Chapter 388: Mouthful of Blood
Furthermore, even though Zhu Qingyue was the one to offer his a.s.sistance in the first place, he did not seem all that eager or willing to share the information he claimed he had. He would have done so by now if he retained that desire.
"Senior Zhu, please," Mo Cheng bent down to his knees and kowtowed before Zhu Qingyue with a hefty measure of reluctance, head bowed and hands cupped into fists before him, "I beg of you, please lend us a hand!"
From his still crouched position, Zhu Qingyue hummed silently. He stared down at Mo Cheng with a frosty golden gaze.
It was painfully obvious that he was enjoying Mo Cheng"s moment of humility, and was watching with an aloof, mostly blank expression on his face as the disciple"s shoulders began to shake involuntarily with his suppressed but growing rage.
"For a man asking another to save his life, this little show of respect does not feel very sincere," Zhu Qingyue said after a lengthy silence. He stood gradually, towering over Mo Cheng as he finally graced those in his presence with his powerful baritone voice.
"What would you have me do, then?" Mo Cheng demanded, unable to maintain a calm or humble facade. "Kiss your feet?" He glared up at Zhu Qingyue as he angrily spat out the suggestion.
"Hold your tongue, vermin." Zhu Qingyue hissed, shedding any pretence of civility.
Mo Cheng harrumphed. "The vile antagonist dares to call me a vermin?" he scoffed. "Hah! An honorable man would offer his a.s.sistance without requesting anything to be paid in return."
"It is amusing to hear a lowly dog bark about honor." Zhu Qingyue"s voice gained a low, dangerous echo as he spoke. He stomped his foot; the earth cracked beneath his power. "Do you even know the meaning of honor, vermin?"
Mo Cheng leapt to his feet, dropping immediately into an aggressive fighting position.
"Sc.u.m!" he accused. "I should never have asked for help from the likes of you!"
Zhu Qingyue let out an ominous chuckle.
"Long have I waited for this.״ his words came out in a menacing purr. He lifted a hand in front of him and beckoned to Mo Cheng with a backwards and forwards motion of his fingers.
"Stop this right now"! Li Meirong cried out in a sudden panic.
She shot to her feet, just as the other two had done, and quickly came to stand between Mo Cheng and Zhu Qingyue.
She could barely believe how quickly things had escalated. From one moment to the next, the two men had gone from amicable near-allies to behaving as if they were about to have some kind of epic showdown!
Under any other circ.u.mstances but these, she wouldn"t mind if someone decided to knock Mo Cheng down a peg or two.
This, however, was a very bad time for anyone to even try and teach him a lesson - his very life was at stake here!
"As for Zhu Qingyue…" she thought exasperatedly, "This is ridiculously petty, even for him!"
Li Meirong closed her eyes briefly and pinched the s.p.a.ce between her brows. It was entirely too obvious to her that Zhu Qingyue was purposefully messing with Mo Cheng, deliberately goading him on.
If only Li Meirong could have known that her concern was for naught. It didn"t matter in the slightest to the disguised Sovereign Fox Lord whether Mo Cheng lived or died. The way he saw it, he was simply enjoying some quality time with his wife, and he was teaching a life lesson to a feral dog along the way. What care did he have for some pup"s yapping?
"Please, can"t we all behave with some dignity, like the adults we are?" she asked, turning to scowl at Mo Cheng and then turning back to face Zhu Qingyue.
Unfortunately for her, the both of them towered over her with ease, and continued to give each other death glares over her head.
She took a step towards Zhu Qingyue in an attempt to capture his attention once more. "Since you know how to fix this situation, won"t you please share the solution with us? What is preventing you from doing so?"
"There is, of course, a condition," said Zhu Qingyue. He pulled Li Meirong to his side with a swift tug, his hand wrapping possessively around her dainty waist.
"It figures that the villain will attempt to lay a trap," Mo Cheng scoffed. "What do you want in exchange, then?" he demanded.
Considering his circ.u.mstance, Mo cheng was rather brave. He could barely stay conscious, yet was facing off the strongest character in the story despite his disadvantage… or at least, that was what he thought.
Mo Cheng fully expected Zhu Qingyue to come up with a list of excruciatingly difficult terms to fill, perhaps seeking to humiliate him further or rob him of all his riches, or perhaps even demand his backing to become the world"s emperor or some other similarly ridiculous request.
Li Meirong, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Zhu Qingyue, even as she remained docile in his arms. Something about his suddenly expressionless face made her believe that he truly would come up with some kind of outrageous demand.
Though, for the life of her, she could not think of a single thing he would want in exchange for the information Mo Cheng needed.
Then, Zhu Qingyue turned his gaze upon Li Meirong, his eyes filling with an immeasurable amount of warmth as he gave her the same doting look he always did.
"Did I not say to call me "darling"?" he asked of her. "I knew you would not do this otherwise."
"Huh?" Li Meirong was completely thrown off guard by his question. "What are you talking about?"
She blinked at him stupidly. "Why is he mentioning nicknames now?"
"This is my condition," Zhu Qingyue insisted dramatically. "You must call me "darling" from now on, or I will not save his life!"
"..." stupefied, Mo Cheng lost his ability to speak.
"Zhu Qingyue!" Li Meirong screeched as the infuriating man"s terms finally registered in her mind.
She pinched his arm, hard, in punishment. "Of all the utterly ridiculous things you could have asked for…"
There was a person"s life at stake, and yet there he was, fooling around...
"Did I not state my condition clearly enough?" Zhu Qingyue frowned at her, as if he was confused by her reaction.
"Are you really being serious?" she asked incredulously.
Zhu Qingyue, meanwhile, performed a grand show of rubbing the sore spot where she had pinched his arm, as if he had just suffered some kind of unjust punishment.
"My wife is so mean…" Zhu Qingyue complained, his face completely impa.s.sive but his tone playful. She could tell he was taking the opportunity to tease her, and scrunched up her brows helplessly.
Li Meirong lifted both arms in the air in a sign of resignation. It was just impossible to win against this man!
"I give up," she thought exasperatedly. "You can"t win against crazy."
"My heart grieves, for my wife is so cold and unfeeling," Zhu Qingyue lamented.
As the seconds ticked by, he appeared to get more and more into character, sounding as if he had been so unduly wronged that he might lose everything.
"D… Darling," Li Meirong finally breathed out the word, defeated.
Meanwhile, watching this entire spectacle with growing disbelief, Mo Cheng nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.