Chapter 366, The Law of True Aroma
Unlike the cold and dirty hideouts one might imagine.
This wooden cabin, although appearing almost ready to collapse with just a push, still reflected careful craftsmanship with its simplicity and cleanliness.
“This… is where the Little Blood Demon lives?”
Shi Qingyan curiously walked over to the cabin, inspecting it with eager eyes: “Surprisingly, it looks a bit like a human’s home. Did the Little Blood Demon build it itself?”
Sang Zhe remained silent.
He pushed open the creaky old wooden door and stepped into the cabin, clouds of dust swirling around him.
The cabin was structured as a two-bedroom, one-living room layout, with only simple tables, chairs, and a wooden bed inside—all covered in layers of dust and decay.
Shi Qingyan followed Sang Zhe in, immediately covering her nose with a frown, complaining, “Ugh… it’s all dust.”
“Doesn’t the Little Blood Demon know to clean up? Living in a dusty place every day must be so uncomfortable.”
Sang Zhe opened the doors to both bedrooms, revealing them to be empty, as if the entire house had been abandoned for a long time.
“The Little Blood Demon isn’t here.”
Turning to Shi Qingyan, Sang Zhe asked, “Should we wait for it to come back?”
Shi Qingyan tilted her head, her eyes twinkling a bit.
“How about… we clean up the house for it?”
Sang Zhe: “Huh?”
“Well, we have nothing else to do, right?”
Shi Qingyan lightly tugged at Sang Zhe’s shirt, using a tone that was almost like a plea, “Just think of it as killing time.”
Though puzzled by Shi Qingyan’s strange idea, Sang Zhe couldn’t resist the charm of her pleading expression and agreed.
“Don’t worry, you just assist me. The main cleaning will be done by me.”
Unbeknownst to them, Shi Qingyan had already pulled out gloves, a cloth, and a mop from her storage bag, smiling as she handed them to Sang Zhe.
“…Senior Sister Shi carries stuff like this around?”
“When I’m idle at home, I like cleaning too. After all, keeping my living space tidy makes me feel better, doesn’t it?”
On this note, Shi Qingyan seemed to be just like Zhang Xiaoying.
Little Ying always enjoyed doing chores, as if she were tireless. Even when Sang Zhe told her to take a break, she just couldn’t sit still.
“Okay.”
Shi Qingyan put on her gloves and said earnestly, “Let’s get to work~”
—
—
The cleaning process turned out to be more complicated than expected.
The main issue was that the house was too dilapidated. The biggest problem while cleaning was how to be careful not to poke holes in the walls and floors.
Even with great caution from Sang Zhe and Shi Qingyan, one bedroom door and two windows unfortunately perished during the cleanup.
But apart from these mishaps, Shi Qingyan was remarkably skilled at housework, swiftly making the place spick and span, even meticulously dusting the corners.
With the windows broken, the ventilation became fully automated; soon, as the dust settled, the whole cabin transformed into a fresh and tidy space.
“Ah~”
After finishing everything, Shi Qingyan wiped her hands, placed her hands on her hips, and proudly looked around, her face filled with a sense of achievement.
“This feels more like a home now.”
Sang Zhe plopped down onto the steps outside, staring vacantly at the flickering crystalized spirit stones on either side.
“What are you thinking about?” Shi Qingyan sat next to him.
“I was wondering, what kind of person would choose to live hidden away in such a dark place.”
“I think living in a place like this is quite romantic.”
She tilted her head back, her delicate feet swaying gently in the air, her cherry lips parting slightly: “Even if it’s dark, it’s peaceful—especially with the glowing spirit stones around, it looks like a fairyland.”
“If I could hide away here with someone I love, even without delicacies or a communication device, I wouldn’t feel lonely at all.”
Sang Zhe turned to glance at Shi Qingyan, then quickly averted his gaze.
“I couldn’t do that. I’m just an ordinary person; if I stayed in a place like this for too long, I’d go crazy.”
“True, a little cabin like this wouldn’t be enough for your harem, would it?” Shi Qingyan teased mischievously.
“Cough, that’s not the reason…”
“When I was first taken in by the immortal sect, starting my training as a shadow guard, the elder training us threw a dozen of us kids into a secret cave that was without light.”
“After ten days, only those who were still alive would be qualified to be shadow guards.”
“I was only twelve at the time, the first time I was alone in such a dark place, I was tormented every moment by fear and loneliness.”
“I had to force myself to adapt, even brainwash myself into liking that environment.”
Shi Qingyan propped her head up, her fair cheeks bearing a calm expression: “In the end, I guess the brainwashing worked.”
“When I left the cave, I was no longer scared of that kind of place.”
“From that day on, I prepared myself mentally to live forever in the shadows—becoming a shadow of the immortal sect.”
“I never even thought… that one day I would become part of the Demon Cultivators.”
“I can only say, some people truly have a lot to answer for~” Shi Qingyan playfully poked Sang Zhe’s cheek.
But her tone held no reproach; instead, her eyes sparkled with amusement.
Sang Zhe shrugged off the teasing with a grin: “Thanks for the compliment.”
“However, I don’t dislike my life now.”
Shi Qingyan stretched lazily, her graceful figure laid bare before Sang Zhe’s eyes.
“But now that we’ve cleaned up the house, why hasn’t the Little Blood Demon come back yet?”
“Maybe it’s around here somewhere.” Sang Zhe suddenly said.
Shi Qingyan paused, turning her head to notice a furry black creature peeking out from behind a crystal in the distance, baring its teeth at them.
It looked like it was lowly growling in complaint about these two thieves occupying its nest.
“Ah, looks like it’s really unhappy with us taking over its place.”
Shi Qingyan cocked her head at Sang Zhe: “What should we do? It seems to hate us even more now.”
“Don’t worry.”
Sang Zhe calmly pulled out a package of duck blood from his storage bag.
“A famous philosopher, Wang X泽, once said, ‘Any hard-headedness and hostility will collapse in the presence of real food.'”
“This is called… the Law of True Aroma.”
He grinned, watching the Little Blood Demon creep closer to the duck blood, his face full of confidence.
Shi Qingyan: “…Your expression looks like that of a creep trying to lure kids.”
“Aren’t you the kid I lured back home?”
“Oh, when you put it that way, it is true. Ugh, I guess I’m in the same predicament as that Little Blood Demon. I should probably tell Little Ying you lured children away.”
“…That’s wrong, sis, I was just joking.”
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