Chapter 3

Under the pavilion, the clouds tumbled endlessly and the mist for the mountain was rolling towards them from an unknown source. The man’s cyan robes and ink-black hair danced in the wind.

He had to admit that the scene looked truly beautiful and elegant.

If a woman had seen it, she would probably be enchanted by this sight.

But Bai Yang was not a woman. He was enthralled for a moment but quickly returned to his senses. He knew that walking forward would disturb the other person but there was only one path down the mountain and it was right beside the pavilion. Bai Yang hesitated for a moment then walked on.

“Don’t forget to do the task, sir.” Xiao Ling’s voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

If the System hadn’t mentioned it, Bai Yang would have forgotten that he still had a “flirt with a beauty” task to complete!

Bai Yang eyes lit up when he looked at the man in front of him – here’s a beauty!

Anyway, Xie Zetian did not differentiate between men and women, as long as they were beauties.

Bai Yang looked around. There was no one else here.

The person in front of him wasn’t some muscle-bound macho man. He looked like a person of elegant temperament and his body was slender… haha, another way to say “elegant temperament” was that he was clearly not a person with strong muscles and bones. In other words, he wasn’t strong so it would be easy to mess with him.

If something were to happen in this remote mountain forest, no one would come even if the man shouted until his throat was sore… No, no, I just want to play a little trick on him, not push him down and take him. Anyway, men should have a greater psychological endurance than women. It’s no big deal for Bai Yang to touch then run away. He has nothing to lose.

The time, place, and person were perfect for flirting, what was he waiting for?

Bai Yang steeled himself an quietly approached the pavilion.

The man still stood with his back to Bai Yang, probably fascinated by the scenery, and did not react to the movement behind him.

Bai Yang walked silently behind the man. After all this, he still felt some hesitation even though this was just virtual reality. Bai Yang stood behind the man two steps away and dared not go forward anymore.

It was his first time to play a trick on someone. He wasn’t skilled at this type of thing and he wasn’t brave enough to do it.

What should I do?

After a moment of hesitation, Bai Yang kept clenched his teeth then went and touched the man’s behind.

Bai Yang didn’t know whether it was a thought that came from Xie Zetian’s body or because he was concentrating on it so hard, but he thought – it feels very supple.

The moment he touched it there was a notification sound in his mind. Xiao Ling said, “Sir, the task has been completed!”

Oh, great.

Bai Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

The man in front turned slowly and his beautiful face was full of surprise.

Flowers seemed to dance in front of his eyes as he was shaken by this man’s beauty.

Neat eyebrows, intelligent eyes, beautiful like a poet’s dream.

Bai Yang has never seen such a beautiful man in real life. Every inch of his face was finely carved, flawless. Perhaps it was because they were in a virtual world that used computer-designed characters.

But why is this face familiar?

Wait a minute…

Bai Yang searched his memory and the result made his eyes widen. It can’t be… isn’t he the Demon King Yong Ye, his immediate superior and the novel’s Big BOSS?!

The moment he realized this, Bai Yang wanted to scream. His body automatically stepped back and he wanted to run away but he paused. If he tried to escape and got caught by the Demon King, his fate might be even worse.

The man seemed surprised that Bai Yang would touch his behind. His eyebrows slowly rose. His face was obviously the type that was impa.s.sive most of the time but when his eyebrows rose it seemed to trigger ripples in the air and, inexplicably, there was a sort of illusory dazzling haze in front of him.

This person… is too good to look at.

“Xie Zetian.”

The cold voice made Bai Yang regain his senses. Ah, I just touched the Big BOSS’s backside!

What now?

Aaaah, I’ll be killed!

In the midst of his shock and panic, Bai Yang remembered Xie Zetian’s usual groveling att.i.tude towards the Demon King Yong Ye. He immediately flung himself down his knees in front of the Demon King and said in a loud voice: “Your Majesty, I didn’t mean to do that. I’ll never dare do it again!”

This degree of terror was consistent with Xie Xetian.

The Demon King didn’t move. After a long time, he said “oh” very softly. The tone of his voice rose slightly at the end and there was a slight, indescribable smile on his face.

Bai Yang broke into a cold sweat. In Xie Zetian’s memory, the Demon King Yong Ye was not a master who was easy to get along with. He was firm and decisive in cutting down and killing people. Those who offended him never came to a good end.

“Your Majesty, I really didn’t mean to…” Bai Yang’s quick wits came to his rescue with a plausible excuse. “I saw a bug on your robe. I just wanted to brush it away. I never meant to offend Your Majesty! I hope you can forgive me!”

“Is that so?” The low voice was like a quiet stream of water.

Bai Yang sweated even more and bent his body lower: “Your Majesty, please forgive me!”

There was no way to escape punishment but he pleaded for a lighter penalty.

Bai Yang’s chin was lifted by a hand and he was forced to look up at the Demon King Yong Ye’s face. The face was beautiful enough for every woman to fall in love with him at first sight. The corners of his mouth were raised slightly and there was a hint of laughter in his eyes but the laughter did not seem to be from the heart.

“Xie Zetian, Xie Zetian, even though you love to play tricks on beauties, for you to actually target me this time, have I been going too easy on you?”

Bai Yang almost burst into tears but he was forced to look up and say, “Your Majesty, it really wasn’t intentional.”

The Demon King laughed. He laughed beautifully, almost tenderly, but Bai Yang’s body trembled uncontrollably because of the fear from a remnant of his body’s subconscious mind.

“Which hand touched me just now?”

There was no alternative but to beg for mercy. Bai Yang reached out and grabbed the Demon King’s sleeve and begged for mercy. “Please forgive me, forgive me!”

At the same time, he asked Xiao Ling in his mind, “What should I do now? What if he kills me?”

Xiao Ling said encouragingly: “Sir, calm down. You are the Demon King Yong Ye’s right-hand man. He wouldn’t take your life for such a trifle.”

“I understand that but he asked me which hand I used to touch him just now. Does he want to chop off my hand?”

Xiao Ling was silent for a moment then said: “If your hand is chopped off you don’t have to die. As long as you don’t die then there’s no problem.”

Bai Yang cried out, “I don’t want to be a one-armed man.”

Xiao Ling rea.s.sured him: “Sir, after losing an arm Yang Guo was still able to wield a sword and became a great swordsman…”

“I don’t want to be Yang Guo!” Bai Yang’s heart was breaking.

(TN: Yang Guo is the protagonist of the Wuxia novel “The Return of the Condor Heroes,” one of the very few Wuxia novels with a happy ending.)

While Bai Yang was crying to Xiao Ling in his mind, the Demon King Yong Ye saw that Bai Yang didn’t answer his question. The smile on his face disappeared. “Don’t make me ask you again.”

The cold tone made Bai Yang shiver in fear. He realized that the Demon King Yong Ye was angry and that the consequence was going to be very serious.

In desperation, Bai Yang had to raise his right hand and say, “This… This one… “

He looked pleadingly at the Demon King Yong Ye and said in a weak and helpless voice: “Your Majesty, can you please refrain from chopping my hand off?”

The Demon King Yong Ye was surprised. He stepped closer and stared at Bai Yang for a moment. Suspicion flashed across his face but Bai Yang didn’t notice.

“Your Majesty…” Bai Yang was still begging for mercy.

The Demon King Yong Ye let go of his chin and smiled: “Since your att.i.tude is sincere, I’ll spare you.”

Bai Yang almost wept with joy. “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“But…” Right after Bai Yang finished thanking him, the Demon King added, “Your hand won’t be chopped off but you still have to be punished.”

Bai Yang’s face immediately fell. He said nervously: “What sort of punishment, Your Majesty?”

The Demon King Yong Ye seems to be in a better mood. Although he didn’t know why, Bai Yang’s intuition told him that the Demon King was angry enough to kill him before when he was touched but he wasn’t that angry anymore.

“Your Majesty, what is the punishment?” Bai Yang asked eagerly.

“Take off your clothes.”

Bai Yang’s head shot up. He couldn’t believe what he had heard.

The Demon King Yong Ye raised his eyebrows. “Don’t make me repeat it.”

The ingrained fear in his body made Bai Yang shiver. He stood up and started to undress without saying a word.

“Who told you to stand up?”

What?

Bai Yang was dumbfounded. Seeing the gentle smile on the Demon King Yong Ye’s face, he quickly squatted and moved to untie his belt… but unfortunately, he couldn’t find where to untie it.

This was his first time to wear ancient-style clothing and he wasn’t familiar with the robe he had on. He didn’t know how to undress and it was doubly hard to do when he was kneeling. Cold sweat broke out on his brow as he unsuccessfully tried to untie the knot on his belt

“Xiao Ling, how do I take this off?”

Xiao Ling: “Don’t worry, sir. The more anxious you are, the more you can’t untie it. Calm down first, then you can undress…”

That’s easy for you to say!

Bai Yang was screaming in his heart. There was nothing else he could do! Using his Qi, he tore off his own clothes.

With a bang, Bai Yang’s robe was torn off explosively.

Now he was only wearing his white pants. The mountain wind blew, making his slightly loose pants flutter.

The two red spots on his upper body were bared. Since he lived like a pampered prince, his skin was very white and delicate. His muscles were well-proportioned and he was quite attractive.

The Demon King Yong Ye smiled and this smile seemed genuine. It was no longer the same scalp-numbing grin as before.

“Your Majesty…” Bai Yang spoke cautiously. If other people were asked to do this sort of thing, they would definitely struggle a lot. Even if they couldn’t fight back, at the very least they would protest. However, Bai Yang was too terrified. Incredibly, he just took his clothes off right away.

But because of this, Demon King’s mood did not seem so bad and he didn’t cut off Bai Yang’s hand. The Demon King stretched out a white finger and pointed at Bai yang’s white pants, “Take it off.”

“What, what?” Bai Yang stammered. “Take off my pants?!”

Demon King snorted softly. That sound seemed to contain magic that made people’s heartbeats quicken.

Bai Yang was oblivious to this magic. All he could feel was worry over his pants. He regretted that he had picked the wrong person to play tricks on. He wished he hadn’t seen the Demon King earlier.

I thought there wouldn’t be a problem if I took liberties with a man while in this remote mountain forest but now it seems that the person who wouldn’t be saved even if he shouted until his throat was sore was him.

Notes:

“Beautiful like a poet’s dream.” – 玉树琼枝 (yù shù qióng zhī) This is a literary allusion about beauty which is pretty untranslatable. Something like “jade/jasper tree” would be the literal translation. I used an English phrase instead.

“…no one would come even if the man shouted until his throat was sore…” – A very common stock phrase that villains say right before they try to ravish someone. It’s only used humorously here.

Thanks to those who left their positive reviews and rating on the Novelupdates project page. I was really upset when I saw how many people rated it one star last time but I’ll try to not let it bug me anymore.

“Take off your pants.” – I like this guy, he seems hilarious! *smirks*

The Demon King seemed surprised when Bai Yang begged not to get his hand cut off. I think the Demon King actually just wanted to check his hand to see if he really had just slapped an insect since it would probably have left traces. But I could be wrong, this is only my speculation.

I hope you liked this chapter.