CH 35

Fox Demon (Part Two)

Hu Le raised his eyebrows and stared at the blood on his silver whip, surprised, "Don't you dragons all have heart protecting dragon scales? How can you be beaten so badly."

Xuan Long covered his chest, the only blood left in his face fading at a rate visible to the naked eye. Warm blood bubbled out from his fingers as he stood up silently with his long sword propped up on the ground.

Without the dragon scales protecting his heart, he was no different from the fragile human, and naturally, he was easily injured.

Hu Le furrowed his pretty brows and looked at his back, "Hey, are you alright? I didn't mean to hurt you, but you insisted on coming up here to die."

In this state, Xuan Long knew that he would not be able to complete the task given to him by Yan Yuan. He braced himself and walked towards the temple. Finding a dirty place to sit down, he fished out the porcelain bottle from his chest pocket, poured out a foetus pill, and swallowed it, then leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. The rain had stopped outside and his heavy breathing was distinct in the darkness of the night.

It seemed to be a little warm between his legs, the foetus in his belly was frightened and was currently rattling around. Xuan Long gently pressed his palm to his belly as if to comfort it. 

Xuan Long had thought the fox demon had gone, but to his surprise, a moment later there were footsteps at his side, followed by the sound of clothes rubbing together; he should have crouched down beside him.

"You said you were helping someone else to kill me, who is that person?"

Xuan Long naturally could not tell him the identity of Yan Yuan, and he closed his eyes without answering.

Hu Le stared at the man's heroic face and guessed, "Demons certainly don't care about such idle matters, and apart from the human race, I haven't made any enemies recently, so the one who told you to come and kill me is a human, right?"

"......"

"A dragon of your calibre would not be driven by someone, so that person is either kind to you or in love with you. I guess... you're in love with that human.” Hu Le slowly leaned close to Xuan Long's ear and exhaled hot air. His voice was particularly compelling, as good as a sea demon chanting over the water, mortals would immediately lose their minds when they heard it.

Xuan Long smiled and slowly opened his eyes, turning his head to look at him.

Hu Le's gaze was icy cold: "I really did guess correctly. Another dumb demon."

With such a rude remark, Xuan Long didn't really want to talk to him anymore. His body ached so much that he closed his eyes and just wanted to get a good night's sleep.

The voice suddenly became hoarse.

"Do you know why I killed those people?” Hu Le's eyes changed, and Xuan Long saw watery light under his eyes, along with intense hatred, "Because they deserved to die."

"I once had a twin brother and we relied upon each other for survival; we grew up together, trained together, and left the fox clan together to come to the mortal world to train."

"He fell in love with a mortal who, after learning of his identity as a fox demon, lied to him about loving him and, in the depths of his love, mixed water with a talisman and tricked him into drinking it. When he revealed his original form, they skinned him alive."

"My brother's fur was particularly beautiful, snow white, not a trace of impurities, and more fluffy and soft than mine. As a child, I slept against him like this, and as long as he was at my side, I had nothing to fear... because although he was as weak as I was, he would protect me even if he fought for his life. " The corners of Hu Le's mouth curled up, but tears trickled down from his eyes.

"But that man skinned him alive... do you know why?"

Xuan Long was infected by his sadness and felt some sadness in his heart as well, “Why?"

"Because that human wanted a beautiful hide to make into a scarf to please his beloved.” Hu Le smiled, his eyes showing mockery. "He was a noble prince of a different surname of the Western Hong Kingdom who fell in love with the eldest princess of the kingdom. Naturally, ordinary fox skins did not catch the princess' eye, so he ordered people to go around hunting foxes. Later, he heard the Taoist priest say that fox demons are beautiful in appearance and have the most beautiful fur, which cannot be compared to foxes in the mortal world."

"At that time, my brother and I were mingling in Western Hong to make a living, and the prince, who had learned of my brother's identity from somewhere, went to the bakery where he worked every day to buy buns, treating him with affection and saying that he liked him and wanted to marry him."

"My brother was simple and that prince was born like a dog. It didn't take long for my brother to fall in love with him, and he came home joyfully every day to tell me how good that prince was to him... I still remember that the sunset that evening was particularly beautiful, and my brother said he had to go out to an appointment with that dog prince, but he never got to come back." (Angel: Born like a dog is an idiom meaning that they are a human but act like a dog.)

Hu Le was still laughing, but as he spoke, he could not hold it together, his voice choked up and his face was full of tears.

"He was conscious when he was skinned, and the man skinned him while he was awake just because his beloved wanted a beautiful fox skin."

"But what about my brother? What did my brother do wrong?"

"Once upon a time we also practised the Way of Goodness, and we did not want to steal like other demons, so we took on the form of mortals and bought food with the money we earned with our hands every day, without stealing or robbing half a cent.

Hu Le was crying and trembling, perhaps because he had been alone on earth for too long, and when he suddenly found someone to talk to, he lost control.

Xuan Long raised his hand and gently touched Hu Le's head, "Don't be sad."

When Hu Le first saw him, he didn't hate the man in front of him. It was rare for him to feel kindly towards other beings, so when he was so gently comforted, he suddenly cried more and more. When he was wronged as a child, his brother would do the same to him, stroking his head and telling him not to be sad.

Trembling, he flung himself into Xuan Long's arms, causing him to grunt in pain and break out in a cold sweat. His body stiffened and he endured, but in the end he did not push the little fox away, allowing him to whimper and cry in his arms.

"Our mother died when she gave birth to us, and my brother and I came to the mortal world only when we couldn't survive in the fox clan."

"If I had known this, we would not have come... I would have found a deserted place in the deep woods to hide, and just eat the fish in the water and catch the beasts in the mountains. If I had known that my brother would die, I would not have pestered him to come to the mortal world, woo woo woo... "

Xuan Long hesitantly raised his hand and gently patted Hu Le's back, "Don't cry..."

He really does not know how to comfort people. Hearing this, Hu Le stood up with tears in his eyes, complaining, "I am so pathetic, do I not even have the right to cry?"

Xuan Long: “That’s not..."

Hu Le swooped back in, wrapping his arms around his neck and leaning into him.

"Later, I took revenge for my brother. I killed that dog prince and the ugly-hearted princess, I pulled out the tongue of that nonsense Taoist priest, and I dug out their hearts and roasted them in front of my brother's grave.”

"But what use is that… my brother will never come back, I am the only fox in this world, alone and miserable, and there is no meaning to anything."

"I am happiest only when I kill. Watching those ugly humans as they swoon over me, I pull out their hearts... bloody, how beautiful..."

"It was the same when my brother died in my arms, covered in blood... When I found him at the mass grave, he was still breathing, and he spoke to me, told me not to take revenge, told me to live well... "

"But how can I not take revenge, how can I live well..."

"I can't do it, I can't do it..."

Gradually, Hu Le stopped crying, only his tears kept flowing. He rambled on in Xuan Long's arms for the rest of the night, and Xuan Long patted his back and coaxed him through the night like this.

When the sky lightened, Hu Le found that Xuan Long no longer responded to whatever he said, and, startled by this, he sat up violently.

He saw that the man's face was pale and he had passed out, and his own white robe was half stained with blood.