How to Handle a Sickly Yandere Demon God - Chapter 18

Xu Xingxing saw his eyelids droop, half-covering his dark eyes. For some reason, she detected a hint of guilt in them. Convinced he was messing with her, she scooted up a little higher on his back. “You think I’d believe you? I don’t care. I’m not getting down. You’re carrying me.”

Xiao Hei felt his back grow hot and snapped, “Get off me, now!”

“Nope, not getting down,” Xu Xingxing said, wrapping both her arms and legs around him. “I don’t dare. I’m scared of bugs. Please, just give me a piggyback ride.”

“…”

Seeing that the woman on his back had no intention of getting down, and fearing she might do something infuriating without him even realizing it, Xiao Hei could only suppress the heat rising within him and resign himself to carrying her.

The road from there to the village wasn’t very long, but Xiao Hei found it an exceptionally difficult walk. When they finally arrived, he immediately let go. “We’re here. Get down.”

Xu Xingxing noticed the snowfall around them had lightened, and the snow on the ground was no longer as thick as it had been just moments ago. Figuring it was due to the Cold-Avoiding Pearl, she landed on the ground, relieved, and began to observe her surroundings.

The sky was dark and starless, draping the village in a pitch-black curtain. It was difficult to see anything even two meters away. The air felt sinister and was somehow even colder than it had been outside the village.

Gusts of wind howled, swirling through the streets and between the houses, their sounds like wails of grief. Doors and windows creaked and groaned, occasionally slamming against walls with a loud bang.

Xu Xingxing lit a fire talisman, and she and Xiao Hei began their search.

According to Cheng Zhi, it had all started when several families in the village vanished without a trace, and the authorities could find no explanation. It was only after staking out the place for several days that they discovered a demon was freezing people solid before eating them whole. That was why the official investigation had turned up no clues about the perpetrator.

They entered a few houses, all of which were completely empty. It seemed that after the incidents began, the villagers had started moving away one after another.

After walking another few dozen meters, they finally saw a sign of life. A small window on a low-roofed house was emitting a faint candlelight.

“There’s a family! But something feels…” Xu Xingxing paused, then tugged on Xiao Hei’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s go check it out.”

Xiao Hei glanced at the house before them, a mocking glint in his eyes, and followed Xu Xingxing as she knocked on the courtyard gate.

A young boy, about seven or eight years old, opened the gate and peeked out with just half his head. “Who are you looking for?”

Xu Xingxing bent down slightly, trying her best to look friendly. “We’re just passing through. The snowstorm is too heavy, and we were hoping to come in for a cup of hot tea. Would that be alright, little brother?”

The boy scratched the back of his head. “Wait a minute.”

He then turned and shouted into the house, “Dad, some guests want to come in for tea! Dad! Dad?”

“You brat, who are you trying to summon in the middle of the night!” The sound of footsteps came from the courtyard, and a moment later, another face appeared at the gate. He was a man of about forty, with a simple, kind-looking face.

Xu Xingxing quickly said, “Big brother, we are cultivators from Kunlun, here to investigate a case. The snowstorm outside is terrible. Could we possibly come in for a cup of hot tea?”

The man looked surprised for a second, then hurriedly opened the gate. “So, you’re esteemed cultivators! Please, come in, come in.”

The house was reasonably clean. Though the furniture was old, it was tidy. Seeing the two of them seated, the uncle went to make tea. After handing them their bowls, he sat down as well. “The esteemed cultivators have finally come! If you hadn’t, the people of Qingzhou would have all perished!”

“That is precisely why we are here. We heard that a demon has been harming people in this village recently. Do you know anything about this, big brother?” Xu Xingxing was about to drink her tea, but Xiao Hei reached out and pressed her hand down.

The uncle suddenly glanced outside, then lowered his voice. “Of course I know! If it weren’t for that, why would so many villagers have moved away?”

“Then why didn’t you move?” Xiao Hei asked, ignoring Xu Xingxing’s questioning gaze.

“Sigh, my wife is gravely ill. With this terrible snowstorm outside, she can’t withstand such a rough journey.”

“Gravely ill?” Xu Xingxing asked. “When did the demon start harming people in the village? And which families did it harm?”

“The first incident was about ten days ago, I think. Er Mazi’s family still had their doors and windows shut tight at noon. A villager went to return something but couldn’t get them to open the door. It wasn’t until the next day that the village chief sensed something was wrong. When they pried the door open, they found the house completely empty. It was just that everything inside was frozen solid. Everyone felt something was off and immediately reported it to the authorities.”

As he spoke, a look of terror crept onto his face. “But that very night, something happened again…”

“This time it was Gou Shun’s family, right across from Er Mazi’s. Both families actually lived quite close to me. After that, everyone got scared and started moving away.”

“Just those two families?”

The uncle nodded. “For some reason, the demon hasn’t come back since.”

“How many children do you have?” Xiao Hei suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.

“A son and a daughter. Why?”

“Where is your daughter?”

“It’s late. She went to bed long ago.”

“Oh?” Xiao Hei let out a soft chuckle. “Then who is that standing outside the window?”

Xu Xingxing instinctively looked toward the only window in the house. There, in the crack of the window that wasn’t fully closed, a ghastly white eye was staring in at them.

For a split second, Xu Xingxing’s brain short-circuited. But in the next instant, her mouth and body reacted first. She let out a scream and threw her arms around Xiao Hei’s arm, burying her face against him, not daring to open her eyes again.

Ahhh!!! Give me back my materialist, socialist world!!! What the hell is this thing?! It’s scaring me to death!!!

The world around them began to shift. The candlelight went out, the walls crumbled, and everything became dilapidated. The skin of the uncle and the young boy beside him began to peel off, large chunks of flesh and blood falling to the floor. Their eyeballs popped out of their sockets until they were nothing but a pile of dry bones scattered on the ground. Finally, even the bones turned to dust and were swept away by the wind.

Looking outside again, the female ghost’s figure had vanished.

Xiao Hei looked at Xu Xingxing, who was clinging to him for dear life, and asked helplessly, “Should we give chase?”

“Chase, chase, chase!” Xu Xingxing secretly bolstered her courage, straightened up, and took two steps before instructing, “When we’re about to catch up, give me a heads-up.”

“Why?”

“So, I can close my eyes.”

“…”

With his keen sense of smell, it wasn’t difficult for Xiao Hei to track the ghost. When she saw the white-robed figure floating ahead, Xu Xingxing’s legs felt a little weak. She said to Xiao Hei, “Why don’t you go catch it? And please cover its face.”

“…” Xiao Hei was speechless for a moment. “How did you manage to cultivate to the Apotheosis stage?”

Xu Xingxing’s eyes flew wide open. WTF??

“How did you know?”

Xiao Hei was taken aback by her surprise, but seeing the female ghost getting farther away, he didn’t answer. He flew forward and summoned a blaze of fire, trapping it in the center.

Xu Xingxing took out a Demon-Subduing Rope and threw it. The rope automatically bound the female ghost. Seeing that it could no longer escape, Xiao Hei made a move to disperse the flames, but Xu Xingxing stopped him.

“Leave them on. It’s not as scary with the light.”

In the center of the fiery circle was a female ghost in a white robe, her face deathly pale. At that moment, her eyes, which had no pupils, were streaming with blood as she let out an exceptionally shrill and mournful cry.

Xu Xingxing edged closer to Xiao Hei and grabbed his sleeve.

Actually, I’d rather hold his hand, but I’m too embarrassed…

Then she remembered how he had proactively taken her hand on the way here just to tease her. What was wrong with her taking his hand now for comfort?

With that thought, she felt perfectly justified and shoved her hand directly into Xiao Hei’s.

Xiao Hei’s head snapped toward her, his eyes filled with astonishment.

She gave a shameless, sheepish grin. “Um… this is really creeping me out. Just for a little bit, okay?”

For a moment, Xiao Hei was at a loss. But then he recalled how composed he had been during the day, so he suppressed his feelings, pursed his lips, and said nothing more. He did, however, uncontrollably tighten his grip on her hand.

The warmth from his hand finally gave the cowardly Xu Xingxing a bit more courage. She asked the weeping female ghost, “What is your name? Why are you here playing tricks and spooking people?”

Is that idiom even used correctly here? Whatever!

The female ghost’s cries instantly grew sharper. She opened her mouth wide, her wails high-pitched and tragic. Bloody tears streamed down onto her white robe, making her look even more terrifying.

“I think she…” Xu Xingxing’s voice trembled slightly. “She doesn’t have a tongue…”

Xiao Hei nodded. “We’ll have to take her back for interrogation.”

Xu Xingxing quickly took out a Demon-Trapping Bottle and sucked the female ghost inside. The two of them then headed back.

The snow on the road was no longer as strange as it had been on their way there. Xu Xingxing understood at once. The female ghost must have cast a spell to keep people from approaching the village. Her powers were weak, however, so she could only rely on such minor, ineffective tricks to deter others.

They still had to walk back. Xu Xingxing felt a little weary, but then something occurred to her. She quickly asked Xiao Hei, who was clearing a path beside her, “How did you know I was at the Apotheosis stage?”

Xiao Hei tossed the fire in his hand into the distance. “Was it that hard to tell?”

“Of course! You’re the only one who knows!”

“It’s probably because of the beast contract. I knew from the very beginning,” Xiao Hei said disdainfully. “Is that supposed to be a secret?”

“Yes!” Xu Xingxing said with an exaggerated tone. “You’ve found out another one of my secrets! You absolutely cannot tell anyone!”

“Why is this a secret?” Xiao Hei didn’t understand.

“Because I didn’t reach the Apotheosis stage through my own cultivation. And I once suffered from cultivation deviation during my seclusion, so I shouldn’t be at this level.”

“Was this also granted to you by that god you mentioned?”

“Yes.”

Xiao Hei looked at her and suddenly fell silent. Though they were standing right next to each other, in that instant he felt she was incredibly ethereal, as if she were thousands of miles away from him.

For some unknown reason, a faint, imperceptible panic bloomed in his heart. Before he even realized what he was doing, he had already taken her hand in his. It wasn’t until he felt the warmth in his palm that he was finally able to relax.

When he saw Xu Xingxing looking at him, he put on a casual expression and raised an eyebrow. “Want to get back faster?”

A quarter of an hour later, the two of them arrived at the Qi Manor. Xiao Hei’s expression was calm, but Xu Xingxing was panting heavily. Unable to watch any longer, Xiao Hei offered some guidance, “You need to breathe from your dantian, not directly with your chest.”

Sorry, I guess I’m a fake Apotheosis cultivator.

Fang Zhiming and the others hadn’t gone to bed yet and were still waiting for them in the main hall. She tossed him the Demon-Trapping Bottle, recounted the day’s events, and then led Xiao Hei back to her room.

She wasn’t going to participate in the interrogation. Her sanity had taken a huge hit tonight. She needed a good night’s sleep to rest and recuperate.

As she walked into the room, she belatedly realized that Xiao Hei hadn’t followed her. She went back out to look for him and saw that he had already walked into the room next door. She didn’t think much of it, assuming he wanted to sleep in that room, and followed him in, yawning.

Xiao Hei was slightly surprised. “Don’t you like to sleep alone?”

The utterly exhausted Xu Xingxing: ???

Isn’t it a little late to be asking that question? We’ve been sleeping together for months, roommate!