My Arch-Nemesis is the R-Rated Male Lead - Chapter 8

Zhou Li’s single palm clamped down over her wrists, still bound by the hairband. The woman in his arms swayed her slender waist, and he wanted to reach out with his long tail to trap that narrow waist in a vicious grip.

But he didn’t. He merely let her writhe against him with reckless abandon.

Finally, she lay panting over his shoulder. Within a thick fog that obscured her true form, Zhou Li saw the hairband coiled around her wrists—a beautiful stroke of peach-pink.

His palm, almost on instinct, tightened with force, wanting to tear that hairband off.

“Zhou Li!” Lu Rong’s voice suddenly rang beside his ear.

Startled, he looked at the figure resting on his shoulder, but everything dissolved into mist. His eyes snapped open.

His gaze was dazed for a moment before he realized he had fallen into that kind of dream again.

Lu Rong’s voice came from outside: “Zhou Li! I came to thank you! If you won’t see me, I’m leaving.”

Zhou Li exhaled a heavy, stale breath. His back was soaked through with hot sweat. He drew in his long tail and replied coldly with two words:

“Not seeing.”

He did not want to see anyone right now.

Especially not the one who had drawn those lewd pictures of him.

He looked at his own palm, recalling that stroke of peach-pink that had appeared in the dream.

A new clue had emerged.

It seemed as long as Lu Rong broke through her cultivation realm, he would gain a new clue—likely an effect of their heart-bond.

She had drawn cultivation energy from him, so it made sense he could also obtain something in return.

Zhou Li rubbed his forehead helplessly. So it really was connected to her.

“Then I’ll leave the sweet cake under the tree. You must tell my father I came to thank you!” Lu Rong was happy to be done with it. Having said that and set the item down, she dashed off without a pause.

The peach-pink hairband in her dark hair fluttered in the wind, like two little butterflies dancing with joy.

Having completed the task assigned by her father, Lu Rong reported promptly, “Father, I went to thank Zhou Li, but he didn’t see me.”

Lu Wen could see Lu Rong’s impatience and didn’t want to dampen her spirits. “Go on, then. But don’t start conflicts with anyone. If you encounter danger, you must seek help from the sect.”

He was still somewhat uneasy. “I’ll give you a defensive artifact. It can protect your life if you’re in danger.” Lu Wen sent a magical treasure to Lu Rong through a jade token.

Lu Rong accepted it delightedly. “I’m only going out to play for a couple of days; it’ll be fine. Besides, Qiu Ling and Senior Brother Lin will both be there.”

Lu Wen thought to himself, That’s precisely why I’m worried.

Qiu Ling was the adventurous type, and any manner of trouble was possible. But since they were traveling as a group, Lu Wen didn’t feel it was his place to say much more.

“Go on, then,” Lu Wen said. Lu Rong, overjoyed, gathered her things and went to find Qiu Ling and the others.

The trio had arranged to meet at the main gate of the Xuan Yang Sect. The sect’s plaque, which had been smashed just the day before, now left the entrance looking starkly bare.

When Lu Rong arrived, Qiu Ling and Senior Brother Lin had already been waiting for a short while. They both raised their eyebrows as they saw her approach.

“Young Miss, you finally decided to grace us with your presence!”

Lu Rong ran over, her face beaming. “My dad is so long-winded! He lectured me forever.”

Qiu Ling casually threw an arm around her shoulders. “The Sect Leader’s always like that. I was starting to think you wouldn’t make it today.”

Senior Brother Lin echoed the sentiment, “A’Ling and I were just placing bets on whether you’d show up or not.”

Lu Rong lifted her chin proudly. “You should know better. When I say I’m coming, I come.”

Taking in her haughty display, Qiu Ling clicked his tongue. “And who was the one who got charred into a little black figure yesterday?”

“Don’t you dare talk about that!” She didn’t want such an embarrassing incident to become common knowledge.

“Hahaha, alright, alright. You’re a vision of beauty now,” he relented.

Still chatting, the three of them mounted their swords and flew off together.

Still without a sword of her own, Lu Rong had to ride with Qiu Ling. The wind rushed through her long hair, bringing with it an overwhelming sense of untamed freedom.

“Flying by sword is really so cool!” Lu Rong had never even dared to envy it before, never imagining she would soon have her own sword.

Qiu Ling said, “Hey, didn’t the Sect Leader say what kind of sword he’d give you?”

“No.” Her father hadn’t mentioned it at all. Perhaps he thought she, like Zhou Li, was capable of refining her own sword through her cultivation.

“Rongrong, I also heard the heavenly tribulation you faced during your breakthrough yesterday was something else,” Senior Brother Lin said, looking at her curiously.

“Huh? I don’t remember.” Lu Rong had absolutely no recollection of what happened with her realm yesterday. She scratched her head. “Wasn’t it just an ordinary bolt?”

“You really don’t remember?” Qiu Ling pressed.

Lu Rong shook her head. Her only impression from that time was a searing, burning sensation, as if it was about to incinerate her entire body. She was completely blank on everything else.

“What happened?” she asked.

Qiu Ling, still astonished whenever she thought of the scene, looked at Lu Rong with a suspicious glint in her eye. “First, tell me honestly—were you playing dumb to hide your strength?”

“I’ll gobble you up!” Lu Rong retorted, playfully pretending to bite her.

Qiu Ling dodged. “Then you must be a hidden genius. Last night, there were eighty-one bolts of purple lightning. Of course, eighty of them were blocked by Venerable Jian.”

Thinking of that scene still filled Qiu Ling with wonder. “Venerable Jian really is something else. A man who rips apart heavenly thunder with his bare hands—terrifyingly impressive.”

“Eighty-one bolts of purple lightning?” Lu Rong was astonished herself.

Wasn’t that the kind of reception only a genius like Zhou Li got?

“Right. Everyone was looking on with anticipation, waiting for the next genius of the Xuan Yang Sect to emerge. And then the final, weakest bolt hit you, directly turning you into a little charcoal figure.”

Lu Rong: “???” Wait, how come that part happened?

Ahhhh, this is so humiliating!

She wished she could just dig a hole and disappear.

Zhou Li blocked eighty bolts for her, putting on a spectacular show, only for her to completely botch it at the very end.

No wonder he turned her into a little charcoal figure.

She thought the role of a little charcoal figure actually suited her quite well.

No—she should be the clown.

Once again, Lu Rong felt life had lost all meaning. “Next time I break through a realm, I’m definitely going to be so cool.”

Their twin gazes of suspicion landed squarely upon her.

Lu Rong fell silent of her own accord. But why would someone as mediocre as her attract so many bolts of lightning?!

Could it be… retribution for her indecent drawings?

She instinctively glanced skyward, silently vowing, This faithful devotee will surely repent and reform. I will abstain from drawing smut for three days to prove my sincerity.

Sword-flight was fast. In just a short while, they reached the territory of Luo City.

Probably due to the Spring Banquet, the streets of Luo City were bustling with crowds. Peonies bloomed in a dazzling competition of color and beauty. While the spring scenery here couldn’t compare to the Xuan Yang Sect, it held its own unique charm.

The claim that the mortal city of Luo City was “prolific in producing handsome men”—who knew who had come up with that promotional gimmick?

Though somewhat exaggerated, the Spring Banquet still drew many visitors to Luo City every year.

Some would even journey a thousand miles to come, spending a fortune, thousands, even tens of thousands in gold, just for a single glimpse of the man who won the Spring Banquet’s top honor.

Lu Rong’s goal was clear: to eat and drink to her heart’s content, and as a side mission, to see for herself just how good-looking Luo City’s famed beauties were. She would collect reference material on different handsome men to draw beautiful and ‘flavorful’ fan art, ‘meals’, for her customers.

The three of them first looked for an inn, planning to settle in and have lunch before setting out to explore.

But because of the Spring Banquet, Luo City was flooded with outsiders, and for the moment, every inn was packed to the rafters.

After considerable difficulty, the three of them finally found an inn, though the room rates were rather high.

Sword cultivators had another well-known characteristic: they were perpetually poor.

As they had no livelihood besides honing their sword skills, most of their silver was spent on their swords and on spirit pills.

Lu Rong, Qiu Ling, and Senior Brother Lin simply couldn’t afford it.

“How can you not afford it when you don’t even have a sword?” Qiu Ling asked, baffled.

“Because I’ve pinched every penny until they’re all gone,” Lu Rong confessed, also a bit of a pauper.

Qiu Ling and Senior Brother Lin: “……” She seemed oddly proud of that fact.

“Then let’s eat first. I can afford a meal,” Lu Rong said, pulling the two of them to a table by the window. She asked the waiter for their best dishes and ordered a few.

While they waited for the food, the people at the next table were discussing something in hushed tones.

Being cultivators, the three were naturally more sensitive to such sounds. They clearly overheard the trio’s deliberately lowered conversation.

“It’s really getting more and more bizarre.”

“It’s been strange for years now, but no one dares to speak of it.”

“Who dares to speak up? The City Lord is just counting on the Spring Banquet to make his illicit fortune.”

Qiu Ling was intensely interested in such matters. Driven by curiosity, she walked over and, with the ease of an old friend, joined them at their table.

“I’ve noticed something odd lately, too. You’ve all seen it, haven’t you?” Qiu Ling deliberately used ambiguous phrasing to probe for details.

“I saw it! On East Street, there was a man in red clothes humming a tune. It scared me half to death,” one said, his face clearly gripped by fear.

“That’s right, lots of people say they’ve seen it on East Street at night,” the other two echoed.

One of them told Qiu Ling, “Lately, some men have been dressing very strangely. Even though Luo City is known for handsome men, these men are excessively… flamboyant, almost like women. And their voices are sharp and thin, like the shrieks of ghosts.”

“Probably possessed,” Qiu Ling concluded with a slap on her thigh. “You’d better be careful. It’s truly frightening.” As she spoke, she even managed to obtain a cup of wine before finally returning to her own table.

Instinctively, Qiu Ling looked toward Senior Brother Lin, then toward Lu Rong, who was single-mindedly devoted to her meal.

Lu Rong was busy eating a braised pork meatball. Under Qiu Ling’s gaze, she stuffed an entire ‘lion’s head’ into her mouth, puffing out her cheeks.

Chew, chew, chew. So tasty.

Qiu Ling rubbed her forehead in resignation. “No one’s fighting you for it.”

“Oh.” Undeterred, Lu Rong shoveled in sweet and sour pork ribs, spicy stir-fried beef, and glutinous rice balls.

She hadn’t eaten such delicious food in ages.

Xue’er, being a little rabbit spirit, loved cooking vegetarian dishes and had a fondness for carrots. As a result, Lu Rong often felt there wasn’t much difference between herself and a rabbit.

Watching Lu Rong eat with such delight, Senior Brother Lin shook his head with a smile and said to Qiu Ling, “Seems there’s a situation.” 

A situation meant demons or ghosts were involved.

These days, the demon and ghost races were acting more brazenly by the day.

“Let’s go check out East Street after we finish,” Qiu Ling said to the other two. Lu Rong didn’t object.

She was deeply engrossed in her second bowl of rice when she felt a distinct gaze on her. Puzzled, she looked up, but didn’t spot anyone unusual.

“A’Ling, why do I feel like someone’s watching me?” Lu Rong said to Qiu Ling.

Qiu Ling glanced around but also saw no one suspicious. She turned back and urged Lu Rong to eat faster.

Once the three had finished, they didn’t linger and made straight for East Street.

After Lu Rong left the restaurant, from an unnoticed corner, a wisp of black energy shot out, landed, and coalesced into a human form.

The figure took a deep breath of the crisp air, eyes burning with fervent heat. “It’s a familiar scent.”

Lu Rong still felt a chill creeping down her back. As she walked, she cast very few appraising glances at the handsome men on the street.

Primarily, it was because she realized none of these men were as good-looking as Zhou Li. Her expectations had simply been set too high.

“Didn’t you say the Spring Banquet was full of handsome men?” Lu Rong asked Qiu Ling.

“You look at Venerable Jian’s face every day. That’s a celestial-grade specimen. Compared to that, anyone good-looking now is just an ordinary man,” Qiu Ling said, patting her head.

“His face is fine, but his personality is awful,” Lu Rong pouted. “Today I went to thank him, and he wouldn’t even see me. He’s so cold.”

Qiu Ling stroked her chin. “He’s probably like that with everyone.”

Lu Rong had zero desire to continue discussing Zhou Li. Her eyes landed on a vendor selling fragrant sachets, and she was just about to head over for a look.

But first, she heard a familiar voice call out.

“Fairy Maiden*!”

(TL’s note: he actually called LR, Miss Tian 天姑娘 (tiān gūniang)—Lit. Meaning is heaven/sky/celestial girl. But It can also translate to fairy maiden)

Lu Rong nearly collided with Qiu Ling. She turned and saw Mo Chou, startling her into taking a step back. She clutched Qiu Ling’s arm. “Y-you, what do you want? Looking for a rematch?”

She didn’t have Zhou Li’s sword with her now.

“No,” Mo Chou said, her face flushing as she looked at Lu Rong. “I just never imagined we’d meet here. Fairy Maiden, could this be… fate bringing us together across a thousand miles?”

Lu Rong: “…. A toxic fate?”

Mo Chou: “……”

Qiu Ling let out a chuckle. “That, uh… fellow sword practitioner, her surname isn’t Tian*.”

Mo Chou looked at Qiu Ling with an inquisitive gaze. “Might I dare to ask the young lady’s name?”

“Don’t ask.” With that, Lu Rong pulled Qiu Ling away, muttering under her breath, “He’s not acting out some ‘martial contest for marriage’ story, is he? Swearing to marry whoever defeats him?”

Qiu Ling was dying of laughter. “Maybe!”

“Then he should marry Bing Lie, since it was the sword that beat him.”

Mentioning Bing Lie sparked Qiu Ling’s curiosity. “What’s Venerable Jian’s sword spirit like?”

Lu Rong hadn’t seen it either. “How would I know? He barely unsheathes that sword once a year.”

Those fifty times she had swung it were probably the most arduous period in Bing Lie’s existence.

The thought alone made Lu Rong want to grit her teeth again.

She had swung it with great difficulty too!

It was true Lu Rong had never seen Zhou Li’s sword spirit. What she had fantasized about, however, was some sword-hilt play with Zhou Li, hehe.

Because Bing Lie’s hilt was long, its surface etched with raised patterns, and it looked so cool and icy. The very first time she saw it, she thought its… practical applications seemed exceptionally promising.

The more her thoughts wandered, the more restricted the imagery in her mind became. She quickly pressed her hands to her head. She’d just vowed to abstain from smut for three days!

Lu Rong glanced at the surrounding shops and spotted a restaurant’s sign. Seizing the opportunity, she asked, “So, do you have any inexpensive rooms here?”

Perhaps her change of subject was too abrupt. The other person hesitated for a moment before smiling and saying, “Of course. Please, follow me.”

Neither Lu Rong nor Qiu Ling had expected things to go so smoothly.

“We can’t afford very expensive rooms,” Lu Rong reminded them once more.

“No matter. We happen to have a few rooms reserved for distinguished guests.” With that, the person led them inside the restaurant.

Lu Rong inexplicably sensed a familiar aura but saw no one.

“What is it?” Qiu Ling asked, turning to look at her.

“I think I smell Zhou Li’s scent.” Lu Rong sniffed the air. An aura, cold and pure as a snow-capped mountain, seemed to wrap around her.

As she finished speaking, she tilted her head back to look up. The peach-pink ribbon slipped down through her dark hair.

A sharp, concealed gaze fixed itself upon her.

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