Marrying the Soft-hearted Villain

Her head was still dizzy and aching, her ears and cheeks burning hot.

Ruan Qiuqiu quickly released the arm she had been clinging to, subconsciously rolling away and putting some distance between herself and Mr. Big Gray Wolf, accidentally landing on his tail in the process. She had just had a dream about Mr. Big Gray Wolf, and waking up to find herself sleeping with him under the same fur pelt was a bit too stimulating.

Ruan Qiuqiu blinked rapidly, raising her weak arm to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes. She bit her lip, the cold sweat on her body feeling strangely warm.

"…"

Hopefully, nothing happened?

Ruan Qiuqiu carefully assessed the situation. Finding both her and the wolf's clothes still intact, albeit a little rumpled, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Her memory returned. The image of Yuan Jue, hands covered in blood, violently fixing the fur curtain last night flashed in her mind. Ruan Qiuqiu touched her still-warm forehead and sighed in understanding.

The feeling of being immersed in ice water last night was still fresh, and now the mystery of the hard "furnace" had been solved. She must have been too cold, and Mr. Gray Wolf, in his eagerness to warm the cave, had rushed to install the new fur curtain. As for them sleeping together, it must have been her who initiated it…

At this thought, Ruan Qiuqiu felt her heartbeat quicken.

She couldn't help but recall the long, vivid dream she'd just had, a dream that felt so real. She barely remembered her early childhood. Her earliest memories were of living in an orphanage.

Later, a kind couple adopted her, but soon after, they had a child of their own. After only a year in their home, her quiet nature made her feel like a burden.

Not wanting to trouble her foster parents, she discussed it with them and returned to the orphanage, where she helped care for her unrelated younger siblings while studying hard.

Her health had always been poor. She often experienced periods of paralysis, a condition that only began to improve after the apocalypse arrived and she awakened her abilities.

She hadn't thought much of it before, but now, considering her recent experiences, Ruan Qiuqiu wondered if she had always belonged to this world.

If last night's dream was a hidden memory from deep within her soul… did her parents and Mr. Big Gray Wolf's parents know each other? Where did they go? Why did they leave them?

Ruan Qiuqiu couldn't understand, only feeling a deep sadness.

If the dream was real, had she and Mr. Big Gray Wolf met so long ago?

The childhood betrothal, once a joke, had now been realized in a strange way.

But they had almost died, almost never seeing each other again.

Turning her head, her gaze fell on Yuan Jue's handsome face, and the sadness intensified.

Ruan Qiuqiu's eyes were red, her ears and cheeks flushed. As she looked at him, her expression, seen through Yuan Jue's demonic awareness (he had actually been awake since she stirred), seemed to convey immense grievance.

Yuan Jue pressed his lips together almost imperceptibly, a growing unease in his heart. He had been nervous last night, his body feeling strange, yet he only dared to lie stiffly on the stone bed as Ruan Qiuqiu clung to him. When she fell asleep, he gradually calmed down, maintaining the position and focusing all his energy on cultivation.

The shattering of his demon core was irreversible. Every attempt to repair it caused the demonic blood within him to surge, a pain like having his flesh carved out.

But controlling the demonic blood was easier than he expected. The bloodlust from his first absorption of demonic energy still lingered, but thinking of Ruan Qiuqiu quickly quelled the uncontrollable killing intent and craving for blood.

In just one night, he had successfully condensed a demonic core and reached the early stage of the second rank.

It was roughly equivalent to his regressed demonic power.

Yuan Jue thought self-deprecatingly, perhaps he was born a filthy, terrifying monster, which was why he advanced so quickly.

But he vaguely sensed that even with Ruan Qiuqiu by his side, he could at most reach the fifth rank using demonic blood. Beyond that, he would inevitably lose his demonic side completely, perhaps becoming a monster unable to control his hunger and bloodlust.

He was already far behind Gray Wolf. If he became a demon, wouldn't his chances be even slimmer?

Yuan Jue continued to repair his shattered meridians, worrying anxiously. He had deliberately taken advantage of Ruan Qiuqiu's discomfort to sleep beside her under the same fur pelt. How would she react when she woke up?

Mr. Big Gray Wolf was already worried enough, and now he found his little wife pulling away from him as soon as she woke up, even crying with grievance.

Sensing the tears in Ruan Qiuqiu's eyes through his demonic awareness, every hair on Mr. Yuan Jue bristled with sadness.

Man and wolf, rarely in sync, shared the same bitterness.

Ruan Qiuqiu looked at him for a while, feeling her strength gradually returning. She finally had the energy to try and move the large tail wrapped around her waist.

"…So hard." Ruan Qiuqiu felt the small section of wolf tail pressing against her waist, causing a sharp pain. Perhaps due to her discomfort, her voice was soft and weak as her slightly cool hand tried to pry the tightly coiled tail away.

The wolf, feeling rejected by his little wife, was nearly heartbroken. Though he heard her praise(?) his tail for being hard, he couldn't feel any joy. Even the strange sensation of her touching his tail had diminished.

He deliberately teased her, refusing to move his tail.

Ruan Qiuqiu struggled for a long time, almost suspecting that Mr. Big Gray Wolf was awake.

She took a deep breath, lay back down, pressed against his tail, and reached out to tug at the fur, calling out to him in a "calm" voice, "Mr. Yuan?"

"Are you awake?"

The moment he heard this address, the fur on Mr. Big Gray Wolf's tail stood on end, his chest tightening with a sharp, prickly pain.

She was angry.

He didn't dare open his eyes, his tail obediently still.

Ruan Qiuqiu finally freed herself from the hard wolf tail, rubbing her sore waist. A smile slowly curved her lips, but her cheeks began to burn.

This wolf was definitely awake.

Realizing this, she became even more shy. It was her who, feeling unwell last night, had deliberately clung to the "furnace." Mr. Furnace was delicate, and besides, they had only shared a fur pelt; nothing else had happened.

She had already touched Mr. Big Gray Wolf's arms many times while cleaning him, and she was wearing thick clothes, so it wasn't a big deal…

Ruan Qiuqiu tried to comfort herself, but her face was burning red.

She took a shallow breath, turning her head away, too shy to look at Mr. Big Gray Wolf's expression. Clutching the fur beneath her, she opened her mouth to say something, "Um… Yuan…"

"There's a demon," a low, magnetic voice suddenly whispered beside her ear, accompanied by a light, cool breeze. It interrupted Ruan Qiuqiu's words and her train of thought.

She instinctively turned her head and saw Mr. Big Gray Wolf slowly opening his narrow eyes.

Yuan Jue's beautiful gray-blue eyes glanced towards her.

The corners of his eyes were red, his eyelashes adorned with tiny, almost invisible water droplets, forming a beautiful shimmering sheen.

Mr. Wolf was blind, yet as his eyes slanted towards her, Ruan Qiuqiu had the illusion that he was looking directly at her.

The words she had intended to say turned into tangled threads, jumbling her thoughts.

What was wrong with this wolf? Based on her previous understanding of him, he should be pretending to sleep right now.

Perhaps her mind wasn't working properly due to her illness, but Ruan Qiuqiu felt unusually slow to react.

She half-opened her eyes, meeting Yuan Jue's beautiful phoenix eyes, feeling at a loss.

After a few seconds, a low chuckle seemed to echo in the air. Ruan Qiuqiu finally snapped back to reality, suddenly remembering his words—

"There's a demon."

Wait, a demon??

Ruan Qiuqiu instantly sobered up, scrambling to get out of bed.

But her waist ached, and she was weak. She tried several times but couldn't get up.

Why would a demon come looking for them? The wolf demons of the Yan Wolf Tribe clearly disliked Mr. Big Gray Wolf. Could it be Lu Ziran? But judging by Yuan Jue's calm tone, it didn't seem like a demon he hated or a dangerous one.

Ruan Qiuqiu tugged at her hair, feeling everything had been chaotic since waking up next to the wolf this morning.

A cool breeze stirred beside her. Ruan Qiuqiu turned her gaze to a broad, lean back—

Her wolf was sitting up.

Yuan Jue stretched out his long arm, groping for the wooden staff he had crushed the head of last night, which was placed beside the bed. He slowly stood up.

His long black hair hung down. Turning his head slightly, half of his handsome face was illuminated by the firelight from the stone stove, revealing fine hairs.

Coupled with the earthy yellow fur clothing she had made for him, he looked both rustic and alluring.

"…" Ruan Qiuqiu secretly curved her lips into a smile, then quickly closed her eyes and feigned sleep when Yuan Jue turned his head and "looked" at her questioningly.

Yuan Jue's eyebrows and eyes dimmed slightly, his dark brows furrowed. Although he felt wronged, he knew Ruan Qiuqiu was pretending to sleep.

But the sensitive wolf automatically interpreted this as her being upset and not wanting to see him.

He had taken advantage of her unconscious state and deliberately shared a fur pelt with her. He was not a good wolf.

It was normal for her to be disgusted and avoid him.

"Dong!" "Dong, dong!" "Dong, dong, dong!"

A soft but clear pecking sound came from the cave entrance, as if someone was knocking.

Ruan Qiuqiu secretly opened her eyes a crack, watching her husband slowly hobble to the stone stove with his staff and start boiling water.

Ruan Qiuqiu "…"

What was this wolf planning to do?

The knocking at the door stopped for a long time. Ruan Qiuqiu wondered if the visiting demon had left.

When the water was finally boiled, Mr. Big Gray Wolf poured a wooden bowl of hot water to cool, then picked up a fur cloth with his long, bony fingers and began to wipe his face.

Ruan Qiuqiu "…………"

She was getting anxious for the demon outside.

The demon outside seemed to have grown impatient, letting out two anxious bird cries.

Only then did the wolf finish cleaning himself. Just as Ruan Qiuqiu thought he was going to open the door, he walked towards her with the bowl of cooled water.

Ruan Qiuqiu "…………………"

She was dying of anxiety for the visitor outside.

Ruan Qiuqiu opened her eyes sheepishly and whispered, "I can drink it myself."

Yuan Jue paused, a hint of disappointment flitting across his brows. With a cold and unpleasant expression, he nodded, turned, and lifted the fur curtain to leave. His hand, hidden in front of him, trembled slightly.

Ruan Qiuqiu didn't notice his odd behavior. She touched her forehead, which was still a little warm; her fever hadn't completely subsided.

Reaching for the small fur pouch hidden beside the stone bed, Ruan Qiuqiu struggled to absorb some spiritual energy. After much effort, she finally managed to get out of bed.

She drank two mouthfuls of warm water, bent down to put on her shoes, and quickly washed up with the water Mr. Big Gray Wolf had left for her. Without bothering to comb her hair properly, she wrapped herself in the white fur pelt Little Peppermint had given her yesterday, quickly tidied her hair, and walked out.

The "master bedroom" fur curtain had indeed been modified. It was sewn to the rock wall with thick stitches and wild ox fur, blocking most of the cold wind and light.

But…

Ruan Qiuqiu's gaze fell on the junction of the fur curtain and the rock wall. There were some dried, almost invisible bloodstains.

Her heart ached. Had his hands hurt a lot yesterday?

She pursed her lips, lifted the thick fur curtain, and took two steps forward. Following the faint light filtering in, she glanced outside and saw a very strange "door."

Ruan Qiuqiu was surprised, thinking she had seen wrong.

She rubbed her eyes, only to find she hadn't been mistaken. The cave entrance, which had been open to snow, rain, and wind, now had a somewhat crude door.

Ruan Qiuqiu then noticed that many of the wooden blocks originally placed between the cave entrance and the "master bedroom" were missing.

The clattering noise from last night seemed to have found its source. Ruan Qiuqiu wrapped the fur pelt tighter around herself, her eyes filled with tenderness.

Although the wolf always had a cold expression and usually lay around, he always woke up at the most dangerous moments, when she needed him most. It was as if…

He was her very own, snail gray wolf.

Ruan Qiuqiu wanted to laugh. She looked towards the "door," wondering why Mr. Big Gray Wolf was just standing there with a blank expression, not saying a word.

Since it wasn't a dangerous or disliked demon, why not greet it?

She supported herself against the rock wall, slowly walking towards the cave entrance, and soon arrived behind Yuan Jue, finally seeing the demon at the door—

A giant… eagle? Almost as tall as the cave entrance.

Ruan Qiuqiu was stunned. Her expression twisted further when she saw the red-winged giant eagle holding a bulging fur bag in one wing, the other raised high above its fluffy head, seemingly to shield itself from the rain.

Could the visitor calling on her and Mr. Big Gray Wolf be… a giant, goofy eagle?

Sensing Ruan Qiuqiu's shocked expression through his demonic awareness, Yuan Jue, with his cold eyes fixed on the giant eagle from the Sand Tribe, felt a wave of complex emotions.

And the giant eagle, who had flown for a long time and almost thought that the wolf had eaten Ruan Qiuqiu and then died tragically in the cave, causing him to wait for so long, was even more shocked.

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