*Splash!*
A speeding carriage raced past the young girl, splashing through a puddle.
Muddy water drenched her, turning her golden hair — which usually shimmered under the sun — a dull, dusty gray.
“Ugh… such a reckless person!”
The girl followed her Road Guide, wandering through the forest, wading through thorny bushes, and navigating muddy paths.
By the time she reached a village far from the city, her clothes were a complete mess.
“What is this place? Am I lost?”
“Hey, little girl, who are you looking for?”
An old man spotted the girl lingering at the village entrance.
Her disheveled appearance made her look quite distressed.
“He… Hello! I am looking for someone.”
The girl greeted the old man, but the language he spoke left her completely confused.
“An outsider? Are you a refugee? Sigh, those Barbarians in the north have caused a lot of trouble for families lately. What a pity.”
The girl clearly could not understand the old man either.
She scratched her head in confusion.
“Are you looking for a good place to stay?” the old man asked, gesturing with his hands.
The girl did not follow his words, but seeing his hand signals, she assumed he was asking whom she was looking for.
She used her hands to trace the shape of a tall figure.
The old man immediately interpreted this as her looking for a good place to settle down and a husband to rely on.
“Alright, wait here a moment. I will go ask around.”
The girl nodded.
It seemed he wanted her to wait where she was, so she decided to stay put.
“Qiao! Qiao!”
Qiaolin had just prepared for a nap after returning home when the village head knocked on his window, waking him up.
“Lao Cha, what is it now?”
“Qiao, do you want a wife or not?” the old man asked, his face full of excitement.
“What? Are you joking?” Qiaolin laughed.
He had been a Physician in this village for about seven or eight years and was well-acquainted with the villagers.
For the past one or two years, Lao Cha, his closest friend in the village, had been constantly pestering him about finding a partner.
This had become a source of endless annoyance for Qiaolin.
Since the village head was at it again, Qiaolin was already used to it.
“Sure. If you find someone young, beautiful, with a standard figure, and curvy in all the right places, I’ll take her,” Qiaolin said with a dismissive wave before closing the door.
“You said it, Qiao! Don’t you dare refuse when I bring her to you!”
“Yes, yes. Go on then!”
‘We’re in the middle of nowhere. I’d like to see where you’ll conjure such a woman from. You’ll probably just drag another local girl over here.’
Qiaolin lay on his bed, but before he could fall asleep, he heard footsteps outside.
This time, the person pushed the door wide open.
“Qiao, I brought your wife!”
Qiaolin saw the golden figure standing at the doorway, and his eyes widened instantly.
“You…”
The girl’s beautiful face was both familiar and strange.
Hundreds of years had passed, and he thought he had forgotten her — until he saw the crimson highlights at the tips of her golden hair.
The girl also froze when she saw the man.
Noticing his intense gaze fixed on her, her face turned slightly red, and she shyly lowered her head.
“See? Do you believe me now!” The village head grabbed the girl’s hand, rushed to Qiaolin’s side, and handed him a piece of paper with both their names on it.
“This is your Marriage Contract. As of now, you are legally husband and wife. I asked for your opinion, Qiao, and you gave your consent yourself.”
“Wait a minute!” Qiaolin reacted suddenly after seeing the Marriage Contract, but the village head did not seem to want to give him a chance to regret it.
“Alright, alright. I’ll leave the two of you alone now. May you have a son soon!” After giving his cheerful blessing, the village head left, leaving behind a room filled with awkward silence.
Just like that, the two were married after a few words from the village head.
Qiaolin held the Marriage Contract in his hand, looking out the window helplessly.
The girl kept her head down, not daring to look at him.
Although she didn’t know exactly what she had signed, it was obvious the man was unhappy.
“Qiaolin.”
The girl called out his name.
The man sighed.
He turned to the girl and greeted her in a different language, “It has been a long time, Lady Gabriela.”
“Truly interesting. The legendary Second Princess of the Demon Race… or rather, the current Demon King, actually has the leisure to visit such a remote mountain village. And you have managed to make yourself look quite… miserable.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the girl waved her hand.
A flash of purple light followed, and a complete set of clothes and stockings reappeared on her body.
Simultaneously, black horns emerged from her golden and crimson hair — a distinctive trait of a High-ranking Demon.
Looking at the girl’s eyes, which were as bright and translucent as rubies, Qiaolin finally gave a relieved smile.
“You actually remember me,” the girl said.
“After all, defeating the previous Demon King relied heavily on your strength. Those memories are still vivid in my mind.”
Gabriela turned her face away, seemingly avoiding the topic.
The most brutal Demon King of the past had been her twin sister.
Unable to stand her sister’s tyrannical rule, Gabriela had cooperated with the Hero’s party to defeat her.
Naturally, the title of Demon King had fallen to her.
During her hundreds of years of rule, the internal affairs of the Demon Race had been peaceful and unified, and external expansion had ceased.
The citizens lived in harmony.
However, the act of betraying her own flesh and blood remained a painful thorn in Gabriela’s heart.
Qiaolin sensed her mood and took the initiative to change the subject.
“You didn’t come all this way just to find me, did you, Lady Gabriela?”
“I am sorry. I know you are in seclusion, but I need you now.”
“What do you mean?” Qiaolin frowned.
The two of them were former comrades who had fought side by side.
They often understood each other without words, so their conversation was direct.
“I want you to help me govern the country.”
“Don’t joke with me. I am no brilliant ruler. Even if I have lived a bit longer than most, asking me to govern a country is a request I must decline.”
“That is not what I meant…” Gabriela explained.
“Several tribal leaders within the Demon Race have begun to realize that I am not as strong as my sister. If they unite in rebellion, I will not be able to handle it. The Demon Race will be torn apart, and war will break out.”
“Do they know I’m alive? If a large-scale war breaks out, who can guarantee I won’t take action against them?”
Qiao asked, striking a pose.
In the past, he had crushed the various tribes of the Demon Race with absolute power.
As long as he lived, he was a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.
“But you have been gone for too long. My subordinates cannot find you; only I can faintly sense your mana,” Gabriela said.
“So, in the eyes of those leaders, you, a human, are already dead.”
“So your point is that I just need to show my face and scare them a bit?”
“Yes. I do not want to rule the country through force, but those fellows worship violence. I had no choice but to resort to this. I know that after that incident, you swore never to use Attack Magic again…”
“I will consider it. Regardless, we are friends.”
“Mm.”
Seeing that Qiaolin had half-agreed, Gabriela revealed a rosy smile.
If the attendants serving the Demon King saw this, they would likely be shocked.
Their usually dignified Demon King actually had such a side to her.
The Demon King was happy, but Qiaolin felt rather gloomy.
His life in seclusion had been peaceful and comfortable.
If he stepped back into the public eye, he didn’t know how long it would be before he could return to this lifestyle.
“Oh, by the way…” Qiaolin smiled and waved the contract in his hand in front of Yuna’s eyes.
“To find my whereabouts, I didn’t expect you to use this method. Compared to the silly girl you used to be, you have certainly improved.”
“Eh? What… what is this?”
Yuna asked, looking confused.
“You don’t know what this is?”
Qiaolin’s expression shifted slightly.
“Then why did you sign your name for no reason? Weren’t you afraid of being tricked into slavery?”
“How… how was I supposed to know! I don’t know the script or language of this region! Besides, why don’t you humans use the Common Language?”
“Why would anyone use the Common Language in a tiny place like this? Honestly, signing a Marriage Contract without knowing what it is… though, if you are a member of the Demon Race, you probably aren’t subject to human laws anyway.”
“Marriage… Contract?”
Gabriela blinked blankly.
After a few seconds of silence, her face flushed crimson, and pink steam seemed to rise from her brow.
“How could this happen… a marriage contract… this is too embarrassing! I am the Demon King!”
“Haha, so you remember you are the Demon King now? You were sold off as a wife without even knowing it. Fortunately, that old man used my name instead of his own.”
Qiaolin didn’t know how to even begin scolding Yuna.
Meeting again after hundreds of years, the two former comrades found that while they hadn’t constantly missed each other, they often thought of their days of adventure and battle.
After the vast changes of time, the old friends chatted for a long while until the sun began to set.
When dinner time arrived, Qiaolin personally cooked a few small dishes to host Gabriela.
The girl was surprised to find that he still remembered she did not eat cilantro.
After dinner, Qiaolin cleaned up and washed the dishes in the kitchen.
Gabriela sat in the living room, observing the man’s simple and clean cottage.
Had he lived alone like this for the past hundreds of years?
Gabriela looked at the man’s back.
He was just as diligent as before, but he was less flashy, more reserved, and much more mature.
Memories of them chatting happily by a campfire surfaced.
Back then, the young demon girl had watched the Hero’s confident smile from a corner, her heart fluttering with a desire to be closer to him.
Even hundreds of years later, that feeling remained.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
A violent pounding echoed from the door.
Gabriela turned toward the door, her brow furrowing slightly.
Qiaolin froze for a moment before seemingly sensing something.
He rushed to the door, and as soon as he opened it, a battered figure collapsed inside.
Qiaolin recognized this strong young man.
“Sains?! What… what happened to you?”
“Ugh…”
Qiao knelt down and reached out to cast a spell.
“HOLY LIGHT, HEAL, DESCEND.”
After the brief incantation, a golden light descended upon Sains, and the entire room was bathed in a warm glow.
In an instant, Sains’s body was restored to its original state.
‘Such a short incantation, and the healing effect is so potent,’ Gabriela thought to herself in amazement.
“Tell me, Sains, what happened?”
“Ah… Master Qiao! Please save Clara! Save the captain and the others!” Sains knelt and grabbed Qiaolin’s knees, his face pale with terror.
“We took a mission to clear out some Goblins this afternoon, but there were several Ogres inside! Everyone was captured. I was the only one who escaped… please, Master Qiaolin! I will give you all my savings as a commission! You must help me rescue them!”
“Goblins? And Ogres?”
Qiaolin remembered investigating a Goblin cave earlier and suspecting there were Ogre droppings.
He had warned the captain to be careful, but it was clear the warning had gone unheeded.
Given the habits of Goblins, they likely wouldn’t eat the women immediately.
As for the others, he couldn’t be sure, especially with Ogres involved…
Noticing Qiaolin’s hesitation, Sains immediately pulled a pendant from his neck.
The gemstone on it looked quite valuable.
“This is the most valuable thing I own, along with all the property in my home. I know you have retired from the team and have no obligation to save us, but please, consider this my request — my commission!”
“How do you know I can save you? After all, I only know Healing Magic. How could I possibly fight those monsters?”
“I am willing to act as your shield! I will protect you with my life until everyone is rescued! Even if they are dead, I must at least see their bodies!” Sains beat his chest, ready to face death.
Qiaolin exchanged a glance with Gabriela before helping the man up.
“In that case, I accept your commission.”