Chapter 69
Translator: Redolens
Editor: PlayerProphet
The black-haired youth stared at him until Bai Yang averted his gaze. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I already told you how to help him. Big Brother Demon King has known about this specific method for a while. As for whether or not you do it, that’s up to you.”
The black-haired youth left the side chamber, leaving Bai Yang to stand where he was, at a complete loss.
The door opened and the Demon King, who had been waiting outside, stepped forward. “How was it? Has he been cured?”
The young black-haired City Lord nodded his head. “All cured. There won’t be any more problems.”
The Demon King’s pursed lips relaxed slightly.
“He’s inside,” the young City Lord pointed to the side hall.
Just as the Demon King was about to head in, the young black-haired City Lord tapped his shoulder and said, “I told you I would compensate you. Just you wait.”
The Demon King was puzzled by his words, but the City Lord only smiled and didn’t speak further, unwilling to reveal any more information.
The Demon King didn’t care about anything else and made for the side chamber in long strides.
Long Hai didn’t follow him. He stood stiffly off to one side; his face cold. His eyes were devoid of emotion, like colored glass. “City Lord, why did you do that? You must know Xie Ze Tian was my chosen person.”
“Oh? Is that so?” the youth asked with a wide smile. “It’s exactly because you chose him that I won’t let you have him.”
“City Lord,” Long Hai’s tone was calm. “You went too far.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t know that I’m like this.” The black-haired youth moved closer until the tips of their noses were almost touching. With a voice as gentle as a lover’s whisper, he said, “You thought I would let you leave? Dream on.”
He moved behind Long Hai to where the other man couldn’t see him. The darkness in his pupils suddenly spread, covering the whites of his eyes until they became two dark pools. The aura around his body also became demonic and strange, like that of a demonic beast in the dark.
“You’ve always been looking for someone to help you leave FireThorn City,” he said coldly. “How could I let you succeed? We will be together for-e-ver!”
As he said the word “forever”, he leaned over Long Hai’s back, head almost reaching his ear. “My dear Long Hai, I won’t let you leave. Besides, Xie Ze Tian and Ji Zi Xuan love each other. Sooner or later, they’d end up together. Even without me coming between them, you wouldn’t have gotten what you wanted.”
Long Hai didn’t move a muscle and only let out a sigh. “City Lord is truly headstrong.”
The black-haired youth chuckled and the blackness in his eyes faded until only his pupils remained.
The Demon King entered the side chamber and saw Bai Yang standing in the middle of the room with a distressed look on his face. He strode over to him and asked, “Are you feeling alright?”
Bai Yang heard his voice and lifted his head. “Your Highness.”
The Demon King walked over to Bai Yang, grabbed his head and exposed his fair neck. He then probed the place where the insect had bitten him with his magic. After a few moments, he let him go and said with a small smile, “The Rebirth Worm is gone.”
It was easy to see the worry in his eyes. The relieved smile he revealed as he checked whether the Rebirth Worm was gone made Bai Yang’s heart tremble.
Soon after, the Demon King let out a soft exhalation, as if a great weight was lifted from his shoulders.
With that small motion, Bai Yang could feel how much the Demon King cared about him.
Looking at his smiling face, Bai Yang’s heart felt heavy.
“Xiao Ling, he truly is too good to me. I have to help him….”
“Sir, the method the FireThorn City Lord was talking about is clearly dual cultivation,” Xiao Ling said. I know you know this.”
Bai Yang’s face became awkward. “He also said it’s only… *cough*… it’s only establishing a channel. So long as we don’t… that… the Demon King and I don’t….”
He was so lacking in confidence that he couldn’t even convince himself.
Xiao Ling was exasperated. “Sir, I don’t care anymore. If I were you, I’d just do what he said. The only problem is, haven’t you always been straight?”
Bai Yang: “k2026;.”
Xiao Ling sighed. “I am your service system. What I suggest is the quickest method. I think it’s better if you act like you never heard the City Lord’s advice.”
“How could I do that?” Bai Yang retorted. “He did so much for me. How could I watch indifferently as he qi-deviates?”
“Sir, I’ve warned you repeatedly,” said Xiao Ling. “You’re currently in a fictitious world participating in an experiment. Don’t be confused by these imaginary things, because sooner or later you will leave.”
Bai Yang was silent for a moment. “Then I don’t want to owe him. If I leave without doing anything, even when I return to the real world, I’ll still feel bad.”
Xiao Ling: “… sir, I can only make suggestions. You have the power to decide.”
“I don’t think he’ll mess around,” Bai Yang said.
Xiao Ling said, “… maybe.”
“Xie Ze Tian?” The Demon King’s voice brought Bai Yang back to reality. “What are you doing?”
Bai Yang lifted his head.
The Demon King patted him on the head, “Let’s go.”
He turned to leave.
Bai Yang took a deep breath and tugged on the Demon King’s clothes, struggling to suppress the strange feeling in his heart. “Your Highness, I have something I’d like to ask you.”
I’m saving a life, nothing else. I’m saving a life, nothing else.
He recited it over and over in his heart.
The Demon King turned his head, confused. “Yes?”
“That…” Bai Yang coughed. “The City Lord told me we could… we could solve your qi-deviation problem by establishing a channel.”
The Demon King’s body stiffened, and his expression changed. “He… told you everything?”
Bai Yang shook his head. “He didn’t tell me the specific details. He said you’d know how we’re supposed to do it.”
The Demon King’s gaze was wavering. “This… I do know.”
Bai Yang was happy. “You mean, what he said was true?”
The Demon King gazed at him for a moment before nodding his head.
“Then you should have told me earlier,” Bai Yang blurted out. “I could have helped you.”
The Demon King: “….”
The Demon King coughed. “Ze Tian, you should know what it means to do that sort of thing.”
Bai Yang blurted out, “The City Lord said… he said….”
He opened his mouth, his face turning red, and stuttered. “The City Lord said, as long as… as long as you don’t move it won’t count as… won’t count as dual cultivation….”
The Demon King: “….”
His expression was complicated.
He was silent for a moment. “You’re really willing to help me?”
Ba Yang gritted his teeth and nodded his head.
The Demon King moved closer to Bai Yang. His pupils trembled and there seemed to be a flash of light in his eyes.
“You really… are willing to help me?” he asked, voice hoarse like he was suppressing his emotions.
Bai Yang nodded his head.
“You won’t regret it?”
“I won’t.”
As Bai Yang spoke, he saw the strange expression on the Demon King’s face and was instantly on alert. “Your Highness, let’s be frank. I’m helping you because I owe you a lot, that’s all. You can’t mess around. If you do, when the time comes, I won’t help you.”
The Demon King: “….”
Bai Yang: “Your Highness?”
The Demon King’s expression changed suddenly, and he promised. “Alright, I… won’t move.”
The Demon King pulled Bai Yang hurriedly out of the side hall. Bai Yang, who was pulled without warning, stumbled. He wanted to struggle but discovered the Demon King’s grip was like iron.
Bai Yang gave up struggling and followed him calmly out of the side hall.
As soon as they left, they saw Long Bing and Long Hai leaning close to each other and talking about something. The Demon King walked over and said to the young City Lord, “Since our deal is done, we will be leaving.”
The young City Lord looked at the Demon King and then looked at Bai Yang. “What’s the hurry?” he said, smiling.
“Our business is done,” said the Demon King. “Naturally, we’d leave as soon as possible.”
The black-haired youth laughed. “Yes, indeed. Staying too long in the city wouldn’t be good for you at all. Goodbye, Big Brother Demon King.”
He waved a hand towards the Demon King and Bai Yang and they saw multicolored rays of light flash before their eyes. By the time they snapped out of it, they had appeared outside the white pagoda.
Long Hai appeared beside them and said, “This way please. I’ll escort you two out.”
The Demon King’s lower jaw tensed, and he made a noise of assent. He pulled Bai Yang along and followed Long Hai out.
They left the white pagoda, the garden and finally were outside the city gate.
The journey was smooth and unhindered.
Long Hai bowed to them and smiled. “Goodbye and take care.”
In an instant, FireThorn City rippled like a reflection in the water.
Bai Yang was surprised. The Demon King pulled him back. “Don’t look. We’re leaving.”
Bai Yang immediately turned his head.
The Demon King pulled Bai Yang out into the lava area. The blazing heat roasted the soles of their shoes. Bai Yang carefully followed the Demon King’s steps. It probably took them about an incense stick of time to leave the lava area.
Bai Yang turned his head and saw no trace of the city on the flat lands of the mountain range. FireThorn City had disappeared.
No wonder FireThorn City was a place you could never reach.
Bai Yang had no idea how the Demon King got involved with them.
In his heart, Bai Yang sighed with emotion.
“Your Highness, what is the Heavenly Demon Pearl?” Bai Yang asked, curious. He could sense that this Heavenly Demon Pearl was what the young City Lord was after.
The Demon King led the way and didn’t turn his head. “Inside the Heavenly Demon Pearl is an ancient spirit. Long Bing is FireThorn City’s spirit. He wants to replace himself with the Heavenly Demon Pearl.”
“Replace himself?” Bai Yang asked curiously.
“Yes,” the Demon King said. “FireThorn City’s residents are not like us. They can’t be considered living people. Long Bing’s spirit allows FireThorn City to function. At the same time, he’s bound to it. Without the Heavenly Demon Pearl, he’ll never be able to leave FireThorn City.”
Bai Yang understood. “So he wants the Heavenly Demon Pearl, because otherwise he has no way to leave FireThorn City. Therefore, he’s having you help him find it.”
“Correct,” the Demon King said. “My mother traveled throughout the demon realm, sealing away demons. I don’t know when she got involved with FireThorn City. I was rummaging through my mother’s relics when I discovered a keepsake from there. I took it and attempted to find the city. Unexpectedly, I managed to enter. I needed power. They needed someone to help them move around the Demon Realm. Thus, we began our partnership.”
“But Long Hai can leave and enter freely.”
“He can’t,” the Demon King said. “He can only leave with Long Bing’s permission. There exists a sort of co-dependent relationship between them. I don’t understand it too well. In short, Long Hai can’t leave FireThorn City for long. He serves as the messenger between Long Bing and I.”
So that’s how it is.
FireThorn City really is strange.
As they talked, they left the limits of FireThorn City.
After walking some distance, their surroundings gradually grew wilder. Within a 100-li radius there was no sign of human activity.
Bai Yang was cured of the poison and full of vitality. He prepared to teleport quickly to the Palace of Eternal Darkness.
Just as he was about to activate the spell, the Demon King grabbed at his chest and coughed.
Bai Yang immediately went to support him. “Your Highness, are you alright? Is this a plot by the City Lord against you?”
He’s been under the control of the young black-haired City Lord twice. FireThorn City had too many strange tricks. Even if the Demon King’s cultivation was strong, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t fall into a trap.
“It’s nothing….” The Demon King took a deep breath. “I’m just….”
“Just what?” Bai Yang asked impatiently.
“I’m just about to qi-deviate,” the Demon King said, his expression turning pained. He then grabbed Bai Yang’s shoulder and clutched hard enough that he couldn’t escape. “You said you’d help me. Now, help me!”
Bai Yang: “….”
Faced with the Demon King’s intense eyes, Bai Yang felt goosebumps from head to toe. The danger he felt made him want to run. “Your- your Highness?”
“You’re unwilling?” The Demon King’s eyes widened as if in disbelief. “You’re backing out?”
“No….” Bai Yang’s mind blanked out. He wasn’t ready. He was caught off-guard when the Demon King brought it up so suddenly. “This… this….”
“Ai, forget it.” The Demon King withdrew his hand and let out a long sigh. “If you’re not willing, then forget it. In the future when I qi-deviate, I will suppress it by force. That’s how I handled it these past few years. I’ll just endure it for as long as I can….”
T/N: Sorry again for the hiatus! We had to reorganize a bit.