The person beneath the tree slowly raised his head. The clear, bright eyes, now freed from the covering of red silk, faintly reflected the newcomer’s shadow, as if he had been waiting right here all along.
The thought sent a gentle, feather-light scratch through the depths of his heart, though he quickly pulled himself together. Leaping down from the eaves, he smiled and said, “How is it that after not seeing you for a period of time, the Immortal has ended up running all the way to the Demon Realm?”
Shen Zaixin cast an indifferent glance at the newcomer: “You have quite the nerve.”
Daring to barge into the Demon Palace all alone and even setting fire to the Treasure Pavilion, it was the very definition of a blatant provocation against everyone in the Demon Palace.
“If my nerve were any smaller, how would I ever dare come find the Immortal to dally in secret?” Xiao Feng raised a hand, intending to brush away a fallen blossom resting upon the Immortal’s shoulder, when a sudden black shadow lunged straight at him. The speed of its charge was so agile that it completely surpassed anything a human or demon could possess.
Failing to dodge in time, he tumbled to the ground together with the dark blur. Focusing his gaze, he saw a snow leopard pressing down on top of him, baring its teeth while its sharp claws hovered dangerously close to slicing across his face.
Xiao Feng let out a low curse. He had known all along that Ning Wuchen was a hypocrite who put on airs of purity, and even after leaving, the man still had to leave a dog behind to stand guard!
“Awooo!”
Pei Xuezhao’s pair of beastly pupils burned with raging flames. That despicable villain Ning Wuchen had kept it hidden away by tossing it into a barrier for half a month under the pretext of letting it recover from its injuries. The moment it finally managed to heal up and break out, it emerged only to catch this flirtatious freeloader trying to make advances on Shen Zaixin!
It was hardly in the weak, battered state it had been in half a month ago anymore. It was going to tear this shameless Daoist’s mouth to shreds!
The commotion of human and beast bickering caused the acacia blossoms covering the tree to rain down in a flurry. Lazily reclining on a yellow pear-wood lounge chair beneath the tree, Shen Zaixin suddenly produced an untitled volume of text from nowhere. He watched with great interest, occasionally lifting his gaze to glance casually at the tangled battle unfolding before him, looking utterly at ease.
152 spoke up with an air of casual indifference: Did you happen to forget something else?
Putting down his book, Shen Zaixin uttered an understanding oh, and called out lazily toward the two combatants at each other’s throats: “Little Snow.”
Hearing the summons, the snow leopard abandoned any lingering desire to deal with the obnoxious smelly Daoist. Wagging its tail excitedly, it sprinted joyfully toward the person, aggressively rubbing its furry head straight into the palm of his hand.
Producing a chilling white bone from his storage pouch, Shen Zaixin stroked its head while gently coaxing: “See this bone? Find it, and there’s a reward.”
With a flick of his wrist, he sent the white bone flying with a clever application of force. Two darting figures instantly bolted after it.
Shen Zaixin remarked indifferently in the privacy of his mind: “See? It’s a dog.”
152: What was this strange mixture of utter frustration and sudden excitement washing over it?
Before long, the snow leopard’s agile figure claimed the upper hand, leaving the freeloader trailing in the dust. Trotting proudly back to the Immortal’s side with the bone clamped firmly in its jaws, its bright blue beastly pupils gleamed with anticipation as it waited for its master’s reward.
“Awooo!”
The Immortal caught the snow leopard’s tail, stroking it with gentle fondness, and chuckled: “Such a good boy.”
152: [Host, your expression looks downright perverted.]
Shen Zaixin: “A well-behaved dog that happily offers up its tail to be played with, who wouldn’t love that?”
As he spoke, he produced a silver collar from his storage pouch. A small bell suspended in the center chimed with a crisp, clear ring as it swayed slightly. The craftsmanship was exceptionally exquisite, though it hardly looked like something belonging to this world.
152: This, this, this, where did you get that?!
“Did you forget? When you first bound yourself to me, I was in the middle of playing games with the Son of Destiny of the original world.” Shen Zaixin leisurely buckled the collar around the snow leopard’s neck, continuing with a sigh of regret in his mind: “It’s just a pity I was teleported here before I ever got the chance to put it on him.”
After the previous system was purged by Shen Zaixin, whenever he found himself sent back to the original world to wait for the Main System to dispatch a replacement, training the Son of Destiny had become his sole pastime.
152 found its worldview teetering on the edge: But you underwent a direct rebirth in the womb!
Shen Zaixin chuckled softly, deciding to stop teasing it for the moment. “Very well, I drew the blueprint myself and specifically commissioned it from a junior brother in the Artifact Peak. Not only does it feature a tracking function—”
He paused, adding with a meaningful inflection: “It can also adjust its size automatically.”
152: Adjust its size? Is it really the kind of size I’m thinking of? Damn it, what am I even imagining?! Shen Zaixin shouldn’t have been paired with a villain system like me, he should be bound to an eco-friendly green environmental protection system just to purify his filthy, depraved hobbies!
“Your reward. Do you like it?” Shen Zaixin reached out with his fingertips to flick the bell hanging from the snow leopard’s neck, the crisp and pleasant chiming drawing a pleased curve across his lips.
“Awooo!”
There was no such thing as disliking anything the Immortal gave! Raising its neck proudly, the snow leopard cast a smug, triumphant glance at the man standing with arms crossed against the tree trunk, chewing lazily on a blade of grass without uttering a word. The arrogance radiating from its beastly pupils was practically spilling over.
Catching the snow leopard’s provocative gaze, Xiao Feng let out a scoff. It was nothing more than a dog leash, what was there to gloat about?
Yet the man’s eyes involuntarily drifted back toward that strip of silver. He narrowed his gaze slightly, his tongue instinctively sliding across his canine teeth.
Tsk, that dog leash actually looked rather nice.
Fine craftsmanship aside, the crucial part was the way it was caught by the youth’s fair fingertips, exuding an indescribable allure that made one’s heart itch with restless desire.
“Immortal, wouldn’t you find it terribly dull to stay cooped up in the Demon Palace day after day?” Spitting out the blade of grass he had been nibbling on, Xiao Feng slowly walked toward the person lounging in the chair, stepping close enough to block out the projected sunlight falling from above while bracing his arms on either side to practically trap the youth beneath him.
Viewing the person beneath him from this angle, his skin appeared porcelain-white and translucent without a single flaw, allowing him to clearly trace every single curled, distinct eyelash. The trembling shadow cast upon his eyelids only served to make those watery, brilliant eyes appear all the more deep and captivating.
“Hm?” Shen Zaixin tilted his head up slightly to look at the man closing in on him, raising an eyebrow with a soft hum.
With that upward tilt of his head, his previously half-drooped eyes were fully exposed, gazing up from below with a lazy, provocative air. That posture…
Xiao Feng felt as though he had been hit with a love potion, filthy and unruly thoughts bubbling up uncontrollably in his mind until his lower abdomen tightened sharply. He took a quiet, deep breath, forcing his voice to sound as steady as possible: “The Demon Realm is massive, with far more interesting places than this dreary palace. Would the Immortal care to go have a look?”
“Hm, not a bad suggestion.” Raising a hand, he used his fingertips to push gently against the man’s chest, signaling him to back off before leisurely standing up and tilting his head with a smile: “Daoist Xiao, lead the way.”
152 said deadpan: You got bored of playing in this Demon Realm ages ago.
“Who says so? I’ve never played around with a pseudo-innate spiritual marrow before.”
152: […]
The spatial teleportation array activated. Before the snow leopard could react, Xiao Feng threw his arms around the youth’s waist, flashing instantly into the array and vanishing from sight. The moment the snow leopard lunged forward, the array flared once before shattering and scattering into nothingness across the air.
Within a certain concealed barrier in the distance, Ning Wuchen watched silently as the person departed just like that. His expression remained steadfast and calm, betrayed only by his tightly clenched fists, which revealed the internal turmoil raging within him.
Clearly, just a moment ago Changning had been kissing his cheek, yet the very next moment he willingly allowed another man to wrap an arm around his waist and carry him away without a single shred of reluctance.
“Lord Demon Lord, you’re just going to let Immortal Shen leave like this?” Mu Qing pouted slightly as she probed cautiously.
Glancing toward the snow leopard drooping its head and tail in front of the palace, Ning Wuchen replied indifferently, “He will come back.”
He understood Changning far too well; if that snow leopard hadn’t possessed some utility, Changning wouldn’t have kept it by his side.
News of the seventh prince of the demon race going missing had already spread far and wide, with the Demon King and Queen driven frantic with worry. It wasn’t difficult to guess that Changning intended to use Pei Xuezhao as leverage to trade for something.
Therefore, Changning would definitely return, though it wouldn’t be because of him, nor would it be today.
Today was the Demon Realm’s Demon Moon Festival, an event akin to the mortal realm’s Shangyuan Lantern Festival. He had originally intended to go admire the sights with Changning, but it seemed that would no longer be necessary.
The mask in Ning Wuchen’s hand dissolved into wisps of smoke and drifted away, casting shifting, illusory lights and shadows across his brow that rendered his expression obscure and unreadable.
[Warning: Male Lead’s corruption value is rising abnormally!]
Shen Zaixin paused slightly in his stride, asking internally: “Isn’t the male lead supposed to not be born for another few centuries?”
152 was equally clueless: The data shows no abnormalities whatsoever.
Well, that made things interesting.
Concealing the deep contemplation pooling within his eyes, he maintained a leisurely pace as he followed closely behind Xiao Feng.
The markets, towns, and villages of the Demon Realm were no different from those in the mortal realm; after all, not every demon was born with the aptitude for cultivation. In this regard, the Demon Realm shared little difference with the cultivation world, both operating on the law of the jungle, only with an even harsher edge.
The streets were bustling with dense crowds, yet Shen Zaixin remained shielded by Xiao Feng, completely spared from any jostling.
The two made their way all the way up to the city walls, where looking down from the heights only heightened the sense of a thriving, crowded populace.
“Immortal, look.” Xiao Feng curved his eyes into a smile, the sharp, formidable edges of his features softening noticeably as a result.
Following the direction of his finger, Shen Zaixin looked up toward the sky. Absent the illusions of the Demon Palace, the firmament above was currently stained a deep, dark crimson.
The day of the Demon Moon Festival was when the blood moon reached its darkest phase, prompting the denizens of the Demon Realm to illuminate the sky with fireworks and everlasting lanterns to pierce the gloom and brighten the dim moonlight.
Aside from cultivators who had personally visited the Demon Realm, outsiders would likely find it hard to believe that the notoriously ruthless and bloodthirsty demons would channel such deep emotional resonance into something as ordinary as a rather ominous blood moon.
It was utterly absurd, yet vivid and real all at the same time.
At this very moment, the darkness and haze were blown away by fireworks bursting high into the clouds. Beneath the glow of countless everlasting lanterns, the blood moon no longer resembled an ominous, baleful red, instead radiating a soft, gentle radiance.
Explosions of firecrackers echoed loudly by his ear. Hearing Xiao Feng mutter something beside him, Shen Zaixin turned his head with a questioning look: “What did you say?”
Touching the bridge of his nose, Xiao Feng averted his gaze awkwardly toward the distant rising lanterns: “Nothing.”
“Let’s play a game.” Putting on a mask purchased casually from a street vendor, Shen Zaixin curved his eyes beneath the disguise, lending him a rather playful air: “I’ll give you the space of an incense stick. Find me.”
With those words, the red-robed figure vanished instantly through a spatial teleportation array, disappearing far too quickly for Xiao Feng to grab him.
Left standing in place, he let out a rare, helpless sigh before a thought crossed his mind, drawing an involuntary low chuckle and filling the corners of his eyes with lingering tenderness.
Ultimately, Xiao Feng tracked him down to a secluded cliffside at the edge of the city.
The red-robed Immortal was lounging lazily upon a suspension bridge strung across the abyss. The bridge was hanging by a single remaining rope that groaned like a dying breath, connecting the cliffs on either side while the cold wind whipped at his robes, making him look as though he might be swept away by the wind at any second amidst the swaying ruins.