Yu Rumeng laughed helplessly. "What do you want Myriad Demon Pills for?" Although Yang Kai had experienced a Qi Deviation in the Star Boundary and harbored demonic energy, the Myriad Demon Pills should be useless to him — consuming them would only cause trouble.
"Why do you care what I want them for? Just tell me whether you'll give them to me or not." Yu Rumeng was aware of the existence of the Avatar, but Yang Kai had no intention of going into detail with her about it right now, lest she read too much into things. Then again, Cloud Shadow was Yu Rumeng's territory, and the Avatar had now refined the Cloud Shadow Source, becoming the master of this continent. If her true self were to come here in person, she would certainly notice something amiss.
A Demon Saint was not so easily deceived, but since she had only descended here with a wisp of her divine soul, Yang Kai wasn't particularly worried about being exposed.
"Fine, fine, fine, you can have them all, happy now?" Five thousand Myriad Demon Pills — though the quantity was considerable, roughly equivalent to the total harvest from dozens or even a hundred continents at once — it was really nothing that Yu Rumeng would bat an eye at. She had been a Demon Saint for years, and the number of Myriad Demon Pills she had accumulated was innumerable.
As she spoke, Yu Rumeng shot him a reproachful glance, sending a shiver down Yang Kai's spine. He subtly averted his gaze.
If this were Yu Rumeng's true body, such a gesture would have been delightful to behold, enough to set anyone's heart racing. The key issue was that the person she had descended into was Xiao Wu. From the neck down, this girl's figure was passable enough, but the crisscrossing scars on her face, twisted like centipedes, were truly off-putting. Yang Kai hardly dared look.
Yet Yu Rumeng was relentless. She walked right up to him, seized his collar with one hand, raised her head to stare into his eyes, and said through gritted teeth, "Why won't you look at me? Do you think I'm ugly now?"
Yang Kai stole a quick glance at her, then immediately looked away again. "That's Xiao Wu's face, not yours. What does it matter whether it's ugly or not — what does that have to do with you?"
Yu Rumeng fumed, "Fine! You men really are all the same — you can't tear your eyes away from a pretty woman, but you won't spare a second glance at an ugly one! If I ever became this ugly one day, would you not even look at me anymore?"
Could this really be a point of contention? Yang Kai truly had no idea what was going through her mind. Between laughter and tears, he said, "Stop it. You're a dignified Demon Saint — who could possibly ruin your looks?"
Yu Rumeng gritted her teeth. "I'll go scar my own face right now and come straight to you! I'd love to see how you'd react to that."
Yang Kai had no intention of humoring her — the woman was clearly being unreasonable. But then he considered that if he ignored her, she might actually do it, and that would make the situation far worse. With an internal sigh, he lowered his gaze, letting his eyes soften with tenderness and deep affection as he murmured in a low voice, "Rumeng, no matter what you look like, my feelings for you will never change. What I said just now wasn't for Bei Limo's ears — those words came straight from my heart."
As he spoke, Yang Kai took one of her hands and placed it against his own chest, as though letting her feel the truth in his heart. When he finished, he leaned in slowly but firmly, his gaze never wavering.
Yu Rumeng stood perfectly still, as though struck dumb — but the violent trembling of her eyes and lashes betrayed the turmoil within. Just as Yang Kai's lips were about to touch hers, Yu Rumeng suddenly twisted away, retreating from his embrace. Biting her red lip, she said, "You'd even kiss Xiao Wu — you really are quite unscrupulous!"
Yang Kai smiled faintly, and in that moment carried an almost gentle warmth, like polished jade. "Since you've descended with your soul, the one standing before me isn't Xiao Wu — but the one who haunts my dreams and lingers in my sleep."
He silently congratulated himself — that was a close call. He had very nearly let the act become reality. Fortunately, he was confident that Yu Rumeng would never allow him to get too intimate with another woman, otherwise he wouldn't have dared play such a dangerous gambit. Taking bold risks, it seemed, did have their uses.
But that final declaration had unquestionably shattered every last line of Yu Rumeng's defenses. The mighty Demon Saint now wore an expression of girlish coyness, equal parts delighted and pouting as she said, "I suppose you do have some conscience after all. Seeing as you performed decently just now, I won't hold what happened earlier against you."
Yang Kai looked bewildered. "What happened earlier?"
Yu Rumeng glared at him. "You don't know what happened?"
Only then did Yang Kai realize she was referring to Bei Limo pressing him against her chest. He immediately cried out in grievance, "That wasn't my fault either! She's a Demon Saint — if she really wanted to deal with me, there was nothing I could do to resist."
"Hmph!" Yu Rumeng pursed her lips, then cast a sideways glance at Yang Kai. "Was it enjoyable?"
Yang Kai's face immediately flushed with indignation. "This is the greatest humiliation of my life — I'll make her pay for it someday!" He said it with complete sincerity, though in truth, it had been rather enjoyable…
"Alright, I said I won't hold it against you, and I won't. But you really do need to be careful with that woman. I've agreed to let you go to her territory to repair the World Gate, but she certainly won't let the matter rest easily. She and I have never gotten along, so don't let her get the better of you."
Yang Kai frowned. "Can I just… not go?"
He had just obtained a lead on Grand Emperor Ming Yue and had been planning to head to the Zhoutian Continent as soon as possible to investigate. Now this had come up, and he had no idea whether the Zhoutian Continent even fell within Bei Limo's territory. If it did, he could make the trip. If not, it would be a considerable waste of time.
Bei Limo's territory bordered Yu Rumeng's, and according to the map, the Zhoutian Continent was very far away. Yang Kai estimated that the chances of the Zhoutian Continent being under Bei Limo's domain were extremely slim.
Yu Rumeng smiled bitterly. "There's no dodging this. The entire reason I went through so much trouble to bring you to the Demon Realm in the first place was for the World Gates. If the other Demon Saints learn you have this ability, how could they possibly let it go to waste? You'll have to endure a bit — for a long time to come, you're likely to be traveling between the various continents of the Demon Realm. As for your safety, don't worry too much. With me around, they won't dare do anything to you."