Chapter 27: Xunxun, I Finally Found You
Nan Xun regretted it. She never should have let Little Eight help her activate the “Thousand-Mile Sight.” She had already steeled herself to be eaten, but after witnessing the live broadcast of the Demon King devouring someone, she would rather stab herself to death and ascend early than be swallowed whole by him.
Clang—clang—clang—clang—clang.
Outside the Zui Li clan estate, the demon-detecting bells suddenly rang in the stillness of the night, vibrating violently.
Everyone was jolted awake. Very soon, the cries of various spirit beasts rang out, filled with fear.
“This is bad—there’s a powerful demon beast intruding—” an elder shouted. Immediately after, chaotic footsteps and panicked cries erupted.
Nan Xun abruptly straightened. “Holy shit, Little Eight! Don’t tell me the Demon King has come knocking—wasn’t he in the Demon Realm palace?”
The Void Beast explained, “There’s a mystical technique called teleportation. It means he can shatter space and arrive anywhere he wants in the blink of an eye.”
Nan Xun: “…”
After saying that, the Void Beast fell silent. Nan Xun guessed the Demon King had already arrived.
In that instant, countless images flashed through her mind, finally freezing on the scene of “Zui Li Xuan” being swallowed alive.
Her legs felt as heavy as lead—she couldn’t move at all.
So she could only stare straight ahead, her large dark eyes blinking as tears welled up…
From fear.
The night air ahead rippled slightly, and a black-robed man covered in blood appeared before Nan Xun.
The man’s thin lips curved faintly, and he spoke to her gently, “Xunxun, I finally found you.”
Nan Xun’s tears flowed even harder. She looked at him and murmured, “Xue Ming… you finally came…”
The two slowly walked toward each other, gazing deeply, and then both reached out.
One trembling hand tried to touch the whip scars on the other’s face—but the other hand went straight for her slender, pale neck.
Nan Xun was choked so tightly she couldn’t utter a single word. Her throat was seized; with just a little more force, her neck would snap with a crack.
“Xunxun, haven’t I treated you well? Then why did you betray me, hm?” Xue Ming leaned close to her ear, his low voice carrying bone-chilling cold.
Nan Xun wanted to explain, but damn it—her throat was being strangled, her voice broken and hoarse. “Ming… no… I didn’t… betray…”
“Xunxun, do you remember what I once told you? If you didn’t behave, I’d eat you bite by bite.” Xue Ming said softly as the large hand at her throat slowly loosened.
Nan Xun could finally breathe and began coughing violently. But the very next second after he released her, the man suddenly bent down and bit into her shoulder, tearing off a chunk of flesh—hard, brutally hard.
Nan Xun’s tears streamed down her face from the pain, yet she stubbornly made no sound.
Xue Ming chewed the flesh in his mouth, his thin lips stained crimson, dazzlingly vivid.
“Xue Ming, I didn’t betray you—why won’t you believe me…” Nan Xun wept silently, her words filled with grievance.
She truly was aggrieved—she hadn’t done anything, yet every blame had fallen on her.
Xue Ming opened his mouth, two sharp venomous fangs sinking deep into the mangled flesh, preparing to take another bite. Hearing her defense, he let out a cold snort and mocked, “Xunxun, you and I were together day and night. The only one who could poison me with witchcraft without my knowledge is you—a beast-tamer by blood. That witchcraft was truly formidable; it froze most of my cultivation. I was trapped in the Nine-Heart Demon-Binding Prison for over two months. Do you know what kind of torment I endured during those two months?”
His voice suddenly sank. “And all of this is thanks to you, Zui Li Xuan!”
“Xunxun, I truly like you. But since you schemed against me like this, you cannot escape death. I’ve thought it over—why not swallow you whole? That way, we can become one. Xunxun, wouldn’t that be good?”
Nan Xun’s body trembled uncontrollably. That familiar weakness surged back, especially intense this time.
She knew she was about to pass out. So she fiercely grabbed the man’s arm with one hand and clutched his chest tightly with the other, panting as she explained, “Xue Ming, I don’t know why you were poisoned, and I never leaked the Demon Realm’s defensive layout. I stayed with you every single day and never once stepped out of the palace—how could I possibly know the Demon Realm’s defenses? Xue Ming, when I learned you’d been captured, I was so worried about you—truly worried… I was terrified you’d die, so terrified…”
By the end, she couldn’t help sobbing. “I’m not some righteous heroine the humans talk about. I don’t know what’s really going on… I don’t want anything at all. I just want you to come back alive. Xue Ming, believe me—please believe me…”
The look in Xue Ming’s eyes shifted—from ridicule and disdain, to indifference, and finally, his eyes slowly widened, fear surfacing within them.
Nan Xun found his expression strange. Could it be that her performance had been too moving, and Xue Ming finally believed her?
Her head felt heavy. Something warm trickled from her nose and mouth. Nan Xun froze and reached up to touch it.
Blood.
Both her nose and mouth were bleeding.
Her vision blurred, and two lines of bloody tears streamed from the corners of her eyes.
“W-what’s happening to me?” Nan Xun asked in confusion.
“Xue Ming, Xue Ming… my head feels so dizzy, I can’t see you clearly anymore… I’m so tired… I really want to sleep…”
The hand clutching Xue Ming’s chest loosened without her noticing, and her body slowly collapsed backward.
Xue Ming suddenly reached out, hooked an arm around her waist, and pulled her violently back into his embrace. His voice carried a trace of fear even he didn’t realize. “Xunxun! Xunxun!”
Xue Ming scooped Nan Xun up in his arms and was about to leave when he saw the courtyard outside ablaze with torchlight.
Spirit beasts with keen senses had smelled the presence of a great demon and had led the Zui Li clan members to surround the courtyard.
Everyone assumed it was some Demon Realm general—never expecting it to be the Demon King himself!
“Wasn’t the Demon King imprisoned in Lord Azure Dragon’s Nine-Heart Demon-Binding Prison? How is he here?!” the leading elder cried out in shock and fear.
The Nine-Heart Demon-Binding Prison was forged from dragon bones and tendons over two hundred thousand years old, refined with extremely rare heavenly fire, and further sealed with multiple ancient prohibitions after its creation—a sacred-grade treasure of the dragon clan! And yet the Demon King had escaped so easily?
“Xuan’er!” a beautiful woman in the crowd screamed.
The woman in the Demon King’s arms was neither dead nor alive, blood pouring from her seven orifices. Her shoulder was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, crimson streaming down and staining her white dress—it was a pitiful sight.
“You wretched beast! What have you done to my daughter?!” Zui Li clan head Zui Li Qing Shi roared in fury, his expression changing drastically.
Seeing that Zui Li Xuan had already been bitten several times by the Demon King, her mother rolled her eyes and fainted on the spot.
