ARLQLCC chapter 58

As the moon rose and the sun set, the sky gradually darkened with the fading evening glow.

The Demon Palace was silent, with only dim candlelight flickering in the room where the Demon King resided.

A low roar from an unknown beast came from outside the window. The blanket on the bed shifted slightly, and Su Ji woke up groggily. He reached out and touched a solid piece of extremely well-developed muscle.

His muddled mind slowly cleared. After a long pause, he withdrew his hand again.

He hadn’t expected it to already be this late.

In the afternoon, he had been kissed and licked all over by that confused big cat. He had spent the entire afternoon being relentlessly kissed, until he was so exhausted he didn’t even have the strength to scold him, and fell asleep instead.

That sleep lasted until sunset. Perhaps because of the heat cycle raising body temperature, Chu Zhaoye had somehow taken off his upper clothes and was now half-naked, holding Su Ji and sleeping soundly face to face.

Other than being forcefully kissed the entire afternoon, nothing else had crossed the line. But Su Ji knew the agitation of the heat cycle would only grow stronger each day. He wasn’t sure what Chu Zhaoye would become after today.

But if every day was like today, then after seven days his mouth probably wouldn’t be usable anymore.

Lying on the bed, surrounded by the man’s aggressively dominant aura, it felt like a predator lying in wait, trapping its prey in its territory.

Seeing Chu Zhaoye still frowning even in his sleep, Su Ji reached out and smoothed his brows. As he pulled his hand back, he absentmindedly touched his own lips again. When his fingertip met the still-red, swollen flesh from the afternoon, he couldn’t help but hiss softly.

It hurt a little. His lips were swollen nearly twice their normal size, and the center of his lips was especially miserable—likely already broken from all the licking and biting.

Chu Zhaoye seemed to really like that spot on his lower lip, often nibbling at it, making it slightly more swollen than the surrounding area.

Today Su Ji finally understood clearly: this wasn’t a cat he was raising—it was basically a completely unrestrained dog.

After living alone for so many years, this was the first time Su Ji had been kissed so intensely, and the other party was a man whose strength and body far exceeded his own.

During the heat cycle, Chu Zhaoye had no sense of reason at all. He wanted what he liked, and that meant Su Ji had no ability to resist and had been “bullied” the entire afternoon.

Even now that he was awake, he still felt a bit drained and didn’t want to move.

Being kissed into exhaustion until he fell asleep felt a bit humiliating, but he couldn’t help it—Chu Zhaoye kissed too fiercely, completely unlike his usual obedient self.

Thinking back to the man’s gaze, those blood-red eyes carried obvious possessiveness, scanning him inch by inch as if wanting to devour him whole.

Su Ji let out a long sigh, looking at the muscular outline faintly visible in the dim candlelight, then closed his eyes again.

Since Chu Zhaoye wasn’t awake yet and he couldn’t move while being held, he might as well sleep a bit more to recover his strength. Who knew what that stupid cat would do when he woke up again.

He was too tired. The inexperienced youth had been unable to breathe properly while being kissed. When he was held by the tall man and running out of air, the other would give him a lifesaving breath, only to drag him back into another dizzying whirlpool.

As soon as Su Ji closed his eyes, his exhausted mind quickly slipped into sleep.

……

When he woke again, the palace was even darker. The flickering candles from before had already gone out, and all he could hear was the steady breathing of the person beside him.

He pushed himself up, preparing to use spiritual energy to light the candles—but before he could act, the entire palace suddenly lit up.

One by one, the candles ignited in a wave of reddish demon energy.

Su Ji looked up in confusion and saw that Chu Zhaoye, who had been asleep, had already woken up before him. The confusion in his eyes from the afternoon was gone, and after the lights came on, he froze in place, staring at Su Ji.

After a moment, a flush spread across his dark skin, from his neck all the way up to his face.

Su Ji struggled to sit up and looked at his reddened face. “You’re awake?”

Chu Zhaoye’s heart was beating faster and faster. He stared blankly at Su Ji’s swollen lips, and the memories from the afternoon surged back like a flood, turning his face red with embarrassment.

Wh… what had he done?!

He actually forced a kiss on Su Ji, kissed him until he begged, and still didn’t stop—he even made his lips swell!

After today, would Su Ji never talk to him again?!

The moment he woke up, Chu Zhaoye had already imagined 108 ways he might be abandoned, and his reddened face instantly turned teary-eyed, making Su Ji almost explode in anger.

He grabbed Chu Zhaoye’s ear fiercely. “You’re the culprit and you still have the nerve to cry!”

Chu Zhaoye didn’t dare fight back. Although his heat cycle wasn’t over and his mind was still somewhat rational, his instincts still depended heavily on Su Ji. Being yelled at like this made his suppressed emotions surge again, turning into overwhelming grievance.

So Su Ji watched as the dignified Demon King of the demon race started crying just because his ear was pulled.

Su Ji: “……………”

Su Ji: “…You???”

Chu Zhaoye wiped his tears. “A… Ah Ji, I can’t control it. I didn’t mean it.”

“…You’re not actually normal yet, are you? How can you just start crying like that!” Su Ji broke down.

During the afternoon, Chu Zhaoye wouldn’t listen to anything and only did what satisfied him.

Now he looked somewhat conscious, but Su Ji could clearly feel his emotional instability—he was still under the influence of the heat cycle.

Su Ji didn’t understand why demon heat cycles had so many complications that they could make a thousand-year-old demon cry like this. He hurriedly wiped his tears, but they kept falling like broken beads.

“Stop crying.”

Chu Zhaoye sniffled, pitifully: “I… I can’t control it…”

No wonder demons in heat cycles locked themselves away.

If anyone saw the dignified Demon King crying like this, it would be a complete joke.

Su Ji had no choice but to coax him seriously until Chu Zhaoye finally calmed down.

Just as he sighed in relief, Chu Zhaoye suddenly rummaged through his storage space and pulled out a medicine box.

“What is this?” Su Ji asked.

Chu Zhaoye opened it and gently stirred the ointment with his finger, then looked at him guiltily. “Your… your lips are swollen. Put this on. It’ll heal quickly.”

Su Ji: “……”

“I’ll do it myself.”

Chu Zhaoye looked at the ointment in his hand, then at Su Ji, and his emotions immediately began to surge again.

Su Ji sensed it instantly. “Fine, you do it. Don’t cry.”

The tears that were about to fall were forcibly held back. Chu Zhaoye carefully leaned forward and applied the ointment to Su Ji’s swollen lips.

The texture was warm, soft, and tender—like it would burst with juice if pressed too hard.

Staring at those red lips, memories of the afternoon kept flashing through his mind. He had already felt how soft and sweet they were.

He swallowed unconsciously, his throat bobbing. After quickly finishing the application, he averted his gaze.

Su Ji didn’t notice his reaction. The ointment felt cool and soothing, and the pain quickly faded.

Chu Zhaoye glanced back at him again, still red-eyed, only to be caught immediately by Su Ji.

Seeing the Demon King acting guilty and quickly lowering his head, his image completely collapsed in Su Ji’s mind.

“Are you hungry?” Su Ji asked.

Chu Zhaoye nodded slightly. “A little.”

“What did you usually eat during heat cycle?”

“…Nothing.” Chu Zhaoye explained, “If a demon in heat cycle doesn’t have a partner to soothe them, taking in spiritual energy will make them even more agitated. So they just endure hunger…”

He emphasized the word “partner.”

Su Ji: “Then you—”

Chu Zhaoye bit his lip, heart pounding like thunder. “But… this time, with you here, I can eat.”

Su Ji: “……”

The usually awkward man had suddenly gone straight to the point.

Su Ji looked at him with complicated eyes.

Avoiding his gaze. Stiff movements.

Clearly testing carefully, but trying hard to pretend he was calm.

Whether it was because of the heat cycle or not, he couldn’t even hide it properly anymore.

This silly cat… when did he start thinking like this?

Seeing no response, Chu Zhaoye already regretted it so much he wanted to hide under the bed.

After all the reckless kissing in the afternoon and this bold attempt now, Su Ji was too smart—he definitely understood.

If he was rejected, they might never see each other again.

The room fell into silence except for flickering candles.

Finally, Su Ji sighed and rubbed the top of his head. “Let’s go.”

Chu Zhaoye froze. “Go where?”

Su Ji flicked his forehead. “Aren’t you hungry? To your palace kitchen.”

Chu Zhaoye’s eyes widened instantly. At that moment, his heart felt as if it had come back to life—it began beating faster and faster, as if it would burst out of his chest the next second.

The accumulated fear and sudden overwhelming joy surged together. Under the rush of emotions, two tears suddenly fell from his eyes, rolling down his flushed cheeks and landing on the bedding.

Su Ji, whose thoughts were still slightly tangled, was interrupted by those two tears and almost laughed in exasperation.

What was this—crying from happiness?

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