Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye since the Holy Monarch returned to the Abyss.
In the evening, the setting sun stitched the colorful clouds onto the horizon. Langmuir stood at the entrance of the palace, taking a deep breath.
He first poked his head in and shouted, “My King, I’m back.”
There was no answer from inside, not even the voices of the attendants, probably because they had been driven away. Langmuir pushed open the door and walked twenty-four steps inside.
Then he heard a clanging sound of chains!
Hun Yao rose from the shadows, his gloomy eyes like a beast choosing people to devour, and his claws went straight for Langmuir—
“Ah.”
Langmuir retreated, his back hitting the wall. At the same time, there was another clanging sound, and the Demon King’s figure was forcibly stiffened!
The light from outside shone in, revealing an iron handcuff on Hun Yao’s right wrist. Even though it was carefully wrapped in two thick layers of cotton cloth inside and out, it was indeed a handcuff!
At this moment, Hun Yao’s resentment was about to materialize, and he ground his teeth in a gloomy manner:
“Lord Langmuir, you finally deigned to return? Was it comfortable staying in the Great Stone Hall, did you get used to the Beast Bone Throne? I knew you were going to rebel, I see you…”
Langmuir calmly hugged Hun Yao’s neck, tiptoed, raised his face, and silenced the Demon King’s voice with a kiss.
Hun Yao was indeed stunned for a few seconds, but he quickly pushed the Holy Monarch away, even more furious. “Langmuir!!!”
Langmuir sighed, “My King, no one wants to deliberately confine you. It’s you who refuse to take good care of your injuries and still go out to fight with others. I’m almost desperate, what else can I do?”
Hun Yao shook the chain on his wrist, “So this is your solution, huh? Locking me up!?”
Langmuir didn’t really want to do this either. But Hun Yao was used to being domineering, and good words and persuasion from others were useless. As for arranging guards, it was even more impossible. In the vast royal court, who would dare to stop the Demon King?
After much thought, it seemed that there was no simpler and more effective method than to lock him up directly.
This had infuriated the Demon King. Even though the length of the chain had been carefully measured, as long as he was willing to stay in the palace, his movements would not be restricted–but how could Hun Yao bear it?
At this time of year, spring had returned to the earth, the icy lakes under the Frost Horn Mountains had thawed, and the hibernating beasts had started to frolic. It should have been the best time for horse riding and hunting!
Langmuir hurriedly coaxed, “Yes, yes, yes, my King, you are wronged, I know, I know… Can you bear it for another month, just one month, okay?”
“What if you fall ill again, and it can’t be cured in the future, you know what that feels like, don’t you?”
As he spoke, his ten fingers moved up along the back of Hun Yao’s head, gently massaging the broken horns. When the Demon King’s left horn was not broken, it felt warm, but now both sides had become cold.
“Why do you get to go out?” Hun Yao angrily pulled Langmuir’s hand down, “Are you also going to the Great Stone Hall on my behalf, are you really preparing to be the Demon King?”
Langmuir helplessly said, “Are you being reasonable? I go out, but I won’t start a fight with any demon on the way…”
Hun Yao simply didn’t listen. He bit fiercely into Langmuir’s neck, feeling that his current situation was extremely bad.
Think about it, a Demon King, the demonic breath in his blood had quieted, his freedom of movement had been stripped away, his power as a king had also been taken away, and not one of his subjects had expressed any objections, they even dared not visit him…
Wasn’t this the process of house arrest and power seizure!?
He might as well go to guard the barrier cliff!
What was the most terrifying thing?
Hun Yao thought bitterly: Even though he had reached this point, he just cursed fiercely a few times, complained a few times in grievance, let the human coax him with words, touch him, and it would pass!
Even so, he was so angry that when he was locked in the palace, he still couldn’t help but take care of Langmuir.
The attendants were driven away, so he personally roasted the fire stone stove, made the bed soft, boiled the medicine to nourish the body, and then lay bored by the window waiting for Langmuir to return…
What! Was! This!
Langmuir was still persuading softly, “Alright, alright, let go, if you bite again, it will hurt.”
The Demon King sulkily drooped his tail, reluctantly loosening the strength of his fangs.
Forget it, he had known for a long time that he was doomed.
Resistance was futile, surrender was the only option.
“Thank you, my King.”
Langmuir smiled at him, his eyelashes flickering, bright and charming. It fell into Hun Yao’s eyes, both hateful…and adorable.
…..
That night, Hun Yao and Langmuir sat shoulder to shoulder under the window, looking at the round moon, each drinking their own medicine.
The Demon King poked the edge of the medicine bowl with his index finger and hummed, “This is the cycle of fortune. I locked you in the palace back then, now it’s my turn to be locked up.”
Langmuir was helpless, “I’ve said it’s not the same thing…”
Hun Yao: “Anyway, it looks the same to me.”
“Yes, I know,” Langmuir started to coax him again, “When my King locked me up, it was also to protect me.”
“If you hadn’t kept me in your palace all the time, I would have been caught by some demon and used as a toy.”
Even after bathing and lying in bed, Hun Yao still deliberately turned his back to Langmuir.
But he would use his scaly tail to casually sweep over his lover’s feet, testing the other’s body temperature. If it felt cold, he had to get out of bed and add two more fire stones to the stove.
He wasn’t really that angry.
Hun Yao thought to himself.
Compared to “being locked up by Langmuir”, the reason for his frustration seemed to be more about “Langmuir locking him in the palace every day and going out himself”.
After experiencing those things, he was increasingly unable to bear the time when Langmuir was not in his sight.
“My King.” Suddenly, Langmuir moved closer to him under the blanket and whispered, “Hun Yao, don’t be angry. Promise me you’ll take good care of yourself, I won’t lock you up anymore, okay?”
Hun Yao: “Hmph.”
Langmuir said again, “Otherwise, let’s go out and play in a couple of days, how about that?”
Go outside!
A light instantly lit up on Hun Yao’s face.
But he immediately pinched his palm. No, he couldn’t show that he was excited, this was just a case of beating with a stick to give a sweet date! (TL: when a person makes a mistake, the elders will punish him first, and then give him a sweet treat, namely a jujube)
“Not going.” Hun Yao said bitterly.
“But I heard from the young king today that the snow and ice under the mountain have all melted. This is the first spring in the Abyss, don’t you really want to go see it?”
“……”
“Not going? Really not going? The weather has been warm recently, if you don’t go this time, you won’t be allowed to go when the rainy season comes, won’t you regret it then?”
“…….”
Hun Yao slowly turned his head, gritting his teeth, “Langmuir, sometimes, I really feel…”
“You are more like the so-called demon!”
****
Two days later, Hun Yao was grumbling while personally putting on Langmuir’s soft armor and tying his robe.
…They still came out.
When Hun Yao pulled him onto the wildebeest, Langmuir also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
He really didn’t dare to keep the Demon King locked up all the time. Langmuir knew in his heart that he had been used to a quiet life in the temple since he was a child, and being alone in a quiet room was a daily routine. When he was locked in the palace by Hun Yao, the source of his pain was always the Abyss itself, not his own restricted actions.
But Hun Yao was different, he was a demon who was naturally restless. Langmuir really wanted to use some coercive measures to make Hun Yao take care of his body, but he was really afraid of making the Demon King depressed…
The Demon King and the Holy Monarch rode a horse together and came to the wilder forest.
From a distance, the warriors of the royal court had already gathered there. The demons had already changed into light clothes, and many of them were bare-chested, only covered by scales.
They were full of red faces, carrying bows and arrows, holding long spears and short knives, shouting and yelling, the atmosphere was already in full swing.
“My King!” “Lord Langmuir!”
The sharp-eyed ones saw them, and the voices became one.
Langmuir turned his head to look at Hun Yao and smiled lightly, “This year’s spring hunt, everyone is still so enthusiastic.”
In the Abyss, every time the harsh winter left, a large number of demons would go into the mountains.
Inferior demons and some weak ordinary demons would shuttle through the mountains to hunt wild beasts, trying to get precious meat, while also collecting mushrooms and mountain fruits.
For the more powerful ordinary demons and great demons – they were often the warriors in the tribe, even generals – the spring hunt was a time to show off their martial prowess.
Moduo braided her red hair into two thick braids, and was playfully swinging her long whip, “Boys, today let you see how powerful Lord Moduo is!”
Asayin: “…Today, if you don’t lose sight of my King, you’re good.”
Tianpo was riding a horned horse at the front of the line, she pulled the reins, excitedly shouted, “My King is here, let’s go, we’re going into the mountains!”
“Go!”
“Go——”
In the season when all things were exposed to the sun, it was natural to be lively.
Above their heads was the boundless blue sky, with only a few strands of pale white clouds, the view was wide open, it was a good weather for hunting.
The wildebeests of the royal court galloped against the spring wind, and the demons chose secluded paths, unwilling to let the flames from the hooves of the demonic beasts burn the newly sprouted grass buds.
Moduo shouted at the top of her lungs, “My King! What rewards are there for this year’s first place?”
“Ah, now you remember to find your king?”
Hun Yao laughed and scolded, also shouting back in the wind, “The Demon King has been put under house arrest by the Holy Monarch, go ask your Lord Langmuir for rewards!”
The demons all started to make a fuss, “Lord Langmuir!”
Langmuir couldn’t stop laughing, he also shouted with his hands cupped around his mouth, “But I’m so poor that I only have my King left! No, I can’t give him to you——”
Suddenly, there was another round of laughter.
The warriors under the Demon King had never frolicked so easily. Today, it was rare that no one was mindful of rank and etiquette, they just joked around.
In this way, after the wildebeests had run for another quarter of an hour, Hun Yao whispered into Langmuir’s ear, “Later, we won’t go the same way as them.”
Langmuir turned his head in surprise, “How come?”
This guy, who had just been pretending to be serious, acting as if he was going to observe the subjects and warriors showing off their skills today, how could he change his face so quickly?
Hun Yao squinted his eyes and said in a low voice, “You definitely won’t let me go hunting demonic beasts, making me just watch them having fun, isn’t that torturing me?”
Langmuir asked softly, “But where are we going then?”
Hun Yao: “I’ll take you to a good place. It’s a bit far, but don’t worry, you’ll definitely like it.”
Now Langmuir was curious, what “good place” did Hun Yao have that he didn’t know about?
“Then,” Langmuir hesitated, “Should I go and tell a few lords, and ask for some guards?”
“No,” Hun Yao said mysteriously, “It’s not interesting if there are guards. That place, only the two of us can go.”
