Tang Muxi managed to appease the Demon Lord, and the two of them made a pact with three conditions: the matter of the blood must not be widely publicized, it must not be misused, and it must not harm the body.
These three conditions were all proposed by the Demon Lord, which made Tang Muxi feel both amused and helpless, but she knew that words alone were not enough, so she agreed.
However, it was clearly unfair for only herself to be bound by the agreement.
Therefore, Tang Muxi also put forward her own request.
She wasn’t greedy; she just wanted the Demon Lord to promise her one thing: no matter what happens in the future, she must never be driven away.
In the past few days, she had deeply understood the harm of words.
Even now, recalling Jiang Yin’s cold command to “get out” still brought a deep sting and sadness.
They were already close friends, and even had a Senior Sister relationship.
Such sudden cold treatment was really unbearable.
The Demon Lord didn’t seem to realize her mistake.
Hearing Tang Muxi’s dramatic request, she was quite surprised and said, “Is that all?”
Tang Muxi was a bit angry and looked serious, “This is very important. If Senior Sister doesn’t agree, then the previous pact doesn’t count.”
The Demon Lord covered her mouth and laughed, her tone still casual, “Alright, I agree.”
She spoke very lazily, her demeanor indifferent, completely lacking the seriousness and earnestness she had when she was angry just now.
Tang Muxi always felt that she was being perfunctory, so she added another condition uneasily, “If Senior Sister goes back on her word, then… then I’ll punish Senior Sister!”
Her tone was deliberately fierce, just to make her realize the seriousness of the matter.
Unexpectedly, the Demon Lord became even more interested and eagerly asked, “How will you punish me?”
Judging by her tone, it seemed that as long as it was interesting, she would immediately violate the agreement just to experience the punishment.
Tang Muxi suddenly felt a bit deflated, but she didn’t want to appear inferior in momentum, so she still pretended to be very stern, “I’ll hit you! It will be corporal punishment! The kind that really hurts!”
In fact, she was a bit afraid that the Demon Lord would deliberately violate the agreement just to be punished, because she wasn’t ready yet, and if she had to punish her now, it probably wouldn’t be effective.
Besides… she didn’t think the Demon Lord would be afraid of pain.
After all, whether it was being injured by the demon vulture last time or being stabbed in the soul by the Heavenly Demon Halberd this time, the Demon Lord had never shown any sign of discomfort.
Maybe she should think of a more intimidating punishment.
Tang Muxi’s gaze fell on Jiang Yin’s storage ring, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
She said slyly, “If corporal punishment doesn’t work, don’t blame me for taking action against Senior Sister’s belongings…”
Sure enough, as soon as money was mentioned, Jiang Yin immediately became serious and stopped thinking about trying it out.
“Alright, I understand.”
She nodded, “But isn’t it unfair if only I get punished? According to Senior Sister, if the junior sister violates the agreement, she should also be punished.”
As soon as the Demon Lord called her junior sister, Tang Muxi shivered.
Experience told her that nothing good would come of it.
“Um… what do you want?”
Tang Muxi swallowed hard, suddenly regretting bringing up the punishment.
Thinking carefully, the conditions she agreed to were all vague ones like “must not be misused, must not be widely publicized, must not harm the body.”
In fact, how to judge them was entirely up to the Demon Lord.
No matter how you look at it, it was easier for her to be punished…
The curse on Jiang Yin’s soul still existed, and she would probably need to use her blood in the coming days.
Darn it, she should have brought up the punishment later.
Jiang Yin, full of interest, leaned in a bit closer, her deep eyes mixed with a smile, looking Tang Muxi up and down.
That feeling was exactly the same as when she was choosing which piece of meat to eat before cooking.
Tang Muxi shivered.
“Just now, the junior sister mentioned corporal punishment. I think it’s a good idea. But considering that the junior sister is delicate and afraid of pain, I can be a bit lenient.”
Tang Muxi’s body trembled, “Cor… corporal punishment…”
She inexplicably thought of the sword through her heart in her previous life, and goosebumps rose all over her body.
“Alright, I guess that’s fine.”
She had brought this upon herself, so she had to endure it, even with tears in her eyes.
“Okay, then when you have some free time in the next few days, take a bath and wait for me.”
“What?”
Tang Muxi was startled and quickly grabbed her collar.
“Isn’t the punishment only for breaking the rules?”
“That’s right.”
Jiang Yin’s lips curved into a smile, her smooth fingertips gently pressing against Tang Muxi’s face.
Her skin was so tender that it seemed like it would release water with a pinch.
“Your face is so pale, which means you’ve violated the third rule of ‘not harming your body.’ Naturally, you deserve to be punished.”
“You! You can’t do this…”
Tang Muxi was heartbroken.
“We just made the agreement, the previous things shouldn’t count!”
“But your face is still pale now.”
“If you do this, then… I’ll punish you too!”
“But I’m not driving you away right now.”
Tang Muxi was on the verge of collapse.
She realized she really couldn’t win against this demon.
His words were clearly nonsense, full of twisted logic, yet she couldn’t find any faults, and it even seemed somewhat reasonable.
“Senior Sister…”
Tang Muxi softened her voice, trying to act cute and get away with it.
Jiang Yin looked at her affectionately, gently caressing her face with a doting tone, but his words were cold and ruthless: “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to punish you well so you remember.”
Tang Muxi was filled with despair.
The demon was definitely doing this on purpose.
“Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s sleep. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Outside, it was completely silent.
Jiang Yin put away the well-nourished Soul Jade Marrow, smelling the familiar scent of blood on it, his expression darkened.
He quickly locked it in a small box.
Bai Ling and the demon-slaying sword were still waiting outside, but Jiang Yin didn’t want to deal with them now.
He waved them away and returned to the cave to rest.
She had been constantly fighting against the curse bound to her soul.
Although drinking Tang Muxi’s blood had alleviated it somewhat, her consciousness was still fatigued and needed rest.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered the cave, she saw Tang Muxi tiptoeing, trying to sneak out.
Jiang Yin grabbed Tang Muxi by the back of her collar like a kitten.
“Where are you going?”
Tang Muxi was startled and said blankly, “I… I was going to sleep over there.”
The cave had two stone beds, one on Jiang Yin’s side and one in the corner.
The first time Tang Muxi came, she had slept in the corner, so naturally, she wanted to go back there to rest.
“Bai Ling is sleeping there, there’s no space. You stay here.”
Jiang Yin lied without batting an eye.
“Huh? But…”
But Bai Ling was so small, not even as long as her arm.
How could there be no space?
If she stayed, she would have to squeeze in with the demon, which was definitely not as comfortable as sleeping with little Bai Ling.
Tang Muxi didn’t voice her thoughts, but her eyes, full of doubt, betrayed her feelings.
Jiang Yin saw her reluctance and immediately frowned, “What? Are you looking down on your Senior Sister? You just said you wouldn’t let Senior Sister drive you away, but now you’re the one trying to escape.”
Here we go again.
The twisted logic of this demon is always so tricky.
I want to argue back but don’t know where to start.
Tang Muxi had no choice but to give in for now, “Alright then, I’ll stay and sleep.”
What was meant to bind the demon ended up restricting her instead, whether it was punishment or an agreement.
Jiang Yin was very satisfied, released her hand, and turned to walk towards the stone bed.
She even thoughtfully laid a soft quilt and placed a cotton pillow on it.
You should know, she had been living here for more than half a month and always just lay down directly.
Now, all of this was prepared for Tang Muxi.
Unfortunately, that fool was still tangled up in the twisted logic and didn’t notice these details at all.
Seeing Jiang Yin already lying down, Tang Muxi slowly walked to the stone bed, took off her shoes and socks, and climbed into bed without daring to undress.
This was her first time sleeping with someone else, so she was inevitably a bit nervous.
When she got into bed, she felt her limbs stiffen, almost out of her control.
By accident, she pressed against Jiang Yin’s waist.
Feeling the soft body, Tang Muxi quickly withdrew her hand as if she had been electrocuted, blushing and stammering, “I-I didn’t mean to.”
The person being pressed didn’t mind at all.
Her long eyelashes rested steadily on her eyelids, and her red lips parted slightly, “Go to sleep.”
Tang Muxi awkwardly responded with an “Oh,” trying to suppress her embarrassment and shame.
She tucked herself into the thin quilt, her heart racing.
It was already late at night, everything was quiet, the moonlight was like a silver thread, and apart from the delicate, distant sound of water, there was nothing else.
It was the perfect time for a good night’s sleep, but she just couldn’t fall asleep.
The stone bed was narrow.
One person lying down still had some space, but with two people, it felt crowded.
Their shoulders touched, their arms pressed together, and their breaths easily mingled.
Tang Muxi’s nose twitched, smelling the familiar cold fragrance, feeling inexplicably restless.
She stared at the dim stone wall for a long time, then pulled the quilt up to cover her nose, as if that could suppress the agitation in her heart.
Silently recalling Jiang Yin’s “Go to sleep” in her mind, she didn’t know how long it took, but she eventually fell asleep.
Only one person remained awake in the deep night.
Staying up late feels great, but waking up early is a nightmare.
Tang Muxi slept late last night and didn’t wake up until mid-morning the next day.
When she got up, Jiang Yin was already gone, and she sprawled out on the entire stone bed with her limbs spread wide.
Tang Muxi looked guiltily at the messy quilt, wondering if she had offended the demon last night.
But then she remembered the demon still wanted to punish her, and her guilt and remorse instantly vanished without a trace.
After washing up, she found that the cold aura in the cave had disappeared.
Turning a corner inside, she happened to see Jiang Yin manipulating the Soul Jade Marrow to absorb large amounts of residual ghostly energy.
However, after last night’s absorption, the remaining power of the residual souls here is almost depleted, and the ghostly aura is nearly dissipated.
Jiang Yin had long noticed her presence behind him, but only turned around and spoke after absorbing all the residual souls and ghostly aura: “Awake?”
Tang Muxi inexplicably saw a hint of reproach in those eyes, as if saying she had slept too long, and felt a bit embarrassed: “Yes, very comfortable.”
It was very comfortable to have the stone bed all to herself.
She didn’t dare to say the latter half, fearing Jiang Yin would hold a grudge.
“When does Senior Sister plan to leave here?”
Now that the residual power in the cave was exhausted and the injuries on her body were only left with the curse on her soul, there was no point in staying here any longer.
“Today.”
Jiang Yin put away the Soul Jade Marrow again.
“Is there a way to remove those threads?”
Tang Muxi asked expectantly, seeing her confidence.
Jiang Yin looked back, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded, “Yes.”
