Bai Lingling stood alone in the room for a moment before letting out a long, theatrical sigh that could have drowned a small boat.
Her gaze drifted toward a dusty bronze mirror leaning sadly against the wall, looking so neglected that even spiders avoided it. She walked over and wiped the surface with her sleeve, only to freeze the moment her reflection appeared.
Her face.
Her once-glorious, demon-gorgeous face.
Gone.
Instead, a scarred, miserable human face stared back at her like it had personally offended the heavens.
Bai Lingling's expression crumpled immediately as she leaned closer, poking her own cheek with pure despair.
"Haah… what kind of cursed life is this…" she muttered, voice trembling with melodramatic grief. "First you stuff me into a weak human shell, then you destroy my beauty until even ghosts would avoid me. Am I not your beloved child, heavens? Do you hate me this much?"
Her voice grew louder and more tragic with every word until she nearly burst into tears.
She already knew how much the heavens hated her, that was why they would dare to cheat her. But to be this petty was on another level!
Even Mo Lingxu, lying lazily nearby, lifted his head slightly, wondering why his new human was wailing like a widow at a funeral.
Bai Lingling took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and suddenly slapped the mirror frame.
"No! I refuse! This is not me!"
She raised her hand, gathered a faint shimmer of demonic spiritual energy, and pressed her fingertips to the mirror. Instantly, the reflection shimmered and twisted, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful woman with bright eyes, flawless skin, and a natural charm so powerful it could topple kingdoms. Her original appearance.
Her pupils widened with longing and she rushed forward, hugging the mirror like it was a long-lost lover.
"Ahhhh! It's me! I miss you! I miss my face! My beautiful, perfect face! I'm trapped in this potato body, waaah…"
Mo Lingxu stared silently from the side.
He had seen many things in his thousands of years. Many, many things.
But watching a woman passionately embrace a mirror while sobbing felt… new.
More importantly, the moment he saw her true reflection, something cold and sharp stirred inside him.
So she was beautiful. Not some simple, weak, human. She was breathtakingly
Very good.
Very dangerous.
Very tempting.
Bai Lingling kept clinging to the mirror until she dramatically wiped her imaginary tears and patted her cheeks.
"I'll need so many elixirs. So. Many," she complained loudly. "Recovery pills, muscle-strengthening pills, bone-reforging elixirs, beauty-enhancing spiritual dew… aiya, even repairing this face alone will take enough resources to bankrupt a small kingdom! Why am I suffering like this!"
She stomped her foot pitifully. If only the stupid heaven had not cheated her with one more strike, she would be back at her mentor's mountain eating right now.
Mo Lingxu gave her a look that clearly said:
You are insane.
But when she finally noticed him staring, she blinked and walked over.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, crouching down as if speaking to a clueless house pet. "You don't understand anything, right? You're just a cute little dog."
Mo Lingxu's ears twitched.
Dog?
She called him, the supreme Lord of the demon beast court, a dog?
His tail swayed slowly.
Dangerously.
Yet… when she reached out and ran her fingers gently through his fur, examining the faint scar on his shoulder, all the irritation in him melted like snow under sunlight.
He disliked being touched, yet somehow her hand didn't feel wrong.
Bai Lingling stared at his injury Intently, she had remembered it looking really bad yesterday, that was one of the reasons she had felt bad for Mo Lingxu and decided to take him in.
Because she had thought he was simply a pitiful dog that was on the verge of death, but today the would looked almost healed!
"This wound…" she murmured, frowning. "Yesterday it was terrible. Today it looks… mostly healed? Hm. Maybe human eyes really are too useless."
She pressed her fingers to the injury and summoned more of that pure demon core energy.
White sparks slipped into his skin, sealing the wound entirely.
Mo Lingxu sucked in a breath.
This energy…
Ancient.
Demonic.
Powerful.
Undiluted.
For a moment, he couldn't look away from her.
She smiled at him sweetly and patted his head as if rewarding a dog for sitting properly.
"There. All healed. You're welcome, little one."
Mo Lingxu's eye twitched.
Little.
One.
He contemplated biting her.
Only a small bite.
Before he could, Bai Lingling stood abruptly, brushing her sleeves.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from the gate, and Bai Lingling stepped out of the room to see her returning guards.
Bai Lingling stopped at the entrance and blinked as she saw more than a dozen guards limping toward her. Some held parcels, others held their ribs, all of them looked like they had fought a war instead of visiting a market. The courtyard still carried a faint stench of blood, making the entire scene look even more miserable.
Uncle Shen shuffled forward with a stiff bow, face pale from exhaustion.
"Young miss… we brought back… the herbs you requested."
Bai Lingling nodded and squatted down, opening the parcels one by one with great seriousness, as if she were inspecting tribute sent from another kingdom. Inside were bundles of bitter herbs stacked neatly together. None of them were rare. None of them were precious. At first glance, they looked like the kind of herbs even chickens would refuse to peck at.
She stared for a moment, then nodded solemnly.
"Mmm. This will do."
Uncle Shen almost cried from relief.
"Good. Carry everything to the backyard," Bai Lingling said casually, waving her hand as if she had just decided the fate of the weather.
Uncle Shen hesitated, unable to hold himself back any longer. "Young Miss… what exactly do you plan to do with all these herbs?"
Bai Lingling lifted her chin slightly, her expression calm and confident.
"Refine elixirs."
Silence.
The guards froze where they stood. Several of them blinked slowly, as if checking whether they had heard wrong.
Elixirs?
Were those… edible?
Or would they explode?
No one dared to ask. Everyone immediately pretended to understand and hurried away like enlightened disciples who had just comprehended a supreme technique.
Bai Lingling watched them leave, then suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Wait."
All the guards stiffened.
She frowned lightly. "Where is the food?"
The courtyard nearly collapsed from shock.