Beast in a Trap

The opportunity came sooner than he had anticipated.

One afternoon, Bai Qiangu was drawn away by a sudden demonic tide and had no choice but to personally head to the border of the demon sect to deal with it.

Before leaving, she repeatedly instructed Ye Xuan not to wander off, added three layers of barriers around the secret chamber, and only then departed with lingering unease.

Ye Xuan sat alone in the secret chamber, flipping idly through the books Qiangu had left for him.

At that moment, a maid tasked with serving tea entered.

She appeared utterly ordinary, with a cultivation level so low it only reached the Qi Refining stage. In a place like the Boundless Demon Sect, where the strong were as abundant as clouds, she was nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust.

But Ye Xuan noticed a detail.

As the maid set down the teapot, her finger brushed lightly against the underside of the tray.

The movement was extremely subtle. If it weren’t for the hypervigilance Ye Xuan had developed over years of torment at Bai Qiangu’s hands, he would never have caught it.

After the maid left, Ye Xuan flipped the tray over.

On the underside of the tray, carved in an incredibly fine script with spiritual energy, there was a line:

“I, Liu Yan, a disciple of the Celestial Sword Sect, have been sent undercover here under the order of the sect leader. If Young Master Ye wishes to escape, please spill tea on the tray as a signal.”

Ye Xuan’s fingers trembled slightly.

The Celestial Sword Sect.

It was the foremost of the ten righteous sects and a main force in the siege of the Boundless Demon Sect years ago.

They had planted a spy right under Bai Qiangu’s nose?

Ye Xuan took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm.

He couldn’t act rashly.

Bai Qiangu’s spiritual perception covered the entire demon sect; any unusual fluctuation in spiritual energy would not escape her notice.

This maid named Liu Yan had managed to remain hidden for so long, meaning she possessed some special technique for concealment. But if Ye Xuan recklessly made contact with her, it could expose both her identity and his own plans.

He had to be cautious.

Extremely cautious.

Ye Xuan flipped the tray back over, picked up the teacup, and slowly took a sip.

Then, he accidentally knocked over the cup, spilling tea onto the tray.

Later that night.

After Ye Xuan pretended to fall asleep, a slip of paper thinner than a cicada’s wing appeared beneath his pillow.

Written on it:

“The Celestial Sword Sect has assembled twelve Nascent Soul–stage experts, united with seven righteous factions, totaling thirty-six Tribulation Transcendence–stage elders, preparing to launch the final strike against the Boundless Demon Sect. However, Bai Qiangu’s strength is too formidable; a direct confrontation has less than a thirty percent chance of success.

The only way is to trap her within a sufficiently powerful sealing array. This array requires activation from the inside—someone must be by Bai Qiangu’s side, lower her guard, and guide her into the array’s core. Young Master Ye, are you willing to be that person?”

After reading the note, Ye Xuan crushed it into powder.

He lay in the darkness, staring at the ceiling, faint candlelight reflected in his eyes.

Willing?

The question didn’t even need contemplation.

He was willing to pay any price.

Including his life.

Over the next month, through the covert channel of Liu Yan, Ye Xuan established stable communication with the Celestial Sword Sect.

He learned the full scope of the plan:

The Celestial Sword Sect would launch their total assault on the night of the lunar eclipse one month hence.

At that time, the world’s spiritual energy would be in chaos—the perfect condition for deploying a massive sealing array. But the core of the array, the “Nine-Heaven Demon-Suppression Formation,” required activation from within. The nexus lay directly beneath the main hall of the Demon Sanctum.

That meant Ye Xuan had to find a way to keep Bai Qiangu inside the main hall of the Demon Sanctum for at least three days.

Within those three days, the experts of the Celestial Sword Sect would complete the sealing array from the outside.

Once the formation was complete, Bai Qiangu would be forever sealed within the Ten Thousand Demons Hall, her demonic power completely lost, and she would never again be able to wreak havoc upon the world.

Three days.

He needed a reason to make Bai Qiangu willingly stay in the Ten Thousand Demons Hall for three days, and voluntarily cut off all external interference.

Ye Xuan thought for a long time.

In the end, he came up with a reason that Bai Qiangu absolutely could not refuse.

Three days before the Eclipse Night.

Ye Xuan walked into the Ten Thousand Demons Hall of his own accord.

Bai Qiangu was sitting on the Bone Throne handling sect affairs. When she saw Ye Xuan walk in, her eyes instantly lit up.

"Husband? Why are you here?"

She practically leaped off the throne, covering three steps in two to reach Ye Xuan, her eyes brimming with surprise and anticipation.

Lately, Ye Xuan had been treating her better and better, and she had almost begun to believe that he was truly accepting her.

Ye Xuan took a deep breath.

Then, he did something that left Bai Qiangu frozen in place...

He knelt down on one knee and took out a ring from his chest.

It wasn’t any rare magical treasure, but a ring woven from grass.

Just like the one he had given her in the valley over twenty years ago.

"Qiangu."

Ye Xuan looked up into Bai Qiangu's eyes, a faint smile on his lips that was heartbreakingly tender.

"I’ve thought about it for a long time. These years, it’s been my fault. I’ve turned a blind eye to your heartfelt feelings for me."

"Starting today, I want to begin anew."

"These three days... I want to spend them alone with you. No one else can disturb us. Just the two of us."

Bai Qiangu’s lips trembled.

She looked down at the grass ring, and her eyes instantly turned red.

"You... what did you say?" Her voice was hoarse, as if she couldn’t believe her own ears.

Ye Xuan stood up, gently took her hand, and slipped the grass ring onto her ring finger.

"Qiangu, I want to give you a child."

These words struck like a thunderbolt, shattering all rationality in Bai Qiangu’s mind.

A child.

He wanted to give her a child.

A child belonging to the two of them.

Bai Qiangu’s tears finally burst forth.

She had lived for over eight hundred years, and never had she cried so fiercely.

Her tears fell like beads from a broken string, splashing onto the back of Ye Xuan’s hand, scorching hot.

"Do you mean it?" She grabbed Ye Xuan’s hand, her grip so tight it nearly crushed his bones. "You’re not lying to me?"

Ye Xuan endured the sharp pain in his hand, reached up with his other hand, and gently wiped the tears from her face.

"When have I ever lied to you? I only hope that these three days, no one will disturb us."

He smiled as he said it.

These words were the greatest lie he had ever told in his life.

Bai Qiangu’s tears turned to laughter; she laughed like a child.

She threw herself into Ye Xuan’s arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, burying her face in his chest, greedily breathing in his scent.

"Alright... alright... I agree..."

Her voice was muffled, carrying a strange melody of sobbing and laughter intertwined.

"Three days. Just the two of us. No one is allowed to disturb us. I’ll go set up the formation right now."

Bai Qiangu lifted her head from Ye Xuan’s embrace, her tear-streaked face blooming with a nearly delirious joy.

She let go of Ye Xuan and turned to walk to the center of the Ten Thousand Demons Hall.

Her crimson dress trailed behind her in a long, sweeping arc, like a flowing river of blood.

She raised her hands, her fingers dancing swiftly as pitch-black runes streamed from her fingertips like countless serpents, burrowing into the walls, floor, and ceiling of the Demon Sovereign Hall.

The entire hall began to tremble.

Dense arrays of sigils emerged on the ground, layer upon layer, interwoven into an immensely intricate web.

The black miasma on the walls condensed into solid matter, forming heavy barriers. From the dome above, nine chains of demonic energy descended, sealing the hall off completely from the outside world.

Bai Qiangu set down seventy-two forbidden seals in a single breath.

Seventy-two.

That number meant one thing: even a Transcending Tribulation cultivator would need at least half a year to break through just one of them from the outside.

With seventy-two stacked together, even if every righteous expert in the world gathered, they would not be able to breach this place quickly.

She was thorough.

Not only had she sealed the space, but she had also blocked all sound, qi, and spiritual perception.

For these three days, the Demon Sovereign Hall would be a world unto itself—cut off from everything. Those outside could not find them, and those inside could not leave.

"There."

Bai Qiangu clapped her hands together, then turned to face Ye Xuan, a childlike smugness coloring her face.

"Now, between heaven and earth, there are only the two of us."

She walked over, took his hand, and laced her fingers through his. Her fingers were cold, but her palm burned hot—a contradiction that made his heart lurch violently.

Not from sentiment.

From dread.

Because he understood clearly: the seals Bai Qiangu had set down also sealed his escape.

From this moment on, he and Bai Qiangu were two beasts trapped in the same cage.