I Heard The Demon Lord Has A Crush On Me? - Chapter 5

“My health has not been very good lately, so I have been recuperating at home and rarely handling matters in the demon realm. After receiving Tan Zhao’s message yesterday, I made a trip to the Spirit Illusion Bureau, and indeed, someone with malicious intentions managed to exploit a loophole. Although we remedied the situation in time, the entire nine-tailed clan has gone missing, and Clan Leader Guiyu cannot be reached no matter what.”

With a shake of his head, Suyan sighed. On one hand, he was worried about the demon realm, and on the other, he felt frustrated with his own uncooperative body.

Grabbing a teacup, Qingmo clapped it down over the head of the helpless little snake. “Do you have any suspects?”

“I do.” Hearing this, a deeper sense of guilt washed over Suyan. “The rebel mermaid branch is prime suspect material. I should have listened to you back then and not let them off.”

“I just saw a mermaid in the holding area for beasts.” Finished tormenting the little snake, Qingmo sat down opposite Suyan and propped his chin in his hand to look at him. “They are all small fry. With your strength, they are nothing to fear.”

“More importantly, though, I am curious…” He paused, seemingly weighing his words. “Well, apart from staying home to nurse your health, have you really not done anything else?”

Like falling in love, for instance.

“Anything else?” Suyan was left completely bewildered by the question, yet he answered earnestly all the same, “Aside from meeting you at the morning assembly in the Lingyao Palace yesterday, I truly have not stepped outside much. Shenyin helps me handle the majority of official duties.”

This was practically an indirect confession! Holed up at home day in and day out doting on that ugly creature, never stepping past the front gates, leaving official duties completely neglected, spending romantic nights behind embroidered curtains so the ruler no longer attended early court!

Having finally caught him in the act, Qingmo suppressed the rising excitement in his chest, eager to dig deeper. However, the auction was reaching its final stages, and Suyan’s attention was drawn away by this last creature.

A hollowed-out platform slowly rose into view, first revealing a tail of glistening, faint-shining scales that made the assembled crowd gasp. By the time the mermaid’s full beauty was displayed, everyone had completely forgotten how to breathe.

A mermaid’s appearance was hardly peerless. Most of the time, they relied on their singing voices and tail scales to charm mortals. Just like now, everyone was marveling at those dazzling scales.

Suyan grew increasingly solemn as he stared at the mermaid on stage, offering only perfunctory responses to Qingmo’s continued probing. Failing to extract the desired answers, Qingmo quickly lost interest and turned his attention toward Shenyin instead.

The young girl remained completely unaware of the impending danger, happily teasing the two little nine-tailed foxes until a shadow abruptly fell over her.

“Shenyin, let me ask you a few questions.” Qingmo flashed a smile that could only be described as roguish.

“Ah… ah?”

Sneaking a glance to ensure Suyan was completely distracted, he leaned in and whispered, “How long have you been following Suyan?”

“A very long time.”

Answering with a sinking face and a raised fist, Qingmo drew out his tone, “Answer properly.”

Subconsciously shrinking her neck, Shenyin stammered, “I… ever since I gained consciousness, the Lord has been the one raising me… I truly cannot remember how long it has been.”

“Then try recalling your childhood. Besides Suyan, was there really no one else around?”

“There truly was not. Whenever I had free time, I was cultivating, and the Lord did not always have the leisure to check on me either.”

Sensing something amiss, Shenyin cast a suspicious look. “Lord Ghost King, you never care about the Lord’s private affairs. Why are you asking all this?”

Unwilling to let his motives become too obvious, and knowing Shenyin was far from brilliant, Qingmo decided to test the waters directly. “I heard that the position of Demon Queen…”

Boom!

Before he could finish, a tremendous crash erupted from the stage.

The mermaid, who had kept his eyes closed the entire time, suddenly burst into motion. A surge of terrifying power erupted from his body, his scales bristling as the eyes he forced open filled entirely with dense black mist!

Sharp fingertips slashed open the reinforced cage, and the sound he emitted was no longer a melodic song, but a bone-chilling roar. Swinging a powerful fish tail to shatter the bars, the mermaid grabbed the auction host and literally tore the flesh apart in two.

With this sudden disaster, everyone present lost their minds.

“Ah!”

Someone let out the first piercing shriek, and chaos instantly erupted through the venue.

The reek of blood drifted up to the upper levels. Qingmo sprang to his feet, exchanged a glance with Suyan, and at that exact moment, the door locks outside began rattling violently.

“Act according to circumstances.”

“Agreed.”

Nodding, Qingmo darted swiftly back to his neighboring room, remembering to scoop up the little red fox and tuck it securely inside his robes.

The attendant unlocked the door to announce that the auction was temporarily suspended, half-forcibly blindfolding the guests before escorting them away to separate resting quarters.

The room provided was dilapidated yet barely passable as clean, and the door remained bolted from the outside. Suyan picked up Little Furball to check its health while occasionally pressing a hand to his mouth to cough.

The little snake looked over with worry in its eyes. “Lord, are you well…”

Cough cough. “I am fine.”

That looked precisely nothing like being fine.

Meeting Suyan in person for the very first time, having only heard rumors of the peerlessly handsome Demon Lord plagued by chronic illness, the snake realized the stories had actually understated it. He was undeniably gorgeous, yet gave off the distinct impression he might cough his lungs out and drop dead at any given second.

Ptui ptui ptui. Must not think such treasonous thoughts about the Lord.

A ripple of spiritual energy stirred the air. Raising his eyelids before a sound was even uttered, Suyan heard a familiar voice ring out, “This one is no fun, it just cried when I poked it, get me another one!”

Appearing out of thin air within the room came a figure holding a weeping little fox with an expression of deep displeasure.

Suyan gently took the pitiful little creature into his arms and coaxed it softly, “This little one is timid; it was simply frightened by you.”

Little Furball, on the other hand, remained entirely oblivious, still spinning around in circles chasing its own tail.

Though little foxes all shared the same general appearance with big ears and fluffy tails, Little Furball possessed a uniquely clear yet utterly foolish gaze found nowhere else in the world.

“Little Furball! I knew you loved me best!”

“Ying? Ying!”

As night fell, a bird with nimble movements squeezed through the locked door gap, transforming mid-air into the shape of a young maiden.

“Lord, I have found the location of the mermaids.”

Tossing aside Little Furball, which had been petted to the point of a near out-of-body experience, Qingmo spoke up on Suyan’s behalf, “Hard work. Take a rest.”

“Lord Ghost King? Why are you here?”

Spouting nonsense with a straight face, Qingmo declared, “Naturally, I am here to take care of your Lord. Coughing so violently it sounded like the world was ending, I was terrified he might kick the bucket.”

“Look how frail he is,” Qingmo edged closer to Suyan, offering heartfelt advice, “You are no longer young; we really should find someone reliable to look after you instead of dragging this out.”

Believing Qingmo had finally seen the light, Suyan replied half in jest and half in earnest, “Then might I invite you to take care of me instead?”

Missing the underlying implication entirely and taking it as a barbed remark, Qingmo scoffed, “Count me out. I would only cause trouble without being of any use, though I do have a few honest and capable folks back at my manor. Shall I send one over another day?”

Talking nonsense yet again, the faint spark of hope just ignited was instantly quenched. Struggling to maintain his smile, Suyan demurred, “My household is not lacking in servants; I simply dislike having others wait on me hand and foot. Besides, my consort does not care for strangers.”

A ghost king’s status was carved out through blood and slaughter, but the Demon Lord was different. Everyone across the Lingyao Palace knew Suyan was the Heavenly Path’s younger brother; otherwise, given his constant state of calling in sick, he likely would have been stripped of his position long ago.

Qingmo was well aware of all this, yet he increasingly suspected the other man was merely using the Heavenly Path as an excuse. Every word, implicitly or explicitly, screamed it is not that I do not want servants, it is simply that the lady of the house forbids it.

Wondering what wretched creature possessed such incredible fortune to land a hopeless romantic like Suyan, Qingmo turned his head away and wrinkled his nose in disdain. The sickly fellow was handsome enough, but his taste was truly questionable.

“Qingmo,” Suyan called out, “what has gotten into you today? You keep focusing on such peculiar questions.”

Covering for himself, Qingmo brushed it off. “Nothing at all. As fellow colleagues, I simply wish to show a bit more care.”

“My foot!”

Peeking out from behind Shenyin, the little snake chimed in with a supportive jab.

Though lacking any genuine sincerity, Suyan was already satisfied. Settling the little red fox down, he reached a hand out toward Qingmo. “Since you have such kind intentions, why not accompany me to track down the missing mermaids?”

Digging a hole and jumping right into it, Qingmo stared at that extended hand. Agreeing felt wrong, refusing felt wrong, and a sudden, fierce urge to slap himself swept over him.

This location was an abandoned village. Torches flickered with gloomy flames, patrols of guards crossed paths overhead, and a barrier hidden from mortal eyes hung above, effectively sealing off illusion from reality.

Suyan was still lingering in quiet disappointment over the failed hand-holding attempt when he turned around to find that the heartless Qingmo had already gone diving straight into a patch of bushes to eavesdrop.

The layouts of the various ruined houses were largely identical, and this one happened to house another guest who had attended the auction. Pressing his ear against the wall for a long moment in hopes of catching useful intelligence, Qingmo heard only the muffled voices of two men followed by a strange, continuous rhythm of impacts.

With hearing far sharper than Qingmo’s, the moment Suyan drew near, he instantly recognized what the occupants inside were up to. A rush of blood heated his face, and with an unnatural expression, he urged, “Let us leave…”

Frustrated at being unable to make out the words through the wall, Qingmo was scratching his head in agitation. “What on earth are they talking about… Huh? Why is your face so red?”

Narrowing his eyes, he scrutinized the suspicious flush on Suyan’s face with furrowed brows, until a renewed wave of muffled sounds drifted through the wall, causing him to smack his head in sudden enlightenment.

“Ah… quite the appetite they have, getting down to business in a dump like this.”

Suyan reacted with all the bashfulness of an innocent youth. Full of mischief, Qingmo hooked the corners of his mouth into a teasing smirk. “You are an ancient monster for goodness’ sake, it is not like you have never been in love. Why put on such a pure act!”

“Who?”

In love? Him?

Sensing Qingmo had fundamentally misunderstood, yet terrified that those pretty thin lips might spew out even more unbefitting vulgarities, Suyan abandoned all attempts at explanation and jerked backward out of the brush.

Realizing he had pushed the joke too far, Qingmo scrambled to catch up. “Suyan, I was only joking with you, do not take it to— mph!”

Before he could react, a wave of dense, bitter medicinal fragrance engulfed him. Qingmo’s eyes widened as he was pressed hard against a wall. A pale, cool hand firmly muffled his mouth, an arm wrapped tightly around his slender waist, and right beside his ear thudded the heavy, rapid rhythm of another’s heartbeat.

Being somewhat shorter than Suyan, he was practically swallowed whole within the heavy fur cloak, his height disadvantage on full display.

Torches crackled as a squad of guards marched past in orderly ranks. When their illumination swept through the darkness, they quietly skipped past, deliberately bypassing that patch of shadows and missing the embrace entirely.