Ye Lang looked at the youth who had fainted in his arms and began to suspect the brat was putting it on. He unceremoniously tugged the youth’s tail; the rabbit tail felt soft and warm. He gave the wretched rabbit two sharp tugs, yet the youth still didn’t stir.
It seemed he really had passed out from fright. Every now and then he leaked a trace of demonic aura… another reason Su Lian refused to let him follow.
He had fainted, and now Ye Lang had to carry him back. Truly a child destined for comfort: he collapsed, and Ye Lang had to do all the work.
Thinking this, Ye Lang snorted inwardly. Of course he wasn’t going to let this brat take advantage of him, but he couldn’t leave him behind either. He was still useful.
Once he finished his business, he would use this youth to lure Sheng Rufei.
With that thought, he gave the youth’s tail another couple of pulls. It was oddly addictive… soft and plush beneath his fingers. He casually trussed the youth up with a rope, scooped him into his arms, and vanished on the spot.
The city bustled with noise. The three of them disappeared round a corner without anyone noticing.
…
In the underground demon city.
When Lin Shijin woke again, an entire hour had passed.
Before him was an unfamiliar place. He blinked. It resembled a stone cave, the walls carved with all sorts of strange patterns… images of beasts and animals.
His fingertips brushed something dry. Looking down, he saw a layer of straw spread across the ground. It was a simple stone chamber, with no bed and no windows, only a stone door. Had the door not been open, he would have thought he had been thrown into a cell.
Lin Shijin slowly pieced things together. He had been with Su Lian-shixiong and the others. Su Lian had left, leaving only him and Ye Lang.
Then Ye Lang drew near, he became overwhelmed by instinct and had fainted dead away.
Where was this?
And where was Ye Lang?
Thinking this, Lin Shijin used the stone wall for support as he slowly stood and made his way to the entrance.
By the doorway burned a brazier, its flames leaping; the bronze was engraved with ancient beasts and demon wolves. A guard stood nearby.
“Young master, you’re awake?”
A male voice reached him, and suddenly a beast-headed figure loomed into view. The creature had a white snake’s head atop a human body; as it spoke, the snake flicked out its tongue with a faint hiss.
He instinctively leaned back, nearly toppling, his face blanching. He almost fainted again but forced himself to stay upright while the little man in his heart screamed in terror.
His ears rang. He vaguely recalled Su Lian telling him to follow Ye Lang into the underground demon city. Now, seeing this white-snake beast-headed guard, he wondered—
Surely not…
He looked past him on instinct and saw a vast cavern. At its centre stood a statue of a demon immortal. Its expression was eerily strange. Though sculpted with kind countenance, it seemed both to smile and weep. In its hands it held a bronze basin, its flames burning eternally.
All around were carved demonic motifs. There weren’t merely one or two stone chambers; above were countless caves, large and small, each marked by demon-immortal engravings, with bronze braziers burning beside them. Most who passed by were beast-headed demons.
“My oversight. Young master must be unaccustomed…”
The white snake spoke, then transformed into a human-headed form. His face was long and slightly odd, but far more normal than before.
Lin Shijin let out a quiet breath, though his heart continued pounding. Without his veil, his ears drooped limply atop his head.
“Ye Lang… is he here?”
“Lord Ye is presently at the altar. It may be inconvenient for him to meet young master at the moment. If you wish to see him, I shall go and report shortly.”
How had Ye Lang become “Lord Ye” in the short time he’d been gone?
Lin Shijin was startled… and curious. He feared most demons, and the unease in his chest was hard to dispel.
“Very well. Please let him know. What should I call you?”
“This humble one is named Bai Yu. Young master may call me Bai Yu.”
Lin Shijin committed it to memory and retreated back into his earlier stone chamber. Outside, all were beast-headed demons. Here, they seemed reluctant to assume human features at all.
He thought it best to remain by himself. Settling back into the straw, he found it uncomfortable; perhaps influenced by demonic instinct, he felt an urge to curl into a ball.
But he absolutely refused to do something so humiliating. He wasn’t a real rabbit. Hugging his knees, he sat in the corner.
He counted tasks off on his fingers.
He was here now; he had to complete Su Lian-shixiong’s instructions.
First: inquire after the demon tribe on the reason they had gathered to attack the Scourge-Slayer Envoy, whether there was some hidden story, and how they had entered the city.
Second: clarify the stance of the demons and evil forces in the city. Understand what was truly righteous and truly wicked.
Third: ideally, bring back a few demonic beasts for Feng Rugao.
Lin Shijin repeated them again silently. To gather information, he certainly couldn’t just stay here.
He rose to step outside, but just as he reached the doorway, a young tiger cub with a beast’s head and human body trotted past.
The cub had a round, fierce little tiger face. Beside him stood a human-headed woman. The cub stared at Lin Shijin with wide, curious eyes; its ears twitched, and its gaze brightened.
The chubby child pointed at him, voice adorably ferocious.
“Mama, there’s a bunny! I want to eat the bunny!”
Lin Shijin: “…”
The woman immediately clapped a hand over the cub’s mouth. “You mustn’t eat rabbits at random. That is Lord Ye’s pet-attendant. You mustn’t offend him.”
Pet-attendant? Lin Shijin’s ears twitched. The term sounded anything but pleasant.
His legs went weak. Statuses among the demon race were strictly defined, and his was evidently the very lowest. Whether from poor cultivation, appalling luck, or both, he could not tell.
At the words “pet-attendant”, countless demons peeked from their caves, eyes full of envy. It was as though he had stumbled upon some magnificent fortune.
“Young master, Lord Ye has returned from the altar. You may go back now.”
Bai Yu appeared abruptly, making Lin Shijin jump. But this time the man had a human head and face, so Lin Shijin followed him.
They passed beneath the towering demon-immortal statue. The deeper they went, the more guards there were, and the fewer beast-headed forms. Most resembled the human forms of the Three Thousand Realms. Layers of guards surrounded a stone-carved palace.
The copper braziers glowed faintly. Lin Shijin made his way through, entering the palace hall; on either side stood similar demon-immortal statues, alongside engravings of demon wolves.
He finally understood. Ye Lang clearly enjoyed a racial advantage. The demon wolf clan was revered in Yixiu City’s underground demon city to an astonishing degree.
“Lord Ye, the young master has been brought.”
Lin Shijin stepped into the main hall. No lamps were lit, but the walls were studded with luminous pearls that shimmered like a fine, scattered silver river overhead.
There were many attendants, every one of them a beautiful young lady. Lin Shijin recognised them as fox spirits.
Foxes also ate rabbits. His ears drooped even further. On the main seat sat Ye Lang, utterly at ease, commanding an attendant to kneel and peel grapes for him.
Lin Shijin had no idea how he managed to be so shameless. Only one person in his memory had ever been that shameless, and he didn’t care to remember him.
Xue Ning.
Hearing movement, Ye Lang looked over, his voice lazily drawled. “Come here.”
Lin Shijin hesitated. He hated seeing the pretty attendant kneeling on the floor, peeling grapes for someone who couldn’t peel them himself. Wouldn’t her knees hurt?
His own knees ached dreadfully whenever he knelt even briefly in Feng Rugao Hall.
The carpet underfoot was some soft animal’s pelt. He crept towards Ye Lang, moving slowly as always whenever he had to do something he’d rather not.
No sooner had he reached Ye Lang’s side than his ear was tugged. The youth pulled lightly, but not kindly.
“So slow. Do you need something from me?”
Pain shot through his ear. As he moved closer, Ye Lang’s demonic aura pressed against him, and he instinctively shrank, trying in vain to hide behind his own tail.
“Let go. Stop pulling,” Lin Shijin muttered, rubbing his sore ear. The moment he finished speaking, Ye Lang released him, only to pinch his cheek instead.
How infuriating.
Ye Lang waved a hand and dismissed the attendants. The table before him was made of some unknown material. It gleamed faintly, as if gilded, or like a river of flowing silver. On it sat the freshly peeled grapes.
Lin Shijin’s eyes drifted further and caught sight of a plate of immortal herbs. They were fresh, crystal bright, and looking extremely appetising.
Ye Lang noticed. This useless rabbit was distracted even while speaking to him. The herbs were clearly more compelling than he was.
He brought the plate nearer. Lin Shijin’s gaze followed, his dark eyes sparkling with interest.
He wanted to eat grass.
Rabbits eating grass was only natural.
“Do you like this?” Ye Lang asked.
Lin Shijin sensed mischief. He wasn’t truly going to eat it… just looking. After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded cautiously.
He only wanted a look. Not to actually eat.
“I don’t mind giving them to you. Plenty of immortal herbs are grown here. You can eat them as snacks.” Ye Lang drawled, pulling the plate slightly out of reach so he could watch.
Lin Shijin looked from the herbs to the youth before him. He wasn’t a fool. A little miffed, he said, “I never said I wanted them.”
Ye Lang raised a brow. Was this silly rabbit’s brain not screwed in properly? Treating him like an idiot. His eyes had practically grown roots in the herbs, then he claimed he didn’t want them.
He braced a hand against his forehead and eyed the youth’s soft rabbit ears, voice lazily amused. “Let me have a bite, and you can have the whole plate.”
He nudged it a little closer.
Lin Shijin: “…”
His ears lifted halfway, and he leaned away from Ye Lang, eyes filled with slight disgust. There was no way he would agree to such a thing over a plate of herbs.
He glanced at the youth opposite him and emphasised, “Before entering the secret realm, the elders were very clear. Members of the same team must not target one another, kill one another, or abuse fellow sect disciples.”
Though he and Ye Lang did not share a master, they were both disciples of Fuguang; those rules applied all the same.
“Oh?” Ye Lang paused, then reached over and tugged his ear again. Lin Shijin shrank his neck, staring at him, too afraid to resist, whispering his reminder:
“No abusing fellow disciples…”
“Mm?” Ye Lang tugged the rabbit closer by the ear, leaning in with a spark of interest. “Beg me nicely, and perhaps…I’ll consider not abusing you.”
