The King's Mate - Part 2: Yaoshi

Chapter 9

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I hope you get to spend some quality time with your loved ones over the holidays :D

I also hope that you'll enjoy my lil chrsitmas present here lol

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When Hua Cheng was done cleaning up his mess, he very much felt like cuddling up to his gege and receiving head, neck and back scratchies, but since that wasn't an option, he just pouted for a while, and imagined cuddling with his gege. Which wasn't the greatest idea he ever had, because it just made him miss him even more.

Eventually, he sighed and gave up, figuring he could just as well start over with his translation of that stupid romance book. In fact, that was what he put his whole focus on for the rest of the week, until it was time to pay a visit to the bookshop again.

The raven demon was delighted to see that nothing had happened to his books, though he was a little less delighted when Hua Cheng told him he was only ready to return the romance book. However, in the end he just reiterated what he'd told Hua Cheng last time; to make sure he'd bring it back in the same condition it was in today. And of course Hua Cheng agreed once again.

After the matter was settled, Hua Cheng went to see the postmaster. He'd written another letter to his gege to explain that there had been a number of unforeseen incidents that couldn't be left ignored, but that he would do his very best to solve the issues and come home as soon as he possibly could. While he hated not being able to tell his gege the whole truth about his situation yet, he at least wanted to reassure him that he was fine, and that there was no need to worry about him.

Once he handed the letter over to the bat demon, Hua Cheng decided to explore the city some more. Which he did rather thoroughly, only arriving back at his house late into the night. He was rather proud of himself for not losing his way through these unending, winding roads, and he was even able to create a semi-coherent map inside his head, at least for the immediate area around his house.

There was a strange thing Hua Cheng had noticed during his stroll around the neighbourhood though. He couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly 'it' was, but it was something about these houses. Most of them didn't have much of 'it' but there were some that created a feeling of caution in him. He didn't know why, there was nothing he could see on these buildings that differed from any other building in this already strange city, but it was like his instincts were telling him there was something to look out for in some of them. He didn't know what it could possibly be, but he cautioned himself to take his instincts seriously despite his lack of understanding them.

Still, the walk had been entirely uneventful. Just like the next few days were as well.

Hua Cheng had started his translation of the philosophy book, and it did indeed prove to be quite the headache. However, there were still many useful words in it that he'd benefit from learning, so he pulled through. He even noticed a system for how the more complicated patterns were formed, which greatly reduced the time he needed to spend on trying varying characters that fit the formation.

Apart from only learning the scripture, this book also taught him something else.

Since it was a philosophical book discussing the plight of demons looking a lot like their prey, it of course started by stating the facts that were already known to every demon it was targeted to. Except for Hua Cheng, who hadn't known that demons would go feral if they didn't eat for 40 days. It certainly explained why he hadn't felt the urge to eat anything recently, and why he hadn't died of starvation yet.