Chapter Text
Yichen tried to look at the demon, But the demon already had returned to his old self.
He stared at Yichen with a small smile, "Enough talking about this old demon. Today we have to listen to Xiao Zhuo’s feelings. Isn’t that right?"
Yichen frowned.
He hated when the demon pretended.
Now that he was feeling better, he pulled his hand, "If you’re going to pretend again, you shouldn’t expect me to cooperate either."
Yuanzhou stared at the young demon’s stubborn face.
He could see in Yichen’s eyes that he wasn’t going to compromise with him.
He sighed and leaned down to take Yichen’s hand again, "I’m not the one who was poisoned, Xiao Zhuo. What is the point of talking about my stupid feelings?"
Yichen didn’t pull his hand back this time. However, his tone remained serious: "The reason for all my problems is your stupid feelings, Zhao Yuanzhou. Unless you talk to me like an adult, this situation is not going to make any progress."
Yuanzhou lowered his head like a scolded person and pursed his lips.
Well…
Actually, Yichen wasn’t so wrong.
The reason for most of his problems was Yuanzhou’s feelings.
Yichen didn’t intend to let the old demon go so easily: "Although you probably think you can control your feelings very well, I have to tell you that you're wrong. It’s true that you don’t show your feelings, in fact, I have to say that you are really good at hiding it, but hiding your feelings makes you act like a jerk. A jerk who can’t be understood at all."
"Isn’t it tiring to try to understand this big jerk?"
Yuanzhou asked calmly.
His tone was somewhere between joking and serious.
But Yichen answered with a serious face, "Do you think I would have tried so hard to save you if I didn’t have the patience for listen to your stupid feelings?"
Yuanzhou glanced at Yichen with a sly glance. "You really enjoy torturing yourself, Xiao Zhuo. You’re like a big magnet that attracts everything that’s causing trouble."
Yichen rolled his eyes, "You’re the only trouble in my life."
Yuanzhou laughed, "Yeah. I think I am."
Even in this state, it was enjoyable to watch the great demon laugh.
He asked in a tone that was softer than before, "So? Aren't you going to talk about your feelings?"
Yuanzhou gave Yichen a faint smile. "Which part of it would you like to hear about, Xiao Zhuo?"
Yichen didn’t intend to preface, "About the part about why you think you’re not worthy of being loved."
Yuanzhou held his heart dramatically, "Have some mercy on this old demon."
However, before Yichen could protest, the demon turned his gaze to the view Infront of the bed.
His voice was soft as he spoke, "I’ve done a lot of wrong things, Xiao Zhuo. All my life, I’ve tried to be like humans.
And not just like any human. I wanted to be good.
I wanted to be like one of the heroes that humans write about them in books.
And there was a time when I thought I had succeeded.
But I was wrong.
With my stupidity, I hurt the most important people in my life.
Irreparable harm.
I hurt you too, didn’t I?
Even my death couldn’t undo the mistakes i made."
Yichen looked at the demon’s beautiful face.
At those dark eyes that were filled with sadness.
- You weren’t the one who made those mistakes, Zhao Yuanzhou. You had no control over yourself when you made them. I realized that a long time ago. Why can’t you understand it yourself?"
Yuanzhou turned his head to stare at Yichen. Sadness was shadowing the demon’s beautiful face.
- If I could control myself…”
Yichen sighed in frustration: "Did you think controlling malicious energy is that easy? Do you think that if someone else was in your place at that moment, they would have acted better than you?
Malicious energy is not something that can be easily controlled.
It is a power that can throw the world into chaos.
And you, Zhao Yuanzhou… no matter how old and powerful you are, there was nothing you could do anyway.
Yet you tried your best, Zhao Yuanzhou.
You tried to suppress it.
And when you failed, you locked yourself away.
You tortured yourself.
And even gave your life to make up for it.
Even if you are guilty, you have been punished enough."
Yuanzhou stared into the young man’s eyes.
Those eyes were full of sincerity.
Yichen believed what he was saying.
And this made Yuanzhou even more confused: *How can you trust me so much? I really don’t understand."
Yichen glanced at the old demon: " Didn’t you ask me to trust you a long time ago?”
Yuanzhou stared at Yichen in shock for a moment.
Then a smile appeared on his lips.
A smile that was neither too bitter nor too sweet: "Xiao Zhuo-daren really trusts others too easily. This is really worrying."
Yichen narrowed his eyes: "Are you making fun of me now?! At least I’m better than someone like you who flirts with others for fun!"
Yuanzhou pursed his lips, "I said I’m sorry. I won’t act like this again. Okay?"
Yuanzhou was truly a master at making others angry.
Yichen gritted his teeth.
He was really tempted to punch the stupid demon’s beautiful face.
Did he think Yichen had a problem with his flirting?
Yichen had a problem with the fact that there was no emotion behind those sweet words!
Yuanzhou patted Yichen’s hand worriedly, "Why are you still suppressing your feelings? It’s not good for your health."
Yichen gave the demon a sullen look. "How can I talk about them when I know the only answer I’m going to get is an apology?"
Yuanzhou said seriously, "I promise I won’t apologize again. So feel free to say whatever you want."
Yichen stared at the ceiling.
He thought about this suggestion for a moment.
Yuanzhou already knew his feelings.
Just a few minutes ago, he had exploded in front of the old demon and said a lot.
Normally, Yichen would have preferred to keep his mouth shut and not let anyone know about his feelings.
He was no longer the child who would scream and cry to get what he wanted.
He had long since come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t going to get the things he wanted.
No matter how much he might hope for the opposite to happen, there was always a part of him that was ready to lose.
Yichen had learned not to covet what wasn’t his.
But he couldn't control his heart.
Yichen couldn’t look at the demon and not wonder what would happen if the world allowed wishes to come true.
Yichen wanted Yuanzhou to belong to him.
And he wanted to belong to Yuanzhou.
He wanted to give love.
And he wanted to recieve it too.
These were the thoughts that tortured Yichen’s heart every day.
What difference would saying them make?
Yichen didn’t know.
The only thing he was sure of was that the moment he expressed those feelings, their relationship would never be the same again.
However, wasn’t their relationship already at its worst?
Over the past few months, Yichen and Yuanzhou had been acting like two strangers.
And Yichen had become somewhat accustomed to the pain of his heart being broken.
That was definitely one of his talents.
Yichen could get used to any pain, and eventually get used to living with it.
Wouldn’t it be better to take advantage of the opportunity the poison had given him?
He knew that under different circumstances, he would never be able to talk so honestly about his feelings.
Maybe he should look at his poisoning as an opportunity.
Seeing the hesitation in the young man’s eyes, Yuanzhou gripped Yichen’s cold hand tighter, "As an old demon with more experience than you, I must say that humans usually regret the things they didn’t say more than the things they did say."
Yichen gave the demon a sarcastic look, "You never act on that."
Yuanzhou smiled mischievously, "I’m not human, Xiao Zhuo, I’m a demon."
So was he was going to act like this?
Yichen also smiled at Yuanzhou, " I’m a demon now too. So I don’t think your suggestion will be of much use to me."
Yuanzhou sighed. He definitely couldn’t use his previous methods on Yichen, "Xiao Zhuo has really gotten better at arguing. Okay… From now on, I’ll try to be honest about my feelings too. Are you happy now?"
Yichen hummed.
A small victory was still a victory, after all.
And with what he was about to say, Yichen needed this small satisfaction.
He first looked at the demon.
But staring at that beautiful face that was all focused on Yichen was definitely not a good idea.
So he looked back up at the ceiling.
-You really confuse people with your behavior, Zhao Yuanzhou.
And no, I don’t just mean your flirting.
The way you look at me... well, I must say, I never felt that they were friendly.
When I hated you at first, I thought that you... ”
Saying something like that was really embarrassing.
In his heart, he cursed Yuanzhou for forcing him to say something like that.
Yichen closed his eyes tightly to prevent seeing the demon's face: "I thought you were a perverted demon who had… inappropriate thoughts about me."
Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Yuanzhou’s shocked gaze.
Yichen was sure his face was turning red.
However, the poison was acting like a truth serum.
The moment he started, he could no longer control the words that were coming from his mouth: "As I got to know you better, I no longer felt that you were perverted. However, I still couldn’t consider the way you looked at me as a pure feeling.
You probably don’t even know, but I’ve been struggling for a long time to figure out your feelings.
And before I could understand your feelings, my own feelings had grown to the point where I couldn’t control them anymore.
I was really confused at that time. The way you treated Wen Xiao...and the way you treated me...I couldn't figure out which one was real.
But even thinking about it was stupid. I didn't need to think so much. The answer was simple.
You loved Wen Xiao. No...maybe I should say you love her."
Yichen's voice trembled as he said the last sentence.
Accepting this truth was like stabbing himself in the heart with his own hands.
"Wait, Xiao Zhuo! I-"
Yichen, however, didn't want to give Yuanzhou a chance to speak: "So I decided to suppress my feelings. Wen Xiao is a very important person to me. I didn't want to hurt her with my stupid and one-sided feelings. So I gave up. I tried to convince myself that I could stay by your side as a friend and support you two. I tried to convince myself that I misunderstood your feelings, And then I…"
Yichen took a deep breath to gather enough strength to think about those bitter memories: "I killed you. At that time, I had truly lost all hope. I just wanted you back. It was the only thing I could do.
But when you came back, it seemed like something had changed. You and Wen Xiao didn’t seem to have that kind of relationship anymore. And I couldn’t help but hope…"
-Xiao Zhuo-"
Couldn’t that stupid demon stop interrupting for a moment?
Doesn't he understand how hard and painful it must be for Yichen to say these words?
Yichen was speaking his dark and embarrassing thoughts for the first time.
Thoughts he had been blaming himself for having them for a long time.
He opened his mouth to continue, but a warm hand was placed over his mouth.
Yichen looked at Yuanzhou in surprise.
The demon’s gaze was strange.
He frowned and tried to push the demon’s hand away.
But Yuanzhou stubbornly pressed his hand over Yichen’s mouth, "Let me speak, Xiao Zhuo. You misunderstood something."
Yichen blinked in confusion.
What exactly was he misunderstood about?
Yuanzhou sighed and looked at Yichen as if he didn’t know what to do with the young man: "I don’t love Wen Xiao."
He didn’t… love Wen Xiao?!
Yuanzhou slowly removed his hand from Yichen’s mouth.
Yichen’s response to Yuanzhou’s confession was to slap the demon hard.
Shocked, Yuanzhou stared at Yichen’s angry face and placed his hand on his painful cheek.
Yuanzhou definitely deserved the slap, but why now?!
Yichen said through clenched teeth, "You! You even played with Wen Xiao’s feelings! You’re really insufferable, you stupid monkey!"
Yichen had jumped up to pick up his sword.
Yuanzhou quickly came to his senses and firmly grabbed the young man’s hands to stop him, "Wait, Xiao Zhuo! It’s not what you think! There was never such a feeling between Wen Xiao and me! Isn’t Wen Xiao in a relationship with Pei Sijing? Why did you think there was something between me and her?"
Yichen froze for a moment.
His confused and shocked gaze stared at the anxious demon, "Wen Xiao doesn’t like you?! Wait a minute… Pei Sijing?!! Since when???"
Yuanzhou gently tried to force the young man to lie down on the bed again.
Yichen was also too shocked to resist.
Yuanzhou explained patiently, "Wen Xiao has known me for a long time. She knows my bad habits very well. And she definitely has no interest in me. And yes. Wen Xiao and Pei Sijing have been in a very serious relationship for a long time. How could you not notice?"
Yichen’s surprise certainly didn’t stop the young man from glaring furiously at the old demon: "With a troublesome and confusing creature like you, do you think I could have paid attention to anything else? Then why didn’t Wen Xiao tell me about this…"
Yuanzhou sighed, "The reason is simple. Those two don’t even try to hide their relationship. The only reason Wen Xiao thought she had to tell me this in person was because she was sure that with my mindset, I probably just thought that the two of them were very close friends. And about you… she probably thought you knew."
Yichen really didn’t know what to say.
He had thought all this time that Yuanzhou and Wen Xiao loved each other.
And when he had thought that they were no longer was in a relationship, when he finally had hope, Yuanzhou had rejected him.
So he was even more certain that the old demon loved Wen Xiao.
Before he could stop himself, the words came out of his mouth: "But your gaze when you looked at Wen Xiao was different."
Different from the gaze he had at Yichen
Yuanzhou stared at Yichen with a confused expression. "Different?"
Yichen sighed: "What did you take me for? A delusional little girl? It wasn’t because of a few simple behaviors that I mistook your feelings. The gaze you had at Wen Xiao was different from the gaze you had at me. The only problem was that I couldn’t figure out what the difference was between them. But don’t doubt my judgment that they were different."
This time it was Yuanzhou’s turn to get lost in thoughts.
His gaze was… different?
But to Yuanzhou, they were both his friends.
What difference could there be?
The difference that had made Yichen confused?
Yichen had closed his eyes again.
The young man couldn’t bear to see Yuanzhou’s dumb expression anymore.
How could the old demon not even understand his own feelings?
Yichen really didn’t know what mistake he had made in his life that fate had put such a stupid demon in his path.
Yuanzhou’s soft voice was what finally broke the silence between them: "Can Xiao Zhuo tell me the difference between friendship and love? This stupid demon can’t understand."
It seemed like the demon was joking, but deep down, there was a silent plea.
The demon really didn’t know.
And he was trying to understand it.
For Yichen.
And Yichen was, as always, too stupid to ignore the demon’s pleas.
He tried to organize his thoughts.
The difference between love and friendship…
It hadn’t been long since Yichen himself had been able to understand the difference.
For a few moments, he thought about how he could explain the difference to the old demon.
When Yichen finally started to speak, his tone was back to its usual calm: "I can’t explain the difference to you exactly. Because everyone’s feelings are different from others. But I can tell you my opinion so that you can understand it better.
Right now, I have many friends.
Xiao Jiu, Wen Xiao, Ying Lei, and Pei Sijing are my friends.
I care about them and I like them.
If they are in trouble, I will do anything to help them.
Even if it is necessary, I am willing to sacrifice my life to save a friend.
This is what I define as friendship.
Romantic love is also very similar to platonic love, at least for me.
Romantic love is also full of sacrifices.
One of the differences between this kind of love and friendship for me, is that there is more selfishness in this love.
Saving you was partly because of my selfish feelings.
Even if you had told me that you did not want to live, it probably would not have affected my decision to save you.
I wanted you to live, because I knew that I could not bear to see you die.
As much as I can not bear to see someone I love die, it hurts me to see them love someone else.
And at the same time, I can not be satisfied with just having a small part of them.
I want a love that is completely mine.
A feeling that I know belongs only to me.
And if I can’t have something like that, I’d rather don't have it at all."
Yuanzhou had lowered his head in silence, but Yichen knew that the demon had heard him well.
From here on out, it was up to the demon.
Because only the demon himself knew what was really going on in his mind.
Yuanzhou gave Yichen a look that the young man knew too well.
A look that said Yuan Zhou was about to say something that he knew would make Yichen angry.
"Xiao Zhuo... I guess I have this selfish feeling towards my friends too. Ummm, how can I put it... Is there anything else that is different between platonic love and romantic love? Something that can only be found in love."
Yichen rolled his eyes.
It was obvious that explaining this stupid demon wasn't going to be easy.
He stared at Yuanzhou, "A difference that even a stupid old demon like you could understand? The only thing I can think of is sexual desire.
Love, in simple terms, is friendship with sexual desire. Do you understand now?"
Despite his sarcastic tone, Yichen's ears were red as he said these words.
The young demon was definitely not someone who would talk so openly about such matters.
But really... how could he make the demon to understand the difference between romantic love and platonic love?
And to his surprise, Yuanzhou's face looked even more confused.
Yichen frowned, "Why do you look so confused? It's impossible for you to have..."
The young man's eyes widened with sudden realization, "You...?"
Yuanzhou blinked in innocent confusion, "Isn't it natural for people to feel this way about their friends?"
Yichen stared at Yuanzhou in astonishment for a moment.
Was that old demon serious now?!
Yichen could have vomited blood from the sheer rage at that moment.
He shouted, "Of course it's not natural! You feel this way about Wen Xiao or Pei Sijing?!"
Yulenzhou's face contorted for a moment, imagining Yichen's words: "Of course not!"
Yichen felt calm for a moment in the midst of his anger.
But then he got angry again, thinking about something else: "Who did you feel this way about that you think it’s normal to feel this way about a friend?"
Yuanzhou, on the other hand, was really confused: "Isn’t it normal to feel this way when you think your friend is attractive?"
Yichen wanted to bang his head against the wall: "Then you can’t call it platonic love anymore, you dumb monkey!"
Yuanzhou frowned at the insult. However, it was clear that he still didn’t fully understand the matter.
Yichen asked in a calmer tone this time: "Who did you feel this way about, Zhao Yuanzhou?"
He couldn’t help but get hopeful.
Could it be that...?
But Yuanzhou, as always, was a master at crushing Yichen’s hopes: "Well, I once had this feeling about Li Lun. So it can't be considered platonic love?"
Yichen wasn't really sure at that moment whether he wanted to kill Yuanzhou, or himself.
He took a deep breath to stay calm.
However, Yuanzhou could feel Yichen’s tendency to violence very well.
Normally, the demon would enjoy making Yichen angry, but at that moment, he couldn’t enjoy it at all.
Because he was thinking about this change in his perspective.
Yuanzhou had suddenly realized that he had a crush on his best friend!
And he didn't even know.
And that had simply shaped Yuanzhou’s entire mindset of love and friendship.
He always measured his feelings for others by the feelings he had for Li Lun.
After all, Li Lun was Yuanzhou’s first friend and companion in this long life.
So he thought that love must be a feeling beyond what he had for his dear friend.
And now it seemed that his feelings for Li Lun were love.
Of course, at the moment, Yuanzhou didn’t feel that way anymore.
This feeling was from when he was still young and inexperienced.
But that didn’t mean Yuanzhou had forgotten that feeling.
Yuanzhou could clearly remember the feelings he had experienced back then.
Why? Because those feelings had been Yuanzhou’s standard for friendship all these years!
That was why Yuanzhou had been struggling to find love all these years and had failed.
He didn’t even know the difference between love and friendship.
Even if he truly fell in love with someone, he would simply mistake his feelings for friendship.
He had only been able to imitate human appearances.
Deep down, he had no understanding of human feelings.
He knew how to act like a friend, but he had no idea what it was like to feel like a real friend.
He stared at Yichen.
The young man’s face was calm, but Yuanzhou was looking at him with more attention this time.
His lips were pressed together, his pale hands were clenched into fists.
Yichen was not calm.
He watched him more carefully.
The young man’s pupils were trembling.
And the corners of his eyes were slightly red.
He was sad.
And Yuanzhou knew why.
He had just confessed to the young man that he loved Li Lun!
Had he lost his mind?
What should he do now?
Before he could decide what to say, Yichen began to speak.
The man’s voice was like a whisper, "If this is really how you feel, you shouldn’t hide it. You… should let the person you love know this. You shouldn’t confuse them."
Yichen had completely misunderstood.
He had resolved a misunderstanding, and instead created a new one.
Yichen’s pulse under his hand was becoming irregular again, and it was all Yuanzhou’s fault.
Again.
However, it was too early to explain.
If he was going to explain his feelings to Li Lun, then he had to explain his feelings for Yichen as well.
And Yuanzhou still hadn’t fully sorted out his thoughts on the matter.
Yichen deserved an answer that left no room for doubt.
He glanced outside.
The sun was slowly setting.
He had to resolve everything tonight.
*****
Yichen hadn’t even realized when he fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes, it was night.
Yuanzhou was still holding his hand tightly.
The poison was under control.
He turned his head to look at Yuanzhou.
Seeing the demon staring at him, he froze for a moment.
Yuanzhou smiled at Yichen, "Are you feeling better?"
Yichen hummed.
He still didn’t know how to talk to the demon.
Especially after realizing the fact that his rival had known the old demon for several thousand years longer than him.
The amount of time the demon had spent with Yichen couldn’t even compare to thousand years of memories.
Yichen had to deal with this.
But he needed more time.
Right now, he preferred to stay as far away from this seductive demon as possible.
While trying to remain calm, he said, "It seems like the poison has been controlled. You can go now. Xiao Jiu will prepare the antidote tomorrow. Until then, there will be no problem."
Yuanzhou glanced at Yichen.
And Yichen knew at that moment that nothing good was going to happen.
Yuanzhou clearly intended to continue their previous discussion.
And Yichen definitely had no desire to do so.
In fact, he would have been grateful if Yuanzhou had never brought up this discussion again.
But obviously Yuanzhou was not going to go along with Yichen’s wishes.
This was against the demon's personality.
demon lowered his head and began to speak, "While you were asleep, I thought more about our discussion, and well… I realized some things that I hadn’t realized before. And I feel like you need to know about them too."
Yichen interrupted, "I don’t think I need to know."
Yuanzhou shook his head in disagreement, "No,This is about you, Xiao Zhuo. You need to know."
Yichen stared at the demon with helplessness.
Finally, as always, he gave in, "What do I need to know?"
Yuanzhou stared seriously into Yichen’s eyes, "The fact that I love you."
Yichen stared at the demon for a few moments, confused and stunned.
Now… had he heard correctly?
He blinked a few times in confusion, "You mean Li Lun?"
Yuanzhou was still serious, "No, I'm talking about you, Xiao Zhou. I love you."
Yichen stared at the demon for a few moments, with his mouth open, "Are you serious right now?!"
Yuanzhou sighed, "Why should I joke about something like this? I told you I thought about it."
Yichen stared at Yuanzhou in confusion, "Didn’t you say you loved Li Lun?"
-I said I loved him, not that I still do, Xiao Zhuo. When I had those feelings, I was still very young. Li Lun is just a friend to me now."
Yichen still didn’t understand, "And now you’re saying you love me?"
Yuanzhou shook his head.
Yichen stared into the demon’s eyes for a few moments.
There was no trace of humor in those eyes.
And that made it even stranger.
Yichen frowned. He couldn’t help but say bitterly, "You only understood the difference between romantic love and platonic love a few hours ago. Then you expect me to believe you now?"
Of course, Yichen wanted to believe the demon.
In fact, his heart was already pounding in his chest.
However, thanks to a certain demon, Yichen had a very serious trust issues.
He definitely wasn’t going to be fooled by the demon’s words so easily.
And Yuanzhou knew very well that convincing Yichen wasn’t going to be easy.
That’s why he had spent hours thinking about his feelings, and what he was going to say to Yichen.
-As you probably figured out. This stupid demon thought it was normal to be attracted to a friend.
And that’s the reason why I thought I only see you as a friend.
Because I thought it was normal for me to be attracted to you.
It wasn’t you who misunderstood my feelings, it was me.
And now that I have a better understanding of love and its difference from friendship, it’s funny even to me why I thought the feelings I have for you and Wen Xiao were the same.
The feelings I have for you are definitely beyond friendship.
I’ve also experienced that feeling of jealousy you did talk about.
The selfish feeling of wanting you to be mine alone.
I was just so stupid that I didn’t even think that this feeling could be love.
Although you may not believe, I’ve never been in a relationship before, Xiao Zhuo.
I’m an old and inexperienced demon who has no idea what love is, but if as a demon I have the ability to love, then I have to say that the feelings I have for you are the only thing that can be defined as love."
Yichen looked away from the demon’s shining eyes.
Because he knew that if he stared into them any longer, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.
- How are you sure that what you’re feeling is love? As you say, you've never been in a relationship before."
Yuanzhou reached out and gently grabbed Yichen's chin, leaving the young man with no choice but to stare at him. "Has Xiao Zhuo ever been in a relationship?"
Yichen blushed under his mischievous gaze. "Of course not!"
Yuanzhou laughed. "See? I don't need to be in a relationship to understand this feeling. Xiao Zhou's explanation was enough to make me able to understand my feelings. Do you need more explanation, Xiao Zhuo?"
Yichen answered honestly, "Yes."
Yuanzhou smiled softly at Yichen and slowly let go of the young man's chin. "I like to hold your hand.
I want to wrap my arms around your waist and hug you tightly.
Sometimes when you're talking, I find myself staring at your lips and wonder what they taste like.
The flavor of your favorite tea?
Or the sweets that Wen Xiao brought you?
Sometimes when I stand behind you, I'm tempted to reach out and touch your silky hair to see if it's as soft as it looks or not.
When Ying Lei or Xiao Jiu get too close to you, I get jealous and want to scare them like a big scary monster so that you can be only mine again.
When you saved me, despite all the complex feelings I had, I was happy with the fact that you cared about me.
Although it’s selfish, I’m glad that you’re now a demon like me.
This means I have a lifetime to get to know you.
And I want to know you.
I want to be closer to you than anyone else.
If these feelings aren’t love, then can Xiao Zhuo tell me what they are?"
Yichen was too shocked to respond to the demon’s words.
His heart was beating so loudly that he was sure the demon could hear how much his words had disturbed the young man.
Although Yichen tried his best to sound calm, his voice trembled as he spoke. "I still can’t believe it."
Prove it to me
He pleaded silently.
This was what Yichen wished for, more than anything.
But he was too scared to believe it.
He was afraid that he might have gotten a little too hopeful.
And Yuanzhou heard his words even if they weren’t spoken.
Yuanzhou leaned gently over the young man.
He looked into those shining eyes and then his trembling lips.
There was a meaningful pause over the man’s red lips.
Then he raised his gaze to stare into Yichen’s eyes again.
He whispered softly, "Xiao Zhuo said he was aware of the gazes of this great demon. What I'm wondering is, did you also notice the shameless glances this demon was giving your lips?"
Yichen had completely lost his mind under the weight of this demon’s seduction.
Yuanzhou smiled charmingly and gently caressed Yichen’s cheek, "Is this enough to convince Xiao Zhuo-daren?"
All Yichen could do was shake his head in disagreement.
Yuanzhou’s smile deepened, "Then I don’t think I have any choice but to prove it...More clearly."
And Yichen wanted nothing more than that.
The next morning, when Bai Jiu excitedly went to his Zhuo Gege's room with the antidote, he was met with a demon beaming with joy and Xiao Zhuo looking healthier than ever.
It seemed that Zhuo Yichen no longer needed the antidote.
Ying Lei thought with a mischievous grin as he stood behind the confused Bai Jiu.