Chapter 7: Have Rhythm
Duan Ke landed safely in the dim underground.
He didn’t immediately retract his tail and wings. Instead, he vigilantly raised his tail and looked around, finding only pitch darkness.
Fortunately, succubi had decent night vision. He could clearly see the dry, hard rocky tunnel surrounding him.
This is inside the Mountain Ghost’s stomach.
Duan Ke held the bag of buttered toast in one hand and gently knocked on the rock wall beside him with the other. Like a polite kitten coming to beg for food, he didn’t mind at all that he had been swallowed by the Mountain Ghost without a greeting.
“Hello, are you there?”
The surroundings remained silent. But not long after, the rocks around Duan Ke began to shake, as if some monster with a body of earth was opening its mouth to speak.
The Mountain Ghost’s voice sounded like an echo from a person shouting in the middle of a valley. Duan Ke, standing in its stomach, felt like a bell that had been struck; the vibrations made him want to vomit.
Duan Ke dropped the toast, covered his ears with both hands, and scrunched up his small face, looking very uncomfortable.
“Can you keep it down? I’m going deaf!”
The Mountain Ghost remained slow, dragging out the trailing notes for ten seconds. But the voice did lower.
Inquisitor?
Duan Ke’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly recalling the blurry sentence he heard before falling.
I thought I heard wrong. Is the Inquisitor really here??
Duan Ke suddenly panicked a bit. He hurriedly retracted his wings and tail, turned his head to look at his butt a few times, and patted it. He only felt at ease after confirming they were hidden.
“Why are you looking for the Inquisitor?” Duan Ke asked curiously, nibbling on the bread.
The Mountain Ghost indignantly accused the Inquisitor of killing his best friend, the Wolf Demon, and embellished the description of his cruel methods and decisive shooting, treating their monster kind like the Japanese army.
The Mountain Ghost spoke too slowly, coupled with a robotic tone devoid of emotional fluctuation. Any other monster listening would have fallen asleep on the spot.
But Duan Ke listened nervously, his expression more colorful than the Mountain Ghost’s embellished story. He squatted on the ground, unconsciously biting his thumb, his eyes darting around.
S-So scary, that devil…! Truly ruthless and black-hearted!
It seems I still have to be careful. Even if I have a keeper now, I should minimize the use of magic so that terrible Inquisitor doesn’t have a chance to discover me.
After speaking, the Mountain Ghost didn’t stay long and sped off to find someone inside his own stomach.
Duan Ke let his imagination run wild for a while before realizing a major problem: he forgot to ask the Mountain Ghost to spit him out first!
Duan Ke stood up in a panic, but found the Mountain Ghost was already gone. He knocked on the stone wall for a long time with no answer, so he could only wander aimlessly in the long underground tunnel, trying to find the exit himself.
The Mountain Ghost’s stomach was a combination of rock tunnels and karst caves. The exit was usually the mouth of some cave. Duan Ke wandered inside for a long time until he finally saw a faint light.
It’s the cave mouth!
He ran over happily.
“Have you checked the southwest?”
“Southeast, ten o’clock direction.”
“How many people.”
Duan Ke suddenly heard a low, slightly hoarse voice coming from the rock pile, and his steps stopped abruptly. His mouth stopped chewing the toast; he swallowed the fragrant, burnt toast silently and licked the crumbs from his lips.
Duan Ke vigilantly shrank behind a rock, revealing only a tiny bit of his head. He suppressed his aura to eavesdrop, his two light-colored eyes glowing in the dark like a cat startled by a passerby.
The man’s voice carried a faint magnetism, like fine sand, with a mellow texture.
He spoke very calmly, his instructions clear. Duan Ke could almost imagine this person holding a communicator expressionlessly, occasionally furrowing his brows and quickly relaxing them.
Is it the Inquisitor? Commanding subordinates to catch monsters?
Did he… also discover me and Heracles hiding in the Mountain Ghost’s stomach? Is he sending his bad subordinates to surround the two of us right now?
Duan Ke was suddenly terrified. He looked back nervously at his butt again, confirming the tail wasn’t showing, before feeling slightly relieved and continuing to eavesdrop.
But for some reason, he had an indescribable, strange feeling in his heart.
This voice seems a bit familiar…
I feel like I heard it not long ago.
Who is it?
Duan Ke held his breath and thought hard. Just as he vaguely had a feeling and was about to remember, a sudden roar of a giant dragon shook the entire underground tunnel with a boom!
Duan Ke bounced up from the ground from the shock. While his confused brain was still dazed, a rock several times larger than him, covered in flames, suddenly plummeted from above his head!
Duan Ke’s brain didn’t react fast, but his body’s instinctive reaction was very quick. He suddenly revealed his tail, the heart-shaped tip swinging upward like a whip, intending to split the flaming rock in half directly.
But someone was faster than him.
Duan Ke only felt an agile, tall figure flash in front of him. Then his vision went black, and he was pulled into an embrace carrying warmth and an alluring scent.
Duan Ke was very familiar with this embrace and recognized who it was immediately, because yesterday before he fainted, this person had held him like this too.
So Duan Ke didn’t struggle at all. He cooperatively nestled his head in Qin Huai’s neck and wrapped his arms around his neck.
Qin Huai’s body was firm and powerful, easily encircling Duan Ke completely. With one hand supporting Duan Ke’s bottom and the other protecting his fluffy head, he rolled to the side of the ground calmly and quickly, dodging the falling boulder.
The boulder crashed onto the ground where Duan Ke had stood two seconds ago with a boom, instantly shattering. Scattered flames continued to crackle and burn, making the entire tunnel seem even more silent and oppressive.
Qin Huai frowned, his body slightly tense. He released the hand supporting the back of Duan Ke’s head, guarding against the powerful monster currently extremely close to him, ready to pull away and counterattack at any moment.
…How did my body move faster than my brain and suddenly rush up to save him.
Qin Huai’s thinking was extremely fast. He surveyed the surrounding environment, quickly calculating the fastest way to counterattack Duan Ke and the escape route.
Clearly, the Progenitor Succubus is very likely an accomplice of the Mountain Ghost. If Duan Ke attacks me at this moment, I can’t possibly retreat unscathed. Yet he still made such an irrational move without reason or instinct, even more inexplicable than last night.
The Progenitor Succubus, indeed capable of great means.
Must immediately…
“Brother Qin Huai!” Duan Ke’s jubilant voice.
The tunnel was silent for a moment. Seeing no response, Duan Ke thought he hadn’t heard clearly. He nudged Qin Huai’s shoulder, then pounced to hug him tighter, whispering in Qin Huai’s ear, “Brother Qin Huai?”
“…Mn.”
Qin Huai’s tone remained calm, and his expression didn’t change significantly, only his Adam’s apple moved slightly. But Duan Ke could smell that scent on Qin Huai again.
It was even stronger than yesterday, indicating that Qin Huai was in a very good mood right now—quite good, in fact.
It seems my keeper says one thing but feels another. Duan Ke silently added a new item to his “Keeper Observation Notes.”
“Why are you here? It’s dangerous here. Why are you standing at the exit and not going out?” Duan Ke was worried, tugging at the corner of Qin Huai’s clothes.
“Came to A University to handle work, accidentally got sucked in.”
Qin Huai adjusted his posture to let Duan Ke sit more comfortably. “I didn’t know that was the exit; I didn’t dare go over.”
So he was on the phone with colleagues handling work just now. Duan Ke’s heart suddenly relaxed.
I thought it was the Inquisitor ordering subordinates to catch monsters. I really overthought it. Probably Qin Huai’s professional terminology just happens to overlap with the Bureau’s.
My keeper is so gentle, how could he be that bad guy? Do not believe rumors, do not spread rumors.
But then again.
“What you did just now was too risky!” Duan Ke puffed up his cheeks and pinched Qin Huai’s shoulder.
“I’m a monster. I was fed full by you yesterday, so I’m very strong now and won’t get hurt. But you, a human, rushing over like that—what if you got hurt?”
Duan Ke shifted his bottom to sit more upright, making his words sound more serious.
“Understood? You can’t be reckless next time you encounter this situation. You have to wait for me to save you!”
The cave fell silent again for a moment. Duan Ke felt the breathing of the person beneath him lighten.
What Duan Ke didn’t know was that Qin Huai’s night vision had also been trained to be outstanding. Duan Ke’s rare forceful tone and serious expression were seen clearly by Qin Huai, causing Qin Huai’s thoughts to stall for a rare moment. His heart felt like it had been stepped on by a soft kitten paw.
He said, “Sorry, I won’t do it next time.”
Seeing his keeper’s safety awareness improve, Duan Ke’s mood became happy.
His unretracted tail bobbed up and down, the fluffy, soft tip gently brushing against Qin Huai’s forearm.
Feeling this touch, both of them froze and looked down simultaneously.
The warm atmosphere was instantly punctured, and embarrassment spread quickly between them.
Qin Huai expressionless: “.”
Duan Ke: “……………………QAQ”
How. Did. He. Forget. To. Put. The. Tail. Away!!!
Duan Ke scrunched up his small face, staring with incomparable regret and hatred at the tail that was still wiggling excitedly on its own.
He thought for a long time about the possibility of making Qin Huai believe he was a genetically mutated kitten.
But this excuse is too absurd! Even I can’t believe it, let alone Qin Huai, a normal human!
Duan Ke gave up, turning back to bury his face in Qin Huai’s neck, playing dead silently.
The tail behind him went poof and very belatedly turned into the appearance of a white cat tail, attempting to deceive himself and others.
Qin Huai looked at Duan Ke’s tail hanging limply on the ground, simply helpless.
I, an Inquisitor, cooperated like this. How can he not even know how to lie? So clumsy.
Although Duan Ke was a monster, his body temperature was warm, and his body was soft.
Holding him, Qin Huai inexplicably recalled how Duan Ke cooperated with his movements even while asleep last night, letting him manipulate him, obediently spitting out orange-flavored foam. That indescribable emotion in his heart grew thicker.
No.
…It’s just to build a good relationship with the succubus to better infiltrate his side.
Showing weakness, getting close—it’s all part of the plan, Qin Huai thought. I have my own rhythm; I wasn’t led by Duan Ke.
Having figured this out, Qin Huai felt he had regained his reason and indifference toward monsters.
He followed his own thoughts, reached out, and stroked the back of Duan Ke’s fluffy head as a token of comfort.
Qin Huai hadn’t patted twice when scattered footsteps and gunshots rang out outside the cave, followed by a voice that sounded steady but hid some anxiety.
“Sir, are you inside?”
[Author’s Note] Just lie to yourself, don’t lie to the bros. [Clown] [Clown] Baby Duan Ke is just a clumsy succubus who is easily tricked; he believes whatever people say. (His husband loves using this to tease him. He’s too obedient, completely a little sticky rice ball.) But he won’t be tricked by Heracles, because even an idiot wouldn’t spend 9998 to buy obviously fake potions. [Clown]
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