Chapter 52 052 Kill You

That's what she said, but her eyelids kept trembling slightly. She lifted her gaze from beneath her thick lashes, giving him a quick glance, as if she had exhausted all her courage. Her small, pointed chin was hidden behind her disheveled clothes, and she shrank further into the blankets.

This was a last resort. Trapped in a corner of the bed, no matter which direction you try to escape, you're just walking into a trap. Only by shrinking yourself down can you feel safe.

Yin Xiaozhu's face was cupped in her hands, her position still slightly higher than hers. She looked down at her, and after a moment, her voice betrayed no emotion: "Didn't you get enough of me last night?"

As Lu Yuanyuan listened, a cluster of sparks crackled and exploded deep within the nerves of her mind.

By the way, last night, when Yin Xiaozhu wrapped his snake tail around her, he wasn't wearing any clothes on his upper body.

That's true, he was shedding his skin at the time, so he didn't care about putting on another layer of clothes.

In that urgent situation, and in a state of extreme panic, she genuinely didn't notice that his chest was flat and his physique was male. If she hadn't practiced the "Three Seductive Techniques," the truth might have been revealed.

But what if Yin Xiaozhu doesn't think so?

What if he thinks she saw and knew everything?

"I...I didn't see clearly." Lu Yuanyuan deliberately bit her lip. "I only saw a huge snake tail. It was so dark, and you were so heavy, pressing down on me. I couldn't breathe at all, my stomach hurt, and I felt dizzy..."

She wanted to imply that she hadn't seen through his secret, but she couldn't deliberately steer the conversation towards gender topics, lest it backfire. Carefully choosing her words, the final version sounded increasingly aggrieved. It was as if she had forgotten her current situation and started comparing it to the past, accusing him of treating her badly yesterday.

Hearing her words, Yin Xiaozhu remained silent for a moment. Suddenly, the hand that was pinching her chin loosened and moved along her jawline to her ear.

Lu Yuanyuan felt the other person's fingertips caressing the skin behind her ear. It was cool and a little itchy, and her neck involuntarily shrank. The other person's slender fingers had already dug into her hair, and with a little force, dug her drooping head out from under the covers: "How can you see if you keep your head down?"

Lu Yuanyuan had no choice but to face his face again. Fortunately, having endured two visual shocks in a row, her resilience was much stronger than before.

It must be said that there is a reason why Yin Xiaozhu can be called "Senior Sister" by all the disciples of the sect for so many years without any suspicion. Her beautiful face is pale and thin, and she can be described as a heroic woman or a effeminate man. She is not like those clumsy cross-dressing men with broad shoulders and heavy makeup in TV dramas.

Lu Yuanyuan's gaze fell on his right cheek. She raised her left hand and slowly stroked it, feeling the strange texture of the cold, hard scales inch by inch, finally sliding it to his brow bone. It was as if she were meeting him for the first time.

Yin Xiaozhu's eyes had returned to their usual warm, mellow brown color, just like before. But she was certain she hadn't misread it.

Last night, when he showed his snake tail, his eyes were indeed green.

Lu Yuanyuan's fingers stopped, and an old memory surfaced in her mind.

More than three years ago, she and Yin Xiaozhu were trapped in a cave in Futu Valley. One night, this man quietly left the cave and then stumbled back in from outside; at that time, his eyes were also green.

Could it be that at that time, Yin Xiaozhu had just finished molting?

That's why he would quietly leave the cave in the middle of the night, shed his skin, and then quietly return!

If she wasn't mistaken, during that period, his spiritual energy suddenly became stagnant, and he even fell into a coma. It was likely not entirely due to the negative buffs from the Spirit Treasure Realm; he was also shedding his skin.

Doubts continued to fester in his heart, and before he knew it, Lu Yuanyuan's finger had touched his eyelid and lingered there for a while.

Yin Xiaozhu remained expressionless, not flinching even when her brow bone was touched, her eyes fixed intently on the subtle changes in her expression.

There was no wind beneath the bed curtains, yet the pearls shone brightly. Lu Yuanyuan's chest and back were soaked with sweat. She tried to keep her expression calm, touching his entire face. She wanted to pull her hand back, but worried that if her hands weren't there enough support, he would lean in closer. She slid her hands down, still gently pressing against his chin.

She always felt that the other person was waiting for her to speak first. In this situation, pretending to be clueless wouldn't work.

Yin Xiaozhu's open acceptance of her touching his face suggests only two possibilities. Either he intends to kill her after she does, much like a burglar planning to kill and rob a house without fear of the homeowner seeing their face. Or, he doesn't intend to kill her and is considering bringing her into his inner circle, in which case handing over some of his secrets is necessary.

Two directions, two extremes.

We can only gamble that he will choose the latter.

Lu Yuanyuan looked at him with her clear, almond-shaped eyes: "Yuanjun, are you a snake?"

Yin Xiaozhu replied coldly, "So what if it is, so what if it isn't?"

Stung by his words, Lu Yuanyuan's fingers involuntarily curled, and she pursed her lips: "Are you possessed by a snake demon? Or are you like Duan Lansheng, with a human father and a snake demon mother?"

She reasoned that the more open Yin Xiaozhu was, the greater her chances of survival. She shouldn't ask too many profound questions, so she'd start with the simpler ones. However, something about it displeased him, and Yin Xiaozhu's expression clearly worsened, his eyes darkening.

Surprisingly, Lu Yuanyuan was not intimidated and even withdrew her hand: "Anyway, you're going to kill me in a bit, so what's wrong with letting me die knowing the truth?"

After saying this, she seemed to have given up entirely. Her eyes reddened, and she turned her head away, looking heartbroken and despondent: "I won't ask anymore. Kill me if you want, just give me a quick death. I'll just consider myself blind and mistaken for someone else, and I'll admit I was wrong about you. Last night, I shouldn't have paid any attention to you, and I shouldn't have rushed in to check on you because I was worried you were in danger..."

After a long pause, the person in front of him raised an eyebrow and finally uttered a sentence: "Did I say I was going to kill you?"

Having tentatively heard the words she most wanted to hear, Lu Yuanyuan's heart raced, her voice abruptly cut off, and she turned around in surprise, only to feel her chin being pinched again, her full lips being pressed by the other person's thumb. Pale, then flushed again.

Before she could even feel happy, she heard the other person casually reply, "However, all this talking is too noisy. It's better to just kill him."

Lu Yuanyuan glared: "No..."

Before she could finish speaking, the other person grabbed her hand with lightning speed and bit it.

Lu Yuanyuan winced in pain and jerked her hand back, only to see a pair of bloody holes on her thenar eminence, from which dark red blood beads oozed.

Human teeth aren't shaped like this; these are snake teeth marks. He's a snake, so is he venomous?

Lu Yuanyuan's hair stood on end. She covered her hands and asked in a trembling voice, "What are you doing?"

She saw the person in front of her raise their face, as beautiful as a lotus flower, and behind their front teeth, the tip of their tongue, still stained with her blood, said, "I'll kill you."

Lu Yuanyuan's face was pale, overwhelmed with grief and anger. She squeezed the wound on her thenar eminence with all her might, but the blood that came out did not change color. Perhaps the snake venom was taking effect rapidly, she felt her strength draining from her limbs. In her last moments of consciousness, she desperately told the system, "Use the resurrection card for me." But before the system could respond, everything went black, and she collapsed.

.

Lu Yuanyuan predicted that when she opened her eyes, she might already be using her second life.

To be honest, she didn't even have time to ask the system how the resurrection card worked—whether it meant she was reborn into someone else's body or the game was restarted.

She caught a whiff of a familiar, slightly astringent fragrance. Her mind was hazy, and she couldn't open her eyes. Yet, she seemed to hear two people talking in the room.

"...I told you long ago, we should have just killed him back then..."

"It's not needed to keep it... Every time... it's such a hassle..."

The voices seemed to come from near and far, but she felt as if she were submerged in cold water, unable to distinguish who was speaking. Gradually, she heard nothing at all.

When she was fully awake, Lu Yuanyuan found herself still in the same room. Her vision cleared from blurry, and she raised her hand, noticing that the teeth marks on her thenar eminence were still there, but the bleeding had stopped, and they looked like two small moles.

Is this supposed to be a scam? Does it just extend her life until it's cut off?

If the enemy kills her but doesn't leave, and stays in place to wait for her to wake up, then finishes her off on the spot, wouldn't the resurrection card be wasted?

System: "Master, the [Resurrection Qualification Card] was not used. You are not dead."

Lu Yuanyuan: "..."

She was stunned for a moment, then quickly got up and checked all the stats. Sure enough, her [Strength] and [Spiritual Power] hadn't changed, and her [Health] was within a safe range; she didn't look like she was about to die from the poison at any moment.

"woke up?"

A voice came from behind the screen. Lu Yuanyuan suddenly looked up and saw a tall figure leaning against it. She didn't know when the person had gotten there. Seeing her staring blankly at him, Yin Xiaozhu seemed to be in a better mood than before, and his face was no longer hostile.

Lu Yuanyuan hid her hands behind her back, puffed out her cheeks, and asked, "Weren't you going to kill me? Why haven't I been poisoned?"

"As long as I'm alright, you'll naturally be alright too."

What does that mean?

Lu Yuanyuan gently picked at the wound on her thenar eminence, her expression filled with surprise and uncertainty.

Could this not be ordinary snake venom, but a one-to-one restriction? As long as Yin Xiaozhu lives, she will be fine. If he dies, she will die too.

In this way, she would spontaneously keep his secret and protect his interests.

It seems that Yin Xiaozhu has no intention of killing her for the time being. But he can't let her, who knows his secret, walk around outside freely, so putting invisible shackles on her is a relatively mild approach.

Although she was unwilling to be controlled by others, Yin Xiaozhu survived to the end in the original story. Therefore, this threat was essentially meaningless to her.

So, does that mean she passed the test without any real trouble?

Of course, all of this was just her speculation. Yin Xiaozhu certainly wouldn't explain.

Lu Yuanyuan recalled that Yin Xiaozhu had completely avoided asking the two questions she had asked earlier.

This person is extremely shrewd and not the type to open up and pour out their heart for three days and three nights just because someone starts a conversation. It will probably be very difficult to pry any secrets out of him.

There's no need to ask a second time if you don't get an answer the first time.

Yin Xiaozhu's gaze lingered on her face for a moment: "Come here and comb my hair."

Fearing the other party might change their mind, Lu Yuanyuan dared not speak her anger, reluctantly stood up, and walked out. She didn't realize she was pouting.

Yin Xiaozhu sat down in front of the mirror, his hair loose since last night. Lu Yuanyuan, her face expressionless, came up behind him and picked up a small comb.

She finally understood why Yin Xiaozhu wasn't as keen on collecting jewelry as other girls. The sect leader's daughter couldn't possibly be short of money, yet he didn't even have a dressing case.

Also, when she first triggered the "Bitter Night" storyline, she went to borrow a menstrual pad from him. The one Yin Xiaozhu gave her wasn't the kind everyone else used… At the time, she thought he was just naturally generous, but the truth was he simply didn't understand women's affairs.

The clues had always existed intermittently. It was just that "The Enchanting Fairy Tale" had left such a deep impression on her, and based on her trust in the original work, even though she occasionally felt something was off, she never speculated in such an absurd direction as "the senior sister is a man."

As Lu Yuanyuan combed through the smooth, jet-black hair in her hand, she felt a mixture of hatred and anger, and gradually even her stomach began to feel uncomfortable. With a stern face, she remained silent, tied his hair up, and placed the comb on the table.

Feeling slightly unwell, she lost her balance and the comb hit the table with a "smack." Lu Yuanyuan turned around, gently pressing her stomach, when her wrist was grabbed and she was pulled onto his lap.

What would have been a perfectly normal thing before became a different matter after knowing his gender. Lu Yuanyuan stiffened, not wanting to get close to him anymore, and immediately tried to jump up, but was held down: "Where do you feel uncomfortable?"

Lu Yuanyuan wanted to reach out and push, but stopped in mid-air.

Yin Xiaozhu seemed to interpret her stiffness and lack of cooperation as awkwardness.

However, does this prove that the other party has already believed the fact that she didn't realize he was a man?

That's probably why he spared her life for the time being.

A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan. Lu Yuanyuan suppressed the urge to struggle, continued to sit in his lap, turned her head away, and said in a muffled voice, "My stomach hurts."

Yin Xiaozhu lowered his head and grasped her hand: "Let me see."

Lu Yuanyuan pinched the hem of her clothes, having no other choice but to roll them up a little to show him. Having been awake for so long, this was the first time she had seen it herself, and she was slightly startled—it turned out there really were several bruises on her stomach, judging by their shape, they must have been caused by the snake's tail pressing on her the night before last.

Noticing that he wanted to touch her, Lu Yuanyuan quickly put her clothes down to block his hand and said, "Your hands are cold, don't touch me. I can put some medicine on myself."

Yin Xiaozhu stopped, turned her eyes, and looked at her ears in the mirror, seemingly lost in thought.

.

Even snakes have an awkward molting period, so Yin Xiaozhu's current state is definitely temporary. Perhaps it's because of her intervention that his molting period has been prolonged.

He couldn't possibly be seen in public looking like that. So, he kept lying to the outside world, claiming he was in seclusion. At the same time, he didn't let Lu Yuanyuan out of his sight, which was also a sign of his genuine suspicion.

However, Yin Xiaozhu didn't keep a constant eye on Lu Yuanyuan. After three or four days, Lu Yuanyuan clearly noticed that he was becoming increasingly sleepy. He spent most of his time curled up in the bathtub, perhaps because his molting process was almost complete.

He didn't wake up at all that day, sleeping soundly in bed.

It was at this moment that Lu Yuanyuan unexpectedly encountered an uninvited guest.

Even through the door and the barrier, Qi Chang's gentle voice could still be clearly heard: "Yuan Yuan?"

He seemed to have knocked on the door of the next room first, and finding no one there and the lock dusty, he moved over here and whispered, "Yuanyuan, are you in there?"

Lu Yuanyuan perked up and ran to the door in a flash: "I'm here."

The sunlight outlined Qi Chang's figure: "Is Senior Sister still in seclusion?"

Lu Yuanyuan glanced back at the shadows behind the screen and gave a soft "hmm".

Qi Chang, standing outside the door, paused for a moment.

He had a fairly good understanding of his senior sister's character. Moreover, cultivators were always encouraged to be alone in their rooms during seclusion in order to calm their minds. Seeing the dust on Lu Yuanyuan's door, he knew that she hadn't been back to her own room for several days and had been staying in his senior sister's room, which seemed a bit unusual. So he asked, "Are you and your senior sister alright? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Lu Yuanyuan's lips moved slightly.

In that instant, an idea popped into my head.

She had thought that once Yin Xiaozhu had put shackles on her, everything would return to normal. But she hadn't expected him to keep her locked up for the past three days. Now she was starting to wonder if Yin Xiaozhu would continue to keep her locked up after he shed his skin.

Now that Yin Xiaozhu is asleep, if... if she immediately explains the situation to Qi Chang and asks him to call for help, wouldn't that be a strong...

What is the way out of this predicament?

Lu Yuanyuan struggled internally for a moment, then slowly loosened her fist: "We're fine."

"Let's wait a little longer," she heard a voice inside her say.

Seeing her answer, Qi Chang's doubts subsided. Lu Yuanyuan came to her senses and asked, "Daojun, do you need to see Yuanjun for something?"

Qi Chang said in a deep voice, "Several disciples in the sect have been poisoned. Master asked me to invite Senior Sister to go and take a look. If Senior Sister wakes up, please inform her for me."

"I see."

After Qi Chang left, Lu Yuanyuan poured herself a glass of water to moisten her throat and walked into the room, where she met a pair of clear eyes that showed no sign of sleepiness.

Lu Yuanyuan paused in her steps.

Yin Xiaozhu sat up and completely lifted the bed curtains. As he stood up, light fell on his face. Lu Yuanyuan looked up and saw his face at that moment.

The terrifying scales had all disappeared, leaving no trace of molting.

Her face was clean and beautiful, with a long neck, just like always.

It felt like I had emerged from my cocoon, and my whole body felt relaxed and comfortable.

When those brown eyes looked at her, Lu Yuanyuan's heart skipped a beat. She turned around and went to the wardrobe to get her clothes. Her fingers couldn't help but clench the clothes tightly, and her back was still feeling a chill.

This person was actually awake.

He probably woke up the moment Qi Chang knocked on the door.

Was the reason he remained silent and pretended to be asleep while listening to her talk with Qi Chang a kind of test?

He was testing whether she would complain to outsiders without his knowledge.

If she said something she shouldn't have, would he just kill her to get rid of it?

Sigh, compared to this, it might have been easier to agree to go to the mortal realm with Duan Lansheng back then.

Fortunately, the days of being alone with him have finally come to a temporary end.

Perhaps realizing that her "seclusion" was too abrupt, Yin Xiaozhu immediately obeyed her master's orders and went to find the other party as soon as she recovered.

Of course, he brought Lu Yuanyuan along as well.

Arriving at a medicine hut on Danqing Peak, Lu Yuanyuan saw several important figures from Danqing Peak present, including even the rarely seen Sect Master of Shu Mountain. It turned out that the person lying in bed awaiting the antidote was an important direct disciple of the sect; no wonder so many important figures had come.

Lu Yuanyuan quickly bowed to the sect leader. The sect leader nodded, but did not pay her any further attention.

Lu Yuanyuan straightened up and saw Yin Xiaozhu walk behind the screen. She stood outside and quietly observed the man.

Actually, he doesn't look like Yin Xiaozhu at all. It seems that the latter looks more like her mother.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall: "Sect Master!"

Everyone in the hall turned to look. One disciple frowned and said, "What is it? Don't make a scene here."

"We have received an urgent report from the mortal realm!" The disciple who rushed in apologized and hurriedly explained his purpose: "Half of the disciples who went down half a month ago have disappeared within the territory of Yong Kingdom. They urgently request that we send more alchemists and sword cultivators down to provide support."

Everyone was stunned. Lu Yuanyuan was also confused for a moment, but then she was surprised that someone had handed her a pillow when she was sleepy.

She had been worried that even after Yin Xiaozhu finished molting, he wouldn't let her move around freely. Moreover, he had been holding her on his lap these past few days and even had her do things like dressing him. If she didn't create distance, she was afraid that one day her reactions wouldn't be able to hide, and she would give herself away.

Her solution was to take on missions and avoid staying in Shu Mountain as much as possible, giving herself some breathing room. In time, Yin Xiaozhu would probably realize that she was keeping a tight lip and had no intention of opposing him or exposing his secret.

But the problem is that even taking that first step might be disrupted.

Right now, isn't there a great opportunity that will absolutely not be hindered, will take much longer than a normal mission, and will not be followed by Yin Xiaozhu?

Lu Yuanyuan immediately spoke up, rushing to the open space as if afraid someone would snatch it from her: "Sect Master, I'm willing to go!"