Queen of Ten Thousand Demons Insists on Marrying Me - Chapter 20

Inside a hotpot restaurant, the owner and servers spoke authentic Sichuan dialect. Customers entering wore thick coats and greeted the owner warmly. Lu Xiaoxiao and her friends sat near the window, outside of which thick snow was falling and pedestrians hurried past. As the waiter brought the steaming beef tallow hotpot to the table, she quickly grabbed a piece of tripe to swish it up and down.

After exactly eight swishes, it was finally ready. Watching the tripe approach her, she slightly parted her red lips, eager to savor it.

“Lu Xiaoxiao!”

“Lu Xiaoxiao!”

Lu Xiaoxiao widened her eyes and looked at her friends: “Who is calling me?” Her friends seemed completely unaware of her presence, continuing to eat and chat among themselves.

The scene before her suddenly distorted. The hotpot, the friends, the waiter, and the heavy snow all rapidly faded away.

A beautiful, charming face appeared before her. She was being held in Dantail Jing’s embrace.

“Dantai Jing? Why are you here?”

Dantai Jing spoke anxiously: “What do you mean, why am I here? Are you an idiot? You were frozen like that, why did you insist on continuing? Do you know you weren’t breathing just now?”

Dantai Jing shouldn’t have felt so sad about Lu Xiaoxiao’s death, but there were too few people in this world who were kind to her, and none who were willing to sacrifice their lives for her.

While she had thought Lu Xiaoxiao was speaking nonsense when she claimed to like her, now she had no choice but to believe it. Although she could not give her anything in return, she did not want her to die right in front of her.

Lu Xiaoxiao was momentarily bewildered: “I thought so! How could I be sitting inside a restaurant and still feel so cold? Even if there’s no central heating in Sichuan, there should be air conditioning.”

Dantai Jing held her frozen body and vigorously rubbed her arms, thinking to herself: What central heating or air conditioning? Has this person been frozen senseless?

Lu Xiaoxiao shivered, and her consciousness finally reconvened. It had just been a dream.

“It’s so cold. I… I was afraid of disturbing your recovery.”

After all, you are the main combat power. If you die, I’ll die too, so I must prioritize you. Who would have thought she would nearly freeze to death in the icy rain? She would never dare to do that again.

Lu Xiaoxiao suddenly felt a soft sensation on her chest. Her hands were unconsciously cradling a large, white, furry object. She couldn’t help but squeeze it and asked, “What is this?”

As soon as she spoke, the furry thing quickly retreated and vanished.

Dantai Jing’s earlobes turned faintly red: “It was to keep you warm.”

“I know it was to keep me warm, but I asked what thing it was?”

“What is it, Dantai Jing?”

“…Ask, ask, ask! It’s my tail! Stop babbling and get up quickly, Yan Sihong will be here soon!” Dantai Jing angrily shoved a few medicinal pills for healing into her mouth.

Tail?

Dantai Jing’s true form actually had such a big tail!

She really is a fox spirit! Otherwise, how could she be so beautiful?

But Lu Xiaoxiao didn’t have time to think further before she heard Yan Sihong’s lingering voice again. She quickly forced herself to stand up. Her heart felt more secure when she saw Dantai Jing’s health bar restored to 80%.

“I’ve always said that each generation is weaker than the last. You youngsters are just too frail.”

Lu Xiaoxiao looked at the figure emerging from the mist, feeling a huge headache. This Yan Sihong looked delicate and weak, but how could she be so persistent in chasing them? The various attribute indices floating above her head were ten points higher than Dantai Jing’s. How were they supposed to fight her?

Dantai Jing held her Gui Chen (Return to Dust) and stepped forward, turning sideways to shield Lu Xiaoxiao.

Yan Sihong gracefully twirled the paper umbrella in her hand. Thousands of silver needles instantly shot through the dense fog, raining down densely toward the two of them. Dantai Jing reacted quickly, whipping Gui Chen to swirl the surrounding air, gathering all the needles before cleanly flinging them back out.

Seeing this, Yan Sihong smiled faintly and nonchalantly tossed the paper umbrella into the air. The umbrella immediately spun and flew toward them at an extreme speed, bringing with it a bone-chilling coldness. Dantai Jing quickly jumped away, but the strong gust of wind generated by the umbrella still left a bloody scratch on her face. Although she had injured her, Yan Sihong did not recall the umbrella; instead, she let it continue to rush forward.

It was now less than an inch away from Lu Xiaoxiao behind her.

Dantai Jing immediately extended Gui Chen, wrapped it around Lu Xiaoxiao, and flung her forcefully into the distance. Unexpectedly, Yan Sihong seized this opening. The paper umbrella suddenly folded back, and under the impact of a powerful spell, Dantai Jing was violently knocked flying.

Yan Sihong walked up to Dantai Jing, holding her paper umbrella: “Overestimating yourself. Knowing you can’t win, you still insist on protecting your little lover. As you wish, Elder Sister will deal with you first, and then eat her.”

Lu Xiaoxiao saw that Yan Sihong completely disregarded her existence. She had originally wanted to approach Yan Sihong by herself, but looking at the situation now, if she waited until Dantai Jing was dead to approach her, it would be too late.

“Wait! Yan Sihong, you should understand the principle of a big meal now versus having meals regularly.”

“What do you mean?” Yan Sihong didn’t even glance toward Lu Xiaoxiao.

“Let me put it this way: the Palace Mistress of Yaoxia Palace is my godmother, and Dantai Jing is my Taoist partner. Dantai Jing and I came here for trials with my godmother’s permission, and we’ll leave sooner or later. But if you kill both of us, I’m afraid my godmother will use the Demon Locking Tower to directly punish you. Why don’t you spare our lives, hold us as bargaining chips, and exchange us with my godmother for a chance for you to leave?”

“Heh heh. Little Jing’er might be able to exchange her life for a chance to leave because of Fu Zhao’s relationship with Wan Xuan’er. But whether you are truly Lu Mingyu’s daughter is still unknown. Stay and be noisy.”

“Damn it! What kind of crooked reasoning is that?” Lu Xiaoxiao didn’t understand why Dantai Jing was more valuable than her. Could it be that Fu Zhao and Wan Xuan’er really had a fling hundreds of years ago?

Suddenly, Yan Sihong virtually teleported over, grabbed her neck, lifted her up, and then said in her lazy voice: “So noisy. I’d better deal with you first, then I can take my time playing with your Taoist partner~”

Lu Xiaoxiao struggled and glanced at Dantai Jing. She seemed to catch a hint of reluctance in her eyes, though she didn’t know if she was mistaken.

“Cough, cough…”

Lu Xiaoxiao was being choked and couldn’t breathe. She felt her throat bones were about to shift, and her face was turning liver-colored from lack of air. She feared that in the next second, her neck would be twisted and she would pass away.

Taking advantage of Yan Sihong’s attention being entirely on Lu Xiaoxiao, Dantai Jing forced herself to stand, gathered all her spiritual energy into Gui Chen, and rapidly whipped it toward Yan Sihong.

Yan Sihong sensed it but did not dodge, instead raising Lu Xiaoxiao’s body to shield herself.

Dantai Jing’s original intention was to distract Yan Sihong and give Lu Xiaoxiao a chance to strike, but she hadn’t expected Yan Sihong to use Lu Xiaoxiao as a shield.

Startled, she quickly tried to retract her spiritual energy, but she still couldn’t pull back the whip completely.

Lu Xiaoxiao watched Gui Chen, wreathed in flames, strike down like a bolt of lightning, thinking to herself: My life is over!

In a flash, she summoned the Chaoyuan Sword, holding it with both hands. She thrust it under her armpit, striking fiercely backward. At the same time, her shoulder took a hit from the whip, the pain so intense she felt her soul was being drawn out of her body.

Yan Sihong never expected that Lu Xiaoxiao, on the brink of death, wouldn’t defend against Dantai Jing’s whip but would instead fiercely endure it to strike back at her. Even more unexpected was that the sword was the ancient divine weapon, the Chaoyuan Sword.

Under the searing pain, Yan Sihong let out a mournful cry.

She was enraged that she had been wounded by a mere girl who hadn’t even reached the Golden Core stage. In her fury, she struck out with a full-force palm attack toward Lu Xiaoxiao’s back. This strike would surely kill her; even if she was dying, she would take someone down with her.

Lu Xiaoxiao had been completely terrified by the whip strike, and just as she thought she was finished, she felt Gui Chen wrap around her and fly toward Dantai Jing, narrowly allowing her to dodge the palm strike.

Borrowing the momentum of Lu Xiaoxiao flying back, Dantai Jing lunged toward Yan Sihong. The two figures swept past each other.

When Lu Xiaoxiao landed and turned around, she saw Dantai Jing holding the Chaoyuan Sword with both hands, pushing Yan Sihong back to the edge of the bridge. Blood continuously dripped down the sword hilt. Under the Chaoyuan Sword’s scorching heat, Dantai Jing was enduring tremendous pain.

She kicked Yan Sihong’s body, then pulled out the Chaoyuan Sword. Yan Sihong fell into the fog below the bridge like a broken kite and disappeared.

In the past two days, Lu Xiaoxiao and Dantai Jing had discovered that the fourth layer of the Demon Locking Tower was like a giant gourd, and the bottom must be filled with the Icy Bone-Forging Rain. Falling off the bridge meant absolutely no chance of survival.

Seeing this, Lu Xiaoxiao’s heart finally settled. She could no longer bear the strain and collapsed. The last thing she saw before closing her eyes was Dantai Jing, covered in blood, stumbling toward her.

She murmured: “I did pretty well, didn’t I…”

On the deep blue ocean floated a vibrant island dotted with coconut groves. Underneath a coconut tree lay one person and one demon.

Her eyes were tightly closed, her curled eyelashes fluttering with her breathing. Her eyebrows were thick yet soft, slightly furrowed. Her rosy face exuded a valiant and heroic air.

Inside her body, a demonic core radiated a red light, repairing her ruptured meridians.

Looking closer, she was actually sleeping on a gigantic White Tiger. The ground was her bed, and the White Tiger’s tail served as her blanket. The White Tiger lay prone, snow-white all over without a single stray hair. Its fur was much longer than that of ordinary tigers, and its body was several times larger. A red flame pattern in the center of its brow was striking, symbolizing the bloodline of the White Tiger of the Four Quarters.

When Lu Xiaoxiao woke up again, she felt like she was lying on a very soft mattress. She opened her eyes to see the azure sky with a few birds circling above, and faintly in her peripheral vision, she saw some coconut trees.

Lu Xiaoxiao closed her eyes and said, “I’m dreaming again. This time, I’m by the sea.”

“What dream? This is the fifth layer of the Demon Locking Tower.”

“Dantai Jing?”

Lu Xiaoxiao’s body suddenly felt empty as she tumbled onto the sand.

Dantai Jing, now in human form, stood before her, backlit by the sun. She extended a hand to Lu Xiaoxiao and smiled.

“You’re finally awake!”

Lu Xiaoxiao saw the bandage on her hand, knowing it was an injury sustained while using the Chaoyuan Sword. She didn’t take her hand but braced herself on the ground and stood up.

She looked at Dantai Jing’s reduced attack attribute value and felt curious.

“Dantai Jing, do you have some kind of miraculous elixir? When I fainted, I felt like I was almost dead. But I woke up after sleeping and I’m full of energy! I feel like I could punch a tiger to death right now.” She then threw two punches forward to prove her point.

Dantai Jing looked helpless: “Yes, I used an ancestral miraculous elixir on you. Otherwise, you truly would have died in there this time.” It took me a hundred years of cultivation to snatch you back from the King of Hell. There was no miraculous elixir.

Lu Xiaoxiao scratched her head, embarrassed: “Thank you. Is it because I took all the pills that you haven’t recovered properly? Your face looks so pale. When we go back, I’ll definitely compensate you well. Also, I think I’ve broken through to the Golden Core stage.”

She continued, “Great hardship is followed by great fortune. We cooperated too well! I can’t believe we actually managed to kill that old demoness.”

Dantai Jing’s face held a rare softness: “This time, it was largely thanks to you. I definitely couldn’t have killed Yan Sihong alone. She had many Demon Cores from the Tribulation Stage, and that magical artifact…” Before she could finish suggesting that they split the loot fifty-fifty, Lu Xiaoxiao interrupted her.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I don’t need the Demon Cores or anything; you keep them for yourself. Besides, I have the Chaoyuan Sword. What magical artifact could be more powerful than the Chaoyuan Sword?”

Dantai Jing cast a glance at her and began walking toward the center of the island.

“How interesting. After walking through the gates of hell, a feather-plucking miser can become generous. In that case, I will graciously accept the spirit stones inside.”

Lu Xiaoxiao hadn’t realized there were spirit stones inside: “Yan Sihong had so many good things? Then you still have to give me some.”

Dantai Jing: “Too late! What is said cannot be unsaid.”

“Just a little, just a tiny bit. I just need to buy some talisman paper.”

Dantai Jing’s eyes caught sight of something. She stopped joking with Lu Xiaoxiao and pointed into the distance: “Look there.”

Lu Xiaoxiao looked up, only to see an ancient, elegant courtyard situated right in the middle of the island.