Nothing but a Shell

Sizzling oil won over other noises as Xu Rouguang began deep-frying the funnel cake Lai Mingjie requested for breakfast. The general had a recipe guide on his phone screen while he worked like a professional cook. The demon king was stuck behind the counter waiting. Thankfully, he was eating fruits while drinking that night, or else his hangover would have been worse.

The stunt Xu Rouguang pulled earlier ended with a kick from under the covers. Lai Mingjie punished him some more by asking him to make as much food as he could. The demon king was hungry; he wanted to fill up his stomach. He felt it was emptied earlier after using the toilet.

His glare had turned into a curious gaze as he continued watching Xu Rouguang cook. He then hummed. "Hey, Rouguang, you said you ran into a feral cat two nights ago. Not talking about it?"

"I would... if I found out something from him. Seemed like he had no additional information at all." The general didn't like to go into detail. He then left the stove to prepare the juices from the fridge, setting the counter since Lai Mingjie wanted to eat there. "Hasn't Miss Botangca contacted you yet?"

"Nah, but she's probably shaken by what happened that night. Immortals were not allowed to fight in human soil so we don't expect them doing it all of a sudden. That time caught us off-guard." Lai Mingjie sighed, taking a full glass of juice and planning to down it all in one go. Planning.

"I didn't mean to frighten you, but he was annoying." Xu Rouguang held the glass after Lai Mingjie drank a third of it. It was bad for his stomach to be filled with cold juice when it's grumbling. He placed the glass down and went back to the stove to fetch the cooked funnel cake. "Don't worry. I'll be a bit more careful next time."

"Nah, kick their asses as much as you wanted. They gotta know you're not to be messed with." Lai Mingjie laughed out before eyeing at the funnel cake served to him. There was another batch cooking for him as well.

Xu Rouguang only nodded as he placed the plate in front of Lai Mingjie. He then started on the pancake batter—which was the same batter as the funnel cake, but he needed to put mashed banana in it. "Jie, you think your mother wouldn't take you away again on Monday?"

The excited demon king's mood suddenly plummeted as he lost his appetite. "She shouldn't, or else I'll die from working too much. She just didn't trust you because you're too handsome."

"Handsome, you say." Xu Rouguang chuckled as he took the whipped cream and decorated the funnel cake to attract Lai Mingjie's attention again. "What about you, Jie? What do you think?"

"Well, not the screaming shrimp anymore. That's what I think." The demon king growled before taking a funnel cake to eat. A blush ran across his face as he thought about the face of the man asking him. Well, if he stayed calm and not scary, Xu Rouguang was a dashing and exquisite person. Especially when he smiled so warmly.

After staying with Lai Mingjie for a few days, Xu Rouguang found out what was—more or less—the demon king's threshold for teasing. It was acceptable for him not to play too much since he was known to be a brute and not a lecher like most of the demon kings in his time. If Xu Rouguang remembered, he wouldn't blame those demon kings as well. The immortal maidens were too dazzling not to be coveted.

He didn't pursue the teasing as he went to start cooking the pancakes after the funnel cake was ready. He stayed by the stove as Lai Mingjie ate his way through the feast. As he ate, his eyes locked onto the general's back. Xu Rouguang and even Duan Sheng didn't need to eat, but how come was he good with food? He even knew how to properly incorporate ambrosia in human food. Where did he learn all of these? Well, certainly not in heaven's barracks.

Getting reminded of the Xu Rouguang he remembered, Lai Mingjie hummed as he looked down at his chopsticks and thought of that peculiar weapon. General Xu had this harpoon-looking weapon that could tear through the sturdiest flesh and hook the bone. It had a long chain which he used to either pull the enemy towards him or launch himself towards the enemy. He also had this long blade hidden inside his sleeve. Ah, remembering memories of a hundred thousand years ago made Lai Mingjie's head ache. He never wanted to see or hear about General Xu again, but he was forced to do so after having him there with him.

However, he couldn't shake off the feeling that this Xu Rouguang was getting more and more familiar. It was like a phantom memory that his soul was responding to. Then again, before they managed to get Xu Rouguang's memory back, he didn't wish to break the wall he was building between them.

He had a feeling that he would be awfully disappointed once Xu Rouguang withdraws all his affection.

"Jie?" Xu Rouguang called his name, and Lai Mingjie only snapped out of the daze. He lifted his face and saw how worried Xu Rouguang was as he served the pancakes. "Is everything okay?"

"Nah, I'm just remembering a lot from the past. I was hoping I could help, but then again, I died way earlier. I didn't even know when you were thrown to the Abyss and when you were spat out exactly."

"...It's been more than a year since Di—Severed Glacier picked me up. The big cat said I was in the Abyss for five thousand years..." Xu Rouguang hummed as he recounted the event that night. If Lai Mingjie didn't even ask, he wouldn't find that information valuable.

"F-Five thousand years? Monster..." Lai Mingjie puckered his lips in mixed awe and ridicule. He could vaguely recall how he was unafraid of being sent to the Abyss. It seemed that Nuwa had decided that being sent there was a preferable state for Emodao, and she turned him mortal instead. After hearing about what was thought to be in there, he was secretly elated he wasn't thrown there.

"Eh? I could only recall that it was really dark in there..." Xu Rouguang looked at the ceiling and pouted a little as he thought about it. "You're also floating in the air, but there was nothing to hear or smell... or even anything to feel. It's like a void... there's nothing in there."

"You didn't go crazy staying there for five thousand years? Wow, General Xu really is a monster." Lai Mingjie shaded his eyes with his hand as if hiding for being outshined.

Xu Rouguang pulled a chair to sit opposite Lai Mingjie and leaned on his arms on the table. He only smiled at the demon king. "I don't really know. I just remembered sleeping the entire time. It was a rather peaceful place."

Lai Mingjie brought his hand down and took bites from the pancakes. "Huh, it's probably how you lost your memories. It drove you so insane not even seeing me down there—Ahahaha!" He then laughed out, thinking that Xu Rouguang must have gotten a bad deal since his archenemy wasn't there.

However, this laughter saddened the general. He murmured, "...Could it be possible that I... he broke out after realizing you were never there?"

The demon king shrieked before chuckling nervously. "Hopefully not." He sighed and leaned on the table. "I don't have my demon essence anymore. Whether he likes it or not, the greatest demon king—Emodao the Bleeding—is nothing but a shell now." His eyes dimmed. "Damn, even I would hate that..."

Xu Rouguang eyed at the man before him, and for some reason, rage was breaking out of his heart.