I Was Forced to Become the Demon King's Succubus Lover - Chapter 5

Luo Ren followed behind, watching Su Sheng’s back as a surge of malice churned wildly in his eyes.

He hadn’t planned to come in person, but this little one had once again defied his expectations.

Could a human really go this far? How interesting.

A cool, clear voice from ahead interrupted Luo Ren’s rising malice.

“What exactly are you looking for?”

Luo Ren curled the corner of his lips and leisurely replied, “Silver Star Orchid.”

Truth be told, Su Sheng didn’t know much about the Abyss. He hadn’t held much hope when asking, but having a general direction would make the search easier.

However, he had indeed come across “Silver Star Orchid” in a book about the Abyss.

That thing could only be nurtured by the overflowing power of darkness and grew exclusively near the Demon King’s castle.

Did they really have to go to the Demon King’s castle?

At this thought, Su Sheng couldn’t help but rub his aching forehead. Just then, the voice behind him pressed on relentlessly:

“Do you know where it is?”

“Yes.” Su Sheng pursed his lips, unaware of the mischievous glint in the Demon King’s eyes behind him. “Deep in the Abyss, near the Demon King’s castle.”

“To get there, we’ll need to bypass seven demonic city-states.”

It seemed this generation’s Saint really had some skills, he actually knew where the Silver Star Orchid was.

Suppressing the smirk on his lips, Luo Ren blinked and feigned innocence. “What are demonic city-states?”

Hearing such an absurd question, Su Sheng felt as if he’d been petrified, the kind where if someone knocked on him, he’d sound solid. His expression turned grim. “You don’t know?”

Luo Ren looked utterly clueless. “No, I don’t.”

“…”

“Didn’t you do any research before coming here?”

“Silver Star Orchid.”

He had researched, that thing was called Silver Star Orchid.

A vein throbbed twice on Su Sheng’s forehead. Unable to bear it any longer, he turned around and saw Luo Ren struggling to hold back laughter.

Only then did Su Sheng realize he’d been tricked. His voice turned icy. “Are you messing with me?”

Luo Ren quickly waved his hands and caught up. “Don’t misunderstand, my dear Norton. I saw you looking so gloomy, I was worried you’d worry yourself to death.”

Su Sheng fell silent. His thoughts had indeed been guessed.

The seven demonic city-states were arranged in sequence from the outer to the inner Abyss, guarding the Demon King’s castle. Each city-state’s ruler was personally chosen by the Demon King. To reach the castle, one needed both sufficient strength and the representative token from each city-state to gain entry.

The tokens were essentially passes.

Forget it. Considering Luo Ren had gone to the trouble of trying to cheer him up, Su Sheng decided not to dwell on it too much.

“How many tokens do you have?” Su Sheng asked calmly. Given the presence of both a necromancer and a werewolf here, they likely weren’t at the edge of the Abyss but somewhere deeper, where finding tokens shouldn’t be too difficult.

“One…”

Su Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. Good, at least they wouldn’t have to go back to…

“…none at all.” Luo Ren’s tone was deliberately slow.

?

??

???

What to do? For the first time, he felt the urge to hit someone.

“Are you messing with me again?!” Su Sheng snapped, glaring at Luo Ren.

Luo Ren looked up innocently. “No, I really haven’t obtained a single one.”

“…”

For the first time, Su Sheng felt like he was about to have a heart attack.

“Then let me ask you: if you haven’t obtained the first token, how did you even get here?”

Faced with Su Sheng’s questioning, Luo Ren smiled slightly and countered:

“And how did you get here?”

Su Sheng fell silent. It was likely that the evil power in the crowd’s prayers had disrupted the teleportation array, causing him to be sent to an unknown location in the Abyss.

But clearly, this couldn’t be shared with the other.

A stretch of silence ensued.

Both wisely avoided bringing up the topic again.

The atmosphere grew awkward for a moment, and it was Luo Ren who broke the tension first.

As if unaffected, he approached as usual: “My dear Mr. Norton, don’t be upset. How about I share some good news?”

“What good news?” Su Sheng asked, his voice still carrying an unprocessed chill, sounding icy.

His expression was equally cold and distant, utterly unapproachable.

Usually, when Su Sheng looked like this, ordinary people would feel a bit intimidated. Even Fei Meng would try to act clever and obedient, attempting to lower his guard.

But it seemed to have no effect on Luo Ren. His demeanor remained unchanged, his voice steady, polite, except he was standing a bit too close.

No, far too close.

Su Sheng subtly increased the distance between them and heard the man say:

“Do you know the Wolger Black Market?”

Su Sheng was taken aback. He had never heard of this name, but he guessed it was something like an underground black market?

“An underground black market?” Su Sheng asked hesitantly.

“Oh! Norton, you’re so clever!” Luo Ren looked utterly delighted, as if guessing what it was deserved celebration.

Su Sheng’s tone was disdainful: “You’re making me look stupid.”

“No, no, no, I think you misunderstood. I meant it sincerely,” Luo Ren smiled.

At this, Su Sheng fell silent, his walking pace slightly stiffening, though he adjusted it moments later.

But all these changes were noted by Luo Ren, and the smile on his face grew more confident.

“Where is the black market?” Su Sheng asked. If one listened carefully, they would notice his tone was no longer icy.

Hearing this, Luo Ren rummaged through the pouch at his waist and pulled out a magic scroll. Su Sheng glanced at it, his expression shifting slightly.

It was actually a map of the Abyss.

A map alone wasn’t remarkable, but this one meticulously marked every location in the Abyss, from large city-states down to the smallest wandering demon outposts, all clearly visible.

Wandering demons were the equivalent of vagrants among humans. For various reasons, they were not accepted by city-states, so they drifted through the Abyss. Most wandering demons were quite interested in human territories, so a quarter of the demons on the continent, the majority of those harassing humans, were composed of wandering demons.

“Dear, for this journey, we’ll have to pass through ten demon outposts. This is the shortest route. What do you think, Norton?”

Luo Ren pointed to one of the routes on the map, tilting his chin slightly to invite Su Sheng’s opinion.

Su Sheng followed his fingertip, his mind momentarily drifting, suddenly recalling the Demon King’s gesture from a few days ago.

Strange, why did he think of the Demon King all of a sudden?

Su Sheng tapped his forehead with his knuckle, shaking off these thoughts.

“Fine.”

There really was no other way to go. The black market was near the border between the Abyss and the village. The remaining routes either required crossing mountains or passing through city-states, which would risk exposing their identities.

He never expected a teleportation array to send him to a place near the Second City-State. To leave the abyss from here would require a long journey.

Fortunately, they encountered no demons along the way. The skin on Su Sheng’s broken limbs had already scabbed over, though his bones still needed time to heal slowly.

But as they continued walking, his stamina began to fail.

Su Sheng had always been stubborn, yet it was Luo Ren who first suggested taking a break.

“Are your legs hurting? Let’s rest for a while.”

He hadn’t expected a human to possess such tenacious willpower.

Su Sheng’s voice was icy: “Keep going.”

Clearly, Su Sheng was even more stubborn than Luo Ren had imagined. Luo Ren watched him quietly, blinking a few times before accepting Su Sheng’s insistence to continue. After all, it wasn’t him in pain.

After walking a while longer, Su Sheng’s pained expression became more evident. Luo Ren didn’t understand why he was being so obstinate, but for a demon king to repeat himself would be beneath his dignity. Growing impatient, he said, “I said, rest!”

But to Su Sheng, Luo Ren, who was clearly not a demon king, meant nothing. Su Sheng ignored him entirely and kept walking straight ahead.

Luo Ren had never met anyone so stubborn in his life. When words failed, he resorted to action. He wrapped his arms around Su Sheng from behind, lifting him in a bear hug and placing him on a rock to sit. Then, kneeling on one knee, he looked up to study Su Sheng’s expression.

“Are you throwing a tantrum at me?”

Seeing Su Sheng’s dry lips, Luo Ren turned to fetch a water flask and brought it close to him. “Drink.”

“I’m not thirsty.”

“Drink.”

Luo Ren’s voice was calm, but Su Sheng felt a surge of irritation. Who was he to order him around?

“I said I’m not drinking.”

Only after lashing out did he calm down, rubbing his temples, even frightening himself a little.

What was wrong with him?

Throughout this journey, Luo Ren had been taking care of him frequently.

And what about himself? Had he just been throwing a tantrum at Luo Ren? At someone he’d only just met?

This realization sent a chill down Su Sheng’s spine.

No.

Absolutely not.

Su Sheng’s body stiffened, his expression turning unpleasant. He lowered his head in frustration, not wanting Luo Ren to see, unaware that the other had noticed everything.

Luo Ren stared straight at Su Sheng, a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment, as if he’d figured something out, he walked over and placed the water flask beside Su Sheng. Without another word, he simply said, “Drink if you’re thirsty.”

Su Sheng remained seated with his head lowered, his expression hidden, neither accepting nor refusing.

After resting for a while, the two continued their journey. But the path ahead seemed less smooth, they encountered several waves of demons, though fortunately, they were all small ones. Luo Ren dispatched them with a few swings of his sword.

Yet things only seemed to grow more troublesome. Just moments ago, because Su Sheng’s injuries hadn’t fully healed, a vulture demon’s claw tore through his shoulder as he chanted a spell. The scent of blood attracted even more demons.

Su Sheng’s expression turned serious. Knowing they needed to leave quickly, he glanced at Luo Ren. “Can we go?”

Luo Ren smiled. “Of course.”

The two of them raced across the plains covered in red demon grass, one after the other.

Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps they were simply fast, but only a few demons followed them.

From behind, a faint glimmer flashed in Luo Ren’s eyes. “This won’t do, my treasure. What should we do?”

He let out a low, malicious sigh, conjuring a shield of magical light in his hand. A dark orb materialized within the barrier and shot forward with his motion.

Soon, a horde of demons swarmed in, blocking the path ahead and forcing the two to halt.

It seemed this battle was unavoidable.

Su Sheng felt the prince’s gaze linger on him for a moment before a voice sounded from behind: “I’ll go first.”

Su Sheng nodded and stepped aside, watching Luo Ren plunge into the demon horde, lost in thought.

Luo Ren wielded his sword, cutting down demons while casting a glance behind him, his expression playful.

Just then, three demons charged. His figure traced a graceful arc through the air, but in the moment he turned, he deliberately let two demons slip past.

At the same time, a slightly low voice whispered in Su Sheng’s ear, “Be careful.”

The two demons that slipped through were a necromancer and a werewolf.

Su Sheng was forced into combat. Without a sword or staff at hand, he only had a small dagger gifted by Luo Ren. Thus, he had to engage the werewolf in close combat while interrupting the necromancer’s incantations.

“Are you alright?” Luo Ren called out from a distance, separated by over a dozen demons.

Su Sheng gave a brief “Mm” and continued fighting.

“That’s not enough…” Luo Ren chuckled softly, turning to let three more demons slip past.

It would be better if Su Sheng got injured quickly. That way, he could force Su Sheng to seek help from him, the Demon King, and then make some unreasonable demands…

The battle remained deadlocked until a faint thud sounded. Su Sheng rolled across the ground, narrowly avoiding the werewolf’s claw aimed at his heart.

Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, Su Sheng’s eyes turned icy as he unleashed a powerful spell at point-blank range, rapidly reciting a string of obscure incantations.

Above them, massive orbs of light magic materialized in the air, their golden radiance illuminating the surroundings as brightly as day. The potent golden magic struck fear into all the demons, a primal dread of light inherent to dark creatures.

Luo Ren had just slain a demon, shaking the blood from his sword, when he looked up at the sky.

To summon such concentrated light elements even in the abyss… truly worthy of being this generation’s Saint.

The thought of such a person willingly kneeling at his feet, obeying his every command…

An excited gleam flashed across his face before he subtly glanced at Su Sheng, his eyes brimming with unrestrained desire for conquest.

Su Sheng annihilated nearly all the demons.

The remaining few were swiftly dealt with by Luo Ren’s sword.

But such powerful magic came at a tremendous cost.

After eliminating the last demons, Luo Ren hurried over to help the exhausted Su Sheng to his feet.

He instinctively scanned Su Sheng up and down, his gaze abruptly halting at the deep, bone-exposing wound on Su Sheng’s right chest.

For some reason, Luo Ren felt reluctant to look at the injury and averted his eyes.

Though he had wanted Su Sheng injured, such a gruesome wound was better off not marring Su Sheng’s body, it was an eyesore.

Healing magic flowed swiftly through Su Sheng, mending the wounds left by the werewolf. After a moment, Luo Ren asked, “How do you feel?”

Su Sheng assessed his condition, closing his eyes briefly. “Much better.”

“Let’s leave this place first,” Luo Ren said.

Su Sheng was helped to his feet, and the two continued forward.

When they reached a valley, Luo Ren stopped and lowered his voice. “This is Echo Valley. There aren’t many demons here, so we can rest.”

Even with his voice hushed, Luo Ren’s words echoed through the valley for several minutes.

Su Sheng knew most demons disliked hearing repetitive sounds, which explained why so few lingered here.

They built a campfire beside a nearby lake. At night, the lake was tranquil and silent. A crooked tree stood quietly nearby, while silver-glowing grass swayed in the breeze. When the wind blew, the silver specks scattered like dandelion seeds.

Su Sheng marveled inwardly. Who would have thought such a beautiful place existed in the Abyss? What a waste.

Leaning against the tree to rest, Su Sheng couldn’t resist plucking a handful of the grass beside him. As he opened his palm slightly, the blades drifted unsteadily into the air, their silver light blooming before his eyes, utterly breathtaking.

“Your clothes are dirty. Give them to me, and I’ll wash them for you.”

Luo Ren watched him quietly, smiling.

The clothes did feel sticky against his skin, but Su Sheng had never undressed in front of others, deeming it too casual. After wrestling with his thoughts for a while, he glanced at Luo Ren and lowered his voice. “I…”

Luo Ren seemed to see right through him and chuckled softly. “Feeling uncomfortable?”

Su Sheng awkwardly averted his gaze.

A muffled laugh came from nearby.

“My dear Norton, I never expected you to be so pure, hahahaha!”

A flush of anger tinged the corners of Su Sheng’s eyes. “Enough! What’s so funny?”

He retreated to Luo Ren’s blind spot, slowly removed his clothes, but instead of handing them over, he moved to the lakeside and began washing them himself.

Under the boundless night sky, a slender, beautifully proportioned young man crouched by the water. His profile was more exquisite than an elf’s, and his angelic eyes were fixed intently on the task at hand, captivating in an inexplicable way.

Watching Su Sheng from behind, Luo Ren suddenly conceived an even more delightful idea.

Rather than making this beautiful Saint willingly serve as his servant, perhaps a different approach would bring him greater pleasure.

What would it be like, he wondered, if this aloof Saint were to fall deeply, irrevocably in love with someone?

The Demon King smiled with delight.