The people of the snake tribe filed into the room one by one, nervous at the prospect of finally seeing their king again. They knew he had taken that risk to make sure that they wouldn’t be hurt. And now, he had actually been injured pretty badly. They couldn’t help but feel guilty when thinking of that and hope that there was something they could do to help. But they also knew that they were actually powerless. If he would already be on the path back to full health when they saw him today, they hoped that they would feel at least a little bit better. They didn’t want to worry him further after all.

An Hei was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, channeling the energy around him to aid in his recovery. When the others knocked, he stopped with his cultivation though and opened his eyes, greeting them with a smile. "It’s good to see that the four of you are alright."

These four had been precisely the people that accompanied him to the celebration in the gods’ realm. Even though the demon king had already told him that they’d all gotten out without being injured, he had still worried a bit inside.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the demon king’s words but who knew if they would indeed admit if they were hurt or not when being asked? He knew these four too well. They were completely able to lie through their teeth just to make sure he wouldn’t be worried. Somehow, they never understood that that made him worry even more.

His four subjects almost teared up when the first thing their king did upon seeing them was inquiring after their well-being even though he was the one who had been injured. They rushed over and threw themselves to the ground in front of their king. Hu Chen even went so far as to cling to the hem of his robe, sniffling pitifully. "Your Majesty!"

An Hei raised his brows when he saw his people behave like this. "Don’t tell me you’re hurt after all?"

The four wildly shook their heads, unable to get a single word out.

An Hei’s expression relaxed and he couldn’t help but reach out and pat Hu Chen’s shoulder. "What’s with that reaction? I’m not dead. Neither am I hurt so grievously that I will suffer from it in the future. After just a few days of rest, I’ll be completely back to normal. If you continue to cry like this after leaving this room, you’ll make people think I was about to pay the ferryman."

Hu Chen hurriedly shook his head. He didn’t even want to think of that possibility. They should indeed be happy that things had turned out like this. "It’s all thanks to Your Majesty that you’re alright. We’re useless for not being able to help you out."

An Hei shook his head. "What are you even talking about? I am your king. If I hadn’t stepped up to help you, then what would I have that position for? I wouldn’t be worthy of the title."

The other four exchanged a glance, feeling even more that they had failed their king. This time around, they had to be helpful to him and not hold him back again. They had to make sure that he rested while they prepared for that fight. When the time came, even if they couldn’t save anyone else, they at least wanted to save their king. They should be able to do at least that much, shouldn’t they?

The four people of the snake tribe weren’t completely sure if they would be able to pull it off but they were willing to give it a try. And maybe they could even ask the people of the demon king for help. Anyway, there should at least be a bit of time. Until then …

The gazes exchanged became profound and Hu Chen finally nodded at Xu Fu. Even though they had previously thought to abandon the idea, now that they were faced with their king, they really felt that it was at least worth a try. Maybe they wouldn’t even need to immediately present him with a wife but just having him look for one would probably take his mind off other matters. That would already be very good. They just needed to approach it with some tact.

Xu Fu was the one who went ahead with bringing up the matter. "I still can’t believe that this happened. The bird tribe was never friendly with us but I would’ve thought better of the Emperor. I also would have thought better of that goddess Mei Huang. Since she is somebody who can enter our king’s eyes, I would’ve thought her character was better. It’s a pity that she would actually behave like this."

An Hei smiled. He knew his people well enough to understand that they were trying to cheer him up because they thought he must be devastated at the clear rejection. However, they could not be further from the truth. "Don’t worry about it. Whether or not she agreed … I’m afraid the end result would have still been the same. The Emperor clearly isn’t happy with our tribe. There’s nothing we can do about that. I just hope that in the future, this won’t bring us any further trouble."

Once again, the people of the snake tribe exchanged glances.

To make sure that it wasn’t too obvious, one of the others continued. "I still think that she was in the wrong there. You were clearly very gentle when proposing to her. How could she actually reject you like this? Obviously, that woman has no taste."

An Hei shook his head. "And even if she had taste, so what? It wouldn’t be happening. Anyway, I’m not sad about it."

Hu Chen furrowed his brows. "Your Majesty shouldn’t be sad about it. You can clearly do much better than marrying somebody like her! What good looks? What gentle beauty? I’m sure that if we took a casual look around, we would be able to find a hundred women much better than her!"

Before their king could once again tell them that there was no need to, Xu Fu hurriedly spoke up. "Yes! Actually, I think we should have a look around to see which woman would be eligible for marrying His Majesty. Anyway, she’ll realize soon what she missed out on!"

An Hei’s brows twitched. How come these four were suddenly so excited about the prospect of him marrying? It couldn’t be that the people of the demon king had met that human girl and that she had excitedly told them that she would marry him in the future, could it?

Well, if that was the case, he also wouldn’t be too surprised. Obviously, that girl had been pretty open when it came to discussing these matters. And anyway, he had already given his word. He would not back out so what was the harm in anyone knowing? Yes, since they were already talking about it, he might as well announce it to them. Maybe that would also stop them from worrying about him.

The four people in front of him took a glance at An Hei’s face. His expression seemed a little queer but he hadn’t rejected the idea outright so they felt that they might as well continue.

Hu Chen turned to Xu Fu and raised his brows. "What do you think what kind of wife would be a good fit for our king?"

Xu Fu pondered, winding a strand of her hair around her finger. "Well, naturally, it can’t be just anyone. She should definitely be beautiful to fit with His Majesty’s good looks. And it would be good if her status wasn’t too low either.

"Although I think her character is still the most important. Just look at that goddess Mei Huang: She’s beautiful and she has a high status but obviously, she lacks it all in character. That isn’t the type of person that is fit to be our future snake queen."

The other three nodded as if they were picking rice. Yes, yes, they definitely didn’t want some arrogant goddess to be their future queen.

"A woman that’s down to earth would be nice."

"Someone friendly!"

"And benevolent!"

An Hei looked from one person to the other, slowly raising his brows. "The four of you … You do realize that I’m sitting in front of you, don’t you? Anyway, you do not need to worry about it. I am completely capable of finding a wife on my own."

The looks he got in response to that statement … actually hurt his heart a bit. Just because he hadn’t gotten married yet, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be able to find a wife! It was just that he was taking slightly longer …

An Hei cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders to downplay his embarrassment. "Actually … You are too late in considering this. In fact, I will be getting married very soon."

The other four looked at him, not sure what to say. Getting married very soon? They exchanged glances and finally, Hu Chen spoke up.

"Your Majesty … The demon king said that you were slowly recovering. Did you really have a physician look at you? Could it be that maybe your injuries were more severe after all? It sounds as if you were delirious."

An Hei’s brows twitched and he reached out and nudged Hu Cheng’s forehead. "You! You can count yourself lucky that I regard you as my friend. When I say that I’m getting married, I will be getting married. Anyway, it’s only two more weeks until the ceremony. If you don’t believe it, then you can just wait for that time to come. You’ll see by then."

This time, the glances the four snake people exchanged became a bit more hectic. Could it be? Was this really the truth?!

Hu Cheng inched closer and peered at his king’s face. "You’re really speaking the truth? Then who is she? Do we know her?"

An Hei almost wanted to laugh but he was afraid to pull at his wounds and make these four descend into complete panic so he forced himself to remain serious. "It is true. You do not know her though. But you will know her soon enough. Just give it some time. First, I need to heal and then we can see about this. Anyway, there’s no reason to worry."

The four of them nodded but in the end, they still couldn’t just let go of it. "Your Majesty, you wouldn’t just be settling for somebody because of what that goddess Mei Huang said, would you? You can definitely find a great wife! There’s no need to rush."

This time, An Hei stayed quiet for a moment. Was he settling? At that moment, he had just agreed without thinking too much about it. Anyway, it was a bit strange to marry a human but it wasn’t completely unheard of either. In the end, it was worth a try, wasn’t it?

Well, even if it turned out that he was settling in ten days’ time because she had grown up to be a woman he would not be able to be as fond of as he hoped he could, it was also just for a limited amount of time. After all, she was human. The two of them would not have much time together.

Thinking it through, An Hei shook his head. "Nonsense. Does your king need to settle for just anyone? You don’t worry about it. There really is no need to do so. I’ve already decided on it and I think that it is the right decision. I will not regret it."

The four people nodded. Even though they were still a bit skeptical about how this had happened so soon, they were still happy. This was exactly what they had wanted to achieve. Now, it had actually come true on its own. That was a good thing. They really hoped that things would turn out just like their king imagine them. He sure deserved it.

sunyagracebold

Here comes the next chapter! It's actually another new one. In fact, neither of those four subjects of An Hei existed in the first version which I think is a pity because they're fun. They'll definitely get another few appearances down the line.