Flirting with the Villain's Mother - Chapter 5

The young girl gave Shen Su no time to recover. With detached calmness, she withdrew her longsword and released her grip.

As if possessing a spirit of its own, the sword shook off the bl00d staining its blade the moment it left her hand and swiftly floated back into the scabbard strapped to her back.

A faint golden light flickered, and both the sword and scabbard vanished without a trace.

Kicking aside the thoroughly lifeless corpse of the horse market owner, the girl took a step toward Shen Su. Her sharp gaze settled on Shen Su, her voice icy: “Where is the horse?”

She didn’t look much older than a bright, striking young girl, but the aura around her was chilling and terrifying—like a monstrous beast clawing its way out of hell. That cold, razor-sharp gaze alone felt capable of slicing open Shen Su’s throat.

Though not a single drop of the splattered bl00d had touched the girl’s skin, Shen Su couldn’t shake the feeling that the girl’s crimson robes were dyed red with bl00d—cold and merciless. Undoubtedly terrified, Shen Su could hear the girl’s words and even had an answer in her mind, yet her throat felt strangled by an invisible hand, rendering her unable to make a sound.

The girl’s patience was thin. She raised her hand and seized Shen Su’s shoulder: “Where is the horse?!”

The frigid words burst from her lips, each syllable laced with frost as they assaulted Shen Su. Clenching her hand tightly, Shen Su fought back the urge to flee. She wasn’t a criminal, nor had she wronged this girl—there was no reason to run.

Unable to break free from the unseen grip, she could only weakly point toward the house.

The girl was truly ruthless. The moment Shen Su indicated the horse’s location, the girl’s hand shifted from her shoulder to her throat. She wasn’t just intent on killing the horse market owner—she meant to kill Shen Su too.

Truly, in this tragic novel, one had to stay far away from the major villains and the main leads. Barely a few days into transmigrating, and she was already facing an untimely end.

As Shen Su braced for death, the beautiful woman rushed out of the house in a panic: “Xu’er, no!”

Her hands and feet were injured, and she had little strength left. She had been struggling toward the commotion outside, but her steps were unsteady, and she had sustained more injuries along the way. By the time she reached the doorway, she tripped over the threshold and nearly fell.

At the sight of the woman, the girl immediately abandoned her intent to kill Shen Su. With a flicker of movement, she appeared before the woman, catching her before she could collapse. Holding her steady, the girl examined her closely, eyes brimming with joy: “Mother, you’ve turned human again!”

Jiang Yan, Xu’er… So this was Jiang Xu.

Indeed, the beautiful woman was Wei Nanyi.

As the cold fingers withdrew from her throat, Jiang Xu’s killing intent dissipated in an instant. But Shen Su was already drenched in cold sweat, clutching her chest as she gasped for breath. She tried to move farther from the corpse, but her legs gave way—her knees hit the soft earth, her back hunched over, her breathing growing increasingly ragged.

First witnessing a murder, then nearly being killed herself—Shen Su was just an ordinary person. These were nightmares she had never experienced before.

Bound by the demon bl00d, Wei Nanyi had been trapped in the form of a beast—unable to speak or see, relying only on hearing and smell to perceive her surroundings and distinguish between people. She couldn’t speak to Jiang Xu, nor could she see her.

Jiang Xu had found a method to temporarily restore her, but the time was extremely limited. Previously, she had only managed to catch fleeting glimpses of Jiang Xu, with very little opportunity for conversation. Jiang Xu was filial, but she wasn’t particularly skilled at caregiving and was rather careless. She often forgot that ordinary livestock could easily get injured and that even a single thorn could now be fatal to Wei Nanyi. As a result, Wei Nanyi had carried wounds all these years, and the fact that she was still alive was largely thanks to the many spiritual elixirs Jiang Xu carried with her. However, since Wei Nanyi no longer had any spiritual power, these elixirs meant for cultivators were of little use to her.

Of course, this was understandable. When Jiang Xu took Wei Nanyi away from Linxian Mountain, she was barely in her teens—still a child herself, forced to grow up prematurely in an age when she should have been the one being cared for. Wei Nanyi felt nothing but heartache for Jiang Xu.

Even now, when Jiang Xu had lost her, Wei Nanyi harbored no resentment. Instead, she pitied the child for searching so desperately for her all this time.

As Wei Nanyi gazed at Jiang Xu, Jiang Xu was staring back at her, eyes brimming with joy. She knew what Jiang Xu was so happy about—she herself had felt the same elation upon waking, though it had quickly faded.

Wei Nanyi longed to live in human form, but she couldn’t do so at the cost of Shen Su’s life.

Though Wei Nanyi had no spiritual power, Jiang An had forced her to drink the bl00d of a hundred different demons. When Jiang An slaughtered those creatures, he had employed every cruel method imaginable. The demonic souls, clinging to their bl00d, tormented Wei Nanyi’s spirit and connected her senses to theirs. Among demons, some were born with an innate, keen sensitivity to bloodlines—those that thrived on bloodlust.

Shen Su’s bloodline was extraordinary.

The demonic souls had little power of their own. They could only endlessly resent Jiang An and torment Wei Nanyi. Jiang Xu had tried to extract these souls from her body but ultimately failed. Thanks to them, many of the methods used by cultivators had no effect on Wei Nanyi, which was why Jiang Xu couldn’t place a tracking mark on her and easily locate her when she went missing.

Wei Nanyi considered herself someone with decent self-control, yet she hadn’t been able to resist the demonic souls’ temptations. That was why she had wounded Shen Su and sensed the power in her bloodline. Shen Su’s bloodline could suppress the demonic bl00d’s power and restore Wei Nanyi’s human form, but at the same time, her bl00d was a fatal temptation to those demonic souls.

Fortunately, when the demonic souls couldn’t manipulate Wei Nanyi, they lacked the ability to harm Shen Su directly. As long as Shen Su remained uninjured, they couldn’t consume her bl00d. Even if she were hurt, once the wound was covered, the demonic souls wouldn’t be able to pry open the bandage—they were weak, capable of tormenting only Wei Nanyi.

If Jiang Xu knew that Shen Su’s bl00d could suppress the demonic bl00d within her, she would undoubtedly be overjoyed. But Wei Nanyi couldn’t tell her.

She knew Jiang Xu too well. Jiang Xu loved her deeply, and love could drive a person to obsession. If Jiang Xu learned that Shen Su’s bl00d was beneficial to her, she wouldn’t hesitate to drain Shen Su dry and feed every drop to Wei Nanyi.

Shen Su was just an ordinary person. For Jiang Xu, killing her would be effortless.

No matter how ruthless or cruel Jiang Xu became, she was still Wei Nanyi’s daughter, still the person she loved most. Wei Nanyi didn’t want Jiang Xu to suffer, but she also couldn’t bear to see her harm Shen Su.

Just as she had said herself, Shen Su bought her and saved her—she couldn’t harm Shen Su.

She didn’t respond to Jiang Xu’s words but instead softly said, “Xu’er, it was Miss Shen who bought me and even saved me when I was starving and unconscious.”

After Wei Nanyi finished speaking, she instinctively glanced in Shen Su’s direction, only to see her swaying and collapsing. She gasped, “Miss Shen!”

Jiang Xu had initially wanted to kill Shen Su because she assumed the buyer would inevitably ride the horse—how could someone like that defile her mother’s body? She hadn’t realized Shen Su was their benefactor. Hearing Wei Nanyi’s words, she quickly said, “Mother… Mother, I’m sorry.”

“Xu’er, quickly check what’s wrong with Miss Shen!”

Wei Nanyi was frantic. She was inherently kind-hearted and pure—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so thoroughly deceived by Jiang An. If Shen Su really died, she would carry the guilt for the rest of her life.

Jiang Xu knew she was wrong, but she didn’t particularly care about Shen Su’s fate. To her, the only thing that mattered was whether Wei Nanyi would be upset. Seeing Wei Nanyi’s expression darken and her frail body struggling to move toward Shen Su, Jiang Xu simply wrapped an arm around Wei Nanyi’s waist and, with a slight motion, brought them both to Shen Su’s side several meters away.

“Mother, she’s not dead.”

Jiang Xu’s indifference toward Shen Su was palpable. Wei Nanyi broke free from her embrace. “Xu’er, one must still know gratitude.”

“Then, Mother, you saved so many disciples of Linxian Mountain in the past—why don’t they show any gratitude? Now they’re even trying to kill me, your only bloodline.”

Wei Nanyi knew Jiang Xu harbored deep resentment toward Linxian Mountain and Jiang An, but she didn’t believe the disciples were hunting Jiang Xu solely over a sword. This wasn’t naivety—though she didn’t expect everyone in Linxian Mountain to revere or love her, half of its disciples had some connection with her, many of whom she had known for over a thousand years. The bonds between them went beyond words. Even Jiang Xu understood that if Wei Nanyi could speak, even without evidence, some in Linxian Mountain would believe her.

There must be another reason they were pursuing Jiang Xu—or perhaps… Jiang An was pulling strings behind the scenes. Wei Nanyi had once trusted Jiang An, but after regaining clarity, she realized that given Jiang An’s character, nothing he did would surprise her.

But right now, she didn’t want to argue with Jiang Xu about this.

The girl kneeling on the ground, her waist bent and body trembling uncontrollably, looked utterly pitiful.

Suppressing her dizziness, Wei Nanyi crouched down, reached out, and gently pressed Shen Su’s arm, calling softly, “Miss Shen.”

The sudden touch startled Shen Su. Her eyes snapped open, and when she saw the delicate, pale face before her, her lips trembled as she uttered a single word: “Bl00d.”

Shen Su had a fragile beauty, but unlike Wei Nanyi—whose frailty carried a sickly pallor—she was more like a tender, unopened flower.

Her fair face was dotted with droplets of bl00d, and her embroidered dress bore numerous bloodstains. Though none of it was hers, the sight alone made her seem wounded. Most striking was the vivid bruise around Shen Su’s snow-white neck—a shocking mark.

Thin, sharp thorns pierced Wei Nanyi’s heart. She knew this was something Shen Su had never experienced before—she had brought misfortune upon Shen Su. The slight pain in her chest stirred a cough from Wei Nanyi: “Cough… Miss Shen, I’m sorry. Xu’er was just too worried about me. Don’t be afraid, she won’t kill you.”

Jiang Xu wasn’t too keen on Wei Nanyi showing excessive concern for outsiders. She quickly helped Wei Nanyi up and looked down at Shen Su, her tone indifferent: “Thank you. I’ll repay you someday.”

Though her words were polite, there wasn’t a trace of gratitude in Jiang Xu’s eyes.

Yet this wasn’t quite right—in the original story, Jiang Xu shouldn’t have been someone who lacked gratitude. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have fallen for the male lead after he helped her find Wei Nanyi.

Shen Su was still afraid, but she gradually calmed down.

She raised her head to look at Jiang Xu, her eyes filled with confusion. But Jiang Xu didn’t return her gaze, instead gripping Wei Nanyi tightly: “Mother, we need to leave this place quickly. Luoyue City isn’t safe.”