Chapter 137: A Date

Muershi said innocently, "That's the place."

Wen Ying turned Muershi's face forty-five degrees to face Bellos and said, "Before, I found a den of demons and wiped them out with Muershi. That den was in Longle Mountain, which is the place we're talking about now."

Although Bellos knew a little bit more now, he still wasn't very happy. He had been delayed for a week, and indeed, everything was behind schedule.

Seeing their anticipation for the 13th, Diao Mei added uneasily, "He doesn't go there every month on the 13th, but he definitely goes on the 13th when he does..."

Looking over, Muershi's lips curled up, but his eyes were cold. "I hope you'll say it all at once next time, or else it will affect our planning."

Bellos asked, "When you infiltrated the Church's address in Mu City, did you see Wang Run's recent schedule or upcoming missions?"

"Unfortunately, Wang Run's file has a high level of confidentiality," Muershi said with his hands spread. "All the useful information is encrypted."

Wen Ying said, "Let's try our luck."

Luck... Bellos had no desire to rely on luck lately. The word "luck" reminded him of his week-long dumpster experience, and the air around Bellos grew even more oppressive. Diao Mei trembled, afraid that this big shot might just wipe it out with a wave of his hand if he became unhappy. It tried its best to minimize its presence.

Footsteps echoed downstairs as Yang Zhenxing and Cai Yiyi returned home. After pausing on the first floor for a moment, they headed upstairs to find their two sons.

"It's about time," Muershi stood up. "I'll be going back with Huo Jue."

Wen Ying lifted his head. "Aren't you staying?"

Muershi shook his head and smiled. "Who knows what those exorcists in Mu City are up to right now. I'm afraid Huo Jue might get caught in the crossfire. If anything happens to him, I'll have a headache."

Muershi flew out of the balcony, heading for Huo Jue, who was in Yang Shiming's room.

With Muershi gone, the oppressive atmosphere around Perseus dissipated significantly. Wen Ying glanced at him and asked, "Are you jealous?"

Perseus immediately retorted, "Did an exorcist hit your head too hard?"

The corners of Wen Ying's lips curved downward, and he mouthed silently, Just you wait.

Huo Jue soon arrived in the room, taking away the glass bottle containing Diao Mei.

After dealing with their parents, Yang Rixi and Yang Shiming entered the room.

"Mr. Demon, how do your kind interact with each other? I noticed that the demon at the banquet seemed entirely different from you..."

Both boys unloaded their pent-up queries, and Wen Ying patiently answered his "host." Then, he picked up the new phone Yang Rixi had bought for him and checked the latest news online. There were no paranormal or monster-related topics trending on a certain notorious social media platform, nor did any browser push notifications or video apps mention such subjects. From these common channels where ordinary people usually obtained information, it appeared that exorcists were still doing an excellent job of keeping news about demons under wraps.

As he scrolled through his feed, Wen Ying stumbled upon a piece of exhilarating news:

It was unrelated to demons and exorcists, though not entirely disconnected – a demon-themed mobile game was opening an offline café in Mu City. The staff would be dressed in cosplay costumes, and there would be plenty of newly released merchandise and limited-edition items exclusive to this offline event.

This was merely a precursor; they were also planning to open a massive themed store in the same location.

How big? At least as large as a small supermarket.

Despite knowing that the company behind the demon game was problematic, Wen Ying couldn't help but feel his heart race with excitement. He was overwhelmed with enthusiasm.

Bellerophon opened his eyes to see Wen Ying's ecstatic expression, and a nagging premonition crept into his mind. The last time he felt like this...

"I found a newly opened offline store!" Wen Ying flapped his bat-like wings and rushed to Bellerophon, who sat cross-legged. He plopped down on his knees, aligning his gaze with Bellerophon's, and clasped one of the demon's hands with both of his.

Looking into Wen Ying's sparkling eyes, which seemed to hold galaxies within, Bellerophon's eyelids twitched even faster.

Wen Ying's voice was loud and unusually enthusiastic, causing Yang Rixi, who was watching a video, to look over in confusion. "Mr. Demon? Did you make a new discovery?"

Wen Ying cleared his throat and stood up properly, addressing Yang Rixi. "Yes."

Beros' mind was spinning rapidly, almost overheating like a CPU. A reason flashed across his mind, and he immediately seized it, saying to Wen Ying, "It's best for the doll bodies to remain in standby mode to conserve magical energy."

Wen Ying looked at him quizzically. "Did the exorcist also knock some sense out of you?" He emphasized the word "also."

Beros' face darkened slightly.

Unperturbed by Beros' sudden change in mood, Wen Ying continued, "How could a human store possibly use doll bodies? And based on our experience at the comic convention, there might be quite a few exorcists there. Wouldn't we be walking straight into their den if we went like this? We'd be alerting them before our time."

Seeing Wen Ying glance at the puzzled Yang Rixi with a sly expression as he spoke, Beros felt not only his eyelids twitching but also a vein pulsing on his forehead.

Wen Ying's suggestion was that they should use Yang Rixi and Yang Shiming's bodies. Last time, when he used his mini self, he found it irksome and unpleasant. This time, using a humanoid form... He resisted imagining it.

"I'm not going," Beros said tersely.

Wen Ying smiled and spoke warmly, "You promised me that you would listen to me."

Boros: "..."

"I wouldn't exactly call this a purely personal matter," Wen Ying tried to soothe Boros after taking a firm stance. "They suddenly announced that they're opening a themed cafe in Mu City at this particular time. Don't you find that a bit suspicious? Moreover, they mentioned that all the staff will be in cosplay. I've never heard of such a thing before. I don't recall any previous themed cafes doing that."

Upon hearing this, Boros found some logic in Wen Ying's words and reluctantly accepted the ladder being offered.

What else could he do? He had practically no face left with Wen Ying. Even if he burned with rage, Wen Ying would remain unfazed and continue as usual.

If it weren't for Aruda, Wen Ying would have been dealt with long ago. Frustrated, Boros flew onto the pillow to sleep, snarling at Yang Rixi, "Turn off that video. It's so annoying."

Yang Rixi: "..." From the black-haired demon, he sensed four words: impotent rage.

Like gods fighting, the innocent fish in the pond suffer, Yang Rixi thought sarcastically. If you have the guts, why don't you yell at the silver-haired demon? Yelling at him doesn't prove anything.

Still, he obediently muted the video, after all, it was a demon they were dealing with.

Wen Ying flew over, beaming as he promoted, "Have you ever played demon-themed mobile games?"

Yang Rixi shook his head. Back when he was working to earn money, he didn't have the time, let alone the interest, to play mobile games.

"Download one to keep up appearances, after all, you're supposed to be a die-hard fan of the Demon Mobile Game."

Yang Rixi considered it and, since he had a purpose now, he downloaded the game out of curiosity and gave it a try. After playing for a while, he switched to another app to search for image albums shared by netizens. As a new user, many of the demon entries in his collection were black.

After browsing through them, Yang Rixi was puzzled and asked the silver-haired demon using the phone, "Mr. Demon, why isn't there a character in this game with hair color like yours?"

Wen Ying informed him that the Demon Mobile Game was related to real-life exorcists, and its demons were often reflections of reality. Many of them originated from actual legends, so exploring more could help him understand the various types of demons.

Excited to find out what type of demon he had contracted with, Yang Rixi searched in vain, feeling bewildered.

Belphegor, seemingly asleep, let out a mocking laugh.

Wen Ying: "...What's wrong with the Mirror Demon? I'd also like to ask those exorcists from the Church, did the Mirror Demon offend your family's noodles or something, why the discrimination?"

Many ordinary demon species, with varying hierarchical ranks, were represented in the game, which was one reason people loved the Demon Mobile Game - its wide variety of demon races catered to all sorts of... preferences, not that, well, interests.

Despite the abundance of demon races, the Mirror Demon was nowhere to be found, leaving the current Mirror Demon, Wen Ying, deeply annoyed.

Feeling disillusioned, he summed up his myriad thoughts in a single statement.

Wen Ying said, "It's late. Let's sleep."

Beros burst into laughter, his mood finally improving.

Yang Rixi, assuming that Wen Ying didn't want to reveal more about his identity, nodded and got up to turn off the lights.

That night, Wang Run received numerous calls from the high society figures he had encountered earlier. His face wore an impatient expression, but he maintained a polite tone, speaking like a patient customer service representative.

Just when he couldn't tolerate it any longer and was giving perfunctory answers, one caller didn't beat around the bush but instead sought his help.

"My girlfriend told me that my son is quite skilled in combat. A few days ago, when a thief broke in, he subdued the intruder within seconds. Tonight, when I went to visit her, I felt like my son has become a different person... Or perhaps he's just improved himself. I'm a bit worried. Could you come over and take a look?"

Wang Run pondered for a moment before responding, "Sure."

...

Yesterday was the tenth, today was the eleventh. The Demon-themed mobile game café opened at nine in the morning on the eleventh. Wen Ying dragged Beros there early in the day. With the two demons possessing the Yang brothers, Beros, inhabiting Yang Shiming's body, wore an expression of utter despair.

Why was Wen Ying so enthusiastic about such matters? He seemed to love demons here, but he didn't treat the ones in the demon realm with much kindness. He had pulled many pranks on his classmates, especially those from Class One of the Academy.

For instance, plucking Muershi's feathers or Phileus' scales, cutting off Lan Jiaying's cherished hair, and producing magic cards in their likenesses to earn a fortune from demons... Berros couldn't see any affection for demons in Wen Ying's behavior.

The queue was long, which was a nightmare for Berros, who disliked weak creatures. He wore a grim expression, and the atmosphere around him was tense. The people behind him subconsciously kept a meter's distance, not because they didn't want to move further back, but doing so might let others cut in line.

It was the determination to quickly buy the merchandise that prevented the weak human from retreating in panic.

Wen Ying patted Berros on the shoulder. "Try to tone it down. There might be exorcists inside, and we're here for a serious mission."

The corner of Berros' mouth twitched. "Do you need me to hold up a mirror so you can see your excitement?"

Wen Ying's gaze darkened. "If this isn't serious, then aren't you supposed to be on a date? You agreed to be my boyfriend for a month."

Berros clicked his tongue. He fell silent, averting his gaze.

After waiting in line for a while, they finally entered.

Sure enough, there were exorcists inside. The Hell Oranges were there, dutifully serving as photo booths.

The moment Wen Ying saw the Hell Orange, his heart leaped, instinctively like a thief spotting a cop. But he quickly composed himself.