The next time Jiao Ziyu opened his eyes, it was to a now dimly lit room. Yue and Youming Jun were gone, but this in itself didn’t mean that Jiao Ziyu was alone, because he wasn’t; Mingyue was there.
“So,” Jiao Ziyu said, watching him and being watched in return. “A wedding, huh?”
Mingyue made a noise of something akin to disgust as he put aside his brush. He appeared to be in the middle of writing something, but due to the angle, Jiao Ziyu couldn’t quite tell what it was. He also felt disinclined to move from his current position, because this bed was astonishingly comfortable.
“What of it?”
Well⸺ “If I’m going to be attending a Demon Realm wedding within the next few days, then I feel like I should at least know the basics. Like, I know there’s some element of biting involved, but⸺”
“It’s a barbaric and dangerous practice,” Mingyue said. “In case of dissonance or incompatibility, the mark will turn foul, and the one carrying it will die.”
Oh. “Can nothing be done about it?”
Mingyue made a slight face at that. Then finally, he said: “If the bond won’t form properly, then it must be broken.”
Right. “How?”
“Through death,” he elaborated, a decidedly dark look in his eyes. “Typically through the killing and consumption of the other.”
Oh. Well, Jiao Ziyu was certainly no stranger to stories of demons killing and consuming one another, but this one? This was definitely a new one. “Does it happen often?”
At this, there was a minute headshake. “No, it doesn’t happen often, because compatibility is determined well beforehand and it’s undertaken with mutual consent.”
Right. “Well, accidental as it might’ve been, they do seem to get along rather well these days. I mean, it might not be the outcome you’d hoped for, but...”
Where was Jiao Ziyu going with this again? He honestly wasn’t too sure, but⸺
Mingyue narrowed his eyes at him, then promptly averted them to stare menacingly at nothing in particular.
“Unworthy,” he then scoffed. “My Yue deserves better than that.”
Uh⸺ “With such strict standards, would Little Yue ever find a worthy match?”
To this, Mingyue shrugged, evidently unconcerned. Knowing him though⸺
“As much as you wish to keep him by your side, that wouldn’t really be fair to him now, would it? Besides, as far as being worthy goes... don’t you also deserve better?”
Predictably, this gave him a pause, and he proceeded to stare unblinkingly at Jiao Ziyu for several moments. Then, with just a tint of colour to his cheeks, he promptly turned his face away.
“It’s not the same,” Mingyue then said, very deliberately failing to elaborate on how it was in any way different. “Little Yue and Master, both of them deserve a lot better.”
...Both of them?
“The basics of a Demon Realm wedding?”
The Demon King hummed, scratching himself behind the ear with an undeniably satisfied expression. His presence was a whole lot more noticeable as well – his qi signature a whole lot brighter, and not for no reason either. It wasn’t for no reason, because the man – well, demon – before him had apparently bedded Bai Jixue during the time Jiao Ziyu had been effectively dead to the world, which was definitely impressive, considering that last time Jiao Ziyu had seen the former Peak Lord Bai, the other had been demanding the Demon King’s head on a plate.
No wonder Mingyue was such a mess.
“Simply put, there’s a lot of old tradition,” the Demon King said, offering up a dismissive wave. “Most of them aren’t even in use these days. I mean, outside of any of the major clans, demons just sort of pick and choose whichever traditions they like best.”
Hoh. “And the major clans?”
“Well, that obviously depends,” the Demon King said. “Some like to take after the human tradition with various betrothal gifts and bride price and such. Oh, and banquets, but those are commonplace anywhere, really. Also, just wondering: Is ‘bridenapping’ a thing over in the Human Realm?”
Uh. “It’s not common, but I know of some regions where there are similar practices. How so?”
Truth to be told, Jiao Ziyu didn’t really need to ask. However, since he was here and all, he figured that he might as well.
“Well,” the Demon King said, scratching the back of his head. “Most of us aren’t quite as particular about gender as many humans are, so it’s not just brides but grooms as well. In some cases, it’s a matter of clan politics. Other times, it’s basically elopement.”
Hoh. “You mean like your nephew and Little Yue?”
At this, there was a mild shrug.
“That was a happy accident as far as I’m concerned,” the Demon King then noted, looking quite pleased. “Hearing about it afterwards, I was quite surprised he got so many things right.”
Oh. “...He told you?”
“Of course,” the Demon King said. “I obviously needed to know about the exact circumstances before I decided whether or not to kill him.”
“Uh...”
“I did ask my cute little son-in-law first though,” the Demon King mused. “Jun’s my nephew after all, and therefore my responsibility.”
Right. Okay. “And what of Venerable Master Bai?”
“Well,” the Demon King said, offering up a bright yet undeniably sharp smile. “What of him?”
What of him, indeed? Jiao Ziyu probably shouldn’t ask such things at this point in time, and not of the demon before him. Because while the other had appeared relatively mellow up to this point, this in itself didn’t mean that the other wasn’t ruthless at times.
Youming Jun had said so himself, hadn’t he? That his mother had killed his father and that his uncle had in turn killed his mother, allegedly in response to some ill-conceived assassination attempt. And while Jiao Ziyu was undeniably curious to learn more about the circumstances of his late master’s fate, considering the festivities at hand, asking about such things wouldn’t be even remotely appropriate.
Thankfully, there were other related topics that Jiao Ziyu felt far safer to discuss with the likes of the Demon King.
“Apologies,” he said, figuring he might as well apologise ahead of time. “Recent events have left me incredibly confused, and with everyone so busy with the preparations, I⸺”
He trailed off, not really sure what to say – how much to admit. Like, sure, the Demon King seemed to be a whole lot more involved with Mingyue than initially anticipated. However, the other was still a stranger, and a powerful one at that.
“Indeed,” the Demon King said, pouring himself more tea. “It’s no wonder. I was quite confused myself until recently.”
Hoh. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” the other readily admitted, baring his fangs. “Under the right circumstances, Systems will tell you all sorts of things.”
Oh. “Those spiritual parasite things?”
“Well,” the Demon King said, offering up another dismissive wave. “Not the most accurate description, but not entirely wrong either.”
“Then what are they?” – or rather, what were they? Insinuations were that they were gone after all.
“Hm...” The Demon King hummed, taking a moment to think about it. “Judging by they told me, they’re a type of lesser gods, and their ultimate goal is to earn enough Points to be promoted to the position of System Admin, which is what they call their higher gods. Right, and because of certain restrictions, they can’t earn Points by themselves. Thus, they form contracts with mortals, who then become the thing known as Transmigrators.”
“Transmigrators?” Jiao Ziyu had definitely heard that term before, probably even on multiple occasions. He’d never really figured out what it meant though.
“A Transmigrator is a world-traveller,” the Demon King helpfully supplied. “It’s someone who travels in-between dimensions with the help of a System.”
Oh. “Like Master Jiao and the others.”
“Yes,” the other said. “Really annoying, that one. If he hadn’t had his uses, then I would’ve killed him.”
Well⸺ “Your own sister kind of did, so you didn’t have⸺”
Horrified, Jiao Ziyu immediately covered his mouth, willing his treacherous tongue to be still for the sake of the rest of him!
The Demon King didn’t seem particularly upset though. No, it was rather the opposite. Because he too covered his mouth, but only to stifle quiet laughter. The amusement eventually left him however, and when he put the hand back down, there was an undeniably distant look in his eyes, and Jiao Ziyu quickly picked up his own teacup to have something else to focus on.
“Limao also had her uses,” the Demon King finally said, turning his head to the side to stare at nothing in particular. “She could be pretty annoying at times, sure, but I do regret how things ended. In hindsight, I was much too harsh and much too lenient on her at times. I mean, it’s not like I cared about her sleeping with over half of my then-harem, but⸺”
Jiao Ziyu promptly spat the tea back out, lapsing into a coughing fit. It took a good moment before he finally managed to compose himself, and by the time he did, the Demon King was watching him with a decidedly puzzled but also mildly offended look on his face.
“Sorry,” Jiao Ziyu finally managed. “Wrong pipe.”
“I’m sure,” the Demon King said casually, clearly unconvinced. “And while we’re both being honest and all, I figure I might as well clear up a few misunderstandings. I mean, I’m not sure how much you’ve been told, but people keep having all sorts of ideas about my intentions, and I’d like to set the record straight.”
Oh. “Go on?”
“Okay, so...” The Demon King sighed, leaning back in his seat. “First of all, I’ve never actually tried to kill my half-human nephew. I mean sure, dealing with him was pretty annoying at times. But I was actually trying to raise him, and roughhousing and playfighting is a part of that – which is what I told Xunyun when she said it was starting to become a bit ambiguous if I was trying to take care of Jun or trying to ‘take care of’ him. And sure, maybe it was a bit too much to rough him up and dump him off of a cliff and into a river while he was wounded, but to be fair, he’d just tried to stab me with that damned sabre of his, and I did find the thought of being stabbed by any remnant of that Jiao Zilei incredibly insulting. Also, I figured I’d give him an opportunity to cool his head before coming back to find me, you know? Demons that age sort of want to establish their independence, you know? And like, half-human or not, that’s the son of Jiao Zilei, who got thrown off of plenty of cliffs and into a few rivers on top of that without suffering any ill effects. Besides, I made sure to drop him in the Human Realm, and dropped the sabre along with him. And like, why would I have kept it? It was such a cursed artefact.”
Indeed.
“Anyways,” the Demon King continued. “Xunyun obviously disagreed with my parenting methods, and I’ve endeavoured to do better since then. Still, if I hadn’t done all that, then we might not have been sitting here, you know?”
Well, that was certainly true. Still⸺ “It could’ve ended pretty badly.”
“Well, that much is true,” the Demon King readily admitted. “But it didn’t.”
Yeah, but⸺ “You shouldn’t go around throwing children off of cliffs and into rivers. You shouldn’t go about roughing them up either.”
“That’s certainly true as far as human offspring goes,” the Demon King said. “As far as demons go however, some degree of roughhousing is expected. It’s an important part of any kit’s life, and essential for their continued survival – and as a half-demon hybrid, Jun obviously needed any help he could get.”
Indeed, that did sound like a sound argument. Still⸺ “Humans are fragile.”
“Humans are by and large more fragile than demons, yes,” the Demon King said. “However, if you pit a lesser demon against a human cultivator, which one is more likely to make it out unscathed?”
Well⸺ “The cultivator, I guess.”
“Anyways,” the other said. “As for Limao, it’s indeed unfortunate. I mean, I didn’t really care about what she did in my harem – no kits, no foul and all that. And it’s not like I even wanted a harem in the first place, but my then-advisors wouldn’t stop pestering me about taking a wife, so I finally snapped and asserted that while still much too young to consider the daunting prospects of marriage, I wasn’t too young to establish my own harem. And while some advisors agreed with that, others didn’t, arguing that it wasn’t proper for me to establish a harem before I’d taken a proper wife – like, imagine the audacity. Thankfully, the useless or untrustworthy ones proved quite easy to replace, and I found replacements quite readily available. Turns out that a harem can serve as more than a dumping ground for unwanted concubines.”
Oh. “Then Xunyun and the others...”
“Yes,” the Demon King readily admitted. “The vast majority of the Royal Council were originally sent over as tributes by clans hoping to gain additional influence. And I mean, after my habits became known, most got the hint and stopped sending me new concubines. Well, every clan except one, that is.”
Every clan except one, huh? “The Hua?”
“Ah, yes,” the Demon King said, nodding to himself. “I honestly wasn’t sure what to make of it when Lord Hua sent me his supposedly treasured daughter. Frankly, I was leaning more towards veiled insult or assassination attempt, or even both.”
Veiled insult? “How so?”
“Ah.” The Demon King made a definite face. “Given my general disinterest in my nominal harem, it might’ve been suggested that I enjoy the company of younger, more juvenile specimens? In any case, they sent me Hua Hongzhu, a girl even younger than my own nephew, and like, what was I supposed to do with her, huh? Well, with such a family, I obviously didn’t want to send her back immediately so I figured I might as well take her on as a ward and be done with it.”
“Mind you,” he then said. “I took her in well aware that she’d probably been tasked with either assassination or espionage. There’s no insignificant amount of bad blood in-between our respective clans – which is understandable, considering how many of their clansmen I’ve both killed and had killed over the years.”
Ah. “Is that so?”
“It is indeed so,” the Demon King said, regarding him with a smile. “Don’t you want to ask about it?”
Jiao Ziyu swallowed, then licked his lips. “I guess? I’d rather hear about what happened with the Systems and all that though...”
“Well, ask away then,” the Demon King said, leaning in. “We’ll have until Xunyun tracks me down to drag me back to my paperwork.”
Oh.
