A Little First Love Shock for the Demon Lord - Chapter 4

Dawn light crept in through the window. Ying Ning was fast asleep, slumped over her desk. The storybook beside her was opened to a scene where the heroine dreamt of meeting her lover.

A faint smile played on Ying Ning’s lips. Moments later, she slowly emerged from her dream and opened her eyes.

Standing by her side was the Hanged Ghost, its long tongue dragging on the floor as it studied the storybook with a serious expression. Nearby, the two-headed infant lay on the ground, bored, playing with its own umbilical cord.

She had seen sights like these far too often. Ying Ning was numb to them by now. Without sparing them a glance, she straightened up and stretched lazily, then used her fists to lightly pound her sore shoulders.

She hadn’t been able to sleep last night. Troubled and restless, she got up in the middle of the night to read, and eventually dozed off at her desk without realizing it.

Thinking back to the events of the previous night, Ying Ning still found them strange.

When she was woken by Xiao Bao’s cries, she immediately noticed that the demons who normally hovered around her were gone. Right then, she had guessed that the mysterious man had returned.

Though she hadn’t seen him in the courtyard, her instincts told her he had to be nearby.

What puzzled her was: Who exactly was he? Why were the demons so afraid of him? And why did he always appear around her?

Resting her chin in one hand, Ying Ning fell deep into thought, but no matter how long she pondered, she couldn’t figure him out.

Still, he did teach Xue Baolin a lesson last night—so he probably wasn’t a bad person.

Just as Ying Ning was lost in thought, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly pierced the air, shattering the quiet of Taoli Village and pulling her sharply back to reality.

Her heart skipped a beat. She hurried to change clothes and rushed out the door.

The sound had come from Village Chief Li’s house. By the time Ying Ning arrived, a crowd had already gathered in front. People were whispering to each other, and faint sobbing could be heard from inside the house.

Sister Hua lived next door to the Li family. Seeing her squeeze out from the crowd, Ying Ning skipped the effort of pushing through herself and grabbed her arm to ask, “Sister Hua, what happened?”

Sister Hua looked uneasy. She glanced around nervously, then leaned close to Ying Ning and whispered, “Changyou is dead.”

Changyou was the village chief’s son, five years older than Ying Ning. He had always been known as a simple, honest man.

“Dead?” Ying Ning was taken aback.

Sister Hua pressed her lips together and nodded. Lowering her voice even more, she said, “It was a terrifying death. His eyeballs were bulging out, his lids wouldn’t close. His mouth was wide open, and his hands were stretched straight out—rigid as boards, they wouldn’t budge no matter how they tried.”

It sounded horrifying just hearing about it.

“Did Brother Changyou fall ill? But I remember he was always pretty healthy,” Ying Ning said, puzzled.

Sister Hua waved her hand mysteriously. “That kind of death? Definitely not a sickness. He must’ve been cursed.”

Saying this, she suddenly remembered the hungry child waiting at home and quickly bid Ying Ning farewell before hurrying off.

Ying Ning frowned, her gaze lingering on the crowd in front of the Li house. After hesitating for a moment, she stepped forward and squeezed into the mass of people. Finally reaching the front, she hadn’t even managed to get a good look inside when a wave of bone-chilling cold hit her.

This wasn’t like the demons she’d encountered before.

This chill was far more sinister, far more dangerous. It made her stomach turn, as if something vile were pressing down on her soul.

Panicked, Ying Ning stumbled back through the crowd and sprinted home. She rummaged through a chest and pulled out her red cloak without a second thought, not even minding the holes in it. Wrapping it tightly around herself, she clutched the warm jade talisman close to her chest.

Whatever was in the Li house radiated a strong, malicious intent. Once it had marked a target, there was no release except through death.

Ying Ning’s instincts screamed at her—stay away from that thing at all costs.

Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm her racing heart. Then she gazed out the window, troubled.

If only she couldn’t see such things…

Then maybe she wouldn’t be torn between fear and guilt…

The crying from the Li family continued from morning into dusk.

The village men placed Changyou’s body into a thin wooden coffin, intending to carry it to the Earth God Temple to await burial at sunrise the next day.

As the coffin was carried from the house, Sister Hua stood at her doorway, frowning.

The sky was growing darker, and the men carrying the coffin grew smaller in the distance, eventually fading into black dots against the gloom.

Watching them go, Sister Hua suddenly shivered.

She rubbed her arms, trying to shake the numbness from her skin. A sense of unease crept over her. Clasping her hands together, she began muttering, “Please, Immortals above, keep any foul spirits away from my home…”

Just then, her three-year-old son called out to her sweetly from inside the house. Sister Hua turned and went inside.

But she didn’t notice the pale man in black hemp robes quietly trailing behind her…
________________________________________

Midnight.

The moon hung high in a star-sparse sky. A wisp of smoke drifted silently down to land at Ying Ning’s doorstep.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Minglou raised a finger. With a flick, he put Xiao Bao into a deep sleep in the donkey shed. Then, he cast a cold glance toward Ying Ning’s house.

Tonight, he had come alone. Without that idiot Luo Su or the meddling Xue Baolin, taking this woman away would be as easy as flipping a hand.

He crept silently to her window.

It wasn’t fully shut, and through the narrow gap, Minglou peered inside.

The candle had already gone out. In the darkness, Ying Ning sat on the inner side of the bed, cloaked in red, hugging her knees.

Her head hung low, eyes closed. Exhaustion etched every line of her face. After two sleepless nights, shadows had settled beneath her eyes.

Minglou frowned unconsciously.

Every time his eyes landed on this woman, a strange tightness gripped his chest.

He couldn’t even name the feeling.

Disgust? Fear? Or perhaps… rage?

After weighing it for a moment, Minglou decided to call it rage.

This woman had stolen nearly 80% of his power—if he wasn’t furious, then something was wrong with him!

With that thought, his expression darkened.

He slowly raised his hand and began forming a sleep spell—something simple, enough to knock her out.

But just as he was about to cast it, a foul stench wafted in from afar.

Minglou’s eyes narrowed. He knew that stench.

His face turned cold as he looked toward the source. Then, dispelling the spell, he rose into the air and flew toward it.

Outside, tree branches rustled softly in the wind.

Hearing the sound, Ying Ning jolted awake like a startled bird, only to find herself alone in the quiet room.

A quiet, empty room…

It took her a moment to realize—all the demons that had filled her home were gone!

Delighted, Ying Ning jumped out of bed and spun around once. Then she stopped and instinctively looked toward the door.

Had that mysterious man shown up again? Was that why the demons had fled?

She quickly wrapped the cloak tighter around herself and, after a brief hesitation, ran outside.

In the courtyard, darkness blanketed everything. Xiao Bao was sound asleep in the donkey shed, and a few sparrows fluttered away from the willow outside the wall.

Seeing that no one was around, Ying Ning sighed in disappointment.

If that man could scare away the demons around her, surely he could handle whatever was in the Li household too. She wanted to meet him—to ask for his help.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t here.

Just as she turned to head back inside, something black flickered in the corner of her eye.

She looked closer and saw thick black mist coiling around a distant house. A putrid odor floated through the air.

That house… was Sister Hua’s?

Ying Ning’s heart dropped. Had that thing gone to Sister Hua’s home?

Without time to think, she gripped the jade talisman tight and dashed out the courtyard.

Taoli Village was unusually silent tonight. Thick clouds veiled the crescent moon, and the pale lantern outside the Li house swayed in the wind.

The night breeze was sharp and bitter. Shadows danced in the lanternlight.

From above, Minglou descended slowly onto the Li family’s rooftop.

His dark robe billowed in the wind, his high ponytail swaying behind him. His deep gaze locked on Sister Hua’s house, and his pupils began to glow with a strange red light.

The window there was wide open.

Inside, the couple lay asleep, arms wrapped protectively around their toddler son.

A man in black hemp robes stood rigidly at their bedside. His eye sockets were empty and pitch-black, his face deathly pale, and a terrifying grin stretched from ear to ear.

He stared hungrily at the sleeping family, foul black mist spewing from his mouth. Wrapped in it, the family began to frown and twitch in their sleep, faces contorting in pain and fear.

Minglou watched coldly.

He hadn’t expected to see a Nightmare Fiend here.

This demon had once served the former Demon Lord, Chen Wuxiu. Over a thousand years ago, Minglou defeated Chen Wuxiu in battle to claim the title of Demon Lord. Chen Wuxiu, gravely wounded, was later slain by the Celestial Realm. His soul fragment, though not entirely destroyed, was sealed in the Cloud Abyss.

After ascending to power, Minglou had imprisoned Chen Wuxiu’s remaining subordinates in the Abyss of Torment.

The Nightmare Fiend was one of them. So why was it now in the human realm?

Minglou could think of only one answer.

Yu Qianxun—the one temporarily serving as Demon Lord in his absence. On the surface, Yu Qianxun had stayed neutral, but Minglou knew he still harbored the desire to rescue Chen Wuxiu’s soul. He must’ve released the demons from the Abyss to prepare for that eventuality.

Minglou let out a snort of derision.

Yu Qianxun, always stirring up trouble.

The Nightmare Fiend had already begun to devour the family’s life essence. At this rate, they wouldn’t survive till dawn.

Under normal circumstances, Minglou wouldn’t bother with the lives of mere mortals. But letting the Nightmare Fiend grow stronger would only cause problems later.

He silently summoned his remaining strength and calculated the odds.

Even with only 20% of his power, it might not be enough to defeat the Nightmare Fiend—but it was certainly enough to disrupt its feeding.

To avoid being recognized, he drew a silver mask over the upper half of his face.

Prepared, Minglou turned and slipped into Sister Hua’s home.

The Nightmare Fiend sensed the intrusion. Its body remained still, but its head turned slowly around.

“Who… are you?” it rasped.

Minglou had no interest in wasting words. Without a reply, he raised a hand and unleashed a flurry of sharp spells—aimed straight at the demon’s face.

Realizing the threat, the Nightmare Fiend leapt onto the old wooden beam overhead, preparing to strike…