What Happened to My King?

A hand came to Xu Rouguang's chest as he felt that strange rage inside him. He suddenly felt so angry upon hearing what he just did. His fingers clutched at his shirt, but it was concealed by the food from Lai Mingjie's view. His lips pursed thinly before they curled into a light smile. He had to quell this without letting Lai Mingjie notice. Xu Rouguang simply did not have an explanation for it.

"Either way, it's not like it's going to come back even if he did." Lai Mingjie, who was ignorant of Xu Rouguang's feelings, just shrugged his shoulders and continued eating. He then stared at a piece of pancake and grumbled inside.

The smell of banana pancakes distracted Xu Rouguang from his light daze. His vision then focused on a piece of pancake held by a fork to his face. Confusion budded inside him before he heard Lai Mingjie's voice: "Hey, if you're not eating it, say you're full."

Xu Rouguang twitched before quickly putting the pancake inside his mouth—he even bit into the fork. Lai Mingjie frowned at the man who looked at him like a sorry dog. He only shook his head before slipping the fork out of Xu Rouguang's mouth. It was a dilemma for him to choose: should he continue using the fork or sit through the general's happy gaze because he wanted to use it?

However, it wasn't a matter anymore when Xu Rouguang pulled back and properly chewed the food as he reached for his juice. The day then rolled into the weekdays, their stunts either punished or thrown into oblivion.

Monday came, and Lai Mingjie was sitting on the bridge walkway like he did the first time he met Xu Rouguang again. The office called so early, and he asked Xu Rouguang to pick up a delayed parcel that they needed to the day. Since it was still too early to go to the office, Lai Mingjie chose to spend his time like how he used to.

Sitting there made him realize how different his life had become without him realizing it completely. His quiet and boring days were now spiced by Xu Rouguang's issues and teasing. Three years before his lifetime ends, a sudden shift was introduced in his life. He couldn't help but laugh out as he found himself dazed once again.

When he first saw Xu Rouguang, he thought he would be seeing a good show for a while. However, Nuwa dragged him into it, and this had become his new life. In weeks, he had accepted Xu Rouguang so openly like he wasn't the General Xu who killed him.

Killed him? How exactly did Xu Rouguang kill him? Even Emodao himself had forgotten his most embarrassing moment...

"Emodao."

It was a name he didn't dread hearing, but the voice that called him sent chills to his spine. Lai Mingjie darted his glare at the end leading outside of Crimson City. A man gradually walked into his view and smiled upon seeing the demon king. "Emodao, so you're really here."

The man was wearing a business suit, hiding most of his face under a fedora. He had a slender frame, but his hands were strangely too big for the proportions. His fingers, pulling his hat down, were too long and bony for a man for his age. He was also too tall at more than two meters.

This kind of appearance didn't make Lai Mingjie's skin crawl as he saw a lot from the former demons gathered in Bloodvein Café. However, the whiff of strong demon aura shocked him. The figure standing in front of him now wasn't a reincarnated demon... it was one that kept his essence intact.

No other demon aside from Botangca with their demon essence was allowed in the Crimson City. The fact that Emodao knew exactly who it was made his heart race in fear.

Lai Mingjie fished for his stun gun and aimed it at the man as he jumped up from his seat. "Don't come any closer, Dunzhao. If you set foot in this place, the patrolling—!"

"Since when did you fear anything?" The man flashed from his spot meters away to in front of the demon king. His bony hand grabbed Lai Mingjie's chin and forced him to look up at the colossal man, the stun gun dropped from the action. "It's been a long time since I last saw you. What's with this pitiful strength? What's with this human smell?"

"Get your hands off of me!" Lai Mingjie slapped the hand away even if he risked breaking his own hand just to swat the filthy hand.

"Oh? What's this?" Dunzhao grabbed the hand that swatted him and squeezed the wrist. He even twisted Lai Mingjie's arm to inflict more pain. "What happened to my king? I was looking forward to seeing you and hunting immortals as revenge."

Lai Mingjie tried to fight the groan and the pain. He tried to take back his arm, but the other demon held onto it tightly. He couldn't help it, but his heart had been screaming in pain... and in hopes of summoning anyone for help. Tears began welling at the corner of his eyes as he could feel his ligaments tearing.

Crack!

An ear-splitting scream came from Lai Mingjie as Dunzhao shattered his wrist and broke his arm at the same time. He even fell on his knees, but the demon didn't even loosen his hold. The demon frowned and bared his sharp teeth as he didn't think Lai Mingjie wouldn't be able to fight back at all. Moreover, this body was too brittle and fragile to house a powerful demon king.

"So it's true... you had lost your power." Dunzhao lifted Lai Mingjie up the ground using the arm that he broke. It made the demon king scream some more, but instead of a fearful gaze, rage was what Dunzhao found in his eyes.

"So what?" Lai Mingjie had to endure the pain and tried to get up and do something—anything to get this demon off of him.

However, Dunzhao hurled the director behind him, letting go and watching the once-demon roll and break his arm some more. He looked over his shoulder and snorted. "Pathetic. After all those years I endured, this is what I see? This is what I had looked forward to all these years? What's better for you now, Emodao? Living out as a human or being killed by me?"

The demon king only chuckled, even though tears were dripping from his eyes. "Kill me? Huh, kill me if you're more powerful than Nuwa, Dunzhao. Why don't you dare to kill me if you think you can?" He then started laughing. "Living out as a human? You're underestimating me."

Dunzhao laughed out as an answer, silencing the other demon. His hands then morphed into the dreadful claws Lai Mingjie remembered on this particular demon. The slender fingers turned into claws that had sharp sides yet a blunt end that could punch a hole through the sturdiest flesh. Lai Mingjie's eyes dimmed as he was sure that he would be left in a dying state after this. If he was unlucky, his head could be even severed.

As soon as Lai Mingjie closed his eyes, Dunzhao moved in as fast as he came earlier. Within a second, he was pulling his arm back to deliver a blow—planning to break Lai Mingjie's skull in an instant.