The Elder’s Plea and Xiyue’s Fury

Upon hearing the elder’s name, Su Xiaoxiao paused, turning to see the man holding a string of deep blue coral and pearl prayer beads. Even though night had not yet fallen, the coral glowed with a faint luminescence. It was a treasure found only in the South Sea, within the exclusive waters of the merfolk tribe.

Convinced, Su Xiaoxiao hurried to him, taking the beads to examine them closely. Both the pearls and the coral were unmistakably from the merfolk tribe of the South Sea. A pang of sorrow constricted Su Xiaoxiao’s throat, making her feel even more on the verge of tears. She bit the tip of her tongue, suppressing the rising bitterness, and asked, “What message did the Elder ask you to convey?”

The man thrust a letter into her hand. “Your Elder gave this to you.”

Su Xiaoxiao paid no mind to anything else, opening the letter right in front of the demon. The handwriting was unfamiliar, yet the tone was unmistakably Yunjie’s.

[My dear Xiaoxiao, may this letter find you well. The Demon Lord Xiyue has been overly aggressive, repeatedly invading the immortal realm and threatening the merfolk tribe, plunging all living beings into misery. Such acts are intolerable to the Heavenly Dao. While you are in the demon realm, exercise caution and discretion. I hope you can gather intelligence and relay it back to the immortal realm, lending a hand to help eradicate Xiyue—Elder Yunjie.]

After stumbling through the letter, Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but exclaim, “As expected of Elder Yunjie, such a literary and refined letter.”

The wolf demon, clearly anxious, hastily asked if she had finished reading.

Su Xiaoxiao nodded, and he snatched the letter, swallowing it whole.

‘How utterly crude,’ Su Xiaoxiao thought, subtly evading his spittle.

“Your Elder wants me to ask if you’ve discovered anything during your long stay in the Demon Palace?”

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head. He cursed her as useless, his expression growing even more savage. Su Xiaoxiao felt a tremor of fear. Under duress, she struggled to recall before finally saying, “She… she seems to be injured. There’s an unhealed scar on her shoulder…”

That Xiyue was injured was a secret known to no one else, save for Su Xiaoxiao, her ‘fish by the pillow.’

“You say the Demon Lord is injured?” The wolf demon’s voice trembled with excitement, his expression terrifyingly grotesque, his voice involuntarily rising in pitch.

He suddenly leaned in close, startling Su Xiaoxiao so much that her words faltered. “Ye-yes… that’s right…”

“Truly?!”

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t understand why he was so serious, only nodding frantically.

The wolf demon chuckled, then clapped Su Xiaoxiao on the shoulder with such force it nearly knocked her to the ground. In high spirits, he declared, “Alright, go back now.”

Su Xiaoxiao took a few steps, then turned back. The wound on her wrist, inflicted by Gu Yan, still throbed. Her merfolk kind healed excruciatingly slowly, and their perception of pain seemed far more acute than other races.

The lingering wound on her wrist, the intermittent ache in her chest, the daily grind in the barren Demon Palace devoid of fresh water, merely surviving, all while enduring Xiyue’s occasional brutal ravages—it was a life of sheer torment. Su Xiaoxiao’s heart had been utterly desolate, her spirits sinking lower with each passing day. Yet, receiving news from her kin today, even if delivered by a demon she feared, ignited an overwhelming surge of suppressed grievances she could not contain.

Su Xiaoxiao turned back, her magnificent blue and white hair cascaded down, her figure was graceful, her eyes a deep, fathomless blue like a serene pool. Her pristine white garments revealed skin as fair and flawless as jade, making her appear like the purest white camellia, captivating the wolf demon to the point of dazed infatuation.

Su Xiaoxiao asked earnestly, “Did Elder Yunjie tell you how much longer I must remain in the demon realm? When can I return to the South Sea?”

She spoke only of her heartfelt desire, completely oblivious to how the wolf demon’s gaze had turned utterly depraved and lecherous. “I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

Her clear, crisp voice, as it fell, seemed to cleanse the very air of the demon realm of its inherent turbidity.

Overwhelmed by lust, the wolf demon’s resolve solidified. He leaned closer with an odd tone, seemingly intent on drawing Su Xiaoxiao into his embrace. Fortunately, Su Xiaoxiao had been wary of him all along; the moment he advanced, she swiftly retreated two steps, allowing him to grasp only a corner of her garment.

Though the wolf demon hadn’t touched Su Xiaoxiao, merely grasping a corner of her clothing was enough to send his heart racing.

“What are you doing?” Su Xiaoxiao watched his hand still suspended in mid-air, hastily retreating another two steps.

The wolf demon merely chuckled. “Nothing, merely comforting you.”

He glanced toward the bedchamber behind Su Xiaoxiao, his meaning obscure. “If you don’t want to stay here, it’s alright. Before long, I’ll get you out.”

Believing his words to be the consensus of Yunjie, the clan chief, and Elder Yunli, Su Xiaoxiao was overjoyed. Without a hint of guile, she said, “That’s good, I’ll wait for you.”

Returning to her bedchamber, she was no longer as despondent as before, eagerly anticipating her swift departure from the demon realm.

However, this hopeful period lasted only two days before it was shattered by Xiyue’s return.

When Xiyue returned, Su Xiaoxiao was idly resting after lunch. Xiyue’s entrance was tumultuous, nearly splintering the door.

Su Xiaoxiao was startled awake, her sleep-addled mind still hazy; she rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things. But it was indeed Xiyue who had entered.

“You—” Su Xiaoxiao had barely opened her mouth when her throat was seized. Xiyue was wreathed in dark miasma, a heavy stench of blood clinging to her. The combined aura of danger and terror profoundly unnerved Su Xiaoxiao. In all her acquaintance with Xiyue, she had never witnessed such savagery.

She tried to struggle, but her delicate neck was held firmly in Xiyue’s grasp. With just a slight increase of pressure, Xiyue could snap Su Xiaoxiao’s neck.

Like a mortal on the verge of drowning, Su Xiaoxiao gasped for air, her throat feeling as though it were choked by the dark miasma surrounding Xiyue. The suffocating pressure caused her pale cheeks to slowly flush crimson. ‘I won’t be able to return to the South Sea…’

As her vision blurred and she vaguely wondered if this was to be her end, Xiyue brutally flung Su Xiaoxiao aside like a discarded corpse. The impact against the bedpost was considerable. With her heart already weakened, Su Xiaoxiao could not withstand any further harm; even without the infusion of spiritual energy, the sheer force of the blow to her back sent her into a violent fit of coughing, and she could almost taste blood in her mouth.

Xiyue stood by the bed, her expression still terrifyingly cold. Su Xiaoxiao’s vision swam, perceiving only the dark miasma growing fiercer, as if intent on devouring her whole.

Su Xiaoxiao continued to cough, but Xiyue suddenly seized her calf and dragged her forward. Su Xiaoxiao wanted to ask why she was so enraged, but only coughs escaped her lips; she couldn’t utter a single word.

“Cough, cough—”

Xiyue’s grip was immense, as if she meant to snap Su Xiaoxiao’s leg clean off. Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes brimmed with terror-induced redness, but Xiyue completely disregarded her struggles. She heard Xiyue’s voice, as chilling as a vengeful spirit, say, “I truly underestimated you…”

Su Xiaoxiao had no time to ponder; Xiyue’s next action intensified her struggle. Xiyue’s strength was brutal; she tore Su Xiaoxiao’s outer garment to shreds, along with her underclothes, exposing her skin beneath.

Su Xiaoxiao, unwilling to submit to such humiliation, naturally resisted, only to hear Xiyue’s frigid warning, “If you dare to move, I will sever your tail. Try me if you don’t believe it.”

‘To sever a tail… it was tantamount to taking a merperson’s life.’

Su Xiaoxiao continued to cough, the metallic taste of blood growing stronger in her mouth. Xiyue paid no heed to the fresh crimson that welled forth. The penetration came without any warning or preparation. Su Xiaoxiao was unable to struggle.

Xiyue was more savage than ever before, clearly intending to end her life. A searing pain erupted in her chest, an overwhelming agony like a collapsing mountain. The bedchamber was filled with the reek of blood, the act itself a form of torture.

Su Xiaoxiao lost all sense of time. She could no longer even cough, and the wound on her wrist, which had previously stopped bleeding but never fully healed, tore open once more. Stark crimson stained the bed, patch after patch of blood, transforming the scene into a veritable asura’s battlefield.