Marrying the Soft-hearted Villain

Mo Bugui's voice was soft, his handsome face stained with blood dripping from Qing Ruyi's fangs.

Ruan Qiuqiu saw pain and reluctance on Ruyi Grandma's half-intact cheek. She seemed to have some awareness, but not entirely lucid.

An alluringly sweet scent emanated from Mo Bugui's mangled arm, an irresistible temptation for her.

Saliva dripped from her fangs and the corners of her mouth. Ruan Qiuqiu silently watched them, locked in this stalemate.

Finally, Ruyi Grandma couldn't resist the lure of flesh and blood and bit hard into Mo Grandpa's arm.

As blood flowed, Ruan Qiuqiu saw the monstrous creature's gaze gradually clear and tears trickle down.

Throughout the ordeal, the still-young Mo Bugui didn't utter a single complaint or cry of pain.

They were both, clearly, in agony.

Ruan Qiuqiu's throat was dry, her heart trembling.

Was this the demonic transformation Ruyi Grandma had spoken of?

Would Mr. Big Gray Wolf become like this too?

Her heart ached with each throb. Ruan Qiuqiu's vision blurred, the scene before her fracturing, shifting with time, morphing into something else.

She didn't know how far back Ruyi Grandma had jumped in her memories.

But when the image reappeared before Ruan Qiuqiu, the young man who had offered himself to the demon had become a middle-aged man with alternating silver and black hair.

Mo Bugui had aged rapidly. The only constant was his daily visits to Qing Ruyi, whose appearance was now completely obscured.

And Ruyi Grandma, who had previously retained some semblance of human form, had completely transformed into a monster, almost incapable of speech or emotion.

She was truly, horribly disfigured.

Horribly disfigured.

The image abruptly vanished. Ruan Qiuqiu's eyes snapped open, her mind returning to the present, tears welling up.

Before her stood the same kind grandmother, still smiling, wrinkles etched at the corners of her eyes.

Qing Ruyi withdrew the finger she had placed on Ruan Qiuqiu's forehead, her voice distant, as if only now answering her earlier question. "It is precisely because we have walked such dark roads that we don't want to see others follow the same path."

"I almost killed him, and in a way, I did kill him."

Ruan Qiuqiu watched Ruyi Grandma smooth a strand of white hair at her temple and heard her gentle voice. "But even after all he sacrificed, I still haven't overcome the demonic transformation."

"I'm only alive today because of my Master." Qing Ruyi paused, then turned and asked, "Are you curious why I'm here?"

Ruan Qiuqiu nodded, her voice choked with emotion. "…Is it because of Mo Grandpa?"

Ruyi Grandma chuckled. "Something like that."

"I thought Mo Gege was dead because of me. After regaining consciousness, I intended to commit suicide, but a powerful demon, on the verge of becoming a Demon King, saved me." Qing Ruyi paused, then continued, "My Master told me that if I completed a task, he would transform me into a pure-blooded demon and resurrect Mo Gege."

Understanding dawned on Ruan Qiuqiu. "So, you were so surprised yesterday when you discovered Mo Grandpa wasn't dead…"

"Yes." A smile touched Qing Ruyi's lips, but it quickly faded. "But your Mo Grandpa… he doesn't have much time left."

"And my life is entirely in my Master's hands. I can't form a bond with him."

A sudden unease gripped Ruan Qiuqiu's heart.

Qing Ruyi continued, "So, I need to complete my task."

Ruan Qiuqiu's voice was dry. She stared at Ruyi Grandma, her voice filled with trepidation. "Ruyi Grandma, what is your task?"

Qing Ruyi sighed. "You've probably guessed already, haven't you?"

Ruan Qiuqiu shook her head, a bitter smile on her face. "I hope I'm wrong. You're not here to kill us, are you?"

Looking at the perceptive young woman, Qing Ruyi felt a pang of reluctance. Her voice was soft, but her words were not gentle. "My Master is a cruel demon. He loves to eat the hearts of demons and other magical creatures."

Qing Ruyi looked at the stunned Ruan Qiuqiu, her tone turning serious. "The heart of a half-demon, half-magical creature is a great tonic for him, especially those with high talent. And he prefers to consume the hearts of those who have lost someone important to them."

"Do you understand what that means?"

A chill ran down Ruan Qiuqiu's spine. Her limbs felt weak, and the anxiety she had managed to quell resurfaced. She opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word. Her hand tightened around her spear, her heart growing colder.

She understood Qing Ruyi's meaning.

Ruyi Grandma's task was probably to watch them and, when the time was right, kill her and then Yuan Jue.

That was why Qing Ruyi had attacked her yesterday. Perhaps she thought a crippled person would be easier to monitor. The reason she hadn't followed through and was now revealing all this was likely due to Ruan Qiuqiu's past kindness to Mo Grandpa's family.

Ruan Qiuqiu's voice was strained as she tentatively asked, "But you didn't take the opportunity to attack us yesterday. Have you changed your mind?"

Qing Ruyi simply bent down again, slowly digging up wild vegetables from the snow. "I don't want to kill you."

"Child, listen to me, leave him." Ruyi Grandma looked at Ruan Qiuqiu intently. "You haven't formed a bond, and you don't have to endure this hardship. I can send you to a human-friendly tribe, or I can train you."

"A wolf demon already in the throes of demonic transformation isn't worth this sacrifice." Qing Ruyi dug up several more vegetables and placed them in her leather pouch. "My Master only wants Yuan Jue's heart. As for you, I can make the decision."

Ruyi Grandma's voice was gentle. "I know it's a difficult decision. Go back and think about it. Tell me your answer tomorrow…"

Before Qing Ruyi could finish the word "answer," Ruan Qiuqiu shook her head.

Her voice trembled slightly, but her gaze was firm. "I won't abandon him."

Even after witnessing the later stages of a half-demon's demonic transformation in Ruyi Grandma's memories, she wouldn't abandon her periwinkle gray wolf.

If it weren't for Yuan Jue, she might have been taken away by force when Lu Ziran came for her.

No, perhaps even earlier, on that snowy night when he fought the demon alone, or the night he chose not to abandon her in the snow when her legs cramped.

She would probably be dead already.

Ruan Qiuqiu couldn't say for sure that Yuan Jue was different.

She couldn't guarantee that Mr. Big Gray Wolf wouldn't hurt her in the later stages.

Perhaps his fangs would sink into her vulnerable neck, craving her flesh and blood. But compared to that unknown, uncertain future, she would never willingly abandon him.

She simply knew of a potentially tragic future.

She simply knew, in advance, from Ruyi Grandma, that her and Mr. Big Gray Wolf's prospects were bleak.

But long before this, she had known that her original fate was a gruesome death in the winter beast tide.

Should she simply accept that fate and give up resisting because she knew the outcome? Absolutely not.

Compared to dying miserably in the beast tide, being bitten by Mr. Big Gray Wolf was nothing.

Compared to her, Yuan Jue was the one truly suffering.

A stray wolf pup since birth, he had endured untold hardships in his youth, striving to become the pack leader, proud of his talent, arrogant and unrestrained.

But from their time together, Ruan Qiuqiu knew that beneath his arrogance, which other demons loathed and misunderstood, lay deep-seated sensitivity and insecurity.

Her Mr. Wolf was gentle, even to the old, the weak, and the silly sand sculptor who dreamed of becoming a fish.

She had long known that the rumors of his cruelty and perversion were nothing more than stereotypes perpetuated by demons and humans.

They feared him, dreaded him, and worried about the demonic energy he unconsciously emitted, so they created a false image of a wolf pack leader who could be perfectly vilified.

This allowed those who disliked him to slander and attack him without any guilt.

From the moment he was born, the world seemed to tell him—

"Yuan Jue, your existence is a mistake."

"You are a cursed monster. It's because of you that so many of our wolves died."

"Go away, don't come near us. We are weak humans and demons. You will harm them."

Her Mr. Big Gray Wolf, a demon for over twenty years, had tried to protect the tribe he had lived with for years, only to be abandoned after being gravely injured, nearly dying in the winter.

And now, just as their lives had gained a glimmer of hope, he had entered the agonizing demonic transformation.

If Ruan Qiuqiu's guess was correct, he had likely entered this stage when the black spots first appeared on his face.

He had been silently enduring the pain, never uttering a word of complaint to her.

Ruan Qiuqiu's cheeks flushed. She blinked her stinging eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

She knew his injuries best, having just examined them that morning. His meridians had healed, his severed limb was mostly regenerated, and the bleeding had stopped.

He was absorbing spirit stones quickly, no demonic scales had appeared, and he was gradually improving.

And she had a special ability, different from Mo Grandpa's.

Now she finally understood why Yuan Jue hadn't recovered and the source of the unexplained demonic energy within him.

Knowing the direction to work towards, this was something to be happy about.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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