General Xu, Please be at Ease

"...Pet?" Xu Rouguang had a complicated expression, but his blush had grown stronger.

Lai Mingjie then hissed as he couldn't help but flare as well. "Don't get lewd ideas, you horny bastard! I mean..." The director cleared his throat. "I mean, you'd do everything I tell you to do. Just like this, you cook food. In other times, you'll protect me from everyone who wants to hurt me. Most of the time, you would have to be coming with me everywhere I go." Lai Mingjie leaned on his seat and proceeded giving examples, enjoying the fact that he would be able to command his most loathed General Xu.

Xu Rouguang already had the gist of it, and for some reasons, he felt no grievance about it. Not that he was trying to be grateful—he was okay with it. He then got off of his seat and kneeled next to Lai Mingjie, bowing deep next to him. "I will do what you asked of me, master."

Hearing his voice broke Lai Mingjie's trance, and he looked down at the man. He then sighed. "For starters, get back to your seat. You don't have to be like that..." He cleared his throat again. "Don't worry, I won't make it hard for you. Just be sure to not leave me alone."

"I'll always be by your side, Director Lai!" Xu Rouguang beamed at him as if a sweet girl making a cute promise.

The demon king's eyes flickered. For a moment, it felt like he had seen this before. This... this sweet smile accompanied by such a patronizing gaze. He couldn't put a time stamp on this certain familiar scene, and he wasn't so sure if it was indeed Xu Rouguang or someone else he had gone close before. Then again, demonesses would rarely give off such warmth. He could only ignore this for now.

"...Jie." Lai Mingjie murmured. "My friends call me 'Jie'. Feel free to call me that right now, but never do that in front of anyone from the company aside from Auntie Qiu and Director Cheng. Also, Director Cheng is a demon younger than me. He calls me 'senior' when we're not in the company of humans."

"...Okay, I understand, Jie." Xu Rouguang chuckled as he started eating again. He then lifted his gaze with a hum. "Uh, Jie, how are we going to find my memories?"

"I still have no idea where to start. I only found out that I should help hours ago." Lai Mingjie continued to eat and had his eyes on his food despite talking to Xu Rouguang. "I only thought of enjoying a show from the sidelines. Seems like Nuwa wasn't planning to let me do just that."

Xu Rouguang's smile dimmed as he hung his head down before doing his best to pick up his chopsticks. "Jie... why do you feel so familiar to me when we should be enemies? I don't feel any hostility towards you." He held onto his chopsticks tighter as his face and ears began to redden again. His voice started to trail as if he was forcing himself to choke the words out. "When I saw you days ago, I... my heart... it was..."

"Don't force yourself." Lai Mingjie glanced at the other man. He then tried to make a convincing smile just so the general would relax. "For now, let's not think about the... the feel—I mean, whatever it was, just don't think about it for now. Let's try to ask around if there's a way to regain memories. I doubt demons would have answers... but they could have necessary connections.

"Hehe, ready to beat some asses and ask questions?" Lai Mingjie gave a toothy grin at the general, and Xu Rouguang nodded like a child agreeing to a game mechanic. The demon only stared at him with a frozen smile. "Hey, you do realize that you will be hurting immortals, right? They're not normal humans like those thugs you beat up last Monday."

Xu Rouguang tilted his head to the side. His round eyes flickered in doubt and confusion before smiling to give assurance to the demon. "Worry not, I'll do what it takes to make them bleed. Everyone would start thinking once they bleed, right?"

Lai Mingjie froze for a little longer before laughing out, his fist slamming at the table. "Ahahaha! Right! Right! That's right! Puny bastards give into anyone that could really hurt them! Right, right! Make them all bleed for all I care! Warm blood sure is a feast!" Xu Rouguang nodded with a grin as well. It grew hard to believe that they were once sworn enemies for a hundred years.

After a few more words, Lai Mingjie had sent Xu Rouguang home with some pocket money. This tireless man roamed around the streets without even taking transport, and that was troublesome. If he wanted to work for him properly, there were some things to arrange. One, Xu Rouguang should know how to drive; two, he must move in so Lai Mingjie could be guarded 24-7; and three, Lai Mingjie wanted to take advantage of this pseudo-slavery for as long as he could. Even though the demon king still sought invisible revenge towards the general, Xu Rouguang agreed to give servitude.

Hours after seeing Lai Mingjie, Xu Rouguang found himself tucking Director Duan into his bed. The old man was like a wilting plant that had reached the last of its energy. He bit into his lip in displeasure. This man had taken good care of him for almost a year and had been actively helping him reconnect to the world. Never did he question Xu Rouguang's hazy identity; neither did he force him to remember. It was as if he wanted to serve the other till he dies.

"Director Duan, your illness... seems to be eating your body faster than I thought it would. You don't really want to be sent to a hospital?" Xu Rouguang moved some stray fringe away from Director Duan's forehead. He had gone sick days after he found the lost general, but he refused to get medication.

"I had lived for so much. This is for a release." The old man chuckled before reaching out his hand. Xu Rouguang held onto his hand, feeling how faint his life energy had become. Even if Xu Rouguang could help, he had always refused the help.

Director Duan closed his eyes, alarming Xu Rouguang all of a sudden. The life energy he had began to decrease rapidly as if his life was finally being taken away from him. Xu Rouguang squeezed his hand tight with both of his. "Director, why all of a sudden? Wait, your family had to—"

"General Xu, please be at ease," the director whispered, "Becoming an immortal after all these years had made me so tired. I asked the Goddess for mercy... and undertook my last mission as a pre-requisite." He opened his eyes and stared at the wide-eyed man. "General Xu, you probably didn't pay much attention to me before... but have I been a good lieutenant general to you?"

"...Director?"

"Ah, the days of our glory. Ravaging the lands to rid of demons... tracking down Emodao had been the best time of my life." He closed his eyes again. "If there's a chance you could remember me, I would be very grateful."

"...You've done well... Lieutenant General... Severed Glacier..."