The Hidden Things

The night was deep, and all was silent.

The tents around the camp had long since quieted down. Only the campfire occasionally crackled softly, sending a few sparks briefly dancing through the darkness. Moonlight filtered through the sparse clouds, casting mottled shadows across the tent cloth like a shifting ink-wash painting.

Aina had been remarkably well-behaved tonight. She had neither touched Xia Lun inappropriately nor triggered any special CG.

After all, they were outdoors. It truly wasn’t convenient to do anything more.

“Good night, Xia Lun.” Aina pressed a light kiss to Xia Lun’s lips, then buried her little face against his chest and became perfectly still.

Xia Lun instinctively stroked her back, his fingertips feeling the warmth of her skin beneath the thin fabric of her nightclothes. Aina had actually gone to sleep without causing any trouble… Xia Lun found himself somewhat unaccustomed to it.

“You should sleep too.”

Aina suddenly lifted her head and looked at Xia Lun.

“Uh… of course.” Xia Lun nodded slowly.

“Close your eyes and empty your mind.” Aina coaxed him gently, seemingly afraid that Xia Lun wouldn’t be able to fall asleep.

Xia Lun obediently did as she said. He closed his eyes and tried to make his breathing steady and prolonged, but all his senses became unusually sharp in the darkness. He could hear the night breeze rustling through the grass outside the tent, feel Aina’s heartbeat gradually quickening in his arms, and catch the faint scent of nervousness lingering in her hair.

A breath of warmth brushed against him. Xia Lun could feel his wife leaning toward him again.

Once more, his face was met with a hint of moisture and warmth.

“Go to sleep. I love you, Xia Lun. Good night.”

“Me too, Aina.”

“You should say, ‘I love you too,’ Xia Lun. That was so insincere.” Aina was clearly dissatisfied with his reply, her voice carrying an exaggerated note of grievance.

“All right. I love you too, Aina.”

“‘All right’? What does ‘all right’ mean? You didn’t want to say you loved me, did you? You’re just brushing me off!” Aina could no longer lie still. She planted both hands on Xia Lun’s chest and sat up, her silver hair cascading down like a waterfall.

“You misunderstood, Aina. I wasn’t brushing you off… Please don’t read too much into my words.” Xia Lun looked helplessly at Aina as she straddled him, clawing at his cheeks and huffing at him.

“I understand now. Is it because I didn’t satisfy your filthy desires tonight, so you’re treating me like this?” Aina gave a cold snort, trying to steer the conversation toward more familiar territory. “So, in your eyes, I’m nothing more than a tool for satisfying your desires.”

“Of course you’re not, Aina. That’s a completely baseless accusation. You have no evidence to prove that I don’t love you, nor any evidence that I regard you as a toy for relieving my lust.” Xia Lun shook his head. His tone was calm, yet carried the certainty of someone who had seen straight through her. “We should be reasonable… This is simply what you’ve decided to believe.”

“So you’re saying I’m degrading myself and want to be your toy for relieving lust?” A bloody gleam flashed in Aina’s eyes. “Do you think I’m that cheap a woman?”

“Of course…”

Xia Lun had not even finished saying “not” when Aina sealed his mouth with her soft, warm lips.

Aina wore the triumphant expression of someone whose scheme had succeeded.

“How dare you describe your own wife that way… Xia Lun, you really are an incredible pervert.” Taking advantage of the moment to catch her breath, Aina licked the corner of her mouth. “Fine. Since that’s what you say, then I’ll admit it…”

Xia Lun: …

What? She was admitting it?

“I hadn’t planned on doing this, but I suppose I should be honest. I can’t sleep when you haven’t used me tonight.” Aina tossed her long silver hair, though her motion was stiff with deliberate nonchalance. “It’s a little embarrassing, but when I think about it carefully, I’m the Demon King. There’s no need for me to agonize over something like this. If there’s something I want to do, I only need to do it.”

The Demon King spread her crimson wings.

In the darkness, Aina revealed a pair of tiny fangs to Xia Lun.

…

After feeding Aina to her satisfaction, Xia Lun finally began to feel a trace of drowsiness.

“Tired? Then let’s rest.” Like a cat that had just been petted smooth, Aina went limp against him and let out a long sigh. “Huu… Now can we really go to sleep, Xia Lun?”

“Go to sleep. I love you, Aina.” Xia Lun kissed the crown of her head, his voice hoarse with indulgence.

“Hmph. That’s more like it.” Aina gave a soft snort, climbed off Xia Lun, and lay down beside him.

A short while later, Aina’s even, shallow breathing echoed inside the tent, sounding as though she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Xia Lun closed his eyes as well. Yet just as his consciousness was about to dissolve, he forcibly gathered his thoughts. His consciousness sank into the Spirit Realm like a fish diving into the depths of the sea.

By now, Xia Lun had become quite skilled at entering the Spirit Realm on his own.

Without paying much attention to the fantastical scenery surrounding him, the first thing Xia Lun did after arriving was carefully manipulate his magic power and condense a smooth water mirror before him.

Ripples spread across the water mirror. As the image gradually came into focus, it clearly revealed a real-time view of the inside of the tent.

Aina was sleeping obediently beside him, seemingly without anything amiss.

Xia Lun rubbed his chin and studied his wife suspiciously. He knew her too well. The slight trembling of her eyelashes and her overly orderly sleeping posture both seemed somehow unnatural.

Sure enough, moments later, Aina’s eyes slowly opened to a narrow slit.

“Xia Lun?” Aina whispered. “I want to continue…”

Xia Lun’s body did not respond in the slightest.

“You can do whatever you want to me,” Aina whispered, enticing him in the faintest of voices.

Xia Lun definitely wouldn’t be able to resist such temptation.

After seemingly confirming that Xia Lun was truly asleep, Aina cast a sleep spell on him as well.

Then, she carefully tore open a tiny spatial rift inside the tent and cautiously slipped inside.

Aina was gone.

Xia Lun’s consciousness was in the Spirit Realm, so the sleep spell naturally had no effect on him whatsoever.

As expected, Aina was hiding something from him.

Aina had clearly been acting strangely in various ways today. Although she had tried her best to conceal it, Xia Lun understood her far too well.

The situation beyond this world was perhaps even worse than Xia Lun had anticipated.

Aina had refused to tell him about those matters because she clearly didn’t want him to worry.

Xia Lun’s spiritual body released a soundless sigh within the Spirit Realm. He could understand Aina’s painstaking intentions. Naturally, he had no reason to blame her for what she had done… As the Demon King, Aina was cautious to the point of being heartbreaking whenever something concerned him.

Xia Lun clenched his fists, his fingernails sinking deep into his flesh and bringing him a faint, genuine pain.

When would he finally be able to help Aina?