212 chapter 20The portal that was behind them was almost on the verge of closing. Long impatiently glanced at the father-son pair. The demon king and Xia were hugging and laughing about something. “waa, I think abandoned,” he mumbled, pouting at the ghoul.
The ghoul glanced at him and rolled his eyes. “And I’m being ignored, but I got quite used to it quickly. I think you should to your highness,” he shrugged and walked over to two. “Mister king-of-demons, if we don’t leave now the portal will close,” he said in a glum tone.
Lian Hua glanced up and down at him. “I don’t care. I can open the portal if I want to,”
“But do you have spiritual energy to spare? We have been here for almost a month and you have been opening and closing multiple portals a day. You won’t be able to even open a ‘can’. If we don’t leave now, we will be stuck here until you re-cultivate yourself. So let’s take this change and leave this place. You can continue your family love outside,”
The father-son pair reluctantly separated. Xia pouted. He held his father’s hands and swung around like a little kid. “Daddy, let’s go,”
“Hmm let’s go,” Lian Hua patted his head. On the way, he threw on last glared at Long Aotian and hugged Xia over to the spatial opening.
Seeing this long bit his lips in frustration. “Why do I hate this separation? Why?” he mumbled, glancing at the ghoul next to him.
The ghoul rolled his eyes again and wordlessly dragged him over to the portal. But long pulled away and rushed after Xia.
“I really can’t handle this fool-in-love. Your highness what happened to you, you were so cool as Wei Long but you have degraded to a love stuck fool,” the ghoul whispered inaudibly.
.....
Long turned over and glared. “What did you say!!”
“I—I was just talking about your proud chronicle, your highness,” the ghoul said with a stiff smirk and followed after them.
Lian Hua and Xia entered first, but Long shouldered next to Xia and jumped in. The ghoul rolled his eyes and jumped as well.
All of them exited at once, falling down from the sky in a pile on the ground. The ghoul was on top and Lian Hua on the bottom, sandwiching xi and Long in the middle.
“Get up!!! You guys are crushing my son,” Lian shouted from below. But despite the fact, Xia was on top of him safely protected in Long’s arms.
“Give me two minutes, my bones are stiff,” the ghoul whined as he jumped rolled down from the pile.
Long jumped down after with Xia in his arms, leaving behind the poor demon King that was lying on the cold ground.
Lian Hua too slowly sat up and glared at the dragon. “yaaa, is still didn’t approve of your relationship!!” he shouted.
Long glanced at him and whispered, “I still don’t care.”
“but I care. Don’t touch my son!!” Lian hua shouted and pulled Long away.
Long glared at him furiously and growled. “I won’t... he is my lover. I won’t leave him!!”
“But you have to because I say so!!”
“I won’t!!”
Xia helplessly watched them bicker. He tried intervening multiple times, but nothing worked. So he sat next to a tree and chewed on some sunflower seed. The seeds were a little stale and too salty for his liking. He spat them out and pouted. “I really want some popcorn,”
“Whatever that is, it sounds tasty,” the ghoul mumbled and sat next to him.
Xia handed him the pouch of sunflower seeds without looking at him. The ghoul took a handful and shoved it in his mouth and chewed loudly. He handed the pouch back silently.
But the pouch was empty now. “I guess you were hungry,” Xia mumbled and pulled out few snacks from his pearl space. There were a few donuts and puff pastries he stored beforehand in his space ring.
The ghoul gladly accepted all and started relishing the treats. “How do you handle them both?” he mumbled with his mouthful, gesturing towards Long and Lian Hua.
“I really don’t know. Long used to be so obedient. ‘sigh’ my little snaky has grown up to be a pot of vinegar*..… but... I love him regardless,” Xia whispered, glancing at the ghoul.
“I still don’t like that they are so immature.....” while he was talking cheerfully he noticed something weird near the corner. The nearby tree was slanted and curved towards them, revealing a small shimmering butterfly tiredly flapping its wings. “Isn’t that one of butterfly demon’s minions?” he rushed over and carefully took it in his palm.
The corpse butterfly’s wings were fully torn and hanging on just a small amount of flesh. It tried fluttering its wings, but soon lost energy and laid limp.
The ghoul carefully cupped the butterfly in his palm and ran over to the growling pair. “I think something is wrong with your friend,” he said, looking directly at Lian Hua.
This made the demon king frown deeply. “What do you mean? Which friend?” Lian Hua stepped closer and slowly opened his palm. The butterfly inside glanced at him and anxiously moved its little broken wings. “Icarus!!! What is it? Tell me, what’s wrong. I will come to you.” he whispered anxiously.
Liana Hua nervously watched the butterfly trying to form words. His heart felt weighted by something. Deep in his heart, he knew that something really dangerous must have happened for his friend to be hurt like this.
Finally, the little butterfly opened its mouth and spoke a few broken sentences. “Rakshasa.... gate....broke...” were The butterfly’s final words before it disappeared into shimmering dust.
Lian Hua’s face instantly became dreadful he anxiously glanced at Xia and hugged him tight. “son.....my son...daddy will be back. So be careful in the mean time,”
“Where are you going? What is rakshasa gate? Dad, tell me?” Xia whispered, gripping his hands tightly.
“I can’t tell you anything now. But when the time comes, I will...” Lian Hua said and hugged Xia closer. he leaned lower to his ears and whispered, “son, remember this, trust no one but your lover. Something bad is brewing up the surface and dad is going to stop it. So stay safe until I return...I—I love you.”
Xia gripped onto his father’s shirt tightly. “I love you too...don’t get hurt, father,”
Lian Hua separated from him with a sad smile on his face. He softly caressed his son’s supple cheeks. “I won’t..... Baby...I’ll miss you,”
Xia bit the inside of his cheeks. Tears that he had been controlling rolled down. He jumped on his father and hugged him close one last time before the demon king left.
“Dad!!” Xia shouted, but Lian Hua walked away without gazing back. “Dad...Come back soon...Don’t keep me waiting again...I—I will get angry if you do,”
Seeing his rueful reaction, Long hugged him close. “Baby, don’t worry....your father is strong. He will come to us soon,” he whispered, wiping his tears away.
Xia borrowed his head into Long’ chest and sobbed louder. “I wanted to hear more stories.....” he whimpered into his lover’s shoulders.
The ghoul that was silently standing in the corner walked up to him and patted his trembling shoulders. “Don’t cry... if you want, I can tell you some stories about your father....” he whispered hesitantly.
The little crayfish glance up expectantly. “I want to hear...”
And so the ghoul with his aching jaw told brave tales about the demon King and the six demon lords.
After a little while, Xia was finally back to his cheerful self. He jubilantly jumped around listening to his father’s tall tales. “My dad sounds like a hero!!” he exclaimed to Long.
Long gave the ghoul a meaning full glance. The ghoul was actually brushing over a lot of cruel stuff Xia’s father had done and telling only the good stuff. “Thank you,” he mouthed.
The ghoul nodded and bowed. “Your highness, where are we staying for the night?” he said, glancing at the setting sun.
“Let’s set for Nevada,” Long said, hugging Xia close.
“No, let’s go back to Suikal. I want to check up on Felia, Jin Jue and Raijin,” Xia said from his embrace.
All agreed to this plan. This time they travelled by foot to avoid any attention. Xia even made Long wear a scarf over face.
“Why do you have to wear all this?” Long grumbled, pulling at the heavily knitted scarf.
Xia patted his fussing hands away and tied the scarf properly. “Don’t you remember? Last time we got spotted. If we hide our faces, the chance of us getting caught is less,” he said pulling a veiled hat over his head as well.
Fully covered, all three of them entered the village of Suikal.
But as they entered the village gates, all three of them were deeply petrified. This was not the same village they had visited before. The entire village was in complete ruins. The buildings were aflame, and the streets were filled with burnt flesh.
Long quickly closed Xia’s eyes. “This place... it has been under attack...” he said gravely.
“By who?” Xia whispered, removing his lover’s hands and glanced around in shock.
The ghoul suddenly squatted down and touched a huge spider like a crack on the ground. “I think I question should be ‘by what?'”
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m