Chapter 95
Translator: Redolens
Editor: Crescentmoon
Bai Yang was only scared for a moment. His mind started whirring.
Are you saying that the mirror is a lie detector? I don’t believe you.
Bai Yang thought that the Demon King was trying to bluff.
He managed to keep his cool and deliberately laughed, saying, “Your Highness, where did you get this mirror? Can it really detect lies?”
He extended his hand and waved it in front of the mirror. He also looked into it and made funny faces, but nothing was reflected on the surface.
“Your Highness, is this really a mirror? How can it not reflect anything?”
The Demon King didn’t respond. If he answered him in front of the mirror, it would count as a question, and he had other things he wanted to ask Bai Yang.
When he didn’t play along, Bai Yang felt a bit awkward. He looked at the Demon King’s blank face and forced a laugh. He muttered, “Why are you suddenly so serious?”
The Demon King’s expression was serene. “I have something I want to ask you. When I ask, you answer. Don’t talk nonsense. Do you understand?”
Bai Yang’s chrysanthemum clenched. He was filled with foreboding. He forced another laugh and said, “Your Highness, what are you doing? You’re acting like you’re interrogating a criminal, ha, ha, ha….”
The Demon King paid no attention to his laughing and directly asked, “Is Zhou Ying your son?”
Bai Yang saw that he was unable to change the topic and thought he could bluff his way out of it. Without thinking, he said, “Of course he is!”
Gradually, Bai Yang’s face appeared on the surface of the mirror, floating in the air.
Bai Yang: “….???”
What the h.e.l.l is going on? Just now, didn’t the mirror not reflect anything?
He turned to look at the Demon King and saw that he had a dark expression on his extremely handsome face.
Bai Yang’s heart was racing. “Your- Your Highness?”
The Demon King scowled and said slowly, “If you lie in front of the Mirror of Truth, it will show the reflection of the liar.”
Bai Yang felt his legs go weak, but he didn’t want to admit the truth. “I didn’t lie.”
He had some difficulty breathing. Perhaps it was due to the miasma around them being too thick.
Unexpectedly the mirror was real!
It really was a lie detector!
The situation had suddenly changed, and he was not prepared. In an instant, everything had turned into a mess.
The Demon King stared at him, his shocked expression conveying both relief and heartache. Bai Yang shrunk under his stare, feeling guilty.
After a moment, the Demon King continued to ask, “Earlier, you went to the Human Realm so many times. You said it was for me, but you actually went to see Zhou Ying. Is that right?”
Bai Yang: “….”
“Xiao Ling, Xiao Ling! What should I do now?” he hurriedly asked. Unfortunately, he didn’t receive any response.
Right, Xiao Ling was fast asleep and couldn’t answer him.
He had to face the Demon King’s questions and his subsequent anger alone.
Why would the Demon King suddenly ask that? At most, he suspects my relationship with Zhou Ying is good, why would he suspect that the reason I’ve been going to the Human Realm so many times was for Zhou Ying? No one should know that secret!
How should he respond?
Wouldk2026; would he be beaten flat????
“Yes, or no?!” Since he didn’t respond for a long time, the Demon King suddenly raised his voice.
Bai Yang was startled and quivered from head to toe. “Yesk2026; no, it’s notk2026;.”
The gravity defying mirror once again reflected Bai Yang’s panic-stricken face.
The Demon King: “….”
The Demon King calmly stared at him. His eyes were as deep as the abyss around them. His qi involuntarily leaked out of his body. It curled around him, like a trapped beast struggling to break free.
Bai Yang saw his appearance and knew he was angry. His legs felt even weaker.
“Your Highness, I….”
“So, at that time you mislead me, letting me think that you loved me. In reality, the whole time I only imagined that you liked me,” the Demon King said coldly. His aura condensed into black smoke and started to spread out in all directions.
Bai Yang: “….”
He was too scared to even speak.
“Speak!” the Demon King berated him with a stern voice.
Bai Yang’s body shook and, trembling with fear, he said, “Your Highness….”
“You only have to answer whether or not this happened. Otherwise, I will kill Zhou Ying!” the Demon King said, distraught.
What now?
The Mirror of Truth can detect lies. No matter what, I have to play this through!
This was a critical moment. Bai Yang’s chaotic mind suddenly calmed. The instinct to survive allowed him to fight back with all his might and put up one final struggle. “Your Highness, there is a problem with this mirror! I didn’t lie. It’s the mirror that has a problem! Your Highness, who gave this mirror to you? He clearly wanted to use this mirror to sow discord between us. Don’t be fooled!”
The Demon King laughed coldly. “Xie Zetian, oh, Xie Zetian. I never expected you to be such an expert in sophistry. How did I not see this before?”
“It’s not sophistry!” Bai Yang denied with everything he had. “Everything I have said is true. I didn’t lie to you!”
The mirror once again reflected his eager appearance.
Bai Yang: “….”
d.a.m.n, I want to smash this broken mirror!
“I’ll ask you again. Have you been misleading me and letting me think that you liked me too?” the Demon King asked coldly.
Bai Yang went weak at the knees.
“I’ll count to three. If you don’t answer me, I will kill Zhou Ying. Then, I will skin you!” The magic around the Demon King’s body suddenly exploded, bowling over Bai Yang.
Bai Yang’s head was blank. He realized that the Demon King was truly angry and meant what he said. He struggled to crawl up from the ground. “Don’t….”
The Demon King’s pitch-black eyes stared into him.
“I’ll answer. I’ll answer…. Don’t get angry… I….”
“Answer me!” the Demon King raised his voice.
Now that things were like this, Bai Yang glanced at the mirror and grit his teeth. Trembling with fear, he said, “…it’s true.”
The mirror was as quiet as a chicken and didn’t reflect anything.
Bai Yang: “….”
The Demon King closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The magic all around him whipped around violently, like a hurricane. It whipped up sand and rocks. The originally solid stone wall unexpectedly began to crack. His magic flung and smashed many of the stones. It was like Judgment Day had come.
There was also a great pressure. Bai Yang could hardly breathe. He only had one thought: this time he was done for.
He knelt down with a crack and begged uselessly, “Your Highness, spare me and Zhou Ying! I really didn’t mean to trick you…. Please be magnanimous. Let us go!”
The Demon King’s whole body was shaking, and his eyes gradually started to redden. “Why? Why did you trick me? Who is Zhou Ying to you? Why are you so protective of him… to the point where you would willingly go against me!”
Bai Yang started to cry from terror. He crawled over and grabbed his thigh, crying, “Your Highness, Zhou Ying really isn’t my son, but he is very important to me. If he dies, I will also die. That’s why I repeatedly saved him.… Your Highness, you must believe me! Wu, wu, wu….”
He saw the Demon King’s eyes gradually redden and immediately pointed at the mirror, saying, “Your Highness, look! The mirror isn’t reflecting anything. That proves that I’m not lying! I’m telling the truth!”
The Demon King looked at the mirror, which was calmly not reflecting anything.
The red in his eyes gradually faded, and his frantic qi dissipated a little.
“Then who is Zhou Ying to you? Is he your lover?”
“He’s not! He’s definitely not!” Bai Yang hugged his thigh and violently shook his head. “He’s a stranger. If his life were not linked to mine, I wouldn’t be trying to save him.”
The Demon King glanced at the mirror again, which showed no reflection.
The qi around him slowly returned to his body, but his expression remained ugly.
“Then I’ll ask you. Do you….” He paused, unexpectedly unable to continue.
Bai Yang gazed at his blurry face with teary eyes. He nervously stared at him and waited for him to ask the question.
He had no choice. He could only tell the truth and hope that the Demon King would be lenient. He fantasized that the Great Lord Demon King would see that he was telling the truth in order to be spared and show him mercy.
The Demon King stared at him, expression changing rapidly, and the veins in his forehead bulging. His lips moved. He wanted to speak but didn’t say anything, as if the next question he wanted to ask was really a difficult one, making it hard for him to get it out.
“Your Highness, ask me…. This small one will definitely tell you everything I know, without reservation.” Bai Yang had already humbly lowered himself to a “small one”.
The Demon King took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a bit. He leaned down and grabbed Bai Yang’s chin. He stared into his eyes and asked, “If I ask you, you must answer honestly.”
Bai Yang nodded as if his life depended on it and anxiously stared back at him.
The Demon King’s expression twisted, and he asked in a husky voice, “Do you… love me?”
Bai Yang: “….???”
He didn’t react at all. He’d been expecting the Demon King to ask him why his life was linked with Zhou Ying’s. He’d been ready to tell him everything. He had no choice since he’d die either way. In the end, however, the Demon King asked him whether or not he loved him.
His very nervous brain couldn’t process the question and Bai Yang was stunned.
“Ah-!”
He was only stunned for a moment, when the Demon King suddenly exploded and grabbed the mirror, throwing it towards the cliff. With the other hand he firmly grabbed Bai Yang’s chin. With red eyes he said emotionally, “Whether or not you love me, you will be with me! You teased me first. You must take responsibility! I don’t care! You have to be with me in this life, in the next life, for eternity!”
Bai Yang returned to his senses and immediately grabbed his wrist, saying, “Your Highness, I love you! Don’t get angry, I love you!”
The Demon King grabbed him with a twisted expression and kissed him pa.s.sionately. To be exact, he bit him.
He resembled a beast holding his favorite thing in his mouth. As long as he could swallow it, he’d be happy.
He bit Bai Yang painfully, piercing his lips and causing blood to flow.
“Your Highness… oh….”
The Demon King still didn’t let him go. He firmly grabbed the back of his head and bit him viciously.
Bai Yang struggled with all his might. He was out of breath.
“Your Highness, I love you…. This time I’m not lying… I’m really not lying….”
Unfortunately, the Demon King didn’t believe him.
Bai Yang felt desperate.
He gazed at the Demon King’s crazed appearance and suddenly felt very sorry for him. His heart felt like it had been grabbed. He could feel the fear and sorrow behind his crazy behavior.
He thinks I’m lying.
But he wasn’t.
He was sure. He loved the Demon King, loved this person beside him.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t believe him again.
Bai Yang felt very sad.
The Demon King was still kissing him.
Bai Yang thought: What can I do to make him believe that I’m not lying?
If only the mirror were still here… mirror?
Taking advantage of the fact that the Demon King was still focused on the kiss, Bai Yang used all his strength to push him away and rushed towards the cliff. Then, in front of the shocked Demon King, he jumped and entered the miasma filled crack.
“Zetian-!”
The Demon King’s shocked and angry shout echoed from above.
All he could hear was the wind. All around him, the miasma reacted like a colony of alarmed blood-sucking bats, biting into Bai Yang. Bai Yang’s protective shield was quickly bitten through, and the miasma started to eat at him. It was like innumerable small knives were cutting into his skin.
He fell….
He fell….
He kept falling.
The deeper he fell, the bigger the injuries he sustained.
The thickness of the miasma had already condensed enough that he could physically feel it. Sinking into it was like sinking into a swamp.
Bai Yang struggled to squint. He saw a glimmer of light within the dense darkness. That must be the mirror.
Bai Yang put a lot of effort into swimming downwards. He endured the miasma eating at him and reached the mirror.
The mirror was supported by the miasma and floated in the thick darkness. Perhaps the material was special. Unexpectedly, there was no damage. Bai Yang held his breath, grabbed the mirror, and then swam upwards with all he had.
There was a strong attractive force coming from below, as if the abyss was preventing him from leaving.
Bai Yang held the mirror with one hand and swam with the other, trying his best to swim upwards.
Just when he seemed to have no more strength left, a hand reached down from above, grabbed him, and dragged him out of the swamp. Then it brought him out of the abyss in a rush, dragging him up, and returning him to the cliff.
Bai Yang stepped onto the ground and swayed a bit before standing firm.
His whole body looked like he’d been splashed with boiling hot bitumen. His hair, his skin, and his clothes all ragged, corroded. Contaminated with the thick black miasma, his skin had festered beyond recognition. He looked frightening, like he’d been severely burned.
“Zetian…. Zetian….” The Demon King looked at him in alarm.
Bai Yang took one last breath and held out the mirror. He said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Ji Zixuan, I’ll answer your question. Even though I lied to you so much, I love you. That has never changed.”
When he finished speaking, he dropped the mirror in front of the shocked Demon King. His vision started to go dark.