The sun outside was scorching hot.
It beat down on Pei Yunqing until he felt dazed.
What had just happened left him with lingering fear.
He sneaked a glance at Chu Mo beside him.
Her expression looked terrible, and it filled him with irritation.
Those old geezers tore into me like that, yet you didn’t dare say a single word… If something really goes wrong the day I treat Yan Qingge, are you just going to stand there pretending to be deaf and mute?
Pei Yunqing’s eyes darkened.
The insurance policy that was Chu Mo had already developed cracks. Now…
He lowered his head and bit his lip hard.
It’s fine.
The medicine from Medicine King Valley won’t go wrong.
“Senior Sister Chu. Immortal Lord Pei.”
A voice suddenly came from behind them.
They turned around to see Lin Rou approaching.
There was a smile on her face and polite words on her lips, yet the narrowed eyes revealed a cold sharpness.
It was as if she had already seen through everything.
“I heard that True Disciple Yan was poisoned by a toxin while fighting a black-furred ape?”
“Yes.”
Pei Yunqing nodded.
“The one who injured True Disciple Yan was a second-layer Demon Venerable Stage black-furred ape. If she hadn’t been saving me, how could True Disciple Yan have…”
Pei Yunqing once again put on a pitiful, frail appearance as if he were about to cry.
However, the moment Lin Rou heard it was a second-layer Demon Venerable Stage beast, she frowned in thought.
She paid no attention at all to Pei Yunqing’s self-directed performance.
One had to know that the Demon Race’s cultivation realms were Demon Spirit Stage, Demon Bone Stage, Demon Core Stage, Demon Soul Stage, Demon Venerable Stage, Demon Emperor Stage, and Demon Sovereign Stage, each further divided into early, middle, late, and great perfection phases.
A second-layer Demon Venerable Stage demon beast was definitely a huge problem.
“This black-furred ape is extremely cunning. Most of the toxins it produces are not immediately fatal, but they are incredibly difficult to cure. They cling like maggots to the bone, slowly eroding the victim. Since this is from a second-layer Demon Venerable Stage beast, I’m afraid the toxin may also have gu-like effects that could disturb a person’s mind.”
“If I were to treat it, the probability of a complete cure in one go would be around seventy percent. If it unfortunately fails the first time, further treatment with medicinal pills and other aids would be required. All things considered, Medicine King Valley would be a better choice. Their experts would definitely be able to cure it in one treatment. Since True Disciple Yan is about to attempt a breakthrough, it’s best not to delay. By the way, when Immortal Lord Pei said he was certain in the hall earlier, you were referring to curing her in one go, correct?”
Gu?
One-time cure?
Pei Yunqing’s eyes narrowed slightly.
His understanding of the matter had been simple: if he couldn’t cure her, he could just put on a show using Medicine King Valley’s medicine.
Now, this sudden mention of some mysterious gu effect and the possibility of needing multiple treatments made his heart race wildly again.
Neither the remnants of that medical book nor his mother had mentioned either of these situations.
He tried hard to calm his mind and maintain the crumbling mask on his face, making himself appear as if he understood everything perfectly.
But at this moment, Lin Rou’s smiling eyes and gentle smile felt like a scalpel pressed against his neck.
He could almost hear the sound of his fake facade cracking and shattering piece by piece onto the floor.
“Ah, one-time cure… Yes, that’s right. My mother and I, um, along with the remnants of the medical texts, have considered this. If one treatment isn’t enough, we can continue treating Yan… Yan Qingge afterward.”
Lin Rou’s eyes opened slightly wider.
Her smile deepened, like a precise surgical knife dissecting Pei Yunqing completely.
“I started learning from my mother when I was very young. Treating Yan Qingge won’t be a problem. I…”
“Immortal Lord Pei is so young yet capable of treating such a troublesome poison. Your talent in medicine is truly remarkable. It’s a pity you belong to Mistveil Pavilion. Otherwise, I would want to take you as my disciple.”
“On the day we treat True Disciple Yan, I will definitely observe and learn properly by your side. Please don’t hold back any techniques, haha. Senior Sister Chu, you are truly fortunate to have such a person by your side.”
After she finished speaking, Lin Rou glanced at their joined hands before leaving on her own.
After being stirred up by Lin Rou like this, Chu Mo’s face turned so dark that ink could drip from it.
She looked at the person beside her, her voice exceptionally cold.
“Yunqing, there’s no one else here. Tell me the truth. How certain are you of curing Qingge?”
“I already said one hundred percent! Aren’t you annoying?!”
Pei Yunqing reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
His voice was sharp and piercing, carrying a near-hysterical breakdown.
He violently shook off Chu Mo’s hand.
The action was strikingly decisive and ruthless.
Chu Mo’s hand remained frozen in the air in the position of holding his.
For the first time in a long while, she saw on Pei Yunqing’s face irritation, unease, anxiety, fear, and even a trace of sinister resentment.
Fatigue, disappointment, anger, and many more emotions surged up.
She didn’t know what was wrong with Pei Yunqing, nor did she know what was wrong with herself.
Negative feelings flooded out, crashing wildly inside her heart.
She desperately wanted to question him, even accuse him, but she was Chu Mo.
In front of Pei Yunqing, she had subconsciously fallen into the role of the gentle, deeply affectionate Chu Mo.
“I’m sorry, Chu Mo. Let me be alone for a while…”
***
On the third day after Pei Yunqing’s return, was Chu Mo happy? The answer was obvious: she was not.
When she had first learned that Pei Yunqing had been rescued by Yan Qingge, she had indeed been overjoyed.
But as the return of her white moonlight drew closer, she had been troubled over how to deal with Bai Qingran.
And now, because of Yan Qingge, the two of them had quarreled.
A ridiculous and selfish thought appeared in Chu Mo’s mind.
What if… what if Pei Yunqing had never come back? What would everything be like then?
This thought that had just emerged startled Chu Mo greatly.
How could I think something like that?!
To her, Pei Yunqing was her white moonlight, her savior, the person she was supposed to love for the rest of her life…
Countless identities and responsibilities turned into a slimy snake that wrapped tightly around Chu Mo.
It opened its foul-smelling mouth and flicked its tongue in front of her.
Chu Mo could not escape.
She had to forcefully suppress the nausea rising from her stomach while spending the rest of her life “intimately entangled” with it in affection. How utterly despairing.
Chu Mo closed her eyes.
Her entire being felt as if she had been forced to leap into endless darkness. She was truly tired.
The howling wind from the fall still rang in her ears.
Yet in the darkness, something still glimmered with light. It was Bai Qingran.
Their encounter had been Bai Qingran’s misfortune. And that misfortune had granted Chu Mo the right to indulge herself.
In front of Bai Qingran, she never had to think so much. She could always act without restraint. She could always reveal her evil and desires.
In front of Bai Qingran, Chu Mo could be Chu Mo.
When she came back to her senses, she was already standing in front of the cold, gloomy cave.
Bai Qingran, who had been humming a tune while preparing to eat, saw the dazed and lost Chu Mo enter. He actually felt like laughing a little.
This scene feels somewhat familiar.
They say a short separation is better than a new marriage.
Ever since Pei Yunqing returned, she had come here every single day without missing one.
And today, her mood was clearly off.
Had she quarreled with Pei Yunqing?
Silence. No words were spoken. The two of them quietly ate at the stone table.
Watching Bai Qingran wolf down his food, Chu Mo narrowed her eyes slightly.
Why?
As the master, she felt so miserable, yet this pet of hers could eat so happily.
Shouldn’t this little fox be kneeling on the ground in pain, begging for mercy from his owner?
After the meal, Bai Qingran cleaned up and immediately retreated into the room, refusing to come out.
He wasn’t stupid.
Chu Mo was obviously not in a normal state.
It was best not to provoke her.
However, some things could not be avoided just because you didn’t want to provoke them.
The door was pushed open. Chu Mo walked in and stared at Bai Qingran. She asked coldly, “You don’t want to come out? Are you hiding from me?”
The little fox’s eyes darted away. His body trembled slightly. “No… I’m just sleepy. I want to sleep…”
This stubborn little thing.
No matter how tough he acts, he still gets scared when he sees me… Chu Mo curved her lips into a smile and licked them.
The little fox’s life and death, pain and pleasure, all rested on a single thought of hers.
This feeling of controlling another person’s everything was simply wonderful.
She took out that moon-blue robe from her storage ring and threw it onto the ground.
“Change.”
Inside the room, after a long stretch of heavy silence came the rustling sounds of clothes being removed.
“Yunqing… Yunqing…”
Chu Mo’s voice was sweet as honey.
Her black eyes reflected Bai Qingran’s humiliation.
The expression on her face grew even more intoxicated.
Whether he was acting as Pei Yunqing’s substitute no longer mattered.
But if this could torment the little fox, she was more than happy to do it.
Feeling the fox tail wrap around her waist, Chu Mo excitedly lowered her body.
She wanted to, at the very peak of pleasure, call out Pei Yunqing’s name beside the little fox’s ear and make him cry from grievance.
What she didn’t expect was that the little fox would take the initiative.
He hugged her tightly, as if afraid she would run away, as if he wanted to crush her into his embrace.
Then, Bai Qingran’s voice, hot and wet yet carrying cold, sharp hatred, exploded beside her ear.
“Chu Mo, take a good look. The one giving you pleasure beneath him — is it Pei Yunqing… or me, this wild hybrid whose Demon Core you dug out?”
Her movements stopped.
Chu Mo felt like a rusted iron lock.
She stiffly and dryly lifted her upper body.
She saw the little fox smiling wantonly.
His laughter sounded as pleasant as pearls falling onto a plate, yet it was mixed with broken, frenzied laughter.
Within it was blatant triumph and the pleasure of poisoned revenge.
Why? Why are you rebelling against me too?!
Chu Mo suddenly reached out and choked Bai Qingran’s neck.
The expression on her face could no longer be described as ferocious — it was terrifying.
“You are Pei Yunqing! You are to play the role of an unspeakable substitute! You lowly mixed-blood mongrel!”
“Guh—!”
Bai Qingran’s face turned red from being choked.
His eyes were filled with ruthlessness and a pitying look as if watching a drowning dog struggling in the water.
He reached out and, unwilling to yield, choked Chu Mo’s neck with force.
“You… useless… You got frustrated with Pei Yunqing, right? So you can only come vent on me, this… mongrel… Chu Mo, you… you’re the useless one!”
The air steamed with heat. In the haze, the feeling was: I hate you, but I can’t leave you.
Chu Mo lay on top of Bai Qingran, panting heavily.
There was a slight stinging pain on her neck.
She gently touched the mark Bai Qingran had left on her.
Heh. She found it absurd in her heart.
Yet somehow, the reality of strangling each other like this, entangling with one another until the next life, the life after that, and the life after that… didn’t seem so bad.
She turned her head and looked at Bai Qingran’s side profile.
It was a face that could still stun and deeply mesmerize her no matter how many times she saw it.
It bore some resemblance to Pei Yunqing, but it was far more beautiful — especially right now.
She had no doubt that if she let Bai Qingran out, he would be taken and possessed by other women.
And those women would be even more ruthless and excessive than she was.
Therefore, it wasn’t a bad thing that she kept him locked up. He belonged only to her.
Chu Mo picked up two strands of hair — one black, one white — and tied them into an unbreakable dead knot.
She held it in her hands and stared at it for a long time, letting out an infatuated low chuckle like a child who had received her favorite toy.
She placed the knot on Bai Qingran’s chest and gently pressed it down with her hand.
The half-human, half-fox heart beat beneath her palm.
What a wondrous feeling.
She wanted to love him. She wanted this heart to beat only for her.
She gently kissed away the tears from the corners of Bai Qingran’s eyes, tidied his hair for him, and finally gave the red mark on his neck a lingering, deep kiss and bite — the mark she had left on him.
Chu Mo’s voice was hoarse yet gentle. “Bai Qingran, say that you love me.”
“Chu Mo… I hate you…”
Hate?
Chu Mo smiled.
Hate was fine.
Because she knew — he was hers.