A Little First Love Shock for the Demon Lord - Chapter 29

Ever since entering her room, Ying Ning hadn’t come out again.

Minglou felt increasingly uneasy. He stayed outside the courtyard the entire time, refusing to leave. But Ying Ning had clearly instructed him not to come near, so he didn’t dare step any closer.

Standing under the willow tree, he carefully replayed everything in his mind. Back in the flower fields—had he said anything that might have hurt or upset her?

He let out a long sigh.

If it took him this long to reflect on whether his words had been right or wrong… could someone like him ever truly reach Ying Ning’s heart?

As he was about to sigh again, Aunt Li suddenly appeared. She looked at him in confusion and asked, “Why are you standing here like this?”

Upon seeing her, Minglou’s expression immediately turned cold.

What had happened earlier that day had left him with a distinct dislike for Aunt Li. If it weren’t for the fact that he didn’t want to upset Ying Ning, he might’ve tied her up and hung her from a tree for a few days just to vent his anger.

Noting his disgusted and aloof demeanor, Aunt Li could more or less guess what he was thinking.

She curled her lips and muttered, “Fine, I know I’m not exactly pleasant to be around. I won’t hover around you two anymore. But it’s getting dark—don’t just stand around outside Ah Ning’s door like this. You’re tall and scary; people might get spooked.”

With that, Aunt Li turned and left with a basket of fresh flowers on her back.

Minglou looked up at the sky. The glow of sunset had long faded, and deep night had settled in.

Tonight, he planned to stay and watch over Ying Ning again.

The night breeze rustled the willow branches, and one by one, the neighbors’ lights dimmed and went out. The darkness around him grew heavier.

Around midnight, someone approached from the distance, holding a lantern and walking with an unsteady gait.

Minglou stood motionless under the tree, eyes cast down. He knew someone was coming, but he had no intention of engaging.

It wasn’t until the person stopped in front of him that he finally opened his eyes, frowning slightly.

Aunt Li held the lantern up and stared at him in shock. “Good heavens, I knew you were odd, but I didn’t expect you to be this strange. Standing out here in the middle of the night?!”

Minglou turned away indifferently, ignoring her remark.

Aunt Li sighed in exasperation. “You really shouldn’t keep standing out here like this. Why don’t you come stay at my place tonight?”

As she spoke, she reached out to pull him away.

But Minglou sidestepped her grasp and asked coolly, “Why should I go to your house?”

She laughed, amused by his stubbornness. “You’re hilarious. I could tell you and Ying Ning had a fight earlier. You’ve been kicked out, haven’t you? With nowhere else to go? If I don’t take you in, are you planning to stand here all night?”

“Yes,” Minglou answered seriously with a nod.

Not just tonight. He intended to keep watch here every night.

Seeing how determined he was, Aunt Li slapped him lightly on the arm twice, frustrated. “You ridiculous boy! If someone sees you out here all night, gossip will spread. My Ah Ning is a shy girl—don’t embarrass her like this!”

Though annoyed by her gestures, Minglou still mulled over her words.

This world, like the heavens, clung to order and appearances. If he didn’t play by their rules, it might indeed bring trouble to Ying Ning.

But if he returned to the demon realm now, and something happened to her, he might not be able to reach her in time.

After much consideration, he finally said coldly, “Fine. Let’s go.”

He clasped one hand behind his back and walked straight toward her home without waiting.

Aunt Li took a deep breath, barely holding back the urge to give him a good kick.

At her house, Aunt Li led Minglou to a small room.

He glanced around and noticed no signs of recent activity—clearly, no one lived there—but it had been kept clean and tidy.

Seeing his gaze, Aunt Li walked to a cupboard against the west wall. As she opened the door, she said, “This used to be my son’s room. He’s gone now, but I still clean it regularly. You can rest easy here.”

Minglou remembered Ying Ning had once told him that Aunt Li’s son had died of illness long ago.

Aunt Li pulled out some bedding from the cupboard and placed it on the bed. She said, “Make your own bed. This quilt was used by Ah Ning before—might be a little damp, but it’s all I have. You’ll have to manage.”

Ying Ning used this?

Of course, Minglou had no complaints. Just the fact that it had once belonged to her made it perfect.

He asked, “Ying Ning stayed in this room before?”

“She did,” Aunt Li replied, and then, as if a switch had been flipped, began chatting away. “She used to stay here often. Her brother was either away or totally useless—couldn’t comb her hair, patch her clothes, or even cook a hot meal. I felt bad seeing her suffer, so I often brought her to my place. At first, she was shy and didn’t want to sleep beside me, so I let her use this room.”

Minglou thought for a moment and asked, “You know her very well?”

“Other than her brother, I probably know her best,” Aunt Li replied meaningfully. “Why? You want to know more about her?”

Minglou suddenly felt awkward, his ears turning faintly red.

But he did want to know more about Ying Ning. As Zhuzhu had once told him: to truly care for someone, you have to first understand them.

Despite spending time with her, he realized he still didn’t know her well.

Clearing his throat, he softened his tone and said, “I… don’t want to keep upsetting her. That’s why I want to understand her better.”

Seeing his change in attitude, Aunt Li sighed in relief and pulled over a chair to sit down. “Alright then. I’ll tell you what I know, so you stop making her upset.”

She paused, then decided to start from the beginning—when Ying Ning first arrived at Peach Blossom Village.

“Ah Ning wasn’t originally from our village. Her mother died giving birth to her, and her father, sickly as he was, raised her until she was five. Then one night, he just… stopped breathing. After that, she and her brother moved here. Back then, she was tiny, dark-skinned, covered in bruises—looked like a little monkey.

Wouldn’t speak, and always hid behind her brother, scared of everything. The slightest noise would startle her…”

Minglou interrupted in disbelief. “Wait—are you sure you’re talking about Ying Ning?”

The Ying Ning he knew was gentle and cheerful, strong and brave. What Aunt Li described sounded like a completely different person.

Aunt Li shot him a look. “Of course I’m talking about her.”

She continued, “After a while, I realized she wasn’t like the other kids—there was something different about her. From the way she and her brother talked, I pieced together some of their past. She’d been bullied a lot in their old village because of her strangeness. The scars on her body? From being pelted with stones. That’s why she became so timid and withdrawn.”

“Which village did she live in before?” Minglou suddenly asked. His face darkened, eyes filled with murderous intent.

The look on his face made Aunt Li uneasy. Still, she braced herself and snapped, “Are you trying to scare someone to death?”

He honestly was considering scaring a few people to death.

Aunt Li stared him down. “She has nothing to do with that village anymore, and she doesn’t need anyone avenging her.”

“She’s focused on living each day well, doing her best at everything. If she wants to eat, she eats. If she wants to drink, she drinks. She never mistreats herself, and she’s generous with her kindness. Do you know why she became this way?”

Minglou thought about it but came up empty.

Seeing his confusion, Aunt Li smiled and said, “Because she wants to prove something—to show that she’s strong now. She’s no longer the little girl who could be bullied without fighting back.”

Minglou stood frozen.

Aunt Li glanced out the window and stood up. “Alright, it’s late. Let’s talk more tomorrow. I’m too old to stay up this late.”

She walked out slowly, leaving Minglou alone.

In the room, a single oil lamp flickered gently, its flame fragile but stubbornly unyielding.

Minglou stood by the window, gazing at the crescent moon hanging in the sky.

Only now did he finally understand what Ying Ning had been angry about these past two days.

How pitiful she is…

That one careless sentence he’d said had ruthlessly shattered the strong self-image she’d worked so hard to build.

He truly deserved to be damned.