Flirting with the Villain's Mother - Chapter 40

Lights still flickered in every house in the village. A pale yellow figure, silhouetted against the light, hurried toward the dense forest at the village’s edge.

No lanterns illuminated the forest. Shen Su navigated by moonlight, likely because the Demon, confident in its control over the village, hadn’t bothered to erect a barrier to prevent entry into the forest. She approached the Divine Temple with ease.

As she ventured deeper, the forest grew increasingly dense.

Gradually, the moonlight faded, and darkness enveloped her. Shen Su activated a cultivation technique to enhance her vision, but just as Purple Qi began to gather in her eyes, she suddenly saw a woman’s face magnified several times. The face was covered in bloody streaks, startling Shen Su into stumbling back two steps.

“Who’s there?!”

The woman didn’t respond. Her flesh was torn and mangled, with large chunks of flesh missing from her body. Most horrifying was the gaping wound in her abdomen, completely empty, devoid of any organs.

Her lips moved slightly, but no sound escaped.

Suddenly, her body flickered and vanished.

“Gone,” Shen Su murmured in disbelief, rubbing her eyes. She repeated the cultivation technique in her mind, but the woman remained invisible.

Shen Su recounted the bizarre events to Wei Nanyi.

After finishing, she added, “Madam, that woman didn’t seem quite alive.”

Her abdomen was completely hollow. How could she be alive? Unless she’s a Demon.

Wei Nanyi didn’t respond, instead huddling silently within Shen Su’s robes. If not for the faint rustling of the rabbit’s paws against the fabric, Shen Su would have thought she’d forgotten to bring Wei Nanyi along.

Suppressing her confusion, Shen Su continued running with the Little Rabbit tucked in her arms.

But her pace slowed steadily. The rabbit in her arms seemed to grow heavier with each step, and Shen Su could even feel a constricting pressure against her chest.

Suddenly, the Little Rabbit’s head popped out. “Miss Shen, let me out quickly!”

Normally, Wei Nanyi would cling to Shen Su’s collar with minimal effort, her round head barely peeking out. But this time, as soon as she gripped the fabric, Shen Su felt her collar sinking—and sinking rapidly.

Could she be too weak from hunger? Shen Su wondered. Yet just that evening, she had eaten two full bowls of rice under the watchful eye of Sister-in-law Lin.

How strange.

Shen Su adjusted her robes, gripping the Little Rabbit’s waist through the fabric and lifting her higher. “Madam, it’s alright. I can carry you.”

No, that wasn’t what she meant.

Wei Nanyi could still sense the changes in her body. Though she couldn’t predict when she would transform into a human or an animal, she could feel the shift just before and after it happened.

Why now?

She tried to warn Shen Su to put her down, but her voice fractured during the transformation, and Shen Su couldn’t hear her clearly. Even as the weight in her arms increased, Shen Su didn’t think much of it.

Shen Su hurried onward, while Wei Nanyi’s body grew increasingly uncontrollable.

“Madam,” Shen Su said, cradling the Little Rabbit. As the rabbit grew heavier, she finally sensed something was amiss. When she glanced down, she saw a blinding white light erupting from Wei Nanyi’s chest, the intense glare nearly blinding her.

The sensation was identical to the first time she had met Wei Nanyi, when the white horse had transformed into a living person.

A foreboding feeling surged through her.

Her heart pounded wildly, her breath catching in her throat. An even greater force pressed down on Shen Su’s arms, catching her off guard and driving her to the ground.

Rip! The sound of fabric tearing filled the air.

This is bad.

Shen Su’s ominous premonition intensified.

She held her breath, her hands stiffening as if frozen.

When the white light finally faded, Shen Su’s worst fears were confirmed. There stood the familiar, breathtakingly beautiful woman, but… her sash had burst open from the pressure, and even the fabric across her chest had split, leaving the material scattered haphazardly. Wei Nanyi was now sitting on Shen Su’s lower abdomen, her hands still resting on Wei Nanyi’s waist.

The weight on her abdomen made it increasingly difficult to breathe, while the soft, smooth sensation beneath her palms sent a blush creeping from Shen Su’s face to her neck.

Helplessly pinned to the ground by Wei Nanyi’s weight, Shen Su stared up at the woman sitting on her abdomen, her face flushed crimson. This is really bad.

Earlier, the moonlight had been almost nonexistent. Now, the gaps between the trees had widened, allowing slivers of moonlight to pierce through the dense foliage. The dappled shadows danced across Wei Nanyi’s face, while silver dust seemed to sprinkle the corners of her gradually reddening eyes.

The forest should have been denser, Shen Su thought desperately. Then Wei Nanyi wouldn’t have seen my blushing face, and I wouldn’t have seen Wei Nanyi veiled in this ethereal glow.

Lying on the ground, Shen Su’s gaze drifted upward, her entire field of vision filled with Wei Nanyi, who loomed slightly above her.

Wei Nanyi was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

Even fallen from her divine pedestal, the Goddess retained a faint aura of aloofness and divinity. She gazed down at Shen Su, the soft moonlight lending her face a saintly glow. Shen Su’s eyes gradually filled with reverence, tinged with a touch of infatuation.

“Madam, you’re so beautiful,” Shen Su murmured.

She needed no youth; even fine lines couldn’t diminish her beauty.

Wei Nanyi felt momentarily weakened after transforming from an animal back to human form. Combined with the injury to her leg, she knew their current position was awkward and embarrassing. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to move from Shen Su’s waist.

As Shen Su gazed at her, Wei Nanyi returned the look.

To be honest, this was beyond mere embarrassment; it added a sensual undertone to the moonlit night.

The suddenly enlarged rabbit had stretched Shen Su’s outer robe to its limits, the sash falling loose. A long tear ran down the fabric near her chest, leaving only her inner garment intact. The pale color of the fabric, bathed in moonlight, seemed almost provocative. Her flushed neck and face radiated warmth, her dark hair splayed messily against the ground.

Wei Nanyi could feel the tautness of Shen Su’s waist and abdomen, sensing the firm lines beneath her.

Though Shen Su appeared delicate, their relentless escape over the past few days—through day and night, across rough terrain—had tightened even the flesh on her body. Her face seemed to have grown thinner, as if carved by hardship.

Shen Su had endured so much hardship following her, yet Wei Nanyi had done nothing but rely on her, even landing on top of her when she transformed back. She wondered if she had hurt her.

Wei Nanyi lowered her gaze slightly, wanting to offer a word of concern, but she froze at Shen Su’s praise.

She had heard praise before, but Shen Su’s was different.

That devout, almost foolishly earnest gaze stirred something unfamiliar in Wei Nanyi’s heart.

Cultivators were meant to cultivate both body and mind. Among her close junior brothers and sisters, only Sheng Qingning possessed any real personality, but Sheng Qingning was always clinging to Jiang Ruiping. Though their relationship wasn’t bad, they rarely spent time together. Jiang Xu, despite his youth, was prematurely mature, stubborn, cold, and deathly dull, consumed daily by thoughts of patricide. But Shen Su was vibrant.

She was a lively, spirited young woman, unlike those long-lived cultivators whose selves had been imprisoned by their cultivation.

Indeed, she was still so young.

“Miss Shen,” Wei Nanyi murmured, her gaze dropping further as she sought to glimpse the youthful vitality in Shen Su’s eyes.

As Wei Nanyi drew closer, Shen Su’s breathing grew more rapid. The distance felt too intimate, so close she could see even the strands of Wei Nanyi’s hair seemed to glow.

Her heart was pounding so violently, she feared it would burst from her chest if she didn’t regain control.

Biting her lip, Shen Su forced her gaze away from Wei Nanyi’s impossibly beautiful face and looked at the pale moon rising on the horizon. “Now that I think about it,” she said, “Miss Jiang’s remarkable beauty must be thanks to Madam’s influence.”

Wei Nanyi paused, not seeking out the girl’s infatuated eyes again. Slowly, she moved Shen Su’s hand, which had lingered on her waist, and said softly, “Miss Shen, I can’t move. We can’t stay like this forever.”

Shen Su finally remembered Wei Nanyi’s injured leg. She shifted, propping herself up slightly, and a faint purple glow rose from her eyes, gently lifting Wei Nanyi’s body. After moving her aside, Shen Su quickly stood and half-carried Wei Nanyi into her arms.

“Cough… cough…” Wei Nanyi coughed weakly as the force lifted her.

Unable to support herself with her legs, she leaned heavily against Shen Su, sinking deeper into her embrace.

Shen Su had observed all of this.

She noticed that when Wei Nanyi transformed into an animal, her pain would lessen, and even her wounds would heal faster. When she was a white horse, her palms and hooves were raw and bleeding, the skin torn open, yet she could still walk. As a rabbit, both her legs were broken, but they quickly recovered enough for her to hop lightly. However, as a human, Wei Nanyi was as fragile as a slender lotus stem, easily snapped. Shen Su remembered how, after a severe injury, Wei Nanyi could barely speak, yet after transforming into a Little Rabbit, she could converse normally. This couldn’t be her imagination.

Half-carrying and half-supporting Wei Nanyi, Shen Su couldn’t resist voicing her confusion: “Madam, does your body become stronger when you transform into an animal?”

Wei Nanyi turned her head to look at Shen Su. “Animals don’t know fatigue,” she replied, “but humans do.”

Her eyes held an endless sorrow and desolation.

Shen Su knew her suspicion was correct, but she regretted asking. She had already seen the truth; why ask and cause Wei Nanyi such pain?

Wei Nanyi’s gaze lingered on Shen Su’s face for only a moment before quickly shifting away. A profound sorrow veiled her delicate profile. Shen Su reached out to soothe her pain, but her hand recoiled almost as soon as it extended.

She had the courage to poke the rabbit’s face, but not to touch Wei Nanyi’s.

They were one, yet somehow different.

Damn it, she thought, I actually miss being able to freely pet the rabbit’s fur.

She needed to quash such thoughts immediately. Wei Nanyi clearly disliked her animal form.

Shen Su changed into a fresh outer robe before hoisting Wei Nanyi onto her back. “Madam, let’s go to the Divine Temple.”

Concealing a rabbit in her arms was easy enough, but carrying a full-sized person on her back risked discovery. Yet sending Wei Nanyi back now was clearly not an option. Wei Nanyi murmured, “Miss Shen, I’m burdening you again.”

“Madam, you’re not a burden.”

Without Wei Nanyi, Shen Su would have been completely lost in this village, likely exposing her identity as a cultivator long ago.

How could Wei Nanyi be a burden?

She was more like a guiding star.