AS THE HOT BLOOD washed over Wuyan's skin, those fine wrinkles slowly vanished. Wuyan's appearance was undergoing minute changes in the steam of the pool. The loose skin of her face became taut and flawless: the faint crease between her brows seemed to smooth, the sagging folds at the corners of her mouth gradually disappeared, and the fine lines on her lips faded to nothing. Her entire figure grew so tender and delicate that she resembled the first flower bud on an early spring branch.
The blood bath transformed the dignified beauty of a lady in her forties into the fresh loveliness of a gorgeous young maiden. She was exceedingly charming, like a white blossom soaking in the red blood pool. As she absorbed the blood of humans who'd perished thousands of years ago into her veins, her skin flushed with color and her features turned dewy and pristine. Wuyan cupped a handful of blood in her palms, sipping delicately through scarlet lips. After a few swallows, her lashes fluttered open—even her eyes had become as clear and pure as those of a girl in her twenties.
Watching this outrageous scene unfold, Gu Mang was struck by a realization: Wuyan was the devastating beauty in the Liao Kingdom's legends, as well as the wrinkled and white-haired old hag!
This bat queen couldn't figure out how to cultivate into immortality. And she did not merely fail, but even severely damaged her vital energy, making her age rapidly. A demon's natural lifespan was long; at Wuyan's age, she should be in her prime. How could she possibly be willing to lose her beauty?
The Xueling Pill refined from the blood of the feathered tribe should have the same effect as the agate pool—no, it must be even stronger. Not only could it repair Wuyan's vital energy, it could restore her body's youth. Perhaps the blood pool could return her to her early twenties, and only briefly, but the Xueling Pill… The Xueling Pill probably returned her figure and features to her teenaged appearance and kept them that way for a long time.
Wuyan soaked in the pool, its yin energy revitalizing her fully. She glowed with youth from the inside out; even some of her unhappiness seemed to have dispersed. When she spoke again, her tone was relaxed. "A-Fang, say, who are these people who came to the island?"
"According to the shangao, there are four of them, all men," AFang replied. "But the shangao swears a lot and never says anything reasonable, so that's all I could learn."
"Four men." Wuyan sniffed. "This venerable one doesn't go out to kidnap people anymore, yet these ants still come swarming to my island. They deserve to be made into my personal playthings."
A-Fang said nothing.
I was right, Gu Mang thought. She didn't say "keep" them as playthings—she said "make." This bat queen really is carrying a torch for someone; that's why she used gu worms to change Yue Chenqing's features. Which poor bastard is so charming a bat queen would yearn madly for him all this time?
"Your Majesty, most humans live but a few decades. The last time, when that cultivator came to the island asking for medicine to save his mother, he only lasted a dozen years before he died. How long do you think you can play with these four?"
Wuyan lifted a finger from the pool; dark red beaded at its tip. "They dared steal this venerable one's feathered tribe medicine. After the way they've angered me, so what if they don't last long? Anyway, they're mere puppets, they're not…" She paused; the innocent expression disappeared from her tender and tranquil face and was replaced with a seething madness even demonic magic couldn't disguise. "They're not the real him."
"Your Majesty…"
"Forget it. I won't bring it up again." Wuyan leaned back, head pillowed against the stones at the pool's rim. "He's an immortal," she chuckled, "but this venerable one lost real affection for that craven traitor long ago. After all these centuries, the only thing this venerable one can't forget is his handsome face. Creating an identical copy is nothing difficult."
Gu Mang was shocked—What? The man Wuyan had set her eyes on was an immortal? But after the shock passed, things started to fall into place. Of course… Why else would she so insistently defy her nature as a demon to cultivate, attempting to step onto the immortal path rather than the demonic way? It seemed it was because her Prince Charming was an immortal.
Since antiquity, immortals and demons had stood opposed; how infatuated must this bat queen have been to try changing her own nature to be with such a man? And that immortal later became a "traitor"—he must have somehow disappointed her greatly. Not only did she fail to cultivate into an immortal, she ended up with a sickly body that was deteriorating in the prime of her life.
Thus her old infatuation had decayed into twisted obsession. She wasn't willing to meet any men who weren't of her tribe, but if a human man happened to trespass onto Bat Island, she would transform him into that remembered immortal, then toy with him and torture him to death.
Looking at this demon, Gu Mang thought her worthy of both hatred and pity. He couldn't help but sigh.
A-Fang was still massaging Wuyan's shoulders. "Yes, we'll catch those four wretches, as well as the little rascal they wanted to snatch away. We'll feed them gu worms to change their faces, wipe their memories, and keep them on the island to serve Your Majesty obediently. Hmph! That's letting them off lightly!"
Wuyan's mood was brightening. "You always say just what I like to hear," she said, smiling. She turned her head. "Bring the fruit over. This venerable one will partake."
Gu Mang gathered his wayward thoughts and calmly raised the white jade plate in both hands. He crossed over to the agate pool and knelt deferentially. Wuyan picked through the fruit with slender, snow-white fingers. Eventually, she pointed at a small pile of lychees. "These—peel them."
"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Gu Mang.
A servant girl hurried over with a small celadon bowl. Gu Mang nimbly peeled the gleaming, translucent lychees, six in all, and arranged them in the bowl. Wuyan plucked out one and closed her cinnabar-stained lips around it, filling her mouth with its tangy sweetness. She savored it and said, "These lychees are extraordinarily good today."
Gu Mang smiled but made no sound. He had placed a SoulRecording Spell on the plate of fruit when he brought it over, then layered some other illusion spells he had once thought useless for battle to hide its traces. Under the spellwork, the lychees tasted uncommonly sweet and delicious.
His talent for spellcasting was outstanding, and the fire bats were exceptionally simple-minded; Gu Mang's plan went off without a hitch. When Wuyan ate the lychee, the Soul-Recording Spell would disperse within her, absorbing all the memories Gu Mang needed. Later, he would only need to recite the incantation, and this intangible spell would disengage from Wuyan's mind, return to Gu Mang, and present all the information it had collected.
Wuyan finished the fruit and wiped her fingers with a silken handkerchief offered by a servant girl. Sated, she lazily closed her eyes and reclined against the side of the pool to soak further.
The most important step was completed—Gu Mang sighed in relief. But a moment later, he heard A-Fang ask, "Your Majesty, will you require a guard to service you tonight?"
Gu Mang choked mid-sigh. S-service?!
"Xuannü's dual cultivation method boosts longevity. This venerable one can't take a Xueling Pill today, so I must collect yang to mend yin. Of course a guard's services are required."
Gu Mang stared in horrified silence.
"Go make arrangements for this venerable one."
"Yes, Your Majesty," answered A-Fang.
A-Fang left, while Wuyan remained in the blood pool. This beauty seemed like a female ghost that had crawled out of purgatory, indescribably exquisite. She stuck out a pinky, studying the vermillion at her fingertips, then said absently, "This venerable one is in an ill humor today. Prepare some fragrance and liven things up for me."
"At once, Your Majesty!" Two bat demons came forward from either side, each holding a teardrop-shaped crystal bottle filled with petal-pink flower nectar incense. They knelt by the pool, bending their elegant necks to pour the perfume into the crimson blood.
Within seconds, the hall filled with fragrance, its heady scent dispersing throughout the entire pavilion and drifting outward. The scent was syrupy-sweet, a kind of fragrance Gu Mang had never smelled before; it seemed to be a blend of all the scents he liked. He smelled grass, the perfume of a lotus pond in summer…and the clear sweetness of honey.
As he marveled that there could be a scent on earth so perfectly suited to his tastes, he saw out of the corner of his eye the expressions of intoxication on the faces of the other bat demons. Now that was a bad sign. This fragrance must be like the ephemera Murong Lian smoked—it had a hypnotic effect.
Gu Mang shook his head vigorously and began circulating spiritual energy to suppress the incense's effects. Refocusing his mind, he looked around again. As expected, all the demons in the pavilion wore expressions of perfect bliss, as if they might ascend to heaven at any moment. Wuyan leaned against the side of the blood pool, her features becoming increasingly alluring under the influence of the incense. She was as languid and soft as rich spring soil, her coquettish eyes like rippling silk, her carmine lips lightly parted.
This gentle illusory fragrance bled outward like ink on paper. A short time later, A-Fang returned. "Your Majesty, the guards."
A row of bat demons filed into the pavilion behind her. All had broad shoulders and narrow waists, their faces compellingly handsome. Gu Mang swept a glance across them, his eye immediately catching on the one with the most gallant features.
As expected, Mo Xi's name had been called. But judging by his expression, he didn't yet know why. He knitted his swordlike brows, eyes skimming the group of demons before him. His gaze paused fleetingly on Gu Mang, then slid away, some faint confusion showing in his eyes.
Oh no, thought Gu Mang. Mo Xi was the type who was beautiful but oblivious. Usually, his glacial expression was sufficient to reject a crowd of wild admirers, dashing their hopes with a single sharp look. Yet as soon as he encountered something he didn't understand, confusion would surface upon his features, thawing that bitter coldness and revealing a face that was young and guileless.
In brief, he was a beauty.
At this point, there was no way to hide Mo Xi's attractiveness; Gu Mang could only hope that Wuyan had peculiar tastes, or that she was blind. He began to pray: Don't choose Princess, don't choose Princess, Princess has an explosive temper, you can't handle the consequences…
He was still chanting devoutly when Wuyan lifted a finger and pointed it right at Mo Xi. "It'll be you."
Gu Mang stared in horror.
Mo Xi blinked in confusion.
Wuyan stretched languidly and rose from the blood pool. The fire bat tribe had a unique constitution—instead of staining her body red, the blood rolled off her like normal hot spring water to reveal her naked body, supple as white jade.
This demon's lack of propriety made Gu Mang want to bash his own head in. Wuyan stepped straight out of the bath. Gu Mang only saw her bare back, but where Mo Xi stood… He would be seeing her front…
Gu Mang risked a peek at Mo Xi's face. A series of vivid colors passed over it like a rotating carousel lantern. But the fire bat tribe wasn't sharp and had difficulty reading expressions, and the incense fumes had dulled Wuyan's focus and self-restraint. She saw only Mo Xi's handsomeness and none of his menace. The bat queen spread her arms provocatively, then gathered her hair and clicked her tongue. "What a hopeless little servant you are. I've selected you to attend me —did you freeze up in joy? Come, help this venerable one dress."
After such an invitation, what more did Mo Xi need to hear? His eyes flew wide as he first stared at Wuyan in shock, then swung his gaze over to Gu Mang, who guiltily lowered his head.
Mo Xi seemed to choke on his words. He slowly looked back at Wuyan, his handsome face going a stunning shade of green.