Molting Scales

Xuan Lie sat in the sleeping quarters, head lowered as he leafed through the ancient demon records stored there.

From behind him came a slithering, frictional sound that would make an ordinary person’s skin crawl. Xuan Lie set down the scroll and turned his head toward the little beauty who was currently winding himself around the man with cloying affection.

He glanced down at the serpent tail dragging across the floor. “In a good mood?”

“Mm.” Bai Yujing leaned against his shoulder contentedly. “I couldn’t help myself and ate a child. It won’t mess up your plans, will it, Exalted Immortal?”

The words were bone-chillingly horrific, yet Xuan Lie remained unmoved. He looked at the youth’s scales, which were growing increasingly lustrous, with a completely normal expression.

—Based on his experience, the day of molting should be within the next forty-eight hours.

Bai Yujing waited for a response that didn’t come. He looked up, confused. “…Exalted Immortal?”

Xuan Lie reached out, pulling the youth into his lap. He felt the slightly rounded belly—the result of the recent meal. “It’s fine. But be more cautious with your next feeding; be careful not to upset your stomach.”

“…”

…You certainly have a practiced hand at touching me, you stinking stone.

Bai Yujing gritted his teeth and smiled. “Yes, thank you for the concern. I’ll be sure to be careful next time.”

At this moment, both of them assumed the slight fullness of the serpent’s belly was simply due to Bai Yujing’s indiscriminate eating; neither gave it another thought.

Even Bai Yujing himself was indifferent, quickly pushing the matter to the back of his mind. “May I ask, Exalted Immortal, when do you plan to take me away from Shuanghua?”

Xuan Lie kneaded the small of his belly to aid his digestion as he replied, “No rush. We will wait for their next move before making a plan.”

The massage made Bai Yujing feel a bit drowsy. He couldn’t help but yawn, taking a moment to piece together Xuan Lie’s logic.

Since Shen Fenglin was unable to act due to his heavy injuries and had to rely on his subordinates to find the “Immortal Seeds,” he would inevitably give those people hints.

Given Shen Fenglin’s “illustrious” history of betraying his master for personal gain, it was unlikely these subordinates weren’t bound by forbidden curses. If they were captured and interrogated directly, there were only two outcomes: they would self-destruct, or they would provide false information to lead them astray.

Previously, when all five were gathered at Babao, it would have been difficult to strike without error.

But now, only Wang Qinghe and Du Jingchun had come to Shuanghua. Du Jingchun was dead, and Wang Qinghe was now a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring; this was the easiest time to force her hand.

Once he understood Xuan Lie’s plan, Bai Yujing hummed inwardly. It’s just as well we aren’t leaving yet. Once I finish molting, everything will be easy to settle.

“Right,” he suddenly remembered. “When I found those two, they seemed to be discussing some kind of summoning array.”

Xuan Lie showed no surprise. “I know.”

…So this man really did overhear their conversation earlier.

Bai Yujing pursed his lips and looked down at the mountain of spiritual stones inside the jade bracelet. Suddenly, he felt like he was holding a bunch of hot coals.

Xuan Lie’s blatant admission of his knowledge was almost an explicit hint regarding the purpose of those stones—it was no different from a threat.

…Hah, just some cursed stones. Did he really think I had no way to deal with them?

Just you wait, you stinking stone, Bai Yujing thought with a trace of malicious intent. Once I mature after this molt, I’ll show you exactly who the master is.

Two days later, the Jichuan Palace.

The Shuanghua Middle World was actually shaped like a massive, flat disc of ice. On its “face” sat the various palaces and the Snow Forest, where countless ice-type demons lived and thrived under the protection of the Demon King.

Its “back,” however, was a realm of eternal night that never saw the sun. Under the brilliant starlight and amidst the swirling snow lay the only unfrozen river: the Jichuan.

The Jichuan Palace, situated upon this river, was the true core of the Shuanghua world. Within it was stored the demon race’s supreme treasure, the Jingwei Stone. This was the location Jiang Xinyue had meticulously selected for Bai Yujing’s molting.

Bai Yujing was very satisfied.

The tenth molt represented total maturity; it meant he was about to welcome stable heat cycles and a lifespan nearly as long as heaven and earth themselves.

But the price was nearly ten days of extreme weakness. In the treacherous world of cultivation, one day of weakness was enough to get one killed, let alone ten.

Fortunately, protected by the Jingwei Stone and the presence of the Demon King’s true form, the entire Jichuan Palace was completely hidden within the blizzard. Without the guidance of the spiritual stones, even Xuan Lie shouldn’t be able to find him in the darkness.

Bai Yujing felt secure enough to manifest his serpent tail, leaning breathlessly against the ice bed inside the palace.

The sharp scales on his belly unconsciously scraped against the bed, creating a series of chilling sounds as crushed ice scattered across the floor.

However, the area further inward—the part unprotected by scales—seemed somewhat pitiful by comparison.

Enduring the tremors as he ground himself against the ice and snow time and again, nearly moved to tears by the overstimulation, Bai Yujing finally endured the first wave of the “tide.”

He haphazardly wiped his disheveled face and gasped as he looked at the mess on his belly.

…I won’t rub it raw, will I?

Worried, he brushed away the snow residue. Seeing that the tender spot without scales had been ground into a deep red, he couldn’t help but touch it with his fingertips.

“Sss…”

Bai Yujing poked at it a few times without any real technique, but the more he rubbed, the more it swelled. He could only withdraw his hand dejectedly and bury his face in the ice bed.

His entire body was scorched by a physiological heat, and his mind had turned to mush.

Amidst the indescribable torment, he inexplicably remembered a hand from the Demon Offering Grand Ceremony.

It hurts… I want that hand to touch me again…

But… whose hand was it?

Bai Yujing was so delirious from the “fever” that his memory became distorted; for a moment, he actually couldn’t remember who that person was.

He thought long and hard but couldn’t recall. Eventually, he gave up and fell asleep amidst the ice and snow.

After an unknown amount of time, a second wave of the tide struck like a bolt of lightning. Bai Yujing woke with a start, whimpering.

He opened his eyes in a daze, only to see a figure standing by his bed. He had no idea how long the person had been there.

“…Xuan Lie?”

Bai Yujing was in a trance. He didn’t snap out of it immediately; instead, he instinctively reached out. The other man took his hand with practiced ease, hooking an arm around his waist to pull him into an embrace.

Like a beauty fished out of the water, he leaned submissively into the man’s chest, his pupils unfocused as he looked down… and then…

Amidst the pure white of the snow, he saw a vivid speck of red on his wrist.

Bai Yujing’s pupils narrowed into thin slits. He snapped awake, his head whipping up in disbelief to lock eyes with Xuan Lie’s bottomless gaze.

In that instant, Bai Yujing’s heart stopped.

Those eyes were burning with a cold fury and a depth of desire he had never seen before—except for that time he had pried into the man’s spiritual core and been hung up for it.

What made his hair stand on end was that this time, the man’s rage seemed even greater.

Bai Yujing froze in the embrace, his mind a total blank of disbelief.

How is this possible… how?!

Even though Xuan Lie had a Tribulation-stage cultivation, this was a Demon Realm protected by the Jingwei Stone. It should have been impossible for this man to find him… let alone so quickly!

Why? Where did it go wrong?

Bai Yujing was so anxious he wanted to bite his own tail.

“…”

“…!”

In a flash of insight, he realized something. He looked down violently at his wrist.

…No, the problem wasn’t the spiritual stones inside. It was the bracelet itself!

A terrifying realization dawned on him. His skin crawled; he didn’t even bother to speak, turning to flee instantly.

“Ngh—!”

Xuan Lie grabbed his tail and yanked him back with a jerk, pinning him against the ice bed. The previously feigned indifference had vanished entirely, revealing the bottomless darkness beneath. “Qingqing, where are you trying to run?”

“…”

Bai Yujing clenched his teeth, pressing his hands against the ice to support himself. His scalp tingling, he voiced his suspicion: “This bracelet… was it made from your true form?”

Only a piece of Xuan Lie’s original body could be completely unaffected by a Demon Race Holy Artifact, allowing him to pinpoint Bai Yujing’s location in the blizzard with perfect accuracy.

Xuan Lie neither confirmed nor denied it; he simply looked down, staring at him.

In an instant, Bai Yujing’s hair stood on end. His fingertips clawed into the ice. For once, he felt a genuine sense of dread.

—He knew Xuan Lie too well. The man didn’t need to answer; one look was enough to know he had guessed correctly.

Bai Yujing swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he asked, “…Which part of you is this?”

A finger? Skin? Or…

Before he could finish the thought, the man answered in an utterly mundane tone:

“It is my eye.”

“…!?”

Bai Yujing’s eyes widened in shock, forming a sharp contrast to the calm of the man looming over him.

Xuan Lie looked at him without a change in expression, as if removing his own eye to give it to him as a bracelet—all to monitor his every move—was the most natural thing in the world.

Bai Yujing slowly lowered his head. On the blood-red bracelet, numerous eerie, dark patterns shaped like full moons faintly emerged.

As if delighted by his gaze, or perhaps trying to coax him into a better mood, those circular patterns slowly rippled and dilated under his frozen stare.

Those were the “eyes” of the Blood Mountain Jade.

In legend, they were the “unclosed eyes” formed from the thickest of malevolent auras.

Yet now, these “eyes” were trying to please him.

Madman… this man is a total madman…

Suddenly, an indescribable shiver ran through Bai Yujing. It wasn’t fear; it was an excitement that shouldn’t have been there.

He realized with painful clarity that the “flaw” nurtured in him during his hatchling phase was acting up again.

The Sky-Reaching Serpents were naturally attracted to the strong and the loyal; therefore, they held a special preference for partners who were powerful and intensely possessive.

…I can’t let this continue.

Bai Yujing gritted his teeth. For the first time in his life, he felt the urge to turn tail and run.

If this went on, he would definitely become something very strange… he had to escape, fast…

As if seeing through his desperate thoughts of flight, Xuan Lie paused, then bit down directly on his own tongue.

Bright red blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, making him look like a Yama (King of Hell) stepped out of the underworld.

Utterly terrifying, yet breathtakingly handsome.

…This despicable, utter bastard.

The beauty’s eyelashes fluttered. He fought the temptation and turned his face away, only for his jaw to be seized and forced back.

The rich, delicious scent of “heart-blood” filled the air. Bai Yujing used every ounce of his willpower to restrain himself from losing his dignity and licking it up.

However, in the next moment, Xuan Lie gripped his face, lowered his head, and kissed him with a ferocity that bordered on savage.