Flirting with the Villain's Mother - Chapter 38

Wei Nanyi still believed this was her own affair, unwilling to involve either Jiang Xu or Shen Su.

Shen Su truly wanted to adopt Jiang Xu’s tone and earnestly tell Wei Nanyi that this wasn’t just her problem—it was theirs too. But she didn’t know what position she held in Wei Nanyi’s eyes, and Wei Nanyi seemed unwilling to listen anyway.

Could that snake demon really still be alive? Shen Su wondered. If she were, why would Jiang An have gone mad?

Shen Su wanted to ask Wei Nanyi about the snake demon, but unlike Wei Nanyi, her words could be overheard by Sister-in-law Lin.

Her attempts to soothe the rabbit had already caught Sister-in-law Lin’s attention.

Sister-in-law Lin turned and glanced at the rabbit in Shen Su’s arms, her pupils contracting sharply. “Miss Shen, your rabbit seems to be cooked!”

Huh?

Shen Su hastily cradled the rabbit in her palm again, only then realizing that Sister-in-law Lin meant the rabbit’s white fur had turned red.

As Shen Su examined the rabbit, Sister-in-law Lin stared intently at it.

Wei Nanyi could feel two pairs of eyes fixed on her. Shen Su’s gaze she could tolerate, given their familiarity. But Sister-in-law Lin, though kind, was still a recent acquaintance. Being stared at so intently by her made Wei Nanyi feel distinctly uncomfortable.

Under their gazes, the little rabbit’s fur turned even redder.

Sensing the rabbit’s distress, Shen Su quickly scooped it into her arms. “Sister-in-law, it’s alright.”

Sister-in-law Lin realized the beautiful rabbit wasn’t cooked, but naturally had fur that could turn red. She sighed softly, intrigued, but didn’t press Shen Su further about the rabbit.

Her own heart was heavy with secrets.

If her heart had felt empty and anxious earlier that morning, it now felt suffocatingly full. With no one else around, she finally asked Shen Su, “Miss Shen, who is Ruan Yao?”

Shen Su couldn’t answer Sister-in-law Lin’s question.

She suspected Ruan Yao might be Sister-in-law Lin’s name, but speculation was just that—speculation. How could she share such a guess with someone caught in the middle of this mystery? Besides, she couldn’t gauge how much of Sister-in-law Lin’s own consciousness remained.

Shen Su secretly activated a cultivation technique and scanned Sister-in-law Lin, but found no trace of dark mist.

Lowering her gaze, Shen Su’s eyes landed on the incense stick in Sister-in-law Lin’s hand. To the naked eye, it appeared to be an ordinary yellow incense stick. But when she activated her spiritual eye, the incense transformed into a faint azure hue, surrounded by a faint halo. It didn’t seem like something harmful, but rather a spiritual artifact.

Shen Suxin’s unease deepened. As she half-supported Sister-in-law Lin into the house, she glanced at the incense in her hand and asked, “Sister-in-law, what is this Immortal Fragrance?”

Sister-in-law Lin smiled, eager to share her knowledge with Shen Suxin. “Miss Shen, you may not know this, but our village has always been protected by Divine Beings. Every household offers incense to them, and this Immortal Fragrance is specifically for the Divine Beings. Seventh Uncle says it’s very special—the Divine Beings love it.”

“Then why did Seventh Uncle and Aunt bring it over?”

“Because Seventh Uncle and Aunt are the guardians of the Divine Temple, and only Seventh Uncle knows how to make this incense.”

Guardians of the Divine Temple.

This meant that beyond the yellow cloth-wrapped offerings in each household, there was also an actual temple.

Shen Suxin quickly asked, “Sister-in-law, where is the Divine Temple? I’d like to visit and pay my respects.”

Sister-in-law Lin patted Shen Suxin’s hand, her tone disapproving. “The Divine Temple is in the forest outside the village, about two hundred steps from the village’s edge. But aside from Seventh Uncle and Aunt, no one ever goes there. Miss Shen, you’d best stay away too.”

“Why is that?”

Sister-in-law Lin’s expression grew even more solemn. She glanced outside twice before quietly closing the door and turning to Shen Su. “That forest connects to a mountain,” she whispered. “Legend says that mountain devours people!”

Could the man-eating mountain Sister-in-law Lin mentioned be the same Goddess Mountain the Little Mountain Bandits spoke of?

This village was truly strange. The men seemed to have made a deal with the devil, the women’s memories appeared to have been tampered with, and the children had all fled into the deep mountains.

The children were clearly relying on the mountain’s protection, yet the adults claimed it devoured people.

After answering Shen Su’s questions, Sister-in-law Lin noticed the nearly finished meal on the table. She quickly pulled Shen Su toward the curtained doorway on the right. “Miss Shen, you can stay in this room. I’ll clear the dishes first, then come back to make up the bed for you.”

Sister-in-law Lin was a kind-hearted woman, but her warmth differed from Wei Nanyi’s Goddess-like love for the world. She was simply a warm-hearted sister-in-law, embodying the straightforwardness and diligence of a village woman.

Shen Su glanced at the Buddhist altar and tucked the rabbit back into her arms. “Sister-in-law, why don’t I clear the dishes?”

Sister-in-law Lin, burdened by worries and mentally exhausted, didn’t refuse.

Clutching the rabbit and carrying the bowl and chopsticks, Shen Su ventured into the kitchen, finally daring to ask Wei Nanyi, “Madam, are you certain this demon’s scent is the same as the one you know? Does it have any weaknesses?”

Wei Nanyi could sense Shen Su’s genuine desire to kill the snake demon, but…

“Yes, the scent is unmistakable. However, it’s possible it’s not her, but one of her kin.”

While Wei Nanyi could detect the scent, relying solely on it to determine the demon’s status as a great demon was impractical. Her certainty stemmed from her intimate familiarity with the snake demon’s scent.

After Jiang An crippled her, he imprisoned her for an extended period. During that time, the snake demon’s shed skin hung beside her. Over time, she grew acutely sensitive to the demon’s scent, so much so that it easily evoked painful memories.

Jiang An forced her to repent daily before the snake skin. To this day, she couldn’t understand what sin she had committed by killing a rampaging snake demon who had slaughtered many of her fellow disciples in order to protect the Sect’s members.

Wei Nanyi was a kind-hearted person. She harbored no deep-seated hatred for anyone or anything, unlike Jiang Ruiping, whose hatred for demons ran to the bone. She often showed mercy to her opponents, but she clearly distinguished between good and evil. More importantly, as the Eldest Senior Sister of Approaching Immortals Mountain, she understood what was expected of her in different situations.

If Jiang An had confessed that the snake demon was his true love, she might have been willing to let them be together. But she doubted he had the courage to leave the Sect for the sake of that creature.

The snake demon had gone berserk on Approaching Immortals Mountain, slaughtering countless disciples. Even if Jiang Ruiping harbored no prejudice against Demonic Creatures, and even if the Sect had no rules forbidding their entry, the demon’s fate was sealed. If Wei Nanyi didn’t kill it, someone else would. If Jiang An were willing to offer his own departure from the Sect as the price for saving the snake demon, it might have had a chance at survival. But Jiang An would never do that; he couldn’t bear to part with the Sect’s resources and status.

After her fall from grace, she finally saw her Junior Brother Jiang An for who he truly was: a cowardly hypocrite.

He was too cowardly to acknowledge his true love, too cowardly to openly avenge his beloved, resorting instead to these underhanded tactics.

Even with Wei Nanyi’s renowned patience and self-restraint, she couldn’t suppress the resentment and hatred that burned within her. To be reduced from the Eldest Senior Sister of Approaching Immortals Mountain to this monstrous, neither human nor demon, and to be denied the chance to bid farewell to her beloved mentor—how could she not harbor such feelings?

Wei Nanyi usually kept her emotions in check, knowing she couldn’t seek revenge and not wanting her hatred to affect Jiang Xu or Shen Su.

But when she caught the scent of that snake demon, she lost control.

In that moment of losing control, she realized just how deeply she loathed that vile pair.

Yet as her mind cleared, something felt off.

The snake demon was undoubtedly dead, its soul completely dispersed. If anything remained of it in this world, it would be the tattered snake skin Jiang An had stripped from its corpse.

Wei Nanyi still had confidence in her former strength. Even if the snake demon possessed extraordinary abilities, it couldn’t have escaped her grasp on Approaching Immortals Mountain and vanished without a trace.

Moreover, even snakes of the same species rarely share identical scents.

The little rabbit pondered deeply, but her earnest expression only made her look even more endearing in Shen Su’s eyes. Shen Su gently stroked the rabbit’s head, reassuring her, “Madam, don’t worry about it. We’ll check the Divine Temple tonight. We should find something useful there.”

Along their journey, they had encountered the escaped children and Sister-in-law Lin, but Wei Nanyi hadn’t detected the snake demon’s scent on any of them. Yet the moment the two temple guards arrived, she caught the scent, indicating they carried the snake demon’s aura—likely picked up within the temple itself.