Chapter 102: The Demon King’s Captive Angel
Gu Tang jolted awake from a dream, a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead.
For no reason at all, a prickling sense of unease crept through him…
What was going on?
Had he crossed into some fragment world again?
Just as he was starting to panic, an arm wrapped around him and pulled him close.
Gu Tang sank into a cool but broad embrace.
The black silk sleepwear on the man before him hung slightly open, revealing cold pale skin. His chest was firm and solid, and leaning against it felt very safe.
A familiar feeling. A familiar scent.
He was still lying beside Young Master Gu. He had only had a nightmare—he had not crossed over.
Gu Tang slowly relaxed.
He shifted his hips, found a comfortable position in the other man’s arms, pressed his cheek to Young Master Gu’s chest, rubbed against it, and tried to go back to sleep.
One minute later, Gu Tang woke up again.
He sat bolt upright, both hands frantically groping over the man’s chest, his face full of disbelief.
Young Master Gu…
Why was there no heartbeat?!!
Gu Tang’s previously muddled mind went completely clear. In alarm, he turned to reach for the bedside lamp—but he could not find the switch where it should have been.
Or rather, he could not even find the edge of the bed.
“Not sleepy?”
That familiar low voice sounded again.
Before Gu Tang could answer, the room was suddenly flooded with light.
His eyes could not adjust at once from darkness to brightness, and he instinctively shut them. The moment he got used to it a little, he hurriedly opened them again.
Then Gu Tang’s round eyes widened.
The man beside him was clearly Young Master Gu, but everything around them was unfamiliar. They were not in their bedroom at all.
He was sitting on a bed that, while not as outrageously large as those ridiculous “hundred-square-meter beds” in over-the-top romance novels, was still astonishingly huge.
By his estimate, ten burly men could roll around on it without bumping into each other.
The bedframe and pillars looked like the bones of some enormous creature, the kind Gu Tang had never seen in real life.
If he had to compare it to something, it looked a lot like the skeleton of a dragon…
The room’s décor resembled a luxurious medieval castle, but every detail was laced with dark, sinister elements.
The more Gu Tang looked, the more alarmed he felt.
He could now be almost certain that he had crossed over again.
“Staying up in the middle of the night. Are you planning an escape route?”
The man’s low voice sounded again, dark and eerie.
Only then did Gu Tang pull his attention away from the surroundings and turn to look at the man beside him.
The other man had beautifully shaped, long black eyes, a high nose bridge, and crimson lips pressed into a thin line. Even with his brows drawn, he was so handsome it offended both gods and humans alike.
It was definitely his Young Master Gu.
But purple flames curled around the man’s fingers.
The wall lamps in the room flickered with the same-colored fire, which meant the lights had just been lit by him.
Gu Tang certainly did not know that his Young Master Gu had this kind of special ability.
And not only that—the man had two pitch-black horns growing from his head, and a dark, sinister aura radiated from him.
…A demon?
The word popped into Gu Tang’s mind, and he instinctively shrank back.
The moment he moved, he heard the sound of metal scraping.
Lowering his head, he found a golden chain fastened around his wrist. One end was attached to him; the other was clasped around the man’s wrist.
And hanging between those two golden links were one white and one jade-green little gourd…
All the right elements were present.
There was no need to think about it. This had to be another fragment world that Young Master Gu had imagined into being out of nowhere.
Gu Tang sighed.
Sure enough, he had crossed over again.
The demon raised an arm, and the chain suddenly tightened.
Gu Tang was yanked over forcefully.
“You’re not answering my question?”
The man’s long, well-defined fingers pinched Gu Tang’s cheek. “Very well. Since you don’t want to sleep, then let’s do something to help you.”
“Wait—”
Before Gu Tang could finish, his lips were sealed.
The man kissed him without any restraint, pried open his lips and teeth, and skillfully tangled with his tongue. At the same time, cold fingers slipped into his collar.
Gu Tang shivered suddenly.
The other took advantage of that to tug lightly.
The thin silk robe slipped off and slid down along his arms.
Beneath it, his beautiful body was completely bare. His skin was white and smooth, and under the purple firelight his milky complexion took on an almost eerie beauty. Most enticing of all were the two delicate shoulder blades on his back, their slight curves especially alluring.
The demon’s fingers slid over those shoulder blades, his palm pressing there and rubbing lightly as he asked in a low voice against Gu Tang’s lips, “Does it still hurt?”
The rubbing felt very good, and Gu Tang had no idea what “hurt” the other was referring to.
He was just about to ask when the demon’s tone suddenly darkened.
“Listen. You will never fly out of the palm of my hand.”
Gu Tang: “…”
Sorry.
He had no idea what Young Master Gu was talking about.
What confused him even more was that in the previous plots and dream-fragment worlds, Young Master Gu had always been inexperienced in love.
At first he had been so innocent he did not even know how to kiss.
So why was this demon version of Young Master Gu so skilled?!
The kiss was intense enough to make Gu Tang’s scalp tingle.
The overall steps were similar to usual, but his state was much more passionate, as if he wanted to devour him…
Luckily, Gu Tang had post-marriage experience, so he could just barely handle it.
He parted his lips and responded to the kiss while his mind wandered. It was only a demonic skin over the same old Young Master Gu—he was still his own husband, right down to the exact same order he used when sweeping through his mouth.
If Young Master Gu had become a demon, then what had he become?
Without the system to explain, Gu Tang had no idea what sort of world setting this was.
Compared to the previous two small worlds, the only advantage was that he had started right in Young Master Gu’s bed. At least he did not need to search the whole world for him.
Perhaps noticing that he was distracted, the demon deepened the kiss by force.
Gu Tang was kissed until the base of his tongue went numb.
Still, they were legally married.
A kiss—what did that amount to?
His lashes trembled as he looped his arms around the other man’s neck and surrendered himself to the heated kiss. And yet, the demon suddenly stopped.
As their lips parted, a glistening silver thread stretched between them from the deep kiss.
The sight made Gu Tang’s face flush.
But the demon’s expression remained cold. Narrowing his eyes, he studied him. “A pure angel?”
Angel? Who?
Me???
Gu Tang looked blank.
The flush from the kiss still lingered on his cheeks.
He looked like a fully ripened peach.
The demon slipped a finger into the slightly open mouth the young man had not yet closed, maliciously rubbing the tip of the tongue still too late to retreat. His tone carried sour anger. “Such a nimble tongue. Speak. How many people have you kissed?”
Gu Tang could not close his mouth properly, and mumbled unclearly, “…Only you.”
“You think I’d believe that?”
The demon licked his lips as though savoring the kiss just now. “Experience is not something you can fake.”
Gu Tang thought to himself: You are skilled enough yourself.
They had learned together and practiced together, so of course their level of skill would match.
It was just that in each different fragment world, Young Master Gu lost his memories of the original world.
Then, in every possible variation, he found a way to suspect Gu Tang of cheating on him.
So annoying!
Gu Tang pulled the man’s hand out of his mouth and, thinking quickly, shot back, “What about you?”
“How many people have you kissed?”
“Why are you so experienced too?”
The three rapid-fire questions left the demon frozen on the spot for a moment.
Gu Tang gave him a push, and the chain on his wrist clinked loudly. “Say something!”
“I’m a demon!”
The man tried to salvage his pride, spreading an enormous pair of black bat wings with a loud rustle. “I am filth incarnate. Naturally, I was born knowing these things…”
Before the demon could finish, Gu Tang reached out and wrapped his arms around his neck. “I don’t mind.”
The man’s whole body stiffened at once, even the bat wings behind him turning rigid. “…What did you say?”
“I said I don’t mind what’s filthy.”
“As long as it’s yours, I like it all.”
Gu Tang tilted his head up and kissed the man’s sexy Adam’s apple. “So stain me…”
The demon’s eyes narrowed in an instant.
Those pitch-black pupils stared at the young man without blinking, dark lights flickering through them.
Gu Tang knew that Young Master Gu always fell for this.
No matter what form he took.
Angel or demon, it made no difference.
Gu Tang would not allow him to call himself filthy.
If Young Master Gu felt that he himself was unclean, then he could pull Gu Tang down and stain him too.
They would never be separated.
From the angel’s eyes, Gu Qinian found not the slightest trace of reluctance. On the contrary, the young man looked at him expectantly with those amber eyes, clear and sincere.
The demon curved his lips and swept a hand through the air, extinguishing every light in the room.
Then he pulled the little angel tightly into his arms.
“As you wish.”
“I will dye every inch of your body with filthy blackness. I won’t spare a single corner.”
When Gu Tang woke up, he could not move at all.
The daylight outside the window was already bright. He lay spread out on the bed in the shape of the Chinese character da.
A demon really was a demon.
Not the slightest sense of shame.
He had no idea how many positions they had gone through over the course of the night. His waist no longer even felt like his own.
It had to be said, he really ought to thank the usual Young Master Gu for being tender enough to pity him and never playing him like this.
It was terrifying…
Completely exhausting…
Gu Tang felt as though he had been taken apart and reassembled. He could not even be bothered to move a finger.
So he simply lay there flat and used only his brain.
Time to think through the current situation.
From the bits and pieces he had pried out of Young Master Gu’s mouth last night, Gu Tang assembled the following information—
In this small world, Young Master Gu was a demon, and Gu Tang was an angel. Not only that, but he was an angel who, after being injured, had become weak and powerless and had been locked onto a bed by the other.
It was obviously a classic forced-possession scenario.
Oh, and it came with an extra locked room.
After getting what he wanted from Gu Tang, the demon Young Master Gu wiped his mouth and headed out early in the morning for who knew what.
Before leaving, he locked Gu Tang to the bed.
And he placed triple layers of seals on every door and window.
Unless Young Master Gu agreed, not even a fly could get into this room.
“Your body can’t go outside. Be good and wait for me here.”
The demon was already ready to leave, but then turned back and pressed a kiss to Gu Tang’s forehead.
He looked like a loving husband reluctant to part from his wife.
“Then at least let me loose!”
After shouting through the whole night, Gu Tang’s voice was now rough and smoky.
Annoyed, he shook the chain on his wrist.
Although the metal chain looked heavy, it actually weighed very little and did not chafe his skin.
Its only purpose was to restrict the range of his movement.
Even so, the man still took his hand and kissed the skin at his wrist. “I can’t let you go. If I do, you’ll fly away.”
Gu Tang: “…”
He wanted to tell him that right now, never mind flying—even walking was probably beyond him.
But trapped inside a fragment world, freedom made no real difference anyway.
The important thing was to wake Young Master Gu up quickly and get back to the original world.
Except his throat had gone hoarse from calling out all night, and there was still no sign that Young Master Gu was about to awaken.
After thinking it over, Gu Tang guessed the problem still lay in the world setting of this fragment.
There were angels, demons, and even a locked-room opening.
This worldview was not simple!
It was a pity he still did not understand enough of the other details to analyze it in depth.
This time, there was no need to find Young Master Gu.
He needed to find the little system instead.
He had no idea whether the system had come along…
After sorting out his thoughts, and having rested for a while, Gu Tang’s strength returned a little.
At times like this, he really did have to thank his life-value progress bar for being locked.
No matter how exhausted he got, it would never damage him at the root. As long as he lay still for a little while, he could recover.
In a way, that counted as an unusual talent too…
Gu Tang propped himself up with one arm and sat up.
The blanket slid down, exposing a naked body covered with mottled red marks.
His face instantly turned several shades more yellow than pink. He hurriedly yanked the blanket back over his indecent little body. Even that single gauzy robe, thin as cicada wings, had been thrown somewhere by demon Young Master Gu.
One thing was certain: even if he found it, it would be impossible to wear.
It had probably been either kneaded to ruin or torn to pieces…
Gu Tang observed two full seconds of silence for the innocent little night robe.
Lying down had been manageable, but now that he was sitting up and all his organs had settled back into place, hunger came rushing in.
Did demons just not get hungry?
He had not even left him breakfast!
While Gu Tang pitifully rubbed his stomach, there came a snap from the bedroom door.
Perhaps the demon had remotely released the seal.
The door opened at once.
A dozen or so servants entered one after another carrying rich food, washing supplies, and fresh clothes.
At first Gu Tang had felt a little embarrassed, given that under the blanket he was completely naked.
But he quickly noticed that every single servant kept their head down, eyes lowered, minds centered. They set down the food and clothing, brought in the washing things, and did not dare look around at all.
Gu Tang relaxed.
His attention was drawn to the food trays.
Every item in the breakfast spread was something he liked, and there was even a small plate of bright red strawberries.
He reached out, picked one up, and bit into it.
Juice spread over his tongue. It was sweet.
No matter which fragment world he ended up in, no matter what identity or form he took, and even if Young Master Gu lacked memories of the original world, somewhere in his subconscious he always remembered little unimportant details like what Gu Tang liked to eat.
For a moment, Gu Tang did not know whether to feel moved or to complain.
He swallowed the strawberry, and the juice soothed his throat considerably.
After completing their task, the servants began leaving one after another.
The one at the very back, however, slipped a small folded paper into Gu Tang’s hand while arranging the tray.
“?”
Full of confusion, Gu Tang opened it.
On it, written in crooked little strokes, were two small words—
Baby Tang.
“Wait!”
Gu Tang called out.
The servants stopped immediately, but not one of them dared turn back to look at the bed.
The eldest among them asked, “Do you have any further instructions?”
Pointing to the boy at the end of the servant line, Gu Tang said, “My hands aren’t convenient. Let him stay and help feed me.”
“I’m afraid that may not be appropriate…”
The head servant looked extremely troubled.
Gu Tang raised his hand and shook the chain. “Then what should I do? How am I supposed to eat like this? Or else go call Gu Qinian to feed me.”
Every servant in the room sucked in a breath.
The head servant stammered, “Y-you must not directly speak the Demon King’s name…”
Well then.
So he was not just a demon.
He was the Demon King!
Gu Tang thought about the way Young Master Gu had looked spreading those powerful bat wings, horns gleaming atop his head… yes, that did indeed look very much like a Demon King.
“If you won’t call Gu Qinian, then let him feed me. Otherwise I won’t eat.”
Gu Tang said it as a test.
According to his analysis, if the logic of the current fragment world matched the previous two,
then Young Master Gu’s soul would consciously protect him.
If somewhere deep inside he even remembered what food Gu Tang liked, how could he possibly bear to let him go hungry?
Sure enough, Gu Tang won the gamble.
Eating came first in all things.
The head servant did not dare disturb the Demon King, yet neither could he allow the young man to stay hungry, so in the end he could only agree to leave the last boy behind, instructing him to serve the young man carefully.
Once all the servants had withdrawn, the seal on the room activated again.
After making sure no one was left, Gu Tang called softly, “Baby System?”
“Baby Tang!”
The boy straightened up at once, delighted. “It’s me!”
Gu Tang stared in surprise. “You can turn into a human?!”
“Of course! Didn’t I tell you before? I can appear in any form I want in different small worlds.”
The system spun in a happy little circle. “What do you think? Do I look good?”
The boy looked about sixteen or seventeen, with a cute youthful face. When he lowered his head, there was nothing especially remarkable, but the moment he looked up, a pair of star-bright eyes were revealed.
Gu Tang gave him a big thumbs-up. “Very good-looking!”
The system grinned and came closer. “But the host is still better-looking. It’s my first time using a human form. I wanted to model it after your appearance, but my skills aren’t there yet, so it didn’t turn out perfectly…”
Gu Tang reached out and pinched the system’s cheek. “No wonder you looked a little familiar. You look just like my younger brother!”
“Really, really?”
The system held its face, delighted.
Then his gaze fell on the arm Gu Tang had left outside the blanket.
The system cried out in alarm, “Host, who hit you?!”
Gu Tang froze.
Following the system’s gaze, he saw the kiss marks on his shoulder left by the man and instantly flushed. He pulled the blanket back over himself.
“N-no one…”
Hearing the host stammering, the system pressed anxiously, “Was it the male lead?”
Ah, the little system was still a child.
How did he even know about things like this…
Gu Tang’s face burned. He stayed buried under the blanket and said nothing.
The system exploded with indignation. “The male lead’s hidden desire is actually to beat you?! He’s not human!”
“Huh?”
Gu Tang looked thoroughly confused. “What are you talking about?”
The system gestured wildly with his hands. “This small world is the male lead’s desire fragment. It carries Gu Qinian’s deepest and most unspeakable secret wishes.”
“He beat you into this state. Those red marks must have come from pinching and biting!”
“That’s so cruel…”
The more heartbroken the little system was for his host, the more Gu Tang wanted to dig a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
But there was no way to explain it clearly to the system.
If he said those marks had not come from being beaten, the little system would definitely ask how they had been made.
From there the conversation would become unfit to air…
Gu Tang gave a small cough and changed the subject. “What’s the background of this world? Tell me.”
Though the system still looked troubled by the odd marks on the host’s body, the host did not seem in actual pain, so he reluctantly relaxed a little and began explaining the male lead’s desire fragment.
“This world is divided into two halves: Angel City and the Demon Realm. Those two factions have been at war for ages, until the Demon Realm welcomed its new Demon King—namely, the male lead.”
“The male lead led the forces of the Demon Realm to conquer Angel City. All the angels fell into the Demon Realm and became servants of the Demon King.”
As he spoke, the system spread a small pair of white wings. “My temporary identity is also one of the fallen angels in the Demon Realm.”
Gu Tang remembered that last night Young Master Gu had kept calling him “angel,” and repeatedly telling him not to fly away.
When he saw the system spread its wings, Gu Tang immediately tried to force something to open on his own back.
He strained so hard his face turned red.
Nothing happened.
Gu Tang frowned. “Am I not an angel? Then why don’t I have wings?”
“You are! Host, you’re the lord of Angel City, and you have the most beautiful and magnificent wings of all!”
The system said this with a face full of admiration.
Gu Tang’s frown deepened. “Then why can’t I open them?”
The system deflated like a punctured ball and drooped his shoulders. “Because you were injured. During the war with the Demon Realm, the city lord’s wings were broken, and he can never fly again…”
Gu Tang: “…”
This tragic, beautiful, broken setting Young Master Gu had given him—it could not have made the other’s intentions any more obvious.
It was practically custom-designed for a locked room!!!
Closing his eyes, Gu Tang asked without much hope, “The fallen angels became the Demon King’s servants. What about me?”
The system answered, “His male favorite.”
Gu Tang: “…”
The system added, “Or, if you prefer, his imprisoned treasure.”
As expected…
Gu Tang covered his face.
Was there something wrong with Young Master Gu’s brain?
If you keep a captured enemy right beside your pillow, aren’t you afraid they’ll slit your throat someday?!
“That would be impossible.”
The system helpfully clarified. “In a desire fragment, no one can kill the male lead. He’s the core of the world. If the core no longer exists, the world itself stops existing, so no angel can kill the Demon King.”
“Oh?”
Gu Tang raised a brow.
If that was the case, then there actually was another method to clear this small world.
—Kill Demon King Niannian.
But before the thought could fully form, Gu Tang shook his head.
He had no idea what missing a piece of soul would do to Young Master Gu.
Besides, how could he ever bear to kill Niannian?
No shortcuts then.
He would stick to the proper path and awaken him.
Just like the setup of the previous two fragment worlds, if he could get demon Young Master Gu to wake up, he would be able to return to the original world.
“Host, the setup before this is that after being taken by the Demon King, you as the city lord of Angel City would rather die than submit. You absolutely refused to let the demon touch your body, so the Demon King chained you up.”
“…”
The more Gu Tang listened, the guiltier he felt.
Rather die than submit, huh…
And last night he had actively invited the other to stain him…
This was bad. It looked like he had thrown the plot off-course again!
The system was long used to his host’s dramatic improvisation. “It’s not a big problem. The main thing is to first make him lower his guard. Once he relaxes, you’ll get more freedom, and then you can find a chance to wake him up.”
Gu Tang looked confident. “That’s easy.”
Getting Young Master Gu to relax around him had always been one of his specialties.
“Go, Baby Tang!”
The system stretched out one hand toward his host, clearly hoping for a high-five.
It was the special gesture of good partners.
He had always wanted to do it before, but had never had a physical form.
Now, after finally becoming human and having actual hands, he could at last do it with the host once!
Gu Tang immediately indulged him, raising his own hand to slap against his. “Okay, Baby System!”
After one person and one system completed their official high-five of partnership, they curled their fingers together and happily swung their linked hands.
At that exact moment, a deep voice suddenly rang out—
“What are you two doing?”
The Demon King had somehow appeared at the doorway, his icy gaze fixed on the hands they were holding together.
