The Villainous Shizun Is As Beautiful As A Flower

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At the hour of the snake (1), the streets of the city were bustling and lively. Just a wall away, however, within the Seventh Demons King’s residence, the place was eerily silent. Not even the sound of insects could be heard.

Most of the servants in the mansion remained indoors, sitting in chairs or huddled in beds, avoiding making any noise.

This was their master’s sleeping time. He slept around the dragon hour (2), woke up by the snake hour. During this time, even if the sky were to collapse, they wouldn’t dare disturb him. Last time, an inexperienced new servant had tripped and fallen at the entrance, and the two sounds of “aiyou, aiyou” woke up Wenren Qin. In the next instant, the servant turned into fertilizer for the courtyard flowers.

As a result, during this period, everyone treated it as if they were facing a great enemy and dared not make any noise.

But today was a bit strange. By the horse hour (3), Wenren Qin hadn’t emerged from his room, unlike his usual punctuality.

Though puzzled, no one dared to check.

A light drizzle fell, and the sky was dim.

Wenren Qin lay on the bed, frowning, cold sweat quietly sliding down his forehead.

He was trapped in his nightmare again. Suddenly, he was back in the damp and dark water dungeon, where a nauseating smell of blood pervaded the air.

A hand touched his right eye and exclaimed, “A mixed-blood like you is the true favorite of heaven. I cut you across the chest yesterday, and you were healed by the night. Today, I’ll dig out your eye and see how long it takes to grow back.”

The nightmare had repeated countless times, and Wenren Qin had already lost his fear. But every time it happened, the resentment in his heart grew stronger.

He coldly sneered in his heart, expecting it to be the same as usual: he would kneel on the ground, covering the empty eye socket, crying bloody tears from his remaining eye, and wake up drenched in cold sweat after experiencing utter despair.

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But this time, after his right eye was gouged out, what his left eye saw was not a horrifying and grotesque face, but a young man holding a black eyepatch, gently swaying it in front of him.

“Wear this, and your right eye won’t hurt anymore. Other kids will also think it looks cool.”

Wenren Qin was momentarily stunned; it was a memory of Xiao Qi.

He looked at the person with smiling eyes and raised eyebrows, and the violent anger in his heart suddenly lessened.

The young man’s clear phoenix eyes crouched down, helping him put on the eyepatch. Up close, he could still smell the faint fragrance emanating from the other person.

Clean, untainted by a speck of dust.

It was not only charming but also carried another meaning.

No one had touched him, otherwise, with the keen perception of demons, they would have sensed any other lingering auras on him.

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In the midst of silence, Wenren Qin suddenly opened his eyes, sitting up on the bed with his chest half-bared, sweat streaming down his body.

He pushed his bangs behind his head and revealed his forehead, his features deeply carved and distinct, as if etched with a knife and chisel. After exhaling a sigh of relief, his eyes became obscure.

After a while, he called his subordinates. His voice was slightly hoarse as he said, “Go to the Cloud Pavilion and invite someone for me.”

…

After being turned down by Xu Xingchen to accompany him, Shen Liuxiang left the mansion alone. On the way, he noticed many demon cultivators looking at him with wary expressions.

He stopped at a stall selling sugar figures on the side of the road. Thinking of buying one, the stall owner suddenly began trembling, picked out a giant sugar figure, and handed it to him while shivering. However, the stall owner refused to accept any spirit stones.

Shen Liuxiang felt a bit confused. He placed the spirit stones on the stall, took a bite of the sugar figure, and walked away.

Once he left, the group of trembling demons on the street returned to normal and began whispering.

“Great demon! He exudes the aura of a great demon!”

“Could he be a demon king’s consort?”

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“Guess, choose any of the eight demon kings”

“Why eight?”

“Can’t you detect the scent of our city lord?”

After wandering the streets for a while, Shen Liuxiang felt increasingly uneasy. Some demon cultivators didn’t even dare to approach him. He touched his mask, feeling puzzled. He decided to return to Cloud Pavilion. At the entrance, he happened to run into someone from the Seventh Demons King’s residence.

“The Seventh King invites you.”

Shen Liuxiang raised an eyebrow, holding a remaining piece of the sugar figure, and went to the Demon King’s residence.

Inside a graceful pavilion, Wenren Qin was leisurely pouring tea.

As Shen Liuxiang walked down the corridor, he caught a waft of tea aroma that was refreshing to the senses.

He glanced at the people in the pavilion and noticed that Wenren Qin was dressed more formally today than last night. His long hair was neatly tied back, and he wore his robes more meticulously. He didn’t have the same wildness and instead exuded a hint of seriousness.

Shen Liuxiang asked, “Why did you call me here?”

“To taste tea,” Wenren Qin poured two cups of tea and raised his gaze as the young man approached.

His phoenix eyes slightly raised, and the glossy black eyes that had been looking around sparkled. The corners of his lips formed a slight curve, making his smile very pleasing to the eye.

The darkness in Wenren Qin’s heart lessened a bit. He bit his lower lip and was about to hand the tea cup over when his expression suddenly changed.

His gaze fell on Shen Liuxiang, observing him inch by inch, and finally settled on the black hairband. “The hair tie you tied your hair with yesterday wasn’t this.”

Shen Liuxiang took a bite of the sugar figure and casually replied, “It disappeared. I changed it today.”

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Wenren Qin’s fingers holding the tea cup tightened slightly, and he started to ponder.

It was intentional on Zhou Xuanlan’s part.

He deliberately had Shen Liuxiang carry his belongings, imbued with his aura. This would satisfy the hidden desires in his heart and also assert his dominance over the other demons, a show of power and authority.

Wenren Qin’s face darkened. It wasn’t until Shen Liuxiang cast a puzzled look at him that he slightly restrained himself and handed the tea cup over.

“Tianshan Snow Tea, try it.”

Shen Liuxiang smelled the alluring fragrance of the tea and eagerly took the cup, intending to take a sip. However, when he lowered his gaze, he saw not tea leaves in the cup, but three shriveled, snow-white bugs floating in the water. Gradually, the bugs swelled up.

Snap!

The teacup shattered on the ground.

Wenren Qin saw Shen Liuxiang was startled, his face turned pale, he threw the teacup away, stepping back several paces and his porcelain-like hands trembled uncontrollably.

Wenren Qin strode forward, wanting to hold Shen Liuxiang’s hand to check on him, but he was pushed away. “Don’t touch.”

Wenren Qin was momentarily surprised but then retracted his hand. “I apologise.”

Shen Liuxiang’s fingers felt weak, and after a while, he gradually regained his composure.

“It’s fine, I just accidentally burned myself.”

Wenren Qin noticed that though Shen Liuxiang said he was fine, his face still displayed lingering fear. Wenren Qin’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he glanced at the ground, his gaze passing over the shattered teacup and the steamy tea water. Finally, his eyes rested on the Tianshan snow bugs.

His expression shifted slightly, and he tentatively said, “I can brew you another cup.”

“No, no need,” Shen Liuxiang’s face tensed up. He took a step back, moving farther away from the tea table. “If there’s no urgent matter, I’ll take my leave.”

He had originally wanted to inquire about the scroll, but being frightened by the bugs, his thoughts scattered. Wenren Qin watched him and said, “Your complexion doesn’t look too good. Since you’re leaving, I’ll escort you a bit.”

Shen Liuxiang pressed his lips together without saying a word, only wishing to leave quickly. Wenren Qin followed behind him, not uttering a word either, lost in thought.

As they passed through the courtyard, a gust of wind blew by, causing leaves on the trees to rustle, and a few fallen leaves drifted down from above Shen Liuxiang’s head.

Suddenly, Wenren Qin stopped him and said, “Don’t move, there’s a bug on your head.”

Shen Liuxiang froze, his face, which had slightly regained some color, turned pale again. He thought to himself, “Today I didn’t check the almanac before going out.”

Bad luck, too much bad luck!

He tried to suppress the fear in his heart, forcing a stiff smile, and said, “Really? Where on my head?”

The matter of him being afraid of bugs was something he preferred fewer people to know about. Otherwise, if someone were to find his weakness and throw a bunch of bugs at him during a fight, he would probably be scared out of his wits and flee in an instant.

Standing behind him, Wenren Qin heard the slightly trembling voice and a slight smile formed at the corner of his lips.

So he’s afraid of bugs.

“In your hair,” Wenren Qin said with a smile that carried deeper meaning, leaning closer to the still Shen Liuxiang, lowering his voice and saying by his ear, “Don’t move, I’ll take it off for you.”

Getting closer, he saw the youth’s fair earlobe and the smooth, delicate skin on the back of his neck. Wenren Qin’s gaze dimmed slightly as he placed his hand on Shen Liuxiang’s forehead, using his fingertip to hook onto the hair tie, and the soft, black hair spilled down.

Shen Liuxiang suddenly turned his head, and a few strands of black hair brushed against his fair cheek. Under his slightly trembling black eyelashes, his phoenix eyes carried a hint of wariness as he asked, “What are you doing?”

Why is he undoing his hair tie?

Seeing the hair tie broken in two on the ground, Wenren Qin opened his hand, revealing a dead millipede. “I applied too much force accidentally and snapped the hair tie while picking up the bug.”

Shen Liuxiang took a glance at the bug sprawling across his foot, and his mind seemed to explode. He barely held back the thought of turning around and running away. He said, “Just throw it away.” His hands moved to grab the hair tie on the floor.

However, when he looked down at the broken hair tie on the ground, he wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not but he saw the dead bug was thrown by Wenren Qin precisely onto the hair tie.

Shen Liuxiang’s hand quickly retracted.

Wenren Qin smiled without revealing any emotions, a light glint appeared in his palm, and a crimson hair tie emerged. “Sorry, use this to tie your hair for now.”

“No need.”

Shen Liuxiang just wanted to leave this place infested with bugs as soon as possible.

Regret appeared on Wenren Qin’s face as he retrieved the hair tie.

T/N: Gotta admire Wenren Qin slickness

(1) – The hour of the snake corresponds to the time period between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM

(2) – The hour of the dragon corresponds to the time period between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM

(3) – The hour of the horse corresponds to the time period between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM