"Brother Su... what are you going to do?"
Su Xiaobai glanced at him with a tired, deadpan expression. "What am I going to do? I'm going to sit here and watch this little demon suck me dry. What else can I do?"
"Well... you could try getting rid of it again?"
Su Xiaobai shot him a glare. "Oh, brilliant idea. Let me try again to remove the demon child that bit my finger off? Definitely it would work this time, right? Genius plan, really!"
Wei Jun shrugged, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips. "At least it's not attacking you...?"
Su Xiaobai sighed again, staring at the demon child as it happily drained away at his blood. "At this rate, I'm going to die from blood loss... if not from dealing with you," he muttered, watching the demon child with a strange mix of frustration and reluctant acceptance.
Somehow, despite the creepy reality of having his blood sucked by a tiny demon doll, Su Xiaobai found himself growing oddly fond of the creature.
There was something... adorable about the way it clung to him, its porcelain-like face almost delicate under his touch.
He gently poked it, and the tiny demon didn't even flinch. It simply continued its snack, apparently unbothered by Su Xiaobai's inspection.
As his finger brushed its face, he noted the texture of its skin—smooth, soft, almost like polished jade. 'Strange, for something so small and sinister, it feels like a finely-crafted artifact...' Su Xiaobai thought, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
His musings were interrupted when Wei Jun, who had apparently gathered enough courage, leaned in closer for a look.
That was when the doll's head whipped around, rotating a full 180° like some hellish owl.
Its glowing red eyes locked onto Wei Jun with the intensity of a scorned lover, sending a jolt of terror straight through him.
Wei Jun froze, his face paling like he'd seen a ghost. "Gasp!"
In the next second, he tumbled backward, hitting the ground with a dull — thud.
His hands trembled as he scrambled to put distance between himself and the glaring doll, whose demonic eyes seemed to pierce through his very soul.
Su Xiaobai, of course, missed all of this, too engrossed in his curiosity.
He lazily glanced up, noticing Wei Jun sprawled on the ground. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice calm and unconcerned, as if it was perfectly normal to have a demon doll sucking his blood.
Wei Jun, wiping the sweat from his brow, forced a shaky smile. "N-Nothing..." he lied, standing up quickly and dusting himself off.
But as he spoke, he made sure to shuffle several steps back, keeping a very safe distance between him and the doll.
Unbothered by Wei Jun's cowardice, Su Xiaobai continued examining the little creature. Its black and red clothes were finely made—where had it gotten these?
He poked at its outfit, wondering if some kind of demonic tailor had stitched it together.
The little demon remained still, seemingly content to let Su Xiaobai inspect it.
'The more I look at it...' he thought, 'the more it looks like some strange... tiny child.' He chuckled to himself.
Just as he was appreciating the soft feel of the little demon's face, the creature moved.
It hopped, twitched, and began bouncing around Su Xiaobai's body in an angry, almost... frustrated manner.
Su Xiaobai blinked, watching it move as if it were pouting, before it tapped lightly on his cauldron ring.
Poof!
Then, without warning, the little demon disappeared, vanishing into the spatial world of the ring as though it had always belonged there.
"..."
Su Xiaobai stared dumbly at his empty hand, his thoughts trailing off. "Wait... What just happened?" He stared at the cauldron ring on his finger.
'Can it enter the cauldron ring on its own?' That was supposed to be a sacred space, accessible only by its owner.
Yet the little demon seemed to have strolled in like it owned the place.
'Was it hiding in there this whole time?' Su Xiaobai rubbed his temple, thoroughly baffled. 'First it follows me, then it starts sucking my blood, now it's treating my cauldron ring like its personal residence... Am I the master, or is it?'
Meanwhile, Wei Jun, who had recovered somewhat, was still eying the ring with suspicion, keeping his distance. "Brother Su... what exactly is that thing?" he asked, though his voice was noticeably suspicious.
Su Xiaobai gave him a half-hearted glare before sighing deeply. "No clue..." he muttered, glancing at the ring again. 'Why the hell is this happening to me?'
He leaned back, half-expecting the little demon to pop out again, demanding more blood like some clingy lover from a bad romance book.
The thought made him chuckle.
Wei Jun, seeing Su Xiaobai's sour expression, smiled wryly and stood up. "Let's get going, brother. And next time, if you end up with any more 'unexpected children,' give me a heads-up, will you?"
Su Xiaobai shot him a glare, his lips twitching in irritation. "It's not my child," he snapped, but deep down, he couldn't exactly explain where this little demon came from—certainly not without revealing the whole business with the Immortal Fetus.
"Yeah, yeah..." Wei Jun waved off Su Xiaobai's retort with a casual grin. "Don't worry. Demon concubines are very hot, I hear. Maybe you knocked a few up accidentally. Just remember, Yue Country doesn't take kindly to these kinds of... family disputes." He gave Su Xiaobai a lewd meaningful smile.
Su Xiaobai's eye twitched, a flash of annoyance sparking within him.
Before Wei Jun could even realize what was coming, Su Xiaobai took a step forward and, with a sudden burst of energy, delivered a swift kick to Wei Jun's back.
THWACK!
"—What?!"
Wei Jun yelped as he stumbled forward, face-planting into the dirt.
Bam!
Stunned, he turned around to look at Su Xiaobai, his face a mix of disbelief and pain.
Su Xiaobai crossed his arms, looking far too satisfied with himself. "Next time you run your mouth like that, it'll be worse."
Wei Jun rubbed his back, grimacing as he stood up straight again. "What's with you? I was just messing around..." His voice trailed off as Su Xiaobai shot him a look that could turn stone to dust.
"Mess around all you want, but don't act like you're so damn clever." Su Xiaobai's eyes narrowed. He'd had enough of Wei Jun's low-key arrogance—the guy always carried himself with this annoying blend of pride and flippancy, like he could talk his way out of any situation. It was infuriating.
Wei Jun gave a dramatic sigh, still massaging his sore back. "I see, I see... no more jokes about your... 'children'."
Su Xiaobai resisted the urge to kick him again.
Wei Jun made a show of keeping a cautious distance as they resumed walking, his pride a little bruised but his mouth still running. "Demon concubine..." he mumbled under his breath. "And I thought my life was complicated..."