The villain had it far too rough

Late at night in the Clear Wind Pavilion, Lin Qingyang sat on the edge of the bed, clutching his chest, his face a little pale.

"Are you okay, big brother?" Lin Yao asked, floating beside him.

Lin Qingyang shook his head, found a bottle of pills for regulating spiritual power in the bundle he had packed earlier, and swallowed some. He had just channeled quite a bit more spiritual power into Qi Mo, and now he felt his blood surging.

Meanwhile, Qi Mo lay unconscious on the bed, stripped of all his clothes except for a pair of underpants that barely covered his private parts.

There had been no other choice. His clothes had been utterly tattered and soaked in blood. Lin Qingyang had gone through three basins of water just to get most of the blood off his body.

After sitting on the edge of the bed to recover for a while, he dug some wound medicine out of the bundle and applied a little to Qi Mo's injuries. The unconscious boy's brows furrowed involuntarily in pain.

New wounds overlapped old ones on his skeletal body. His right wrist seemed to be broken, bent at an unnatural angle. Lin Qingyang did not know how to set it, so he could only bandage it loosely and planned to find someone to examine it after daybreak.

By the time he finished everything, it was almost light outside. He truly had no strength left. He took off his outer robe, lay down on the bed, and pulled the quilt over himself. The bed was big enough for two without being cramped anyway, and at this hour, he really could not be bothered to find somewhere else. Perhaps he had used too much spiritual power; he felt utterly drained.

Lin Qingyang turned to look at the boy beside him. Before, his face had always been covered in blood. Now that it had been wiped clean, the kid actually looked rather handsome. His medium-length black hair lay messily around his face, and he slept quietly with his eyes closed. He looked quite well-behaved.

His gaze drifted toward the furry ears on top of Qi Mo's head, and he could not resist reaching out to stroke them. The fur was so soft. It really was different from a stuffed toy. After petting them for a while, he still had not had enough, so he pulled Qi Mo's tail out from under the quilt and played with it in his hands.

"This is so relaxing!" Lin Qingyang sighed, his eyes narrowing. "With fur this soft, what kind of demon is he?"

"A Snowfield Heavenly Wolf, but he hasn't awakened yet, so he's been treated as an ordinary gray wolf." The Windflower Sword floated over from the nearby table.

Lin Qingyang glanced at her. "You're still awake?"

"I'm a sword spirit. I don't need to sleep," Lin Yao said, floating over to lie down beside Lin Qingyang.

Propping up his head, Lin Qingyang looked at Qi Mo and recalled the boy's skinny little body, covered in new wounds on top of old ones, when he had tended his injuries earlier. He had to admit, this villain really did have it rather rough.

"What happened to him at the end of the novel?" Lin Qingyang asked curiously.

"He was defeated by the protagonists, of course. After awakening, Qi Mo united the Demon Clan, became the new Demon King, and started the second Human-Demon War. Countless members of the Human Clan were killed or wounded, and in the end, the male and female leads joined forces to defeat him."

"The second? So there was a first?" Lin Qingyang asked.

"That's a long story," Lin Yao said, launching into a solemn explanation.

"This world's setting has humans and demons living alongside one another. Long, long ago, the Demon Clan, born with powerful demonic power, often used their magic to run rampant, burning, killing, looting, and plundering. However, there were also cultivators among the Human Clan with a talent for cultivation. They cultivated magical arts to slay demons and fiends, protecting the Human Clan.

"Originally, the Demon Clan lived scattered throughout the mountains and forests, gathering in groups according to species. Members of the Tiger Clan stayed with other tigers, and members of the Rabbit Clan kept company with other rabbits. They even fought among themselves occasionally, so they struggled to pose any major threat.

"Then, five hundred years ago, the Demon King Cang Yu appeared out of nowhere and united the scattered Demon Clan, causing their forces to grow rapidly. This greatly intensified the conflict between humans and demons, eventually sparking the first Human-Demon War. That war lasted a full twenty years. Lives were devastated, and rivers of blood flowed across the land. It was one of the darkest periods in the history of the entire continent.

"Later, Jiuchen, a genius sword cultivator from the Human Clan's Cultivation World, stepped forward and led a group of cultivators in a fight to the death against the Demon Clan. He finally slew the Demon King Cang Yu, bringing the war to an end. Jiuchen was also the founder of the Nine Skies Sect."

"So the Demon Clan became slaves because they lost?" Lin Qingyang asked.

"That's right. After the war ended, the Human Clan successfully reclaimed the lands occupied by the Demon Clan and took large numbers of demons captive. To control these demon prisoners effectively, the Human Clan invented the Demon-Locking Ring. Once a demon put one on, they could no longer use demonic power.

"These demon prisoners became the Human Clan's first demon slaves. The Human Clan soon discovered that demons had outstanding physical strength, long lifespans, and an astonishing ability to recover from injuries. They were simply the perfect slaves. Of course, some beautiful demons were also used to satisfy humans' private desires.

"Because of all these advantages, demand for demon slaves in the market grew by the day. Humans even specifically bred varieties with a high market value. But not all demons became slaves. There were also many wild demons beyond human control, like Chimei. After the second Human-Demon War, the female lead realized that continuing to enslave the Demon Clan would only produce another Demon King, so she pushed for the abolition of demon slavery. From then on, humans and demons lived together in harmony."

Lin Qingyang looked at the black, collar-like ring around Qi Mo's neck.

"Is this a Demon-Locking Ring?"

"That's right," Lin Yao replied.

Curious, Lin Qingyang reached out and tugged at it, but could not open it.

"Only a demon slave's owner can open their Demon-Locking Ring. In this setting, it works like a fingerprint lock. When a demon slave changes hands, the original owner has to unlock the Demon-Locking Ring, then the new owner locks it again. Qi Mo is a demon slave belonging to the Nine Skies Sect. Jin Buhuan manages the sect's assets, so he should be the one who set the lock," Lin Yao explained.

"Then how did Qi Mo get the Demon-Locking Ring off in the original story?" Lin Qingyang asked as he thought it over.

"When a demon slave dies, the Demon-Locking Ring falls off automatically. In the original story, Qi Mo actually died during the interrogation. After he was thrown onto the Mass Burial Mound, the power of the Demon King inside him awakened and brought him back to life," Lin Yao explained.

"That was also why Qi Mo hated the Nine Skies Sect so much. The first thing he did after becoming the Demon King was wipe out the sect."

As he listened, Lin Qingyang sorted through the current situation. So, because of his arrival, Qi Mo had neither died nor awakened as the Demon King. But not awakening now did not mean he would not awaken later.

When he remained silent for a long time, Lin Yao said hesitantly, "Actually, there's another way to resolve the immediate crisis and completely change your ending."

"Pin the sect leader's poisoning on Qi Mo, then kill him. You must have a way to make him disappear for good," Lin Qingyang said.

"So you thought of it too. Actually, as long as you grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes, there's no way he can come back to life. Then you won't have to worry about your ending," Lin Yao said.

"Just listen to yourself. Which of us sounds more like a villain now?" Lin Qingyang said, speechless.

Lin Yao sighed. "I do like this villain, but you're my real brother, after all. If he doesn't die now, you might be the one who dies later."

Lin Qingyang was quiet for a moment before saying, "There's a legal principle called the presumption of innocence. We can't convict someone for something they haven't done yet."

"All right. Actually, I couldn't bear to do it either," Lin Yao said, then added worriedly, "But how do we deal with the situation now?"

Lin Qingyang said nothing, pondering the problem with some frustration. The thorniest issue right now was still the sect leader's poisoning. But he felt that Chimei was not very bright, so perhaps he could bluff his way through. Yet if the sect leader survived, he would no longer be able to hide the fact that he had poisoned him. It really was a difficult problem. Still fretting over it, he drifted off to sleep.