entrance of the barrier, draped in a cloak.

Leng Mu Shi walked to the entrance of the barrier and realized that Xiao Mian's cloak was covering half of his face, while the other half was tied with a cloth, making him look mysterious. As Leng Mu Shi approached, he looked up, his eyes filled with killing intent, like an assassin who had been paid to take her life.

"Xiao Mian?" She asked doubtfully as she used Hua Yanyue's jade pendant to open the barrier. "What are you wearing… Wah!"

"Heavens…" Leng Mu Shi stared at Xiao Mian, who had entered the barrier and taken off his cloak and cloth, dropping the jade pendant in her hand in fright.

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