Chapter 169: Eruption of Demonic Nature

Seeing Qiao Kongqing looking anxious and uneasy, Tao Ming rubbed her eyes and said, "Be honest and confess, what have you done with that glib, supremely confident Seventh Prince?"

Qiao Kongqing pondered the meaning of her words for a moment and smiled, "Do you think I've changed?"

"You've changed completely! Do you remember what you were like when you first came to pick me up and bring me to the imperial city?"

Qiao Kongqing immediately curved the corners of his lips: "This prince was peerless in grace, beloved by all. If the young lady ever journeys to another realm, you must bring this prince along."

Tao Ming turned her head toward Su Nanxing and said, "Lend me one of your white shirts."

Su Nanxing protested, "I certainly don't want another man wearing my clothes!"

Qiao Kongqing also protested, "I certainly don't want to wear clothes that another man has worn!"

Seeing that both of them objected, Tao Ming dropped the idea. She turned back to Qiao Kongqing and said, "Brother, we should set off as soon as possible, and we'll probably be away from here for some time. Do you need to go back to your estate to make arrangements?"

Qiao Kongqing stood up and walked toward the door. "Half an hour will be plenty."

Tao Ming asked Su Nanxing to keep an eye on the two little ones while she went to find Tao Sisi to explain the situation.

Knowing that Su Nanxing could fall into demonic transformation at any moment, Tao Sisi naturally raised no objections and even produced numerous items for Tao Ming to take to Banxia.

In less than half an hour, Qiao Kongqing walked back in and nodded at Tao Ming.

After repeatedly confirming that he was not carrying any other living creatures on him, Tao Ming had Su Nanxing pick up the two little ones, and the group entered the realm of shifting stars.

Xingxing was about to speak upon seeing Tao Ming enter, but noticing there was a stranger present, she promptly closed her mouth.

Placing the two little ones on the bed, the three of them sat aside and chatted idly while waiting for the moment of Su Nanxing's demonic transformation.

After another hour or so, faint red lights began to flicker on Su Nanxing's body. Fearing that it might frighten Tao Ming, Qiao Kongqing led Su Nanxing into another room.

Su Nanxing placed a barrier on the door, looked at Qiao Kongqing, and asked, "What do I need to do?"

"It's very simple, nothing to worry about." Qiao Kongqing pricked his finger, drew a circle on the ground with his blood, and then filled it with many intricate patterns. Once everything was drawn, he had Su Nanxing lie down right in the middle.

Su Nanxing felt his whole body grow hot, and the pattern beneath him seemed to gently writhe, making his back itch slightly.

Soon, the itch turned into pain, as if those patterns had grown sharp claws that pierced through his back and into his body, trying to tear something out from within him.

Qiao Kongqing stood aside, utterly bewildered.

Logically speaking, undergoing demonic transformation was a very straightforward process; after all, Tao Sisi, a mere woman, had endured it with ease. Yet Su Nanxing's current situation was something he was witnessing for the very first time.

Initially, the red light on Su Nanxing's body and the patterns on the floor had gradually begun to merge. But just past the halfway mark, a layer of white light suddenly burst forth from his skin. The red light and the white light fought each other for territory, advancing and retreating in a deadlock, neither able to gain the upper hand.

By now, Su Nanxing was in agonizing pain all over. He felt as though countless tiny mice were gnawing on him, biting open his skin, tearing his muscles, and severing his blood vessels bit by tiny bit.

Tao Ming sat restlessly in the room, walking up to the door of that room, raising her hand, lowering it, and then pacing back and forth.

After repeating this several times, she simply could not bear the torment of waiting any longer, gritted her teeth, and pushed against the door.

The door did not open, but Su Nanxing's trembling voice came from inside: "Wife, be a good girl, go wait over there."

Tao Ming sat down with her back against the door. "I'll wait right here. If you can't hold on and die, I'll take the children and marry someone else."

In his mind, Su Nanxing pictured the scene of Tao Ming remarrying. The pain in his heart instantly overwhelmed the pain in his body. Whether it was the force of his own sheer will or the effect of Tao Ming's words, the red and white lights that had been fiercely fighting within him suddenly began to twist together like two strands of rope.

As Su Nanxing was gritting his teeth to resist the agony, the pain vanished in an instant. It was immediately followed by a cool sensation, just like stepping out of the blazing summer heat into an air-conditioned room.

This sensation surged from his entire body up toward his forehead, finally converging there and disappearing without a trace.

Qiao Kongqing's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

Logically speaking, since Su Nanxing had drunk Tao Ming's blood, he should have become an ordinary demon just like Tao Sisi, and no patterns should have appeared on his forehead.

Yet right at this moment, squarely in the middle of Su Nanxing's forehead, a circle made of red light was completely filled with white light, and the two colors were still rotating against each other.

Qiao Kongqing stepped closer to observe more closely, but the pattern vanished.

Su Nanxing lay on the floor looking as though he had just been fished out of the water, drenched from head to toe. Qiao Kongqing helped him to the doorway and asked, "Do you have the strength to open the door?"

Su Nanxing twitched the corner of his mouth and removed the barrier from the door.

Hearing Qiao Kongqing's words, Tao Ming had just stood up when she saw Su Nanxing inside the room—his face pale, his entire body soaked in sweat, and his lips bearing a wound.

Su Nanxing's voice was exceedingly faint: "Don't even think about marrying someone else."

Tears welled in Tao Ming's eyes while the corners of her mouth turned upward. She reached out and, together with Qiao Kongqing, helped him back to the bed.

Knowing when he was not wanted, Qiao Kongqing dropped the remark, "I'm going to find somewhere to sleep," and left.

Tao Ming touched Su Nanxing's damp clothes and asked, "Does it hurt very much?"

Su Nanxing replied weakly, "A kiss will make it all better."

Tao Ming leaned down and kissed his forehead. Su Nanxing said with dissatisfaction, "That was too perfunctory."

With no other choice, Tao Ming leaned in to kiss his lips. Su Nanxing raised his arms to wrap them around Tao Ming, rolled over, and pinned her beneath him. "Let me take the initiative this time."

"You tricked me!" Seeing him looking so spirited, where was the half-dead demeanor from just a moment ago?

Su Nanxing gently tapped Tao Ming's lips. "It really did hurt just now; your kiss saved me."

Tao Ming rolled her eyes and remained silent.

Su Nanxing stood up and walked toward the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower, I'm covered in sweat."

"I'll help you." Tao Ming followed him into the bathroom.

Once his clothes were removed, Tao Ming discovered that Su Nanxing's back was densely covered with numerous tiny wounds, as if something had tried to burrow its way out from within. She ran her fingertips gently across those wounds, and tears of heartache fell uncontrollably.

Su Nanxing turned around and kissed her forehead. "It's alright now. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Tao Ming forced a smile. "I'll help you wash."

She bathed Su Nanxing as gently as possible and specially found a soft set of clothes for him, but Su Nanxing refused to put them on. Tao Ming looked at him in confusion, only to hear him say, "Now it's my turn to help you wash."

Rolling her eyes, Tao Ming draped the clothes over his shoulders. "Behave yourself, you're still injured."

Peeking out to see that the two little ones were fast asleep, Su Nanxing closed the bathroom door, stripped Tao Ming bare in a flash, scooped her up into his arms, hooked her two legs around his waist, and stepped beneath the showerhead to turn on the valve.

Water poured straight over Tao Ming's head. She lowered her head and said helplessly, "I really give up on you. Where on earth do you get all this boundless energy?"

"Wife, I feel different from before. It seems there's some mysterious connection between us now."

Tao Ming pressed her forehead against Su Nanxing's chin to keep the water out of her eyes. "You drank my blood, so I'm your initiator!"

"I have one more question." Seeing that Tao Ming kept her head lowered, Su Nanxing reached out and turned off the shower.

"What question?"

Su Nanxing began to lightly peck at Tao Ming's shoulder. "How did you recognize my brother?"

Tao Ming wiped the water from her face and looked up. "People like us who have an eye on our foreheads also share a special resonance with one another. We would never mistake each other."

Having received his answer, Su Nanxing devoted himself entirely to Tao Ming.