Queen of Ten Thousand Demons Insists on Marrying Me - Chapter 15

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo looked at the person in front of her. There were several bloody patches on her body, but no sign of injury. She just looked as if she had just been dug out of a block of ice.

She nudged the person lying motionless on the ground: “Hey! Where did you go? Why did you come back in this state?”

Getting no response, she took the other person’s wrist to check her condition.

“She doesn’t have any injuries, just spiritual energy depletion, and her body is a bit cold and weak. It’s not a big problem for a cultivator; she should wake up soon.”

After pondering for a moment, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo slowly reached for the other person’s sash…

She muttered to herself, “Maybe the antidote is on her, too?”

The result was predictable: she patted and searched the entire body but found nothing, though the demoness indeed had a good figure.

She then muttered again, “No offense, no offense! If I don’t change your clothes, you might get sick when you wake up. Although we are cultivators, we can still get sick, right?”

After changing the clothes, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo placed a piece of clothing under Dàntái Jǐng’s head as a pillow. She then cast a Cleansing Spell (淨衣訣 – Jìng Yī Jué), started a bonfire, and began to bake the wet clothes, which also helped warm Dàntái Jǐng’s body.

After finishing all the tidying up, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo felt drowsy. She yawned and waited for Dàntái Jǐng to wake up.

“Slap!”

A slap sent her directly tumbling to the ground.

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo angrily held the side of her face and shouted, “Damn it! Dàntái Jǐng, what are you going crazy about?!”

Dàntái Jǐng’s furious expression could not be hidden on her crimson face: “Who told you to take off my clothes?!”

A scholar may be killed, but not insulted!

“You appeared in front of me soaking wet and frozen, and I kindly changed your clothes for you—and now it’s my fault?!”

Dàntái Jǐng clenched her fist, wanting nothing more than to give this person a severe beating, but her spiritual energy was depleted, making her powerless. She could only rage, “You are shameless! You are despicable! I wouldn’t have died from freezing for a while; I would have changed them myself after waking up! Who asked for your help?”

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo gritted her teeth. “Fine, fine, fine. I was presumptuous. I had good intentions, and they were taken for ill. But how am I despicable and shameless? We’re both women; I have what you have. I think your figure is actually just average, so what’s the big secret? If you’re really unhappy, I can take mine off for you to see! I’m just afraid you’ll feel ashamed of your own body and go find a crooked-neck tree to hang yourself after seeing mine.”

This statement was purely Lù Xiǎoxiǎo’s bluff to anger Dàntái Jǐng. After all, she had just seen it and knew she was somewhat inferior to Dàntái Jǐng, but it didn’t matter. The goal was to infuriate her.

Dàntái Jǐng immediately raised her whip and struck toward Lù Xiǎoxiǎo’s mouth. This person had clearly confessed liking her before, and then taken advantage of her unconscious state to do such a thing—this was taking advantage of a person’s vulnerability!

Fortunately, Dàntái Jǐng was weak. Lù Xiǎoxiǎo rolled away to dodge and looked back at the spot where she had been standing—the ground was scorched! Oh my heavens.

“I advise you to give up those intentions early. It’s impossible for me to like a person like you, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo.”

Only then did Lù Xiǎoxiǎo suddenly realize and remember that she had confessed her feelings for Dàntái Jǐng.

Thinking about it this way, it did seem inappropriate. In Dàntái Jǐng’s eyes, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo liked her, but she didn’t like Lù Xiǎoxiǎo, and then Lù Xiǎoxiǎo took advantage of her unconsciousness to change her clothes.

“Wait, I was wrong. I actually didn’t see anything. I only changed your outer robe; the zhōng yī (inner garment) was untouched. Look for yourself if you don’t believe me.” Since all zhōng yī looked the same, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo didn’t believe she could tell the difference. The courage that had just sprung up was instantly scattered by a whip crack from the Guī Chén (Dust Returner).

Dàntái Jǐng looked at Lù Xiǎoxiǎo, then at the clothes over the bonfire, and thought: This bastard is still lying. I’ll settle the score properly with you after we get out, considering the current unfavorable situation.

“I’m hungry.”

After a moment of silence, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo heard the other person speak and quickly replied, “I have Bìgǔ Pills (Grain Abstinence Pills).”

Dàntái Jǐng looked at her coldly and replied, “No. I want to eat meat.”

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo complained in her heart: What a demanding ancestor. It’s all sunflowers! Where am I supposed to find meat for you?

“I just saw rabbits over there. Go quickly!”

Forcing out a smile that showed eight white teeth, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo replied, “Yes, my Lady. This humble servant will go find a rabbit for you right away.”

Watching Lù Xiǎoxiǎo walk away, Dàntái Jǐng sat down and began to meditate, restoring her depleted spiritual energy.

She had been too overconfident last night, fighting with those demons for too long, and didn’t expect her spiritual energy to be consumed so quickly. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been unable to withstand even one ice rain.

What surprised her was that after she recovered her spiritual energy and finished her meditation, she actually saw Lù Xiǎoxiǎo roasting two rabbits there. She had only said it casually to get her away.

“The taste is not bad. I didn’t expect that even though you can’t cook, you have a knack for roasting rabbits.”

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo had roasted the rabbits until they were golden brown, dripping oil, and emitting a burst of meaty fragrance.

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo had been craving it for a long time and was about to pick up one to treat herself.

A whip cracked, landing an inch in front of her finger. A split second faster and her finger would have been severed.

Dàntái Jǐng said, “One is not enough. I want this one too.”

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo was angry but dared not speak, just clicking her tongue. “You’re so young, but you have such a big appetite?”

Dàntái Jǐng asked, “Who told you I was young?”

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo replied, “Then, my Lady, you truly have skills in maintaining your appearance, and you are well-preserved.” (She thought internally: No wonder her temper is so bad; this is no different from menopause.)

Dàntái Jǐng didn’t want to waste more words with her. After eating her fill, she began to walk forward to explore the area. Lù Xiǎoxiǎo took a Bìgǔ Pill and followed her.

Fortunately, the spiritual energy here was abundant. The two flew on their swords for two shí chén (four hours) and finally explored the entire area.

This place was named the Mǎo Pavilion (Mǎo corresponds to the Eastern direction and the element Wood). It was round sky and square earth (Tiān Yuán Dì Fāng), the sun rose in the east and set in the west. Apart from sunflowers and some small animals, there was nothing else on the ground.

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo asked, “We’ve circled the whole place. Have you figured out how to get out?”

Dàntái Jǐng said, “This place is called the Mǎo Pavilion, and Mǎo corresponds to Wood. The Demon Locking Pagoda is divided into five layers, which must correspond to the Five Elements (Wǔ Xíng). Since the first layer is Wood, the progression should be Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.”

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo replied, “Understood. Wood generates Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water in a generative cycle. So, the second layer is Fire. Given this, how do we get to the second layer? Could it be that we set the Mǎo Pavilion on fire, and it will turn into Fire?”

Dàntái Jǐng said, “What you said is not without reason. This place is Tiān Yuán Dì Fāng and corresponds to the Five Elements. The ‘square earth’ might also correspond to the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams (Jiǔ Gōng Bā Guà).”

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo scratched her head with her index finger. “According to you, then, this small world is divided into nine sectors, corresponding to the Eight Gates (Bā Mén): Open, Rest, Life, Harm, Limit, Scenery, Death, and Alarm (Kāi, Xiū, Shēng, Shāng, Dù, Jǐng, Sǐ, Jīng). The Alarm Gate corresponds to the West and belongs to Metal, which corresponds to Yǒu Metal (Yǒu Jīn).”

“Exactly. Therefore, the exit must be in Yǒu (West). Since the Twelve Earthly Branches Mǎo (East) and Yǒu (West) clash (Mǎo Yǒu Xiāng Chōng), we must activate the Alarm Gate to make the Yǒu Metal clash with and break the Mǎo Pavilion, thus solving this predicament.” Saying this, Dàntái Jǐng wanted to fly toward the west.

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo stopped her and said, “Wait, that’s wrong. When I was learning talismans, I also looked at some of Qímén Dùnjiǎ (Mysterious Gates and Hidden Jias). The Eight Gates in Qímén are constantly changing according to the shí chén (two-hour period). The Alarm Gate may not correspond to the West right now. Judging by the sun, it should be the Shēn Shí (3 PM to 5 PM). Based on today’s date and this shí chén, the Alarm Gate is in the Southeast direction.”

Although she was a programmer before and didn’t understand this, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo had been serious about her talisman studies this month.

Dàntái Jǐng showed a rare look of approval. “I didn’t expect you, a scoundrel, to use your brain. What you said makes some sense. Let’s go toward the Southeast.”

Seeing that she had received praise, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo automatically ignored the word ‘scoundrel’ and triumphantly followed Dàntái Jǐng, flying toward the Southeast direction.

A quarter of an hour later, the two stopped exactly in the middle of the area corresponding to the Alarm Gate in the Southeast…

Lù Xiǎoxiǎo said, “I’m starting the fire now.”

Dàntái Jǐng said, “Mhm, hurry up. If we pass the Shēn Shí (3 PM to 5 PM), we’ll have to find the Alarm Gate again.”

With that, Lù Xiǎoxiǎo used the Fireball Technique, conjuring eight fireballs that hovered beside her. She took out her sword sheath, aimed it at the fireballs, and forcefully hit them toward the distance, thinking: This is much more interesting than playing baseball.

Dàntái Jǐng muttered, “Childish…”

The huge fire rapidly spread, fueled by the sunflowers from all directions. A teleportation array appeared in the entire area of the Alarm Gate.

With a flash of white light, the figures of the two people who were standing there vanished without a trace.