Marrying the Soft-hearted Villain

Lord Wolf, with utmost seriousness, placed his little wife on the marriage bed. The two fingers that had been pressed against her soft waist during their walk were now red and burning hot.

After confirming that Ruan Qiuqiu was properly lying on the bed, the righteous wolf gentleman extended two fingers again and, with the aid of his demonic power, rolled Ruan Qiuqiu twice, moving her further onto the stone bed.

Only then, enduring the strange sensation from his fingers touching her skin, did he move, his handsome face slightly flushed. He picked up the small animal hide blanket that his little wife had folded by the bed, carefully spread it out, and covered her with it.

Actually, Ruan Qiuqiu was currently covered in grime. If she were awake, she absolutely wouldn't allow herself to lie directly on the stone bed without cleaning herself and changing clothes.

But the righteous wolf gentleman, for some inexplicable (shy) reason, didn't even take off her shoes.

Lord Yuan Jue meticulously tucked in the corners of the blanket for his little wife. His large hands hung at his sides, the index and middle fingers of both hands, which had just touched Ruan Qiuqiu's waist and the back of her neck, trembled slightly. His handsome face was flushed.

The feeling of his fingertips inadvertently brushing against her skin was still vivid. It was different from the feel of his wolf fur; it was warm and delicate.

His long, raven-black eyelashes trembled, and the corners of Lord Wolf's eyes were red.

He was clearly no longer able to truly "see" her with his eyes, yet those gradually calming narrow eyes were still filled with bright stars.

His demonic consciousness swept over Ruan Qiuqiu's scratched and bruised face, and Lord Big Grey Wolf subconsciously reached out his pale hand towards her, only to quickly lower it in the next second.

—His palms were covered in un-dried demonic blood, which would dirty her face.

A helpless smile played on his lips. Yuan Jue gently lifted the animal hide on the outer side of the marriage bed, his side, and transformed his right hand into a sharp claw. Enduring the pain from his meridians, he meticulously "drew" everything that had happened today, stroke by stroke.

The fat lion head wasn't the most important thing. He had talked to his little wife today, and he had touched her…

The more Lord Big Grey Wolf drew, the redder his face became. By the time he finished recording, the tips of his ears were almost pink.

His sharp, furry claws carefully brushed away the stone dust on the marriage bed and then covered it with the animal hide.

The wolf scanned the ground with his demonic consciousness and then realized, with some embarrassment, that the floor of the bridal chamber had also been accidentally stained by the blood dripping from his severed limb.

Yuan Jue pursed his still-pale lips with some embarrassment, flicked his intact pointed ear, carefully tucked away his large tail, and, using his demonic power to support his empty left leg, "walked" to the cave entrance and added two pieces of firewood to the stone stove.

Because of that old lion's sudden troublemaking, he had almost forgotten that there wasn't enough firewood in the cave.

That wood was special, growing in the depths of the forest. If he went there and back in his demon form, it would take about three or four hours.

If he left now, he should be back by the time his little wife woke up.

Yuan Jue gently placed his large hand against the stone wall at the cave entrance, his fingertips applying slight pressure.

Thanks to that fat lion, even though his meridians and internal organs were severely injured from overuse of demonic energy, his body now contained a lot more demonic power.

Although that demonic power wasn't enough to heal all his internal injuries, it could suppress the constant, needle-like pain in his body.

Once that demonic power was used up, he wouldn't be able to move like he did today until his meridians healed again.

Even if he used demonic energy again, he would probably only gain a brief burst of strength and fighting ability.

And after that, the aftereffects might not be as simple as ruptured meridians and slightly discolored fur.

Yuan Jue clenched his jaw and licked his fangs, which craved blood.

It was fortunate that he hadn't lost his mind to the demonic energy this time and hadn't forgotten important things. He wouldn't rashly use it again until he could control the demonic energy in his bloodline.

In fact, his current physical condition wasn't optimistic. He needed to recuperate for a few days with spiritual energy and food.

But looking at the worsening weather, with the impending strong winds and blizzard, if he didn't go out and get some firewood today, Ruan Qiuqiu might freeze to death in a few days.

He could no longer provide her with a good life, but keeping her from freezing was his bottom line as a male demon.

Lord Big Grey Wolf knew that he wasn't a good partner for Ruan Qiuqiu. They hadn't consummated their marriage and hadn't formed a bond to share their lifespans. Strictly speaking, they weren't truly husband and wife.

She had other choices, but he was selfish.

He didn't want to consider competitors like the snail, the grey wolf, or the fat lion. He just wanted her to stay by his side a little longer, bearing the title of his wife.

Yuan Jue even had the somewhat despicable thought: if he returned, wounded and carrying firewood, and pretended to collapse from exhaustion at the cave entrance, would she, out of joy and distress, hug him or touch his tail?

Or perhaps, kiss the corner of his lips…

A suspicious blush crept onto his cheeks again. Yuan Jue raised his hand and rubbed the corner of his lips, which had started to tingle with strange sensations just from thinking about it. The tip of his tail behind him curled slightly.

He let out a soft breath, his demonic consciousness lingering on Ruan Qiuqiu on the marriage bed one last time, before transforming into his demon form and heading out.

…

…

At the edge of the Flame Wolf Tribe, little Mo Yu returned to his cave, carrying a bountiful haul.

Grandpa Mo was still the same, half-sitting on the bed. Since it was evening, his mind was relatively clear.

Mo Bohe was doing needlework with the flower-patterned hide that Mo Mao had hunted for her last year. Seeing Mo Yu return, she immediately put down her work and smiled at him. "Second Brother, you're back?"

"Mm." Mo Yu entered the cave and closed the animal hide curtain. The serious expression he had maintained throughout his journey instantly relaxed, revealing a wide, uncontainable smile. "Today, Sister Qiuqiu and I… went hunting and found a lot of good things!"

As he spoke, Mo Yu placed the food and herbs he had gathered on the stone table.

"Herbs, fish! Sister Qiuqiu's husband's precious water droplets, and pretty stones…?" Mo Bohe blinked, counting. "Wow, so much."

Seeing the spirit stone on the table, Grandpa Mo looked at Mo Yu with unusual sternness. "Does anyone else know about you finding this?"

Mo Yu was stunned for a moment before quickly shaking his head. "No, I found that place. Only Sister Qiuqiu and I know…"

After speaking, Mo Yu corrected himself, "Now you know too, and I guess Sister Qiuqiu's husband will know too."

Mo Yu clenched his bone club and lowered his head guiltily. "Grandpa, is this pretty stone very valuable? I didn't really want so many things, but Sister Qiuqiu said this stone is very good for her husband's health…"

Hearing this, Grandpa Mo sighed.

He looked at Mo Yu's reddened eyes and then at Mo Mao, who was still lying on the bed, barely clinging to life. His heart ached, and he couldn't bring himself to scold the boy.

If he, the only adult in the family, hadn't been so weakened by the pain of separating from his beloved wife, his children wouldn't have to work so hard.

Grandpa Mo supported himself against the wall and slowly stood up. He reached out his trembling hand and stroked Xiao Yu and Mo Bohe's heads. "Xiao Yu, Bohe, this pretty thing is called a spirit stone. It's extremely valuable. We absolutely cannot let other demons know we have it, understand?"

Seeing both children nod seriously, promising not to tell anyone, Grandpa Mo's brow relaxed. He walked unsteadily to the stone table, hesitated for a moment, and picked up the spirit stone.

As his aged skin touched the cold, crystalline stone, Grandpa Mo closed his eyes and slowly tightened his grip.

Mo Bohe watched in surprise as his hair darkened slightly. She clapped her hands joyfully. "Grandpa! Your hair is turning black!"

Hearing Mo Bohe's voice, Grandpa Mo raised his hand and touched his head. "Really?"

"Yes! Grandpa is getting younger! Grandpa is getting more handsome!" Mo Bohe was sweet-tongued, making Grandpa Mo and Mo Yu laugh.

Grandpa Mo laughed heartily, and even his usually cloudy eyes seemed to clear somewhat. "I really am getting younger. Why is that?"

"Perhaps this spirit stone really is a treasure," Grandpa Mo blinked, answering his own question.

Although his gait was still unsteady, it was more stable than before.

Grandpa Mo walked to Mo Mao's bedside and placed the spirit stone in his cat paw.

"Second Brother, with the spirit stone, will Big Brother get better soon?" Mo Bohe asked Xiao Yu softly from the side.

Mo Yu nodded. "Besides the spirit stone, we also have treasures and herbs. Big Brother will definitely get better."

"Mao Mao, get better soon." Grandpa Mo sat by the bed, his aged hand gently stroking Mo Mao's hair. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something more.

But before he could speak, Mo Mao slowly opened his eyes.

The young boy had beautiful emerald green cat eyes, which were still somewhat dazed.

His gaze met the familiar silver-black hair from his childhood memories, and he moved his dry lips. "…Father?"

Grandpa Mo trembled violently, his pupils constricting sharply.

He took a deep breath and quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Grandpa Mo smiled and touched Mo Mao's hand, correcting him, his voice terribly old. "…It's Grandpa."

Mo Mao also regained his senses, recognizing the person in front of him. "…Grandpa, I'm sorry."

Grandpa Mo shook his head, muttering with a smile, but a fleeting sadness was buried in his eyes. "Grandpa really has become younger. Mao Mao even mistook me."

Mo Mao, his face pale, turned his head and saw Mo Bohe with tears welling in her eyes. He gave her a weak smile.

"Big Brother, you're finally awake." Mo Yu also breathed a sigh of relief, his whole body relaxing.

The family of four was finally awake at the same time again.

While Mo Bohe and the rarely lucid Grandpa Mo went to prepare dinner, little Mo Yu secretly told Mo Mao everything that had happened recently.

"You only gave her one piece of information, and she gave you so much?" Mo Mao looked at the good things on the stone table, his face full of conflict. He patted Mo Yu's shoulder hard. "So many things, much more valuable than our passage and the information."

Mo Mao hesitated and said to Mo Yu, who had dropped his guard and was smiling cheerfully in front of his brother, "After dinner, send a portion to Sister… Qiuqiu. I stored a lot of meat last autumn. Our family isn't short of meat."

"Did you hear?"

"Oh." Mo Yu listened attentively to his brother's words. "But Big Brother, I think Sister Qiuqiu needs hides more."

"Her clothes are so tattered."

Mo Yu, whose own clothes were also tattered, actually mocked Ruan Qiuqiu, whose clothes were even more tattered. "She's a bride, and she doesn't even have new clothes."

"What are you talking about? What bride?" Mo Bohe walked in, frowning, carrying a bowl of tuber vegetable soup. "Are you talking about Sister Qiuqiu?"

Mo Yu scratched his face. "Mm."

Mo Bohe thought for a moment, put down the soup, and retrieved a pure white animal hide that was well-hidden under her small bed.

This was a birthday gift Mo Mao had given her last spring, the hide of a pure white, rare sharp-horned sheep. "Second Brother, give this to Sister Qiuqiu."

"A bride should wear something nice. She gave us so many things, what's one hide?"

Mo Yu's eyes flickered. Looking at his sister's unforced smile, he took the hide and started teasing her. "Your hide is so white. Don't you have anything more festive? Red, flowered, spotted… You want a bride to wear white?"

Mo Bohe was almost exasperated by him. She rolled her eyes at him, too lazy to explain that white looked better in snowy weather, and that a fluffy white dress was romantic—a concept this little boy, who had always been straightforward, wouldn't understand.

Little Mo Yu didn't waste any time. Seeing that the weather was about to turn bad, he quickly slung the hide and food over his shoulder and went out.

When he arrived near Ruan Qiuqiu's cave, Ruan Qiuqiu was still under Lord Big Grey Wolf's spell and hadn't woken up.

"Sister Qiuqiu."

"Sister Qiuqiu?"

Because of his previous experience of vomiting blood, Mo Yu didn't dare get too close to the cave and could only call out to her from outside.

He called softly a few times, then, catching sight of the bloodstains on the ground and remembering Ruan Qiuqiu's pale face when they parted, he suddenly became worried and shouted loudly, "Sister Qiuqiu! Ruan Qiuqiu, are you in the cave? Are you alright?"

As Xiao Yu shouted for the third time, stamping his feet anxiously, Ruan Qiuqiu, who had been put to sleep by Lord Big Grey Wolf with a single "sleep," finally woke up with a start.

She opened her eyes in a daze, staring at the familiar smooth stone wall of the cave ceiling. Subconsciously, she reached out to her side, but didn't feel the wolf. Only then did she fully wake up.

As her senses and memories returned, Ruan Qiuqiu immediately sat up, rubbed her forehead, and couldn't help but sigh heavily.

Since Lord Big Grey Wolf had a prior record of knocking her unconscious and luring away monsters alone, this time there probably weren't any other demons helping them. Lu Ziran suddenly collapsing and convulsing was probably his doing as well.

She didn't even know when he had recovered enough to have the strength to attack the male lead.

She wasn't particularly afraid or panicked, but she felt quite a bit of frustration.

If it really was Lord Big Grey Wolf, attacking the lion head was one thing, but why did he have to put her to sleep? She hadn't even gotten her food and spirit stones back yet.

And… he probably also saw her theatrical struggling and shouting in the snow…

Ruan Qiuqiu wanted to cry but had no tears. She could only try to comfort herself that the wolf was probably still blind and couldn't see her flailing hands and feet.

And that wolf usually seemed quite clean, so how could he let her lie on the bed so dirty, without even changing her clothes…

Hmm… Ruan Qiuqiu blushed for a moment. Forget it, it was fine if he didn't change her clothes, but he didn't even take off her shoes???

Feeling something still on her feet, Ruan Qiuqiu endured the pain in her calves and quickly climbed out of bed.

Her eyes fell on the soiled animal hide blanket, and she instantly felt suffocated, almost wanting to eat the wolf alive.

Where was the wolf? Where did he go?

"Sister Qiuqiu!"

Xiao Yu was still calling from outside. Ruan Qiuqiu came to her senses, quickly responded, and staggered towards the exit. After taking just two steps, she noticed something was amiss.

—What were those three eggs, almost as tall as her forearm, doing on the stone table??? And why was there a large pile of processed black hide in the corner, which looked like it belonged to a wild ox?

Had Lord Big Grey Wolf gone hunting? His body clearly hadn't recovered to that extent yet.

Ruan Qiuqiu frowned, looking at the hot water boiling in the stone pot, a growing unease in her heart.

She lifted the tattered animal hide curtain and saw a mountain of processed beef in the "storage room."

Ruan Qiuqiu "…"

She rubbed her eyes in a daze, confirming that she wasn't seeing things. It really was beef, and judging by the amount, it was probably from a "small wild ox." Judging by the abundance of spiritual energy, it was a first-tier one at that.

She had confirmed the spiritual energy; it was meat she couldn't hunt.

Ruan Qiuqiu leaned against the wall. Although she joked about it, she wasn't happy at all.

Because the wolf who had hunted wasn't in the "storage room." To be precise, he wasn't in their cave.

Despite having just woken up from a soft, warm bed, Ruan Qiuqiu now felt a chill all over.

She pressed her lips together, thinking that this couldn't be a parting gift, could it? But her eyes, embarrassingly, began to sting, and her vision blurred.

Could it be, like last time, that he had reached his limit after fighting the monster?

Thinking of this possibility, Ruan Qiuqiu quickly grabbed her spear, hesitated for a moment, packed flint and a piece of firewood into her backpack, and ran out of the cave.

Mo Yu was still waiting outside. Seeing her emerge, he breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great, Sister Qiuqiu, you're alright."

His voice was hoarse, sounding pitifully raspy.

Ruan Qiuqiu felt a pang of guilt and bent down to look him in the eye. "Xiao Yu, why are you here?"

Mo Yu shoved the things he was holding into her arms, smiling. "Big Brother woke up and told me to bring you something. Mo Bohe also said you're a bride and should wear beautiful animal hides."

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