I Heard The Demon Lord Has A Crush On Me? - Chapter 6

Blood dripped along the gravel path, punctuated by scattered, glowing scales that looked bewitching and eerie.

The courtyard was devoid of light, but the guards were unusually numerous. Su Yuan pulled two veils from his robes and handed one to Qingmo.

The latter gave him a resentful look and refused the veil. “You did that on purpose.”

“Didn’t you tease me earlier? We are even.” Su Yuan tried to reason with him. When Qingmo stubbornly refused to put on the veil, he reached out to do it himself.

“Forget it, forget it.” Qingmo ducked his head to dodge the reaching hand. “I am magnanimous and will not stoop to your level.”

The abilities of the Ghost Fiend made their movements effortless. Though he claimed to bear no grudge, Qingmo was still brooding over the incident, leaving Su Yuan with just a tiny pinch of his sleeve to hold onto as they slipped past the guards undetected and sneaked into the courtyard.

A nauseating stench of blood rushed into their nostrils. Qingmo wrinkled his nose and blinked to adjust to the darkness, instantly spotting the half-dead merman.

The captive was merely a youth who had recently taken human form. His arms were bound tightly in heavy iron chains and suspended from the rafters, his bloodstained tail hanging limply down while most of his scales had been violently scraped away.

His aura was exceedingly weak; no wonder the guards said he would not last another hour.

As a subject of the demon realm, the sight stirred Su Yuan. He placed his palm against the bleeding chest, channeling some vital energy to protect the youth’s heart.

Squatting halfway down, Qingmo kept his eyes fixed on the merman’s tail.

The gorgeous fish tail had lost its former luster, and near its base, a bizarre symbol had been carved. The marking was as crimson as fresh blood, and when the central dots were connected, they formed the shape of a skull.

Though he had browsed countless ancient texts, he could not identify the origin of this symbol. Perhaps the merman’s sudden frenzy at the auction house was tied to this mysterious mark.

For a brief, blurred moment, he rubbed his eyes, only to notice the crimson patterns slowly beginning to spin.

A flood of unbearable memories rushed into his mind, along with a name he still refused to speak aloud.

Blood-stained zither strings, endless cursing ringing in his ears, and the betrayal and deception of those he once swore to protect and love.

He had sat in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, playing a single tune.

“Qingmo.”

“Qingmo!”

Before plunging into the abyss, he was yanked back by a sudden tug. Coming to his senses, he found Su Yuan staring at him with a peculiar expression.

“Qingmo, you looked very strange just now.” Su Yuan pried open his tightly clenched fists, revealing a bleeding crescent-shaped wound on his palm where his fingernails had dug deep.

A cool fingertip brushed across the skin, and the wound healed instantly.

Amidst the surrounding scent of blood, the lingering trace of herbal fragrance did not seem quite as unpleasant anymore.

Dazed, Qingmo stared at his palm, which was as good as new, and curled his fingers. “There is something wrong with this fish tail. It easily beguiles the mind.”

Understanding tacitly, Su Yuan bound the fish tail up securely. The movement roused the merman, who opened his eyes. Staring heavily at the weighty shackles, he looked up with uneasy eyes at Su Yuan’s heterochromatic gaze. “Sovereign?”

The merman who had mutinied all those years ago had been branded on the neck. Though the youth’s neck was stained with blood, the skin beneath was clean, though that did not rule out the possibility that he was a descendant of those traitors.

Remaining silent, Su Yuan channeled another surge of energy into him. “Leaving the demon realm without authorization is a grave crime.”

The merman shook his head frantically, speaking in a hurried defense. “Sovereign! I did nothing of the sort! Guiyu dragged me out.”

“Guiyu? Why would he capture you?” Guiyu was also a nine-tailed fox. Years ago, he and Su Yuan had been on good terms, but due to poor health, Guiyu had lived in seclusion, causing their bond to gradually fade. Their last meeting had been a decade ago. Even so, Su Yuan could not fathom why Guiyu would turn against him.

Being young and inexperienced in the world, the merman youth felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. “I was on my way to the fox clan to find Ashi that day when I happened to run into Clan Chief Guiyu. He was leaving the demon realm with Ashi and a group of young demons. Because you always taught us that the outside world is dangerous and forbade young demons from wandering off, I wanted to step forward and stop them, but…”

But his cultivation was mediocre, and he was no match for Guiyu. Not only had he failed to rescue Ashi and the little ones, but he had ended up captured himself.

His tone was sincere and bore no trace of falsehood. Su Yuan unfastened his chains, his earlier calm shifting. “Are you saying Ashi is here as well?”

Having lost his restraints, the merman collapsed to the ground, pushing himself up with bloodied arms. “Yes. I heard the guards mention it. Ashi is with Guiyu. Sovereign, I beg you to rescue Ashi! He was threatened as well and did not leave of his own accord.”

“You need not worry. Ashi is very important to me.”

With nothing better to do, Qingmo was tugging at the iron chains hanging from the rafters when Su Yuan’s words caused his hand to slip. The heavy chains cascaded down with a rattle, striking him squarely on the head.

“Ouch!”

“Qingmo! Are you alright?”

“I am fine.” Qingmo clutched his head, putting on a brave front as he eagerly volunteered for the job. “Look, why don’t you take this fish and leave? I will go rescue Ashi for you!”

What kind of fox could prompt the Demon Lord to call someone very important? Naturally, a romantic partner!

Leaving appearance aside for the moment, fox demons eating children had happened before, and with Su Yuan showing this much concern, this Ashi character was definitely hiding something!

His sudden, uncharacteristic diligence caught Su Yuan off guard, making him wonder if the heavy chain had rattled the man’s brains. “Matters of the demon realm are my responsibility. You really do not need to force yourself.”

“Not forcing myself at all! Not in the least!” Qingmo calculated his little schemes with a righteous expression. “I have caused you plenty of trouble in the past, so consider this compensation. Helping you a bit more is no burden.”

With that, he pulled out a porcelain bottle engraved with the character for Ghost, shook out a pill, and fed it directly to the merman without a word.

“What is this?” The merman snapped back to his senses, having already swallowed the unknown medicine.

“A mute pill.”

“?”

“I lied.”

Before the merman could sigh in relief, Qingmo continued casually, “This medicine seals your meridians entirely, preventing you from using any cultivation for the duration of its effect. It wears off automatically in three days.”

Since he could not yet gauge the enemy’s true background, he could not take their words entirely at face value. Caution was always the better part of valor.

The merman clutched his throat, wishing he had taken the mute pill instead.

Qingmo’s very first encounter with Su Yuan occurred on the day he joined the Lingyao Palace.

While his colleagues crowded around with polite greetings, only a single disheveled figure hurried over from afar. Instead of approaching, the man merely cast a hasty glance from a distance and departed.

The Dao of Heaven attracted all sorts of folk, and at the time, Qingmo simply assumed the fellow possessed an eccentric personality, which was normal enough.

Later, a kind-hearted colleague explained that he was the Demon Lord Su Yuan, born with a frail constitution. When his illness flared up severely, he would remain invisible for the better part of the year.

Thus, in Qingmo’s impression, Su Yuan had a cold and distant personality, worlds apart from his own. Aside from official missions, the two rarely crossed paths.

“How strange. Why has Lord Ghost Fiend suddenly started meddling in the Sovereign’s affairs?”

Inside the chamber, Chenyin and the small snake stared at each other in bewilderment, dissecting Qingmo’s recent abnormal behavior through gossip.

“Exactly! He even asked me whether the Sovereign keeps an ugly person by his side. How am I supposed to know that?”

“Could it be…” Chenyin recalled the mortal romance novels she had read, experiencing a sudden flash of enlightenment. “Could it be that he has feelings for the Sovereign?”

The books said that when someone liked another person, they would care about everything surrounding them, especially anyone in that person’s immediate circle, in order to scope out potential hidden rivals.

Realizing they might have stumbled upon a colossal secret, the young woman and the snake simultaneously clamped their mouths shut, terrified that Qingmo might overhear and silence them to cover his tracks.

People up to no good are always plagued by a guilty conscience. With a loud crash, the door was blasted inward. Convinced that Qingmo had come to murder them, Chenyin shuddered violently in fright and lost her grip on the small snake slithering across her shoulders, sending it tumbling onto the floor with a soft thud.

“We were just talking nonsense! We know nothing!”

“Chenyin?”

Su Yuan walked in carrying the heavily wounded merman, an indescribable look flashing across his eyes. He wondered what mischief this little girl was plotting now. While having grand ideas as she grew up was fine, she simply had zero capacity to keep a secret.

“Sovereign!” Realizing it was not Qingmo coming to silence them, Chenyin let out a quiet sigh of relief.

She helped Su Yuan settle the merman. Noticing Qingmo was missing, she asked, “Did the Sovereign return alone? Where is Lord Ghost Fiend?”

“He…” Su Yuan looked somewhat helpless. “Went to cause trouble.”

The explosion echoing in the distance verified his words.

Beneath the night sky, a ruined village was lit up by raging fires as a courtyard was reduced to ashes by the flames. Taking advantage of the guards rushing to put out the fire, that mysterious force swept through once more, shattering the doors of every remaining building. The guests trapped by the auction were freed, and some bolder souls peeked their heads out to watch.

As the blaze grew fiercer, the mastermind finally lost their composure. Just as Qingmo prepared to ignite a second fire, a flash of white hurtled toward him.

True to form, Qingmo’s tactic proved remarkably effective. Guiyu revealed himself, and Su Yuan instructed Chenyin to look after the group of young demons before leaping forward to join the fray.

Qingmo favored swift, decisive combat without dragging things out. By the time Su Yuan arrived, Guiyu’s magnificent, furry tail had already been slashed open by a sharp weapon, dripping fresh red blood onto the ground. Another young nine-tailed red fox lay unconscious nearby, wearing a silver mask.

Blood spattered across Qingmo’s cheek, and several flexible zither strings danced between his slender fingertips. His thick, long eyelashes fluttered slightly, creating a striking juxtaposition of cruelty and tenderness.

The guards surrounded him with weapons drawn, yet none dared to step forward. The sole Ghost Fiend of the heavens was ruthless not only to others, but terrifyingly so to himself. They had all heard the rumors of the Ghost Fiend devouring hearts.

Nonchalantly tucking the zither strings into his sleeve, Qingmo wiped the blood off his cheek and bent down to dust off his dirt-stained robes, looking entirely unbothered by the battlefield surrounding him.

“Su Yuan!” He waved cheerfully in a certain direction. The moment everyone’s attention shifted, he swiftly hoisted the red fox over his shoulder and slipped away.

Kneeling on one leg with a bleeding tail, Guiyu glared ferociously at Su Yuan with a distorted expression. “Damn you, Su Yuan! To think you would collude with the Ghost Fiend to oppress the demon clan. You are utterly unfit to be the Demon Lord!”

“Guiyu, you were not like this before.” Su Yuan furrowed his brow, trying to find a trace of coercion in the other’s eyes, but found none.

Guiyu sneered. “I was simply a fool who failed to see your true colors. The fox clan is nothing more than a tool for you to curry favor with others!”

Meanwhile, Qingmo eagerly peeled off the mask of the red fox Ashi. The youth’s eyes were tightly shut, revealing handsome features adorned with an eerie skull curse mark between his brows. Still, he looked galaxies away from anyone deserving the label of ugly.

This.

Annoyed, Qingmo tossed the mask aside. He had fallen for Su Yuan’s trick again!

Did this look like someone who ate children? The kid looked even more harmless than he was!