“Bai Jiao!”
The instant Chao Zhuo saw Bai Jiao, he rushed toward him at the fastest speed he could manage.
The dwarf and the dragon beside them had no idea what was going on. The dwarf was just about to step forward and shield the Dark God he believed in, eager to demonstrate his loyalty, only to be slapped away. The dragon, meanwhile, assumed that Chao Zhuo was about to attack Bai Jiao, the Dark God and immediately prepared to help.
However, Chao Zhuo simply went flying like a kite whose string had suddenly been cut, plunging straight into Bai Jiao’s arms.
“Is this some new way of killing demons?” Bai Jiao asked, wrapping an arm around his waist, a teasing smile evident in his voice.
Chao Zhuo immediately kissed him on the lips, silencing those lips that were always teasing him and saying things designed to get a rise out of him.
“Mm.”
Bai Jiao did not resist. Instead, he guided Chao Zhuo and deepened the kiss.
Beneath the sky filled with brilliant clouds, the two of them held each other closely while 886 stood nearby, scattering flower petals around them.
“Stop throwing them.”
Bai Jiao thought the light radiating from 886 was far too dazzling and simply locked it away in the little dark room.
886: […]
Already used to this!
Perhaps because they had gone an entire month without kissing, Chao Zhuo was soon kissed by Bai Jiao until he could barely catch his breath. His breathing became rapid as he lay weakly against Bai Jiao’s chest.
The dragon was furious when he saw the elf he had fallen for being kissed by the Dark God. Flames practically shot from his nostrils yet he did not dare direct his anger at Chao Zhuo.
“Bai Jiao, you wicked demon who beguiles people’s hearts! What have you done to His Holiness the Saint? Let him go at once!”
Bai Jiao had long since found this foolish dragon irritating. However, considering that the dragon had done a good job of escorting Chao Zhuo around during this period, Bai Jiao merely snapped his fingers and made him disappear on the spot.
Chao Zhuo opened his mouth, wanting to plead for the dragon but in the end, he closed it again.
He trusted that Bai Jiao knew his limits and would not do anything that would put him in a difficult position.
Seeing this, the dwarf wisely burrowed back into his mine. Even though his heart was in complete turmoil, he still understood the situation well enough to leave the space to the Dark God and the Saint, who were clearly up to something.
With no other living creatures around them and the ground covered in uneven pits with dust flying everywhere, the surroundings were hardly suitable. Bai Jiao simply took Chao Zhuo back to the Dark God’s temple.
When Chao Zhuo saw the unfamiliar temple, he did not think much of it. Instead, he clung tightly to Bai Jiao’s clothes and refused to let go. He even kept leaning toward him to kiss him, as though he intended to make up for every kiss they had missed before.
“Are you being a little too enthusiastic?” Bai Jiao asked, dodging his relentless attacks of affection as he restrained the restless elf. “This really isn’t like you.”
Who would have thought that Chao Zhuo would suddenly reach down and grab his “vital point”?
“Have you found someone else?”
Bai Jiao immediately understood the hidden meaning behind those words. It was nothing short of a provocation. However, he did not take the bait. Instead, he smiled and asked, “Are you jealous?”
It was in a succubus’s nature to constantly seek out creatures with whom to do that sort of thing. When Chao Zhuo did not hear Bai Jiao deny having someone else, it felt as though a needle had pierced straight through his chest and the tears he had been desperately holding back instantly spilled over.
“Why are you crying?”
Bai Jiao immediately reined in his mischievous teasing. He pulled Chao Zhuo into his arms and gently patted his back.
“I never admitted that I have someone else.”
Chao Zhuo’s crying stopped immediately. He bit his lip and asked aggrievedly, “Really? Then why haven’t you come looking for me all this time?”
Bai Jiao wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, his expression calm as he said, “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to resist taking you away by force. Humans always say that true love means letting go, don’t they?”
“I’m not human and neither are you. Why should we listen to humans?”
Chao Zhuo’s thought process was as strange as ever, leaving Bai Jiao unusually speechless for a moment.
“But you wanted to follow in the footsteps of the God of Light. You didn’t want to leave with me, did you?”
“Who said I didn’t, ”
Before Chao Zhuo could finish, Bai Jiao pinched his lips shut.
“You need to remain steadfast in your faith.”
Only by walking all the way to the end could the two of them finally be together.
Chao Zhuo fell silent. He simply gazed at Bai Jiao quietly and the moment Bai Jiao released his lips, he threw himself at him once again.
“I want to be with you.”
Chao Zhuo clasped Bai Jiao’s hand, his attitude unusually resolute.
“I don’t care about status, position, or faith. I only want to be with you.”
He had figured it out.
His selfish desires were simply too strong for him to devote himself wholeheartedly to the God of Light.
Even if he knew that the road ahead might be filled with nothing but darkness and even if others might consider such a choice irrational, Chao Zhuo could not bring himself to care about any of that.
He could not bear even a single second of the days when he could not see Bai Jiao. It was as though he were being tormented relentlessly by scorching flames.
Bai Jiao was somewhat helpless yet the corners of his lips curved upward no matter how hard he tried to suppress them.
“You really love me that much?”
“Really!”
Afraid that Bai Jiao might not believe him, Chao Zhuo straightforwardly slipped his hand beneath Bai Jiao’s clothes.
“Turn me into a dark elf. Doesn’t that mean I’ll be able to get pregnant? Then let’s have one, ”
“I don’t like children,” Bai Jiao interrupted his wild train of thought. “Besides, I think light elves are prettier than dark elves.”
Chao Zhuo froze.
He thought Bai Jiao was refusing to accept him and his heart immediately felt as though it had been cut to pieces. Seeing that he was about to cry again, Bai Jiao abruptly changed the direction of his words.
“However, I believe that you love me.”
“Do you not want to be with me?”
The uneasiness in Chao Zhuo’s heart grew without limit as he wrapped his arms tightly around Bai Jiao.
His complete lack of security made him unable to stop imagining all sorts of things. Perhaps Bai Jiao had someone else. Perhaps he no longer loved him, no longer liked him, or had simply grown tired of the novelty.
Or perhaps Bai Jiao only liked him when he was the Saint? Perhaps he only enjoyed the feeling of bullying the subordinate of his sworn enemy, the God of Light?
“No. I simply don’t think you need to give up your faith.”
Bai Jiao pinched Chao Zhuo’s cheek. Feeling that he had teased him enough, he finally spoke slowly.
“You can become the object of your original faith, too.”
“Hmm?”
Chao Zhuo was completely bewildered.
Bai Jiao felt that the time was right, so he simply took out the God of Light’s divine core, which had been sitting in his system space for quite some time.
“Become the God of Light.”
“…”
Chao Zhuo stared hesitantly at the golden, glittering divine core.
“Jiao Jiao, what nonsense are you talking about?”
Bai Jiao pressed the divine core against Chao Zhuo’s chest yet after quite some time, it still would not fuse into him. Instead, the divine core kept pushing against his chest, trying desperately to burrow inside. Even the Dark God’s divine core began to stir restlessly.
“This is the divine core of the God of Light,” Bai Jiao explained. “If you can fuse with it, you can become the God of Light. After that, you’ll never have to worry about violating your own faith again.”
“This really is the God of Light’s divine core?”
Chao Zhuo could indeed feel the rich, dense power of light emanating from the divine core.
“Mm but it isn’t being very obedient right now. Once I’ve tamed it, I’ll let it fuse with you.” Bai Jiao nearly crushed the divine core in his hand.
“Jiao Jiao… why do you have the God of Light’s divine core?” Chao Zhuo suddenly noticed the glaring flaw in the situation.
The God of Light’s divine core should, logically speaking, have been inside the God of Light’s body yet Bai Jiao had taken it out so casually. Could it be… that the previous God of Light had been killed by Bai Jiao?
The thought sent a cold sweat down Chao Zhuo’s back, though he also felt that it was unlikely.
If the God of Darkness and the God of Light had fought and the God of Light had died, it would have been an event so enormous that every living creature in the entire world would have known about it.
“Not only do I have the God of Light’s divine core. I also have the divine cores of the God of Darkness and the God of Desire. It’s just that I’ve already absorbed and fused with the God of Desire’s divine core. As for the God of Darkness’s divine core, it’s too dirty, so I don’t want to absorb it. I kept the God of Light’s divine core for you…”
“So the God of Light I used to worship… was actually you?”
Chao Zhuo had finally asked the question that mattered most.
“Mm. It was me. I am the object of your faith but I couldn’t tell you the truth because I needed to put you through a trial.”
And he had been forced to put him through that trial in the first place, so none of it could really be blamed on Bai Jiao.
“So the person I’ve loved all this time has always been you!”
Chao Zhuo did not become angry over Bai Jiao’s concealment. Instead, he was even happier.
From beginning to end, the only person he had ever loved was Bai Jiao. Whether Bai Jiao was the God of Light, the God of Darkness, or even the God of Desire in his identity as a succubus, it had always been him.
There had been no betrayal. There had been no abandoning of his faith. No matter how things had changed or what identity Bai Jiao had taken, the person at the center of it all had always been the same person, Bai Jiao.
Chao Zhuo’s way of expressing his feelings was bold and frequent. He no longer beat around the bush, nor was he restrained by the rules that had once controlled him.
Bai Jiao suddenly thought of something.
“Do you want to go take a look at the Temple of the God of Light?”
“I do. As long as I’m with you, I can go anywhere.”
Chao Zhuo had already made up his mind that he was going to cling to Bai Jiao. He did not want to be separated from him for even a moment.
“You’ve never seen an angel before, have you? I’ll take you to see them.”
Bai Jiao held Chao Zhuo in his arms and disappeared in a flash. In the mere span of a second, the two of them arrived at the Temple of the God of Light.
The Archangel Carter Pilder had originally been listening to the prayers on Bai Jiao’s behalf. The moment he discovered that Bai Jiao had returned, he immediately bowed respectfully.
“Good day, Your Majesty Meredith Adams.”
This was the “male lead gong” from the original novel, the one who had been most fond of Chao Zhuo. He had generously given away the divine core of the God of Light without ever considering that the divine core was about to give birth to a new life.
Now, Bai Jiao was holding Chao Zhuo securely in his arms, keeping him completely covered.
“Good day, Carter Pilder. I have some good news to tell you.”
Carter Pilder remained loyal and devoted to the new God of Light. Seeing that Bai Jiao, who normally could barely be bothered to pay attention to him, had actually taken the initiative to speak with him, he immediately broke into a smile.
“What could possibly have happened for Your Majesty to be so generous as to share the news with me?”
“I’m going to marry the Divine Empress. It’s the Saint I showed you last time.”
Bai Jiao could not tell whether Carter Pilder still harbored those feelings toward Chao Zhuo. He carefully watched the angel’s reaction.
The Chao Zhuo nestled in his arms, meanwhile, was curiously examining the angel’s appearance and wings.
They were wings completely different from an elf’s. They were covered in countless pristine white feathers and looked incredibly warm, just like the angel’s outward image itself, beautiful, pure and immaculate.
“The Divine Empress? But, Your Majesty, you haven’t even lived for half a year. How could you suddenly be getting married?”
Carter Pilder spoke anxiously.
“If you like the Saint, you can simply have him come to your side and serve you. You’re still too young. How could you possibly understand what love is?”
Chao Zhuo: “…”
What had he just heard?
Bai Jiao had not even lived for half a year?
“I’m already eighteen years old. Who told you that I haven’t even lived for half a year?”
Bai Jiao pressed down on Chao Zhuo’s head when he felt him beginning to poke his head out, then started arguing with Carter Pilder.
“Have you ever seen a six month old baby who’s as big as I am?”
Carter Pilder wanted to say that Bai Jiao was a god and therefore there was nothing that could be considered impossible. Besides, eighteen was still an extremely young age for an angel. To angels, eighteen was still considered young and underage and there was not much difference between that and a newborn baby.
However, sensing that Bai Jiao seemed unhappy, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
“Exactly how many months old are you, then? Or are you eighteen?”
Even eighteen was an incredibly young age for an elf.
Chao Zhuo genuinely had never imagined that his calm and powerful lover was actually even younger than he was.
“Eighteen.”
Of course, Bai Jiao was referring to the original host’s age.
“How did you manage that? You became… so many gods at just eighteen?”
Chao Zhuo stared at him in utter disbelief.
Was his lover simply too ridiculously capable? Too far beyond the bounds of common sense?
“Exceptional talent.”
Their conversation caught Carter Pilder’s attention.
Only then did Carter Pilder realize that there was still someone concealed in the arms of the God of Light.
“Your Majesty Meredith Adams, what is that you’re, ”
“Carter Pilder, go and have all the angels come over to pray. I’m going to bless all of you.”
Bai Jiao had promised to let Chao Zhuo see the angels, so naturally, he would not go back on his word.
The moment Carter Pilder heard that Bai Jiao was going to bestow a blessing upon them, he immediately accepted the order and left. He did not even have time to investigate what kind of creature was hidden in Bai Jiao’s arms.
Only after Carter Pilder had left did Chao Zhuo finally manage to break free from Bai Jiao’s embrace.
“Were you afraid someone would discover me?” Chao Zhuo could not understand Bai Jiao’s behavior just now.
“I simply like holding you.”
Bai Jiao pulled him back into his arms.
【Host, you obviously just, 】
886, which had tried to expose its own host, did not even manage to finish speaking before its host shut it back inside the little dark room.
Hearing Bai Jiao say something like that made Chao Zhuo’s heart race. After hugging him back, he stopped struggling altogether.
“I like holding you too.”
“We seem to have never tried the divine throne in the Temple of the God of Light.”
Bai Jiao looked thoughtful.
“…”
Chao Zhuo buried his face in Bai Jiao’s chest.
Apart from his appearance, there was not a single other aspect of Bai Jiao that looked like the God of Light.
“Wait, you are the God of Light and before this, you kept scaring me in front of your own divine statue…”
Chao Zhuo suddenly realized something else.
“Were you jealous of yourself?”
Bai Jiao naturally refused to admit it.
“I just thought your reaction was rather interesting.”
“What was so interesting about it?”
“The first time, you didn’t even last a quarter of an hour.”
“……” Chao Zhuo covered Bai Jiao’s mouth. “Stop talking about it.”
It was far too embarrassing.
“Do you want to try again now?”
The Seat of the God of Light was completely different from the other divine seats. The air around it felt warm and soothing, almost as if a modern heated blanket had been turned on. Moreover, it faced directly toward the main entrance, unlike the other divine temples, whose doors were positioned off to the side.
If they did it here, the moment the angels came in, they would be able to see everything at a single glance.
“Is there no sleeping chamber here? What are we supposed to do if the angels come in later and see us?”
“They might arrest you and treat you as a demon who tried to seduce me.” It was truly a case of what goes around coming around.
“…But I’m clearly your Holy Son!” Chao Zhuo knelt astride Bai Jiao’s lap. “Your Holy Son, Your Majesty Meredith Adams.”
The atmosphere instantly became ambiguous and intimate. Chao Zhuo’s attitude was completely earnest and even his tone had taken on the solemn, reverent quality he used when praying yet his posture was outrageously suggestive.
“So, my Holy Son, are you trying to seduce your Father God?”
The title felt rather awkward to Bai Jiao but somehow, it seemed particularly fitting for the mood right now.
Chao Zhuo’s face flushed crimson at his words and he did not even dare meet Bai Jiao’s eyes.
Just then, Carter Pilder returned with a group of angels. Bai Jiao promptly pulled Chao Zhuo into his arms and held him against his chest.
Carter Pilder spoke first. “Your Majesty, all the angels have arrived.”
Everyone was delighted when they heard that His Majesty Meredith Adams, the God of Light, was going to bestow his blessing upon them. Angels were naturally drawn to the light of the God of Light but Bai Jiao had always been extremely cold and distant in their presence, creating a sense of separation between them. Every time they saw him, all they could do was gaze at him longingly from afar.
Thus, the angels who had originally assumed that His Majesty the God of Light did not like them were now overwhelmed with gratitude upon learning that he had agreed to bless them. One by one, they began to feel that perhaps Bai Jiao was simply cold by nature and that in truth, he still cared for them very much.
“Close your eyes. Find a place and sit down yourselves.” Bai Jiao had not forgotten about the blessing he was supposed to bestow.
Bestowing blessings upon the angels was not much different from sowing seeds among the succubi. All they had to do was have them sit beneath them and then begin chanting.
The only difference was that the angels would sit properly and upright, unlike the succubi, who were prone to making a mess of things.
“Thank you for Your Majesty’s gift.”
If Bai Jiao had not previously found the title “Father God” too awkward and issued a divine decree in his heart forbidding its use, everyone here would probably have to call him Father God by now.
Bai Jiao thought that being addressed as “Your Majesty” was perfectly good.
As for the blessing, Chao Zhuo could hear it too and it was beneficial to him as well.
He did not shut off Chao Zhuo’s senses. Instead, he began softly chanting the scriptures concerning blessings that he remembered in his mind.
The power of light felt much like the Seat of the God of Light itself, gentle and warm, like a withered tree encountering spring once more, spreading a soothing warmth through the body that made one instinctively want to stretch out and relax.
Chao Zhuo rested his chin against Bai Jiao’s shoulder. As he listened to the chanting, his eyelids gradually grew heavier without him even realizing it.
He had not properly rested for a very long time because he had been searching for Bai Jiao. He had gone without sleep, without closing his eyes, tirelessly carrying out the missions given to him by the God of Light, all because he wanted to enter the territory of the demons and find the location of the God of Darkness.
Back then, the only thing on his mind had been finding Bai Jiao. Once he found him, he was willing to give up everything just to stay together with Bai Jiao. He had never imagined that everything would eventually take such an enormous turn.
Bai Jiao was the God of Light but he was also the God of Darkness and the God of Desire. He was the most powerful existence in the entire world.
Actually, even now, Chao Zhuo still did not know why Bai Jiao liked him.
Chao Zhuo raised his eyes and secretly studied the contours of Bai Jiao’s face. The longer he looked, the more captivated he became. Unable to restrain himself, he leaned closer and planted a quick kiss on him.
Bai Jiao almost failed to continue chanting, which would have caused all his previous efforts to be wasted.
He pinched Chao Zhuo’s cheek, signaling for him to behave himself and stay still.
Chao Zhuo managed to remain quiet for only a short while before he once again could not resist. He leaned over and kissed Bai Jiao’s neck, imitating what Bai Jiao had done to him in the past, wanting to leave behind a mark of his own.
“You’re the one who deliberately teased me first.”
Bai Jiao conjured a clone of himself to continue chanting while he carried Chao Zhuo toward the back.
Succubi were easy enough to fool but the Great Angel Carter Pilder was not nearly so easy to deceive. Bai Jiao did not want to give anyone even the slightest possibility of catching a glimpse of Chao Zhuo.
Besides, Carter Pilder was the protagonist gong personally designated by both the original story and the Heavenly Dao. If they did something in front of him, who knew what kind of trouble the Heavenly Dao might come up with.
“You’re acting a little strange. Didn’t you say you wanted to do it on the divine seat?”
Chao Zhuo wrapped his arms around Bai Jiao’s neck, looking at him curiously.
Taking him all the way to the sleeping chamber was completely unlike Bai Jiao’s usual style.
“……”
Bai Jiao had the strange feeling that their roles had somehow been reversed. In the past, he had always been the one teasing Chao Zhuo.
“Let’s go back.”
Bai Jiao decided to indulge this little wish of his lover’s. At worst, he could simply have 886 keep watch for them.
If the Heavenly Dao wanted to stir up trouble, then let it stir up whatever trouble it wanted. If Carter Pilder happened to see them, then so be it. At worst, Bai Jiao could simply kill Carter Pilder later under his identity as the God of Darkness. That way, there would be no problem.
Perhaps Bai Jiao’s thoughts had intimidated the Heavenly Dao. Nothing went wrong during the process. Instead, Chao Zhuo was eventually forced to face the angels who were still listening attentively to the chanting. Before long, he completely lost his composure, breaking down as he tearfully begged Bai Jiao to let him go.
This time, it seemed that Bai Jiao had truly pushed him too far. Even after everything was over, Chao Zhuo continued crying without stopping.
“Did I hurt you?”
Bai Jiao did not understand what was wrong. He used the power of light to restore Chao Zhuo’s body yet Chao Zhuo showed no intention of stopping his tears.
“If you’re uncomfortable anywhere, just tell me directly. Don’t cry anymore, be good.” Bai Jiao had no choice but to pull him into his arms and coax him gently in a soft, soothing voice.
“I missed you so much.” Chao Zhuo’s voice was muffled but he did not sound upset. On the contrary, there was an unmistakable happiness in his voice.
“In this lifetime, we can stay together forever. We won’t have to separate again.”
Bai Jiao understood what he meant and pressed a kiss to Chao Zhuo’s forehead.
“Really?”
“Really. We’ll always be together.”
“I thought about you every day during this time. Did you think about me too?”
Chao Zhuo grew bold enough to reach out and catch Bai Jiao’s tail, taking that red, triangular tip that always poked at him and holding it in his palm, idly playing with it.
His tail seemed to have received some tremendous shock and to Bai Jiao’s surprise, it actually began to tremble.
Bai Jiao seriously reminded him, “I’ve always thought about you but I don’t recommend playing with my tail.”
“I want to play with it. Why won’t you let me? If you won’t let me play with it, then who else are you planning to let play with it?”
Growing bolder by the second, Chao Zhuo reached toward the two horns on top of Bai Jiao’s head.
“…”
Bai Jiao caught that “troublemaking” hand before it could reach its destination and held it firmly in place.
“Are you sure you want to touch my horns?”
A succubus’s tail and horns were actually both highly sensitive parts of their body. Touching them at the same time would provoke an even stronger reaction.
Chao Zhuo had no idea about any of this. The books had never mentioned such details. He simply nodded.
“I’m going to touch them.”
He did not intend to stop at just that. He wanted to touch every inch of Bai Jiao, from head to toe, so that Bai Jiao would never be able to leave him again.
Chao Zhuo had already decided that he would turn himself into Bai Jiao’s personal pendant. Wherever Bai Jiao went in the future, he would follow right behind him, never leaving his side.
Besides, Bai Jiao was the God of Light now. As the Saint, it was perfectly natural for Chao Zhuo to stay by the God of Light’s side.
As for what Bai Jiao had said earlier about giving him the divine core or making him the Divine Empress, Chao Zhuo did not care about any of it.
As long as he could stay together with Bai Jiao, he would be willing to let Bai Jiao do whatever he wanted with him.
Bai Jiao released his hand.
“Go ahead and touch them. Just remember that whatever consequences you bring upon yourself afterward, you’ll have to bear them yourself.”
Since Chao Zhuo liked touching them so much, Bai Jiao might as well let him. After all, succubi were practically tireless when it came to matters like this. As for Chao Zhuo, who was still a Saint, that might not necessarily be the case.
For some reason, Chao Zhuo hesitated.
In the end, however, his curiosity won out over his reservations.
The instant his hand touched Bai Jiao’s horn, it felt as though an electric current suddenly surged through his entire body, making him shudder involuntarily. The strange sensation then seemed to settle in the most private places, both front and back, refusing to disappear.
“Jiao Jiao, this feels so strange…”
Chao Zhuo had never been struck by lightning before, so he had no idea how to describe the sensation.
“What feels strange?”
Bai Jiao gently rubbed the front of his body, which had already become tense.
“Does it feel uncomfortable here?”
“Mm… and lower… and behind, too.”
Unable to help himself, Chao Zhuo rubbed himself against Bai Jiao.
“It’s… it’s so strange. Mm…”
“Do you want me to take a look?”
Bai Jiao supported him by the waist, preventing him from losing his balance.
“Quick… a little faster…”
“I can’t make it any faster. Are you uncomfortable?”
“No, it doesn’t hurt. Mm… it’s just… it’s just… ah, so strange…”
Chao Zhuo regretted touching Bai Jiao’s horns.
It felt almost as though he had been poisoned. An intense longing for Bai Jiao began to surge through him, growing stronger and more impossible to suppress with every passing moment.
He even took the initiative to hold onto Bai Jiao and move closer to him.
Bai Jiao himself had not expected his horns to have such a powerful effect. Even Chao Zhuo, who normally remained rather restrained despite taking the initiative, had suddenly become several times more passionate.
At this moment, Chao Zhuo seemed even more like a succubus than Bai Jiao did.
By comparison, Bai Jiao’s self control remained excellent. He merely supported Chao Zhuo by the waist, lazily holding him steady while praising him and encouraging him. Whenever he felt that Chao Zhuo was moving too slowly, he would occasionally lend him a hand.