The Great King Ordered Me to Marry – Chapter 9
by Little PandaSpeaking of a Familiar Old Friend
Could a demon truly be this hard of hearing?
Longming took it as the fox making a joke, held her dangling by the tail without loosening her grip, and only after a long while said, “But upon closer look, the resemblance fades.”
To say a demon resembled a demon made some sense — but how could one say a demon resembled a human?
Had these words fallen on other demons’ ears, they would have been taken as provocation, without a doubt.
The fox didn’t feel provoked. After all, this tiger demon Great King didn’t despise mortals the way other demons did, so the “resemblance” she spoke of carried no disparagement.
She still couldn’t wrap her head around it, though. Did she really resemble that many people — a whole sea of faces?
After pondering for a long while, she finally understood — not ten thousand people, but one old friend.
The fox was still held by the tail, her claws unable to grip the floor tiles, and was dragged bodily to the base of the Bone Throne, her fur nearly brushing against Longming’s leg.
Since she couldn’t run, she simply lay there.
With death staring her in the face, hoping that putting herself in mortah peril might lead to a narrow escape, the fox summoned her nerve and asked, “The one who seems so familiar to you, Lord — could they be mortal royalty?”
The words “Mortal Realm” were not something to be spoken lightly before the Demon Lord of Cangqiong Mountain Realm.
The demons treated this as heavenly law, vigilantly observing it in Longming’s presence for fear of touching her reverse scale1. Only this fox was different — knowing there’s a tiger on the mountain, yet heading straight for it2.
Though the demons had never witnessed it themselves, they could guess how great a wrong the Demon Lord of Cangqiong Mountain Realm had suffered back then.
The rightful master of Wugou Stream, to protect the demon realm from harm, had been forced to oppose the Heavenly Realm.
To her misfortune, the great war was lost, and midway through, the Nightmare Tribe seized the opportunity to steal the imperial throne of Wugou Stream.
Back then, the Nightmare Tribe put on a show of concern, searching every corner of the demon realm for traces of Longming. Any clear-eyed demon could see that their zealous search was not to recover the former Demon Sovereign and protect her, but to cut the grass and pull out the roots.
With Wugou Stream in hand, the Nightmare King’s demon power surged, while the demons at that time were disunited, each clan suffering heavy losses. Powerless and unable to unite, they could only watch helplessly as the Nightmare Tribe ransacked the realm.
Perhaps for this very reason, Longming chose to wander the Mortal Realm rather than reappear in the demon realm, hiding there for nearly five years.
What kind of place was the Mortal Realm?
A land barren of spiritual energy, where scarcely a handful of cultivators achieved immortality in a thousand years. For a demon to heal there, five years was far from enough.
Longming was different. She spent only five short years in the Mortal Realm, yet managed to restore her demon power to seventy percent.
This feat was astonishing. Either she had drained every last drop of the Mortal Realm’s spiritual energy, or her talent was simply extraordinary.
Clearly, Longming was the latter.
Though Longming was no longer master of Wugou Stream, she still possessed world-shaking power, and would not tolerate others running their mouths.
For this reason, demons dared not lightly speak the words “Mortal Realm,” dared not idly discuss Longming’s time there, even though she bore a mortal surname as though unafraid of gossip.
…
The fox didn’t think that far ahead. She figured her life was worthless anyway — might as well ask.
What if the person she resembled was someone extraordinary, and the thought happened to soften Longming’s heart?
The words “Mortal Realm” spoken aloud, and Longming couldn’t help but falter.
How long had it been since she’d heard those words from anyone else’s lips?
Mortal Realm.
Longming’s gaze had been resting on the fox, but in a fleeting instant, it drifted ten thousand miles away, a hundred years past.
The fox didn’t dare move a muscle, pressing herself flat until she looked like nothing more than a fox pelt from a distance.
Seeing Longming fall silent, sensing a storm about to break, she hastily protested her innocence. “Lord, this humble girl truly means no harm! The Maze Array at the foot of the mountain was not broken by this humble girl, and the hungry ghosts were naturally not lured by her, either. This humble girl swears by Cangqiong to prove her good intentions.”
This speech, naturally, was also learned from mortal tea houses.
Longming’s gaze sharpened, the haze in her eyes evaporating like morning mist, her scarlet pupils blazing like fire poured into dark night.
“You’re bold, I’ll give you that,” said Longming. “Where do you come from, and what brings you to Lingkong Mountain?”
The fox dared not reveal Lan Hui’s ambitions, so on a flash of inspiration she said, “I came from Qiufeng Ridge, to see the world.”
And it was seeing the world, wasn’t it? Before coming to Lingkong Mountain, she had never realized how impoverished Qiufeng Ridge was. All its demons combined probably couldn’t match a single Demon Servant here in power.
“Qiufeng Ridge. I haven’t seen the Mountain Lord there in quite a long time.” Longming laughed without apparent reason, the smile not reaching her eyes — cold and detached. “Now that you’re here, do you still wish to keep seeing the world?”
The fox curled at the base of the throne hadn’t intended to move, but at these words, her ears couldn’t help but fold back.
Did this mean she wouldn’t be killed? No fingers chopped off, either?
That old friend really was extraordinary. Was her heart softening?
Zhuoxue couldn’t be sure what Longming meant, but since she’d asked, she had no choice but to answer with affected earnestness. “Why wouldn’t I? Who wouldn’t want to linger over these magnificent lands? Wild flowers gradually beguile the eyes3, and I am enchanted, lingering with no thought of return.”
Mortal tea houses were truly remarkable. Listen for a few days, and she could spout poetry like a scholar.
“Very well. If you wish to be a Demon Servant of Lingkong Mountain, I’ll allow it.” Longming finally released the fox’s tail and casually regarded the white ball of fur at her feet.
The fox turned slowly, knowing full well that good fortune didn’t fall from the sky — and if something did fall, it would be a trap. She tested the waters. “You mean it, Lord?”
“I mean it. Not trying to scare you. I simply don’t feel like eating fox today.” Longming gave a faint scoff, her gaze still as sharp and piercing as before, brimming with intimidation.
Her posture was relaxed, as though… she’d simply grown tired of the taste.
“Th-thank you, Great King!”
The fox shuddered. She’d heard storytellers in the tea houses say that in famine-stricken parts of the Mortal Realm, starving humans would eat other humans.
Of course, demons “ate” other demons far more often — but not to fill their stomachs. They did it solely to seize cultivation and refine their Demonic Cores.
This tiger demon had spent time in the Mortal Realm. Could she have picked up the habits of famine-starved mortals?
Swallowing prey whole and alive was far bloodier than simply taking a Demonic Core. How cruel, how terrifying!
Never mind, never mind. Any demon who didn’t kill her was a good demon.
The fox sat up and began wiggling her brows, but worried that wiggling too fast would make her look less like that old friend.
Only she wasn’t in human form at the moment, and whatever expression a fox’s face could manage, Longming certainly couldn’t read it.
Longming considered for a moment, then flicked the tip of her ear and said, “Transform into human form.”
Yes, yes, human form! the fox thought to herself.
That old friend wasn’t a furry monster. She needed to become a hairless one to look the part.
The white, fluffy ball of fox abruptly transformed into a kneeling young girl, the silver bells on her ankles chiming crisply. Were it not for those lively, pure eyes, the sight would have held an alluring quality.
Zhuoxue felt it was a shame. She had never seen the old friend and didn’t know what to do to look more like her.
“There, I’ve transformed! Lord, is it because my looks resemble that old friend that you’re keeping me as a Demon Servant?” she asked, summoning her courage. “How much do I resemble, Lord — is it the eyes and brows, or the bearing?”
One part of resemblance meant one more chance in ten of survival. Two parts meant two more.
The Demon Lord, reclining on the Bone Throne, suddenly leaned forward. Her silver hair brushed across the fox’s face, and even those strands carried a chill.
Too close. The fox’s pale pupils trembled, like an amber sea swept by willow leaves, ripples visible.
The Demon Lord’s warm breath carried an intimidation entirely at odds with its softness — so hot it seemed to pierce through flesh and bone, invading her very thoughts.
Zhuoxue held her breath, forced to tilt her head up and meet the great demon’s eyes.
Their first exchange of glances had been across the distant hall doors. Now they were separated by mere millimeters, with only a few strands of silver hair between them, tickling her cheek.
What was she doing? Examining her eyes and brows didn’t require being this close. Was she sniffing whether her flesh was fresh — the way she used to sniff chickens before eating them?
Then she was doomed. She was quite fresh, after all. She had only been a demon for eighteen years — far fresher than these great demons who’d lived for centuries or millennia.
“Fresh— fresh?” Zhuoxue’s hair stood on end.
“Hm?”
“Do I resemble?” Zhuoxue scolded herself inwardly. Clumsy mouth — how did that slip out!
The Demon Lord raised her arm and pressed her palm against the fox’s cheek. That single hand seemed large enough to cover the fox’s entire face.
Something wasn’t right. If she were just an ordinary old friend, would she need to be this hands-on? Could it be someone she longed for — a cinnabar mole in her heart, a distant moonlight4?
The Demon Lord leaned even closer, the sharp black markings beneath her eyes nearly pressing against the fox’s face.
This intimacy had crossed a boundary. Not even Lan Hui had ever looked at her like this.
“The eyes and brows resemble from afar, but not up close.” Longming lowered her hand and sat straight again, without the slightest trace of lingering attachment.
Zhuoxue hurriedly said, “But there is still some resemblance, isn’t there? When you miss the old friend, you could always look at me more.”
Longming gave a light laugh. “You certainly have a way with words. I suppose I can only spare you a few more glances by way of comfort.”
Zhuoxue still had one concern — she was terrified that the old friend might suddenly reincarnate and return, rendering her entirely useless.
“If you miss the old friend so much, Great King, why not search the Yellow Springs Bureau?” the fox said. “This humble girl has heard that people have three lives and three lifetimes, and after death, they can reincarnate.”
Longming lowered her eyes. “I did search. But her name wasn’t on the register. That may have been her last life.”
The fox was overjoyed. If the old friend couldn’t come back, all the better. This understudy role — she was claiming it for good.
Never mind just saving her life — the pavilion nearest the water gets the moonlight first5. Stay a few more days, and wouldn’t good things come her way?
Footnotes
- A dragon's reversed scale, which provokes fury if touched. Figuratively, a person's inviolable taboo.
- A Chinese idiom meaning to knowingly walk into danger; to court risk with open eyes.
- A line from the Tang dynasty poem 'A Spring Walk around Qiantang Lake' by Bai Juyi (772–846), describing wild flowers blooming so abundantly they beguile the eyes.
- From Eileen Chang's novella 'Red Rose, White Rose' (1944): the cinnabar mole and the moonlight represent two archetypes of love — the passionate, unforgettable lover and the unattainable ideal.
- A Chinese idiom meaning that proximity to someone in power or to a resource gives one an advantage.
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