Non-Humans Want to Fall in Love Too [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 13

Do You Want to Stand Up?

The effects of the drug were partially dispelled. Ji Shijin slowly woke up, his brow furrowing at the sound of a ringing phone. His mind was a muddle of confusion. Shi Yan cast a minor spell, allowing Ji Shijin to grasp the current situation while simultaneously accepting Shi Yan’s presence; he then dismissed Assistant Zhou with a couple of brief sentences.

There was no other choice. Shi Yan was currently in human form and possessed no identity within human society. If Assistant Zhou or anyone else saw him, there was no telling what kind of trouble would ensue.

It was better to avoid unnecessary complications. Seeing that Ji Shijin had struggled through his words, Shi Yan took the phone and hung up.

Now, as the drug was being drawn out bit by bit, Ji Shijin’s thoughts became clearer. Realizing a stranger was holding him, his body, having regained a modicum of strength, began to struggle.

“Shh, don’t move,” Shi Yan’s voice, cold as ice, sounded in his ear. For a fleeting moment, Ji Shijin felt as though he had fallen into a frozen river, enveloped by coolness and solitude.

“You’ve been drugged. I’m helping you. Don’t worry, it will be over in a moment.” Though the voice was cold and unfamiliar, the scent felt strangely intimate to Ji Shijin.

Ji Shijin struggled harder. “Let go.”

His movements were hesitant and pitiful. His powerless legs had become a burden. The man’s hot, powerful arms held him tightly; the moment he broke free slightly, he was dragged back.

“No, don’t,” Ji Shijin could not tell if he felt more fear or panic. He could feel the changes in his body with absolute clarity. In this terrible place, in the arms of a stranger, he could no longer maintain his composure.

“Sigh.” A soft, shallow sigh sounded by his ear.

His eyes were covered by a palm, and Ji Shijin opened them wide in alarm.

A hand guided his own upward. The man leaned closer, and Ji Shijin felt as if the side of his neck was about to be scorched by the man’s hot breath. His hand brushed against the man’s hair, grazing his ear along the way.

And then, Ji Shijin moved his fingers. Feeling the familiar texture in his palm, he was so shocked he forgot to breathe.

Furry ears folded inward within his palm. Perhaps feeling an itch, Shi Yan’s ears twitched, rubbing against Ji Shijin’s hand. A dense, tingling sensation rose from that touch, causing Ji Shijin’s fingers to curl involuntarily.

“…” Ji Shijin’s voice trembled uncontrollably. “Xiao Bai.”

Shi Yan paused for a moment before finally answering, “Mm.”

Ji Shijin suddenly became agitated, his entire body trembling. He pulled down Shi Yan’s hand that was covering his eyes and turned his head sharply.

He came face-to-face with Shi Yan, whose ears had not yet been retracted.

“…”

61, the System, was completely stunned.

“Host! You promised not to tell him you could turn into a human! What are you doing right now? Ah!”

The atmosphere on-site was incredibly bizarre. Ji Shijin was under the influence of the drug; his physical reactions remained, his face flushed and his breathing rapid. Meanwhile, his Host sat there with two furry red fox ears atop his head. The two stared at each other, holding hands.

61 could not understand it; 61 wanted to run away.

Yet, the Host’s emotions did not fluctuate in the slightest.

“If I didn’t let him recognize who I am, he might have harmed himself,” Shi Yan said simply.

61 froze for a second and looked at Ji Shijin’s hand. Sure enough, his palm had been pinched red; any more force and it would have bled.

Ji Shijin could not hear the conversation between the person and the System. Even if he could, he had no time to care. His gaze was locked onto the man’s face. Those fox ears swayed slightly according to their owner’s will, dominating Ji Shijin’s vision.

“You,” his voice was dry and raspy, instantly bringing them both back to reality and highlighting how disheveled they currently were.

Ji Shijin withdrew his hand and shrank under the covers, helplessly clutching the fabric of his trousers. His mind was a mess; he did not even notice when Shi Yan placed his hand back on his body.

Something warm and peculiar, like a wisp of smoke, entered his body and drew out the last remnants of the drug.

“It is done. The influence of the drug has been removed. Physical reactions are normal; you can release it yourself or wait for it to subside,” Shi Yan said in a flat voice, despite the blush-inducing nature of his words.

Ji Shijin opened his mouth, his thoughts only able to follow Shi Yan’s lead. “I.”

Shi Yan raised an eyebrow, assuming he was making the other man uncomfortable. He lifted Ji Shijin up slightly to lean against the headboard and stood to leave.

“Don’t go.” Ji Shijin instinctively reached out to grab a corner of his clothes, then realized what he was doing; the tips of his ears turned bright red instantly.

Shi Yan looked at that touch of crimson. The fingers at his side twitched unconsciously. He took a step back and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Shall we talk? You must have many questions right now.”

Normally, no one would choose to chat in such a situation, but Shi Yan was clearly no ordinary person. He had checked; Ji Shijin’s physical reaction was nearly gone. Without external stimulation, it would vanish in a few minutes.

Ji Shijin happened to not want him to leave either, so naturally, they needed to sit down for a proper talk.

Ji Shijin lowered his gaze. He did not see his wheelchair in the bedroom; perhaps it had been left outside or somewhere else.

Everything had been too chaotic when it happened. He only remembered someone taking him out of the room and then asking the manager for this new room. He could not remember what happened after that.

“Sorry, I want some water,” Ji Shijin looked up at Shi Yan. Those furry ears, whether forgotten or simply disregarded, remained brazenly exposed, capturing Ji Shijin’s attention.

Shi Yan stood up. The ears swayed slightly with his movements, looking very tempting to touch. He himself seemed completely unaware. “Wait a moment, I will pour you a glass of water.”

Shi Yan walked out of the bedroom into the living room. He poured bottled water into the kettle, pressed the start button, and then spotted the wheelchair next to the sofa.

Once the water boiled, Shi Yan poured the hot water into a cup, tempered it with some cold water, and as he turned back, he brought the wheelchair into the bedroom with him.

Ji Shijin took the cup, feeling the warmth through the glass. From the corner of his eye, he saw Shi Yan place the wheelchair by the bed, exactly where he was used to having it at home for easy access.

He paused while drinking and choked, moving the cup away to lean over and cough.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

Shi Yan finished placing the wheelchair and turned to see the man choking on water. His eyes curved down helplessly. He extended a finger, and a small red light shot out, entering Ji Shijin’s body. The coughing stopped instantly.

Ji Shijin set the cup aside. Having nowhere else to sit, Shi Yan sat on the edge of the bed again, very close to Ji Shijin, so close that Ji Shijin could touch him with just a slight lean.

“Alright, you may ask your questions now.” Shi Yan spread his hands. His expression was calm, but he was patient with Ji Shijin, waiting for him to slowly recover.

“Will you answer honestly?” Ji Shijin pursed his lips, thinking of the time the little fox had lied to him.

Shi Yan clearly thought of it too; his body stiffened for a moment. However, since he had already exposed his identity, there was no longer any need for deception regarding other matters.

“I will.”

Since Shi Yan said so, Ji Shijin asked the question he had wanted to ask for a long time: “Back then, did you let me save you on purpose?”

“Not exactly,” Shi Yan explained honestly. “I intended to escape at the time, but you happened to appear.”

He could not mention the mission, but Shi Yan’s words were not a lie; he simply had not revealed the whole truth.

After listening, a bitter smile appeared at the corners of Ji Shijin’s mouth. “That day, I was cooperating with the police to bust an illegal business operation. I happened to see that you were about to be skinned, so I stepped in to save you.”

“Let’s not talk about that,” Ji Shijin changed the subject before Shi Yan could respond. “What is your name? I mean, how should I address you? You have a name, right?”

Shi Yan nodded. “Mm.”

“Shi Yan. Shi as in time, Yan as in inkstone.”

“Shi Yan,” Ji Shijin murmured the name to himself, then looked up at him. “A good name. It suits you.”

Shi Yan did not reply. Seeing the reflection of his own ears in Ji Shijin’s pupils, he remembered he had not retracted them yet.

With a thought, the furry red ears vanished. Ji Shijin withdrew his gaze, his fingers curling slightly in a sense of regret.

“So, when I asked you before if you could turn into a human, why didn’t you tell me then?” Ji Shijin lowered his eyes, his voice soft.

Shi Yan looked up. He could only see the top of the other man’s head; stray hairs covered his forehead, hiding even his eyes. But Shi Yan was a demon; using a bit of demonic power, he could see the man’s true emotions through the obstruction.

Shi Yan’s fingers moved, but ultimately he remained still, patiently answering Ji Shijin’s question: “We had just met. Would you have allowed a strange man to stay by your side? Moreover, I am a demon, not a human.”

“It was not an intentional deception. I simply thought it was better to avoid complications. I’m sorry.”

One of Ji Shijin’s hands under the covers tightened and then relaxed, as if his whole being had breathed a sigh of relief. His tense spine relaxed, and he leaned firmly against the headboard.

He had waited a long time, and in truth, he was only waiting for this apology. Since it was not an intentional deception, he would let bygones be bygones.

“You, demons,” Ji Shijin thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “Are there other demons in this world? Where do you live? Do you mingle among humans?”

Shi Yan lowered his head in contemplation, wondering how to explain it to Ji Shijin.

Should he tell him directly that there was a mysterious place in this world inhabited entirely by demons, who had been proliferating just like humans for thousands of years? Would an ordinary human be frightened if they suddenly learned such a fact?

Seeing his silence, Ji Shijin assumed these things could not be discussed, so he apologized. “I did not mean to pry into your privacy. If you cannot say, then never mind.”

“No,” Shi Yan snapped out of it. “There is nothing to hide. It is just difficult to explain clearly through words alone.”

“In a while, I will take you there. You can see for yourself.”

Shi Yan dropped a bombshell in a casual tone.

Sure enough, Ji Shijin’s face went blank for a moment. He asked dazed, “What?”

Shi Yan repeated, “I have a way to treat your body. When the time comes, we will need to stay in the Demon Realm for a while. You can see it for yourself then.”

The Demon Realm was rich in spiritual energy, making it the best place to set up a formation. Thus, Ji Shijin would definitely have to go there for treatment. Shi Yan could take him around the territory then.

As for the ancestral law forbidding outsiders? Shi Yan had never cared for that rule from the start. The old demons who made those laws were long dead. In the current Demon Realm, Shi Yan was among the most powerful; if he wanted to bring someone in, no demon could stop him.

Shi Yan did not realize he had released two pieces of heavy news in one sentence, but Ji Shijin was already feeling a bit lightheaded.

“You mean, my legs, that phantom pain, it can be treated?” He had consulted the best doctors in the world, and the result was always that nothing could be done.

“Yes.” Shi Yan nodded. Human doctors in the secular world might be helpless, but that did not mean the cultivating Demon Race was. As he spoke, he thought of something else. “Do you want to stand up? I will think of a way. It might be possible.”

Regenerating broken bones was simpler than dispelling death energy.

Ji Shijin actually calmed down upon hearing that last sentence. A slight smile touched his lips. “My legs were ruined when I was in my teens. It has been over a decade now; I have actually gotten used to it.”

“Being able to cure the phantom pain is enough. Thank you. What reward do you want? I will give you anything I have.” Ji Shijin took a deep breath, staring into the other’s eyes.

He spoke the words, but he was still uncertain. His counterpart was a fox demon; what could he possibly want from a human? The things Ji Shijin possessed, the demon could likely obtain with a flick of his finger.

Shi Yan thought to himself that the reward had already been given, the energy to return home obtained by completing the mission.

But he could not say that to Ji Shijin. Shi Yan remained vague, saying only that he had not decided yet and would ask for the reward later.

“Make do here for tonight. Tomorrow, there will be a resolution to everything.” Shi Yan changed the subject and stood up from the bed.

Sitting on the bed, Ji Shijin was enveloped in the shadow cast by Shi Yan’s tall frame. He did not ask why; he simply nodded in agreement. “Okay.”