“W-Who’s the impatient one?!”
Shen Qingyi huffed, then pouted and decided she’d ignore her before heading back.
“Hehe.”
Su Qiulian couldn’t help but chuckle softly at the sight of her.
No matter the past life or this one, Little Shen is always so adorable!
It’s precisely this adorableness that makes her all the more lovable.
But adorable things, if left unprotected, often get destroyed—just like how Shen Qingyi died in her arms in their previous life.
Fortunately, Hao Ren Town might just live up to its name.
This little mortal town is mostly full of good people.
Otherwise, in their last life, she might never have seen Shen Qingyi at all—
Shen Qingyi would’ve been sold off by someone before that.
After all, with looks like hers, she truly is breathtaking.
And in this life, she’s even been blessed with an extraordinary healing talent.
If there were any cultivators in Hao Ren Town who discovered her gift, there’s no way they’d let Shen Qingyi go!
Thinking of this, Su Qiulian’s mind wandered to that Demonic Parasite Seed.
Her expression grew grave.
The Demonic Parasite Seed, without a doubt, belonged to that long-vanished Ancient Demon Cult.
So much time had passed that even Su Qiulian only learned about it from ancient texts—most of them incomplete.
The only record was that several hundred or thousand years ago, this land was home to a flourishing sect.
The teachings of that sect were wicked, using all the living beings of the world as their path.
Its followers committed countless atrocities, truly the scum of the world!
It’s one thing for demons and humans to fight because of race, but the Demonic Sect’s evil didn’t care what you were—young or old, human or demon.
As long as you could be used by them, they’d snatch you away.
If you were only refined into a Soul Banner, you were considered lucky; having your sinews ripped out and bones broken was counted as light.
In the ancient texts Su Qiulian had read, those demon cultists delighted in torment, using methods that made both humans and demons wish for death—she, the Demon Emperor herself, didn’t wish to recall the fragments she’d seen.
In short, the Demonic Parasite Seed was one of the Ancient Demon Cult’s most common methods for controlling people—one of the rare demon techniques Su Qiulian had found in the old records.
Now, with the reappearance of the Demonic Parasite Seed, the Demonic Sect must surely be reviving in the shadows.
“This could get dangerous…”
Su Qiulian looked down at Shen Qingyi in her arms.
For the Demonic Parasite Seed to show up in Hao Ren Town meant that the Demonic Sect must have their eyes on the tens of thousands of mortals here—or perhaps on her own Little Shen.
Recalling how Li Da suddenly attacked Little Shen, Su Qiulian was now convinced.
For Little Shen’s safety, she had to investigate!
However, her earlier actions had already alerted the enemy, so those demon scum likely wouldn’t act again for a while.
With no leads, all she could do was wait.
Thinking of the Fox Spirit that had hidden within Old Wangtou and Li Da, Su Qiulian sneered.
So this so-called Ancient Demon Cult thinks they can stand against the Demon Emperor of this era?
Let alone a bunch of stragglers!
Still, since things had been confirmed, she’d just wait for the Demonic Sect to reveal themselves again—blindly searching would get her nowhere.
After all, the biggest strength of the Demonic Parasite Seed was that it could control people from a distance.
Without knowing the situation in advance, removing it made it difficult to find its master—instead, it might only alert them.
Thinking this, Su Qiulian carried Shen Qingyi to the town center.
Glancing at the still-pouting Shen Qingyi in her arms, Su Qiulian asked gently, “Little Shen, what would you like to eat? I’ll buy it for you!”
“Eat? Didn’t you say we were going home first?”
Shen Qingyi was confused.
Just moments ago, this person sounded like she’d take her back and tease her mercilessly—how come she’d suddenly changed her mind?
Had she grown a conscience?
Realized how perverse her behavior was and now wanted to make it up to her?
Thinking along those lines, Shen Qingyi really did give serious thought to what she wanted to eat.
“Hmm… Just now, healing those people drained me, so I need some sugar. I want a candied hawthorn!”
She puffed her cheeks as she spoke, expectantly listening for Su Qiulian’s reply.
“Knew it—Little Shen still loves these!”
Su Qiulian smiled, lightly flicking Shen Qingyi’s nose.
But Shen Qingyi paid no mind to that, her attention snagged by what Su Qiulian just said.
“What do you mean, ‘still loves these’? Did we know each other before?”
Shen Qingyi asked in confusion.
Su Qiulian froze for a moment, then replied, “It’s nothing. Candied hawthorns are delicious, aren’t they? So I figured Little Shen would love them too!”
“I see… We really didn’t know each other before? To be honest, I feel a little familiar with you too! If I weren’t blind, maybe I’d recognize you now!”
Shen Qingyi meant what she said.
If someone else had behaved the way Su Qiulian had, touching her and acting like a pervert, she would have fought back with all her might.
But when Su Qiulian did it, honestly, she didn’t feel repulsed at all.
In fact, it felt normal, even familiar—like the two of them had always been this way, as if they’d spent a long time together like this…
Eh—
Thinking that, Shen Qingyi shivered all over.
The feeling truly unsettled her, but she couldn’t pinpoint why.
After mulling it over, she was sure Su Qiulian must have used some kind of demon art!
Yes!
Demon art!
She must’ve used some kind of demon art!
Just as Shen Qingyi was about to bare her teeth at Su Qiulian, something round and sweet was shoved into her mouth, puffing out her little cheeks.
“Mmmph…”
Just when Shen Qingyi wanted to hit her out of discomfort, Su Qiulian pulled the candied hawthorn out of her mouth.
She placed the stick in Shen Qingyi’s hand and chuckled, “Since you feel so familiar, maybe we’re fated for each other! Heaven finally let us meet! Now I must nurture our bond, Little Shen!”
“Pah! As long as you don’t act so perverted, feelings are easy to cultivate!”
Shen Qingyi said this, licked the candied hawthorn twice, then took a big bite.
“So Little Shen admits we’re meant to be?”
“Hmph! I never admitted that! I’m only saying it for the sake of the candied hawthorn!”
“Then how many candied hawthorns would it take to make Little Shen my wife?”
“Let me see… At least ten thousand, right? No, no—one hundred million! It has to be one hundred million!”
As dusk settled, Su Qiulian carried Shen Qingyi toward her little house, listening to her say, just like in her previous life, that it would take a hundred million candied hawthorns to marry her.
Her eyes sparkled with laughter and nostalgia.
In her previous life, she had failed to protect this precious, pure Little Shen—this time, she would never let anyone so much as touch Shen Qingyi.
This Little Shen belonged to her!
Tianyi Sword Sect, Sunset Western Hills, in the Sect Leader Palace, the Sect Leader Jun Ziyi, sitting atop the pu-tuan, stared in surprise at the person before her and asked, “You want to charge into the Demon Territory alone?!”