Chapter 51
Once Ye Xiyao said to run, they were off. This was the first time he showed Xing Shu such extraordinary initiative. He decided to quit his job today and leave here, leave Lucheng.
For a big company like Qiaoshou, it’s generally impossible to resign and leave on the same day, so Ye Xiyao had Xing Shu use the mysterious influence of his boss’s relatives—at this time, Ye Xiyao surprisingly thought to leave a good impression on the company, so there wouldn’t be any issues during background checks when applying for jobs in the future.
Xing Shu maintained a look of astonishment throughout, listening to Ye Xiyao’s arrangements. No matter how sudden the plan was, he had to nod in agreement, but he couldn’t help but ask, “Where… are we going again?”
Xing Shu wanted to remind Ye Xiyao that if he already knew those beings in the sky were looking for him, then it would be useless to run anywhere.
Ye Xiyao winked at him, showing no signs of tension, and laughed, “To a place that has only summer.”
His relaxed and cheerful attitude made Xing Shu doubt himself: it was as if everything from last night was a figment of his imagination. Perhaps there had been no Demon Snake Eroel, no divine punishment on Ye Xiyao, no impending wrath of the gods, and no need for him to use the backlash of the demon-slaying array as a price to save Ye Xiyao.
They were simply going on a trip. To a city that only has summer.
From Ye Xiyao’s tone, it seemed they might even settle down there and, on a clear day with no clouds, exchange wedding rings while holding hands under the sun.
Xing Shu frowned, trying to confirm that his memory wasn’t distorted. But the soft, collapsed snake skin on the floor reminded him that some things had not passed.
At that moment, Ye Xiyao grabbed a fruit candy and stuffed it into Xing Shu’s mouth, interrupting his thoughts. Then he kissed him, teasingly curling his tongue to take the candy back, as if to deliberately tease Xing Shu.
Xing Shu was taken aback: “Orange-flavored.”
It wasn’t that he was particularly fond of orange candy; it was just that he remembered the kiss when he first met Ye Xiyao had the same flavor.
Ye Xiyao chuckled, sticking out his tongue to lick his own lips: “Is it good?”
Xing Shu smacked his lips and said, “I can’t really taste it.”
Ye Xiyao replied, “Then try again?”
“Good idea.” Xing Shu leaned in and easily lifted Ye Xiyao, and as their lips met, his tongue slipped in to savor the rich orange sweetness.
In reality, during the latter half of the night after Xing Shu left, Ye Xiyao had many nightmares.
They all ended in the same way.
But when he realized these dreams might represent some sort of prophecy, he did not resist; instead, he actively entered the dreams repeatedly.
Ye Xiyao wasn’t sure if his half-angel bloodline allowed him to have prophetic dreams, but he tried to find hints of the “future” within those strange images.
However, this was difficult, and there might not be any hints at all.
So far, no angel had come to tell him what prophetic dreams were or if the future could be changed.
The snowstorm grew stronger during the day.
After they finished packing to go out, they found that now they couldn’t even drive on the roads.
The municipal authorities had sent people to urgently clear the roads, but the project was too extensive, and surface transportation couldn’t be restored in a short time. If anyone was to blame, it was for the snowstorm being so untimely; according to past years or the recent weather forecast, it should have appeared two months later.
The ground was covered with thick snow, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk, and naturally, the subway was more crowded than usual.
After finally finding a corner where they could settle, Xing Shu managed to pull Ye Xiyao out from the crowd and quickly occupied the spot, then protected Ye Xiyao within his arms.
After experiencing a surge in the number of people getting off at two consecutive stops, Xing Shu placed his hands on either side, doing his best to prevent Ye Xiyao from being pushed around, and asked in a low voice, “Is this resignation absolutely necessary? We could just run away directly.”
From Xing Shu’s perspective, Ye Xiyao might have had a sudden whim, or he simply felt Lucheng was dangerous, so he planned to leave temporarily.
Regardless, at a time like this, they should be running as fast as possible.
He found it a bit puzzling why Ye Xiyao insisted on going to the company with such fuss.
Especially with the heavy snow outside, the weather was so severe that many people decided to work from home. Their department, due to the nature of their work, had products still in the company, so they couldn’t work from home for the time being. However, it was very likely that by the time they arrived at the office, Qiao Linchuan would receive a notice from above, asking them to take some portable products home and wait for the snow to stop.
Ye Xiyao’s trip to resign seemed somewhat unnecessary.
But Ye Xiyao told Xing Shu, “But I want to go.”
He didn’t say why; he just said he wanted to, and Xing Shu didn’t press for more details.
After exiting the subway station, the bright light reflected off the vast white snow made it hard to open his eyes. The cold wind rushed in, penetrating every possible gap, and the large snowflakes falling onto Ye Xiyao’s eyebrows and eyelashes made his already pale face look even more bleak.
He wasn’t sure if Xing Shu sensed it, but he could feel it.
This snow was anything but natural.
But there was no aggressive demonic energy in the snow; instead, it formed a thin layer of protection wherever it fell. If one had to say, it felt like it was trying to hide something—like the people in the snow.
Ye Xiyao stretched out his hand, catching a few snowflakes with his reddened knuckles, which melted in his palm, leaving a small, faint glow.
He watched it dissipate in a daze. The next moment, Xing Shu took his hand and blew warm breath on it, rubbing his hands together.
Xing Shu said, “No, you’re not dressed warmly enough.”
Ye Xiyao came back to his senses, glanced at Xing Shu, and then at himself, saying, “Aren’t you dressed lightly too?”
Ye Xiyao was wearing a thick down jacket, layered with several thermal clothes and sweaters underneath, making him look round enough to withstand the cold wind. Yet, Xing Shu was only in a thin leather jacket.
In Xing Shu’s own words, he believed that this kind of jacket wouldn’t get wet when exposed to water, and any bloodstains could just be wiped off—very convenient. Ye Xiyao thought his pursuit of “convenience” was a bit excessive.
“Wait here for a moment; I’ll go buy you a pair of gloves.” Xing Shu pulled him back into the warmth of the subway station, glanced at the time, and said, “I’ll be back in five minutes.”
Just as Xing Shu was about to rush out, Ye Xiyao grabbed his hand: “I want to go with you.”
Xing Shu instinctively wanted to refuse, knowing Ye Xiyao was afraid of the cold and that it was exactly the kind of weather he hated. But when he saw Ye Xiyao’s expression, he didn’t say it out loud, nodding instead, “Okay.”
Ye Xiyao had been quite clingy lately, so Xing Shu didn’t think too much about it.
He stuffed Ye Xiyao’s hand into his own pocket and found that his pocket was even colder than Ye Xiyao’s original body temperature, so he intended to take it out. However, Ye Xiyao’s fingers clasped around him.
Xing Shu laughed, “It’d be warmer if I put you inside my jacket.”
But Ye Xiyao shook his head, “I think your pocket is more comfortable.”
In full view of everyone, Xing Shu leaned in and gave him a kiss.
Fortunately, the passersby were already dizzy from the snow and didn’t have the time to turn back and look at them.
The mall was closed at this time, and many nearby businesses had chosen to shut down after seeing the heavy snow. They ran to the next block before finding an open stationery store at the school gate. Luckily, they had scarves and gloves for sale inside.
Seeing the gloves Xing Shu was picking out, Ye Xiyao tilted his head and asked, “What’s this?”
Xing Shu replied vaguely, “Gloves.”
Ye Xiyao squeezed the oversized paw-style glove, saying, “It’s bigger than my head, and once I put it on, I won’t be able to hold anything.”
Xing Shu squeezed the glove’s claws, saying, “I can hold anything for you.”
The gloves looked like toys, but strictly speaking, they should indeed be quite warm.
Ye Xiyao, appearing to see through Xing Shu, put on the giant paw and playfully wiggled his fingers at Xing Shu, tilting his head and softly saying, “Meow?”
Xing Shu replied, “… I’ll go check out.”
Ye Xiyao watched his matching, awkward silhouette and chuckled softly.
The call from the security bureau came after Xing Shu had finished paying.
He hung up the first two calls.
At that time, he was tearing off a scarf’s price tag when his phone buzzed incessantly. Ye Xiyao poked him with his paw glove and said, “Do you want to answer the phone first?”
Xing Shu thought for a moment, looked at the counter’s owner, and said to Ye Xiyao, “Wait for me; I’ll go outside to take it.”
Ye Xiyao immediately guessed who was on the other end and nodded.
Xing Shu didn’t forget to hold the scarf while answering the phone. He stood outside the store, examining the peculiar switches of the scarf adorned with rabbit ears, figuring out how to fasten it to place the ears perfectly.
On the other end, Luo Yiji spoke in a somewhat strange tone, “Where are you? Is the target next to you?”
Xing Shu’s gaze darkened slightly, but his tone remained lazily casual, “Just get to the point; what’s the matter?”
“This mission has already exceeded our expectations by a long shot. You’ve been observing him for so long; when do you plan to carry out the final action?”
Luo Yiji’s tone was off, and his words were disjointed.
He clearly knew that Xing Shu had long given up on eliminating Ye Xiyao and was now just stalling for time, waiting for the security bureau’s lab to figure out the “purification” in Ye Xiyao’s power.
If Luo Yiji had called today to ask Xing Shu why he hadn’t been to the security bureau to report progress lately, Xing Shu could still have a back-and-forth with him.
But Luo Yiji immediately asked when he planned to take action, his attitude stiff like an NPC completing daily greetings.
Xing Shu’s mouth barely twitched as he suddenly said, “Is someone next to you? Your tone sounds weird; it wouldn’t be that the alliance government sent someone to watch you while you called me, would it?”
“…” Luo Yiji coughed awkwardly and said, “Let’s get serious.”
“I’m quite serious.” Xing Shu chuckled, “You might as well just tell me what they want to hear.”
Luo Yiji sighed, “I didn’t mean for you to brush this off; this is genuinely urgent. Why haven’t you reported on Ye Xiyao? You had me check on other demons first, but nothing came of it. Now I need to tell you clearly that the most dangerous demon near humans is still Ye Xiyao.”
Xing Shu responded, “Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
Luo Yiji continued, “Consider this a request. Even if you have some personal actions, at least give me an explanation. It’s been months, and you haven’t provided any feedback on the mission.”
Xing Shu replied, “There was indeed an operation. I was originally planning to take Ye Xiyao to the security bureau to get him an exorcist license, and you could give him a position while I acted as his guardian. If anything happened, I would take responsibility. Doesn’t that sound pretty good?”
On the other end of the line, several whispers could be heard immediately.
Luo Yiji’s tone finally softened a bit: “That’s great, very good. You should take him now—”
Xing Shu interrupted, “But the operation has been canceled.”
Luo Yiji asked, “?”
Ye Xiyao, who had come out of the store at some point, probably felt that Xing Shu’s phone call was taking too long and wanted to see what was going on. Or maybe he just didn’t want to be apart from Xing Shu for too long.
He poked his head out from behind Xing Shu, silently mouthing, “What’s going on?”
Xing Shu turned to look at him, just as he unfolded the rabbit scarf he had spent half the day studying. He gestured to put it around Ye Xiyao’s neck, then carefully wrapped it around him, making sure the ear angles were aligned; otherwise, the ears would end up crooked.
Once he finally adjusted the scarf properly, Luo Yiji urged from the other end, “What do you mean? What does ‘action canceled’ mean? Do you… have a new plan?”
Xing Shu held Ye Xiyao, who was snugly wrapped up, in his arms and half-jokingly said, “I’ve defected.”
Luo Yiji choked for a moment before almost yelling, “Xing Shu, this isn’t the time for jokes. Don’t you know—”
He paused there.
Xing Shu completed his sentence, “You’re the director of the security bureau. They don’t even believe you; they made you call me to test me, which means they’ve already made a decision. Just tell me, what’s the outcome?”
Ye Xiyao’s eyes widened as he tried to grab the phone, but Xing Shu gently covered his mouth.
Suddenly, a different voice came from the phone, cold and without inflection: “Xing Shu, as of the first of this month, we have received a total of two hundred sixty-two complaint letters regarding you. Excluding the unfounded complaints deemed baseless by Director Luo, there are still one hundred and three complaints accusing you of being the sole inheritor of the Demon Slayer Array while failing to fulfill your exorcist duties for a long time. You’ve been lingering next to a powerful demon but have made no substantial progress. What do you have to say for that? We have always respected your freedom of action, but we hope you can provide us with a reassuring answer.”
“I have nothing to explain.” Xing Shu said, “Ye Xiyao won’t harm humans.”
The other party responded, “We’re willing to hold a summary meeting on exorcism to hear the results of your mission—as long as you can provide evidence that is convincing. When do you want to formally report?”
“I’m busy.” Xing Shu replied, “And I’ve really defected. I plan to stop being an exorcist and become a demon instead. So you’d better forget that there’s anything called the Demon Slayer Array in this world. If you encounter me, kill me if you can, and if you can’t… just run faster.”
After saying that, he hung up the phone and turned it off.
Ye Xiyao, next to him, smacked his forehead in frustration: “Are you crazy?”
Xing Shu spun him around in the snow, laughing as he said, “Aren’t we supposed to run? You’ve resigned, so I should resign too. If I don’t say it like this, they’ll come looking for me every day, how troublesome.”
Ye Xiyao glanced at him, his expression complex as he furrowed his brows.
This phone call of Xing Shu’s seemed incredibly foolish at any time. He had countless excuses to appease the alliance government and stall for time.
But he had to joke about wanting to become a demon, catching Luo Yiji off guard, leaving him without a position to help find an excuse.
Next, the alliance would surely prioritize monitoring Xing Shu.
However, they also knew their own limits and wouldn’t dare to confront Xing Shu directly, but they wouldn’t expect him to report on any missions anymore.
The reason Xing Shu didn’t consult Luo Yiji in advance, leaving him caught in the middle, was simply to let the alliance government know that all decisions were made solely by Xing Shu, and Luo Yiji was unaware.
The alliance government still didn’t know the specifics of the backlash from the Demon Slayer Array, but Luo Yiji was aware—at least he knew that as long as Xing Shu remained alive, he would eventually be backlashed by demonic energy.
And this secret, while the Demon Slayer Array was not backlashing, didn’t seem like a big deal. But if one day Xing Shu really became a demon, Luo Yiji would be his primary accomplice.
As the director of the security bureau, concealing such critical information could have dire consequences.
What Xing Shu wanted was to keep Luo Yiji out of this matter.
No matter what the final outcome was, he couldn’t drag another person down with him.
Suddenly, Ye Xiyao’s cat paw hands cupped Xing Shu’s face. Xing Shu looked down at him, smiling: “Are you scared? I’ll be a wanted criminal from now on; maybe many people will come to catch me.”
“Maybe they’ll be after me.” Ye Xiyao stood on his tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
Xing Shu showed a look of regret: “I thought you’d kiss somewhere else.”
Ye Xiyao retorted, simply saying, “Let’s go, first to the company.”
Xing Shu wrapped Ye Xiyao’s head with the rabbit ears and hugged him as they dove into the blizzard: “Then we need to run fast, so no one catches us.”
They headed towards the company, appearing unconcerned about the earlier phone call.
However, neither of them knew that they each harbored unspoken thoughts.
Because they were betting that the secret they were hiding was even bigger.
