“That night in the treasury, when I said those things, it was because I was jealous. I was jealous that Lady Yunhe could treat you that way, while I could only watch. I was jealous that she could touch you, while I didn’t even dare to get close.”
Shen Mo felt as if an invisible hand had seized his heart, a suffocating horror drowning him.
He realized he hadn’t raised a little white rabbit, but a venomous snake that had long been coiled around his neck.
“Master’s Husband,” Chao’er looked at him, a deep darkness surfacing in her eyes. “I know I’ve changed.”
“After falling into the Demon Abyss, something else appeared inside me. That thing is terrifying; sometimes I can’t even control it. But one thing will never change.”
She leaned closer to him, so close her breath fanned against his face.
“I love you.”
“From a very, very long time ago, when you still didn’t know, when you only saw me as a disciple, as a child… this heart has been completely full of you.”
Shen Mo’s mind went blank.
“Chao’er, do you have any idea what you’re saying? I am your Honored Teacher’s husband! This is… this is a grave transgression!”
“Grave transgression?”
Chao’er let out a soft laugh.
The laugh carried an arrogance that scorned all rules.
“In this world that devours people, Master’s Husband is talking to me about rules?”
Her lips pressed against the shell of his ear.
Warm breath sprayed inside.
Carrying a chilling, damp sensation. “Master’s Husband, do you remember our previous agreement… you promised that if I came back alive from the Secret Realm, you would grant me one wish. No matter what it was.”
Chao’er’s hand suddenly tightened, gripping the back of Shen Mo’s head, forcing him to look at her.
Shen Mo’s breathing grew ragged. “I…”
“Does Master’s Husband want to go back on his word?” Chao’er’s eyes instantly turned dangerous, demonic qi churning around her, black patterns crawling up her neck. “If Master’s Husband dares to say no… Chao’er will be very angry.”
“When Chao’er gets angry, she wants to kill people.”
“Honored Teacher is still in seclusion, right? One sword strike, and she won’t even wake up.”
“You—”
“And Eldest Senior Sister,” Chao’er continued, her tone as calm as if arranging tomorrow’s breakfast. “Her talent is good, and she’s pretty too. Don’t worry, after she dies, I’ll find a nice place to bury her.”
Shen Mo trembled all over.
Not because he feared his own death.
But because he feared what she was saying—
“And everyone on Jiaoyue Peak.” Chao’er watched him tremble, the smile at the corner of her lips deepening. “The people you’ve managed for seven years, the people who work for you, the people who call you Lord—not a single one will escape.”
“And then I’ll lock Master’s Husband in the dungeon, where you’ll only ever look at Chao’er alone, okay?”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
Shen Mo struggled violently, but the moment he raised his hands, she pressed them down.
She pinned his wrists, pressing him firmly against the pile of stones.
“Whether I dare or not,” she leaned down, close to his ear, like a viper flicking its tongue, “you can try.”
Shen Mo’s breath hitched.
He looked at the young girl before him.
Looking into those eyes burning with mad flames, he finally understood one thing.
She dared anything.
She truly dared anything.
“Chao’er…” Shen Mo’s voice trembled, carrying a hint of pleading. “Don’t be like this… let’s go back. I’ll make you osmanthus cakes, we’ll be like before…”
“We can’t go back.”
Chao’er cut him off, her gaze desolate yet resolute.
“From the moment I saw that bitch Yunhe pressing down on you, Chao’er couldn’t go back anymore.”
Her fingers slid down Shen Mo’s neck, stopping precisely at his collarbone.
She lowered her head, opened her mouth, and bit down hard!
“Mmph—!”
Shen Mo grunted in pain, the sensation bringing tears to his eyes.
Chao’er ground her teeth over that old wound, with a nearly cruel intensity, trying to cover up Qin Shuying’s mark.
Only when it began to seep blood did she release it with satisfaction.
She extended the tip of her tongue, gently licking away that trace of crimson.
She lifted her head, the corner of her mouth stained with Shen Mo’s blood, smiling bewitchingly and eerily, like a red spider lily blooming on a corpse.
“Chao’er! I know you’re being controlled by something from the Demon Abyss! You’re not in your right mind, this isn’t your true intention! You’re the most obedient child!”
Shen Mo spoke while continuously comforting himself internally, trying to awaken her consciousness.
Yes, that must be it.
She must have been eroded, possessed, controlled by some terrifying demonic remnant soul from the Secret Realm!
She wasn’t acting of her own free will!
As long as he could awaken her true consciousness, there was still a chance to salvage everything!
This thought was his last psychological barrier.
He reached out a trembling hand to touch her cheek, just like countless times in the past.
“Chao’er! Look at what you’ve become. This power… it’s not yours at all. Wake up, stop being controlled by it!”
“Controlled?”
She seemed to have heard the biggest joke.
Her left hand pressed against her chest, where demonic qi surged, resonating with the dark light in her eyes.
“Master’s Husband, you’re wrong. It’s not control, it’s… fusion, liberation. We are one. She is me, and I am her.”
Her gaze grew distant, recalling some experience of extreme pleasure and pain.
“The me now is strong, beautiful. I will never be bullied by anyone again, nor will I let anyone bully you.”
“The one who needs to wake up is you. You’d rather deceive yourself, saying I’m controlled by a demon, that everything I do is not my true intention… because that way, the obedient, sensible, respectful, loving disciple Chao’er in your heart is still alive, still unchanged, right?”
Every word was like a blunt knife dipped in ice.
Slowly and cruelly dismembering the last bit of self-deceiving solace in Shen Mo’s heart.
“Chao’er, what nonsense are you talking… you’re under a demonic influence…”
His face was as pale as paper, his lips trembling slightly.
“That’s right, I am under a demonic influence. From the moment that filthy slut Yunhe pressed down on you, I went mad.”
Chao’er’s fingers lightly stroked the Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Master’s Husband, what do you think I went to the Secret Realm for? For the Great Dao? For Jiaoyue Peak? No. It was only to be qualified—to sleep with you.”
Shen Mo’s face paled further.
“No… impossible…” he murmured to himself, his body desperately shrinking back, trying to escape this nightmare.
Chao’er’s expression didn’t change; in fact, she was inwardly startled by his naivety.
The curve at the corner of her lips deepened slightly.
Carrying undisguised mockery and a kind of nearly cruel clarity.
“If I made you misunderstand before, I’m sorry. Now, I solemnly declare: every bit of my feelings for you, every inch of my desire, from secretly looking up at you, to deeply burying it, to now… when it can no longer be suppressed—it’s all me.”
“It’s Chao’er.”
“It’s that Chao’er who, from the moment you brought her back to Jiaoyue Peak, gave her food and clothing, taught her principles, gently patted her back to comfort her when she woke from nightmares… from that time on, little by little, hopelessly, fell in love with her own Honored Teacher’s husband.”
She spoke very softly, very slowly, yet with the force of ten thousand jun, shattering his worldview with a crash.
So, the filial affection, the pure attachment he had believed in, had long ago, at some unknown time, quietly transformed.