The single word—"Ah Si"—hung in the air like a cold mist, vibrating with a frequency that made the crystal chandeliers above hum an ominous, low-pitched tune.
Nan Si stood frozen, her jade eyes wide, the rich taste of the chocolate lava cake suddenly turning to ash in her mouth.
The man approaching her didn't look like he belonged in a twenty-first-century banquet hall; he looked like a deity who had stepped out of a blood-soaked ancient myth.
His violet eyes, identical in shade to the hidden markings on Nan Si's own spirit form, were fixed on her with such intensity that the space around them seemed to warp and thin.
[Host! Host!] Baby's voice shrieked in her mind, his holographic form flashing a bright, warning red.
[Stay alert! That's Nan Hu! He's a peak-level Demon Lord! In the original plot, his grief turned him into a world-ending disaster. His power level is off the charts!]
Nan Si's heart leaped. She remembered the inherited memories of the original owner—the way this elder brother had carried her on his back through the Spirit Forests, his laughter like bells, his protection absolute. But now, that laughter was gone.
His gaze scanned the room with a cold, murderous indifference, looking at the humans around him as if they were mere ants to be crushed.
But then, his eyes locked onto Nan Si. The glacier in his eyes didn't just melt—it shattered.
A look of raw, aching affection flooded his face, so painful and deep it made Nan Si's breath hitch.
"Ah Si... my little sister," Nan Hu whispered, his voice cracking with a thousand years of searching.
He ignored the gasps of the socialites and the confused murmurs of the elite. To him, these humans were nothing but flickering candles in a storm.
He began to walk toward her, his every step radiating a silent, terrifying power.
The air grew heavy, the atmospheric pressure rising so sharply that several guests nearby felt their knees buckle.
Before he could bridge the final few steps, a tall, imposing shadow loomed.
Feng Yuan's presence was like a wall of midnight. His eyes were no longer just "dark"; they were abyssal, swirling with a "blackened" possessiveness that rivaled the demon's aura.
[ Beep.....beep...!!!
Darkening value:- 75%...78%.....80%]
He didn't know who this violet-eyed stranger was, but every instinct in his paranoid, possessive soul screamed that this man had come to steal his light.
"I don't know who you are," Feng Yuan spoke, his voice a low, guttural vibration that signaled a predator on the brink of an attack.
He stepped directly in front of Nan Si, shielding her from view with his broad shoulders. "But you're looking at my woman with eyes that make me want to gouge them out."
Nan Hu stopped. The melting affection in his eyes instantly froze over, replaced by a lethal, aristocratic disdain.
He looked at Feng Yuan—a mere mortal—with the same expression one might give a particularly annoying insect.
"Your woman?" Nan Hu's voice was like ice grinding against silk.
"You filthy, short-lived creature. You dare to claim a Princess of the Nine-Tailed Clan? You dare to touch her with your mortal hands? I can smell her soul on you, human. It's a stench I will scrub from existence."
The spiritual pressure in the room skyrocketed.
Nearby guests felt their chests tighten; some fainted outright, while others scrambled toward the exits as the air grew heavy, cold, and electric.
"Ah Yuan! No!" Nan Si snapped out of her daze. She dropped her plate—the chocolate cake splattering unceremoniously on the marble floor—and lunged forward.
She didn't go to her brother; she threw herself into Feng Yuan's arms, wrapping her slender limbs around his waist. "Don't be angry! Ah Yuan, please!"
Feng Yuan stiffened, his hand instinctively coming up to protectively cradle the back of her head, even as his gaze remained locked on Nan Hu.
The feeling of her small, warm body clinging to him acted like a tether, keeping his blackening value from spiraling into total madness.
Nan Hu's face contorted with shock and visceral rage. "Ah Si; What are you doing? Get away from that... that monkey! Come to Brother! I have searched all over human and demon world for you!"
Nan Si turned her head slightly, peering out from the safety of Feng Yuan's chest.
Her jade eyes shimmered with unshed tears, looking like a delicate peach blossom caught in a storm.
"Big Brother ... But you can't hurt Ah Yuan! He was the one who saved me from taoists otherwise I would have been killed and I... I already love my Ah Yuan!"
"LOVE?" Nan Hu first felt heartache but as he listened to last sentence he looked like he was about to cough up blood.
"Ah Si, your soul foundation must be more damaged than I thought! You've been brainwashed by this mortal's scent! He's a beast in human skin, I can see his darkness!"
"He's not a monkey! He's my husband!" Nan Si huffed, the lie slipping out with practiced ease to protect her 'Jue Jue.'
The word Husband hit the room like a physical explosion.
Feng Yuan's darkness value flickered down to 70% for a split second, a look of stunned, doting triumph crossing his face.
His grip on her waist tightened, a silent claim of ownership. She called me her husband.
Nan Hu, however, felt his sanity snapping. "Husband?"
His aura flared, the champagne glasses on the nearby tables shattering simultaneously in a rain of crystal.
"Fine. If he is your husband, then he won't mind if I test the strength of his soul. If he dies, it simply means he was too weak to deserve you!"
Nan Hu raised a hand, a swirl of violet demon-fire crackling at his fingertips, the temperature in the room plummeting to sub-zero.
"Stop!" Nan Si screamed. She saw the madness in her brother's eyes and the cold, suicidal defiance in Feng Yuan's.
She did the only thing a mischievous fox could think of. She let out a soft, pained whimper and slumped against Feng Yuan's chest, her breathing becoming shallow.
"Ouch... my waist... it hurts so much... the pressure is too much..."
The effect was instantaneous.
Feng Yuan's focus shifted entirely to the girl in his arms.
The "Ice King" vanished, replaced by a man consumed by frantic worry. "Sisi? Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Speak to me!"
Nan Hu also froze, his demon-fire flickering out. "Sisi? Is your foundation collapsing? I'll heal you! I'll—"
"No!" Nan Si pouted, looking at Nan Hu with a "betrayed" expression, her eyes glistening with tears that made her look even more beautiful and fragile.
"You're making the air too heavy! You're hurting me, Brother! If you keep being mean to Ah Yuan, I'll never speak to you again! I'll run away to a place even you can't find! "
The Great Demon Lord Nan Hu, a man who could destroy cities with a wave of his hand, looked like a kicked puppy.
He stood there in his flamboyant violet suit, his hands trembling.
"I... I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered, his voice thick with regret. "I only wanted to protect you from... him."
Feng Yuan, sensing the shift but not relaxing his guard, pulled Nan Si closer, burying his face in her neck to inhale her calming scent. He looked at Nan Hu with a lingering threat.
"Secretary Liu."
The Secretary ,who had been hiding behind a massive flower arrangement, scurried forward, his face pale as a ghost. "Y-yes, Sir?"
"The banquet is over. Clear the hall. Send my apologies to Mo Jinnian's grandfather," Feng Yuan ordered, his voice cold. He then looked at Nan Hu, his gaze lethal.
"And as for you... since you're Sisi's 'relative,' you can stay at the villa. I won't have my wife crying over a lost brother.
But if you step within ten feet of her bedroom, I'll find a way to kill a god. Do I make myself clear?"
Nan Hu sneered, his pride returning, though his eyes remained soft when they glanced at Nan Si.
"Mortal, you can try. I'm moving in. I need to make sure you don't 'accidentally' break her again."
Baby said as he got the request from the trembling heavenly way who was hiding and looked at pitiful people who had their eyes widened from shock and were trembling.
[Well Host.....ask your brother to clear the memories of them.]
'Yes..yes!!!'
Nan Si replied as she trotted to her brother who was looking at them, fuming with anger and cautionally pulled his hand which were clenched in fist.
"Brother....can you please restore the hall and change their memory."
Looking at his little sister whose eyes were starting to tear up and looked pitiful with her nose red.
Nan Hu felt a slight pang if tenderness as he looked around the hall and waved his hand with disdain.
While closing his eyes to use his mental power to create an illusion for them of Feng Yuan getting loose motion and then going back.
"I am done, little Sis." Nan Hu said as he opened his eyes and looked at her with warmth.
Nan Si looked around the hall saw everyone eyes closed and the hall fully restored.
"Okay....then let's go home!!" Nan Si said as she happily pulled Nan Hu with her towards Feng Yuan.
Feng Yuan looked at them but said nothing and also held Nan Si remaining hand as he let her pulled him towards exit.
The ride back to the Feng Villa was the most silent, high-tension car ride in history.
Feng Yuan sat on the left, holding Nan Si's hand with a grip that was almost bruising.
Nan Hu sat on the right, his violet eyes glowing in the dark as he stared at their joined hands as if he wanted to incinerate them.
Inside her mind, Nan Si let out a long, weary sigh. [Baby... I think I just moved a tiger into the lion's den.]
[Host,] Baby deadpanned, ignoring the cooking show on his screen for a moment.
[You didn't just move a tiger in. You moved in a nuclear-powered jealousy machine.
According to the drama 'The CEO and the Demon In-Law,' your life is about to become a twenty-four-hour battlefield. Look at the darkness value!]
Nan Si looked. [Darkness Value: 75%]
It was stable, but high. Feng Yuan was in a state of constant, high-alert paranoia.
He didn't trust Nan Hu, and he definitely didn't trust the fact that Nan Si had a "past" that he couldn't control.
When they arrived at the villa, the atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Butler Lin had already prepared the guest suite—which happened to be at the complete opposite end of the mansion from the master bedroom.
"Sisi, go upstairs and rest," Feng Yuan said, his voice softening only for her.
"I need to have a... 'chat' with your brother."
"No!" Nan Si grabbed his arm. "If I leave you two alone, the house will be gone by morning!"
Nan Hu crossed his arms, leaning against the marble foyer wall.
"She's right, mortal. My patience is thin. If you don't give her back to the Clan, I might just decide that this villa looks better as a pile of rubble."
"You can try," Feng Yuan countered, his voice flat.
"But remember, if the house falls, Sisi has nowhere to sleep. Is that the kind of 'protection' you offer?"
Nan Hu choked. He hated that the mortal was right.
"Ah Yuan, Brother Hu, please," Nan Si intervened, rubbing her temples.
"I'm tired. My waist really does ache. Can we just... go to sleep?"
At the mention of her waist, both men's expressions changed.
Feng Yuan's eyes darkened with a mix of guilt and lingering hunger, while Nan Hu's eyes narrowed with a sudden, sharp realization.
"Your waist?" Nan Hu's voice dropped to a dangerous octave.
He looked at Feng Yuan, then at the faint, fading marks on Nan Si's shoulder that her spiritual power hadn't perfectly erased.
"You... you dared? You dared to defile her before she even regained her foundation?!"
The foyer exploded with violet light.
"Brother, no!" Nan Si screamed, throwing herself in front of Feng Yuan just as a blast of energy was about to hit.
The energy dissipated inches from her face, the backwash blowing her silver hair back. Nan Hu looked horrified that he had almost hit her.
"Ah Si, Move!"
"No! If you hit him, you hit me!" Nan Si stood her ground, her little face filled with stubbornness.
Feng Yuan's heart gave a traitorous thud of doting indulgence. He stepped forward, not away, and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back against his chest.
He looked over her head at Nan Hu, a smirk of pure, dark triumph on his lips as he looked at him with eyes that seemed to say,
"She chose me,brother. Get used to it."
Nan Hu let out a roar of frustration that shook the very foundations of the villa.
"I'm staying! I'm staying right outside that door! You won't touch her again tonight!"
"We'll see about that," Feng Yuan whispered into Nan Si's ear, his breath hot and possessive.
Upstairs, the master suite was once again a sanctuary, though the air felt charged.
Feng Yuan locked the door—a useless gesture against a demon, but a symbolic one for himself.
He sat Nan Si down on the edge of the bed and knelt before her, just as he had that morning.
But this time, his eyes weren't just guilty; they were searching.
"Sisi," he whispered, taking her hands. "Tell me the truth. If he asks you to go back... if he promises you the Demon Realm... will you leave me?"
Nan Si looked at him. She saw her Ah Yuan trembling with the fear of abandonment.
She reached out and cupped his face, her jade eyes shimmering.
"Ah Yuan, I came to this world for you. Only for you. I don't care about the Demon Realm. I don't care about being a princess. I just want to be your Sisi."
[Beep!
Affection Value: 99.9%!
Darkness Value: 68%]
Feng Yuan let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for centuries. He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers.
"I'm going to be a very bad man, Sisi. I'm going to be jealous. I'm going to hate every second you spend with him. Can you handle that?"
Nan Si giggled, her mischievous nature returning. "Then you just have to be extra sweet to me so I don't want to spend time with him! "
Feng Yuan laughed, a rare, genuine sound. He pulled her onto his lap, his hands already finding their way to her waist. "I think I can manage that."
Outside the door, a violet-eyed shadow stood guard, fuming in silence.
While inside, the tycoon and his fox began to plot a future that not even the heavens could tear apart.