After His Demise, the Demon Lord's Doted Canary Finally Sees the Light - Chapter 5

After confirming once more that the breathing beside him was steady and deep in sleep, Qiū Fùxuě secretly opened his eyes to a slit, cautiously observing the cold, resolute face.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé’s looks were a mix of aggressive and handsome. With his phoenix-like eyes closed, the demonic mark on his forehead pulsed faintly like fresh blood.

If he weren’t the Demon Lord, his looks would surely make him very popular in the mortal realm.

Qiū Fùxuě stared for a while, his heart unmoved. After several more cautious attempts to confirm the man was truly asleep, he began to quietly get up like a thief.

Good and evil could not coexist. Given the chance, he could not stay here any longer.

However, he had barely propped himself up when a hand tightened around his waist, forcing him back down onto the bed.

“What are you fidgeting for!” Jǐufāng Cāngzé scolded in a low voice, thick with the laziness and hoarseness of waking up.

Qiū Fùxuě felt a strange sense of guilt, but he didn’t hide his disgust. He struggled forcefully. “Just kill me if you want to! Why do you insist on humiliating me in this way!”

After Jǐufāng Cāngzé had dealt with the family’s souls that day, he had not killed Qiū Fùxuě as he had threatened. Instead, he had forcefully brought him to his own palace and kept him under his constant supervision.

The demons of the Demon Realm, whose minds were full of depravity, naturally assumed that the Demon Lord’s actions were meant to defile this pure and innocent immortal and forcefully make him a male concubine.

However, Qiū Fùxuě’s reaction wasn’t the furious indignation they had imagined. Sleeping in the same bed as Jǐufāng Cāngzé, he was more confused than anything.

This was because he had never been exposed to such sordid matters. Even when he had heard rumors, he had ignored them, focusing only on his cultivation.

He glared for a long time, but the other man still wouldn’t let him go. Qiū Fùxuě simply decided to ignore him and pulled a blanket over his head.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé immediately saw through his little trick. He roughly yanked the blanket away, pulled him into his arms, and cupped his chin. He looked at him as if examining an object, and then nodded with a hint of satisfaction.

“Qiū Fùxuě, if you weren’t a cultivator and my enemy, your face would truly be to my liking.”

Qiū Fùxuě had rarely left the Sect of a Thousand Thoughts to appear in public. But even so, he was written about by those who had seen him, earning him the title of “the most beautiful man in the world.”

His looks were delicate but still possessed a man’s rightful spirit. His clear, peachy eyes seemed unapproachable. No one had ever seen him smile.

What Jǐufāng Cāngzé liked most was the beauty mark at the corner of his right eye.

A large, calloused hand stroked the mark back and forth until the skin around it was red, then slowly withdrew.

He wondered what it would feel like to see those eyes turn red and weep.

Held in the palm of a hand and trifled with, Qiū Fùxuě was powerless to resist. All he could do was curl up tightly.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé laughed softly. “I’m not going to do anything. Why are you curled up in a ball?”

Qiū Fùxuě loathed being touched, but his current situation gave him no choice.

Perhaps because he had been treated somewhat gently, he found a surprising amount of courage. He lifted his wrist, where the wound had been carefully treated, and asked coldly, “Haven’t you done enough?”

A flicker of displeasure crossed Jǐufāng Cāngzé’s eyes, but he didn’t truly get angry. “Who gave you the audacity to be so impertinent with me?”

Though the gilded cage curse mark was covered in layers of bandages, it still retained its power. Jǐufāng Cāngzé got up and yanked Qiū Fùxuě from the bed. A flash of red light appeared, and a magnificent gilded cage suddenly materialized.

Qiū Fùxuě was momentarily stunned, as if wondering when and from where the cage had appeared.

Through the golden bars, the Demon Lord took in his small emotions. “This cage was specially made for you. As long as the curse mark is on your wrist, I can summon it anytime, anywhere.”

Qiū Fùxuě gripped the bars that imprisoned him. He looked at his wrist and lowered his gaze.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé continued, “Don’t get any wrong ideas. The curse mark is a part of your bones and soul. You won’t be able to get rid of it even after you die.”

With his small plan exposed and his only hope shattered, Qiū Fùxuě angrily kicked the cage wall. “Jǐufāng Cāngzé! You’ve done so much evil; you’ll be punished by heaven!”

“I’ll take your blessing,” Jǐufāng Cāngzé said sarcastically.

After Jǐufāng Cāngzé left, Qiū Fùxuě tried every method imaginable, but he couldn’t open the cage door. The lock hanging on it seemed to be a mere ornament to the cage’s luxurious appearance. What truly locked him inside was the demonic energy wrapped around the intricate bars.

Every few days, Jǐufāng Cāngzé would force demonic energy into him. From the initial agony, he had gradually grown used to the feeling. The small amount of spiritual energy he had left was completely suppressed.

A spirit body without spiritual energy was like a fish without water. Qiū Fùxuě struggled for a bit in the gilded cage, then ran out of strength and collapsed on the ground.

He truly looked like a canary in a cage, exhausted from singing.

Qiū Fùxuě leaned against the cage wall. When he looked up, he could see the desk where Jǐufāng Cāngzé usually handled his affairs. A small mountain of unread memorials was piled up, showing he really hadn’t had much rest these past few days.

He brought it on himself, Qiū Fùxuě thought, cursing under his breath. He irritably closed his eyes. He had used up too much energy. If this continued, he would die of exhaustion in this cage before he could escape the Demon Realm.

He had planned to rest his eyes, but because he had been through so much turmoil recently, he was mentally and physically exhausted. He fell asleep without realizing it.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was no longer in the gilded cage. He was in Jǐufāng Cāngzé’s arms, sitting on his lap.

“Awake?” Jǐufāng Cāngzé asked playfully, his finger pressing on the beauty mark at the corner of Qiū Fùxuě’s eye.

“What do you want? Put me down!”

Even as oblivious as Qiū Fùxuě was, he sensed there was something odd about their posture. He kicked his legs and struggled to get off Jǐufāng Cāngzé’s lap.

But the malicious Demon Lord wouldn’t give him that chance.

Dark-red demonic energy bound his disobedient body, making it impossible for him to move even a single bit.

“Shameless!” Qiū Fùxuě’s face turned green with rage. Suffering from his inability to swear, he racked his brain for a long time and could only manage that one insult.

This level of attack clearly did no harm to the thick-skinned Demon Lord.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé pinched his waist hard. The bruises beneath his pale clothes were visible. “Little Immortal Lord, you’d best be obedient and let me do as I please. Otherwise, if you make me unhappy one day, it’s not out of the question for me to bring your master’s head from the Sect of a Thousand Thoughts.”

No amount of threats could compare to the safety of his master. Hearing this, Qiū Fùxuě instantly froze, afraid to move.

For all these years, he alone had ensured the sect’s stability. Now that he was gone, if the Demon Realm launched a full-scale invasion, his master’s safety would truly be at risk.

His rapidly blinking eyes couldn’t hide his panic. Jǐufāng Cāngzé watched him with a playful smile and ordered a waiting maid to serve dinner.

Soon, a table of delicious, fragrant dishes was brought out.

Qiū Fùxuě’s nose twitched, and the enticing aroma made him swallow.

When he was a child, after his lessons, he would see his junior brothers and sisters happily running to the mess hall to feast. It was impossible not to feel envious, but his master always cautioned him that a spirit body could not touch food containing impure energy. When he was hungry, he could only eat the lotus petals from the pond. After a while, he got used to this way of life.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé simply assumed he was famished, as he hadn’t given him any food since capturing him.

He cupped the man’s delicate chin with his large hand. His thin, sharp lips breathed a hot whisper into Qiū Fùxuě’s ear. “See if there’s anything you’d like to eat.”

Qiū Fùxuě held onto his last shred of dignity. He stubbornly turned his head, and when he found himself restrained, he let out a cold huff. “I’m not hungry!”

Jǐufāng Cāngzé leisurely picked up a pair of silver chopsticks. He placed a steaming piece of fish in front of Qiū Fùxuě’s mouth and commanded, “Eat.”

Qiū Fùxuě pressed his lips together, refusing to open his mouth.

With the chopsticks still hovering, Jǐufāng Cāngzé dangerously narrowed his eyes and threatened in a sinister tone, “Didn’t you have enough to drink in the water prison? Shall I send you back now to drink your fill of dirty water before you come back to eat?”

Qiū Fùxuě’s body trembled. The pain of the water prison was still fresh in his memory.

After a painful choice, he reluctantly opened his mouth and took the piece of fish.

The fish was tender and juicy, melting in his mouth, leaving a delicious aftertaste. Having tasted meat for the first time, Qiū Fùxuě’s eyes were now glued to the dishes in front of him.

Jǐufāng Cāngzé was about to feed him again, but with several maids waiting, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, even with their heads bowed.

He tried to stretch out his hand to feed himself. However, when his small movement was discovered, another wave of demonic energy wrapped around him, binding his wrists like a rope.

The demon lord restraining him let out a low, satisfied laugh. “I’ll feed you.”