Marrying the Soft-hearted Villain

A soft, ticklish sensation brushed across her lips, accompanied by warm breath. Both the wolf and the woman froze.

Lord Hui, the large gray wolf, sharply pricked up his ears, his muscles tensing.

Ruan Qiuqiu felt a slight sting in her waist. She looked down in a panic and discovered Lord Hui’s fur was standing on end.

“…I didn’t do it on purpose,” Ruan Qiuqiu quickly explained, her tone remarkably similar to the little wolf in her memory world who had held her hand.

Yuan Jue softly grunted in apparent agreement, but his tail fur bristled and his ears twitched, clearly not as calm as he pretended to be.

The incident happened so fast that Ruan Qiuqiu hadn't reacted in time. Her face flushed belatedly, and she pursed her lips.

Actually, I was a bit dazed just now. I only accidentally brushed his lips. In my panic, I didn't feel anything too special.

The sensation in her waist was much more noticeable—itchy, sore, and tightly constricted. She could hardly breathe.

Ruan Qiuqiu's cheeks burned. She hesitated about whether to speak up.

The atmosphere between the woman and the wolf was incredibly awkward, like a natural barrier, completely isolating them from the outside world.

Yuan Jue—surprised by the sudden turn of events, shy to the point of combustion, yet maintaining his aloof wolf persona—and Ruan Qiuqiu—being constricted by fur—didn't notice the giant eagle calling for their help.

“Guwa! (Damn, this cub is spitting both water and fire!)” Tian Xiu yelled as he dodged, “Gu! (Come help! If this cub keeps attacking, it'll exhaust itself to death!)”

Grandmother Ruyi stepped forward, using willow branches to bind the cub's limbs, securing the green-furred and scaled unknown creature to the snowy ground. Finally, peace returned.

The woman and wolf came back to their senses. Ruan Qiuqiu gently smoothed the fur on Lord Hui's tail. “Husband, could you loosen your tail a bit?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Ruan Qiuqiu realized how easily they could be misunderstood.

Fortunately, Grandmother Ruyi and the giant eagle were completely focused on the suddenly-appeared cub. Based on her understanding of the wolf, Lord Hui probably wouldn't overthink it.

In fact, Yuan Jue truly didn't overthink it. He assumed his tail was too stiff and had hurt his little wife. Suppressing the strange feeling rising within him, he loosened his tail.

Ruan Qiuqiu sighed in relief and quickly scrambled out of his embrace. In the process, she accidentally bumped against Lord Hui's thigh and lean waist. Too flustered to care, she practically fled.

After scrambling down from the wooden cart, Ruan Qiuqiu finally breathed a sigh of relief. “What happened?” she asked.

Grandmother Ruyi pointed to the cub blocking their path. “There’s a cub.”

Ruan Qiuqiu followed her gaze. In front of the towering Brother Diao, she saw a large ball of fluff with its limbs bound by willow branches.

The cub looked like an oversized chick. Round and plump, it should have been cute, but it was incredibly dirty. She could barely make out the green fur beneath the dense, unsightly snake-like scales covering its body.

Its paws and feathers were stained with blood, indicating it was injured.

While Ruan Qiuqiu observed, Lord Hui, supporting himself with a wooden staff, also got down from the cart.

He used some demonic power to move his "wheelchair" and, after settling into it, moved to Ruan Qiuqiu's side.

“It's a mixed-blood demon,” Yuan Jue said softly, his voice clear in the silent snow. “Likely a hybrid of eagle and snake demon clans.”

“Roar—!” Its identity revealed by the fearsome wolf, the little cub tried to narrow its round eyes into triangles, letting out an unintelligible warning growl from its throat, its body trembling with fear.

“(Don’t be afraid, we won’t hurt you.)” Brother Diao, finding the cub's expression pitiful, leaned closer to comfort it. However, the moment he extended his wing, the cub adopted a "the heavens want me dead" expression, tears welling up in its round eyes.

The little cub opened its tender yellow beak, revealing a tongue much longer than that of ordinary birds. It trembled slightly, as if it was about to bite its tongue and commit suicide.

Ruan Qiuqiu “…”

She took two steps forward, gathering a large ball of healing water droplets at her fingertips and tossed it directly onto the cub's small wing.

Suddenly hit by the water, the cub retracted its tongue, fell to the ground, flapped its little wings a couple of times, and then lay still.

Brother Diao was speechless, letting out a few complaining “Guwa” sounds. This cub, so ferocious just moments ago, was now knocked out by a ball of water.

“What should we do with this cub?” Ruan Qiuqiu, surprised that her gentle healing water had incapacitated the cub, asked Qing Ruyi and the others.

Grandmother Ruyi stroked her chin. “Bring it back to make soup?”

Ruan Qiuqiu: "…" Grandmother Ruyi, get a grip! This is just a cub that can't shapeshift, not some wild beast!

“It’s not unconscious.” A low, clearly displeased voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.

Ruan Qiuqiu turned her head and saw Lord Hui’s rare display of displeasure. He said indifferently, “This cub is not unconscious.”

This cub had clearly sensed the goodness in the healing water she’d thrown and was feigning unconsciousness, trying to get her to take it in. Such a scheming and cunning (attempting to steal her affection) cub… he absolutely wouldn’t let his little wife touch it.

Ruan Qiuqiu’s gaze fell on the cub, whose small wing twitched occasionally. She felt both exasperated and surprised.

This cub, seemingly only two or three years old, was already proficient in playing the victim.

Ruan Qiuqiu chuckled, then said resignedly, “Let’s take it with us. When we reach the Winter Bear Tribe, we can ask the chief what to do. Maybe we can find its parents.”

Hearing the word “parents,” the cub, previously playing dead, suddenly twitched its thin legs and nimbly stood up.

To Ruan Qiuqiu's astonishment, it stared at her with its round eyes, bowed, and then quickly fled toward the other side of the forest.

Ruan Qiuqiu “??”

The cub ran so frantically that Ruan Qiuqiu couldn't even react in time to chase it. She was wondering if she had said something she shouldn't have when she saw the cub trip and fall face-first into the snow, truly unable to move.

Ruan Qiuqiu “…”

She was about to go pick up the little chick when Lord Hui grabbed her wrist.

Lord Hui, refusing to admit he was jealous of a cub, twitched his ears. “A demon is coming.”

Ruan Qiuqiu looked up and saw two familiar figures at the edge of the forest.

It was the two bears she had encountered while hunting before.

“Brother Diao!” Xiong Duoduo, the bear in front, saw the giant eagle pulling the wooden cart, a strange expression appearing on her face. “Why are you pulling a cart?”

Brother Diao: "…" This eagle doesn't want to either.

Before Xiong Duoduo could finish expressing her surprise, her gaze landed on Yuan Jue sitting in the "wheelchair" and Ruan Qiuqiu standing beside him. Her voice rose several octaves in shock. “Holy crap! Yuan, Yuan, Yuan Jue?!”

Xiong Yuan, the bear walking behind her, reacted a beat slower. Hearing Yuan Jue’s name, a confused look appeared on his honest and simple face.

He slapped his younger sister hard. “What Yuan Jue? Don’t talk nonsense.”

Xiong Duoduo slowly recovered from her shock. Ignoring her brother, she gave Brother Diao a complicated look, a hesitant expression on her face.

Tian Xiu: "…" Why do I feel like this silly bear's look is very problematic?

The eagle had intended to ask, but Xiong Duoduo wasn't one to hold back. After a few seconds, she blurted out, “Brother Diao, I can’t believe you’re actually pulling a cart for Yuan… Leader…”

“If you’ve been kidnapped, blink. Even if it’s Yuan Jue, considering you kindly gave us medicinal herbs, I, your brother, will try my best to save you…” Before she could finish the word “out,” Xiong Duoduo was interrupted by the enraged Tian Xiu.

“(Shut up!)” Damn it, who was it that caused him to fall into this miserable cart-pulling situation? It was all because of these two silly bears!

"…" Xiong Duoduo, suddenly yelled at, was bewildered.

She blinked innocently, looking at her brother.

Xiong Yuan "…"

Under the eagle’s accusing gaze, he was about to say something when he caught sight of the willow branch that Qing Ruyi hadn't yet put away. A familiar feeling arose within him.

But looking at Qing Ruyi’s face, clearly different from a little girl’s, he wondered if he had mistaken her for someone else.

Grandmother Ruyi discreetly put away the willow branch, pretending she had never seen these two bears who were almost tricked by the lion demon into being bodyguards.

“My sister’s not quite right in the head. Please don’t mind her if she says anything wrong.” Xiong Yuan touched his nose, awkwardly apologizing to Tian Xiu and Yuan Jue.

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the cub on the ground, and he couldn't help but exclaim, “Why is this cub still here?”

Xiong Yuan rushed forward, scooped up the truly unconscious cub, checked its injuries, and cursed, “Damn, that beast.”

Hearing this, Ruan Qiuqiu understood something. She stepped forward, noticing a trace of blood at the edge of the little chick’s beak. Her heart tightened.

She immediately realized the cub's injuries were not as superficial as they appeared; its internal injuries might be severe. Without hesitation, she gathered some healing water droplets and fed them to the cub.

However, after drinking the water, the cub didn't improve.

“Damn it, I’m going to chop that beast into pieces this time.” Xiong Yuan, usually good-natured, was now cursing furiously.

Yuan Jue frowned, sensing something amiss. He softly called to Ruan Qiuqiu, “Wife.”

Being called "wife" by Lord Hui in front of so many demons, Ruan Qiuqiu was a little flustered. After a couple of seconds, she responded, “What’s wrong?”

Yuan Jue was about to speak, but as his demonic power swept over the cub, his expression changed. Without another word, he abruptly raised his right hand and snatched the cub from Xiong Yuan’s arms.

Ruan Qiuqiu watched as Lord Hui tossed the cub into the air, his right hand shooting out several streaks of dark light.

The cub cried out in pain, spitting out a black stone the size of a fingernail from its beak.

Ruan Qiuqiu saw her wolf fling the black stone far away. Before she could react, a violent explosion rocked the air.

“A Demonic Burst Stone?” Qing Ruyi’s face turned grim. “Why would a cub have a Demonic Burst Stone inside it?”

Her first thought was that the Lord had discovered her betrayal and sent demons to assassinate her.

But she quickly dismissed this idea. Demonic Burst Stones were special; they required specific conditions to detonate. Brother Diao, she, and Qiuqiu had touched the cub without incident, indicating they weren't the target.

However, the moment Xiong Yuan picked up the cub, the wolf pup sensed something was wrong. It seemed the detonation condition was contact between the cub and a bear demon.

Combined with Xiong Yuan’s earlier words, he must have known this cub.

Thinking this, Qing Ruyi felt slightly relieved. She looked at the Xiong brothers, her eyes flickering.

Lord Hui pursed his lips and tossed the cub back into the stunned Xiong Yuan’s arms. “Hold it tight.”

Ruan Qiuqiu saw clearly that although the wolf's tone towards the cub was full of disdain, his movements were gentle, carefully avoiding the cub’s wounds.

Ruan Qiuqiu's expression softened, her heart melting. As expected, my wolf is very gentle.

Yuan Jue—who nearly failed to protect his little wife and was filled with self-blame and anger—was completely unaware he’d unintentionally earned another “good wolf” point.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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