Qi… Feng…
He really deserves to die.
A savage grin spread across his resolute, chiseled face. Su Ling turned and stared fixedly at Qi Feng, utterly enraged.
—Since he and Bai Qu were destined never to have children of their own, Su Ling had always regarded Youyou as their precious daughter. True, he often couldn’t resist teasing her and making her cry, and he was frequently jealous of the attention she received from Bai Qu, but in reality, he cared for her deeply.
And now Qi Feng had dared to frighten Youyou this badly? If he didn’t teach the man a thorough lesson, would he even be the Demon Lord Su Ling?
Due to the nature of his system, in almost every mission, Su Ling was a cruel bringer of slaughter, a man who would stir up a storm of blood and gore throughout the entire plane. Furthermore, in his own Origin World, Su Ling also belonged to the darkness. As such, the killing intent that radiated from him was almost tangible, and he was notorious among the high-level taskers of the Main God Space.
After hearing Su Ling’s words, Bai Qu gave a faint nod. He had no intention of revealing his dark, wicked side in front of Youyou, but he didn’t want to let Qi Feng off the hook either.
He skillfully swept Youyou up into his arms in a princess carry. After adjusting for her weight, Bai Qu said to Su Ling, “Be careful.”
In Asura City, there was no such thing as a second chance, no reviving after death. Su Ling understood and gave a soft “mm” in response, the corners of his mouth curving into a barely perceptible smile.
“Bai Qu.”
Her soft, slender arms wrapped naturally around Bai Qu’s neck. Curled up in his embrace, Youyou’s heart, which had felt ready to burst from fear, finally began to calm down.
“That person is so scary. Su Ling, he…”
In Youyou’s mind, Su Ling was just a bully who would secretly pick on her but was nothing more than an obedient coward in front of Bai Qu. So, the thought of him facing that murderous pervert alone made Youyou genuinely worried.
“It’s okay. Su Ling will be fine.”
Ascending the stairs one step at a time, he soon reached the room on the top floor. Bai Qu bent down and carefully placed Youyou on the sofa, his eyes gradually darkening.
“What’s wrong?”
Keenly sensing Bai Qu’s bad mood, Youyou shrank back. “You… you’re not going to hit me, are you?”
Having snuck away and run into such a dangerous place… Even though Youyou knew from Xixi that she had met Bai Qu and Su Ling in other mission worlds, she had no specific memories of it. So, facing Bai Qu now, she couldn’t help but feel the guilt of a child caught red-handed.
“Hit you? And that would make you listen?”
No one understood better than Bai Qu just how stubborn the little girl was to her core. After carefully checking her for injuries, he poked her cheek in mock punishment, his tone one of exasperated disappointment[mfn]This literally means “to hate iron for not becoming steel.” It describes the feeling of being frustrated with someone for not living up to their potential or for not trying hard enough.[/mfn].
“It’s a good thing you’re just a little dirty and nothing irreversible happened. Otherwise, did you want me to die from heartache, hmm?”
Youyou puffed out her cheeks in a pout and said nothing.
Finding this amusing, Bai Qu poked her again.
“Heh. If there’s a next time, I really will punish you. Don’t think I’d hesitate.”
His originally frantic state of mind had, contrary to expectation, become strangely calm with Youyou’s arrival. Bai Qu didn’t dare to face the thought deep in his heart, and could only use his formidable reason to lock it in a cage, securing it with layer upon layer of shackles.
While keeping part of his attention on the situation downstairs, Bai Qu sensed a certain presence vanish. He raised an eyebrow in surprise, then said to Youyou, “Go take a bath first. Brother will find you some clean clothes.”
Bai Qu guessed that the Main God controlling all the taskers must be a refined aesthete. In Asura City, there was no shortage of fresh water or clothes. Even the bodies of dead taskers would completely vanish after a certain period of time.
As if they had never been there.
It was all unbelievably clean.
Youyou obediently went, while Bai Qu stood guard at the door, waiting for Su Ling. When the handsome man, dressed in practical black attire, appeared in his line of sight, Bai Qu’s tense jaw relaxed slightly. He asked in a calm tone.
“Is everything taken care of?”
Su Ling nodded. It was only Qi Feng. He had let him go once before since they were acquaintances, but having scared the little fool, there was no way he would tolerate him a second time.
“Then go find some clothes for Youyou. She’s in the bathroom.”
Ordering Su Ling around without the slightest hesitation, Bai Qu had a hint of a smile in his eyes, which astonished Su Ling.
It was just that Su Ling knew full well how much Bai Qu cared for Youyou. With the little fool now trapped in this hopeless place, he had expected Bai Qu to be overcome with worry.
Scratching his head, Su Ling turned and walked back. He decided to scour the top floor for supplies again and move everything useful for them and the little fool into that room. And so, when Youyou emerged from the bathroom dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and pants, her wet black hair clinging to her, she saw that the long dining table was now covered with a great deal of new items.
Blinking, she walked over and sat down beside Bai Qu, leaning to the side slightly so he could dry her hair for her, looking for all the world like she was in heaven.
“Tch—”
Su Ling just couldn’t stand the sight of her acting like that. He reached out and ruthlessly pinched her cheek, twisting it as he said maliciously, “Still such a good-for-nothing. So stupid. You haven’t improved at all.”
Youyou: “…”
“Hmph.”
She let out an indignant huff, but her voice was soft and sweet, carrying no force at all.
Bai Qu shot Su Ling a warning glance, signaling him to stop before he went too far. Strands of damp hair spread out from the bright red towel, full of life. Bai Qu’s body stiffened for a moment, but he quickly relaxed again.
“Youyou, what number world is this?”
“Huh?”
“What I mean is, what number world is Asura City for you?” Seeing Youyou counting on her fingers as if calculating in her head, Bai Qu thought for a moment and added, “Tell me everything you know that happened after the fourth world.”
The fourth world. That was the world where he and Youyou had been separated. In that world, he had made the woman who once tormented Youyou suffer a miserable fate. Originally, his plan had been to rescue Su Ling and then go back, but who could have expected it? Who could have expected Su Ling’s luck to be so terrible?
“Oh.”
Hearing Bai Qu’s words, Youyou, with Xixi’s help, recounted everything that could be said—anything that didn’t touch upon the system’s core secrets. After all, she herself didn’t have those memories. Only Xixi knew the things Bai Qu wanted to understand: Fu Shu, the female ghost, Wuyou, Mo Qingwu.
Each name felt completely foreign to Youyou.
She couldn’t imagine ever having known these people. Youyou blinked in amazement, not noticing that Bai Qu’s expression was growing darker and darker.
Another one.
And another one.
Although Xixi only gave a rough summary of Youyou’s missions—and took care not to mention in front of the fiercely protective[mfn]siscon[/mfn] Bai Qu that its Host had been intimate with those mission targets and done many… indescribable things[mfn]the system is talking about sexual activities, but euphemistically[/mfn]—who was Bai Qu?
From Youyou’s retelling alone, he could deduce most of the truth.
Su Ling’s mouth twitched. Watching Youyou the little fool, who was unknowingly courting death, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
But Youyou remained completely oblivious.
She obediently repeated the system’s words. When she had finally explained everything, she hugged Bai Qu and whimpered pitifully.
“Waaah, no wonder my points dwindled to a pathetic one hundred and twenty-one. It turns out I spent them all on steamed buns.”
“Wuuu[mfn]onomatopoeia for crying[/mfn], I’m never eating steamed buns again. They taste so bitter.”
The mere thought of those dry, hard steamed buns made her tongue instinctively turn bitter. Youyou stuck out her tongue, as if that could somehow get rid of the taste.
Bai Qu: …
Su Ling: …
How were they supposed to tell her that food was the scarcest resource in Asura City?
And that it was only going to get scarcer.
Bonus chapter for the holiday~
Happy Halloween everyone!
If you’re interested in advance chapters, please consider supporting me by buying me a kofi or becoming a patron <3
