The surrounding demonic cultivators were originally only planning on watching the excitement and not paying anyone too much attention, but when they heard Feng Qingyun’s clear words, they were suddenly dumbfounded.
Clearly, there were not many who dared to utter such domineering remarks in the entire demon world! Not to mention those righteous cultivators, even the most ruthless of the demons were directly stunned by Feng Qingyun’s calm and arrogant attitude, and for a moment, nobody knew what to say.
Hua Ying was the first one to regain her senses, saying angrily: “You and your boy toy are just a bunch of lowly demons who still dare to show off your power…!” But before she could finish her words, Long Yin raised his hand lightly, alerting the person next to her to immediately pull the petulant little girl away. Despite her companion’s quick reflexes, a cold light still flew out against her neck, opening a wound in an instant and letting out a trail of bright red blood.
Hua Ying’s voice suddenly stopped and, for a moment, the air seemed to stagnate. After a brief second, she looked at the couple in front of her with both suspicion and a hint of fear in her eyes.
“Your family shouldn’t have let you out without teaching you better,” Feng Qingyun said lightly. “Otherwise, you won’t even see what killed you.” After saying that, he turned around and left without looking back, regardless of the reaction of those he left behind.
Hearing his words, Long Yin suddenly laughed and followed after him, asking: “Is the Little Palace Master scolding himself?”
However, Feng Qingyun didn’t feel like engaging in conversation with him, only saying: “The sect’s education is obviously not strict enough. Sorry for the joke.”
“That’s not true. If a son is not taught well, it’s indeed the fault of the father. However, those are not your disciples. Why even feel responsible for them?” Long Yin didn’t take the matter seriously. “Isn’t your little sister good at leading people?” He continued. “In the end, it’s only those who were infected by that good brother of yours who become unlucky.”
Feng Qingyun, the one who used to protect Mu Hanyang’s reputation everywhere, didn’t say anything this time around, letting Long Yin freely mock him. However, before he could scold a few more words, the two had already arrived in front of the Tiangong Pavilion, the best inn in the city, as the guard recommended it. Looking up, the empty pavilion was fully covered in carved beams and painted walls and, in the special dim sunlight of the demon world, it shone brightly.
In just half a day, their reputation… Of course, it was mainly Feng Qingyun’s reputation as a generous “lady” that seemed to have resounded throughout the small demon realm. Therefore, as soon as the two arrived at the bottom of the Tiangong Pavilion, and even before they could take a closer look, a female demonic cultivator immediately came down to greet them.
However, the moment Feng Qingyun saw her, he couldn’t conceal the flash of surprise that appeared on his face.
“This humble one is Yue Jinshu, the innkeeper of Tiangong Pavilion,” the woman bowed and said. “I don’t know whether the two seniors plan to rent a room or dine in?”
It was actually Yue Jinshu, the rakshasa demon and one of Long Yin’s most fearless generals!
However, despite being just as charming and touching as when Feng Qingyun saw her in his previous life, she now lacked the terrible strength of the future. And yet, as soon as Feng Qingyun laid eyes on her, the first thing that came to his mind was neither her touching beauty nor her strength as a demon general, but… Her absolutely revolting words that no one could imagine being able to come out of such a seemingly soft and delicate woman right before the sky collapsed in their previous life:
“I want to see… If he watched his dear brother cry in pleasure underneath another man… Would he still be able to maintain his disgusting hero appearance?”
Feng Qingyun’s face suddenly became hot, and his eyes flashed. Changing the topic, he said: “Rent a room.”
Long Yin seemed to be surprised by his answer, but Yue Jinshu did not notice his abnormality. She nodded before answering: “As you wish. Let this humble one invite the two seniors in.” After saying that, she patted the wall behind her, and the gates of the Tiangong Pavilion opened wider, surrounded by a nebula-like glowing smoke.
Once inside, Yue Jinshu quickly entered her role as the innkeeper, introducing the different prices and characteristics of each room in turn, even when her new guests didn’t look too interested. Finally, she pointed to the only detached-style mansion that was magically suspended in the air, saying: “And that is the top building in our Tiangong Pavilion, but the price to rent it is 3,000 low-grade spirit stones for one night.”
The amount was not a problem, but it was her next words that finally attracted the attention of her two new guests: “If the ancient battlefield that contains the remains of the Xuanwu appears, you can go straight inside from this building. A few steps ahead of others.”
“The remains of the Xuanwu[mfn]The Xuanwu or the Black Tortoise of the North is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, alongside the Azure Dragon of the East, Winter Tiger of the West, and Vermilion Bird of the South. They are also referred to as the four ancient beasts, with the Xuanwu representing a tortoise and snake hybrid[/mfn]?”
Feng Qingyun’s footsteps stopped. It was common knowledge that the ancient war they knew almost nothing about ended with the Heavens punishing all life on earth. And alongside the countless cultivators and demons who perished, the four ancient beasts had also died. However, how could the people here be so sure that the ancient battlefield they discovered by accident contained the remains of the Xuanwu?!
“That’s right.” However, Yue Jinshu did not explain further, only saying: “It’s predicted that the ruins of the battlefield will open on the night of the full moon. You two came here by chance, but according to our City Lord, I’m afraid the day when the ruins open will come sooner than that.”
After her words, Feng Qingyun finally became a little interested, but in the end, the 3,000 low-grade spirit stones came out of Long Yin’s pockets. After all, he was the dignified Demon Lord and he couldn’t really continue to make a living by eating soft rice[mfn]”Eating soft rice” is an expression used to describe a man who is supported by a woman other than his mother[/mfn].
……………
The days in the demon world were already short and not long after the two moved into the mansion they rented, night fell. The moon outside was round, and there was no other movement in the little demon realm.
Feng Qingyun looked at the full moon through the window, and his beautiful eyebrows gradually tightened. However, the man behind him was not anxious at all, even having the leisure to play with an exquisite hairpin. The extremely precious Tianshan Jade was carved until there was nothing left, with shavings scattered all over the table, and when the wind blew, the small fragments that were enough to cure all ailments in the world floated out of the window.
It could only be said that anyone who was unlucky enough to stumble upon that scene would shout “Heavens!”, but when Feng Qingyun turned his head and saw it, his attention fell on the hairpin that was about to be formed in Long Yin’s hands – precisely on the peach blossom that was faintly visible at the end of it.
The familiar appearance made Feng Qingyun’s eyebrows jump.
…It turned out that his man kept the hairpin for 300 years before gifting it away, only for it to be crushed as soon as it reached his hand.
An unspeakable affection suddenly appeared in Feng Qingyun’s heart, but without waiting for it to fully ferment, he really couldn’t help but say: “…I’m not a peach blossom demon.”
Long Yin stopped what he was doing and looked at him with raised eyebrows: “Then what kind of flower will my Little Palace Master bloom?”
Asking a spiritual plant, especially a flower demon, what kind of flowers they bloom, was basically equivalent to playing hooligan in front of a dignified lady. But Feng Qingyun didn’t feel much offense. On the contrary, he felt an indescribable sorrow in his heart.
That man asked about his original body while he was dying in their previous life as well, but now he didn’t remember it at all. He was not reborn so naturally, he didn’t know that three hundred years later, the hairpin he gifted turned to ashes as soon as it was sent out.
If he knew, would he still carve it so seriously?
And… There are so many gifts he could give. Why choose to gift him a hairpin in the first place?
It seemed that something was finally about to come out. Feng Qingyun did not answer Long Yin’s question which sounded like vulgar flirting. Instead, after a long silence, he finally couldn’t hold back his doubts and asked about his long-term guess: “Are you… The Dragon God that the villagers in Fulong Village worshipped?”
Hearing his inquiry, Long Yin raised his eyes from the semi-formed hairpin and jokingly asked: “What Dragon God? My dear Mistress, your affections are so lingering. Is it possible that the Little Palace Master also had a lover besides his ex-husband?”
Feng Qingyun choked up: “…Don’t you remember what happened in that illusory world?”
“I practice the Path of Ruthlessness, therefore, I’m naturally immune to all illusions…” Long Yin squinted his eyes and approached him. “Have you seen me in an illusion?”
He was so close that his breath almost hovered around Feng Qingyun’s ear.
However, after listening to his answer, Feng Qingyun felt an unspeakable disappointment from the bottom of his heart, and for a moment, he couldn’t care about how ambiguous the distance between them was.
Long Yin was not the dragon that protected him, nor the dragon who accompanied him in death in his previous life. His dragon did not exist in the present world, and the hairpin he owed to him had never been returned.
He was alone, looking for the truth alone.
“…I haven’t seen you.” Feng Qingyun no longer wanted to continue the topic, and his tone went gloomy.
Seeing that he was depressed enough to fall silent, Long Yin couldn’t help hooking the corners of his mouth and then pretended to be surprised while saying: “It was just an illusion. Did you fall in love with that Dragon God?” He then put one hand on Feng Qingyun’s shoulder, leaned over, and whispered in his ear: “No way, Little Palace Master. No cultivator in the Foundation-Building stage is weak enough to fall in love with an illusion, right?”
“…I was still in the Qi Condensation stage back then.” Feng Qingyun frowned, and finally couldn’t help retorting: “He was not an illusion!”
“Oh~” Long Yin deliberately lengthened his voice. “I just said it casually, look how unhappy you look. Do you like that Dragon God of yours so much?”
Feng Qingyun was still immersed in a low mood, not even bothering to pay attention to his teasing. He simply raised his hand and pushed the hand on his shoulder away, turning his head to continue looking at the full moon which was gradually turning red.
However, Long Yin had no intention of giving up at all. He touched his chin and said meaningfully: “You entered that illusory world while you were still in the Qi Condensation stage… That’s to say, the Little Palace Master might have admired his brother, but the one who got inside your heart first was your Dragon God.”
The way he said it made Feng Qingyun sound like a frivolous man, someone who held one brother in his arms but still thought about another lover in his heart. However, Feng Qingyun was still depressed, so Long Yin was left alone with his words.
“Little Palace Master, in your past life and this one, every time you put on your veil to marry your good brother, did you think about your Dragon God?”
Once people became too proud, they easily forgot things. When Feng Qingyun heard Long Yin’s teasing question, he suddenly raised his eyes to look at him. “When did I put on a veil?” He asked.
Long Yin was originally acting cocky, but when he came back to his senses, his heart jumped suddenly, realizing on the spot that he had said the wrong thing.
“The Dao Ceremony we had in this life was no different from the one we had before. Mu Hanyang and I both wore regular ceremonial robes,” Feng Qingyun stared at him without blinking, and continued word by word. “So… In which wedding did Your Majesty see me wear a veil?”
……………………..
As usual, up to five chapters in advance are available here. Happy reading!
