“Mm, Meng’er is the Young Master’s maid. Meng’er is professional. Meng’er won’t be afraid.”
Zi Menghan saw He Qiu speaking so seriously, and couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered.
Her little heart pounded nonstop as she speculated just what terrifying thing He Qiu was about to say next.
He Qiu cleared his throat and said leisurely:
“Actually, I just learned a Spirit Art today, but I’m lacking a practice target.”
“Ah… this?”
Zi Menghan’s smile stiffened.
She really wished He Qiu would drop the word 【practice】—if he was just looking for a partner, she could help him.
But practice…
How did he intend to practice?
When he came back in the evening, He Qiu was carrying a bag of techniques specifically targeting Demon Cultivators.
Could he have learned some high-level demon-hunting art? He wasn’t planning to use the excuse of practice to eliminate Zi Menghan, was he?
“May I ask, Young Master He, what… what kind of Spirit Art is it?”
Zi Menghan probed cautiously.
In response, He Qiu spread the technique manual out on Zi Menghan’s bed and patiently explained:
“Anti-Demon Curse, a Spirit Art specifically targeting Demon Cultivators. Mm, its main principle is to use spiritual energy to cover the body, restraining while also protecting the spirit soul. It is highly sensitive to Demonic Qi. In critical moments, it can not only provide protection but also effectively counter-injure Demonic Qi…”
“!”
After half of that long-winded theory, Zi Menghan’s guilty conscience had already stopped her from listening carefully.
She only knew that this “Anti-Demon Curse” had a miraculous effect against Demon Cultivators! And the crux of the problem was that Zi Menghan was a demon race Demon Cultivator!
What did He Qiu’s nighttime visit mean? He was going to cast a Spirit Art specifically designed to counter Demon Cultivators on Zi Menghan—the implication was clear.
‘He really did see through my identity. This time, does he intend to directly eliminate me, or seal my cultivation?’
Wait…
‘Could it be that low-grade novel kind of evil curse that seals cultivation and comes with abdominal markings and a slave collar?’
‘Damn it, just what shape does he want to train me into before he’s satisfied?’
Cold sweat broke out on Zi Menghan’s back.
She lightly bit her fingernail, her mind racing as she pondered He Qiu’s true intentions.
‘What to do? There are only two choices now.’
Either passively suffer the disgrace of the evil curse, directly throw off the covers, erupt with Demonic Qi and her true form, fight He Qiu to the death, then flee the Longyin Sect overnight and escape back to the Demon Sect headquarters…
Or, like before, continue to give up resistance, like a little catgirl tamed by humans, let He Qiu seal her cultivation, leave strange curse marks on her body, and further degenerate into a servant?
Zi Menghan was getting frantic.
She really didn’t know which to choose.
First, she didn’t think she was a match for He Qiu at all.
That glaring Seven-rank Sword Art manual at the head of the bed during the day was undoubtedly a display of He Qiu’s terrifying Spirit Realm Seventh Stage cultivation!
Perhaps He Qiu deliberately placed that sword art manual at the bedside during the day for Zi Menghan to find, so she wouldn’t dare defy his orders, paving the way for tonight’s evil curse.
‘That must be it. Young Master He is meticulous in his actions. This is his true purpose!’
Moreover, Zi Menghan was currently carrying a Poison Injury, her cultivation halved.
She was only at Spirit Realm Sixth Stage.
Even with a sneak attack, she would likely be no match for a prepared He Qiu.
Once she failed in her revolt, her fate was obvious—she would be completely imprisoned, losing her last inch of freedom.
Furthermore, even if she really backstabbed He Qiu, this place was inside the Longyin Sect.
Where did she plan to run? Could she escape?
He Qiu was the Junior Brother of the genius girl Luo Qianning, the Progeny Disciple of Elder Xueyin, the fiancé of the Primordial Saintess An Lingran, and even possibly the illegitimate child of the Empress of Nine Provinces…
If something happened to such a big shot with all these stacked buffs, even if Zi Menghan truly escaped back to the Demon Sect headquarters, she probably wouldn’t survive the next day.
The silver-haired Saintess coming for revenge would scatter her ashes.
One Primordial Saintess was enough to give the Demon Sect a hard time, let alone the Power Ceiling of the entire Spirit Cultivation Realm, the Empress of Nine Provinces.
If Zi Menghan made a misstep tonight, it might not only ruin her own future, but could directly bury the entire demon race’s future, bringing catastrophic disaster to her Demon Sect kin.
After this analysis, she suddenly realized that He Qiu had influence on both the orthodox and demonic sides.
It seemed she only had one choice: resign herself and submit.
But she was still so scared…
Anti-Demon Curse—the name alone was terrifying, and it was a Spirit Art specifically targeting Demon Cultivators.
‘I wonder what treatment awaits me in the future with this buff on me…’
‘So frustrating. I can only submit all the time, without any right to resist.’
The more she thought, the more pained she felt.
Zi Menghan bit her lower lip, staring intently at the young man’s handsome profile in the lamplight.
Her beautiful eyes held both love and hate.
She wished he could be gentler to her, not always bully and scare her, making her feel uneasy and afraid.
Indeed, she was the one who first tried to use him and deceive him.
She was in the wrong.
But now she had already softened so much.
She had no intention of doing anything bad to him anymore.
Why couldn’t he just be good to her?
She actually liked him.
She didn’t want to be treated like this.
Even if he didn’t use any forbidden curse, she wouldn’t resist most of his orders.
So why did he insist on putting this Anti-Demon Curse on her?
It could only mean he still didn’t trust her, and he had some more unknown purpose for her.
What it felt like to be treated like an enemy by the person you liked—that went without saying.
In fact, Zi Menghan often fantasized that He Qiu could remain as gentle as the night he held her to sleep, not mentioning her true identity, and simply getting along with her like a Young Master doting on a maid in novels.
Too bad she was too naive.
He didn’t like her; he saw her as an enemy.
And even more pitifully, she was indeed his enemy.
She was the foolish one who fell in love first, and even dared to hope that the enemy would be gentle to her for no reason.
‘Isn’t that stupid?’
Gulp.
The girl finally sorted out her emotional knot.
Then she silently sat up, her delicate body trembling slightly.
She had to face her judgment.
And just then, the young man’s voice sounded again—
“Miss Meng’er, if you’re unwilling, that’s fine. I won’t force you.”
“?”
This time, Zi Menghan was stunned again.
The corners of her eyes were slightly red.
She hesitated as she looked into his eyes, but found that the young man’s gaze remained clear throughout.
She couldn’t see even a hint of evil in his eyes.
Based on her analysis, he wanted to harm her, but she couldn’t sense any malice from him.
Why was that?
‘What does he really mean? If he doesn’t intend to harm me, why would he propose casting a curse on me in the middle of the night?’
‘Is he simply trying to seal my cultivation and imprison me? But I’m sitting right here. I’m not going anywhere. Why would he go to such trouble?’
‘Could it be… he’s actually afraid that one day I’ll run away, leave without saying goodbye, and that’s why he’s trying every means to imprison me by his side?’
Some guesses surfaced in her mind.
When Zi Menghan looked back at He Qiu’s gentle, concerned eyes, she surprisingly found a different flavor.
It was like…
A very twisted love and possessiveness.
Suddenly, all the details from these past days connected.
Zi Menghan finally understood something.
If he really wanted to harm her, he would have done so long ago.
But he hadn’t.
Not only had he not harmed her, he was always gentle with her, even taking meticulous care of her.
So why the hot tea, the shared bath, the cheek pinching, and the curse—these things that made Zi Menghan uneasy?
He knew she was the Demon Sect Princess.
He knew she would one day run away.
So he was trying every means to imprison her by his side, completely crush her desire to escape, and make her unable to leave him either.
He was doing this simply because he liked her, because he wanted to possess her.
‘So that’s how it is!’ Zi Menghan suddenly realized.
She became more and more convinced of her absurd guess, because it was just too reasonable, perfectly logical—because this was a twisted love.
Even if rationally Zi Menghan thought it was too absurd, for now there was no more convincing hypothesis than this guess.
She had to believe it whether she wanted to or not.
In front of the person they liked, all women were emotionally blind.
Even the Demon Sect Princess, who had lived in darkness all her life, was no exception.