Demoness's Art of Vengeance

Danger!

This was Jun Xiaomo’s first thoughts when she saw the pair of bloodshot eyes transfixed on her. A blaring alarm resounded in her mind.

Run!

This was Jun Xiaomo’s reflexive thought after her mind alerted her to the presence of danger.

These two thoughts flashed past Jun Xiaomo’s mind within a fraction of a second. However, before Jun Xiaomo could translate these thoughts into actions, the first prince’s bloodshot eyes once again roiled with a manic expression. He suddenly lunged forward, pinning Jun Xiaomo down directly under the weight of his body. Jun Xiaomo’s back slammed heavily into the windowsill, and a jolt of immense pain surged like electricity through her body, and she almost cried out in pain.

Jun Xiaomo glared furiously at the first prince. Just as she was about to ask him why he was in such a manic frenzy, the first prince immediately wrapped one of his hands tightly around her throat. Jun Xiaomo struggled to fight back the choking sensation as she pried away at the first prince’s fingers. However, her attempts were in vain. The first prince forcefully restrained her hands with his free hand, cutting off any attempts at resistance once more.

Jun Xiaomo wanted to curse and swear at him! When had she ever provoked this man before her? She hadn’t even met this man before, much less do anything to invoke his ire and animosity!

If she died right now – not in the hands of her archnemeses, but in the hands of a complete stranger – how tragic would it be? There would be no proper closure to her life!

However, it was clear that the first prince did not intend to kill Jun Xiaomo. He only clutched at Jun Xiaomo’s neck, forcing her to raise her chin. Then, just like a beast, he got on all fours and begun sniffing at Jun Xiaomo’s body with his nose.

From the side of her face, to her ears, to her neck, and then all the way down. The heaving and sighing of his breath on her skin caused her to get goosebumps time and again.

Jun Xiaomo: …… She could not have encountered a wastrel here, could she?!

She attempted to struggle once again, but this was only met with an even greater force of restraint on her. Despite imbuing her body with her true energy, she still found herself inextricably bound by the first prince.

At this moment, it suddenly crossed her mind that her present predicament was very much akin to an encounter with the Demonvine. The Demonvine would tighten its constriction around its prey the more its prey struggled, until its prey finally dissolved in its corrosive fluids.

A retching feeling swelled up within Jun Xiaomo’s guts. Just as she thought of struggling against the first prince’s restraints again, she suddenly heard a loud squeak – the little packrat had awakened from its slumber and charged towards the first prince in fury. Its body was even enshrouded with immense demonic energy right this instant!

Last time, the little packrat had channeled the outburst of demonic energy in its body to save Ye Xiuwen. And this time, it thought to do the same to rescue Jun Xiaomo!

However, the little packrat seemed to have miscalculated. Just as its body exploded with demonic energy, the first prince loosened his restraint on Jun Xiaomo, cocked his head and grabbed the little packrat tightly, causing it to let out a long, shrill squeak in pain.

“Packie!” Jun Xiaomo was completely terrified by the prospects that her little packrat would be hurt by the first prince. The rims of her eyes reddened instantly, and she immediately retrieved a Thunderbolt Talisman from her Interspatial Ring and tossed it straight towards the first prince’s body.

The first prince completely ignored Jun Xiaomo’s actions. He looked straight at the little packrat with his bloodshot eyes. Then, after a moment, he suddenly opened his mouth and sent the little packrat straight into his mouth.

“Packie!!”

Jun Xiaomo let out a desperate cry when she saw this. At the same time, she operated her true energy and activated the Thunderbolt Talisman on the first prince’s body. A deafening crackle resounded within the room. Then, a deep, gruesome wound appeared on the first prince’s body.

Squeak squeak… The little packrat took the opportunity to slip away from the first prince, scuttling over to safety.

His prey had escaped; and he had been severely wounded! At this moment, the manic frenzy in the first prince’s eyes had elevated to new heights, and he started thrashing about in his surroundings with reckless abandon.

It was at this moment that Jun Xiaomo finally discovered that something wasn’t quite right with the first prince.

She was now certain that this person was indeed the first prince of the Inferno Kingdom, as well as the owner of the Blood Jade whom she was looking for. This was because his appearance was exactly the same as that person in the portrait.

However, the first prince in the portrait possessed a pair of deep, profound-looking eyes, and his lips were curled into an aloof smile. Even though his eyes stared out of the painting devoid of any emotions, it certainly did not possess the look of manic frenzy that he displayed right now.

Just what was it that had reduced such a dignified-looking man to this state where he could hardly be considered a human anymore?

Once Jun Xiaomo turned her attention to these things, she was no longer bothered by the first prince’s earlier wastrel-like behaviour.

How could she attempt to rationalize with a person who had lost all of his senses? Instead, her appropriate response was to think of a method to get the first prince out of his present stupor.

After deliberating for a moment, Jun Xiaomo retrieved a Heart Purging Pill from her Interspatial Ring and readied herself. Then, when the first prince lunged forward at her once again with bloodlust in his eyes, she immediately flicked that Heart Purging Pill directly into the first prince’s mouth.

Gulp. The first prince reflexively swallowed. However, the effects of the medicinal pill weren’t instantaneous. Therefore, this did not prevent or slow the first prince’s attacks towards Jun Xiaomo.

Fortunately, the first prince had sustained a heavy blow to his body, and his movements were substantially slower than before. Otherwise, there was no way that Jun Xiaomo would have been able to avoid his attacks.

Thus, Jun Xiaomo continued to avoid the first prince’s attacks as she prayed that the Heart Purging Pill would quickly take effect and bring clarity to the first prince’s mind.

Slowly, but surely, the first prince’s attacks slowed down, and the redness of his bloodshot eyes gradually subsided.

Jun Xiaomo finally heaved a sigh of relief. She intended to wait until the first prince had fully regained his clarity of mind before sorting things out with the first prince. At the very least, she had to determine what had happened to the first prince’s body, and whether the first prince’s character was deserving of her assistance.

That’s right – despite her debt of gratitude towards her senior Jiang Yutong, her past life’s experience had nevertheless told her that she could not easily trust a stranger, and that she had to keep her saviour mentality under check. After all, it was not uncommon to see people repay kindness with evil in this world. Therefore, she was cautious not to place herself in a situation where she would blindly render assistance to the first prince at risk to life and limb, only to find herself being used by the first prince and then discarded.

As for the Blood Jade, she was certainly going to hand that over to the first prince. However, her assessment of the first prince’s personality would in turn determine exactly how Jun Xiaomo was going to hand over the Blood Jade to him.

However, what happened next was completely outside of Jun Xiaomo’s calculations. When the redness of the first prince’s eyes had substantially subsided, the first prince’s body twitched, his eyes shut, and he immediately fell forward towards Jun Xiaomo.

Jun Xiaomo immediately ran over to support him. However, even she was helpless to the fact that the first prince was so well built, and she almost even collapsed under his weight!

“Unngh…he’s so damn heavy! Just what had this fella eaten when he was growing up?! Why’s he so damn heavy?!” Jun Xiaomo drew a long, deep breath, before breathing out in frustration. Then, she struggled with all her might to drag the unconscious first prince over to her bedside, before letting him collapse on her bed.

It was only a simple task, but by the time Jun Xiaomo managed to complete it, she was already panting heavily because of the first prince’s weight.

Despite that, she did not have the luxury of time to catch her breath. She had earlier witnessed with her own two eyes how the first prince had wrapped his fingers around her little packrat so tightly, and she was extremely worried that her little packrat was injured.

Therefore, Jun Xiaomo searched around her room for her little packrat. Finally, she found her little packrat curled up in a ball of fluff near one of the legs of the table in the middle of the room.

“Little Packie…” Jun Xiaomo’s eyes reddened as she ran over and tenderly scooped up the little packrat with her hands.

Squeak squeak… The little packrat squeaked twice as it attempted to console Jun Xiaomo and tell her that it was fine. However, its weak and frazzled appearance told Jun Xiaomo otherwise – it had not managed to come out unscathed.

Jun Xiaomo was completely heartbroken. She retrieved a bottle of medicinal pills from her Interspatial Ring, poured out one pill and fed it directly to her little packrat.

This medicinal pill was considerably large in relation to the size of the little packrat’s body. Therefore, the little packrat slowly gnawed away at the medicinal pill for some time before it finally managed to finish it. Even then, Jun Xiaomo had continued to stroke the little packrat’s fur as she patiently waited for her little packrat to consume the medicinal pill.

On the other hand, the first prince remained unconscious all this while. Jun Xiaomo glanced over at the first prince helplessly. She was at a complete loss as to how she was going to deal with this man who had suddenly appeared.

There was a reasonably possibility that the second prince and his escorts were all residing within this inn of theirs, and it would be extremely problematic if they were to discover traces of the first prince’s whereabouts right now. Quite apart from the fact that this would jeopardize her mission to hand over the Blood Jade to the first prince, she might even be found complicit to harboring a fugitive if word got out.

However, despite the potential danger, Jun Xiaomo never once possessed any intention of handing the first prince over to the second prince and his lackeys.

Compared with the crazed first prince, Jun Xiaomo detested the second prince much, much more. In fact, she hated him so much that she cursed in his heart that he would fall harshly to the ground from his elevated pedestal as the crown prince of the Inferno Kingdom!

At time trickled by, the sky outside the window started to glow with the first light of the day. The little packrat squeaked twice as it caressed Jun Xiaomo’s finger tenderly.

“Ah, little Packie, you’ve finished the medicine.” Jun Xiaomo smiled softly as she ticked the little packrat’s ears, “Do you feel better now? Would you like one more pill?”

Squeak squeak. The little packrat hugged Jun Xiaomo’s fingers, and its whiskers quivered slightly as it licked her fingers gently.

“You’re looking much more spirited.” Jun Xiaomo finally felt more appeased, but she added, “Let me know if you still feel uncomfortable anywhere, understand? Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Squeak squeak~ The little packrat licked Jun Xiaomo’s finger in response, signifying that it understood Jun Xiaomo’s words.

Jun Xiaomo’s present act of speaking to a little pet whose spiritual awareness had ostensibly not awakened might attract the curious or even judgmental gazes of some people who didn’t know any better. However, Jun Xiaomo knew that her little packrat understood every word of what she had just said.

Her little packrat was special – this was something Jun Xiaomo was unreservedly convicted of. However, the only thing that Jun Xiaomo was still unaware about was the exact extent of how special this little packrat was.

Thud, thud. The door to her room suddenly rang out with two knocks. Instantly, Jun Xiaomo froze in her place, and her heart thumped as she thought anxiously to herself – Damn! Who could it be this early in the morning? I can’t let anyone see the messy state of this room right now!

Most importantly, there was even a stranger resting in her bed right now. Not just any stranger – it was the most wanted fugitive in Inferno Kingdom right now! Everyone in Inferno Kingdom was currently looking high and low for this most wanted fugitive so that they could claim the bounty on his head!

Jun Xiaomo was anxious and flustered like ants on a hot pan. Yet, before she could think of an appropriate response, her room’s door rang out with another two knocks.

That’s right! Invisibility Talisman!

Jun Xiaomo smacked her forehead as she hastily retrieved an Invisibility Talisman from her Interspatial Ring and slapped it directly on the first prince’s body.

Within moments, the first prince’s appearance started to fade away from the bed.

However, there was no way that Jun Xiaomo was able to pack up the mess in the room within that short span of time she had. The room was presently covered in pieces of wood and sawdust in the aftermath of the first prince’s reckless thrashing.

If Jun Xiaomo had just a bit more time to make preparations, perhaps she could have thought of a way to conceal the mess using her formation arrays. However, time was not on her side now, and she didn’t know who that person standing at her door was.

Forget it, I’ll just make up an excuse and say that I had caused this mess when I was sleep-walking. Then, I’ll make things up as I go along if this person doesn’t believe me.

After making up her mind, Jun Xiaomo braced herself as she walked towards the entrance of her room. She drew a deep breath, and then opened the door.

She saw…no one. It was completely empty outside.

Jun Xiaomo: …… Is it a ghost?

Who’s trying to scare me this early in the morning?!

On the other side, Ye Xiuwen was deep in his own thoughts as he walked along the empty streets. It was still too early, and the shops on both sides of the street were not open for business yet. The only things that were on the path right now were fallen leaves that were being tossed about playfully by the gentle breeze. As the wind blew gently, the leaves danced about as though actors performing in front of an empty audience. The atmosphere was lonely and bleak.

Ye Xiuwen had gone out early in the morning to practice his sword arts as he habitually did.

This morning, he had habitually knocked on Yao Mo’s door, intending to ask him along for his sword practice. However, he received no response after having knocked twice. Therefore, Ye Xiuwen set aside any intentions to knock on the door any further.

There he stood, with his arms half-raised, as he stared silently at the tightly-shut door.

Previously when they were still travelling through those woods, he would always move about together with Yao Mo by his side.

They were so glued to each other as though they were like conjoined twins. He had never thought much of their closeness to begin with. However, having experienced the series of events which occurred yesterday, he suddenly became more self-conscious of his relationship with Yao Mo – he even worried that things were beginning to become slightly awkward.

And yet the root cause of all these feelings completely eluded him.

After a moment of hesitation, Ye Xiuwen slowly lowered his arm and clenched his fists tightly. Then, he turned around and left.

On the other side of the door, flustered at her own predicament, Jun Xiaomo was completely unaware that her martial brother Ye was the one who had just been standing at the door moments ago.