After the Villainess Awakens

What does it feel like to watch someone else getting intimate with the person you imagine yourself to be with?

Leng Mushi watched with great interest.

Xiao Mian really dared to think about it. Leng Mushi watched him embrace the non-existent person, his expression a mixture of pain and pleasure. Honestly speaking, Leng Mushi could accept this position…

However, just as she was getting engrossed, Xiao Mian suddenly clutched his chest in pain. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his blurred vision cleared up, landing on Leng Mushi.

Leng Mushi: … What's going on?!

Xiao Mian pressed his hand against his chest and sat up, supporting himself with his other arm. He glanced at the waistband tied to his hand, understanding Leng Mushi's meaning. He blushed and looked at her, then sat cross-legged on the ground. Using the healing power of the Phantasmal Stone, he began to circulate his spiritual energy to dispel the demonic energy within his body.

"What's wrong?" Since the waistband, even when tied together, had a limited range, Xiao Mian was at the entrance of the cave, while Leng Mushi asked him from the darkness, "What happened? Did you break free from the illusion? How did you do it?"

Xiao Mian didn't answer Leng Mushi. He simply didn't know how to explain. Xuanzhu had placed the 守宫砂 on him to prevent him from doing anything inappropriate to Leng Mushi. This wasn't something he couldn't talk about, but the illusion he just had…

The illusion was too embarrassing to mention, especially in front of Leng Mushi. It made him seem like some kind of sex fiend. Xiao Mian just wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it, never to come out again.

Seeing that Xiao Mian was silent, Leng Mushi didn't bother him as he healed. It didn't take long for Xiao Mian's injuries to heal, including the heart meridian injury caused by the 守宫砂 reacting to his desire.

However, he was in the Phantasmal Fox's lair. Every minute, every second, there was a "Leng Mushi" by his side, gently asking if he was in pain, whispering in his ear that she would always be with him, even hugging and kissing him.

Xiao Mian repeatedly bit the tip of his tongue to stay awake. He knew Leng Mushi was watching him from the dark cave behind him. He was ashamed to do anything shameful in front of her.

Moreover, the "Leng Mushi" conjured by the Phantasmal Fox, although identical in appearance, even down to the bloodstains on her body from their embrace, was completely different from the real Leng Mushi in temperament.

The real Leng Mushi wouldn't whisper sweet nothings to him, cling to him endlessly, or take the initiative to kiss him.

This kind of Leng Mushi was what Xiao Mian had fantasized about after they got together, so he was particularly moved. But being moved would affect the 守宫砂 on his heart meridian, and the pain would bring him back to his senses.

For a moment, Xiao Mian felt that this was good. At least he wouldn't lose himself.

When his injuries no longer hindered him, Xiao Mian, while still conscious, turned to Leng Mushi and said, "I'll find a way to get the disciples out. This illusion doesn't affect me."

Although Leng Mushi didn't know why it didn't affect him, or how Xiao Mian had woken up from the illusion, it was undoubtedly for the best.

She nodded in agreement, watching Xiao Mian walk intermittently.

She saw him sometimes appear captivated, but he would quickly press his chest and shake his head to clear his mind before continuing, only to become entranced again.

Along the way, his front was covered in blood, but his pace became faster and faster. In the end, the "Leng Mushi" conjured by the illusion, with all her tenderness and affection, was no longer enough to captivate Xiao Mian.

He first walked up to the group of Huanxi Sect disciples and tried to call out to them. Although they weren't as deeply immersed as the other disciples and were still resisting the illusion with a formation, they couldn't hear Xiao Mian's voice and didn't react to his calls.

Leng Mushi shouted from the entrance, "Leave them alone! Just bring Leng Tianyin and the Phantasmal Fox out!"

From the countless voices of Leng Mushi surrounding him, Xiao Mian actually managed to distinguish her real voice. He turned his head sluggishly, looked towards the entrance, and then walked straight towards Leng Tianyin.

Leng Tianyin was sleeping, hugging the Phantasmal Fox. Xiao Mian had bitten his tongue raw, his lips stained with blood, and the veins on his forehead were bulging. He struggled to stay conscious and bent down to pick up Leng Tianyin, along with the Phantasmal Fox in her arms.

But the way back was arduous. The illusion kept conjuring up all the scenes Xiao Mian longed for.

In each of these scenes, Leng Mushi was present, just as Xiao Mian had imagined they would be together.

There were even scenes of things that had happened, their peaceful time together in the Cangsheng Palace. Every scene tempted Xiao Mian to drown in it.

Xiao Mian resisted with difficulty, resisting the yearning from the depths of his heart. He was almost at the entrance of the cave, holding the sleeping Leng Tianyin, when the scene in the illusion suddenly changed. He saw his body shrinking infinitely, losing all his strength. The lair built with Phantasmal Stones weaved a desolate scene for him.

There were starving and sick refugees everywhere. The road leading into the city was full of dying people, adults and children, filled with the stench of rotting corpses and the rancid smell of those about to die.

Xiao Mian felt himself lying by the roadside, too hungry to move, about to die. Then a voice told him, "Eat the person next to you. Eat her, and you'll live."

This was the nightmare Xiao Mian often had, even his Heart-Questioning Formation was based on this scene.

But this time, the illusion didn't stop abruptly when he turned his head, as it did in every nightmare. Instead, it continued.

Xiao Mian wasn't even watching as a bystander; he was in it, unable to extricate himself.

He swallowed hard, his hunger and fear of death making him turn his head to look at the dead body beside him.

It was the emaciated corpse of a woman, looking old and withered. Xiao Mian had no memory of before entering the mountains, but the moment he saw the corpse, he remembered who it was. It was his mother.

They had fled famine and arrived here, but because some of them had contracted the plague, the city gates wouldn't open. This town refused to take them in. Disease, hunger, and the long journey had killed almost everyone who came with them.

And he had lost all his strength. It seemed that the only thing he could do was to bite the corpse beside him and devour her flesh and blood to survive.

The tempting voice kept whispering in his ear. Xiao Mian turned over and slowly approached the woman's shoulder.

Leng Mushi watched as Xiao Mian's expression became dazed again. When he was less than three steps away from the cave entrance, he suddenly slumped to his knees, and the sleeping Leng Tianyin rolled out of his arms.

Leng Tianyin was completely unconscious, as if dead. However, because of the way she rolled, the Phantasmal Fox slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground.

If this creature woke up from such a fall, everything would be over.

In this critical moment, Leng Mushi didn't care about anything else. She lunged forward and caught the Phantasmal Fox steadily before it landed.

However, half of her body was exposed to the Phantasmal Stone's light. Just as she was about to retreat back into the darkness, Leng Mushi looked up and saw her mother.

The woman had a gentle smile, the most youthful and beautiful appearance in Leng Mushi's memory, before her father had turned her into a fading flower. Now, she was like a lotus flower that had absorbed enough rainwater, delicate and charming.

Those gentle hands, for which Leng Mushi would give up everything for a single touch, were holding her hands. In this illusion, Leng Mushi had also shrunk infinitely, becoming only a few years old, held by her mother.

"Why are you hiding here? It's time to eat. We have your favorite sweet and sour pork today." The woman's voice overlapped with the most beautiful voice in Leng Mushi's memory. Behind her was the courtyard of their house, the door of the main hall was open, and the faint aroma from within, along with the scent of the woman holding her, drifted into Leng Mushi's nose with the breeze.

It was the scent of her mother and a happy childhood.

It was the most beautiful dream she could never return to.

Leng Mushi was almost bewitched. If she could go back to that time, she would give up everything in exchange.

Everything.

But just as she was about to lose herself, she suddenly felt a slight sting on her finger.

She looked down and saw a palm-sized creature biting her beneath the illusory image of her mother's gentle hands.

In an instant, Leng Mushi pulled herself out of the mud-like state for a moment. She bit her cheek hard, then clenched the awakened Phantasmal Fox that was biting her in her hand, and retreated back into the darkness.

The unconscious Leng Tianyin on the ground suddenly opened her eyes and quickly followed the Phantasmal Fox into the darkness.

Xiao Mian was still lying within the range of the Phantasmal Stone's light, immersed in that nightmarish illusion, listening to the voice from within his body, from his mind, tempting him over and over again to devour the flesh and blood of the woman beside him to survive.

Leng Mushi, who had retreated back into the cave, cried out in pain as she broke free from the illusion. She watched as her mother disappeared before her eyes, and the Phantasmal Fox bit down on her palm. This was no ordinary bite, but a direct attack on her soul. This little thing wanted to devour her!

The moment Leng Mushi came to her senses, she grabbed the Phantasmal Fox's neck. Its mouth loosened slightly, but the next moment, Leng Mushi's neck was also tightly choked - by Leng Tianyin!

"Give it to me!" Leng Tianyin said word by word. Her eyes, meeting Leng Mushi's, swirled with an abnormal gray. Clearly, she had been holding the Phantasmal Fox for too long and had been completely bewitched and controlled by it.

Leng Mushi struggled to breathe and raised her foot to kick Leng Tianyin, but Leng Tianyin dodged swiftly. Her speed was incredibly agile, completely incongruous with her current cultivation level.

Needless to say, this was also the Phantasmal Fox's doing.

"Leng Tianyin, snap out of it! How dare you try to kill me?!"

Leng Mushi roared at her, but her grip on the Phantasmal Fox's slender neck didn't loosen. The Phantasmal Fox whimpered in pain and finally released its bite.

Leng Tianyin hesitated for a moment. In that split second, Leng Mushi kicked her away. Leng Tianyin flew back into the Phantasmal Fox's lair and crashed into Xiao Mian's side, her falling arm hitting him hard in the face.

Xiao Mian's illusion was still ongoing. He had already heeded the voice and opened his mouth towards the woman beside him again, his lips touching her cold skin, about to bite down.

Just then, Leng Tianyin's slap landed hard on his face with a "smack."

Xiao Mian was startled, the space in front of him distorted, but quickly returned to normal. With his blurred vision, he saw a little girl about his age slapping him repeatedly on the face, then roughly pouring water from a water pouch into his mouth and stuffing him with pastries that could choke him.

He tried hard to see the little girl's face, but he was dying, his eyelids too heavy to open, unable to see his benefactor. All this overlapped with the nightmare he had been having for years. At that moment, Xiao Mian suddenly woke up from the illusion.

He sat up abruptly, gasping for air, and saw Leng Tianyin getting up from the ground, screaming at Leng Mushi in the cave, "Give it to me!"

Then she was about to rush towards Leng Mushi inside the cave.

Without thinking, Xiao Mian lunged forward, tackling Leng Tianyin to the ground. He hurriedly said to Leng Mushi, who was about to strangle the Phantasmal Fox, "You can't kill it! The Phantasmal Fox has four tails, each one is its life, it won't die! It will kill the disciples!"

The newborn Phantasmal Fox had four tails. Each one would detach after it suffered a fatal wound, and it would be reborn anywhere in its lair. It would be even harder to catch it then. Moreover, all the injured people trapped in the illusion were under the Phantasmal Fox's control. If it died and was angered, no one would survive.

Leng Mushi abruptly loosened her grip upon hearing this, holding only the creature's scruff. Although the Phantasmal Fox was small, it was fierce. It bit Leng Mushi's arm again, the pain almost making her jump.

She was now holding the Phantasmal Fox's scruff with one hand and rummaging through her storage bag with the other for something to subdue this thing. She didn't expect it to fiercely turn its head and bite her wrist. This time, it bit down on her meridian, and Leng Mushi felt her spiritual energy and strength rapidly draining away.

Pain and anger rushed to her head. In a critical moment, Leng Mushi didn't even bother to pull her hand out of her storage bag to grab the Phantasmal Fox's neck and force it to let go. Instead, she bared her teeth and retaliated in kind - biting down on the Phantasmal Fox's head.

This little thing was small, only about the size of a palm, otherwise, Leng Tianyin wouldn't have been able to hold it in her hand. In her anger, Leng Mushi opened her mouth wide, taking half of the fox's head in one bite, and then clenched her teeth shut.

"Ow -"

The little thing yelped in pain and immediately let go.

As the saying goes, if a dog bites you, you can't bite it back.

But whether or not you do depends on whether you're afraid of getting a mouthful of fur.

Leng Mushi didn't care about anything else. She bit down on half of the Phantasmal Fox's head. It yelped and kicked its legs, its body and stomach also pinned down by Leng Mushi, completely subdued.

The disciples trapped in the illusion suddenly froze, even Leng Tianyin hesitated for a moment. But it was only for a moment. After all, even if the Phantasmal Fox was subdued, the entire cave full of Phantasmal Stones would still prevent these disciples from escaping.

Leng Mushi was panting. Under the complicated gaze of Xiao Mian, who was wrestling with Leng Tianyin, she bit down on the Phantasmal Fox, looking more ferocious than the creature itself. She simply dumped the contents of her storage bag onto the ground.

Apart from the cloth bags containing the Soul Control Pills and her Five Elements Pills, there was only the Mustard Seed Cauldron. The rest were daily necessities. There was nothing that could subdue this little thing.

Fortunately, the Phantasmal Fox, like her, was something that only knew illusions and no powerful attack techniques. In a sense, it was exactly the same as Leng Mushi, a Pill Master who only knew alchemy and wasn't very good at fighting.

And because the Phantasmal Fox was newly born, it was momentarily subdued by Leng Mushi's fierce bite. However, its illusions didn't stop. Even without the illumination and assistance of the Phantasmal Stones, it was constantly constructing illusions for Leng Mushi.

Naturally, it was still her mother, the person she loved most in her life.

Leng Mushi unceremoniously watched her "living" mother through the Phantasmal Fox's illusion, tears streaming down her face as she reminisced. However, the furry creature in her mouth constantly reminded her of the situation. She could greedily gaze at her memories, grieve, but she couldn't indulge in them. The lives of all the disciples were within the Phantasmal Fox's illusions, and at this moment, they were all in her mouth.

She couldn't find anything to subdue the Phantasmal Fox, so she simply took out the Mustard Seed Cauldron, enlarging it to occupy the entire cave space. Then, she quickly poured her spiritual energy into it, igniting the spiritual fire.

Then, she pinched the Phantasmal Fox's neck hard, took it out of her mouth, and smashed its wet head hard against the cauldron with a rune, not enough to kill it.

Leng Mushi picked up the dazed creature and stood up. "I just had a crazy idea, thinking I could extract and seal techniques and attacks into pills."

Leng Mushi walked towards the cauldron with the groggy Phantasmal Fox. "But I didn't have the conditions or the opportunity to try."

Leng Mushi reached the cauldron, opened it, and pressed the slightly conscious Phantasmal Fox against it, hitting it with a rune again, knocking it unconscious.

"It's really not satisfying to bully a little thing like you. But you've trapped the souls of so many disciples. I can't just let you go. A beast that eats its own mother is definitely not a good beast. I'll just use you to practice!"

As Leng Mushi spoke, she threw the dazed Phantasmal Fox directly into the cauldron burning with five-colored spiritual fire. Then, she wiped the fox saliva off her mouth and spat out the fur.

She bit her fingertip, drawing a Beast Trapping Formation around the cauldron with her blood, sealing the Phantasmal Fox, which had regained consciousness and was now screaming and hitting the cauldron walls, inside. She then increased the intensity of the spiritual fire.

The disciples trapped in the Phantasmal Fox's lair, all affected by its illusions, were scratching and screaming. The illusions they were trapped in were distorting, and they clutched their heads and cried out in pain.

Leng Mushi and Xiao Mian, who had completely subdued Leng Tianyin, exchanged glances. Xiao Mian smiled at her and said, "Go ahead and do it. Leave the rest to me."

Leng Mushi sat down cross-legged, closed her eyes, and circulated her spiritual energy, pouring it into the cauldron. She attempted to extract the Phantasmal Fox's demonic power for the first time.

The disciples who had been enchanted by the Phantasmal Fox screamed again as they clutched their heads. After Leng Mushi extracted the first wisp of demonic power, they all turned to look at the entrance of the cave.

Xiao Mian let out a soft breath, then exhaled slowly. His Shuiyun Sword shot out of its sheath, surrounded by a halo of spiritual light, causing his long hair and robes to flutter silently. The handsome young Immortal stood holding his sword, his front stained with blood, his face filled with a murderous aura. Shuiyun hummed with fighting spirit.

Xiao Mian gripped Shuiyun with both hands, pointing it at all the disciples in the secret realm who were being controlled by the Phantasmal Fox.

Leng Mushi entered an unprecedented state. As she extracted the Phantasmal Fox's illusionary demonic power, she also saw the life force and soul power of the disciples controlled by the Phantasmal Fox.

A crazy, almost evil thought emerged. She could extract the life force and souls of these disciples, just like the Phantasmal Fox, and refine them into Living Soul Pills!

Since dead souls could be refined, why not living ones?

If refined into pills, these living people would all be at her disposal. She wouldn't need to try to seal techniques anymore. There would be people willing to die for her.

At this critical moment, she caught a glimpse of a path leading straight to the heavens.

She finally understood why those who first cultivated alchemy would embark on the path of puppets and witchcraft, paths despised by the world.

The temptation was too great. To control the life and death of others, to be above all else. She could even use the disciples controlled by the Phantasmal Fox to transfer their life force to another person at will. No one would know, and no one would believe it!

Leng Mushi shook her head and opened her eyes to look at Xiao Mian.

Xiao Mian wasn't like those disciples who were lost in the Phantasmal Fox's illusions. He was fighting those disciples with all his might, trying to hold them back and buy her time.

He stood in a field of light, fighting every step of the way, guarding the pitch-black cave entrance, guarding Leng Mushi who was shrouded in darkness.

He didn't question or doubt her actions. He turned his back to the cave, facing the entire world in this small world for her, without even needing a reasonable explanation.

It was as if it had always been this way, as if it would never change.

Leng Mushi didn't know if she was also affected by the illusions while extracting the demonic power. Countless dark thoughts bubbled and fermented in her heart. She liked Xiao Mian, she was sure of that.

But in the plot, Xiao Mian belonged to someone else, to Leng Tianyin, not her!

How unfair was that? She wouldn't accept this fate!

And Leng Mushi had found the reason why Xiao Mian's temperament would change drastically after he awakened as a Heavenly Demon.

Through the eyes of the Phantasmal Fox, through the ingenious connection with all the Phantasmal Stones, Leng Mushi saw through Xiao Mian's physical condition. There was indeed demonic energy wrapped in spiritual energy within his body, but it didn't come from his bloodline, but from his core.

His core's spiritual light flowed just like any other cultivator, but beneath that spiritual light, there was indeed thick black demonic energy.

His body was indeed flesh and blood, which meant that he wasn't born a Heavenly Demon, nor was his demonic bloodline suppressed. Everything was caused by the demonic core hidden within his spiritual energy, connected to his life force.

He was human, so where did the demonic core come from?

Through the eyes of the Phantasmal Fox, through the power of the Phantasmal Stones, which was comparable to an entire spiritual vein, Leng Mushi briefly possessed the ability to see through everything, and discovered this absurd fact. Xiao Mian didn't even have a human soul. His life force was also maintained by the demonic core. He might…

He might just be a wisp of consciousness remaining in this body, sustained by the Heavenly Demon Core.

So when the demonic core awakened, his temperament would naturally change drastically, because by then, his weak consciousness, which didn't even have a human soul, would have disappeared. It would no longer be him.

And she had fallen in love with a soulless wisp of consciousness, parasitic in a body sustained by a Heavenly Demon Core.

Leng Mushi's heart trembled violently, and she looked away from Xiao Mian. At that moment, she really wanted to extract the souls of all the disciples fighting Xiao Mian, refine them, and make them her own.

But with her cheek bitten, her mouth full of blood, Leng Mushi finally pulled out her bone knife and slashed it hard across her arm, barely resisting the fatal temptation.

With her eyes closed, she stepped back from the path to the heavens step by step, then frantically poured her spiritual energy into the cauldron, rapidly extracting the Phantasmal Fox's demonic power.

The sounds of fighting outside were endless. The wounds on Xiao Mian's body, which had healed under the effect of the Phantasmal Stones, were covered with new ones from the battle.

He had been guarding the entrance of the cave, facing so many cultivators from his own sect and others. He was covered in wounds and had almost been killed several times.

Leng Mushi knew that if Xiao Mian died, this wisp of consciousness would disappear, and the Heavenly Demon Core's consciousness, wrapped within the core, would awaken. Then Xiao Mian would be truly gone.

Leng Mushi's meridians throbbed as she poured her spiritual energy into the cauldron, rapidly extracting the Phantasmal Fox's demonic power. Her mind was constantly battling between extracting the souls of the disciples to stop them and simply crushing the Phantasmal Fox with her spiritual energy, killing all the enchanted disciples.

But she ultimately resisted, because of Xiao Mian, who always had her back, trusted her, and risked his life for her. She didn't take the evil path.

Finally, more than half of the Phantasmal Fox's demonic power was extracted. The consciousness of the higher-level disciples returned, starting with You Zishu, then the Huanxi Sect disciples, then Yi Tu Xi Zhou and the Buddhist cultivators. One by one, they stood by Xiao Mian's side, helping him fight against the other disciples who hadn't broken free from the control.

And Leng Mushi was in tears.

She kept thinking, was this world really just a story? What exactly were the Laws, and what was going on with Xiao Mian? Was everything she saw real?

What was real?!

Amidst the Phantasmal Fox's cries and the pain of her meridians tearing apart, she seemed to see Xiao Mian's face, filled with pain and endurance.

His face was pale, his lips pursed, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. Bloody lines snaked across his forehead and neck, making him look eerily demonic. But his eyes, as bright as stars, held endless tenderness and affection as he looked at her, just like every day in the Cangsheng Courtyard when Leng Mushi looked up to meet his gaze.

And on his chest bloomed clusters of blood flowers, the source of the spreading crimson a bone sword with strange patterns.

That sword was held in Leng Mushi's own hand.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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