“Second Brother, can we really make potions here from now on? Can we really live in the Demonic Palace every day?” Chi Xian asked, looking at the enormous potion-making room in disbelief.
You see, although the Venerable One treated Chi Xian and Cang Gui differently from others, they were still low-ranking members of the Demon Race. Even with the Demon Venerable’s special regard, they normally had to grease palms just to enter the Demonic Palace to offer something. Settling down near the Demonic Palace was already difficult enough, let alone securing a position there and actually living inside it.
Xu Baizhou looked at the excited Chi Xian and at Cang Gui, who, though less demonstrative, could hardly hide his joy, and for a moment didn’t know how to answer.
After that day, Jia Wujie had built Xu Baizhou a potion-making room within the Demonic Palace. From then on, he no longer needed to gather demonic plants himself each day, people would deliver all kinds of demonic plants to the room. Jia Wujie had also said that if Xu Baizhou wished, Chi Xian and Cang Gui could move in as well.
Jia Wujie’s possessions were naturally the finest in the entire Demonic Realm, yet Xu Baizhou couldn’t feel happy.
On the surface, Jia Wujie had built this potion room for his sake, but in reality, it felt as though he was being kept like penned livestock.
He was always careful and cautious, utterly obedient to Jia Wujie, never daring to defy him in the slightest. Could it be that his going off on his own to pick nethergrass at the cliff last time had displeased Jia Wujie? Xu Baizhou wondered.
Chi Xian’s startled cries reached his ears. “Second Brother! Isn’t this dragonfang grass… wait, this is wuwei root! These are all ingredients for high-grade demonic potions! Second Brother, the Venerable One treats you far too well!”
Looking at the baskets upon baskets of high-grade demonic plants laid out there, Xu Baizhou could only set aside those troubling thoughts for the time being.
After all, these were genuinely good things. Without Jia Wujie, he might never have touched them in his entire life. And now, he could luxuriously use these priceless materials as he pleased even if his current potion-making skills were far from capable of bringing out the full potency of these precious demonic plants.
As time passed like this, Xu Baizhou’s potion-making skills improved by leaps and bounds, though then again, with so many precious materials to practice on, it would have been hard not to improve.
That day, Chi Xian and Cang Gui had gone back first, leaving Xu Baizhou alone in the potion room.
Gazing at a fresh batch of demonic potions, Xu Baizhou sank into deep thought.
Xu Baizhou had a mortal body and had never cultivated magic, so naturally he possessed no Magical Power at all. As things stood, he still couldn’t complete the entire potion-making process independently. If Xu Baizhou couldn’t find a way to solve this problem, then once he left this place, he would be nothing, and would never become a true potion master.
Without his noticing, night had fallen. Just as Xu Baizhou was staring blankly at the few demonic potions before him, a voice came from behind.
“What, planning to spend the night here?”
Xu Baizhou turned around to see Jia Wujie walking in.
Jia Wujie was wearing that dark green inner garment, with a heavy black robe draped over his shoulders. Seeing Xu Baizhou staring blankly at the few demonic potions, he smiled and said, “Oh? You made these?”
“Yes. Want one?” Troubled by his lack of Magical Power, Xu Baizhou had no patience for Jia Wujie’s sarcasm, and his tone was far from friendly.
Jia Wujie did not answer. Instead, he sat down beside Xu Baizhou, and in the next second, he reached out, grabbed those demonic potions, and without a word of explanation, put them into his mouth.
“Don’t eat them!” Xu Baizhou only now came to his senses. He hurriedly reached out to stop him, but failed. Jia Wujie’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, then he opened his mouth to show off its complete emptiness.
Jia Wujie had actually swallowed the demonic potions!
“Spit them out, they’re poisonous!”
With that, Xu Baizhou gripped Jia Wujie’s chin and slipped his fingers into his mouth, trying to fish the potions back out, only to hear a soft laugh from Jia Wujie.
Half of Xu Baizhou’s finger had entered Jia Wujie’s mouth, and the soft, moist sensation beneath his fingertip was unmistakably vivid.
Xu Baizhou suddenly realized what he was doing and instinctively tried to pull away, but Jia Wujie seized the hand that still glistened faintly with saliva.
“You were worried about me,” Jia Wujie said, his lips brushing against Xu Baizhou’s damp fingertips.
Jia Wujie’s lips were hot and soft Xu Baizhou knew this well. Though he and Jia Wujie had done far more intimate things, Xu Baizhou had always treated those matters as strictly business. But this moment was far too suggestive, and Xu Baizhou flushed red all the same.
“I wasn’t… let go of me,” Xu Baizhou said, struggling gently, trying to free his hand from Jia Wujie’s palm.
But the sight of Xu Baizhou, red-faced and muttering under his breath, took on an entirely different meaning in Jia Wujie’s eyes. He simply reached out, wrapped an arm around him, and pulled Xu Baizhou up to sit on his lap.
“If you weren’t, why were you in such a hurry just now?” Jia Wujie said.
Too close. Xu Baizhou stared at the small mole on the tip of Jia Wujie’s nose, and his head began to spin again.
“I was afraid you’d ruin yourself eating potions I brewed and then come make trouble for me,” Xu Baizhou said, straining to put distance between them, offering a reason that sounded perfectly reasonable on the fly.
“Hmph. Your mouth says one thing, your heart another.” Jia Wujie gave a soft laugh and finally released his grip on Xu Baizhou’s wrist.
Xu Baizhou hastily withdrew his hand, but Jia Wujie’s long, powerful arm remained wrapped around his waist, refusing to loosen even a fraction.
“If I, the Demon Venerable, were to be poisoned by a little Medicine Guide like you, then this Demon Venerable might as well not be one at all.” Looking at Xu Baizhou, who was showing a rare trace of embarrassment, Jia Wujie said half-jokingly, “You can have the title instead.”
There was truth in that, Xu Baizhou thought. It took no effort at all to figure out as the Demon Venerable, master of all demons, how could Jia Wujie fear some insignificant poison? His earlier reaction had been nothing but instinct, a moment of panic, that was all.
It seemed his plan to poison Jia Wujie to death with a brewed demonic potion was not going to work, Xu Baizhou sighed inwardly.
Just then, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, someone seemed to be heading this way.
Xu Baizhou was sitting on Jia Wujie’s lap in an extremely compromising position. If anyone saw them, it would look very bad indeed. Xu Baizhou gave Jia Wujie a gentle push, trying to get him to let him down.
But instead of setting Xu Baizhou down, Jia Wujie only doubled down. The hand at Xu Baizhou’s waist slid downward, finally coming to rest on his firm, upturned rear. With an upward tug, Jia Wujie pressed Xu Baizhou even closer against himself.
At this moment, Xu Baizhou was straddling Jia Wujie’s hips with his legs spread apart, their chests pressed tightly together.
This position made Xu Baizhou extremely embarrassed. He slapped at Jia Wujie’s shoulder and said in a lowered voice, “What are you doing? Let go of me, someone’s coming!”
But Jia Wujie completely ignored Xu Baizhou’s words. With one hand supporting Xu Baizhou’s back and the other cradling his head, he pressed down into a heavy kiss.
The wide robes slipped from Jia Wujie’s shoulders and fell to the floor. A whimper escaped Xu Baizhou’s mouth as his body tilted backward with Jia Wujie’s movements. Losing his balance entirely, he could only cling tightly to Jia Wujie with both arms and legs to keep himself from sliding off.
And Xu Baizhou didn’t even dare imagine, if anyone looked in from outside the door, their current position looked like… it looked just like…
“Ah!”
A woman’s startled cry came from outside the door, accompanied by the sound of something crashing to the floor. Then Xu Baizhou heard a steadier voice.
“Making such a fuss, so careless. Hurry up and clean that up.”
The voice sounded familiar, and Xu Baizhou immediately recognized it, it was the Holy Mother.
The woman who had cried out earlier seemed to be the Holy Mother’s maidservant. Hearing the scolding, she timidly acknowledged it and began picking up the fallen dishes.
Jia Wujie’s lips parted from Xu Baizhou’s mouth. He looked at Xu Baizhou, yet spoke with great respect: “Forgive my rudeness, Mother, I didn’t know you were coming.”
Looking over Jia Wujie’s shoulder, Xu Baizhou saw a woman in white standing outside the door with her back to them, it was the Holy Mother.
“It’s late, and I heard that Jie’er hadn’t gone to bed yet, so I prepared some food and brought it over specially. I never expected this clumsy maidservant to spill it. Though it seems now that I’ve come at an inconvenient time.” The Holy Mother paused, then continued, “If you’re hungry, Jie’er, I’ll have them prepare another bowl.”
“No need. I was just about to return to my room to rest. Tomorrow, I will pay Mother a visit myself,” Jia Wujie said.
The Holy Mother nodded outside the door, and just then the maidservant finished cleaning up the mess on the floor, rising to stand with her head bowed at the Holy Mother’s side.
“Then I’ll be going. The night air is chilly, Jie’er be careful not to catch a cold.”
Watching the Holy Mother’s departing figure, a shadow of darkness flickered across Jia Wujie’s face. “Thank you for your concern, Mother.”
But outside the door, the Holy Mother suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Though the Holy Mother’s face always wore a kindly smile, Xu Baizhou found her whole person sinister and terrifying. Not daring to look at her, he buried his head deep in Jia Wujie’s chest.
Perhaps sensing Xu Baizhou’s fear, Jia Wujie’s arms tightened around him. He stroked the back of Xu Baizhou’s head, pressing it another fraction closer to his chest.
The Holy Mother said, “Jie’er, I shouldn’t meddle, but you are, after all, the esteemed Demon Venerable, and there are some things I must remind you of.” With that, she tilted her head slightly and continued, “You bear a heavy responsibility, Jie’er. It would be best not to indulge in pleasure.”
“Rest assured, Mother,” Jia Wujie said with a smile. “I was merely bored, just amusing myself a little.”
Xu Baizhou’s head rested against Jia Wujie’s chest. Through the layer of skin and flesh, he could clearly hear the sound of Jia Wujie’s heartbeat.
Jia Wujie’s heartbeat was steady and strong, without the slightest fluctuation.
That’s right, Xu Baizhou thought just now, when he had said that line, there hadn’t been the slightest fluctuation either.