Chapter 44
A while later, Zhuo Yichen returned from the pond.
His long hair was loose now, still slightly damp from the water.
Without his usual crown and formal robes, he looked younger.
Softer.
Far less like the feared Commander of the Demon-Hunting Bureau.
As he stepped into the courtyard, he stopped.
The stone table was covered with food.
Several dishes.
Fresh tea.
Even warm rice.
Yichen stared.
Then slowly turned toward Zhao Yuanzhou.
“You used your demon powers for this, didn’t you?”
Zhao Yuanzhou sat proudly beside the table.
“Maybe.”
“You absolutely did.”
“Perhaps.”
Yichen rolled his eyes.
The demon smiled innocently.
“I was hungry.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t praise.”
“It sounded like praise.”
Yichen decided arguing was pointless.
As usual.
Then Zhao Yuanzhou stood.
“I’ll take a bath and come back.”
For once, Yichen nodded.
“Go.”
The demon disappeared toward the pond.
The moment he was gone, Yichen looked at the table.
Then at the kitchen.
Then back at the table.
A few minutes later, another dish appeared.
Simple.
Nothing extravagant.
Spinach tofu soup.
Warm and fragrant.
The kind of meal someone made because it was comforting.
Not because it was impressive.
When Zhao Yuanzhou returned, his sleeves rolled up and his hair still damp, he immediately noticed it.
“Yichen.”
The commander was already seated.
“What?”
“You cooked.”
“It is soup.”
“It is food.”
“It is soup.”
The demon sat down quickly.
Almost suspiciously quickly.
Then he tasted it.
A long silence followed.
Yichen immediately became wary.
“What?”
Zhao Yuanzhou looked up.
Then looked down at the bowl.
Then looked back at him.
“Wow.”
Yichen groaned.
“Stop that.”
“It’s good.”
“Stop.”
“It’s really good.”
“.Zhao Yuanzhou…”
“I mean it.”
Yichen shoved another bowl toward him.
“Eat before I change my mind.”
The demon obediently obeyed.
For several minutes, the only sounds were quiet conversation, chopsticks, and the evening breeze passing through the courtyard.
It felt..
Strangely normal.
A feeling both of them rarely experienced.
Eventually, Yichen set down his bowl.
The playful atmosphere faded slightly.
“Tell me.”
The demon paused.
“Hm?”
“Our first meeting.”
The smile on Zhao Yuanzhou’s face slowly disappeared.
The wind moved through the courtyard.
The old tree rustled softly overhead.
Yichen held his gaze.
“You promised.”
For a moment, Zhao Yuanzhou said nothing.
His golden eyes reflected the lantern light.
And something older.
✨✨✨❄️❄️❄️❄️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️
The lantern light flickered softly between them.
For a long moment, Zhao Yuanzhou remained silent.
His gaze seemed fixed on the courtyard, but Yichen knew he wasn’t truly looking at it.
He was looking twenty thousand years into the past.
Finally, Zhao spoke.
“It was a very long time ago.”
“How long?”
“About twenty thousand years.”
Yichen nearly choked on his tea.
“That’s not a memory. That’s archaeology.”
Zhao laughed quietly.
Then the smile faded.
The air around them shifted.
Ancient spiritual energy flowed through the courtyard.
The night dissolved.
Yichen suddenly found himself standing somewhere else.
A vast world.
Ancient.
Untouched.
Mountains stretched endlessly beneath brilliant skies.
Birds crossed distant clouds.
Streams glittered like silver ribbons.
And there-
standing beside a bamboo pavilion-
was a man dressed in white.
Yichen froze.
The man looked exactly like him.
Not merely similar.
Exactly.
The same eyes.
The same expression.
The same stubborn dignity.
The only difference was the clothing.
Elegant white robes embroidered with cloud patterns.
His long hair flowed freely behind him.
Even Yichen had to admit-
he was ridiculously beautiful.
“…That’s me?”
Zhao Yuanzhou’s voice came from beside him.
“Hua Xing.”
“Hua Xing?”
“The greatest scholar of his era.”
Yichen watched as Hua Xing sat beneath a tree reading a scroll.
Silent.
Reserved.
Ignoring everyone.
A group of young immortals approached.
Hua Xing ignored them.
One offered tea.
Ignored.
One offered conversation.
Ignored.
One tried flirting.
Ignored harder.
Zhao folded his arms.
“You see?”
“What?”
“Your personality never changed.”
Yichen immediately protested.
“I am not that difficult.”
“You absolutely are.”
The scene shifted.
Rain poured from dark clouds.
Wind swept across a mountain path.
A young scholar hurried through the storm carrying books beneath his sleeve.
Hua Xing.
Suddenly-
he stopped.
Someone was lying beside the road.
Covered in mud.
Injured.
Small.
Barely conscious.
A young demon.
Yichen watched Hua Xing kneel without hesitation.
The demon’s body was shaking from pain.
His leg appeared broken.
Hua Xing frowned.
“Can you walk?”
The demon weakly shook his head.
“No.”
“Can you stand?”
Another shake.
“No.”
The scholar sighed.
Then calmly removed his outer robe and wrapped it around the little demon.
Yichen blinked.
“I did that?”
“You always did.”
The scholar lifted the injured demon onto his back.
The demon looked stunned.
“Why are you helping me?”
Hua Xing answered simply:
“Because you’re hurt.”
As though that alone explained everything.
The scene shifted again.
A small cottage appeared near the foothills beneath Kunlun.
Rain tapped gently against the roof.
Inside sat two young demons.
One was the injured boy.
The other-
Yichen immediately recognized him.
Li Lun.
Much younger.
Much less bitter.
Still carrying that same mischievous expression.
Li Lun was currently stealing food from the kitchen.
The injured demon hissed:
“Stop taking everything!”
“I am hungry!”
“You already ate!”
“I remain hungry!”
The two immediately started arguing.
Hua Xing entered carrying medicine.
The cottage became silent.
Instantly.
Yichen laughed.
“They were scared of me?”
“They respected you.”
“They were scared.”
“Mostly scared.”
Hua Xing placed the medicine down.
His expression remained calm.
“You two should stay hidden.”
Li Lun looked up.
“For how long?”
“I’ll figure out a way.”
The injured demon looked nervous.
“What if we’re discovered?”
Hua Xing’s answer came without hesitation.
“Then I’ll send you safely beyond Kunlun Gate myself.”
Li Lun stared.
The injured demon stared.
Neither understood why a human scholar would risk himself for two demons.
But Hua Xing simply continued preparing medicine.
As though protecting them was the most natural thing in the world.
Yichen stood watching the scene.
Something inside his chest tightened.
The warmth.
The simplicity.
The familiarity.
And then he noticed something.
The injured little demon.
His golden eyes.
His smile.
The way he kept secretly looking toward Hua Xing whenever the scholar wasn’t paying attention.
Yichen slowly turned toward Zhao Yuanzhou.
“…That was you.”
Zhao’s smile softened.
“That was me.”
The ancient memory continued unfolding beneath the starlit sky.
The beginning.
The very first time a lonely scholar and a wounded demon crossed paths.
Long before fate.
Long before tragedy.
Long before either of them knew they would spend twenty thousand years finding each other again and again.