Su Lian, who was just behind him, had more or less worked out what had happened. He said, “Different demon clans receive randomly generated identities when entering the secret realm, but their distinguishing traits are usually concealed in accordance with one’s cultivation. Under normal circumstances… the features wouldn’t be this obvious.”
It was a tactful way of saying that Lin Shijin’s cultivation was too weak… so weak that even his transformation was barely holding together.
The boy before him was clearly in the lowest tier of demonic form. His ears twitched with the movement of his lively eyes, and a faint blush warmed his pale face, making him look endearingly silly. At that moment, the boy’s eyes were wide as he touched his tail, his expression vivid and full of life.
He looked as though he couldn’t quite accept it, or else was simply too shocked, tinged with a shy embarrassment.
Lin Shijin tugged at his own tail. What kind of demon had a tail this short? Now he understood: if he could tell that Su Lian was a fox, then Su Lian must be fox clan.
And seeing Su Lian made him instinctively uneasy. Worse still, Su Lian always smiled that pleasant, harmless smile which in Lin Shijin’s eyes looked anything but harmless. It was more like he’d open his mouth and swallow him down at any moment.
“Su Lian-shixiong, w-what do I do?” Lin Shijin’s face was burning red as he touched his tail again, feeling unbearably ashamed. “Is there any way to hide it?”
They had inherited certain instincts after taking demonic form. Su Lian’s gaze lingered on him for a moment; Lin Shijin instinctively sensed danger and had the urge to bolt.
Su Lian smiled. “Once we enter the city, we’ll find a way to deal with it. No need to worry.”
While the two of them were speaking, the black-clad youth with the sword approached. His expression was foul. irritable and cold. Ye Lang looked almost the same as he had before entering the realm.
That was, until his gaze fell upon Lin Shijin. His eyes paused for a heartbeat; the tips of his canine teeth showed faintly as he arched a brow. The instant Lin Shijin met Ye Lang’s eyes, a shock like cold lightning raced down his spine. A tiny version of himself screamed frantically in his mind, and all of his instincts told him to flee.
Ahhhhhhhhh—
His ears stung painfully where Ye Lang yanked them, leaving him too terrified to move. As Ye Lang stepped closer, he instinctively tried to hide behind his tail.
Of course, the tail was far too short to hide anything. His legs shook, and the poor thing bristled helplessly. Ye Lang had him by the ear, and Lin Shijin dared not move an inch.
“Don’t frighten him,” Su Lian said, pausing as his gaze fell on the youth’s ears which had already been pulled red. They drooped pitifully against his forehead; he looked miserably wronged, yet too cowed to resist.
This was demon instinct: a low-level demon facing a high-level demon. And to make matters worse, natural enemies. Lin Shijin had virtually no power to resist Ye Lang.
His legs were so weak he could barely stand. In his heart, Ye Lang was immediately added to his blacklist. They’d hardly interacted before, yet this man was pulling his ears and scaring him. Definitely not a good person.
He needed to stay far, far away.
At last, Ye Lang released him. Lin Shijin’s entire body went stiff, and he practically fled at once to Su Lian’s side.
Su Lian wouldn’t harm him, but being fox clan, his instincts still made Lin Shijin wary. He didn’t dare stand too close. He’d been beside Su Lian at first, but upon realising Ye Lang was staring at his tail, he instantly hid behind Su Lian, wrapping his tail out of sight.
“Su Lian-shixiong… didn’t the elders say that in the secret realm, we’re not allowed to kill one another…?”
His voice was tiny. Clutching a corner of Su Lian’s robe, he continued watching Ye Lang with deep suspicion, convinced the older boy meant him harm.
It felt as though the other wanted to rip his ears and tail off and then swallow him whole.
Hidden behind Su Lian, the rabbit-eared boy’s once-droopy ears perked in wary tension, twitching now and then. His bright eyes tracked Ye Lang’s every movement. His tail was still puffed up, occasionally flicking upright.
Su Lian sighed inwardly. “If any one of us attacks another, all three of us will fail the mission.”
“Lin-shidi, there’s no need to be scared. He was only teasing you; he won’t actually do anything. And I’m watching. You know I don’t want the mission to fail.”
Lin Shijin felt marginally reassured. He poked his head out a little and glanced at Ye Lang. His ears pricked up, until Ye Lang looked back and gave a soft, mocking laugh. Lin Shijin immediately wilted again.
“Su Lian-shixiong, I’d better stay with you. I don’t like him teasing me.”
Under no circumstances was he going near Ye Lang again. He stuck to Su Lian like a burr. With someone else there, he wouldn’t be eaten outright.
They had been in the secret realm less than half an hour, and he already missed Sheng Rufei. Sheng Rufei had said he would come find him. He wondered when.
If Sheng Rufei were here, he wouldn’t be afraid at all.
As the senior disciple, Su Lian was well admired. Many juniors followed him because he was gentle and patient. Nothing like the aloof, chilly Sheng Rufei.
He often had disciples trailing after him, but few were as clingy as this one. Perhaps because he was so terrified, Lin Shijin practically clung to his sleeve, constantly glancing back at the black-clad youth tailing them.
Seeing him frightened, Ye Lang deliberately bared his canines. Just that tiny gesture was enough to make the boy wobble on the verge of fainting.
“Tch.” Ye Lang regarded the fool ahead of him, the darkness in his expression easing a little. With this idiot in hand, he wouldn’t have to worry about losing Sheng Rufei.
Lin Shijin still clung to Su Lian’s sleeve. Su Lian remained mild and gentle, but when Lin Shijin tugged again, Su Lian quietly drew his sleeve back.
“Lin-shidi, don’t worry. I’ll watch him. While I’m here, he won’t do anything to you.”
Lin Shijin stared at his empty hand and murmured, “Oh.” So Su Lian didn’t want him pulling at his sleeve. His lips tightened a little and he edged a small step away.
Su Lian appeared much more pleased. He said, “We should be just outside the city now. Yixiu City is an ancient settlement from a thousand years ago. Back then, relations between the cultivation world, humans, and demons were different. Humans revered immortal sect disciples and deeply despised troublesome demons.”
“Originally, they were simply called the demon race, not ‘demonic creatures’. But because they wreaked havoc a thousand years ago, humans came to revile them, hence the name ‘demonic’. ”
“Yixiu City was only a small settlement, but vanished from the map due to a conflict between demons and the immortal sects. The exact cause has long since been lost.”
“These are merely background details,” Su Lian continued. “What matters is understanding the factions within the city. We, as the demonic side, must conceal ourselves and deliver a letter to the righteous faction.”
He paused. If it were a matter of distinguishing righteous from demonic, the ‘righteous’ wouldn’t necessarily be immortal sect disciples, nor the ‘demonic’ necessarily demons.
And given their roles as demons, delivering a message to the rightful side—if that side truly were the immortal sect—would make little sense, considering the mutual enmity a thousand years ago.
Lin Shijin listened very earnestly. He needed to complete the mission quickly and escape this trio. With a demon wolf and a demon fox beside him, he was practically being served up as a snack. He had to finish and go find his shixiong.
His attention span was limited. All of it was focused on Su Lian, so he forgot entirely that someone was trailing behind him.
So when someone tugged his tail, he didn’t even react at first. Having a tail was still new; he only felt vaguely uncomfortable. Then realisation dawned, and he turned… straight into Ye Lang’s face.
Lin Shijin: “…”
“Su Lian-shixiong—” Instinctively, he wanted to complain. Someone was pulling his tail. But then remembered Su Lian wasn’t Sheng Rufei, and had just been trying to avoid having his sleeve pulled again.
So Lin Shijin turned his head instead, utterly terrified, but angry enough that his face flushed. He glared at Ye Lang. “Let go.”
He desperately wanted to hide his tail. He’d known this person had been eyeing it with wicked intentions and waiting for a moment to grab it.
The fluffy tail scrunched into a little ball under the pinch. His ears stood up again, and his eyes widened, making him look even more bullied than fierce.
“Oh? You say ‘let go’, and I should simply let go?” Ye Lang said lazily, rolling the soft rabbit tail between his fingers. It was surprisingly pleasant to hold. So soft, twitchy, and it was trying to hide from him.
Ye Lang snorted. “Do you think I’m your shixiong… so obedient to your orders?”
“Let go, or I’ll—”
“Oh? You’ll what?
“Will the rabbit bite?”
Ye Lang bared his canines, eyes darkening as he stared him down, a thin smile at his lips. “If you dare bite me, I’ll rip off your tail, make you bite yourself, skin you, and stew you into rabbit soup.”
At the words rabbit soup, Lin Shijin turned to stone. Then, he shattered internally with a silent crack, collapsing into a quivering lump. One poke and he’d dissolve entirely.
Beside them, Su Lian felt his eardrums tremble. He rubbed his forehead, helpless. Completing this mission with two burdens like these would be no simple matter.
Ye Lang had only been threatening casually. Seeing the youth glaring yet speechless, he pinched the rabbit tail twice more, noticing how red the youth’s ears had become.
He stared at those ears. Initially, it was only staring… until a sudden, primal desire surged up. He wanted to grasp those ears with his teeth, bite them, and drag the rabbit straight back to his den.
Lin Shijin sensed the danger instantly; goosebumps prickled across his skin. He looked up and met Ye Lang’s gaze.
A dark glint flickered through the wolf’s eyes.
Lin Shijin froze, legs shaking. He edged two tiny steps towards Su Lian only to bump into Su Lian’s long, fox-like gaze.
Lin Shijin: “…”
He was doomed.
