Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Original Author’s Unconventional Taste

Xuanyuan Tunhan stepped forward and asked Yitianling what he was doing.

Yitianling replied anxiously, “I have a friend who stayed behind to help the villagers resist the demonic energy. We agreed to meet again, but she hasn’t appeared—she’s likely run into trouble.”

Xuanyuan Tunhan said, “Perhaps it’s inconvenient for her. Let’s go inside and take a look first.”

Yitianling agreed and quickly dashed ahead.

Xuanyuan Tunhan and Ning Xianyu followed closely behind.

As they entered the town, they soon saw people.

The locals wore simple linen clothes, with few in silk, likely due to the remoteness and their humble means.

Upon seeing the three of them, many villagers exclaimed in astonishment, calling them immortals.

Some, emboldened, even approached Yitianling to greet him.

“Hero Yi, you’ve finally returned! Have you found a solution?”

“Hero Yi, you’ve worked so hard.”

Yitianling, having failed his mission, dared not linger in conversation. He replied perfunctorily and hurried on.

Xuanyuan Tunhan and Ning Xianyu wore cold expressions, the former with an aloof, immortal’s bearing, and the latter exuding an unapproachable air—no one dared to address them.

Yet, as Xuanyuan Tunhan studied the villagers’ faces, he saw signs of demonic energy within them—their poisoning was severe.

These people now appeared normal, but by nightfall, they would likely lose their minds.

Ning Xianyu saw nothing amiss, thinking the villagers just ordinary, with nothing strange about them.

They quickly skirted the crowd and reached a courtyard. Yitianling knocked and rushed inside.

The courtyard was small, with five main rooms and four side rooms, utterly ordinary.

He searched every room, even leaned over the well to look, but found nothing.

He sighed in frustration, then ran next door to ask around, only to return soon after, utterly dejected.

“She’s gone. Someone took her away.”

Utterly dispirited, he slumped into a chair, as if his spirit had left him.

Xuanyuan Tunhan looked around and said, “There’s no sign of a struggle or spellcasting inside. She must have left voluntarily.”

Yitianling had noticed this too. In grief, he said, “She must have done it for my sake. I told her I’d find a way, that she needn’t risk herself—it’s my fault for being useless.”

His words were so disjointed that, had Ning Xianyu not known the story, she’d have been lost.

She came over and asked, “Who are you talking about? What exactly happened?”

Yitianling sat there, wrestling internally, and after a fierce struggle, finally resolved to speak.

“Seniors, what is your opinion of those from the Demon Realm?”

Xuanyuan Tunhan said nothing, casting a glance at Ning Xianyu, leaving her to answer.

Ning Xianyu was inwardly annoyed.

Really, the great demon lord was so lazy, he couldn’t even be bothered to speak.

Helpless, she spoke herself.

“It’s only a matter of different positions, nothing more.”

Her words were open-minded, but Xuanyuan Tunhan glanced at her.

Ning Xianyu arched her brow proudly, as if to say, See? Wasn’t that profound and broad-minded enough?

Xuanyuan Tunhan turned away, taking a deep breath to keep from killing her.

Yitianling was overjoyed by her reply.

“Senior, you truly are open-minded.”

The male lead’s impression of the demon lord shifted again, adding “broad-minded” to his view.

“The friend I mentioned is from the Demon Realm. She left her world and discovered a traitor from the Demon Realm self-destructed here, causing the rampant demonic energy that’s harming the villagers.”

Xuanyuan Tunhan interjected, “Was it truly self-destruction?”

Yitianling confirmed it.

“My friend, seeing the villagers’ suffering, was deeply remorseful and stayed to treat them. She said she could return to the Demon Realm for a Bloodstone to absorb their demonic energy. Fearing it would be dangerous for her, I volunteered to fetch the Nine-stemmed Epiphyllum and told her to wait here.”

“But who would have thought, the Epiphyllum was lost after I acquired it, and now she’s gone. She must have tired of waiting and returned to the Demon Realm to find a way.”

At this point, Yitianling was overwhelmed with sorrow.

Watching him grieve as if he’d lost his wife, Ning Xianyu wanted to comfort him.

You’ve plenty of spots in your harem—stop pretending to be so devoted.

Before she could speak, Xuanyuan Tunhan did.

“If she’s returned to the Demon Realm, then we’ll pursue her, find her, and retrieve the Bloodstone.”

Yitianling looked up in surprise, “Senior, you mean—?”

Xuanyuan Tunhan nodded slightly, “I will accompany you to retrieve the Bloodstone.”

He stated his intent to fetch the Bloodstone; Yitianling, however, heard that he was offering help—and to save his beloved—so he was instantly moved to tears.

“Senior, you’re so generous and chivalrous.”

“…?”

Xuanyuan Tunhan, doused in such praise, felt as though he’d swallowed a fly.

This so-called protagonist really was a lunatic.

He had only said he would fetch the Bloodstone, not that he would help.

Yet Xuanyuan Tunhan said nothing more, only looked at Ning Xianyu.

She dared not object, and only nodded with a mysterious air, “Upholding order in the mortal world is my duty.”

Yitianling, in turn, praised her as a good person, feeling exceedingly fortunate.

However, after their relentless travel, fatigue set in—especially for Yitianling, who could go no further. The three decided to rest here for the night and continue in the morning.

Xuanyuan Tunhan said, “Your cultivation is too shallow; you won’t last in the Demon Realm. Did your friend give you anything to protect yourself?”

At this, Yitianling grew sentimental and retrieved a small black horn from his storage pouch.

The horn was only about ten centimeters long, rather adorable in appearance.

Yet it radiated an aura that clearly marked it as foreign to the Immortal Sects.

Yitianling said, “My friend gave me this. She said with it, I can enter the Demon Realm—not only will it protect me from demonic energy, it will also conceal my spiritual power and help me find her.”

Ning Xianyu looked at it curiously, marveling at its versatility—a locator, disguise, and shield all in one.

That Demon Realm Saintess was truly generous.

She reached for it, but the system warned her not to touch.

[That’s a horn the Demon Realm Saintess sheds once every thousand years. It’s like her bone—you’d best keep your hands off.]

The Saintess’s own horn?

Ning Xianyu immediately retracted her hand, not daring to touch it.

Still, she wondered and asked, [Does the Demon Realm Saintess really have horns?]

The system confirmed it, adding that she also had a tail.

[The original author had strange tastes—the male lead’s harem includes all sorts, not just a horned, tailed demon saintess, but also immortals, mortals, and even spirit beasts.]

[How perverse!]

Everything else made sense, but a spirit beast? Wasn’t that crossing species?

[That spirit beast is said to be stunningly beautiful, the world’s only pure white nine-tailed fox, capable of being male or female. Only after following the male lead did it choose to be a woman. If you ever get the chance, you should meet her.]

Ning Xianyu immediately conjured an image of a breathtakingly beautiful transgender being—how gorgeous must that be?

Lost in thought, she was suddenly jolted back to reality.

Still bewildered, Xuanyuan Tunhan’s irritated voice sounded in her mind, “Wipe your drool.”