Marrying the Soft-hearted Villain

Bride? Ruan Qiuqiu, her eyes slightly red, heard Little Fish's words. Thinking of her nominally disabled and disfigured Big Bad Wolf husband, her gaze softened, but a slight ache pulsed in her chest.

She pointed to a small, lidded wooden bucket wrapped in animal hide that Little Fish had just given her and asked, "What is this?" The bucket felt heavy, suggesting it was filled with something substantial.

"It's fish soup that Grandpa made." Mo Yu's eyes shone brightly, the gloom that had clung to him dissipating. He grinned, revealing a bit of the liveliness befitting his age. "Sister Qiuqiu, my brother is awake."

Ruan Qiuqiu's eyes widened slightly in a surprised and delighted expression. "That's wonderful! As long as he takes his medicine and rests well, he should be fine."

"Hee hee." Mo Yu scratched his head, giving her a wide smile. "Sister Qiuqiu, thank you."

"You're welcome. I should be thanking you for bringing us fish soup." Ruan Qiuqiu's lips curved into a smile.

Holding the gifts from Mo Yu's family, she looked up at the increasingly gloomy sky. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "Little Fish, wait here for me."

Ruan Qiuqiu ran back into the cave, placed the bucket of fish soup on the stone table, and arranged the soft sheepskin. From her "storage room," she selected a pre-cut piece of beef small enough for Little Fish to carry. After using a wisp of spiritual energy to cleanse it of the remaining demonic energy, she carried it out.

"Here, this is some wild beef my husband hunted. Take it back for your grandpa and the others." Ruan Qiuqiu, in a rare display of assertiveness, pressed the first-grade wild beef into Little Fish's arms. "It's already been processed and is free of the curse. Now hurry back, the weather's turning bad."

"Sister Qiuqiu…" Little Fish looked troubled. He had come to bring them something, not to receive such a large piece of wild beef in return. This…

"Alright, I'm going to go meet my husband. You should go now." Not giving Little Fish a chance to speak, Ruan Qiuqiu gripped her spear tightly and turned to leave.

"…" Mo Yu sighed in a mature manner, taking off the small straw raincoat he wore and offering it to her. "Little Mint made this for me. I won't get wet running back now. Sister Qiuqiu, you can use it. The size is adjustable. Even though Little Mint's not very good at making them, it'll still offer some protection from the rain and snow."

Ruan Qiuqiu "…" She only then noticed the small, rather ugly straw raincoat on Little Fish, the kind that only covered the upper body.

She didn't refuse his kindness. Taking the roughly stitched straw raincoat made of dried grass, she put it on.

…

After they parted ways, Ruan Qiuqiu jogged, examining the snowflakes on the ground near the cave. Following the tracks, she arrived at the base of a giant tree.

The snow on the ground was disturbed, with clear signs of something heavy being dragged. Mixed in were scattered, almost imperceptible bloodstains.

Her eyebrows furrowed. Standing behind the tree, she had a clear view of the cave entrance.

Was this where the wolf had hidden when Lu Ziran came looking for her before?

Thinking of the wolf's condition, Ruan Qiuqiu felt both angry and distressed. The demonic energy within him hadn't completely dissipated, and his wounds were only slightly better than when they first met. He should be resting, not hunting.

He was mysterious and powerful enough to defeat the male lead in an instant, but what did that matter? Pain wouldn't lessen because of it, and the grey wolf would still pay the price.

Ruan Qiuqiu bent down, brushing aside the bloodstained snow. Sensing the strong demonic energy emanating from it, her unease intensified.

Last time, he'd nearly been buried alive in the snow after dealing with a third-grade demon. This time, he'd faced the male lead, who possessed the protagonist's halo. Given the wolf's stubborn, proud, and awkward nature, he was probably seriously injured and didn't want her to see him in such a pathetic state, which was why he'd made her sleep.

Ruan Qiuqiu bit her lip, her fingers brushing against a frozen flower stem.

A flower stem?

Frowning, Ruan Qiuqiu found a few scattered petals in the nearby snow.

—Why would the wolf pick flowers? Could they be for her?

The thought surfaced, and Ruan Qiuqiu subconsciously shook her head with a smile, yet the possibility seemed quite high.

Carefully gathering the petals, she placed them in a pocket sewn onto the side of her backpack. Standing up, she continued to follow the tracks at a jog.

As dusk settled, Ruan Qiuqiu had been searching for over ten minutes when the tracks in the snow abruptly disappeared.

Her lips pressed together, she glanced at the sky, where lightning began to flash. After a moment's thought, she decided to check the nearby passage.

She hadn't yet retrieved the ginseng, herbs, and spirit stones she had collected earlier. If the weather worsened, she might not be able to go back out.

Besides, if she got the spirit stones now, she could at least try to help if she happened to "find" the injured wolf along the way.

In the increasingly harsh conditions, Ruan Qiuqiu ran, making bitter jokes to herself.

After five or six minutes, she reached the secret passage. It looked the same as when she left, and judging by the footprints, no small animals had been there.

Gripping the vines along the rock face, she climbed into the cave.

Moving the stones aside, she found her hidden items undisturbed.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ruan Qiuqiu quickly packed the herbs and spirit stones. She wrapped the fish in animal hide, sealed the passage entrance with stones, and was about to leave the tree hollow when she heard two dejected voices nearby.

"Damn, will the Flame Wolf Tribe ever stop? We just wanted to borrow some herbs! Fifty pounds of dried meat for a single herb? Even robbers aren't that greedy." A young, almost boyish voice cursed. "They're not even acting like proper demons."

Ruan Qiuqiu's heart stirred. Not daring to emerge from the tree hollow, she peered through a small crack, spotting two young male demons.

They wore slightly tattered light brown hide clothing. They had dark hair and brown eyes, and their features were decent, but their faces were etched with worry.

The older demon sighed. "Forget it. It's because our Winter Bear Tribe is small, our territory is small, and we don't have a tribe shaman. We're desperate for herbs."

"But Brother, if we can't get any herbs, those injured bears in the tribe will die." The younger bear demon gritted his teeth. "If only the previous chief of the Flame Wolf Tribe were still around. We used to exchange five pounds of dried meat for herbs in the winter. Now they've increased the price tenfold, damn them."

"There's nothing we can do. I heard the previous chief of the Flame Wolf Tribe has been abandoned. I'm not surprised, though. After all, whoever gets close to that Wolf King suffers misfortune…" The older bear demon continued, a hint of gossip in his voice. "It's a pity, he was a fifth-grade expert."

"Why abandon him? If getting close brings bad luck, just stay away," the younger bear grumbled. "Those ungrateful wretches."

"True, but how many tribes wouldn't abandon an injured male demon? Our tribe hasn't, and look how miserable our lives are. We're even deprived of the right to hibernate…"

The older bear demon sighed. "Forget it. Let's not waste time. Let's try our luck at the Wind Lion Tribe, not far from here."

As the two bear demons walked away, Ruan Qiuqiu was stunned.

—Mr. Big Bad Wolf was a fifth-grade expert?

Fifth-grade, a great demon who had already condensed a demon core. Why wasn't this mentioned in the book or in her memories…?

She had always assumed he was just a wolf demon who hadn't yet formed a demon core.

Just an ordinary, big, bad wolf.

Ruan Qiuqiu rubbed her forehead, shouldered her backpack, and recalled the conversation between the two bears. She felt a pang of sympathy for the Winter Bear Tribe, who didn't abandon their injured companions and were friendly to humans, yet couldn't even hibernate.

Then there was the Flame Wolf Tribe, occupying the forest's abundant resources, unwilling to share even a scrap with Mr. Big Bad Wolf, let alone care for vulnerable humans like Little Fish.

Climbing down from the tree hollow, Ruan Qiuqiu looked in the direction the bear demons had gone, her lips pressed together apologetically.

She wanted to help the bears, but her herbal harvest was limited, and her wolf needed them. Compared to these unfamiliar, pitiful bears, her wolf was more important.

She could only hope they would be able to trade for herbs at the Wind Lion Tribe. Although the Wind Lion Tribe wouldn't trade a single herb for five pounds of dried meat, it would likely be cheaper than the Flame Wolf Tribe.

Ruan Qiuqiu pursed her lips, thinking that perhaps when Mr. Big Bad Wolf recovered and she had more time, she could disguise herself as a wandering shaman and visit the Winter Bear Tribe.

Putting the thought aside, she took a deep breath and continued searching for the wolf in the opposite direction.

—Meanwhile, Mr. Big Bad Wolf, usually plagued by bad luck and forced to search long and hard for firewood, perhaps blessed by a mysterious force due to his constant thoughts of his little wife back in the cave, had unexpectedly good fortune. He hadn't encountered any of the wild beasts or weaker demons he'd anticipated and had easily found several pieces of fire-starting wood.

They were even second-grade, better than ordinary or first-grade wood.

Shifting into his demon form, Yuan Jue used his demonic power to transform into a massive wolf, five or six meters tall. Supporting himself with his right hind leg, he used his front paws to carefully break off the dead branches and twigs of the second-grade fire-starting wood.

He gathered enough wood to last their cave for over a month before stopping. He then felled some of the hard ironwood growing around the fire-starting wood, intending to make more bowls and basins.

She was currently sharing his, and although he wasn't unwilling, he didn't want to risk her absorbing more demonic energy than she could handle if he lost control.

Being with him was already difficult enough; he didn't want to burden her with unnecessary risks.

With most of his demonic power depleted, Yuan Jue felt a throbbing pain in his meridians.

He bound the wood with dried vines and carried it on his broad, furry back.

The sky was darkening completely, and lightning flashed within the rain clouds as hail and rain began to fall.

The battered Wolf King, due to his large size, felt the impact of the hail painfully.

He let out a low, muffled growl, gritting his teeth as he struggled to discern the path back to the cave using his demonic sense.

—His cunning wolf plan wasn't complete yet. He had to return before his little wife woke up, then "collapse" weakly at the cave entrance, waiting for her to find him.

The current weather, though harsh, was within his expectations. The hail stung, but his thick fur offered some protection. It only hurt a little.

Just a little.

…

As darkness deepened, Ruan Qiuqiu searched many places but found no trace of him, nor did she find a frozen wolf near the tree roots like last time.

Her anxiety grew, and her frustration and despair peaked when a clap of thunder split the dark clouds.

Small hailstones pelted down, striking Ruan Qiuqiu's unprotected head, chilling her scalp.

Her strength was waning. If she didn't return soon, she might die in the forest.

Standing in the vast expanse of snow, beneath the stormy sky and towering trees, she wiped her stinging eyes.

—Where could he be?

—Had he gone hunting and already returned?

The thought crossed her mind. Shouldering her pack, she started back towards the cave.

She was no longer angry about the bad wolf leaving her without shoes. She just hoped he wasn't… dead.

Please don't be dead.

The rain and hail intensified, and Ruan Qiuqiu stumbled several times as she ran.

When she finally reached the cave, breathless, it was still empty.

Complete darkness had fallen, leaving only a sliver of light.

Ruan Qiuqiu walked numbly to the cave entrance, dropped her backpack, and sat on the cold ground without even pulling out a stone stool. Hugging her knees, she stared out at the relentless rain and hail.

Tears streamed down her face, mingling with the downpour.

She felt useless. She wasn't particularly clever, powerful, or talented. She had no protagonist's halo. She was just an ordinary person struggling to survive.

She had been so happy to find so many herbs and spirit stones, but now the wolf she had painstakingly cared for was gone.

Ruan Qiuqiu's cheeks burned, and she felt a tightness in her chest.

Blurring her vision with tears, she gritted her teeth, preparing to search again. Lifting her gaze, through the falling rain, she saw a massive figure.

Carrying a large bundle of nearly soaked firewood, it seemed like a hallucination.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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