This time, the Demon King and Lord Langmuir played in the wilderness for three full days before they returned.
They kissed and merged under the wild grass and the starry sky, and at night, they slept together with their scaly tails intertwined. Originally, they said they would leave the next morning, but Langmuir couldn’t bear to leave. He looked back three times at the lake before leaving, and in the end, they didn’t mount their horse until noon.
As soon as they returned to the royal court, Hun Yao immediately began preparing for the ceremony.
The news of the impending marriage between the Demon King and the Holy Monarch also immediately spread throughout the Abyss.
The demons were almost moved to tears.
Heaven pities and protects us!They were forced to watch the Demon King and the Holy Monarch being lovey-dovey for so many years, yet only the two principals still insisted on calling each other enemies, slaves, and hate…
The spectators were even more upset. If it weren’t for the fear of the Broken Horn Demon King’s majesty, they would have rushed up to shake the two of them awake–wake up, where in the world are there enemies like you?
Now everything was finally normal, and the subjects of the royal court were also relieved.
And the Demon King himself quickly entered an extremely excited mode–
Hun Yao was busy from morning to night. Not to mention the priests in charge of planning the ceremony, even all the royal craftsmen, musicians, dancers, tailors… almost all were caught by the Demon King and brought to the Great Stone Hall for a personal lecture.
“Yes, the leaders of the tribes must come to congratulate, the standard of the royal court is the bottom line. The clothing must be sufficiently gorgeous, Langmuir is the Holy Monarch, if it’s done shabbily, it will lose the face of the demon race. There must be no blood seen throughout the wedding. Food cannot be raw, at least it must be roasted to seven points cooked; do not arrange duels and wrestling, he does not like…”
Hun Yao sat steadily on that beast bone throne, propped his forehead with his curved finger bones, and listed one requirement after another with a nitpicking attitude. A group of demons below were sweating coldly, each of them writing furiously.
A priest said with a bitter face, “Revered my King, if we really do according to these instructions, the scale will be grander than the celebration when you established the royal court!”
“Nonsense,” Hun Yao’s eyes were cold, “So many years have passed, and you still can’t come up with better things, what’s the use of this damn royal court?”
The demons could only follow the instructions with fear and trepidation.
It must be said that Hun Yao was an extremely energetic demon.
During the day, he went out cheerfully to torment the priests and craftsmen, and in the middle of the night, he returned triumphantly, rolled into bed with his beloved Langmuir, kissing him delicately while discussing the details of the wedding.
By the time the sky was still dark the next day, he went out even more cheerfully. From how many jewels must be embedded in the necklace, to what kind of demonic beast’s fur should be used to sew the robe, he was very particular.
Langmuir was both amused and helpless about this.
The night was already deep, and Hun Yao let Langmuir sit in his arms, playing with the Holy Monarch’s long silver hair from time to time, asking him to choose the decoration style for the ceremony.
“My King,” Langmuir yawned, “You’ve been too excited these two days, don’t be like this, it’s just a wedding.”
“Just?” Hun Yao was very dissatisfied, slapping the floor with his scaly tail, complaining, “Langmuir, this is a wedding! Do you know, out of a thousand demons, you can’t find a pair that can get married!”
“But you can’t be so excited that you lose sleep all night,” Langmuir gently held down the tail that was swinging wildly, “It’s already very late today, please go to sleep immediately, otherwise I will have to take some measures.”
Hun Yao angrily said, “You see clearly, I am not suffering from insomnia, I am just not sleepy.”
Langmuir: “…That’s called insomnia.”
Hun Yao’s actions were too ostentatious, and it might attract opposition from some demons who still hated humans.
But to his surprise, congratulatory gifts from various tribes were sent one after another. In the past few days, he had only received blessings, no curses.
“Two reasons.” Hun Yao raised his index finger, his sharp nails shimmering, “First, you have given everything for the Abyss, demons are not heartless creatures, they adore you –I told you before.”
“What’s the second reason?” Langmuir asked.
“Second,” Hun Yao laughed maliciously, showing his cold white teeth, “They know that those who don’t bless will be severely taught by the royal court.”
Days flew by like birds. Soon, the wedding dress was sewn, the jewelry was made, and the music and choreography for the celebration were completed.
As Hun Yao said, a wedding was a rare event for demons. Langmuir had been in the Abyss for seven years, and he had never seen a demon wedding with his own eyes.
When spring was about to end, Hun Yao took Langmuir to see their clothes.
To be honest, even the widely experienced Holy Monarch was amazed at the first sight of those dozens of dazzling golden plates.
The wild style of the demons was fully reflected in this set of clothes: eighteen bone bells and red agates were strung together to make a hair tie for braiding; there were sixteen fine silver bracelets inlaid with a circle of pearls, which were to be worn separately on the wrists and ankles. The soft inner garment embroidered with the totem of the golden sun obviously referred to the style of humans, but the outer beast fur cloak was obviously the style of demons.
Although the craftsmanship was not as exquisite as the royal items in the human world, the shock of wildness and beauty coexisting was rare in his kingdom.
Hun Yao personally dressed him up piece by piece.
“Eh?”
Langmuir suddenly pinched a necklace on his chest. The central ornament was a smoothly polished witch bone tiger tooth, with a large demon-infused jade stone embedded in the middle.
He recognized its meaning and frowned in confusion, “Did the attendant get it wrong? This is the accessory of the Demon King’s standard.”
“No mistake.” Hun Yao held his ankle and carefully put it into the painted sheepskin short boots, “Don’t you think, you now look more like a Demon King than I do?”
Langmuir helplessly said, “Stop messing around, quickly change the accessories… My King, haven’t you always wanted me to be the queen of the royal court?”
“That was before.”
Hun Yao raised his eyes, “As for now, how can a queen be enough?”
“In the future, there will be two Demon Kings in the royal court. Langmuir, this is the land you redeemed with your own hands, you have to share the power of Gasuo with me.”
Langmuir was startled and stood up abruptly, “What? Wait, my King, if you are because of losing the demonic breath—”
Only one boot had been put on, and Hun Yao forcefully pushed him back, “No, sit down.”
Langmuir had to sit back down, and the bone ornaments jingled. He watched Hun Yao put on his boots for him, and couldn’t help but reach out and touch the pair of broken horns.
The Demon King didn’t raise his head, “Be obedient.”
“Hun Yao, you are the king of the demons. Even if we only talk about the breaking of the barrier, it was you who brought me to Gasuo, and accepted me in this Abyss, that’s why we have the result now.”
Langmuir pursed his lips, “…I won’t allow you to say that anyone is more like the Demon King than you.”
Hun Yao pinched his calf and cursed with a smile, “Why are you so troublesome? Just say if you will marry or not.”
Good ah, Langmuir laughed in exasperation, was this a threat? Wasn’t it past the time of nervous proposals?
“What if I don’t marry?”
Hun Yao said fiercely, “You must marry. Who said they would listen to all my arrangements?”
“You were asked to arrange the wedding! Which wedding preparation can prepare an extra Demon King?”
“I can. Anyway, everything is prepared now, you have no right to object.”
“You just talked about sharing power?”
“That’s after the wedding.”
“You…!”
The Holy Monarch shook his head with a laugh, the jewels reflecting fragmented light in his eyes.
When the Demon King got up, he casually kissed that beautiful corner of his eye, held the Holy Monarch’s shoulder, and said softly, “Agree, Langmuir, this is my wish.”
——Because those days of possession had been enough, enough to make him regret every deep night.
His Langmuir, the most cherished treasure of this life, the only light he had ever pursued…
Should not be anyone’s slave, nor should be anyone’s queen.
Langmuir should always be the supreme king.
Hun Yao also picked up his own clothes and put them on one by one.
It was almost identical to Langmuir’s attire, only adjusted in detail according to their body shape and temperament.
“How about it? If you are reluctant to give up the queen’s clothes,” he said with a smile, “it’s simple, ask the craftsman to make another set, and I will wear it with you.”
****
That night, Langmuir handed something to Hun Yao.
The blade in his palm was glowing with a honey color.
“…I originally wanted to wait a while longer, until your old wounds were completely healed before giving it to you.”
Langmuir pulled Hun Yao’s hand and placed this honey gold dagger in the Demon King’s palm.
The latter raised an eyebrow, “I see, the Demon King’s reward to the queen.”
“Be serious,” Langmuir slapped him, “Listen to me. When I was recuperating in the kingdom before, I sealed my own Mana in it.”
“Demonic breath and Mana are of the same origin, but Mana is much softer than demonic breath, and it doesn’t need the power of the horn to control.” Langmuir held Hun Yao’s hand tightly, meeting the Demon King’s astonished gaze, “Since I can fully accept your demonic breath, given time, you will definitely be able to…use my Mana.”
“My King Hun Yao, I also hope that you will always be strong and invincible.”
“…” The Demon King’s eyes gradually changed from astonishment to complexity, he looked at the Holy Monarch, and finally clenched his fingers, holding the dagger in his palm.
“Okay.” Hun Yao closed his eyes and held the dagger, spread his arms and held Langmuir in his arms, “Okay, I promise you.”
Their embrace was very much like that tragic night.
And this piece of honey gold, which had condensed so much of their hatred, was finally repainted with love after the dust settled.
…….
This grandest celebration in the history of the Abyss was finally held at the beginning of summer.
Before dawn, Hun Yao combed Langmuir’s hair with a bone comb. Attendant Liu Sha came in halfway through, and placed a small porcelain jar and a rabbit hair brush on the table.
Inside the porcelain jar was a vermilion ointment, as rich and gorgeous as blood and rosy clouds.
“What is this?” Langmuir asked.
Hun Yao held Langmuir’s cheek and said, “It’s the symbol of the queen. Don’t move, it will be done soon.”
He dipped a little red ointment with the soft tip of the brush, and applied it to the beloved’s brow, eye corner, and under the lip.
Langmuir reached out to touch his own eye corner, but was gently blocked.
Hun Yao carefully examined Langmuir’s face with added color, “It looks good… don’t touch it, you have to wait a while for it to dry.”
Liu Sha timely brought a bronze mirror, exclaiming, “Oh my God, this is so beautiful. Lord——no, queen…cough, not right, my King…?”
Langmuir laughed, “It’s not good to call everyone my King, it will be confusing in the future.”
The corner of his eye softened, and the red color was like a shimmering wave, even more vibrant and moving.
Hun Yao hadn’t considered this issue before, but now he really pondered it. “Or else, should I call you ‘Your Majesty, the Holy Monarch’ in the future?”
Langmuir couldn’t help but imagine the scene where he called Hun Yao ‘my King’, and Hun Yao called him ‘Your Majesty’ in return.
…Well, how to put it, it was quite an absurdly amusing feeling of “each calling their own”.
He tactfully said, “…It’s a bit strange.”
“Forget it, these are all trivial matters, we can discuss them later.”
Hun Yao gave up thinking, he handed the bone comb and rabbit hair brush to the Holy Monarch. “Come, your turn.”
So, next it was the Holy Monarch’s turn to comb and braid the Demon King’s hair, and apply the red ointment.
When all this was over, they walked out hand in hand, the newly donned beast fur cloak rustling in the wind, the corners of their clothes entwining and separating.
“Let’s go.” Hun Yao looked at him sideways.
“Let’s go.” Langmuir responded softly.
The old king and the new king of the Abyss, each mounted their horses, rushing towards the wilderness at sunrise.
If it were in the kingdom of humans, the wedding would surely be in a splendid palace, the newlyweds would swear their love under the blessing of the Goddess of Light, and the surroundings would be filled with candles and roses.
But this was the land of Gasuo. So the leaders of twenty-four tribes gathered on the grassland with their respective gifts, the priests beat drums and rang bells, singing hymns to comfort the ancestors and bless the descendants.
Hun Yao and Langmuir walked hand in hand to the front of the tribal leaders, together they accepted the kowtow of loyalty from the representatives of the major leaders.
They exchanged kisses in public, bathed in cheers and screams, and swore in the ancient language.
“Share our souls, blend our flesh and blood, be each other’s backbone, go through every disaster and harvest together, until death separates us——”
“——And meet again in the underworld before rebirth.”
Cheers erupted again all around, the sound wave was overwhelming.
After that, of course, was the lively celebration time. Music and dance, wine and meat, and fresh fruits, everything that should be there was brought up.
Moduo first poured a full cup of strong liquor in her wooden cup, laughing and saying, “Haha! It’s a pity, this time my King really has no offspring.”
Asayin clinked glasses with her, calmly saying, “It doesn’t matter, the two of them can continue to raise the young king.”
“Asayin! Even you have no manners!” Tianpo was angry and stomped her feet, “It’s all because of that guy Langmuir, who led the royal court’s atmosphere to be like this!”
Their voices were drowned out in the noise.
On the other side, Langmuir struggled to block the group of leaders who were trying to come forward to toast, and caught the hem of Hun Yao’s robe who was walking in front.
“——My King Hun Yao, drink less wine. Don’t grab me and merge in front of the tribes, please.”
“What are you thinking about.” Hun Yao was helpless. He stretched out his arm, pulled Langmuir into his arms, and leaned down to his ear, “Don’t worry, I don’t want to let this group of people see you.”
Langmuir couldn’t help but laugh. Then he whispered again, “After it’s over, my King, could you accompany me to the barrier cliff? Just in this outfit.”
Hun Yao’s expression changed slightly…..right, how could he forget.
He had no relatives left in the world, but Langmuir did. The human world above the barrier cliff was the land where the Holy Monarch had parted. On such an important day as a grand wedding, it was definitely necessary to make a trip.
The next moment, Langmuir’s hand was pulled up.
“Of course.” Hun Yao raised his eyebrows.
“We don’t need to wait for anything to end, we can go now.”
****
A moment later, a mournful howl suddenly echoed from the Barrier Cliff of the human world.
“Ah ah ah, my brother——!!!”
Brother… brother… bro…
The echo lingered for a long time.
Ever since the Holy Monarch returned to the abyss, the guards of the barrier cliff had been reorganized, with elite knights patrolling around the clock.
Today, the shocked guards rubbed their eyes and immediately reported to the royal city. Upon hearing the news, Aiden rushed to the barrier cliff, and the first thing he saw was a blinding sight—
The Holy Monarch and the Demon King stood side by side on the barrier cliff, wearing matching ceremonial robes, their eyes closed as they held hands and kissed. This scene fell into Aiden’s eyes.
What! The! Hell!
Aiden completely collapsed, and that mournful howl echoed endlessly on the barrier cliff.
“Ah! Your Majesty, my sympathies——pooh pooh pooh, this subject mean is, take it easy.”
General Gernard, who had accompanied His Majesty, was helpless. “At least, the Holy Monarch looks very happy, isn’t that good…”
“But they are clearly wearing wedding clothes, he’s marrying the Demon King!”
Aiden clung desperately to the space barrier, his face distorted, his eyes bloodshot—what about the image of the monarch?
Gernard: “Ahem, look on the bright side, the Holy Monarch marrying the Demon King can’t be said to be a victory for humanity…”
“Shut up, how do you know if it’s marrying or being married!?”
Aiden turned around abruptly, full of grief. “Oh no, that’s not important at all!”
“What’s important is, my brother returned to the abyss just a few months ago? Not even half a year! How could he get married so quickly!?”
“Even if he gets married, he doesn’t come back! He doesn’t come back even when he gets married!!”
Suddenly, Gernard’s eyes widened. He saw the Holy Monarch raise his hand and press it on the space confinement below the barrier cliff, and a strong demonic breath surged out…
Aiden was oblivious. “Even if he doesn’t come back, he’s still holding a wedding on the barrier cliff for us to see, making us see but not touch, he he he——”
Gernard was dumbfounded. “Your Majesty, Your Majesty, look behind! Look behind!”
“Behind? What’s behind…” Aiden turned around.
Then, he saw the brother he had been vehemently complaining about.
The Holy Monarch, holding the Demon King’s hand, calmly parted the space confinement and walked up the barrier cliff.
“…”
Aiden’s jaw dropped, and he turned into a stunned, ashen statue.
“Aiden?” Langmuir’s eyes were gentle, “What’s wrong?”
“I got married today, I wanted to show you…the other half of my soul.”
