Demoness's Art of Vengeance

Chapter 61: Irresistible Warmth

Translator: Minotauruz

Jun Xiaomo had guessed from the onset that Ke Xinwen would have resorted to violence to force open the door’s lock. Therefore, she had placed two formation arrays on the door frame. The first was an offensive formation array, such that once Ke Xinwen forcefully opened the door lock, the formation array would activate and send a repulsion force towards the person who broke the lock. However, because the spirit stones within Jun Xiaomo’s Interspatial Ring were limited and she had to use them sparingly, this formation array would lose its effects after one attack.

The second formation array set up by Jun Xiaomo at the door frame was a Suction Force Array. Once someone stepped into the formation array’s area of effect, that person would immediately be sucked towards a designated space. Unless the trespasser’s abilities exceeded the limits of the formation array, that person would not have any chances of resisting. Therefore, when Ke Xinwen kicked down the door, he was immediately sucked into the room.

As can be seen, Jun Xiaomo had chained her attacks perfectly, luring her prey directly into the trap that she had prepared.

Jun Xiaomo’s trap had been carefully crafted with Ke Xinwen’s personality in mind. If she were making preparations against Qin Lingyu, she would have set up her formation arrays quite differently. After all, Ke Xinwen’s personality was more of the overconfident and brash type. From his expressions, one could tell that he viewed Yao Mo as nothing more than a lowly cultivator at the first level of Qi Mastery whom he could squash like an ant anytime. Therefore, he would hardly take any precautions against Jun Xiaomo. Everything he did at this moment was absolutely within Jun Xiaomo’s predictions.

This was the difference between a veteran at combat and a tender chick who had no experience in combat. Jun Xiaomo had dealt with innumerable opponents in her previous life, and people like Ke Xinwen were hardly considered a challenge to her despite his higher cultivation level. Qin Lingyu, on the other hand, might have posed some difficulties.

When Ke Xinwen had decided to take care of Yao Mo, he never expected this person with such a low cultivation would be able to torment him to such an extent.

And now, it was too late for Ke Xinwen who had finally started to realize his carelessness. It was easy for him to enter this room, but it would be difficult for him to leave. Furthermore, Jun Xiaomo had several “gifts” awaiting him which would be served shortly.

But let’s shelf the matters pertaining to Ke Xinwen for a while. On the other side, as she remained safe and sound in Ye Xiuwen’s room, Jun Xiaomo also encountered some difficulty on her own part.

The onset of this dark night did not only signify the end to an eventful day; it also ushered in a night where she would be residing together with her martial brother in the same room.

Jun Xiaomo glanced over at that pitiful bed on the side, as she wondered how that small bed was going to contain both of them. Even if she managed to fall asleep, there would be hardly any gap between the two of them...

As this thought crossed her mind, Jun Xiaomo immediately tensed up with a sense of anxiety and helplessness. She wondered whether it would be better if she tried to ignore these little details and brazenly turn in, or whether she should just sit at the table and stay up all night.

After all, it was only a matter of time before Ye Xiuwen discovered her true identity. When that time comes, how was she going to be able to face her martial brother? At this moment, Jun Xiaomo bit down on her lips and wished that she could once again go back in time and choose to tag along as a female cultivator instead of a male one.

At the very least, they would not be caught in such awkward situations.

Actually, the truth was that Jun Xiaomo had let her thoughts wander too much. Even if they shared the same bed, they would at most be sharing the same blanket and chatting all night; nothing more was going to happen. Once her identity was revealed, and as long as they were able to speak openly about it, they naturally would not feel any awkwardness about this incident.

But Jun Xiaomo could not understand why she was so distressed about this arrangement...

Splash! A splashing sound of water broke Jun Xiaomo’s train of thought. Her body momentarily froze in shock as she forced herself to stare straight into the dancing flame atop the candle and avoided looking at the screen at the corner of the room.

Ye Xiuwen was currently bathing behind the screen. But because Jun Xiaomo was currently a “man”, Ye Xiuwen naturally did not see the need to “hide” anything before taking a bath.

Jun Xiaomo stared directly at the candle for a while longer. Once she realized that Ye Xiuwen had not walked out yet, she could not help but heave a sigh of relief.

Stop it! It’s not like martial brother is going to walk out stark naked, so what am I so worried about? Jun Xiaomo chided herself in her heart as she shifted her gaze elsewhere and rubbed off the tears welling up inside her eyes.

Just this moment, the screen was suddenly drawn aside, and a tall, lanky figure walked out. Ye Xiuwen was only wearing his bathrobes, tied together by a belt around his waist. He had let down his ink-black hair which hung freely and extended to his waist. Under the dim glow of the candlelight, one could vaguely make out the shape of Ye Xiuwen’s chest muscles – firm but not overly bulging. His fair skin had a milky sheen to it under the illumination of the candlelight, as though it had been covered with a thin layer of silk.

Jun Xiaomo momentarily stopped rubbing her eyes as she stared in astonishment at Ye Xiuwen walking out from behind the screen doors, not knowing how to respond.

Locking eyes with Jun Xiaomo, Ye Xiuwen’s usually calm gaze surged with waves of unease. He walked over the Jun Xiaomo’s side, sat down, poured a cup of tea, and after he took a sip of the tea, he finally spoke, “This scar on my face is caused by an incursion of demonic energy when I was young.”

“Haa--?!” Jun Xiaomo responded in a daze. It was only after some time that she managed to recompose herself and understand what exactly Ye Xiuwen was saying.

Why would martial brother suddenly talk about the scar on his face? These were the first thoughts in Jun Xiaomo’s mind. Then, within moments, she discovered that Ye Xiuwen had taken of his veiled conical hat when he was showering.

This was what her eyes were telling her – this was Ye Xiuwen’s actual appearance without his veiled conical hat.

Ye Xiuwen’s original looks must not be too bad. From his eyebrows, his nose bridge, his lips and his cheekbones, one would be able to roughly ascertain that if Ye Xiuwen had not been disfigured by this incursion of demonic energies, he would look very much like a pretty boy with sharp features and a chiseled look.

But this was the conclusion after a deep analysis of Ye Xiuwen’s facial features. Most other people would be too shocked to continue observing his facial features once they noticed the enormous scar that cut diagonally across his whole face. After all, this scar was not only fierce-looking and ugly, the dark energies within the scar even seemed to be squirming about like a snake.

This was a curse left behind by a demonic cultivator. Unless someone could find the caster of this spell, or find another special way to dispel the curse, Ye Xiuwen might very well have to live with this scar for the rest of his life.

The lifespan of spiritual cultivators would be extended in accordance with their cultivation levels. Therefore, Ye Xiuwen’s lifetime could become very, very long – a few hundred years on a conservative estimate; or up to thousands or even ten thousand years if he were lucky.

Does this mean that martial brother will have to bear this scar his entire lifetime, and wear that veiled conical hat so that others couldn’t see his appearances? Can’t he just remove this scar and directly receive looks of praise and admiration from others, and even openly pursue the woman he loves?

Thinking about how that scumbag Zhang Shuyue had deceived Ye Xiuwen’s feelings and lured him into a deadly trap in her previous life, Jun Xiaomo’s heart ached – she feared that her martial brother would make the same mistake again. If he once again encountered Zhang Shuyue in this life, what should she do? Should she kill Zhang Shuyue, or should she break her limbs and cripple her cultivation so that she would no longer be a threat to her martial brother?

Others might find her methods cruel and vicious, but she was a Lady Demoness after all. When it came to people whom she could not care less about, especially her enemies, she was never concerned about what others thought of her methods, as long as she obtained the results that she desired.

But if martial brother truly fell in love with Zhang Shuyue in this life, both these two methods might hurt his heart as well, would they not?

Jun Xiaomo felt so upset that she felt as though she were sinking into the abyss. She bit down on her lower lips as she stared vacantly at Ye Xiuwen, and she was even unaware of how her eyes had welled up with tears.

On the other hand, Ye Xiuwen thought that this young man was stunned and at a loss for words because of his scar. Little did he know that after he finished drinking his tea and looked up again, he was faced with Yao Mo’s now puffy eyes and two streaks of tears down the sides of his face. It was as though he had just been humiliated or aggrieved.

This time, it was Ye Xiuwen who was shocked – he did not understand why this young man was looking at him and crying like that.

Furthermore, he was silently tearing, and not bawling pitifully.

Could it be that his scar looked so terrifying that it even scared a sixteen year-old young man till he cried non-stop?

Ye Xiuwen rubbed his forehead helplessly, took out a napkin and offered it to Jun Xiaomo, saying, “Would you like to wipe off your tears?”

Jun Xiaomo received the napkin and wiped her face. Once she had dried her tears, she had also pulled herself back from her thoughts into the present, realizing that she had been tearing up uncontrollably in front of Ye Xiuwen.

“Thank you mar--...brother Ye.” Jun Xiaomo hung her head low and said softly, biting down on her tongue to prevent the wrong words from slipping out of her mouth.

She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she almost called Ye Xiuwen her martial brother and gave away her identity.

Ye Xiuwen did not notice this brief slip up by Jun Xiaomo, and he only saw the top of Jun Xiaomo’s lowered head. After a brief moment of deliberation, he calmly asked, “Yao Mo, are you afraid of the scar on my face?”

“Haa--?!” Jun Xiaomo was shocked by the question. She raised her head and stared blankly at Ye Xiuwen with some traces of tears left in her eyes.

Ye Xiuwen sighed, repeating, “Tell me the truth. I won’t hold it against you. You won’t be the first one who’s been scared by my scar.”

The other person he was referring to was none other than Jun Xiaomo, that little martial sister of his who was still far away at the Dawn Sect. Jun Xiaomo was six years old back then, and despite being young and immature, she had inadvertently hurt her martial brother.

However, the present Ye Xiuwen was no longer that weak and sensitive youth that he was back then. He would not grow angry at Yao Mo’s tears, and he would not be upset by Yao Mo’s fear. He had matured enough to be able to calmly deal with strange stares from others right now.

And the most important thing was that Yao Mo was only a friend whom he had just met. If the person before him right now was Jun Xiaomo, he might not have reacted in the same way.

After all, Jun Xiaomo’s place in his heart was different from Yao Mo whom he had only just met. Naturally, his expectations and response to each of them would be vastly different.

Jun Xiaomo heard Ye Xiuwen’s words and immediately realized that Ye Xiuwen had misunderstood her response. She immediately lifted her head, held onto his arm and told him seriously, “It’s not like that. I don’t think the scar on your face is scary at all!”

What Jun Xiaomo said was the truth. Jun Xiaomo had seen and encountered even scarier and more terrifying things in her previous life, and this scar on Ye Xiuwen’s face could hardly be defined as a scary thing to Jun Xiaomo.

This was also why she did not immediately notice that Ye Xiuwen had removed his veiled conical hat when he walked into the room after his bath earlier. She absolutely overlooked this terrifying scar of his.

Yao Mo’s jet-black pupils stared straight into Ye Xiuwen’s eyes. Under the illumination of that dancing flame on the candle, Yao Mo’s eyes were absolutely clear and transparent, like the clear spring waters in the middle of a tranquil, untouched forest. Anyone would be able to see Yao Mo’s emotions through his clear eyes right this moment.

And Yao Mo’s eyes revealed that he was absolutely serious about what he said. It was so serious that even Ye Xiuwen would not be able to deny it if he wanted to.

Ye Xiuwen gently sighed, and he even slightly smiled on his face. He stretched out his hand and tousled Jun Xiaomo’s hair, saying, “I know you mean it. Thank you, Little Mo.”

No matter what reason this young man had for caring so much about Ye Xiuwen’s thoughts and feelings, his actions were sufficient for Ye Xiuwen to place Yao Mo’s sincerity on his heart. After all, not many people could find it in themselves to reject the compassion and warmth from others. At least, Ye Xiuwen could not.

A calm smile melded with Ye Xiuwen’s indifferent air about him. Jun Xiaomo’s heart skipped a beat, and she smiled with a silly look on her face as well.

Under the dim orange glow of the candle’s illumination, this room was momentarily filled with warmth and tranquility.