“Cough… Nong… Li…” Aoki coughed up blood, his face pale as paper. The pain was so intense it nearly tore apart his consciousness, but he forced himself to endure. When he saw Nongli’s eyes finally clear, filled with immense grief and disbelief, he reached out gently to touch her cheek.
“Master?”
Nongli watched Aoki’s hand draw near. She wanted to lean in and let him touch her, but before she knew it, Aoki slapped her face.
“And you!”
He had to strike the right balance now. If he was cold to Lin Qiyou, he couldn’t be too gentle with Nongli. He was like an acrobat walking on a knife’s edge, and the slightest misstep would collapse all his efforts.
This moment was absolutely crucial.
“Master—!!!”
Nongli let out a cry of heart-wrenching pain, feeling utterly aggrieved. She threw her arms around his limp, bloodstained, small body, hugging him tightly, tighter still. Her seven fox tails instinctively curled up to form an impenetrable protective shield, sheltering Aoki in the very center.
Grievance, guilt, and resentment churned within her.
Her tall body trembled violently, tears pouring down like a dam burst. She wanted to squeeze Aoki into her chest, but dared not, for fear she might crush him back into her body.
She never wanted to feel that pain again.
She looked up at Lin Qiyou, who stood frozen with sword in hand, her face equally pale. Her gaze was no longer fierce and imposing, but filled with endless sorrow, anger, and a bone-deep exhaustion. Her voice was hoarse and broken, thick with sobs: “Lin Qiyou! You’ve hurt him again!”
Lin Qiyou gripped her blood-dripping longsword, her fingers icy cold, as if she were holding a piece of burning iron instead of a blade. She looked at Aoki, barely breathing in Nongli’s embrace, and at Nongli’s utterly collapsed form, so different from before. Her mind was a blur.
“I…” Lin Qiyou opened her mouth but found she couldn’t make a sound. Was it an illusion? But the warmth from the blade and that glaring red blood were all too real. Aoki’s words—“Last time you stabbed me”—echoed in her ears like a curse.
It was no illusion.
Yet, another emotion surged up—anger! Anger at being deceived and used!
She glared at Aoki, her voice trembling with barely contained emotion: “Aoki… you… once again! Once again you used your body… Are you so sure I won’t kill you? Or do you believe, for this fox, you’d throw your life away?!”
To her, Aoki’s decisive move to block the sword was no different than forcing her to hurt him once more, using his life to protect the demon fox who had once devoured him!
What had she done wrong this time?
It hurt and enraged her even more than outright betrayal.
“Don’t… insult Master!” Nongli hugged Aoki even tighter, like a mother beast protecting her cub, growling at Lin Qiyou as her sadness was replaced by blazing fury.
“Master?” Lin Qiyou caught that title, her pupils contracting. She looked at Aoki, then at Nongli. “Even if he was once your master, he’s just a child now! And you, calling him Master again and again, yet treating him as a medicinal ingredient, trying to devour him to advance your cultivation! You monster, what right do you have to play innocent here?”
“I didn’t!” Nongli retorted, even more agitated, tears streaming down. “That was… That was because my memory was sealed! Those lady physicians, the other demon kings! They told me only that way could I oppose you, only that way could I protect the demon realm! If I remembered… If I remembered he was Master, I’d rather my soul be scattered than harm him even a little!”
Two women: one shocked and guilty for hurting Aoki again, yet angry at his choices; the other remorseful as her memories returned, burning with rage at Lin Qiyou for harming her master.
The hatred between them was not diminished by Aoki’s sacrifice. Instead, with all the tangled emotions and old and new grievances, it became sharper, a hair’s breadth from erupting.
In Nongli’s tight embrace, Aoki could feel her trembling body and burning tears. He could also sense the repressed but surging killing intent and anger from Lin Qiyou. He knew if he didn’t act, this brief pause would immediately be swallowed by even fiercer conflict.
He struggled for a breath. The pain made his vision flicker black, but he summoned the last of his strength. His voice, weak but clear, cut through the standoff:
“All… of you… shut up…”
His words succeeded in drawing their attention.
Aoki’s gaze first landed on Lin Qiyou’s face, filled with a hint of helplessness and fatigue. “Lin Qiyou… I… never assumed anything… I just… don’t want to see either of you… anyone… die because of me… or commit murder because of me…”
He slowly turned his gaze to Nongli, saw her tear-stained face. His tone softened a bit, but was unyieldingly firm. “Nongli… put away… your claws… and tails… Don’t… attack… again…”
“Master…” Nongli choked, wanting to protest, but under Aoki’s calm, deep gaze, it was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her. Her raging demonic power and fury were suppressed little by little. She could defy the world, but she couldn’t defy her master’s eyes.
Aoki looked again at Lin Qiyou, his tone more resolute than ever: “And you… Lin Qiyou… put down… your sword…”
Lin Qiyou’s grip on her sword tightened, her knuckles white. She saw Aoki’s face, pale as death, saw the gaping wound on his shoulder—one she’d caused. Her heart felt clenched by an invisible hand, the pain nearly suffocating.
“If…” Aoki’s voice grew weaker, but every word struck home, “If either of you… makes another move… I swear… I’ll end this breath… right now…”
With his remaining strength, he moved the fingers pressing against Nongli’s arm just a bit. The message was clear—if they fought again, he would sever his own heart meridian on the spot!
“No!” Nongli cried out in panic, hugging Aoki even tighter, as if afraid he’d vanish in the next instant.
Lin Qiyou’s body shuddered, her anger, unwillingness, and killing intent finally washed away by overwhelming fear and helplessness. She knew Aoki—he would really do it! A hundred years ago, he’d risked his life for strangers; now, to stop them, he’d do the same!
Clang—
A clear metallic sound rang out.
The bloodstained longsword slipped from Lin Qiyou’s trembling hand and hit the ground. She seemed drained of all strength, staggering before she could stand firm. She closed her eyes, and the tear mole under her left eye seemed to turn ashen.
“…Fine.” The word squeezed from between her teeth, filled with endless bitterness and compromise.
Seeing Lin Qiyou abandon her sword and feeling her killing intent fade, Nongli finally relaxed a little, though she still watched warily, her fox tails shielding Aoki all the more.
Aoki saw the two of them finally stop and let out a long, silent sigh of relief. The intense pain and blood loss surged over him like a tide, his consciousness growing dim.
He took one last look at Nongli, then at the devastated Lin Qiyou, and murmured in a voice barely audible, “Stopping… is enough…”
Before the words even finished, he completely lost consciousness.
“Master!”
“Aoki!”
Nongli and Lin Qiyou cried out at nearly the same time.
Nongli immediately turned her demonic power into the gentlest healing energy, carefully channeling it into Aoki’s body to protect his heart meridian and wounds for the moment. She picked him up, stood, glanced at the sword on the ground, then at the pale-faced Lin Qiyou. Her gaze was complicated, but in the end she simply said coldly, “If anything happens to him, I’ll pour the entire strength of the demon realm into a war of extermination against you.”
With that, she prepared to take Aoki away, but her tails and claws stretched out again, hissing at the advancing Lin Qiyou.
Now, Aoki’s fate became a point of contention!
Nongli wanted to use the best pills and the safest place to heal her master, but Lin Qiyou could also provide those things for Aoki.
The atmosphere grew tense again, Lin Qiyou’s sword back in hand, as if the ground itself was scorching hot, and Nongli stood up from the ground.
“Stop fighting!”
At that moment, Qin Feng and Qin Shuang, who had resolved their own matters, arrived. They had been secretly observing everything, realizing that the so-called human-demon war was, at its core, a fight between the leaders of both sides over… a kid who hadn’t even grown all his hair yet?
It was absurd, but it was the truth.
They stepped between the human and the demon. Qin Shuang said, “Enough, there’s no need to fight anymore. The real problem now is who gets custody of Aoki, right? Why not each take a step back?”
Qin Feng looked at Nongli with a complicated gaze. “Yes, there’s no need. Let’s not cause more bloodshed.”
“How about this—each side appoints one person to care for Aoki, and you both agree on a place for him. Wouldn’t that work?”
Qin Shuang offered the suggestion. Nongli and Lin Qiyou thought for a moment, finding it reasonable. Human and demon exchanged glances and nodded.
“Alright, let’s do that then… Qin Feng, you’ll take care of Aoki, alright?”
Lin Qiyou said to Qin Feng.
“Huh? Me?”
Qin Feng thought this should be his mother’s job—or rather… foster mother.
But nurturing kindness was greater than birth. Even knowing he was adopted changed nothing.
Most importantly, Aoki had lied.
“Traitor, get out here!”
Still holding Aoki, Nongli shouted, and the giraffe demon, who’d been hiding in the shadows, nervously crept out. He shot a resentful look at Lin Qiyou and cursed, “Liar! Didn’t you say you’d leave with Mister Aoki?!”
“You look after Master now!”
Despite the giraffe demon’s betrayal, Nongli still felt she could trust this little demon, as he truly cared for Aoki.
“Huh? I…”
The giraffe demon was moved to tears.
Thus, did Nongli and Lin Qiyou shake hands and make peace…?
…
…..
In another world, when Aoki awoke, he heard hurried footsteps fleeing. Little Ya, covered in blood, burst in front of him. “Lord Aoki! Nongli was killed by Yue Qi! Run!”
Aoki froze for a few seconds, then asked, “Where’s Lin Qiyou?”
“Who?”
Little Ya was stunned.