Sang Luo had just arrived in a Demon City when she was ensnared by a giant Nine-headed Demon Lizard.
The battle was grueling.
This Demon Beast was actually at the Emperor Rank!
She knew her own limits. She couldn’t win—fleeing was the best option!
Nine long tongues shot out, wrapping tightly around her body and pulling her swiftly toward its maw.
A tall, black-robed figure appeared out of thin air.
A Demon Bow materialized in his hand, and he fired an arrow at the Demon Lizard.
The force binding her body suddenly loosened. Just as Sang Luo was about to be flung to the ground, a slender hand caught her securely, pulling her into an embrace as they landed in a safe spot.
He made no move to let her go.
Sang Luo stared at the newcor in astonishnt. He was draped in a pitch-black cloak and wore a mask that revealed only a delicate, porcelain-white chin.
"You shouldn’t have co here." The voice was grating and hoarse, its gender and age impossible to discern.
"And who are you?"
"A nobody."
Sang Luo stared at him for a long mont, then suddenly smiled. Her slender fingers tugged at his tightly fastened collar. "Did you know? Every ti I get close to you, you give off this kind of—"
She enunciated every syllable,
"The. Scent. Of. Your. Lust."
The man’s body tensed abruptly. Sang Luo pulled off his mask, revealing that cold, exquisitely beautiful face. His features were as perfect as a painting, his eyelashes long and slender, and his long, violet eyes were especially bewitching, enough to steal one’s soul.
However much she had once loved those eyes was how much she despised them now!
Panic flickered across his face. "Sangsang..."
"Don’t call that! You don’t have the right to use that na. There’s nothing between us anymore."
Sang Luo’s voice was full of disappointnt and indifference. "Caesar, I never imagined you would one day fall so low as to beco a Demon Beast. Do you really intend to run with this disgusting pack of Demon Beasts and never co back?! Is that it?"
He stared at her intently, a thousand unspoken words in his eyes. "...You’ve already been targeted by the Demon Envoys. The path ahead is fraught with peril. You can’t leave the Void Demon Realm alive on your own. I can get you out."
"Of course I’m leaving this damn place, but before I do, the Eye of the Ruins must be closed! I absolutely will not let the Demon Beasts enter the Beast World and wreak havoc!"
"The Demon Beasts’ return to the Beast World is already a foregone conclusion. You can’t stop it by yourself. If you are willing to co with , I can keep you and our child safe."
"Do you have any idea how disgusting you sound right now? Just thinking about you being a Demon Beast makes want to throw up!"
"...So you hate just because you find Demon Beasts disgusting?"
"No, it’s not dislike." Sang Luo’s lips drew close to his ear. "It’s hatred."
A dagger pierced his chest.
Quan Jin looked down, stunned.
Then, suddenly, he smiled.
"So, you don’t want to live."
Taking advantage of his loosened grip, Sang Luo ripped the dagger out and broke free of his hold, retreating several ters to create a standoff. "I would rather you had never co back! It would have been better if Duotu Yalan had just killed you back then! At least that way, you wouldn’t have tarnished the mory of my Caesar!"
The mont the words left her mouth, Sang Luo regretted them. ’If he hadn’t co back, Little Qi wouldn’t be alive, either.’
’But the words were out, and there was no taking them back.’
Sang Luo pressed her lips together, ignored him, and continued on her way.
Quan Jin watched the wound on his chest slowly heal over. He didn’t follow her.
"Your wish ca true, in a way. I already died once. This body is no longer his."
"..."
"Caesar was just a false identity from my past. You can call by my real na now: Quan Jin." His voice grew increasingly cold.
His words—’false identity’—stabbed Sang Luo in the heart. ’What is he trying to say? That his identity was fake, so everything they shared was fake, too? That their past isn’t even worth ntioning?’
"I have no objection if you want to sever ties with the past. But if you still recognize as the mother of your son, then tell : where is the Gate?"
"You want to know?" he asked, catching up to her.
’What a stupid question.’ Sang Luo wanted to curse him out, but as she turned, Quan Jin yanked her into his arms, carried her to a bedchamber, threw her onto the bed, and pinned her down.
"What do you think you’re doing?!"
Terror filled Sang Luo’s face as she tried to push him away. With one large hand, he easily pinned both of her wrists above her head. His other hand gripped her waist as he lowered his head and kissed her, fiercely and wantonly.
As if by instinct, he skillfully pried her lips apart, his tongue tangling with hers.
Sang Luo’s face flushed crimson. The kiss left her breathless, her legs turning to jelly...
A strange feeling stirred deep inside her. ’She knew he was a Snake Beast, with a body temperature naturally lower than that of other Beastn. But in the past, when he kissed her, his lips had been cool yet tender. When he was aroused, they would grow even warr and softer than her own. Now, however, his lips were utterly devoid of warmth, like cold, hard stone!’
Blinded by anger, Sang Luo could hardly think. She bit down hard, breaking the skin on his tongue.
Quan Jin let out a muffled grunt but did not release her.
The taste of blood in her mouth vanished.
Then he tore at her clothes. His kisses moved from the corner of her lips, down her delicate, porcelain-white skin, sliding past her neck and collarbone to her chest...
"Ngh!"
Sang Luo arched her back with a cry of pain. ’He bit !’
Grimacing in pain, Sang Luo shoved him away with all her might and swung her sword at him.
"Rashamon City."
Quan Jin’s figure vanished in an instant, and her blade cut through empty air.
The sword clattered to the floor. Sang Luo’s chest heaved, and she was clearly seething. She touched the dampness on her face—a trail of blood snaked all the way down to her chest, a garish, startling sar against her porcelain skin...
In the exact sa spot on her left breast, he had once again branded her with a Soul Mark...
’Did he really think she’d cherish a Soul Mark from a Demon Beast?!’
Sang Luo imdiately resolved to remove the mark, but her hand trembled, unable to bring itself to cut her own skin.
She stared at the Soul Mark—a small, purple snake biting its own tail—and her eyes began to blur with tears. It was identical to the one from all those years ago. It had been her first Soul Mark. She hadn’t seen it in years, and now it was back... ’Because of her past with Caesar... she couldn’t bring herself to do it...’
’Forget it. I’ll just leave it,’ she thought, and concealed the Soul Mark.
She was just about to head for Rashamon City.
But a barrier outside the palace blocked her path.
’So Quan Jin had left a trap for her. Was he trying to keep her locked in this palace?’
’Of course he wouldn’t let her go that easily.’
Sang Luo used the power of All Things Breaking and left.
When Quan Jin returned with their child, the palace was empty.
Little Qi, who had just begun to perk up, let his head droop again. "Daddy, you lied! Mommy’s not here! Did you lie to again? Did you fight with Mommy and make her mad?!"
"...She ran away." His expression was grim.
’Did she really despise being with that much?’
...
Sang Luo had no map of the Void Demon Realm and no knowledge of the different factions’ territories. But she knew that the deeper she went, the higher the Level of the Demon Beasts.
On her journey to Rashamon City, every Demon Beast she encountered was above King Rank. She even ca across three Emperor Rank Demon Beasts, but they were all eliminated before she even had a chance to act.
She didn’t have to guess who was responsible.
Now that she had his Soul Mark, there was no hiding her journey from him.
Sang Luo didn’t care. ’If he dared to drag her back again, she would just escape again.’
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