The male supporting character was actually myself.

In the long river of time, you have lived a very lonely life.

Your relentless pursuit of Lingquan, despite being repeatedly hurt by him, still leads you to choose to be like a moth drawn to a flame. It's not love, but simply a desire for a warm companion.

Seeing a fleeting look of confusion in his eyes, Chen Sheng pressed on, "Love means being willing to die for the other person, even if it means being shattered to pieces. Are you willing to give up your immortal soul for Lingquan Daoist and die for the peace and stability he seeks for all living beings in the world?"

"Of course... I don't want to!" Zhang Xiyue was a little confused and subconsciously retorted.

She simply felt that she, with her immortal soul, was a superior being, and that ordinary mortals were not even worthy of carrying her shoes.

Only the Daoist Lingquan—that guy with an immortal body—was the one who was kindred spirits to me, a match made in heaven.

They deserve to live with each other in this bustling world, to be a pair of lovers who will never be separated.

That's all. Why would I be willing to give up my immortal soul for him?

Jiang Chen made the final statement, "See, you don't love him at all! But I truly love you. Everything I've done is for your own good! I'm the man who deserves your love."

Zhang Xiyue: @-@

Love me, can't bear to part with me, that's why you don't want me to become stronger and leave?

Thinking back to her newly conceived plan—to use Xiao Jiangchen's military power to capture Lingquan Daoren, then keep him by her side and slowly control him with drugs—this method seemed...

Is he no different from Xiao Jiangchen?

But I could never die for the Spirit Spring, so it wasn't true love for me;

Xiao Jiangchen had already planned his affairs after death, and even risked danger to help me obtain the immortal body from the spiritual spring. In other words, he was willing to sacrifice himself for me.

So Xiao Jiangchen truly loves me?

"But...but I..." Completely bewildered by the logic, Zhang Xiyue blushed, looked down at her childlike body, touched her small face, and lowered her voice with great insecurity, "Looking like this..."

"I love your soul!" From his eyes to his micro-expressions to his tone, Jiang Chen was so sincere that he almost believed it himself. "A beautiful appearance is a dime a dozen, but an interesting soul is one in a million."

I am not one of those superficial people whose values ​​are dictated by physical appearance.

If I hadn't realized that my love for you was like a surging river, impossible to escape, how could I have divorced those other women? They were merely playthings to pass the time when I was bored; only you…”

He gently lifted Zhang Xiyue's chin with his fingers, saying, "You are the one who deserves to be my soulmate."

Her breathing was trembling, and her heart was pounding wildly.

"General, what are you going to do? Will it be dangerous?" Staring intently at the affectionate face before her, Zhang Xiyue blushed inexplicably. She avoided his intense gaze and tried to change the subject.

Jiang Chen naturally goes all the way when she acts.

He slammed his fist on the table in anger and said coldly, "Of course we should wipe out all the bandits who bullied you. If it weren't for their burning, killing and looting, you wouldn't have been forced to become homeless."

A surge of warmth welled up in Zhang Xiyue's heart, but then she felt something was off, something was not quite right.

"Alright, I won't disturb your meal and rest any longer. The preparations for suppressing the bandits are a bit complicated, so I have to get back to work."

Jiang Chen didn't expect to fool the radiant female lead with just a few words. Anyway, if he didn't let her eat and evolve, he would have plenty of opportunities to CPU her. So he got up and prepared to leave. "I'll probably be gone for ten days to half a month. I'll have to trouble you during this time without food supplies. Save your energy and wait for me to come back."

Half a month?

Suddenly doused with a bucket of cold water from reality, Zhang Xiyue glanced at the meager amount of flesh and blood on the plate on the table and the few rats in the cage, and immediately panicked, "General, you're away suppressing bandits and not at home... You can send a servant to bring some food, this is all I have to eat!"

"No!" He stopped abruptly and turned around, his expression becoming extremely stern, his eyes seeming capable of freezing a person to death.

After staring at her face for a few seconds, his icy eyes finally began to soften.

A sickly smile appeared on his face. Jiang Chen touched her tender face and said softly in a coaxing tone, "You have no ability to protect yourself now. Those servants who don't know anything treat you like a freak. I'm afraid they will take the opportunity to hurt you."

Darling, I must ensure your absolute safety.

So, be a good girl and stay here, and I'll bring you something delicious when I get back.

Zhang Xiyue swallowed hard and said timidly in a low voice, "There's only so little food. I'll go hungry."

"But if I give you too much food, you'll leave me!"

His expression shifted rapidly, and he asked warily, "Are you lying to me? Do you want me to give you enough food so you can get enough energy and leave me uncontrollably? You still want to leave, don't you?"

The other person's hands gripped her shoulders tightly, as if they wanted to crush her bones; she was in so much pain she almost cried.

"No, no!" Zhang Xiyue shook her head and hurriedly explained, "I didn't want to leave, I won't leave, don't get so agitated."

Jiang Chen looked at her for a few seconds, probably thinking she wasn't lying, before letting go of her hand and smiling contentedly, "I love you so much that I'm worried you'll leave, so darling, don't leave me."

That's great if you don't want to leave!

"Wait for my triumphant return! I'll bring you lots of delicious food and fun things; I'm sure you'll love them."

The door slammed shut, and Zhang Xiyue, her mind still reeling, took a few deep breaths before she could finally calm down.

I had only heard that this powerful warlord was young and impetuous, but I had never heard anyone say that he had such a strong possessive desire.

She's been confused ever since she's never been sure of her gender, nor has she ever truly been in a relationship or expressed love. Is this what people call love? What is love in this world that makes people willing to die for it?

That's... a bit too terrifying, isn't it?

"Thank goodness they really left. There's not a soul in the courtyard, which means no one's watching over them." After waiting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Zhang Xiyue peeked out through the crack in the door.

The main courtyard was deserted; not even a bird could be seen in sight. Judging from the dull sound of the gate closing earlier, Xiao Jiangchen must have left the courtyard and gone outside.

"Hmph, is that all?" She glanced at the unlocked door and decided to eat and drink her fill before wandering out to find a chance to have some fun.

Anyway, with Xiao Jiangchen's name on my side, who in the manor would dare to provoke me?

If you dare to bully me, just wait until the commander comes back and I cry and complain, and I'll get to eat hot meat!

"I hate eating mutton the most!" Zhang Xiyue walked to the table, looked at the fresh meat and grimaced with some disgust.

For monsters, the simplest and quickest way to restore and enhance their strength is to devour.

However, the energy content of meat varies among different species. The smaller the size, the weaker the strength, and the lower the position in the food chain, the less energy is contained.

Humans are the most nourishing!

Unfortunately, Xiao Jiangchen was clearly controlling his food intake. These few rats and a small piece of mutton were barely enough to keep him from eating or feeling hungry for half a month.

Want to grow even a tiny bit by restoring the soul and repairing the body? No way!

"Just you wait and see. You don't want me to become stronger, so you'll keep me weak and helpless?" She picked up the plate, drank the mutton in one gulp, and started tearing into it, muttering, "This act is very deceptive to those who don't know the truth."

"If I just pretend to be a two- or three-year-old to gain the trust of the soft-hearted maid, getting my hands on meat won't be difficult at all!"

The remaining Horcrux relayed all of her words and actions to Jiang Chen from a first-person perspective. He smirked and thought to himself, "Trying to escape after falling into my hands? You'd better stay put!"

Let alone a living person, in order to avoid the female lead's halo suddenly activating and causing her to become stupid and let living creatures come to her door to be eaten, Jiang Chen specially arranged for her to be placed in the main courtyard in the middle of the marshal's mansion. Within a three-kilometer radius of the entire courtyard, not even a mouse would pass by.

Even if Zhang Xiyue is given the treatment of a protagonist, they still have to arrange for her to be some kind of injured thief or an assassin who sneaks in at night to try to kill the general, so that she can have some fun. If there is a soul weapon left behind, they should be dealt with immediately. They must not let any other flesh and blood enter Zhang Xiyue's belly, lest she grow up too quickly.

A small, weak toddler, barely over 60 centimeters tall, is certainly easier to imprison than a woman of normal height and weight who possesses magical abilities.

At the very least, she now needs a stool to climb out of the window!

Whether or not this monster can move those specially made tables, chairs, and benches depends on how much power it possesses at the start.

Once you've thoroughly explored the surrounding environment, it's easier to adjust your strategy based on the plot.

As of now, there's no indication that the script will be updated. Jiang Chen is carefully studying the script while waiting for Xiao Bai to return and give him some information.

Night gradually fell, and the first night after entering the mission world finally arrived.

"Ha~" After devouring all the mutton and rat in one go, Zhang Xiyue, who had been lying obediently on the bed and sleeping for half a day, stretched and sat up. She could feel the energy transformed from the flesh and blood gathering in her body.

It's warm, soft, and very comfortable.

The only downside is that there are too few.

Since the village was burned, killed, and looted by bandits, Zhang Xiyue, who had never been hungry since birth and had never suffered such misfortune and hardship in all her years as a demon, developed some habits that would make any demon feel sad just thinking about them—she dared not waste any energy carelessly anymore.

Without absolute certainty, prioritize survival.

Even the slightest bit of magic can save your life in a critical moment.

So she won't use up her meager energy before the next meal arrives.

It is essential to be able to bewitch and deceive the servants, and then kill and eat them; otherwise, survival is of paramount importance!

"It's dark, why is there no sound outside?" She got up, her eyes shining brightly in the darkness, just like the eyes of a feline.

Unaffected by any light, Zhang Xiyue tiptoed to the door and peered out through the crack.

It was completely dark, and there wasn't a single light in the courtyard. Under the dim light, the houses, whose colors were already heavy, looked like splashes of ink.

It's strange that such a large mansion doesn't have any lights on at night?

Didn't Xiao Jiangchen say he wanted to find a clever and obedient servant to serve him?

Could it be... that he's really afraid someone will harm me, so he's imprisoned me in this courtyard?

"Bang!" Zhang Xiyue was full of doubt. She reached out to pull the door and found that there were two bolts at the top and bottom of the door, which looked like they were locked.

She was even more confused. When did Xiao Jiangchen lock it up for me?

Could it be that he was too frightened at the time and didn't notice or hear the noise outside?

Damn, who installs a door bolt in two different positions, one at the top and one at the bottom? Aren't they always in the middle?

Looking at the large, thick iron bolt at the bottom, which was blocked by the threshold and could only be seen but not touched, Zhang Xiyue immediately felt deflated.

The one below is out of reach, and the one above is too high to be touched. Moreover, the door gap is so small that it's impossible to pick the lock.

She then turned her gaze to the large windows on either side.

Xiao Jiangchen's mansion was built according to very strict regulations. The rooms on both sides of the main courtyard should have been occupied by the legitimate sons and daughters, so they were spacious and luxuriously furnished.

There are two large windows on each side, one on the left and one on the right, both of which are typical carved wooden lattice windows.

Covered with a layer of white paper and sealed with bright glass, the symmetrical wooden windows can be opened with a push.

But for Zhang Xiyue, who is only about 60 centimeters tall, the window is too high. Even if she stands on tiptoe, she can only touch the bluestone below that is decorated with various patterns.

"It's so annoying not being able to grow up!" After complaining and despising her own body as usual, she turned around angrily and dragged a chair over to stand on.

The chair felt completely different from what she had imagined. It was a square official's hat chair, the kind you see everywhere in the Marshal's Mansion. Zhang Xiyue was prepared for it to be heavy, but even with all her might, she couldn't budge the specially made chair an inch. Her pale and thin face immediately fell.

"Hahaha!" Jiang Chen laughed heartily when he "saw" this scene.

How could a powerful demon with an immortal soul be reduced to such a state? She, who killed countless people and harmed many, has been tricked like this!

Chapter Seven: A Search That Never Ends