"Puppet?" The Empress of Qingqiu finally reacted,
"You never intended to give me the real Glazed Heart!"
"I never expected that by chance, you actually killed the real Zhu Xu."
"Haha, retribution is indeed retribution."
"This is great, you no longer need to trouble yourself to ask me for the secret art that seals Zhu Xu's memories."
"She's gone anyway, who cares if you're a god or a demon?"
The Empress of Qingqiu, identical to Ling Xue, spoke to herself with glee.
"This Glazed Heart is useless to you, it should return to my hands."
The Empress of Qingqiu raised her hand and cast a spell at Zhu Xu in Zhao Xue's arms. Slowly, the glee on the Empress of Qingqiu's face disappeared, replaced by anxiety.
"What's going on? Where is the Glazed Heart? How can there be no Glazed Heart?"
Zhao Xue, lost in her grief over losing Zhu Xu, noticed her actions. Zhao Xue carefully put Yun Shu Nian down and instantly sent the Empress of Qingqiu flying.
"How could this happen?" The Empress of Qingqiu indifferently wiped the blood from her lips, which had been forced out by Zhao Xue.
Zhao Xue's phoenix eyes were bloodshot, and dark energy swirled around her.
Zhao Xue raised her hand, and demonic energy condensed into a sword, thrusting towards the Empress of Qingqiu.
"Little White," who had arrived with Zhu Xu's true form, transformed into human form and stood in front of the Empress of Qingqiu.
Zhao Xue did not stop her attack. The sword aimed at the Empress of Qingqiu accelerated even further. It was not impossible for it to pierce both of their hearts with one strike.
"Zhao Xue!"
At the critical moment, the demon-infused sword touched Zhu Xu's skirt. The sword's malevolence instantly vanished, and it fell to the ground with a "crack."
The dark energy surrounding Zhao Xue disappeared, and her phoenix eyes returned to their original color.
Zhao Xue looked at Zhu Xu, who was standing unharmed before her, her left hand clutching her heart, breathing heavily. Her gaze towards Zhu Xu held doubt, pain, and a fragility as if this were an illusion.
"Zhao Xue, are you alright?" Zhu Xu teleported beside Zhao Xue and placed her hands on Zhao Xue's shoulders.
Zhao Xue's phoenix eyes were fixed on Zhu Xu, tears streaming down her face one after another.
"Zhao Xue, it's okay, I'm not dead."
"The puppet only contained a wisp of my spiritual consciousness. When the puppet died, the spiritual consciousness returned."
"Xuxu, I..." Zhao Xue wanted to explain, but a stone seemed to be lodged in her throat, making it difficult to speak. Only her anxious and fragile phoenix eyes seemed to speak.
The already restless demonic bone took advantage of Zhao Xue's lapse in vigilance and rampaged within her body, attacking her internal organs.
Blood slowly trickled from the corner of Zhao Xue's mouth. Zhu Xu became flustered.
"Zhao Xue, I heard everything. It's okay. It doesn't matter if you're a god or a demon."
"I love you, Zhao Xue."
Zhu Xu hugged Zhao Xue, continuously stroking her back.
Finally, Zhao Xue gradually calmed down, concentrating and forcing the demonic bone to be still.
At the same time, "Little White" took the Empress of Qingqiu and left the Demon Realm.
"Zhao Xue, please don't leave me again, okay?"
After Zhao Xue had recovered, Zhu Xu clung to Zhao Xue's hem, her eyes full of longing.
At that time, Zhu Xu missed Zhao Xue so much that her own body could not be controlled. She unintentionally let her spiritual consciousness reside in the puppet Zhao Xue had made, never expecting to be treated so harshly by Zhao Xue.
"Never again." Zhao Xue grasped Zhu Xu's hand and pulled her into her arms.
From that day on, they lived in the Demon Realm.
Zhu Xu took out the token of love she had prepared for Zhao Xue. Zhao Xue reluctantly wore it and placed it in a treasure box.
During their time in the Demon Realm, their habits remained much the same as when they were in the mortal world.
Zhu Xu still maintained her sleeping habit, always pulling Zhao Xue to lie down with her in bed and manually covering Zhao Xue's eyes.
Zhao Xue cooperatively closed her eyes.
When Zhu Xu's breathing evened out, she slowly slid her hands from Zhao Xue's eyes. Zhao Xue would then grasp Zhu Xu's hand and open her eyes.
Zhao Xue would watch Zhu Xu like this, and when Zhu Xu occasionally turned over, she would lean in, close her eyes, and pretend to be asleep.
Thus, while Zhu Xu slept, Zhao Xue spent most of her time gazing at her.
If Zhu Xu knew that those phoenix eyes were always watching her, she would surely tense up and feign sleep with her immortal demeanor, instead of sleeping soundly as she was now.
Of course, Zhu Xu eventually discovered that Zhao Xue was not asleep.
The next night, Zhu Xu couldn't fall asleep. Her mind was filled with Zhao Xue from that day.
All day, Zhao Xue had been by her side. Zhao Xue had given her the key to the Demon Realm's treasury.
Even though Zhao Xue seemed uninterested in the treasures there, she still accompanied her through the entire treasury.
There were also the strange flower seas in the Demon Realm. Zhao Xue said she wanted to replant them with her favorite white begonias, and that she would take good care of this sea of white begonias.
Zhu Xu felt it wasn't necessary. These flowers were also beautiful, as if they were born to surround Zhao Xue.
...
Zhu Xu yearned for Zhao Xue, even though he was right before her eyes.
Love makes one want to be close.
Having lived for nearly a thousand years bound by precepts and rules, Zhu Xu understood restraint the best.
However, looking at Zhao Xue before her, Zhu Xu reached out her hand, and the precepts and rules were immediately thrown to the winds.
Zhu Xu's fingers first touched Zhao Xue's brow, then his nose, and finally her crescent eyes landed on Zhao Xue's lips, while her fingers, as if to conceal her intentions, traced Zhao Xue's cheek.
Under Zhu Xu's guidance, Zhao Xue was now wearing only a thin inner garment.
Zhu Xu silently gazed at Zhao Xue's faintly visible collarbone for a long time. She rubbed her middle finger and thumb together and finally, through the inner garment, placed her hand over Zhao Xue's heart.
Instantly, Zhu Xu's face turned completely red.
Humans had hearts, gods had hearts, and demons had hearts.
At this moment, Zhu Xu could clearly feel that not only was her palm warm, but she could also feel an increasingly rapid heartbeat.
"Zhao Xue, you're not asleep." Zhu Xu thought of her undisguised gaze and her somewhat unruly actions, and she wanted to use the art of earth evasion.
However, before Zhu Xu could make up her mind, Zhao Xue's hand covered Zhu Xu's and placed it on his cheek: "Does Xuxu like it?"
Zhao Xue's eyes sparkled with excitement, and a joyful anticipation seemed to overflow as he looked at Zhu Xu.