章 33: Chapter 33 : Why Didn't You Kill The Demon?

In his entire life, the crown prince had never had someone vomit medicine directly at his face. Poor Xie Jianyu looked as if he was about to hit Zhang Fengxi and personally send him to the afterworld. The fact that he did not do it bore testament to his magnificent self-control.

"I am sorry," Zhang Fengxi blurted out.

Xie Jianyu calmly wiped his face with his sleeve and rose to his feet.

"Now that you are awake, you can drink on your own. I will ask them to refill another bowl of medicine."

"What kind of medicine was that? It was bitterer than fish bile."

"It is medicine, not the Imperial Kitchen's famed Sweet Water Chestnut Soup. So sorry to disappoint you."

Zhang Fengxi pursed his lips.

"Did you try to poison me...?"

Xie Jianyu gave the alpha on the bed a belittling look.

"If I wanted to kill you, Prince Zhang Fengxi, I could just push you off your tiger on our way back. Why would I kill you in your bedroom?"

"..."

The crown prince was being too kind. He could have called Zhang Fengxi an idiot, but he did not. Zhang Fengxi scoffed. He lay back down on the bed and rolled to the side so that he did not have to look at Xie Jianyu's face.

"Well, thank you, Your Majesty The Crown Prince. I am not worth your benevolence and flattering attention."

That was the cue for Xie Jianyu to go, but he did not move at all.

"Zhang Fengxi, why did you not kill the man-eating demon? Why leave him in that injured state and go hunt some giant snake?"

Zhang Fengxi slowly turned to look at Xie Jianyu. He looked both surprised and guilty at the same time.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"I just knew," Xie Jianyu said in reply.

He could not possibly say that he already studied the man-eating demon for some time before he attended the hunt at Mount Qilin.

He memorized the demon's attack patterns. All, if not most of the injuries on Zhang Fengxi's body came from the fight against the demon. If that was not enough to serve as evidence, Zhang Fengxi was also poisoned by the demon.

Only the demon's blood could cure the poisoning.

That was why Xie Jianyu brought the demon's head to Longjing Palace and asked the palace physician to brew him a pot of antidote.

Zhang Fengxi, on the other hand, could not tell Xie Jianyu openly that he knew about Xie Jianyu's plan to fight the demon.

In his past life, Xie Jianyu killed the demon but he was hurt so badly that he had to be bedridden for two whole months.

Zhang Fengxi thought that he, a supreme general in his past life, could easily disable the demon. Unfortunately, he overestimated himself too much. His eighteen-year-old self was a far stretch from Supreme General Zhang Fengxi six years from now.

That was how he got injured and poisoned so badly before he achieved his goal.

Zhang Fengxi tried his best to weave a lie, dotted with some truth, "I thought that the most impressive prey must be on top of the mountain. I was not wrong, but I clearly overestimated myself. I was unable to kill it, so I escaped to find an easier target."

Heaven had mercy. Just as he stumbled out of the demon's lair, he came across an unsuspecting giant snake.

Once he was done with the man-eating demon, the giant snake was an easy target.

"You could have finished him by cutting off its head," Xie Jianyu pointed out.

"Really? Awwww," Zhang Fengxi smacked his forehead, faking a remorseful groan. "I didn't know that. Oh, well. Failure is the mother of success. I will be more diligent next time and do my best to finish the job properly."

Zhang Fengxi's words did not match his bearing at all. Xie Jianyu did not believe him, but he had no reason not to. Besides, what merit did Zhang Fengxi gain by lying about the man-eating demon?

If anything, he missed out on a golden opportunity to present himself before the emperor.

Xie Jianyu gripped the bowl in his hand and lowered his gaze.

"I will go to the kitchen and refill this bowl. Drink it twice a day, and you will recover in no time."

"Hmm, thank you."

Zhang Fengxi heaved a sigh once Xie Jianyu was gone.

Xie Jianyu knew a lot for someone who slayed the man-eating demon by chance in both lives. Apparently, he deliberately put himself in ways of harm. The reason was quite obvious. The disguised omega had to prove himself as a worthy heir to the throne. He had to excel above all alphas across nine layers of heaven.

That was why Xie Jianyu fell sick so often in his past life. His omega body simply could not keep up with his ambitions.

"Xie Jianyu, ah, Xie Jianyu..." Zhang Fengxi lamented in his heart, "Do you care more about the throne than your own life?"