Xu Baizhou finally woke up. He looked at his masterpiece in the courtyard and said to the two of them, “I didn’t summon it. Last night I was just drying my demonic plants in the courtyard when this fat chicken suddenly flew in, followed by this thing, I don’t know if it’s a tiger or a leopard and it messed up all the demonic plants I’d just sorted. So I grabbed the fat chicken and figured I’d put this thing to work while I was at it!”
With that, Xu Baizhou chuckled. “Big Brother Chi Xian, this can cover several days of work for us!”
“Several days of work? Do you know what this thing is? This won’t do, it’s too dangerous. If it goes berserk, neither of us could restrain it!” Chi Xian said, eyeing the Demonic Beast in the courtyard warily.
“Huh? But it looks pretty dumb…” Xu Baizhou said, puzzled, staring at the beast that was being worked like a donkey without even realizing it.
Just as the group was pacing anxiously around the courtyard, at a loss for what to do with the beast, a rumble suddenly came from the horizon, as if some enormous thing had roared past.
At that sound, the Demonic Beast abruptly stopped. It looked uneasily at the black clouds pressing in from the horizon, seemingly terrified of the aura emanating from within them. Then, just as the shadow of the black clouds was about to envelop the courtyard, the beast began struggling madly. It broke free of its ropes and bolted in the opposite direction, quickly vanishing from sight.
Watching his free labor run off like that, Xu Baizhou felt a flicker of regret but immediately afterward, the sky above was swallowed by those black clouds.
Xu Baizhou looked up at the daylight being gradually blotted out by the black clouds, and the next second, Jia Wujie descended from the sky, standing before him.
Jia Wujie’s face was frighteningly grim, his pupils blood-red.
A thunderclap flashed behind him, outlining him in a shadowy silhouette.
“You’re injured?” Xu Baizhou asked.
Jia Wujie looked down at Xu Baizhou, whose brows were slightly furrowed, his pink-tinged lips parting and closing. Suddenly, Jia Wujie reached out, seized him by the collar, lifted him up despite his resistance, lowered his head, and kissed him.
Internal energy even more chaotic than last time surged into Xu Baizhou’s body, circulated through his blood until it steadied, then flowed back into Jia Wujie.
A thread of moisture slipped down from where their lips and teeth met. Under this overwhelming, unyielding force, Xu Baizhou once again gradually lost consciousness…
Xu Baizhou woke in Jia Wujie’s sleeping chamber. He looked around, thank goodness, Jia Wujie wasn’t there.
“You’re awake?”
Xu Baizhou, who had just relaxed, suddenly heard a voice beside him and jumped in fright. Instinctively, he crossed his arms in front of his chest in a defensive posture, only to find that the speaker was Dang Ji.
“Lord… Lord Dang, what are you doing here?” Xu Baizhou asked.
Dang Ji walked to the bedside and shoved a food box into Xu Baizhou’s arms. “His Excellency has entered seclusion. I’ll be protecting you these next few days.”
Xu Baizhou opened the food box. Inside were pastries and snacks, clearly prepared by Jia Wujie, who knew he tended to get hungry whenever he woke up.
“Is he really injured?” Xu Baizhou asked.
Dang Ji stared at Xu Baizhou for a long while, until Xu Baizhou felt a chill creep up his back, before finally withdrawing his gaze and saying, “Just a minor injury.”
That’s good, Xu Baizhou thought, munching on the bun in his hand and breathing a sigh of relief.
But the next second, he shook his head. Wait, why am I worried about him? It would be great if Jia Wujie died!
Right, Xu Baizhou thought. He was going to brew a top-grade poison and poison that Jia Wujie to death!
After the meal, Xu Baizhou suggested taking a look around.
He seemed to have grasped some of the rules within the Demonic Palace. When Jia Wujie was lucid, he was the absolute authority in the palace, but when his Hysteria Affliction flared up, it seemed there were other forces at work within it. Now that Jia Wujie was merely injured and only lightly, the entire Demonic Palace should still be under his control.
After several such episodes, Xu Baizhou had roughly figured out his own role with respect to Jia Wujie. Though he didn’t know why, the True Qi in Jia Wujie’s body seemed to spiral out of control from time to time. In the past, whenever that happened, Jia Wujie could only suppress it by drinking mushroom soup but the soup seemed to have a major side effect: after drinking it, Jia Wujie would turn into that frenzied madman from the birthday banquet.
Meanwhile, Xu Baizhou’s body seemed to possess some ability that could calm that chaotic True Qi. So if Jia Wujie didn’t want to drink mushroom soup again, he had to keep Xu Baizhou by his side.
For the short term, Jia Wujie probably wouldn’t take his life, but with his volatile moods and unpredictable temper, Xu Baizhou would have to tread carefully in everything. And if Jia Wujie found another way to suppress the True Qi in his body, then Xu Baizhou would be of no use to him at all. Xu Baizhou thought that while he was still useful to Jia Wujie, he should familiarize himself with the Demonic Palace as much as possible, wait for a chance to escape, and also seize the time to learn how to brew demonic potions that way, no matter where he ended up, he could survive.
Fortunately, when Xu Baizhou proposed looking around the Demonic Palace, Dang Ji didn’t refuse. He followed behind Xu Baizhou, merely ensuring his safety, without interfering with anything Xu Baizhou did.
Although Dang Ji didn’t care what he did, Xu Baizhou still knew his limits. He was certain Jia Wujie wouldn’t kill him in the short term, but he also knew his own place, he was just a weak human, while Jia Wujie was the esteemed Demon Venerable. If he truly crossed Jia Wujie’s bottom line, he would probably die a very ugly death.
Besides, the only reason he could move about freely now was because he was obedient and sensible. If he showed the slightest defiance toward Jia Wujie, Jia Wujie would surely break his legs and lock him in the dungeon.
So Xu Baizhou just strolled around casually, never touching what shouldn’t be touched and never going where he shouldn’t go.
But just as Xu Baizhou finished his circuit and was about to head back, he suddenly spotted a furtive figure.
A red-haired Demon Race member was hiding behind a round pillar carved with some unknown Demonic Beast, secretly watching him.
Chi Xian, what was he doing?
Seemingly realizing he’d been discovered, Chi Xian sheepishly stepped out from behind the pillar, scratched his head, and gave Xu Baizhou an awkward smile.
“Brother Chi Xian, what are you doing here?” Xu Baizhou asked.
At Xu Baizhou’s words, Chi Xian’s face filled with alarm and he waved his hands repeatedly. “Oh no, no, I wouldn’t dare! Just call this humble one Chi Xian, you’re the big brother, you’re the big brother!”
Xu Baizhou was utterly baffled by Chi Xian’s attitude and looked at him in confusion.
Chi Xian gave a meaningful smile and lowered his voice. “We all know about your relationship with His Excellency now!”
Xu Baizhou was shocked. “What relationship? Know what?”
“Don’t hide it from this humble one. We all saw it that day. His Excellency did that kind of thing to you. If I still couldn’t figure out your identity after that, I’d deserve to have these eyes gouged out!”
Xu Baizhou’s face went red, then pale, then green, then black. Chi Xian had actually misunderstood his relationship with Jia Wujie!
Dang Ji, walking behind, naturally heard Chi Xian’s words too. He coughed twice, then turned away and paced forward to cover his embarrassment.
You’re leaving now? Come back! Get back here and explain things for me!
Seeing that Dang Ji had put distance between himself and the two of them, Chi Xian grew even more unrestrained in his speech.
“Just look at your position now. From now on, in the Demonic Palace, His Excellency will be number one, Lord Dang will be number two, and you’ll be… no, wait! You should rank ahead of Lord Dang, you’ll be the second-in-command of our Demonic Palace!”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Jia Wujie and I are not that kind of relationship. And we’re both men, doesn’t that idea of yours seem strange to you?” Xu Baizhou explained.
“You’re even calling His Excellency by his name directly, and you still deny it! Besides…” Chi Xian lowered his voice and continued, “We of the Demon Race don’t care about all that righteousness and propriety. But I understand that the Human Race cares about face, so I won’t spread it around, I’ll definitely keep your secret with His Excellency!”
After several failed attempts at explaining, Xu Baizhou gave up. Anyway, Chi Xian had already sworn not to go around blabbing, let him think whatever he wanted!
Besides, Chi Xian seemed extremely attentive toward him now, and he could perhaps take advantage of that to properly learn the methods of refining medicine from him.
…
“Your Excellency, your wounds have healed?”
In a hidden chamber of the Demonic Palace, Jia Wujie finished arranging his robes, concealing a scar on his arm like a beast’s bite mark, beneath his wide sleeve.
“There was never any serious harm to begin with. I simply didn’t want to make it public. It’s just that he is becoming harder and harder to control… Never mind. In three days, once I’ve recovered my Vital Energy, I’ll leave seclusion.” Jia Wujie asked, “While I’ve been away, has the Holy Mother made any moves?”
Dang Ji shook his head. “The Holy Mother has been very quiet lately. Everything in the Demonic Palace is normal, please rest assured, Your Excellency.” Having said that, Dang Ji fell silent for a moment, as if there were something he wasn’t sure whether he should say.
“Is there something else?” Jia Wujie asked.
“Your Excellency, that Little Medicine Guide you told me to watch, he’s been with Chi Xian and Cang Gui these past few days.”
Jia Wujie was not surprised to hear this. After all, Xu Baizhou only knew those two in the Demonic Palace. Humans loved making friends, and with nothing to do in his boredom, it was only natural for him to seek out Chi Xian and Cang Gui for company. But the dangers of the Demonic Realm were beyond what a mere little human could imagine. A creature as weak as him, if he died in the Demonic Realm, he wouldn’t even know how he died.
Jia Wujie said, “Chi Xian and Cang Gui are our own people, so there’s no problem there. But the Demonic Realm is dangerous. It’s best to keep him from wandering around outside too much.”
“…”
Seeing what Dang Ji wanted to say, Jia Wujie frowned. “What’s wrong with you today? You’re never this hesitant. If you have something to say, say it.”
“They went to the cliff this morning.”
Hearing this, Jia Wujie’s blood surged, and the True Qi he had just calmed nearly rushed up again. He snapped sharply, “What! What did he go to the cliff for?”
Dang Ji replied, “That Little Medicine Guide is learning to brew demonic potions from Chi Xian Cang Gui. They went to the cliff to gather nethergrass.”