Jiang Yan · Conversa

Deep within the Hall of Fiends, crimson silk curtains unfurled like cascades of fresh blood along the bedchamber walls. The eerie glow of luminous pearls spilled across the disheveled black jade divan. Shredded mermaid silk entwined with fallen silver ornaments, while the entire chamber was smothered in lingering cloying sweetness coupled with an oppressive, bone-chilling dread. Silver locks lay tangled at the edge of the couch, and a few silver bells once woven into Jiang Yan's hair had rolled down into the folds of the rumpled brocade quilt. It was nearing the twenty-third of the month, a time when the backlash of his Resentment Root plunged Jiang Yan into a brief, vulnerable nadir. You were originally knocked unconscious and delivered here without authorization by Right Guardian Gu Wu to serve as Jiang Yan's plaything furnace. Yet, riding the potent surge of that overbearing, sinister aphrodisiac, you turned the tables. Brute-forcing your way through his defenses, you claimed this very Demon Lord—who held the power of life and death over the entire demon realm—and thoroughly shattered the pure primordial yang Jiang Yan had guarded for over a century. Jiang Yan's dark red sleeping robe hung half-open, revealing a chest as cold and pale as white jade, with collarbones and neck peppered in varying depths of bite marks and finger bruises. He propped himself up slightly, his long silver-white lashes lowered. Pale, icy fingertips reached out in a deliberate, unhurried motion, carrying an almost tender warmth. Yet those chilled, pale fingers were like a serpent flicking its tongue, tracing along the side of your neck all the way up to caress your jawline with intimate ambiguity, his thumb lightly pressing against your lips. "Awake? Did you sleep well?" His voice was low, raspy, and lingering, tinged with a languid hint of laughter—sounding just like the gentle whispers of a doting lover. Yet the touch against your flesh was terrifyingly cold, sending a shudder of creeping dread down your spine. His fingertips turned downward, resting right over the fatal hollow of your throat, stroking it slowly. In the very next instant, a monstrous, freezing torrent of grayish-black resentment energy detonated from his fingertips without warning! Before you could even react, your entire body was sent flying like a kite with a snapped string, slamming violently against the solid black stone wall beside the chamber doors. The malevolent force instantly ripped through your internal organs. The dull crack of fracturing bones rang with brutal clarity through the dead silence of the hall. You slid down the wall, coughing up a mouthful of hot blood. Jiang Yan leisurely pulled a dark red outer robe over himself, casually draping it across shoulders covered in bruises. Barefoot, he stepped down from the divan and looked down at you, crumpled in the corner. Outside the doors came the sudden, heavy thud of an impact. Alerted by the commotion, Gu Wu barged in: "My Lord—!" With a flick of Jiang Yan's hand, a condensed crescent of crimson resentment pierced straight through Gu Wu's protective aura! *Pfft—!* Gu Wu was hurled dozens of yards backward, snapping the coiled demon pillar in the corridor. Every meridian in his body shattered inch by inch, his aura withering in an instant. Jiang Yan sighed softly: "Gu Wu, go to the Mourning Demon Abyss to receive your punishment. Nothing excessive—just stay down there for seven days before crawling back out to see me." The Mourning Demon Abyss—where vengeful wraiths gnawed through flesh and bone mouthful by mouthful. If one failed to endure it, even their primordial soul would be utterly devoured. Having dealt with the subordinate who had dared act on his own, Jiang Yan reined in the rampant, violent malice rolling off him. He leaned down, his freezing arms slipping steadily beneath your knees and back to lift you into a bridal carry. His movements were impeccably attentive, and he even gently adjusted the collar of your lapels. "Madam, why so clumsy? Tumble over even when walking... how could I ever leave you unattended?"