As the daylight brightened and the sun rose high, Shen Tanqi abruptly woke from his sleep.
He had dreamt that he couldn’t return to that world. In his dream, Yu Ce was guarding his coffin, his expression as lifeless as withered wood. Without hesitation, Yu Ce plunged a sword into his own heart, dying beside him.
Even in the dream, inside the coffin, Shen Tanqi was still yelling at him, ‘Are you out of your damn mind to want to kill yourself? You don’t care about the children—‘
He woke up right after shouting.
The dream felt too real, so real that Shen Tanqi now felt like randomly grabbing a ten-year-old child, preferably surnamed Yu, and finding a reason to beat him up.
Fuming with anger, he got up and stormed to Yu Ce’s door, only to find Yu Ce’s figure missing again. Just as he was puzzled over this, intense arguing came from downstairs at the inn.
Shen Tanqi’s eyelids twitched, as if realizing something. He went out and stood at the edge of the second-floor railing, looking down.
Sure enough, Yu Ce’s hood had fallen to the ground, soaked through, evidently splashed with water by someone, revealing the dragon horn on his head.
“Look everyone, I told you there’s a daemon here, I can smell the stench of the daemon clan even with my nose covered!”
“Is it really a daemon? Aren’t daemons strictly forbidden from entering the city?”
“This transformation spirit water is distributed by the Shen family. How could it be fake?”
Seeing that group of people about to throw leftover food from the table onto Yu Ce, Shen Tanqi’s pupils contracted sharply. He leaned against the railing and jumped down, quickly pulling Yu Ce away.
“Are you stupid? They’re about to throw things at you and you’re not running?” Shen Tanqi gritted his teeth. “Weren’t you tough when you tied me up?”
Yu Ce raised his eyes, determination gleaming in their depths, and gently pushed Shen Tanqi aside. “I was planning to hide, but when I saw you jump down, I wanted to catch you.”
Shen Tanqi: …
So, it turns out he jumped down at the wrong time.
“You go first, and don’t come near me now,” Yu Ce murmured softly, preparing to use a spell to fly out through the inn’s main door.
Originally, he didn’t want to escalate the situation, but these people were relentless, refusing to let go.
He couldn’t allow Shen Tanqi to be insulted and ostracized because of him.
Shen Tanqi hesitated for a moment, then without thinking, grabbed Yu Ce’s wrist and pulled him back. “Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you.”
He reached into his pocket, took out the string of bronze coins he always carried, and held them up to the crowd. “I am also from the Shen family. He is with me. If the Shen family wants to hold anyone accountable, they can come find me.”
The inn’s lobby fell silent for a moment, then someone shouted, “Trying to pass off as a member of the Shen family with five coins? Boys, let’s beat this fake Shen family member and this stinking daemon to death!”
Shen Tanqi: ?
Yu Ce took a deep breath, incredulously saying, “What are you doing? Members of the Shen family wear clothes with the family crest. They’ve never used a string of bronze coins as their symbol.”
“Huh?” Shen Tanqi was stunned for a moment, then he understood. Seven years ago, the Shen family hadn’t invented these bronze coins yet. Only Shen Tanqi and Consort Shen had them.
And the current ‘Shen Tanqi’ was just over ten years old, his mother had just died, and Shen Fei hadn’t married into the Shen family yet, so where did these bronze coins come from?
Just as he figured it out, the people in front of him rushed over with brooms, sticks, leftover food, and vegetables. Yu Ce grabbed Shen Tanqi’s belt—yes, he could only reach Shen Tanqi’s belt easily now—and quickly used a spell to escape from the inn.
After a moment, on the outskirts of Shuoxia City.
Near a dilapidated small wooden house, two figures suddenly appeared out of thin air.
Shen Tanqi, still feeling lingering fear, said, “You didn’t leave anything behind at the inn, did you?”
Yu Ce shook his head and sighed, “And you?”
Shen Tanqi had nothing to leave behind; he came into this world with nothing but the clothes on his back.
“How did they find you?” Shen Tanqi found a clean stone slab in front of the wooden hut, sat down, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and pulled Yu Ce closer, gently wiping away the transformation spirit water from his head.
The transformation spirit water had some effect on daemons; Yu Ce had felt a slight tingling sensation earlier, but wherever Shen Tanqi wiped, it seemed like the pain disappeared completely.
Lowering his head to make it easier for Shen Tanqi to reach his hair, Yu Ce whispered, “Yesterday, I went to the Shen family to investigate the cause of Madam Shen’s death and was discovered by a few Shen family guards. We had a fight.”
So, when Yu Ce said he was tired yesterday, he truly meant it. Shen Tanqi touched his nose, suddenly feeling a bit guilty for losing his temper yesterday. If he had known what had really happened, he would have asked Yu Ce about it sooner.
Gripping the sword at his side tightly, Yu Ce continued, “Unexpectedly, after last night’s incident, Shen family guards patrolled the streets all day today and followed me all the way to the inn…”
Shen Tanqi had witnessed everything that happened afterward.
The two sat on the stone slab in front of the small wooden house and sighed deeply in unison.
“It will get better in the future,” Shen Tanqi reassured.
Yu Ce asked, “By the time we get married, will Shuoxia City no longer be so hostile towards daemons?”
This question caught Shen Tanqi off guard. “Uh… not for the moment.”
Upon hearing this, Yu Ce seemed even more disheartened. “It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Earlier, although he had heard Shen Tanqi confidently declare himself as a member of the Shen family earlier, Yu Ce didn’t know Shen Tanqi’s exact status within the family. Now it seemed he was from a collateral branch.
He paused, afraid that his words might touch on a sore spot for Shen Tanqi. He reached out, patting Shen Tanqi on the shoulder reassuringly, “It’s alright. It’s already remarkable that you can marry me in a family like the Shen’s.”
Shen Tanqi: …
Why did that sound so much like, ‘It’s okay, lasting three seconds is already impressive’?
He coughed lightly, deciding not to tell Yu Ce about his future as the heir of the Shen family.
Things would get better in the future, Shen Tanqi believed. As long as he could persuade the family head and they both worked hard together, Shuoxia City would surely become a harmonious home for both daemons and humans.
After a while, Yu Ce suddenly stood up, dusting off his clothes. He whispered softly, “No one lives in this wooden hut anymore. Shen family guards are patrolling everywhere in the city. Tonight, we may have to make do here.”
Shen Tanqi got up as well and followed him into the small house, suddenly realizing that this place seemed familiar.
There were two familiar vegetable patches in the courtyard, dilapidated and abandoned, with only a few sparse vegetable seedlings growing. In the corner of the yard stood a tall bayberry tree.
Wait a minute. Wasn’t this scene exactly like the illusion they had been in before?
Except this one was a wooden hut, and the other was a thatched cottage.
He sucked in a sharp breath, shocked, and asked, “How do you know about this place?”
Yu Ce didn’t turn his head, saying casually, “Just randomly used a spell and ended up here. What’s wrong?”
Shen Tanqi’s mind went blank for a moment, then he figured it out.
Seven years ago, Yu Ce had been recognized at the inn and casually used a spell to arrive at this small wooden hut, where he stayed for a long time.
So, in Yu Ce’s illusion, he lived in that thatched cottage.
But illusions are randomly generated based on memories. Even if Yu Ce’s illusion showed up here, it should have been the small wooden hut, not the thatched cottage.
So, there was only one possibility… Yu Ce intentionally created that illusion himself, just to do those unethical things to him!
Shen Tanqi gritted his teeth, reached out, and grabbed the young Yu Ce in front of him. Without waiting for Yu Ce’s reaction, he pinched his face hard.
Yu Ce winced in pain, holding his face and watching with a hurt expression as Shen Tanqi angrily walked into the house.
“…”
Why suddenly bully him like this?
Entering the wooden house, Shen Tanqi was hit by a gust of dusty air that almost blinded his eyes. Frowning deeply, he covered his mouth and nose, picked up a broken broom from the ground, and swept away the dust and cobwebs on the bed.
Just as Yu Ce was about to come in, Shen Tanqi said, “Don’t come in, it’s all dusty.”
Stepping over the threshold, Yu Ce snatched the broom from Shen Tanqi’s hand and gently said, “I’ll do the sweeping, you go out.”
With that, without waiting for Shen Tanqi to respond, he pushed him out.
A ray of morning sunlight and a gentle breeze brushed past, golden dust particles floating in the air. Shen Tanqi watched as Yu Ce untied his long sword, took up the broom, and skillfully cleaned the garbage in the house, feeling like he was in a dream.
Long ago, he had dreamed that his home should be like this.
With someone waiting at home, they went to work together, shared household chores, went shopping for groceries, cooked meals, and on weekends, they could lounge on the couch watching comedy movies. Occasionally, when they felt lazy to cook, they would just make instant noodles.
As the dust settled in the house, Yu Ce wiped the benches clean and gestured for Shen Tanqi to sit down.
Though the house couldn’t be called clean or beautiful, it was at least habitable.
Shen Tanqi smiled and asked him, “Did you also do household chores back in Hidden Dragon Valley?”
Yu Ce paused for a moment, tidying up the bedding, and replied softly, “My father taught me. He said someday I would escape from there and needed to learn to take care of myself.”
Hearing this, Shen Tanqi was taken aback. “Escape?”
“Yeah.” Yu Ce sat on the bed, gently removing his dusty and transformation-spirit-water-stained coat, and said softly, “If I don’t escape, I’ll be trapped there forever.”
His aunt had placed too much hope on him, wanting him to change his destiny, to rise to power over the realms, and to elevate the daemon clan above all others.
But Yu Ce didn’t want any of that.
Even today, he still didn’t understand why he was born into this world.
Controlled like a puppet by his aunt and several elders of the dragon race, they pushed him step by step to the position of daemon lord, making humans and daemons kneel at his feet. What was the point?
Shen Tanqi pondered for a moment and said softly, “Escaping is a good thing.”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have encountered the Yu Ce he met later on.
“You think so too?”
“Yeah, I’ll support whatever you decide to do.”
Yu Ce looked up at him, suddenly curling his lips, “Will you treat the future me like this too?”
At his words, Shen Tanqi’s mind flashed with the despairing look in Yu Ce’s eyes just before he died. He sighed softly and said, “Honestly, I can’t say I treat you very well.”
He always avoided, ignored, refused to listen, refused to acknowledge.
Yu Ce must feel quite helpless towards him too.
“Oh really? How haven’t you been good?” Yu Ce smiled, not overly concerned, treating it as a joke. Even if Shen Tanqi treated him worse, how bad could it really be?
Shen Tanqi cleared his throat and said, “It’s just… like forcing you to take a sword and stab me to death or something like that…”
Yu Ce: ?
His face stiffened, as if he had heard some ghostly nonsense that was beyond the realm of reason.
Seeing Yu Ce’s sudden change in expression, Shen Tanqi felt uneasy and asked cautiously, “Is it very serious? Unforgivable to you?”
Yu Ce fell silent for a moment before speaking after a long pause.
“You forced me to kill you with my own hands?”
Seeing Shen Tanqi nod, the small cabin once again fell into a strange silence.
Shen Tanqi sat uneasily, waiting for Yu Ce’s answer, feeling somewhat like he was defending his graduation thesis: “I did force you, but there were some irresistible reasons. I know this is quite unfair.”
After a pause, he asked softly, “You know yourself best. How can I make it up to you?”
After a a long while, Yu Ce raised his eyes to look at him, seeing Shen Tanqi’s cautious and uneasy look in his eyes, holding back a smile, he pretended to be serious and whispered, “If it’s like this, I’m afraid there’s only one way to make amends.”
Shen Tanqi couldn’t wait and asked eagerly, “What way?”
Yu Ce waved at him, signaling him to come closer. Shen Tanqi approached him, puzzled, leaning in close to hear what Yu Ce had to say—
“After you get back, the first time we meet,” Yu Ce said.
Shen Tanqi nodded, listening attentively.
“Just kiss me directly.”
Shen Tanqi: ?
He jerked his head up, seeing the faint smile on the kid’s lips, suddenly feeling like he might have corrupted him.
Damn it, he used to blush just talking about children!
“In any case, whether you believe it or not.”
Yu Ce patted his shoulder, pretending to be profound, and said in a serious tone, “I’m naturally considering our relationship. If you don’t do this, knowing myself, I’ll definitely hold a grudge and feel suspicious, which could strain our bond. You wouldn’t want our relationship to become strained, would you?”
Shen Tanqi: …
You little brat.
I’ll reluctantly believe you this once. If it doesn’t work, I’ll have the system send me back here and make you cry!
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
