Shu Qing finally opened up, deciding to let it all out. All the past grievances and burdens he had endured, he seized the opportunity to spill them out in one breath.
“You are cold and heartless, cruel and ruthless, you humiliate and belittle me, you take me by force and let me be devoured by the rumors here… Indulgence? Affection? Mercy? Haha, does His Highness the King of the Underworld call this affection?”
“How special, I ask you, would you want such affection?”
Ignoring the increasingly dark and ugly expression on the King of the Underworld’s face, and disregarding the pain in his body, Shu Qing’s throat was hoarse and stinging, yet he shouted out everything in his heart even louder.
“Every minute and second with you, I can’t relax, I’m scared to death! Afraid that one careless word will anger you, and you’ll take my life!”
“Wholeheartedly, haha, wholeheartedly? I was just talking nonsense, who would be wholeheartedly devoted to a tyrant like you? No one would truly like a cruel tyrant like you!”
Boom—
As Shu Qing roared out the last word, the screens, tables, chairs, and all the decorations in the sleeping quarters, including the sturdy door, were all blown open at the same time by the King of the Underworld’s immense and terrifying internal force.
Shu Qing was also affected, directly blown away by the airflow, his back heavily hitting the wall, causing him to instinctively close his eyes in pain, unable to make a sound for a while.
The atmosphere was deathly cold and eerie.
Shu Qing opened his eyes, the King of the Underworld was already standing, surrounded by a murderous aura, clenching his fists, his eyes looking as if he wanted to devour someone.
Facing such eyes, Shu Qing was a bit scared again. If the King of the Underworld was truly furious and wanted to kill him, a single palm strike could crush his entire skull—perhaps the King of the Underworld was thinking just that, Shu Qing’s heart trembled, he shut his mouth and didn’t continue speaking.
The fearlessness just now was genuine.
But after venting his extreme anger, fear had room to emerge again, repeatedly occupying and controlling Shu Qing.
He wasn’t sure what the King of the Underworld would do.
But he was prepared to face the next storm.
Shu Qing stared, forcing himself to look directly at the King of the Underworld.
Fear aside, if he really had to die, he couldn’t die too disgracefully.
Moreover, if he died, it would be two lives lost, and he could take the King of the Underworld’s little bastard with him.
What would the King of the Underworld feel knowing he killed his own child with his own hands?
Even if the King of the Underworld was cold and heartless, he couldn’t possibly be completely unfazed by such a thing, right?
Thinking of this, Shu Qing suddenly smiled.
Although it was quite spineless, at least it was a bit of revenge on the King of the Underworld, right?
“What are you smiling at?”
The King of the Underworld asked, and Shu Qing realized he had exposed his smile.
“I’m smiling because I can finally be free.” Shu Qing looked at the King of the Underworld, “I’m not afraid of dying anymore, so I don’t have to fear you… at least after I die, you can’t control where my soul drifts.”
“In your dreams!”
“Even if you die, I will imprison your soul in the Underworld for eternity! Do you still want to drift back to the Immortal Mountain to find your Immortal Lord? I can make him vanish into thin air, do you want to try?”
The King of the Underworld clenched his fists tightly.
He knew how infuriating Shu Qing’s mouth could be, it was always the most infuriating, but once Shu Qing opened his mouth, he could always make him even angrier.
“If I were alive, I would naturally hope the Immortal Lord wouldn’t be burdened by me and could live safely… but if I’m going to die, do I still care if he’s alive or dead?”
“Does His Highness the King of the Underworld want to use this to threaten a dying person? Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?”
Thinking back, it was too impulsive to stop the King of the Underworld just now.
Impulse meant the threat was effective.
Having a handle meant you couldn’t win.
“Do you think saying this will make me believe you? I’ve seen with my own eyes how deep your feelings are.”
The King of the Underworld opened his palm, revealing a crumpled letter.
With a flick of his hand, it shattered into countless pieces, fluttering down.
“If I really killed you both, that would be too easy for you.”
The King of the Underworld said harshly, “You should both live, you especially, so you can witness my methods firsthand.”
“I have plenty of ways to torment you, to show you what it means to live a life worse than death.”
Not wanting to hear any more unpleasant words from Shu Qing, the King of the Underworld stormed out in anger after saying this.
The guards and maids at the door didn’t know when they returned, but just hearing the commotion inside scared them all.
Those who could avoid it quickly did.
Those who couldn’t, obediently knelt on the ground, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
The King of the Underworld walked to the door, suppressing his anger: “From today on, all of you keep a close watch here. Without my permission, he is not allowed to take a step outside, nor is anyone allowed in or out.”
“Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy.”
…
Shu Qing was thus grounded.
The good part was being confined in the King of the Underworld’s sleeping quarters, not some dark and filthy prison.
The bad part was it was just this one room, with heavy guards outside, he couldn’t take a step out.
The King of the Underworld removed all the people serving him, except for Chun Li who could bring him some food daily, no one else was allowed near.
As time went on, Shu Qing inevitably felt uneasy.
After the big argument that day, tearing faces, venting all emotions, his heart felt relieved—but it was temporary.
The consequences of opposing the King of the Underworld were unpredictable, Shu Qing could disregard his own life and death, but he really didn’t want to drag the Immortal Lord down.
Fortunately, he could still talk to Chun Li every day.
Knowing that the King of the Underworld hadn’t left the Underworld recently and had no time to kill the Immortal Lord, Shu Qing felt a bit relieved.
“Yesterday, His Highness the King of the Underworld was so angry, it was terrifying.”
Without Shu Qing asking much, Chun Li would bring it up every time she came.
“It seems he found some paper in the side hall where the Little Immortal used to live… I don’t know exactly what it was, just that yesterday His Highness was very hard to serve, punishing many people…”
Shu Qing’s eyes darkened.
What else could it be, probably the letter from the Immortal Lord.
Emotional actions are the easiest to harm people.
Shu Qing knew this very well, but at the time he couldn’t help it, in a moment of joy, he hid the letter.
Even now that it’s been exposed, if time could go back, he would still do the same.
“Little Immortal, although I don’t know what’s going on between you and His Highness… but His Highness dotes on you so much, if you just lower your head and soften up, His Highness will surely let you out…”
Chun Li said these words without malice, she was just a soft-hearted maid, from her standpoint, bowing and yielding to the ruler was the most ordinary thing.
She was more distressed about Shu Qing’s current situation, clearly just needing to admit a mistake, she didn’t understand why Shu Qing had to confront the King of the Underworld so stubbornly.
“Although His Highness is angry, he still cares about the Little Immortal, knowing the Little Immortal hasn’t had a good appetite lately, he’s been having the kitchen make delicious food every day.”
Unable to step out of the room, Shu Qing had also lost interest in dressing up recently, wearing very plain clothes these days, without any accessories, looking clean but with an indescribable haggardness.
“…Do you really think that if I admit my mistake, His Highness will forgive me?”
Chun Li nodded: “His Highness will definitely forgive the Little Immortal!”
Last time Shu Qing was neglected by the King of the Underworld, most people speculated that Shu Qing was out of favor and would be abandoned.
This time the commotion was even bigger, yet most people believed Shu Qing’s return to favor was only a matter of time.
After all, everyone had witnessed how much the King of the Underworld had doted on him before.
Shu Qing smiled: “Silly girl, it’s impossible.”
“Little Immortal…”
“Also, this matter isn’t my fault, it’s His Highness’s fault… and from the beginning, it was only his fault.”
If it weren’t for the King of the Underworld forcibly taking him and then accusing him of seduction, none of this would have happened.
“…”
Chun Li paused.
Shu Qing dared to argue and fight with the King of the Underworld, dared to say it was the King of the Underworld’s fault behind his back, but she absolutely didn’t dare.
Sighing, Chun Li could only advise: “Then the Little Immortal should at least eat something… you haven’t been eating much these days, you look so haggard…”
Being confined here for a few days, Shu Qing had been in a slump for a few days.
And the King of the Underworld seemed to punish him by even limiting his daily meal times.
If Shu Qing didn’t eat this meal, he would have to go hungry until the next one.
His body hadn’t recovered much, and eating even less, Shu Qing was visibly losing weight, his whole body exuding a fragile and broken paleness.
But even so, Shu Qing’s appetite was still terrible, unwilling to eat more than a few bites each meal.
He wanted to eat, the feeling of being weak from hunger wasn’t pleasant, even speaking felt exhausting.
Unfortunately, the little bastard in his belly tormented him, making it hard to eat or sleep, he was simply restless these days.
When he didn’t know he was pregnant, these physical changes were not apparent.
But once he knew he was pregnant, the little bastard’s presence became very strong.
Maybe the argument with the King of the Underworld scared it?
It had been absorbing the spiritual power from the King of the Underworld so diligently, it must have been familiar with his aura and power.
But during the argument a few days ago, the King of the Underworld erupted with a strong oppressive killing intent, even made a move on Shu Qing… if Shu Qing felt uncomfortable, how could the little fetus in his belly not?
However, its vitality was surprisingly strong.
Despite such a big commotion, it only tormented Shu Qing, the little bastard seemed unharmed.
Shu Qing shook his head: “I can’t eat, I don’t like these, take them away.”
The little bastard was also very picky about food, if Shu Qing dared to eat something it didn’t like, it would torment him until he threw it up.
But the King of the Underworld seemed to punish him by not providing much of the food he liked.
Fine, if it has the guts to starve him to death.
Starving to death would be just right.
[Author’s Note]
A very strong little butterfly, no matter how the adults torment, it lives on strongly [sunglasses]