My Arch-Nemesis is the R-Rated Male Lead - Chapter 39

Lu Rong couldn’t help sneezing. She sniffed, then sneezed again. Standing beside her, Qiu Ling laughed. “Someone’s secretly cursing you.”

Lu Rong immediately thought of Zhou Li.

She had sneaked out specifically to avoid him. Zhou Li was sharp—there was no way he wouldn’t have figured it out.

She felt a little guilty. After all, most of what had happened between her and Zhou Li had been initiated by her.

Now it felt a bit like pulling her pants back on and pretending nothing had happened. A real scumbag move.

She picked up her jade token and thought she ought to let Zhou Li know. But sending a message only to him felt strange.

So she sent messages to her father, Senior Brother Lin, and didn’t even leave Qiu Ling out. Only at the very end did she send Zhou Li a message saying she was going out for a trip, and that if anything came up, he could contact her via the jade token.

Her father replied quickly.

[Head of Xuan Yang Sect: Always fooling around. Be careful while you’re out. If anything happens, look for your father.]

[Lu Xiaorong: Got it. I’ll bring Daddy something tasty when I get back.]

Senior Brother Lin also replied shortly after, telling her to enjoy herself and that they could go together next time. Lu Rong replied briefly.

She stared at the “Zhou” character in Zhou Li’s name for a long while, but there was no response.

Just as she was about to put the jade token away, it lit up. She hurriedly opened it—only to see a message from Qiu Ling.

[A’Ling: You meant to send that to Venerable Jian, didn’t you?]

Seeing the message, Lu Rong looked at Qiu Ling, who was grinning shamelessly. “I absolutely did not!”

“Then why did you send it to me?” Qiu Ling raised her own jade token.

“I misclicked!” Lu Rong refused to admit it and immediately put the jade token away.

“Lu Xiaorong,” Qiu Ling said, as her longtime friend who knew her inside out, “this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this.”

“You’re really annoying.” Lu Rong stopped responding to her, feeling a little embarrassed.

Qiu Ling seemed to have picked up on something juicy and leaned closer. “I’ve noticed you’ve been kind of… You know… lately.”

She couldn’t quite describe it. Lu Rong looked at her in confusion. “Kind of what?”

“I can’t really explain it. It just feels like you’ve been acting coquettish.”

Lu Rong: “? Does kicking you a few times count as being coquettish?”

Qiu Ling sensibly ran off, but not before tossing out one last line. “I think your relationship with Venerable Jian is definitely not ordinary.”

Lu Rong couldn’t be bothered to respond. She just looked ahead, thinking that things really were different now.

She used to hate him the most.

Now, it seemed like she didn’t hate him quite as much anymore.

When she and Qiu Ling brought the twelve disciples to Nan’an City for their study tour, the first thing Lu Rong noticed was a lifelike statue of a goddess, strikingly eye-catching.

“A’Ling, what’s that?” Lu Rong asked curiously.

“The goddess statue of Nan’an City,” Qiu Ling explained. “It’s said to be the physical body left behind by an immortal who cultivated here and ascended. It protects the entire city, and whatever people pray for is said to be very effective.”

The group landed in a secluded area. As Qiu Ling led everyone toward an inn to settle in, she warned the children, “In Nan’an City, you’re not allowed to say anything blasphemous toward gods or Buddhist rites. You’re not allowed to pray for wishes, and you’re not allowed to kill living beings. Behave yourselves.”

She knocked a few of the children lightly on the head, then added to Lu Rong, “And no obscenity.”

Lu Rong: “…”

I’m not that kind of person.

She wondered whether Qiu Ling had been studying Zhou Li’s words and behavior lately—she was just as annoying as he was.

“Senior Sister Qiu, didn’t you just say the golden Buddha here is very effective for granting wishes?” a little boy asked curiously.

“Just rumors. In any case, no wishing allowed. Whoever disobeys will be thrown back overnight to face punishment.” Qiu Ling’s expression turned stern, and the children nodded hurriedly, trembling with fear.

Lu Rong reminded them again, “We cultivators must be cautious when dealing with gods and Buddhas. There are many hidden dangers. When you make a wish, your life itself may be the price paid for it to come true.”

Lu Rong’s words made everyone more clearly aware of the dangers, and they hurriedly assured her that they absolutely wouldn’t do anything reckless.

The two of them led the dozen or so disciples toward the inn. The Xuan Yang Sect had already made arrangements in advance for their food and lodging.

The group had to walk some distance. It was Lu Rong’s first time in Nan’an City, and she initially found everything fresh and novel. But after looking around for a while, she began to notice something strange.

“I’ve realized that the shop names here in Nan’an City are all very odd,” Lu Rong whispered. “Why are they all either connected to gods or tied to immortals? Look.”

She pointed at a fabric shop. “Why would a cloth store be called Fangshen Workshop?”

It felt unsettling. Didn’t Fang Shen imply binding or trapping a god?

“Probably just a local custom,” Qiu Ling said. It was her first time in Nan’an City as well. Before coming, she had only known that the area worshipped a goddess—she hadn’t expected it to be like this.

Lu Rong inexplicably thought of the strange stones she had seen in Luo City. This place must also harbor something abnormal.

But she was smart enough not to ask further.

When they reached the inn, she looked up at its name—Liu Xian Lou*.

(*TL’s note:留仙楼(Liú Xiān Lóu)—Lit. Meaning to keep the immortal tower)

She glanced at the names of the surrounding inns. They all carried a similar implication.

It seemed there really was something suspicious about this place.

“Rongrong, hurry up,” Qiu Ling called from ahead when she noticed Lu Rong lagging behind.

Lu Rong quickly followed. As soon as she stepped inside, she saw a goddess statue enshrined at the very center.

Even the walls were covered in goddess images, packed so densely it felt as though they might as well have been painted onto the floor. The atmosphere was devout, yet laced with an eerie sense of confinement.

The innkeeper had already instructed the waiter to lead them upstairs, his gaze flicking toward Lu Rong as she surveyed her surroundings.

“Rongrong, don’t fall behind,” Qiu Ling called out again.

Lu Rong turned her head and met a pair of unfamiliar eyes. She saw the amazement in them.

She had seen such looks many times before. After all, she truly was beautiful. Her father had once said that her mother was a great beauty who had captivated countless hearts, and that Lu Rong herself was even more striking.

But in this person’s gaze, beyond the amazement, there was also a chilling, unsettling greed.

Lu Rong instinctively stepped a few paces back, wondering what this person was trying to do.

She walked over to Qiu Ling’s side, tugged at her sleeve, and calmly led the children behind her up to the lodging floor.

The men and women were separated into two groups, three people to a room. Lu Rong and Qiu Ling each had their own room on the same floor.

Lu Rong lay sprawled on her bed, thinking about the eerily lifelike goddess statue she had seen earlier. She got up, walked to the window, and opened it, looking out at the goddess statue towering over Nan’an City like a high-rise building.

It truly looked like a living person—so realistic that she almost felt it might start moving at any moment.

That strange sensation made Lu Rong subconsciously shut the window and lie back down.

Just as she was about to send a message to Qiu Ling, she noticed a message she had missed.

[Zhou: Lu Rong, you’re scared.]

Lu Rong: “???” 

Was he even speaking human language? What did he mean by saying she was scared?

[Lu Xiaorong: What am I scared of? You?]

[Zhou: Mm.]

Those words provoked Lu Rong into sitting straight up. She immediately connected a virtual mirror call. “Mm, your head! You think I’d be afraid of you?”

Zhou Li’s expression on the other end was calm. He didn’t say a word—he was only staring at her lips.

His gaze made Lu Rong’s heart flutter. “Y-you—what are you looking at?”

“Lu Rong, you bite your lip when you’re nervous.”

Only then did Lu Rong realize she really was biting her lip. She quickly loosened her teeth. Her red lips were glossy and soft, looking as though they had been kissed.

“Nonsense. I didn’t.”

Watching her bristling expression, Zhou Li felt she was like a little kitten caught in his hand, fur standing on end.

Strangely cute.

“Mm, you didn’t.” There seemed to be a smile in his voice, a kind of helpless indulgence.

“You’re so annoying,” Lu Rong huffed. “Anyway, I’m not afraid of you.”

Zhou Li really did smile this time, like sunlight suddenly spilling through a gloomy sky, instantly brightening him. Lu Rong stared, momentarily stunned.

He… really was exactly her type.

She hadn’t noticed it before, but now that she looked closely, she could only think that he truly was a bewitching menace.

Images surfaced in her mind—of sweat rolling down from his Adam’s apple, of him breathing heavily by her ear, unable to restrain himself—and she began biting her lip again.

Her face heated up as she remembered Qiu Ling’s warning about not being obscene. She hurriedly shook her head and said, “Don’t contact me if there’s nothing important!”

With that, she cut off the jade token and lay stiffly back down. Thinking about the way he had smiled just now, she pressed her lips together. The more she thought about it, the more hateful that smile seemed.

He must have been laughing at her for being a coward.

Lu Rong picked up the jade token again, about to insist to Zhou Li that she wasn’t afraid of him—

only to see his message.

[Zhou: Lu Rong, if I were human, would you stop being afraid?]

Seeing that, Lu Rong thought, I’m afraid because you’re always thinking about killing me!

[Lu Xiaorong: No!]

[Zhou: So, the only thing you’re afraid of is me.]

Lu Rong was truly being driven crazy by him.

[Lu Xiaorong: Say that bullshit to my face if you’ve got the guts!]

[Zhou: Mm.]

Lu Rong stared at his last word, dumbfounded. “No—what does he mean by ‘mm’?”

Was he really going to come find her?

She hurriedly sent another message asking what he meant, but Zhou Li vanished completely, without any reply.

“He’s not really coming, is he?” Lu Rong grew anxious, thinking about how she had only just escaped from his serpentine jaws—and now she’d gone and summoned him again.

He was a demon who bewitched people’s hearts.

Demons truly were frighteningly skilled in their methods.

Inside the room, the little rabbit Xue’er watched Lu Rong pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pan and asked softly, “Rongrong, what’s wrong?”

“Zhou Li might be coming to find me.”

Or maybe he wanted to sleep with her.

“What would Venerable Jian want with you?” Xue’er asked curiously.

Probably to push boundaries with her late at night again—the last time had nearly set everything on fire.

“Probably gone mad.” Lu Rong felt tense, yet couldn’t help wondering when he would come.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Lu Rong was startled. No way—had Zhou Li really come this fast?

Why was he so impatient?!

What a lecherous snake!

Then she heard Qiu Ling’s voice from outside. “Rongrong? Are you asleep? I’m taking them out for a walk.”

Lu Rong’s tightly clenched heart finally relaxed. She patted her chest, walked over, and opened the door, only to see Qiu Ling holding her sword and looking at her. “Hm? Why is your face so red?”

Lu Rong wiped the sweat from her forehead. “It’s stuffy. Let’s go, let’s go.”

She pushed Qiu Ling by the shoulder as they went out, muttering to herself that Zhou Li had better be joking.

But Zhou Li never joked.

Every word he said, he meant to carry out.

Distracted, Lu Rong followed Qiu Ling as they led the dozen children to visit Nangong Li, the city lord of Nan’an City, silently praying that Zhou Li wouldn’t suddenly lose his mind.

At this moment, Zhou Li had indeed not yet set out. Instead, he was looking at Lu Fang kneeling before him.

This time, it was he who had summoned Lu Fang.

Lu Fang knelt on one knee in front of him. “What orders do you have, Your Majesty?”

“If a demon and a human engage in sexual relations, what would happen to the human?” Zhou Li asked.

Lu Fang stared at him in astonishment. “Your Majesty, do you intend to engage with a human woman?”

Zhou Li looked down at him, offering no reply, but his gaze alone answered the question.

A chill ran down Lu Fang’s spine. “Your Majesty, if a demon and a human engage in intercourse, the other party will most likely die. Especially cultivators—once demonic qi enters the body, it can cause qi deviation and madness.”

Zhou Li still did not speak. His brows merely knit together.

Fortunately… he had not harmed her yet.

“Is there a solution?” That was what Zhou Li truly cared about.

“Yes. As long as Jingqi* Pearl can be found and guided into the other person’s body, they will not be invaded by demonic qi.”

(*TL’s note: 净气(Jìng Qì)—Qi-Purifying)

Zhou Li’s expression, which had just barely softened, turned cold once more. “But Jingqi Pearl is a divine artifact. It has been missing for many years.”

He already knew Jingqi Pearl could be used, but the object had long since disappeared. That was why he had asked Lu Fang in the first place.

Unexpectedly, it still came back to this.

“Your Majesty, now that your demonic fire has reignited and you possess the power of purification, your blood can be used to refine a Jingqi Pearl, but it requires the Yin–Yang Spring as the catalyst.”

Zhou Li asked, “How?”

“Ahem… it means engaging in spiritual cultivation with the current master of the Yin–Yang Spring.”

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