Yin Luan and Zou Lian trailed behind the group as they entered. The innkeeper’s wife froze for a moment when she saw them.
“What beautiful young ladies…”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help glancing at Zou Lian’s upper body.
It was impossible not to notice—too eye-catching for anyone, man or woman, to ignore. The people in the caravan held back only because they knew she was with the Demon Subduing Division.
The Little Snake Demon sidled closer and flicked out her tongue to sniff.
No anomalies. She wasn’t some demon, devil, ghost, or monster in disguise.
But that only made it more suspicious. What kind of busty, long-legged beauty dressed so provocatively would run an inn in this godforsaken wilderness in the dead of night?
If she wasn’t a demon in disguise, it was even harder to swallow.
“Why run an inn out here?” Zou Lian asked. “Any particular reason?”
“Haha, nothing special,” the Purple Robe Matron replied with a smile, pulling her gaze away. “I live here myself. I just help out passing travelers now and then, give them a place to crash. It’s not about the money.”
Zou Lian nodded slightly and let it drop.
The Little Snake Demon wanted to probe a little more, maybe force this beautiful woman to reveal her true form… assuming she had one.
Senior Sister shot her a look and steered her away from the beautiful woman.
The caravan folk were bone-tired after a full day on the road. With rooms assigned, they turned in one by one and soon drifted off to sleep.
The Little Snake Demon sprawled across the table, watching Senior Sister meditate on the bed. She pouted.
“You believe there’s really such a thing? Stumbling on an inn in the middle of nowhere, greeted by a gorgeous innkeeper’s wife in person… If nothing shady happens, it wouldn’t even make for a decent story.”
“If it’s an evil spirit, it’ll slip up eventually,” Zou Lian replied, eyes closed in meditation. “If not, it’s no concern of ours.”
The Little Snake Demon stuck out her tongue but said nothing.
She wasn’t out to get the beautiful innkeeper. She just didn’t want demons’ reputation to sink any lower in Zou Lian’s eyes.
There were good demons out there—like herself, for instance! You couldn’t paint them all with the same brush.
Blame those rotten ones. Why skip chicken, duck, or fish and go straight for people?
What was so appetizing about humans? Supple skin you could poke and it’d bounce back? An alluring scent? Fragrant and tender flesh? Seductive moans?
This was what age? And they were still playing the classic monster role…
“Guests, I’ve brewed some nourishing tremella soup. Care for any?”
The innkeeper’s wife’s voice came from outside the door.
Yin Luan glanced at Senior Sister Zou Lian, who nodded.
“Come in,” the Little Snake Demon called back.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
The door swung open. The Purple Skirt Woman entered steadily, carrying a large bowl of tremella soup, and set it on the table.
She rolled up her sleeves and bent down to ladle out a bowl for each of them. The white, plump scoops looked mouthwateringly inviting… No, the soup was underneath—the Little Snake Demon’s eyes were elsewhere.
The innkeeper’s wife was nearing thirty, a few years older than Senior Sister Zou Lian and in the prime of her mature allure. She radiated a tantalizing presence.
No wonder the Little Snake Demon fixated on the wrong thing. The woman had tempted her first… she really had.
“Please, help yourselves.”
The innkeeper’s wife smiled.
Snake drew on the breathing circulation technique Senior Sister Zou Lian had taught her over the past few days, inhaling deeply to steady herself.
These big steamed buns smelled divine… No, there were no buns. Damn it—why was this beautiful woman still coming on so strong?
“You carry that soup without making a sound,” Zou Lian observed. “Impressive footwork.”
“Yes, I’ve trained in some fist techniques,” the beautiful woman answered. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare keep an inn in a place like this.”
“With skills like that, you could find easier work in the city.”
She pressed.
“I want to stay here—the place we shared,” the beautiful woman said, her tone laced with nostalgia. “So many fond memories.”
Zou Lian didn’t pursue it further. The Little Snake Demon, meanwhile, was utterly fixated on the beautiful woman’s figure and tuned out everything else.
“It’s late,” the innkeeper’s wife said. “I won’t disturb your rest. Finish the soup and get some sleep.”
Once the beautiful woman had gone, Yin Luan let out a breath.
“She’s really not a demon in disguise? Why does she feel so… tempting?”
The tremella soup still steamed gently. The ever-cautious Little Snake Demon sniffed it first, then lapped up a tiny taste.
“No poison…”
But according to every plot she’d ever heard, shouldn’t it be two bowls of knockout potion? Drug them senseless, tie them up, and get up to all sorts of mischief?
The soup was not poisoned and was quite delicious. The little snake demon drank it all in one go.
Senior Sister Zou Lian rarely ate grains and such, so she only took two sips before setting it down.
“I’m going to sleep,” the little snake demon said to the woman on the bed as she undid her clothes. “Senior Sister, want to sleep together?”
Aside from that one time in the carriage, they had always slept in separate rooms. Senior Sister Zou Lian didn’t need much sleep anyway, but she clearly resisted sharing a room with Little Snake at night.
There was no helping it this time—everyone else was cramming four or five to a room, and the two of them getting their own was already generous treatment.
“You sleep,” Zou Lian said as she rose from the bed and moved to the spot where the little snake demon had been sitting. “I’ll meditate here.”
“Senior Sister, don’t be shy. When I traveled with Du Xuan, we often shared a room…”
“Go to sleep. Now.”
Yin Luan knew Senior Sister was too proper to share a bed with anyone else. She hung up her clothes, flopped onto the bed, and turned into a limp, motionless snake.
Zou Lian glanced over, and her face stiffened.
There was someone else in the room, yet she didn’t even bother covering up with a blanket. Such a splendid view of springtime beauty, flaunted so shamelessly right in front of her… and this girl claimed to be from a good family? Du Xuan was far more ladylike than her.
Resisting the urge to pull the blanket over her, Zou Lian steadied her breathing, closed her eyes, and attuned herself to the surroundings.
It was very quiet.
Everyone was asleep.
No chirping insects, no calling birds, not even the whisper of wind through the grass.
Silence reigned all around.
This lasted for a while, until the dead of midnight.
Woo—woo—woo—
A soft sound drifted in, like the tune of a flute or pipe, echoing gently in their ears. It lulled the mind into peace, washing away worries and troubles, inviting one to sink into deep, untroubled slumber.
Zou Lian’s eyes snapped open.
She moved to the bedside and nudged the little snake demon’s shoulder.
“Chirp chirp, no… Du Xuan will get jealous… Senior Sister, go easy… Senior Sister’s so big…”
Zou Lian raised her hand and flicked the little snake demon’s forehead.
“Ow…”
Little Snake clutched her head and blinked awake, caught between dream and reality.
“Get up,” Zou Lian whispered, her voice low enough for only the two of them to hear. “Something’s happening.”
Yin Luan snapped fully alert.
Had the innkeeper’s wife made her move at last? She knew it! The fox’s tail was finally showing.
“Is she a demon in disguise?” the little snake demon whispered.
“No, she’s human,” Zou Lian replied. “But she’s doing things no human should.”
