Chapter 170: Waiting for You at Home

Chapter 170: Waiting for You to Get Home

Meng Shu quickly noticed his expression, since Ling Qingjue wore his heart on his sleeve—whether happy or not, it was written all over his face, easy to read.

In short, Ling Qingjue had no scheming nature; he just did whatever he felt like.

"What's wrong?" Meng Shu stroked the cat's head. "You seem kind of down."

"If..." Ling Qingjue bit back his words and continued lying on Meng Shu's chest. "Nothing. Saving you took too much out of me, I just don't have much energy."

Meng Shu didn't press him. He rubbed his face and said, "Then rest well. Behave yourself for the next couple of days, and I'll cook for you."

"...The affection level has also reset to zero. You have to start winning you over from scratch." Ling Qingjue's voice sounded muffled. "The moment you left, the rules considered us broken up. According to the rules, the affection level resets after a breakup."

Meng Shu asked, "But now you smashed the rules. Do we still need affection levels to date?"

"...It will repair itself." Ling Qingjue buried his head in Meng Shu's chest, his cat claws scratching randomly. "That thing can't be killed. The world runs on it. No matter how powerful I am, I can only mess it up for a while. The Law Agent will soon go to repair the rules."

"In other words, if I want to be with you forever, I still have to start winning you over from scratch?"

Ling Qingjue nodded. "What was our affection level at?"

"Ninety."

"Then do you remember my affection level gifts?"

Meng Shu counted on his fingers, listing them off: "Cat's Eye Emerald, Deep Sea Dragon King Meat, Silver Ore, Crystal Feather, Dragon's Reverse Scale, Qilin Horn, Phoenix Tear, Moonstone..."

Ling Qingjue nodded. "That's what you need. You have to find a way to give them to me in a short time."

"What's 'short time' mean?"

"Like within a month."

Meng Shu: "...Are you serious?"

"Who told you to dump me!" Ling Qingjue hissed at him, looking fierce. "It wasn't my fault. You abandoned your kitten!"

Meng Shu quickly calmed him down. "My bad, my bad. I'll figure something out."

The cat's temper eased a bit. He lay obediently on Meng Shu's chest, a solid weight, kneading his chest every now and then. "Hey, if everyone wants to fight me, what will you do?"

"I'll protect you." Meng Shu said with a smile. "You're not a stray cat. No one's allowed to hit you."

The cat's tail twitched.

Then he said guiltily, "Do you still remember... that I turned into the Demon King?"

Of course Meng Shu remembered, but since Ling Qingjue seemed normal and Moon Bay appeared fine, he hadn't brought it up.

Now that Ling Qingjue brought it up himself, his heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged. His eyes crinkled in a smile. "I remember."

"...They're gonna come beat me up soon." The cat's voice was very low. "I can sense it. The rules are rapidly repairing themselves. The Law Agent should have already discovered my existence."

Meng Shu stroked his fur from his back to his butt, then sat up straight, pulling him off his lap to face him.

"When are they gonna lock you up in the Demon King Tower?" Meng Shu finally asked the question. "I just returned to this world, and my class level got reset to zero."

When he left, he took his star out of the Astrolabe, erasing all traces of him.

Not only had his affection level with Ling Qingjue reset to zero, but even his class level had dropped to zero.

All the stuff in his inventory was gone too. He had no weapons and no way to fight the Demon King now.

The cat drooped his head, his ears and tail hanging down. "I don't know. It should be soon. When I tore through space to get to your world, I exposed my location. They'll find me soon."

"Are they definitely gonna lock you up in the Demon King Tower?"

"Mm." Ling Qingjue said, "Because that's what the story says. The Demon King has to oppose the hero, be hunted by everyone, and everyone unites to attack the Demon King."

He turned his head away, dejected. "Maybe to make adventurers feel important. Even if the Demon King does nothing, he'll still be locked up."

"..."

Meng Shu was quiet for a moment, then hugged him tight, lowering his head to nuzzle his face against his. "I'll get you out as soon as I can."

With a pop, Ling Qingjue turned back into a human, wrapped his arms around Meng Shu's back, and rested his chin on Meng Shu's shoulder.

"I... also did some bad stuff."

Meng Shu's eye twitched, but his voice was gentle. "It's okay. Tell me what you did, and I won't blame you."

Ling Qingjue hesitated. "You really won't yell at me?"

Meng Shu was super gentle. "How could I blame you?"

He held Ling Qingjue's face and gave him a kiss on each cheek, like coaxing a kid. "Alright, spill it. What exactly did you do?"

Ling Qingjue studied his face, didn't see anything off, and hesitated. "I..."

"It's okay, I won't scold you." Meng Shu patted his back. "Go on."

After wrestling with himself for a while, Ling Qingjue finally confessed. "Actually, we've already entered the Demon King Tower. This is the first level."

Meng Shu finally got it. "This is the Demon King Tower? Isn't this Moon Bay?"

"Moon Bay is the first level of the Demon King Tower, called the Hall of Eternal Time. On this level, time loops infinitely, stuck on the same day."

Meng Shu finally understood. "No wonder you said cleaning was useless, because the next day it would get dirty again?"

Ling Qingjue nodded.

"Then how long have you kept this loop going?"

"Four hundred and eighty days..." Ling Qingjue said hesitantly. "Probably that many days."

"Why did you do this?" Meng Shu's expression suddenly darkened, doing a perfect impression of a Sichuan opera face change. "Trapping everyone in the same day. You got the title of Demon King and you actually do bad things?"

His features were naturally sharp. When he was normally cheerful, his eyes had a pearl-like shimmer that softened the aggression in his face.

But the moment his face darkened, the aura was completely different.

Ling Qingjue's cat ears drooped, a sudden chill running down his spine, his throat tightening. "You said you wouldn't yell at me!"

"How could I know you'd do something like this! You trapped everyone in the same day—are you out of your mind?"

Meng Shu grabbed his ear, furious. "Just because I called you 'Great Demon King' a couple times, you really think you're the Demon King? If other heroes kick your ass later, you deserve it. A cat like you hissing around the house is one thing, but you dare to destroy the world?"

"I—" Ling Qingjue winced in pain. "Let go of me!"

"Quickly restore time!" Meng Shu rarely showed such backbone. "When you do bad things, there has to be a limit. You know you've done wrong and still refuse to change?"

Ling Qingjue covered his head. "Try pulling my ear again!"

Meng Shu didn't let go. "First, restore time!"

"If I restore it, I'll be trapped on the second floor of the Demon King Tower!" The corners of Ling Qingjue's eyes were red as he roared, as if he was terribly wronged. "It's all because you tricked me—you promised to see me tomorrow but never came back. Otherwise, I wouldn't have..."

Meng Shu's hand paused.

He was stunned.

"You... stopped time on the day I left?"

Ling Qingjue rubbed his cat ears, a tuft of fur pulled out. It hurt. "Time stopped after you left."

While still rubbing his ear, he said in a pitiful voice, "I was waiting for you to come home."