They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Drunken Debauchery

He shouldn’t have let that fox drink.

Yun Qingwu sat rigidly in place, wishing he was an insensible tree at this moment. The fox in his arms clearly couldn’t empathize with him, rubbing its fluffy mass against his neck.

A scorching heat licked across the silver collar around his neck. The place it touched felt like it was being seared by a tongue of fire, utterly scalding.

!

He suddenly stood up, vigorously ripping the furry creature clinging to him, and tossed it onto the bed.

With a thump, he quickly fled the room.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The fierce pounding of his heart clamored in his ears, giving him the illusion of a desperate escape.

Silence returned to the room. The fox on the bed shook its head hard, sniffed confusedly with blurry, drunken eyes, then, in a blink, disappeared from the spot.

Yun Qingwu, who had finally let the heat dissipate and allowed his face to return to normal, doubted his sanity the moment he stepped into the Green Wood Hall.

Otherwise, how could he see a fox that closely resembled Cold Lici strutting across the dining table?

And… and clinging to his Father?

He watched dumbfounded as his Father’s entire body stiffened, looking flustered and helpless, and a surge of anger flared up inside him.

What “closely resembled?” This was the damn half-fox, Cold Lici!

He quickly walked over, wanting to pull the fox off, but the others didn’t give him a chance.

Meng Ping was amused by the sight and gently squeezed the fox’s neck: “Oh my, why is Little Fire so clingy today? You’re so adorable!”

Qu Ye also leaned closer, reaching out to stroke it: “Little fox, do you still remember me?”

“Hey, you’ve gotten a bit fatter. It looks like our Huang’er is feeding you well.” Liu Dongxue also came over, wanting to pet it.

“Wait!”

Yun Qingwu exerted some strength, forced his way in, and used both hands to tear the fox from Liu Ya’s body, but he hadn’t fully calmed his breath yet.

The hall suddenly went quiet. Everyone’s movements stopped abruptly, especially his Father and Mother, whose eyes were filled with horror as they looked at him.

?

He followed their gaze and looked down. His mind gave a loud buzz, and his previously chaotic thoughts were stirred into a slurry.

“Eh! How did the little fox turn into a handsome big brother!”

Qu Ye’s innocent exclamation broke the stalemate.

Meng Ping blinked, looking at the red-haired man Yun Qingwu was carrying over his shoulder, and the eight tails on the man’s body that were making her dizzy.

“Xiao… Xiao Ci?”

It wasn’t enough that her son liked men, but the person he liked wasn’t even human?

“What is going on?” Qu Ping frowned, looking at his usually well-behaved disciple.

Yun Qingwu opened his mouth, unsure how to explain.

“Cough, cough. This… this is why Huang’er can’t marry Huanyu,” Meng Ping finally offered in time.

Qu Ping’s face was filled with disbelief, his expression growing even more bizarre: “Huang’er, you… you…”

The person he was carrying was not behaving. Completely oblivious to the atmosphere in the room, he propped up his upper body, wrapped his arms around Yun Qingwu’s neck, and constantly rubbed his feverish cheeks against him affectionately, as if he were some kind of cooling talisman.

Yun Qingwu’s face visibly flushed. In that moment, he felt surrounded by Cold Lici’s incense smell, and all he could hear was the increasingly loud pounding of his heart.

He gritted his teeth and used his strength to try and get rid of the troublemaker, but every struggle only made the menace cling tighter, so he gave up.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and whispered, “I’m sorry, Master.”

“Oh, goodness, why are you being so serious!” Liu Dongxue gave Qu Ping a hard pinch and interjected to smooth things over: “This is a Spirit Fox. Naturally, it can’t be compared to ordinary people.”

“But he’s not human either!”

Qu Ping flicked his sleeve.

“Father, he can be human,” Qu Huanyu said earnestly, pointing to the “person” with tails on Yun Qingwu’s body.

Qu Ping: “…”

After a long while, he sighed and waved his hand: “Fine, fine. I can’t manage this.”

In this chaos, the banquet ended early.

“Can you finally go to sleep properly?!”

Yun Qingwu was helplessly retracting his hand from the doorknob for the nth time. The large, feverish mass seemingly attached to his body behind him rubbed harder when it heard the words, as if expressing its protest.

The hot breath brushed against the skin of his neck, carrying a faint wisp of wine aroma. Yun Qingwu’s mind was a mess, his head cloudy, feeling as if the drunkenness had somehow been transmitted to him.

The next moment, something furry opportunistically wrapped around his waist and legs. The tingling itch brought out intimate memories etched into his body. As the tails tightened and loosened, the slight tension of the muscles beneath the fur felt like hooks. Yun Qingwu’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He suddenly felt thirsty.

Hot, too hot…

Even his breathing was filled with the demon’s incense scent.

So, why did he let this half-fox drink in the first place?

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and dragged his body toward the bed again, intending to throw the disorderly demon back onto it.

But this time, the fiend clearly did not want to cooperate. The moment he tried to tear him off, a strong force pulled at his hand. In a dizzying moment, his feet lost balance, and he fell straight toward the bed.

The next second, the main culprit of the chaos pressed down on him.

!

Yun Qingwu’s chest violently heaved. It took him a long while to finally manage to regulate his breathing.

In the air full of the incense scent, a wisp of ice and snow permeated, only to be forcibly withdrawn by its owner.

“Get off!”

He gnashed his teeth and hissed the low command, using all his strength to push the infuriating creature away.

In the middle of the night.

A pair of golden eyes on the bed suddenly opened. The look of confusion in the eyes lasted only for an instant before they completely cleared.

The Demon-Guiding Needle in the southwest direction was moving!

Cold Lici instinctively wanted to get up, but found himself completely immobile when he tried to move…

“…”

He lowered his gaze and found he was tied up like a dumpling with hemp ropes.

As if that weren’t enough, an oblivious arm was also brazenly draped across his waist!

Scattered memories from last night rushed back. The face hidden by his red hair turned white then red, red then white, and finally became a purple of sheer rage.

He glared down at the person beside him for a long time. With a flick of his finger, the ropes that bound him immediately loosened and then crawled onto the other person sleeping soundly on the bed.

With this done, the purple color on his face finally faded somewhat.

He flipped out of bed and headed toward the southwest direction.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Ungrateful and repaying kindness with malice.” The Bone Sword honestly evaluated.

“Shut up!”

…

The morning sun was professionally on duty. A ray of sunlight fell through the gap in the window onto Yun Qingwu’s tightly shut eyes.

Yun Qingwu frowned and impatiently opened his eyes.

He instinctively looked beside him—it was empty.

Where is he?

The crease in his brow deepened.

Hmm?

!

When he saw the familiar hemp rope wrapped around his own body, the accumulated irritation of the morning rushed to his head.

He tried to struggle a few times, but it was useless…

“…”

He couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Out of sheer anger, of course.

It was quiet outside, with only the chirping of a few birds, indicating that it was still early.

Yun Qingwu simply closed his eyes again.

Last night, after tying up Cold Lici, he was too exhausted and accidentally fell asleep, which gave the other party the opportunity. Of course, because the events of yesterday were so strange, he truly couldn’t resist looking at the fox a couple of extra times.

Since things had come to this, he might as well sleep a little longer.

He thought.

“Lord of the Nation, are you awake?”

Just as his consciousness began to drift, a knock sounded at the door, along with Ah Ge’s tentative voice.

“Come in.”

Yun Qingwu felt a sense of utter despair at that moment.

This despair peaked with Ah Ge’s awkward and hesitant words.

“Lord of the Nation… You actually… actually like… something like this.”

Yun Qingwu twisted his bound and numb hands, sneered, and didn’t want to explain further, only saying: “Tell the kitchen to prepare the ingredients. I will go there after the morning court.”

He was absolutely determined to make Cold Lici thoroughly enjoy today’s special meal.

On the high ground to the southwest, Cold Lici crouched down, looking at the Demon-Guiding Needle. The previously straight needle was now bent, pointing towards a row of houses at the bottom of the hill.

He leaped down towards the location. Before he got close, an odor similar to earthy chicken wafted over. He frowned and instead jumped onto a tall tree nearby.

At this height and distance, he could clearly see the scene inside the houses.

The residents inside were currently doing their morning chores, and everything seemed normal, as usual. Only the chicken coop in the yard had visibly been renovated.

Hmph. Quite united and friendly, aren’t they?

Cold Lici jumped down from the tree and started to walk back. These chicken demons had clearly begun to replace some of the Nanze people and were lurking in the Nanze Kingdom starting today.

It was not advisable to alert the enemy before he could ensure their complete eradication.

“Lord of the Nation, the lookout today discovered an anomaly. The white eggs laid by the hens in several households all hatched into chicks overnight. At the same time, there have also been a few incidents of roosters pecking people.”

Yun Qingwu paused in his haphazard pouring of ingredients: “In which area?”

Ah Ge replied: “Lizhe Alley in the southwest. This matter is quite unusual. Some people are guessing this is a sign that the Great God Bai Ze is about to leave, but currently, this speculation is only being discussed among those few households.”

Yun Qingwu’s heart sank. The timing was a full six months earlier than recorded in the scrolls…

“Is it just because of this unusual sight?”

“A resident named Liu in Lizhe Alley claims that his reincarnated grandfather has shown signs of weakness, a condition that has never occurred in our Nanze tribe. He insists this is due to the impending departure of the Great God Bai Ze.”

Yun Qingwu poured the vegetables into a porcelain bowl, wiped his hands clean, and called over the assistant cook waiting outside the kitchen, instructing him: “Deliver this meal to the Moon Bathing Palace. Ensure Cold Lici eats it.”

Having said that, he walked out of the kitchen: “Ah Ge, I’ll go with you to take a look.”

Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the corridor, he met the owner of the meal. Yun Qingwu raised an eyebrow, a flash of slyness quickly disappearing. He said meaningfully, “Lunch has been prepared for you today. Remember to enjoy it.”

Cold Lici sneered, his tone sarcastic: “You still have time to eat?”

Yun Qingwu’s expression sobered. He looked in the direction Cold Lici had come from and understood: “You went to Lizhe Alley?”

Cold Lici nodded casually: “It seems you know about it too.”

Seeing this, Yun Qingwu postponed the investigation trip and instead pulled Cold Lici back to the Moon Bathing Palace with him.

“What exactly is the situation in Lizhe Alley?”

The meal was served just as the two entered the room.

“One household smells strongly of chicken. They must have been replaced,” Cold Lici glanced at the dishes on the table but did not pick up his chopsticks.

“Is that household named Liu?”

Yun Qingwu already had a guess in his mind.

“Yes.”

“Since they have already begun spreading rumors, they will likely make a big move soon…”

Yun Qingwu frowned slightly, considering countermeasures. He instinctively picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of sweet and sour pork, and put it into his mouth. The moment it entered his mouth, his eyelashes trembled and his heart was startled, but he quickly concealed it, swallowing it naturally as he continued speaking:

“Why don’t we preempt them and lure the snake out of its hole?”

Cold Lici glanced at Yun Qingwu and picked up his chopsticks: “Why bother with that? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just kill them?”

Having said that, he brought the piece of lotus root he had picked up to his mouth.