After the Villainess Awakens

Leng Mushi breathed rapidly, tears streaming down her face from beneath Xiao Mian's hand. Her chest heaved, but her limbs were stiff and unresponsive.

Xiao Mian covered Leng Mushi's eyes with one hand and wrapped the other around her shoulder, pulling her into a tight embrace. He kept whispering reassurances.

"It's okay, it's okay," Xiao Mian said. "It's all fake, this is the Heart-Asking Formation, everything is an illusion."

Xiao Mian was filled with regret. He had been here for a while. This formation conjured illusions based on the tester's greatest fears and most difficult choices.

Xiao Mian first entered his own illusion, becoming a starving skeleton on the roadside. It was a nightmare he often had. He couldn't remember many things, but he clearly remembered someone telling him, as he was dying, that he could survive if he ate the corpse beside him.

Xiao Mian couldn't recall how many times he had faced this choice, but in the end, there would always be someone with an unclear face, pouring water on him and stuffing pastries into his mouth.

In the nightmare, the water could no longer save him, and he couldn't swallow the pastries. But because of the water and pastries, he ultimately resisted the voice urging him to eat human flesh.

He broke through his own trial of the heart, and only then could he search for Leng Mushi.

He found her too late. When he did, she was already deep in pain. Her cultivation was still insufficient, her divine sense too weak, and she was captivated by the Heart-Asking Formation.

He held Leng Mushi like this for a long time. They stood together in the dark, decaying room. Xiao Mian didn't know what Leng Mushi feared most, but based on the environment, he could guess with some certainty.

The woman lying lifeless within the bed curtains must be her mother. Xiao Mian had no memories of his parents, but at this moment, he could empathize with Leng Mushi's pain and the shadow it cast upon her, feeling it through her pained gasps and trembling body.

However, her trial of the heart was forcibly interrupted, and Xiao Mian didn't know what final choice her heart faced. Unable to bear seeing her suffer any longer, he held and comforted her until the surroundings gradually disintegrated as she calmed down. They found themselves standing on the flat ground within the formation. Only when he could no longer feel Leng Mushi's trembling did Xiao Mian finally release a sigh of relief.

"I'm alright now." Leng Mushi exhaled slowly, reaching out to pat Xiao Mian's arm, trying to make him let go.

Her eyes were covered by Xiao Mian's hand, unable to see anything. She felt a pang of gratitude towards him. In truth… she had never actually experienced the scene in the illusion.

Back then, she had fallen unconscious, covered in heavy snow, and had been running a high fever for days. When she woke up, her mother had already been buried.

It was because she couldn't even see her mother one last time that Leng Mushi hated her father so much. She even understood what the Heart-Asking Formation wanted to ask her.

Xiao Mian slowly uncovered her eyes, but he didn't release his hold on her.

They stood there, one behind the other. Leng Mushi's vision was blurry after being covered for so long.

She rubbed her eyes, and when her vision cleared, she looked down and found that Xiao Mian's arm was still around her, reaching across her front from her right arm and gripping her left shoulder.

Leng Mushi had completely calmed down. Thinking back on the illusion, she realized that it couldn't withstand scrutiny. It was as if all the hatred and resentment had been amplified.

Her mother had been dead for so many years. Leng Mushi wouldn't be so deeply trapped that she couldn't extricate herself. It was just a momentary loss of control.

But she had recovered, and she had even patted Xiao Mian a few times. Yet, he still wouldn't let go. His cheek even touched hers… This was a little strange.

Remembering how Xiao Mian had grabbed her hand without hesitation in the Five Valley Palace, Leng Mushi gradually stiffened.

"Brother Xiao…" She paused, cleared her throat, and said in an unprecedentedly serious tone, "Xiao Mian, I'm fine now. Let me go, I want to go out."

Xiao Mian was secretly reveling in this rare intimacy. Hearing this, he opened his eyes. Naturally, he was unwilling to let go. After a month of long, repeated self-analysis, he had come to understand his feelings for Leng Mushi.

Although he was a little ashamed to admit it, at their age and cultivation level, they shouldn't be thinking about such matters of love. They should be focusing on their cultivation. But youthful emotions were hard to suppress. Since he had developed feelings, he wouldn't shy away from them.

Therefore, not only did he not let go of Leng Mushi, but he held her even tighter. He even wrapped his other arm around her waist, not allowing her to break free.

"Can you let me hold you for a little longer…" Xiao Mian said, "I wait for you at the cliff every day, I have something to tell you."

Leng Mushi had completely escaped the shadow of the illusion, but she fell into another terrifying situation.

After hearing Xiao Mian's words, she hurriedly shouted, "No, let go quickly, don't say it, I don't want to hear it!"

Xiao Mian's breath, gently brushing against Leng Mushi's cheek, suddenly stopped, followed by a low chuckle.

His voice was like a crisp wind chime ringing in her ear: "I'm sorry, that night, did I scare you?"

If Leng Mushi's hair wasn't so long, it would have stood on end.

Xiao Mian released his hand from her waist and cupped her chin. Taking advantage of their close proximity, he turned her head towards him. His voice was low, laced with a sweetness that almost seemed tangible: "I should have asked for your opinion first, I'm sorry."

Held in Xiao Mian's arms, Leng Mushi felt like a life-sized puppet, being manipulated and controlled by him. If her eyes were any bigger, her eyeballs would have popped out.

She glared at Xiao Mian from close range, desperately tilting her head back to avoid his slowly approaching face. However, Xiao Mian, with a smile hiding his barely suppressed urge, asked her, "I wasn't quite sober that day, but I am now."

"Can I kiss you?" He asked politely, but his actions followed closely behind his words. His lips pressed against the corner of Leng Mushi's mouth.

Leng Mushi felt like a pill furnace after pill formation, about to explode on the spot.

Xiao Mian was always courteous and foolishly easy to deceive. Leng Mushi had never seen him so aggressive, almost forceful!

Seeing that their lips were about to touch again, this wasn't something that could be blamed on the effects of medicine. If they kissed while sober, Leng Mushi would faint on the spot.

So, she gritted her teeth and stomped hard on Xiao Mian's spotless boots. Then, while he loosened his grip in pain, she crouched down and broke free from his embrace. Without even straightening up, she rolled forward, reaching the edge of the formation. She was going to run away again--

She was like a slippery little fish. The moment Xiao Mian's arms were empty, she had already reached the edge of the formation. But he couldn't let her go like this, he still had things to say!

Xiao Mian, having participated in the formation's arrangement, was naturally familiar with it. Chasing after her would be slower than changing the formation's exit.

Therefore, Xiao Mian circulated his spiritual power and struck the nearby formation. The golden runes flowed, and the exit of the formation instantly closed and shifted. Leng Mushi slammed headfirst into the barrier, getting up with a dizzy head. She patted the barrier anxiously, her heart in her throat.

It's over.

That was all that filled her mind. She didn't even know what she was afraid of. Even facing life and death in the belly of the Pink Lotus, she hadn't felt this way.

Xiao Mian's attitude was too frightening.

Mother, save me!

However, no one could save her. Seeing her unable to escape, Xiao Mian patted the barrier anxiously, amusement flickering in his eyes.

She's too shy!

So cute.

Looking at Leng Mushi's flushed earlobes, Xiao Mian mistook her shock for shyness and her escape for playfulness. After all, Leng Mushi had always told him that she liked him, liked him very much.

She even wanted to jump off a cliff for him.

Xiao Mian had always known that although the pills Leng Mushi gave him were mostly torture, he had benefited from each one.

Therefore, Xiao Mian had always been willing to be her test subject. Even if there were no benefits, he would be willing to do this test, as long as it could help her. He was indebted to her for saving his life… and had no way to repay her.

But Xiao Mian really didn't know that things would get out of hand. Every night they met, they grew closer. Her focus, her enthusiasm, and the way her eyes curved when she smiled… one night, it all came crashing into his dreams, and everything spiraled out of control.

At first, he just liked looking at her, but later… he wanted to be closer to her, to see her smile, to hear her vividly recount how she outsmarted the demonic beasts in the Cangsheng Academy to distract him when the effects of the pills kicked in.

Xiao Mian knew that she took even more of those pills. With her low cultivation level, the torment must have been ten times worse for her.

But she never complained about her suffering. Just like when they were in the belly of the great demon, she was resourceful and resilient. Even when her face, the most cherished part of a girl, was burned, she never resented anyone.

She was like a blade of grass that could rise again from the morning dew, even after being trampled countless times. From the very beginning, she had attracted Xiao Mian's attention more than any flower, until she unknowingly filled every corner of his heart.

But she had always been straightforward, even overly bold… Xiao Mian never knew that she could be so shy, like a little fox puffing up its fur when petted.

"You can't get out, I changed the formation's eye," Xiao Mian said, standing not far behind Leng Mushi, trying hard not to smile, but his bright eyes betrayed him.

Leng Mushi stood with her back to Xiao Mian, her features scrunched up in thought. She didn't turn around for a long time.

Xiao Mian wasn't in a hurry. He slowly approached Leng Mushi, placed his hand on her shoulder, and turned her around.

Leng Mushi lowered her head, her shoulders slightly hunched, her face flushed red, looking extremely embarrassed.

Xiao Mian had already made up his mind, rehearsing it over and over in his heart, wanting to appear solemn and composed to give her a sense of security.

But seeing Leng Mushi so shy and at a loss, his fingertips curled up, his breath brushing against the top of her head. His breathing became a little erratic, and he tilted his head slightly, exhaling softly before speaking.

"I won't scare you anymore," Xiao Mian said, "It's me… I can't help myself, don't be angry."

Xiao Mian continued, "Don't rush away, I want to tell you…"

"Don't say it!" Leng Mushi covered her ears with her hands, her face red. Her redness wasn't from shyness, but from anxiety.

What was going on?!

This wasn't how the story was supposed to go! What was this? She could never be in a relationship with Xiao Mian. He was destined to be with Leng Tianyin…

Amused by her reaction, Xiao Mian found her adorable. He reached out and grabbed her wrists, pulling them down. He deliberately leaned close to her ear and said quickly, "Don't be shy, I like you too."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but brush his lips against her flushed earlobe.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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