Chapter 55
Time seemed to stretch, as if everything was flowing but appeared slow in Xing Xu’s eyes. He suddenly felt like he could see the movement of the wind, the melting of the snow, and all those fleeting moments he once thought were illusions.
Most importantly, for the first time, Xing Xu realized that Ye Xiyao’s body temperature was rather low. It was strange because, when he was human, Xing Xu had thought Ye Xiyao was like a little heater. But now, he felt that Ye Xiyao’s lips carried a chill.
The long blessing had ended sometime earlier, and now the kiss was just a kiss, without any particular purpose.
Xing Xu licked the corner of Ye Xiyao’s lips and, while Ye Xiyao wasn’t paying attention, deepened the kiss, slowly taking control from his passive position.
Or maybe it wasn’t that Xing Xu had taken control; perhaps Ye Xiyao was just tired.
Ye Xiyao had shared almost half of his divinity with a demon. Not only had the demon’s soul been purified, but it now even possessed divine power. If someone had said this before today, it would’ve sounded like a far-fetched legend, an impossible story.
But Ye Xiyao had succeeded.
They didn’t have to be separated and trapped in an endless cycle. The ground beneath them still firmly supported the two of them.
Ye Xiyao broke the kiss, intending to end it, but Xing Xu didn’t allow it and pulled him even closer.
Ye Xiyao struggled for a moment before giving up, completely relaxing and lazily hanging on Xing Xu.
Fine, let him kiss. He wasn’t afraid of Xing Xu biting his tongue now that they had faced death itself. At this point, even if a god stood before Ye Xiyao and said they were going to punish him again, he might just respond with, “Go ahead, I don’t care.” Of course, there would never be such a thing again.
Ye Xiyao had risked everything to achieve this outcome. After surviving the tension of life-or-death moments, he suddenly felt relaxed and a bit lazy.
Xing Xu almost couldn’t hold him up and ended up lifting him in his arms. Ye Xiyao let out a small grunt and turned his head to avoid any more kisses.
Xing Xu chuckled and gently nibbled on Ye Xiyao’s earlobe.
Ye Xiyao was completely out of strength, too tired to even keep his eyes open, letting Xing Xu do as he pleased.
“Are you tired?” Xing Xu patted Ye Xiyao’s back gently. “Let’s go back and catch up on some sleep.”
Xing Xu had always been good at adapting.
If it weren’t for his bloodshot eyes, his thunderous heartbeat, the veins bulging under his skin as if about to burst, and the hot sweat dripping from his chin onto Ye Xiyao’s neck, Ye Xiyao might have thought Xing Xu was just a carefree, nonchalant guy.
After all, they had just gone through a life-threatening ordeal, and Xing Xu’s first question was whether he wanted to catch up on sleep.
But Ye Xiyao knew that Xing Xu had been through hell and back between human, god, and demon, and couldn’t possibly be feeling okay. Yet, none of this showed on his face.
Xing Xu always carried an air that was both frustrating and enviable—wild, untamed, and indifferent.
It seemed like the only thing Xing Xu couldn’t handle was sending Ye Xiyao to hell.
“I’m not tired.” Ye Xiyao fought against the overwhelming fatigue, looking up at Xing Xu. His fingers brushed across Xing Xu’s brow and down to the corner of his eye. “Are you okay?”
“How could I not be? I scored a huge win. I’m doing great,” Xing Xu replied casually, grabbing Ye Xiyao’s hand and kissing it. “It’s just hot. I’m sweating a little.”
It wasn’t from the heat at all.
Even though the snow had stopped, it was still December, in the depths of winter.
Xing Xu felt hot because he had just gained new power, and his body was undergoing changes to accommodate the stronger soul. The rise in body temperature was just a minor side effect.
Ye Xiyao glanced at his eyes. “Why are they still so red?”
Like a demon’s.
Had the purification not been complete?
“Your heartbeat isn’t right, and your skin is too hot.” Ye Xiyao examined Xing Xu carefully.
“It’s just a matter of time. I’ll be fine.” Xing Xu, seeing how Ye Xiyao was scaring himself, helplessly pressed his head down and twirled a strand of silver hair under his nose, sniffing it. “Why is your hair silver again? Isn’t that because of the divine punishment?”
Ye Xiyao, distracted by this, replied, “Even without the divine punishment and demonic fall, I still have half demon blood in me.”
“It’s beautiful. Don’t dye it anymore,” Xing Xu said as he caressed the tips of his hair. Then, as if something occurred to him, he added, “Actually… I’ve had a question since just now.”
Ye Xiyao thought it might have to do with Xing Xu’s adjustment to the new divine power and asked, “What is it?”
Xing Xu asked, “Where’s Luo Yiji?”
“He came out with me,” Ye Xiyao replied, pointing back toward the house. “He should be… huh?”
Luo Yiji was nowhere to be seen.
No, wait, he was still there—
Both of them looked down.
At some point, Luo Yiji had fainted on the ground.
“Oh no, did I accidentally harm him when I was purifying the demonic energy?”
Ye Xiyao immediately rushed toward Luo Yiji.
The intensity of Ye Xiyao’s blessing this time had been so overwhelming that it affected many things around them. In theory, getting touched by some divine blessing should have been a good thing, but Luo Yiji had been too close, and as a human, his soul couldn’t handle the energy fluctuations. Without realizing it, he had lost consciousness.
“You were purifying only demonic energy, so it shouldn’t have harmed a human soul,” Xing Xu reassured Ye Xiyao, though even he wasn’t completely sure.
He carried Luo Yiji into the house and checked him thoroughly but couldn’t detect any heartbeat, pulse, or signs of life.
“Strange…”
Xing Xu frowned. He could feel that Luo Yiji’s body was still warm, so he didn’t seem dead.
Ye Xiyao blamed himself. He had brought Luo Yiji here, and now Luo Yiji had mysteriously collapsed. Of course, Ye Xiyao felt responsible. “Let me see if I can give him some divine power.”
Xing Xu held Ye Xiyao’s hand and said, “I’ll do it.”
Ye Xiyao insisted, “No, let me. I’m more stable than you.”
Xing Xu was still getting used to his new powers, but he didn’t want Ye Xiyao to exert more energy. “Let me try first. If it doesn’t work, we’ll talk.”
Ye Xiyao said, “Still—”
“You think divine power is something you can just hand out whenever you want?”
Suddenly, a crisp child’s voice interrupted them, speaking with a clear and pure tone:
“No one but a true god has the right to ‘bless’ anyone. Neshua handing over his divinity to a demon was already an earth-shattering act. It’s your luck that things worked out, and now you want to replicate that feat? You think this is some game? Don’t be foolish.”
His tone carried a mocking, sarcastic edge that didn’t belong to a child.
The words, though harsh, explained the situation clearly. Ye Xiyao had been able to successfully bless Xing Xu because, at that moment, he had essentially become a true god.
But now, even though they shared the same divinity and both had divine power, neither was a true god anymore. As a result, they couldn’t bless Luo Yiji.
After hearing the child’s explanation, Ye Xiyao and Xing Xu completely ignored him.
Ye Xiyao said, “I’ll do it.”
Xing Xu replied, “I’ll do it.”
Ye Xiyao insisted, “I—”
“You two…” The child stomped his foot, and the entire house shook. He shouted, “Are you pretending I don’t exist?”
Ye Xiyao glanced at him but said nothing.
Xing Xu, on the other hand, gave him some attention, asking, “Alright then, according to you, how do we save Luo Yiji?”
The child replied, “You don’t need to save him. He’s fine.”
Xing Xu said, “He has no heartbeat, no breathing.”
“That’s normal. He wasn’t the target of the blessing, but since he was too close, he got hit by some divine power. His body couldn’t handle it, so he fainted. Once that energy dissipates, he’ll wake up naturally.”
“Will the divine power damage his soul?” Xing Xu asked.
“No, it might even benefit him a little.”
Since divine power was a blessing, it made sense that Luo Yiji might absorb some of its fortune. But it wouldn’t be much.
As for what subtle changes had occurred in his body and soul, only he would know once he woke up.
Now that they knew Luo Yiji wasn’t in any real danger, Xing Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, Ye Xiyao asked, “Who are you?”
Whether it was an illusion or not, after Ye Xiyao said this, he could clearly sense that Xing Xu, standing beside him, was more nervous than the child in front of them. His whole body tensed up, and his back straightened, as if he were awaiting judgment.
The child looked at Ye Xiyao with silver eyes that resembled bottomless pits. Though his gaze appeared indifferent, his tightly pressed lips betrayed his anxiety.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Ye Xiyao made his own guess. “Are you… that snake?”
This was the closest answer Ye Xiyao could think of.
The child emitted no aura whatsoever, something Ye Xiyao was familiar with—it meant the child was deliberately hiding his power. Only an extraordinary demon could manage that.
Ye Xiyao remembered the snake from the previous night. Eroel had disguised himself as Xing Xu to deceive him, leaving a deep impression.
The child awkwardly cleared his throat and said, “Uh… yes, I’m the snake.”
“You tempted Xing Xu to turn into a demon. I haven’t settled that score with you yet,” Ye Xiyao said, taking a step closer to the child.
Suddenly, Xing Xu stepped forward, placing himself between them, and said to Ye Xiyao, “Let it go, don’t hold it against him. He’s just… uh, a snake.”
Ye Xiyao stood his ground, calm and composed. “Alright, I won’t hold it against him. Then let’s settle with you, Xing Xu. When did you start making deals with demons behind my back?”
Xing Xu opened his mouth, a flood of thoughts racing through his mind. Although everything had been resolved now, if Ye Xiyao pursued the matter, Xing Xu had hidden it from him for so long that it was bound to upset him.
After careful consideration, Xing Xu decided to save himself at the demon’s expense.
He stepped aside and said to Ye Xiyao, “You go ahead and settle things with him. He’s the one at fault.”
The demon child glared at Xing Xu, shouting, “You little brat!”
Xing Xu, towering over the child who barely reached his thigh, shrugged nonchalantly, mouthing the words, “Good luck.”
Ye Xiyao approached the child step by step.
The color of the child’s eyes matched Ye Xiyao’s hair perfectly, and as Ye Xiyao drew closer, the child’s expression revealed nervousness and unease.
Finally, Ye Xiyao stopped half a meter away from him.
Xing Xu thought Ye Xiyao would surely ask the child about the backlash from the demon-slaying array or when they had started conspiring. But Ye Xiyao didn’t ask any of that.
In fact, Ye Xiyao already knew. He had sensed it from the beginning but hadn’t exposed them.
Now, the real question he wanted to ask was something neither Xing Xu nor the demon had anticipated.
“Why are you in the form of a child?”
Though Ye Xiyao’s face was calm, if one listened closely, there was a faint, almost imperceptible tremor in his voice.
“Not enough magic power,” the child responded briefly.
The child’s true form differed greatly from the illusions he could create, and Ye Xiyao could sense that this child’s current appearance was his real body.
However, in theory, a powerful demon should never allow their true form to appear as a child. Just like Xing Xu, who initially didn’t believe Ye Xiyao’s human form was his true body.
It didn’t seem like a lie to claim he lacked enough magic power, but Ye Xiyao still didn’t understand.
He asked, “I mean, why is your true form human?”
The child glanced at him, pupils shrinking, and after a long silence, finally responded with something cryptic, “Some angels developed a bad habit, thinking that the human form was closest to God, so they liked to take human shapes.”
“But you’re a demon. Why would you take human form?” Ye Xiyao pressed.
This time, the child remained silent, merely staring at Ye Xiyao.
After a while, Ye Xiyao said, “If you don’t want to say, forget it. Goodbye.”
He turned to leave.
“Neshua,” the child called out.
Ye Xiyao instinctively grabbed Xing Xu’s hand, and Xing Xu could feel the slight sweat in his palm.
“The archangel liked humans, so I took human form back then. Now that my magic power is insufficient, I’ve turned from an adult into a child. As my power recovers, my form will change as well.”
The demon lord, who had turned into a child due to his lack of magic, smiled after saying this. “Does that answer work for you?”
“Okay.” Ye Xiyao appeared calm as he turned around, but in reality, he was relying entirely on Xing Xu to support his arm. He looked at the other person and asked again, “Why is your magic insufficient? The Demon Slayer Formation shouldn’t have consumed that much of your power.”
The Demon King raised his head—he was now much shorter, and at this distance, he had to tilt his head way up to see Ye Xiyao’s face, but for the first time, he dared to openly let his gaze fall on Ye Xiyao’s face.
He said, “Because… making a dead tree bloom is difficult.”
No one knew how to make a lifeless tree sprout again. Perhaps everyone thought it was impossible, but the Demon King kept trying.
Just as before today, no one knew how to pull a demon back from hell.
But Ye Xiyao had tried—and succeeded.
After this seemingly random conversation ended, the atmosphere suddenly grew quiet.
A few minutes later, Ye Xiyao said, “I’ve finished asking. You can go now.”
Beside him, Xing Xu let out a confused sound, “Huh?”
The Demon King said, “Alright, take care of yourself in the future.”
Xing Xu made another confused sound, “Huh??”
Ye Xiyao and the Demon King, standing back to back, parted ways.
And the Demon King actually planned to leave.
What?
This?
Xing Xu was completely baffled by the situation. He rushed forward, grabbed the back of the “child’s” collar, and lifted the magic-depleted Demon King off the ground.
The Demon King kicked his short legs, “How dare you!”
Xing Xu: “You little fool.”
The Demon King gritted his teeth, “I have lived for a thousand years.”
Xing Xu: “Old fool.”
Demon King: “…”
Xing Xu set him down in front of Ye Xiyao and said, “Can you two really talk about anything in that kind of cryptic conversation? If you have something to say, say it clearly right here. You’ve already overcome the hardest part, so what are you hiding from now?”
He turned to Ye Xiyao and said, “Although you’ve probably figured it out by now, just to make sure, I’ll tell you directly—Xiyao, this is—”
Ye Xiyao looked at the tiny Demon King in front of him. In human terms, he looked no older than eight.
But Xing Xu said solemnly, “—this is your father.”
Ye Xiyao held back for a long time before saying, “Why are you insulting people?”
Xing Xu: “Ahem.”
Demon King: “…”
Xing Xu urged, “If you don’t introduce yourself soon, you’ll miss your chance.”
The Demon King made an attempt, “I truly am…”
But he seemed to fail.
He still couldn’t say it.
Xing Xu encouraged from the side, “Come on, you can do it.”
The Demon King spoke again, faster this time, and the words came in a rush, “I never came looking for you, not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t. Although the gods can’t punish a demon who’s already in hell, they’ve never let me go. The moment I make any move, they keep a close watch on me. They can’t hurt me, but they can hurt you. That’s why I couldn’t meet you, I couldn’t give them a chance to find you…”
He didn’t even pause for breath, saying it all in one go, “Earlier, when you asked who I was, I didn’t dare answer because I don’t know if, in your eyes, I still count as your father. I know this is complicated. In fact, my very existence is probably just a burden for you. If I hadn’t shown up, maybe today would’ve been a lot more enjoyable for you, but I just couldn’t let it go. I wanted to take one more look, and I accidentally stayed too long. I’m sorry, I wasn’t prepared for this, but still ended up meeting you like this. If you hate it, I’ll leave and never…”
“That tree,” Ye Xiyao suddenly interrupted, asking, “Will it really bloom again?”
The Demon King was stunned for a moment, and after a long pause, he softly replied, “It will.”
Ye Xiyao said, “When it does, can you let me know?”
The silver light in the Demon King’s eyes brightened slightly, “Yes, of course I can.”
He was almost incoherent, “Before the flower blooms? I mean, if you’re not busy, can I come here?”
“The gods forbid you from coming?” Ye Xiyao asked in return.
The Demon King replied, “Now that your divine punishment is gone, who cares what they permit?”
Ye Xiyao lowered his gaze and, without much emotion, said, “If that’s the case, who cares if you come or not.”
With that, he dashed away, but the Demon King already understood the hidden meaning.
The heavy stone weighing down his heart finally dissolved.
Xing Xu watched Ye Xiyao run upstairs and was about to follow him.
The Demon King grabbed the corner of Xing Xu’s shirt from behind. “Hold on, kid.”
Xing Xu was forced to stop, suppressing the urge to kick him, and reminded himself three times in his head, *This is Ye Xiyao’s father.* Finally, he managed to squeeze out a smile, “What do you need?”
The Demon King’s eyes shifted, and he said, “I just want to remind you, even though both of you now have half the divine power, you’re not truly gods yet. Be cautious in all things.”
Xing Xu: “Got it.”
The Demon King added, “If you encounter something difficult, just come straight to me.”
Xing Xu raised an eyebrow, “Wow, talking to you is such a hassle. You just want me to come find you more often so you’ll have a reason to come here, right?”
Demon King: “…”
Xing Xu: “Too bad, we’re not going to run into any tough situations. You might as well stay in hell and stop worrying about things here.”
The Demon King lifted his head, showing a threatening expression on his youthful face, “You… wait until my magic is fully restored.”
“What, are you going to kill me?” Xing Xu finally burst into laughter.
Seeing the Demon King’s face turn dark with anger, Xing Xu chuckled and sighed, “You’ve lived all these years and still haven’t figured things out. If you really want to see him, why look for excuses? Just come.”
After saying that, he followed Ye Xiyao’s trail upstairs.
The Demon King remained where he was, contemplating Xing Xu’s words.
Suddenly, he realized this human boy, though young, had a certain boldness in his actions, and his words had hit the mark—exactly, if he wanted to come, he should just come, why make excuses?
He’d never spent time with his own child, which made him so nervous that he lost his senses. It took Xing Xu to point out such a simple truth to him.
Once he understood, the Demon King nearly smiled in relief, but just at that moment, Xing Xu, halfway up the stairs, suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs:
“Baby, your dad just said he wants to kill me! Baby, hurry and save me—”
“I didn’t! I didn’t say that!”
The Demon King fumed behind him, gritting his teeth in frustration, but his short legs couldn’t catch up. He could only watch helplessly as Xing Xu dashed into Ye Xiyao’s room, feeling wronged as he muttered,
“You little brat… just wait until my magic is restored!”
