As expected, Xie-Jie immediately began a villain monologue. She dropped Li Chenyuan's face and stalked over to Qiu Yunru, circling him with swaying hips and a leering red grin.
"So respectful! What a refreshing catch you are!" She exclaimed. "Asking questions with such intelligence. You remind me of my people! As for your question, it's simple, really:
"Though we demons live far longer than you pitiful humans, even we grow old someday. After a few millennia, time catches up with even someone like me. I've lived a long life. I have studied and taught for so many years and killed so many humans that my bones eventually grew stiff and my skin began to curdle." She lifted Qiu Yunru's chin once again with her brush, causing ink to drip down in throat slowly.
In the doorway, Li Chenyuan made a strangled sound.
Xie-Jie, engrossed in her monologue, ignored this and went on. "However, one would never know my age by looking at me. Isn't that the dream of every woman? Tell me, young master; doesn't this jiejie look beautiful?"
"Very. Xie-Jie is...ahem, as beautiful as a jade orchid."
The words came out awkward and slow, like stones dropping. Though he was usually a smooth and even speaker, Qiu Yunru always had a hard time when it came to things like flirting with women, or even anything remotely close to it. Though he wouldn't consider this flirting, he was certainly trying to butter her up and get her to let her guard down. It was just, that was the one thing he couldn't do! Flowery and romantic language was really something he couldn't easily produce!
He was good at practical words and formal dealings, not saying sweet things to ladies!
Thankfully, Xie-Jie seemed to find this amusing. "Aren't you eighteen at least? Have you really had such little experience with beautiful women? What a pity! What a waste! If this jiejie wasn't in dire need of youth, she would bring you to a brothel and show you what it means to appreciate a lady properly!"
Qiu Yunru nearly spat out three liters of blood at the thought.
Him, at a brothel, being fawned over by jade beauties left and right...
The idea made him want to go and find a comfortable bed, pull up the covers over his head, and curl up into a ball for a long time. It was just too overwhelming a thought! Who could stand that kind of attention without getting overstimulated? Too many eyes, too many hands and too many lips! Even if he won the lottery, he wouldn't bring three gold coins to the brothel!
Outwardly, he coughed and smiled weakly, voice still steady. "Xie-Jie is very thoughtful. However, this one wonders--what does Xie-Jie mean when she says she is in dire need of youth?"
Though he already suspected the answer, he thought he should ask to get her to keep talking. It was exactly as he had suspected:
"Your life force, of course!" Xie-Jie preened, leaning down and tracing a hand down his bare throat. "Young and beautiful humans are the perfect source to draw out youth from. This jiejie hasn't been able to get ahold of someone like you two in a long time, so my strength and stunning features are waning. After sucking you two dry, I'll be able to go on for at least a few weeks!"
Again, Qiu Yunru nearly spat out blood.
"A few weeks?" He said weakly. "That's all?"
It wasn't that he was offended that that was all his life force could afford her, but rather he was aghast that it was such a short period of time. She would have to go on and kill another young person just a few weeks from now! Over time, how many people had she sucked the life out of to maintain her glamorous state? Knowing the lifespan of demons, she might have been doing this for five hundred years!
Taking his response as offense, Xie-Jie patted his cheek patronizingly. "Poor boy. If you were a woman, you would last me longer. Their Yin energy far better sustains a body coursing with demonic qi. But it's been too long, and I can't be too picky." She smiled wide, and her teeth flashed.
Suddenly, she slammed her brush down into his back.
There was a cracking noise, and a sharp pain bloomed in Qiu Yunru's ribs. He'd definitely broken something!
Xie-Jie positioned her scholar's brush over his lower back, then released it. It floated there, glowing with a deep purple light. She pinched Qiu Yunru's cheek one more time, one of her long, golden nails nicking his skin and leaving a red mark there.
"Though you humans' lifespans are pitiful, your life forces really are delicious. This jiejie thanks you for such a tasty meal!"
With that, she snapped her slender fingers.
Immediately, Qiu Yunru vomited all over the floor.
He lit one candle, two, three, a whole row and then five more. Why was it that, even with how hard he'd tried to avoid it every time, he had to expel his guts in front of someone in the end? An ancient demon and a rich kid no less! His face, his face, it was falling off! He wept internally for his poor Reputation Points even as he continued to gag.
This was a classic symptom of one's life force being rapidly drained. As the Yang energy was extracted first from a body, one's physical systems began to shut down and malfunction.
Qiu Yunru's muscles began to tremble from head to toe. His heartbeat grew heavy in his ears, and his breathing grew labored, as though each breath was equal to lifting five hundred pounds on his shoulders.
He heard some shouting that seemed to be Li Chenyuan's voice, but his hearing was too muddled by the sound of his own struggling body to make out anything being said.
With blurry eyes, he called up the game menu.