Han Zhiyuan suddenly sat up in bed with a start, eyes wide open. “Am I… dead?”
But in the next second, he saw the familiar quilt, the familiar room, even the familiar body… This was clearly Han Zhiyuan’s own room. So, did he come back?
Didn’t he fail? Weren’t they saying if he didn’t complete it, he’d vanish into thin air? Was the Demon King messing with him?
He hurriedly tried calling out to the Demon King, but there was no response, as if he had never existed, an eerie silence. Han Zhiyuan was a bit confused.
Something wasn’t right. Han Zhiyuan suddenly realized that although he had been gone for more than a month, his room hadn’t changed at all. Even his laptop was still on. This was too creepy!
He grabbed his phone in a panic and was completely baffled—it was six ten in the morning.
He remembered clearly that a month ago, he had woken up at six ten in the morning, couldn’t fall back asleep, and on a whim, went hiking. That’s when he encountered the Demon King and started this incredible journey.
But now, was it all a dream?
Han Zhiyuan swallowed unconsciously, his mind suddenly filled with Feng Yu, that aloof white peacock.
What the hell was going on! Could it really have been just a dream? Nine Heavens Continent, Black Egg, Feng Yu—they were all dreams? This dream was way too realistic.
“Hmph!”
While Han Zhiyuan was in a daze, a cold snort interrupted his wild speculations. Han Zhiyuan shuddered and blurted out, “Demon King?”
“Impertinent,” a lofty voice seemed somewhat displeased. “Ant, you should address me as Your Majesty, Demon King.”
Han Zhiyuan’s mouth twitched. It wasn’t a dream, thank goodness.
“I mean, I’m not an ant, I’m Han Zhiyuan. Could you at least use my full name?” For the Demon King, the difference between “ant” and “Han Zhiyuan” was just a word, but for him, it was a world of difference.
“Hmm?”
A deep, magnetic voice, but with an undeniable majesty.
“Your Majesty, the Demon King~” Han Zhiyuan couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“Hmph!” The Demon King snorted coldly.
Just like Feng Yu!
Thinking of Feng Yu, Han Zhiyuan shuddered again. “Your Majesty, the Demon King, what exactly is going on? Is the Nine Heavens Continent real? Did Feng Yu succeed in the end?”
“Hmph!” Another cold snort from the Demon King. “Of course, it’s real.”
“Then what happened to Feng Yu?” Before Han Zhiyuan could finish speaking, he suddenly had a strange feeling, as if a peculiar gaze was watching him from the depths of his soul. He even felt an uncomfortable sensation all over his body.
“Why do you care about him!” The Demon King said discontentedly.
Han Zhiyuan: …
“I just want to know why I was able to come back, okay?” Why was it so hard to communicate?
“The seal was broken, the remnant soul returned, so naturally, you came back.” The Demon King said impatiently, then continued, “Although this time, there were many obstacles and you nearly lost your life several times, but…”
But before the Demon King could finish, Han Zhiyuan was already deep in thought.
The seal was broken, the remnant soul returned, which means his true prohibition was lifted, Feng Yu fell in love? But love? Could it be himself? Thinking of this, Han Zhiyuan felt inexplicably warm. In fact, maybe it wasn’t just Feng Yu. Han Zhiyuan didn’t deny that there were times he even wanted to stay there and not come back.
He didn’t know Feng Yu’s ultimate fate, but since the seal was broken, the heavenly tribulation could no longer stop him. That was his path.
Now, he wanted to know if the Demon King had traveled with him and what exactly was happening before his eyes.
The Demon King simply told him with a blank expression that he had just looked at the time and forgot the date.
Han Zhiyuan: …
In fact, this was the second morning at six ten since he traveled.
A day had passed here, while he spent over a month there. Truly, the world is full of wonders.
Han Zhiyuan then learned from the Demon King that his return was a stroke of luck. Had he been a second late, he would have turned to ashes.
The Demon King’s soul was weak, his power only enough to support Han Zhiyuan’s travel. More importantly, the Demon King had to avoid the surveillance of his enemies and wouldn’t appear easily until his power was restored.
During the alternation of yin and yang, he traversed through a space-time rift and entered Han Zhiyuan’s pure yang body.
When Han Zhiyuan was sent to the Nine Heavens Continent, the Demon King left a soul-leaving mark deep in his soul. Once the seal was triggered, it would pull his soul back from that world. The trigger for the seal was the remnant soul of the Demon King. Once the remnant soul broke free from the seal, it would resonate with Han Zhiyuan’s soul, triggering the soul-leaving mark and bringing both the Demon King’s remnant soul and Han Zhiyuan’s soul back to the original world.
In other words, if Han Zhiyuan couldn’t break the seal, he would never return. Moreover, the Demon King had set a time limit on the seal. If he didn’t return in time, Han Zhiyuan’s life would also be forfeit—truly insane!
But if Han Zhiyuan died before breaking the seal, he would truly be dead!
Thinking of this, Han Zhiyuan broke out in a cold sweat. If Feng Yu hadn’t fallen for him, he would have been dead without a trace.
These were all deduced from the Demon King’s brief words and Han Zhiyuan’s own speculations.
The Demon King indeed didn’t lie to him—failure meant death!
“Now that you know how to break the seal, don’t waste time on unnecessary things this time.”
Waste time… Han Zhiyuan silently complained in his heart. If it weren’t for your lack of hints, would I need to waste time? It’s like I’m supposed to be grateful to you for not killing me.
Damn, I went through untold hardships, risking my life to help you, and you still blame me for not doing it well enough? This Demon King, seriously.
Han Zhiyuan swallowed his grievances, knowing it was wise to do so. Suddenly, his eyes glanced at his laptop, and he shuddered—he had a job to sustain himself!
“I want to…”
Han Zhiyuan had just said two words when a familiar yet terrifying force suddenly struck him. His scalp tingled with a sense of foreboding. Sure enough, a swirling black vortex appeared before him in the next second. “Wait, damn it!” Let me at least take a leave from work!
“You’re insane, damn it!!!”
Han Zhiyuan was about to lose his mind. How could there be such a person? “Would it kill you to let me finish my sentence!”
The excruciating pain of being torn apart instantly altered Han Zhiyuan’s scream. He didn’t know if the Demon King could hear him, but Han Zhiyuan, amidst the agonizing tear, gritted his teeth in pain, wishing he could crawl out and tear that bastard apart!
Just before darkness overtook him, Han Zhiyuan clearly heard a warning-filled cold snort, “Don’t do unnecessary things! Hmph! Shameless scoundrel!”
Excessive behavior? Shameless?
Han Zhiyuan, whose mind had been turned into a complete mess, didn’t understand the meaning of this sentence at all. The next second, darkness overtook him.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw a white ceiling. Before he could think further, a flood of memories that didn’t belong to Han Zhiyuan surged into his mind. He had to close his eyes again to digest these sudden memories.
Half an hour later, Han Zhiyuan slowly opened his eyes, and the last words of the demon king echoed in his mind, “Don’t do anything unnecessary! Shameless scoundrel!”
Han Zhiyuan suddenly had a thought, and his lips curled up involuntarily. He had a strange intuition that what the demon king meant by “unnecessary things” referred to his intimate encounters with Feng Yu.
Han Zhiyuan suddenly realized why he found the demon king so awkward at that moment. So, this means the demon king was well aware of what happened on the Nine Heavens Continent, specifically, the things between him and Feng Yu. But since the demon king didn’t actually go to the Nine Heavens Continent because of his weakened soul, could Han Zhiyuan boldly speculate that the demon king’s memories came from the remnant soul, which resided in Feng Yu’s body before returning? In other words… did the demon king personally experience their intimate moments?
Or more vividly, was Han Zhiyuan indirectly intimate with the demon king?
Thinking of this, Han Zhiyuan’s eyes inexplicably heated up, like a battle lion whose interest had been ignited, feeling a strange excitement.
Boyfriend or girlfriend, Han Zhiyuan suddenly found his direction so clear. As for whether the speculation was true or not, wouldn’t trying it out confirm it?
Thinking this, Han Zhiyuan unconsciously licked his lips, and the smile on his face carried a hint of evil charm, startling the young assistant who had just returned with hot water.
“Brother Yuan, you’re finally awake!”
Han Zhiyuan looked up and saw a young girl in overalls happily rushing towards him, holding a cup.
Only then did Han Zhiyuan realize that he was lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip in his hand, feeling somewhat tired and a slight pain in his upper abdomen. Judging by the room’s setup, it was clearly a VIP ward.
Before Han Zhiyuan could speak, the young girl started to cry, “Brother Yuan, you really scared me today, sob sob sob~”
Han Zhiyuan grinned, “Why are you crying? I’m fine, aren’t I?”
Having sorted out the memories in advance, Han Zhiyuan was now almost integrated with the Han Zhiyuan of this world, with no risk of exposing any flaws.
“You’ve been unconscious for three hours!” The young girl, angry at Han Zhiyuan’s nonchalant attitude, yelled and then hurriedly apologized, “I’m sorry, Brother Yuan, I was just scared. You suddenly fainted on set today; it really frightened everyone.”
“Okay, okay, my fault.” Han Zhiyuan surrendered and then pointed to the IV drip, “It’s almost finished. Help me with it.”
The young girl panicked again, “I’ll call the nurse.”
“No need for a nurse!” Han Zhiyuan quickly stopped her. “Just hold the tape on the needle for me. I’ll pull it out myself. It’ll only take a second.”
The young girl had no choice but to help Han Zhiyuan hold the tape in place. With a swift motion, Han Zhiyuan pulled the needle out, and the young girl finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, a slightly chubby man with glasses walked in. Seeing Han Zhiyuan awake, his previously dull eyes brightened up, “A’Yuan, you’re awake.”
“Yes, how are things outside?” Han Zhiyuan asked while putting on his jacket with the help of his assistant Liu Xiaoya.
The girl, Liu Xiaoya, was one of Han Zhiyuan’s assistants. The slightly chubby man with glasses, despite being around the same age as Han Zhiyuan, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, was his manager, Zhu You. Due to his plump figure and surname Zhu, people nicknamed him “Pig Brother,” but Han Zhiyuan was used to calling him A’You.
Upon hearing the question, Zhu You smiled, “The outside is surrounded by reporters and your fans. It’s like the end of the world out there.”
Han Zhiyuan smiled. He had already learned from Liu Xiaoya that his sudden fainting on set was due to acute gastroenteritis caused by long-term irregular work, sleep, and diet, which had frightened everyone.
It was unclear how the news leaked, but now the hospital was surrounded, especially by fans who had come in response to the news. Anyone would think he had a terminal illness or had passed away.
“Are you really okay? Shouldn’t you stay for a couple of days for observation?” Zhu You couldn’t help but confirm again.
“I’m fine. I know my limits.” Han Zhiyuan said, “Xiaoya and I will leave from the back. A’You, you handle the reporters and calm the fans. I’ll also make a statement on Weibo later.”
“Okay,” Zhu You, knowing Han Zhiyuan’s temperament well, agreed. “Just take this opportunity to rest for a few days.”
At this time, the news of Han Zhiyuan fainting on set and being rushed to the hospital had already gone viral. It was all over social media, entertainment headlines, news sites, forums… Han Zhiyuan’s fainting had dominated the screens within three hours, despite the news being blocked.
Being an actor? It’s indeed something to look forward to.
Han Zhiyuan, out of Liu Xiaoya’s sight, curled his lips. In fact, he was more looking forward to meeting that person, the music genius with the remnant soul of the demon king, the face of the entertainment industry, and the musical prodigy, Tang Yifeng.
