Chapter 64: Had Eaten a Few Times

“All things have desires; the sun rises and the moon sets, mountains shift and seas move.

And desires grow stronger as one’s power increases.”

Inside a tea room in the palace, Benji and Aoki sat together sipping tea.

“That’s not entirely true. Desires grow alongside power itself because the heart already harbors such great desires.”

Aoki slightly rebutted Benji’s words.

Though a Corpse Moth Demon, Benji’s human transformation was nearly perfect—just like… Nongli.

Because of this, Aoki truly believed Nongli possessed the bloodline of an ancient great demon, and he also thought Benji was a worldly-wise demon king, as Benji showed no great surprise at Nongli’s talents.

“We each hold different views, but the reasoning is largely the same: there is both desire and power.

Benji means that the Qi Resolution itself is a form of desire.”

Benji poured tea for Aoki and himself, smiling as he spoke.

“How so?”

Aoki asked in return.

“Do you know the concept of reincarnation?”

“Mm.”

“But reincarnation doesn’t actually exist. Even though this world is so mysterious, reincarnation is still nonexistent.”

“Then why are you so certain? Because everyone believes in it?”

“Not really.”

Benji shook his head and took a sip of tea. “Because my Qi Resolution involves the concept of reincarnation.”

“Oh?”

Aoki raised an eyebrow.

“Not exactly reincarnation, but… non-extinction.

Actually, reincarnation is a kind of non-extinction as well.

My Qi Resolution is the desire of non-extinction.

Qi Resolution doesn’t rely on spiritual energy, nor seemingly on any other substances; rather, it draws from a force inherent in all things, called—”

“Qi.”

Aoki and Benji said in unison.

Regarding Benji’s explanation of Qi Resolution, Aoki found it difficult to judge its accuracy but couldn’t deny the logic behind it.

Qi Resolution is called desire because its power originates from the force existing in all things, not from an external substance like spiritual energy introduced into the body.

Using the techniques of Qi Resolution on an inherent force to achieve a certain behavior—is that desire?

Benji’s Qi Resolution desire is non-extinction?

Though Benji hadn’t yet elaborated, if he were to extend the analogy—

Then Aoki’s own Qi Resolution desire would be non-stasis?

No, that’s not right.

It’s activity. It’s the desire to be active.

A desire to be more lively, more vigorous!

“It seems you’ve found the key, but that’s just my humble opinion. Let’s understand it that way for now.”

Benji said as he pulled out a plain old book, sliding it toward Aoki. “This is my Qi Resolution manuscript. It contains a part of it.”

“Alright, I’ll return the corresponding section to you tomorrow.”

Aoki accepted Benji’s sincerity and the subtle test.

“That’s good.”

Benji nodded and smiled faintly.

Then, man and demon continued their conversation about Qi Resolution until the rooster crowed.

Though it was a transaction, their talk was quite harmonious and friendly. They politely said their goodbyes, and when Aoki left the tea room, he suddenly felt his spirit drained.

Though it was just tea, it didn’t seem energizing at all. The real energizer must have been Benji.

Benji probably used some kind of spell?

The rooster crowing in the demon world was far clearer than in the human world—after all, it was a rooster spirit.

Rooster crows and Aoki’s yawns alternated as he walked back to his residence, his mind unconsciously drifting to Nongli of the Six-Flavors Hall.

Actually, last time he had wrongly blamed Nongli. Nongli did steal pills outside, but not from the place Qin Feng said.

Perhaps Qin Feng’s side had some problems, but they were none of his concern.

“Wonder if that chicken-stealing fox has gone to sleep yet.”

Last night, Aoki deliberately asked for a different room because he didn’t want to share space with Nongli.

It seemed that ever since Nongli grew a second tail, he felt Nongli was both more well-behaved and less so.

Well-behaved in that their relationship had grown closer and more harmonious, but less well-behaved because Nongli occasionally revealed a beastly aggressiveness.

Yet he never did anything bad to him.

The exact reason…

Aoki didn’t want to think about it.

His mind was only on simulation—only on making Nongli grow more tails, then going after the Moonmist in the real world.

“Creak—”

Opening the door to his room, Aoki was surprised to find Nongli looking exhausted, sitting on his bed, ears drooping.

But at the sight of him, Nongli immediately jumped up and pounced onto him.

“Master, Master,” she called, touching his face and rubbing his head as if checking him over.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? What are you doing in my room?”

Aoki pushed Nongli away and saw that she hadn’t slept all night; her eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, the red of her pupils even deeper, somewhat frightening.

“I was worried about you!”

“Didn’t you hear that Benji was looking for me?”

“I’m worried about you too!”

Those two words of concern left Aoki speechless.

“Alright, I talked with him all night. Go back to your room and get some rest.”

Aoki patted Nongli’s head and then took off his shoes, climbing onto the bed.

“Why are you just standing there?”

Seeing Nongli frozen in place, Aoki asked.

Nongli said nothing, twisting her fingers in distress, her golden fox ears and white tails drooping again. She sneaked glances at Aoki, bit her lip, and painfully muttered, “My leg hurts.”

“Huh.”

Aoki sighed helplessly and nudged Nongli twice, but she still wouldn’t move.

In resignation, he said, “Come on, come on.”

He pulled back the blanket. Nongli’s ears and tails shot straight up like eels as she wriggled into the covers, pushing Aoki into the corner.

“Master, Master, Master, Master.”

Nongli kept repeating it, and when Aoki grabbed her lips, she could still hum “Master” in that tone.

When Aoki first met this fox, who would have thought she’d be so clingy?

So attached she’d want to eat you up…

Looking into Aoki’s eyes, Nongli thought to herself.

…

……

“Snap—”

A cucumber was bitten through. Dressed in a black dress, Nongli sat in the study, reviewing her freshly written manuscript.

“Nongli-sama?”

A maid wiping the window suddenly spoke up.

“Hmm, what is it?”

Nongli swallowed the food and smiled gently.

The maid, touched by the smile, thought to herself: indeed, Nongli-sama was different from other nobles—she was simply the kindest person in the world.

“You’re really special, unlike other vegetarians. Those people wish everyone in the world would be like them and eat only plants!

Of course, even if you ask me to eat vegetarian, I’d do it.”

“Haha, it’s just a personal dietary habit. I’ve just been through some things before.”

Nongli’s red eyes flickered. “I have eaten a few times—important people.”

“A few times?”

“Mm.”

“You really have a sense of humor.”

“Indeed~ Who would be foolish enough to eat important people?”