Faintly, he heard the sound of sobbing.
Ziyuan woke up from his slumber, rubbing his face and arms that had fallen asleep due to lying by the bed. He noticed that Wei Yu, lying on the bed with his back turned, had a slight tremor in his back, accompanied by the sound of sobbing.
“Hey, are you okay? Why are you crying? Does the wound hurt?” Ziyuan quickly turned him over to check, but Wei Yu, a step ahead, turned around on his own, got up, and pounced on Ziyuan.
The slender arms of the young man tightly embraced Ziyuan’s neck, and his tear-filled face was hidden on Ziyuan’s shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Ziyuan initially wanted to push Wei Yu away but suddenly couldn’t bring himself to do it. The golden hair in front of him sparkled like the morning sun in the candlelight, and the young body had a warmth that approached heat. Although the scene of a human hugging a demon seemed somewhat comical, Ziyuan, unable to resist that warmth, eventually did not refuse him.
Holding onto Ziyuan tightly, Wei Yu suppressed his sobbing and whispered with a nasal tone, “I had a very sad dream.”
“A nightmare? Aren’t you too old for that, and you’re still afraid of mere nightmares?” Ziyuan immediately mocked.
“It’s not a nightmare, just something that really… makes people sad.”
“Is it that serious?” The demon race, aside from having prophetic dreams, generally does not dream. Therefore, Ziyuan had no experience of being frightened by nightmares, let alone understanding the feeling of emotions influenced by dreams.
Wei Yu nodded in response. Although he couldn’t be completely certain about the reality of the dream, he was willing to believe it. In that dream, Wei Yu stood from an outsider’s perspective and witnessed the whole story.
The pitiful creature known as Pig Shit was the child born from his mother after she spent a night with the sacred beast. He had a bloodline that was half sacred beast and half human, which might be the reason for his deformity.
When he was resurrected by the Demon King, did he forcibly change his appearance and discard all the memories of past sorrows and excessively kind benevolence to protect himself?
Wei Yu had heard before that the flower commonly called “Wanrong” had another name, which was “Ziyuan.”
Even though he should have forgotten everything, in the end, he gave himself this name. Perhaps it was because that gentle nature was never truly eradicated; it had been silently hidden within Ziyuan, awaiting the right moment to awaken.
Additionally, Wei Yu made a significant discovery that Ziyuan was not the real Demon King but a trusted aide by the Demon King’s side. That was why, although Wei Yu initially sensed a special magical aura from Ziyuan, every time they were alone, the dark and chilling feeling disappeared, as if the Demon King’s aura on Ziyuan was only unintentionally acquired.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
At the same time, he was certainly sure about who the Demon King was. However, he never expected that the Demon King would be following another hero, and even concealed his aura so well that he didn’t seem like the Demon King at all.
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“What do you want me to explain, Ziyuan?” He seemed to have heard Ziyuan shouting for an explanation before going to sleep, but Wei Yu really didn’t know what he was supposed to explain.
“Sacred Beast! Didn’t you say that you would go abroad to seek the Sacred Beast to protect your country, but you’ve already received the protection of a Sacred Beast yourself.”
“What?”
“Are you planning to play dumb and evade the issue?” Seeing his confused look, Ziyuan immediately retorted loudly. He wouldn’t allow Wei Yu to brush him off with a careless attitude; he was sure Wei Yu didn’t have the guts for that.
“I didn’t mean that… Are you saying I was protected by a Sacred Beast?”
“Don’t pretend anymore,” Ziyuan picked up the old doctor’s notes and flipped to the page with the recorded totem, accusing sharply, “It’s this, did you not see this totem all over your body before you passed out?”
Wei Yu approached and carefully examined the totem, immediately inhaling sharply. Indeed, when he thought his body would be burned to ashes by the power of the goddess, at that moment, a purplish-red flame totem ignited from his fingertips. It seemed to replace the function of the hero totem that Wei Yu lacked, forcefully suppressing the power of the goddess within him, making the power obedient to Wei Yu.
Afterward, Wei Yu only remembered annihilating the nearly invincible demonic beast in an instant. When he rushed to Ziyuan’s side, Ziyuan had already fainted. Later, Wei Yu moved Ziyuan to a safer and more level place, and healed Ziyuan’s foot injury. However, right after healing him, Wei Yu himself collapsed due to exhaustion.
Ziyuan roughly understood the events that happened after he fainted, and then explained to Wei Yu what happened during his unconsciousness.
He carried Wei Yu to seek medical help. The old doctor recognized the mark of the Holy Beast and, after verification, confirmed that Wei Yu was indeed protected by a certain Sacred Beast. Afterwards, they stayed in this room for a temporary rest.
“You still haven’t said when you formed a connection with the Sacred Beast,” Ziyuan said in an unsavory tone. At the beginning, he had a momentary thought of protecting Wei Yu himself, replacing all the people in the world, and even that useless goddess, protecting the hero from any harm from then on. This also included protecting Wei Yu’s heartfelt love for his homeland without any regrets. However, all of this was dashed the moment Ziyuan learned that Wei Yu was protected by a Sacred Beast. That’s why he was so resentful.
“I formed a connection with the Sacred Beast… Uh, wait a moment! Isn’t that…” Connecting all the events together, Wei Yu immediately widened his eyes. He knew what was going on. When he formed a connection with the Sacred Beast and the origin of that Sacred Beast. The answer Ziyuan wanted was right in front of him.
The bitter smile that was originally lingering on Wei Yu’s face gradually turned into a suppressed chuckle. How should he explain this situation?
‘So, you’re that Sacred Beast, Ziyuan? So, you like me this much?’ Wei Yu simulated the situation a bit, but he was certain that Ziyuan would knock him down first and then ask again with a fierce tone. Ziyuan would never believe that he was a Sacred Beast, as he firmly believed in being a proud and powerful demon.
‘It’s a secret, I can’t tell you.’ This would definitely get him punched by Ziyuan in a second. It was like the most classic example of digging his own grave.
Facing Ziyuan’s gaze, which felt like needles, Wei Yu started to feel a bit distressed about how to explain. However, the predominant emotion was one of happiness.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Wei Yu reached up to cup Ziyuan’s face from above. Before Ziyuan could react, Wei Yu gently kissed his forehead in a tender manner, then placed light kisses on his temples, the tip of his nose, and both cheeks. The actions were filled with infinite affection, as if the roles of the two had completely reversed.
In the end, Wei Yu decided to tell Ziyuan straightforwardly, “Whether I have the protection of a Sacred Beast or not doesn’t matter. As long as I have you, Ziyuan, by my side, that’s enough.”
It had nothing to do with the power of the Sacred Beast. Wei Yu felt immensely joyful because Ziyuan chose to stay by his side. What he needed was not protection but someone who would be there for him even when all hope seemed to abandon him.
Unexpectedly receiving such a cheesy response and an unexpected assault, Ziyuan’s momentum was completely overwhelmed by Wei Yu’s sincere expression. Missing the best opportunity to mock, Ziyuan couldn’t bring himself to utter a sarcastic word.
Wei Yu’s attitude showed no hint of insincerity. He gazed at Ziyuan with a focused look, and the image of the purple-haired demon was reflected in his left eye, which sparkled like jade.
Wei Yu flashed a gentle smile at him, but Ziyuan awkwardly averted his gaze.
“How long do you plan to keep smiling? Since you’re already so awake, hurry up and leave this place with me.” To conceal the softened attitude from earlier, Ziyuan redirected the conversation to the current situation. This also included his resentment towards the old doctor, the self-important scholar who had fumbled around Wei Yu and used nauseating terms to address him. The mere thought of it disgusted Ziyuan, and he even entertained the idea of setting the clinic on fire after leaving. However, this idea only occurred to him while waiting for Wei Yu to wake up.
“But I haven’t thanked the doctor who treated me yet; it would be impolite not to.” Despite Ziyuan’s dissatisfaction, Wei Yu actually suggested expressing gratitude to the old doctor.
Ziyuan raised an eyebrow, disdainfully retorting, “Oh, you want to thank him?” He forcefully banged on the window of the small room, causing the glass to scatter into the dawn-colored morning mist. Then, Ziyuan leaped onto the windowsill, turned back to Wei Yu, and said,
“Anyway, you have nothing to do with me. If you want to thank someone, stay and do it yourself. I’m leaving.” Without giving Wei Yu a chance to stop him, Ziyuan jumped out of the window.
Without a second thought, Wei Yu rushed to the windowsill and followed suit. He effortlessly spread his wings in mid-air, intercepting Ziyuan before he landed. Unfortunately, it resulted in a rather embarrassing scene – a small human hugging a demon twice his size from behind – devoid of any romantic notions.
“Again with this stupid pose. Let me go quickly,” scolded Ziyuan.
“But I was afraid that you would leave me behind,” Wei Yu explained.
“Didn’t you just say something about thanking?!” Ziyuan retorted.
“While gratitude and courtesy are important, compared to you, Ziyuan, those things seem insignificant.”
This remark left Ziyuan stunned again. He couldn’t help but lift the corners of his mouth in triumph. Since he had his back to Wei Yu now, he didn’t mind letting his smile show, indulging in the expression.
“Well, you truly are an uncultured prince,” Ziyuan remarked with a smile, his voice lacking the disdain he used to have for Wei Yu.
“Uh, what should I do then…” Wei Yu was playfully teased by Ziyuan and didn’t know how to respond, but he thoroughly enjoyed the situation.
He landed with Ziyuan in an open space outside the village. Since Ziyuan didn’t want to stay in the village, Wei Yu decided to leave without hesitation.
“Oh, by the way, Ziyuan, let me ask you something.” Suddenly remembering something he wanted to confirm, Wei Yu spoke up, “Did you choose your own name?”
“Seems like it,” Ziyuan nonchalantly replied. When he was deciding on a name, he didn’t put much thought into it. He chose it quite casually.
“Why did you choose ‘Ziyuan’ then?”
Ziyuan, indifferent to this question, still gave it a brief thought before answering, “Just some insignificant details. I’ve forgotten a long time ago. Why are you asking about this?”
“Is it really insignificant?” Wei Yu contemplated for a moment before lifting his head and smiling, “You’re right; it might be. But I really like it. Of course, it’s not just the name, Ziyuan, I like everything about you.”
“Did you injure your head this time? I beg you, please don’t say those nauseatingly cheesy things to me anymore, okay?” Ziyuan, unable to bear it any longer, pleaded, supporting his forehead. This series of confessions had stripped away his usual arrogant demeanor.
Wei Yu just chuckled and changed the topic obediently. The pair of white wings on his back seemed to vibrate even more magnificently than before, and then they were retracted into Wei Yu’s body.
He continued to follow Ziyuan and secretly made a certain decision in his heart.
‘Just like how you inadvertently chose me, allowing me to be protected by a sacred beast and stay by your side, I, too, swear in my heart that someday, I will achieve everything in the world with my own hands and dedicate all my accomplishments to you, Ziyuan—I make this vow.’
Everything is just coming together and I just – my heart 😭💖
Words just can’t describe my feelings right now