Chapter 119: A Change of Heart
The Demon Lord wasn’t thinking about the commotion outside. Her mind was fixated on Luo Nianshang’s extra hands.
She wanted to ask, “What other surprises are you hiding?”
But she was currently Bai Cheng, not Qiu Yingxi, the Demon Lord. A normal person, upon seeing someone with six hands, would be terrified.
She was preparing to scream when Luo Nianshang’s words, spoken calmly, stopped her. “Demon Lord,” Luo Nianshang said.
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
She choked, her eyes watering.
Luo Nianshang, seeing her distress, wanted to pat her back, but she hadn’t used her half-demon form in centuries. She wasn’t sure which hand to use.
By the time she had sorted out her limbs, the Demon Lord had recovered.
But she still tried to deny it. “Demon Lord?” she asked, feigning ignorance. “What Demon Lord? I don’t know any Demon Lord.”
Luo Nianshang, her patience exhausted, muttered a single word. “Still.”
The Demon Lord froze, her body locked in place.
Luo Nianshang, seeing the panic and anger in her eyes, quickly released the spell.
The Demon Lord, knowing that her disguise was useless, gave up, her voice laced with a hint of amusement. “How did you know it was me?” she asked.
Screams and shouts echoed from outside. “Catch those demons!” someone yelled.
Bai Jingxue and Lü Qingyan had arrived. The Demon Lord relaxed, settling back onto a chair. She had no intention of getting involved.
Luo Nianshang also sat down. She wanted to pour herself a cup of tea, but her extra hands were making it difficult. They started fighting over the teapot.
To prevent the teapot from shattering, she gave up.
Seeing the Demon Lord staring at her, she explained, her gaze downcast, her cheeks flushing slightly. “You said my name,” she said. “Not many people know my real name. You were the first person I thought of.”
It was a simple statement, but the words “first person I thought of” made the Demon Lord’s heart flutter.
She couldn’t help but smile. “I see,” she said. “But your hands…?”
Luo Nianshang, glancing at the Demon Lord, relieved to see only curiosity, not disgust, said, “My mother was a spider demon.”
She watched the Demon Lord’s reaction carefully.
The Demon Lord’s eyes widened in understanding. “Oh!” she exclaimed, slapping her hands together. “That’s why those flowers attacked you when you cut your hand on that cliff at the Ejian Sect. You have demon blood.”
Luo Nianshang paused. The Demon Lord hadn’t been there. It had been Hong Ying, Bai Jingxue, and Lü Qingyan.
She didn’t correct the Demon Lord. She suspected something was amiss. She would have to question Hong Ying later.
She suddenly felt a warmth against her palm and looked down to see the Demon Lord holding her hand, her gaze intent, her fingers tracing the lines on Luo Nianshang’s palm.
“So many hands,” the Demon Lord murmured, her voice filled with amusement. “But they don’t look like spider hands. Hahaha. Why haven’t I seen you use them before? They say two fists can’t defeat four hands. You have six!”
Her tone wasn’t unkind, although her joke wasn’t particularly funny.
Her touch was ticklish, but Luo Nianshang didn’t withdraw her hand. She simply let the Demon Lord do as she pleased.
The Demon Lord was surprised by Luo Nianshang’s passivity. The Sword Saint was usually so uptight and proper. She should have blushed and yelled, “How dare you!”
But her lack of resistance suited the Demon Lord just fine.
The sounds of fighting outside continued, the shouts changing from “Catch them!” to “Release the Emperor and the First Princess, you demons!”
But the Demon Lord ignored them. She noticed that Luo Nianshang’s palms were smooth and soft, calluses absent, and she couldn’t resist squeezing them.
Luo Nianshang’s ears turned pink, but she still didn’t withdraw her hand.
To distract herself, she answered the Demon Lord’s question. “I couldn’t control them when I was younger,” she said, her voice quiet. “Everyone treated me like a freak. My masters protected me, but I still remember those stares, their eyes filled with fear and disgust.”
The Demon Lord, her amusement fading, her anger rising, then she realized she had no right to be angry. She forced a smile, releasing Luo Nianshang’s hand. “I didn’t know you had such a difficult childhood, Sword Saint,” she said, her voice teasing.
Seeing the sadness in Luo Nianshang’s eyes, her heart aching, she couldn’t help but offer words of comfort. “But you’re the Sword Saint now,” she said, her gaze averted. “The most powerful cultivator in the righteous realm. No one can bully you anymore.”
Luo Nianshang had long since overcome those childhood insecurities. She had become too powerful. Ordinary methods were enough to solve most problems. She rarely needed her extra hands.
But here, in Cang Xi, her spiritual energy and cultivation were suppressed. However, her demonic abilities were still accessible. She might not be skilled with her extra hands, but producing silk threads was a simple task.
She could easily capture those mortals without harming them.
But Bai Jingxue and Lü Qingyan were handling it. She didn’t need to intervene.
She wasn’t sad because of her past. She was sad because she was thinking of her masters, still trapped in that well.
The Demon Lord’s unexpected kindness surprised and touched her.
She looked up at the Demon Lord, who was avoiding her gaze, her eyes darting around the room.
She wanted to express her gratitude, but all she could manage was a soft, “Thank you.”
The Demon Lord, her gaze fixed on an incense burner shaped like a beast’s head, said, her voice nonchalant, “You don’t have to thank me, Sword Saint. You shouldn’t be so polite to someone like me.”
In the past, Luo Nianshang would have been speechless, but now, she simply didn’t know how to respond.
After a long silence, she finally said, “You’re a good person. You don’t have to belittle yourself.”
The Demon Lord’s gaze finally met Luo Nianshang’s, and seeing the sincerity in her eyes, she couldn’t help but ask, “I’m a good person? How so?”
Luo Nianshang, flustered, her mind racing, her hands fidgeting, could only think of one thing. “You’re beautiful,” she said.
Those two simple words, spoken with such sincerity, her gaze unwavering, made the Demon Lord’s heart pound.
She had been about to make a sarcastic comment, but Luo Nianshang’s gaze had silenced her.
And that wasn’t all. Luo Nianshang, her gaze still fixed on the Demon Lord’s, continued, “And I think you’re very intelligent. You’re not like other demon cultivators. You’re special.”
The Demon Lord’s heart pounded even faster. “Stop,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Luo Nianshang stopped, but one of her hands, as if acting on its own accord, reached up, scratching her head.
The Demon Lord, however, was too flustered to notice. She couldn’t believe her ears. “Are you trying to seduce me?” she asked, her voice laced with suspicion.
Luo Nianshang, realizing her attempt at a heartfelt confession, inspired by those storybooks, had backfired, panicked, her hands flailing. “No!” she exclaimed. “I’m just telling you how I feel.”
The Demon Lord, remembering Luo Nianshang’s usually serious and reserved demeanor, her own interactions with Luo Nianshang, as the Demon Lord, not particularly pleasant, suddenly felt a surge of anger.
She should just abdicate and let Mo Li be the Demon Lord.
She quickly dismissed the thought. Mo Li, unlike her, was ambitious. She would cause trouble for Luo Nianshang.
And then she would have to watch as Luo Nianshang single-handedly defeated the entire Demon Realm, Mo Li’s fate no different from the previous Demon Lords’.
She didn’t want that. She liked Mo Li. She might be a lazy Demon Lord, but she didn’t want to send her loyal subordinate to her death.
She couldn’t abdicate.
She was frustrated. Her face hardened, her voice cold. “Don’t say such things, Venerable One,” she said. “It’s inappropriate.”
Luo Nianshang, her anxiety returning, assuming she had said something wrong, apologized. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice sincere.
The Demon Lord, seeing her remorse, regretted her harsh words. She was even more frustrated now. She fell silent.
The commotion outside had escalated. Bai Jingxue’s voice, calm and steady, reached them. “We don’t want to hurt anyone,” she said. “Let us and the people inside leave, and your Emperor and First Princess will be unharmed.”
Lü Qingyan’s voice, filled with a playful menace, added, “Yeah! Cooperate, or face the consequences!”
The chaos outside didn’t seem to affect Luo Nianshang and the Demon Lord, but the silence in the room was making Luo Nianshang increasingly uncomfortable.
She fidgeted, then, searching for a topic of conversation, she asked, “Why did you come here?”
The Demon Lord had come for Luo Nianshang, of course. She was overly worried about Luo Nianshang, her anxiety intensifying whenever Luo Nianshang ventured into a dangerous place.
She couldn’t relax unless she was near Luo Nianshang, protecting her. Luo Nianshang might be powerful, but she was also naive, easily tricked.
She had created so many disguises, and Luo Nianshang hadn’t noticed any of them. If she had been more careful, she wouldn’t have been exposed this time either.
She scoffed, her voice laced with a feigned indifference. “Why do you think I’m here, Venerable One?”
Luo Nianshang, her previous theory now too embarrassing to voice, couldn’t answer.
The Demon Lord, not expecting a satisfactory answer, offered a fabricated one. “I’m here for the same reason as you,” she said. “That statue caused considerable damage to the Demon Palace. I’m here to demand an explanation.”
“And that statue is a threat to the entire Demon Realm,” she continued. “As the Demon Lord, I have a duty to protect my people.”
She lied effortlessly, her reasons plausible, and Luo Nianshang, her suspicions allayed, believed her.
She felt a pang of disappointment, then she closed her eyes, her mind calming, her expression returning to its usual composure.
“This is a dangerous place,” she said. “You’ll be safer with me.”
The Demon Lord’s heart skipped a beat, and she leaned closer to Luo Nianshang, their noses almost touching. Seeing Luo Nianshang’s gaze dart away, she smiled. “Are you worried about me?” she asked, her voice soft.
The door suddenly burst open, revealing Bai Jingxue, in her cat form, perched on Bai Zhao’s back, her claws at the Emperor’s throat, while Lü Qingyan, mimicking her, held the First Princess hostage.
Lü Qingyan, her voice filled with triumph, shouted, “We’re here to rescue you, Venerable Ones!”
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