บท 50: Downward

The scene of the crime was a quiet one. Several days have passed but the gaping hole where the Man-Eating Worm had escaped into was still there and revealed nothing more than a dark winding black hole.

Princess Ariunbayar was poking her head inside, crawling over the ledge and glaring down the sea of darkness, as if it might have garnered her a clue. Zhang Wang sighed and looked around but he didn't saying anything or point anything out at first.

Instead, he was observing Yu Yanlin.

The crane jacket he wore really accentuated his handsome features, contrasting with his pale skin and his current silky black hair that beheld a glossy blue sheen. Zhang Wang's eyes trailed down lower, eyeing the pucker of his behind, the perfect curvature for his hand to grab.

Wait no. That wasn't at all what Zhang Wang should be observing! Shaking his head a little he took another glance. This time, he was focused on what the demon king was doing, or rather what he was not.

He was not doing anything and just stood there absently, watching the Princess of the Steppes grumble and flail into the dark depths within the mountain.

Zhang Wang didn't want to say he was suspicious but the truth was…he was totally suspicious. Yu Yanlin was growing a habit of standing by silently but Zhang Wang usually observed him to be quietly contributing to their cause. Whether it be looking out for danger, or paying attention to others behavior or even snapping into action at a moment's notice, Yu Yanlin was always doing…something.

Perhaps he was just quiet in his observations, as he was usually quiet when he followed along.

Maybe Zhang Wang was just overthinking things but the more he looked, the more it seemed that Yu Yanlin was about to fall asleep on his feet, basking in the warmth of the sun. His arms were folded neatly and head tilted just slightly down and he stood as still as a statue. The sun had far past the highest point in the sky and cast long shadows within the narrow caverns.

The Immortal of a Thousand Blossoms ignored investigating and instead appeared the silent demon king. "Heya."

"...Hello." Yu Yanlin broke out of his frozen stance, his arms coming out of its folded position. "How may I be of assistance?"

Zhang Wang couldn't tell if the stiff sentence was a jab at something or seriously uttered out of his lover- fake-lover's mouth. He turned up his nose a bit and put his hands on his hips, "Are you tired Huhu? If you're tired it's okay to rest. The sky is getting dark soon so I think we're going to settle down soon anyway. I noticed you're not really investigating."

"We're not going to rest soon!" Ariunbayar cut in the conversation, her voice muffled from the narrow tunnel. She didn't even bother turning around to address them directly.

Zhang Wang ignored her, "You don't have to push yourself too hard."

Yu Yanlin gave him a small secret smile, not seeming to have caught onto Zhang Wang's suspicion. He was too busy holding back his desire to kiss the top of Zhang Wang's head. The Immortal of a Thousand Blossoms was being infinitely sweet and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't charmed. "I'm fine," he said.

"Then…why aren't you helping the Princess? Don't tell me you have a grudge against or something." Zhang Wang added a wink, only belatedly realizing that not only was no one else watching his fake flirtation but Yu Yanlin couldn't see him either. "You don't need to be jealous, she's not my type at all!"

"What is your type?" Yu Yanlin asked with a teasing tone.

Zhang Wang was caught off guard and answered a little too readily, "Any woman with a good s-line!"

"...Is that so?"

Oh shoot, Ariunbayar was still listening.

"...Ahem. And Huhu of course. Huhu has the best s-line."

"Hmm, I highly doubt that."

"Nope, it's the truth." And to illustrate his opinions he reached over and touched the small of Yu Yanlin's back, tracing a line from his spin downward to the curve of his ass, "this here. Is the best." Zhang Wang wet his lips, his eyes dilated an lusty, unable to tell absurd lies from truths anymore.

"..." Yu Yanlin was a little speechless and also a little giddy. He smiled shyly and brazenly kissed Zhang Wang on the side of the temple.

There was no annoyed shouting. No crying in outrage. And Zhang Wang almost melted into the casual relay of flirtation if it wasn't for the fact that the caught sight of something in the corner of his eye.

Or rather it was something he didn't see.

Where was Ariunbayar!?

Zhang Wang pulled away from Yu Yanlin, who was a little startled from the lack of warmth. "What's wrong?" His normally calm voice was a little tight. He focused on the sound of rocks crunching below Zhang Wang's feet.

"That girl's gone!" Zhang Wang cursed.

The eagle named Sansan fluttered and began to frantically caw; hesitant of approaching the gaping black tunnel.

"Do you care that much about her?" Yu Yanlin tilted his head in question.

That much? What was the demon even talking about? This was the barest minimum of caring that Zhang Wang was doing as a decent human being! And that included making sure that Ariunbayar didn't suddenly tumble head-first to her doom just because she wasn't guided by her debugger. With a groan Zhang Wang answered, "Well I can't just have her dying on us."

"..."

Yu Yanlin stood back and watched the Immortal of a Thousand Blossoms stick his head through the hole in the cliff side. He was bent at the waist with only his bottom sticking out. When it was just Ariunbayar her legs out dangle off the ledge of the hole, her toes barely touching. But with the Immortal of a Thousand Blossoms, his legs were just slightly bent beneath him. The hole seemed a lot smaller and clausterphobic.

"Se Mayang!�� Zhang Wang bellowed into the long expanse of blackness. For a moment his received nothing in return but his own echoing voice returning to him. "Hey if you're down there can you please give a shout? Let us know you're alive, okay?"

"..." Yu Yanlin quietly waited. The truth was, his hearing was extremely sharp and became even stronger with the blindfold. He could hear the churning, the rumbling on pebbles coming off walls and a small voice that came from within the stone. Though he couldn't make out what she was saying.

Zhang Wang wasn't having that much luck either but he perked up when a he heard a muttering come from within the dark tunnel.

"I can't hear you!" Zhang Wang yelled down into the darkness, squinting as though that would actually render any ability to see in the dark. Just as he was about summon a spirit light, the Princess of the Steppes finally responded with a yell.

"I said, come down here you fool!"

"..." Zhang Wang grumbled and pulled his head out of the tunnel.

"What did she say?" The demon king asked.

"She told us to go down," Zhang Wang deadpanned, starring the small winding tunnel that was earlier by the Man-Eating Worm. Maybe someone as petite of Ariunbayar didn't mind but for Zhang Wang and even worse for Yu Yanlin, it was going to be a damned tight squeeze!

"...I see. I suppose we don't have a choice."

"As if she's going to give us one," Zhang Wang complained as he summoned a long rope from his interspatial ring. "Come on, Huhu, let's get this over with."

Yu Yanlin frowned a bit at the name, still unsatisfied with Zhang Wang's terrible naming sense. But he didn't complain and made quick work of securing the rope with a peg. The they tested the hold and with a deep sigh Zhang Wang glared a bit at the small, dark opening before climbing in. Ahead of him he could hear Ariunbayar shouting at them to hurry.

The rock was scraping his knees and elbow as he crawled. This was already an awful situation he was in. Zhang Wang grumbled, barely able to see ahead with the faint flickering of a spiritual light.

It was for that reason he almost tumbled forward when the ledge suddenly stopped and took a ninety degree turn. Downward.

ความคิดของผู้สร้าง
valiantxvillainous

Hello! You might have noticed that this book just got the gift option~ I will be going premium some time soon probably! I hope you can understand... Money has been tight and it's difficult to justify writing unless I can earn a penny or two from it ; w ;!

---

I will be deciding on a regular uploading schedule at some point...I still can't decide what's best T_T

ความคิดเห็น ความคิดเห็น 17

โหวต

ส่งของขวัญ

Load failed, please RETRY