The Demon Lord’s Reluctant Caretaker

Su Xiaoxiao knew, with a sinking certainty, that she was utterly doomed.

Xiyue raised a hand, wiping the snow from her face, and Su Xiaoxiao felt that Xiyue’s expression was even colder than the snow itself.

Fearing Xiyue might lash out with another strike in her fury, Su Xiaoxiao stammered anxiously, “I—I didn’t mean to.”

“I didn’t know when you arrived; I was so nervous that I accidentally…”

Xiyue remained silent, only intensifying the already strained atmosphere.

‘This is scaring the fish out of me,’ Su Xiaoxiao’s heart pounded wildly. “Xi—Xiyue…”

Poor her, in such a panic, her mind was a complete blank. She couldn’t even conjure a single appeasing word.

Xiyue strode quickly towards her, seizing Su Xiaoxiao’s collar directly and dragging her—partly dodging, partly pulling—forcefully back into the room.

‘I’m going to get a beating!’

This was Su Xiaoxiao’s only thought. When she was flung onto the bed, only her backside, which had accidentally hit the bed frame, stung a little. Otherwise, she felt nothing yet.

Xiyue’s face was dark and grim as she bellowed, “Chitang!!!”

Chitang was the little demon, a rabbit spirit, assigned to look after Su Xiaoxiao’s daily needs. Xiyue had explicitly forbidden them from speaking to Su Xiaoxiao, so Chitang often delivered things and then fled with remarkable speed.

Rabbit spirits possessed acute hearing. At Xiyue’s mere shout, Chitang bounced in in a flustered hurry. “Your Excellency!”

“Watch her. Don’t let her run out, or I’ll flay you alive.”

Su Xiaoxiao: “……”

Chitang: “……This servant obeys.”

As a Demon Lord, Xiyue certainly commanded awe. The demons under her command feared her more than anything, and Chitang, having just assented, promptly made their escape.

Su Xiaoxiao was far from pleased. “What is the meaning of this? Why won’t you even let me leave the courtyard? You’re imprisoning me!”

Xiyue offered no reply, her gaze fixed on Su Xiaoxiao as if in provocation. Her unrestrained face seemed to silently declare, ‘It’s not the first time you’ve been imprisoned; why make such a fuss?’

Su Xiaoxiao refused to be outdone. If she wasn’t even allowed out of her own bedchamber, when would she ever escape Xiyue and return to the South Sea?

Anger surged through her; all thoughts of flattery or yielding vanished. Not a single word was spared as she snapped, “Xiyue! How is restraining me like this any different from chaining me up?”

Raising an eyebrow, Xiyue pondered for a moment, then seized Su Xiaoxiao’s arm and pulled her towards the bed.

“You have a point,” Xiyue said. “There truly is no difference. So, let’s chain you up, then.”

Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened in terror, seemingly convinced that Xiyue would actually follow through. She struggled with all her might, flailing her limbs and striking out at Xiyue.

The red jade bracelet clattered against Xiyue’s body. Xiyue clamped down on Su Xiaoxiao’s wrist, the one adorned with the bracelet, and her thumb brushed the jade. The red threads swirling within it seemed to stir, as if imbued with life.

Furious, Su Xiaoxiao naturally didn’t notice. Xiyue effortlessly subdued her movements and remarked languidly, “You truly have no eye for treasure.”

Seeing the little fish looking as if the sky had fallen, Xiyue, surprisingly, showed a rare patience as she explained, “The Demon Realm is harsh and cold; it will only grow colder in the coming days. It seems you didn’t heed a single word Gu Yan said.”

With her hand gripped tightly, Su Xiaoxiao was forced to calm down.

Xiyue continued, “Your body hasn’t recovered; you need to rest quietly. It’s too cold outside; if you freeze too severely, I fear your life might be forfeit.”

This demon, Xiyue, had bullied Su Xiaoxiao too often and lied too many times.

Su Xiaoxiao clearly didn’t believe her.

Aside from an occasional cough, the burning sensation in her chest had significantly improved. She had never seen such heavy snow in the South Sea, and feeling refreshed today, she had impulsively gone out to play in it and feed the fish. She had been so happy that she’d merely worked up a bit of a sweat.

Why would Xiyue exaggerate so much?

Xiyue seemed to forget that she herself was a merfolk; what merfolk doesn’t thrive in water?

‘Never mind,’ Su Xiaoxiao thought. ‘What’s the point of talking so much to this demon lord?’

Su Xiaoxiao lay on the bed, her back to Xiyue, curled into a tight ball.

Xiyue gazed at her back, at her slender frame, her expression growing somewhat grave.

Her dragon transformation tribulation was due to descend at an unknown time, and the injuries she had sustained during her previous cultivation had yet to fully heal. Furthermore, the Immortal Clan and other factions were eyeing them covetously, constantly seeking ways to infiltrate spies into the Demon Realm.

Amidst these myriad concerns, Xiyue didn’t have much time to watch over this troublesome little fish.

Raising a fish was bothersome; she could, with a hardened heart, choose not to keep it. Yet, Xiyue found herself unable to make that decision.

On one hand, she found it annoying, but on the other, she instructed her subordinates to watch Su Xiaoxiao to prevent her from running off, and even had Gu Yan care for her diligently.

Su Xiaoxiao, however, was unaware that her damaged heart meridian had not healed; instead, it had worsened with the severe cold. The only reason she didn’t perceive this was because she was being sustained by pills made from Gu Yan’s incredibly rare medicinal ingredients.

When Xiyue stayed overnight, Su Xiaoxiao often developed a sudden fever in her sleep, as if trapped in a nightmare, unable to awaken, yet crying out in pain and sobbing.

She was sensitive to the cold. When awake, her temper was stubborn, and she remained wary of Xiyue, always keeping her distance. But when asleep, she was exceptionally docile and endearing. Feeling cold, she would unconsciously burrow into Xiyue’s embrace, nuzzling and shifting until she found a comfortable position to sleep for a long time.

Xiyue, a demon of several millennia, regarded sleep and sustenance as optional. Initially, she would push Su Xiaoxiao away with a frown.

Yet, this timid fish transformed in her sleep. Xiyue pushed her away multiple times to no avail. Su Xiaoxiao slept profoundly but not peacefully, often whimpering and muttering unintelligibly when pushed away only to snuggle back closer.

Xiyue, resigned, eventually let her cling. Now, she had even grown accustomed to it.

As the moon climbed high and heavy snow fell,

countless lower-ranking demons in the Demon Realm starved, were hunted, or froze to death.

Yet, in Su Xiaoxiao’s bedchamber, the finest quality charcoal from the Nine Provinces burned, filling the room with abundant warmth. Xiyue would hold her, closing her eyes to rest. As a flood dragon cultivated from a snake, her body wasn’t inherently warm, and her embrace offered no significant heat. Yet, she still provided a source of warmth for this little fish, whose pale cheeks would even turn rosy in her sleep.

Sometimes, Su Xiaoxiao would let out a soft cough in her dreams, and Xiyue would place a hand on her back, using her spiritual energy to nourish Su Xiaoxiao’s spiritual meridian.

The environment of the Demon Realm was detrimental to Su Xiaoxiao, a merfolk’s, survival.

Gu Yan had mentioned this twice: ‘Given how troublesome she is, and since you don’t intend to kill her, why not just send her back to the South Sea?’ But Xiyue was stubborn, and Gu Yan dared not bring it up again.

Instead, observing Xiyue’s attitude, Gu Yan had come to a certain realization: ‘Could it be that the Demon Lord, after a thousand years, has finally found love and is keeping this person, unwilling to let them go?’

These matters, however, Xiyue disdained to mention. Su Xiaoxiao remained oblivious, yet upon waking, she would become wary of Xiyue once more.

Xiyue was a demon; she simply did not understand what love was. She could not emulate the benevolent expressions of the Immortal Clan, nor could she grasp the poetic romance of mortals.

In her understanding, keeping Su Xiaoxiao, refraining from eating a ‘full fish feast,’ and providing her with good food and drink was the greatest honor she could bestow upon Su Xiaoxiao.

Such interactions, however, only made Su Xiaoxiao yearn to leave the Demon Realm even more, and increasingly suspect Xiyue of malicious intent.

She was always thinking of escape. After being well-behaved in her room for less than two days, she slipped out again.

This time, she was more careful, even managing to escape the Demon Palace. Just as she was nearing the Demon Realm’s boundary, the bracelet on her wrist began to heat up. Before she knew it, Xiyue was already blocking her path.