Chapter 124: The Bitter Truth

“Scum! Bastard! No!”

Su Mian shot upright in bed, her back drenched in a cold sweat.

She gasped for air, her mind still haunted by the vivid images: the crimson moon of the Spirit Realm, Ling Chen’s revoltingly excited face, and Xue Li’s cold, humiliated eyes as she was bound by chains.

“Bastard…” she muttered, her voice barely a whisper.

She instinctively clutched the bedsheets, a maelstrom of unspent fury and revulsion churning in her chest.

Never in her life had she encountered such a twisted individual, one who so brazenly displayed malice and a desire to control, treating others as mere playthings.

Ling Chen’s existence seemed to redefine the very meaning of ‘disgusting’ for her.

Her wildly pounding heart slowly returned to a normal rhythm, and her ragged breathing gradually calmed.

Su Mian blinked, her eyes unfocused, as she slowly took in her surroundings.

Soft, goose-down quilts, the familiar layout of her room, and the dim, yet comforting, glow of the bedside lamp met her gaze.

The air was filled with the faint, crisp scent unique to Duke Xiao Moyuan, mingled with a soothing aroma of incense. It was not the eerie desolation of the Spirit Realm, nor the reek of demonic energy and blood.

“I… I’m back?” she murmured to herself.

She glanced down at her clean cotton pajamas, then touched her face and the top of her head.

Her fox ears and tail were neatly tucked away, behaving themselves.

Everything was so peaceful, as if the life-or-death struggle, the demonic energy surge, and the spatial transfer had all been an overly realistic nightmare.

Yet, a subtle tremor from deep within her body, and the contract tightly binding her to Xiao Moyuan, told her it was no dream.

“What did you expect? How else would you return to this safe house?”

A slightly cool, masculine voice drifted in from the doorway, devoid of any discernible emotion.

Su Mian turned her head to look.

Xiao Moyuan leaned casually against the doorframe, holding a white porcelain cup from which fragrant steam wafted, carrying the elegant scent of tea.

He wore dark loungewear, his hair falling somewhat loosely across his forehead, diminishing some of his usual aloofness.

He walked in, extending the warm teacup to Su Mian’s rather cold hands.

“Hold this. Steady yourself,” he said succinctly.

The warmth spreading through her palms, combined with a few sips of the warm, slightly bitter liquid, helped to soothe her taut nerves.

Well, even if she were incredibly slow, she now fully understood how she had returned to this safe house.

“Xue Li!” she suddenly exclaimed, remembering the most crucial matter.

She looked up at Xiao Moyuan, her eyes filled with urgency. “How is she?”

“That bastard Ling Chen… he didn’t manage to forcefully sign a contract with her, did he?”

Xiao Moyuan watched her undisguised worry, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before slowly moving away.

“He didn’t succeed. The Snow Woman was not forcefully contracted,” he said, his tone revealing no ripples of emotion.

Su Mian let out a long sigh of relief, her tense shoulders relaxing as a relieved smile spread across her face.

“That’s wonderful! I knew it! Xue Li is so powerful and beautiful; how could she ever fall into the hands of such a scumbag?”

She almost cheered in relief, her tail nearly wagging uncontrollably with joy.

“However,” Xiao Moyuan’s voice broke her small moment of elation.

His tone remained calm, but Su Mian sensed an unusual stillness, a subtle difference.

Xiao Moyuan turned around, his gaze once again falling upon her face. This time, it carried a barely perceptible hint of coldness, mixed with scrutiny.

“She is fine,” he paused, each word articulated with stark clarity. “But you almost became someone else’s shikigami.”

“Huh?” Su Mian froze, her hand, still holding the teacup, suspended in mid-air. Her large eyes were filled with confusion.

“Me? But haven’t I already signed a contract with you?”

She remembered Xiao Moyuan saying that spirit contracts were exclusive; once established, they could not be broken or replaced with a new contract with another exorcist.

Xiao Moyuan took a step forward, his tall figure casting a long shadow over Su Mian in the bedside lamp’s glow.

He leaned slightly closer, and Su Mian could clearly see her own bewildered face reflected in his deep eyes. She could also smell the crisp, clean scent of cedarwood emanating from him.

His voice deepened. “Of course not. Your contractor can only be me.”

He looked directly into Su Mian’s eyes, emphasizing each word. “Only me.”

His posture and the possessiveness in his words were so potent that Su Mian’s cheeks flushed from his sudden proximity, and her heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

She instinctively recoiled, tucking her chin in slightly, and mumbled, “…Alright, alright, I get it. You don’t have to emphasize it so… so terrifyingly.”

Xiao Moyuan straightened up, taking half a step back to re-establish some distance, though his gaze remained fixed on her.

He changed the subject, his tone regaining a hint of seriousness. “Also, I warned you before not to easily use your demonic power when your emotions are fluctuating violently, especially when your demonic power is insufficient.”

Su Mian recalled the surge of anger that had shot straight to her head when she saw Ling Chen about to harm Xue Li—the impulsive desire to protect her companion, followed by the nearly uncontrollable berserk state.

She blinked guiltily. “Because I was really angry!”

She puffed out her cheeks, her tail twitching unconsciously, but then she straightened up, her ears perking slightly, the tips subtly trembling.

“You didn’t see Ling Chen’s face! He treats those female demon shikigami as tools to be casually beaten and cursed, as goods to be bought and sold! And he wanted to treat Xue Li with that kind of gaze and those methods…

How could I endure it? The moment I thought about Ling Chen’s actions, my demonic power became uncontrollably agitated!”

Her snowy white fox ears flared out with a ‘swish,’ sweeping back and forth behind her agitatedly.

Her three fluffy fox tails desperately tried to conceal her emotions, and her eyes, unusually bright with indignation, drew Xiao Moyuan’s gaze. He then scanned her restless, twitching tails.

His eyes darkened, and his voice deepened. “Xue Li… you’ve only known her for a few days, yet you get this angry for her! Only a few days, and you’d fall into an emotional rampage, even risking a complete exposure of your demon form and power for her?”

Su Mian was about to retort, “Xue Li is a good person,” when she suddenly caught an extremely subtle, uncharacteristic awkwardness in Xiao Moyuan’s words.

She blinked, scrutinizing Xiao Moyuan’s face. Although his expression remained unchanged, a bold thought seemed to flicker in the depths of his usually calm eyes.

She stared into Xiao Moyuan’s eyes, a hint of playful cunning in her gaze, and called out clearly, “Xiao Moyuan!”

Xiao Moyuan was momentarily taken aback by her sudden address, glancing at her with a hint of confusion.

But Su Mian, as if discovering a new continent, leaned slightly forward, a smile mixed with surprise and amusement gracing her face. She looked directly into his eyes.

“You…” she drew out the word, her eyes curving into crescent moons. “Are you… jealous?”

She could feel it!

There seemed to be a faint, almost imperceptible… sour note lingering around him?

No, it must be her imagination, or perhaps her senses were overly keen after her demonification. But Xiao Moyuan’s reaction… it was truly suspicious!

Xiao Moyuan’s expression visibly stiffened for a moment. He immediately averted his gaze, turning his face away, leaving only the sharp outline of his profile. He then curtly spat out two words, “No.”

The denial came too quickly, only serving to make it seem more like he was trying to cover something up.

Su Mian burst into laughter.

She resembled a cat that had stolen fish, looking smug and triumphant. The earlier anger and tension vanished without a trace.

“Heh! Still saying no? If you are, just admit it!”

The more she spoke, the more amused she became. She crossed her legs, propping her chin on her hand, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Xiao Moyuan.

“Look, I’m also turning into a demon now, and I’m no longer a boy, but a ‘girl.’ I admit, Xue Li is very beautiful and has an exceptional aura. I do find her somewhat… appealing, but I only appreciate her beauty!”

She paused, her tone becoming a mix of lightness and self-deprecation. “But then again, I’m also a ‘girl’ now, even if it was forced. It’s still a fact.”

As she spoke, her tone was natural, even tinged with relief, which surprised even herself.

After experiencing so much and narrowly escaping death in the Spirit Realm, she seemed to… not be as resistant or panicked about completely transforming into a female fox demon.

Was she numb, or was she subconsciously beginning to accept this new identity and the new possibilities it brought with it, especially in relation to the man before her?

Xiao Moyuan looked at her carefree, almost smug expression, listening to her frank and innocent words. The inexplicable anger in his heart dissipated by more than half, replaced by a sense of helplessness.

He sighed almost imperceptibly, raising a hand to rub his temples.

“Then just pretend I have amnesia,” he admitted in a tone of surrender, a rare hint of indulgent compromise in his voice.

“Hmph!” Su Mian, however, pressed her advantage, puffing out her small nose. “What do you mean, ‘pretend you have amnesia’? You either do or you don’t!”

“Senior Xiao, you’re quite stubborn, aren’t you?”

Xiao Moyuan.

Faced with his little fox, who had suddenly become sharp-tongued and even learned to tease him, he was momentarily speechless.

Su Mian knew when to stop, reining in her smile. She brought up the serious matter again, her tone much lighter. “So, did you save Xue Li in the end?”

“Also, wasn’t the Spirit Realm difficult to enter? How did you find me?”

Xiao Moyuan walked to the window, his back to her, gazing out at the deep night. His tone returned to its usual calm analysis.

“To be precise, that Snow Woman was rescued by you and the Nurikabe who arrived later.”

He turned his head, glancing at her. “If you hadn’t gone berserk after demonifying, strengthening the Nurikabe and buying enough time, I wouldn’t have been able to arrive in time. As for the Spirit Realm…”

He turned back around, his gaze calm. “Its barrier with the human world is relatively stable, making ordinary methods difficult to penetrate. However, if there’s enough energy to tear open a temporary passage, and the coordinates are clear, it’s not impossible to enter.”

Su Mian nodded, seemingly understanding. “Oh… so that’s how it is.”

She scratched her head, feeling a little embarrassed. ‘Was I stupid?’

“I think… after I demonified, I just remembered being very angry, and then everything went red… I don’t remember anything else. Did I lose control for that long?”

Her tail swung unconsciously behind her, indicating that its owner was trying hard to recall and process the information.

“But,” she suddenly remembered the words Xiao Moyuan had first spoken, and her expression grew serious, her tail ceasing its sway.

“You said… Ling Chen wanted to sign a contract with me? What exactly happened when I lost control? And my necklace…”

She raised a hand to touch her neck, feeling the familiar cool metal and the warm, smooth touch of the gem—the protective necklace Xiao Moyuan had given her was still securely in place.

Xiao Moyuan’s eyes, at that moment, were devoid of any fluctuation, replaced by a clarity that was almost ruthless. He knew that what he was about to tell Su Mian might be even more brutal than her demonic rampage or the special-grade demon battle.

He walked to the bedside but did not sit down, instead looking down at her, his voice steady yet each word piercingly clear.

“When I arrived, the scene I witnessed was—your sister, Su Baixue, was taking off the necklace from your neck.”

Su Mian froze for a moment, then an odd expression crossed her face.

“Ah… that…” She touched the back of her head, her tone becoming somewhat complex, mixed with a hint of worry she herself hadn’t detected, and a trace of something she couldn’t quite place.

“Xiao Moyuan, you’re not strong enough. Even my little Xue… tried to steal it.”

She pouted and let out a hmph, like a small animal whose precious treasure was being coveted by someone else.

But she quickly found an excuse for herself. “However, I probably know why Little Xue took the necklace.”

“I… I told her that this necklace was originally meant for Shen Zhixia, but I accidentally got my hands on it.”

As she spoke, she glanced at Xiao Moyuan guiltily. “She must have believed it and wanted to take the necklace back to return it to you, or to its rightful owner?”

“After all, your charm is so great that she’s completely captivated by you…” Her voice grew softer and softer, devoid of the earlier helplessness or docility, leaving only a deep sense of anger.

Xiao Moyuan looked into her eyes, watching this little fox still innocently making excuses for the sister who had personally pushed her into the abyss.

That suppressed anger in Xiao Moyuan’s chest flared up again, even stronger than before.

He suddenly reached out, precisely pinching the base of one of Su Mian’s tails—

That was one of the fox demon’s most sensitive spots.

“Kyaa—!”

Su Mian was completely unprepared. A powerful electric current, mixed with numbness, soreness, and a strange sensation, instantly shot from her tailbone throughout her entire body!

She couldn’t help but let out a startled cry, her body trembling violently, almost knocking over the teacup in her hand.

Her cheeks instantly flushed with physiological moisture, the corners of her eyes turning a thin red. She was instantly embarrassed and annoyed, her voice soft and alluring, completely lacking any deterrent power:

“Xiao Moyuan! You, you suddenly pinched my tail for what? Let go!”

Xiao Moyuan released his hand, but his expression did not improve.

He looked at her bewildered and wronged face, his voice cold and hard. “Stupid fox. You’re sold out, yet you’re happily helping them count the money.”

Su Mian was stunned by his scolding. She hugged her pitiful tail, feeling both wronged and confused.

“I, how am I stupid…”

Xiao Moyuan stopped beating around the bush and revealed the bloody truth himself.

“When I arrived, I personally heard Ling Chen say to your sister—‘As long as you help me take the necklace from her neck, once I take her as my shikigami, I will make her cooperate obediently with you to investigate the truth behind your parents’ disappearance.’”

He paused, staring into Su Mian’s suddenly wide eyes, enunciating each word with perfect clarity.

“And your sister, Su Baixue, only moved to take your necklace *after* hearing that sentence.”

“Ling Chen’s character, his methods… investigating the truth behind your parents’ disappearance, his attitude towards shikigami—Su Baixue saw it all from beginning to end.”

So… she could hand you over to someone like Ling Chen? You, who is her blood relative, her family with whom she lived for over ten years?

He said no more.

Some words were best left at that.

Some truths needed to be pieced together by the person involved.

Su Mian sat blankly on the bed, her hands, which had been clutching her tail, unconsciously loosening.

The blush on her face quickly faded, leaving it utterly pale.

Her brain seemed to have stopped working, Xiao Moyuan’s words echoing repeatedly in her ears.

“‘As long as you help me take the necklace from her neck, once I take her as my shikigami, I will make her cooperate obediently with you to investigate the truth behind your parents’ disappearance.’”

Su Baixue… only took off her necklace after hearing that sentence.

Ling Chen’s character, Ling Chen’s methods… investigating the truth behind her parents’ disappearance?

If she hadn’t signed a contract with Xiao Moyuan, or if Xiao Moyuan hadn’t arrived in time… she would have fallen into Ling Chen’s hands… becoming like those female demon shikigami, casually used, beaten, cursed, or even subjected to more unbearable treatment—a ‘toy’?

A chill slowly rose from the soles of her feet, crawling up her spine and filling her entire body, finally gripping her heart tightly.

She opened her mouth but found she couldn’t make any sound.

She could only stare at Xiao Moyuan, bewildered and helpless.

Her eyes, which always held vivid emotions, now contained only a vast emptiness, disbelief, and a slowly seeping, profound fear and coldness.

The room fell into a dead silence.

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