Marrying the Soft-hearted Villain

Ruan Qiuqiu saw that the black spots on Mr. Big Bad Wolf were no longer spreading and his breathing had gradually stabilized, so she stopped absorbing the magic core.

The second-tier water-type magic core had been half-absorbed and had become somewhat transparent.

Ruan Qiuqiu released Mr. Big Bad Wolf's hand and, enduring the pain, lay down beside him, taking small breaths to lessen the pain from overusing her meridians.

Although her current body was more compatible with her and better able to utilize her talent than in the apocalypse, as someone who hadn't even reached the first tier, suddenly absorbing, converting, and outputting so much spiritual energy was still a bit much for her.

Ruan Qiuqiu felt that her current state wasn't much better than Mr. Big Bad Wolf. She was dirty from being outside, covered in his blood, and several of her meridians were slightly damaged.

But it wasn't entirely without benefits.

Her dantian's capacity was several times larger than before, and it seemed she wasn't far from breaking through to the first tier. There were even a few wisps of spiritual energy left inside that Mr. Big Bad Wolf hadn't absorbed completely.

Hadn't absorbed completely.

This thought crossed her mind, and Ruan Qiuqiu's thoughts suddenly took a strange turn.

She turned over and looked at her "husband," who was lying flat, his breathing shallow due to his serious injuries. Her heart felt like it had been tickled by a wolf's tail, a ticklish sensation.

“Speaking of which, I still don't know your name…”

“Husband, what's your name?”

As Ruan Qiuqiu circulated those few wisps of spiritual energy to repair her meridians, she unconsciously placed her hand on the big, fluffy tail behind Mr. Big Bad Wolf.

She had noticed Mr. Big Bad Wolf's large tail in the snow, but at the time, she had been too worried about his condition to indulge her desire to pet it. She had only tugged on it a couple of times to wake him up.

Now that Mr. Big Bad Wolf was doing much better, and she had worked so hard, it should be okay to pet his tail a little…

Although Ruan Qiuqiu still felt a bit conflicted, thinking it wasn't very appropriate, it had been years since she had touched anything fluffy, and she couldn't resist, especially since Mr. Big Bad Wolf's tail was so long and furry.

Ruan Qiuqiu stroked the slightly coarse wolf tail, not daring to get too close to the base, only petting it from the middle downwards.

It felt a bit prickly and rough, but stroking it downwards gave a smooth sensation. The tip of the tail felt even rougher, a little scratchy.

In addition, Mr. Big Bad Wolf's tail still had some melted snow on it, and after only a couple of strokes, her hand was covered in wet wolf fur.

Ruan Qiuqiu: “…”

She suddenly thought she could use Mr. Big Bad Wolf's tail fur to make a toothbrush.

When the wolf woke up, she wouldn't let him pretend to be unconscious anymore; she had to get his permission to pluck his fur for a brush…

As Ruan Qiuqiu continued to think, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. She tried to stay awake, but the drowsiness was too strong, and she inadvertently fell into a deep sleep.

…

When Ruan Qiuqiu woke up again, it was completely dark outside, making her feel disoriented in time.

She sat up and first checked Mr. Big Bad Wolf's injuries.

The wolf hadn't improved much. Although the black spots, suspected to be demonic energy, hadn't spread further, his fever hadn't subsided, and his wounds were bleeding again.

Ruan Qiuqiu frowned and checked her own condition.

After sleeping, her body had mostly recovered, and her dantian had condensed more than a dozen wisps of mutated water-type spiritual energy. She was in good shape!

Ruan Qiuqiu got up, first condensed five or six drops of water with healing properties and fed them to Mr. Big Bad Wolf. Then she got dressed and started taking care of things in the cave.

Adding firewood, cleaning, cooking, tending to the wolf, washing the animal hide clothes, and making weapons.

By the time Ruan Qiuqiu finished all this, not only was her physical strength depleted, but she was also mentally exhausted.

Because Mr. Big Bad Wolf needed to recover, she planned to go hunting. Regarding food, Ruan Qiuqiu mainly let the wolf eat the meat while she had soup and tubers.

But even so, the meat was rapidly diminishing.

More urgent than food were medicinal herbs.

After changing Mr. Big Bad Wolf's dressing today, there was only one and a half herbs left.

It would only last for two more days at most.

Ruan Qiuqiu was almost worried sick. She sat by the bed, plucked a couple of hairs from Mr. Big Bad Wolf's tail, and said with some resentment, “Mr. Big Bad Wolf, when will you get better?”

Please get better soon.

Ruan Qiuqiu listened to his shallow breathing, sincerely hoping for his recovery.

But it seemed fate wasn't on their side. The heavy snow continued for days, and Mr. Big Bad Wolf's fever persisted.

On the day they ran out of herbs, the black demonic energy spread rapidly throughout Mr. Big Bad Wolf's body again.

Ruan Qiuqiu had no choice but to absorb the magic core once more. She successfully suppressed the spread of his demonic energy and, at the same time, broke through the threshold of the first tier, becoming a first-tier ability user.

Her ability level also recovered to the point where she could condense thirty drops of water with weak healing properties daily.

But Ruan Qiuqiu couldn't feel happy at all because the magic core that could barely save Mr. Big Bad Wolf's life could only suppress the demonic energy twice more at most.

Not only were they out of herbs, but they also only had ten pounds of dried meat left.

During these two days, although they were fortunate enough not to be attacked, it was as if they had been abandoned by the world, trapped in the cave by the endless snow.

Besides Mr. Big Bad Wolf, Ruan Qiuqiu was completely alone. She hadn't even seen a single blade of living grass.

While caring for Mr. Big Bad Wolf, making weapons, and cultivating her abilities, she often talked to herself to alleviate her loneliness.

…

On the fourth night of the continuous snowfall, after Ruan Qiuqiu used the magic core to suppress the spread of Mr. Big Bad Wolf's demonic energy once again, she looked at the dwindling food supplies and became anxious.

Over the past few days, she had used the sharpest part of the monster Mr. Big Bad Wolf had brought back to make a spear-like weapon. She had also found some dry grass in the cave and woven a pair of straw sandals, then used leftover animal hide scraps to make them into warm shoes.

She also chose a piece of relatively white animal hide and made it into a backpack.

In addition, Ruan Qiuqiu used a bone knife to carve some ordinary wood into small, lidded wooden cups. She made four of them and, during her cultivation breaks, she stored drops of water with healing properties in the empty cups.

She had experimented and found that the healing effect of the water droplets stored in the wooden cups could last for about a day.

She had done all this to prepare for leaving the next morning.

These past few days, she hadn't restricted herself from eating meat, so her diet had improved, and her physical condition was much better. Even in the heavy snow, she should have some fighting ability.

“I'm going out tomorrow morning.” Ruan Qiuqiu sat on the edge of the stone bed, placed her paw on Mr. Big Bad Wolf's dry, fluffy tail, and said with a touch of melancholy, “I don't know if I'll be able to come back. If I'm late, and the demonic energy in your body flares up again, you must drink the water I prepared for you.”

As the light outside gradually brightened, Ruan Qiuqiu continued, “It's right beside your head. There are three cups, which should last for a while…”

“Mr. Big Bad Wolf, can you hear me?”

He was the only connection she had to this world. He was the "evil wolf" who had protected her several times. He was her Tianluo, her gray wolf.

She was truly afraid of losing him.

Stroking the wolf's tail and looking at Mr. Big Bad Wolf's handsome, pale face, Ruan Qiuqiu's voice choked with emotion, “Husband, you must not die…”

—Mr. Yuan Jue, finally regaining some consciousness: “…………”

Why was he about to die??

Although he had been in a daze from the fever for the past few days, he occasionally regained consciousness, but only for a few short minutes before being dragged back into darkness by the burning pain throughout his body.

Those seemingly irresistible forces, emanating from the depths of his bloodline and demon core, had been raging within him.

But every time, just as he was about to lose his mind and slip into the abyss of collapse, a familiar, cool spiritual energy would flow through his palm, little by little repelling the darkness that seemed to be embedded in his bloodline.

And it was entirely thanks to this power that he could regain some consciousness.

He even frequently heard a familiar voice murmuring beside him, talking about trivial things like "we're running out of food" and "it's snowing so heavily."

At first, the feverish Mr. Big Bad Wolf thought it was all a hallucination.

But gradually, he realized that it wasn't.

The human little wife, whom he thought would surely fall into a deep sleep, had perhaps braved the heavy snow and brought him, this incredibly heavy wolf, back.

Brought him back to the "home" she spoke of.

She had saved him again.

She also told him not to die.

Yuan Jue couldn't describe the emotions in his heart. The stinging pain of his wounds and her choked sobs were equally clear, making him feel both bitter and sweet.

But he was such a useless wolf.

He knew he wouldn't die, but when those dark substances, which he currently lacked the strength to comprehend, completely consumed his body, he might no longer be the wolf with his own consciousness.

He might become a great demon wolf, a great black wolf, a great ugly wolf.

He might even eat her.

Yuan Jue desperately wanted to recover immediately. The snowy forest was dangerous, and he didn't want Ruan Qiuqiu to risk going out.

He, a wolf demon who couldn't even move, let alone hunt, was he truly worthy of the title "husband" she used?

He wasn't even qualified to be a stand-in for Tianluo.

Mr. Big Bad Wolf didn't know what else his feverish mind was thinking. He just saw Ruan Qiuqiu's sadness and desperately wanted to open his eyes or move a finger to respond to her.

He wanted to promise her something, to tell her not to leave the cave, even to tell her to go south, to abandon him.

But…

He was such a useless wolf. He was so weak that he couldn't even speak a single word.

Even his consciousness was fading bit by bit.

In the end, his tail twitched once, and he lost consciousness.

Ruan Qiuqiu only felt the wolf tail in her hand twitch sharply. Her first reaction wasn't that Mr. Big Bad Wolf was recovering, but that this was a sign of his impending death.

She subconsciously checked his breathing and, after confirming that he was still alive, her eyes reddened with fear.

She gritted her teeth, stopped wasting time, put on her gear, gave Mr. Big Bad Wolf's tail a final pat, and said, “I'll bring back herbs and fresh meat.”

“I'll be back soon.”

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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