Yu Yi and he remained at a stalemate for a moment before she lowered her hand. The corner of Xue Chenjing's mouth curved slightly as he reached out again towards her neck. His cool fingertips lightly brushed against her skin, like being tickled by a feather, causing a tingling sensation and making her neck hair stand on end.
Xue Chenjing withdrew his hand, now holding a ball of milky-white mist in his palm, resembling a palm-sized cotton candy.
"What is that?" Yu Yi touched her own neck.
Xue Chenjing didn't hide it from her, "Earth Impurity. It's what you saw at the bottom of the hot spring when we were in Cloud Mountain Valley."
As he spoke, the ball of mist suddenly floated down from his palm, rolled on the ground, and transformed into a small, delicate cat.
The kitten tilted its head and rubbed against Yu Yi's feet, then rolled over and changed into a snow-white rabbit. As it leaped into the air, the rabbit's form scattered and reassembled into a plump little mountain bird.
In the blink of an eye, the Earth Impurity had transformed into dozens of different animals.
Because there wasn't much mist left outside, the creatures it transformed into were all small. When it changed into fierce beasts, it could only choose infant forms - round and fluffy, surrounding Yu Yi and acting cute and coquettish.
Transparent tentacles surrounded them, meticulously collecting Yu Yi's reactions. Xue Chenjing could feel her quickened heartbeat, her unconsciously softened expression, and even her brightened eyes.
Her heart rate peaked when the Earth Impurity transformed into a baby snow leopard. Xue Chenjing directed the little snow leopard to climb onto Yu Yi, its long, thick tail standing up, with its fluffy tail tip tickling her chin.
Yu Yi's eyes widened, her fingers clenched within her sleeves. She bit her lip, finally controlling herself, and asked warily, "What trick are you trying to play now?"
He had already compromised to this extent, yet her guard was still so high. Xue Chenjing felt irritated, but he still put on an obedient face, only shaking his head dejectedly, "I'm not trying to play any tricks. I just want to please my master."
As he spoke, the little snow leopard mewed softly twice and nuzzled her fingers with its nose.
The system offered advice from the side, praising happily, "I underestimated you, host. Master, quickly have the Earth Impurity turn into a panda, the black and white iron-eating beast. The female lead definitely won't be able to resist that animal."
The mist on the ground transformed, truly becoming a doll-sized baby panda. The panda's fur was fluffy, its white parts extremely white and black parts jet black. Its body was round, with bright, round eyes looking at her innocently and purely.
Yu Yi's self-control completely crumbled, unable to stop the panda from crawling into her arms.
Xue Chenjing smiled triumphantly.
Yu Yi had seen Xue Chenjing act cute and clever for the sake of missions before. While she wasn't moved in her heart, with the baby panda in her arms, she at least didn't openly reject him anymore.
If Xue Chenjing liked to pretend and curry favor, she'd let him act. After all, she had nothing to lose.
This panda created by the Earth Impurity was exactly like a real one. Yu Yi reached out to pet it and found herself unable to let go for a while.
Xue Chenjing took the opportunity to move his face closer, shortening the distance between them. With a slight nasal tone, he pleaded pitifully, "Master, my wounds haven't been fully treated yet. It hurts so much."
Yu Yi's attitude towards him indeed softened considerably. She put down the panda in her arms and focused on treating the wounds on his body.
Xue Chenjing finally found the right way to deal with her, feeling quite pleased with himself. Looking at the cat demon again, he no longer felt any threat from it. How could a low-level cat demon compare to him?
Once he got out of here, the Earth Impurity could transform into any creature in the world for her to choose from.
Xue Chenjing watched the continuously rising points, his mood changing from cloudy to sunny. A smile involuntarily appeared on his lips, and even the ghostly bride's resentment that had been lingering around him dissipated.
When he was in a good mood, his tentacles also became jubilant, swaying their tips.
Occasionally, when Yu Yi moved, she would accidentally touch the transparent tentacles crowding around them. Xue Chenjing quickly said, "I didn't move, you touched me."
Yu Yi glanced at him, and the next time she touched the cool tentacles, her fingertips lightly stroked the tip of one.
The tentacles not armored with snake scales were smooth and soft, especially delicate at the tips, like transparent crystal jelly. The tips were covered with dense sensory organs, and when touched by Yu Yi, they involuntarily curled up, wrapping around her fingers.
This body's five senses were dulled, and the eyes were blind and unable to see. Xue Chenjing distributed his full attention to his pseudopods, making the sensations on the tentacles much more sensitive than usual.
As such, the unexpected light stroke on the tentacle made him unable to control the shudder of his shoulders. He trembled violently, letting out a low moan from his throat.
Yu Yi withdrew her fingers and couldn't help but look at him sideways, thinking, "Such a big reaction from just one touch, you're truly a pervert."
Xue Chenjing's eyes, covered by bandages, first widened in a daze, then narrowed in pleasure, his face unable to hide his delight.
Having tasted sweetness, his tentacles became increasingly presumptuous, secretly exploring towards her hands, hoping for more caresses.
However, Yu Yi ignored him again. Even when a tentacle rested on the back of her hand, she could completely disregard its existence.
Xue Chenjing became irritated by her fickleness, his breathing becoming heavier. Just as his dissatisfaction was about to reach its peak, Yu Yi suddenly opened her fingers and grasped the tentacle that was causing trouble near her hand.
Her warm palm completely enveloped the soft tip of the tentacle, her scorching body temperature instantly transmitting into Xue Chenjing's senses.
Caught off guard, Xue Chenjing's body trembled again, a tingling sensation spreading across his scalp. But before he could react further, Yu Yi released him again and said, "Put away all your pseudopods, stop causing trouble."
Xue Chenjing's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. Though feeling somewhat frustrated, he obediently and silently retracted the tentacles surrounding them back into the void.
Extremely docile.
After treating the wounds on his chest, Xue Chenjing twisted his body to reveal the sword wound on his back. The wound was raw red, deep enough to see bone, with traces of electricity snaking across his entire back.
It was clear that when she had attacked, she had shown no mercy. Even though this body's senses were dulled, Xue Chenjing had still been brought to tears by the pain at the time. He whimpered pitifully, "You're so cruel to me."
Yu Yi placed her palm over the wound, slowly infusing spiritual energy to eliminate the residual sword energy in his body. "You attacked first, intending to kill me."
Xue Chenjing lowered his head and admitted his mistake. He did lose control at that time.
Sometimes he couldn't control himself, acting on impulse before reason. Unlike humans who think thrice before acting, he mostly acted on likes and dislikes, just like the demons in his sea of consciousness who act purely on desire.
So when the system asked him to please her like a human would, Xue Chenjing really couldn't find the right approach.
While treating the wounds on his back, Yu Yi felt the tentacles deeply attached to his spine, almost fused into the flesh. She asked curiously, "What's this?"
Xue Chenjing replied, "His meridians are completely severed, with multiple fractures. His spine is also broken into several pieces. Without my pseudopods supporting him, he wouldn't be able to sit up at all."
Yu Yi hadn't expected that Ji Hanyi had been tortured so brutally by the demons in the end.
During the altar wedding, the little bird demon couldn't bear to see the immortal lord humiliated and didn't watch till the end. Now suddenly hearing this, its heart was filled with sadness.
Its intense emotions infected Yu Yi, and she felt a lump in her throat as tears began to stream down her face.
The warm tears fell on Xue Chenjing's back, with a few drops landing on the tentacles attached to his spine. He was surprised and extended several tentacles towards her face, catching more falling teardrops.
"You're crying for him?" Xue Chenjing lowered his head, his tentacles wriggling, savoring the tears that had fallen on them.
So she could cry after all, and for someone who had long been dead. It seemed Yu Yi was only this ruthless and cruel to him alone.
Was it because he was a demon, a monster, an anomaly?
Seeing his thoughts going in the wrong direction, the system anxiously said, "Master, that's not it. The female lead is definitely different from others. She just doesn't like you yet. Once she falls for you, she won't care whether you're human or demon, or if you're an anomaly."
Yu Yi had initially wanted to explain that those weren't her tears, but after hearing the system's words, she silently closed her mouth again.
Let Xue Chenjing think what he wants, she thought. It would be best if he could understand that she was no different from others, and perhaps even less knowledgeable than the cultivators born and raised in this world.
She wasn't interested in non-humans; she just wanted to be with an ordinary person like herself.
Xue Chenjing didn't let the unbalanced emotions in his heart affect him for long. He quickly threw himself back into his plan to accumulate points.
After treating the wounds on his back, he made several claw marks on his legs and begged Yu Yi to bandage them for him.
In the end, even Huai Li couldn't help but cry and curse Li Su, blaming him for being too harsh—she attributed all the additional wounds on the Immortal Lord's body to Li Su.
As the points increased, Xue Chenjing's mood improved once again. When he carefully calculated the system's point situation, he found that it differed greatly from the score he had calculated, so he began to argue with the system: "Do you even know how to count? I don't think you've calculated correctly."
Questioned about its professionalism, the system naturally refused to back down and went through the points with him item by item.
"The system starts calculating points after the female lead recognizes the host. The female lead touching the host's head and face area earns ten points. When treating wounds, touching the chest and abdomen area earns fifteen points, the back area fifteen points, and the leg area fifteen points. The female lead actively holding a tentacle once, which we'll count as hand-holding, earns five points. A total of sixty points, no miscalculation."
Yu Yi's movements paused subtly: "???"
Xue Chenjing was still haggling with the system: "She just hugged me voluntarily, how many points should that add?"
The system was speechless, "Master, that was just wrapping bandages for you, not a hug."
Xue Chenjing snorted coldly, "Isn't a hug between humans just putting two hands around the waist? What's the difference from her actions just now?"
The system couldn't explain clearly to his already dehumanized mind and said helplessly: "The difference is that the female lead just now put her hands around your waist to wrap bandages for you, not to hug you."
"Master, you've already hurt yourself to make the female lead treat your wounds and touch you to gain points. This is already exploiting a loophole in the task. Please stop here and don't be unreasonable."
Yu Yi could only hear the system's one-sided voice, not Xue Chenjing's thoughts when he was talking to the system.
However, from what the system said, she could roughly guess what Xue Chenjing was being "unreasonable" about.
She knew that Xue Chenjing's sudden humility must have had other motives, and sure enough, it did.
Xue Chenjing laughed lightly in anger at the system and asked threateningly: "Are you deliberately playing with me?"
After experiencing the shock of his threat to perish together with the female lead, how could the system dare!
It hurriedly explained: "Hugs between humans represent friendliness and intimacy. Master, you were also hugged by your father and mother when you were young. I believe you should be able to understand the difference."
Xue Chenjing fell silent at its words, and after a long while, he slowly said: "I don't remember."
Now that he was living symbiotically with demons, his thoughts had long been assimilated by them. How could he remember what it felt like to be "human"? Xue Chenjing had long forgotten how it felt when his parents hugged him.
After the system's words, Yu Yi clearly felt Xue Chenjing's mood sink. She tied a knot in the bandage around his waist and looked up at Xue Chenjing.
Did such a monster actually have parents? Who were the people in that mountain temple? Was that his human side?
Seeing her staring at him, Xue Chenjing immediately brought his head closer, pretending to be obedient: "Master, I'm still in a lot of pain. Can you stroke me, please?"
Yu Yi's eyes narrowed slightly, and she suddenly lifted her skirt and straddled him.
Huai Li hurriedly buried her head in her wings, her small bird-like soul curled up in the corner, shouting: "Yi, I-I'm still here! Why don't you knock me out first! Chirp—"
Xue Chenjing was also startled by her unexpected action and leaned backwards, his eyebrows raised almost to his hairline. One could imagine that the eyes hidden under the bandages must also be wide open.
But it was only for a moment. He quickly composed his surprised expression, the corners of his mouth curling up uncontrollably. He actively opened his arms towards her, wanting to ask for another hug, "Master..."
Yu Yi heard the system's report: "Congratulations to the host for achieving a further intimate contact, rewarded with twenty points. The current total accumulated points are eighty, only one step away from one hundred points. Please keep up the good work, host."
Xue Chenjing was overjoyed, but as he was about to close his arms, Yu Yi blocked him with her sleeve.
Yu Yi's eyes, which had just been crying, were black and moist, like glass beads washed with water. She gave him a gentle smile and raised her hand to lightly stroke his cheek.
As the system happily congratulated the host for accumulating ninety points, Yu Yi's fingertips left Xue Chenjing's face. She actively hooked her fingers with his, her slender knuckles fitting into the gaps between his fingers, and gripped his hand tightly for a moment.
System: "Current points: ninety-five!"
Xue Chenjing was elated, his face flushing with excitement. The rosy color seeped through his pale skin, as if a long-ill person had suddenly experienced a final burst of vitality, his face glowing.
Just as they were at the final step, Yu Yi smiled and stood up, her fingers slipping from his hand as she said, "Alright, I'm done touching you."
Xue Chenjing: "..."
System: "..."
Xue Chenjing's heart was once again left hanging, neither up nor down, like a fish bone stuck in his throat. He hurriedly reached out to grab her retreating fingers, "Touch me one more time, just once more."
Yu Yi smiled at him again, her smile as sweet as honey, but Xue Chenjing felt a sinking feeling in his heart, sensing something was amiss.
Sure enough, Yu Yi slowly but firmly pulled her hand away, leaving no room for argument: "I don't want to touch you anymore." She had no intention of being an obedient tool.
Xue Chenjing couldn't force her, so he tried his best to make his tentacles wriggle into her hands, rubbing back and forth on the back of her hand.
But Yu Yi was determined, her fingers remaining motionless, not responding to him.
At this moment, Li Su, who had been indulging in catnip, was about to regain consciousness.
Although he had been dizzy from the catnip, he had been able to see the interactions between Huai Li and that human cultivator the whole time. Their figures appeared sometimes near, sometimes far, sometimes clear, sometimes distorted.
The scarlet wedding dress overlapped with her dark green robe, like a brilliantly blooming spring flower, deeply etched into his vision.
The sound of their voices was intermittent and vague.
But Li Su saw it. She had lied to him again! She wasn't just looking at his wounds, she was sitting on his lap, she was touching his face, she even held his hand, their fingers intertwined! They were being intimate and flirting right in front of him!
She even cried for him.
She cried for him again!
The cat demon's limbs were weak from the stimulation of the crushed grass and powder beneath him, but his heart felt like it was being cut by a knife, repeatedly wounded by the scenes reflected in his pupils.
The ground was covered with claw marks from his loss of control, with specks of dark red mixed in the crisscrossing furrows—blood from his claws being ground against the floor.
When Huai Li regained control of her body and saw the mess on the ground, she was so shocked she covered her mouth. "Li Su, what are you doing?"
Under her gaze, Li Su changed back into his human form. He reached out to grab the hem of her skirt, trying to smear his bloody fingertips on her dress to cover up the bloodstains she had picked up from that human cultivator.
Li Su's eyes were bloodshot as he looked up at her. His golden cat eyes were covered with a layer of mist as he pleaded with a panicked expression: "Huai Li, I know I did wrong before, but I can change. I can please you too. Choose me, okay?"
"Be my master."
