“So,” he said, putting down his brush. “I’ve heard Little Yue’s side of the story. Now I’d like to hear yours. What is this bit about world domination?”
In Wú Jiǔ City, alcohol was plentiful and people generally friendly, even to disguised Demon Kings with highly conspicuous hair.
There was also a clinic, and a Little Hermit manning it.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the medicinal cultivator Hongyan had hoped to find. This didn’t make this a wasted trip however – not by any means.
“What are you doing here, uncle?” hissed his heir apparent, who was not dead and also seemed quite unhappy to see him.
Technically, Hongyan was there sightseeing. That said though⸺ “We need to talk.”
There was something distinctly off with Limao’s son. Granted, the human-demon hybrid had always been rather unstable, but this, this was definitely something else.
“Sure,” Hongyan said. “If you stop trying to kill me, then I won’t try to kill you.”
Not that Hongyan had ever seriously tried to kill him – if he had, then would the other still be alive now? Of course not. In fact, Hongyan had been astonishingly lenient with the other up to this point. But even so, there were certain things that Hongyan could not easily accept.
His nephew’s sudden change of character and newfound conviction to live out the remainder of his life in exile was strange – and him suddenly having a mate was even stranger – but strange wasn’t the same as unacceptable. Still, Hongyan’s nephew was young and by default also foolish, and so, Hongyan felt a certain obligation to investigate things further. He was also curious, but that was beside the point.
“No,” Little Jun said, clearly resistant to the thought. “You can’t meet him now.”
This clearly hinted that Hongyan would be allowed to meet his nephew’s mate at some later date, which he supposed was fair enough. He was no stranger to waiting after all. Then again, Hongyan waiting too long to act had proven decidedly detrimental before, so⸺
At the end of the day, the Little Hermit returned. He – otherwise known as Yue – did not immediately notice anything amiss. He did catch onto Hongyan’s masked presence pretty quickly though, which was surprising, given the other’s alleged human status.
“Relax,” Hongyan said, noting the way the other’s gaze lingered on Little Jun’s prone form. “He’s not dead. I just knocked him out.”
“Why?” the other softly asked, surprisingly calm in spite of everything; muted, almost. Also, it occurred to Hongyan that this ‘why’ of his could potentially mean a number of things – like “Why did you knock him out?”, which was likely, even though “Why is he not dead?” was also a perfectly reasonable interpretation, given the information that Hongyan had recently managed to uncover.
“Good Doctor,” he said, motioning towards the empty seat at the opposite side of the table. “Why don’t you sit down?”
The boy – well, young man – looked from the empty seat to him and then back again, evidently wary. He did not seem about to escape though, which was a relief, because Hongyan did not want to chase him unless it proved absolutely necessary.
“Why?” the other asked again, and Hongyan was willing to bet that it was one of the other’s favourite words.
“Because we need to talk,” Hongyan elaborated, keeping his voice perfectly even. “So, we can do that here, or we can do that elsewhere. I leave that decision up to you.”
“Where?”
Hah. “My home.”
The boy blinked, and Hongyan honestly couldn’t resist it. He blinked back, something that clearly threw the other off. The boy still didn’t run though.
“Why?”
Ah, again with the whys. “Because we need to talk. I told you so, didn’t I?”
“Why do we need to talk?” the boy asked next.
Hongyan supposed this still counted as progress though – possibly even as a major breakthrough. Also⸺ “We need to talk because rumour has it that my nephew has been keeping you confined and I need to ascertain the exact circumstances before I decide whether or not to kill him.”
There was a visible start at that. Then⸺ “Why does it matter?”
Saying this, the youngster averted his eyes and folded his arms across his chest – but not in an assertive way but rather in an instinctive pursuit of comforting pressure. “You don’t even know me, and I don’t⸺”
Ah, honestly⸺ “Truth to be told, it doesn’t really matter who you are. You’re involved with my nephew, and I wish to ascertain the exact circumstances of that involvement.”
“What does it matter to you?” the boy then asked, with a flicker of anger now. “If you really cared about him, then why didn’t you come find him before now?”
Ah, well⸺ “I was trying to give him space?”
Well, more or less.
“Then why don’t you continue with that?” the other asked, rubbing his temple now. “He won’t try to take over the world again, so why won’t you just⸺?”
“Hoh?”
The young cultivator promptly froze, realising that he had just said too much. Hongyan opted not to comment on it though. Instead, he motioned for the other to take a seat, and after another long moment, the youngster finally gave in, making his way over and flopping down without really caring about a neat posture. Then he leaned against the table, using a hand to prop up his chin as he stared at Hongyan for a good while.
“Sorry,” he finally said, averting his gaze. “It’ll be a full moon soon.”
Hoh. “And this is relevant because?”
“It’s relevant because I tend to lose my mind around then. Not always, but it happens. Jun won’t let me out then.”
Oh. “And you... do not object to any of that?”
At this, there was a mild scoff.
“Hah, I had plenty of objections in the beginning. I mean, he basically kidnapped me and all, and then he... locked me up, so to speak? I had plenty of objections, because... I didn’t understand it then. He wasn’t trying to hurt me though – and he still isn’t. If anything, then he’s trying to keep me from hurting myself.”
Oh. Okay then. “Why would you hurt yourself?”
“I don’t hurt myself often,” the other finally admitted, looking at him properly now. “I think I mostly end up hurting him, but I don’t really remember... I think I might know why though... why it keeps on happening. It’s because I’m afraid, afraid that it’ll happen again.”
Hoh? “Afraid that what will happen?”
“The System. I made it angry. I hurt it, and so it hurt me in return. It’s looking for me, I think, but Jun’s wards seem to have thrown it off my scent. But it’ll find me eventually, and I need to die before then.”
Die? “And why is that?”
Visibly dazed, the boy shook his head and then just sat there for a good moment, saying nothing.
“It can’t use me if I don’t have a body,” he finally said, reaching into his sleeve. “If I no longer have a body, then⸺”
Saying this, he pulled out a thin silver needle, and Hongyan quickly decided that he did not like the look in the other’s eyes.
Without another word, he slipped from his seat and quickly caught the other’s wrist, holding it gently but firmly as he made a grab for the needle. The other made little attempt to resist him, and Hongyan had yet to decide whether this was a good thing or a bad one.
“Youngster,” Hongyan said, gently stroking the other’s knuckles. “What is your name?”
Because the boy obviously needed a name, and if he didn’t have one, then Hongyan would give him one – one that suited him. He knew this immediately, because this close, there was no mistake – this was another one; another one of them.
“Yue,” the other said, completely unresistant. “I’m not sure I ever had a proper family name in this place, and I don’t remember my full name in the world I was before... before...”
He trailed off, then said nothing further. He had already said enough though, confirming Hongyan’s suspicions.
Naturally, Little Jun did not take too kindly to Hongyan’s presence and recent actions.
“Bastard, what did you do to Yue-shixiong?!”
Hongyan’s nephew was the only bastard here though, technically speaking. His anger made sense though, sort of.
However, Hongyan had just listened to Little Yue’s quite harrowing ordeal in an alternate timeline, and thus, had limited patience for his nephew’s antics. Also, said Transmigrator was now sleeping quite soundly, tucked against Hongyan’s side while Hongyan himself dealt with some paperwork.
“It’s weird,” Little Yue had mumbled, right before nodding off. “It’s so quiet. Like I can finally hear myself think again.”
Well, Hongyan wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that. But he supposed it was a good thing that the other was so comfortable in his presence – which was a sharp contrast to how previous Transmigrators had reacted to him.
“I didn’t do anything, really,” Hongyan finally said, sensing his irritable nephew’s patience wearing thin. Hongyan knew the other wouldn’t attack him though, not with Little Yue being this close. This wasn’t to say that Little Jun wouldn’t attempt to take the other back however.
“But⸺” his nephew began, clearly agitated but also hesitant to disturb his mate. Hongyan knew him to be foolish though, so⸺
“Let him rest,” he said. “He clearly needs it.”
Then, seeing his nephew begin to settle down again, Hongyan thought it was probably time.
“So,” he said, putting down his brush. “I’ve heard Little Yue’s side of the story. Now, I’d like to hear yours. What is this bit about world domination?”
With the cat effectively out of the bag, Little Jun folded quickly, telling Hongyan everything he needed to know – and far more than he really cared to know, honestly. Because Hongyan was disappointed – not just in his nephew’s recent and less recent conduct but also in his own seeming fate.
Had he truly weakened to such a degree? Hongyan rather doubted it, and in that case, then him giving up would have been the only viable alternative.
It wouldn’t be the same now though. It wouldn’t be the same now, because Hongyan had a purpose now – there was a System on the loose, and Hongyan was going to hunt it. Granted, it was unlikely to be the same System entity that had taken other things from him, but⸺
Well, it didn’t matter. The hunt was on.
