Yu Yi, unable to bear the constant nudging any longer, found an opportunity to cast a cleaning spell and throw it at his head.
Xue Chenjing was caught off guard as spiritual energy drenched his face, especially enveloping his rabbit ears, mercilessly soaking into the fur and scrubbing it thoroughly.
"Mmm..." Xue Chenjing's body shuddered violently, his Adam's apple bobbing as he whimpered. His pale cheeks flushed an unusual red, and his wide eyes became misty with tears.
Yu Yi was shocked by his reaction and quickly covered his mouth with her hand, stifling his unfinished gasps. Just washing your ears, for heaven's sake, and you're getting aroused in public?? Even if rabbit ears are sensitive, this is going too far!
Xue Chenjing, his mouth and nose tightly covered, was nearly suffocating with tears about to spill, yet he didn't resist. He just stared at her pitifully.
It was Yu Yi who couldn't bear his gaze. She warned, "I'll let go, but don't make any more strange noises, okay?"
Xue Chenjing obediently nodded.
Yu Yi slowly released her hand.
Xue Chenjing took a deep breath, thankfully not making any more odd sounds. The dirt on his rabbit ear fur had been cleansed, leaving it soft and snow-white again. He tilted his head, deliberately bringing his rabbit ears close to her face, saying happily, "Master, it's clean now. You can pet it again, please pet it."
Indeed, his reaction was just as she had predicted.
Yu Yi wore an expression of cold indifference. I'd be a dog if I pet you again.
Unusual activity outside the Unmasked Tower soon caught her attention. Yu Yi furrowed her brow as she looked over, seeing the formation on the ground of the Unmasked Tower growing brighter under the scorching sun.
The Unmasked Tower was in the commercial district, so its spirit stone reserves were considerable. The spirit stones carried by cultivators were just a drop in the bucket compared to what the merchants stored.
The formation could absorb the spiritual energy contained within the spirit stones. As vast amounts of spiritual energy poured into the formation, fully activating it, the space of this secret realm was torn apart. Enormous cracks climbing through the void grew increasingly severe.
Xue Chenjing curled his lips in excitement, saying, "Master, just watch. The show is about to begin."
Yu Yi turned back to him upon hearing this. "Did you create that formation?"
Xue Chenjing nodded proudly. His frantic running around inside the Unmasked Tower wasn't aimless at all. "The Demon-Eating Butterflies fear sunlight and die upon exposure. As long as we tear apart this eternal night space, they won't survive."
Of course, severing three of his pseudo-legs had nearly made him faint from the pain again. Simply tearing apart the space to kill a swarm of butterflies wasn't enough. He wanted to destroy the Unmasked Tower, to let those cultivators who wanted to kill him know that he wasn't to be trifled with.
Xue Chenjing curved his lips in pleasure. Though his face was covered by the most innocent of rabbit masks, at this moment, the malice shining in his eyes couldn't be concealed even by such an innocent facade.
For a split second, Yu Yi was almost instinctively provoked by the malevolence emanating from him, tempted to strike him off the back of Senior Brother He with a palm.
Xue Chenjing keenly sensed the change in her gaze, even feeling the sword intent that wanted to push him away. His heart tightened, and he quickly reined in the aura overflowing from his body. Lowering his eyes to conceal the emotions within, he reverted to his harmless demeanor and said softly, "If I don't tear apart this eternal night space, I'll be killed by them."
He carefully observed Yu Yi's reaction, his voice condensing to a thread as he transmitted directly into her ear, explaining repeatedly, "They were born specifically to eat demons. The stronger the demon, the more they're attracted. They would burrow under my skin and hide inside my body, ceaselessly dissolving my flesh, drinking my body like nectar from flowers."
As Xue Chenjing spoke, he seemed to recall the experience, his body beginning to tremble.
"I wouldn't die immediately. Even if I knew where they were, even if I clawed open my skin or cut open my organs, I couldn't catch them. I could only see the blue glow of butterfly wings darting around inside me. They would build nests and lay eggs, then produce more butterflies like themselves, sucking away all the flesh before burrowing into the bones, until nothing was left in the end."
"This process would last a very long time. Days, months, or years? I can't remember clearly. I only remember that it hurt, it hurt so much. I don't want to hurt like that again."
Yu Yi's back crawled at his words, goosebumps rising all over her body. She averted her gaze, saying, "Stop talking. I don't want to hear any more."
"Alright." Xue Chenjing sniffled, gently nuzzling her shoulder. "Master, please don't hate me, okay?"
Yu Yi closed her eyes for a moment, neither responding to him nor turning to look at him.
She reminded herself inwardly not to sympathize with him. Everything he said had an ulterior motive, deliberately trying to evoke her sympathy. If not for the system task, when they first met, she probably would have died at the hands of his demonic creatures.
The tearing of the Unmasked Tower's secret realm caused no small disturbance. It was originally an independent space constructed above the city district, connected by twenty screen walls outside the tower.
Now that the independent space was torn open, the mountains and pavilions inside the Unmasked Tower began to expand outward, encroaching upon Yinzhou City's territory.
To those outside, it appeared as if the Unmasked Tower suddenly shook and collapsed, with several lightning-like cracks emerging from the crumbling pavilions. These cracks hung in midair, so enormous they almost connected heaven and earth.
The citizens of Yinzhou City, attracted by the commotion, looked up at the continuously spreading cracks in the sky, puzzled. "What is that? Look! Has the sky split open?"
But soon, people realized what was happening, saying angrily, "It's coming from the direction of the Unmasked Tower. What have those cultivators done now?"
Shortly after the cracks appeared in the sky, the ground of Yinzhou City began to shake as well. The surrounding buildings swayed in the earthquake, and the citizens who had been captivated by the strange cracks in the sky finally came to their senses, calling out to friends and family in panic as they fled.
"Earthquake! It's an earthquake, run! Everyone, quick, head to the outskirts of the city, find open spaces!"
The city was in chaos, especially in the market district near the Unmasked Tower. That area was always crowded with merchants and densely populated. Once pandemonium broke out, even the city patrol soldiers couldn't control the situation.
The cracks in the sky continued to spread rapidly. Through the rifts, one could vaguely see an enormous mountain, with clusters of magnificent buildings and colorful lantern-lit streets atop it.
More and more of the mountain emerged from the fractured sky, crowding out the market district below. Countless fissures appeared on the ground, spreading outward from the Unmasked Tower. The citizens throughout Yinzhou City could feel the tremors beneath their feet.
Shen Qingzhi no longer had the energy to pursue any demonic creatures. If the Unmasked Tower wasn't sealed back into the secret realm, half of Yinzhou City would be destroyed. At that point, it wouldn't just be a matter of failing to account to his seniors; even dying ten thousand deaths wouldn't be enough to atone for his guilt.
He hurriedly flew into the air, surveying the complete formation on the ground. Spiritual threads flickered between his outstretched hands as he attempted to dismantle the space-rending formation inside the Unmasked Tower.
Although the cultivators outside the Unmasked Tower didn't know the cause of this calamity—they came from all corners of the world, disguised and unacquainted with each other—they showed rare unity in this matter: the troubles of cultivators must not involve innocent civilians.
In an instant, countless streams of light converged on the Unmasked Tower. Cultivators gathered outside, summoning their magical tools and forming arrays with spiritual power, using spiritual pressure to push the expanding mountain back into the rift.
Some cultivators descended into the market district below, sweeping up civilians who hadn't managed to evacuate and helping them escape.
So this was the "good show" he spoke of.
Yu Yi's gaze gradually cooled. She no longer had the luxury of focusing on Xue Chenjing. Sitting cross-legged on the back of the crane, she formed hand seals and poured all her strength into releasing spiritual power.
The spiritual energy consumed by her earlier sword strike had not yet fully recovered, and now exerting herself to suppress the expanding mountain left her face drained of all color in an instant.
Xue Chenjing had been reveling in the satisfaction of revenge, but as he watched the spiritual shield formed by the cultivators gradually contain the spatial collapse, his expression darkened slightly, and his fingertips twitched.
A wisp of sword fire quickly coiled around his fingers, and Yu Yi's cold warning reached his ears: "Don't try anything, or I'll cut off your hand."
Xue Chenjing's fingers froze, and he looked up at her in disbelief.
Yu Yi didn't turn around. The lines of her profile were cold and sharp as she said, "The butterflies that threatened you are gone now. Even if you want revenge, don't drag innocent people into it."
Xue Chenjing felt the sword fire scorching his fingers, sensing the tangible threat in its flow. She really would cut off his hand.
A conflicted look flickered in his eyes. He desperately wanted to be true to his inner desires - to recklessly continue activating the magic array, tear open this space, destroy this city, and make those who hurt him suffer even more than he had.
What innocent people? There were no innocent people in this world.
But as he looked at Yu Yi's pale face, he remembered how she had protected him with this very sword earlier, how warm the sword's flames had felt sweeping over him. Now, wrapped around his hand, it had become a cold threat.
He should obey. Otherwise, she really would cut off his hand.
Xue Chenjing pondered, two conflicting desires pulling at his heart, making him waver. Should he be true to his own desires, or should he be loyal to her?
Even as the magic array inside the Unmasked Tower was shattered by the combined spiritual pressure of the cultivators, the scales in his heart still hadn't tipped decisively one way or the other.
With the array destroyed, the spatial rifts in the Unmasked Tower slowed their expansion and finally stopped. Under the combined efforts of the cultivators to suppress it, the mountains and pavilions within the tower began to retract.
When this small secret realm fully returned to its original position, a beam of white light shot out simultaneously from the twenty screen walls. The light coalesced into a boundary, and the collapsed bricks and tiles of the Unmasked Tower were rebuilt. It was as if time flowed backwards, restoring everything to its original state.
However, after such a major disturbance, many of the pavilions within the Unmasked Tower's secret realm had collapsed, and the ground was covered in cracks. It would likely be impossible to reopen for business anytime soon.
With the crisis averted, everyone was exhausted. They fell from the sky in twos and threes.
Senior Crane folded his wings and descended onto a market street outside. The ordinary people had completely evacuated, leaving only some collapsed houses that had been affected by the disaster. The bricks and stones on the ground were cracked and upturned, with an array of goods scattered all over.
When Yu Yi landed, she nearly lost her footing. Xue Chenjing reached out to steady her, but she warily avoided his touch.
Xue Chenjing's arm froze in mid-air. He said sadly, "Master, I obeyed you."
Yu Yi said nothing, merely gesturing to retract the threatening sword flames.
Xue Chenjing gently rubbed his fingers, staring at her unblinkingly. "Do you think I did wrong? Do you also believe I should have obediently accepted death? Because I'm a demon, I shouldn't be allowed to exist in this world?"
"I don't think that," Yu Yi said, feeling tired - not just physically, but mentally as well. "Xue Chenjing, whether you live or die isn't that important to me. I don't really care. You should understand that if you hadn't shamelessly attached yourself to me, I wouldn't have even spared you a glance."
In the sunlight, amidst the dancing dust motes, a single teardrop suddenly fell, landing among the cracked stones on the ground. Yu Yi froze for a moment, raising her eyes to look at his face.
Xue Chenjing quickly turned his back, furiously wiping his face with his sleeve. He snarled, "I understand."
Yu Yi stared at his back, furrowing her brow slightly. She said nothing, instead pulling out a talisman from her sleeve and attaching it to Senior Crane, who had been turning his bird head back and forth, looking between them in confusion.
The crane shrank to the size of a small bird and flew into her arms. Holding Senior Crane, Yu Yi turned and walked towards the Unmasked Tower. She needed to check on the tower's condition and investigate whether Xue Chenjing's identity had been exposed.
Before leaving, she said one last thing to Xue Chenjing, "I fed the remaining twenty thousand spirit stones to your magic array. Remember to pay me back."
Xue Chenjing listened as her footsteps grew fainter and fainter, until he could no longer hear them.
He hadn't moved at all. The system hesitated for a long time before finally reminding him, "Master, the female lead has left. Aren't you going to follow her?"
Xue Chenjing covered his face with his hand, letting out a soft, cold laugh. He asked through gritted teeth, "What, do you really think I'm her dog, that I must follow wherever she goes?"
The system: "...For the sake of the mission, Master, please endure it."
"Mission?" Xue Chenjing burst into laughter, laughing so hard he had to bend over.
The system, not knowing how it had triggered him again, quickly fell silent. Host, please don't cry and laugh at the same time. It's scary.
Xue Chenjing crouched down, smashing the ground's bricks with one powerful punch. "Her heart is harder than stone."
He picked up a piece of stone, watching it crumble to dust in his hand and fall through his fingers. He murmured, "No, maybe I should cut open her chest first to see if she even has a heart?"
The system detected his strong urge to act on this thought and nearly cried out in alarm.
"Master, the female lead does have a heart! She does! The favorability of the romance target has already increased to twenty-six percent!"
Xue Chenjing's movements froze.
Twenty-six percent. Her favorability had increased again.
The system waited for a long time, but there was no reaction from the host. At this moment, it couldn't detect any thoughts from him either. Anxiously, it called out, "Host?"
Xue Chenjing stared expressionlessly at a pile of hairpins lying on the ground not far away. The beautiful fluffy flower hairpins were covered in dust, their shape distorted by the collapsed stall that had fallen on them.
Full of confusion, he asked, "Did I fall unconscious for a long time? Was I out for a year?"
The system didn't understand where this question came from, but still honestly replied, "No, if we calculate, you were only unconscious for seven or eight hours at most."
Xue Chenjing remained silent for a good while, then said in an unnervingly calm tone, "So she likes Xue Mingyuan that much."
It seems that her willingness to save him, to protect him, was all for Xue Mingyuan's sake.
