The scent of rabbit meat wafted through the air.
Qiren descended between the ledges, handing out pieces of dried meat wrapped in large leaves, packaged like small lunch boxes with grilled mushrooms and wood-carved chopsticks piercing the leaves together.
He landed near each captive, unbinding the food in front of them, then left them to pick at it on their own.
Some growled and shifted back as he arrived, on guard, expecting him to kill them.
But it wasn't their turn just yet. After feeding five of them, he went to his sixth captive. Unlike the rest—or his new impish guest still recovering from its burns—she was completely free.
No discomfort or visible trauma showed at his presence.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked.
The girl blinked, rubbing her clear yellow eyes.
"I slept well, my lord. These warm furs made it more comfortable than I'd thought."
She stretched with her vined handcuffs as she rose from a pile of wolf fur. Her binds weren't too restrictive, having been made with a decent amount of slack.
"Mmm." Qiren nodded, setting down two food bundles.
"Lady Yīnluò, can you tell me more about your birth region?"
He didn't bother with pleasantries, cutting straight to the point as he sat and began eating. The best he could do was add a false honorific in a half-hearted attempt to appease her.
Yīnluò nodded, waiting for him to take a bite before speaking.
"As I stated, the first layer of the Abyss is unnamed. It has no distinct title beyond what regional leaders choose to call their birth regions—the places they first arrive after descending the Azure Pit."
"Though most demons come down the same stairwell, it's important to understand they don't technically arrive in the same region," she continued calmly.
She fixed her morning hair, brushing it over her shoulder with both hands.
"The land beneath our feet is constantly shifting away from the Azure Pit, and in the next sixteen years, the area where the next generation of Dao Fiends emerges will be vastly different from your current one."
"Does this terrain phenomenon have a name?" Qiren asked, lifting a mushroom with his chopsticks.
It was naturally salty and savory—an excellent contrast to the bland rabbit meat.
Yīnluò shook her head.
"If it does, I didn't inherit that memory."
She crossed her arms, one hand resting on her chin, finished with her hair.
"I only have a vague understanding that it was designed to separate new Dao Fiends from more experienced Abyss Adepts."
"Abyss Adept?" Qiren paused mid-bite.
She answered before he could press further.
"It's the next stage of a Dao Fiend's progression—just as you transitioned from dark embryo to fledgling…"
Qiren's ears perked up.
He'd thought the term fledgling was something he'd invented to differentiate between newly hatched demons that could only walk and those capable of flight.
Yet Yīnluò spoke as if it were common knowledge.
"…to Dao Fiend upon reaching the middle stage of the Refinement Realm. Eventually, with age, you become an Abyss Adept—either by learning to survive alone in the Abyss or by advancing to the late Refinement Realm, which we call True Adepts."
"The region I came from was filled with True Adepts.
They suppressed demons outside their lineage or race, carving out territories and warring with one another to harvest souls—each pushing closer to the next realm before venturing to the lower floors."
"They'd create factions to draw in souls for them while they sat back and cultivated, only engaging in conflict with other True Adepts when the collateral became too great to ignore."
Qiren nodded in understanding.
So more mature demons possessed the intelligence to form hierarchical social circles for their own benefit—even if only in the short run.
From how Yīnluò phrased it, whoever sat at the reins of these groups held a monopoly on the spoils their forces brought in, strengthening themselves before eventually leaving.
He thought perhaps a successor would take up the mantle after the first leader left—at least until they too departed.
"Though most don't engage in physical conflict," she continued, "and instead focus on mass soul consumption and treasure collection in hopes of completing their karmic wheels."
"Karmic wheel?"
Yīnluò went on, explaining how Adepts had the ability to craft additional Daoist Apertures or Spirit Cores, with the chance of slightly or greatly increasing their base limiters. She had experienced this twice—and never again since.
That alone showed how difficult it was to reach that state of evolution, making Qiren wonder whether his future enemies might possess more than two Taijitu fragments.
She continued, sharing smaller details of her home territory: her hunting methods, her encounters with other Abyss Adepts, and why she had fled her region—using her knowledge to out-scheme juveniles she still called Dao Fiends.
Swishhhhh. Swishhhhh.
The flowing stream below sent calming waves through the cave. Underground rivers murmured softly, carrying the conversation forward without distracting from it—quietly weaving intimacy into the moment.
"Demon society truly is fascinating, in a way." Qiren paused, letting everything settle before setting aside his chopsticks. His shoulders relaxed.
"If what you've experienced is the final blueprint of all newly formed regions, then I have a small window to build a sturdy pillar of influence—one capable of rivaling at least a hundred Dao Fiends."
He stood, gazing down at Yīnluò, who throughout their conversation hadn't touched her meal.
"Huh?" Her brows knit together. "What do you mean by that, my lord? If you were planning on recruiting others, I don't think you'd have phrased it that way."
He chuckled.
"You caught on fast."
Qiren spoke at her sharp distinction between claiming power equal to a hundred and forming a unit of a hundred. He suspected an ordinary juvenile wouldn't have noticed the difference.
"Unless I needed servants to wash my clothes or comb my hair, I wouldn't trust another demon to help collect souls for my cultivation."
His fingers brushed a strand of her hair off her horns.
"I just don't feel comfortable leading anyone. Demons are conniving creatures, driven by their own morals and selfishness.
That's a problem for me. Even though I'm willing to be lax about certain things, the one thing I won't compromise on is my own safety.
Until I can thoroughly crush a single Dao Fiend—or Adept—ten times over, I'll never truly feel safe joining hands with a blatant backstabber."
He knew that if he implemented something like the experienced Adepts did with Dao Fiends—especially those he currently held captive—there would be nothing stopping them from trying to run, or, if they agreed to stay, skimming half their daily spoils.
Without a solid deterrent, they would simply bide their time as separate factions formed under his banner.
Qiren had considered forming his own faction, but he understood the flaw immediately. Even if he bound them all under contracts forbidding soul consumption unless they delivered what they owed him, demons were patient.
They could wait.
Once enough gathered beneath his wings, they would plan a coup—and when that day came, his restrictions would be nullified entirely.
"Oh—and as thanks for broadening my outlook on what's to come, based on your experiences, I've decided to give you a treat."
His limbs lengthened, feathers spreading in violet-gold hues.
Silver rings emitted misfortune; the energy swirled into him. His arms and legs fell under its hold—skin thinning and shifting into talons. His lips darkened only at the corners as he leaned in, tasting her breath.
Qiren grew slightly taller—not because of height itself, but because of what the form granted him.
His newly manifested avian tongue extended with unnatural control. Yīnluò's breathing quickened; she could hear her heartbeat pounding in her chest.
It intensified under his closeness. A soft sound slipped from her as something pressed against her abdomen.
The sudden intimacy jolted her body.
Is this my treat…?
Her thoughts raced as they hovered together in the air.
Her face flushed as Qiren pulled her closer, his loincloth brushing her bare skin through the split in her cloak. His hand slid lower, gripping her rear.
He squeezed, his tongue maintaining slow dominance as their lips intertwined. She dragged her claws along his back—
—cutting into skin and severing several feathers.
Only then did Yīnluò realize they'd drifted to the edge of the cavern, where stalactites, dust, and old spiderwebs hung close.
Qiren broke the moment before it went further.
Plop.
Their lips parted, steaming with each other's breaths.
"I told you—until I'm strong enough, I won't keep demons around me until I can control them as subservient workers. But you're an exception."
He breathed the words against her ear.
His teeth pressed into her neck, drawing blood as warmth spread through fresh wounds.
"Do you know why that is?" both of his mouths echoed.
His forehead slit open to reveal a black-and-gold eye.
The shift deepened her curiosity about his strange physiology. This eye was the only one of that color; the rest retained normal whites and black irises with a red hue around the slitted pupils.
"I could claim many things—your loyalty, determination, insight, even distraction from my past," he murmured.
"But the simplest answer is curiosity."
His talon sliced through the thin leather ties of her cloak. The garment slipped away.
Her body was on full display. He could now see where her bone-plated armor began and ended on her perfectly sculpted form—both elegant and unsettling.
Her arms, shoulders, legs, and lower body were armored in living bone, shielding her sensitive areas like sculpted armor.
While her chest was supported by rib-like cages, leaving her pale mounds and pink peaks exposed.
Qiren stared, momentarily struck by the sight.
Her bone attire was unsettling, to say the least—but it had been a long time since he'd allowed himself to give in to desire.
His hands moved, caressing her soft areolas regardless.
"Curiosity?" Yīnluò echoed, breath hitching beneath his touch. One hand teased along his crescent curves.
"As I said, there are countless answers," he murmured.
"But it all comes back to curiosity—from the moment I saved your life to the countless times I ended it.
If you find my words shallow, or what I'm doing repulsive, say it now. I'll stop. I'll never touch you again, never manipulate you—because once curiosity is gone, so is the fun.
It's pointless trying to shear a swan once it guards its neck."
Yīnluò fell silent—then leaned closer.
"I forgot to tell you something.
In the Abyss, the greatest taboo is revealing your full name. It can be used against you—I don't know how, only that the warning is etched into my being.
And today, I'll break it.
From now until the end, I entrust my name and body solely to your existence. I, Aelthra Morven Suhai Vaelin Yīnluò, swear on my soul, mind, and body."
The words lingered between them, heavier than the air itself.
For a moment, neither moved. Even the chasm seemed to listen, wind and flame holding its breath as the vow settled into something irreversible.
Her eyes closed.
They moved together again, suspended in the air, finding ways around armor and restraint alike.
"Aren't you too trusting to be a demon," he whispered.
For a long while, the cavern was filled only with breath, motion, and the echo of wings. Their silhouettes tangled through the air, slamming into walls, shaking stalactites, and colliding with every surface they could.