After the Villainess Awakens

Leng Mushi and Xiao Mian held each other, unable to hold back their tears and laughter. It was a reunion after what felt like a very long separation for them. When Xiao Mian recovered, he asked what was going on, but Leng Mushi fell silent.

"Did the elders let me out?" Xiao Mian's voice trembled.

He had already guessed that the elders would never let him go. He could feel his meridians filled with dense demonic energy. His water spirit root core was showing cracks. If it weren't for the few spiritual threads that were still connected, slowing down the cracking, he would have… dissipated.

But he still held a glimmer of hope as he asked, like a person who knew it was useless but still prayed to gods with sincerity, asking a question that he himself found absurd.

But just like how prayers were useless, Xiao Mian quickly came to his senses from Leng Mushi's silence and evasive eyes.

He grabbed Leng Mushi's arms, his voice choked with emotion as he said, "You brought me out. Why did you do such a foolish thing…"

As Xiao Mian spoke, he quickly got off the bed and ran outside without even bothering to put on his shoes. Leng Mushi also quickly got off the bed and hugged him tightly from behind as he was about to push open the door.

"Brother, don't go."

Xiao Mian stood still for a moment, closing his eyes, his breath trembling so much that his whole body shook.

But he quickly broke Leng Mushi's hand, pushed the door open, and walked outside. "I have to go back. I'll tell the elders that I was possessed by the demon and forced you to do it. It has nothing to do with you…"

Xiao Mian shook off Leng Mushi and walked towards the entrance of the Cang Sheng Courtyard's barrier. He walked in a hurry, not knowing how long Leng Mushi had brought him out or how she had done it, but he had to go back immediately and restore everything to its original state.

How could Leng Mushi let Xiao Mian go? She chased after him and grabbed his arm. Xiao Mian flung her away with a sharp reprimand he had never used before. "Don't follow me. Go back!"

He roared out these words and even shoved Leng Mushi's shoulder. He couldn't control the demonic energy that came out. Leng Mushi stumbled backward, fell to the ground, shrank her neck from his roar, and looked up at him, two lines of tears rolling down her face.

Xiao Mian had never been willing to say a harsh word to her. He wished he could speak every sentence to her with tenderness and affection. This was the first time he had yelled at her and pushed her. He was really going crazy.

Even now, he still didn't have a real sense of what Tian Xuzi told him, that he was the host of a demon, just a wisp of consciousness, without even a soul.

But he saw the cautious attitude of the elders, personally felt the tyrannical pressure and demon-slaying runes in the Prison Lock Formation that were superimposed over and over again. Xiao Mian had never seen the elders of the sect so nervous and frightened. It was obvious that he was indeed the host of a demon.

Under such circumstances, Xiao Mian didn't know how Leng Mushi brought him out, but he had to go back immediately, otherwise she would suffer with him. Xiao Mian would never let such a thing happen.

But after yelling, he saw Leng Mushi fall and cry, and Xiao Mian felt as if his heart had been dug out and crushed.

The demonic energy around him surged, almost swirling around him, but he was completely unaware of it. He hurriedly went to help Leng Mushi. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

Xiao Mian's voice was flustered, and he checked Leng Mushi's body in a panic. "Where did I hurt you? I'm sorry…"

Leng Mushi hugged Xiao Mian tightly, almost hanging on to him. Her whole body burst out with spiritual light, diluting the demonic energy overflowing from Xiao Mian's body.

But she could only disperse the overflowing demonic energy, not suppress the source. She could only plead with Xiao Mian, "Brother, don't get excited. Calm down. You will soon be controlled by the demonic energy."

Xiao Mian had been fierce with her, and now he regretted it so much that he felt like he was burning alive. He knelt in front of Leng Mushi, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her randomly. Then, through Leng Mushi's eyes, he saw himself.

Xiao Mian gasped and covered his right eye. It had been completely occupied by demonic energy, crimson red, and even the side of his neck was covered with strange lines.

Xiao Mian helped Leng Mushi up and shook his head. "I can't suppress the demonic energy. I have to go back now. You go back to the house and don't follow me. Be good."

After he finished speaking, he kissed Leng Mushi hard on the forehead, then turned and swept towards the entrance of the Cang Sheng Courtyard. Leng Mushi stood behind him in tears, watching as he touched the barrier of the Cang Sheng Courtyard and was then sent flying back by the runes on the formation.

How could someone with demonic energy activate the barrier of the Cang Sheng Courtyard?

Xiao Mian fell not far from Leng Mushi, his eyes full of shock. He turned his head to meet Leng Mushi's sad gaze, and she had quickly bent down and raised her hand to strike the side of his neck.

Xiao Mian fainted in Leng Mushi's arms. His demonic energy began to awaken, the spiritual energy in his body was in chaos, and the cultivation he had gained from cultivating the water spiritual root was about to collapse. But he had not yet fully awakened the demon, and the demonic energy was still weak. His current ability was not even as good as the Poison Flame Beast of the Cang Sheng Courtyard.

Leng Mushi easily subdued him, carried him back to the house, and tied Xiao Mian's upper body with the black whip she had gotten from Yin Yi before putting him back on the bed.

This time, Xiao Mian fainted for a very short time. During this time, Leng Mushi sat beside him, concentrating on dispelling the demonic energy in his body with her spiritual energy, comforting his meridians, and also manipulating her unbroken soul threads to bind Xiao Mian's cracked core.

By the time the demonic energy in Xiao Mian's meridians was temporarily appeased, Leng Mushi's face was already pale. She wanted to go down to the cellar to make pills and take some more of her soul threads to refine a Heart-to-Heart Pill for Xiao Mian to eat.

But as soon as she moved, Xiao Mian grabbed her wrist.

Xiao Mian was lying on the bed, his upper body bound by the black whip, but at least his wrist could move. He bent his wrist and grabbed Leng Mushi with effort, his eyes filled with tears as he looked at her.

"Let me go. I have to go back quickly. Be good, okay?" Xiao Mian pleaded.

Leng Mushi shook her head. "The elders have all gone to reinforce the seal on Blood Demon Mountain. No one can enter the Cang Sheng Courtyard until they return."

Leng Mushi reached out and touched Xiao Mian's face, wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes with her fingertips. "Brother, don't you want to stay with me for a few days?"

They both knew that at some point, Xiao Mian… would be gone.

Xiao Mian pursed his lips, his handsome face contorted for a moment, and opened his eyes to look at Leng Mushi. "No, my right eye can't see anything anymore. I'm going to… disappear soon. It will be faster if I stay outside. I have to go back. Let me go!"

He struggled to get up, but Leng Mushi just looked at him with her eyes downcast, her eyes also pleading. "Brother, I beg you…"

Leng Mushi leaned over and hugged Xiao Mian, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Stay with me."

No matter how hard he tried to hold back, Xiao Mian couldn't help but let out a choked sob. He quickly suppressed it and said, "No, it's really not possible. You will become the sinner of the world!"

If he was allowed to awaken the demon outside the Prison Lock Formation, without the suppression of the formation, no matter who he hurt or did not hurt, Leng Mushi would become the sinner of the world.

"Be rational, Nianci. You still have a long way to go. The demon can be sealed once, and it can be sealed again. You still have so many pills that you haven't refined. Don't you like the art of alchemy very much? You can keep going." Xiao Mian leaned his head close to Leng Mushi's ear and said, "Walk on with my share. Maybe you can ascend to godhood. By then, you can look for me and continue our relationship. Wouldn't that be better?"

Xiao Mian's voice was full of coaxing, but in fact, he knew that he would not have any reincarnation. A wisp of consciousness dissipating was even more untraceable than a soul scattering. They only had this life, no past life.

But he still coaxed and persuaded Leng Mushi. "Don't be silly. What if the demon awakens and hurts you? If I hurt you with this body… I won't even be able to die in peace."

Don't push me anymore.

Xiao Mian wanted to say these words. He also wanted to say, let me go.

But Leng Mushi blocked his mouth with her own lips.

It wasn't a kiss, but a kind of venting and biting.

They really needed this pain now, to remind each other, to remind Leng Mushi that Xiao Mian was still alive, to remind Xiao Mian that he still existed.

But after the kiss, Xiao Mian continued to gently coax Leng Mushi to send him back.

"Before the elders come back, there's still time. You said the disciples let you take me out, even You Zishu couldn't bear to attack you, and the Third Elder deliberately broke the elder's jade pendant. Then none of them will say anything. As long as I go back to the formation, no one will know that you took me out."

Xiao Mian looked into Leng Mushi's flickering eyes, thinking that she was moved, and continued, "Be good. These two days that we've stolen, I've already…"

He said this and paused, then smiled genuinely. "I have no regrets in death."

These words were sincere. In the formation, the only thing he thought about was Leng Mushi coming to see him, before he dissipated, before he was annihilated from the world, to see her again.

After that, she still had a long, long way to go. He could no longer accompany her, but he was content with this part of the journey together.

But Leng Mushi not only looked at him, but also brought him out. This would implicate her. This heinous crime of allowing the demon to awaken, even her master, Hua Yan Yue, would not be able to protect her.

He looked at Leng Mushi and smiled at her gently and sadly. Leng Mushi slowly shook her head.

"But I still have regrets." Leng Mushi said, "You owe me. You owe me a future, and you owe me a Dao Companion contract. You even…"

Leng Mushi gritted her teeth. "You've seen my body, and you still want to deny it?"

Xiao Mian opened his mouth, not knowing what to say at all, and just sighed helplessly. "You're still a virgin. Just treat it as a spring dream. You'll meet someone better in the future, form a Dao Companion bond with you, and accompany you on this long road of life."

"No." Leng Mushi reached out and helped Xiao Mian up, looking at him seriously, saying word by word, "I didn't believe in love, but you taught me to believe."

Leng Mushi said, "Xiao Mian, you've confessed to me so many times, and I've never told you once."

Leng Mushi leaned closer to Xiao Mian's black left eye, kissed it, and looked at him. "I admire you too. I don't know when it started. Maybe it was when you rushed to wash my undergarments for me."

Leng Mushi gave a short laugh. "Maybe it was when you cooked me bean porridge because I was uncomfortable during my period, or even earlier… when you covered my eyes in the Heart-Asking Formation so I wouldn't have to see my mother die."

As she spoke, she rested her forehead on Xiao Mian's shoulder and sighed. "I've already fallen for you. How can you ask me to treat it as just a dream? Do you really think it's that easy for me to fall in love with someone and forget someone…"

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