Chapter 86 086 The same trap, the same person, she fell for it...
Lu Yuanyuan ran incredibly fast, fearing that she would be teleported away in the next second.
Fortunately, when she returned to the entrance of the meditation room, only one petal of the Reincarnation Flower had turned white; the color change of the other petals was still in progress. It seemed that she had more time left than she had imagined.
As soon as the door opened, the little monster inside suddenly looked up and stared at them warily.
Lu Yuanyuan bent over, supporting herself on her knees, panting heavily: "Come with me now, I'll let you go."
The little monster seemed to pause for a moment.
It was freezing outside, and since there was still time, Lu Yuanyuan asked Eunuch Shen to take some warm clothes from the trunk she had brought with her in the carriage. She wrapped them in felt and tied them into a bulging bundle. She then took off her cloak, quickly unfolded it, wrapped the little monster in it, and picked it up in her arms.
It's thin and light, so it's not difficult to pick it up.
The cloak, still carrying a warm fragrance, suddenly obscured her vision. The little monster struggled a few times through the clothing, seemingly resisting being nestled in her arms.
Lu Yuanyuan tightened her grip on her arm: "Don't move, we'll be discovered."
The situation was urgent, and there were no soldiers to escort them. Fortunately, the area around the ancestral temple was not a desolate mountain range, and it was the dead of winter when everything was barren, so there was no possibility of encountering pythons or bears, and nothing would go wrong.
The palace servants she encountered along the way all stopped what they were doing, knelt down and bowed to her, not daring to steal a glance at her, much less ask where she was going.
Lu Yuanyuan, carrying the little monster, swept past the crowd like a gust of wind. Her skin was warm and moist, radiating heat from beneath her clothes.
Perhaps realizing where she was taking it, the little monster inside the cloak stopped moving. It was expressionless, its ears close to her chest, clearly hearing the faint but firm sound of the organ beneath.
Thump, thump.
Leaving through a secluded side gate of the ancestral temple, one finds a vast expanse of snow. The sky, which had been a clear blue in the morning, has somehow turned gray, and snowflakes are dancing in the air. Crossing the snow, one enters a dense forest, with silver frost and white snow adorning the branches, and a snow-covered path leading to the boundless mountains in the distance.
Lu Yuanyuan and her companion walked quickly towards the woods, one after the other, leaving two sets of footprints in the snow, like inconspicuous ink spots on a blank sheet of paper.
They stopped at the edge of the woods. Looking back from here, the magnificent ancestral temple stood isolated in the vast snow, appearing so distant and unreal.
Lu Yuanyuan put the little monster down on the ground, took the bundle from Eunuch Shen's arms, and stuffed it into the monster's hands: "Don't come back to find me this time. Alright, go now."
After saying that, she raised her hand and pushed it towards the woods.
Once the little monster was far away, she removed the ring given to her by the Imperial Advisor. This would disable the demon-suppressing circle, allowing the little monster to remove its collar and gain true freedom.
Suddenly, a dark, thin hand reached out and grabbed her sleeve.
Lu Yuanyuan paused, looking at it in surprise: "What's wrong?"
"..."
The little monster didn't let go, stubbornly clutching her sleeve. It glanced quickly at Eunuch Shen behind her, then lowered its eyes, seemingly wanting to say something but stopping itself.
Lu Yuanyuan realized something, squatted down, and looked at it at eye level: "Did you have something to say to me alone before you left?"
The little monster looked up at her again. Thin snowflakes landed on its eyes and melted, but it didn't blink. After a moment, it nodded.
Lu Yuanyuan's heart stirred.
This little monster had lived under the same roof with her for almost half a year without ever uttering a single word. Now that it was about to leave, she was genuinely curious about what its last words to her would be.
Since the demon-suppressing circle was still in place, she wasn't worried that the little monster would do anything to harm her.
Eunuch Shen lifted his robe to shield Lu Yuanyuan from the snowflakes falling on her head, and advised, "Your Highness, the snow is falling heavier and heavier. It's not safe to stay here any longer!"
“It’s alright, I’ll send it another section.” Lu Yuanyuan put the cloak she had taken off back on and said to Eunuch Shen, “Wait for me here, I’ll be back soon.”
Grandpa Shen had no choice but to stop outside the woods, stamping his feet to warm them, and watch her walk into the woods.
...
The heavy snow fell thick and fast, covering everything. Boots crunched and groaned as they stepped on the snow.
They walked deeper into the woods, where they could no longer see anyone else. Lu Yuanyuan reached out and pulled the little monster back, saying, "Now that we're here, no one should be able to hear us. What do you want to say to me?"
The little monster's finger twitched.
"Hmm?" Lu Yuanyuan, puzzled, squatted down again and tentatively asked, "Is it something difficult to talk about? Tell me, and I can help you think of a solution—"
The next instant, her expression froze, and her voice died in her throat.
A dark, thin hand, like a sharp knife, pierced through her skin and flesh, reaching into her chest and penetrating her heart.
Dark red blood droplets fell onto the snow.
Unable to distinguish whether the excruciating pain or the chill came first, her vision was inverted, and when she came to her senses, she was already lying on the snow.
The wound was too deep. Blood gushed out like a spring, staining several layers of clothing red, soaking the cloak, and finally, steam rose from the snow beneath him.
The demon turned on its master, and the demon-suppressing circle instantly emitted a bright white light, rapidly tightening to strangle the demon. However, the next second, the blood-stained hand grabbed the neck ring, yanked it off, and threw it to the ground.
Unbeknownst to everyone, it had quietly acquired the power to break free from control.
So-called being controlled or so-called obedience are all illusions.
The little monster covered her, pressed its lips against her wound, and began to drink her blood without restraint.
No, it's not as simple as drinking blood.
Lu Yuanyuan dug her fingers into the snow and quickly felt her body, which was losing blood and getting cold, gradually warming up.
A surge of heat flowed from the wound into her limbs and bones. The bitterly cold snowfield vanished; she felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring, enveloped in an illusory warmth. But this heat kept rising, without end, and soon it became a scorching, torture-like heat.
Contrary to her shock, disarray, and pain, the little monster clinging to her was changing in another direction. As if drinking elixir of immortality, its body was stretching and growing larger, its rough outer skin gradually being replaced by supple skin…
Lu Yuanyuan felt so clearly that she was like a vessel, a furnace used for transition. Something sinister was being transferred from the little monster into her body.
Cruel torment descended, as if she were surrounded by a raging fire. All the vaginal fluid within her muscles was dried up, her tendons and joints clenched and spasmed, and finally, everything converged in her dantian. The abdominal cramps contorted her face; she wanted to scream, but her vocal cords constricted so tightly that no sound came out.
That familiar feeling...that familiar feeling!
She could not be mistaken; she had experienced it once before!
More than three years ago, Baihezhou crashed in Futu Valley. In that pitch-black cave, she was pinned down by something she couldn't make out. She could feel its rough scales, and a cold tongue burrowed into her lips. After that, her body began to burn, her stomach cramped, and she almost wanted to kill herself by banging her head against the wall.
The feeling was exactly the same as now. Except for one thing—the thing that was pressing down on her back then was much larger than the little monster she was now.
Was the creature she encountered in the cave in Floating Pagoda Valley the grown-up version of it?
Her vision gradually blurred, and amidst the spasms in her internal organs, she suddenly felt a tickle on her neck, as if something had scratched it. She slightly opened her eyelids.
It has black hair.
Now, what lies beneath her is a completely human being.
He slowly raised his head from her chest, revealing a deep, beautiful, androgynous face, with only some charred skin remaining on his neck.
This is a boy who looks to be only thirteen or fourteen years old.
Her face was eerily gaunt, with lips stained with crimson blood.
He carefully stuck out his tongue and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze sweeping coldly over her dying body without a trace of emotion or pity.
When that face came into view, Lu Yuanyuan's mind felt like it was going to explode. Her fingers dug into the mud beneath the snow, and a jumble of memories erupted, intertwining before her eyes.
...
“Your Highness, your birth chart shows an imbalance of Yin and Yang, and a lack of the Fire element. In terms of destiny, it is as if a goddess from the underworld has descended to earth.”
"Host, logically speaking, you possessed the body of the real princess of Yan. Such a yin body is a very nourishing delicacy in the eyes of some evil beings."
...
"Your Highness, the concept of destiny requires considering many factors; it cannot be determined solely by looking at the birth chart. When I initially assessed Your Highness's constitution, didn't I also use my spiritual power to explore the location of Your Highness's dantian for a long time before finally confirming it?"
The Imperial Preceptor smiled and bowed, then vanished into dust. A gust of wind blew, and the meditation room he was in transformed into a cave in the Shu Mountains.
"Lu Yuanyuan, this is our senior sister of Danqing Peak in Shushan, Yin Xiaozhu."
The man took off his straw hat, strolled over, and half-embraced her, interlocking their fingers.
"Don't be afraid, give me your hand, let me take your pulse first."
The spiritual energy flowed into her abdomen and lingered for an unusually long time.
...
Lu Yuanyuan trembled all over, and instantly understood many things.
She was swept away by a giant snake and attacked by a bear, but the little monster, now free, spontaneously returned to her side. She thought it was because he was simple-minded and easily fooled, but little did she know that he never intended to save her; he only wanted her blood and her life.
After meeting Yin Xiaozhu in Mount Shu, he treated her very well. When the white crane boat was about to crash, he had clearly already left, but in the end, he went back to the cabin alone and took her away.
Then, that very night, the faceless monster appeared in the cave. Beneath that monster, she experienced the exact same burning pain as she was now.
She always thought that although Yin Xiaozhu was suspicious of her back then, they had at least spent some time together, and he still cared about her life or death, which was why he went against the current to save her. She thought she was incredibly unlucky to have encountered that monster in the cave. When she woke up and saw Yin Xiaozhu, she even foolishly warned him to be careful…
It's like a chicken that's been roasted over a fire by a weasel, almost burned alive, yet still worried about the weasel's safety.
Looking back now, Yin Xiaozhu probably intended for her to fall with the white crane boat, making it a convenient way to kill her. But coincidentally, he suddenly realized he had a "need," and there was no one else around to help him solve his problem—this problem must be related to his background and appearance.
Just like now, having drunk Princess Wenshu's blood, he was finally able to transform from his monstrous form into a human, as if he had been reborn.
If she hadn't happened to have a constitution similar to Princess Manjushri's, and if she hadn't been of no use to him, she would probably have already become a lost soul beneath the Floating Pagoda Valley. He would never change his mind and come back to find her.
A blade wrapped in honey—there's no such thing as a free lunch. Going back further, from their first meeting, Yin Xiaozhu must have already identified her as a useful tool.
The reasons for moving her to live next to him and making her a servant of his personal disciple were all because it would be easier to control her movements as a tool and keep her by his side.
Lu Yuanyuan closed her eyes, her eye sockets burning, and her teeth clenched so tightly they made a grinding sound.
There are two ways to gain someone's trust: showing vulnerability and showing goodwill.
Or they act like little monsters, begging for pity in a weakling posture.
They are either like the senior disciple of Mount Shu, an unapproachable powerhouse, but special only to a certain person. Like a powerful and beautiful leopard, they ignore everyone's attempts to feed them, yet allow you to rest against them. Over time, who can resist becoming arrogant and smug?
Regardless of the method he uses to gain her trust, the goal is the same.
All this trouble was simply because she was a useful tool.
She fell into the same trap twice, with the same person.
fraud.
Thinking this, the long and scorching torture seemed to have finally come to an end. Lu Yuanyuan's body grew cold, especially her chest, which felt empty and chilled by the wind. In a daze, her consciousness began to be pulled out of her body by a familiar force.
"Reincarnation Flower blooming progress 100%, Yue Hong's aura has been collected..." Host consciousness transmission in progress...
...
The woman on the snow had her eyes open, but they were lifeless.
The bundles brought from the ancestral temple were scattered at my feet; my clothes, travel money… were all soaked by the cold snow.
Yin Xiaozhu had no expression. She casually picked up a piece of clothing and suddenly noticed a bright and cheerful color mixed in with the messy fabric.
It's that little orange lamp.
I must have been in such a rush that I accidentally rolled it up inside my clothes and stuffed it into the bundle.
When she fell, her body landed on the bundle, flattening the little orange lamp.
The string broke, the orange peel crumbled, and it was no longer intact.
It was a small trinket that the giver hadn't taken seriously, the receiver hadn't cared about, and it was even broken. But after squatting down and looking at it for a moment, Yin Xiaozhu inexplicably reached out her hand.
When he was a little monster, he had to be held in his thin, delicate hands. Now, he can hold it in one hand.
The slender index finger and thumb formed a circle and tightened. The little orange lamp barely managed to regain its original shape.
However, as soon as I let go, it scattered again.
"..."
Yin Xiaozhu was stunned for a moment, staring at her fingers, as if she didn't understand why she had just done that.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, covering the pool of blood on the ground. He straightened his clothes, slowly stood up, and his expression returned to calm.
He looked away, not glancing at the corpse on the ground again, and walked step by step into the depths of the snowstorm.
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