When Destiny Brings the Demon

Liao Tingyan suddenly jolted awake in the middle of the night. Spotting the branch of mountain peach blossoms in the vase by the bed, she reached out and shook Sima Jiao beside her, demanding loudly, "You remembered everything and still made me turn into an otter for you?! And pretended to be a Snake demon to tease me?!"

Sima Jiao didn’t open his eyes, letting out a hoarse "Shh." He pulled Liao Tingyan back, pressing her against his chest as he soothingly patted her back, his face buried in her hair.

Sima Jiao: "Sleep."

Liao Tingyan shook her head wildly, smacking Sima Jiao in the face with her hair until she finally roused him. He had no choice but to release her, sprawling on the bed as he pinched the bridge of his nose and gave her a sidelong glance.

Liao Tingyan: Hah, waking someone up in the middle of the night really is satisfying. See? What goes around comes around.

Sima Jiao: "You… might as well sit on me while shaking me?"

Liao Tingyan let out a disgusted "Ew—who wants to roll in the sheets with you?!"

Sima Jiao sat up. "Fine, then I’ll do it." He suddenly pounced on Liao Tingyan, pinning her to the bed before rolling over with her.

Liao Tingyan: "!!" What the hell are you doing?!

After a few rolls, they stopped. Liao Tingyan blew the hair out of her face, wondering if Sima Jiao had lost his mind again. Rolling around in bed in the middle of the night?

Liao Tingyan: "Excuse me, what are you doing?"

Sima Jiao: "Naturally, rolling in the sheets."

Liao Tingyan recalled the long-ago "loafing" incident, her expression instantly turning fierce. With a burst of strength, she wrapped her arms around Sima Jiao’s waist and rolled them back over. "Alright, let’s roll then!"

Outside, the palace attendants on night duty heard the commotion in the dead of night, their expressions turning suggestive. His Majesty and the Noble Consort… tsk tsk tsk, how intense.

The two tussled playfully for a couple more rolls, sending pillows and blankets flying off the bed. When Liao Tingyan’s head bumped against the bed frame, Sima Jiao reached out to brace against the wall, halting their childish game. Cupping the back of her head, he leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Alright, sleep now?"

Liao Tingyan: "…" What was I just doing? Why is it that every time I get mad now, I suddenly catch his idiocy? Is this man poisonous?

Seeing her expression, Sima Jiao laughed. Feeling the vibrations in his chest, Liao Tingyan’s nose itched, so she rubbed it against him.

Only to realize Sima Jiao’s expression had shifted. His fingers slid under her collar, brushing against her neck. "Alright, we’ll sleep later."

Then they rolled in the sheets in another sense of the phrase. Unlike the earlier pillow-kicking, blanket-flailing chaos, this time was quiet and lingering. In moments like these, Liao Tingyan would wonder if Sima Jiao had truly been a Snake demon in the past—the way he coiled around her, silent and suffocating, sent shivers down her spine.

"Ah—" She gasped, gripping Sima Jiao’s shoulders as his soft panting and laughter brushed her ear.

"I did remember. What does that have to do with me wanting to see an otter?"

Liao Tingyan: "…" Pinch his ass!

……

Later, when Liao Tingyan pressed him about how much he’d recalled, Sima Jiao only said, "I’ve remembered everything I needed to."

Liao Tingyan didn’t ask further, but she shadowed him like a ghost—wherever Sima Jiao went, she followed. Occasionally, Sima Jiao would deliberately go out alone, then leisurely watch her rush out to find him.

Liao Tingyan: "Ancestor! Don’t go too far from me!"Every time she saw that look on Sima Jiao's face that seemed to say, "What am I going to do with you, you clingy little minx," she felt so irritated it was like her period had come early, and she couldn't help but snap at him, "Ancestor! Have some self-awareness, will you?"

Surprisingly, Sima Jiao seemed to enjoy watching her turn into a grumpy mess. Only after he'd had his fill did he ask, "What self-awareness?"

Liao Tingyan was so furious she felt like she might levitate from anger. With a stern face, she strode over to him. Just as she was about to speak, Sima Jiao suddenly scooped her up—lifting her by the thighs—so abruptly that she nearly toppled over headfirst. She ended up leaning forward onto him as he carried her toward the stone steps still blanketed in thick snow.

Her anger dissipated in just three seconds, and Liao Tingyan, now back to her usual self, wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Aren't you afraid at all?"

It was the same path as before. Sima Jiao carried her upward at a steady pace. "What's there to be afraid of?"

Liao Tingyan fell silent for a long time before murmuring, almost to herself, "At the very beginning, you were trapped in Gengchen Immortal Mansion. Later, you managed to escape, but it must have cost you dearly. Back then, I didn’t understand, but eventually, I figured it out."

"When we fled Gengchen Immortal Mansion that time, you nearly died. The Pill you took worked too well—now that I think about it, healing your injuries so completely must have come at a price. What was that price?"

"After that, you slaughtered almost the entire Shi clan and so many of Gengchen Immortal Mansion’s top cultivators. To kill them, what did you sacrifice? Did your spirit fire start going out of control from that point on? During those years in the Demon Realm, everyone said you were bloodthirsty, often burning people to ashes for no reason. Was it because you’d already lost control?"

This man—even if he were in excruciating pain, even if he were on the verge of death—would never let it show. He always had to act like he held all the cards.

"You told me once—you said the heavens would wipe out the Sima clan, and you were the last one. So you were destined to die."

He had struggled, but in the end, he chose to give his life to her. Such self-sacrifice was almost unlike him.

"You were supposed to die. It was me—I forcibly pulled your Divine Soul back. Your suffering should have ended seventeen years ago..."

If that had happened, he wouldn’t have become the Emperor he was now, wouldn’t have ruled over this broken kingdom, wouldn’t have faced these endless calamities. If it were just that, she could protect him. But now that he had returned to the path of cultivation, without his spirit fire or the bloodline of the Sima clan, could he still defy the will of heaven?

And could she really shield him from Divine Retribution? If she couldn’t, how could she bear to watch him struggle so desperately in this world?

"Sima Jiao... I’m useless. Even if you went to such lengths to leave your spirit fire to me, I’ll never be as strong as you. I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect you. If I force you to stay, only for you to die painfully again, then why should I insist?" So, wouldn’t just these few decades of peace and happiness be enough?

Her voice grew quieter as she spoke.

Sima Jiao, still carrying her up the steps, suddenly laughed.

Liao Tingyan: "..." Look at this tragic atmosphere—could you not ruin the moment? Could you at least respect the pain in my heart?

Sima Jiao: "You’ve misunderstood one thing."

Liao Tingyan: "What?"Sima Jiao said, "If I were determined to vanish into nothingness, you couldn't possibly 'force' my Divine Soul to stay."

Liao Tingyan froze for a moment before suddenly realizing what he meant. She jerked backward, staring at Sima Jiao's face in disbelief. "You..."

The smile that appeared on Sima Jiao's face was one she knew well—the same smile he had worn seventeen years ago when he burned before her, filled with complete understanding and something long anticipated.

But only now did she truly comprehend it.

"That was the choice I gave you. If you were willing to endure pain to keep me here, I would stay. If you didn't love me that much, I was content to let my Divine Soul serve as your Lamp wick." Sima Jiao spoke casually, as if it were nothing. "After all, it was yours to do with as you pleased."

"And it's the same now."

Liao Tingyan recalled the moment she had separated Sima Jiao's Divine Soul from the spirit fire—it had been far easier than she expected.

A sudden surge of resentment made her grit her teeth. She lowered her head and bit down hard on Sima Jiao's shoulder, drawing blood almost immediately. Yet Sima Jiao didn't so much as flinch. Instead, he burst into laughter.

"See? If you want me to stay, if you want me with you longer, I can do that. And, in truth, I don’t need your protection."

As he spoke, they arrived at the same mountain pavilion from before.

Sima Jiao tilted his head slightly, running a hand through Liao Tingyan's hair. "Alright, let go."

He set her down beneath the wild peach tree, steadied himself against a branch, and leaned in to kiss her bloodstained lips. "So fierce. I’ve never seen you this fierce before."

Liao Tingyan leaned back against the tree trunk, tilting her head up as he kissed her. In Sima Jiao's dark eyes, she saw flames flickering, and above them, the withered branches of the peach tree suddenly burst into countless pink blossoms, as if spring had arrived in an instant, melting the snow away.

Then she heard thunder. Her grip on Sima Jiao's robes tightened.

Sima Jiao clasped her hand, lifting his head with a smirk curling his red lips. "Watch me face this Tribulation Lightning."

He was going to endure a tribulation? Why hadn’t she sensed he had reached that stage?

Something had obscured her perception—even veiled the workings of fate itself!

As he stepped back, Liao Tingyan nearly chased after him, but Sima Jiao pressed a hand to her shoulder, holding her in place.

"Just watch quietly."

He stood to the side, gazing up at the sky. For a fleeting moment, Liao Tingyan saw him as he had been at Three Sage Mountain—the Grandmaster standing outside the tower, facing the cultivators of Gengchen Immortal Mansion.

Then her pupils constricted. In Sima Jiao's hand, a flame appeared. Not the crimson fire he had wielded before, but a colorless one, its edges tinged faintly blue. It was small, yet its emergence instantly raised the surrounding temperature. The snow melted rapidly, the ground sprouting lush grass as if time had accelerated, and the trees around them turned verdant.

This was... spirit fire? Why did he still have it? And why this color?

Liao Tingyan was brimming with questions when Sima Jiao met her gaze and said, "This is the fire you lit for me."This was a newly born spirit fire originally cultivated by the Shi Shi clan using the flesh and blood of the Fengshan Clan. It was also the thing that, after merging with him, caused his body to rapidly collapse back then. But now, having undergone the fusion of spirit fires and refined with the last remnants of the Sima Shi's flesh and blood, it had been ignited by the cluster of spirit fire within Liao Tingyan, transforming into a brand-new, ever-growing spirit fire.

—This was the best outcome he had envisioned from the start. He had gambled and won.

Thunder crashed down repeatedly, only to dissipate unwillingly each time. The spirit fire in Sima Jiao's hand returned to his body. His form, previously brimming with spiritual energy, now appeared pure and untainted after merging with the spirit fire, almost like an ordinary mortal. Even Liao Tingyan couldn't detect anything unusual.

With a flick of his sleeve, he brushed off the dust and walked up to Liao Tingyan, extending his hand to her. "Let's go. Time to head back."

Liao Tingyan stared at him blankly.

Sima Jiao shook the flowering branch in his hand, scattering petals all over her.

Snapping out of her daze, she asked, "Can you stay with me for a long time now?"

Sima Jiao: "As long as you want."

Liao Tingyan: "Then... I don’t have to be afraid anymore?"

Sima Jiao: "I already told you there was nothing to fear."

Liao Tingyan: "So you deliberately kept everything from me and enjoyed watching me worry myself sick over you?"

Sima Jiao: "...No."

Liao Tingyan understood. "Enough talk, you scoundrel—prepare to die! Take this!"

She leaped at him. Sima Jiao sidestepped, caught her wrist, and pressed a kiss to it. "Why are you angry again?"

Without hesitation, Liao Tingyan grabbed a fistful of his hair. "Today, I’m going to teach you that keeping secrets from your wife will eventually lead to domestic violence! Did you really think I wouldn’t hit you?! Hah!"

If she didn’t take this chance to beat him up now while he hadn’t fully regained his peak strength, she’d never get another opportunity.

Sima Jiao: "Tsk—"

His Majesty was pinned against a tree and pummeled. The once-lush mountain peach blossoms were shaken loose by their scuffle, scattering petals everywhere.

Pushed haphazardly against the tree, Sima Jiao was about to turn and grab her hands when he heard her burst into loud sobs while kicking his legs. Head throbbing, he resignedly slumped back against the bark.

Fine. Let her vent. It didn’t hurt much anyway.

Sima Jiao—a man who would die for Liao Tingyan without hesitation, yet remained utterly clueless as to why she was crying her heart out right now. A true old bastard.