The man approaching had an unnaturally pale right hand, marked by a prominent scar from which blood was dripping as he moved.

At the same time, a faint, mysterious fragrance began to fill the air, casting a thin mist over the already hazy moonlight.

Bai Fanlu grew alert, holding his breath just in time to avoid inhaling the sudden scent.

He glanced at the boy lying under a nearby tree, who remained asleep, and even the sensitive-nosed Zizi seemed to be sleeping more soundly.

“Don’t worry, he’s just having a nice dream,” the man said with a low, sinister laugh. During the chase, Bai Fanlu couldn’t see him clearly, relying only on his presence. But now that the man had approached, Bai Fanlu could see his face in the moonlight.

The man matched his voice perfectly—despite his flamboyant silk robes, his features were twisted and sinister.

His pale, almost bluish skin gave him a sickly, chilling appearance.

Bai Fanlu inferred from the man’s words that Xiao Liu had likely fallen victim to some trick.

Ironically, it would have been more challenging if Xiao Liu had remained awake.

Bai Fanlu secretly directed his inner energy to lock down several critical meridian points, buying himself a brief moment to catch his breath. But just as he exhaled, he noticed something strange in the sound of his own breathing.

It had a faint, unusual softness to it.

Gritting his teeth, Bai Fanlu lowered his voice in anger, “Are you a demon? You’ll regret hurting me.”

Now that they were close, the man no longer hid his malevolent aura—it was clear he was indeed a demon.

Bai Fanlu warned him while trying to suppress the strange, numbing sensation spreading from his dantian. This sensation was beyond his control and caused great unease in the calm he had been trying to maintain.

He began to realize that he had likely been…

Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Bai Fanlu’s back. The breeze made the heat inside him recede momentarily, but it soon flared up again like a wildfire.

Damn it!

Bai Fanlu continued to regulate his breathing, quickly running through countless scenarios and strategies for defeating his opponent.

At this moment, the crisis seemed to have triggered his latent abilities, and the original owner’s knowledge and skills surfaced in his subconscious.

The man, unaware of Bai Fanlu’s change, casually walked up to him.

“Hurt you? How could I bear to do that? But you figured it out? So, are you telling me you’re a demon too?”

The man shook his head regretfully and sighed, “A beauty as otherworldly as you is rare even in the demon realm. Besides, we demons aren’t exactly known for our loyalty to our kind, are we?”

With that, the man squatted down and lifted Bai Fanlu’s chin with one hand, his fingers caressing the smooth, flawless skin.

Bai Fanlu looked into his eyes, which gleamed with perverse delight in the dark.

His heart sank as he turned his face away to avoid the disgusting touch, only to realize that the strange weakness inside him was making it hard for him to even lean against the tree.

He had already tried using a healing spell to dispel the poison, but this wasn’t an ordinary drug—it was likely some kind of demonic trick…

Moreover, he felt another strange, cold force seeping through his body, like something slowly crawling into his veins from the cracks in a rock, emitting a sinister hiss from some dark corner.

On one side, there was fire, burning unbearably, and on the other, there was ice, chilling to the bone.

“How do you feel, my beauty?” The man chuckled as he pulled Bai Fanlu into his arms.

He was clearly well-versed in the art of seduction, and under the influence of his dark magic, his seemingly tender movements triggered an inexplicable response in Bai Fanlu’s already hypersensitive body.

“Do you feel it…?” The man whispered in Bai Fanlu’s ear, his breath warm against his skin.

Bai Fanlu suppressed the soft moan that almost escaped his lips, feeling the strange energy in his lower abdomen surge even more wildly under the influence of the man’s scent.

“When… did you do this?” Bai Fanlu asked, trying to stay calm while buying time. He focused his spiritual energy on the bracelet on his wrist, knowing that it held a secret talisman that could deliver a lethal strike at the right moment.

The man’s fingers slowly slid from Bai Fanlu’s chin to his collar, “What do you think?”

The cool fingers traced gentle circles on Bai Fanlu’s pale neck as he gritted his teeth to endure.

Before tonight, he had never encountered this person. During the chase earlier, the man shouldn’t have had the time to make a move, and Bai Fanlu had been vigilant while meditating—except…

Bai Fanlu quickly realized that it must have happened during that brief moment of relaxation when he was with Xiao Liu.

As expected, the man whispered in his ear, “Ah, you and your little lover were so busy flirting that I couldn’t help but… tsk, tsk, tsk!”

“Your taste is terrible. That silly boy doesn’t know how to cherish beauty—how could he compare to me?”

Bai Fanlu’s eyes darkened as the bracelet on his wrist glowed with a cold light.

But the next moment, the man’s voice turned into a ghostly threat as he grabbed Bai Fanlu’s wrist, “Don’t try to resist. If I die, you’ll join me in hell for a wild time.”

Bai Fanlu suddenly remembered what he had learned from Xiao Liu earlier about the flower thief’s previous victims.

It was said that some of the women who resisted ended up being tortured to death by dark magic, their corpses horribly mutilated. Those who survived often committed suicide the next day out of shame.

If that were the case, how would he undo the spell if he simply killed the man?

Bai Fanlu’s thoughts raced as he considered his options, but then a cold shiver ran through him as the man’s hand slipped inside his still-warm clothing.

His nails dug into his palm as Bai Fanlu used the pain to maintain his composure, speaking in a casual tone, “Aren’t you even a little curious about who I am?”

Despite Bai Fanlu’s inability to move, his expression remained calm, which only deepened the man’s desire to conquer him. He didn’t rush, his hand wandering over Bai Fanlu’s waist.

The man’s other hand lifted Bai Fanlu’s wrist close to his lips, where he lightly licked it, his narrow eyes narrowing with interest as he watched Bai Fanlu’s reaction.

Bai Fanlu’s stomach churned, but he forced himself to maintain a cold, distant gaze.

“Curious? Of course, I’m curious.”

Despite his words, the man smiled nonchalantly, his hand moving to Bai Fanlu’s waist, “But usually, I ask for my lover’s name after we’ve had some fun. I’m just a little impatient with you.”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a swish, and Bai Fanlu’s belt was pulled loose, his robe falling open.

Under the soft glow of the moonlight, his skin, even more radiant than the moon, took on a faint blush. The man’s eyes widened as he reached out with trembling hands to touch him.

Bai Fanlu’s skin prickled with goosebumps, and he fought the urge to run the man through with his sword. He lowered his voice and said, “Come closer, and I’ll tell you.”

The man chuckled softly, his long, almond-shaped eyes narrowing with amusement, “If a beauty like you invites me, how could I refuse?”

He leaned in as Bai Fanlu whispered three words into his ear, slowly and deliberately.

In the quiet of the spring night, with the scent of flowers all around…

“…Me?” The man murmured uncertainly.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew, rustling the grass, startling the birds from the trees, their frantic cries shattering the silence of the night.

The bracelet on Bai Fanlu’s wrist spun rapidly, ready to strike the lecherous flower thief the moment he questioned him.

No matter what strange dark arts the man possessed, Bai Fanlu was prepared to bet everything on this one attack, hitting the target with deadly precision.

However, what Bai Fanlu didn’t know was that someone else had already acted, even earlier than him.

Just as the flower thief was about to press down on Bai Fanlu, his breath left him.

The fragrance in the air was still strong, but it was now tinged with the faint scent of blood.

The flower thief, it seemed, never figured out who had ambushed him. His eyes were wide open in disbelief, his face twisted in pain, his right hand raised as if still trying to resist.

But the silver blade that had suddenly pierced his left chest left him no chance. The blood-soaked tip of the knife protruded a few inches forward, mercilessly claiming his life.

The blade, sharp and unyielding, stole his soul in an instant.

Ding, ding! “Congratulations on completing the side quest ‘Evil Begets Evil.’ You have received 3 ‘Reader’s Imagination’ fragments. Hidden events ‘Spring Breeze, Speedy Horse’ and ‘Mirror Flower, Water Moon’ have been activated.”

Bai Fanlu’s mind was foggy, and when he heard the system’s mechanical announcement, he was too weary to make sense of the poetic references, only registering that the flower thief was dead.

When the flower thief finally collapsed, Bai Fanlu saw the person behind him.

The boy’s previously clean clothes were now covered in grass and dirt. His right hand, which held the blood-stained knife, and his left arm, which was bleeding, indicated he were injured, though it was unclear how or when he had woken up from his earlier unconscious state.

The flower thief had already collapsed to the ground, but Xiao Liu still clutched the knife tightly, with thick, dark blood dripping from its tip.

Bai Fanlu noticed that Xiao Liu’s body was trembling, his eyes locked onto the corpse at his feet, his expression filled with shock, fear, and confusion.

Bai Fanlu sighed quietly, pulling his robe back together as he forced his exhausted body to move. He slowly made his way to another tree a few steps away, leaning against it as he slid down to sit.

Closing his eyes, Bai Fanlu tried to use a calming technique to suppress the growing heat inside him, but it was to no avail. He had always struggled with insomnia, and now, more than ever, he couldn’t calm his mind.

He had been silently chanting a purification mantra, and his lips were already numb from being bitten so hard, leaving him only able to take shallow breaths.

Despite his resistance, the malevolent energy inside him continued to rampage, threatening to overwhelm his reason.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he felt his body being shaken vigorously. Struggling to open his eyes, his vision blurred, he finally made out Xiao Liu’s face.

“Wake up, Immortal Brother! Don’t sleep! You seem to have a fever, you…”

The heat radiating from Xiao Liu’s palm on Bai Fanlu’s shoulder only made the feverish energy in his body spread even more wildly. Bai Fanlu tried to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he couldn’t suppress a low moan.

Damn it… It’s happening…

Realizing the embarrassing reality of the situation, Bai Fanlu’s flushed cheeks turned even paler. He desperately tried to push Xiao Liu away, but his body went limp, causing him to collapse into the boy’s arms instead.