His words were quite frightening, and though I had prepared myself for death, this demon prince didn’t immediately put his words into action. Instead, he quietly waited for my response. Xihe, Su Shu, and Xuanyue had no idea what was happening here, nor did they understand the danger of demons. They came running over cheerfully to thank him.
After much communication, we learned he was also rushing to the Western Regions on urgent business. Hearing this, those three were delighted to know such a powerful demon was traveling the same route as us. Like beggars who had caught a lottery ball, they took turns asking him to journey with us. I originally thought he would refuse, but unexpectedly, he nodded in agreement.
Thus, inexplicably yet naturally, he joined our journey.
That night, we still set up tents in the mountain forest. Seeing him standing alone by the undergrowth, far from the campfire, I felt mixed emotions and countless struggles. Finally, I overcame my resistance and showed him friendliness: “So late and you’re not sleeping?”
“No.”
“Are you hungry then? My daughter and the others are roasting meat. You can come eat with us.”
“No need.”
His eyes gazed vacantly at the undergrowth. For some reason, he seemed somewhat uncomfortable. I couldn’t directly ask him about it, so I said: “What’s your name?”
“Shahai.”
Finally, he turned around and looked at me through the holes in his mask, showing little emotion. Though I could only see his eyes, having lived a hundred years, this was only the second time I’d seen such profound eyes, calm and waveless on the surface, yet containing the vast Eastern Sea beneath, sinking thousands of fathoms deep.
No mortal man or young immortal could have such a gaze. So after pondering deeply, my conclusion was that this demon prince had an alluring and slender frame, and just from his jawline, one could tell he was quite handsome. But the primordial spirit wrapped beneath that beautiful exterior was, like a certain someone, another Qin Shi Huang grandmother-level old man.
Though I now counted as half an old woman myself, due to that certain someone, I still didn’t like old men. I cleared my throat: “Which two characters?”
He said: “One depends on inner manifestation, like shattered seas in dust.”
Shattered seas in dust—this was too eerie. Even his name was so similar. Was he deliberately trying to make me recall unpleasant memories? Forget quickly, forget quickly. I smiled brightly: “I see. It’s a good name. I’m called Luowei, of the Luoshui Spirit Clan’s Suozhao family. Pleased to meet you.”
But Shahai said nothing more, only quietly gazing at me, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking. I truly disliked his gaze—first, it made me uncomfortable; second, this gaze was like a little saw, constantly scraping back and forth in my heart. So, demons knew this kind of eye-attack sorcery, or could he perhaps be a heart demon?
Just as I was thinking of finding some topic to continue with, Xihe wandered over: “What what, Mother Mother Mother, what were you just talking about?”
When she said “Mother Mother Mother” quickly, her pronunciation wasn’t clear at all—it sounded like “Sheep sheep sheep,” which was inappropriate. But considering this child always wanted dignity in front of handsome men, I’d spare her face for now and not scold her. I said: “One depends on inner manifestation, like shattered seas in dust. This is this demon prince’s name.”
Xihe put on the airs of a little adult and cupped her hands toward him: “So it’s Prince Yihai.”
Shahai said: “It’s Shahai.”
Xihe smiled sweetly: “Oh! Why don’t you ask what my name is?”
Something very magical happened. This little child, Xihe, had been spoiled in the palace and would carelessly address people as “you” and “me,” being somewhat arrogant. By rights, given Shahai’s temperament, he should have gotten angry or ignored her. Who knew he would actually turn his head and say gently: “May I ask the young lady’s honored name?”
Xihe smiled even more sweetly and even bowed, full of bookish scholarly airs: “Temples enter the morning sun, sleeves pour lotus dew. This is the little lady’s name.”
“So it’s Miss Xilu.”
“It’s Xihe.” Xihe pouted and immediately showed her true colors. “Don’t copy me!”
I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things, but when Xihe acted spoiled, there seemed to be a faint smile at the corners of Shahai’s mouth, as if all his previous words were just teasing her.
Before long, Su Shu came over too. After greeting Shahai, he said to me, “Little Princess, you should rest early.”
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“Having had my first intimate gesture with the Little Princess, Su Shu is naturally delighted. If the Little Princess doesn’t like it, Su Shu simply won’t smile.” Though he said this, his eyes were still full of smiles. He was already born as beautiful as a flower, and with this smile, set against his snow-white skin and curly hair, he was simply like a red lotus in full bloom—devastatingly beautiful. Xihe’s good relationship with him was connected to this face.
I frowned: “When did I have any intimate gesture with you?”
“Truly a noble person who forgets easily. When we encountered danger earlier, the Little Princess put Su Shu in her…”
Before he could finish, I quickly rushed over to cover his mouth, glared at him fiercely, and pointed at Xihe with my chin. His big eyes blinked, and he suddenly understood, nodding. But as soon as I released him, he clutched his stomach and crouched on the ground, his delicate eyebrows knitted together. I said: “What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t know why, but my abdomen suddenly hurts terribly.” Sweat poured down his forehead—it didn’t seem like he was pretending.
I heard a light snort from Shahai’s nose before he left us. After that, Su Shu was indeed in pain all night. The next day, he couldn’t even walk, so he transformed back to his original form and let Xihe wear him as a hair ornament on her head.
Speaking of Xihe, after a few days, I was very certain that Shahai’s attitude wasn’t my imagination. He treated me, Su Shu, and Xuanyue all the same, like a murderous demon. Only toward Xihe was he especially good, practically granting her every wish.
Once when we passed through a small town, Xihe took a fancy to a pile of colorful clay dolls and insisted I buy them for her. Traveling required light baggage, so naturally I refused. She then threw tantrums and made scenes, even calling me a stepmother in the street and saying she was adopted, drawing countless onlookers. Some even advised that “the child already pitifully has no birth mother, it’s wrong for the stepmother to act this way,” making me so angry I nearly hit her. This matter seemed to have nothing to do with Shahai, but when we left the town, he had bought all those clay dolls for Xihe.
Not only that, on our journey to the Western Regions, we encountered quite a few demons and monsters. With his skills, eliminating these was child’s play, yet he would always stand in front of Xihe and protect her especially well with great care. At night, he never slept with us, always running off like a wild beast to rest somewhere we couldn’t see. Even so, if there was any disturbance on our side, he would instantly flash to our side, and the first one he protected was still Xihe.
Moreover, this favoritism wasn’t easily noticed at first, but became more obvious the longer we spent together. Later, when we ate out, he would leave all the dishes Xihe liked entirely for her.
Most troubling was that Xihe especially liked Shahai too. In just a few days, she could ignore Shahai’s frightening mask and depend on him so much she nearly forgot her mother, let alone Su Shu who had always revolved around her. Su Shu had eaten his fill of jealousy during this time, complaining to me daily with the tragic feeling of marrying off a daughter.
A daughter is still a daughter—no matter how good she is to others, she loves her mother most, so I wouldn’t be jealous of this. What worried me greatly was that an adult man, and a demon at that, being so good to a girl he’d just met—good beyond normal bounds—certainly wasn’t simply from kindness.
So one night, when we were staying by a mountain stream waterfall, seeing Shahai leave, I secretly followed him for some distance and was quickly discovered.
“Why are you following me?” He had his back to me, his tall figure blending into the night.
“I have something I want to discuss with you.”
“Speak.”
“Though all of us together couldn’t defeat you, Prince Shahai has seen much of the world and should know that while a woman may be vulnerable as a woman, as a mother, she can make even the strongest men in the world feel fear.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
I walked before him, looked up to face him directly, and said gravely: “I hope you won’t harbor designs on my daughter. Otherwise, I’ll risk everything to perish together with you.”
He was stunned for a moment, then couldn’t help laughing aloud: “You’re overthinking this. I have no such interest in Xihe.”
“Having only elders’ affection is best. I’ve seen and remembered all your care for her during this time. Thank you.”
I cupped my hands toward him and turned to leave, but he grabbed my wrist and dragged me back. I looked down at his hand in surprise, then was pulled again in the next moment, nearly crashing into his body.
I said in panic, “What are you doing?”
“What you said is right. As a mother, you’re smarter than anyone, but as a woman, you’re surprisingly stupid.” While saying this, he still didn’t release my wrist.
“What do you mean…”
“You can see I treat Xihe well, and I’ve said I have no interest in her. So why would I treat her so well—don’t you use your brain to think about it?”
“Think… think about what… let go.”
I struggled to shake him off, but he pulled me directly into his arms. He lowered his head until our foreheads touched, his fingers stroking down the long hair by my ear, finally passing through my hair to touch my neck: “Really quite stupid.” Then his head pressed down a bit more, and his lips touched mine.
My startled cry was swallowed in the kiss that followed. Here, waterfalls rushed down, the Milky Way stretched endlessly, leaving only the sound of flowing water and his burning breath. I whimpered, trying to push him away, but was tightly clasped at the wrists as if handcuffed, forced to accept his domineering and overly passionate kiss. I had only kissed Yinze like this before. Then, just being touched by Yinze would make my whole body burn with longing—no matter how intimate we were, it never felt like enough. I had thought different people kissed differently, but the feeling now was no different from before. I didn’t understand—was I inherently somewhat frivolous? Or had it been too long since I’d touched a man… I felt like I wanted to continue…
But when Xihe’s face flashed through my mind, I instantly sobered up and made up my mind to bite him. He groaned and wiped his lips with his knuckle: “You’re cruel.”
“Prince Shahai, please conduct yourself properly.”
He chuckled: “Just now your hands were on my neck, yet you ask me to conduct myself properly.”
“I did not!” I felt my face was about to burn up. Not wanting to argue with him further, I turned and flew back over the water to where we’d set up our tents.
The next morning, Xihe went with Shahai to the river to catch some fish to roast for breakfast. Xihe came over carrying a fish: “Mother, Mother, Mother, Uncle Shahai is so amazing! He just reached into the river and caught one, like this!” She extended her right hand with four fingers and thumb aligned, making a fish-mouth shape, snapping down below and quickly lifting back up: “Just one light grab like this and he caught the fish! My fishing rod was completely useless!”
“Oh.”
Xihe was thick-skinned and naturally couldn’t see I had no energy, continuing excitedly: “Uncle Shahai is so great! Do you think he might have a handsome man’s face under that mask? I think he wears the mask because he’s too good-looking to block romantic advances! In comparison, Uncle Su is so useless—a lotus spirit but afraid of fish…”
“Not a lotus spirit, but a Su Lian spirit!” Su Shu’s cheeks flushed pink. “And I’m not afraid of fish, I just don’t like their smell. Xihe, you can’t forget all my years of nurturing kindness just because Shahai can catch fish…”
At this point, I looked in Shahai’s direction. His figure flashed by the river. The smoke from his disappearance hadn’t dissipated yet when he had already caught fish and put them all in baskets. Xihe glanced at him, then proudly went over to tug on his sleeve, showing off to Su Shu like bragging about her real father: “So what are you better at than Uncle Shahai? Martial arts or height? I hate eating peas most, but you always force me to eat them.”
Su Shu said aggrievedly: “I won’t force you to eat peas anymore.”
After all that talk, she just didn’t want to eat peas. This daughter’s temper was… But with them being so lively, my mood calmed somewhat, too. I strung up the fish, rolled up my sleeves, stretched out my arms, and put the fish over the campfire to roast. Xihe glanced at my arm and said, puzzledly: “Mother Mother Mother, what are those red marks on your wrist?”
Looking at my wrist, I discovered they were actually five finger marks. I quickly pulled back my hand and lowered my voice: “It’s nothing.”
Shahai sat down beside me and took the fish from my hands, roasting it over the fire himself. I stood up wanting to avoid him, but he grabbed my hand again and pulled me down to sit. Fortunately, this action wasn’t seen by those two—only Xuanyue opened his round eyes wide and looked over. Not knowing what he might do, I could only force myself to sit down, but with my back to him. Xihe said, “Mother, are you quarreling with Uncle Shahai?”
I looked at the ground without answering. After a while, Shahai finished roasting the fish and handed it to me: “It’s done. Eat.”
Xihe said, “Mother, your face is so red. Are you too hot? Move away from the campfire.”
I still ignored her. She persisted: “Mother Mother Mother.”
“Shut up!”
With my sharp rebuke, Xihe shivered and grabbed Shahai’s clothes, saying with a mournful face: “Uncle Shahai, Mother is so fierce! Boo hoo hoo…”
Shahai said, “She’s your mother. It’s proper for her to be strict with you. You should listen to her, understand?”
Xihe’s lips trembled as she sat up straight obediently: “Okay, so Uncle Shahai is also afraid of Mother…”
Shahai said without hesitation: “Mm, quite afraid.”