Chapter 35: Touched

Chapter 35: Emotional Impact

When Wen Ying finally regained his composure after the emotional outburst, his injuries had been significantly alleviated by magic, and the pain had subsided.

Lying on the infirmary bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, Wen Ying thought about what had just happened. The embarrassing memory of his melodramatic behavior was on repeat in his mind, something that would seem perfectly normal to a human but was considered overly sentimental by a demon. It was akin to a person in the human world crying for help after tripping on flat ground and getting a scratch from a stone, demanding to be carried to the emergency room on a stretcher.

Wen Ying exhaled deeply, his expression grave. Was there any kind of amnesia magic in the demon realm that he could use?

He turned his head and, through the white screen, saw two demons standing on the other side. The taller one was Beros, and the shorter one was the school doctor. They were engaged in conversation.

"The injuries are minor. There's no need to be so nervous," the school doctor said. "I thought you might have accidentally beaten him half to death when I saw you rushing in."

"Why did he react like that then?"

"It's just a regular sparring injury, some superficial wounds and a few internal ones. All treatable."

Beros recalled Wen Ying's pained cries and the look of extreme discomfort on his face. He couldn't help but regard the school doctor with a hint of skepticism.

”But he was screaming in pain?” Beros paused, his tone filled with doubt. “Did I accidentally go too far?”

The school medic rolled their eyes. "I see this kind of behavior often in young children. To be honest, I've never seen a demon as pure white as him before. Perhaps his sense of pain is different from other demons, which is why he reacted so strongly. We'll have to be more careful in the future."

Wen Ying's face contorted again, but this time not from physical pain, but from the despair in his heart.

It wasn't all for naught, though. Wen Ying could vividly recall the various forms of Pelos' Flame Incineration spell. At the very least, he now had a powerful long-range magic attack at his disposal...

The sound of something rolling on the tiles grew closer and closer. Wen Ying lowered his head, his eyes widening in shock. Under his bed was that white egg! A completely pure white egg without a hint of any other color – it would be hard for another one like it to appear in the Demon Realm anytime soon. Wen Ying confirmed that this was indeed the egg he had surrounded with ice bricks in the playground.

He slowly got up, his muscles still feeling strained. Any sudden movement would cause pain, so Wen Ying took his time getting out of bed. He sat up, then gradually slid his feet off the bed and bent down, carefully picking up the white egg from the floor.

It was the same white egg, with a similar aura and weight.

"It seems you like me," Wen Ying said as he rubbed the eggshell, which was covered in dirt. He grabbed a tissue to clean it.

Outside, the two demons had finished their conversation and entered the room to find Wen Ying already sitting up. When Beros saw the white egg in Wen Ying’s hands, he was surprised.

”Who brought it here?” Beros mentally crossed off suspects, with the extremely wicked Muershi being the most likely culprit. That guy loved causing trouble.

Wen Ying held the egg gently, his gaze warm. "It rolled over to me on its own."

The school doctor immediately declared categorically, "Impossible!"

White eggs were inherently weak, or else they wouldn't have been abandoned by their mothers. Generations of inheritance had imprinted in the mothers' genes a perception of the fragility of white eggs, causing them to instinctively discard infertile eggs. Even if one was lucky enough to hatch, the offspring would often be feeble and perish early, becoming an additional burden.

"It really rolled over to me. The shell is quite dirty, so I was cleaning it," Wen Ying explained, showing the tissue in his hand to the demonic school doctor, who seemed utterly astonished.

He rushed forward and took the egg from Wen Ying's hands to inspect it closely, muttering, "The life force within the egg isn't strong either."

"Where did you find this egg?" The school doctor was intrigued.

Seeing that he was about to take the egg for research, Wen Ying endured the pain and sat up abruptly, reclaiming the egg. He said guardedly, "This is mine."

The excitement on the school doctor's face subsided slightly. He smiled and asked, "Can I buy it from you? I've never seen such a peculiar white egg before. It has great research value."

Wen Ying firmly refused, "No, I want to raise it myself."

Beros stared at Wen Ying. Wasn’t he still in pain just now? Now, he was fighting for an egg without any discomfort? He felt… a bit… something. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was a sense of unease.

”Merely an outcast dragon egg,” drawled Beros, arms folded as he leaned against the pristine white wall beside him, utterly devoid of empathy for their squabbling over it.

The school doctor wore a disapproving expression. "I've seen white magical beast eggs before, but I've never come across one that can roll over by itself like this."

The statement carried a sense of déjà vu. Beros gazed at Wen Ying and quickly realized that the description—white and unseen—fit the Enchanted Mirror Demon before him aptly.

After these few days of interaction, although Beros still labeled Wen Ying as weak, it wasn't to the extent of being incredibly so. He was different from other Magic Mirror Demons, and his purity surpassed theirs completely.

Upon this reflection, Beros found the white egg somewhat more appealing.

The school doctor persisted in obtaining the white egg, but Wen Ying eventually chose to ignore him, finding the incessant chatter irritating. Beros, feeling the disturbance, promptly ejected the doctor from the room.

"Finally, some peace and quiet," Beros said, rubbing his ears before returning to the bedside.

The doctor, now outside the door: "... You little brat, remember this. Next time you need treatment, I'll make sure it's the most painful method."

Despite being an adult demon, he was skilled only in medicine. He couldn't defeat even a young Cerberus in combat.

Though the incessant talking had ceased, an awkward silence spread within the resting room. Beros, unfazed by the awkwardness, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, his gaze casually sweeping around the room.

Wen Ying cradled the egg thoughtfully and said, "Actually, that was a rare situation. I'm not usually so melodramatic."

Beros crossed his arms, looking at him with silent mockery. His expression seemed to say, “I don’t believe you for a second.”

The two demons locked eyes, but Wen Ying was the first to avert his gaze. If he could, he would avoid seeing Boros for at least a year.

”You have more issues than other demons,” Beros said casually, “Next time, I’ll make sure not to make you cry.”

Wen Ying replied, "Actually, you don't need to pay attention to that."

Beros walked over, took the white egg from Wen Ying’s arms, and tucked him in, saying, “Rest. With how much pain you’re in, your body might recover slowly. Don’t go back tonight. Just stay in the dorm.”

Wen Ying was stunned by Beros’s sudden display of warmth. He scrutinized Beros from head to toe, making sure the other demon wasn’t acting strange.

"I'll leave this egg here for you."

Beros placed the white egg on the floor by the foot of the bed and walked out. After opening the door, he turned back and asked, “Do you want me to bring you dinner?”

Wen Ying was alarmed. After a moment of silence, he cautiously asked, “Beros, are… you alright?”

Beros’s brow furrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”

Having grown accustomed to Beros’s low emotional intelligence and his knack for provoking others, Wen Ying found the sudden change in Beros’s demeanor unsettling. He wondered if he was developing a masochistic streak. After all, he had felt exhilarated when whipping Tiger Essence with the vines in the forest, and his control over them had been impeccable.

Beros, being impatient, didn’t wait for a response and left soon after, closing the door behind him.

With the door shut, Wen Ying was finally alone in the resting room. The solitude brought a sense of relief, and he lay on the bed, sighing melodramatically.

Perhaps due to the effects of the magical potion he had consumed, Wen Ying's eyelids grew heavy. Overwhelmed by a mixture of regret and irritation, he drifted off to sleep without realizing it, wishing he could go back in time and slap himself.

When he woke up again, it was pitch black outside the window. Wen Ying's vision was hazy, and suddenly, he sat up abruptly with a vexed expression.

Having grown accustomed to using a mobile phone in the human world, he probably had, in his daze, mistakenly believed that he had already informed Aruda via his phone that he wouldn't be returning tonight, all due to the effects of that magical potion.

Looking at the clock in the lounge, it was already past three in the morning.

If only he had bought a phone right away, Wen Ying thought. He planned on doing so over the weekend, but now, an unexpected situation arose. He sat up from the bed, feeling that the soreness in his body had largely subsided. At this moment, his body felt as if it were overheated, with a sensation of stiffness and nerve spasms during movement.

Wen Ying threw back the covers and got out of bed. He opened the door, stepping into the darkness outside. The demonic realm's sky was a deep purple, shrouded in a misty veil, which only added to the eerie stillness and strangeness in the darkness.

This row consisted of separate lounges. Wen Ying followed his memory and found the infirmary, where the light was on and the door ajar. He heaved a sigh of relief and entered.

"Doctor?"

It was still the same school doctor from that afternoon. He swiveled around in his chair and asked, "What's up?"

"Do you have Aruda's contact information?" Wen Ying inquired.

The doctor replied, “I almost forgot. When Beros left, he asked me to tell you that he had already informed Aruda.”

Beros told her? A wave of emotion washed over Wen Ying. In the silence of the dark night, emotions were always heightened. This current warmth even surpassed the frustration he had felt towards Beros earlier.

Beros’s image in Wen Ying’s heart suddenly improved significantly.

...

The next day, when Wen Ying saw Beros enter the classroom, he approached with a smile. “Thank you for calling my great-grandmother for me yesterday.”

Beros gazed at the white demon before him, assessing him for a moment. He seemed to be in good spirits and nearly fully recovered. A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Looks like your body recovers better than I thought.”

"And what about that white egg?"

"I left it in the dormitory."

Wen Ying's heart skipped a beat as he braced himself for Beros' next devastating remark. To his surprise, Beros didn't say anything more and simply took his seat.

"The sun must be rising from the west..." Wen Ying muttered under his breath.

Back at his seat, Essence lounged lazily on the table, teasing suggestively, "I think you should start preparing some... intimate items."

Wen Ying turned to look at Essence. The demon's slender eyes were raised, the corners tinged with a faint blush. His languid demeanor seemed to hint at a night of debauchery.

A question suddenly occurred to Wen Ying. When making love with Essence, a succubus, wouldn't he feel a urge to take control, given Essence's beautiful, enchanting face and passionate gaze? Or was Essence the receptive partner? Their physique didn't seem to indicate that.

Essence noticed his thoughts and rolled his eyes, even this gesture exuding charm. He sat up straight, propping his chin on his hand, "You missed quite a spectacle after school yesterday."

"What happened?"

"Feng Luo had a confrontation with the homeroom teacher of Class Two – the notorious fallen angel, the Thunder Demon."

Curious about the appearance of a fallen angel, Essence assumed Wen Ying was interested and continued, "That Wu Shaluo went to complain. I thought he would cry to his grandmother, but instead, he went straight to Near Water."

Wen Ying’s expression showed a hint of incomprehension. Recalling that Wen Ying came from the countryside, Essence explained, “Thunder Demon is Wu Shaluo’s uncle.”

This time, Wen Ying understood. Considering Feng Luo's cold demeanor, he probed further, "And then what happened?"

”They didn’t fight right away, but the atmosphere at that moment…” Essence suddenly placed a hand on his face, his voice echoing slightly as his eyes half-closed in apparent enjoyment, with reddened corners conveying a sense of moisture.

Wen Ying tactically leaned back, aware of the succubus's potent allure.

"Wind Demon and Thunder Demon truly live up to their fame as renowned great demons. When they faced off, the insane magical energy made me tremble. That immense, suffocating pressure was mesmerizing," Essence exclaimed. "I wonder when I'll be able to reach that level."

After a moment of silence, Wen Ying asked, "Do you enjoy being whipped?" Were all demons a little... peculiar?