Extra 6
The Demon Lord crouched behind a tree. She had been fleeing ever since Luo Nianshang had discovered her.
She had become quite adept at escaping. She had been running for a month, and Luo Nianshang hadn’t caught her yet. But she had exhausted all her hiding spots. She couldn’t keep this up forever.
She shivered, imagining Luo Nianshang’s wrath, the accumulated anger of a month of fruitless searching. She had no desire to face it.
Thankfully, Luo Nianshang’s powers were limited in this secret realm. She couldn’t control the Demon Lord’s body. Otherwise, this game of cat and mouse would have ended a long time ago.
Why had she just compared herself to a mouse?
She felt a twinge of annoyance, then she peeked out from behind the tree, making sure Luo Nianshang wasn’t nearby, then she crept away, her movements cautious.
She stayed close to the trees and bushes, their foliage providing cover.
She, the mighty Demon Lord, reduced to sneaking around like a common criminal… the thought made her angry. “It’s all that blockhead’s fault,” she muttered.
She stamped her foot in frustration, then she froze, her eyes widening in alarm as she felt something wrap around her ankle.
“Aaah!”
She dangled upside down, her body suspended from a tree branch, then she saw what had captured her, and she stopped struggling.
It was a spider web.
Her heart pounded in her chest, and she tried to calm herself, then she noticed the other threads, shimmering faintly in the moonlight, their network extending throughout the entire secret realm.
The vibrations of the web would alert its owner. She couldn’t move, but she had to free herself.
She carefully reached for the thread binding her ankle, but it was surprisingly strong.
“Still trying to run?”
Luo Nianshang’s voice, cold and close, made her freeze. She hadn’t realized Luo Nianshang was so close.
Luo Nianshang stood on a thread, her six-armed form, its posture somehow elegant, not monstrous, illuminated by the moonlight.
She was beautiful, but the Demon Lord had no time to admire her. Her own fate was uncertain.
Knowing escape was impossible, she forced a smile, her voice laced with a feigned confidence. “I might be the Demon Lord,” she said, “but I’ve also helped you, Venerable One. Surely you won’t forget our… friendship.”
Luo Nianshang leaped onto a nearby branch, her height now equal to the dangling Demon Lord’s. She could look directly into the Demon Lord’s eyes.
She wasn’t sure what to do.
She was angry, of course. The Demon Lord had tricked her, repeatedly.
But she could also forgive.
She felt like she was going insane. If this news spread, her reputation would be ruined.
She, the mighty Sword Saint, reduced to a fool, repeatedly tricked by a demon cultivator.
The risk was enormous, but she still couldn’t bring herself to be angry with the Demon Lord. She was more afraid of the Demon Lord avoiding her.
Qiu Yingxi was too clever. If she truly wanted to hide, Luo Nianshang would never find her.
Worried that the Demon Lord would lose consciousness, Luo Nianshang adjusted her position, pulling her onto the branch, then, still not quite trusting her, she wrapped her in silk, forming a cocoon. She finally relaxed.
The Demon Lord, however, trapped within the silken cocoon, felt like she was about to be devoured. She shivered, then, seeing Luo Nianshang’s grim expression, her silence heavy, she felt a surge of anger.
She was also hurting.
She had done so much, worried so much, only to discover that Luo Nianshang had found someone else.
And now, she was tied up like this. She felt a wave of self-pity.
“What do you want?!” she shouted, her voice filled with a defiant anger. “I tricked you! If you’re so angry, then kill me!”
“You’re the Sword Saint! You’re supposed to kill demon cultivators! Here’s my neck! Go ahead! Kill me!”
Her voice cracked, her anger dissolving into tears, her words a bitter accusation. “I hate you, Luo Nianshang!”
Luo Nianshang, her own emotions still raw, was startled by the Demon Lord’s outburst. She instinctively reached out, covering the Demon Lord’s mouth with her hand, then she quickly withdrew it, the wetness against her palm a strangely intimate sensation.
Seeing that the Demon Lord was about to resume her tirade, she pinched the Demon Lord’s lips together, silencing her.
Her hands fidgeted nervously, one rubbing her leg, another scratching her head, a third picking at the bark of the tree.
She was awkward, her embarrassment evident.
But there were questions that needed to be answered. She took a deep breath, her voice hesitant. “Why?” she asked. “Why did you do this, repeatedly?”
She had asked this before, but she still couldn’t quite believe it. She needed confirmation.
She released the Demon Lord’s lips, her eyes filled with a desperate hope.
But the Demon Lord wasn’t one for honesty. She had her own insecurities, her own fears. Perhaps she was also afraid of Luo Nianshang.
She remained silent, and Luo Nianshang’s face hardened, the red, web-like patterns spreading across her skin, her eyes darkening. The voice echoed in her mind, its whispers seductive, tempting, feeding on her deepest desires.
The Demon Lord, seeing this transformation, her heart pounding, remembering their previous encounter, her cheeks burning, but also her fear rising, whispered Luo Nianshang’s name, hoping to bring her back, but it was futile.
She had gone too far. “I shouldn’t have teased her so much,” she thought, regretting her own actions.
But regret was useless. She had to find a way out of this.
She felt a hand on her face, and she looked up to see Luo Nianshang, her gaze no longer filled with anger, but with a deep, unsettling sadness.
She felt her breath catching in her throat, then she looked down to see that the silk threads had vanished, except for the ones binding her ankles.
She was speechless. “Didn’t I tell her to stop reading those trashy novels?” she thought.
But before she could fully process the situation, Luo Nianshang, her expression almost desperate, her voice a tormented whisper, asked, “Qiu Yingxi, do you love me?”
Then, her voice filled with self-reproach, she added, “I don’t want to hurt you.”
The Demon Lord’s heart ached, and she felt a surge of hope.
Luo Nianshang seemed to care.
She reached out to Luo Nianshang, to comfort her, but her hands were bound.
She stared at Luo Nianshang, whose behavior was growing increasingly erratic, then she saw Luo Nianshang leaning towards her, her gaze fixed on the Demon Lord’s lips.
She braced herself for the kiss, her eyes closing, but Luo Nianshang suddenly pulled away, her voice filled with a tormented confusion. “No,” she whispered. “This is wrong.”
Luo Nianshang’s morality had reasserted itself, and the Demon Lord, her hopes dashed, couldn’t help but feel a surge of frustration.
“You coward!” she shouted. “You’ve read all those books for nothing! I’m right here! Tied up! Why don’t you just marry me already?!”
Luo Nianshang’s ears twitched, and she seized upon a single word. “Marry?”
The Demon Lord, startled, then her anger returning, her voice a defiant challenge, said, “What? Are you afraid?”
The red patterns on Luo Nianshang’s face faded, her expression returning to its usual calmness, her gaze meeting the Demon Lord’s, her voice steady. “I accept your proposal,” she said.
And the secret realm began to dissolve, the darkness fading, the sunlight of the real world washing over them.
It was warm, almost overwhelmingly so.
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