The youth sauntered over to Mo Qing and Qi An, bowing in greeting.
“Rong Mu, Elder of the Demon-Beast Realm, welcomes Your Majesty the Demon Lord.”
This young demon was not only androgynous in appearance but also possessed a voice laced with a touch of coquetry. Qi An felt a shiver of delight run through her. She realized only today that the term “alluring” could be used for both men and women. It was her first time seeing such a soft, beautiful man, and her eyes were seemingly nailed to him, unable to look away.
Mo Qing glanced briefly at her infatuated expression, his eyes darkening slightly. He then moved as if by accident, blocking her line of sight to the beauty perfectly. He looked toward Rong Mu and said languidly, “Finally, someone with eyes has appeared.”
Rong Mu bowed his head. “Though Rong Mu’s experience is shallow, I know that the only Demon man capable of taming a Black Gold Blood-Flame Beast is Your Majesty.”
His cadence was undulating, with lingering tones that curled and wound, teasing the heart. Qi An couldn’t help but lean out to peek at him again, only to be blocked by Mo Qing once more.
Qi An’s slow-witted brain finally registered: he was doing this on purpose. We are here to do business together, so why should this beauty be enjoyed only by him? Can’t I even get a single look? Qi An felt quite aggrieved and secretly pinched Mo Qing’s hand behind his back.
Mo Qing was stunned for a moment, but he interpreted the gesture as a display of affection and couldn’t help but chuckle softly. After Rong Mu cast a curious glance their way, Mo Qing suppressed his amusement and said seriously, “Since you already know who I am, take us to see the Demon Emperor at once.”
Rong Mu bowed apologetically. “Currently, His Majesty is not in the Demon-Beast Realm; I am managing the affairs of the realm for the time being. Whatever the Demon Lord has to say, you can tell me; it is the same.”
Mo Qing studied him for a moment before saying, “I have come this time to learn about your clan’s Soul Transfer Technique.”
Rong Mu froze, a flash of sharpness passing through his shimmering, seductive eyes. Even as his mind raced, his tone remained respectful. “This is a secret book of our Demon-Beast Realm. Might I ask how the Demon Lord came to know of it?”
Mo Qing replied indifferently, “There is a demon in my realm possessed by a soul of your Demon-Beast Clan.”
“I fear that is a misunderstanding, Demon Lord,” Rong Mu said firmly. “This technique is forbidden in the Demon-Beast Realm. We have destroyed all records of it; there is no demon left who can master it.”
Mo Qing arched an eyebrow. “Was there no one who could do it two hundred years ago?”
Seeing Rong Mu stunned, as if he hadn’t understood, Mo Qing continued, “Two hundred years ago, one of your Demon Kings rebelled, was defeated by the Demon Emperor, and was sealed in Simi Valley. The owner of the remnant soul I speak of is that very rebel king.”
Rong Mu was shocked, his beautiful features colored with disbelief. Back then, although the Demon Emperor had sealed that king and requested the Demon Emperor, the Demon Lord, and the Ghost King to seal him collectively, the matter involved internal clan secrets and was not suitable for outsiders to know. Thus, the Demon Emperor had only told them it was an evil demon, without giving details. He hadn’t expected the Demon Lord to know the events of that time. Moreover, if Mo Qing spoke the truth, that king had secretly learned the Soul Transfer Technique to pave his own way out—a hidden danger for the Demon-Beast Realm.
“If the Demon Lord’s words are true, the Demon-Beast Realm will naturally cooperate.” After a moment of thought, his voice deepened. “But before that, may the Demon Lord enlighten me how did this remnant soul of the Demon King end up entangled with a demon?”
Mo Qing sneered. “If you wish to obtain information from me, you must have equivalent information to trade in return.”
Rong Mu’s seductive eyes gazed deeply at Mo Qing. He had initially thought the Demon Lord, who wore a constant smile, would be easy to talk to as expected, an Emperor of a realm was not so simple. After a long silence, he said, “As I just said, this technique is forbidden, so I don’t know much about it.”
“In that case, I have no need to talk to you.” Mo Qing smiled. “I will wait for the Demon Emperor to return before we discuss this.”
Rong Mu’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. “His Majesty’s whereabouts are uncertain; I do not know when he will return. Perhaps you might wait a month or two in vain.”
Mo Qing said indifferently, “No matter. A month or two is nothing; I can afford to wait.”
Qi An, who had been listening to their dialogue, was speechless. The leaders of the Demon-Beast and Demon Realms were truly unreliable were they not afraid of chaos if they stayed away from home for so long? By comparison, their Heavenly Emperor was much more diligent. Even if the Empress wanted to drag him down to the mortal realm for a stroll, he wouldn’t move his precious feet.
Rong Mu seemed very unwilling to let them stay and searched for various reasons to dissuade them, all of which were parried by Mo Qing. Qi An, suspecting he was simply too lazy to entertain them, suggested, “Elder Rong Mu, please rest assured. Just tell us where the inn is, and we will make our own arrangements. We won’t trouble you.”
With things coming to this, it was no longer appropriate for Rong Mu to refuse. He had no choice but to lead them to an inn as Qi An had requested.
Mo Qing and Qi An stayed at the largest inn in the Demon-Beast Realm. Over the years, there were fewer and fewer outsiders coming to the Demon-Beast Realm; thus, the moment Mo Qing and Qi An appeared, the innkeeper treated them like two walking gold nuggets, showing them extreme enthusiasm. He not only took the initiative to exchange their Five-Spirit Stones into the local currency, “Yingpo Stones,” but also ignored Qi An’s rebuttals, calling them a “perfect match” and “destined pair” every chance he got. He flattered Mo Qing so well that the latter paid double the room rate.
Qi An shook her head she couldn’t understand the lives of the wealthy.
After checking in and resting until twilight, Qi An thought of strolling through the streets; she hadn’t been able to properly appreciate the scenery of the Demon-Beast Realm on the way here. As soon as she opened her door, she found Mo Qing from the room next door stepping out at the same time. The moment he saw her, a smile blossomed on his face. “I thought you would find it boring, so I wanted to ask if you would like to go for a walk together?”
Qi An was startled; he was altogether too perceptive of her. Thus, as the twilight deepened and the lanterns were lit, a demon and an immortal strolled together through the Demon-Beast Realm.
Qi An looked around constantly, discovering that apart from the natural scenery and the occasional appearance of demons in their true forms, the markets here were no different from the mortal world. If she had to find a difference, it was that the clothing of the demon-beasts was altogether too sparse. Qi An hadn’t noticed when she first arrived, but now looking out, she saw nothing but pale white thighs all along the street.
She faced forward, but her eyes darted frantically left and right, while she covered her nose and said with a feigned, stern voice: “Immodest, truly too immodest!”
She finally understood why the Demon-Beast Realm was so captivating. After watching beauties for a while, she stopped even pretending and stared openly, leaving only a shred of shame that prevented her from drooling or having a nosebleed on the spot.
Mo Qing spoke to her a few times without receiving a response; turning his head to look, he saw her intently admiring the beauties. He leaned over and whispered in her ear: “Qi An, what are you looking at so intently?”
Qi An finally remembered Mo Qing was beside her. She immediately put on an act, picked up a mask from a nearby stall, and said sternly, “Nothing, I was just looking at these little trinkets on the stall.”
Mo Qing was surprised. “So you like these things.”
“Yes.” Qi An looked guiltily at the mask she was toying with. “Look, how exquisite this is made…”
Before she could finish, her voice choked in her throat. The eye portion of the mask revealed a pair of eerie, glowing green eyes. She and those eyes stared at each other until, suddenly, the eyes narrowed slightly. Qi An felt a wet, sticky sensation on the thumb holding the mask.
She shifted her gaze downward and saw that a tongue was actually protruding from the mouth of the mask, licking her finger with gusto!
She was too terrified to make a sound. In a panic, she threw the mask back to the stall and staggered two steps to the side, falling right into Mo Qing’s arms. Mo Qing caught her shoulders, laughing. “That is why I said not to look at other things it is very easy to run into something unclean.”
The mask seemed unsatisfied with being called “something unclean” and emitted a “cackle” sound. Qi An, witnessing this, became even more horrified, turning her head away immediately and covering her ears. Mo Qing patted her back gently, soothing her with a soft voice, while his other hand flicked a finger, reducing the mask to dust.
The stall owner was immediately displeased and stepped up to argue. Before he could speak, Mo Qing tossed a few Yingpo Stones to him. One Yingpo Stone was enough to buy three masks; if he bargained, five wasn’t out of the question. The stall owner was dumbfounded he hadn’t expected this demon to be not only handsome but also so generous. A sugar daddy had truly dropped from the sky.
Qi An finally recovered, realizing she was being held by Mo Qing, and hurriedly jumped out of his arms. Mo Qing looked somewhat regretful. “It would have been fine to linger a while longer.”
Hearing him say this, Qi An felt her face burning and her heart pounding like thunder, not knowing if it was because she had been scared or for some other reason. Just as she felt incredibly awkward, the proprietress from behind the stall swaying her water-snake waist came out to solicit business.
“Are you two visiting the Demon-Beast Realm for the first time? There is a saying in the mortal world: ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ Why don’t you two change into our Demon-Beast Realm attire and properly experience our local customs?”
Qi An’s eyes lit up, her previous shame and panic swept away. For the past hundred years, she had relied on magic to clean her clothes and had been quite poor, so she only had two sets of clothes that she rotated. Whenever the fellow immortals in her courtyard discussed the latest fashion trends in the Heavenly Realm, she was always unable to join in. Though she had never said it aloud, she had always been somewhat envious.
Not surprisingly, Qi An was lured into the clothing shop by the proprietress, and Mo Qing followed with a smile. Mo Qing had the proprietress take out the most expensive clothing in the shop; with a slight wave of his hand, Qi An was already wearing the new outfit.
It had to be said that there was a reason the demon-beasts liked wearing thin clothes; compared to the garments of the other realms, the attire of the demon-beasts was extremely light and agile. Qi An pondered whether she could purchase a batch to take back to the Heavenly Realm and resell them to the other immortals perhaps she could make a tidy profit on the markup.
However, she didn’t know if it looked good on her. She spun around twice in front of Mo Qing, showcasing the outfit, and asked: “How is it? Does it look good?”
Mo Qing stared at her, lost in thought. Qi An was extremely puzzled; she waved her hand in front of him, feeling shocked and wondering if it was too ugly and had scared him. It took a long time for Mo Qing to return to his senses. He averted his gaze, not looking at her partially exposed shoulders or the tender, white arms waving before him. He cleared his throat and, after a long silence, said in a deep voice: “This does not suit your temperament.”
Wasn’t this just a roundabout way of saying it didn’t look good? Qi An was suddenly filled with disappointment. She had thought that no matter what she looked like, Mo Qing would praise her. Since he said it, it must be unsuitable. Having no choice, she turned to look for something else.
And at the very moment she turned away, a touch of red crept quietly onto the tips of Mo Qing’s ears.