CH 37

In Name Only

There was only a single bed in the room, so the two demons had to squeeze together. Hu Le was still angry with Xuan Long and refused to talk to him, but after Xuan Long had fallen asleep, he gingerly made his way to the bed, looking steadily at that handsome face and touching it.

At first, he didn't dare to get too close, his heart thumping as if it were about to fly out of his chest, but Hu Le never knew he could be this innocent, he was just so happy to be under the same roof as another being, so he wanted to get closer, and closer.

Xuan Long's body was so warm that he could feel the warmth of his body half an inch away. Hu Le couldn't resist, so he carefully wrapped his arms around his waist and pressed himself against him.

It was just like the old days when he had slept with his brother in his arms.

But it seemed a little different from that feeling, exactly what was different, he didn't quite understand.

Xuan Long was wounded and sleeping heavily, unaware that the little fox was secretly using him as a warming tool. Hu Le was taller than Xuan Long, with arms long enough to enclose him in his arms.

Hu Le nudged Xuan Long's tall nose and frowned, "You stupid dragon, if you don't listen to me, don't look for me to cry when the time comes."

"......"

There was no response.

The next day, before dawn, Hu Le rose and went to the mountains to hunt pheasants and rabbits. Xuan Long was pregnant and had not yet recovered from his serious injuries, so he should eat well.

The pheasant was stewed into a soup and the rabbit was roasted to perfection. When Xuan Long woke up, he smelled the scent and walked outside in search of it. Hu Le was in the courtyard, a pile of firewood was burning and the rabbit was roasting on the fire next to a red-hot cooker with a pot of soup stewing on the stove, gurgling and steaming.

Hu Le, in a blue brocade robe, sat on the ground without raising his head: "Awake?"

“Mhmm." Xuan Long responded.

"Go in and sit for a while, food will be served soon."

Xuan Long stood still, waiting for Hu Le to finish the breakfast, and followed him in.

Hu Le poured out the chicken soup from the pot into a large white bowl, while the roast rabbit was cut into pieces with a knife and served on a plate. He had been in the community longer than Xuan Long and naturally knew more about earthly things than Xuan Long.

All of these bowls and plates were picked up by the restaurant when his brother was around. They were all broken bowls with holes in them which didn't affect the use of them, but they were not very beautiful. For them, it was good enough if they could hold something. Later, when his brother died, he didn't want to throw them away, as each one held memories.

Hu Le used a soup spoon to scoop a large chicken leg into a small bowl, then added a spoonful of soup and pushed it in front of Xuan Long: "Let's eat."

He had no expression on his face, but Xuan Long could sense his good intentions. In this respect, Hu Le and Yan Yuan were somewhat alike; they had a twisted energy about them and both loved to sulk.

"Thank you." Xuan Long responded, reaching out to take it.

Hu Le snorted and lowered his head to drink his soup, his nine snow-white tails appearing behind him, dangling on the ground and swaying lazily.

He had been spoiled by his brother since he was a child, and he had a certain temper and liked to be coaxed. He does not care for other creatures, and only those that he liked could coax him. This stupid dragon couldn't coax anyone, and Hu Le wanted to talk to him, but he couldn't face it, so the meal ended quietly, nearly causing him internal injuries.

As Hu Le rose to clear the table, Xuan Long spoke up, whispering, "I'm going back."

"Back where?” Hu Le looked up at him.

Xuan Long: "Chang'an."

Hu Le's face went cold: "You're going back to that human?"

Xuan Long pursed his lips, not answering him: "You must not kill any more people. It's not worth it to dirty your own hands for those people."

Hu Le clutched a pale green rag in his hand, his chest heaving viciously a few times, and his beautiful face revealing his fury. He suddenly flung the rag on the table and sneered, "That's none of your business, who are you to me, do I need you to take care of me?!"

"......"

"I am not qualified to take charge of you." Xuan Long was silent for a long time.

It was just that Hu Le had a pitiful life. They had already crossed paths, and he was taking care of himself like this, so he was more or less at ease.

Before he met him, he had thought that he was an evil demon who did not understand spirituality, and that was why he had gone on such a killing spree. After understanding it, he realised that there is a reason as well as a cause and effect.

He could not bear to let him do it again.

The only thing he could do was to persuade him to be kind.

For the sake of Yan Yuan, but also for the sake of Hu Le.

"Then what are you saying all this for? Does it matter half a penny to you whether I kill or not, whether I cultivate the path of goodness or not? To put it bluntly, it's still for the sake of your beloved human, so that you can complete your mission and then go back to continue living in peace and harmony with him, isn't it?"

Xuan Long's thick eyebrows wrinkled slightly: "It's not..." 

"Clearly it is! You and I only met in passing, if not for that, why would you worry so much about me?!” Hu Le was so angry that the corners of his eyes turned red, and he turned his back to Xuan Long, unwilling to let him see through his emotions.

Xuan Long looked at his back and spoke in a low voice, “Hu Le, I don't want you to fall into the demonic path."

Hu Le was stunned, and his eyes suddenly got hot, he understood why the feeling of sleeping with Xuan Long was different from his brother, because with his brother, it was familial love, and with Xuan Long... he seemed to like this stupid dragon.

Hu Le inhaled through his nose to hold back the hot feeling and said without good grace, "Hmph, don't talk about all this nonsense. If you can, go back and tell that human that you failed to complete your mission and see if he will give you a good face."

"If you are no longer of use to him, will he discard you like a mere piece of junk, or will he continue to treat you like a treasure."

Xuan Long's throat tightened and he said in a low muffled voice, "... He won't."

Hu Le turned to look at him expressionlessly, "Won't you know if you try?"

That afternoon, Xuan Long set off on his way back to Chang'an.

It was raining heavily and it was as gloomy as evening. Thinking about what Hu Le said, Xuan Long flew through the air extraordinarily fast, his destination being the Imperial City.

That answer, Xuan Long did not dare to imagine. He had to find out for himself from Yan Yuan whether he would give him up if he was no longer of use.

Would he?

Probably not, after all, he was so kind to him, he would hug him and say he liked him over and over again, he would give him medicine, and he would prepare fresh fish cakes for him before leaving.

No one had ever treated him that way before.

If all those good intentions were fake... Xuan Long subconsciously didn't want to think about it any further.

It took three days to get there, but only a day and a half to get back. He had used up so much spiritual energy that he had very little left to reserve for the child in his womb. Xuan Long didn't dare waste any more, so he didn't even bother to use the rain cover technique, and was soaked to the bone by the rainstorm that fell for several days. When he arrived at the Imperial City, the rain had stopped and there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

When Xuan Long was passing by the laundry bureau, he suddenly heard some palace maids washing clothes and talking about Yan Yuan, so he landed on the ground and listened in silence.

The two young palace maids were oblivious, only feeling a gust of wind fall on their cheeks.

"Eh, have you heard ah, recently there is a foreign country that brought more than ten beautiful children to the Emperor as a tribute. The king of the foreign country knows that the Emperor likes men, so he picked all the men whose bones were more beautiful than women’s. I heard… that they are much better looking than the Queen." The little blue-clothed melon-faced palace maid on the left padded over to whisper with the little blue-clothed round-faced palace maid on the right.

"What's the use of that, the Emperor and the Empress are deeply in love and have agreed to spend a lifetime together, how can the Emperor look at other people. Other people, ah, in the eyes of the Emperor, are... all nothing." The round-faced little palace maid stumbled over the new words she had recently learned and used them with eyes full of envy.