Chapter 103

After that day, Xie Shu took up temporary residence in a nearby Daoist temple, where he continued to investigate the dragon veins of the Imperial Mausoleum. Sometimes, he would meet with Qixue in the Summer Palace.

At first, Qixue thought probing the dragon veins was just an excuse for Xie Shu, but he later realized it wasn’t. Xie Shu came to the Imperial Mausoleum every year to check on the state of the dragon veins, and since he hadn’t visited yet this year, he took the opportunity to do so now.

After the Cave Abyss emerged into the world, the earth veins became polluted by baleful qi and demon qi, often giving birth to terrifying man-eating demons. The reason Shangjing didn’t spawn any man-eating demons was precisely because the dragon veins suppressed this foul qi, preventing it from drifting to the surface.

The dragon veins not only protected Shangjing but also shielded the entire Great Yong. The closer a prefecture or county was to the dragon veins, the fewer incidents of man-eating demons wreaked havoc there. Remote border prefectures, far from the dragon veins and lacking their draconic qi suppression, were prone to outbreaks of demon chaos.

“These dragon veins were all planted by the Dragon Clan.”

During one of their secret trysts, Qixue curiously asked about the dragon veins. Xie Shu explained to him, “The power of the Dragon Clan is innately opposed to the power of the Cave Abyss. The stronger the Cave Abyss grows, the weaker the Dragon Clan becomes. Cloud Moon Temple is the last pure land in the world, containing not a trace of Cave Abyss power.”

Qixue disliked Xie Shu’s description, which made the Cave Abyss sound like some filthy place. “But I’m a demon from the Cave Abyss too. You can just say those man-eating demons are evil—don’t lump me in with them.”

Xie Shu glanced at him but said nothing. Qixue pressed relentlessly, “Do you really think I’m an evil demon too?”

Xie Shu answered a different question entirely. “If the Dragon Clan went to war with the Cave Abyss God, which side would you take?”

Qixue replied, “Lady Shanyin’s side, of course.”

That was what he had been doing all along, after all.

Xie Shu showed no surprise. “You came from the Cave Abyss and were born a follower of the Cave Abyss God. You’re part of the Cave Abyss power too.”

Qixue let out a light scoff. “Naturally. How could I betray Lady Shanyin for you?”

He answered without the slightest hesitation, clearly not taking Xie Shu’s words seriously.

Even if the Dragon Clan and the Cave Abyss demons were natural enemies, hadn’t they coexisted peacefully for the past few centuries without incident? Besides, if the situation were truly that dire, Xie Shu wouldn’t be with him—he’d be exterminating every demon in the world.

In Qixue’s view, as long as Xie Shu didn’t turn into the original story’s version of himself—slaughtering the world’s demon clans and resealing Lady Shanyin into the Cave Abyss—the world would remain at peace. So if war broke out between the Dragon Clan and the Cave Abyss, it would undoubtedly be Xie Shu’s fault, not Lady Shanyin’s.

Qixue pinched Xie Shu’s chin, trying to look fierce, but Xie Shu was so much taller than him that it came off as utterly adorable instead of intimidating.

He warned Xie Shu sternly, “Don’t you dare target the demon clan or Lady Shanyin, or I absolutely won’t let you off.”

Xie Shu lowered his gaze to look at Qixue, letting him grip his face. “People don’t attack me unless I attack first. You’re not going to forbid me from defending myself, are you?”

“Self-defense doesn’t count,” Qixue said. “But you’re so powerful—who would be foolish enough to provoke you and bully you?”

Xie Shu replied, “You.”

“Me, bullying you? When have I ever bullied you?” Qixue glared at Xie Shu and kicked him several times in a row. “Isn’t it you who’s been bullying me? Spanking my butt every day—it’s still swollen!”

…

Qixue discovered that Helan Ji and Xie Shu must have coordinated their visits in advance, ensuring they never showed up at the same time and avoiding any awkward encounters.

But fending off both of them at once meant Qixue’s waist and butt inevitably suffered. Fortunately, his Dual Cultivation Technique had reached perfection; otherwise, they might have fucked him to death on the bed long ago.

Aside from this sweet little trouble, Qixue’s days passed quite peacefully. He cherished this mundane happiness, seizing every chance to spend time with Helan Ji and Xie Shu. In his free moments, he wrote letters to Ji Yuheng and Wei Huai or prepared farewell gifts for them.

Ji Yuheng and Wei Huai remained in Shangjing, swamped with state affairs every day—especially Wei Huai, who led his iron cavalry each year to sweep away the man-eating demons in the border regions. Now that the season had come around again, he had plenty of preparations to make for this year’s patrol.

Yet no matter how busy they were, both men insisted on writing Qixue a letter every day, and Qixue replied to them daily.

Ji Yuheng’s letters mostly inquired after Qixue’s health and meals, shared amusing palace anecdotes, and subtly conveyed his longing. Wei Huai’s style was the complete opposite—blunt and scorching hot. Qixue often blushed reading them and had to hastily tuck the letters into his jade token.

Things like how Wei Huai missed Qixue whipping him, stepping on his cock, licking his feet like a dog… Qixue was too embarrassed to reply properly!

But if he didn’t respond earnestly, Wei Huai would sulk later…

With that in mind, Qixue would smear bright rouge on his lips, press a lip print onto the letter, and write a few equally bold words in response to satisfy Wei Huai’s cravings.

The effect was excellent. Wei Huai grew so excited that he started sending two letters a day. The White Tiger tasked with delivery raced back and forth under the scorching sun, exhausted into a panting mess, always collapsing by an ice basin to stick out its tongue and gasp for breath for ages.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

Fewer than twenty days remained before Qixue’s departure.

That day, drizzling rain fell endlessly, the sound pattering coolly against the windows.

Qixue sat at his desk, his slender fingers manipulating tufts of snow-white rabbit fur. He twisted the soft fluff into thin strands of yarn, then gently wound them into balls, preparing to knit them into fabric.

All this rabbit fur came from himself—he had painstakingly collected it over several days.

He planned to knit four Fluffy Little Rabbits with it, infusing them with minor spells. A single puff of breath would make the little rabbits hop around and chirp out a few words.

Of course, he’d need to record those words in advance using a sound-preservation spell and seal them into the rabbits’ bodies.

These four plush rabbits were his farewell gifts for his lovers. The spells required minimal demon power to activate, so he intended to pour extra demon power into them, allowing the rabbits to last for decades—enough to accompany Helan Ji and Ji Yuheng for most of their lives.

As for Wei Huai and Xie Shu, there was nothing he could do. They weren’t human, after all, and their lifespans were far too long for the plush rabbits to keep them company.

But by the time the rabbits’ demon power ran out decades later, they probably wouldn’t grieve too much over his “death,” right?

Qixue’s heart filled with bitterness, but his hands didn’t slow. With the aid of spells, he soon finished the last yarn ball and could begin knitting the plush rabbits.

Just a few days earlier, he had used a single strand of rabbit fur to seek aid from Xuan Yang, obtaining a spellbook filled with all sorts of wondrous minor spells—including the one for making plush rabbits.

Upon receiving Qixue’s plea for help, Xuan Yang had feared he was in danger and rushed to the Summer Palace in an instant. Instead, he found Qixue had used a precious life-saving rabbit fur merely to craft farewell gifts for Helan Ji and the others.

Xuan Yang’s expression cooled, but when he saw Qixue’s flustered and guilty look, he quickly reined in his emotions and smiled gently. “No problem. I’ll teach you. What spells do you want to learn?”

He beckoned Qixue over, inviting him to sit on his lap, and conjured an empty scroll. Every spell Qixue mentioned, he recorded into it until every page was filled.

“Thank you, Holy Monarch…”

Qixue hugged the thick tome and thanked him. Xuan Yang affectionately tapped his nose. “Still calling me Holy Monarch? Why not use a more intimate name?”

He paused, then added, “If you don’t want to call me ‘husband,’ you could just use my real name. It’s Qing Yuan.”

“‘Qing,’ ‘Yuan,’ ‘Xuan,’ ‘Yin’—all draw from the meaning of ‘black’ and ‘dimness.’ The Cave Abyss was born from the dark underworld, my place of origin. Back then, I had nothing, so I named myself after it.”

Xuan Yang tightened his arms, hugging Qixue closer, and lightly kissed his long hair.

“A Xue, you’re my wife—the first to know my true name. If you’re willing, why not call me ‘Qing Yuan’ right now?”

Qixue nestled obediently in his arms and softly called out, “Qing Yuan.”

Xuan Yang kissed down along his hair to his earlobe, sighing softly, “So obedient.”

Genuine joy finally shone in his eyes. He hugged Qixue again but didn’t linger, soon departing.

The scroll Xuan Yang gave Qixue contained profound divine power, allowing him to master any spell after reading its incantation a few times.

Qixue was already exceptionally clever. After a few days, he had learned seven or eight out of the thousand-plus spells in the book. Now, whether in depth of demon power or breadth of spells mastered, he could be considered a great demon. He lacked only practical combat experience.

Crafting plush rabbits with spells was thus effortless. Before long, Qixue had knitted all four little rabbits and was preparing to record some words he wanted to say to them.

What should he say to them…

Lost in thought as he toyed with a tiny plush rabbit, Qixue suddenly heard banging on the door.

The knocks were urgent and heavy—he knew exactly who it was at once. “The door’s not locked. Come in.”

“Creeeak…”

The door swung open from outside, pushed by a fluffy tiger paw.

The White Tiger flicked its tail and barged in familiarly, shaking rain from its fur and leaving wet paw prints on the floor.

It was a rainy day, and the White Tiger clearly thrived in the cool weather, appearing far more spirited than usual.

It nimbly delivered the letter tube to Qixue with its mouth, then rolled onto its back to act cute. Rewarded with sweet fruit wine, it sprawled contentedly by the door, lapping at the bowl while admiring the misty rain outside.

Qixue opened the tube and pulled out Wei Huai’s letter. He expected another passionate, lewd declaration of love, but today’s content was surprisingly short—just one scrawled line: Do you want me to sneak to the Summer Palace to see you?

“Asking if I want to see him…”

Qixue clutched the paper and muttered helplessly to himself, “If I say no, will he really stay away? I bet he’d come even more.”

“My A Xue is so clever.”

Suddenly, Wei Huai’s laughing voice came from outside the window. Qixue looked up in surprise and saw Wei Huai in a sleek narrow-sleeved robe, holding an oiled paper umbrella under the eaves. He gazed at Qixue with a teasing smile.

He said to Qixue, “So I came. Because I missed you terribly, whether you missed me or not. A Xue, do you miss me?”

“Of course I do.”

Qixue flashed a sweet smile and beckoned him. “Since you’re already here, why not come straight in? Hurry inside.”

“Because this is more fun.”

Wei Huai grinned too, leaning in through the window to steal a kiss. “Noble Consort, your subject has come again to tryst with you in secret.”