Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Beneath the Immortal Pool was Sihun, transformed into his snake body.

I didn’t know if this form of his was a secret on the Ninth Heaven or not.

But he had been in such agony just now; he surely wouldn’t want anyone to see him like this.

Now Sihun’s secret was safe, but my identity as a demoness was thoroughly cemented.

“Alright, they’re gone.”

I carefully brushed aside the thick layer of peach blossom petals covering the Immortal Pool.

His upper half was still human, but his lower half was a snake body.

Even his upper body was pale and cold, with scales faintly visible beneath the skin.

He looked at me with a complex expression and sighed softly.

“Little Peach Blossom, you should be a bit meaner to me.”

“Meaner? Why?”

I was baffled. Was there really such a person in this world? Someone who asked others to be mean to them?

Seeing my confusion, he only gave a helpless smile and flicked my forehead without hesitation.

He didn’t hold back.

“Ow! That hurts! You’re biting the hand that feeds you.”

I clutched my head, a small tear of pain welling in my eye.

Seeing my teary eyes, the corners of his mouth actually curled upward.

In an instant, he returned to that fox-like, rakish manner I was familiar with. Where was the vulnerability and sensitivity from just a moment ago?

It was exactly like Mr. Dongguo and the wolf.

“We have a rule in my clan.” He tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear.

“What rule?” I was stunned.

“Since you saved me, I must offer myself to you in marriage.” His cold fingertips brushed past my ear as if by accident, sending a wave of goosebumps over me.

“Last time… didn’t we get married last time?” I couldn’t quite process what he was saying.

“Last time was an engagement; one can go back on that.” His cold hands gently cupped my face. “I told you, this time, there is no going back.”

“Just say what you have to say. Why are you holding my face?” I asked, puzzled.

“Are you afraid of the cold?” he suddenly asked out of the blue.

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Just answer me. Are you afraid or not?”

I stared blankly into those Snake Eyes, unable to figure out why he was asking such a nonsensical question.

Taking advantage of my daze, he studied every inch of me carefully.

“No…”

Before I could finish saying I wasn’t afraid, he leaned down and kissed me.

His lips were cold, yet infinitely tender.

He cradled the back of my head and tilted my chin up, urging me to respond to him.

My mind went hazy from the kiss before I finally realized what he meant by being afraid of the cold.

It wasn’t until I was breathless, and until his lips had drawn enough heat from me to become warm, that he reluctantly let me go.

“What if I said I was afraid?”

“Little girl, you’d only be saying that out of spite. I wouldn’t believe you.”

??? So I didn’t even have a choice?

Seeing my frustration, Sihun only laughed.

How was he a cold-blooded snake? He was clearly a cunning fox.

“After Mr. Dongguo saved the wolf, what did the wolf do?”

Here we go again. Why another nonsensical question?

“What did it do?”

Seeing my bewildered face, the mirth in Sihun’s eyes grew stronger. He stroked my lips and lowered his voice by my ear.

“The wolf, of course, ate Mr. Dongguo…”

My heart skipped a beat.

“Little Peach Blossom isn’t afraid of the cold, right?”

He smiled with even more wicked charm. Bewitched by him, I spoke involuntarily.

“I’m not…”

He pressed against my ear and lightly bit my earlobe, making me tremble.

“That ‘Brother Sihun’ from earlier… I liked it very much. Say it again…”

Sihun’s voice sounded as if it came from beneath the Ninth Heaven, from the Thousand Cold Pool-an abyss that tempted gods to fall.

He was clearly a high and mighty deity, yet he chose to degrade himself and entwine his fate with mine, falling together into a carnal bliss despised by immortals.

Like a devil at my ear, he said:

“Little Peach Blossom, I am not like the Golden Crow.”

“I am cold.”

“All over.”

Sihun Hall was as magnificent as a lunar palace.

He was romantic and elegant by nature, never knowing the meaning of ‘wasteful’ or ‘excessive.’ Sihun Hall was built with carved balustrades and jade steps, orchid rooms and cassia halls. Every brick and stone was made of Thousand Cold Jade. At night, it reflected the moonlight within the hall, making the floor look like flowing moonbeams-an exquisitely beautiful sight.
Siyuan once told me with a hint of jealousy that even the Qianhan Jade Dragon Palace wouldn’t dare use Thousand Cold Jade so extravagantly, yet Sihun had wasted such a precious treasure by using it to line a pool.

I sat in the Immortal Pool, cradling Sihun in my arms. A faint chill radiated from his scales and fingertips.

He was half-asleep, his long hair fanned out, resting his head languidly on my lap.

Siyuan had also mentioned that Sihun was the deity with the most refined taste in the Ninth Heaven.

He understood the poems of Poetry Immortal Star Lord Taibai and the melodies of Immortal Siyin; even Choulu’s skill in brewing wine was something she had learned by watching him.

As elegant as he was, he even knew how to cook a pot of Braised Pork and a dish of Sweet and Sour Spareribs from the Mortal Realm.

I knew Sihun’s taste was anything but ordinary.

This bright red dress I wore, along with the Golden Bell on my ankle, had all been personally selected by him.

“Ruogui, you have fair skin and raven hair; you must wear bright red. Since you are a demoness, it suits you best to go barefoot, adorned with a Golden Bell to stir the hearts of men.”

He had said this while braiding my hair.

He had woven a Golden Hair Chain into my long locks, which shimmered with every frown or smile.

“Soul-captivating,” he had remarked.

Sihun knew everything and was capable of anything.

I was very dependent on him.

Just as my thoughts began to wander, I felt a movement on my lap.

Looking down, I saw that Sihun had caught my hand.

He was awake.

Those ink-black Snake Eyes were like a pool of thawing spring water, rippling with amusement.

He stared at me teasingly.

“Little Peach Blossom… was it cold yesterday?”

Thinking of the way Sihun had relentlessly clung to me last night, my face flushed red.

“Sihun, change back…” I pushed him stiffly. “You should be able to… to complete your transformation now…”

“But like this… Little Peach Blossom liked it very much yesterday…”

“No…” my voice was dry.

“Is Little Peach Blossom’s throat hoarse from screaming?”

“It’s not that, Sihun…”

“Call me Brother Sihun,” he said, pushing his luck.

“I won’t!”

I would never use such an embarrassing form of address.

“As you wish.”

??? As I wish? Since when was he so easy to talk to?

I looked at him suspiciously.

“The Little Peach Blossom in bed is much more agreeable,” Sihun said, acting as if he were a tragic lead in a play, his face full of hurt. “As long as I meanly leave her wanting, she becomes misty-eyed and obedient. She calls me ‘Brother,’ she calls me ‘Husband,’ she even…”

“Shut up!”

I was both ashamed and furious, wishing I could gag him.

“Are you going to complete your transformation or not?”

I scooped up a handful of water and splashed it in his face.

He effortlessly deflected the water and buried his head against my shoulder with an air of grievance.

“Wife, look. The battle was so fierce yesterday that my Sihun Hall has been destroyed…”

Black lines appeared on my forehead.

Wasn’t that because you trashed the place yourself when you revealed your true form yesterday?

“I don’t care. I want to be a kept man. I’m moving into my Wife’s Fangfei Hall.”

“Sihun, act normal. You’re scaring me.”

“I am very weak right now; I can’t possibly repair Sihun Hall,” he said, looking at me piteously.

He was just short of wagging a tail frantically.

“…”

How exactly did he manage to turn himself into this state?

“Fangfei Hall is also a mess, and it doesn’t have an Immortal Pool to nourish your body,” I said, my face cooling. “Stop fooling around and recover properly first.”

“I can put the Immortal Pool into my Qiankun Sleeve and take a bath under the peach blossoms at Fangfei Hall.”

Hearing him say this, it dawned on me.

Oh, so that’s how it is. Then it’s fine… Like hell it is!

“You have the energy for all that trouble, but no energy to stay in Sihun Hall?”

It was truly infuriating how little he cared for himself.

“…Are you afraid Cangyu will be jealous?”

He lowered his eyelashes, hiding a lonely heart, which immediately made me feel incredibly guilty.

What a joke. I wasn’t afraid at all.

His eyes filled with triumph.

“Then take me with you.”