Chapter 65: Demon Lord (10)

Luo Ye crossed his arms and gazed at the layers of palaces in the distance.

Turning his head, he said to Liusha, “Did you see that? The Demon Lord’s demonic beast form…”

Liusha was quietly embroidering a small garment. She raised her hand to stop him from continuing.

“Don’t say it, Luo Ye.”

Luo Ye naturally knew this wasn’t a topic to discuss openly, but he just couldn’t hold back.

Yesterday, because the young master had suddenly transformed into her demonic beast form, the Demon Lord had also shifted into his original form to comfort her with the presence of a kindred aura.

It was the first time Liusha and Luo Ye had ever seen the Demon Lord’s original form.

Just as the Demon Lord disliked his excessively beautiful appearance, he also rejected his beast form and rarely took that shape. Even after following him for so many years, Liusha and Luo Ye had never seen it until now.

When that red-furred beast dashed past them with the pup in its mouth, both of them stood frozen in place.

“If the Demon Lord knows we saw him like that, do you think he’ll silence us?”

“If you don’t shut up, that might actually happen.”

Huai Younong lay on bed with his eyes closed. Since the little cub had calmed down, he had returned to his human form, though one arm remained exposed.

The tiny pup, still not fully recovered, curled up under his arm, her head resting near the wound on his forearm.

Even in her sleep, she seemed to be struggling against something, occasionally kicking her legs and stretching her paws, crumpling his robes. The golden threads on the fabric were already snagged by her claws.

And, as a young hybrid Heavenly Demon, after her first transformation, she had instinctively awakened a certain juvenile trait.

Half-asleep, without even opening his eyes, Huai Younong skillfully pushed the little creature away from his chest to prevent her from searching for food on him.

The chubby paws with soft pads flailed in the air but still landed on his chest.

Since her original need wasn’t met, the drowsy cub instinctively started another activity—kneading.

After pushing her away from his chest more than a dozen times overnight, Huai Younong had given up. Let her knead if she wanted—just as long as she didn’t use her teeth.

But it was still annoying.

He turned over, presenting his back to the troublesome little thing.

His movement changed the angle, causing the cub to press against his back instead. Unlike a warm chest, his back was firm and unyielding—too different in texture. The confused little cub finally woke up.

She rolled over and climbed up, staring at her paws. Having once been a little Azure Dragon’s child, she quickly accepted her new form and began circling on bed, familiarizing herself with her four legs.

Then she tripped over her front paws.

Then she tripped over her hind paws.

A hand lifted her by the scruff.

Qian was placed against a warm chest, where her paws, seemingly acting on their own, began kneading again.

Realizing what she was doing, she quickly retracted her paws and pretended to nonchalantly lick them, assuming a proud and aloof posture.

But no matter how dignified she tried to appear, a round, chubby puppy could only look so graceful.

“You remember what you did in your sleep, don’t you?” Huai Younong pinched the red-furred pup’s nose.

Qian frantically shook her head, flicking off his fingers.

Children are innocent! Children don’t know anything!

“I’ll let this go if I bite you once,” Huai Younong said deliberately, grabbing one of her front paws.

Before Qian could struggle, Huai Younong looked at the fur covering her paw, remembering last night’s throat-scratching incident. Feeling disgusted, he let go.

He released her so suddenly that, as Qian had been pulling back, she tumbled off the bed.

She rolled on the floor, barked angrily at bed twice, then stormed off in a huff—only to crash into the too-tall threshold with a loud thud because she wasn’t looking where she was going.

Lying on bed, Huai Younong muttered to himself, “Was I really this ugly when I was a child?”

Outside, Liusha was the first to notice the little red-furred pup running out. She picked up Qian carefully and stole a glance toward the sleeping hall.

“The young master ran out on her own. Does the Demon Lord know?”

She was genuinely worried that if the young master roamed around the Demon Palace in this form and people saw her, they would indirectly learn what the Demon Lord had looked like as a child. If that happened, the Demon Lord might become enraged and purge the entire palace.

And at the top of the purge list would be her and her brother.

“Liusha, are you really going to dress the young master like that?” Luo Ye asked, looking perplexed.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t it cute?” Liusha held the red-furred pup, smoothing out the red dress she had put on her.

The dress was the very one she had been embroidering earlier.

“It is cute,” Luo Ye admitted, sidling up beside Liusha. Under the pretense of admiring the dress, he subtly reached out to stroke the young master’s back fur.

Already plump to begin with, and with a thick, fluffy coat, her fur looked especially voluminous.

It felt warm and incredibly soft to the touch.

“Liusha.”

The Demon Lord’s voice rang in their ears.

The two guardians, who had been engrossed in petting the furry little creature, felt their hearts nearly stop. In a panic, they instantly retracted their hands, pretending they hadn’t done anything inappropriate.

Liusha stubbornly replied, “Demon Lord, your orders.”

Huai Younong glanced at the red dress on the pup, his eyes practically screaming What is that?, but he said nothing about it.

Instead, he only ordered, “Feed her something.”

With that, he swiftly departed.

He was always like this—disappearing for two or three days at a time without explanation, and no one dared to ask where he went.

Liusha carried the young master and prepared to feed her. Meanwhile, Han Qiu strolled over.

As the designated “teacher” for the young master, Han Qiu now resided in the Demon Palace but was not permitted to leave freely.

He told himself that the affairs of the Demon Realm’s young master were none of his concern. Yet, when he thought of the child who used to lie on his lap, whining to avoid calligraphy practice, or who had once excitedly dragged some small animal over to show him, he couldn’t help but worry. Before he knew it, he had come to check on her.

“How are you feeling today? Does it still hurt?” Han Qiu carefully examined the little pup.

She was quite adorable. People always said demon beast forms were ugly and monstrous, but how could this little cub be so cute?

“Let me take a look at your condition.” Han Qiu examined her, first noticing her belly and touching it in confusion.

“Did you eat something that made you bloated? Why is your stomach so big… Oh, you just ate too much. Right Protector, there’s no need to feed her anymore.”

Liu Sha, holding a bowl and a small spoon, was reluctant to stop. “But every time I feed her, the Young Master opens her mouth. Doesn’t that mean she’s still hungry?”

Han Qiu: “If you feed her any more, she’ll throw up.”

As Han Qiu spoke, he suddenly let out a surprised “Eh?” Although Qian hadn’t transformed back yet, her internal state was quite stable. Her Heaven Demon bloodline had been pacified and wasn’t clashing with the rampant spiritual energy. Now, all that was needed was to guide this portion of energy to flow through her body in a different manner, forming a circulation.

As a medical cultivator, Han Qiu could tell that this child’s Heaven Demon bloodline had calmed down because it had devoured a higher-grade flesh and blood.

That ruthless Demon Lord actually treated his child so favorably—it was a bit beyond his expectations.

He had thought that sooner or later, this child would just become material for the Demon Lord to use in advancing his cultivation.

Now that she was like this, of course, she had every reason to skip lessons. How could a little dog possibly study?

So, she happily played all day.

By nightfall, she requested to return to the Demon Lord’s sleeping quarters to sleep.

In the past, whenever Liu Sha brought her back to rest, she was always reluctant. But today, she asked on her own initiative.

Although Liu Sha didn’t know what had changed, she felt relieved.

After a whole day of play, Qian still had some energy left. She went on a wild free run across the bed, like a passing storm, turning the entire bed space into something resembling a dog’s den.

Finally exhausted, she burrowed into the tangled blankets, where there was also a piece of torn and frayed clothing. She continued to practice her claws on that snagged fabric.

In the deep darkness of the night, Huai You Nong stepped into his sleeping quarters with heavy footsteps.

As he entered, the candles inside the hall ignited without wind.

He walked to the bed, completely ignoring the chaotic mess, and sat down without hesitation.

The moment he sat, a startled yelp came from beneath him.

Huai You Nong was momentarily taken aback. He quickly recalled that at this hour, the only small creature that could still be in his sleeping quarters was that child who had turned into a puppy.

Sure enough, the little pup that had been carelessly sat on shot out from under the blankets, yelping furiously.

Huai You Nong averted his gaze and ignored her, grabbing the obstructing blanket and tossing it aside before sitting down again.

The ignored little pup charged forward and, with great courage, bit down on him.

Huai You Nong grabbed the pup and lifted her, glancing at his outer robe—there were now two small holes in the seat of his pants.

“You dare bite me.” Without hesitation, he grabbed the little pup’s front paw and bit her back.

“Ptuh.” He spat out a tuft of fur in disgust.

Tossing the increasingly audacious little rascal aside, Huai You Nong went off to bathe. When he returned, he lay down on the bed as if nothing had happened.

As soon as he lay down, the little pup swaggered over and sprawled against his arm.

“Didn’t you say you hate me? Why are you sticking so close? Get lost.”

Huai You Nong snorted coldly and, with his eyes closed, pushed her away.

“Hmph.” The little pup mimicked his snort, stepped on his hand, and lay down again.

After two or three rounds of this, Huai You Nong opened his eyes, grabbed her, and tossed her onto the pile of blankets.

The little pup, standing atop the blanket mountain, launched herself at him in a full-speed charge.

Huai You Nong caught her mid-air and tossed her back.

Qian jumped again, but this time, Huai You Nong was prepared. Before she could land, he caught her and threw her back.

No matter how she adjusted her posture or changed her target landing spot, he could always reach out and accurately catch her, returning her to her original position.

At first, the child was just being a rebellious little troublemaker, but gradually, she found it fun and wouldn’t stop playing.

After catching the round little pup for the umpteenth time, Huai You Nong found her truly annoying.

He opened his spatial storage, pulled out a colorful ball, and tossed it to the side, diverting the pup’s attention.

The ball, adorned with a small bell, rolled away, instantly capturing the child’s interest. Qian immediately dashed after it.

It was an ordinary toy, crudely made, looking like something from a human marketplace.

Huai You Nong hadn’t bought it on purpose—he had simply seen it after handling some business, and it reminded him of something, so he picked it up.

He seemed to recall that he had once owned such a toy when he was young and had been very fond of it.

Unfortunately, human-world objects were as fragile as humans themselves, easily broken. One day, the toy ball in his memory had been shattered.

Ding-ling!

Ding-ling!

It was that sound—the crisp jingle as it bounced and rolled.

Huai You Nong turned his head to look at the child playing with the ball.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw a lonely shadow from his childhood, always playing with a ball, all alone.

But the illusion quickly faded.

After all, it was different—when he was young, he had been scrawny, nothing like this chubby thing.

The stark contrast in their body sizes snapped him back to reality.

Look at this little one—when she rolled with the ball, they looked like two balls rolling together.

Suddenly, the colorful ball was nudged toward him by another round “ball.”

“What, are you inviting me to play?”

“Woof.”

“Only little kids play with such childish toys, you know that?”

Receiving this rejection and seeing the disdainful expression of her scummy dad, Qian furiously lifted a paw and sent the ball flying—smack!—straight into Huai You Nong’s face.

Huai You Nong: “….”

Slowly, he stood up, grabbed the ball that had just hit his face, and, with one swift kick, sent it flying out the window.

Watching her precious toy disappear, Qian jumped up in fury. “AAAAAHHHHHH!”