Flirting with the Villain's Mother - Chapter 31

“Madam, the house is on fire!”

Shen Su clutched the rabbit and raced toward her home, her confusion deepening with each step.

What on earth is going on? How could the house suddenly catch fire?

It couldn’t be Lin Qinghuai who set it ablaze, could it?

As she reached the manor gates, the cries for help grew louder.

Shen Su stared at the inferno engulfing most of the estate, her vision blurring. “Madam, I have to go in and save them.”

Though Cui Tao had primarily cared for the original owner over the years, Shen Manor still housed many servants. Now trapped in the raging flames, these ordinary people—not demons—had no chance of escaping the fiery hell without rescue.

Shen Su had initially planned to tuck Wei Nanyi into her arms, but Wei Nanyi’s leg injury, freshly bandaged, made her fear the jostling might worsen it. Yet taking the rabbit into the inferno risked burning it.

Wei Nanyi, a kind-hearted woman, understood she would only be a burden to Shen Su’s rescue mission. She quickly said, “Miss Shen, just leave me here. This secluded spot should be safe.”

The cries for help from the mansion grew fainter. Driven by her urgency to save lives, Shen Su didn’t have time to overthink. She pulled out an embroidered handkerchief and placed it beside the stone lion at the gate, carefully setting the rabbit on the cloth. After a moment’s thought, she slipped a piece of Jade Marrow into the rabbit’s mouth and fed Wei Nanyi one of the evil-repelling pills Jiang Ruiping had given her earlier. “Madam, just wait for me here.”

Unlike ordinary medicinal pills, even those without a spiritual root could swallow evil-repelling pills, which offered some protection against malevolent entities.

Though Shen Su didn’t know why Jiang Ruiping had refined such pills, they were exactly what Wei Nanyi needed.

Shen Su looked up, scanning the surroundings again. Seeing no one nearby, she finally relaxed.

She stroked the rabbit’s fur once more. “I’ll be back soon.”

Wei Nanyi sat obediently on the ground, leaning against the stone lion. The wooden splint on her leg kept the rabbit’s leg stretched straight. “Miss Shen, please be careful.”

“Alright,” Shen Su replied hastily. She activated a cultivation technique, enveloping herself in a faint mist of water. She charged into the burning Shen Manor, the mist shielding her from the intense heat and blocking the unstoppable flames.

“Cough, cough…” The fire raged fiercely. Shen Su, still unfamiliar with her demon-transformed body, choked on thick smoke that filled her throat, stinging her eyes. Following the cries for help, she stumbled toward the servants’ pleas.

The acrid stench of bl00d mingled with the smoke, piercing her nostrils. Shen Su frowned, her eyes narrowing to slits as she peered toward the source of the bloody scent. All she could see were roaring flames and collapsed trees and stone pillars in the courtyard, her vision obscured by the chaos.

Shen Su drew the Azure Flame Twin Blades. The Crimson Blade separated from the Azure Blade the moment it touched the searing air, drawn toward the flames. The flames surged toward the Crimson Blade, gradually merging with it.

This Crimson Blade could actually absorb fire.

As the flames subsided, Shen Su finally saw a clear path ahead. The cries for help seemed to be coming from her original courtyard.

She slashed through the stone pillar with her Azure Blade, carving a path through the flames as she raced toward her courtyard.

The closer she got, the more urgent the cries for help became, and the stench of bl00d grew overwhelming.

Ever since Shen Su had been captured, she had been practically immersed in this bloody stench. Whether she herself was injured or those around her were, she loathed the smell. She covered her mouth and nose, quickening her pace.

As she neared her courtyard, the flames dwindled.

The entire Shen Manor was ablaze, yet her courtyard remained untouched by the fire.

Shen Su’s brow furrowed, but she dared not stop. She hurried toward the courtyard.

Bang! Shen Su kicked open the courtyard gate. A frigid aura rushed out, instantly repelling some of the flames.

She glanced into the courtyard.

The sight made her stomach churn, nearly causing her to vomit.

The flowers the original owner had cultivated were now withered and scorched, their moisture drained by the fire. Shattered corpses lay crushed beneath broken branches, mangled flesh half-buried in the soil, bearing bite marks of varying severity—evidence of having been torn apart alive.

Demons! It must be demons!

Shen Su instinctively thought of Cui Tao, the maid who had escaped. Cui Tao had been severely wounded, and it made sense that she might be using living flesh and bl00d to sustain herself.

The original novel had mentioned that demonic creatures could rapidly restore their cultivation by consuming living flesh and bl00d, which explained why they often preyed on humans. If Cui Tao had truly devoured these people…

Shen Su’s heart sank, her gaze turning icy.

“Help!” The only cry for help came from Shen Su’s own room. She strode forward and kicked the door open.

Inside, a maid was bound to a chair.

She was covered in bl00d, her shoulder and thigh pierced by a longsword. Most of her dark hair had been burned away, and half of her ear had been sliced off, leaving her looking utterly wretched.

But… when she saw Shen Su, her cries for help abruptly ceased.

Shen Su rushed forward to untie her, asking urgently, “What happened?”

The maid seemed to have been jolted by a terrifying memory. Her eyes widened, and her body trembled violently. “Miss, it was Cui Tao! She’s gone mad! She was covered in bl00d, and she had a pair of green wings on her back!”

It was indeed Cui Tao.

Shen Suxin felt a chill run through her. She had initially felt indebted to Cui Tao for her care of the original owner of this body. But later, she discovered that Cui Tao and her three demon wolf accomplices had conspired to harm generations of the original owner’s family, even causing the deaths of her parents. Though her hatred for Cui Tao was the weakest among the four, Cui Tao had shown no mercy, not even sparing the ordinary humans who had lived alongside her for years. She had not only devoured their flesh and bl00d but had also set Shen Manor ablaze. How could Shen Suxin possibly forgive such cruelty?

“I’ll get you out of here,” Shen Su promised. Just as she spoke, an unnatural sound echoed in her ears again.

Flap, flap.

The familiar sound of a bird’s wings stirred the air. Shen Su couldn’t help but glance at the maid. The maid’s bl00d-smeared face was a picture of misery as she gazed at Shen Su with desperate hope in her eyes.

But Shen Su couldn’t mistake that sound.

She had long noticed that while her ears were beyond her control, they served as warning signals.

Without betraying her thoughts, Shen Su retied the ropes. “I can’t untie these knots. I’ll have to cut them with my sword.”

Shen Su gripped the Azure Blade tightly, guiding it toward the rope. But as the blade touched the rope, it suddenly thrust forward with force, burying itself in the maid’s abdomen. Without pausing, Shen Su swiftly channeled spiritual power into the blade. Instantly, soft yet thorny vines erupted from the Azure Blade, wrapping around the maid’s flesh. Thorns pierced her chest, piercing her heart, turning it a dark, purplish-black.

The Azure Blade’s thorns were poisonous.

Throughout this, Shen Su kept her head bowed, never looking at the maid, though she saw the blade pierce the maid’s body.

The maid forced a weak smile, staring at Shen Su in disbelief. “M-Miss, what are you doing?”

Shen Su finally lifted her gaze slightly. “They’re all dead. Why are you still alive?”

The maid’s eyes filled with confusion. “Miss, shouldn’t I be alive?”

Shen Su took a deep breath and softly called out, “Cui Tao.”

The maid’s body jolted violently, her expression transforming. Before she could deny it, Shen Su spoke again, “You are Cui Tao.”

Her words carried the weight of a death sentence, yet sounded as casual as announcing the death of a sparrow.

“The wounds on their bodies were caused by demonic creatures tearing and dragging, but your injuries were inflicted by a sharp blade. This must have been Miss Jiang’s doing,” Shen Su said coldly, her gaze fixed on the maidservant. She noted the injured leg, the severed ear, and raised a finger to her own ear. “Moreover, I heard the trembling of your wings.”

“Impossible!” Cui Tao finally abandoned her disguise. A green light flared across her face, and when it faded, the familiar face of Shen Su’s enemy reappeared, now contorted with shock and fury.

Cui Tao had always prided herself on her ability to conceal her demonic aura and true form. Even ordinary Nascent Soul Stage cultivators struggled to see through her disguise, which was why the Mantis Demons had sent her to infiltrate Fallen Moon City long-term, and how she had managed to escape Jiang Xu’s grasp.

Confident in this ability, she had laid a trap here, waiting for Jiang Xu to walk right into it.

Her power was so formidable that she could completely conceal an entire mansion. Despite setting Shen Manor ablaze long ago, no cultivator had yet detected the anomaly. Jiang Xu certainly wouldn’t have noticed either. But Shen Su claimed to have discovered it—how was that possible?!

Among the four siblings, Cui Tao possessed the most potent innate abilities, though not necessarily the strongest demonic power.

Yet no matter how desperately she screamed, Shen Su remained as immovable as a mountain. “Cui Tao, you’re dying. I have no reason to lie to you.”

“Dream on! You can’t kill me!” Cui Tao scoffed, immediately channeling her demonic power to shatter the Azure Blade. But the result was deeply disappointing. Not only did she fail to break free, but the blade tightened its grip, binding her even more securely.

There’s something wrong with this Azure Blade!

Shen Su had only brought the Azure Blade, not the Crimson Blade. Cui Tao, lacking the Mantis Demon’s extensive knowledge, failed to recognize the Azure Flame Twin Blades.

All she knew was that she was truly on the verge of death, and at Shen Su’s hands.

She had intended to lure Jiang Xu into the trap. Though Jiang Xu lacked compassion, his kind-hearted mother might have drawn him near. Once he approached, she planned to slaughter him to avenge her brothers. But instead, Shen Su had arrived, alone.

Cui Tao knew nothing of Shen Su’s experiences, nor that she had cultivated spiritual power. She was unaware that the sword at Shen Suxin’s heart had just been sharpened by Jiang Xu. She only sensed through their bl00d pact that the Bee Demon and Mantis Demon had perished, and, despite her grievous injuries, she had dragged herself here for a desperate final stand.

Believing Shen Su was still the frail young lady she remembered, Cui Tao hesitated, allowing Shen Su to seize the initiative.

The pain of the piercing wound gradually spread through Cui Tao’s body. She could feel the Azure Blade’s dense spiritual power, and the fading of her life force.

Cui Tao stared at Shen Su, her eyes widening with terror. “You’re not Miss! She was a weak, helpless creature who cried at the slightest trouble. For years, she relied entirely on me, asking what to do, never having a single idea of her own. You’re not Miss! You’re not!”

Reliance, Shen Su thought, the word echoing mockingly from Cui Tao’s lips.

They had slaughtered generations of Shen Su’s family, even murdering her parents—the pillars of her spirit. Yet after her parents’ deaths, they had sent Cui Tao to become her new crutch. This wasn’t salvation, but deception, bordering on cruelty.

The trusted maidservant she had relied on all her life was actually the mastermind behind her parents’ murder. If the original owner were alive to learn this, her fragile temperament would likely have driven her mad.

Worse still, Cui Tao had also killed other servants who had grown up alongside the original owner.

Shen Su didn’t respond to Cui Tao. She glanced out the window and asked coldly, “Do human lives mean so little to you demons? They lived with you for so many years.”

Cui Tao scoffed. “And do we demons mean any more to you humans?”

Shen Su paused, then said slowly, “If you hadn’t harmed me, I would have taken you with me.”

Shen Su wasn’t lying. From the beginning, she had intended to bring Cui Tao with her when she left Fallen Moon City.

Even after discovering Cui Tao was a demon, her agreement with Jiang Xu remained: if Cui Tao tried to kill her, she would kill Cui Tao. But if Cui Tao showed no malice toward her, hadn’t harmed generations of the Shen Family, and hadn’t slaughtered so many loyal Shen Family servants, she wouldn’t kill Cui Tao.

Cui Tao froze. Suddenly, the identity of the person before her no longer mattered. After all, she was going to die anyway.

Cui Tao’s smile brightened. “Miss, this is the last time I’ll call you that. After I die, the ability to conceal the mansion’s demonic aura will collapse, and the surging demonic energy will attract cultivators from Fallen Moon City. You’ve likely already obtained the treasures from the tomb chamber. Those treasures aren’t just coveted by demons; they’re a fatal temptation for human cultivators as well.”

She paused, her voice softening. “You must escape. Escape quickly.”

The original owner had relied on her parents, and Cui Tao had relied on her elder siblings.

She knew that healing her injuries before seeking revenge might offer a greater chance of success. But without her siblings, she couldn’t be certain her cultivation would progress as smoothly as before. Though the Mantis Demon and the others sometimes treated her harshly, without them, she would have died long ago.

She had deceived many, harmed many, and devoured many. But this time, she sincerely wished for Shen Su to live well.

Shen Su gazed deeply into Cui Tao’s eyes, touched by the sincerity she saw there. She murmured softly, “Thank you.”

Without lingering, she quickly gathered her gold, silver, valuables, and even the intricately carved huanghuali jade-patterned bed, thanks to the thumb ring’s spacious storage dimension.