My Darling Sick Beauty

“Ok, I'll keep you company.”

Jiang Zheliu slept for a day and a night.

When he opened his eyes, that feeling of utter exhaustion had been slightly alleviated. Outside it was dark, and a slight pitter patter of the rainfall could be heard, there had not been a clear day for a few days now.

It was as if there was no light.

But behind the screen, there was a small candle burning, which was giving off a very soft flickering light. In the incense burner, there were remnants of a pine scented incense stick, which had been burning for such a long time so the entire house smelled like Wenren Ye, but this scent was even sweeter and softer.

Jiang Zheliu looked towards the rain outside the window, raised his hand a little and touched the pair of hard devil horns. The devil horns had blood-red patterns climbing up it, such complicated lines, which were clearly imbued in devilish energy. 

 

Wenren Ye opened his eyes when he felt his light touch and looked up at Jiang Zheliu.

The little devil didn’t seem to have slept, but the devils were always very spirited in nature.

His hand grabbed the cold hard devil horn and played with it for a while before letting go. It seemed that he wanted to say something but his voice was incredibly hoarse so it was as if he hadn’t spoken at all.

Jiang Zheliu stopped trying to speak, and tried to massage his throat as he looked up at Wenren Ye.

The little devil was getting nervous and passed him a cup of tea, there seemed to be something else in the cup which was releasing a sweet scent. 

 

Jiang Zheliu accepted the cup, and discovered that the temperature was just right so he lowered his head to take a few sips. After moistening his lips and throat, he was finally able to force out: “…..How long was I asleep?”

“Not too long.” Wenren Ye’s expression did not change as he said, “Just for a little while.”

Jiang Zheliu found him odd, and lowered his head to continue drinking the tea.

His robes were disorderly and had fallen off his shoulder slightly exposing extensive bruising and love bites, which were all proof of Wenren Ye’s ‘excessive cruelty’. The little devil felt more and more guilty, the more he looked at it, and his gaze was stuck on the other’s body, leaning in closer and closer.

The Heavenly Spirit Body was no longer feverish, so Jiang Zheliu’s body was no longer releasing that sweet scent, all that remained was the icy cold aura from his Dao body, as well as a vital energy that was coming from the resurrection stone.

Whichever it was, it was still fragrant and made him want to get closer, get very close.

Whilst he was thinking about it, he did in fact move closer, a pair of solid devil horns began to rub against Jiang Zheliu and then he got even closer, and turned to embrace him.

The hand that was holding the tea cup paused and he looked up at Wenren Ye. He was not feeling too comfortable, but the little devil had already got up close as if he had smelled some delicious snack, and then he stuck right up against his ear to speak.

“Is there anywhere that hurts?”

Of course there is.

Jiang Zheliu didn’t really want to say anything, his body had so many places that ached, but saying it out loud would make him lose face and authority as a senior, so he didn’t say a thing and just continued to drink his tea, ignoring him.

Just because Jiang Zheliu ignored him, didn’t mean that the little devil would stop talking. He continued to ask Jiang Zheliu at length, starting with the broadest questions then moving into more focused ones, finally he asked about every single body part and organ but when he got to the most humiliating part, he was stopped by the look in Jiang Zheliu’s eyes.

The warm tea had soothed his threat, he slowly spoke, “Stop asking, just get a bit further away from me, I’ll be fine in a few days.”

If he stayed too close, who knew what else he’d do to torment him.

Wenren Ye suffered another push back, but was resolute in his decision to stay by his side. His gaze moved down from the hickey to the shoulder, moving across his collarbones, and then he reached out and tugged at Jiang Zheliu’s shirt, wanting to take another look ……

But his hand was caught.

Jiang Zheliu looked at him calmly but he had a look of disapproval in his eyes.

It wasn’t just disapproval, it was suspicion.

Wenren Ye stared at the bite mark on his hand and after a long while he said: “….. Let me take a look at your injuries.”

Yeh right.

Jiang Zheliu looked back at him and said: “I’m fine.”

That was a rather unconvincing statement. He didn’t look like he was okay.

The little devil didn’t listen to him, he wanted to completely understand what injuries he had on his body but in the end, Jiang Zheliu turned away from him, pulled up his beloved quilt and completely ignored him.

…… This pretty much symbolised the start of a new one-sided cold war.

The next day at noon, Chang Qian saw his little uncle sitting at the desk on the second floor using wine to drown his sorrows. His little brain started ticking and he understood that his little uncle and shenxian gege must have got into a fight. He thought that they were both a bit too immature so he put down the bowl of medicine on the table, and then stayed next to Wenren Ye for a moment to ask after him.

Chang Qian stood beside his little uncle, and seriously denounced the fact that his shenxian gege was ignoring him, and then he delivered the bowl of medicine behind the screen—— And saw all the bruises and marks on Jiang Zheliu’s body.

Chang Qian’s mind went blank, he looked at the faint red mark upon the other’s fingertips, and then stuttered: “Gege, you’re okay right………”

Jiang Zheliu found it more and more difficult to swallow the medicine and it was so bitter that he frowned. As soon as he heard this he realised that Chang Qian had misunderstood the situation and explained: “It actually doesn’t hurt.”

No one would believe that. Chang Qian stared with wide eyes for a long while, and then turned and left, when he went past Wenren Ye, he completely ignored him and went downstairs.

Not long after that, Ah-Chu found out about the mistreatment of his shenxian gege.

The two little demons were so furious they gritted their teeth, noses were not noses and eyes were not eyes1,when Ah-Chu went up to go and help shenxian gege change into fresh robes, he quietly said: “Scum gong.”

Jiang Zheliu was very close to Ah-Chu and so he had heard what he said, he looked up a tiny bit and repeated: “Scum gong?”

“Yes, that’s an expression from where I’m from.” The little deer said angrily, “Those who force and recklessly ravage without a thought for the shou, they are called a scum gong!”

Jiang Zheliu was silent for a while, he glanced over at the back of Wenren Ye: “In fact he….”

“Gege, don’t bother with him.” Ah-Chu said, filled with indignation, “Look what he has done to you! You’re already so frail!”

The last part was the truth, Jiang Zheliu was still awfully thin, his muscles and bones were aching making him feel weak, his whole body hurt and there was one place that was particularly painful, so he changed his tone: “Yes, it was a bit excessive.”

That night, the great Devil Lord whom had called ‘excessive’ climbed into bed with him.

The candle flame flickered vigorously, creating a long string of reflections on the wall. The moonlight penetrated through the wooden window, melding with the candlelight to form half gold half silver threads.

After the rain stopped, the wind also ceased.

Today, the black clouds had also seemed to disperse, allowing Jiang Zheliu to see a pair of the brightest stars. Seemingly aggrieved, yet still looking over with half expectation, they turned from brilliant purple to deep violet.

The little devil’s horns were up against him, rubbing and grinding, and then he bit his lips, and kissed his throat, as if he was venting his anger, but he didn’t use any force, and just lightly bit him once.

And then he watched as Jiang Zheliu’s neck flushed red.

So annoyingly delicate.

“What is wrong with you.” Wenren Ye was displeased, “How come as soon as I touch……”

Jiang Zheliu sighed quietly, and told him what he thought: “Perhaps my physique and the medicine aren’t compatible, it’s a side effect.”

This kind of situation was indeed not normal, but what Jiang Zheliu guessed was in line with what Yu Jinnian had said, however it didn’t seem particularly serious, so the two of them were not particularly worried.

But the reason that the two of them were not worried was the same…. The symptom had already been mentioned in the Dual Cultivation Manual, and the book had detailed this fact. Although, it might not be accurate, but it was a direction to be investigated.

The other thing was….. C*pulation between the Heavenly Spirit Body and humans very easily led to addiction. However, it was still unknown the effect it had on devils.

Jiang Zheliu touched the area that he had made red, but didn’t feel anything, it seemed that it was just frightening to look at.

Wenren Ye stared at him for a long while and then suddenly said: “If it’s just like this then it’s fine.”

Jiang Zheliu looked up in astonishment, and stared at the little misjudged devil.

“……. The Devil Realm will definitely think,” he touched his chin, “that I’m super powerful.”

Jiang Zheliu: “……”

How childish, how did he fall for him?

He didn’t get a chance to refute when Wenren Ye had already picked him up and kissed him. Wenren Ye was stuck to his ear making the base of his ear flush, the hot breath making him go weak.

“In a few days something is happening in the Devil Realm, I must go back.” Wenren Ye whispered, “Spend some time with me, don’t ignore me.”

Too pathetic, like a fierce beast which had been declawed and de-fanged, only giving all of his devotion and love to him, utterly dedicated, as if his every move or word could affect his heart.

There were once many people who tried to find out what Jiang Xianzun liked, but none of them guessed correctly. And there were also many people who used every trick in the book to get close to and try to get him to like them.

But those were the wrong people, and the timing was wrong. When the timing is wrong then it will become a nuisance, and when it is the wrong person then they are just a stumbling block in his way.

It’s hard to find someone to love.

Jiang Zheliu was somewhat thankful to these devils who had first broken his door.

He reached out and stroked Wenren Ye’s head, his voice carrying a hint of joy: “Ok, I’ll keep you company.”

His voice was very gentle and quiet, and somewhat seductive. The little devil very slowly nibbled on his ear, and brought the soft little willow tree into his arms.

The Devil Realm was scarce and barren, not even a blade of grass could grow, this was the only thing that he’d taken care of well since he was little.
 

————

At the same moment, at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain.

After a rainy night, there was a rare clear sky, the evening light was bright and the stars filled the sky.

A flying device stopped at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, stopping in front of the dense pine and cypress forest.

Upon the flying device was engraved a crest of a fierce and sharp looking sword, it was the Ling Xiao Sword.

But they couldn’t enter Zhongnan Mountain.

It seemed that there was some sort of invisible barrier around it, stopping all movement in and out. No living thing could enter.

Lin Qingxu got down from the flying device, and reached out to touch the invisible barrier. He turned around to look at the young disciples of Ling Xiao Sect and sighed regretfully: “It looks like Jiang Xianzun doesn’t want me to see him.”

No one spoke from behind him.

“What’s the point in becoming the substitute Sect Leader if it is unofficially conferred!” He smoothed his hand over the horsetail whisk, “If I can’t see Xianzun today and seek guidance from him…. Then I am truly useless.”

He talked and coughed, putting on an exquisite show, until the band of young cultivators behind him couldn’t watch any longer, and comforted him: “Grand Elder, don’t be discouraged, perhaps Jiang Qianbei doesn’t know you have come.”

Lin Qingxu agreed with this, he had helped Jiang Zheliu for many years and know that the latter treated Ling Xiao Sect with the utmost important, and would not sit idly by, so he added with some insincerity: “I am untalented, I cannot possibly pick up the mantle. Xianzun has not returned the sword, it must be for this reason. Perhaps we should all go together and seek the Head of the Immortal Sects, and ask him to appoint a new Sect Leader.”

The people who were standing behind him were all deep in thought for a moment. Especially those few Guardians and other Grand Elders of the Sect who had come, and had also been eyeing up the position of Sect Leader.

“Set up the formation.” Lin Qingxu flicked his horsetail whisk, swept a glance over the band of people —— It wasn’t that Ling Xiao Sect didn’t have any outstanding disciples in the younger generation, it was just that some of them had been suppressed, whilst some of the others had left when Jiang Zheliu left the sect, and the others…… had been sent elsewhere. He didn’t bring any of them over.

“Use the Ling Xiao Sword Declaration Formation, we don’t need to break the barrier, we just need the Head of the Immortal Sects to know we have arrived.”

Just as everyone was getting ready to attack, from within the dusky curtain of darkness, a creaking and croaking noise could be heard.

He looked up and saw an incredibly large devilish energy disperse, blood-red wings spread open in mid-air, bringing with him a stench of blood and killing intent.

Something got thrown up in the air and then caught again in the palm of his hand.

Lin Qingxu was astonished, at the edge of this barrier, an enormous devil hidden amongst the pine trees was unrolling his wings, and then gradually revealing a scarlet set of eyes.

He had a blood red armour on his body, the armour had bones sticking out the front, and wrapped around half of his arm.

His forehead was split open with a small crack exposing a single horn, which was purple and covered in devilish markings.

Shi Binghen caught the half skull in his hand and then he stretched out lazily his body and his blood red wings, making his bones and joints pop. He stretched out his hand and then propped up his chin, narrowed his eyes and looked over, his devilish energy lingering over, whilst he stood there in his red robes and with a friendly smile on his face.

“Good evening.” Shi Binghen licked his fangs, “Zhongnan Mountain welcomes you all, I am the Forest Ranger here, I’ve already buried thirty-five woodcutters today.”

He slowly yawned, his peach blossom shaped eyes narrowed, an intense killing intent was dispersed.

“Let me see —— whose skull weighs the most.”

Author Note:

Shi Binghen’s devilish form consists of blood-red bat-like wings, the bones are just added support.

Yeye’s devilish form consists of bone wings without any flesh or skin, impossible to nibble on (?)