Marrying the Soft-hearted Villain

The icy rainwater slid down the bamboo hat, some droplets clinging to Ruan Hanshan's eyelashes. He sat astride Lieyanju, a fiery steed that remained spirited even with its mane plastered to its neck by the rain. He looked like a figure in an ink painting.

“If Miss is worried, you can just let me and two other clansmen in.” He curved his pale lips, his eyes filled with helplessness, his voice gentle. “We couldn't possibly defeat you.”

Having heard him say this, and mentioning Yuan Jue, and with his surname being Ruan, Tian Ye felt he seemed sincere and probably wasn't deceiving her. Her wings fluttered behind her as she slowly descended, landing in front of Ruan Hanshan's group. Without much hesitation, she replied, “Come in.”

In truth, at such a sensitive time, it was best for the Winter Bear Tribe not to let anyone in.

But now, they had no other choice.

Qiuqiu's condition had worsened. They had used up all the medicinal herbs and life-sustaining items. She was truly worried that Qiuqiu wouldn't last until Yuan Jue returned.

Ruan Hanshan nodded politely towards Tian Ye, dismounted from Lieyanju, and directed the two clansmen nearest to him. They drove a wooden cart carrying what looked like a peculiar ice-jade "clan treasure," following behind Tian Ye.

Before setting off, Ruan Hanshan, still gentle and composed, without a trace of Tian Ye's anxiety, softly asked, “Miss, I wonder if my clansmen could choose a cave at the foot of the mountain to take shelter from the rain?”

Tian Ye: "…" She was used to the direct and rough speech of the demons around her and wasn't very good at dealing with this slow-talking human.

But facing this refined human man, she couldn't bring herself to be fierce. “Sure, we can't have them all getting drenched outside.”

“Thank you.” Ruan Hanshan nodded politely at her and gave the order to the clansmen behind him.

“Hurry up and go inside,” Tian Ye urged, her heart anxious.

Ruan Hanshan curved his lips at her, still appearing unhurried, but his movements were faster than those of a demon.

They were like a well-trained team, quickly carrying out all the orders.

The distance from the foot of the mountain to the back mountain wasn't exactly far, but it wasn't close either. It would take a normal demon several minutes to walk it.

But Tian Ye was surprised to find that these three humans were astonishingly fast. Although their movements didn't seem large, they were strangely quick, carrying the half-meter-long ice jade at a rapid pace. She even had to jog to keep up.

They quickly arrived near Ruan Qiuqiu's cave. Qing Ruyi and Mo Bugui came out to greet them, supporting each other.

Ruan Hanshan bowed to them and then, together with the other two, carried the half-meter-long ice jade into the small cave.

Yue Chen leaned against the cave wall and curled his lip at Ruan Hanshan. “What are you doing here? I've already traded my treasures. Are you trying to rob us?”

After he finished speaking, he noticed the ice jade behind Ruan Hanshan, his eyes widening. “Where did you get this treasure?? Damn, why didn't you bring this out before?!”

During the previous trade, Ruan Hanshan had been incredibly stingy. If he had brought out such a good treasure earlier, he would have traded with the Underground People long ago. It wouldn't have been the Winter Bear Tribe's turn.

Ruan Hanshan wasn't angered by his aggressiveness. He simply said softly, “The ancestral treasure of my Underground People clan isn't something we can bring out for trade at any time.”

Yue Chen rolled his eyes, having to admit that what he said made sense. After all, even demons, who didn't have a strong concept of clans, wouldn't casually exchange their most precious possessions.

“Then what are you here for now?” Yue Chen asked again.

This time, Ruan Hanshan didn't answer his question directly. His gaze fell on Ruan Qiuqiu, who was lying on the stone bed. A flicker of surprise crossed his pupils, and a storm surged in his heart. But he concealed it well, hardly revealing anything. If someone hadn't been paying close attention to him, they wouldn't have noticed.

“We'll talk about that later.” Ruan Hanshan smiled good-naturedly at Yue Chen, his expression only slightly more serious. He quickly walked to Ruan Qiuqiu's side, lowered his eyes, and confirmed the pair of wolf ear imprints on her right wrist, which were so red they looked as if they were about to bleed.

Concealing the emotions in his eyes, Ruan Hanshan took a deep breath, turned around, and placed the half-meter-long ice jade beneath the stone bed. Then, he pulled out a bone knife and a piece of animal hide from his long sleeve and directly cut Ruan Qiuqiu's right wrist, which Tian Ye was holding.

“What are you doing!?” He was so fast that Tian Ye didn't even react before Ruan Qiuqiu's wrist was cut.

“Don't worry,” Ruan Hanshan said. “The bleeding has stopped.”

“…” Tian Ye looked down at Ruan Qiuqiu's wrist. The bleeding had indeed stopped.

Only a few drops of blood fell onto the ice jade.

In everyone's eyes, it quickly transformed into an ice jade bed.

“Miss, please move Ruan Qiuqiu onto the ice jade bed,” Ruan Hanshan said.

Tian Ye hesitated for a moment, then carried Ruan Qiuqiu and placed her on the ice jade bed.

Almost immediately, Tian Ye noticed that Ruan Qiuqiu's complexion improved, and her body temperature began to drop.

“Hmm?” Qing Ruyi looked at the ice jade bed, seeming to have thought of something. With a calm demeanor, she looked at Ruan Hanshan and asked kindly, “Can you tell Grandma what's going on?”

Ruan Hanshan didn't hide anything. A complex emotion flickered in his ink-like eyes. “Yuan Jue asked us to come and save her.”

Qing Ruyi was stunned. “Yuan Jue?”

Since Yuan Jue entered the forbidden area more than three days ago, they had lost contact with him. Although they learned from Yue Chen that Yuan Jue was highly likely the reincarnation of the previous Demon King, the sudden disappearance of the Forbidden Treasure Mountain was unsettling. Qing Ruyi and the others weren't sure if Yuan Jue had truly succeeded.

“Yes,” Ruan Hanshan said, looking at the demons, his expression faintly excited. “You can address him as… Demon King.”

“Demon King?” Yue Chen's eyelids twitched violently. He abruptly stood up, then sat heavily back down on the stone stool, pinching his thigh, his expression strange. “He actually became the Demon King.”

He felt a mixture of amusement and despair, unsure whether to be happy for witnessing a miracle or sad for his unlucky brother, who was destined not to become the Demon King.

But compared to Yue Chen's complex emotions, the other demons, after their initial surprise, were ecstatic!

Yuan Jue had become the Demon King, so did they still need to fear Mo Xi, who was at the peak of the seventh rank?

In fact, they really didn't need to fear Mo Xi anymore.

This time, it was Mo Xi's turn to fear them.

…

Demon Realm, Upper Demon Abyss

Lu Ziran, dressed in a long robe made of green moon cotton, strolled across the soft grass, arm in arm with a rather attractive female demon.

Gazing at the azure sky of the Upper Demon Abyss and the rolling hills in the distance, he couldn't help but exclaim, “I didn't expect the environment in the Upper Demon Abyss to be so pleasant.”

Before coming to the Demon Realm, he had imagined it to be filled with lava and wasteland.

“The Upper Demon Abyss is naturally good. It's not like the Lower or Middle Demon Abyss, where land is scarce and demons are plentiful.” The female demon said, leaning against Lu Ziran's chest with a smile. “So, was it the right choice to dump that weak woman and come to the Demon Realm with me to recover?”

Lu Ziran affectionately leaned down and kissed her forehead, nodding with a pale face.

—Back then, he had gone to find Ruan Qiuqiu but was severely injured by a high-rank demon. He fled back to the Wind Lion Tribe in a sorry state, planning to recuperate and rise again.

But who would have thought that Rou Yuerao, who had been relatively kind to him at first, even braving the wind and snow to stand at the edge of the forest, waiting for wild rabbits, pheasants, and medicinal herbs to come to her, would start to dislike him after four or five days when he hadn't recovered. Later, she even started flirting with other beastmen in the tribe.

Lu Ziran's eyes darkened. Even though Rou Yuerao had been excessive, he had tolerated it because of the "good fortune" she brought.

But ten days ago, a group of powerful python beastmen passed through their tribe. The Golden Python at the head took a liking to Rou Yuerao and asked if she was willing to leave with him.

Seeing that he was already a mid-stage fifth-rank expert, Rou Yuerao hesitated for a while but eventually agreed.

She abandoned him just because his cultivation had regressed and he was slow to recover.

He was a lion beastman destined to become the Demon King, yet he was abandoned by a woman.

Lu Ziran was instantly enraged, driven mad, his heart filled with resentment.

He lost some of his reason and, with a gambler's mentality, followed the clues from that "dream," dragging his not-fully-recovered body to stake out a spatial passage in advance, where he "accidentally encountered" a high-rank Ox-horned female demon who fell in love with him at first sight.

In the "dream," when they met, he was already a late-stage sixth-rank expert and naturally looked down on the Ox-horned female demon, whose cultivation was only at the early stage of the sixth rank and whose appearance was nowhere near as beautiful as Rou Yuerao's.

But now, he desperately needed her help.

Under Lu Ziran's deliberate seduction, within a few days, the Ox-horned female demon was completely devoted to him. She not only gave him many spirit stones but was also willing to bring him to the Demon Realm to recover.

Except for her overly vigorous energy, which was a bit too much for him to handle, she took much better care of him than the delicate Rou Yuerao.

“Ziran, what are you thinking about?” the Ox-horned female demon cooed, placing Lu Ziran's hand on her waist. “Look, the weather is so nice today, and this is my territory. There are no demons to disturb us, so why don't we…”

Before she could finish speaking, her expression changed dramatically. The two ox horns on her head flashed red, and her face became somewhat ferocious.

The female demon gently pushed Lu Ziran away, took out an ox horn-shaped communication talisman from her bosom, and, without hesitation, infused it with spiritual power to connect. She said respectfully, “Commander Ying.”

Lu Ziran frowned slightly and heard an exasperated and extremely weak voice coming from the female demon's communication talisman. “Niu Yue, come to the Demon Palace quickly. We have a big problem.”

Niu Yue was very puzzled. Her master was very powerful. Although he had suffered some injuries while eliminating enemy demons this time, he had already recovered by devouring a large amount of flesh and blood. The position of Demon King was within his grasp. As the most capable subordinate under her master, how could Commander Ying suddenly say such a thing?

“Commander Ying, what happened?” Niu Yue asked cautiously.

“You don't know anything?” Commander Ying's voice suddenly rose. “The Demon King has already been born, and you, a Demon Army Commander, still don't know? Such a big event, and I have to inform you???”

Niu Yue was stunned, her intellect slightly lacking, unable to process the information. “Did our master accidentally trigger the Demon Tribulation when he broke through to become the Demon King?”

“Damn it!” Commander Ying was furious, almost driven to the point of his scales shattering by this unintelligent Ox Commander. “Are you a pig brain? If it were our master, would I be worried at all? It's Yuan Jue, Yuan Jue!”

“Some guy who popped out of nowhere, and he's even going against our master! An army of one hundred thousand demons is already attacking, and you're still here leisurely enjoying yourself, messing around with a male demon!”

“Cut the crap, come quickly.”

Commander Ying angrily cut off the communication. Niu Yue's expression was unsightly, but she had to put on a strong front in front of her kept man, so she pretended to be unconcerned and put away the communication talisman.

Lu Ziran, however, was filled with shock, his mind buzzing as if struck by lightning.

Yuan Jue.

Yuan Jue??

Had he misheard? Or was he hallucinating?

Otherwise, how could he have heard that the new Demon King was Ruan Qiuqiu's crippled, disfigured, sickly husband who was said to be unable to live for more than a month??

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