Inside the Demon Palace of the Demon World…
Two hurried sets of footsteps echoed through the halls.
The newly “selected” demon attendants all kept their heads lowered. Even those who had once been the most unruly now stood silently to one side, not daring to utter a word as they listened to their superior desperately chasing after someone with endless persuasion.
“Your Highness… Ah, Your Highness!” Yue Jinshu called, carrying a bowl of bright red liquid as she hurried after him. “Please, at least drink a little. You haven’t eaten anything for three days…”
The exquisitely dressed beauty finally seemed to have had enough of her nagging. He suddenly stopped, turned with a cold expression, and asked, “Whose blood is it?”
Yue Jinshu faltered. Looking somewhat embarrassed, she hesitated before replying, “…It’s blood offered by the people below.”
“What kind of random blood is that?!” Feng Qingyun’s expression grew even colder. “I’m not drinking it!”
The moment Yue Jinshu heard that, it felt as though the sky had fallen. Looking at the handsome face that had already turned pale from lack of nourishment, she nearly wanted to kneel.
“If you keep refusing to drink, your body really won’t be able to take it much longer!” She begged. “When His Majesty returns, he’ll surely blame this servant…”
“He’ll come back?” Feng Qingyun sneered. “Why doesn’t he just die out there?!”
Yue Jinshu: “…”
The other demon attendants: “…”
Everyone wished they could bury their heads in the ground. No one dared respond, much less question how this little ancestor could say something like that.
Seeing that no one spoke, Feng Qingyun coldly threw out one last sentence.
“My refusal to drink this has nothing to do with any of you. If he’s unhappy, he can come argue with me himself!” Then, with a flick of his sleeve, he turned and walked away.
“…”
But when the city gates caught fire, the fish in the moat suffered as well. The demon attendants throughout the palace, who had once behaved so casually, were now all keeping their mouths tightly shut, wishing they could disappear on the spot.
Everyone knew exactly who the “he” in Feng Qingyun’s words referred to.
Throughout the Demon Palace, everyone knew their proud and unruly Demon Emperor possessed a blood rose that he had raised with untold effort, watering it with countless offerings of his own blood.
But since that blood rose had taken human form, only eighteen years had passed. At that age, even among mortals he could hardly be considered grown. In the Demon World or among the ancestral demonic clans, he was younger still.
Yet in those mere eighteen years, His Majesty had cherished Feng Qingyun beyond measure, treating him as though he might melt if held in his mouth or shatter if carried in his hands. He had raised him into a beauty unmatched beneath the heavens.
In the past, let alone a bowl of blood; if Feng Qingyun had asked for the moon itself, His Majesty probably would have found a way to pluck it from the sky.
Looking at things that way, even a blind man could have seen the Demon Emperor’s feelings. The entire palace had even secretly opened countless betting pools over the matter. But with everyone expecting things to naturally come together, the problem arose in the one place no one had anticipated.
The mighty Demon Emperor possessed morals so upright that they left people speechless, ah!
He felt Feng Qingyun was too young. Not in terms of age or maturity, for a flower demon reached adulthood the moment it took human form, and Feng Qingyun’s appearance was already that of a young man of twenty. There was nothing childlike about him.
Moreover, Feng Qingyun himself was exceptionally intelligent and possessed extraordinary talent in every field. Since childhood, he had loved the sword, and in only eighteen years had already comprehended Sword Intent. Judging by his current progress, it seemed likely he would even grasp the Sword Heart before twenty years had passed.
Yet no amount of talent could make up for his lack of life experience.
An eighteen-year-old raised in the mortal world, tempered by hardship, might well be capable of bearing great responsibilities. But Feng Qingyun had spent nearly all eighteen years of his life within the Demon World; indeed, almost entirely within the Demon Palace itself.
And there had only ever been one person in his life…
Long Yin.
Every day, aside from cultivating, he simply nestled against the arms of the one who sustained him, acting spoiled, eating, and sleeping. Other than that, he had scarcely met anyone else.
Raised like a caged canary for eighteen years, it was hardly surprising that he had fallen in love with the one who cared for him, especially when that caretaker was a man of peerless beauty and unrivaled cultivation.
Such a man coaxed him gently every single day, wrapped an arm around his waist, and willingly let Feng Qingyun bite open his neck to feed. Faced with someone like that, almost anyone would have lost both their heart and head.
At this point, it should have been a happy story of mutual affection.
The problem was that this Demon Emperor, who stood above all others in both strength and appearance and should have looked down upon the world without ever knowing the meaning of insecurity, experienced exactly that because of his little blood rose.
His Little Rose was simply too young.
He had barely met anyone besides Long Yin. Perhaps he didn’t even understand what love truly was; perhaps what he felt was only dependence.
Besides, this was the innate nature of a blood rose… to “fall in love” with the one who nourished it, and then consume that person completely before finally reaching maturity.
Thus came the spark that ignited this quarrel.
……………….
Many of the demon attendants had witnessed it that day.
As usual, Feng Qingyun leaned comfortably against Long Yin’s chest. After Long Yin fed him a few lychees, Feng Qingyun frowned and turned his face away.
“Stop feeding me. I don’t want any more. They’re too sweet.”
Long Yin took the lychee Feng Qingyun had refused and popped it into his own mouth. Everyone had long grown accustomed to such scenes. Only Feng Qingyun…
Still leaning against him, he watched Long Yin swallow the fruit. Then, without any warning, he said, “Long Yin, I like you.”
And the mighty Demon Emperor…
…was rendered speechless by that single sentence.
The demon attendants standing nearby secretly breathed sighs of relief. Some were even delighted, close to shouting:
Finally!
Their bets from several days ago had not been in vain, ah!
Yet what happened next left everyone utterly dumbfounded.
Their young master’s confession…
…was rejected?!
Their esteemed Demon Emperor, the very same man who would praise Feng Qingyun even after being slapped, saying His Highness had struck him well, had actually rejected his little blood rose that day, as the latter looked up from his arms and confessed his feelings.
Afterward, he had even fled the Demon Palace, hiding somewhere outside and leaving this group of demon cultivators he had dragged back to serve as attendants to look after His Highness.
The heavens had truly collapsed!
Everyone still remembered the way Feng Qingyun had sat alone on the couch that day, his expression blank, with only the faintest trace of bewilderment.
All of them had felt heartbroken. None could understand what in the world Long Yin had been thinking.
In truth, it was easy enough to explain.
Though he was the Demon Emperor, a title that should have belonged to someone utterly devoid of scruples, when it came to Feng Qingyun, Long Yin’s moral standards were absurdly high.
Ordinarily, he loved teasing him, always speaking with that shameless grin. He would even sew him bright red robes by hand, robes that looked suspiciously like wedding garments, simply to indulge his own improper little fantasies.
But when the day finally came that Feng Qingyun confessed to him…
He suddenly felt that deliberately tempting a blood rose that had not even been in human form for twenty years was nothing short of unforgivable!
“…”
So, in a moment of panic, the mighty Demon Emperor…
… actually fled home.
He was afraid that if he remained in the Demon Palace any longer, he truly might end up doing something beneath even a beast. Better to find somewhere quiet and calm himself down.
Feng Qingyun, however, had no appreciation for his “good intentions.”
He only thought Long Yin was an utter bastard.
After all, when it came to feelings, Feng Qingyun had always been straightforward. Compared to the Demon Emperor, who forever second-guessed himself, he was honest to a fault.
To him, if you liked someone, then you simply said so.
Unlike the Feng Qingyun of another timeline, who had timidly confessed to his Senior Brother, accepted rejection without resentment, and continued forward undeterred, this Feng Qingyun was furious enough to explode after being rejected.
The two situations could not have been more different.
Back then, his vague affection had merely been a blood rose’s instinctive attachment toward its caretaker, so rejection had not truly hurt.
But now…
From the day he had taken human form, Long Yin had given him anything he wanted. If he wanted the stars, Long Yin would offer him the moon instead. Whenever he needed blood, Long Yin bled without hesitation. He had personally sewn him countless garments…
Spoiled for eighteen years, Feng Qingyun had never imagined that his confession could actually be rejected!
His face remained cold, but inwardly he was furious beyond words, so during the days Long Yin had disappeared, he looked ready to smash the entire Demon Palace apart. Yet no matter how pampered he had been, Feng Qingyun’s nature remained unchanged.
Whenever he quarreled with Long Yin, he only ever tormented Long Yin himself. He could never bear to drag innocent people into it, so this time, despite his anger, he had no intention of taking it out on the attendants.
All the rage in his heart was reserved for the coward who had fled before the battle.
And as for ways to torment Long Yin…
He had plenty.
He did not need tears, tantrums, or threats, for simply refusing all food and even half a mouthful of blood was enough to throw that man into complete panic.
Brushing Yue Jinshu aside with a cold expression, Feng Qingyun returned alone to his bedchamber.
Originally, he intended to sit on the bed and cultivate, but deprived of blood for so long, he was starving. His face had turned pale, his stomach burned painfully with hunger, and he simply could not concentrate. In the end, he lay down with a slight frown and closed his eyes, intending to sleep.
Yet the other half of the bed still carried Long Yin’s faint scent.
Mortals called it dragon’s musk, treasuring it beyond measure, but to Feng Qingyun now, the fragrance only fueled his anger. So he rolled over, turning his face toward the window before finally closing his eyes.
He did not know how much time had passed before a faint sound came from outside the chamber doors.
He had almost fallen asleep, and the noise startled him awake instantly. Pretending to remain asleep, he quietly tried to identify the newcomer’s aura, but…
It was not the person he wanted to see.
Instead, Yue Jinshu entered, carrying another bowl of blood with careful, light footsteps.
A crushing wave of disappointment washed over Feng Qingyun.
He shut his eyes tightly, overwhelming grievance welling up inside him until he nearly burst into tears from sheer frustration.
“Your Highness…” Yue Jinshu gently placed the bowl of blood, fresher than the last one, on the bedside table. “I’ve left it here. Please… at least drink a little.”
“…I’m not drinking it,” Feng Qingyun suppressed the emotions in his voice. “You may leave.”
Yue Jinshu froze as she immediately caught the barely perceptible grievance hidden beneath his calm tone. After standing silently beside the bed for several moments, she finally did exactly as he asked and quietly withdrew.
The familiar scent from the bowl of blood drifted toward him, making his head swim. It was as though invisible hands were urging him to drink.
He had only been in human form for eighteen years.
And for those entire eighteen years, he had lived on Long Yin’s blood. The agony of suddenly being cut off was unimaginable, but even so, Feng Qingyun gritted his teeth.
Even if he starved to death, he would not drink a single drop.
He knew perfectly well that this blood, like the previous bowl, had not come from anyone else.
After all, Long Yin guarded him as jealously as one guarded their own eyes. There was no way he would ever allow Feng Qingyun to drink another person’s blood.
Feng Qingyun could tell with a single breath.
Both bowls contained Long Yin’s blood.
Long Yin had simply forbidden Yue Jinshu from telling him, afraid that Feng Qingyun would refuse it out of anger. But what Long Yin did not know was that no matter what Yue Jinshu said, Feng Qingyun would still reject it.
He was deliberately forcing that man to show himself.
Thinking of this, Feng Qingyun half-opened his eyes and looked at his palm. Only a thin layer of calluses covered it, yet it remained far too pale and delicate for the hand of a swordsman.
…It still wasn’t enough.
He needed greater strength, for he refused to remain a canary raised in someone else’s cage. Look at him now… without strength, even love seemed laughable.
The hunger gnawing at his stomach eventually became numb, and at some point, Feng Qingyun finally fell into a true sleep. This time, when the chamber doors opened once more…
He did not wake.
The person he had longed so desperately to see hurried to the bedside and sat down, gazing unblinkingly at his sleeping face. Seeing how pale hunger had made that beautiful little face, Long Yin was overcome with both heartache and guilt.
He wished he could return to that moment and slap himself.
Carefully, he lifted Feng Qingyun into his arms. Still asleep, Feng Qingyun melted bonelessly against his chest, obedient as a doll without consciousness.
Long Yin froze for a heartbeat before coming back to himself. He quickly picked up the bowl of blood from beside the bed and carefully tried to feed it to him. But even in his sleep, Feng Qingyun apparently had not forgotten that he was angry with him.
He stubbornly refused to swallow a single mouthful.
By the end, annoyed by the persistent attempts, Feng Qingyun finally opened his eyes. The instant he saw who stood before him, surprise flickered through those beautiful eyes, still hazy from sleep.
But the moment his mind fully cleared…
That fleeting joy was instantly swallowed by cold anger as he stared icily at Long Yin. His face was snow-white, a streak of crimson blood staining the corner of his lips, making him heartbreakingly beautiful.
“So,” Feng Qingyun said coldly, “you still remembered to come back.”
“Why didn’t you just die outside?”
Perhaps in the entire Demon World, even across all Three Realms… Only Feng Qingyun would dare speak to the Demon Emperor like that.
And the Demon Emperor himself remained utterly obedient under his hand.
After being scolded from head to toe, not only did Long Yin fail to grow angry, he merely held Feng Qingyun closer, his voice low and gentle as he coaxed, “I was wrong. Be good… I’m begging you. Just one sip.”
As he spoke, he brought the bowl of blood toward Feng Qingyun’s lips, but Feng Qingyun simply turned his head away with a cold expression.
Long Yin felt as though he were holding a little kitten who kept pressing its soft paw pads against his face and stubbornly refused to cooperate no matter how he coaxed it.
But he dared not force the issue.
No one understood better than he did just how fierce his family’s little ancestor’s temper could be. Just as he held Feng Qingyun in his arms, frantically trying to think of a solution…
The furious little beauty suddenly did what he always did.
As naturally as breathing, Feng Qingyun lifted his arms around Long Yin’s neck, then abruptly pulled him down. Long Yin was caught completely off guard.
“…What is it now?” he asked hurriedly.
Yet the person before him merely stared at him with those cool, clear eyes.
“…Do you not like me?”
“My little ancestor,” Long Yin took a deep breath. “My feelings for you are as clear as heaven and earth themselves! How could you slander me like this?!”
“Then why did you reject me?” Feng Qingyun asked coldly.
The question left Long Yin speechless. At last, with no other choice, he admitted the truth.
“…You’re too young. You still don’t understand what love is.”
Feng Qingyun’s expression remained icy.
“So in the end, you still think I’m too weak.”
“What does that have to do with strength? You…” Long Yin immediately panicked. But halfway through his explanation, something seemed to occur to him, and his brows suddenly knit together. “Who told you something like that?!”
Feng Qingyun lowered his eyes.
“…No one.”
Long Yin instantly sensed something was wrong. But since Feng Qingyun refused to say more, there was no way to press him now. He could only wrap an arm around the waist that had grown noticeably thinner over the past few days. Lowering his head, he began undoing Feng Qingyun’s belt, his heart aching so badly he hardly knew what to say.
“You even sleep in your clothes… Look how much weight you’ve lost…”
Before he could finish, Feng Qingyun suddenly said, “I’m hungry.”
Hearing that, Long Yin’s eyes lit up with joy. He was just about to reach for the bowl of blood when he noticed Feng Qingyun’s gaze fixed directly on his neck, without the slightest attempt to hide his intentions.
Long Yin paused.
Then he smiled softly, an expression filled with indulgence, and lowered his head, baring his neck before him. Naturally, Feng Qingyun wrapped his arms around his shoulders, opened his mouth, and bit into the side of his neck.
Blood welled up instantly, and the familiar, delicious taste flooded his mouth.
After several days without feeding, the unbearable emptiness inside him was finally soothed. The icy expression on his face softened ever so slightly, and with his beautiful eyes half-closed, he looked exactly like a thoroughly satisfied kitten.
Only after the time it took an incense stick to burn did the feeding finally come to an end. Had it been anyone else, they would likely have been drained dry long ago.
But the Demon Emperor was, after all, the Demon Emperor.
Even now he looked completely unaffected, gently patting the back of the person in his arms as though soothing him.After finishing, Feng Qingyun did not immediately release his neck. Instead, he lingered there for a while before finally pulling away with obvious reluctance.
Before letting go completely, he even gave the wound a gentle lick.
His crimson tongue slowly traced across the bite mark. It was such an intimate, indulgent gesture that anyone witnessing it would have found it impossible to believe there was anything “innocent” left between the two of them.
Having finally fed, Feng Qingyun’s temper improved considerably.
Half-closing his eyes, he leaned lazily against Long Yin’s chest, allowing him to remove his outer robe and gently stroke his back through the thin inner garment.
He remained nestled in Long Yin’s embrace, head lowered in silence. After a long while, however, he suddenly spoke.
“Long Yin… I want to go outside.”
The instant those words left his lips, Long Yin’s hand froze, and his expression changed dramatically. For a fleeting moment, even his pupils seemed to twist with something almost monstrous.
Feng Qingyun froze.
The look in Long Yin’s eyes made every hair on his body stand on end, leaving him stiff in the other’s embrace. But very quickly, Long Yin lowered his head again. After a long silence, he forced out a smile, coaxing, “What made you suddenly want to leave? Don’t you like it here?”
Feng Qingyun pressed his lips together instead of answering immediately.
Although Long Yin’s face remained calm, the hand around Feng Qingyun’s slender waist tightened so much it was nearly digging into him.
“I heard…” Feng Qingyun said quietly, “…that the Righteous Path has a so-called Immortal Palace. The leader of that sect is the Sword Master renowned throughout the world for her swordsmanship. I want to go meet her.”
At that, Long Yin narrowed his eyes, asking, “Has my swordsmanship become insufficient to teach you?”
And yet, Feng Qingyun ignored the question.
“In a few days,” he continued, “it’ll be that Xiān Gōng Sect’s Heavenly Gate Ceremony. I want to…”
At that moment, Long Yin abruptly realized something was seriously wrong, and his face became uglier than ever before.
“…Who told you all this?!”
He had originally assumed it was one of the demon attendants in the palace. Inwardly, he was already grinding his teeth, planning how to throw that loose-tongued fool out to feed the dogs. But Feng Qingyun pursed his lips before revealing a truth Long Yin had never expected.
“…The Sword Master’s Eldest Disciple.”
Long Yin’s face darkened to the extreme.
“The Sword Master has an Eldest Disciple?” he asked, though he obviously knew the answer already. “What’s his name?”
Of course he knew the name of the foremost disciple of the Righteous Path’s greatest sword cultivator…
He was merely testing Feng Qingyun.
He simply refused to believe his little blood rose had secretly come to know some outsider behind his back, but unfortunately…
Reality disappointed him.
Looking at Long Yin’s expression, Feng Qingyun finally felt a trace of fear. His throat bobbed nervously, but even so, he stubbornly lifted his head and met Long Yin’s gaze.
“His name is Mu Hanyang.”
Good.
Very good.
…So they really did know each other.
By now, Long Yin’s voice had become eerily calm.
“How did you meet him?”
“Three years ago…” Feng Qingyun said softly, trapped firmly within Long Yin’s embrace and not daring to meet his eyes. “I met him near the Sea of Red Spider Lilies. He wandered into the Demon World as he was hunting a Rakshasa woman. I intervened… That Rakshasa was Sister Yue.”
“That swordsman surnamed Mu said I possessed extraordinary talent, but the sword I practiced was a demonic sword art, unfit for the highest halls of cultivation…” Feng Qingyun continued. “I want to fight him and prove him wrong. My sword will surpass his a hundredfold.”
Long Yin, however, hadn’t heard a single word of the latter half, for all of his attention was fixed on the first part. His anger instantly shot through the roof.
Three years ago?!
A damn stray dog had slipped right under my nose, almost carried off my Little Rose… and I knew absolutely nothing!?
“So that bastard was the one who told you about the Heavenly Gate Ceremony?” Long Yin forced the words out through gritted teeth.
“…Mm.” Feng Qingyun nodded. “He told me then that three years later would be the Heavenly Gate Ceremony and invited me to attend.”
Invited…
Long Yin was so furious he nearly coughed up blood. At last, he could no longer suppress the fire in his voice, shouting in disbelief, “Why didn’t you tell me back then?!”
At last, Feng Qingyun looked up at him.
“Because I was afraid you’d get angry.”
“…Just like you are now.”
Long Yin nearly choked on his own breath. Terrified of frightening Feng Qingyun, he could only grit his teeth and force both his anger and overwhelming jealousy back down. After a long silence, he barely managed to steady himself.
“Then why tell me now?” he asked hoarsely. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll be angry anymore?”
Feng Qingyun answered lightly, “It doesn’t matter now.”
“After all…”
“…you don’t like me anyway.”
“…”
Hearing that, Long Yin immediately panicked.
“When have I ever said I didn’t…”
“Then will you agree?” Feng Qingyun interrupted coolly.
Long Yin fell silent.
There was no reply.
Seeing his reaction, the last traces of fear in Feng Qingyun’s heart vanished completely, replaced by a nameless irritation. He let out a cold laugh and deliberately added fuel to the fire.
“Oh, right.”
“He also said…”
He intentionally stopped there, and Long Yin immediately looked up.
“…What else did he say?”
Feng Qingyun lifted his eyes to meet his. His lips were still stained crimson from drinking his blood, and an indescribable light shimmered in his gaze. There was unmistakable satisfaction in the revenge he was about to take.
“He said…”
“…that he wanted me to leave the Demon Palace…”
“…and become his Junior Brother.”
The moment those words fell…
An eerie, almost distorted silence descended over the entire bedchamber.
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