The Price of Passion

“Don’t entwine me with your tail, don’t use…”

“What did you say?” Xiyue had heard perfectly well, but deliberately pressed her to repeat herself.

“Your flood dragon form—it frightens me!” Su Xiaoxiao blurted out, her tone resigned, but Xiyue seemed intent on thwarting her every wish.

Xiyue was not often this patient, but she certainly wasn’t one to inflict injury every single time they engaged in such intimate acts.

With a voice that was almost gentle, she coaxed Su Xiaoxiao, “First, open your scales. It will hurt quite a bit later, Xiaoxiao.”

The words proved effective. Su Xiaoxiao, though incredibly reluctant, nonetheless revealed herself to Xiyue.

“It hurts.”

Su Xiaoxiao was exceptionally tender within, and Xiyue’s scales were simply too coarse and unyielding, causing her immense discomfort and pain.

Su Xiaoxiao’s soaked, long blue hair clung to her nape, creating a stark contrast against the pallor of her skin.

The fragile pulse throbbing beneath her neck, coupled with Su Xiaoxiao’s desperate attempts to evade her, only served to ignite a deeper, more brutal desire within Xiyue.

Xiyue didn’t even permit Su Xiaoxiao to revert to her human legs; instead, she clamped down on Su Xiaoxiao’s tail, entwining it tightly with her own.

The cold spring water churned violently, creating a considerable commotion.

Pinioned and helpless, Su Xiaoxiao’s tears flowed ceaselessly, her whimpers and cries of anguish echoing through the cavern.

Before she had cultivated into a flood dragon, she had found the sight of snakes mating in gutters repulsive. Only now, experiencing it herself, did she begin to grasp its peculiar allure.

Alas, Su Xiaoxiao, being a merfolk and inherently delicate, meant Xiyue was far from satisfied.

Weeping and wriggling, she seized a momentary lapse in Xiyue’s hold, thrashing her tail to dive towards the bottom of the spring.

Her efforts, of course, proved futile. Xiyue effortlessly retrieved her, and Su Xiaoxiao was on the verge of breaking down. “I truly can’t bear this any longer…”

“It hurts so much, it really, really hurts…”

Beyond its terrifying length, that tail was even adorned with barbed scales.

Not only that, but Xiyue continuously used her flood dragon tail to entwine Su Xiaoxiao’s, its rough hide threatening to abrade the delicate scales off her own tail?!

What utterly bewildered Su Xiaoxiao was that despite the excruciating pain, an odd, peculiar sensation also bloomed, akin to the clash of ice and fire. She longed to escape it, yet inexplicably yearned for more.

It was truly baffling. Su Xiaoxiao had never experienced such a sensation before, and could only conclude that she was on the verge of death.

If she continued to let Xiyue have her way, wouldn’t it be the end of her merfolk life?

Her tail burned with an agonizing fire. Su Xiaoxiao could no longer allow Xiyue to entwine her in such a manner. After transforming back into her legs, she distinctly noticed Xiyue’s expression had darkened considerably.

Xiyue’s already exquisite features were now marred by a deep frown, making her appear truly formidable.

Su Xiaoxiao’s legs, completely bare, were chafed raw, some areas even abraded to the point of breaking the skin.

Her legs were the most sensitive and vulnerable to pain. Gazing down at her pathetic state, Su Xiaoxiao’s tears flowed uncontrollably, tiny pearls cascading onto Xiyue’s body. Finding this irritating, Xiyue promptly pinned her against the edge of the spring.

The sudden lunge sent Su Xiaoxiao crashing against the rocks. Forgetting her pain, she struggled desperately to turn her head.

“You—you’re not thinking of…”

Xiyue’s sharp claws pressed against her shoulder, the formidable pressure rendering Su Xiaoxiao utterly immobile. She knew that any defiance would mean Xiyue’s claws could end her life in an instant.

“No, ah—” She didn’t even have time to utter a full word. Xiyue’s swift action had already confirmed her unspoken dread.

A sudden, tearing pain, as if she were being ripped in two, plunged her vision into darkness, and she nearly lost consciousness.

The fleeting pleasure she had just begun to discern now vanished like smoke, leaving behind only an agonizing torment that felt as though her very organs were being displaced.

In the end, Su Xiaoxiao was left so utterly depleted and powerless that she could only collapse onto Xiyue’s body.

Finding it rather amusing, Xiyue couldn’t resist a teasing remark: “Weren’t you trying to escape just now? What are you doing clinging to me like this?”

Su Xiaoxiao remained still, her voice still laced with tears. “I hurt so much, I’m injured again…”

No sooner had she finished speaking than she was seized by a violent coughing fit. Xiyue’s hand, already resting on her back, noticed her pained expression and, with a hint of condescension, bestowed a small measure of spiritual energy upon her.

After a period of quiet recovery, Su Xiaoxiao felt considerably better.

Xiyue remained in the same position, unmoving, only asking languidly, “How much longer do you intend to lie here? Don’t you find my skin too rough now?”

In truth, Xiyue’s skin in her human form was exceptionally fair, delicate, and smooth as porcelain; it was only in her flood dragon guise that it became somewhat coarse.

With the discomfort subsiding, a wave of drowsiness washed over Su Xiaoxiao. Just as her eyes began to droop, she caught sight of a distinct scar marring the otherwise pristine, pale skin of Xiyue’s upper back.

It was a long scar, still showing unhealed flesh, winding and distorted like a centipede.

“What is this?” Su Xiaoxiao asked her.

Xiyue, treating Su Xiaoxiao like a pet fish she kept in her bed, felt no need for circumspection. She stated bluntly, “You truly are foolish. Haven’t you just seen my true form? Did you not notice anything amiss?”

Su Xiaoxiao weakly shook her head. Xiyue tapped her head lightly, then said slowly, “I’m close to transforming into a true dragon.”

“Transform—into a dragon?!”

Xiyue almost thought she had misheard.

The elders and clan leader had truly raised these young merfolk into naive, foolish creatures, utterly ignorant of the world.

Even with her limited knowledge, Su Xiaoxiao knew that the Dragon Race found procreation exceedingly difficult. After tens of thousands of years, the only true dragons left in the world were, perhaps, the former Heavenly Monarch, who might have already ascended on some immortal mountain, and the current Emperor Weili of the Upper Heaven, along with the small golden dragoness born to him by Yunjie of the Merfolk.

The Emperor’s sole heir, the young Crown Princess, was perpetually in seclusion for cultivation, making her appearances exceedingly rare. Su Xiaoxiao and her companions had originally hoped to catch a glimpse of this small golden dragoness, who possessed merfolk blood, during their visit to the Upper Heaven. Yet, the Crown Princess had not even attended Yunjie’s birthday banquet.

This was a slight digression, but in Su Xiaoxiao’s understanding, dragons possessed innate fortune from birth. To be born a dragon was to have divine aid and absolute freedom, with nothing forbidden.

But to achieve dragon transformation through cultivation…

For anyone else, such a feat would be nothing short of a myth.

Yet, facing Xiyue, Su Xiaoxiao was utterly dumbfounded.

Su Xiaoxiao had, of course, heard the legends surrounding Xiyue: a snake born into the lowest echelons of the Demon Realm, who, through millennia of arduous cultivation, had miraculously transformed into a flood dragon.

She had just witnessed Xiyue’s true form, complete with horns sprouting from her head—a feature unique to dragons. Her claws were razor-sharp, her physique immense, indeed bearing little distinction from a true dragon.

Su Xiaoxiao’s astonishment inexplicably pleased Xiyue, who even deigned to answer with a hint of patience: “I have calculated it; the heavenly tribulation for my dragon transformation should occur within the next few years.”

A demon, capable of prying into heavenly secrets.

Just how profound was Xiyue’s cultivation, truly…?

The Merfolk, much like the nearly extinct Dragon Race, were favored by the heavens. So long as they committed no egregious sins in this life, their cultivation would never be met with a heavenly tribulation.

Su Xiaoxiao had never faced a heavenly tribulation, yet she understood it was akin to walking through the gates of hell. To pass it meant a complete metamorphosis; to fail meant utter annihilation of both body and spirit.

Su Xiaoxiao parted her lips slightly, as if to speak.

Xiyue met her gaze and was surprised to realize the little merfolk was secretly relishing something.

“You’re delighted, aren’t you?!” Xiyue demanded, a hint of indignation in her voice.

Su Xiaoxiao was terrible at concealing her emotions, much less lying. She stammered, “I—I merely…”

“You should consider yourself fortunate that the heavenly tribulation is still several years off.”

“What do you mean by that?” Su Xiaoxiao countered, her expression bewildered.

Xiyue gripped her neck and let out a cold laugh. “If I perish during the heavenly tribulation, don’t imagine you’ll live either. I’ll drag you down with me to the grave.”

Su Xiaoxiao fell silent.

She raised her hand to pry open Xiyue’s grip on her neck, muttering, “Don’t say such terrifying things to a merfolk. I just want to go home.”

She had witnessed Xiyue use her sharp claws to take lives in bloody scenes multiple times. Even though Xiyue always placed her hand, not her claws, on Su Xiaoxiao’s neck, Su Xiaoxiao still felt afraid.

Xiyue found Su Xiaoxiao to be truly too delicate and foolish. Aside from being somewhat agreeable in bed, at all other times, Su Xiaoxiao made Xiyue want to slaughter her.

“Then what about your injury?” Su Xiaoxiao asked again.

Xiyue had already risen from the cold spring, her inner garments clinging to her skin, making her figure appear even more alluring and seductive. Without bothering to admire her own physique, she walked slowly to the edge of the spring, not looking back. Her tone was filled with disdain and arrogance: “A cultivation deviation. I did it to myself.”

Su Xiaoxiao thought of that long scar, feeling pain just imagining it.

Xiyue finished dressing and turned to see Su Xiaoxiao still motionless in the cold spring.

“Do I have to dress you now?” Xiyue’s tone was displeased.

Su Xiaoxiao had been dazed by Xiyue’s previous words. She uttered an “Oh,” then added, “But my clothes are all torn.”

Xiyue frowned.

She had seen other demons keep their playthings, but never one so audacious as to order their master around.

Seeing Xiyue’s face darken again, Su Xiaoxiao thought Xiyue was truly annoying. No wonder everyone said to stay away from demons; she was so inconsiderate of a merfolk’s feelings, truly difficult to get along with.

Fearing Xiyue might suddenly go mad and strike her again, Su Xiaoxiao sank into the water, only her clear, beautiful jewel-like eyes visible, as she blew bubbles and said, “I won’t wear those dirty clothes. You called me a loach.”

Ah, she was still dwelling on that remark.