Chapter 51: Fifty-One Cuts "I'm not used to having people around me"...
Before Luo Mingshu could even get a good look at the Crimson Feather Rat, Xie Changming chased him away.
"He rushed over because he likes me. He chose me over you and me because he thinks I'm prettier," Luo Mingshu said logically. "You wouldn't have chased away that discerning little mouse because you're jealous that I'm prettier than you are in your current form, would you?"
That's roughly the gist of it, but Xie Changming wasn't jealous of Luo Mingshu. He glanced at Luo Mingshu and said, "That little mouse looks over a hundred years old and has developed intelligence. Do you really want it to pounce on you?"
Luo Mingshu thought about it and realized that it made sense; some small animals, once they developed intelligence similar to that of humans, became less lovable.
She and Xie Changming left the forest where they had landed, and she now truly regarded the originally blank booklet as an encyclopedia.
Outside the forest, Luo Mingshu cleared her throat and said to the booklet in a serious tone, "Please give me a map of the Demon Realm."
Xie Changming was truly impressed by Luo Mingshu. He hadn't expected her to be able to use her in this way. But an encyclopedia is someone who wants to know everything.
So he drew the map of the Demon Realm on a booklet. He even thoughtfully used two symbols, one purple and one black, on the map to represent himself and Luo Mingshu, so that Luo Mingshu could clearly see where she was.
"This encyclopedia is so useful. It would be great if it could take me out of the Misty Star Sea." Luo Mingshu was delighted with this booklet that seemed to grant all requests.
Xie Changming had even learned to interpret Luo Mingshu's words. He thought that he was actually controlling the booklet, and Luo Mingshu's desire to take the booklet with her was equivalent to her wanting to take him with her.
So he nodded and said seriously, "Okay."
Following the map, Luo Mingshu began searching for Locked Love. They found an inn to rest at, where they were greeted by a beautiful demon. The Demon Realm seemed to be full of handsome men and beautiful women, which dazzled Luo Mingshu.
"Would you like one room or two?" The demon beauty leaned over, scrutinizing Luo Mingshu. "You're not a demon, so how come you're more beautiful than us demons?"
She narrowed her long, fox-like eyes, looked at Luo Mingshu, and smiled gently, her pearly teeth biting her moist lips, her laughter alluring.
This was Luo Mingshu's first time experiencing the customs and culture of the Demon Realm, and she even stammered, "Then... let's have one room then."
She was so captivated by the demon beauty that she didn't realize what she had just said until she finished speaking.
Her thought process just now went something like this: she felt that she and the Supreme Immortal Lord were nominally Daoist partners, so there wasn't a big problem with her sharing a room with him. But... but they weren't really Daoist partners.
Thinking of this, Luo Mingshu came to her senses. She wanted to back out, but the demon beauty chuckled and said to her, "No, I've already made my decision. Changing it now would be too much trouble."
“I have money.” Luo Mingshu took out her spirit stones.
"Oh dear, these human spirit stones are unusable. They mostly contain the essence of sunlight, which is useless for demon cultivation. The only ones we can use are our demon race's black crystals," the demon beauty said with a light laugh.
This was the first time Luo Mingshu had faced such an embarrassing situation because she was broke, but she was clever. She turned to the encyclopedia for help, shaking the booklet in her hand and saying, "Give me money."
The demon beauty chuckled, "Little girl, this is a book, why would it spit out money for you?"
The next moment, several black crystals jingled and popped out of the booklet; Luo Mingshu had indeed shaken out money.
However, embarrassingly, the money dispensed from the booklet was only enough to rent one room.
Xie Changming stood beside Luo Mingshu, his face indifferent, pretending nothing had happened.
Luo Mingshu shook the paper for a long time, but couldn't get any money out, so she had to share a room with Xie Changming.
She had never experienced the indignity of sharing a room with someone before.
Luo Mingshu entered the room, took a glass of water from the table to moisten her throat, and Xie Changming looked at her innocently.
She asked for a room, and he paid for it. He did everything he was supposed to do, so what did he do wrong?
"I want to go back to the Heavenly Realm." Luo Mingshu paced anxiously in the room. "This is the first time I've shared a room with someone, I can't stand it."
Xie Changming said, "I think the beds in this inn are quite big."
The bed in this inn is indeed very large, enough for Luo Mingshu to lie on and roll around several times, but is that the key issue?
“You…you’re not my real husband,” Luo Mingshu warned him. “Don’t push your luck, I’m telling you.”
"I'm not sleeping," Xie Changming said. "You should go and rest."
Luo Mingshu felt awkward about this, so she turned around and leaned against the soft couch next to Xie Changming: "I need to study where the lock of love is."
As she was studying the map of the Demon Realm, the beautiful demon woman from the inn knocked on the door and brought up the dishes that Luo Mingshu had ordered.
Luo Mingshu seized the opportunity and quickly asked her, "Were there a few demons who returned from the Heavenly Realm before in the Demon Realm?"
"Yes, they were all knocked unconscious and brought back. They rested in the Demon Realm for a few days and then woke up and went about their business," the demon beauty said to Luo Mingshu with a smile.
Luo Mingshu thought for a moment and connected the demons who were knocked unconscious and sent back with their kin who were thrown back to the Demon Realm by Xie Changming in the Heavenly Prison. Yes, these were probably all Xie Changming's doing.
She should have asked about Suo'ai's whereabouts, but the question came out like this: "Have you seen a demon dressed in black who is exceptionally beautiful?"
“Demons are all beautiful, little girl. Your question is like asking me if I’ve seen a hairy dog.” The demon beauty was amused by Luo Mingshu again.
“No, it’s probably—” Luo Mingshu pulled Xie Changming over and asked nervously, “He looks like this.”
Xie Changming was surprised that Luo Mingshu still remembered to look for him, but she could not possibly find another him in the Demon Realm.
The demon beauty smiled at Luo Mingshu: "In that case, isn't he right beside you?"
“He’s fake, someone else is impersonating him.” Luo Mingshu gestured anxiously, trying to prove that the current Xie Changming was not the real Xie Changming.
"Oh, is this the kind of stand-in plot that's popular in the human world?" The demon beauty pretended to know a lot. "But little girl, I've never seen a demon with such outstanding appearance in the Demon Realm."
"Alright, then I wish him to die in the Demon Realm." Luo Mingshu was a master of changing her expression. Her mindset was actually very conflicted. On one hand, she really wanted to find Xie Changming, but on the other hand, she was angry because of Xie Changming's departure.
Even though Xie Changming wrote such a long essay as a farewell letter, she still couldn't accept that this had happened.
Luo Mingshu's words carried a hint of anger. Xie Changming listened carefully, looking at Luo Mingshu, unsure of what to say. If he revealed the truth, the exploration scene would collapse, and Luo Mingshu's efforts would be in vain.
He pursed his lips, choosing to remain silent.
After a long while, Luo Mingshu remembered to ask about Suo Ai's situation: "There was a little fairy from the Heavenly Realm in the Demon Realm before, right? Did she take a demon away with her later?"
The demon beauty smiled and said, "Yes, that demon is back now. I wonder what kind of quarrel he had with that little fairy from the Heavenly Realm."
"Where is he now?" Luo Mingshu asked.
"Oh dear, oh dear, I've only heard rumors. How would I know exactly where he is? I only know that his hometown should be Fenglei Mountain in the east. If you need to find him, just go to Fenglei Mountain." The demon beauty answered Luo Mingshu's question with a smile.
As soon as she finished speaking, the moonlight streaming in through the window slowly disappeared. She covered her lips with her hand, looked out the window, and said shyly, "Young lady, it's night, you should rest."
At this moment, the last ray of moonlight disappeared, and the surroundings were plunged into complete darkness. This was the true night, without even moonlight.
Before the demon beauty could even light the lamp, a faint candle flame appeared in Xie Changming's hand.
"Since you know how to light lamps, that's good." The demon beauty swayed her slender waist and left. As a demon, she naturally had the ability to see in the dark. Here, the only one who needed light was Luo Mingshu.
As the demon beauty left, Luo Mingshu, using the candlelight from Xie Changming's fingertips, clearly saw a small section of her tail peeking out from under her skirt. Yes, this demon actually had a tail; that small section must have been a snake's tail.
"The original forms of the demon race are truly bizarre and varied," Luo Mingshu couldn't help but remark.
Xie Changming flicked the candle flame from his fingertip and said to Luo Mingshu, "Rest for now, we'll go to Fenglei Mountain tomorrow."
Luo Mingshu said okay, and the complete darkness triggered her sleepiness. She obediently climbed into bed and prepared to fall asleep.
However, the moment she closed her eyes, she seemed to realize something and suddenly opened them again.
"You, why don't you go out?" Luo Mingshu said to Xie Changming in the darkness. "I'm not used to having people around me."
In the darkness, Xie Changming's muffled "okay" came through.
He stepped back to the window and asked, "Like this?"
"A little further," Luo Mingshu said, not entirely satisfied.
Xie Changming jumped onto the windowsill, sat on the ledge, and looked out at the boundless darkness: "How about this?"
Because his voice was diluted by the open fields outside the window, it sounded much more ethereal. Luo Mingshu nodded and said, "Okay."
She hadn't been in such a confined space with anyone for a very long time. Even in a stream, neither Afa nor Liu Hongying would stay close to her for long.
Luo Mingshu has a somewhat aloof and even arrogant personality. She is used to being alone. But why did she subconsciously say she wanted to rent a room in front of that demon beauty just now?
She knew that the person beside her now was the Supreme Immortal Lord, so what kind of past did she have with the person the Supreme Immortal Lord was referring to?
They were Daoist partners in the Misty Star Sea. Could it be that she liked him?
Luo Mingshu never imagined she could like someone, the kind of liking that involves romantic feelings. Her life was rich and fulfilling, and love seemed insignificant to her.
She turned to her side, wrapped herself in the blanket, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw Xie Changming sitting sideways on the windowsill. His tall and slender figure made his silhouette outside the window appear elegant and neat.
Luo Mingshu was pondering whether what she was seeing now was Xie Changming or the person that the Supreme Immortal Lord was referring to.
Overcome by drowsiness, Luo Mingshu fell asleep. She, who rarely dreamed, had a dream in which she seemed to fall into a quagmire.
The mud pit looked filthy, and Luo Mingshu couldn't believe she had jumped in herself.
She frantically dug deeper into the mud, even rolling around in the mud, getting every part of her body covered in filthy mud.
Luo Mingshu even enjoyed rolling around a lot, but soon after, a pair of feet seemed to appear in the distance in her vision.
When she saw someone approaching, Luo Mingshu realized something was wrong, because her perspective seemed unusually small. A normal person appeared exceptionally tall in her eyes, as if she had become a tiny person no bigger than the palm of her hand.
In fact, when the man pulled her out of the mud, she was struggling frantically when she discovered that she wasn't a tiny person the size of a palm, but rather a tiny... fish the size of a palm.
It could be a fish or something else, because her tail was a small, long fish tail. At this moment, she was being held in his palm, and she must have been darting around like a loach.
Luo Mingshu couldn't believe it was her, and she was humiliated by that person being carried into a jade basin. The water in the basin was icy cold, and she liked that temperature.
"I don't want to take a bath—" Luo Mingshu heard herself blurt out, she couldn't believe she could actually say that.
However, since she had already refused, this person still pushed her into the water. Luo Mingshu struggled and slapped his face with her tail, splashing mud and water droplets onto his cheeks.
Luo Mingshu couldn't see his face clearly, but she saw his brows furrow slightly. However, he still patiently helped her take a bath, washing every dirty spot on her body with water.
He rubbed his body with his fingertips, and Luo Mingshu couldn't help but stretch out her body. It felt good, and she actually began to enjoy it.
After a long time, he finished washing and pulled Luo Mingshu out of the water. Luo Mingshu turned her head to the side and nuzzled his palm with her head, her sharp little dragon horns poking at his palm.
He gently lifted her up, and Luo Mingshu curled up into a small ball, watching him warily.
Finally, he placed her on his shoulder. He had a good build, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Luo Mingshu curled up on his shoulder as if she were lying on a mountain.
It was a very strange experience. In the end, Luo Mingshu actually stood up, turned her head to the side, and as if possessed, quickly pecked him on the side of his cheek.
Luo Mingshu swore this was not something she could do, but the person carrying her froze, and stopped in his tracks.
After a long time, he said something that would infuriate Luo Mingshu.
"You bit me?" he asked.
Luo Mingshu was woken up by those words. When she opened her eyes, moonlight was already streaming into the room, shining through the silhouette of Xie Changming beside the bed.
Xie Changming was still sitting on the windowsill. He hadn't slept all night. At his level of cultivation, he hardly needed sleep.
The moonlight in the Demon Realm was much brighter than that in the Human Realm, so Luo Mingshu, who had experienced a night of darkness, actually felt as if she were welcoming the light.
When she opened her eyes, the scenes in the dream faded, and she couldn't remember many details. She only remembered that someone seemed to be giving her a bath, and that she was still the size of a small fish.
Of course, Luo Mingshu could never forget the line, "You bite me?"
She angrily got out of bed, and the noise she made attracted Xie Changming's attention.
"Awake?" Xie Changming turned his head and asked her.
Luo Mingshu rubbed her temples: "I'm awake."
"Let's go to Fenglei Mountain." She planned to do something else to distract herself.
Xie Changming said to her, "If you don't want your mount to make a loud noise all the way and scare all the moonflowers along the way into spitting ink, I can take you there."
"Those flowers are so awful, we should spray them all!" Luo Mingshu said angrily.
Even so, she still had Xie Changming fly her towards Fenglei Mountain, and she really didn't ride her own tortoise.
Xie Changming led her into the sky, where the scenery of the Demon Realm unfolded below. The dark mountains and buildings, illuminated by the cool moonlight, possessed a unique beauty.
As Luo Mingshu watched, her instinct to make money kicked in. Because this "Supreme Immortal Lord" was acting so much like Xie Changming, she didn't immediately realize that the person beside her wasn't Xie Changming.
She casually remarked, "Haven't you in the Demon Realm ever thought about developing tourism?"
"What tourism industry?" Xie Changming answered her, as he genuinely wanted to learn more about it.
"Oh, this is a matter of the Demon Realm, it has nothing to do with you." Luo Mingshu remembered that this Xie Changming was not the same Xie Changming as before, so she immediately changed the subject.
"Do you dislike me very much?" Xie Changming asked, referring to his own image as the Supreme Immortal Lord.
“I wouldn’t say I hate you.” Luo Mingshu considered her words carefully. “I think I should resent you, so if I have the chance, I will get my revenge.”
"So you still want to kill me, right?" Xie Changming asked, thinking that Luo Mingshu truly hated him for leaving.
"Yes." Luo Mingshu never doubted her goal. Even if she won the duel with Dongzhi Immortal Realm, she would still deal with the Supreme Immortal Lord, since there could only be one ruler in the Heavenly Realm.
"Okay," Xie Changming said with a smile, "Then I'll wash my neck and wait."
Luo Mingshu turned her head and looked at Xie Changming with a deep gaze. She always felt that the person in her dream who said that kissing was biting was the person that the Supreme Immortal Lord was referring to.
Originally, this Supreme Immortal Lord had behaved quite well these past few days, making her happy. If she was in a good mood, she might not kill him.
However, after having that dream, Luo Mingshu was furious, so she decided to stick to her original decision.
Before long, they arrived at Fenglei Mountain, and after asking around, they found out where Suo'ai lived.
Suo Ai's residence was located by the lake, in a secluded and beautiful place. At this moment, he was tending to the flowers and plants in his yard.
Xie Changming looked at Suo Ai, who was quietly tending to the flowers and plants, and thought, "This is indeed the Suo Ai in the heart of the Cold Fairy. The real Wen Yu doesn't like to deal with these flowers and plants at all. His favorite thing to do is to go around the Demon Realm looking for people to fight. Sometimes he will complain that the Demon Realm is too poor and the Demon Palace is about to starve."
At this point, Xie Changming would ask him, "Do we need to eat?" He would shut Wen Yu down with a single sentence.
Now Suo Ai is actually taking care of flowers and plants, looking all gentle, which must be because he is cultivating a gentle and kind image of himself on the spiritual network.
Xie Changming really wanted to complain, but due to his status, he could only choose to remain silent.
Luo Mingshu looked at Suo Ai and sighed, "So there are such gentle and kind demons in this Demon Realm. No wonder the Cold Fairy can't forget him."
Xie Changming: "?" Does she like the gentle type? But I'm not one of those.
Luo Mingshu greeted him and walked over to Suo Ai. Suo Ai was the only person in the entire Misty Star Sea who could see Xie Changming's identity... no, he simply thought that Xie Changming was not wearing a disguise.
Just as he was about to bow to Xie Changming and address him as "Your Excellency," Xie Changming gestured to him with his eyes to remain silent.
Suo Ai understood and turned to face Luo Mingshu. He remembered that it was Luo Mingshu and Xie Changming who rescued him from the Qi family.
"Beautiful goddess, what brings you from afar?" Suo Ai asked politely.
"Entrusted by the Eastern Blossom Wonderland, I have come to take you back to the side of the Cold Fairy," Luo Mingshu stated her purpose.
“She is a demon, I will not go back to her.” Suo Ai shook her head.
Seeing this scene, Xie Changming guessed the whole story. He realized that this matter was not so simple, because Suo Ai would act according to a fixed procedure influenced by Shui Qingnian, and it was impossible for him to go back.
"You actually don't want to be with her just because she's a demon?" Luo Mingshu exploded upon hearing this. "Are you dating her or her race?"
"I was in love with her, but she deceived me. It was a lie from the very beginning. I'm sorry, beautiful goddess, I can't accept that she deceived me," Suo Ai said.
Xie Changming was about to remind Luo Mingshu that arguing with Suo Ai here would not lead to anything, and it would be better to go back and work on Shui Qingnian's mindset to change her perspective.
But before he could even speak, Luo Mingshu went straight for the kill, her focus unusually sharp: "I heard you're 183?"
"Yes," Suo Ai said, straightening her posture.
Luo Mingshu began to visually estimate, and she accurately measured that Suo Ai was actually only 180 cm tall: "You said an inch too much. If you don't believe me, take a ruler and measure it now."
Upon measurement, it turned out that Suo Ai was indeed only 180 cm tall.
Even Xie Changming was shocked to see this, because he had always assumed Wen Yu was 183 cm tall based on his spiritual network address, and he had never bothered to observe his subordinate's height.
"She's a demon, but she lied to you that she's human. She's only 180cm tall, so what's the difference between lying to you that she's 183cm?" Luo Mingshu turned around, and in her excitement, her raised sleeve tripped over the flowerpots on the flower stand.
The flowerpot fell to the ground but did not break. Instead, the soil inside spilled out, and the flowers that Suo'ai had been pretending to take care of actually had no roots. They were just extremely realistic fake flowers.
No matter how good the image of Suo Ai was in Shui Qingnian's heart, the false self he had shown was ultimately fake. Separated by a spiritual net, these lies that neither of them noticed were exposed by the Misty Star Sea.
"In order to present a better side of yourself to your lover, you create a more beautiful image of yourself and lie to her. What's the difference between that and her hiding that she is a demon?" Luo Mingshu asked. "The one thing that the Cold Fairy is better than you is that she is even willing to tell the truth."
Locked Love's original, predetermined procedure seemed to have been unlocked by Luo Mingshu's words, and after a long period of stunned silence, he bent down to pick up the fake flowers on the ground. After a long while, he said in a strange and stiff tone, "I... I think I should go back, at least to tell her the truth."
His words were harsh because Suo'ai was adapting to the new rules of operation, but Luo Mingshu was obviously capricious. She couldn't stand Suo'ai's behavior of hiding her own secrets but not tolerating others' lies. She took half a step back and said, "It's fine if you don't win this competition. I don't think you're qualified to go back to her side."
Xie Changming pinched his brow. Wen Yu was certainly not that kind of person. He would only be more excited after learning about Shui Qingnian's identity as a demon. It was just that both sides had embellished their identities.
In a fit of anger, Luo Mingshu decided not to win. She knew that the real Suo Ai might not be like that, but the Suo Ai in the Misty Star Sea was not worthy of Shui Qingnian at all.
She bid farewell to Suo'ai: "I will not take you back to the Heavenly Realm, you don't need to see her again."
After Xie Changming finished watching the play, he was about to leave with her when Suo Ai stopped him and whispered, "Master, may I use..."
"No." Xie Changming also refused. Regardless of what Wen Yu was like in reality, he felt that Luo Mingshu's approach was correct.
He pointed to the east of the Demon Realm and gave him a reminder: "The Demon Realm and the Celestial Realm are separated by the Dark Abyss. If you can climb up the Dark Abyss, you can naturally go to the Celestial Realm."
After speaking, he left with Luo Mingshu. Suo Ai's cultivation level in the Misty Star Sea was not high, and the Dark Abyss was extremely deep. It was almost impossible for him to climb up on his own.
Luo Mingshu truly gave up on this topic. She returned to the Heavenly Realm with Xie Changming and did not intend to tell Shui Qingnian the truth. After all, Suo Ai might not be that kind of person, and she had no need to smear someone else's image.
"It's all because of that spiritual net that's separating us," Luo Mingshu couldn't help but sigh.
After returning to Wuji Palace, she helped Xu Qian and the others find Amo's whereabouts while also keeping an eye on the sequel to the story being written in Dongzhi Wonderland.
Today's "Heavenly Gossip Gazette" is fresh off the press. Luo Mingshu sits on her divine throne and begins to browse the contents.
Xie Changming also had a copy of "First-hand Real News from the Heavenly Realm" in his hand. Since the protagonist at the beginning of the story was Luo Mingshu, he was also very curious about how the other party had portrayed Luo Mingshu.
Meanwhile, in the Land of the Rising Sun, the creation process of this story was actually as follows...
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