The three realms—Human, Earth, and Heaven—each stood a full heaven apart, and an ordinary Heaven Realm cultivator was yet another heaven below Li Fei.
The thousand-odd demons gathered here were, to the Wang family—whose strongest reached no higher than Earth Realm—an inescapable cataclysm, a lightless nightmare. But to Li Fei, they were no different from Moonlight Wolves or sprites: nothing but walking experience points.
After all, the precondition for quantity turning into quality was training, was armament, was high-level war-type transcendent knowledge, along with a wealth of auras and group-buff skills... and a disorganized rabble of demons and monsters simply couldn't pose any threat to the far more terrifying demoness.
"Wroooar—"
Amid the dance of demons, a white dress swayed, Li Fei's dark tresses whipping wildly about her—like a fairy descended to the mortal world, carrying out the work of slaying demons and banishing evil. Wherever she passed, severed limbs flew, and the wails of ghosts and howls of wolves never ceased.
Her figure, graceful as a startled swan and lithe as a coiling dragon, left the Wang family survivors dumbstruck, a hundred flavors mingling in their hearts.
Death by a demoness, and life by a demoness too...
BOOM!
Li Fei hurled a fireball that bloomed with a light fiercer and more dazzling than when "Big Fatty" had self-destructed. Rolling waves of heat surged out, blasting "Big Fatty" into charred scraps of flesh and announcing the outcome of this clash.
This was, after all, a land scarce in demons, and the ghosts and spirits clever enough to seek advantage and flee from harm had already scattered in flight. After slaughtering over two hundred demons, all that remained were walking corpses craving raw flesh—harvesting them yielded no experience, so Li Fei couldn't be bothered with them anymore.
"Heaven protect us..."
"We— we survived!"
Seeing the crisis lifted, Squire Wang's two remaining wives slumped to the ground as though their bones had been drawn out of them, clinging to one another and weeping tears of joy.
Qiao'er, who had likewise survived the catastrophe, stood rooted in place, oblivious to Wang Yutong, who sat sprawled in the mud, gazing dazedly at Li Fei.
"Come with me."
Li Fei sheathed her sword, waved to the survivors, and walked straight toward the little grove where they had stopped earlier.
The way was strewn with corpses and bones, all of demons; under the swarm of monsters, no living person could possibly leave a whole corpse behind—only scattered remains.
The three death-sworn warriors turned their eyes to Squire Wang, who, utterly crushed in spirit, clutched the infant swaddled in his arms and followed behind Li Fei with unsteady, stumbling steps.
Once in the grove, Li Fei searched about for a while and soon spotted a vermilion, eerily bewitching demon flower—one that Sasha had buried there while Li Fei was busy saving people.
She reached out, her pure magic forcibly lifting the demon flower along with a clump of soil, utterly obliterating any trace that the earth had been disturbed:
"So that's why... This is a Soul-Spawning Flower. A human who eats it will only vomit and get the runs, but for demonic creatures its benefits are immense. What's more, when this flower blooms, it gives off a fragrance that only demons can smell—one that drifts for miles and rouses their ferocity."
The demoness's expression darkened, and she sighed softly:
"When I woke this morning my eyelid kept twitching—I had an ominous premonition, so I came searching... I never expected I'd still be a step too late."
"Aaah!"
Squire Wang rushed forward with a grief-stricken roar, tearing the Soul-Spawning Flower to shreds like a madman, then slamming it viciously to the ground and stamping it into pulp. Yet even this didn't slake his hatred. Seeing a length of the flower's root still coiled around his wrist, he simply stuffed it into his mouth and chewed in great mouthfuls, looking like a vengeful demon—so lost that he didn't even notice he'd bitten his own mouth open. Sap mixed with blood trickled from the corners of his lips, more horrifying than any demon.
Suddenly he bent over and retched violently, heaving deeply, as though trying to vomit up his very soul.
After a long while, Squire Wang lifted his head, panting, his bloodshot eyes still brimming with venomous hatred—like a demon looking to pick a victim to devour. Even when his gaze met Li Fei's, his expression remained ferocious.
"Waah, waah, waaah—"
The child tucked under his arm seemed to have been hurt, wailing and whimpering, which gradually calmed Squire Wang's bellows-like panting.
"Don't cry, don't cry..."
Trembling, he lowered his head and clumsily soothed the child with a few words. He wanted to touch its cheek, but worried that his blood-soaked hands would dirty the baby's face.
Once the child had quieted, he turned his head again toward the demoness, who waited in silence.
After suffering such a catastrophe, this kindly-faced, broad-bodied man seemed to have aged ten years in the blink of an eye, his eyes full of weariness and a certain blankness.
"Such great kindness and virtue—I shall never forget it as long as I live."
Cradling in his arms the child his second wife had died to protect, he kowtowed nine times to Li Fei, each blow striking the ground with a thud.
Li Fei accepted it with composure—after all, she was his lifesaving benefactor; it was only proper.
And Wang Yutong had been watching Li Fei the entire time.
There's a famous psychological term called the suspension-bridge effect: when a person is in danger, their heartbeat quickens and their body floods with hormones, and if there happens to be someone sharing the ordeal, she may mistake the tension and excitement brought on by the danger for the flutter of romantic attraction.
And the demoness had, with effortless ease, tossed out a few casts of [Charm Humanoid Creature] while slaying demons. The suspension-bridge effect, amplified by magic, mixed with gratitude for being saved and the sense of security her formidable power provided, stirred something in the heart of the eldest Wang daughter—who had already been lusting after the demoness's body—until even her original fear and wariness of the demoness were cast aside.
"No need for such courtesy—consider this repayment for that one meal you once gave me."
Li Fei waited until he had finished kowtowing before offering pleasantries: "Besides, all my life I've loved doing good deeds and accumulating virtue. Even for a stranger met by chance, I would never stand by and watch them die."
As the two of them spoke, the third wife pressed hard against her nose, yet still couldn't keep the thick stench of blood from creeping into her nostrils.
She looked around at the ghastly bloodstains everywhere, her eyes full of lingering fear and relief. But upon hearing Li Fei's words, her eyes lit up. She hurried over to Li Fei and dropped to her knees with a thud, sobbing and crying:
"Benefactor, you truly have the heart of a bodhisattva! I shall forever engrave this life-saving kindness upon my heart, and one day I will repay you even if I must knot grass and carry rings..."
After praising Li Fei gratefully for quite a while, she put on a tearful, about-to-weep expression and said:
"These are perilous times—we set out only half a day ago, and already so many have lost their lives... Linchuan County is still a thousand miles away, and who knows how many demons and monsters lie ahead. My lady's kindness—I fear I won't be able to repay it, even as an ox or a horse, until my next life..."
—Oho, someone's actually trying to pull The Art of Tea on me, the head courtesan? And expecting me to play bodyguard and escort you the whole way?
Li Fei replied with a gentle, pleasant expression: "Soul-Spawning Flowers are extremely rare. For the rest of your journey, so long as you choose routes where demons are scarce and stay cautious on the road, I'm sure you'll arrive safely."
Because this third wife hadn't been present yesterday when Li Fei had coerced them into filming the video, and because Li Fei had since put on the appearance of a well-mannered, Beautiful and Kind-Hearted lady, the woman held little awe or fear toward her. So after Li Fei politely declined her proposal, the third wife pressed on, pleading:
"My own worthless life is nothing—I'd have no regret dying in a demon's jaws. But the little young master lost his mother at just a year old, and it truly breaks the heart... I only hope the benefactor might show a little more mercy..."
"Sorry, but I have urgent matters to attend to."
Li Fei refused decisively.
But after such wild swings of fortune, the third wife had long since been scared witless by the demons. In this moment she cast aside all concern for face and lifted her head with a certain urgency:
"But my lady, in the matter of Lü Zhengchun, we were, after all, innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire... My lady, if you don't lend a hand, we simply won't survive..."
The addled third wife was actually hinting that it was because of Li Fei that they had come to such an end.
"Bandits rob for money in a crowded market; the victim fights for their life and so keeps their possessions... Afterward the bandits and their accomplices seek revenge not only on the one who resisted, but come to hate the witnesses as well... Whose fault do you think that is? A witness caught up in it, instead of hating the vicious bandits, would blame the victim for not stretching out their neck to be slaughtered? Absurd!"
Li Fei let out a cold snort.
The third wife was struck speechless for a moment, then actually threw her arms around Li Fei's leg, sobbing and wailing and turning shameless:
"My lady, my Wang family has done good and accumulated virtue for so many years, and now we've truly met with disaster out of the blue—we've been reduced to just a handful of survivors. You can't just watch us die..."
Only when the Blade of Joy came to rest against her neck did the sobbing abruptly stop.
"I truly am baffled."
Li Fei frowned. "Facing demons, or the people of the Demon Suppression Bureau—would you dare throw such a tantrum? Surely not. Yet I killed them all, and here you are, daring to treat me like this..."
"Is it because I'm too easy to talk to?"
Every single point of experience had been bought with a life. When the demoness, her hands stained with blood, let her face go cold, a bone-piercing killing intent chilled the third wife to the very heart, and she dared not say another word.
"My lady."
Qiao'er, who had remained silent all this while, suddenly spoke, her eyelids lowered so that her expression couldn't be read: "There is no way to repay such a life-saving kindness. From now on, this servant would be willing to pour tea and wait upon my lady..."
"?"
At these words, several people turned their heads, but the one who reacted most strongly was Wang Yutong.
Although she'd never taken Qiao'er seriously and would scold or beat her at the slightest provocation, this maidservant who had accompanied her for years was now voluntarily asking to leave her—and henceforth to serve the very person Wang Yutong herself admired?
An inexplicable sourness spread from her heart to the tip of her tongue, leaving her at a loss.
"Good—I feel an instant kinship with young Qiao'er too."
Li Fei's expression immediately cleared from overcast to sunny, and she said to Squire Wang: "How much is Qiao'er's indenture contract? I'll redeem her."
"The benefactor jests."
Squire Wang bowed humbly and glanced at the goods not far off.
Clearly, a trace of demonic bloodline hadn't been enough to spare those horses from the bloody feast just now; in the ghastly pool of blood, only a few scraps of hide and hair could be seen.
These goods could no longer be taken along.
Squire Wang turned his head and cupped his hands:
"A life-saving kindness is as heavy as a mountain. I am willing to give all I possess to repay even a fraction of that grace."
—Very good, very perceptive!
"This... hardly seems appropriate, does it?"
Li Fei made a show of declining a few times, and finally, at Squire Wang's insistence, reluctantly accepted those humble belongings—lest the Wang family be unable to sleep or eat for failing to repay her kindness—and promised she would put them to good use.
"Oh, right."
Finally, Li Fei pointed at Wang Yutong: "By my reckoning, I sense that Miss Wang is fated to be with me..."
At these words, Qiao'er's body trembled slightly.
Just as Wang Yutong was secretly delighted yet also anxious, dazed, and at a loss, Squire Wang unhesitatingly made the decision for his daughter:
"To be able to stay by the benefactor's side is Yutong's good fortune..."
Even the two surviving wives looked with envy at the mistress and maid who were to remain by Li Fei's side, wearing expressions of restless yearning.
Someone like the second wife, who had truly and sincerely loved Squire Wang, was ultimately the exception. As for the others who had married into the Wang family—apart from those who'd been coerced—wasn't it all for a life of fine clothes and rich food?
And now, Squire Wang had not only scattered his entire fortune but would also, after treading a perilous and unpredictable unknown road, have to change his identity and live in constant dread, terrified of being noticed by the Demon Suppression Bureau.
By comparison, if they could ingratiate themselves with this demoness—so vastly powerful and of such peerless beauty—the wealth, status, and, most importantly now, the sense of security they could gain were all things Squire Wang could never provide. Not to mention that this demoness was, moreover, so exquisitely beautiful.
As the saying goes, husband and wife are but birds of the same forest, and when calamity strikes they each fly their own way. In the current situation, if they still didn't abandon Squire Wang—was it for his advanced age, or for his heavy, sagging paunch?
Unfortunately, Li Fei turned a blind eye to their glances and even the pleading woven through their words.
"Cito Lumen Lupus."
With a crisp snap of her fingers, Li Fei used her "demonic arts" to summon several Moonlight Wolves and jerked her chin:
"These can carry you all part of the way... I wish you a smooth journey."
"Benefactor, until we meet again."
After a thousand thanks, Squire Wang cradling the child, the household's death-sworn warriors, and the two wives—who looked back again and again, their faces written over with reluctance and words left unsaid—set out on their journey.
The sight of the barely half-a-man-tall Moonlight Wolves carrying several backpack-laden adults on their not-especially-broad backs looked rather comical.
A smile lingering at the corner of her mouth, Li Fei watched them go.
After all that maneuvering, she had reaped wealth, love, and gratitude, while the survivors had gained something more precious still—their lives. Truly a win-win.
Only once Squire Wang's party had dwindled into the distance did Li Fei slowly turn her gaze back.
Wang Yutong had already fallen asleep leaning against the goods.
This precious Wang daughter, pampered from childhood and raised only to be married off to some high official or noble, had yesterday suddenly met with upheaval—falling from a young mistress bedecked in gold and silver and attended on every side to a mere refugee. The dread and unease had kept her from closing her eyes all night.
Come daybreak she'd had to cram into a stuffy, damp carriage to flee for her life, and in the end had been surrounded on all sides by demons, narrowly escaping death.
After several dramatic swings of fortune, Wang Yutong—safe for the moment—could no longer keep her eyelids open, and with a heart full of confusion and anxiety about the life ahead, she sank into a deep sleep.
The little sprite carrying the pack took out the Moon Pillow and handed it to Li Fei. The demoness gently lifted Wang Yutong, arranged her into a comfortable sleeping posture amid her sleepy murmurs, and slipped the Moon Pillow behind her head.
Currently split off on a separate path from Lilith, Li Fei's [Pocket Residence] could of course store some food, drinking water, instant noodles, and cola—but transcendent items couldn't be put inside, so her good daughter would just have to bear the burden a little.
"These are Eva and Sasha, my family."
Li Fei introduced them kindly to Qiao'er: "There's no need to be afraid of them."
The little sprites weren't shy either; flapping their butterfly wings, they cheerfully circled up and down around the delicate, lovely Qiao'er.
"Mm."
Seeing the tiny, winged spirits, Qiao'er merely nodded, appearing exceptionally calm.
For a demoness to be accompanied by sprites was perfectly natural.
Besides, these two sprites weren't frightening at all—rather, they had faces like flowers and the moon, with a kind of natural, innocent charm.
Next, Li Fei tore up Qiao'er's indenture contract right in front of her and coaxed her gently:
"Young Qiao'er, I detest relationships like master and servant more than anything... From now on we'll address each other as sisters. I'll help you pursue your dreams and realize your own potential..."
Li Fei paused, then smiled radiantly: "Not a single word I've said to you is false, you know."
As she spoke, she dampened a handkerchief and gently wiped Qiao'er's face, carefully cleaning the blood and grime staining that delicate little face—the very picture of a virtuous, tender woman.
Qiao'er's gaze looked somewhat hollow, and like a marionette she let Li Fei do as she pleased with her.
Once her cheeks had been cleaned, she still stared blankly at the radiant, captivating demoness, then abruptly spoke:
"If I hadn't come with you, I suppose we'd have run into quite a few more demons along the way."
"What?"
Li Fei said, taken aback: "Young Qiao'er, what makes you say that?"
Qiao'er instinctively glanced at Wang Yutong, who only took on a gentle air while fast asleep, then said expressionlessly: "I've read a few books, and they contain records about the Soul-Spawning Flower."
"That kind of flower only grows in places thick with corpses, nourished by flesh and blood and lingering souls... And here—before today, there were surely not many bones at all."
Her ruse seen through, the smile on Li Fei's face didn't fade:
"Oh my—it seems that Soul-Spawning Flower was planted by someone with ulterior motives."
Back when she'd been forced into a corner by Miss Grace, Li Fei had seized the initiative through her advantage in information—striking the unprepared with careful calculation—and, using consummate acting, had painstakingly cultivated a persona and nurtured a naive affection. Later, within the Folded Space, relying on the right timing, terrain, and circumstances, she had at last woven a near-perfect lie, leaving Miss Poker Face weeping like blossoms in the rain.
But this time was different. Li Fei had merely acted on a whim, coveting Qiao'er herself along with the valuables the Wang family had brought on their flight—she'd simply dug a little pit on the fly, so being exposed was only natural.
Even Squire Wang had, more or less, sensed something—which was why he'd glared at Li Fei with those devouring eyes. It was one thing for the demoness to have deduced through some vague intuition that the Wang family was in peril, but how on earth had she managed, at exactly the right moment, to find and catch up with a caravan that had fled desperately far away?
But so what if they'd guessed that something was off about the demoness?
Li Fei wasn't skilled at scheming—she was often toyed with in the palm of Director Nicole's hand, and the charity fund she'd cobbled together on impulse was riddled with holes... Yet whether in her dealings with Yusura in Folded Space D-07, or in taking to Loxibrook like a fish to water at every turn, Li Fei could always leverage her core advantages to create the situation most favorable to herself.
The Wang family, who had once lorded it over Luyuan County, now lacked the protection of "order"—and the sword was in the demoness's hand.
Even for the sake of the child still crying in its swaddling clothes, Squire Wang had to put on a show of tearful gratitude, kowtow nine times to the demoness, and then respectfully offer up his family's fortune with both hands.
"Mm."
Qiao'er gave the sleeping young mistress another deep look and said nothing more.
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