The two of them stood in a deadlock , Taohua with a fist full of power and King winter incarnation with a teasing smile.
Taohua pressed his Left foot against the ground, then jumped up ,he dropped his fist down.
The incarnation smiled and grabbed the fist. Then like he was flinging a dress , he tossed him aside.
Taohua hit the wall as heavily as his ego. Blood rose to his lips but he swallowed it back.
He gathered his powers again and attacked, he tried all methods, his fists , his legs , even his head but he kept being tossed aside , blood rising to his throat several times.
The incarnation didn't seem affected, he even seemed to find amusement in torturing Taohua, sometimes he would pinch taohua cheek before tossing him aside.
Taohua almost ran mad ,this was the first time he was being played around like this. He rarely lost any battles, he only lost to the dragon king, shifu and fuxin before. Why can't he touch a common demon now?!
Bei Shang wasn't shocked about the vast difference in strength between the two of them.
Huli Jings were powerful demons, in legends, even a god like fuxin had difficulty controlling them not to talk to giving them an injury. They are the only demons equal to gods.
In the recent years now, many of them are tamed and have interrealm families so they rarely caused trouble anymore instead willing to stay home and take care of their families, so people don't fear them again.
However in times like this , will it appear in the back of their mind that they were once in the top of the divinity chain.
At last, Taohua couldn't take it anymore. He fell on his knees and threw up blood, tears ran down his face.
The demon seemed repentant now , he grabbed Taohua by his collar and looked at his face.
"Sorry , I played too hard, I was really just amused about how you were able to land attacks on me "
Taohua looked at him , dislike…no hate swimming in his eyes.
"I am not a clown" he started to struggle "Let go of me !!!"
"I was thinking you were a mortal before then I realized that you have a different aura to you. Godlike yet not godlike…are you a demigod perhaps?"
"LET ME GO!!!"
"The pride is certainly there " he threw taohua aside and Taohua tumbled many times before finally hitting a nearby table. His elbows and knees were filled with bruises "I can assure you that was a mistake, I thought you will land on your feet"
Seeing Taohua didn't answer to his taunt , instead struggled to get up . The incarnation sat down on a nearby chair.
"I didn't expect you to come at this time though, why couldn't you come in the morning?"
"How long have you been ruling this region?"
"Rude" the Huli Jing scoffed but he took some leaves and started to make tea "I have been the governor of the geographical region you're helping for over 10 years now, I know I didn't enter with clean hands but I didn't embezzle a lot of gold "
"You raped women !!!"
The hand that was stirring paused and clenched" it was only one woman and it was in the naivety of my youth …."
"She killed herself because of you "
"Everyone kill themselves for a lot of things, why should an insignificant woman voice matter ? She would have been sold to a farmer or a butcher or something…" Something like guilt flashed in the demon's eyes but it was gone as soon as it appeared, he coughed and then poured out the tea " i didn't call you here to talk about my past sins, I called you here to let us reach an impasse about your good deeds"
Bei Shang had the urge to grab a stick and beat up king winter look alike and Taohua seemed the same too.
He really was a evil being in the past life.
Raiding villages , raping women ( king winter - it was just one woman!!!) , killing past governor then replacing him, allowing raids and then embezzling funds.
How righteous of him to talk about how Taohua was the villain in the past life !!!
Taohua stood up then held his elbow, his body hurts like hell but he still raised his head high.
King Winter incarnation smiled then started to drink his tea.
"My name is Xue Xin. I need your help in overthrowing the present demon king "
"What if I don't want to help you ?"
He didn't seem too bothered " You will help me of course…after all you don't want your little husband to get harmed"
Taohua fist tightened " What do you mean?"
"Oh you don't know?" Xue Xin shrugged, his voice went softer " Your little husband when he was little couldn't control his demon lust so sometimes he killed women by absorbing their qi , turns out he only noticed after he was sent out of the village "
So that was the secret Nick was trying to hide from Taohua when he was saying his backstory, the villagers were really merciful in just sending him out then but they were still greedy enough to take his properties and sell them.
How complicated.
Taohua seemed to think the same too but he wasn't really stunned " So?"
Seeing that the little god did not take his bait , he decided to lay it all out.
"If you don't defeat the demon king, your little husband will have to become the next one ?"
Now Bei Shang and Taohua now felt the string of anxiety back " What do you mean?"
"Demon Kings are mostly Huli Jings , I am an Huli Jing and I was the former king, until I lost 4 of my tails so I was demoted to general. The new King isn't an Huli Jing but a grey wolf demon "
"So what does that mean?"
"It means that the demons are unsatisfied with him , I have several demons who told me to come back even with my five tails. If I don't get back, the demons will take care of the grey wolf themselves then put another stronger , purer demon " he took a sip of tea and raised his eyes " Despite my cub is half human, he is born with the complete nine tails and guess what, he is only a tiny bit weaker than me , if the other demons smell him out , he have no choice but to become the next demon king, and then the mortals ire will be able to fall with justice "
Bei Shang could feel himself shaking with anger , demons tend to reverend the strong and Nick was born strong, with the dissatisfaction of the new demons towards their new king , they will be willing to rebel and replace, and without fanfare , people would think that it was Nick ordering the rape and robbery.
He could barely escape the accusations by the villagers , what will happen if they hear he's the ruler?
Nick doesn't seem built for power plays even in the present life , he still liked to live an ordinary life with the people he loved and working a job.
The only way to allow Nick to continue his ordinary life was to allow Xue Xin to collect his throne then continue receiving the mortal hatred in replacement.
Taohua let out a sigh " If I help you , how am I sure you won't let the demons pick Hong Jin over you ? "
" Because I want the throne myself, I am still the strongest in the realm since I am a primordial huli Jing"
" Okay…I will help you "
Xue Xin let out a small smile, his eyes curved with satisfaction " Do you want my cub d*ck that much? "
Then he frowned and pretended to retch "Gods who have canal desires for men , disgusting"
"My feelings for Hong Jin are none of your business"
"Why would you leave a soft bodied woman for the hard hairy body of a man? Don't you know good things in life?"
Taohua ignored him and turned to leave, his footsteps seemed a little unsteady, as if he was trying to hide his limping.
Xue Xin didn't give up " Why do you love a man?"
Taohua paused , before rolling his eyes " He can be someone important to me without it necessarily meaning love, I am not like the demons who holds affection so significantly it ruins their life and I am not like the mortals whose affection are frickle and shallow"
Xue Xin didn't seem convinced but he didn't pursue it either, he just waved his hands "I might not be a great father but i will give you a little advice, Don't underestimate the love tribulation, the heavens are not fond of divinities who are irrational"
Taohua rolled his eyes again and left, this time he didn't look back.
He took a small bath at a lake and changed his clothes before coming back home. His footsteps were light and he opened the door.
Nick was still asleep , holding the pillow he stuffed in his arms.
Taohua removed the pillow then slipped into his arms. He didn't know since when he and Nick started sleeping on the same bed and even in their arms but he felt uncomfortable if Nick wasn't near him now.
'Don't underestimate the love tribulation, the heavens are not fond of divinities who are irrational
Taohua lowered his eyelids and wrapped his arms around Nick. It was as if there was a kind of reluctance in his heart.
He was born with the aplitude of being indifference, he doesn't have a hint of love in his destiny and he is the next god of war. He can't fall in love with anyone, it was impossible for him.
He just felt that Hong Jin was similar to his shifu and reminded him of home. He wanted to protect Hong Jin because he saved him and he likes going around with Hong Jin because he's quite lonely.
Demons and putting their stupid claws in what doesn't matter to them.
Bei Shang could feel his heart starting to race, his thoughts in disarray.
Taohua was wrong about something, even if the gods said he was born with the aplitude of indifference, it didn't mean he can't fall in love, it just meant that there was a 99.9 chance of him not falling in love.
There was still a 0.1 percent chance.
Bei Shang felt a small almost insignificant turbulence in the dao , he suddenly had the urge to laugh.