Chapter 132: Meeting
by 夜阑妖歌Chapter 132: Meeting
Muershi looked at Wen Ying with a pout while casting a lightning bolt to paralyze the demons attempting to sneak away.
Wen Ying gathered his magical power in his feet and spread it across the ground. Twisted vines emerged from the earth, binding all the demons present into a large bundle. Muershi recalled the scene from the midterm exams where Wen Ying had done the same thing to the extremist demons, although there weren't as many today.
Muershi stood up with a sigh, brushing off the dust from his pants. He asked in puzzlement, "When did you find out? If not for your kick, I wouldn't have realized that you knew."
Wen Ying crossed his arms and glanced at him sidelong, "I wasn't entirely sure, but the way you handled Yang Shize felt like your style. So yesterday, I deliberately told them that I would come back tomorrow. Based on my understanding of you, if you were here, you would have taken action before I arrived to snatch the points."
"How about we make a deal?" Muershi raised his hands halfway and grinned, "I'll give you a piece of information in exchange for half of the points here."
Wen Ying rolled his eyes, "What's the information?"
Muershi's smile turned meaningful and teasing, "Beros' whereabouts."
Wen Ying's eyes lit up. Muershi understood him, but he maintained a reserved tone, "A third, no more."
"Deal!" Muershi rubbed his hands together, "But you have to promise me that you won't tell Beros about tonight's transaction. Don't let him know that I was the one who told you his location."
He sensed an undercurrent of intrigue, causing Wen Ying to narrow his eyes slightly. "Suddenly, I don't even want to give you a third of the points."
Muershi's smile faltered.
Wen Ying muttered, as if to himself but also addressing Muershi, "Tell me, if Perseus were to find out that the reason for his recent misfortune is because of you, what do you think would happen when he returns to the Realm of Magic?"
Muershi looked skeptical and replied calmly, "Perseus isn't suffering. I just happened to know his location."
Wen Ying rolled his eyes. "With how cunningly you stole my points just now, Perseus probably hasn't managed to contract with a human yet. He's probably isolated somewhere by you all alone."
"Uh huh huh..." Muershi felt embarrassed at being exposed, rubbing his hands together awkwardly. "I just placed something randomly at the entrance... No less than one-fifth of the points, deal!"
"Fine," Wen Ying reluctantly agreed. "Tell me, where have you isolated Perseus?"
Muershi chuckled. "Perseus teleported right into the company where I possess this human. He truly was unlucky, ending up in the trash can. Fortunately, there wasn't any garbage inside, or else he'd be marinated."
Wen Ying's expression turned odd. "How can you be so sure there was no garbage? Could it be that Perseus teleported into a trash can inside a toilet stall, and that stall just happened to be undergoing repairs?"
Muershi nodded brightly, his smile radiant.
Just now, Muershi mentioned leaving something at the entrance. Wen Ying guessed it was a sign indicating that the stall was under maintenance and not in use.
Ordinarily, no one would enter a restroom stall with a maintenance sign, let alone that restrooms were frequently featured locations in ghost stories. A typical person, upon hearing strange sounds from within a stall, would most likely dash out without looking back.
That was probably why Poros had yet to make a contract with anyone.
Poros's only stroke of luck might be that there was no trash in the bin...
"How about it?" Muershi walked over. "Is this piece of information worth one-fifth of the points here?"
"You're not afraid that Poros will come back to the demon realm and kill you."
Muershi shrugged. "I just put up a sign. I didn't do anything else. If neither of us says anything, nobody will know..." As he spoke, his smile faded, and he looked at Wen Ying, his heart skipping a beat. "You... won't tell, right?"
Wen Ying grinned brightly. "Not for now."
Muershi felt downcast.
Wen Ying continued, "If you don't trick me during the final exam, I won't say anything. But if you do, I'll spill the beans as soon as we get back."
Muershi muttered softly, "I didn't do anything bad..."
Wen Ying surveyed the surrounding demons, most of whom were unconscious, while only a few remained awake, trembling with fear. They knew that many of their companions had disappeared in recent days, and tonight they might become the "missing ones" in their fellow demons' mouths.
Wen Ying walked up to one of the conscious intermediate demons, who happened to be the long-haired demon from yesterday. The demon forced a pleading smile on its face.
"We're just insignificant minions, sir. What I said to you yesterday was a lie. Our group is just a delivery service!"
Muershi approached and lightly kicked the demon with his foot. He crouched down and smiled, asking, "If you can give us any clues related to the Church, we can treat you more kindly."
The long-haired demon's face lit up with joy, but then it quickly froze.
"You don't know much, do you?" Wen Ying could tell from its expression.
The long-haired demon stammered, "We demons are only responsible for receiving the life force from some exorcists and then, through the magic array at our base, delivering it to the high-ranking demons in the Demon Realm."
Muershi crouched in front of it, extending his index finger with a pulsating blue-purple arc of electricity dancing on its tip. His tone was gentle as he spoke, "Think again."
Cold sweat covered the long-haired demon's forehead as it watched the electric arc draw closer and closer...
"I remember!" The long-haired demon shouted with his eyes closed, his head tilted back as far as it could go.
Muershi paused with his fingers mid-air and tilted his head slightly. "Hm?"
"Although the exorcist in charge of providing us with vital energy isn't particularly powerful, there have been a few exorcists of special status who occasionally come to collect it," the long-haired demon hurriedly explained. "The higher-ups don't know about this; it's those exorcists' own initiative. They probably use it to nourish their contracted demons."
Back then, they had all been envious of the demons that these exorcists nurtured, who were offered so much vital energy.
Wen Ying stroked his chin, fond of such unwitting foes. "Do you know their identities?"
"They were cloaked and hooded, so I wouldn't have known their identity, but one day when I went out to hunt for prey, I stumbled upon a group of exorcists dealing with a demon. Among them was someone whose familiar had an eerily familiar demonic aura – it was exactly the same as the one that came to feed on your anger!"
"Your story doesn't quite add up," Muershi commented. "First, you said the exorcist came to collect the anger, then you mentioned that their demon came to eat it."
The long-haired demon, fearing that it might miss its chance to speak, hurriedly explained, "Most of the time, it's the exorcist who comes to collect them. Only on rare occasions do they consume the anger right there and then!"
Wen Ying looked at Muershi. "The logic does seem consistent."
"So, which exorcist did you recognize?"
"It's the attendant knight of the Archangel Church's Saint Son! That person has short hair with a mole by his eye, and he keeps a demon with a human torso and a snake's tail!"
"Saint Son Xiao Long?"
The long-haired demon nodded repeatedly.
Muershi stood up, flicking his right arm. A long, lightning-tinged blade formed from magical energy extended from his hand, effortlessly severing the vines binding the long-haired demon. Then...
"Ahh—"
"Milord, have mercy!"
In a few breaths, the only demon left trembling on the scene was the long-haired one. Muershi calmly finished dealing with the other demons, and the magic energy blade in his hand dissipated.
"Mortal bodies are indeed inferior to our original ones," Muershi complained. "If it were my true form, I could have finished them off with one stroke."
Wen Ying remained composed. "Speaking of which, did you capture Diao Mei? Is he still alive?"
Muershi pulled out a wish bottle that used to be popular among elementary school students. Inside was a mass of black fog, and upon seeing Wen Ying, a large, tearful face pressed against the glass, staring at him eagerly.
"For low-level demons, their forms can't be contained in bottles since they don't have physical bodies. What do you plan to do with this mid-level demon who does have one?"
Muershi pondered for a moment before promptly sending the long-haired demon on its way.
Wen Ying: "......."
He was still not quite accustomed to the demons' actions, even though they were all despicable creatures unworthy of pity.
The deceased demons released a great deal of demonic energy. Muershi sat cross-legged, absorbing the dissipating energy, and called out to Wen Ying, "Your puppet's magic power must be running low as well, right? Absorb it quickly. Although the amount that the puppet can convert is minimal, it's better than nothing."
Muershi set up a barrier to prevent the demonic energy from leaking out and to block any detection by exorcists. He then earnestly began converting the energy for his own puppet.
This puppet seemed almost "unchargeable," but with the large quantity of demonic energy, it could barely manage to absorb a bit.
Wen Ying also hurriedly replenished some magic power for his own puppet. If Muershi hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have known that the puppet's demonic energy could be topped up.
After converting all the demonic energy, Wen Ying realized that it only replenished the magic power he had used against the group of demons, leaving him still far from being fully charged.
When low-level demons died, they would immediately turn into demonic energy. In contrast, when mid-level demons with physical bodies perished, they would leave behind their shells. However, over time, these shells would gradually transform into demonic energy and dissipate.
To prevent the Church's exorcists from discovering the demise of the demons, Wen Ying and Muershi dug a large pit, burying the remains of the mid-level demon within. They then cast a minor spell to conceal the aura, an enchantment that would dissipate after about a week.
Conversing here was inconvenient, so Muershi informed that he would have Huo Jue take him to Yang Rixi's residence tomorrow to seek out Wen Ying, and then departed.
Wen Ying called out to him, inquired about the location of Huo Jue's company and the restroom, then left the area as well.
Tonight, he had ventured out while concealing Yang Rixi's consciousness. It wasn't until he returned home that Wen Ying left Yang Rixi's body, returning to the puppet avatar's shell.
With his magic replenished, Wen Ying became audacious. He flew directly to Huo Jue's company in search of Beros.
According to Muershi's indication, Wen Ying swiftly located the target restroom – it was the men's restroom on the second floor. Surprisingly, instead of a strong odor, there was a refreshing scent of lemon.
Wen Ying dashed to the last toilet stall where a "Maintenance in Progress" sign was placed outside. Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, he eagerly pushed open the stall door.
"Who's there?"
It was Beros' aura. Wen Ying perched atop the trash can, looking down at the cotton doll resembling Beros. He covered his mouth, concealing his delight in the other's predicament.
Beros, upon seeing Wen Ying, became agitated. Unable to speak aloud, he mentally projected his voice, "Wen Ying! Get me out of here quickly!"
Despite being confined to this spot, he could tell from the sounds that it was a restroom. He had been here for an entire week, day and night, and was on the verge of going insane.
Now that he saw Wen Ying, if not for his pride holding him back, he would have rushed over and embraced the other.
Wen Ying raised an eyebrow and slowly descended, stopping about ten centimeters above the trash can. He tilted his head to examine the contents and confirmed that there was indeed no garbage. The trash bag also appeared new.
The doll extended its hand, and a tendril coiled around its fingertips before extending downward, lifting the Perseus doll from inside the trash can.
Wen Ying used the tendril to carry Perseus out, flying through the air.
To be honest, he didn't particularly want to touch Perseus, who had been in the trash for a week, so he kept the doll suspended by the vine.
To avoid drawing Perseus's attention to the "Under Maintenance" sign outside the toilet stall, Wen Ying swiftly flew out, exiting through the restroom window.
His objective was clear: first, take Perseus home, then use Yang Rixi's body to give him a thorough cleaning before any further contact.
As Perseus left his "abyss," his initial excitement gradually subsided, giving way to curiosity.
"Wen Ying, how did you know I was here?"
"I was just passing by, would you believe that?" Wen Ying said. "I've just dealt with a group of demons who were transporting life force to the Demon Realm. I'm out here to see if there are any others."
Beros's greatest fear had come true. While he had been unlucky enough to lie in the dumpster for a week, Wen Ying and his team had already accumulated quite a number of points! His already irritable personality became even more volatile after a week of being inactive.
He should have immediately found a human to make a contract with and started hunting, but in the first few days, Beros had frightened many humans away, causing him to doubt himself.
Although he was confident in his strength, he found humans too weak and timid. Could he really find someone willing to form a contract with him?
"Beros, you should try to control your temper," Wen Ying suggested. "Look, the aura you're giving off right now is terrifying. People will be scared when you talk to them like this."
Beros didn't respond, but from the aggressive energy he exuded, Wen Ying knew that Beros was resistant to the idea.
When Yang Rixi saw Wen Ying bring home a cotton doll that resembled the Wen Ying version he had found earlier, he took a nervous step back. "Mr. Demon, is that doll also a demon?"
He had sensed a terrifying and violent magical power emanating from the toy, causing his limbs to turn cold without his realizing it.
Wen Ying nodded and placed the doll directly on the floor. "I need to borrow your body again to clean it up."
Yang Rixi replied, "Okay."
Wen Ying possessed Yang Rixi's body and bent down to pick up the Bellerophon doll from the ground. He then entered the bathroom inside the room and gave it a thorough cleaning.
Bellerophon: "..." He was clean now, but also not quite.
His emotions were peculiar.
Unbothered by the unusually silent Bellerophon, who seemed like a real doll, Wen Ying carefully washed him with antibacterial soap before using magic to evaporate the water from the doll's body.
Now, he had a Bellerophon doll that smelled of flowers.
Placing the doll on the pillow where he had been sleeping lately, Wen Ying left Yang Rixi's body.
Yang Rixi regained consciousness and sat down by the bed. Gazing at the silver-haired doll sitting beside the toy, he slowly spoke, "Mr. Demon, may I ask for your advice?"
Wen Ying turned his head and replied warmly, "What is it?" He was particularly satisfied with his contractee.
Yang Rixi knitted his brows. "One of my friends from the past wants me to bring him to a famous director's birthday party. My younger brother also wishes to attend and wants me to take them both."
This younger brother couldn't be Yang Shiming. If it wasn't Yang Shiming, then it must be the younger brother from Yang Rixi's adoptive parents' family.
Wen Ying asked, "Is there a problem?"
Why was he being so gentle to a human? Boreas was unhappy. Most of the time when Wen Ying was kind to him, it was either a scheme or a straightforward plan.
"Although my biological parents won't be influenced by demons now, I'm still a little scared. Before, they were ashamed of me and thought my friends were useless. Now that they're finally treating me nicely, what if they feel embarrassed when I bring them over?" Yang Rixi lifted his head to cover his eyes.
"I didn't have any close friends before. Our relationship was just ordinary. If it was only that friend asking, I definitely wouldn't agree. But my brother also requested."
"My foster parents also know about this. They want me to bring him to broaden his horizons and meet the idol he likes."
Boreas felt even worse. What kind of useless human was this, worrying about everything? Just bring them or don't, there was no need for such hesitation.
Wen Ying understood. In a new environment, Yang Rixi was already insecure, and Yang Shize had worsened his insecurities. Although Yang Shize couldn't cause trouble now, Yang Rixi's negative experiences wouldn't disappear.
"You can bring them along," Wen Ying said. "If you can't handle it, I can possess you to help."
Yang Rixi was stunned. This was an unforeseen solution. He immediately brightened up. Wen Ying gave him a sense of reliability, and he wouldn't have to face the situation himself. Overjoyed, Yang Rixi lifted Wen Ying in both hands.
Seeing that he was about to kiss him again, Wen Ying glanced at Boreas beside them and said, "If you want to kiss me, my partner might not be happy."
Almost forgetting that Essence was a taken demon, Yang Rixi calmed down and placed Wen Ying back on the pillow. "I thought that demons didn't have the concept of monogamy. Speaking of which, in many human works, succubi seem rather promiscuous. Are they really like that in reality?"
Since Wen Ying didn't look like a succubus, Yang Rixi asked directly.
This question… Wen Ying recalled Essence's appearance and said, "He seems quite casual on the surface, but I'm not too sure about what he's like in reality." He was referring to physical relationships.
During the entrance exam, he had overheard a demon saying that Essence changed partners very quickly, sometimes even within a day. However, after entering the academy, Wen Ying noticed that Essence seemed to have remained single and hadn't heard of him dating anyone.
As for whether Essence had casual sex partners without a significant other, Wen Ying wasn't aware. He also didn't know if Essence would sleep with his partner when in a relationship.
Persephone chuckled. "Essence doesn't have much scruples."
That means he does, Wen Ying thought to himself. He's experienced.
With Wen Ying's reassurance, Yang Rixi turned to respond to his brother, giving Wen Ying and Persephone some space.
Wen Ying sat facing Persephone with crossed legs. Since Persephone couldn't move, Wen Ying manually adjusted the doll's position. Looking at the adorable Persephone, he couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Persephone: "Do you want to die?"
"Excuse me, excuse me," Wen Ying pressed his hand against his lips, "It's just a little amusing."
Under the same roof, the demon had to yield. For the sake of his final exams and to avoid scoring zero, Beros reluctantly suppressed his fiery temper and pretended not to notice.
"Can you help me find the human with whom I have a binding contract?"
"I have the perfect candidate in mind right now," Wen Ying said, propping her chin on her hands. "That man's younger brother — I've observed him, and he possesses the innate talent to become an Exorcist."
Boros was delighted and couldn't wait to see that human.
"Could you bring him to me?" Balros paused, the last three words seeming to be squeezed out of his throat.
It was exceptionally rare for the proud Balros to use such a pleading tone. Wen Ying looked at him sympathetically. The week of living in a trash can had given Balros a harsh reality check and softened his stubbornness.
Wen Ying caressed the doll's face affectionately. "Sure."
Balros's skin prickled, and he trembled inside.
Wen Ying stood up, ready to take flight when he suddenly turned back. "Oh, by the way, you haven't forgotten that since last week, you're my boyfriend, right? There are still three weeks left."
"......I remember."
It was just a boyfriend, so how could their interactions change? Bellerophon soon realized it was just a matter of semantics.
But... boyfriend... It was merely a temporary title, yet Bellerophon felt an inexplicable strangeness. Their interactions remained the same, but the feeling was different.
Wen Ying first informed Yang Rixi, who was on the balcony making a call to his adoptive parents.
Yang Rixi's first reaction was, "Doesn't that mean he won't be afraid of me anymore?"
Indeed, brothers needed a good beating. Once beaten, he would fear Yang Rixi and not dare to act too provocatively. These past few days, Yang Rixi had been quite satisfied.
"Uh..." Wen Ying was momentarily at a loss for words. Soon, he came up with a cunning plan. "I'll support you. The demon bound to your brother also obeys me. Find more excuses to beat him up these days. Make him fearful. Even if he can overpower you in the future, he'll have psychological trauma and hesitate to act."
Yang Rixi found Wen Ying's suggestion very reasonable.
This Mr. Demon always made sense. Everything he said was correct.
Yang Shiming, engrossed in a game, suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
A knock on the door distracted him, causing him to lose the game. Frustrated, he tossed his phone aside and grumpily called out, "Who is it?"
Yang Rixi entered, and upon seeing him, Yang Shiming rolled his eyes disdainfully. "You made me lose the game! Don't ever come into my room again."
Yang Rixi frowned. "I'm your elder brother."
"My elder brother?" Yang Shiming's expression showed contempt. "An adopted one trying to act like the real deal? You didn't even grow up with us."
Despite Yang Shize being there, Yang Shiming still considered his eldest brother to be Yang Shize. Even though he did some questionable things, it wasn't that bad, right? He just used demons to make them like him.
To the young Yang Shiming, it wasn't a big issue. Yang Shize wasn't a murderer or thief.
In truth, Yang Shiming looked down on his biological brother, Yang Rixi. He was timid and lacked the demeanor expected of someone from their social class; it was embarrassing just to mention him.
Yang Rixi raised his hands, stretching his muscles. Sensing the change in atmosphere, Yang Shiming felt uneasy. Yang Rixi quietly closed the door, which made Yang Shiming spring up from his bed, yelling nervously, "What do you want? Don't think I'm easy to bully. That day, I hadn't eaten, but today, you won't get off so lightly..."
After a beating, Yang Shiming soon found himself on the floor, groaning in pain.
Yang Rixi delivered a sound beating to Yang Shiming, yet his clothes remained impeccably smooth. He gazed down at Yang Shiming with an indifferent expression. "Am I your brother now?"
Yang Shiming's face twitched. "…Yes."
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