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Zhuzhi-lang trudged along the outskirts of the TerrorMoon Woods, having been sent outside by Tianlang-jun earlier. The demon emperor was quite insistent about Zhuzhi-lang going outside every once in a while, this time was no different.
“Go outside and enjoy yourself,” the demon lord instructed him, after another day of Zhuzhi-lang refusing to leave Tianlang-jun’s side. The rotting of the Sun Moon Dew Mushroom body has lessened lately due to the effort of the cultivators hosting them, but it was still an issue for the demon emperor. Tianlang-jun turned to grin at Zhuzhi-lang, the smile not quite reaching his eyes. “There’s no need for my nephew to force himself to remain by this emperor’s side. Those your age want to be more independent, hm?”
Zhuzhi-lang immediately opened his mouth to assure Tianlang-jun that he stayed willingly, and that the demon emperor came first, but was interrupted by Tianlang-jun waving him off.
“Go, go, don’t make me stall you,” the demon emperor shooed him away, dismissing him with a gesture from the arm that had not fallen off.
And how could Zhuzhi-lang disobey a direct order? Tianlang-jun obviously wanted to be alone, and it was out of his place to disregard that. So, reluctantly, he’d left.
With nothing to do, he wandered around aimlessly, until he found himself here.
Zhuzhi-lang contemplated whether enough time had passed for him to return, but then the unmistakable sound of battle reached his ears. He paused.
It was very faint; he’d only noticed after a particularly loud clang. Actually, as Zhuzhi-lang stopped to listen, it seemed like the fighting was almost over. There were a few more clangs here and there, and sometimes a feral screech, but it was mostly quiet.
Zhuzhi-lang thought back to Tianlang-jun. The demon emperor seemed really determined to be alone, so Zhuzhi-lang thought he could allow himself to make some more time for his lord’s solitude.
Mind made up, he followed the signs of the fight, letting the occasional screech of pain guide him. Zhuzhi-lang figured he could go over to see what was happening, out of the way and preferably without getting noticed, then he’d return to Tianlang-jun.
He definitely was not expecting a cultivator to suddenly step in front of him, dressed in Cang Qiong Mountain sect robes covered in blood and guts, a deep set scowl carved into his face. The cultivator’s eyes landed on him, and both Zhuzhi-lang and the man paused, scrutinizing each other.
After a moment of tense silence, the cultivator seemed to find Zhuzhi-lang not to be a threat,and turned to continue wrestling with the foliage. The snake demon let him go, unsure what to do in this situation. A second later, the cultivator stopped in his tracks, looking as if he were considering something.
Zhuzhi-lang tensed, ready to defend himself if needed, while the cultivator turned his head to look at him.
His lips were thin, brows furrowed, and his dark eyes flickered over Zhuzhi-lang’s face.
“...Did you see a wrinkled rat run through here?”
Zhuzhi-lang blinked, caught off-guard at the unexpected question, while the cultivator waited for his answer. He took long enough that the other man looked like he’d run out of patience soon, but eventually his tongue obeyed him.
“...No,” Zhuzhi-lang told him, slowly.
Despite having an answer, the cultivator made no indication of leaving. Instead, he lingered, his scowl deepening impossibly as he looked over Zhuzhi-lang once more. Zhuzhi-lang stared back, wondering if he’d done anything strange to invoke this suspicion in the man. He saw the way the cultivator’s hand twitched, wanting to reach out for something but hesitating. Zhuzhi-lang readied himself should violence break out after all, his yellow eyes tracking every movement of the other.
Slowly, as if reluctant, the man opened his mouth to speak. “You’re that demon that always trails after the demon emperor, aren’t you? What are you doing here?” His voice sounded resigned, as though he’d rather do anything else than talk, but had no choice but to suffer through it.
Even though the demon and human realms had made peace, hostilities did not fade immediately. Zhuzhi-lang understood that this cultivator was likely reluctant to speak to a demon because of this. Regardless, Zhuzhi-lang did not want to spark needless conflict, so he answered.
“This lowly one indeed serves the demon emperor, but I am not here for any great purpose. This one has been told to spend time with himself, and has been doing as instructed.” Zhuzhi-lang spoke clearly and politely, watching the cultivator closely for any reaction. On seeing the persistent scowl refusing to fade, Zhuzhi-Lang tilted his head. “This one has no reason to lie.”
The cultivator looked at him for another moment, one of his eyebrows twitching, before turning back to resume his search. Zhuzhi-lang heard him mutter under his breath; “At least you’re easy to look at.”
His eyes widened as the words sunk in.
Zhuzhi-lang looked over the cultivator again as he trudged along, noting the Bai Zhan peak robes and the beauty mark under one eye.
It was like a sack of bricks hit him on the head.
Wasn’t that the Bai Zhan peak lord? Esteemed war god and peerless beauty, Liu Qingge?
Zhuzhi-lang imagined the man without the blood staining his face and soaking his robes, and decided that the man indeed looked quite beautiful.
But then his mind shot back to those mumbled words, and his face paled.
He knew he was ugly- even his human form looked average at best, but a man like that definitely knew just how beautiful something looked, and that knowledge paired with his unexpected comment…
Did Liu Qingge…think he was pretty?!
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Zhuzhi-lang still had no idea what to do with this realization.
He’d made it back to the cultivation sect he and Tianlang-jun were staying at, after Liu Qingge disappeared further into the woods. Currently, he was seated beside Tianlang-jun once more, although his mind was in the rare state of distraction.
Zhuzhi-lang nodded as usual when Tianlang-jun asked if he’d done as he'd asked and enjoyed himself, but after that his mind wandered away from him back to the words and implications of Liu Qingge. The demon emperor hadn’t noticed at first, filling in the silence as he always did.
“-and then I thought of the maiden from that other play- what was her name again? Wen Ying? Wang Ying? I’m pretty sure it had a ‘Ying’ in it…” he trailed off, waiting for Zhuzhi-lang to interject with the answer as usual. However, Zhuzhi-lang was still thinking about the peak lord’s words, and had unintentionally tuned out of the conversation.
At his nephew’s lack of answer, Tianlang-jun looked over at Zhuzhi-lang inquisitively, with a worried crease between his brows. He was still smiling, but it grew forced the longer Zhuzhi-lang failed to react.
“...Nephew?” the demon emperor called out uncertainly.
Zhuzhi-lang returned with a start, eyes flickering over Tianlang-jun’s worried complexion, an unsettled feeling pooling in his gut as he realized he’d lost track of the conversation. He shifted in his seat, unnerved. “Forgive me, Junshang, this servant was contemplating other matters…”
The excuse didn’t seem to appease Tianlang-jun, rather, it did the opposite. Now Tianlang-jun looked even more worried, the smile dropping as the mood called for it. The demon emperor turned so that his whole body was facing Zhuzhi-lang.
“Nephew?...Are you alright?” he asked, hesitantly.
Reflexively, Zhuzhi-lang nodded, but when Tianlang-jun didn’t look convinced, he reluctantly shrugged.
Tianlang-jun lost all signs of being relaxed, his lips tugged down and his eyes darkened ominously.
“What happened?” the demon emperor demanded, his eyes and demon mark glowing red.
Zhuzhi-lang hesitated.
While it was true that he didn’t know much about…whatever this was, he wasn’t sure if he wanted Tianlang-jun to know about it either. He knew that the demon emperor often applied themes and practices from his novels to real life, oversimplifying or overcomplicated things because of it.
However, Tianlang-jun did have experience in this particular subject, and could likely give him valuable advice. Also, he’d demanded, not asked, and Zhuzhi-lang would rather die than disobey Tianlang-jun.
“Upon your request for solitude, this servant traveled outside to TerrorMoon Woods,” Zhuzhi-lang reported. Tianlang-jun listened silently, a stark contrast to his usual carefree attitude. “In which he heard sounds of a scuffle. This one decided to investigate, and came across Liu Qingge of Cang Qiong Mountain sect. We spoke, and-” Zhuzhi-lang hesitated for a half-second, but forced himself to continue, “-he called me ‘easy to look at.’”
Tianlang-jun’s expression froze.
“...What?” the demon emperor blinked, the red fading from his eyes in his surprise. Then, the biggest grin crawled up his face. “ Oh~ I see now,” Tianlang-jun said, sounding very smug.
Zhuzhi-lang frowned, seeing the signs of cheesy tropes clouding the emperor’s judgement, but remained silent.
Tianlang-jun relaxed, all previous worry lines washed away in favor of something more teasing. “So, my dear nephew found himself a very special person, hm?”
Zhuzhi-lang had no idea what to say to that.
Tianlang-jun sighed dramatically, flopping down with his arm over his face. “Oh, I knew this day would come. But all birds must leave the nest eventually, so I won’t hold you back or anything. Just know this emperor will always support you, nephew, and try to visit often. I’d like an grand-nephew or grand-niece, too, if you could do that for me-”
Zhuzhi-lang was never one to be all that emotional, but upon listening to Tianlang-jun’s request, he couldn’t help but feel an odd mixture of terror and mortification. Was the demon emperor kicking him out? Where would the the grand-niece or grand-nephew come from?? And what did birds and nests have anything to do with any of this???
Eventually, the demon emperor took pity on his poor, confused nephew, shifting the topic to something more… imminent.
“Well, I suppose I’m getting ahead of myself,” Tianlang-jun mused to himself, sitting up, “he’s only called you easy to look at, right?”
Zhuzhi-lang nodded.
Tianlang-jun hummed thoughtfully.
“That is an unusual compliment,” the demon emperor remarked, tapping his chin like the detectives in his novels, “but this Liu Qingge is not known for his words…yes, I’m sure of it now. He definitely likes you.”
Zhuzhi-lang blinked at the revelation. This was getting even more complicated than he thought. He already didn’t know how to react to a mumbled compliment, and now he had to deal with infatuation?
Tianlang-jun waved away his unspoken concerns with another grin and a promise; “Ah, nephew must be feeling overwhelmed with all these new things to worry about, but fret not; this emperor will guide you. After all, I am very skilled in the art of human romance.”
Zhuzhi-lang ignored the fact that this “skill” largely stemmed from Tianlang-jun’s…interesting choice in literature, while also lamenting that he’d be sucked into impractical novel tropes after all.
The demon emperor beckoned him closer, Zhuzhi-lang humoring his lord’s antics and leaning in.
“So,” Tianlang-jun began, “let me tell you a few things about charming a cultivator…”