Xiaoman shook her head and hugged Liu Mu. The composure and reluctance she had struggled so hard to maintain collapsed in an instant, and she burst into tears.

“I’m a demon, Mom. I’m just a demon. I’m not afraid of pain, and I’m not afraid of dying. You’re the best mother in the world. I’m not worth you giving up your life for me. I just want you to be okay…”

“Whether you’re human or a demon, all I know is that you’re my child.” Liu Mu wiped the tears from Xiaoman’s eyes. “These five years with you have been so happy. They’ve been worth it.”

When she first learned that Xiaoman was a demon, she really had been a little afraid, because she had always been a firm materialist.

But that fear had been so brief. What remained were all the countless moments of happiness Xiaoman had brought her.

Shen Linchuan asked Xi Yu with reddened eyes, “Is there really no other way?”

Drain all the blood from her body and use it to draw out a strand of spiritual essence.

Make Xiaoman watch helplessly as Liu Mu’s blood was drained away and she died right in front of her.

This was the cruelest punishment in the world.

Xi Yu shook his head, indicating that there was no other way.

Liu Fu looked at his wife and daughter crying in each other’s arms and asked, “Will it hurt?”

Xi Yu said, “For a mortal, yes. It will hurt a lot.”

For an immortal, it would be different. It was not particularly painful.

Liu Fu knew his wife. He knew she would never back down, but he still asked quietly, “Is there any way to make it hurt less? She… is very afraid of pain.”

Xi Yu shook his head again.

Lu Zhixing, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly spoke.

“She won’t feel the pain.”

Lu Zhixing’s expression was indifferent to the point of seeming almost cold. He looked at Liu Fu and repeated, “She won’t feel the pain.”

“Compared to the heart that wants to save Xiaoman, the pain caused by the jade-colored flower is insignificant. If she can save the person she wants to save, then even pain is her spoil of war.”

Lu Zhixing lowered his eyes, his voice calm and unhurried.

Xi Yu looked at Lu Zhixing, his eyelashes trembling slightly. An inexplicable, enormous emptiness suddenly swept over him, but it disappeared just as quickly.

Lu Zhixing clearly seemed to be offering comfort, but to Xi Yu, it sounded more like a statement of fact.

As though Lu Zhixing had once experienced unbearable pain himself and, as someone who had been through it, was passing his experience on to someone else.

Xi Yu frowned slightly.

The profile of Lu Zhixing’s face was sharply defined, his crow-black hair dark as ink. His entire being seemed to radiate a serenity that was almost like the peace of someone who had finally gotten what he wanted and no longer desired anything else.

But hadn’t what Lu Zhixing wanted been to have his demonic bloodline removed and become a normal person?

That was what he wanted.

Yet it had not happened.

Xi Yu was about to speak again when Liu Mu had already walked over to him.

“Mr. Xi, when can we trade lives?”

Xi Yu said, “I’ll come tomorrow at midnight.”

Liu Mu calculated the time. There was still one full day left.

Xi Yu did not stay any longer. He left the remaining time to the family before getting up and leaving.

Lu Zhixing followed behind him, half a shoulder’s distance away.

It was an instinctive protective stance.

At the entrance to the house, Lu Zhixing instinctively started to follow Xi Yu home.

Xi Yu pointed toward another villa.

“That’s your house.”

Lu Zhixing’s footsteps stopped for a moment.

“Oh.”

He turned and walked toward his own home.

Xi Yu watched his back and suddenly called out, “Lu Zhixing, can people really be happy about using their own life to exchange for someone else’s?”

At the entrance of the villa, a breeze swept past.

Lu Zhixing did not turn around, nor did he hesitate.

“Yes. If the person I love most could use my life to keep them alive, I would only feel happy.”

Xi Yu said nothing more.

After a long while, Lu Zhixing turned around, but Xi Yu was already gone.

There was only the rustling of leaves stirred by the wind.

Lu Zhixing quietly repeated,

“Yes.”

…………………

Late at night, at the Liu residence.

There were still fifteen minutes before midnight.

Xi Yu sat on the sofa, playing with the dark-colored ring on his finger. Wisps of spiritual power curled around the ring.

The curtains swayed in the wind, and the chirping of cicadas could be heard outside.

Lu Zhixing stood behind him, one hand resting on the back of the sofa, only two fingers’ width away from Xi Yu’s shoulder.

The living room was very quiet, completely different from the sorrowful, painful, chaotic atmosphere that afternoon.

After a while, Xi Yu lifted his eyes and looked at Xiaoman.

“Have you made up your mind?”

Xiaoman handed the jade-colored flower to Xi Yu.

“This flower is precious. It shouldn’t be stained with blood.”

Xi Yu crossed his long legs. In the enormous living room, there were only the three of them.

“Where are they?”

“They’re already asleep.”

Xiaoman touched the jade-green hairpin in her hair, looking somewhat reluctant.

Xi Yu wondered what Xiaoman meant by “asleep.”

Had she drugged them unconscious somehow?

After all, Xiaoman had no spiritual power now. There was no way she could have knocked all of them unconscious.

But it didn’t matter.

Xi Yu leaned forward, resting one elbow on his knee. With his other hand, he pinched the stem of the jade-colored flower and looked at Xiaoman.

“You’re a demon. As long as you use that strand of spiritual essence to rebuild your demon core, you can live for a thousand years. Mortals, however, only have a few short decades. Madam Liu has already lived through half of her life. Are you really sure?”

A smile curved at the corner of Xi Yu’s lips, his tone almost seductive.

“Are you really willing to leave Shen Linchuan behind? He risked his life to obtain divine artifacts for the sake of your mortal body. To nourish your soul, he emptied his fortune searching for spiritual energy from heaven and earth. He’s still so young. As long as you live, you can stay with him for several decades. You could even wait for him to reincarnate and continue your relationship in another life. Don’t you want that?”

Xi Yu’s voice was low, his speech slow, like a net gradually wrapping itself around Xiaoman.

For a moment, Xiaoman looked dazed.

Shen Linchuan…

She repeated those three words over and over in her heart.

Everything that had happened in the past was like a string scraping across her heart, cutting it again and again until it bled.

To spend an entire lifetime with Shen Linchuan…

Was there any part of her that didn’t want that?

She had dreamed of it.

Humans and demons belonged to different worlds. At first, she had never intended to have anything to do with Shen Linchuan.

She had only planned to keep him company for a while, then leave once the real Liu Tanghuan returned.

At first, Shen Linchuan had been cold toward her.

But later, he became kinder and kinder, so kind that she could barely control her feelings anymore.

He had always believed that everything he was giving her belonged to Liu Tanghuan.

All the kindness Shen Linchuan showed her, she had thought was meant for Liu Tanghuan.

She began distancing herself from him, but then too many things happened. Unable to bear refusing her parents, she married Shen Linchuan.

Later, when Liu Tanghuan returned and saw the wedding, Xiaoman left without saying a word.

She returned Shen Linchuan’s love and her parents’ love—everything that had originally belonged to Liu Tanghuan.

But she had never expected Liu Tanghuan to commit such a terrible mistake.

In her panic, Xiaoman revealed herself and completely exposed her identity as a demon.

Shen Linchuan discovered that she was a demon.

At first, she had thought Shen Linchuan would call her despicable.

But he didn’t.

He didn’t despise her for being a demon.

Instead, he cherished and protected her even more.

How could she not fall in love with him?

But…

“I want to.”

A smile appeared at the corners of Xiaoman’s lips, but her eyes were already clouded with tears.

“But in my heart, Mom comes first.”

Her mother was the one and only person who occupied that unshakable first place in her heart.

In the face of her mother’s safety, everyone else had to step aside.

Including Shen Linchuan.

Including herself.

Xi Yu smiled.

“I respect your decision. But since you’ve already made up your mind, why did you ask me to come?”

He had arrived half an hour early because Xiaoman had messaged him, asking him to come early.

Xiaoman looked at Xi Yu and poured him a cup of tea.

She was a demon, yet she had learned human hospitality so thoroughly that there was not the slightest trace of demonic behavior in her.

Xiaoman lifted the cup and handed it to Xi Yu.

“I have one thing to ask of you. I hope you can agree, Mr. Xi.”

Xi Yu took the cup but did not drink.

“Tell me.”

“After I die, I hope you can use the Five-Colored Flower to carry the power within my demon core and transfer it into Shen Linchuan’s body.”

Xi Yu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

A demon core was like a primordial spirit. After death, all of a demon’s power would gather inside the core. Though it could not normally be used by humans, consuming it could increase one’s cultivation.

But that only applied to an intact demon core.

Xiaoman’s demon core had already shattered. The moment she died, it would turn to dust.

Moreover, even if Xiaoman’s demon core had been intact, after years of punishment, she had very little demonic power left. To members of other races, it would be almost useless.

But for a mortal, it was different.

Even the smallest amount of power could nourish the body.

And the Five-Colored Flower could carry all things in the world. At the moment Xiaoman died, it could quickly collect the remaining power inside her demon core.

But only for half an hour.

“To help me keep living all these years, Linchuan has exhausted himself. His body has deteriorated so quickly. I owe him an entire lifetime. I only want to use the last bit of my power to make it up to him.”

“Who wants you to make it up to me?!”

Shen Linchuan stood at the bottom of the stairs, his teeth clenched. His eyes were fixed on Xiaoman, filled with so much anguish that they seemed ready to bleed tears.

Xi Yu spoke leisurely.

“Looks like they weren’t asleep after all.”

Xiaoman turned around.

Liu Fu and Liu Mu came down the stairs.

Shen Linchuan did not move. He simply stared at Xiaoman with hatred.

He hated her for making decisions on her own.

He didn’t want her compensation.

He hated her for drugging him unconscious, for not even allowing him to accompany her at the final moment.

And he hated her even more for her cruelty—for using the last of her strength to restore his body.

What was the point of restoring him?

So he could live a few more years?

So he could suffer for a few more years?

“Mom… Dad…”

Xiaoman suddenly stood up, utterly stunned.

“Linchuan, you weren’t…”

Liu Mu cried as she smacked Xiaoman’s arm.

“Weren’t what? You mean we weren’t knocked unconscious by the drugs you gave us? If I hadn’t suddenly woken up, would I never have been able to find you tomorrow?!”

“Didn’t we agree already? I’m just an old woman with only a few years left to live. This is such a worthwhile trade. Why won’t you listen to me?! Are you trying to make me so angry that I die?!”

Lu Zhixing saw the group coming downstairs. His eyes flickered, and he lightly tapped Xi Yu on the earlobe.

Xi Yu turned around.

Lu Zhixing raised an eyebrow.

He didn’t say anything, but Xi Yu understood what he was asking.

You did this?