Marrying the Soft-hearted Villain

Young Master Grey Wolf's pupils trembled slightly, and he subconsciously pulled his hand away from Ruan Qiuqiu's grasp.

The place where she touched him felt tingling and numb, seemingly more painful and unbearable than being hit by a stone.

Yuan Jue's two dark eyebrows furrowed as he hopped to the side to dodge her, yet his eyes, for some unknown reason, remained fixed on Ruan Qiuqiu. His grey-blue pupils shone brightly.

Having been so clearly rejected by Yuan Jue for the first time, Ruan Qiuqiu was somewhat stunned.

She weakly lifted her small hand and reached out towards Young Master Grey Wolf, trying to call the wolf cub back.

Young Master Grey Wolf clearly saw her, yet pretended not to. He pursed his lips, remaining silent, his pale face stealing glances at her from the corner of his eye.

Ruan Qiuqiu "…" So, was this wolf this stubborn from such a young age?

Ruan Qiuqiu felt like crying. Before she could take her short legs and run to Young Master Grey Wolf's side, the pig demons began a new round of their harassment.

"Don't go too far! The bite marks on the Xiang bird weren't left by the wolf tribe at all!" Ruan Qiuqiu was furious. She spread her arms, blocking the leading pig demon.

Yuan Jue's eyes darkened as he looked at the strange, masked human who had suddenly appeared. A tingling sensation spread through his heart. He felt uncomfortable and, in his panic, his wolf claws emerged. With a crack, he accidentally crushed the wooden stick in his hand.

However, to the surprise of both Young Master Grey Wolf and Ruan Qiuqiu, the pig demons completely ignored her.

They seemed unable to sense her presence, nor could they touch her.

Stones broke through the air, passing straight through Ruan Qiuqiu's small consciousness form and hitting Young Master Grey Wolf behind her.

Ruan Qiuqiu froze, subconsciously turning to look at Yuan Jue.

But before she could turn her head, she felt a dense pain from where her consciousness form had been pierced. Accompanied by a strong wave of dizziness, she collapsed weakly onto the ground.

Face-first, no less. It wasn't a graceful fall.

Fortunately, she was still wearing a mask she couldn't remove, which at least offered some protection.

Ruan Qiuqiu tried to get up, but she was too close to the pig demons. As she struggled to turn herself over, she saw the feet of several pig demons about to trample her.

Was she about to be trampled?

Ruan Qiuqiu felt miserable. She raised her arms, thinking she should at least protect her head.

Young Master Grey Wolf's gaze swept across the faces of the resentful pig demons, then landed on the pitiful appearance of the strange, masked human on the ground, who looked as if she was about to be trampled to death. He licked his small fangs.

Young Master Grey Wolf told himself, "Don't pay attention," but by the time he came to his senses, he had already thrown away the wooden stick he had been clutching and lifted Ruan Qiuqiu by the collar, taking several steps back.

After realizing what he had done, a trace of annoyance flashed across Young Master Grey Wolf's eyes. However, he still held onto Ruan Qiuqiu's collar and laid her down flat.

Ruan Qiuqiu's hands and feet flailed in the air before landing safely.

"Damn it, how come I didn't notice before? This wolf is not only mute, but also crazy!" A pig-headed male demon looked at Yuan Jue with a disgusted and contemptuous gaze. "There's nothing on the ground! Are you grabbing snow? Do all wolves have such strange hobbies?"

Ruan Qiuqiu "…" Sure enough, these demons couldn't see her, nor could they touch her.

But why could Young Master Grey Wolf touch her? Was it because this was the world within his memories?

Ruan Qiuqiu couldn't quite understand, but she knew that the insults from the pig demons were unpleasant to hear.

She bent down, touched the snow, and found she could still interact with some objects. She picked up a handful of small stones.

Young Master Grey Wolf remained silent for two seconds before pulling a small hide pouch from his protective wolfskin—a clean pouch made of snow rabbit fur, stained with a bit of his own blood.

"Awoo. (Medicinal herbs.)" Young Master Grey Wolf calmly looked at the little female pig demon, Zhuzhu, then bent down and placed the small hide pouch on the ground.

He wasn't here to steal, nor had he stolen any food.

He had simply heard that the kind demon who had helped him once was sick, so he had found some medicinal herbs and wanted to give them to him.

He hadn't wanted to attack Zhuzhu's father either.

However, apart from Ruan Qiuqiu, who had suddenly appeared beside him, no demon was willing to believe him.

Little Yuan Jue glanced at the strangely masked Ruan Qiuqiu, his ears inexplicably warming.

Who was she? Why was she here? Why couldn't the other demons see or touch her?

She said she would believe him. Could it be that she was special, a little human conjured by his imagination?

Was that why she was so weak?

If he chose to leave now, would she follow him?

Young Master Grey Wolf didn't know how to describe his current feelings. Having the nature of a wolf deeply ingrained within him, he had clearly inherited the qualities of his future, world-weary self. Despite the turmoil within, his beautiful, delicate face didn't reveal much emotion.

After seeing Young Master Grey Wolf do all this, Ruan Qiuqiu raised her hand to wipe the blood and dirt from her face and turned to leave.

The pig demons of the Water Pig tribe didn't stop her, but neither did they show any kindness.

"Hey! Stinky mute! My father doesn't need your medicinal herbs!" Zhuzhu took the lead, stepping forward to trample on the herbs Yuan Jue had prepared.

Ruan Qiuqiu narrowed her eyes, weighed the stones in her hand, and threw one forcefully at Zhuzhu's foot.

Zhuzhu was startled, stumbled backward, and fell to the ground.

Ruan Qiuqiu's lips curled into a smile. She didn't stop, continuing to pelt the pigs who had just thrown stones at her little wolf cub.

"Damn it, is there a monster?" The leading male pig demon was a little scared. He had heard that the closer one got to the forest, the more likely one was to encounter monsters. He couldn't help but curse under his breath, glaring fiercely at Yuan Jue and threatening, "Just you wait! Zhuzhu, stop crying, let's go!"

Watching the pig demons flee in panic, Ruan Qiuqiu still felt it wasn't enough—

Her current body was too weak. The stones she threw with all her might didn't hurt them at all.

If it weren't for the fact that most of the pig demons were still young and too afraid of the strange little grey wolf and monsters, they wouldn't have been scared off so easily.

Even though Ruan Qiuqiu had scared them all away, the small hide pouch Young Master Grey Wolf had dropped on the ground was still trampled and dirtied by Zhuzhu in her panic.

Ruan Qiuqiu squatted down and picked up the trampled pouch.

Out of consideration for Young Master Grey Wolf's privacy, she didn't open it to see what herbs were inside, but just holding it in her hand, she could feel that the herbs inside were broken.

Ruan Qiuqiu carefully held the small hide pouch in her hands. Just as she turned around, she met a pair of burning eyes.

Young Master Grey Wolf stared intently at her with a look she couldn't describe. With just a slight lift of her eyes, Ruan Qiuqiu fell into his beautiful grey-blue gaze.

This was the first time Ruan Qiuqiu had made eye contact with Yuan Jue, and the first time she discovered that his eyes, which hadn't yet lost their light, could hold such a burning brightness.

The young Grey Wolf, still unskilled at concealing his emotions, didn't realize that everything he felt was pouring out through his eyes.

He simply looked at the masked figure before him with a seemingly foolproof gaze and let out a very impatient "Awoo," wanting to confirm where this "person" had come from and whether or not she was a figment of his imagination.

But this "Awoo," his inquiry into Ruan Qiuqiu's identity, was more expectant and cautious than any word she had heard him utter before.

Young Master Grey Wolf was probably very nervous. He displayed all the signs of the older Yuan Jue's nervousness, and even more. His ears and tail had emerged, the tips turning almost pink, and his chapped lips were pursed, but his eyes remained fixed on her.

Seeing Young Master Grey Wolf's expression, Ruan Qiuqiu felt a bittersweet ache in her heart, not knowing how to respond.

She had originally planned to awaken his subconscious and bring the older Yuan Jue back to his senses as soon as she found him.

But…

How could she tell Young Master Grey Wolf that his future self was a battered, disabled, half-demon in the middle stages of demonization?

How could she tell him that she hadn't actually been present during his misunderstood childhood?

In fact, she hadn't even accompanied him through his thorny adolescence.

She had arrived too late.

Ruan Qiuqiu's heart ached. She didn't know how to answer Young Master Grey Wolf's question. She simply lifted her arm, tugged on his sleeve, and placed the small hide pouch containing the herbs back in his hand.

Even in this illusionary realm, the young wolf was still a head taller than her.

His hand, compared to hers now, could be considered large. "Yours."

Ruan Qiuqiu didn't answer his question. Young Master Grey Wolf looked down at her, his eyelashes trembling. He didn't put the small hide pouch away, but irritably licked his small fangs, his voice even more cautious than before, "Awoo? (Why are you helping me?)"

"Awoo…" He whimpered a few more times before remembering that Ruan Qiuqiu in front of him was human.

Humans couldn't understand wolf language, and he couldn't speak human language.

Ruan Qiuqiu listened as Young Master Grey Wolf's words went from "Why are you helping me?" to "I might be cursed, you'll be unlucky if you get close to me," and then to "Oh, I forgot you're human, you can't understand me."

She found it both funny and sad. She wanted to tell him that she could actually understand him, but the wolf cub, who had been a bit problematic since he was very young, put on a somewhat ferocious expression as he spoke softly.

"Awoo. (I think you're familiar.)"

Young Master Grey Wolf looked at Ruan Qiuqiu, his beautiful eyes showing a hint of pain and confusion. After a while, a low, hoarse voice escaped his throat, "Awoo… (Are you… Qiuqiu…)"

His voice became much more childish. His narrow eyes stared fixedly at her. While he still looked young, his eyes seemed filled with the understanding and a trace of imperceptible sadness that came with the passage of time.

It was as if the older Yuan Jue was standing before her.

Ruan Qiuqiu hadn't expected Yuan Jue to remember her, even within this illusionary realm of his memories.

She felt heat rising from her eyes to her cheeks and ears, her eyes stinging.

Ruan Qiuqiu didn't dare look into Yuan Jue's eyes again. She lowered her head slightly and vaguely saw his feet, covered in scratches from the stone walls.

It was obvious that these were injuries sustained while gathering medicinal herbs. Even his wolfskin was torn in places, curled and half-hanging on his calf. Coupled with the marks from being hit by stones earlier, and the slightly swaying tail behind him, he should have looked comical.

But Ruan Qiuqiu couldn't laugh at all. She couldn't help but think, if only she had come earlier, a little earlier…

If only his eyes and left leg were still intact, how wonderful it would be.

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