Editor: Sahloknir
Jiang Yinghe was somewhat frazzled.
He felt like he came out of the frying pan only to go straight into the fire.
Chang Ye led him straight out of the Nether Realm into devil territory without looking back. After fleeing into a sea of sparsely populated forests and trees, they arrived at a city brimming with devil cultivators.
But since there were so many devils in and around the border city of Wanyao, Chang Ye told him that they needed to disguise themselves to avoid detection.
Jiang Yinghe wholeheartedly agreed. A less heavy-handed approach would serve them well. If he headed back to Peng Lai right now, the sect could be wiped out because of him. It was better to hide in the outskirts of this town to avoid bringing trouble to others.
He didn’t know how long Qin Jun’s interest would last, so it was better to wait a little before deciding on a course of action.
He was able to calmly consider all of this until Chang Ye brought out the disguise he would be using. His previous attitude was in complete upheaval. He felt like his pride as a man, no, as a member of the human race was in complete tatters.
There was…a pair of bunny ears in Chang Ye’s hands.
Jiang Yinghe stared blankly at them, and his head was filled with a variety of strange thoughts. He saw his little disciple’s smiling face.
“Shizun, when you mingle with crowds of devils, you must have this kind of unique disguise.” Chang Ye lied with a straight face. “Using concealment arrays is too dangerous, and might cause unneeded conflicts… What if there was a Devil Baron currently patrolling the city? It’s best to be low-key right now.”
Jiang Yinghe didn’t know if he should be proud that his little disciple seemed to finally have grown up or adamantly reject the soft and white rabbit ears in front of him. He was silent for a moment. “This, how do you wear this thing?”
“You need to run your spiritual energy through it.” Chang Ye smiled slightly. “Maybe Ye-er should help Shizun put them on.”
Jiang Yinghe: “…Okay.”
He controlled his rampant thoughts and convinced himself that this was just a necessary method of avoiding danger.
Jiang Yinghe’s black hair was soft to the touch and sleek as well. It felt better than the silky fur of a small animal against the hand. Chang Ye pressed down on his shoulders and guided Shizun to take a seat before gathering up his hair.
There was a fragrance on his little disciple’s body as well, but it was different from Jiang Yinghe’s cold and distant aroma. Chang Ye’s scent was subtle and rich. This, combined with his exquisite appearance, gave others the feeling of an androgynous youth of unparalleled grace and talent.
His hands were very white and slender as well. When they were combing back the hair by Jiang Yinghe’s temples, they were almost the same shade of colour as the skin on Shizun’s peerless face.
Chang Ye silently swallowed back his saliva as he arranged Shizun’s hair into an appropriate position. He then slowly passed spiritual energy through the rabbit ears.
Stimulated, the rabbit ears twitched and bore a close resemblance to the real deal. Chang Ye placed the snow white ears into the parted portion of Jiang Yinghe’s hair. He lightly touched the tips of the ears.
Jiang Yinghe felt that gentle touch, as if the ears were really a part of him.
…This is just too tragic.
Jiang Yinghe took in a deep breath. He then felt Chang Ye knead the ears repeatedly.
His entire body tense up, and he asked with surprise: “…What are you doing?”
Chang Ye reluctantly withdrew his hands and smiled. “It’s such a rare opportunity. Let Ye-er have a bit of fun.”
At the moment, Jiang Yinghe wasn’t sure if he was talking about the rarity of the artifact or the rarity of him having a pair of rabbit, ahem, devil ears.
People really couldn’t overcome their circumstances.
Chang Ye stepped back to admire his handiwork. As Shizun lowered his head, a pair of long ears drooped down as well. He just intended to take a look before, but he felt his thoughts veer towards a very inappropriate direction.
He was almost afraid to look more as he took out the final part of the disguise.
—A fluffy and round tail.
Jiang Yinghe: “…Is there really a need to be so strict?”
Chang Ye’s expression was stern. “Shizun taught me to carefully consider my options and act accordingly. How can little things like this stop us?”
Jiang Yinghe: “…”
He had a sudden urge to go back and strangle his past self.
He sighed as his little disciple approached. He slowly untied the belt around his robes without much thought. “Did you know…about your Shixiong’s inclination?”
Chang Ye attentively loosened an especially stubborn knot and removed the outer layer. He replied naturally, “How could I have known? But Qin-shixiong must have harbored deviant intentions towards Shizun for a long time. I remember that Shizun even protected his heart when he was forcefully undergoing his tribulation due to his constitution at Yun city.”
The red-clothed youth rambled on and on, digging up all the dirt from the past. Finally, he nodded self-righteously and insisted, “He must have been covetous of Shizun since the beginning.”
Jiang Yinghe silently listened. He didn’t know what to say.
He previously thought that Qin Jun just wanted to eat him, but now that he considered it with a calm mind, Qin Jun had plenty of opportunities to strike when guarding him at night. But he never did.
Jiang Yinghe continued to think about this until his little disciple peeled back the inner layer of his clothes. He grabbed Chang Ye’s wrist.
“I’ll do it myself.” Jiang Yinghe took the soft rabbit tail from his hand and sighed, “Why do I have to wear these things? I remember that Devil Baron Jiuying only had faint devil markings on his body.”
Chang Ye said, “Devil Barons are rare, so it would attract a lot of attention and defeat the entire purpose of hiding ourselves.”
His words held a lot of merit.
Jiang Yinghe pinched the rabbit tail before saying, “You go out first.”
Chang Ye blinked and tried to dissuade him. “Why doesn’t this disciple do it? What if Shizun has trouble putting it on? It can be difficult to afix…”
Jiang Yinghe hesitated for a moment. He heard his little disciple’s mouth run at full speed. “If it’s worn incorrectly, the sensation of taking it off is like ripping the skin.”
Jiang Yinghe’s doubts were defeated after he heard that it would hurt. He made one last struggle in his mind before his little disciple’s obedient and curious voice rang out.
“Is Shizun worried about this disciple doing something? But we’re both men…I thought Shizun preferred female cultivators?”
The last few words were soft and uninformed. They hit hard against Jiang Yinghe’s heart. He strengthened his orientation and finally replied, “…Okay.”
Wanyao City was surrounded by ancient woods that reached up towards the sky. The city was in the midst of the forest. From the window, one could just catch a glimpse of the moonlight outside that was as cold as water.
Chang Ye did not look towards the moonlight.
He was focused on his own bright moon.
The thin, white inner shirt was removed by Jiang Yinghe’s long and frosty fingers to reveal a pair of slender shoulders and narrow collarbones.
His back was illuminated by the moonlight from outside. It seemed to make his flawless skin even more tender and radiant. Chang Ye stared at the inky strands that drifted down, as well as the pair of rabbit ears that moved with him.
He suddenly thought that this wasn’t what he always desired. This was just throwing fuel on the fire of his desire that burned day in and day out.
“I’m ready.”
Jiang Yinghe paused as he took in the beet-red ears of his little disciple who seemed even more uncomfortable than him.
Chang Ye quietly said, “You don’t need to take it all off… Just enough to connect this artifact.”
Jiang Yinghe stopped and nodded. He had a feeling like, ‘if he’s more embarrassed than me, then I don’t need to feel so ashamed’.
“Shizun,” Chang Ye’s voice was always pleasant and demure, “can you turn around?”
This kind of thing should be placed on the tailbone, right? Jiang Yinghe cooperatively turned around. He was thinking about what to do if Qin Jun insisted on pursuing him. An evil Half-step Golden Immortal cultivator reviving was like…
His mind went blank.
A cool finger touched his tailbone with only a thin layer of separation in between. The sensation sent a chill up his spine. Jiang Yinghe wasn’t worried, but a strange wariness crept into his mind…was he too trusting of his disciple?
There was already a precedent of him being caught off guard, and this situation…
Just when alarm bells were blaring in his head, he heard Chang Ye’s soft voice.
“Shizun, it’s done.”
Jiang Yinghe let out a sigh of relief and cleared the mess of thoughts from his head. He didn’t inspect the new addition and slowly put his clothes back on. He brushed himself off as he said, “Retreating is not enough in the long term. I’m worried that he will bring trouble to Peng Lai if he can’t find me.”
Chang Ye looked at him. “What if it came down to that?”
“Then I can only,” Jiang Yinghe paused for a moment, “fight against him.”
Fight? Chang Ye’s heart skipped a beat and he followed up on Jiang Yinghe’s statement. “There is a clear difference in your abilities, so how can you two fight? Shizun, this isn’t resisting him, this is seeking death.”
Jiang Yinghe lowered his gaze. “I would rather embrace the freedom of death than be held captive.”
Chang Ye was actually silent for once and he didn’t know what to say for a long time. “It will never come to that. I owe Shizun and Peng Lai sect a debt of gratitude for teaching me, so Ye-er will protect Peng Lai.”
Jiang Yinghe was comforted by those words. Although the cultivation of his little disciple was low, his heart was in the right place. This was an example of a socialist master-disciple relationship at its finest.
He reached out a hand to tenderly stroke Chang Ye’s hair. Chang Ye lowered his head to make it more accessible.
Jiang Yinghe asked, “If we have to be disguised, then what about you?”
Something soft seemed to erupt from the hair beneath his fingers. A pair of fuzzy feline ears sprung out.
Jiang Yinghe was taken aback: “…They’re completely automated?”
Before the sound of his words finished, a thick and long tail wrapped strongly around his waist and pulled him in Chang Ye’s direction. Jiang Yinghe almost stumbled straight into his little disciple’s arms.
This tail was way too big…Jiang Yinghe braced against his shoulder as he regained his balance. He heard Chang Ye’s slightly lowered voice.
“What is ‘completely automated’?” His words were forced and held a hint of hurt. “Anyways, this tail doesn’t listen to what I say. I clearly told the merchant that my cultivation was low and I couldn’t use high-level artifacts, but that little devil cheated me…”
Jiang Yinghe didn’t think too much of it as he patted his little disciple to comfort him. “No big deal, it’s just a tail.”
He hasn’t realised yet how much trouble this tail would be for him later on1 This has been left b/c Sahl and I think it’s cute~.
Chang Ye obediently nodded. “Shizun, the effects of the Seven Days of Joy…there was only one day left, right? Would stopping treatment early cause problems?”
It was only with his reminder that Jiang Yinghe remembered that he wasn’t able to receive treatment on the last day due to various factors. The little bit left can’t cause that many problems, right?
It was not something to be too concerned with. After all, he still had the He Huan Sect artifact from Tong Guiyu…Jiang Yinghe glanced at his wrist and froze.
—Where did it go?
Chang Ye came to the same conclusion as he softly laughed before immediately sobering up. He asked carefully, “Shizun, did you misplace it?”
Jiang Yinghe: “…Talk properly. Your tail is swishing around too happily.”
—-
Wanyao city had many inns for ‘devils’ like Jiang Yinghe and Chang Ye.
In the eyes of those around them, Jiang Yinghe and Chang Ye were an ideal devil race couple. Many liked rabbit devils that appeared outwardly cool like this, but had another side hidden within.
After all, rabbits were in heat year-round and had a large ‘appetite’. They were also inclined to be tender and submissive, so they made very good cultivation partners to raise one’s cultivation with.
The youth wearing a mask and dressed in red, on the other hand, had the aura of a carnivorous animal about him. The bellhops couldn’t help but bring the couple up while they were chatting.
“The rabbit devil that went upstairs before,” An employee with dog ears said as he wiped down the tables, “why was his devilish scent so faint? Did he only successfully transform recently?”
“Most likely.” Another girl swept her fox tail around as she munched on sunflower seeds. “The devil beast accompanying him is another story entirely. I can’t tell precisely what he is, but judging from his aura, if the two of them were to dual cultivate then that rabbit would probably cry for a long time.”
The bellhop sighed, “He’s way too good-looking. I want to get myself a rabbit devil like that too. Although he looks cold, I think his gaze when it sweeps over is warm and soft…”
“Keep dreaming.” The girl spat out the shells. “That carnivorous beast will tear your throat out if you keep thinking about his partner. Only someone as handsome as him is worthy of such a beautiful rabbit.”
Their discussion started to turn in a more carnal direction when the front doors suddenly opened. A person who was clearly not a devil swept his gaze over the front desk. He politely asked, “Is your manager around?”
The balding head of a thousand year old ginseng devil popped out from behind the front desk. He observed the other while stroking his beard for a moment, sensing an immeasurable strength hidden in that person’s body. He solemnly replied, “I am the manager here. May I ask who you are?”
The other person laughed and continued in a pleasant tone, “This one is called Qiu Chou, I am here on behalf of my master to inquire about two individuals.”
Author’s Corner
Li Huanhan and Qin Jun: We should’ve killed off this Shidi of ours earlier on! (Suddenly forming an alliance)
Sahl
Chang Ye >> bunny kink
Me…Didn’t see that one coming…
