EDEH Chapter 60

Huo Yanji’s eyes darkened slightly. He restrained Sang Jue’s hands and shoulders, pulling his waistband up a bit to barely cover the base of his tail.

 

“I’ll consider the table as old and prone to breaking, but how did you damage the sofa?”

 

Sang Jue said nothing, his head buried by Huo Yanji’s thigh, his expression invisible, only his slightly reddened ears visible.

 

Huo Yanji asked: “Feeling wronged?”

 

After a long while, Sang Jue finally spoke, his voice as small as a mosquito’s buzz: “No…”

 

Huo Yanji leaned against the sofa, the weight of the person on his lap negligible.

 

The mosquito coil tail was also well-coiled, but rigid and tightly wound, like a defensive posture.

 

—Except nothing was defended except the tail tip.

 

Huo Yanji gently circled the thickest part of the tail base without actually touching it, but the nearby scales visibly tightened, and the mosquito coil became smaller.

 

When he withdrew his hand, the black scales would slowly relax, then when his fingers circled again, the scales would tighten—

 

It was rather like the ancient pleasure of teasing cats.

 

But despite being so tense, the person on his lap had no intention of getting up and fleeing.

 

The flesh between the tail base and pants seam appeared and disappeared. Huo Yanji slowly looked away and gave another light slap, this time with less force.

 

He said flatly as education: “When you make a mistake, you should tell me immediately, not try to deceive yourself and others.”

 

Sang Jue seemed to have decided not to speak anymore, lying motionless and playing dead.

 

Until Huo Yanji picked up the broken table leg beside him.

 

“You can’t use that!” The little evil dragon couldn’t accept it, covering his bottom with his hand and accusing: “You’ll break me.”

 

“…” Huo Yanji looked at the table leg in his hand—

 

So this was what kind of perverted person he appeared to be.

 

Sang Jue struggled: “Even if you won’t break me, it will hurt a lot… really can’t.”

 

Huo Yanji’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

 

He lifted the person on his lap, had him sit properly on one side of the sofa, and raised his left leg to rest on his other knee.

 

Sang Jue collapsed boneless beside him, his legs curved into an M shape, his waist forming an S curve.

 

He raised his head, his cheeks somehow tinged with a thin layer of red.

 

Huo Yanji simply embraced his reputation as a pervert and said leisurely: “Since you won’t let me spank you, how do you plan to compensate for my losses?”

 

Sang Jue quietly looked up, hesitating: “I can kill another giant toad and give you all the skin. If one isn’t enough, then two.”

 

Huo Yanji rested his elbow on the sofa back, knuckles curved, supporting his chin, looking sideways at Sang Jue: “This isn’t something a few giant toads can solve. As I said before, its collectible value far exceeds its actual value.”

 

“Hmm…” Sang Jue fell into thought with a nasal tone.

 

Only when he sensed that Huo Yanji wouldn’t hit him again did his tail slowly relax, coiling round and round.

 

This tail’s flexibility always exceeded imagination.

 

Huo Yanji asked: “Have you thought of something?”

 

Although Sang Jue was slender, he didn’t seem childish—just between youth and young adulthood, with an indescribable pure allure.

 

He bit his overly red lips again: “Then I’ll find a way to locate Old Herman, protect him while he goes to the wilderness to kill a giant toad, and make you a sofa.”

 

This sofa was made from giant toad skin that Old Herman had killed in his youth. Killing another one could also help Huo Yanji upgrade to a new model for free.

 

It sounded wonderful.

 

“Some things aren’t better when newer—they’re more valuable when older.” Huo Yanji’s raised finger was infinitely close to Sang Jue’s lips but withdrew at the last moment. “Don’t bite your lips.”

 

Sang Jue obediently agreed: “Okay—but I can’t think of any other way to compensate you.”

 

When he knew he had made a mistake, Sang Jue was always well-behaved. But this was also a small bit of Huo Yanji’s fault—this living room was too small. A majestic dragon wing could pierce through walls with just a stretch.

 

If Huo Yanji had taken him to the manor, this wouldn’t have happened.

 

Sang Jue also wanted a manor so he could willfully transform back into an evil dragon on human territory and do anything.

 

But Huo Yanji had said before that his manor wasn’t suitable for entertaining guests… why?

 

He couldn’t really be considered a guest—they were clearly very good friends.

 

But would friends spank friends’ bottoms?

 

No, it was more like father and son.

 

By actual age, Sang Jue should be older than Ji Ji, since he had slept in the hibernation pod for many years.

 

But sons couldn’t spank fathers’ bottoms—humans would call that treasonous.

 

Sang Jue rubbed his buttocks that were numb, sore, and had a strange feeling, the redness at his ears not yet faded, coming to a great realization: “So you don’t want to be my friend, but want to be my father?”

 

“…” Huo Yanji’s fingers supporting his chin curved, asking, “Where did you draw that conclusion?”

 

Sang Jue analyzed seriously: “You always control me, educate me, and spank my bottom.”

 

Huo Yanji said flatly: “Fathers don’t put sons on their laps to spank them.”

 

Sang Jue asked: “Then who does?”

 

Huo Yanji looked down at his hands, and only after a long while said: “No one. You go bathe first, I’ll have someone send over a new table.”

 

Sang Jue asked quietly: “Then how do I compensate for the sofa?”

 

Huo Yanji stood up, picking up the gems from the floor: “All confiscated.”

 

Sang Jue immediately stuttered: “Can I owe you the other three for now?”

 

Huo Yanji curved his lips: “Can’t produce them?”

 

Sang Jue: “Mm…”

 

Huo Yanji said flatly: “Then usually in this situation, there’s only one choice.”

 

“What?”

 

“Sell yourself.”

 

Sang Jue slowly blinked: “What kind of selling yourself?”

 

Huo Yanji turned back, eyebrows slightly raised: “You know several kinds?”

 

Sang Jue had watched movies after all. Without blushing or racing heart, he said seriously: “Some sell themselves to work like oxen and horses, some sell themselves for mating.”

 

Huo Yanji smiled: “Then which do you think suits you? Little slave or little duck?”

 

“Duck? I’m not a duck.” He was an evil dragon.

 

“It’s a term for males who sell their bodies.” Huo Yanji said.

 

Sang Jue pursed his lips in thought.

 

Mating was impossible—he and Huo Yanji had species barriers.

 

Working like oxen and horses seemed very hard… but it was indeed his fault, damaging his friend’s property. He should know that in this entire house, only this sofa was valuable.

 

Ji Ji was so poor, he should rightfully pay for his mistakes.

 

After thinking it through, Sang Jue said naturally: “I won’t be a duck. What do you need your little slave to do?”

 

The little evil dragon’s favorite Adam’s apple bobbed again, but the owner’s face remained calm as clouds.

 

Huo Yanji curved his lips: “First, use respectful address.”

 

Sang Jue was quick to catch on: “Sir.”

 

Huo Yanji said: “Second, go bathe.”

 

Sang Jue was briefly puzzled.

 

Did working like oxen and horses also require bathing first?

 

The little evil dragon turned toward the bedroom, his tail hook curving into a question mark.

 

His little thoughts were always hard to hide—formerly shown on his face, now on his tail.

 

Hearing the water start, Huo Yanji made a phone call and bought a new table.

 

As for the sofa—

 

That tear was about an arm’s length, very neat and clean, without any wear.

 

Toad skin was normally used to make protective leather clothing for supervisors or military, impossible to cut with ordinary knives and sharp objects, even able to defend against ordinary pistol bullets—flexible yet sturdy.

 

This thing was expensive for exactly this reason. Giant toads usually lived near swamps or still water lakes, first rare, second difficult to deal with, hard to break with ordinary weapons, huge in size, with especially flexible tongues.

 

A frail human like Sang Jue could be swallowed several at once.

 

So when young and proud Herman killed that giant toad, he directly used the entire skin to make a sofa.

 

This sofa represented Herman’s astounding strength as an ordinary person, and was also an honor. Therefore, the sofa’s collectible value was higher than its already expensive inherent value.

 

Huo Yanji looked around but found no items sharp enough to cut toad skin.

 

The wall near the refrigerator also showed abnormalities—a diagonal cut mark nearly spanning half the wall, deep in the middle and shallow on the sides, as if something long and sharp had swept across without being properly controlled.

 

A “beep” sounded in his ear as the communicator rang.

 

Huo Yanji stared at the scratch marks with darkened eyes, pressed answer, and asked flatly: “Found him?”

 

Colin’s voice came through, somewhat heavy: “Found him… but only the body.”

 

Huo Yanji’s form froze.

 

…

 

In the bathroom, Sang Jue washed himself while puzzling over why the little slave had to bathe first—was he too dirty?

 

He perked up his ears listening to the sounds outside. Ji Ji had taken a phone call—Ji Ji walked to the bathroom door and knocked.

 

“Sang Jue, I’m going out for a while. After you finish washing, go to sleep first.”

 

Sang Jue instantly forgot about the unrinsed foam on his body, yanking open the partition door: “No! We agreed, you—Your remaining time belongs to me, you have to sleep with me.”

 

“…”

 

Meeting his gaze, Huo Yanji was momentarily speechless.

 

Steam from the bathroom drifted out, Sang Jue completely naked, impossible to tell if the foam was white or his skin was whiter.

 

Huo Yanji’s gaze stopped at first contact, always staying on the upper half: “No matter how good friends are, they can’t expose their bodies in front of each other.”

 

Sang Jue asked puzzled: “Haven’t you been to public baths? Everyone is honest with each other there.”

 

Back on his home planet, although his room had a private bathroom, most others didn’t. The research base had four bathhouses, two for men and two for women.

 

Huo Yanji had naturally been to them.

 

In the military, it was impossible to have the luxury of individual shower rooms, and they even had scheduled hot water. During specific time periods, there were always many people.

 

Huo Yanji walked toward the wardrobe: “This is different.”

 

Sang Jue pressed: “How is it different?”

 

“…Be good and sleep at home. I’ll come back after I’m done.” Huo Yanji found a waterproof military coat and said, “Didn’t you want to be my little slave? You need to be obedient.”

 

“Then I’ll be your little slave tomorrow.” Sang Jue immediately said, the respectful language instantly disappearing.

 

This way he didn’t have to be obedient now.

 

The little evil dragon understood how to find loopholes.

 

Huo Yanji scoffed: “What kind of willful slave is this? Should be punished.”

 

Sang Jue felt good about himself: “You can punish me, but you must accept that I’m a very individual slave.”

 

“…Wrong classifier, overly individual.” Huo Yanji commented flatly. He glanced at the time: “I’ll give you three minutes to rinse off the foam and come with me.”

 

Sang Jue knew he couldn’t stop Huo Yanji from leaving. He silently closed the door, using just one minute to rinse himself clean.

 

Huo Yanji was pouring water—from coming home until now, he had finally managed his first drink.

 

The little evil dragon came out dressed, standing at the door staring straight at him, saying sullenly: “Masters who don’t keep their word should also be punished.”

 

“…” Huo Yanji nearly choked, coughing uncontrollably. He put down the water glass, frowning tightly: “Where did you learn such nonsense?”

 

Sang Jue replied without thinking: “Colin said prisoners and officers, masters and servants are all role-playing.”

 

…

 

Twenty minutes later, at the Supervision Bureau, Colin faced his superior’s cold glance and direct dismissal with complete bewilderment.

 

He hadn’t violated any military discipline recently, had he?

 

But the mark on the superior’s Adam’s apple looked rather fresh… this wasn’t the bite mark from a week ago, was it?

 

Following behind, Sang Jue wrapped in a waterproof coat thought to himself all the way—Ji Ji only likes prisoners, not slaves.

 

Also, Adam’s apples really taste good.

 

The closer they got to the morgue, the more oppressive the atmosphere became.

 

The moment he pushed open the door, Sang Jue met Shiwei’s gaze. Those eyes that had always carried smiling teasing just days ago now held only gloom and sorrow.

 

“You’ve come.”

 

Shiwei’s gaze moved to Huo Yanji, her voice hoarse beyond recognition, rivaling the late Old Herman. She withdrew her gaze, continuing to silently watch Old Herman’s corpse.

 

**

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