WBICDPH Chapter 39 Part 2

There was only one person Xiao Lanqi knew who would pull such an irritating stunt.

He hadn’t intended to respond, but the butterfly was too annoying. Unable to sleep, Xiao Lanqi flipped off the table, hopped to the ground, and followed the black butterfly out of Lin Jin’s courtyard, grumbling angrily with each step.

—

Yanyu Mountain, Dripping Spring.

Zhe Yu had already prepared wine cups on his small table, waiting for his guest.

Moments later, a black butterfly fluttered toward him. Zhe Yu raised his hand and caught it on the back of his fingers. In the next instant, it turned into smoke and dissipated.

“Why did you summon me? You’re utterly useless—never doing anything serious, always bothering others!”

Xiao Lanqi transformed into human form. As he walked, the silver ornaments on his body clinked audibly, the sound carrying from far away.

Zhe Yu curved his lips slightly, steadied his sleeve, and poured himself a cup of wine.

“I wasn’t deliberately disturbing you. I simply noticed that the Young Lord spends his days doing nothing but sleeping morning, noon, and night, so I invited you over for a drink.”

Xiao Lanqi snorted. After a pause, he reacted belatedly.

“Are you spying on me?”

Zhe Yu laughed softly.
“How could that be called spying? This entire Yanyu Mountain is mine. I go where I please and look where I please—no one has the right to interfere, correct?”

“…,” Xiao Lanqi shot him a glance, clearly uninterested.
“I won’t drink your wine. Drinking with humans lowers my status.”

“Oh? But the Young Lord has drunk my senior brother’s wine before.”

At that, Xiao Lanqi’s lips curved into a slightly malicious smile.

“Yes—but he’s not here anymore, and he’ll never return. Do you know why?”

Zhe Yu’s pouring hand paused almost imperceptibly, though his posture remained calm.

“Of course. Because he’s dead. Naturally, he won’t be coming back. Please, sit. On Yanyu Mountain now, there’s no one to drink with you but me—Zhe Yu, whom you look down upon.”

Xiao Lanqi felt like he’d stabbed cotton—completely unsatisfying.

Rolling his eyes, he muttered, “heartless,” but still sat down opposite him.

“Here. Though he isn’t here, his wine is. I can’t brew it as well as he did, so just have a taste.”

“Not just the wine,” Xiao Lanqi said coolly. “You’re inferior to him too.”

“Yes,” Zhe Yu replied evenly. “The Young Lord is right.”

“…?”

Xiao Lanqi raised an eyebrow, surprised, and looked him up and down.

Strange. Very strange.

Zhe Yu had always been fiercely competitive and hated being told he was inferior. Yet now he didn’t argue—he even agreed, without the slightest hint of discomfort. Could it be that he knew Xiao Lanqi was provoking him and was pretending to be calm? But Zhe Yu never had that kind of temperament.

Had he truly changed after all these years?

Somehow, that made things dull.

Xiao Lanqi lifted the cup and drank it in one gulp. The wine was cool and sweet at first, but the aftertaste carried a faint bitterness.

“I heard you went to the mortal world with that little ghost on a third-tier mission. I read his mission report—no issues, clean and elegant handling. Was there any contribution from the Young Lord?”

Xiao Lanqi curled his lip.

If one counted carefully, there was, after all, if he hadn’t dealt with that madam, she wouldn’t have confessed so quickly, and those foolish humans might have dragged the matter out for days.

But for the dignified Young Lord of the Demon Clan to stoop to helping a human with such trivial matters was humiliating. And there was no need for Zhe Yu to know.

So he lifted his chin.
“It was all tedious mortal nonsense. I couldn’t be bothered. Why would I want the credit?”

“I see,” Zhe Yu said softly.
“Then after this trip, what do you think of the little ghost?”

Xiao Lanqi snorted.
“What else? You humans, are all the same—obsessed with the strangest things. Completely baffling.”

“That’s not strange at all,” Zhe Yu replied gently. “I said long ago that the little ghost has a good heart. It seems my judgment was right. The way he treats people, situations—even a Qinghuo you look down on—he shows a unique persistence and gentleness. Don’t you dislike that, Young Lord?”

“….”

Xiao Lanqi ignored the substance of his words and crossed his arms.

“Yanyu Mountain is your territory. Look wherever you want—I have nothing to say. But what about the mortal world? Don’t tell me you saw all that from his long-winded report. You were clearly spying. Don’t blame me for warning you—stop letting your gaze wander so far.”

Zhe Yu only smiled, saying nothing.

Xiao Lanqi didn’t bother arguing further and answered Zhe Yu’s earlier question.

“Don’t insult me. What about him could catch my eye? He’s just a strange human—babbling nonsense all day with another idiot, rambling about meaningless things and irritating my ears. I only wish he’d drop dead suddenly and free me from this damned beast-taming contract.”

Zhe Yu nodded.
“Of course. The Young Lord has high standards and disdains human company.”

“Good that you know.”

“Then what does the Young Lord think of my senior brother?”

“….”

At the mention of that man, Xiao Lanqi paused.

His tone softened slightly, though he still frowned.
“He was… acceptable.”

Zhe Yu lowered his eyes, idly turning his cup, his voice slowing unconsciously.

“You find the little ghost strange and verbose. You don’t understand why he didn’t simply burn that Qinghuo away, or why he insists on certain things. But Young Lord—my senior brother was the same. You thought him acceptable not only because of his cultivation, but also because of his character, his conduct, and the gentleness he carried—something precious to humans, and something the little ghost also has.

“You are of the Demon Clan, unable to empathize with humans—I understand that. When you see this gentleness now, you think it weak, indecisive, unworthy of praise, only because that gentleness hasn’t yet been directed at you.

“If one day the Young Lord is driven into a desperate corner, and it is precisely that gentleness—the very thing you scorn—that moves and saves you, then you won’t think this way.”

Xiao Lanqi frowned, as though something had crossed his mind.

But a moment later, he scoffed dismissively.

“Impossible. Don’t think you can peer into my thoughts. I will never act as you wish. I hate weak humans—especially Lin Jin. When the beast-taming contract is dissolved, I’ll kill him at once to repay the humiliation he caused me. I will never think highly of him!”

As he spoke, Xiao Lanqi narrowed his eyes, sharp fangs flashing as he enunciated each word with force:

“Never.”