"But it's not my fault..." Luo Xiu replied, swallowing hard. The woman in front of him was clearly not someone to mess with.
'I'm the victim here... So why do I feel like the villain? And I didn't even enjoy it, nor do I feel proud... At least she's beautiful. That dangerous aura adds to her charm... What the hell am I thinking?'
He wanted to punch his own brain for such random thoughts. The woman in front of him lowered the dagger.
"It is your fault... Why did you have to show up at the exact moment I was poisoned?" she asked, gritting her teeth.
"Poisoned?" Luo Xiu looked up, a bit confused by the situation.
"Yes, I was poisoned! And I needed someone with pure energy to detoxify me. Then, out of nowhere, you appeared! Don't you think that's suspicious?"
"Yeah, that is suspicious." Luo Xiu felt like someone was playing a game with him. 'Is this place even Earth?'
That doubt crossed his mind. After a few seconds, he gathered the courage to ask again:
"Where are we?"
"Is that what matters to you right now?" The woman, whose eyes didn't suggest she had many friends, grabbed his neck—without much force, but enough to scare.
Once again, Luo Xiu swallowed spit. Those pupils were terrifying.
"I won't tell anyone. Let's keep it our secret. And about today… since we're both victims, let's just pretend nothing happened between us."
"You think that's the issue here?"
"Then what is the issue?"
"Y-you... don't be ignorant!" The domineering woman grew angry, then embarrassed, and angry again.
Luo Xiu, seeing that, didn't know what to say. In the end, he stayed silent, thinking that was the best way to avoid making things worse.
After a while, her emotions stabilized. Her gaze became authoritative again.
"I'm not an irrational person. I hold some blame in this... But I can't let you go just like that. You now have my Yin Qi. But that's not the main issue… The point is that you also have my bloodline. And that, I cannot let slip away."
She spoke calmly. Her expression now was that of an empress, no longer a resentful woman. Luo Xiu understood one thing.
'If I mess up, I'm dead. She won't hesitate to kill me! Yin Qi? Bloodline? Is this... another world?'
That theory seemed likely.
"Before we reach an agreement... can you tell me what this place is?"
"World of the Seven Desolations."
Upon hearing that, he accepted that he had vanished from Earth overnight.
'Shit! What is happening? All I remember is that yesterday I was sleeping… then I dreamed... and now I woke up in another world. If I sleep again, will I return to Earth? I doubt it works like that.'
He sighed and focused on his current situation.
"What are my options? Do I even have any?"
"First: death. Or second... become my husband. In comparison, the second is even harder, because my man must be the strongest in the world. And that's not even my requirement... You'll soon understand the curse of my bloodline."
'Fuck! I'm unlucky as hell! A curse? Can I adapt to that...?'
Thinking about that, he looked at his panel.
[Skills]
[Body Restoration]
[Exp: 18,000/54,000]
[Increases body and bone endurance! Current Physical Strength = Nine Bulls.]
'I'm really strong! 4,500 in physical strength? That's nuts!... And the curse?'
While thinking, a heat surged from his heart, which started pounding like an earthquake.
Feeling that, he looked at the woman before him, who reached for her dagger.
"What's your decision? I can kill you now to prevent future disasters. If you choose to stay, be prepared: the curse of my clan is a living hell inside your body... and it worsens as you grow stronger. Shall I save you from that fate?"
Her voice was calm, but Luo Xiu felt the weight behind her words.
'FUCK! NOT EVEN THOSE TRANSMIGRATORS IN WEBNOVELS GOT INTO SOMETHING LIKE THIS! WHAT A NIGHTMARE!'
He felt cursed. And the only thing that calmed him down was a sweet sound in his ears.
[You have been cursed to live a life of being burned alive! But your Phoenix bloodline resists, and has begun adapting to this hell.]
[Skill Devouring obtained.]
After that message, his blood started boiling inside his body. It soon became as hot as boiling water. After a while, it gathered in his heart, formed a barrier around it, and then swirled into a cyclone.
As this happened, Luo Xiu's body kept burning. At some point, he felt his mind fading, and his Yang energy reaching its peak.
His little brother, exhausted from the earlier episode with the Empress, stood up again. Luo Xiu, barely holding onto rational thought, looked at the woman.
"I choose the second option." After saying that, he pulled the Empress close, kissed her, and then pulled back.
"I helped you before. This time it's your turn. Help me put out this fire." Luo Xiu was being consumed by desire.
Empress Fang Die, who had been waiting for his response, was very surprised by his reaction and soon embarrassed. But she recovered instantly and looked at Luo Xiu's body.
"I hadn't noticed before... but this body is completely abnormal! It just adapts to anything? That's interesting!"
Her interest in him grew. She took a step forward — and that single motion shattered the space around them. In less than a millisecond, she appeared behind Luo Xiu and struck the back of his neck.
Luo Xiu blacked out immediately.
"I'm not going to use my body to neutralize this, little boy. I'll let pure ice put out that fire." That was Fang Die's idea, as she held Luo Xiu's body and leapt upward.
Soon, a rocky wall appeared, shattering the void once more. She broke through the stone and exited the cave. After that, she floated in the air, looking down at a vast stretch of trees. From above, a green sea of vegetation extended in all directions.
Looking at that, Fang Die's eyes turned cold for a moment, but then returned to normal. She vanished right after, flying north like a crimson streak.