CH 32

Evil Spirits Haunt Us

There was no bed in the outer hall, only a table and chairs for meeting guests. How could someone sleep there?

In fact, Yan Yuan's mouth was just a little bit uncontrolled. In his heart, he thought that if Xuan Long could give in to him and say a few nice words to coax him, what would be so difficult about giving him a place on the side of the bed. The matter of the inner elixir could be discussed later.

But the dragon was just stupid, so stupid that he couldn't even say a word to coax others, and when he was told to leave, he really left, which was extremely boring. 

He slept alone all night, and left in a huff early the next morning. When he went to the outer hall, he saw Xuan Long sleeping on the table. Perhaps because he felt Yan Yuan's cold gaze, Xuan Long climbed up and saw Yan Yuan looking at him expressionlessly.

“A’Yuan…” He opened his mouth and hesitated as if he wanted to say something, but Yan Yuan didn't give him a chance, grunting out of his nose and leaving with a flick of his sleeves.

Xuan Long froze in place for a long time, then slowly lowered his eyes.

If Yan Yuan wanted something from a mortal, all he had to do was open his mouth and there would be people scrambling to bring it to him. Only this dragon was insensitive to good and bad and refused to hand over the inner elixir, clutching it like a treasure. 

It was not possible to rob him openly, nor was it possible to force him to do it. The only weakness of Xuan Long was that he was in love with Yan Yuan, so Yan Yuan grabbed this opportunity and hung him out to dry on purpose.

He was left to dry for three whole days.

Ning Zhiyu's spirits fluctuate, but with the previous dragon scales to support him, it should still be possible to hold out for 30 to 50 days. Yan Yuan plans to hang Xuan Long out to dry so that when Xuan Long gets anxious, he can go back to grind him up.

As for the time in between, he would naturally spend it wholeheartedly with Ning Zhiyu.

It rained early in the morning and the sun came out in the afternoon, so the hot air was washed away a bit and it was very comfortable. Ning Zhiyu had been lying on the bed for too long and always wanted to go out for a walk. Yan Yuan was afraid that his boredom would lead to depression and aggravate his condition, so he took this day to take him to the Imperial Garden for a walk.

Ning Zhiyu was sitting in front of the bronze mirror, and Yan Yuan was standing behind him, holding a wooden comb and gently grooming his long black hair. However, despite the fact that Ning Zhiyu had become Yan Yuan's empress, he still felt a little uneasy. 

“A'Yuan, just let the palace servants do this. You are the emperor, how can you stoop so low for me?"

"Let me do it myself..." Ning Zhiyu turned sideways to snatch the wooden comb from Yan Yuan's hand, but Yan Yuan raised his hand to avoid it. "How many times have I said that I am willing to do such things for you."

Seeing his insistence, Ning Zhiyu had to give up. Yan Yuan continued to comb his hair with a smile in his eyes, a happiness and satisfaction that came from deep inside.

"I always feel as if I used to do the same thing in my last life, slowly combing your hair and tying it up, while you sat there quietly, not moving, letting me do it."

Ning Zhiyu was amused: "You remember everything from your past life, A'Yuan?"

Yan Yuan: "That is natural, otherwise how could I have found you so smoothly, I relied on my intuition. Perhaps I loved you so much that I was obsessed with you, and I often saw you in my dreams. Later, when I met you again, I rarely had that dream anymore." 

Ning Zhiyu looked at Yan Yuan in the mirror and wondered where his melancholy was coming from: "What dream?"

Yan Yuan came up to Ning Zhiyu's ear, as if to whisper. Ning Zhiyu was about to listen when he heard him exhale, "... Won't tell you."

Ning Zhiyu was stunned and laughed, “A'Yuan..."

Yan Yuan straightened up and burst out laughing, and it took a while before he stopped. Looking deeply into Ning Zhiyu's pale, clear face in the mirror, he clasped his hands lightly on his shoulders.

"It's nothing. It doesn't matter what happened in your past life, what matters is that you are by my side and in front of me at this moment."

Ning Zhiyu twisted around and tilted his head to look at Yan Yuan, his eyes filled with lingering affection, "Mm."

As they stared at each other for a while, Yan Yuan remembered the tragic scene in his dream, and looked at Ning Zhiyu, who was sitting in front of him. His heart ached so much that he could not help but bend down and kiss him, while Ning Zhiyu obediently closed his eyes. 

The two of them were in the middle of their love affair when a loud, coarse roar suddenly came from far outside the hall.

“Report–"

Yan Yuan let go of Ning Zhiyu and looked out, and it was not long before Chen Yan entered with hurried steps, his face impatient.

Yan Yuan frowned: "What is it?"

Chen Yan knelt down and bowed, "Your Majesty, an urgent report from the border!"

Yan Kite's gaze was cold: "Didn't the small border country that invaded last month surrender? Even the king has been killed, and they still have time to seek death? Tell the general who delivered the message to wait in the outer hall."

Chen Yan followed his orders and went out.

The Imperial Garden was definitely out of the question for the time being, so Yan Yuan turned apologetically to look at Ning Zhiyu, but before he could say anything, Ning Zhiyu told Yan Yuan to get on with his business. He was always so understanding.

Yan Yuan bent down and kissed Ning Zhiyu on the forehead, rubbing his face with his thumbs, and said guiltily, "I will go and take a look, and when I have time, I will come and keep you company and I will go out with you."

Ning Zhiyu shook his head and said with a faint smile, "I'm fine, state affairs are important. A’Yuan, go quickly."

Yan Yuan turned around and left. The general was already waiting in the outer hall, and in a few moments, Yan Yuan had a clear picture of what had happened.

Just last month, after the surrender of the small border country, a fox demon suddenly appeared in the military camp. The fox demon was extremely beautiful, and was known to eat people's hearts, and several hundred soldiers under General Zhenbei died as a result. General Zhenbei had invited several famous cultivators from the border area to subdue the demon, but they all failed to return.

This shows the depth of the demon's power.

Half a month ago, the demon was not satisfied with killing people in the military camp anymore and started hurting people's lives, killing several families in one night. The general who sent the message spent half a month rushing back to Chang'an City, cutting the time in half. Tired from the journey and kneeling in front of Yan Yuan with his dusty face, he no longer looks like a young general. If you ignore the rough and suffocating aura honed from battle wounds, he looks like a beggar.

Yan Yuan ordered the palace staff to arrange accommodation for him and sent the general down to freshen up and fill his stomach.

That night, Yan Yuan summoned the civil servants and military generals to discuss countermeasures. If it was the human race who invaded the country, it would be easy to handle, but a demon is an uncontrollable existence for the human race. Even in Chang'an City, there are occasional demons, but they are only small demons of shallow virtue, which ordinary cultivators can handle.

This is the first time they have seen such a demon that has killed hundreds of people.

In the face of the unknown, the human race looks so small. Even the soldiers who have been trained for years and are physically fit have died so tragically, not to mention the common people. If this continues, sooner or later, the army will be in turmoil and the peoples' hearts will be unstable. Other countries will take advantage of the opportunity to invade, and the kingdom will be in danger.

Yan Yuan would never allow such a thing to happen.

The final decision was to find a more powerful cultivator to remove the demons, but looking around, in the whole of Chang'an City, the only one who could hope to do so was Taoist Master Yuan Kong, who had lived 120 years in his mortal body and had removed most of the demons in Chang'an City. However, just a few days ago, Taoist Master Yuan Kong passed away in his home.

In the imperial study, the civil servants and military generals were sad and the atmosphere was gloomy. Yan Yuan, dressed in his dragon robe, sat behind the dragon desk, seemingly as helpless as they were, but in fact, he already had a plan in mind.

A mortal body cannot withstand the ravages of a demon, but what about a demon? What about a demon with 10,000 years of Tao?

There was one right now, in the side hall of his palace.

If he asks, Xuan Long will definitely go through fire and water to get rid of the demon for him.