Chapter 5
Yu Tai shrank the heroine and tucked it into the demon-beast pouch she had brought specifically for the trip. Only then did she look up at the man before her, who was halfway through changing.
From his unruffled manner, one might think he did not care at all. Yet he was certainly wasting no time putting on his clothes.
Yu Tai idly admired Shu Li’s broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs before letting her gaze drift toward the most crucial area.
Sensing her stare, Shu Li paused for an instant. Slowly, he looked back at her. Several strands of damp hair clung to his cheeks. His gaze remained gentle, carrying none of the aggression that might make someone uncomfortable, but the words from his mouth were another matter entirely.
“Did Junior Sister Yu come to find me because the other day was not satisfying enough?”
Yu Tai’s heart clenched, but she nodded with perfect composure. “Senior Brother was so impressive that nothing has tasted right since. I’ve been pining for you day and night.”
She placed tremendous emphasis on the words *pining day and night*.
Shu Li said nothing. His long, jade-like fingers tied his sash, and his expression did not change.
“You aren’t Yu Tai, are you?”
Yu Tai’s heart skipped a beat.
He lifted his eyes toward her as she struggled to maintain her composure. A gentle curve touched his lips.
“Was it body possession?” he asked softly.
Yu Tai swept back her long hair and asked without betraying a thing, “Why would Senior Brother say that? Refusing to accept reality is no reason to deceive yourself.”
When she denied it, Shu Li did not hurry to expose her.
“Is Junior Sister Yu not afraid that I’ll reveal your identity as a demonic cultivator?”
Oh, fuck. She had forgotten about that.
“When did Senior Brother become so naive? Between a demonic cultivator whom everyone knows has lost his cultivation and the Junior Sister beloved by the entire Qingshan Sword Sect, whom do you think they’ll believe?”
Yu Tai stood, unwilling to waste any more words on him. “I’ll be honest. I need your primordial yang essence. I’m kidnapping you now.”
The instant she finished speaking, Shu Li lost consciousness and collapsed against her.
A faint, cool fragrance clung to him, a scent utterly at odds with the gentle, harmless nature he presented to the world.
Yu Tai, successful kidnapper, returned to the Qingshan Sword Sect with a full haul.
As a demonic cultivator with an unspeakable secret, Yu Tai rarely interacted with others. The group of disciples who had known her best had all been killed by her, so no one was likely to notice that anything was amiss.
Except-
“Senior Brother Jiang.”
A harmless-looking young man of ordinary appearance stood outside Yu Tai’s cave dwelling. She had no idea how long Jiang Yibai had been waiting. Several petals from the jacaranda trees the original owner had planted by the entrance had fallen onto his shoulders.
The moment he saw Yu Tai approach, his eyes lit up.
Yu Tai had abandoned her usual style of dress today in favor of something light and simple.
Yet the simpler her clothing, the more it accentuated her cloudlike black hair, graceful bearing, and exquisite face.
“Where did Junior Sister Yu go? I was beginning to think you didn’t want to see me.”
Yu Tai thought, *You truly are a prophet. If I had been home, I definitely wouldn’t have seen you.*
“Senior Brother Jiang must be joking.” Yu Tai smiled faintly.
Then she lowered her beautiful eyes. Her expression grew hesitant and her voice sorrowful, filled with longing.
“Senior Brother Li and the others once said they would find the demon beast best suited to me. In the end, they could not keep that promise. I think about it from time to time, and everything feels different now that they’re gone. I was overcome with grief and went down the mountain to find a demon beast for companionship. That way… I could at least fulfill their heartfelt wish.”
At the sight of her like this, Jiang Yibai’s eyes reddened with heartache.
“I knew someone as kind as Junior Sister could never be the murderer. Those vicious rumor-mongers deserve to die horrible deaths!”
Scattered footsteps sounded behind them as a group of young men and women approached in the bloom of youth. They first offered their greetings to Jiang Yibai.
In their minds, Junior Sister Yu had always been as proud and aloof as the bright moon. When had she ever suffered such injustice? Seeing a flawless beauty who had never shown any vulnerability suddenly become frail and heartsick easily aroused everyone’s protective instincts.
“Don’t worry, Junior Sister Yu. Your Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters won’t let a single one of those rumor-mongers get away with this!”
Several female cultivators stepped forward and hugged Yu Tai, comforting her and railing against the injustice on her behalf.
Held in her Senior Sisters’ arms, poor little Yu Tai lifted the corners of her lips where no one could see. Mischief gleamed in her eyes.
After finally sending the others away, Jiang Yibai said guiltily, “It was my fault. I let my guard down for a moment, and they all followed me here. I’m sorry they disturbed you, Junior Sister Yu.”
Yu Tai shook her head. “How could I blame Senior Brother?”
Jiang Yibai changed the subject. “What kind of demon beast did Junior Sister find? Could you let me see it?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Tai brought out Xia Mo.
Jiang Yibai studied the trussed-up panda baring its teeth before nodding. “Its aptitude should be quite good, but its temperament is rather fierce. Why not leave it with me for now? I can have someone tame it before sending it back to Junior Sister.”
Yu Tai shook her head. “Thank you for the kind offer, Senior Brother, but I would still prefer to raise it myself.”
Since she had refused, Jiang Yibai could say no more. “Then I’ll have disciples from the demon-beast yard deliver fresh cloud bamboo on a regular schedule. That will save you the time of finding food for it, so you can concentrate on cultivating and prepare for the Bishui Secret Realm in a few days.”
He had taken the bait.
Having successfully secured a food supply for the heroine, Yu Tai’s smile became a shade more genuine, leaving Jiang Yibai dazed.
Later, she would find a few useful items for someone with a wood spiritual root among her Demon Lord father’s inheritance and give them to Jiang Yibai in return. He truly deserved his reputation as the vicious female supporting character’s devoted simp. His attentiveness was impeccable.
After activating every formation, Yu Tai expanded her cave dwelling specifically to accommodate Shu Li.
The System watched through streaming tears as she released its beloved male lead and fastened a shackle around his pale ankle.
Then she nodded in satisfaction. “Mm. He shouldn’t be able to escape now.”
[…Host, what are you doing?]
Yu Tai replied, “Is it really that hard to tell? I’m obviously playing out a lock-the-male-lead-in-a-dark-room scenario~”
Had the System possessed tear ducts, it would have burst into tears on the spot.
In everyone else’s story, it was the heroine who got locked in a dark room by a male lead driven mad with obsession, where they proceeded to do this and that. What had its host done instead?
Forced herself on him. Kissed him against his will. Imprisoned him.
She had checked off every last thing the male lead was supposed to do.
When Yu Tai forced a pill into Shu Li beside the river, she had discovered that she did not even need to sleep with him. A mere kiss was enough to draw righteous qi from his body.
Thus, when Shu Li awoke, his usually pale, thin lips were red and swollen, still burning with pain.
Meanwhile, the culprit sat cross-legged on the bed with her eyes closed, cultivating.
Shu Li sat up. His gaze paused when it landed on the chain around his ankle.
Intent on her cultivation, Yu Tai failed to notice the change in the male lead who had always seemed as pure as a clear breeze beneath a bright moon. His once-luminous eyes were now scarlet. Wisps of demonic qi he could no longer suppress curled around him and surged toward her, carrying a brutality and cruelty that threatened to devour everything.