A Little First Love Shock for the Demon Lord - Chapter 23

Amidst a blaze of dazzling firelight, Ying Ning’s body shot through the Shrinking Ground Array and landed heavily on the ground, her folding fan falling beside her.

The array extinguished instantly, plunging the surroundings into silence.

Ying Ning lifted her head slowly and struggled to her feet, gritting her teeth and holding back tears.

But now wasn’t the time to cry.

She sniffed back the soreness in her nose, picked up the fallen fan with her mouth, and turned to scan her surroundings.

She found herself in a small square room, with no doors or windows in sight. A lantern burned steadily in each of the four corners.

In the center of the room, a massive pink veil hung from the ceiling. Behind the veil was the outline of a bed—on which, it seemed, lay a person.

Ying Ning’s eyes narrowed warily at the shadowed figure. After a long pause with no movement, she mustered her courage and crept closer.

Jumping onto the bed, Ying Ning immediately froze.

She recognized the person lying there.

It was herself.

Her eyes were closed, her body lying peacefully. Her long hair was braided into a single plait, tied at the end with a white ribbon. At some point, her clothes had been changed into a heavy, layered white gauze gown.

This was Ying Ning’s first time truly seeing her own face from the outside—it felt oddly surreal.

But… how was she supposed to return to her own body?

Clutching the folding fan in her mouth, her tail arched high, Ying Ning slowly circled around the bed and finally stopped at the head of the bed, studying her face with curiosity.

If the little calico had brought her here alone, then the way back shouldn’t be too complicated—she should be able to do it herself.

Could it really be as simple as just touching herself?

She glanced down at her paw. After a moment of hesitation, she made her decision.

Carefully, she reached out and touched her own cheek.

The instant her paw made contact, a powerful suction force surged from her body. It felt like she was being pulled into a whirlpool—her surroundings spun wildly, making her dizzy and disoriented.

Then everything went black.

When she opened her eyes again, she blinked dazedly.

She… was back in her body?

Ying Ning raised her hand and examined it—five fingers, neatly trimmed nails, the skin of her wrist pale and translucent with visible veins. It was a human hand.

She quickly reached up to touch her face—eyes, nose, mouth…

Yes, this was her face.

Overjoyed, Ying Ning sat up—only to see the small calico cat lying beside her, covered in wounds and no longer breathing.

The cat had transferred a human soul into a long-dead feline body, thinking that the reanimation would bring happiness.

But in truth, no matter who inhabited the body or what soul it carried, such a method was unbearably painful for both.

Gently, Ying Ning reached out and stroked the cold body of the calico, her voice soft and low. “Don’t worry. I’ll end this. You can rest now.”

She stood with her folding fan, opened it with a snap, and lightly tapped the fan surface three times. The Shrinking Ground Array instantly opened before her.

At that very moment, Gui Mian passed through the array, chasing after her.

Ying Ning didn’t spare him a single glance. Without hesitation, she leapt into the array and vanished.

Seeing he was a moment too late, Gui Mian let out a furious roar and slashed the bronze candlestick in the eastern corner into pieces.

“Damn that cat! If it hadn’t stalled me, I would’ve taken back the Purple-Gold Fan!”

“You’ve no one to blame but yourself,” a voice rang out from the array behind him. “If you hadn’t been so careless, the fan wouldn’t have been taken in the first place. Still, as long as we have the Maze Map, we can control the array mechanisms even without the fan.”

Gui Mian turned to see another version of himself stepping out of the array.

The two wore identical masks and robes, except the second one was noticeably taller.

The taller Gui Mian stared coldly in the direction Ying Ning had disappeared. After a pause, he said, “Give me the map. I’ll manipulate the labyrinth and trap them. You—go prepare to open the Nine Nether

Mirror.”

“Open the Nine Nether Mirror today? But… we don’t have enough cats yet,” the shorter Gui Mian replied anxiously.

The tall one answered flatly, “We’re running out of time. Whether we have enough or not, we must open it today.”

The short Gui Mian gave a nod and turned to leave.

The taller one remained, his gaze fixed on the place where Ying Ning vanished, his eyes dark and brooding. After a long silence, he murmured to himself:

“That cat… it carried the scent of the Nether Tower…”

________________________________________

Deep within the winding labyrinth, Minglou walked silently behind, his face expressionless. Ahead of him, Zhuzhu rubbed her arms and shivered uncontrollably.

Afraid of triggering another trap, she had sent several small spiders ahead to scout the path. Surprisingly, apart from the earlier Abyss Formation, they hadn’t encountered any further mechanisms.

But the air was growing increasingly colder.

Zhuzhu felt like her very bones were freezing solid. Her face had gone numb, each step like walking on needles, and her fingers were close to immobile.

Even Minglou’s eyelashes and hair tips had gathered icy frost, though his expression remained unchanged, as if unaffected by the cold.

After turning right, they hit another dead end.

Staring at the blocked wall ahead, Zhuzhu stomped her foot and cursed, “Damn that bastard Yu Qianxun! If I ever get my hands on him, I swear I’ll beat him half to death!”

Minglou ignored her outburst and calmly observed the frost on the tips of his hair.

The frost was slowly melting.

“The air’s warming up,” he said.

Zhuzhu quickly noticed the same—the biting chill had eased.

Minglou’s eyes darkened. “Someone is manipulating the labyrinth.”

“What?!” Zhuzhu paled. “If it keeps heating up, are we going to be roasted alive?!”

Turning coldly, Minglou started back the way they came. “Then move faster if you don’t want to die.”

Zhuzhu hurried after him, her spiders quickly reversing course to scout anew.

As they turned toward another path, one of the spiders suddenly stepped onto an activation glyph—it began to glow.

Seeing this, both Minglou and Zhuzhu leapt into the air on high alert.

But the glyph didn’t trigger a trap.

Hovering midair, Zhuzhu looked around in confusion. “What is this? A decorative trap?”

“No,” Minglou replied, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes. “Something’s coming.”

Zhuzhu assumed it would be stone monsters again—but then she saw them: from the labyrinth walls, countless humanoid forms began to emerge.

These figures were formed entirely of filthy, congealed bl00d. They had no hair, no facial features, no distinguishing gender.

The bl00d-figures all turned their faceless heads toward the two hovering figures—then suddenly raised their hands. Streams of bl00d lashed out like whips, cracking through the air toward them.

Minglou twisted left midair and dodged. Zhuzhu, however, was a fraction too slow—her ankle was snagged by a bl00d whip. The figure holding it gave a vicious tug, dragging her downward.

Just as she was about to fall into their grasp, Zhuzhu screamed instinctively, “No! I don’t want to die yet!”

A streak of light like a shooting star slashed through the air—cleanly severing the whip.

Zhuzhu turned and saw the blade, Touying, flying back into Minglou’s hand.

“Stop gawking.”

With a cold voice, Minglou lifted the blade beside his face, his eyes steely. Then, with the force of a hunting beast, he plunged into the horde. Black energy surged from his blade as it danced like a shadow across the necks of the bl00d-figures.

Wherever he passed, heads rolled.

Zhuzhu kept dodging and attacking with her spider silk, but soon realized something was wrong—their numbers weren’t decreasing. They were increasing.

“Your Excellency, something’s off with these things!” she shouted.

Minglou narrowed his eyes.

One figure was pierced through the heart by Zhuzhu, its bl00d splattering to the ground in a dark stain.

But the stain began to squirm—growing and swelling until it formed a brand-new bl00d-figure.

These creatures couldn’t be killed. Their spilled bl00d only birthed more.

Just then, a glyph lit up under Minglou’s feet.

A rain of needles descended from above—sharp as blades, hard as steel—piercing flesh on contact.

Zhuzhu shrieked in pain, dodging frantically.

Minglou raised one hand to form a barrier above them, shielding both from the deadly rain, while flinging Touying with the other. The blade flew on its own, slicing through the crowd like a living being.

Fortunately, the needle rain soon ceased. Minglou dropped the barrier, stepped off a bl00d figure’s head, and rose into the air. Frowning, he watched the horde below—more and more bl00d-figures swarming, swinging their foul whips toward them.

Zhuzhu stumbled to his side, yanking a few needles from her scalp. “Your Excellency, don’t you have a trump card or something? These freaks won’t die, and it’s getting hotter by the minute—I can’t hold out much longer!”

Minglou was silent.

This couldn’t continue. The longer they stalled, the more danger Ying Ning would face.

At last, he said coldly, “Zhuzhu, I’ll hold them off. You find Ying Ning and protect her.”

“What?” Zhuzhu blinked at him. “Are you serious? I mean, I’m not as strong as you, but I’m not useless. You sure you want to face these things alone?”

He gave a calm “Mm,” and Touying returned to his hand.

Spinning the blade once, he said, “Worry about staying alive. Don’t concern yourself with me. Just find Ying Ning—and get her out.”

Zhuzhu raised a brow.

Looks like their Lord Demon was dead serious.

When she didn’t respond, he asked again, voice grave, “Did you hear me?”

Zhuzhu grinned and shrugged. “Fine. As you command, Your Excellency.”

Satisfied, Minglou slashed Touying sideways. A thousand phantom blades exploded across the air.

He raised his left hand, palm downward. The phantoms turned as one, their tips aiming at the bl00d-figures below. Clenching his fist, they plunged downward with terrifying force.

Bl00d exploded. The ground was soaked in a river of dark red.

As the last wave was crushed, Minglou shouted, “Go!”

Zhuzhu took off at once.

The bl00d-figures regenerated quickly. Before she had flown far, some had already risen and lashed out with their whips.

But Minglou stood before them, slicing the tendrils down coldly.

Countless bl00d-figures gathered, facing him.

Minglou cracked his neck and smirked coldly.

It had been too long since he fought with abandon.

Now—he could finally stretch his limbs.

Dark power surged within him. He raised both arms and summoned the phantom blades once more—ready to strike.

The bl00d man was struck down, its body bursting into a spray of crimson. But the bl00d quickly slithered across the ground and reformed into a new figure. Again and again, the cycle repeated.

Minglou severed a bl00d whip coiled around his arm, leapt into the air, and, despite the sweltering heat around him, forced his magic power into action.

Just then, a glowing magic circle lit up in the air to his right. From its center, an iron nail shot out, piercing his right shoulder in an instant.

Minglou flinched slightly, but his eyes remained cold and unshaken. He twisted his body to avoid the second nail, his gaze narrowing.

The sudden appearance of the magic circle made it clear—someone was targeting him.

He raised his hand to destroy the spell formation, but froze.

His magic power was gone.

A grim expression darkened Minglou’s face.

Only 40% of his mana left… and now, it was completely drained.

He narrowly dodged another nail and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the phantom blades he’d conjured flickering and vanishing one by one, collapsing without the support of magic.

The bl00d creatures sensed his weakness. With a frenzy of motion, they whipped their bl00d tendrils in the air, preparing to drag him down and tear him apart.

Their twisted excitement made the veins on Minglou’s forehead bulge with fury.

But he had no way to retaliate now. He could only escape, find cover, and rebuild his strength.

Gritting his teeth, he used the last of his magic to cast a mist veil. As the thick fog engulfed the area and obscured the bl00d creatures’ vision, he landed lightly, clutched his bleeding shoulder, and bolted into the shadows.

As he ran, Minglou couldn’t help but think: If I die like this, I won’t be remembered as the ruthless and feared Lord of the Demon Realm—just a sorry joke who fled the moment danger came knocking!

The fog didn’t last long. As it thinned and faded, the bl00d creatures surged after him, shrieking and cracking their long whips in hot pursuit.

He couldn’t afford to be picky about his path—zigzagging wildly, he triggered two magical traps: a fire prison and a lightning strike. Fortunately, his reflexes hadn’t dulled with the loss of magic, and he managed to evade them both.

But at the next corner, fate threw him another blow.

He ran headfirst into a wandering stone monster.

The creature let out a thunderous roar, shaking the very ground beneath them.

Minglou’s eyes widened. Without power, he couldn’t outpace it—especially not with those bl00d creatures still lurking, waiting to ambush him.

Just as he was being herded into a dead end, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and grabbed his waist sash. With a firm yank, he was pulled into a hidden passageway.

Caught off guard, Minglou reflexively reached for Touying and nearly struck—until he caught sight of the one who’d grabbed him.

Ying Ning.

She looked at him with a bright, blooming smile that cut through the chaos like spring sunlight.

“Minglou,” she said gently, “I’m back.”