After Running Away Pregnant, I Ended Up on the Wanted Lists of Both the Demon Venerable and the Immortal Venerable Chapter 32

The Demon Clan youth nodded, his face full of seriousness.

But Jian Zhen thought of the Demon God’s not-very-easygoing personality, and that if someone really came knocking, the one who might get hurt would not only be him but also himself, and Little Grass immediately sobered up.

Jian Zhen shook his head and said, “Thank you for your kindness, but there’s no need.”

The Demon Clan youth was somewhat puzzled. “Why?”

Jian Zhen pressed his lips together and smiled. “One should handle one’s own matters oneself. If he bullies me, I’ll bully him back.”

The Demon Clan youth froze.

Under the setting sun, the fair and soft youth before him had curved brows and smiling eyes, like the brightest splash of color beneath the sky. The class bell rang, drawing his attention.

Jian Zhen said, “I have to go back.”

The token was returned, still carrying a trace of his body warmth.

“Goodbye.”

The Demon Clan youth watched his departing back and suddenly felt a little dazed. What kind of person would someone like him end up with, to be worthy of him?

Evening.

Jian Zhen got out of school.

On the way back, the yellow-haired little boy was especially happy, saying that tomorrow was the Demon Clan’s Yulan Festival. It was the day they celebrated liberation, the day the Demon God descended and saved tens of thousands of Demon Clan people. On that day, the entire Demon Clan celebrated together, and the academy would also have a three-day holiday to celebrate the festival together.

Because of the holiday, Jian Zhen was also very happy.

Seeing Ye Jisheng when he returned, he was overjoyed.

Yet Ye Jisheng’s gaze remained fixed on him the whole time, those red eyes dark and profound, and he did not speak for a long while.

After Jian Zhen finished speaking, he looked at him somewhat strangely and said, “What’s wrong with you?”

Walking side by side with him along the street, Ye Jisheng said lightly, “You’re happy, just because of this kind of thing?”

Jian Zhen: “……”

What do you mean, this kind of thing?

Isn’t this his own birthday!?

Little Grass said somewhat dissatisfiedly, “Then what else could it be?”

He had thought Ye Jisheng wouldn’t be able to say anything else, but instead Ye Jisheng casually asked, “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

Jian Zhen shook his head and said, “No!”

Then he thought about it more carefully.

Little Grass rubbed his wrist and said, “My wrist was a bit itchy today.”

Ye Jisheng gave a snort of laughter. “Did you take something unclean from someone today?”

Something?

For a moment, Jian Zhen really couldn’t think of what unclean thing he could have taken at school. Not thinking about it was fine, but once he did, his whole body stiffened somewhat.

That jade pendant!

The token the demon youth gave him when he confessed to him!

Jian Zhen felt a little guilty; although Little Grass didn’t know why he should feel guilty, he still said softly, “It seems I did take it, but why does my wrist itch?”

Ye Jisheng said, “That is my soul curse.”

Jian Zhen: “Ah?”

Their eyes met.

Jian Zhen came to a conclusion, clapped his hands, and said, “Your soul curse is allergic to jade pendants?”

Ye Jisheng said calmly, “My demonic power will produce resistance with other demons. You probably haven’t held it for long, so there’s only a little discomfort.”

Jian Zhen was astonished: “How could that be?”

Could this be some side effect of a demon curse technique?

“Oh.” Ye Jisheng replied with a placid expression, as if stating something ordinary, “Because this venerable is petty.”

Jian Zhen: “……”

He knows?

So he knows what kind of person he is?!

Ye Jisheng glanced sideways at Little Grass’s stunned expression, raised his brows, curled his lips into that smiling smile, and said, “What?”

Jian Zhen swallowed his complaint and said, “Th-then wouldn’t you get angry very easily.”

Ye Jisheng said, “That’s not the case.”

Jian Zhen was surprised, someone with his temper actually doesn’t get angry much?

“After all,” Ye Jisheng said as if talking about some commonplace matter, “those who dare to defy this venerable are generally already dead.”

Jian Zhen: “…Is that so.”

The two chatted as they rode the phoenix back to the Demon Hall.

Tonight, the night fell a bit late. It had originally been an ordinary day, and the entire Demon Hall, from top to bottom, was making preparations as usual for tomorrow’s celebration. But what made Jian Zhen somewhat worried was that today was the red moon.

On red-moon nights, the curse on Ye Jisheng would flare up, and he would easily go mad.

After nightfall, Jian Zhen felt a little uneasy, but after returning to the demon palace he did not see Ye Jisheng again. While drinking jade dew, he asked the maid, “Where is the Demon Venerable?”

The maid replied, “Every moon night, His Excellency enters the seclusion formation to suppress demonic qi.”

Jian Zhen had never asked about these things in detail before, because people of the demon clan rarely discussed such matters in the main hall of the demon realm. He then asked, “Why was he afflicted with such a curse?”

When the maid heard this, her face changed, as if Jian Zhen had brought up some terrifying topic.

Jian Zhen blinked in confusion.

The maid endured it, and finally mustered the courage to say, “Actually, this servant doesn’t know the specifics either. I only heard that…”

Jian Zhen: “Heard what?”

“Heard that the curse on the Demon Venerable…” The maid carried a trace of fear in her voice. “Is heavenly retribution.”

Jian Zhen was shocked: “Heavenly retribution?”

Why would the gods create heavenly retribution?

Jian Zhen’s mind immediately got tangled up. He asked, “Why, was this the tribulation he had to endure to become a god after passing the Soul Transformation stage?”

But the maid shook her head and said, “It’s said that back then His Excellency had already passed the tribulation of the Soul Transformation stage and become a god. This heavenly retribution, however, descended after he became a god. The Three Realms have always said it was because His Excellency was cruel and merciless, slaughtered Spirit Mountain, and thus angered the gods, who then sent down heavenly punishment.”

Jian Zhen said, “Then why did he slaughter Spirit Mountain?”

When asked this, the maid’s whole body trembled. She knelt to the ground and said, “This servant does not know either. That was an event from tens of millions of years ago. I fear only His Excellency and the High Priest know.”

Jian Zhen did not wish to make things difficult for others, so he said, “I understand.”

Only then did the maid withdraw.

Jian Zhen was originally a little grass with a very calm temperament. In truth, he had never been interested in the affairs of the immortal and demon clans, nor did he have any desire to investigate matters of the past. But after interacting with the people of the demon clan, he gradually learned more, and naturally developed the wish to explore, though that was all for later. Tonight was the night of the full moon, and no matter what, there was still some worry.

The moonlight gradually climbed onto the branches.

The red moon dyed the entire sky a crimson red.

After finishing the jade dew, Jian Zhen couldn’t fall asleep.

But someone who was already pregnant couldn’t resist drowsiness at all. When Jian Zhen was lying on the bed, drowsy and almost asleep, he suddenly sensed a somewhat icy aura coming from behind him.

Almost in an instant, Jian Zhen woke up.

At some point, the candlelight in the room had already gone out. Only the moonlight from the red moon outside slowly spilled in, falling on the white carpet, carrying an inescapable sense of eeriness.

Jian Zhen turned over, but he couldn’t see the face of the person beside him clearly.

In the silent night, Ye Jisheng seemed not even to be breathing. Half his body lay on his side on the bed; his handsome profile was half-hidden by inky hair, his whole body icy cold, like a corpse.

Jian Zhen was startled. He tentatively reached out to touch Ye Jisheng’s hand, then cried out softly, “So hot.”

The familiar red soul patterns flickered indistinctly on Ye Jisheng’s pale skin. In the past, Jian Zhen hadn’t known what they were; now he knew, this was heavenly retribution.

Under the blood-red moonlight.

Ye Jisheng suddenly spoke. His voice carried a chilling coldness, somewhat hoarse, as if suppressing something: “Sleep.”

Jian Zhen: “Oh.”

Little Grass lay back down again.

The night was quiet, the red moon hung high. He lay quietly beside Ye Jisheng. At first his mind was thinking about things, then he gradually grew drowsy, even unconsciously leaning closer into his embrace.

As if a century had passed.

When Jian Zhen startled awake again from his sleep, the night outside was still deep. He raised his eyes and saw the person lying at his side, and he himself was completely nestled in his arms.

Ye Jisheng’s skin was scorching hot. The man’s red eyes were so crimson they looked as if they were bleeding. He said, “Are you not afraid of me?”

Jian Zhen had just woken up and said hazily, “A little.”

After hearing this answer, Ye Jisheng wanted to laugh, but for some reason, he couldn’t.

Jian Zhen continued gently, “I’m afraid that if this goes on, you’ll be very uncomfortable.”

Ye Jisheng saw him reach out and touch his face to test it, then say, “So hot. When you came over just now, why was your body cold?”

The soul curse carved the pain of gnawing bone and drilling soul into his body, like endless raging flames that could never burn out within.

In the past, every time this day came, he would go mad from the curse, wanting to kill, wanting to destroy, wanting to vent the turmoil in his heart through all kinds of ways. In truth, such pain was not unbearable for him; he was simply irritable. As for what exactly he was irritable about, he didn’t know. The more he didn’t know, the more he couldn’t find it, the more irritable he became.

Ye Jisheng said, “Because before coming, I soaked in the Cold Pool.”

Jian Zhen asked him, “Can that make you feel a bit better?”

Looking at the concern in his eyes, Ye Jisheng suddenly thought of the reason he had come here, because Jian Zhen was here. Because for these tens of millions of years, every full-moon night had made him incomparably irritable; only the nights when Jian Zhen appeared were not so. When they first met in the illusion realm, he had killed until he was almost senseless, yet the moment Jian Zhen appeared, he was no longer irritable.

Jian Zhen’s fair little hand waved before his eyes and said, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Jisheng rubbed his brow and said, “The Cold Pool can only suppress it temporarily.”

Jian Zhen sat up and said, “That’s still better than you doing nothing right now. Come on, get up, let’s go to the Cold Pool again.”

Ye Jisheng didn’t want to move.

Jian Zhen tugged at his arm. “Hurry up! If you don’t go, I won’t be able to sleep either!”

Ye Jisheng smiled and said, “You were sleeping quite soundly just now.”

Jian Zhen: “……”

Why is this person so grudging!

In the end, under Jian Zhen’s pulling, he dragged the Demon Venerable, whom almost no one dared approach on red-moon nights, off to soak in the Cold Pool again. The Cold Pool, as its name suggests, was the coldest place. The demon realm itself was a scorching land; the existence of the Cold Pool was thus extremely rare, and merely approaching it one could feel a bone-chilling cold.

Ye Jisheng cast a barrier over Jian Zhen to isolate the cold.

Wrapped in a small blanket, Jian Zhen sat by the edge of the Cold Pool and said, “You must soak properly. Once you endure this night, it’ll be fine.”

Ye Jisheng sat in the Cold Pool. The icy water soaked through his body; inky hair draped behind him; his eyes were tightly shut. His pale skin and the vivid red patterns on his body presented a strange kind of beauty.

Jian Zhen lay on the soft couch to the side.

Having just woken from a nap, he wasn’t sleepy at all. He said, “You should be a bit happier. Tomorrow is the celebration. I heard them say it’s also your birthday, everyone in the demon clan will celebrate for you.”

All around was dead silent.

Just when Jian Zhen thought Ye Jisheng probably wouldn’t speak, the man sitting in the Cold Pool said in a low voice, “What they celebrate is that the demon clan is no longer enslaved; it is not this venerable’s birthday.”

Jian Zhen froze.

Such words might sound unreasonable at first, but listening carefully, one could hear the deeper meaning and what lay behind them.

Jian Zhen’s voice was gentle as he sat up and said, “While they celebrate this day, they also revere and love you.”

Ye Jisheng sneered. “Revere and love?”

The Demon God’s temperament was unpredictable, even somewhat recklessly mad, yet within that madness there was extreme calm and reason.

“If the one chosen as Demon God were not this venerable,” Ye Jisheng’s voice sounded even colder in the Cold Pool, “replace me with anyone else, and they would revere and love him all the same.”

Jian Zhen was stunned.

Or rather, he had never thought of it that way at all.

And for some reason, sitting amid the chilling mists of the Cold Pool, with no glance back at all, just that solitary back view nonetheless seemed incomparably lonely.

The red moon hung high scattering eerie light.

Jian Zhen clenched his hand slightly and softly asked, “Chosen, why chosen? Passing the Soul Transformation stage and becoming a god, wasn’t that what you yourself wanted?”

All around was silent.

The chill of the Cold Pool was piercing.

Ye Jisheng spoke, “This venerable does not know.”

Jian Zhen: “Huh?”

“Things from ten million years ago, after this venerable came out of Wanmie Mountain and transformed into a godly body, I had already forgotten everything.” Ye Jisheng’s voice was calm. “Not a single impression remains.”

Jian Zhen then said, “Then why do they all say that after you came out of Wanmie Mountain, you slaughtered Spirit Mountain?”

“Oh, that.” Ye Jisheng let out a cold laugh. “That indeed was done by me.”

Jian Zhen grew curious. “Didn’t you forget? Then why?”

Ye Jisheng spoke unhurriedly. His calm words carried endless danger as he said lightly, “Because they deserved to die.”

Jian Zhen: “……”

Is this venerable really that willful?

With no memories at all, the reason for slaughtering Spirit Mountain was simply intuition alone?

Little Grass was dumbfounded.

Jian Zhen thought for a moment and said, “Even if you’ve forgotten, surely someone knows about what happened ten million years ago. Have you ever thought about recovering it?”

Ye Jisheng sneered and said, “This venerable only needs to recover my own power. As for those bygone pasts, since they no longer exist, what meaning is there in retrieving them?”

Jian Zhen pouted and said, “Liar. If you truly didn’t care, why would you still go to Spirit Mountain to kill people?”

Ye Jisheng: “What did you say?”

A certain little grass timidly pulled the cloak over himself. “I didn’t say anything at all. So sleepy, I’m going to sleep!!”

The next day because he had stayed up late last night, Jian Zhen actually slept straight through until nearly noon before waking. Outside, the daylight was bright, and outside the main hall of the Demon Palace, lanterns and decorations were already hung everywhere.

He didn’t even know how he had gotten back to bed.

Jian Zhen yawned, got up, washed up, and then immediately left the demon realm, seeing the maidservants outside along with an old acquaintance.

Yan Ji came over, bent down, and saluted. “Honored Lord.”

Jian Zhen also nodded and said, “Hello.”

Yan Ji was a little surprised. During this period she had been handling matters outside and hadn’t returned much; she had only heard that a future Honored Lord carrying the little Demon God had appeared in the main hall, so she had always worried that this Honored Lord would be hard to get along with. Seeing him now, she was somewhat taken aback.

Jian Zhen smiled and said, “We’ve met many times before.”

Yan Ji reacted, covering her lips. “Y-you’re that little grass under the windowsill?”

Jian Zhen nodded obediently and said, “Yes, it’s me.”

Over these hundred years, as one of the Protectors, Yan Ji often appeared in the Demon Hall. Unlike the other Protectors, as a woman, Yan Ji was always unable to resist cute things, so every time she came back and saw Jian Zhen, she couldn’t move on, always wanting to stay and chat for a bit.

Now she was even more excited.

Yan Ji said, “Y-you’ve grown this big already?”

Jian Zhen felt a little strange, as if his age were very small, but still obediently nodded and said, “Yes, I’ve taken human form.”

Yan Ji looked at the fair and adorable youth before her and liked him no matter how she looked. She had originally had some complaints about being assigned to protect the Honored Lord and not being able to go out to enjoy the festivities, but at this moment she had absolutely no complaints at all!!

“Today is the celebration. The Demon Venerable will be outside receiving greetings from all the clans,” Yan Ji offered. “However, His Excellency instructed that you may walk around freely here; I’ll accompany you.”

Jian Zhen said, “There are too many people up ahead, so I won’t go.”

Little Grass still preferred quiet places.

And with his current status, if he went out, he would definitely attract a lot of attention.

Yan Ji smiled and said, “In the ceremonial hall ahead, the Three Realms have sent quite a few congratulatory gifts for His Excellency. If the Honored Lord is interested, you can go take a look to pass the time.”

Jian Zhen indeed became interested. “Okay!”

Passing through the corridor, they arrived at a room where gifts were stored.

What met the eye were many precious jewels and jade artifacts, or else extremely rare-looking weapons, as well as medicinal materials and pills. These things were naturally very expensive, yet all cold and lifeless, carrying a sense of desolation beneath the bustle.

For a brief moment, Jian Zhen suddenly felt as though he truly understood Ye Jisheng’s meaning. Everyone was celebrating the Demon Venerable, but only because he was the Demon Venerable; no matter who sat in that position, it would be the same.

For no particular reason, Jian Zhen suddenly felt it was a bit uninteresting. He stood outside the storeroom and did not go in again, saying gently, “Forget it, I don’t want to look anymore.”

Yan Ji asked curiously, “Not to your liking?”

Jian Zhen said, “How could that be? These things are so precious, so rare.”

Yet Yan Ji didn’t feel that he was very happy.

The noon sunlight fell on people’s shoulders, bringing a warm temperature. The person standing at the doorway suddenly raised his head and looked at the sun in the sky for quite a while, as if seriously thinking about something.

Just when Yan Ji thought he was about to head back,

Jian Zhen said, “Where’s the kitchen?”

Yan Ji asked in confusion, “Hungry?”

Jian Zhen shook his head and said, “When I came out just now, I drank jade dew water.”

Yan Ji didn’t understand. “Then you…”

“Anyway, idle is idle, and he’s not here.” A bit of a smile appeared on Jian Zhen’s face as he said, “I’ll go make something to eat.”

Yan Ji thought he had a sudden whim and said, “This subordinate will arrange it. Please follow me.”

Jian Zhen said somewhat uncomfortably, “Don’t call me ‘you this, you that.’ When I was a little grass before, you didn’t call me that either.”

Others were one thing, he couldn’t correct everyone one by one.

But Yan Ji had spent a long time with him; he always felt awkward.

Yan Ji paused, and a smile appeared on her beautiful face. “Then what should I call you, Zhuzhu?”

Jian Zhen: “……”

If you don’t bring up that name, we can still be good friends!!

In the end, the two of them still came to the kitchen.

He didn’t know how Yan Ji managed it, but the kitchen had every kind of ingredient, and there was no one else around. Jian Zhen could freely work here and make anything he wanted.

Jian Zhen said sincerely, “Thank you.”

Yan Ji said, “What are you going to make? This subordinate can help.”

Jian Zhen rolled up his sleeves, then gave Yan Ji a mysterious smile and said, “Cake.”

Yan Ji: “?”

What was that?

The entire afternoon, Jian Zhen was basically soaked in the kitchen. Because it was his first time making it and he had no experience, he used up many of the eggs in the kitchen. The poor beauty Yan Ji was busy whisking egg mixture at the side, her whole person shrouded in a layer of gloom.

Only toward the end did it finally become usable.

Yan Ji let out a sigh of relief and quickly retreated to the side, no longer daring to help.

Jian Zhen put the egg mixture into the pot to steam, tending the fire at the same time, but often mishaps occurred because he couldn’t control the heat properly. So when Ye Jisheng came following the glow of the setting sun, what he saw was a kitchen that looked as if it had been swept by a violent wind and scorched by fire.

Of course, there was also Jian Zhen standing inside, his whole body dusted with a layer of flour, his face smeared with soot, looking like someone who had just fled from disaster.

In addition. Jian Zhen was still holding in his hands a lump of some unknown object emitting a burnt smell, and on top of it was stuck an unlit candle. Everything, absolutely everything, exceeded the Demon God’s understanding of the past ten million years.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Seeing him come in, Jian Zhen’s smudged little face curved into smiling eyes as he spoke, “You’re here.”

Ye Jisheng’s gaze swept over all of this, and he finally said, “Did you kill the cook and hide him somewhere?”

Jian Zhen: “…No!”

Yan Ji, standing outside and not daring to come in, couldn’t bear to look and wished she could run as far away as possible.

Holding up the thing he had just made, Jian Zhen said ingratiatingly, “This is the cake I made for you, to celebrate your birthday. In our hometown, when it’s someone’s birthday, everyone has to eat cake, then light the candles and make a wish. If you do that, the wish will come true.”

Ye Jisheng’s gaze fell on that lump of charred unknown matter, and he said calmly, “Do all you yao folk have this kind of taste?”

Jian Zhen: “…This was just an accident!”

Ye Jisheng looked toward the not-far distance, where there were still quite a few failed products placed there. Their appearance was even worse than the one in Jian Zhen’s hands. Obviously, this so-called accident was not an accident at all, it was stable performance.

Jian Zhen’s little face rarely flushed red; Little Grass also has dignity!

Before he could speak, Ye Jisheng raised his hand and said, “Hand it over.”

Jian Zhen’s eyes lit up. “You want to eat it?”

“Mm.” Ye Jisheng lifted the cake and said, “This venerable wants to see, people of the Three Realms have exhausted every scheme for all these years and still have not been able to harm this venerable in the slightest; just how poisonous can your piece of cake be.”

Jian Zhen: “……”

Sometimes it really wants to kill people!

Seeing that Ye Jisheng was about to taste it, Jian Zhen hurriedly said, “Wait wait wait, don’t eat it, the candles haven’t been lit and wishes made yet.”

He hurriedly found a fire striker from the side and lit the candles.

A pitch-black lump of cake paired with red candles could be said to be a striking scenic line.

Jian Zhen’s eyes were bright; he looked at it with satisfaction, then said to Ye Jisheng, “Alright alright, now you can make a wish!”

Ye Jisheng raised his brows. The term was quite fresh to him. The Demon God curled his lips and said slowly, “Make a wish?”

“Yes, yes!” Jian Zhen suddenly also became a little curious. He looked at him and asked, “Everyone has wishes, what wish do you have?”