Demoness's Art of Vengeance

When Jun Xiaomo was reminded of how that humanoid object had bound and restrained her limbs for the whole of last night, and she was extremely reticent to agree to the first prince’s request.

If she accepted the first prince’s request right now, wouldn’t that mean that she would have to suffer the same kind of torment every single night moving forward? She certainly did not wish to be used as a “pillow” by some stranger every night.

The prospects of this was completely unacceptable to her, even if she were under the guise of a male cultivator right now!

The first prince noticed the distress plastered all over Jun Xiaomo’s face at his suggestion, so he slowly added, “You have to understand that if my ‘dear’ brother happens to capture me, then I’m afraid that your promise will thenceforth be impossible to fulfill.”

Jun Xiaomo appreciated this fact as well. Therefore, after much internal struggle, she glared at the first prince in a huff and unwillingly acquiesced, “Do what you want!”

It suddenly dawned on Rong Ruihan that this young man before his eyes was rather fun to mess around with because this young man wore his expressions on his sleeves. The first prince had spent the better part of his life growing up in the palace – a place filled with strife and schemes, tension and apprehension. It was an extremely refreshing sight to see someone as pure, innocent and even naïve as the young man before him now.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Rong Ruihan would lower his guard around Jun Xiaomo. After all, Rong Ruihan knew that even his most loyal subject could potentially turn against him given the right price, much less a complete stranger whom he had just encountered out of nowhere.

As his thoughts shifted to the traitor who had betrayed him and switched allegiance to the second prince’s camp, Rong Ruihan’s gaze grew incredibly frigid and cold.

Perhaps his scheming rivals had long grown anxious and impatient as a result of his history and reputation of flawless conduct…

On the other hand, Jun Xiaomo couldn’t understand why the first prince still looked so sullen despite her agreement to his request. However, she was quickly reminded of the fact that she need not regard him in the same manner as any other rational person. After all, she knew that the first prince would display irrational behaviour from time to time as a result of the existence of the demonic core within his body.

“Alright, if there’s nothing else to sort out, I’m going to have my breakfast downstairs, hmm?” Jun Xiaomo yawned and stretched her body as she wrapped things up.

“Mm.” The first prince curtly responded in an unperturbed manner. Then, he adjusted his position, sat cross-legged and placed his palms facing upwards, as though he had entered into a meditative state.

Jun Xiaomo pouted her lips. This fella must be too used to life as a prince. Not only is he treating my room as his own, he’s even acting like my owner and master right now!

Sigh. I guess it can’t be helped anyway. I can only blame myself for not having the ability to chase him away. I’ll just have to tolerate him for a while.

Jun Xiaomo walked out of her room and shut her door. Then, she discreetly drew a small, simple formation array on the door using her talisman brush.

Under the effects of this small formation array, any person’s aura emanating from her room would become completely concealed and hidden.

After completing these preparations, Jun Xiaomo patted her hands in satisfaction as she departed for the great hall.

As Jun Xiaomo’s footsteps drew further and more distant, the first prince slowly opened his eyes once again. His tightly clasped lips stretched out and curled into a genial smile, and the detached look in his eyes had also subsided substantially.

---------------------------------------------------

After going around the corner of the inn, she immediately saw Ye Xiuwen silently waiting for her at a pillar nearby.

“Eh? Brother Ye! Why are you still here? Haven’t you gone to practice your sword arts?” Jun Xiaomo stared at Ye Xiuwen with widened eyes.

Ye Xiuwen had been waiting with his eyes closed. Now that Yao Mo’s crisp, clear voice called out to him from the side, he slowly opened his eyes once more.

“Little Mo.” Ye Xiuwen turned around and responded softly. Then, he suddenly pulled Jun Xiaomo into his bosom in a tight embrace.

Eh, eh, eh…what…what’s going on?!

Jun Xiaomo’s mind was momentarily frazzled. She could not understand how, after just one night’s sleep, her martial brother had greeted her as though they had been separated for a long time.

Had she forgotten something, or missed out any important details?

Jun Xiaomo blinked her eyes in astonishment as she remained in Ye Xiuwen’s warm embrace.

Ye Xiuwen lowered his eyes slightly and gazed at the young man whose head was buried in his chest right now. Earlier, when he noticed the peculiarity in Yao Mo’s room, he was almost unable to resist the urge to barge in.

However, it was precisely because he had discovered the peculiarity within Yao Mo’s room that he knew he needed to resist that urge. He knew that if Yao Mo had truly encountered a dangerous situation, barging into the room might only serve to aggravate the perpetrator and exacerbate the crisis that Yao Mo was in.

Once again, these travels had shown Ye Xiuwen the extent of his weakness. Time and again, he found himself powerless to do anything when someone dear to him had encountered a dangerous situation. Instead, he could only wait outside impatiently for the situation to resolve itself.

This sense of helplessness caused Ye Xiuwen to feel stifled. He was unwilling to accept the present state of affairs. Moreover, this impetus motivated him with increasing restlessness and anxiety to strengthen his abilities.

Fortunately, Yao Mo didn’t seem to have encountered any insurmountable problems. At the very least, he had managed to come out unscathed.

As he felt the warmth emanating from Yao Mo in his bosom, Ye Xiuwen sighed in relief, and his originally tense state of mind relaxed substantially.

“There’s someone else in your room, right?” After Ye Xiuwen released Jun Xiaomo, he gently tousled her hair as he queried.

“Eh? How does brother Ye know about this?” Jun Xiaomo replied in astonishment.

“Earlier, I found things rather peculiar, so I sent a thread of divine sense probing about your room. Unexpectedly, my divine sense was cut off and blocked outside the door.” Ye Xiuwen explained flatly. Evidently, he was rather displeased with the person in Jun Xiaomo’s room earlier.

Even if that person did not harbour any ill-intentions against Yao Mo, Ye Xiuwen nevertheless found his conduct of appearing in Yao Mo’s room as and when he liked extremely inappropriate.

It had to be said that Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo’s thoughts were exactly aligned in this regard – they both found that uninvited guest extremely hateful!

But Jun Xiaomo had no other options available to her right now. After all, she had already acceded to the first prince’s requests.

“Cough.” Jun Xiaomo coughed dryly as she replied somewhat cryptically, “The one in my room is the same as the one from previous night.”

Jun Xiaomo could not directly disclose news about the first prince. However, speaking about it in a circuitous manner would not invoke the consequences of the Heart-Oath Array.

“I’d guessed as much. Apart from him, I don’t think there would be anyone else who would appear in your room this early in the morning.” Ye Xiuwen squinted his eyes as he remarked. The frigidity in his voice was well apparent to Jun Xiaomo.

Despite that, Jun Xiaomo patted Ye Xiuwen’s arm as she assured him, “Brother Ye, it’s fine. He’s only putting up for a few nights, and he will leave once things have been satisfactorily resolved.”

“Putting up?” Ye Xiuwen furrowed his brows. This phrase left him a sour feeling in his heart, “Then where’s he going to be sleeping? On the floor?”

“Cough…” It was only at this moment that Jun Xiaomo discovered yet another issue with the present arrangement – That’s right. There’s only one bed. Where’s he going to be sleeping?

Or did this mean that she was going to end up being treated as a “pillow” every night from now?

As these thoughts crossed Jun Xiaomo’s mind, she felt like crying in humiliation, but no tears came out of her eyes. Could she renege on her agreement? …

Ye Xiuwen rubbed his head gently and spoke to her with a trace of unyieldingness in his voice, “Have him move out. You don’t owe him any obligations, so what basis does he have to take up lodging in your abode? Besides, you can simply hand that Blood Jade over to him.”

However, Jun Xiaomo replied helplessly, saying, “I don’t have a choice. He refuses to accept it, and he insists that he will only allow me to fulfill my promises once things on his end have been resolved.”

“What needs to be resolved? And when are things going to be resolved?” Ye Xiuwen obstinately pressed the issue.

It was at this moment that Jun Xiaomo finally realized that Ye Xiuwen seemed to be angry. In fact, he seemed to be infuriated.

She drew closer to Ye Xiuwen’s side as she gingerly tugged at his sleeves as she groveled, “Brother Ye, don’t worry…” As she said that, Jun Xiaomo lowered her head and muttered under her breath, “That…it’s hard for me to say, but there’s a problem with his body right now, and he has to stay in my room during this period of recovery, just to err on the side of caution.”

Ye Xiuwen stared at the back of Yao Mo’s head as he took in what Yao Mo had just said. Particularly, he noticed the hesitance in Yao Mo’s reply, and he knew that Yao Mo must have his own difficulties as well.

However, it was the fact that Yao Mo seemed to be hiding something from him that caused Ye Xiuwen to feel dissatisfied in his heart. It was as though their intimacy was now stymied by an invisible membrane that had come between them.

Even then, after deliberating for a few moments, Ye Xiuwen decided to compromise on his position and stop pressing the issue.

“It’s fine as long as you understand. However, don’t force the issue if things start to get out of hand. You have to tell me when that time comes, do you understand?” Ye Xiuwen cautioned sternly.

“Mm, mm. I’ll do that! I swear!” Jun Xiaomo looked straight back at Ye Xiuwen as she raised three fingers to the sky.

Despite that, she received a light rap on the head from Ye Xiuwen as he remarked, “You never keep your oaths. I’ve never once seen you relenting and not forcing the issue!”

Jun Xiaomo stuck out her tongue as she replied cheekily, “This isn’t something I want to do either. It’s only because there’s always no time to inform brother Ye about these things.”

Ye Xiuwen furrowed his eyebrows. At this moment, Ye Xiuwen wondered whether he should properly apprise this “ignorant” young man on the dangers one could encounter in this world.

However, Jun Xiaomo immediately understood the things going through Ye Xiuwen’s mind the moment he grew taciturn. In order to avoid listening to Ye Xiuwen’s harangue over the next hour, she quickly wrapped her hands around Ye Xiuwen’s arms and dragged her towards the great hall as she changed the topic, “Oh gosh, I haven’t eaten anything the whole morning, and I’m absolutely famished right now. Let’s go grab something to eat, shall we?”

But how could Ye Xiuwen not know what Yao Mo was trying to do? Nevertheless, he smiled warmly as he played along with Yao Mo.

Just before they left, Ye Xiuwen once again cast his gaze over at Yao Mo’s room.

Even though Yao Mo had time and again assured Ye Xiuwen that the first prince wasn’t any form of threat at all, Ye Xiuwen resolved in his heart that he was not going to let the first prince off scot free just like that. After all, the human heart was evil. Who knew whether the first prince had some ulterior motive for showing up like that in front of Yao Mo?

Furthermore, the first prince was even going to spend the following nights in Yao Mo’s room…

Ye Xiuwen grimaced at the thought. Under the cover of his veiled conical hat, a profound, cold look flashed across his eyes.

---------------------------------------

After having her fill, Jun Xiaomo had initially intended to go out for a walk with her martial brother. However, she was suddenly reminded of that person still residing in her room right now – that person had not had any food yet.

Jun Xiaomo pouted slightly. She did not want to bother about satiating the first prince’s appetites or other needs. However, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that she needed to do the right thing. After all, she may as well go all out if she were going to help the first prince. In any event, delivering food to the first prince required hardly any effort on her part. She might as well pack some food for him.

This way, she could even ensure that the first prince wouldn’t wander out of her room looking for food and be caught by the second prince as a result. After all, not only was the inn filled with the second prince’s prying eyes and spies at this moment, the inn even harboured people like Qin Lingyu and the other disciples who coveted that promised reward for capturing the first prince!

With that, Jun Xiaomo finally made up her mind. She instructed the attendant to serve her some snacks, and then she swiftly stored these snacks into her Interspatial Ring.

Ye Xiuwen knew who Yao Mo was preparing this foodstuff for. Even though he felt slightly aggrieved in his heart, he did not express it on his face.

In fact, Ye Xiuwen might not even be aware about this, but his present reaction might not have stemmed from concern for Yao Mo’s safety. Rather, it might be more appropriate to say that Ye Xiuwen’s present emotions had arisen because he felt threatened by the first prince’s closeness and proximity to Yao Mo.