I’m not afraid of you.

The question was so absurd that Chu Changqing didn’t even want to answer.

He simply leaned down and captured her lips with his own.

The metallic tang of blood between their teeth was intense. Chang Wan’s body went rigid as she watched the flush of color rise to the corners of his eyes, passively enduring his touch.

“Is this question… that important?” he asked after the kiss broke.

Chang Wan glanced at his wounded wrist. The taste of blood in her mouth seemed heavier now, yet it was this very essence that fended off the maddening headache.

“It is… very important,” she whispered.

Initially, this body had tormented him relentlessly.

Even after her arrival, though she had tried her best to be kind, it always looked like she had an ulterior motive. While she couldn’t speak her true purpose, her actions lacked genuine sincerity.

Even if he liked her face and her body, that was all it was.

She had always felt the best relationship they could hope for was mutual exploitation.

“Because it is wonderful.”

The youth’s voice was slightly husky, carrying a trace of lingering warmth. He gazed at her intently. “Because in this world, I cannot find a second you.”

Her lips smarted from the kiss. Hearing his words, Chang Wan felt a sudden urge to retort with something like ‘The world is big, you should go out more,’ but looking at the gash on his wrist, she ended up murmuring, “Maybe.”

Chu Changqing didn’t mind her skepticism. He stroked her forehead, his voice tender even as a ruthless glint entered his eyes. “Be a good girl and stay here. I have things to take care of.”

The moment the Immortal Bird had shown him those illusions, he felt like a man suspended over a cliff by a thin thread—at any second, the string of his sanity could snap, plunging him into a bottomless abyss.

The person who had caused him such panic, who had almost made him lose her…

He would not let them off.

Chang Wan was startled. She snapped back to reality and grabbed his sleeve. “What are you planning to do?”

“Are you going to find the Sect Leader? Don’t go. You’re currently—”

Chu Changqing glanced at her sideways with a half-smile. “Are you worried about me?”

Chang Wan met his gaze and was speechless for a long moment. Finally, she muttered, before simply giving up and admitting it: “Yes! I’m worried about you.”

Chu Changqing was momentarily stunned by her bluntness.

He stared at her for a long time, a smile playing on his lips. “Are you worried because I am weaker than him?”

Chang Wan was stumped. She clutched her temples to escape reality. “I… I still have a bit of a headache. Can you stay here… and accompany me for a while longer? Please?”

The girl’s thick lashes fluttered, her light-hazel eyes shining with a plea. She looked fragile and helpless.

Chu Changqing narrowed his eyes at her, his lips curving upward. “Fine.”

“I will stay with you.”

A young disciple looked around cautiously, taking several shortcuts and winding through back alleys before returning to the Elder’s Hall through the back gate, carrying a small box.

Inside was the Calming Incense ordered by the Sect Leader.

The youth watched him enter the hall, his expression cold as he rolled up his sleeves. His slender fingertips were bathed in the chilly moonlight, and the faint growls of wild beasts echoed behind him.

He smelled the Weak Soul Grass.

Very faint, very light.

In the dead of night, Qiu Hu appeared at the back gate to receive the incense from the disciple.

“Elder Chang has already retired… What did the Sect Leader say?”

“The Sect Leader said the Elder cannot do without this. He wants you to…”

Low whispers drifted through the wind.

However, those whispers soon ceased to exist. The messenger disciple had already left.

Under the icy moonlight, the night wind flew by. The youth twirled a blade of wild grass that had lost a leaf, his features colder than the moon itself.

A corpse lay silent at the back gate.

Shen Cong landed softly, taking the Calming Incense from Qiu Hu’s arms. A cold smile pulled at his lips.

“A traitor,” he whispered. “Deserves to die.”

The incense instantly turned to ash and vanished.

He shifted his form and began to track the departing messenger disciple.

Chang Wan woke with a start, only to find herself in someone’s embrace.

The weak, uncomfortable sensation had faded. She was being held tightly, the youth’s lips brushing against her ear. “You’re awake?”

Lazy and tender.

“…I need to go back.”

Chu Changqing fell silent, watching her with dark, heavy eyes.

Chang Wan felt a bit guilty. She decided to soothe him. “Soon… remember, I said I’d make mooncakes for you for the Mid-Autumn Festival. You have to let me go back and prepare, right?”

Chu Changqing tilted his head, his peach-blossom eyes narrowing. Finally, he pointed to his own lips.

Chang Wan was almost moved to laughter by his ‘I’m too lazy to talk, you know what I want’ attitude. Finally, casting shame aside, she closed her eyes and gave him a quick kiss.

She reminded herself a million times in her head: this is the original soul’s shell, it has nothing to do with me. Even if I slept with him, I’m still pure!!

Pure!!

The soft, sweet taste on his lips was not something a beast would let go of so easily.

The moment their lips parted, the youth pressed his hand against the back of her head, seizing absolute control.

He was becoming insatiable, wanting more.

His hand slid down from the back of her neck, his palm tracing the skin that felt as smooth as if soaked in milk. Chang Wan immediately caught his hand.

Once a seed of restless fire is planted, it will one day become a prairie fire that won’t stop until it consumes everything. The darkness and suppression in his eyes were terrifying, as if he would devour her in the next second. Chang Wan struggled free. “Chu Changqing!”

His hot palm carried a youth’s restlessness and confusion. Chu Changqing narrowed his eyes, his dark gaze tinged with a hazy agitation.

“I’m here,” he answered in a low voice, yet he showed no intention of letting go.

Chang Wan couldn’t win, so she finally wrapped her arms around his neck.

“You… don’t be like this. I’m scared.”

Her voice softened, sounding as if it were dipped in honey.

It made one instinctively soften as well, unable to refuse anything.

She is afraid of him.

Chu Changqing looked at her dodging gaze and suppressed the terrifying desire in his heart. His voice was husky.

“Fine.”

His gaze was gentle, yet seemed to hold a deeper meaning. “The teleportation array is outside. You know where it is.”

“I… I know.”

Before Chang Wan flew out of the birdcage, she looked back.

The youth watched her steadily, his eyes still dark and heavy.

A “thank you” was stuck in her throat—it felt like it should be easy to say, yet it wasn’t.

Chu Changqing’s lips tilted up slightly. “If you’re that reluctant, why not just stay?”

Chang Wan felt a shiver run down her spine and she immediately flew out of the cage on her sword. However, once she reached the outside, before she could find the array, she was stunned.

The air was thick with a suffocating scent of blood.

Chang Wan froze in place.

While in the cage, she had smelled blood, but she had assumed it was from the wound on his wrist. She was clearly wrong.

The mountain forest was still lush and green, but the ground was covered in a thick layer of blood. As she flew, she saw countless corpses of wild beasts. Their arteries had been slit by a sharp weapon—one hit, one kill.

Even the sparrows hadn’t been spared.

Silence reigned, save for the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze, which carried a deathly stillness.

It was as if a soul-reaping machine had swept through in a hurricane of slaughter, leaving not even a wild bird alive.

Chang Wan couldn’t fly any further.

She saw the thrush.

The bird with the cold eyes now lay beheaded on the blood-stained ground. She hovered in the air on her sword, looking utterly bewildered.

…What happened?

What… what was this?

Why were all the beasts on the mountain… dead?

Just moments ago… just moments ago, they were here with Chu Changqing…

Chu Changqing?

Chang Wan suddenly thought of the thick, unshakeable scent of blood on him.

If it were just a wrist wound, it wouldn’t… stay that strong for so long.

Chang Wan asked the System uncertainly: “Did… did he kill them?”

The System, ever the chaos-seeker, replied: [Yup! Impressive, right?]

Impressive my foot! Chang Wan cursed internally.

“Why hasn’t the Sin Value gone up?”

The System, sensing her shock, decided to forgive her for the mental cursing. [Because he killed beasts, not humans.]

Chang Wan looked at the blood beneath the greenery and thought of Chu Changqing. Her heart hammered in her chest.

He carried the thick, reeking scent of blood as if he were an Asura from hell, yet he could still wear that gentle, faint smile.

It was an indifference that suggested a total disregard for life.

Even though she felt grateful, Chang Wan’s fear of the youth in the cage was rekindled.

For the millionth time, she felt she should give up on the idea of redeeming him and going home.

No normal person could face a butcher capable of slaughtering a whole mountain of beasts.

She thought of the lazy smile on his lips when he let her out and the glint in his dark eyes. A bad premonition filled her heart.

…In any case, she had to leave this place first.

She tried to fly away, only to hear his lazy voice.

“Where is Ah Wan flying to?”

Chang Wan’s heart stopped.

She looked down to see the youth holding a broken sword stained with residual blood. His black robes fluttered as he stood upon the blood-soaked green mountain, looking up at her.

His features were incredibly beautiful, the beauty mark lending a touch of seduction to his coldness.

“I forgot to tell you. The previous teleportation array broke. I’ve replaced it with a new one.”

Chang Wan’s heart shivered. She forced a smile. “Oh… I don’t need the array. I… I’ll just fly back directly.”

Chu Changqing watched her, his dark eyes devoid of emotion. “Come down.”

Chang Wan watched him in silence, her mind racing.

Would it be better to run now, or go down obediently…? No, she had seen his secret. She’d surely be silenced!!

And a “new teleportation array” didn’t sound reliable at all!!

What if she was sent somewhere weird?!

Chu Changqing let out a soft breath. “Are you afraid? Wanwan.”

He suddenly called her Wanwan, which gave her goosebumps. She tried to deflect. “I… what would I be afraid of? I… I’m not afraid at all. Why would I be afraid of you? Haha…”

As she spoke, she gauged the distance. She was a Wind cultivator; if she flew at full speed…

The scent in the wind changed.

Chang Wan’s thoughts froze. She suddenly realized the Beast Soul Barrier was different.

The transparent, colorless barrier surrounding the mountain was now tinged with an ominous blood-red hue.

Chang Wan took a spirit stone from her bracelet and threw it, wrapped in Wind energy. The stone, trailing rolling spiritual power, slammed into the barrier and was instantly drained of energy, turning to powder.

The youth was still looking up at her, a faint smile on his lips.

Except those black pupils were now tinged with a demonic scarlet.

[Ding! Male Lead’s Blackening Value +10%! Currently at 90%]

Chang Wan: “…”

What the hell did I even do for you to blacken!! Stop blackening already!! Is this fair to me?!! No it’s not!!

The System was perfectly relaxed. [Well, people blackening gets you points.]

Chang Wan: Can your points compensate for this terror?!! Where is your conscience!!

She decided that if she ever returned to the real world, she would write a 30,000-word negative review for the author.

“Don’t be afraid of me.” Even with his eyes clouded by blood-red, his gaze remained tender, his voice carrying a command. “Come down, Wanwan.”