After His Demise, the Demon Lord's Doted Canary Finally Sees the Light - Chapter 3

After leaving the Azure Abyss Palace, Qiū Fùxuě was not sent back to the dungeon. Instead, Jǐufāng Cāngzé had him locked in a damp, foul-smelling water prison.

The cold, dirty water came up to his chest. There was nothing for him to stand on, so his entire body weight was held up by his shackled wrists.

It was then that he noticed the faint golden mark on his wrist.

The Demon Clan was fond of using strange spells to turn objects into cursed imprints, marking them as their own possessions.

That explained why the gilded cage had vanished into thin air—it had been transformed into a cursed mark by Jǐufāng Cāngzé, binding him at the wrists.

An awful smell of rot hung in the air. Whether it was the stench or the cursed mark on his wrist, Qiū Fùxuě felt nauseous.

Though he was a prisoner, the thought of becoming that demon lord’s possession was disgusting.

The top of the prison was not sealed off. If he tilted his head back, he could see the sky of the Demon Realm.

The Demon Realm had no sun. When night fell, a full moon hung high in the sky. As the night deepened, the moon would slowly turn red.

The legend of the crimson moon was well-known among all the immortal sects. However, because of the Demon Realm’s corrupting aura, no cultivators dared to enter. Qiū Fùxuě had now become one of the “lucky ones” to witness it.

But the arrival of the crimson moon was not a good sign.

He tightly grasped the dark iron chains and struggled to pull himself upward. The demon lord had countless methods of torture, and at times like this, the filthy water level would rise, submerging his nose and mouth for a full fifteen minutes before receding.

The pain from the foul water entering his body was almost as bad as the demonic energy.

Qiū Fùxuě, who had never even tasted pure spring water from the mortal world, could not endure such an unclean source.

With a whooshing sound, the water surged forward, slapping violently against his face. Qiū Fùxuě endured the intense pain, struggling to keep his nose and mouth above the surface.

He desperately tilted his head up and suddenly noticed that a figure was now hanging upside down in the cell that had just been empty.

The figure was small, looking like a child.

His heart was shattered by an ice pick. At that moment, he completely forgot the pain, his blood turning cold.

Under the crimson moon’s light, Qiū Fùxuě saw the child’s face clearly—it was the soul he had failed to save from the hands of the Butterfly.

“No… I’m sorry…”

A choked sob mixed with the rushing water echoed in the eerie, dark cell. The little boy heard the sound. His upside-down head turned stiffly, and a pair of eyes, streaming with blood, stared straight at him.

Suddenly, as if startled, Qiū Fùxuě thrashed violently. He didn’t care how much dirty water he choked on; he just wanted to escape this place, to flee from this soul he had failed.

The other end of the shackles was embedded immovably in the stone wall. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t break free. His wrists were already raw and bloody, a gruesome sight.

With every struggle, the little boy moved closer. Before long, the little boy’s terrifying face was clearly reflected in his own desperate and frightened eyes.

Behind the little boy hung his parents, their stomachs ripped open by vines.

“Brother, why didn’t you save me? Why didn’t you save my father and mother?”

Tears streamed down his face. Under the child’s innocent, questioning voice, Qiū Fùxuě broke down and wailed.

“…I’m sorry! I was useless… I’m the one who hurt you…!”

Just then, a pair of cold hands slowly reached out from behind him and gently covered his eyes.

A seductive voice whispered in his ear, “Be good, close your eyes. Don’t look.”

The voice was unfamiliar. Though he had never heard it before, Qiū Fùxuě involuntarily obeyed. He stopped sobbing and obediently closed his eyes.

The crimson moon’s color faded, and the turbulent water returned to a calm state. The hands covering Qiū Fùxuě’s eyes slowly moved away.

He saw a head of slightly curled silver hair and a face beautiful enough to bewitch all beings.

Qiū Fùxuě stared at the mermaid’s sapphire-like, luminous eyes for a long time. After a moment, he realized that he was being held by the waist, floating in the water. Below his feet, something smooth and slick was fanning back and forth.

So it was a mermaid. No wonder he was so beautiful.

The mermaid raised a hand and wiped away the tears on his face. “Tears from a beautiful person are truly heartbreaking.”

With that, his tail, glowing with a pale blue light, flicked out of the water and effortlessly severed the chains holding Qiū Fùxuě.

Qiū Fùxuě’s eyes were red and swollen from crying, but his mind was still clear. He pushed away the mermaid’s lingering hand. “Are you also a tool of the Demon Lord sent to humiliate me?”

“The Demon Lord? He is not worthy.”

The mermaid’s expression was contemptuous. With a flick of his massive tail, he brought Qiū Fùxuě to the shore. “I simply appreciate beauty. Seeing you suffer in a nightmare, I couldn’t help but feel pity.”

This mermaid was also a demon. There were countless demons who refused to submit to Jǐufāng Cāngzé. Qiū Fùxuě looked toward the direction where the little boy had appeared. There was nothing there.

It really had been a nightmare.

Qiū Fùxuě inwardly scorned himself, surprised that he would one day have to seek an alliance with a demon.

Since this mermaid had helped him, perhaps he could ask for one more favor.

“If you are not one of Jǐufāng Cāngzé’s people, can you save me from the Demon Realm… or at least from this water prison?”

The mermaid did not answer. Instead, he took Qiū Fùxuě’s bloodied wrist and examined it.

“A gilded cage mark. It truly suits you… Are you so eager to escape, my beauty? Do you not like the cage the Demon Lord prepared for you?”

Qiū Fùxuě’s face darkened. “I once purged countless evil demons. Now that I’ve fallen to this state, if not for that demon lord’s ruthless methods, I would have died to preserve my honor!”

The sight of the beautiful man’s readiness to die only earned him a knowing smirk from the mermaid. He took the opportunity to flirt, running a hand over Qiū Fùxuě’s face again. Then, he pinched the other man’s chin, forcing him to look into his eyes.

“Little Immortal Lord, you are too naive. But I like it.”

Immortal Lord Fùxuě was pure and unworldly. In the mortal world, no one would dare to be so brazen with him. But times had changed.

He furrowed his brows, pushing against the mermaid’s chest with both hands, trying to create some distance and break free.

But the mermaid didn’t let go; he held on even tighter, his grip leaving red marks on the delicate skin.

“Don’t move,” the mermaid softly commanded in his ear. Then his voice grew gentler and more enticing. “Since you want to leave so badly, I’ll help you to the very end…”

A glimmer of hope instantly appeared in Qiū Fùxuě’s eyes.

The mermaid chuckled, continuing, “But in return, I want you to… give yourself to me.”

Give himself?

Qiū Fùxuě warily recoiled, not thinking of the implications. He just assumed the mermaid also coveted his pure spirit body.

“If you want to use me to refine medicine, there’s no need. You’re no different from Jǐufāng Cāngzé!”

“It’s not for medicine,” the mermaid sighed and shook his head. Not seeing any sign of shyness on the beautiful man’s face, he was a little disappointed. “It’s normal for a pure-minded beauty like you not to understand these things.”

Under Qiū Fùxuě’s guarded gaze, the mermaid extended his hand. “Come with me. I’ll take you out. After we succeed, I’ll teach you how to repay me.”

The mermaid’s intentions were strange, but trapped as he was, Qiū Fùxuě had no other choice. He gritted his teeth, hesitating before taking the hand scattered with glistening scales.

Clang!

Suddenly, a long spear wrapped in demonic energy appeared between him and the mermaid, plunging straight into the wall.

Qiū Fùxuě was affected by the powerful force. Before his fingers could even touch the mermaid, his body was sent flying backward.

“Ugh…!” The dirty water around him was agonizing. Despite his overwhelming fear, Qiū Fùxuě’s expression remained calm. He stifled the scream that was about to escape his lips and closed his eyes tightly.

The expected pain never came. Instead, he felt himself fall into a firm embrace.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé’s strong forearm was wrapped tightly around his slender waist. The force was so great, it felt as though his delicate waist would be snapped in two.

Qiū Fùxuě’s toes dangled in the air. He tried to tap the ground, then looked down, seeing he was still some distance from it.

He struggled two useless times, realizing he couldn’t move at all. “…Let go of me!”

Jǐufāng Cāngzé’s blood-red eyes glared at him, then shifted to where the mermaid had been. The spear, Héng Jiāng (River-Crossing), was still stuck in the wall.

The mermaid had already fled. In the water, no one could catch them.

“An imbecile.”

Jǐufāng Cāngzé raised his hand, and the spear flew back into his grasp. He cursed under his breath, though it was unclear whether he was scolding Qiū Fùxuě or the mermaid.

Qiū Fùxuě, despite his extraordinary abilities, was still naive and inexperienced. In his two decades of life, he had left his mountain home a handful of times. Being held in such an intimate posture, he didn’t even realize anything was amiss.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé just didn’t want him to run away. It didn’t matter how he held him.

The water level quickly dropped. In a short while, it vanished as if it had evaporated.

Qiū Fùxuě thought Jǐufāng Cāngzé would keep him here, but the Demon Lord simply looked at the bottom of the empty pool, then summoned two guards and threw him to them.

“Transfer him to another cell, far away from water.”