Chapter 30.2 - The peerlessly talented demon ba snake (13.2)

Please don’t post this translation anywhere, even if it's in Wattpad. It’s no problem if it's only redirect to this site, but no reposting.

Translated by: Niladri

Edited by: celes

This chapter is sponsored by Shari

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Lu Heng saw a male demon as tall as an iron tower beside him, holding a fiery red flower, and wearing a very embarrassed expression on his ferocious face. He walked towards a girl whose height was only about enough to reach his chest.

The girl was born slender and beautiful, and they stood side by side like the beauty and the beast. Lu Heng also thought that the girl would be frightened, since the demeanor of the tall male demon while sending flowers gave off the atmosphere of going for a kill. Who could have thought, the girl gracefully accepted the flowers and said, “You fool, finally enlightened!”

Then the girl grabbed the tall demon by the collar, forced him to bend down, and kissed him on the lips. The demons around them cheered for the couple, and some of the meddlesome demons took out flower petals and sprinkled it on their heads.

Such situations were happening all around them. ‘This was probably a part of the festival celebrations where lovers confess to each other,’ Lu Heng mused.

A pink flower appeared under Lu Heng’s nose, holding the flower’s stem were ten delicate fingers. At first sight, it was a beauty. Lu Heng looked up and saw a beautiful face.

When she saw Lu Heng looking at her, she did not get embarrassed and threw a coquettish glance. “This young man, does this servant suit your heart’s desires?”

“This girl, we don’t know each other, how can we exchange such an important token at will…” Lu Heng, embarrassed, took a step backwards. He guessed that these similar flowers should be the tokens expressed by sweethearts on this festival.

The woman was stunned, then laughed extremely boldly and unrestrainedly, and jeered at the blushing Lu Heng: “Which clan’s baby are you, looks like you sneaked out without studying up first. Elder Sister will teach you that this pink evening primrose has a different meaning from the red one. The red is everlasting, and the pink is transient.”

Then the woman blinked again: “My little sweetheart cares a lot about my feelings. How about letting Elder Sister turn you into an adult?”

Lu Heng was going to refuse, but he felt that his back neck was gently pinched, and a gentle but firm force pulled him back. Lu Heng could not help but step back, bumping into that familiar chest.

“He’s young.” Shi Kong gave the woman a salute and took Lu Heng away from the troublesome place.

The atmosphere grew awkward, and Lu Heng had a strange sense of guilt. Shi Kong led Lu Heng to the vicinity of the raised platform: “I heard that the last segment of the Moon Festival is of great benefit to the demon race’s cultivation. We’ll wait here.”

With the deepening of the night, the bright moon had risen above everyone’s head to the highest point. The interaction between those lovers seemed to be over. The noisy atmosphere gradually quieted down. Everyone looked in the direction of the raised platform fanatically, as if they were waiting for an important ceremony.

The man who had just danced on stage came up again, holding a bud-shaped demonic artifact in his hand. After reading a mysterious incantation, the male demon raised the demonic artifact towards the bright moon: “Please Luna give us your blessings.”

Then the flower bud artifact blossomed one layer after another, and a small crescent moon rose from it, rising higher and higher until it reached high above everyone’s head. The crescent moon could be seen hovering around in the air several times, until it suddenly flew towards the direction of Lu Heng and Shi Kong.

Before Lu Heng could respond, the curved crescent moon split into two parts, one sinking into his body and the other into Shi Kong’s body. Oddly enough, Lu Heng did not feel any unusual sensation after the crescent moon entered. Two people were chosen by crescent moon, and the surrounding demons burst into cheers and moved enthusiastically towards them.

From the high platform, the male demon voice excitedly echoed: “Bless this pair of affectionate lovers, may Luna always protect you!”

Affectionate lovers? What is this situation? Lu Heng was befuddled. Seeing that the surrounding demons seemed to want to welcome him and Shi Kong to the stage, he had no time to think more. Lu Heng grabbed Shi Kong and rushed out of the crowd.

After turning corners seven or eight times in order to get rid of those over-enthusiastic demons, Lu Heng finally returned to the inn with great difficulty and found himself still firmly holding Shi Kong’s hand.

“You go back first, I have something to find out.” Lu Heng shook off Shi Kong’s hands and rushed into Bai’s room without looking back.

Bai was guiding Bai Li to absorb the moonlight essence by the window. He was shocked by Lu Heng’s intrusion. “What’s wrong? So alarmed?”

Lu Heng sat down at the table and poured a glass of water, but he still felt parched. After three drinks, he felt that the ‘red-eared embarrassment fever’ was a bit better and gave Bai a detailed account of what had just transpired.

“That crescent moon was a strange thing. At first, I didn’t feel anything. After some time, I felt that my whole person was going to burn up. That wouldn’t be a malicious evil technique, would it?” Lu Heng still had some lingering palpitations.

Bai instantly understood everything, but he did not know where to start. Master Shi Kong looked as if he had no worldly desires and was a monk through and through. Comprehending the bitter end of his own love, he did not want Lu Heng to follow in his footsteps.

Bai thought about it and said, “That’s the blessing of Luna, not any evil technique. Every year, on the moon festival, a pair of— two people who are close to each other are blessed by the moon goddess. In the future, when you cultivate together, you will get twice the result with half the effort.”

After getting Bai’s answer, Lu Heng finally settled down and went back to his room. Shi Kong had already been meditating and cultivating, and straight away, Lu Heng changed back to his original form and lodged himself on Shi Kong’s shoulder.

But Lu Heng wasn’t stupid. The more he thought about what had happened just now, the more off he felt. The male demon said that they were lovers with deep affection. Considering Bai’s somewhat weird look and his ambiguity, Lu Heng figured out some key points. He was eighty percent sure that the blessing of the Moon Goddess was for those who loved each other.

Love? Lu Heng couldn’t help but recall the scenes when he was living with Shi Kong. He found that he did feel something different about Shi Kong.

The inadvertent proximity of Shi Kong always made him nervous. Throughout the month when he left, no matter what he did, he always thought about how it would be when Shi Kong returned. He even remembered the uncomfortable feeling of being neglected when he saw the scene of Linyang County Lord seducing Shi Kong at Prince Gong’s mansion.

Lu Heng couldn’t help laughing out despite trying not to. He was really foolish. He had been fond of Shi Kong for a long time and had not even noticed it. He still thought that his dependence on him was just like the imprinting of ducklings.

Lu Heng was depressed by these involuntary thoughts regarding Shi Kong. For the first time, he liked a person, but this affection was doomed to fail. Shi Kong was a person who practiced Buddhism. How could he break the other person’s vows for his own selfish desires?

“Your thoughts are quite scattered and numerous, what worries you?” Shi Kong suddenly opened his mouth.

Lu Heng, immersed in his own thoughts, was startled. Then he crawled down from Shi Kong’s shoulder and transformed into his human form: “I think I can cultivate alone now. When you went back to the sect, there were no accidents with me.”

Shi Kong silently gazed at Lu Heng for a moment and saw that his heart was a little panicky. Then he opened his mouth: “Well, the path of cultivation is such that ultimately, one must depend on oneself.”

Lu Heng felt even more depressed when he heard Shi Kong’s words. For the first time, he felt cultivation to be tasteless and dull.

“Your heart is not steady. It’s better to rest tonight,” Shi Kong said.

Lu Heng nodded and dragged himself to bed at a sluggish pace. That night, he was doomed to sleep restlessly, Lu Heng only felt that he had been dreaming all night; it was bizarre, a lot of information seemed to explosively cramp his brain.

After struggling to break free from the quagmire, Lu Heng found it was already noon. This was the first time that he had been so slack since he embarked on the path of cultivation. Strangely enough, he was not urged to get up by the strict Shi Kong.

The room was empty. Lu Heng sniffed and smelled residual Sanskrit sandalwood in the room. Sanskrit sandalwood was not a common thing, only the monks of Fanyin temple could make it, and the output was very small. When sandalwood is used in cultivation, it can increase the chances of entering insight.

Was Sanskrit sandalwood used for the cultivation last night? No, Shi Kong said that he never resorted to external things in his cultivation. Considering another function of Sanskrit sandalwood, Lu Heng thought again. It shouldn’t have been to chase away dreams and let me sleep peacefully? Sanskrit sandalwood, which is hard to get even for thousands of dollars, was used to help me sleep. If this news was to spread, one would definitely be hunted down by those cultivators.

Unable to connect the dots, Lu Heng was too lazy to think much about them. He looked in the mirror and saw that his long hair, which had been tossed up and down last night, was in a dismal state.

Bai’s appearance saved Lu Heng.

Seeing Lu Heng’s appearance of meeting his lifesaver, Bai had to take a cushion and put Bai Li, who was in his arms, on the square table. Then he picked up Lu Heng’s comb and prepared to comb his bun.

Before it started, Shi Kong pushed in, and his eyes fell on Bai’s hand holding the comb stopping for a few seconds.

“Today, I didn’t trouble you.” Lu Heng stared at the mirror, not daring to look at Shi Kong, afraid that the latter would perceive his guilt.

Shi Kong said nothing more. He just went to the table, sat down, and poured himself a cup of tea. Lu Heng felt a little depressed when he saw Shi kong. He was really fed up with his own gains and losses, and now with his emotions stirring up trouble, his mood was completely chaotic.

The comb landed gently on Lu Heng’s hair, and Bai was about to begin. Instantly, he heard the little Snow Rabbit squealing on the square table. Looking back, Bai Li, who was asleep, suddenly woke up somehow. She was arching her body back and forth to find the familiar atmosphere.

It was strange because his daughter usually slept deeply. She had once slept for two hours, and it was difficult to wake her up even with noises. Today, she was merely asleep for a short while. Why did she wake up? But Bai didn’t think too much about it. He apologized to Lu Heng and put down his comb and went to coax his child.^[1]

1. E/N: I’m willing to bet Shi Kong’s the reason she woke up.

Lu Heng looked at the still messy hair in the mirror and could only resort to Shi Kong: “Shi Kong, I must trouble you.”

Shi Kong put down his teacup and picked up his comb as he did every morning. But Lu Heng felt that his caresses not only fell on his hair but also seemed to fall into his heart.

While Lu Heng had his hair combed, Bai coaxed his baby. That’s why there was nothing to talk about.

Bai spoke, “My fox friend sent me a message saying that today he is going back to his native place.”

“And you?” Lu Heng seemed to detect a hint of farewell from Bai.

“I want to take Yun Niang back to the Rabbit clan and then stay in the clan’s territory and concentrate on raising Little Li single-mindedly. You can come and look for me when other things have been settled.”

No banquet lasts forever.

After introducing his fox friend to Lu Heng and Shi Kong, Bai embarked on the journey to his native land alone. Rushing against the wind, Bai’s clothes fluttered. Only then did Lu Heng suddenly realize that Bai’s clothes, which used to perfectly fit on his body, were now hanging on him seeming extremely loose.

Remembering the youthful and energetic appearance when he first saw Bai, Lu Heng could not help but feel frustrated and disappointed. Experiences and emotions shape a person’s character. After all, the characters for fortune and disaster only differ in one letter. [福 vs 祸]

“It’s time for us to depart as well.”

Lu Heng heard Shi Kong speak and then felt his hand fall into the latter’s warm palm.

“I’m no longer a child. There’s no need to hold me.” Lu Heng pulled out his hand and felt his face getting a little hot and dry.

Mount Qingqiu. Headed by the Nine-Tailed Fox King, it was the territory of all the fox clans. Bai’s fox friend introduced them to the fox elders.

After hearing Lu Heng’s story, the elders frowned and looked very dignified: “This man was a great demon in the clan; we are unable to take responsibility regarding his affairs. You have to wait for the Fox King to leave her seclusion.”

“When will the Fox King leave seclusion?” Lu Heng enquired.

“It should be sometime these days; until then, you two will stay with my family. When the Fox King exits seclusion, this old man will report the matter immediately, the fox elder said.

Lu Heng and his companion had to stay on Mount Qingqiu for a while. Qingqiu folk’s customs had always been enthusiastic and unbridled, and the fox girls who passed by wore pretty cool clothes. Although Lu Heng came from modern society, he was already accustomed to this world’s multilayered and tightly wrapped clothes. Suddenly, he saw the same attire worn during the middle of summer in modern society, which made him not dare to look straight.