Chapter 73
Translator: Redolens
Editor: Aeonsiac
It took them about three or four days to reach the Palace of Eternal Darkness. They’d just pa.s.sed through the gates of the main hall when Hua Feihua, who’d been left in charge, dashed out. “Your Highness, you finally returned.”
If not for his voice, Bai Yang almost couldn’t tell which of the Demon Kings in front of him was the real one and which one was fake.
Hua Feihua was one of the most skilled pract.i.tioners of illusionary magic in the Demon Realm and his Demon King act had no flaws. If the Demon King had to leave for personal matters, he would often have Hua Feihua pretend to be him and leave him in charge at the Palace of Eternal Darkness.
Hua Feihua was visibly stressed from pretending to be the Demon King. Fortunately, nothing really important happened recently. As he spoke, he discreetly swept his gaze over Bai Yang. The curiosity in his eyes was clear.
“You’ve worked hard.” The Demon King clapped him on the shoulder and motioned for Bai Yang to follow him into the palace hall.
Hua Feihua was quite satisfied after receiving praise. He lifted his illusion and returned to wearing women’s clothing.
Then he glanced at Bai Yang. “What did his Highness and Lord Xie go out for this time?”
Bai Yang looked towards the Demon King.
The Demon King trusted Hua Feihua and told him the truth. “We went on a trip to FireThorn City to rid Zetian of the Rebirth Gu.”
“So it turns out Lord Xie had a Rebirth Gu inside him?” Hua Feihua exclaimed.
He turned to face Bai Yang and said in a bitter and envious tone, “Lord Xie, his Highness is truly good to you.”
Bai Yang coughed, a little embarra.s.sed, and avoided his probing gaze.
“Did you do anything other than curing the poison?” Hua Feihua asked, suspicious, his white forehead slightly tensed.
“Besides curing the poison, what else could we have done?” Bai Yang was confused.
Hua Feihua turned and swept his gaze over Bai Yang’s and the Demon King’s bodies. Then, like a dog, he took a sniff. “This scent isn’t right. You definitely did something else. Don’t try to hide it from me.”
Realizing what he was referring to, Bai Yang immediately became extremely embarra.s.sed. s.h.i.t, is this person a dog?
Then he remembered Hua Feihua was the head of the intelligence organization so of course it would be difficult to hide anything from him. Sooner or later, Hua Feihua would figure out what happened between him and the Demon King.
However, Bai Yang didn’t want it to be discovered so soon. He still wanted to salvage the situation.
After living in this world and dealing with the Demon King for so long, Bai Yang had perfected the ability to lie with a straight face. So even though his heart was pounding in his chest, his face remained calm.
“While we were on the road, we ate some snake meat. That must be the odor you’re smelling.”
Hua Feihua shook his head. “Indeed, there is the smell of snake meat, but there is another stronger smell…. It seems to be your bodies’…. Weird, it’s both of your individual scents, but how did they get mixed together and why is it so strong?”
He seemed unable to understand and he lifted his head to ask Bai Yang, “What did you guys do?”
Bai Yang’s heart rate rose, and he internally screamed: Please stop asking!
He struggled to keep his face calm. “You’re thinking too much. Other than curing the poison, nothing else happened-”
“Your Highness, why is your face red?”
Hua Feihua’s shocked voice interrupted Bai Yang who turned his head and saw the Demon King averting his gaze.
The Demon King didn’t make eye contact and said with a red face, “Nothing…. We didn’t do anything….”
Bai Yang: “!!!”
… who would believe your obviously-trying-to-hide-something expression!
Bai Yang really wanted to kick him away and immediately said to Hua Feihua, “His Majesty has traveled a long way and is very tired. We’ll go rest first.”
“Wait.” As the head of intelligence, how could Hua Feihua let any clue slip away? He immediately approached Bai Yang and sniffed him. “Let me smell you again.”
Bai Yang panicked a little, but his face remained calm. “There is no odor. You smelled wrong.”
“No, this scent….” Hua Feihua took a big sniff. “It’s both of your scents. It’s so strong.”
Hua Feihua pressed closer and closer, and seemed to realize something. He narrowed his eyes and pulled on Bai Yang’s collar. “These clothes you’re wearing… they seem to be his Highness’s.”
The Demon King, who was standing next to Hua Feihua, scowled and seized the other’s wrist, dragging him off to one side. “Why are you getting so close?”
When the Demon King gets serious, his imposing manner is terrifying.
Hua Feihua didn’t dare move forward again and his expression immediately transformed into one of shock and astonishment. He seemed somewhat incredulous and didn’t answer the Demon King’s question. Unexpectedly, he braved the Demon King’s aura, pulled the other’s sleeve, and gave it a sniff.
“Your scent….” He looked like he’d confirmed a suspicion and his eyes widened. His expression was thunderous, “You dual cultivated?!”
The tone of his voice changed to shock.
Bai Yang: “…..”
His mind blanked for a moment. He hadn’t expected the affair between him and the Demon King to be exposed so quickly. Even though he accepted the Demon King, he didn’t want to announce their relationship to the public.
Since he was caught unprepared, Bai Yang panicked a bit and immediately tried to deny it. “We didn’t. It wasn’tk2026; don’t talk nonsense.”
He denied it three times.
He turned his head to look at the Demon King, hoping that he would deny it. Unexpectedly, he saw a Demon King blushing from head to toe. He looked like a boiled shrimp.
The Demon King’s face was very red, and he averted his gaze. He had the appearance of someone shy doing their best to appear calm. “Hua Feihua, you don’t need to make a.s.sumptions about our business.”
Seeing his expression, Bai Yang practically blew a gasket.
Now who would believe that he and the Demon King hadn’t dual cultivated?!
That expression of his made it seem like Bai Yang had done something to him… um… oh….
He did something to the Demon King….
In an instant, Bai Yang had a plan. He held his head high and puffed out his chest. His mouth quirked into an evil smirk. There was a faint scheming look in his eyes. “Hua Feihua, why are you asking so many questions? Whether the Demon King and I dual cultivated, how is that any of your business?”
The Demon King turned his head, a bit of shock on his face; he probably hadn’t expected him to say something like that. Then he said somewhat bashfully, “Zetian….”
As he said it, his face reddened a bit, giving him a pure and innocent appearance.
… d.a.m.n it, you weren’t this pure in the cave or the lake.
Bai Yang internally held his breath and forced out a smile. “What his Highness said is correct.”
Hua Feihua froze.
This kind of situation… Xie Zetian was calm and composed. The Demon King was extremely shy. Xie Zetian had endless members in his harem and was promiscuous. The Demon King was very principled. Xie Zetian’s flirting technique was excellent. The Demon King hardly ever flirted….
The more Hua Feihua thought about it, the more frightened and shocked he became. He wanted to scream when he realized the truth that was staring him in the face. He opened his eyes wide and stared hard at Bai Yang. “How could you have… how could you….”
He shakily pointed at Bai Yang and said between gritted teeth, “How could you have….”
To protect whatever dignity remained, Bai Yang braced himself and met his gaze, revealing a flirtatious smile.
He already lost enough face from being done to unconsciousness twice. If others were to learn of this, he could only die of shame.
This was the first time the Demon King dated anyone, and he’d been discovered by a subordinate. The situation was like that of a youngster whose crush was discovered by their teacher. He felt a little embarra.s.sed and shy.
However, since Xie Zetian had already openly acknowledged it, he also bashfully acknowledged it.
The Lord Demon King said shyly, “I dual cultivated with Zetian. Don’t ask about anything else.”
Hua Feihua felt like he’d been struck by lightning. Going by His Highness’s tone, he’d wanted it!
Unexpectedly, he willingly dual cultivated with that trashy s.l.u.t Xie Zetian!
Unexpectedly, he was content to be below someone else!
AAAH!
In his mind, the Demon King had always been an aloof G.o.d-like figure. What he’d learned today broke him.
Hua Feihua looked at Bai Yang and looked at the Demon King. Finally, he couldn’t help it. He let out an angry heaven-defying roar. Then he turned around and disappeared from their line of sight.
Bai Yang inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards the palace’s side hall. That’s where he’d been living and where he kept a lot of his spare clothes. He needed to quickly change, or else risk other people seeing him and coming to the right conclusion.
“Where are you going?” The Demon King grabbed his hand, his expression suspicious.
In such a public place he unexpectedly grabbed his hand. Bai Yang was embarra.s.sed and felt that everybody was staring at them. He hurriedly threw off the Demon King’s grip and said, “Your Highness, I’m going to change my clothes first.”
“There are clothes in the main hall.” The Demon King was being surprisingly unyielding and refused to let go.
Bai Yang grinded his teeth. “I want to wear my own clothes.”
He emphasized “my own”.
The Demon King sensed that if he stopped him again, Bai Yang would get angry, so he tactfully let him go and said, “I’ll go with you.”
Bai Yang grit his teeth once again. “Do what you want.”
With a flick of his sleeve, he quickly made his way over to the side hall.
As he walked, palace maids and imperial guards all greeted him. Bai Yang nodded in their direction as if nothing was wrong. Then when he reached a secluded area, he teleported into the side hall.
The Demon King was like a ghost sticking to his side.
After entering the side hall. Bai Yang quickly found his clothes. Before he made a move to change, he turned and raised an eyebrow at the Demon King sticking to his side. “You leave first.”
The Demon King looked innocent. “We already did that. What is there to be embarra.s.sed about?”
Bai Yang: “….”
Bai Yang grinded his teeth and suppressed his anger. “Even though we already did that, we haven’t actually formalized our relationship. You leave first.”
“Haven’t formalized our relationship?” The Demon King frowned. Then he smiled happily. “You’ve reminded me. These past two days I set about having the priest offer a sacrifice to heaven. They will decide on a day to confer the t.i.tle of Demon Queen to you.”
Bai Yang almost tore the clothes in his hand to shreds. He stared incredulously at the Demon King. “What did you say?”
The Demon King said, “I said I want to make you the Demon Queen.”
“You’re crazy!” Bai Yang said, alarmed. “I’m a man!”
“So?” The Demon King raised an eyebrow. “The Demon Queen is whoever I choose. Whether that person is a man or a woman, what does that have to do with anything?”
“No one will agree….”
“As long as you agree it’s fine.”
“I can’t give you an heir.”
The Demon King raised an eyebrow and smiled. “I thought of that. It seems that someone offered medicine that could make a man pregnant as a tribute.”
Bai Yang: “….!!!”
Bai Yang shouted in fear, “I don’t want to become pregnant!”
“Alright, no pregnancy, that’s fine too.” The Demon King immediately placated him. “We’ll adopt some naturally gifted children. Our Demon Realm can’t be left without qualified successors.”
Bai Yang lost it. “No!”
“Even if you don’t want to, you must! In short, you have to be my Demon Queen!” The Demon King scowled. His manner was extremely unyielding. Before, Bai Yang could treat him like a doormat, but that was only because the Demon King was feeling guilty and would allow it. As soon as he was unwilling to indulge Bai Yang well… he was still a domineering lord at heart.
Bai Yang was a “bully the weak but fear the strong” kind of person. As soon as he saw the Demon King was being stubborn, he grew a little scared. His att.i.tude softened a bit. “Your Highness, could you let me think for a moment?”
What a joke. Him as the Demon Queen? Besides, if he became the Demon Queen, he’d have to interact with the Demon King all day every day. When would he have the time to take care of his own business?
The Demon King seemed a bit confused. “What more is there to think about? We already have that kind of intimate relationship.”
His romantic IQ was like a parabola. At first, he relied on his imagination to pursue his target. When he caught that person, he provoked disaster and his IQ rose in a straight line and reached the peak. Then, Bai Yang forgave him, and his IQ subsequently declined. His romantic IQ was probably highest when they were by the lake and it consumed a portion of his IQ storage for the future.
Neither of them was on the same wavelength.
Bai Yang resisted the urge to make a face at him. He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. “I think we had better talk about dating first. Then we can consider talking about getting married, alright? In the mortal realm, both heteros.e.xual and h.o.m.os.e.xual couples first date for about a year. They might even date for 30 or 50 years before discussing marriage.”
For now, Bai Yang could not just refuse the Demon King. He could only keep him calm and plan later.
The Demon King considered it for a moment and was a bit dissatisfied. “A year or so is too slow. Is dating a necessary step?
Bai Yang said patiently, “It’s all like this. You can’t skip this step. If you do, there will be no harmony between husband and wife.”
He didn’t know if the Demon King was taking his words to heart. He glanced at Bai Yang. As he looked at him, his face grew red. “No harmony? Cough. Cough. Don’t worry. I will practice well.”
Bai Yang: “….”
Bai Yang thought about taking a hammer and caving in his dog head so he could finally see what was inside. Why did he act like perverted trash all day long?
“Then we technically have been dating.” The Demon King counted on his hand. “If we start from when you fell in love with me, we have been dating for more than a year. So, we can talk about getting married.”
Bai Yang: “….”
When did I fall in love with you? At most, it hasn’t been that long since I started to like you! But I wouldn’t count that time as us dating!
Bai Yang said angrily, “What happened before doesn’t count!”
The Demon King once again became dissatisfied. “Then when should we start counting?”
“Starting now.”
“Now?” The Demon King frowned. “That won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“It would be too late.” The Demon King saw he was in a bad mood and retreated a step. “Let’s start after the time we did that.”
It seemed like he was thinking of what happened just before that time because he began to blush.
What the f.u.c.k are you blushing for!
If you were really that d.a.m.n innocent you wouldn’t have f.u.c.ked me!
Bai Yang was furious. He knew that if he continued to stand off against him, he wouldn’t be able to bargain. He sullenly backed down. “Alright. We’ll count from that time.”
In any case it hasn’t been that long.
“So how long do we have to date before getting married?”
Bai Yang: “….”
He said calmly, “Three years.”
If he gave a long time frame, the Demon King wouldn’t agree. If he gave a short time frame, he wouldn’t have any time to prepare. Three years was an appropriate amount of time.
“Three years?” As expected, the Demon King was not happy. “Too long. Half a year at most.”
“Half a year?!” Bai Yang exclaimed. “That’s too soon!”
The Demon King’s face hardened. “Xie Zetian, you’ve been finding excuses from the very beginning. What is the meaning of this?”
Bai Yang was a bit fl.u.s.tered and struggled to remain calm. “You’re thinking too much. I haven’t been finding excuses.”
The Demon King laughed coldly. “Xie Zetian, I know you liked to play around before and have teased many men and women, but now you’re mine. If you plan to play with my feelings and leave, there’s no way I’d let you!”
Bai Yang felt wronged and shouted, “I don’t!”
“You don’t?” The Demon King looked at him disdainfully. “Then where did those men and women in your residence come from?”
Bai Yang was at a loss for words and could only think about hugging a utility pole and weeping bitter tears. He really regretted touching what he shouldn’t have! At that time, he shouldn’t have touched anyone else, just him!
“Alright. Go dismiss those men and women at your residence for me.” The Demon King’s demeanor was very unyielding. “I’ll date you for half a year. After that, we’ll get married. There’s nothing more to discuss.”
With a furious flick of his sleeve, he left the side hall.
Bai Yang failed at negotiating and wanted to cry but had no tears left.
Bai Yang changed his clothes and returned to his residence.
The Demon King returned to the main hall, angry. Suddenly, he felt that his behavior had been very bad and started to feel guilty. He felt like the kind of tyrant who robbed women with good families.
Thinking about it, I shouldn’t have behaved like that to someone I love. I had better appease him.
“Servant!”
A servant waiting outside entered the main hall at a jog.
The Demon King said, “Choose some things from the treasury and send them to Xie Zetian’s residence.”
“Yes, your Highness,” the servant said.
“Wait.” The Demon King called out and the servant stopped and turned around. The Demon King thought for a moment and said, “I had better go choose something myself.”
The next day.
Bai Yang hardly ever slept in. He was struggling to get out of bed when he heard his shifty-eyed steward running over. As he ran, he said, “My lord! My lord! His Highness had someone send over a lot of things. Please hurry to receive it.”
The Demon King sent something over?
Bai Yang had wiped his face halfway but paused when he heard what was said. He put his towel in a basin being held by a servant and headed out.
The main hall was already filled with quite a few boxes. Seeing this, Bai Yang became fully alert. His mind became full of possibilities, but his biggest worry was… the Demon King didn’t send me betrothal gifts, did he?
Knowing him, he’s definitely capable of doing that.
f.u.c.k, I hope it’s not that!
He felt very embarra.s.sed and anxious. He quickly waved at the curious crowd around him and said, “Leave, all of you.”
His shifty-eyed steward said to the surrounding people, “Didn’t you hear him? If you haven’t left yet then scram!”
“Yes.” They immediately left the hall.
When Shifty-eyes finished he turned his head and noticed Bai Yang’s cold expression. “You go too.”
“….” Shifty-eyes left sullenly.
Only the servant who delivered the treasure and a pile of boxes remained in the hall.
Bai Yang calmly stepped forward and asked, “Why did his Highness suddenly send me so many rewards?”
The servant bowed and responded respectfully, “His Highness said, yesterday I had made Lord Xie upset. Today I sent some gifts as an apology. His Highness originally wanted to apologize in person, but some unavoidable official business came up. Therefore, he sent this lowly one to deliver the gifts.”
As long as they’re not betrothal gifts, that’s fine.