Chapter 9: Awakening

This man is sinfully sweet.

Su Heng accidentally blurted out her inner thoughts.

The youth beneath her now was truly exuding an intense sweetness from head to toe, stirring up an irresistible craving in her, making her wish she could take a bite immediately to satiate her appetite.

She looked into the youth’s eyes. “I mean it, from the bottom of my heart.”

“I don’t easily praise others. You’re the first.”

As she spoke, her nose twitched. The sweet fragrance entering her nostrils still provoked an overwhelming urge to pounce and take a bite.

It’s a pity he woke up. If he hadn’t, she might have taken advantage of his unconsciousness to steal a taste. That thing made her do all this work without any pay, darker than pitch inside and out. She’s never gotten such a raw deal before. Of course she has to get even.

If that thing won’t give her compensation, then she’ll help herself to some.

Those eyes beneath her were still watching her. She had witnessed his blade-like sharpness before. But in this moment, he looked quite different from that keen edge she first met, yet also distinct from the harmless gentleness she had seen later.

His previous soft and harmless manner in front of her seemed like a mask he put on, using a refined, elegant posture to keep everyone at a distance of a thousand miles.

It was very comfortable interacting with him, but she also felt invisibly kept at arm’s length by him.

Now he was not at all in that gentle state, but more like… some kind of fluffy little animal?

His eyes were open, covered with a layer of faint light. Not the modest and pliant demeanor he usually showed the world, but a true softness.

“Hey?” She called out softly, noticing something was off.

The person beneath her still had his eyes open in a daze, not responding at all to her words.

After waiting a bit, there was still no other reaction. Su Heng poked a finger at his face, feeling a cool and damp sensation.

“Still passed out?”

She spread her five fingers and waved them in front of him. Sure enough, she saw no response in his eyes.

“Trying to scare me?”

That’s what she thought. In his current state, he clearly had suffered severe injuries and excessive blood loss. It’s only thanks to her that he didn’t die. How could he possibly wake up while still so weak?

Her courage instantly swelled as a strange smile appeared on her face. She poked his chin again and was startled by the increasingly cold and clammy skin.

“What’s going on? Wasn’t he saved?” She looked at him in complete confusion, sensing his icy body temperature.

She hadn’t been human for many years and barely remembered what normal people should be like anymore. But she knew his condition was clearly abnormal.

No matter how low a person’s body temperature dropped, there should be a limit. It couldn’t possibly be like his – cold, damp and slippery. Even a corpse wouldn’t be like this.

Could something have gone wrong?

Su Heng was shocked. She hadn’t saved many people before. If you added up all the times she had, it was basically all on him. She managed to save him the previous times, but did she botch it this time?

How could that be?!

Su Heng placed her palm, emanating a faint cyan glow, on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat had slowed, but his body was still as cold as ice, no longer like a living person.

“What in the world are you turning into?” She was irritated.

The spiritual energy in her palm continuously transformed into warmth enveloping his entire body. She probed his body and found no major issues with his internal organs or meridians. If she had to point out a problem, it would be that he was currently far too weak.

It was understandable for a feeble person to have a cold body. But for him to be this icy was a bit much.

Saving someone only to accidentally kill them – she refused to take the blame for that. But she was the only one who took action, without even a scapegoat to push the fault onto. Naturally, she alone would be held accountable later.

“Why did I bother being a good person?!” Su Heng was a little angry. “Good people really do get taken advantage of.”

Despite her grumbling, the warmth from her hands intensified.

Tan Ye was still watching her groggily. Su Heng inwardly regretted taking on such a big hassle. She would have been better off not coming. At worst, if this guy died, he would just go back. It’s not like he would actually kick the bucket.

As she pondered this messy situation, Tan Ye, who had been looking at her, suddenly leaned toward her.

Su Heng froze for a moment as the person below fully nestled against her, like someone in winter finally finding the warm sun.

Su Heng looked down, her angry expression transforming. She casually pulled him fully into her embrace.

Then her fingers hooked onto the wound on his back. The blood had already congealed but was not yet dry. She took some blood on her fingertip and put it in her mouth.

The taste of his blood was far sweeter than the fragrance she had smelled before.

Su Heng felt like she was holding an enormous piece of candy. It was too fragrant and sweet.

She couldn’t help but take a second sip. It was still sweet to the point that she found it hard to let go. A rush of sweetness welled up, making her squint.

Then she noticed her internal spiritual energy had been slightly replenished.

This was simply an unexpected delight for her. She looked at Tan Ye who had instinctively moved closer to her, then sensed the spiritual energy in her dantian. Her gaze toward him started to become strange.

Could it be that because he was originally of the divine race, even after being reborn as a human, he was still so extraordinary?

She licked her lips and looked toward his neck. His eyes had opened earlier merely as an unconscious action. Right now, perhaps out of instinct, he drew close to a heat source, completely unguarded. She lowered her head and could see the faint pulsing of the skin on his neck.

Surging hot blood flowed beneath the throbbing skin. With just one bite, she could taste that delicacy from before again.

She licked her teeth, following her desire and leaning in. When her lips touched his neck, she paused.

“If he dies, won’t it be gone in one go?”

She abruptly sat upright.

Genuine sincerity filled Su Heng’s eyes as she looked at Tan Ye. “Then you’ll be my payment. It just so happens that you’ll shed a layer of skin when the time comes anyway. It’s only natural for me to take some of your blood then.”

“Forever and always is best, don’t you agree?”

Tan Ye did not answer her. He only lightly pressed closer to her.

She lowered her head with a smile. “If you don’t object, I’ll take that as agreement.”

Outside, day and night took turns. After a day and night passed, the person leaning against her opened his eyes. Looking up, he immediately saw the lazily sleeping demon.

His heart instantly clenched, then started pounding violently the next moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he subconsciously glanced at his own legs. Beneath his robes, the outline of human legs remained.

In the next instant, Tan Ye rapidly retreated. “Why are you here?!”

He looked at her, his eyes now filled with bone-chilling coldness.

“You’re awake?” Su Heng wasn’t angry at all. She rubbed her eyes and stretched hugely right in front of Tan Ye.

“Didn’t you get injured again? I was afraid you would die, so I saved your life.”

Tan Ye’s face was unmoved. He stared at her frigidly. “Who are you? Who sent you?”

“What exactly do you want?”

To eat you.

She nearly blurted out these words. She gulped and swallowed back the utterance that almost escaped her mouth.

“I want to see you ascend,” she said.

“Didn’t I already tell you? How old are you that your memory is so poor? Like an old geezer.”

“Let me ask one more time…”

Su Heng irritably interrupted him, “No matter how many times you ask, I just want to see you ascend!”

She stood up and hopped in place a couple times. Leaning against him for so long had made her a bit uncomfortable.

Tan Ye stared at her. “Even a three-year-old wouldn’t believe what you said.”

He always felt this demon’s timing in appearing was far too skillful, so skillful that everything seemed calculated, including the bewildering words she spoke.

“Oh, then why are you still here safe and sound? If I wanted to do something, I would have eaten you long ago.”

Speaking of eating, she recalled the sweet, fragrant taste of Tan Ye’s blood that she sampled in the night. She swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

“If not for me, you would have met an early demise.”

Tan Ye gazed at her. “You…”

“Who exactly are you? What is your aim?” His words grew increasingly icy. “How did you get in here?”

He even slightly furrowed his brows. She suddenly glanced under his bed. Several slender vines extended from beneath her feet, directly fishing out a pair of women’s embroidered shoes – precisely the pair she had tossed back to him before.

As the vines retracted, the shoes fell into her hands.

She grabbed the shoes, patting the soles together, and flung them at Tan Ye’s head.

“Ingrate!”