Venerable Demon King & The Doting Immortal (QT)
Chapter 122: Drinking tons of vinegar

Chapter 122: Drinking tons of vinegar

As the sun dipped low on the horizon, casting a warm golden hue across the vast expanse of shimmering fields in the outside world, Xiang Yu was lying down cross-legged in his spiritual space waiting for the old man to show his face. While waiting, he had changed things around, making the space an exact replica of his courtyard in his palace.

He repeatedly called out to the Divine Emperor but the old man wouldn’t answer. He even tried to call him Old Man, Old Coot, Immortal Geezer and lord of the Bald Donkeys, but no matter how many names he used, the old man wouldn’t answer. It was either he was blocked or their line got disconnected somehow.

Since the old man was playing hide and seek, he decided to find something to entertain himself. As a pastime, he was watching an exciting show that he happened to stumble upon. This show so happened to be what they classified as a boy love genre with a vampire doctor working at an underground boxing ring.

The doctor found himself being pursued by one of his boxer patients who somehow constantly got injured, but it was all a ploy to see the doctor. The story was so spicy that he lost track of time. He was so immersed in the drama that he didn’t know that Peng Xiu was out for blood and stirring trouble.

AN: Anyone knows which animated BL this is? Hehe

Just as the show was dipping into NSFW scenes, he felt gentle hands shaking him awake. "Master. Wake up. It’s already sunset and we stopped moving," Lian’s voice broke through the hazy veil between worlds.

His eyes fluttered open slowly, revealing her worried face framed by cascading locks illuminated by the setting sun. "What’s wrong?" he mumbled lazily, still caught between dreams and reality.

"Master. You have been sleeping for five hours," Mei chimed in from beside Lian, her large eyes glistening with concern as they mirrored Lian’s worry. "We were getting worried you wouldn’t wake up." They were afraid of being left alone in this world. What would they do without their master? It seemed that they were still traumatised from before and feared that he would just vanish into thin air.

Xiang Yu chuckled softly at their dramatics but felt warmth swell within him at their concern. He reached over and ruffled Lian’s hair affectionately before saying, "You two love worrying about nothing," he said with a teasing tone in his voice. "I was waiting for the old man but he didn’t come. He is probably hiding from me or something." Mei’s expression faltered slightly. She pointed delicately at her own head with teary eyes.

"What?" he asked gently but she merely stared at him expectantly. He knew what she wanted but he liked messing with them.

"Me too," she replied quietly, brushing away an errant tear while indicating that she wanted reassurance just like Lian had received moments earlier. A hearty laugh escaped Xiang Yu’s lips as he patted her head too. It was a gesture full of fatherly affection that seemed to chase away the shadows from her heart momentarily.

"I swear you two are acting like you are still children," he remarked light-heartedly while getting up and straightening up his clothes.

"Master, you were sleeping like a ferret in a dead sleep state. We had to shake you awake," said Lian and Xiang Yu laughed, the sweet sound travelling outside the confines of the carriage.

Han Xin’s ears perked up at Peng Xiu’s laughter echoing through the dusk air. It sounded bright and alive with a magnetic effect to it. He cautiously stepped closer toward the carriage until Baihe emerged from behind another curtain drawn across part of their carriage space with a look of worry on his face.

"Your highness, is everything okay?" Baihe asked as they came outside of the carriage. Lian quickly pointed towards Baihe’s head in a delightfully mischievous fashion. Mei followed suit after catching on instantly. They both exchanged conspiratorial glances filled with mischief before looking back at Xiang Yu.

"What?" Xiang Yu queried again, playfully perplexed by their antics, before addressing Baihe directly. "I am fine. You don’t have to worry. I just overslept."

"Pat him too," Mei insisted earnestly. Their master said that Baihe was their brother so he should be treated fairly. He should also get a head pat.

With a bemused smile stretching wide across Xiang Yu’s face, he beckoned him over playfully saying warmly, "Come here!"

Baihe leaned in reluctantly at first, but then, who could resist such a beautiful woman? He eventually yielded moving closer. It started merely as an innocent pat but it transformed quickly into a playful tussle. Xiang Yu was having so much fun messing with his hair that he didn’t notice Han Xin staring at him looking like he caught his wife cheating.

Baihe tried to run, but he held him in place. He was starting to think that Peng Xiu was a big brother trapped in a woman’s body. She would find ways to mess with him, ways that most young reserved ladies wouldn’t think of.

Xiang Yu couldn’t resist teasing the kid like he used to tease his junior brothers as they sparred in the courtyard. "Come on, stand in the attack stance I taught you," he instructed, a playful glint in his eyes.

Baihe tried to comply, but his awkward movements drew laughter from Lian. "Brother, you are doing it all wrong!" Lian chuckled, shaking her head.

Mei stepped forward, demonstrating the stance with fluid grace. "Look look, like this," she said, her voice gentle but firm. Baihe attempted to mimic her, but his efforts were clumsy. Unlike the twins, he wasn’t naturally inclined towards fighting. He preferred the quiet tasks of cooking and cleaning over the chaos of combat.

Seeing his struggle, Xiang Yu moved closer, adjusting Baihe’s arms and legs into the correct position. "There," he said, checking his stance. "You should work on it."

"Thank you," Baihe replied, his voice filled with gratitude. As Xiang Yu focused on helping Baihe, he didn’t notice Han Xin standing nearby, his expression dark with jealousy. His heart ached at the sight of her touching someone else. It felt like he was being torn apart from the inside.

He was drinking so much vinegar that Xiang Yu felt a shift in the atmosphere, a subtle tension that made him glance around. But when he looked, there was no one watching him. He shrugged it off, returning his attention to Baihe, unaware that a certain someone was moping.