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nEditor: SimoB

nIn the hospital corridor, Shi Qing lazily leaned against Meng Qing as he played with his hands.

nThe look on Meng Qing’s face wasn’t good.

nShi Qing slowly traced along the faint lines of his palm all the way to his fingertips. While he toyed with the soft digits, the young cultivator, who was unused to being so close to others, subconsciously jerked his hand back.

n“We’ve signed a contract. Are you trying to back out?”

nThe demon king’s pleasant voice seemed to hide laughter within. It tainted Meng Qing’s handsome features with displeasure as he looked down at Shi Qing, who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

n“You lied to me. The contract you signed with Chen Zeyu had nothing to do with his lifespan.”

nShi Qing didn’t feel embarrassed at all. He shamelessly gripped the cultivator’s hand even tighter. “Didn’t you say that I’m a demonic fiend? Have you ever met a demon that has never told a lie or two?”

nMeng Qing turned away in frustration. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.

nBut the demon king had no intentions of letting him go so easily. “I didn’t lie to you when you signed the contract. I just promised you Chen Zeyu’s contract and to return what he gave me in exchange. I didn’t say that that was his lifespan, ah.”

nMeng Qing: “You said you received a year of lifespan.”

n“Yep.”

nShi Qing’s captivating eyes narrowed as he leaned on the cultivator like he had no bones.

n“I did say that, but I never said that the lifespan was from Chen Zeyu. Let’s get one thing straight, little cultivator, you’re the one who misunderstood.”

nMeng Qing was silent.

nHow was he supposed to refute this?

nMoreover, the young cultivator still had a hint of doubt in his heart.

nShi Qing clearly stated his intentions to exchange for lifespan before, so how come he made a deal for tears in the end?

nA slight suspicion flashed through his mind.

nCould it be that Shi Qing also pitied those two…?

nNo way. Absolutely impossible.

nWhy would a demonic fiend bend the rules out of sympathy for someone else?

nMeng Qing must’ve only come to such a conclusion in a moment of confusion.

n…Or was he bewitched by this demon?

nStartled, Meng Qing closed his eyes and recited mantras in his mind, trying to ignore Shi Qing the best he could.

nShi Qing didn’t mind the silent treatment. He continued leaning on Meng Qing’s shoulder and talked to himself.

n“Little cultivator, I’m going to take you to see fireworks tomorrow.”

n“You know, little cultivator, fireworks aren’t allowed within the city limits, but they’re one of my favourite things. I haven’t seen any since they restricted sales some time ago.”

n“Little cultivator, do you really plan on ignoring me forever?”

nShi Qing poked him. When he saw there was no reaction from Meng Qing, he softened his voice.

n“Come on, I was just teasing you. Don’t be mad.”

n“Little cultivator?”

n“Little cultivator?”

n“Don’t ignore me, I’m really bored by myself.”

nThe demon’s hands cupped the young cultivator’s good-looking face and turned it towards him.

nMeng Qing closed his eyes and silently turned his head back as he recited mantras in his mind.

n“So you’re really angry this time?”

nShi Qing stopped fooling around. He rested his head on Meng Qing’s shoulder and quietly said, “I just want to play with you&#k2026; Hey, you cultivators know that there’s two types of energy in the world, right? One is turbulent and the other is clear.”

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nOf course Meng Qing knew that.

nBut he didn’t bother to respond or open his eyes.

nShi Qing: “Did your master ever tell you that demonic fiends like me come from turbulent energy?”

nMeng Qing: “???”

nHe was almost curious enough to open his eyes.

nBut he remembered just in time that he wasn’t talking to this demon right now and forced himself to continue ignoring him. His entire body radiated a feeling of “no matter what you say, I won’t talk to you”.

nSadness leaked into Shi Qing’s expression. He rubbed his face against the young cultivator’s clothes.

nHis voice was quiet and hoarse.

n“Turbulent energy is produced by the negative thoughts of humans. The more people with grievances in their hearts, the more turbidity there is in the world. When it all reached a critical mass, I was born. You always call me a demonic fiend or a demon. You say that I’m a scourge on the world. But have you ever considered that I might not have a choice?”

nMeng Qing felt as if his shoulder had become slightly wet as the demon nuzzled his face against it.

nHis closed eyelashes trembled incessantly, and he felt a bit ashamed and guilty.

nThe demon king sniffled: “As soon as I was born, my body was filled with all the negative energy of this world. You righteous cultivators called for my head as soon as you laid eyes on me. I have no relatives, nor friends. There was no one to teach me how to live. I could only rely on myself. I was like a newborn baby then, helpless and ignorant. None of you took care of me then, and now you label me a demonic fiend and monster although all I’ve done is try my best to survive.”

nMeng Qing’s eyelashes trembled even more. He could no longer recite those mantras.

n“Especially you. I came to see you because I learned you were my fated companion, but you ended up throwing talismans at me as soon as we met.”

nMeng Qing tried to keep his eyes closed as he quickly explained, “I didn’t mean to do that. I was just surprised by your lack of a heartbeat…”

nThe demon’s soft hands that were completely at odds with his aura suddenly grasped his and pulled them to his own chest.

n“Do you feel it? My heartbeat. This heart would only beat after I met my fated companion. I’ve been alone and forsaken for so many years. I rushed to you as soon as I could after finding out, but you’ve been nothing but cold to me, ignoring me and calling me a demon constantly.”

nMeng Qing felt the powerful heartbeat beneath his palm. He felt his own heart respond in kind, following the passionate rhythm of the demon king’s.

nHe swallowed dryly. His eyes were still closed as his beautiful face became dotted with sweat. Shi Qing’s quiet and husky voice crept into his ear.

n“I just wanted for you to stay by my side. You blame me for lying to you, but we’re a pair ordained by fate herself. If you hadn’t ignored me first and refused to hold my hand, I wouldn’t have had to lie. Think about it carefully. Since we met, when have I ever harmed you? But you’ve taken every opportunity to speak ill of me, slap a talisman on me, or try to kill me with your sword.”

nThe young cultivator’s heart was overwhelmed by a huge surge of guilt.

nYes, he had only heard about the demonic fiend in passing, but no one had ever paid attention to where he came from, if he had parents, or who exactly had raised him.

nIf it was really like what Shi Qing said, that he was an existence created by the world itself, then his wicked temperament was only natural, ah.

nAfter thinking it through, the young cultivator swallowed nervously and spoke, “I didn’t mean it earlier. I thought you were up to no good.”

nShi Qing’s voice became even more aggrieved, “If I really had impure intentions, do you think that a 20 year old cultivator like you would be a match for me? I could send you to hell in your sleep, so why would I let you live until now?”

nThat’s right. Shi Qing was the demon king.

nEven his master wasn’t a match for him. If he really wanted to do something to Meng Qing, there was no need to be so nice about it.

nThis only made his feelings of guilt worsen.

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nThe young cultivator’s eyelashes quivered, “I’m sorry, I was wrong. I won’t treat you like that anymore.”

nHe was about to open his eyes, but the demon king quickly covered them with his hand. “You’re not allowed to look at me right now! Shame on you!”

nHe was probably afraid of Meng Qing seeing him cry.

nMeng Qing hurried to obediently close his eyes: “This one won’t look.”

nShi Qing: “Hey, do you really know that you were wrong?”

nThe young cultivator nodded his head with his eyes still closed: “This one knows.”

nShi Qing: “Good. Now promise me you’ll watch the fireworks with me tonight.”

nMeng Qing continued to nod: “I promise.”

nThe demon king leaning on his shoulder seemed to start crying again. His shoulder was further soaked with tears.

nThe young cultivator became more and more overwhelmed.

nAll he did was promise to watch some fireworks, but the demon king was actually moved to tears. One could only imagine how life had treated him up until now.

nShi Qing: “I also want to eat cake from the Li Tang Family shop tomorrow. Go with me.”

nMeng Qing nodded: “Alright.”

n“And don’t always be so aloof with me in the future. You have to spend some time with me once in a while and voluntarily hold my hand. We’re supposed to be a fated pair and you can’t change that no matter what you do.”

nThe young cultivator who had just readily agreed to everything hesitated.

nHe fidgeted, “But this one is a cultivator.”

nThe demon king leaning on his shoulder cried again.

nAs he felt the moisture on his shoulder, Meng Qing’s heart inexplicably softened.

nShi Qing’s voice was quiet: “I know you are a cultivator and I’m an evil demon so it’s obvious that you would look down on me. You wouldn’t like me no matter how hard I tried. But what can I do about who I was born as? If I had a choice, I would’ve wanted to grow up in Qingzhen Temple with you. There’s nothing I want more than you to accept me.”

n“N-no! No! That’s not what I meant!”

nMeng Qing tripped over himself to explain, “I just have a duty to the Dao. It has nothing to do with your identity.”

n“There’s no need to lie to me to spare my feelings. It’s not like you Qingzhen cultivators can’t marry. There’s no conflict between your duty to the Dao and being with me. I know that you’re just looking for an excuse to reject me. You think someone like me isn’t good enough for you.”

nMeng Qing felt like he had been spun in circles. He was anxious and unsure of what to do. Someone as socially awkward as him could only try to hastily explain.

n“It’s not what you’re thinking, really! I don’t think that at all!”

nShi Qing: “So you like me then?”

nMeng Qing was thrown for another loop. “I-I…”

nThe demon king became depressed again. “As I thought. You really can’t see past my identity. Forget it, I shouldn’t have expected too much. I guess I’ll be alone for the rest of my life. I’ll be leaving first.”

nHe left Meng Qing’s shoulder.

nThe young cultivator’s brain went blank. He subconsciously reached out in the direction of the sounds, grabbing the hem of Shi Qing’s clothes.

n“I like you!”

nSaying this, Meng Qing’s heart seemed to stop beating for a second. His face quickly became stained with crimson, and his eyelashes trembled as if they were playing the piano.

nThe air itself seemed to freeze.

nIt was a while before Meng Qing felt the demon king’s soft hand squeeze his own.

nThe demon king should still be standing. His voice was filled with suppressed amusement as he softly asked.

n“You aren’t lying?”

nMeng Qing blushed furiously.

nHe wanted to open his eyes, but then he remembered that Shi Qing didn’t want him to, so he could only face Shi Qing with his eyes closed.

n“This one never lies.”

nDemon King: “I don’t believe you. You obviously hate me since you don’t even want to hold my hand.”

n“I do. I’ll hold your hand.”

nThe young cultivator held his hand tightly. He was blushing almost to the point of dripping blood as he asked softly, “You believe me now, don’t you?”

nShi Qing: “No. What if you go back on your word?”

n“I won’t.”

nMeng Qing held back his shame as he said, “A cultivator always keeps his promises.”

n“That’s still not enough.”

nShi Qing waved his hand and summoned a contract in front of Meng Qing: “I’ll believe you if you open your eyes and sign.”

nMeng Qing slowly opened his eyes and looked over the contract in front of him.

nIt was similar to the ones before.

nHe took the pen that was hovering on the side and carefully signed his name.

nAfter signing it, he watched the contract slowly disappear with a mixture of relief, a bit of nervousness, and a few unexplainable hints of embarrassment and joy.

n“That’s more like it.”

nHearing Shi Qing’s satisfied voice, Meng Qing endured his embarrassment and looked up at the standing demon king. He was ready to help wipe away his tears.

nBut he froze when he looked up.

nThe demon king’s pale face was clean, and he was looking at him with an ice cream cone in his hand.

nSensing his incredulous gaze, Shi Qing licked the cone and raised his eyebrows with a face that showed no signs of recently crying at all.

n“Why are you looking at me like that?”

n“You, you…” The young cultivator was flabbergasted. “You didn’t cry?”

n“Cry?” The demon king snorted, “Nice one. How could a bonafide Demon King like me cry?”

n“But I felt tears…” The befuddled Meng Qing looked at his shoulder and saw a bit of half-melted ice cream there.

nMeng Qing: “???”

nMeng Qing: “…”

nShi Qing plopped down beside him and followed his eyes.

n“I might’ve gotten some there accidentally earlier.”

nThen the demon king turned slightly to the side and licked up all the ice cream on his shoulder, letting it melt in his mouth.

nMeng Qing: “….”

nHe stiffened, not even daring to breathe until he felt that soft wetness leave. His chest began to violently heave from anger.

n“You, you…!”

n“What about me?” Shi Qing reminded him, “You just signed a contract, remember? You can’t go back on your promises.”

nMeng Qing: “……”

nHis beautiful eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment, and he locked eyes with Shi Qing for a long time before spitting out a single word.

n“Shameless!”

nThe demon king shrugged, “It’s not like I forced you to sign it. What’s the point of scolding me if you were willing?”

nHe leaned on Meng Qing’s shoulder once again and brought the cone to the young cultivator’s mouth.

n“Try this. It’s delicious.”

nSeeing that Meng Qing didn’t move, he patted the cultivator’s handsome face. “Alright, alright. Don’t be angry anymore and eat quickly. There’s still business to be done later.”

nThe young cultivator looked at the demon king angrily and opened his mouth to take a vicious bite of the cone in front of him.

nWu….

nHe chewed a few times and swallowed before taking another bite.

nThis was pretty good…

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