The difference between being forced into impotence and actually being impotent was slim.
“Husband?” Cen Moyu thought he was hallucinating. “You and I are not in that kind of relationship.”
Having already accepted the identity of a vine demon, Wenren Qi decided to follow the flow and demand a formal status. “We have accompanied each other for so many years; why can it not be that kind of relationship?”
The original host’s romantic debts were truly troublesome.
Before Cen Moyu transmigrated into this book, the Fairy Pitta was still in bird form and the wooden vine could not even transform into a human. How could a bird and a tree have that kind of relationship? They had simply gained spiritual awareness and could exchange a few words.
Cen Moyu could not help but feel a bit sad; this was originally meant to be a predestined match.
His emotions were always fluctuating. Even with his otherworldly face, a lingering sorrow clung to his brow, making it seem titles exceptionally difficult to cheer him up.
The new disciples of the Qingheng Sect did not know the Sect Leader’s true appearance; they merely assumed Wenren Qi was some old fossil from legend. Meanwhile, the elders who had watched Wenren Qi grow up, and the disciples under them, knew full well that the man had a sharp, poisonous tongue. No matter how handsome he was, it did not matter; he was a piece of work.
Wenren Qi had never tried to please anyone, nor did he care to guess what others were thinking. He asked bluntly, “Why not?”
“Is it that difficult for you?”
Even after taking human form, most demons remained trapped by their instincts. When the mating season arrived, they indulged; when it was time to breed, they bred. Even after having children, they continued their sensual lives, and some even became entangled with their own offspring.
Demons were demons. Gaining cultivation did not necessarily make them true cultivators. Even the great demons under Wang Yuan’s command could not change their fundamental nature.
Yet, this Fairy Pitta was more human than any demon Wenren Qi had ever met. In fact, he was too human: sentimental, wearing his heart on his sleeve, easy to read yet possessing baffling depths.
Seeing him lost in thought, Wenren Qi was not in a hurry. He shooed away the gossiping dog demon and stood beside Cen Moyu while clutching a basket of meatballs.
The streets of the Demon Capital remained unchanged from years past. Older cultivators, accustomed to the grind of daily life, rarely reminisced about the past. Although Wenren Qi’s path of cultivation had been smooth, he had experienced his share of joys and sorrows. He did not understand why a little bird who had been human for barely a hundred years was so unhappy.
Was he also coerced that night? Was he unwilling as well? Did he prefer to be with the real vine demon to lay a nest of eggs for him?
“It is difficult,” Cen Moyu said listlessly. “People have to like each other to be together. We do not like each other.”
Why was this so complicated?
Wenren Qi frowned, asking in confusion, “Why do you not like me?”
“Is it because I am ugly?”
He asked with such confidence that the dog demon selling meatballs, who had already finished the transaction, pricked up his ears to listen intently.
Wenren Qi noticed and shot him a glare. His plain face looked so menacing that the dog demon’s fur stood on end as he scrambled away.
Cen Moyu was indeed a fan of beauty, but he did not think his preference was warped. He studied Wenren Qi’s face seriously. “You are not ugly.”
Wenren Qi remembered that rainy night when the bird had cupped his face, pecking at his eyes and brows. Even though the bird had claimed he could not do it anymore, once he moved closer for a better look, the unwilling bird demon was suddenly very capable again.
Ultimately, it was Elder Qinyan’s fault. If this puppet’s face had even twenty percent of Wenren Qi’s actual looks, it would have been enough to bewitch this beauty obsessed bird demon.
“I am not good looking either,” Wenren Qi concluded. “You like the pretty ones.”
The man carried a sleeping chick on his shoulder. The willow woven nest was arranged in a peculiar way that made passing demons stop and stare.
“No, no,” Cen Moyu denied repeatedly. “You are very good, but the person you like is not me.”
“Hmm?” Wenren Qi could not keep up with the bird’s train of thought. His voice, already raspy from the puppet’s body, sounded even worse due to his irritation; it was like a beginner playing the erhu. “Have we not been companions for a hundred years?”
Cen Moyu still disagreed. “That was the version of me before the transformation.”
Wenren Qi did not see the difference. His face darkened, radiating an intimidating aura that forced passersby to take a long detour around them. Some small demons eyed the meatballs Cen Moyu was holding, but Wenren Qi glared them into submission. They grumbled under their breaths about flowers being stuck in cow dung.
The cow dung puppet looked even more annoyed. “I want to be the husband of the current you.”
If Jue Ya were here, he would surely laugh at the fact that Wenren Qi, the great Sect Leader, was actually failing to sell himself even when he was offering.
Without the halo of the Qingheng Sect Leader and the shell of a legendary senior, Wenren Qi’s soul, dwelling in a puppet, realized he truly did not have a single decent trait to show off. Other demons could rely on their looks; bird demons groomed their feathers to find a mate. But a puppet’s appearance was difficult to modify.
Wenren Qi had not felt this restricted in a long time. In the eyes of Yu Xiang and the newly awakened Hu Xinchi watching from the balcony, it looked like a ruffian forcing a marriage, making Cen Moyu look like a distressed beauty in a tragic plight.
“I have a child,” Cen Moyu looked at the sleeping chick and said regretfully. “If only you had come earlier.”
The System had been so kind to him, letting him be a gatekeeping disciple for a hundred years; perhaps it would have agreed back then. But he was not the original host; who would chase after him with such devotion?
Hardly anyone ever complained to Wenren Qi like this. The soul inside the puppet stirred. After a moment, he countered, “Is it considered late now?”
“Your child is my child,” Wenren Qi said. He mentally cycled through the sweet talk his brother used to say to Kuai Wan, picking and choosing bits to modify for Cen Moyu. “My money is yours, and everything I own belongs to you.”
Cen Moyu had heard similar sweet talk from his ex-boyfriend and felt nothing. But for a transmigrator who had been driven into a corner and robbed of all his funds, nothing sounded sweeter than the promise of financial security.
Before coming downstairs, Yu Xiang had reminded him that the treasures this vine demon carried were enough to buy the entire music house. To say he was as rich as a nation might be an exaggeration, but he could certainly walk tall in the Demon Capital.
Raising a child required money most of all.
Seeing the little Fairy Pitta wavering, Wenren Qi learned his lesson and added, “I will support whatever you want to do.”
“Whether it is dancing on stage, becoming a composer, or writing and singing songs.”
Even as he said it, Wenren Qi felt he was sounding better than a professional singer. Despite Jue Ya previously offering him countless portraits of eligible cultivators, Wenren Qi had been adamant about living his life without a wife or children. He would rather be struck by lightning than suffer the bitterness of romantic entanglements.
Yet, the Heavenly Dao had played a trick on him. The lightning had pierced through the torrential rain that night, binding him to this bird and resulting in a bird egg of unknown destiny.
Even if things had not gone as planned, Wenren Qi intended to stay in control. He would not let Cen Moyu fly away with his fruit only to be manipulated by Wang Yuan.
Cen Moyu did not want to date right now, but his wish for a simple life had already fallen through. The child existed, and the child’s other father was destined to belong to someone else; there was nothing he could do.
Perhaps a boyfriend being too handsome or too capable was not a good thing. Take his ex, for example: a classic case of cutting ties with the beloved after finding success. Cen Moyu had become a laughingstock, and regretting it was useless.
The man before him might be the original host’s debt, but he said he liked the current him and did not mind that he had a child with someone else. He was powerful, handy, could build nests, and was willing to take care of the baby.
Summing up his past failures, Cen Moyu realized a truth: a partner should be economical and practical.
Even if the vine demon’s face did not fit his aesthetic, being plain meant fewer complications; it was easy to get used to. Besides, A Qi was tall, had a good build, and was willing to hand over his money.
His temper was fierce occasionally, but at least he was reliable. Their shared past provided a foundation of trust, and staying with him meant staying away from the main protagonists. It fit his current situation perfectly.
I just feel a bit sorry for the original host; this was supposed to be his.
Seeing the Fairy Pitta fall silent again, Wenren Qi handed over all the belongings he had brought down the mountain. The demon showcased his mating hardware. “Everything inside, and me, belongs to you.”
Upstairs, Yu Xiang nudged Hu Xinchi. “This vine demon is quite the wealthy one. I caught a glimpse of heavenly treasures and spiritual elixirs; it looks like his wife fund.”
The yawning fox demon raised an eyebrow. “That rich? Is he not younger than Moyu? Where did he get all this stuff in just a hundred years?”
Yu Xiang pondered. “Judging by his character, he does not seem like the type to rob cultivators. Perhaps he had some stroke of luck.”
Hu Xinchi recalled their first meeting: the man standing amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Even as the rain washed away the severed limbs of demons, the man had not been tainted by a speck of demonic aura. If the city gates had not been strictly verified, Hu Xinchi would have suspected he was a cultivator.
But since Cen Moyu insisted he was an old friend, Hu Xinchi lowered half his guard and began making arrangements.
Seeing Cen Moyu still unresponsive, Wenren Qi suppressed his impatience and urged, “Have you still not decided?”
The vine demon had no patience for courting. Hu Xinchi sighed from above. “That is what happens when a piece of wood gains a spirit. Rough, clumsy, and utterly lacking in romance.”
Cen Moyu clearly looked like someone who had been hurt before. The empathetic little parrot felt for him. “Lacking romance is better than being silver tongued.”
Hu Xinchi used his fan to hide his disappointment. Below, the Fairy Pitta tucked away Wenren Qi’s wife fund and asked, “What are your plans for the future?”
It seemed he had agreed. Wenren Qi’s lips quirked as if he were trying to smile.
A tiny bird demon; this Master handles you with ease.
“The future, naturally, it is to be with you and the child.”
Back to the bottom of the cliffs at Qingheng Sect, locked away, never to leave.
“Then we need to buy a house in the Demon Capital. The baby needs to go to school. You said he is talented, so we need to find a master to teach him,” Cen Moyu counted on his fingers. “This money will be for emergencies. We both need to find a living in the city.”
Before transmigrating, Cen Moyu had lived a difficult life. He had taken a leave from school to demand an explanation from his boyfriend, only to hit walls everywhere. Then his biological father showed up, only to sell him off for an arranged marriage.
The mundanity of life had nearly crushed him. His tiny apartment was filled with the miseries of his twenty year old self. He was so lonely that his dreams were filled with nothing but wind and snow.
Transmigrating to this world and spending a hundred years at Qingheng Sect felt like a dream. But it was not as lonely; at least the System was there.
Cen Moyu knew his own cowardice too well. He could not live without companionship. While it could not be just anyone, he needed someone by his side. The chick was a pleasant surprise; this vine demon was an added bonus of his transmigration, perhaps a parting gift from the System.
Maybe the host who feared he would fail the mission was too useless to survive in this world alone.
Wenren Qi had originally planned to sneak in during the City Opening Day, find the bird, and take him back for interrogation. Plans changed. He now had a son, and the gates were closed; they would not open for another eighty eight days.
Fortunately, his puppet body could last that long. The chick was still small; it would be easier to travel once he could turn into a human.
Wenren Qi readily agreed. “No problem. If you want to work at the music house, I will join you.”
He agreed so easily that Cen Moyu felt something was off.
As he was thinking, applause erupted from above. The manager of the music house clapped his hands and said, “Why do you two not get married right here?”
“Our music house hosts weddings. We can decorate it however you like.”
Cen Moyu had not considered marriage. He had only seen mortal weddings and funerals on the way to the Demon Capital: red lanterns, wedding robes, sedans, and the beating of gongs. A short life passing from red to white in the blink of an eye.
Being a demon had its perks; though they did not know when they would die, they at least lived longer than humans.
“No need,” the Fairy Pitta declined. “We will not hold a ceremony.”
The bird was too good at running away. The Demon Capital was someone else’s territory; even Wenren Qi feared another mishap. He wanted to bind himself to this bird as soon as possible.
“We will hold it. A grand one. Money is no object.”
Hearing Yu Xiang mention the demon’s wealth, Hu Xinchi grew curious and smilingly welcomed them upstairs.
Yu Xiang took the chance to sidle up to Cen Moyu, munching on a skewer of meatballs. “Moyu, when is your mating season? If you do not want to give the little one a brother or sister, you should take your medicine early.”
Walking ahead, Wenren Qi’s expression froze. Elder Qinyan’s warning suddenly rang in his ears.
A puppet cannot perform in bed.
Then what about the wedding?
The difference between being forced into impotence and being actually impotent was not that big. He could not risk exposing his identity by doing that with this bird demon. But if he agreed to the marriage and did not follow through, he would surely be suspected.
This bird was both lustful and greedy. If he was not satisfied, he would surely find another demon to replace him. If that happened, Wenren Qi’s status would be lost. Failing to get what he came for was one thing, but it would be total chaos if the child ended up with a stepfather.
Wenren Qi’s face looked so terribly grim that the worldly music house owner guessed something. He leaned in and whispered to Wenren Qi.
“Brother A Qi, do not panic. The Polar Night naturally has secret medicines. I guarantee that if you take them, your virility will never fail.”