Jiang Che was a little stunned; he hadn’t expected the opening line to be this.
“Greetings, He Shen. My eyes can’t see, that’s why I’m wearing this cloth…”
Jiang Che deliberately hoarsened his voice, making it impossible to tell his gender at first.
“Can’t see?”
Duo’er felt a bit triumphant. She had been wondering whether she should keep up the act of dignity once the person was brought here.
But now, it turned out the other party couldn’t see either.
Yet, on second thought, she felt pity for him—his eyes couldn’t see, and he was being treated like an Offering.
Duo’er leapt out from the shadows, carefully scrutinizing Jiang Che.
Bathed in the glow of the pearls shining from the Small River Mussel, Duo’er was completely stunned.
Jiang Che’s crimson bridal robe embroidered with gold was thoroughly soaked by the water, making him look both bedraggled and heartbreakingly beautiful.
His hair was pinned up but slightly loose, several strands plastered to his cheeks and neck in a messy, drenched way, giving him a pitiable appearance.
What made Duo’er’s heart leap most wildly was the blindfold—the red cloth tied over his eyes!
Once wet, the fabric became semi-transparent, revealing the contours of his eyes and face.
The vermilion cinnabar smeared across it, blurred by the water like blood oozing from bitten lips, forming a shocking, almost demonic kind of allure on his pale face.
If Feng Yaqin were here to see this, Jiang Che would definitely be devoured by her in every imaginable way, because Feng Yaqin, that mischievous person, surely couldn’t resist such temptation.
And Duo’er, only about twelve or thirteen years old mentally, was too shocked to speak.
Th-this… this isn’t exactly the standard image of the cold, sickly bride with a tragic background, forced to be sacrificed to the villainous overlord, that she’d been staying up late reading about in those Xianxia tragedy novels?!
The only flaw was that Jiang Che looked a bit small and thin, appearing only about eleven or twelve years old.
Help! Someone save me! This is too beautiful! Even the artist couldn’t draw this!
“So… so beautiful…”
Duo’er almost blurted the words unconsciously, dazzled by Jiang Che’s appearance, and didn’t even bother to use Spirit Power to alter her voice.
Her tone just now perfectly matched her identity as a young girl.
“Your voice…”
Jiang Che was extremely sensitive to sound; even the faintest noise was captured by him.
That was hardly the majestic and deep voice of a Demonic Water Dragon.
Hearing Jiang Che’s words, Duo’er finally realized she hadn’t changed her voice.
She hurriedly waved her hands but didn’t know how to explain.
“Uh, well… no… I…”
She wanted to explain but, flustered, couldn’t control her voice.
Her face instantly flushed crimson.
After a moment’s hesitation, she quickly gave up.
Pouting, she spoke in her original voice, “Ah, forget it! Never mind, this is my real voice anyway.
We’ll be living together from now on, so I’ll show you around first.”
Like a child eager to share her secret base, Duo’er grabbed Jiang Che’s hand.
Jiang Che felt the hand was surprisingly cold yet strong, and he instinctively matched her grip and stood up.
His mind was still reeling from the sudden turn of events—he had decades of life experience but still couldn’t understand what was going on.
But he forgot one thing: he didn’t have his Cane with him, making it hard to walk properly.
After just a few steps, his awkward, uneven gait was immediately noticed by Duo’er.
She saw his right foot barely touching the ground, as if he had no strength in it.
Thinking he was injured, she quickly stopped, grasping Jiang Che’s arm firmly and carefully helped him sit back down on the soft, massive Large River Mussel Bed.
“What’s wrong with your leg?” Her voice was filled with surprise and unhidden concern.
Here it comes again.
A numbness spread through Jiang Che’s heart.
He had lost count of how many people had asked him this question, eyes included.
It was like a curse—an inevitable topic whenever anyone met him for the first time.
As for the question about his eyes, he was still a bit surprised by their concern, but now, with this so-called He Shen girl, he genuinely felt a warmth of human kindness.
It made it hard for him to see her as a demon.
He tugged the corner of his mouth, speaking in a flat tone as if talking about someone else, “I’m lame.”
As soon as the words fell, they struck Duo’er like little hammers, making her nose sting with emotion.
How could there be someone so pitiful?
She lifted Jiang Che’s robe, using the faint light to see the scars on his leg—almost like torn flesh but with edges already fading.
“Oh… oh!” Duo’er sniffled hard, swallowing back the bitterness.
“Wait here, don’t move, okay?”
Jiang Che didn’t know what she intended, but nodded.
At least, he hadn’t sensed any malice yet.
Seeing his nod, Duo’er turned and jumped into a puddle nearby, splashing loudly.
When she came back, she held a somewhat decent-looking Cane.
“Here, try this.”
Jiang Che took it in hand, noting it was wet and rougher than he was used to, and complicated feelings stirred inside him.
Still, he got up and tried the Cane.
It was coarse and only barely the right length—nowhere near the quality of the one Hu Qiao’er had personally made for him.
That Cane had lasted him three years.
“Thank you,” he said softly, voice still calm.
Upon hearing this, Duo’er’s face immediately brightened with a happy smile.
Jiang Che gripped the Cane tighter, almost forgetting why he had come here in the first place.
But he hadn’t expected the He Shen to be like this.
Wasn’t this kind of domineering demon supposed to be the fierce water demon from folklore and strange tales?
Rampaging wildly, stirring storms, capsizing boats, killing without hesitation?
Or like those malevolent spirits harming humans, forcing sacrifices, imprisoning captured women in deep underwater palaces, ruling tyrannically and tormenting at will?
He instinctively sat back down on the River Mussel Bed.
At first, he’d thought it was an ordinary bed, but now he felt otherwise.
The bed’s edge was a beautiful curve, hard like a shell, yet the surface was soft and fleshy, not like fabric or cotton.
The texture under his fingertips was plump and slick, with a strange elasticity.
Jiang Che’s heart stirred, and he pinched it lightly—it didn’t feel like a bed at all, but more like a lump of fat.
In fact, it was the flesh inside the River Mussel’s shell.
Jiang Che hadn’t expected this little girl to be a River Clam Demon, nor that the “bed” was actually a River Mussel—her true body.
Then, he heard a strange humming sound behind him.
When he pinched the fleshy lump, he distinctly felt it twitch as if in resistance, like he had hurt it.
Before Jiang Che could make sense of this strange phenomenon, someone suddenly grabbed him from behind, firmly pinning his hands.
A cold breath exhaled onto his back.