Is a Succubus Considered a Demon? – CH6

Chapter 6

Perhaps too much had happened the night before, leaving Ye Xiyao mentally and physically exhausted, so he slept for an incredibly long time.

When the phone rang, Ye Xiyao heard it but couldn’t wake up right away.

Under the thin summer blanket, his skin felt as if invisible feathers were brushing against it, causing an unbearable itch. His lower abdomen tightened, and he unconsciously squeezed his legs together. His body alternated between curling up tightly and going limp, as he tossed and turned, battling the intense itching sensation.

This half-awake, half-asleep struggle lasted for more than ten minutes.

Finally, a smooth, pale leg slipped out from under the blanket, lazily draping over the edge of the bed. The knee bent slightly, the arch of his foot stretched, and his toes flexibly tapped the wooden floor a couple of times.

Three seconds later, he successfully found his slippers, quickly flipped over, and sprang out of bed—

Just like that, Ye Xiyao was already standing beside the bed, rubbing his sleepy eyes without having fully opened them. He had forced himself to wake up.

Feeling a lingering sense of dread, he asked the large stuffed toy on his bed, “Be honest, was I just experiencing sleep paralysis?”

Of course, there was no response.

Ye Xiyao didn’t have time to chat with “Honest Ye.” He picked up the phone and immediately heard a relieved voice on the other end: “Xiao Ye! You scared me! Why didn’t you come to the shop today without telling me, and why didn’t you answer your phone?”

It was the night-shift restaurant manager.

Ye Xiyao glanced at the time, shocked.

It was already 10 p.m.!

He figured his exhaustion had a lot to do with how much energy he had used up, but he couldn’t tell the manager that. Instead, he quickly came up with an excuse: “Sorry, Manager. I wasn’t feeling well today, so I went to the hospital.”

If anyone else had used this excuse, it wouldn’t have been very convincing.

But because it was Ye Xiyao, the manager filled in the gaps on their own and asked with concern, “Did you faint again? Oh dear, what a mess! You’re already at the hospital, right? Good, good. Listen to the doctor, and make sure to take care of yourself… Don’t worry, the shop isn’t busy tonight, so just take the night off. Rest up, and we’ll talk when you’re feeling better.”

Ye Xiyao wasn’t very good at lying, but luckily the manager believed it completely and was already convinced that he had gone to the hospital.

And so, the situation was resolved.

After hanging up, Ye Xiyao felt uncomfortable, especially around his shorts, which felt oddly cool… He looked down and realized it was a mess.

His face turned bright red, and he dashed into the bathroom.

When he saw himself in the mirror, he was even more shocked—

His hair had turned completely white overnight!

No, to be exact, his hair wasn’t white—it had become silver, with a metallic sheen that gave it a cold, glossy appearance.

Not only had its color changed, but it had grown longer overnight as well. Last night, it had just barely touched his ears, but now it almost reached his waist.

As he looked closer, he unsurprisingly found that his pupils had also lightened, now a translucent amber-like shade of light gold.

And his skin.

Ye Xiyao had always been pale, almost unhealthily so.

But now, his skin looked as if it had been airbrushed—white, smooth, and radiant, like a retouched image straight out of Photoshop.

His already delicate features seemed to have matured overnight, growing into a stunning beauty that was almost overwhelming to look at.
It was as if a game character had gone through a transformation. Ye Xiyao looked so flawless that he seemed unreal.

He knew it sounded a bit self-centered to describe himself this way, but it was the truth.

Perhaps this was the influence of his succubus nature—most succubi would transform into the most alluring forms that humans could imagine to entice them.

Their beauty symbolized unhealthy desires.

Ye Xiyao had always fought to suppress his succubus powers, not wanting to be controlled by the curse of his nature. He had managed to grow up in a relatively natural way until now.

But at this moment, while his face was still his own, something about it felt different.

Those innocent, pure eyes of his now seemed to carry a teasing, dream-disturbing allure.

Staring at his reflection, Ye Xiyao felt a bit anxious, as if he suddenly didn’t recognize himself.

A sense of foreboding crept into his heart.

Ye Xiyao hesitated for a moment, then suddenly lifted the hem of his clothing. 

He was so shocked that he held his breath for a few seconds. 

A strange and mysterious pattern appeared on his lower abdomen, bright red and blood-like, starting from just below his navel. It took root and sprouted in Ye Xiyao’s body, spreading like a budding flower, with two long, blood-colored branches extending, seemingly trending toward his lower back. 

Ye Xiyao lowered his clothing, swallowed hard, and looked at his reflection in the mirror with a blank expression, forcing himself to calm down: ‘I must be seeing things.’ 

Then he lifted his clothing again to take another look. 

And again. 

The pattern was still there. 

After repeating this a few times, he confirmed… 

It wasn’t an illusion; his body had grown a demonic mark symbolizing desire. 

Ye Xiyao felt a gentle shatter within himself. 

—

In the following days, Ye Xiyao didn’t dare to go out. 

In his current state, he couldn’t be sure what new changes might happen if he woke up one day. Of course, he had to wait and see before making any plans. 

He couldn’t go to his part-time job at the late-night snack shop. 

But the manager had hoped he would rest well, and upon hearing that Ye Xiyao wanted to resign early, they couldn’t agree more. 

He also didn’t dare to go for any interviews for other jobs temporarily. 

Strangely enough, when Ye Xiyao was desperately looking for work, he couldn’t even get a decent interview opportunity. 

Now that he decided not to go out, good job offers were coming one after another. 

Indeed, fate was working against him! 

Faced with so many opportunities, Ye Xiyao wasn’t completely indifferent, but after calmly considering, he decided to decline. 

After all, even if he went, the chances of success weren’t high. 

Ye Xiyao needed to suppress the energy field that attracted humans, which meant he would inevitably suppress his own energy field as a human. 

This was also the reason for his low presence. 

So even though his resume was impressive and could catch some companies’ interest, as soon as they saw him in person, they would find him quite ordinary. 

Now, Ye Xiyao’s body was in a phase full of uncertainties; he didn’t want to take any risks. 

He stayed at home for a whole week. 

Fortunately, Ye Xiyao should no longer be able to smell humans. 

This was something he felt from the delivery guy who often brought him food. 

Each time, he would sniff through the door, trying hard to ensure this. 

For Ye Xiyao, as long as he didn’t feel “hungry,” everything would be manageable. 

From his observations, his hair had stopped growing after reaching his waist, the demonic marks on his abdomen had also ceased to spread, and there were no other discomforts or changes in his body for the time being. 

Ye Xiyao planned to stay at home for a full month. 

If he could maintain his current state for this month, then his situation should be stable. 

However, he still felt anxious inside. 

Especially as he watched his balance decrease, Ye Xiyao felt like his heart was being ripped out. 

He didn’t know what he would do in the future. 

Without a job and having lost his part-time work, he was worried that even if his body stabilized, his life would be hard to stabilize. 

Until one night, Ye Xiyao suddenly received a new email. 

It was an interview invitation that made Ye Xiyao have to crawl out of his bed and be on high alert— 

Qiaoshou Technology. 

A top 500 company in the alliance! 

When he opened the email, Ye Xiyao thought he had read it wrong. 

He had been so unlucky lately that he couldn’t believe he would get an interview opportunity with Qiaoshou Technology. So he repeatedly confirmed the email details, just to make sure he wasn’t targeted by a scam group. 

But the interview was set at the headquarters of Qiaoshou Technology in Lucheng; this detail couldn’t be faked.

Excited yet puzzled, Ye Xiyao couldn’t help but scratch his head:  Did I really send my resume to Qiaoshou Technology?  

Am I really that confident?  

Although Ye Xiyao graduated from a prestigious university, he had never thought too highly of himself and had only dealt with small, obscure companies.  

Even so, most of his interviews had ended without success.  

Now, a large company he had once never dared to imagine had sent him an interview invitation, making it difficult for him to decisively refuse like he did with other companies.  

Should he go?  Of course!  

Opportunities like this shouldn’t be missed. Whether or not he had actually sent a resume to this company was no longer important.  

After all, he had been frantically applying for jobs late at night recently, so it was possible he impulsively sent a resume to Qiaoshou Technology at some point.  

Ye Xiyao promptly replied to the email and agreed to attend the interview in two days. The other party responded quickly but asked if he could come in earlier, preferably the next morning. Ye Xiyao nervously found an excuse and managed to push it back to the day after tomorrow. Because he needed to prepare before the interview.  

First, Ye Xiyao bought a pair of small haircut scissors and black hair dye online for personal use. His silver long hair was too eye-catching; even if he concealed his aura, he couldn’t hide such an extravagant hairstyle. So he had to restore it to “normal” first.  

This step wasn’t difficult; after a quick snip with the scissors, he ended up with a messy bob haircut, and he dyed his hair black in less than an hour in the bathroom.  

As he passed by the mirror, Ye Xiyao was startled by his reflection.  

To be fair, one should specialize in their craft.  

He seemed to have no talent for hairstyling at all.  

Ye Xiyao was so horrified by his new hairstyle that he covered his face and ran out. He decided to find a time to go to the hair salon for a proper cut.  

Next up were his eyes. Initially, Ye Xiyao considered buying black or brown contact lenses to cover his eyes, but after thinking it over, he decided to forgo that plan. Wearing contact lenses was uncomfortable. 

Besides, although his eyes were amber gold, the streets were filled with young people wearing red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple contacts, making his eyes seem less strange. As long as he kept his head down and reduced eye contact with others, the low presence buff he carried would make the eye color hardly an issue.  

The last thing he needed to hide was the bright crimson magical markings on his waist and abdomen.  

That was even simpler.  

As long as Ye Xiyao didn’t take off his clothes in front of others, he would be fine. But to be cautious, he could tuck the hem of his shirt into his belt. It might look a bit awkward, but it was safe!  

After doing all of this, Ye Xiyao believed he finally looked like an ordinary person. He then began preparing his self-introduction for the interview, quickly flipping through relevant materials about Qiaoshou Technology.  

However, the more he read, the less confident he felt, thinking that such a remarkable company wouldn’t be interested in him.  

Before he even started, he was already mentally preparing for failure. But knowing he would fail and facing that failure were two different things.  

Ye Xiyao still gave it his all, simulating the interview scenario since he woke up, guessing how the other party might ask questions, and practicing his responses. He even memorized all the products Qiaoshou Technology had launched in the last two years, just in case they asked about them.  

Later that night, Ye Xiyao received a call from the HR department of Qiaoshou Technology. They notified him that the interview had been canceled. Ye Xiyao thought to himself: Just as I expected, I knew I wouldn’t suddenly get lucky.  

But the next moment, he heard the other party say: “Let’s do a phone interview instead.”  

Ye Xiyao: “?”

“He glanced down at the time and confirmed it was 8 PM. Then he blurted out, “Are you still working overtime at this hour?”

The other party paused for a moment and quickly replied, “Mr. Ye, please don’t misunderstand; our company doesn’t have an overtime culture. The fact is… um, I have some personal matters to attend to tomorrow and need to take a day off. This position is in urgent need of staffing, and delaying it for even a day slows down the collective progress. I saw that your resume matches our requirements perfectly… so do you have time to chat on the phone now?”

Ye Xiyao felt that the other person was lying to him. 

If they needed to take a day off, they could just reschedule the interview or have someone else conduct it. Did such a large company really find it hard to manage something so minor? 

So… 

They must be working overtime! 

Ye Xiyao didn’t actually mind working overtime; as long as he could get a job, he felt satisfied. So he didn’t call them out on it. 

Moreover, a phone interview was also beneficial for Ye Xiyao. 

Since he concealed his aura, it was hard for others to notice him in everyday life, but once he was on the phone, that debuff didn’t apply. 

Ye Xiyao could make a good impression with his thorough preparation! 

However, luck kept coming his way. 

The HR’s questions were quite simple, and they didn’t ask anything that would require Ye Xiyao to think hard. After a few trivial exchanges, they started wrapping things up. 

Ye Xiyao felt that chatting so little wasn’t a good sign; it might mean the HR had no interest or confidence in him, so he proactively mentioned, “Actually, I have some knowledge of the company’s entire product line…”

He was just short of saying: please ask me a couple more questions; I’m well-prepared! 

But the HR seemed eager to finish for the day: “No need to ask; I believe you can definitely handle this job.”

Ye Xiyao: “Huh?”

He thought he must have misheard. 

The other party then seriously informed him that he had passed the interview and was invited to start work directly tomorrow. 

As the call ended, Ye Xiyao’s legs went weak, and he sat down on the floor. 

What just happened? 

Is this the efficiency of big companies? 

They had talked for less than ten minutes, and he was already being offered a job? 

He strained to recall, confirming that the other party had told him to go to the company tomorrow to complete the onboarding process. There had been no mention of a physical exam or any other requirements, and the salary offered was even double what he had hoped for. 

Ye Xiyao slapped his face and took a moment to calm down. 

Everything was going so smoothly that he suspected it was a dream. 

Of course, for Ye Xiyao, being able to start a job in the simplest way was definitely a good thing. 

He just couldn’t help but wonder how urgently they needed someone for this position. 

The company was more anxious than he was. 

——————–
Author Note:

During the week Ye Xiyao stayed home, 

Xing Shu was like: (anxious) (restless) (walking back and forth) (sending interview invitations to his wife under different company names) (being politely declined) (in disbelief) (angrily pacing back and forth).