Just as a lie was destined to be rounded out with countless lies, hard-spoken was also destined to be supported by countless hard-spokens. (TL: stubborn and reluctant to admit mistakes or defeats)
Since then, Hun Yao had to insist in front of Langmuir: Although I am good to you, love you, share power with you, and kiss you in the way humans show love;
Although all the demons in the royal court call you lord, every now and then someone starts gambling, guessing when you will be crowned queen…
But we are not lovers, we are enemies. At most, we are enemies with a very good relationship, good enough to go to bed and merge every night.
This kind of rhetoric, if anyone else listens to it, will be soul-stirring, and will scold with a heartache “Who believes it!”
It’s just Langmuir, who really believed it.
This was enough to prove that it’s not a good thing for people to be too easy to deceive.
Hun Yao was very sad, but he asked for it.
Langmuir once said that humans have a saying called “a dumb person eats Coptis chinensis”. Although the abyss did not grow Coptis chinensis, the Demon King still felt that he had eaten it, and he had eaten a lot over the years, more and more.
(t/n: a dumb person eats Coptis chinensis-suffering humiliation, insults, etc., no choice but suffer in silence)
And by the seventh year, he seemed to lose even the qualification to chew this bitterness.
After returning from the land of the renewed clansmen, more than half of the first month had passed, and Langmuir’s weakness finally showed.
It’s no longer just symptoms after getting sick, Langmuir began to be continuously drowsy, sometimes he would fall asleep in Hun Yao’s arms in a daze, and it would take half a day to wake up.
The pain had also developed to the point where it could no longer be concealed. Humans were not very pain-resistant in the first place. He didn’t say before, and he silently endured it, but now it’s different.
Because Hun Yao was guarding him day and night.
Langmuir’s illness was nowhere to hide. When he was trembling with pain, when he was panting with blurred consciousness, the Demon King would hug him anxiously – but besides hugging him, he could do nothing more.
In just a few days, Hun Yao’s mental state quickly wilted.
Whether it was about love or not, about being crowned queen or not, it no longer mattered. The Demon King’s wish had been reduced to just wanting to save his life, no matter what.
But soon, Langmuir vomited the medicine for the second time.
It was a sunny day, with no rain.
Hun Yao lost even the last bit of self-deceptive hope.
It wasn’t because of the weather, it wasn’t because of chance, his slave’s time was coming, reality was just that blunt and cruel.
“This is beyond my expectation, I thought my King would be more open-minded about life and death. Aren’t all demons like this?”
When he said this, Langmuir was washing seeds, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
He had obviously lost weight in these two days, his cheeks were pale with a faint sickness, only his eyes still contained a bit of light, he looked like a dim pearl.
Hun Yao pretended not to hear, and used the soft bark that had been soaked in water to help him wrap the seeds.
Langmuir said, “When spring comes next year, you help me plant these on the barrier cliff, and then scatter my ashes on it. If one day you remember me, come and see these flowers.”
“…I don’t plant this kind of thing.”
“Does my King want to hang my bones up and put them in your private collection?”
“There is no place for you in the private collection.”
Langmuir sighed with worry, and casually touched Hun Yao’s tail, “Ah, with my King like this, how can I leave with peace of mind?”
The Demon King didn’t speak, he lowered his head tiredly, looking at the little seeds in his hand that contained new life, thinking: Why?
Langmuir, this hateful human, so lightly destroyed him and remade him, changed the royal court and also changed the abyss. After bearing all the hatred and love of the demons, now he actually fancied leaving “with peace of mind”.
Why, he’s thinking beautifully.
Suddenly there was a collision sound next to him, Langmuir knocked over the wooden basin, and the clear water wet his robe. He propped one hand on the ground, and pressed the other hand to his chest, panting with furrowed brows.
“Langmuir!” Hun Yao was suddenly awakened, and hurriedly helped him.
“It’s okay, just a little dizzy…” Langmuir closed his eyes and began to cough one after another.
Hun Yao stroked his chest and back, saying, “You’re too tired, go back to bed and lie down, I’ll do the rest.”
“I don’t…ugh…” Langmuir’s cheeks were pale, he barely uttered a few words with his breath, and then couldn’t speak.
His half-open eyes rolled, and his body fell down like mud.
His fingers, still wet with water, suddenly clenched the Demon King’s hand, and then let go.
The weak force was alarming, like the instinctive twitching of an animal that had been bled dry before dying.
Such sudden fainting had happened more than once in recent days. Hun Yao supported Langmuir’s waist and neck, hugged him into his arms, and took a deep breath with gritted teeth.
…..
Duogu had been running to the palace these two days.
Today was the same, the old witch doctor came in with his medicine box, and saw Langmuir, who was in a deep sleep, on the bed.
Hun Yao was guarding by the side, when he saw him coming, he stood up and said calmly, “Start.”
The old witch doctor reluctantly advised him, “My King, it’s already been five days, you really can’t continue…”
Hun Yao stubbornly shook his head, biting his words somewhat woodenly, “I can’t just let him die like this.”
“He’s still so young… I’ve only kept him for seven years.”
He lifted his scaled claw, and the pure demonic energy was released, gathering in his palm into healing spells, slowly infused into the patient’s body under the guidance of the witch doctor.
Hun Yao was using his origin power to draw charms for Langmuir to clear the miasma and nourish his lungs.
Before long, fine beads of sweat slid down from the Demon King’s temples, his breathing became heavier and heavier, and the gaze that was fixed on Langmuir’s face also showed a faint tendency to lose focus.
His old injury did not allow this kind of high consumption of demonic energy over consecutive days, and by today, he was almost at his limit.
Langmuir was still unconscious, his breathing seemed to have stabilized a bit, but it could also be an illusion.
In theory, the Demon King’s demonic energy was the purest power in the abyss, but the attempt had been going on for five days, and the effect was still minimal.
This also meant that Langmuir’s condition had indeed deteriorated to the point of no return.
Until the end of the treatment, there was still no sign of hope.
Hun Yao was so overdrawn that he couldn’t even stand steady, he had to lean on the head of the bed to barely sit down.
He closed his eyes and took a breather, saying in the same calm tone as before the treatment, “Continue tomorrow.”
Duogu reached out and touched Hun Yao’s forearm, and was immediately shocked, gasping…those scales were burning hot.
“My King, you really can’t go on like this! The lord’s illness is already terminal, even if you exhaust your demonic energy, it won’t help!”
Hun Yao shook his head, without the strength to say more.
It didn’t matter if Duogu didn’t cooperate, the Demon King thought wearily, five days was enough for him to memorize the healing spells. He would never allow Langmuir to just die like this, their ending couldn’t be like this.
“Duogu.”
The old witch doctor was called to stop before he left.
He turned his head and saw Hun Yao holding the icy fingers of the Holy Monarch pressing them against his own chin.
“You say,” Hun Yao tilted his head and stared at a point in the void, murmuring, “If you take good care of it from the first day, how many years can a human live in the abyss?”
Where would Duogu dare to answer this question, he kept saying he didn’t know.
Hun Yao made a conclusion to himself, “Twenty years, ten years? How about ten years?”
“…Yes, there should be at least ten years.”
By this time, most of the demons in the royal court knew that Langmuir was sick, very sick.
The one who couldn’t accept it the most was the young king, Tianpo.
“Langmuir is dying!?”
The first time she heard the news, she was shocked and violently shook Duogu, “Duogu, you weren’t deceived by that guy, were you? He’s always been in poor health, but how could he be dying!”
No matter how Duogu explained it, Tianpo didn’t believe it.
She went to the palace to visit the sick with Asayin, Moduo, and other demon generals. In the palace, a fire stone stove was burning, Langmuir was wrapped in a thick beast skin robe, curled up on the bed, coughing continuously until his lips turned purple.
Attendant Liu Sha was supporting him, covering his mouth with a white handkerchief.
The few demon generals who had just come in couldn’t believe their own eyes – that white handkerchief was gradually stained with blood, just like the red flower that Langmuir had once described to them that bloomed in the snow.
When Langmuir recovered, he saw that Hun Yao’s subordinates had arrived, and he looked very happy.
His hoarse throat made it difficult to speak, so he struggled to raise his hand and pointed to the window, asking Liu Sha to bring the seeds he had picked a few days ago.
Tianpo walked to the bedside, poured him a glass of water in a daze, and asked, “How could you be dying?”
Langmuir drank the water, seemed to be a bit better, “Cough… I’m really dying.”
He smiled with his eyebrows and eyes curved, “In the remaining two months, the young king should treat me better. Bullying a dying person, you will regret it when you recall it in the future.”
“Lord Langmuir!” Moduo exclaimed.
Langmuir raised his index finger and “shushed”.
“Demons don’t need to be sad for humans.” He said softly, “I know all the intentions of you lords, it’s enough. Seven years in the abyss, I’m very grateful.”
So the demons were dumbfounded. The lord started to be absurd again, they thought.
Which one of them hadn’t bullied him back then, which one hadn’t scolded him “human pig” a few times… Langmuir actually said he was grateful, what was he grateful for?
Liu Sha came back with the seeds. Langmuir opened it himself, pulled Tianpo’s palm over, and put a few in it.
“These are what I brought from the human world, all plants that the abyss doesn’t have. In the future, when the barrier becomes thinner, they can be planted.”
“Young King Tianpo is intelligent, but sometimes she is easily impulsive. You are the future king of the royal court, you must be steady in everything…”
Tianpo was confused. She still couldn’t accept it, she held the seeds and stepped back two steps, angrily said, “Don’t touch me! Are you also worthy to instruct me from high above? A human…human…”
But Langmuir didn’t pay much attention to her anymore, he started to give each of the demons who came to see him seeds, and then gave a few instructions.
Parting by death should have been sad, but the lord was so calm to this extent, making this group of barbaric demons neither sad nor not sad, they all became stupid.
Seven years of getting along, from hatred to respect. They had just started to sincerely call this human “lord”, accepted that this human would become the queen of the abyss, how could…
“I have a few old things that I wanted to divide among you.”
Langmuir sighed, “But I begged my King for several days, and he refused to give them up. Usually a very generous demon, he is so stingy with me.”
Moduo and Asayin looked at each other in horror.
It’s over, Lord Langmuir wouldn’t be preparing for his own funeral with the King…
They imagined it and felt a chill in their scalp, they didn’t dare to think deeply about what kind of days the Demon King had been through these two days.
Asayin tentatively asked, “Why…don’t we see my King?”
“Langmuir: “The day before yesterday, he insisted on moving with me to live on the barrier cliff. I said no, my funeral affairs are not yet finished. My King was very angry and refused to see me for two days.”
“My King’s temper is always like this, he has a strong desire for control, he doesn’t like it when people don’t listen to him…It’s okay, once he’s done being angry, he’ll be fine on his own.”
Moduo and Asayin exchanged a painful look, thinking: This won’t do!
Where is this a matter of control, doesn’t Lord Langmuir realize it at all, doesn’t he feel it at all!?
These few demons exchanged glances quickly, “Say or not say” “If we don’t say it now, it will be too late” “But now it’s already too late” “Who told my King not to propose earlier” and other information was flying around in those lines of sight.
“…Langmuir.”
In the end, it was Tianpowho opened her mouth with a dark face, choosing her words carefully, “Do you know why the King doesn’t leave offspring, why he suddenly rushed to establish a young king for the royal court?”
“?” Langmuir tilted his head in confusion, a few strands of silver hair swaying on his shoulder, “…he said he hates raising children.”
The demons’ faces twisted, all showing an expression of hating not being able to bang their heads on the ground.
Langmuir became a little uneasy and asked, “Is there any other reason?”
He actually knew that when Tianpo was still serving as a bodyguard for Hun Yao, the king’s original intention was to train her to be a general.
So when it came to the fifth year, Hun Yao suddenly insisted on establishing a young king, he was also very surprised and had advised several times.
Langmuir suddenly changed his face, thinking of the two years when Hun Yao had been constantly waging wars, with many major and minor injuries, he blurted out, “Could it be–”
He anxiously straightened up, lowering his voice, “Has my King lost his fertility? When did this happen!?”
“…”
“…”
Tianpo was about to collapse, that sentence “Because you can’t give birth” and the one that followed immediately “He can’t give birth to you either”, had already rushed to the tip of her tongue.
But Langmuir suddenly started coughing violently again. His face swelled up with a sickly flush, coughing as if he was about to vomit his lungs out.
The scene suddenly became chaotic, it was no longer the time to argue about these love affairs.
Langmuir was so drowsy that he couldn’t speak, but he stubbornly stretched out his hand, pointing at Tianpo while coughing and trembling.
…He wanted to know what she hadn’t finished just now, about Hun Yao.
“Lord Langmuir!” Liu Sha ran over anxiously and held him, “Don’t worry, lie down first…”
She cast a pleading look at the young king and shook her head quickly.
She couldn’t say it, the lord was so sick now, he couldn’t bear too much stimulation. If it weren’t for this, she would have said it long ago.
The demons looked at Langmuir, who was as thin as a thread, their hearts made of iron seemed to know pain for the first time, and they all looked at Tianpo with eyes full of pity.
“I…”
Tianpo’s face changed, her mouth opened and closed several times.
She thought: But why should I take care of a human?
And you guys, why are you all looking at me, don’t you know I hate Langmuir the most?
If saying it could stimulate the human to get sick and die, that would be great, she would be very happy. All humans should die, there are no humans in the world who shouldn’t die.
“…Young King.” Langmuir called her with a trembling voice.
Tianpo stomped her foot in anger, the proud young king had never hated herself so much.
She said with a tone as unwilling as if she had swallowed a caterpillar, “…No!”
“My King,” Tianpo closed her eyes, admitted reluctantly, “just hates raising children! The whole royal court knows he hates raising children!”
“…”
Langmuir breathed heavily and stared at Tianpo for a while, then his gaze swept over the demons standing in front of his bed one by one.
In the end, he closed his eyes and nodded, “That’s good.”
The demons all breathed a sigh of relief, accompanied him for a while, and then left one after another.
Langmuir lay quietly on the bed, and after all the demons had left, he asked Liu Sha sideways, “Where did my King go?”
Liu Sha was counting the time for him to take his medicine, and when she heard this, she was taken aback and said incoherently, “My King…! Hasn’t my King been back for two days, Liu Sha doesn’t know either?”
Langmuir expressionlessly said, “Please tell him, stop being angry, come out and see me, I have something to ask him.”
Liu Sha: “…”
After saying that, the Holy Monarch closed his eyes and turned over, burying his face in the quilt.
These stupid demons, really can’t stand it…
He was sick, not stupid.
