Although Luo Beiyao was extraordinarily gifted, he was ultimately only a Nascent Soul cultivator. Techniques that manipulated time were far too defiant of the heavens; the area he could affect was limited to a fixed range. Even so, for someone at the Nascent Soul stage to achieve this much was already remarkable.

However, while his heart demon had clouded his mind, he had forced himself to cast such a spirit- and energy-draining technique. Once the spell ended, he felt faintly weak. He pinched the bridge of his brow hard, and the deep purple in his eyes completely faded. Turning to Su Mu in the passenger seat—who was coughing until his face turned red—he said,
“You drive.”

Su Mu lifted his gaze slightly, looking at Luo Beiyao with a rather complicated expression. After hesitating for a long while, he said,
“Have someone else drive. I’ll take night watch tonight.”

Luo Beiyao had already regained his rationality. He looked at him oddly.
“You lost your memory—did you forget how to drive, too?”

After living through the apocalypse for so long, Su Mu’s survival skills far surpassed those of people in peaceful times. Whenever danger struck, and escape was necessary, fast and steady driving that wouldn’t flip the vehicle was an essential skill.

Logically speaking, Su Mu should have had the best driving skills among them. But he was worried the group wouldn’t be able to handle it—especially with Su Wanmei in the back of the truck. Moreover, this was a cargo truck; its configuration and performance were nowhere near those of the modified vehicles three hundred years later.

Su Mu coughed a few times forcefully.
“My throat’s uncomfortable.”

After saying that, he pulled open the door and went to the back compartment. Luo Beiyao’s phoenix eyes, deep and cold like an abyss, followed him as he spoke to Fang Yiyang for a moment. Soon after, Fang Yiyang got out and headed for the driver’s seat.

Luo Beiyao lowered his lashes slightly and didn’t follow Su Mu to the back. Instead, he moved straight into the passenger seat. His mind kept replaying his earlier exchange with Su Mu, and a dull ache began to pulse at his temples again.

He clenched his fist hard, sensing the restless presence coiling in his dantian once more. This time, the reaction was even more intense than before. The heart demon rampaged recklessly under the suppression of his spiritual power. Two completely opposing forces collided, and every impact exploded within Luo Beiyao’s dantian. His face gradually turned pale from the internal damage.

At that moment, Fang Yiyang pulled open the door. Luo Beiyao turned his face slightly and leaned against the dashboard in front of him. His lashes—long and thick, even denser than a woman’s—slowly fell, shadowing phoenix eyes filled with lingering darkness that refused to disperse.

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He could clearly feel it.

That newly born heart demon desired Su Mu even more than he did.

Every time Su Mu showed even a hint of disgust toward him, the heart demon would throw a tantrum like a child. It would seize control of his body and force itself closer to Su Mu—because even coercive closeness was enough to calm it down.

But no matter how immature it was, that didn’t change the fact that once it fully matured, it could completely devour his consciousness and even his soul.

What was more, Luo Beiyao could not tolerate the possibility that after his divine sense and soul were swallowed by the heart demon, Su Mu might end up with another man.

Although the heart demon was born from his obsession, it was ultimately not him.

The heart demon was still in its infant stage. In theory, Luo Beiyao should have held the upper hand in their struggle. Yet every time he faced Su Mu, he lost his reason, allowing the heart demon to exploit those moments again and again.

His heart demon was born from obsession—and that obsession was Su Mu. Each time it absorbed the aura lingering on Su Mu’s body, it was no different from a cultivator absorbing spiritual energy, slowly growing stronger.

Therefore, before he completely refined the heart demon, he had to minimize contact with Su Mu as much as possible.

Otherwise, when he inevitably lost control during another conflict with him, the heart demon would seize the opportunity once more.