“—?!”
In the last second before the poisoned arrow struck, Yino was pulled back by a red demonic tail.
But rather than feeling relieved at his narrow escape, Yino was more surprised by Jinyue’s transformation into a fox.
Jinyue had just revealed her true identity in front of Yino to save him, despite her disguise.
This left Yino astonished. He had seen something he shouldn’t have, and it was clearly impossible to continue playing dumb.
Yino had prepared for the worst, but he wasn’t sure how Jinyue would react next.
“Thank you for your help, Senior Sister.”
“But Senior Sister, you are…”
Before Jinyue could turn on him, Yino tried to keep his cards close to his chest.
On the other side, following Yino’s reminder, Jinyue belatedly noticed the red tail behind her and quickly retracted it.
In the enclosed cave, the atmosphere became awkward.
Jinyue glanced at Yino silently, her jade-like hand clenching into a fist at first, then gradually relaxing after a moment of silence.
The reason for it was easy. Yino may use his jade pendant.
If it really attracted Yuyan, whether Jinyue could leave the Mountain Temple alive tonight would be questionable!
Furthermore, she saved Yino out of impulse, thus killing him would be illogical.
Jinyue just hadn’t expected that she would intervene in this way in a moment of urgency.
Fortunately, saving someone was essentially a good deed, which could be explained as a well-intentioned lie—it was better than Yino being shot by a poisoned arrow and attracting Yuyan while on the brink of death!
Jinyue did have thoughts of using Yuyan’s jade pendant, but before the final boss appeared, she didn’t want to be seen as the only suspect by Yuyan.
Now, if she explained things well to Yino, Jinyue would at least have an absolute advantage in terms of favor!
After a moment of consideration and weighing the pros and cons.
Jinyue’s face blushed, and she turned her gaze away, saying somewhat pitifully:
“To be honest, I am not human, but a fox demon from the Western Region who has taken human form.”
“F-fox demon?” Yino feigned surprise, but inwardly he was panicking.
He also didn’t grasp the game Jinyue was playing. Jinyue did not blush or act coy when she revealed her true form to the protagonist in the game. Instead, she exposed her demonic identity as an undercover villainess when the protagonist was in peril, showing her fangs.
Compared to that, Jinyue’s current attitude was far too friendly, a scene unimaginable in the game he played.
“Yes, I know you humans all hate demons, so I’ve been hiding my identity at the Wuji Sect all along…”
Jinyue’s words became more emotional, her peach blossom eyes with cherry-colored eyeliner showing an air of innocence: “But, just like there are good and bad people among humans, not all demons are monsters, and not all fox demons are creatures that suck human essence…”
“Why can’t humans and demons coexist peacefully?”
By the end, Jinyue’s theme had become quite elevated, but Yino couldn’t feel moved at all.
If these lines were spoken by his aunty Xinyao, He might have been truly stirred.
But coming from Jinyue, the Pleasure Demon with a succubus innate body, it seemed rather funny. The only truthful part in her entire speech was probably that as a fox demon, she had never sucked human essence.
This was true, Yino could vouch for her.
After all, compared to sucking human essence, this evil cult witch preferred to play with people until they died, and then sacrifice them.
“Brother Yino, do you also have hatred against demons?”
After setting the mood, Jinyue stared at Yino with her peach blossom eyes brimming with tears.
This was another test for Yino. In fact, what Yino answered didn’t matter, because he could lie about the answer, but the genuine emotions in human speech couldn’t escape Jinyue’s eyes.
“Senior Sister is overthinking it, how could I have any hatred?”
Yino shrugged and spread his hands nonchalantly.
His words were absolutely sincere, after all, his aunt, his mother whom he had never met, and even he himself had demon blood.
“To be honest, my aunt has taught me since I was young that demons are just like us humans, they have feelings, family, people they cherish, and people they love…”
“Tonight, sharing this ordeal with Senior Sister in the secret realm, I think my aunt was right. At least Senior Sister has saved me more than once.”
Yino was also an experienced actor, getting more emotional as he spoke, almost moving himself to tears.
There was no choice; this was a crucial moment for his acting skills. If Yino showed even one evidence of lying, Jinyue might silence him or use illusions to forcibly brainwash him.
That would truly be infighting among villains!
“Your Aunt…?”
Hearing these familiar words, Jinyue tilted her head slightly.
She recalled the scene she had witnessed that night at the Grand Tutor’s Mansion, where there was indeed a young spirit crane girl with golden phoenix tattoos on her legs.
At that time, Jinyue had found that girl strange.
How could the Grand Tutor’s Mansion, a human power center of the Great Dragon Dynasty, casually shelter a young demon girl?
Unexpectedly, that spirit crane girl was actually Yino’s aunt!
If so, Yino’s friendly attitude towards demons made much more sense.
“It seems your aunt is a very sensible person.”
Jinyue said with a smile, naturally taking a step forward.
Yino suppressed his inner unease until Jinyue’s alluring eyes once again reflected a blood-colored curse mark, and his body became uncontrollable again.
The girl cupped Yino’s face, nearly touching his, and their eyes locked for a long period.
A moment passed.
Jinyue released the dazed Yino.
But at the same time, she closed her eyes due to eye strain and raised her hand to her forehead.
-It seems I’ve consumed too much energy dealing with the mechanisms earlier, I can’t repeatedly cast illusions on him tonight…-
-However, at least I could confirm that Yino wasn’t lying just now, it was the truth.-
-Come to think of it…-
-It seems that since we met, Yino has never lied to me.-
Jinyue panted softly, silently marveling in her heart.
As the blood-colored curse mark in her alluring eyes disappeared, Yino regained control of his body.
He pretended to be confused and stepped forward with concern:
“What’s wrong, Senior Sister? You didn’t aggravate an old injury by saving me, did you?”
“How could that be, I just suddenly felt a bit tired…”
Jinyue slightly pursed her lips, not refusing, and just leaned tiredly on Yino’s shoulder.
After the illusion test just now, her trust in Yino had increased another level. After all, under the rule of this secular dynasty, kind people without prejudice against demons were truly rare.
However… Jinyue was really exhausted tonight, she no longer had the energy to act coy and flirtatious with Yino like before.
Moreover, she felt that casting illusions on Yino consumed far more energy than on ordinary humans.
Jinyue suspected this was also related to his aunt.
After all, according to human customs, an aunt represents the sister of Yino’s mother, sharing a blood relationship with Yino, so Yino was likely a demon hybrid, born with considerable resistance to illusions!
If so, this could also explain why Jinyue’s eyes would ache so quickly when casting illusions on him.
For ordinary disciples, Jinyue could use illusions to brainwash them seven or eight times a day without feeling tired.
“Don’t worry about me, the deer’s cry is sounding again, let’s quickly go in and rescue that trapped little deer.”
After a moment’s rest, Jinyue leaned on Yino and opened her alluring eyes.
But before leaving, she grabbed Yino’s arm again, biting her vermilion lips, and spoke in a pleading and pitiful tone: “Young Master Yino, can you promise not to tell anyone about tonight? If everyone in the Wuji Sect finds out I’m a fox demon, I’ll surely be arrested as a heretic and hanged… I, I really don’t want to be hated by everyone…”
Yino was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly: “Of course.”
“Then… shall we pinky swear?”
This time, Jinyue didn’t use illusions to test for truthfulness.
She held up her little finger, her peach blossom eyes curved into crescent moons, her vermilion lips revealing a tired yet playful bitter smile.
“Pinky promise, cross my heart,,, ”
“Break this vow and you’re a dog!”