Lan Xi was a succubus from Hell.
He had a pair of beautiful goat horns, pointed wings, and jewel-like eyes.
His skin was as pale and fine as milk, and his long wisteria-purple hair curled in glossy waves that gleamed like satin. Even his wrists were beautiful. When he wrapped both hands around an angel’s throat, the angel couldn’t help being distracted by them…
But now he was dead.
Here was what had happened—Hell and Heaven had gone to war.
According to a rule that had existed since ancient times, angels who died in Heaven went to Hell, while demons who died in Hell went to Heaven. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But the point was mainly to torment both sides equally.
And now came the problem.
After one whole battle, he was the fucking only one who died!
Lan Xi sat on a little chair, twisting his head to look left and then right.
See? Every last one of them is a damned angel.
And I’m the only demon stuck in the middle. What am I supposed to do with this?
…
Snap.
The doctor shut the medical chart in his hand and turned to Assistant Yu beside him. “…That’s about everything. Moderate dehydration, a mild allergic reaction—we dealt with both as soon as he was admitted. The muscle tears will heal with time.”
Then his tone shifted. “The troublesome part is that he doesn’t recognize people, and his speech and reasoning seem incoherent. I recommend bringing in psychiatry for a consultation.”
Assistant Yu frowned in confusion. “Not recognizing people is normal… Every time he throws a tantrum, he pretends to have amnesia. But what do you mean his speech and reasoning are incoherent?”
“Please give me a moment. I need to call my boss.” With that, Assistant Yu turned and headed outside.
Wen Lan, the youngest son of Jing City’s Wen family, had been missing for thirteen days. At first, they had mobilized a massive search. Later, everyone gradually gave up hope, figuring he had probably died somewhere out there.
Who would have thought that some locals would eventually find him deep in the mountains?
Was that a good thing? Assistant Yu didn’t think so.
Because now that Young Master Wen was back, he would undoubtedly find new and inventive ways to torment everyone again.
After two brief beep-beeps, the call connected.
“What is it?” The voice on the other end sounded lazy.
“I’ve already seen Young Master. They’re saying…” Assistant Yu paused, then decided to be blunt. “There seems to be something wrong with his head.”
“…”
Assistant Yu continued, “The doctor recommends a psychiatric consultation.”
“Bring him back first.” Second Young Master Wen made the decision immediately.
That was exactly what Assistant Yu had been thinking. “All right.”
If word got out that the Wen family had a psychiatric patient, it would affect the stock price.
Assistant Yu turned around and walked up to Lan Xi. “Young Master, let’s go.”
Lan Xi looked up at him without moving.
The doctor sighed helplessly. “You’ll have to lead him by the hand. He doesn’t seem to understand what we’re saying.”
Assistant Yu: “…”
“Fine.”
If he wants to keep pretending, then fine. I’ll play along with Young Master all the way to the end!
Assistant Yu took Lan Xi by the hand, earning a wary glance from him. But Lan Xi didn’t pull away. Instead, he followed as soon as Assistant Yu tugged, so obediently that it almost seemed excessive.
Assistant Yu couldn’t help giving him a couple of surprised looks.
Then a strange thought surfaced in his mind—after going without food or water in the deep mountains for so many days, why did he somehow look even better than before?
Assistant Yu dismissed the bizarre thought. He led Lan Xi out of the hospital room, then solemnly thanked the locals who had taken part in the rescue. “We’ll have thank-you gifts delivered to each of your homes. Thank you for all your trouble. Really, thank you so much!”
The locals who had joined the rescue were several young men in white tank tops, their skin tanned bronze and their hair clipped short. They had a hard, rugged air about them.
But instead of looking pleased by Assistant Yu’s thanks, they seemed faintly…
Disdainful?
Assistant Yu: ?
He quickly figured it out.
Oh, of course—Young Master must have caused trouble during the rescue! It certainly wouldn’t be the first time he had offended people like that.
Assistant Yu almost wanted to string the brat up from a lamppost himself.
He put on an apologetic expression. “I’ll prepare generous thank-you gifts for everyone—”
“No need.” The man opposite him cut him off, then asked, “Your family’s rich?”
Assistant Yu gave an awkward grin. “Young Master’s family owns a few companies. Let me apologize to everyone on his behalf. We really did trouble you this time…”
The man cut him off again. “You’re that rich, but you don’t even know how to treat your own kid properly? How old is he? Look how pitiful he is!”
Assistant Yu: “…Huh?”
“No need for gifts. Saving people is what we ought to do.” The man’s tone remained stiff as he stuffed a red plastic bag into Lan Xi’s hands.
He was extremely careful about it, as though afraid that touching Lan Xi’s fingers might somehow dirty his skin.
“Here,” he said. “Eat these slowly on the way.”
Lan Xi held onto the plastic bag without letting go.
He just… accepted it?
Assistant Yu had already lost count of how many times today his jaw had nearly dropped from shock.
Even after they walked out of the hospital, Assistant Yu remained dazed.
“Can I have a look?” Once they were in the car, Assistant Yu pulled open the plastic bag and found several Daliyuan egg-yolk pies inside, all in different flavors, along with two bottles of AD calcium milk.
Elio’s Notes: Daliyuan egg-yolk pies are individually packaged filled snack cakes sold in China. AD calcium milk is a sweet fortified milk drink commonly sold in small bottles.
Does he want some too?
Lan Xi gave Assistant Yu another wary look and, with a rustle, cinched the plastic bag tightly shut.
Assistant Yu: “…”
They had refused the thank-you gifts, yet bought Young Master an entire bag of snacks instead. What was that supposed to mean? Assistant Yu could rack his brains all day and still couldn’t make sense of it.
Assistant Yu took Lan Xi to the airport, and after all the traveling and hassle, they finally returned to the Wen family’s old residence.
Lan Xi hadn’t said a single word the entire way. In the car, he clung to the window and stared unblinkingly at the stream of traffic outside. On the plane, he stared at the clouds.
He really did look like an idiot.
But strangely enough, paired with that face, being an idiot made him ten thousand times cuter.
“Second Young Master, I’ve brought him back,” Assistant Yu announced as he entered.
Wen Ming closed the laptop in front of him, took one look, and said, “Who’s that?”
“Young Master!”
Wen Ming got up and walked over to Lan Xi. At 187 centimeters tall, he immediately gave Lan Xi an invisible sense of pressure.
He reached out, lifted Lan Xi’s chin, and turned his face this way and that for a careful inspection. “Oh. Yeah. It is him.”
Then he let go, so angry he almost laughed. “Fuck, you ran away from home and still found time to dye your hair purple?”
Wen Ming only grew angrier as he spoke. “How many more times are you planning to pull this kind of shit? Do you just need everyone in the world revolving around you?”
“Say something! Talk!”
Only then did Lan Xi slowly lift his eyelids.
So annoying.
What is he babbling about?
Wen Ming’s temper flared so violently that he genuinely wanted to punch him twice.
But when his gaze landed on Lan Xi’s fair, flawless face, all he did in the end was clench his fists hard.
With the force behind his Muay Thai punches, one hit could knock this pain-in-the-ass brat’s jaw crooked!
Wen Ming struggled to rein in his anger and turned to Assistant Yu. “What did he say on the way back? How did he end up in Yun Province? What the hell was he trying to do?”
Assistant Yu sighed. “Please calm down. From the moment I saw him, he hasn’t said anything at all.”
“Nothing?” Wen Ming froze for a moment, his brows knitting even tighter as a fierce edge entered his expression.
Then his gaze dropped to the plastic bag in Lan Xi’s hands. Wen Ming snatched it away. “What’s this?”
He opened it.
Then fell silent.
There were only two egg-yolk pies left in the bag, but Young Master hadn’t thrown away any of the empty wrappers.
“Young Master would even take them out every now and then just to smell them. He looked very happy.” As Assistant Yu spoke, he awkwardly covered his forehead with one hand.
Young Master, who had always been absurdly picky, had not only eaten the egg-yolk pies with great enthusiasm, but had even finished every bite of his airplane meal.
Assistant Yu said, “Maybe he really was starving in the mountains. He isn’t picky anymore.”
Then, lying through his teeth, Assistant Yu added, “Maybe this really was the last time. Perhaps Young Master won’t act recklessly again after this.”
He gave a dry laugh. “No wonder those locals looked down on me. They probably saw Young Master like this and thought he looked pretty pitiful too.”
Wen Ming stood there in silence for a long time.
And while the two of them were talking, Lan Xi was quietly studying Wen Ming.
This man was very handsome.
Lan Xi could even see a mass of golden aura surrounding him.
Angels, after all, were divided into ranks.
The lowest-ranking angels had no special title. They possessed only one pair of wings, and a faint white aura surrounded them.
Higher-ranking angels, such as Powers, possessed a certain degree of authority. They had two pairs of wings and were surrounded by a blue-green aura.
The higher an angel’s rank, the more wings they possessed. The aura surrounding them also grew denser and changed in color.
At the very highest rank were the Seraphim, who possessed six pairs of wings.
Elio’s Notes: “Powers” and “Seraphim” are names used here for ranks in the story’s angelic hierarchy. The wing counts and aura colors follow the novel’s own worldbuilding.
And the aura surrounding a seraph was golden.
Lan Xi had never seen a seraph before. Even when the fighting had been at its fiercest, someone of his rank had never been qualified to meet the highest angels, who existed only in rumor.
But now, after dying, he had actually met one!
Where are his six pairs of wings?
Lan Xi stretched his neck and peered behind Wen Ming.
Wen Ming planted a hand on his head and turned him back around. “What are you looking at?”
Lan Xi reluctantly withdrew his gaze.
Apparently, seraphs did not reveal their wings to others so easily. That made sense. In front of a succubus from Hell, of course he wouldn’t dare.
Because if a succubus so much as stroked an angel’s wings, the angel would react as though he had taken an aphrodisiac.
That was one of the things angels hated most about succubi.
“Maybe he really did turn stupid.” Seeing that Lan Xi still refused to say a word, Wen Ming curled his lips mockingly. “That might actually be a good thing.”
Assistant Yu nodded with considerable feeling.
The Wen family had three sons: the eldest, Wen Yue; the second, Wen Ming; and the third, Wen Lan. Each had been born to a different one of the elder Mr. Wen’s three wives.
The first two wives had both died young, so when the third wife entered the family, she had two stepsons to care for.
The third wife, Xu Yueqiang, had originally been a kindergarten teacher. She was gentle by nature and knew how to care for children. After fifteen years under the same roof, both of her stepsons had grown deeply attached to her.
Four years ago, Xu Yueqiang died in an accident. Her two stepsons knelt before her memorial for a long time, silently shedding more tears than anyone could count.
Her biological son, Wen Lan, on the other hand, had seemed remarkably indifferent to his mother’s death.
As the youngest son of the Wen family, Wen Lan was vain and loved showing off. He was vicious and mean, got along badly with his classmates at school, drew plenty of complaints from senior management at the company, and could somehow offend several strangers just by going outside.
The only people who truly clicked with him were a few illegitimate sons from similarly wealthy families—birds of a feather.
Those boys were accustomed to fighting legitimate heirs over family fortunes, and they kept egging Wen Lan on to fight with his two older half-brothers as well.
And Wen Lan actually listened.
After all these years, if not for Xu Yueqiang’s sake, his two older brothers would have thrown Wen Lan out long ago.
Even Assistant Yu, merely an outsider looking in, had had enough.
The Eldest and Second Young Masters had already done more than anyone could reasonably ask of them…
Just as the atmosphere grew stiff, the front door opened and a maid called out, “Eldest Young Master is back?”
Lan Xi turned his head and saw another man walk in.
Weren’t angels supposed to value simplicity? Unlike Hell, with all its extravagance?
Lan Xi tilted his head and watched the expensively dressed, long-legged man approach step by step. Something on the man’s wrist glittered with the gleam of gemstones.
Shiny.
Lan Xi licked his lips.
He liked shiny things very much.
Wen Yue, the eldest Wen son, soon stopped in front of Lan Xi.
He was also tall, with an equally handsome face, though a trace of brooding menace lurked in his eyes.
None of that mattered.
What mattered was that Lan Xi discovered a golden aura surrounding him too.
He’s a seraph too?!
I actually met two seraphs at once!
Lan Xi quietly took half a step backward.
What do I do? Are they going to lock me in some specially made cage and purify me with holy light every day?
I don’t want to be purified by holy light. It hurts.
Wen Yue glanced at Lan Xi. He wasn’t surprised when Lan Xi backed away; Wen Lan had always been rather afraid of him.
He had no idea that Lan Xi had already reached a conclusion at lightning speed—
What else can I do? I’ll just have to use my own depravity to corrupt them and earn merit for Hell!
Holy angels are pure, conservative, and all virgins. The more of them I sleep with, the weaker their powers will become!
Forget choosing.
I’ll sleep with him first!
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