“You…” Suyu chuckled bitterly. Previously, Qingmo had never been this obsessed with money; perhaps the Smoke and Cloud Pavilion had encountered some difficulties lately, causing him to work noticeably harder.
The truth was that yesterday Qingmo had opened the ledger to audit the accounts. With the month barely past the halfway mark, those brutes had already paid out thousands of silver taels solely for people’s medical expenses incurred from beatings. If Qingmo didn’t think of something soon, the Smoke and Cloud Pavilion would be on the verge of bankruptcy.
Suyu took out the bracelet Qingmo had bought back in Chizhou. Delivering this bracelet presented a certain level of difficulty, leaving him with no other choice than to carry it on his person.
“His birthday is coming up soon. Perhaps you could help me think of a gift, and I’ll reward you with a hundred taels of gold later.”
Qingmo was more than happy to take on this job. The reward was generous, and everything else was secondary; at least he wouldn’t have to toil away by taking on mortal jianghu assassination missions.
Recognizing this as the very bracelet he had purchased earlier, Qingmo asked, “You still haven’t given this thing away?”
Suyu replied sincerely, “I’m afraid he’ll smash it right in my face.”
That sounded like quite a realistic scenario.
For the sake of money and preventing the Smoke and Cloud Pavilion from collapsing, Qingmo dedicated himself wholeheartedly to helping his scumbag colleague pursue his former lover. “It’s just mortal jade after all, holding little value. I heard the Sovereign has a piece of superior quality. Why don’t we go beg Him for it?”
“You haven’t gotten enough scoldings from last time?” Suyu cast a faint glance at him.
Back home last time, Heavenly Dao hadn’t immediately vented His anger on these two underperforming subordinates. Instead, He thoughtfully invited Qingmo to stay for dinner, coaxing Liu Ze into a good mood before waiting until everyone was asleep to herd these two fellows back into a room for a thorough lecturing.
The mere mention of this made Qingmo furious. He complained, “I told you to stand in front and block for me, so why did you slip away faster than anyone else?”
“Because I was just a cat.” Suyu stated it as a matter of course, seeing no fault in Rice Cake’s actions.
Unable to argue with him, Qingmo shoved him toward the exit. “Alright, alright. I’ll help you consider the gift, now get out! Private rooms are billed by the hour!”
As night fell, a faint candle flickered indoors while Qingmo stared blankly at a score of sheet music.
Seeking a kindred spirit through high mountains and flowing waters, he felt that person’s sorrow through this musical piece.
Suyu only listened to music for the lively atmosphere and couldn’t explain to him that his beloved had begun hating him the moment the melody was composed.
One could only imagine what kind of hardships that person had endured, seeing as even Suyu’s cotton-like gentle personality failed to win him back.
It wasn’t that he was handling dirty money, but purely from a matchmaking perspective, Suyu could be considered top-tier perfection. He was good-looking, gentle-natured, and his true form was the absolute pinnacle of fluffiness. Provided one could look past things, even a frail, sickly constitution could be viewed as an advantage; perhaps in a couple of years once the cat passed away, he could even inherit his Demon Lord position.
“Perhaps I should persuade him. If he truly can’t let go, making up and playing with cats is also a form of enjoyment,” Qingmo muttered, pinching a tuft of fur at the tip of the little hairball’s ear.
The little hairball swatted away that irritating hand. You just want to freeload at a wedding banquet!
Continuing to exercise his brilliant intellect, Qingmo said, “I need to make him realize Suyu’s good points. What if someone else snatches him away before they can make up?”
The Demon Lord kept himself strictly disciplined, but if some demon spent a thousand or eight hundred years seducing him, a change of heart wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility.
Unaware that his line of reasoning was becoming increasingly unhinged, he continued chattering away at the little hairball. “Actually, Suyu is really quite nice. If I weren’t someone who refuses to date, I’m sure I’d fall for him.”
The little hairball drooped its eyelids. “Ying?”
Then why don’t you date?
“Wise people do not step into the river of love; Qingmo refuses to take responsibility.”
If only its paws could reach far enough, it would love to give him a round of applause.
Lacking any enthusiasm, the little hairball shoved his face away, scurried toward its bedding, and patted the pillow to remind him that it was time for bed.
“Sigh.” Qingmo heaved a heavy sigh, alternately scolding it for lacking any appreciation for art while following along to lift the covers and burrow inside.
It was an unsettled sleep. The moment his eyelids closed, visions of two little blue-crested birds chattering away flashed through his mind.
Weren’t the three of them huddled together plotting some evil scheme that day?
Hadn’t he just praised Suyu a moment ago? Did he still remember his original objective, which was clearly to expose the ugly monster’s true colors and ruin Suyu’s reputation?!
Instantly wide awake, Qingmo sat straight up in bed, startling the little hairball.
Then, under its bewildered gaze, he delivered a fierce slap to his own face.
“Slap!”
“Useless!”
“Ying?!”
He had been bought off by Suyu just like that? He was going to betray his original intention just like that? He was going to help them make up just like that?
Three question marks slammed down onto Qingmo’s head one after another, weighing him down until he drifted back to sleep, still troubled in his hazy state by what to give the Demon Queen for a birthday gift.
The horizon was as dark as ink, roiling clouds obscuring the moonlight. In the dead of night, Qingmo turned over in his deep sleep, pressing the entire blanket underneath him.
In his dream, the little hairball beside his pillow bounced over. With every inch it drew closer, its size doubled. Watching the half-meter-tall little hairball merge its nine tails into one while its dark eyes transformed into heterochromatic ones, Qingmo blinked, only to find it had already turned into the likeness of Rice Cake.
Spreading his arms to measure, Qingmo said, “Rice Cake, you’ve gotten fatter than before!”
Without a word, Rice Cake rolled over and lay flat, its sprawled-out belly as soft and cozy as a furry little bed.
No fluffy-lover could ever resist such temptation, and he immediately pounced forward. However, the expected soft texture never materialized. Instead, his view was filled with a firm, sturdy chest. Following that slender neck upward, Suyu’s robes were thrown wide open, gazing down at him with smiling eyes.
His usually tightly wrapped physique was displayed without reserve. A pair of arms, far from the fragility he remembered, appeared robust and muscular, firmly locking him in an embrace.
The other person murmured softly by his ear, “You’re the one who threw yourself into my arms.”
Qingmo: “…”
What on earth was all this?!
Startled awake, Qingmo clutched his chest, panting heavily as he repeatedly comforted himself that it was only a dream.
Daylight broke brightly outside the window accompanied by occasional crisp bird calls. The little hairball was still sleeping soundly beside his pillow, its large tail wrapped tightly around its tiny body into a curled-up ball with an adorably heart-melting appearance.
He breathed a sigh of relief, flicked the tail with his finger, and muttered to himself, “Good thing it was just a dream. My little hairball cannot turn into a huge, chubby cat.”
Just as the words left his mouth, a figure stepped out from behind the folding screen. “Qingmo?”
Save me! The nightmare had come true!
Instinctively grabbing the pillow beside him, Qingmo hurled it fiercely at Suyu. “Get away! Don’t come near me, ahhh!”
Stunned by the blow, Suyu caught the pillow and asked in bewilderment, “What’s wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare?”
Pausing for a moment, Qingmo’s sluggish brain finally registered that the Suyu before him was real. He rubbed his aching temples and said, “Yes, I dreamed that you…”
Wait.
Suddenly recalling something, he bellowed toward the door at the top of his lungs, “Hanzhao!”
After about two seconds, Hanzhao pushed the door open, his doubtful gaze seeming to ask what was needed.
Clutching the blanket tight as he cowered in the corner of the bed, Qingmo pointed at Suyu in disbelief. “Weren’t you keeping watch at the door? How did he get in?!”
Unconvinced that anyone could slip past his watch, even if that person was the Demon Lord, Hanzhao stared silently toward the doorway and stated with certainty, “He didn’t use the door.”
“Cough.” Suyu cleared his throat, pressing a fist to his mouth. “You didn’t close the window last night.”
The mystery was solved; he had climbed through the window yet again.
Qingmo swore he would seal that window shut another day.
“What are you here for again?” he asked irritably.
Hanzhao brought in a basin of warm water to help him wash up. Not treating Suyu as an outsider, Qingmo peeled off his sleeping robe right across from a translucent screen.
With an unreadable glint in his eyes, Suyu stared at that shadowy, indistinct silhouette.
Moving his dry throat, he spoke up, “To repay a debt. I’ve already had someone place the money into the Smoke and Cloud Pavilion’s treasury.”
At the mention of money, Qingmo immediately turned enthusiastic. Emerging in newly changed attire, he beamed brightly. “Look at you, sending the money over would have been enough. Why bother showing up in person?”
With that, he poured Suyu a cup of leftover cold tea.
“Tea won’t be necessary,” Suyu declined, signaling for Hanzhao to hand him the comb. “It’s just that my hair-tying skills are getting increasingly rusty, and I’m afraid I’ll be laughed at later. Why don’t you help me practice?”
Since he didn’t have to do the work himself, it made no difference who did it. Shrugging indifferently, Qingmo seated himself before the bronze mirror.
His long hair was much smoother to comb than cat fur. With lowered brows, Suyu could see nothing but Qingmo’s semi-profile outside of the mirror reflection. Intentionally or otherwise, his fingers brushed against the delicate skin of Qingmo’s neck, tickling him so much that Qingmo pulled out a hairpin and lightly slapped the back of Suyu’s hand.
“Behave yourself, cat paws!”
With his attitude of repentance lacking sincerity, chiefly because he recognized this as the exact same wooden hairpin used to tie up Qingmo’s hair last time, Suyu became distracted and accidentally snapped a strand of hair. “It’s just an ordinary wooden hairpin. I didn’t think you’d keep it.”
Rubbing his scalp, Qingmo gave him a resentful look. “Don’t change the subject! That is no excuse for ripping my hair out!”
The Smoke and Cloud Pavilion typically had few visitors in the morning, leaving the main hall peaceful. Yet for some reason, a commotion of shouting arose downstairs today.
After finishing his hair-tying and admiring his reflection to reaffirm his own good looks, Qingmo muttered, “Mm, looking good, but why do I think I just heard Xuaner’s voice?”
Xuaner was the earliest attendant to join the Smoke and Cloud Pavilion besides Chi Ying, as well as a rare talent with decent zither skills. Having made fewer public appearances in recent years, she primarily focused on helping Qingmo manage the Smoke and Cloud Pavilion’s accounts, so there was no reason for her to personally handle disputes out front.
As the group reached the corridor, they saw a woman staggering toward the entrance, desperately trying to force her way inside. Unable to bring herself to use force against a female patron, Chi Ying had no choice but to call Xuaner out to defuse the situation.
Speaking in a gentle and harmonious tone, Xuaner patiently explained to the woman, “Miss, we’ve only just opened our doors, and not a single guest has arrived yet. We truly don’t have the person you’re looking for.”
However, the other person could no longer register what she was saying. With a pale complexion and cold sweat pouring down her face, she lacked even the strength to push Xuaner away, muttering incoherently, “Lord, let me in, Lord…”
“Chenyin!”
Suyu’s expression turned stern as he strode quickly down the stairs.
Hearing the familiar voice though it was heavily blurred, Chenyin felt an incomparable sense of reassurance as her legs went weak and she collapsed downward.
“Ah, miss!” Xuaner scrambled to catch her in a panic.
By this point, Chenyin’s consciousness was rapidly fading. The instinct for survival caused her to clutch tightly onto the corner of that dark-colored robe, wheezing out her final, feeble breath with great difficulty.
“Lord, save me…”
“Chenyin?” Another life passing away before his eyes, Suyu choked back a sob as he pulled her body into a tight embrace, feeling as though he had been instantly transported back to that cold morning when he lost Qingmo.
In truth, he was terrified of facing life and death above all else.
With the sudden turn of events, Qingmo collected his wits and gently placed a hand on Suyu’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort before checking Chenyin’s pulse, his expression growing increasingly solemn.
Chenyin was dead.
Yet inexplicably, without a single wound on her body nor any signs of poisoning, how could she have died so suddenly?