【Regarding Physique】
On one occasion, the demon realm held a banquet for Princess Afu. As the Demon Lord, Tantai Jin and Susu sat at the head of the hall, hosting the ministers.
The banquet was halfway through when the Lord of Xikan arrived late.
He knelt on the ground, repeatedly begging for forgiveness: "Something happened in my domain, so I couldn’t come in time. Please forgive me, Demon Lord and Demon Queen."
Every time Susu saw the Lord of Xikan, she couldn’t help but marvel.
The Lord of Xikan’s true form was a gray bear, thousands of years old, with sleek fur and an imposing build. It was said that when demons took human form, their appearance often reflected their true form.
After cultivating for thousands of years, most demons would beautify themselves when transforming, so there were no particularly ugly beings in the demon realm.
Due to his massive true form, the Lord of Xikan’s human form was also a robust and imposing man.
His bronze skin and exposed arms were rugged and powerful, with bulging muscles full of strength. His physique alone could rival that of two grown men.
Susu stared at the Lord of Xikan’s arms, which were thicker than her waist, and felt a twinge of envy.
Tantai Jin, sitting beside her, naturally noticed Susu’s lingering gaze on the Lord of Xikan.
Tantai Jin raised his eyes, his demonic pupils fixed on the Lord of Xikan.
After scanning him once, he narrowed his eyes coldly.
Though the Lord of Xikan appeared "rough and careless," he was actually sharp-witted. One look at the Demon Lord’s expression told him something was wrong.
His heart pounded with anxiety for a moment before he heard the man above him prop his chin on his hand and ask with a smile, "Has the culture in Xikan become increasingly liberal?"
The Lord of Xikan didn’t understand the implication: "Your Majesty jests. Xikan is no different from how it was centuries ago."
He then heard the Demon Lord’s sarcastic, mocking tone: "The esteemed Lord of Xikan comes to the Demon Palace for a banquet, yet you’re barely clothed. Is this how you set an example, hmm?"
The Lord of Xikan broke into a sweat, feeling both embarrassed and wronged.
They were demons, after all, and naturally valued freedom far more than demonic cultivators. He had only exposed his arms—in Xikan, there were even minor demons who wore nothing but pants.
The ministers below struggled to hold back their laughter, taking delight in his misfortune. They were a bunch of troublemakers and certainly wouldn’t speak up for him.
It was Susu who couldn’t stand it any longer and tugged at Tantai Jin’s sleeve.
"Hey, that’s enough."
The Lord of Xikan, such a burly man, stood awkwardly in the hall, looking both fearful and bewildered—a comical yet pitiable sight.
Tantai Jin pressed his lips together, glanced at Susu, and strode away with a flick of his sleeve.
That glance was laden with meaning, and Susu could surprisingly detect a hint of gritted-teeth resentment in his expression. It seemed he wanted to strangle her or vent his anger on the ministers below but had forcibly restrained himself.
She found it both amusing and curious.
Since their marriage, if she asked for the stars, he wouldn’t give her the moon. It was rare to see him so annoyed with her.
After the banquet ended, Susu wasn’t in a hurry to placate him. Instead, she spent some time chatting with little Afu.
When she returned to their bedchamber, she found Tantai Jin hadn’t come back.
A palace maid glanced at Susu and said, "His Majesty is in the front hall, handling matters reported by the officials. He may not return to the bedchamber tonight."
Susu nodded. "Understood. Then, please inform His Majesty that I’ll be sleeping with the little Princess tonight."
The palace maid: "......"
Susu turned and headed toward Afu’s bedchamber.
The young maid trembled as she looked back and stammered, "D-D-Demon Lord..."
A man in black robes dug his fingers into a pillar, watching Susu’s retreating figure. The pillar bore several deep finger marks where he had gripped it.Tan Tai Jin, with a cold expression, went to the front hall and dealt with matters of the demon realm until late at night. He summoned an attendant and asked, "Has the Demon Empress returned?"
The attendant shook his head. "The Demon Empress is still at the Little Princess's palace."
"Is the Little Princess asleep?"
"Yes, she is."
Tan Tai Jin threw down his brush and stood up to leave.
Xiao Ami was overjoyed by Su Su's arrival. Su Su spoke affectionately with her, coaxing her daughter to sleep. Ami hugged her cloth tiger, her small fists clenched, sleeping with rosy cheeks.
Su Su watched her daughter with a smile, waiting for that person to arrive. Sure enough, late at night, a pair of strong arms lifted her horizontally and carried her out without a word.
In the demon realm, the ethereal blue night-blooming cereus flowers bloomed beautifully in the darkness. Fireflies danced in the air as she gazed at Tan Tai Jin's impossibly exquisite profile. Deliberately, she reached out to pinch his cheek and teased, "Weren't you angry with me? What, not anymore?"
He lowered his gaze and glanced at her. "You knew I was angry, yet you left without even looking back?"
Su Su swung her delicate feet playfully in his arms. "It's been so long since I've seen you angry—I rather missed it."
Seeing him purse his lips in silence, Su Su suddenly covered her face with her sleeve and said in a muffled voice, "It hasn't even been that many years, and you're already angry with me. Tomorrow, I'll take Ami back to Hengyang Sect so we won't be in the Demon Lord's way."
Tan Tai Jin placed Su Su on a swing, picked up her shoes from the ground, and gently slipped them onto her dainty right foot. Softly, he coaxed, "Su Su, I'm not angry with you."
Su Su moved her sleeve aside slightly. "Then who are you angry with?"
A subtle emotion flickered in his eyes. He paused, composed himself, and said nonchalantly, "I'm not angry."
The more he acted this way, the more curious Su Su became. She took his hand and pleaded, "Let me see, please?"
Tan Tai Jin replied calmly, "No, it's late. I'll take you back to the palace."
She hopped off the swing frame. "Then I'll sleep with Ami."
"Su Su," Tan Tai Jin wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close, and whispered, "Do you really have to torment me like this?"
He turned her around in his embrace, took her small hand, gritted his teeth, and pressed it against his forehead before closing his eyes.
A memory from Su Su's past surfaced before her eyes. She stared in astonishment at the scene from Tan Tai Jin's heart.
It was a memory from fifteen hundred years ago—back when Su Su had escaped from Tan Tai Jin, bid farewell to Xiao Ling, and gone to the northern peak in search of the desolate one. She never expected to find Tan Tai Jin along the way, blind in one eye and with his meridians shattered.
"Laugh if you want," the youth, half-buried in the snow alongside his black brush, muttered.
"Shut up," Su Su said. If she could, she really didn't want to save someone who constantly wanted to kill her.
Su Su called for her chestnut horse and bent down to lift him. The young girl took a deep breath, steadied herself, and hoisted the youth up by his ribs in one smooth motion—effortlessly and with ease. She clapped her hands and brushed the snow off him.
Tan Tai Jin: "..."
He was tall and, though thin, not exactly light. Being lifted so effortlessly by a girl who appeared delicate and frail, even without emotions, stirred a strange sense of humiliation in him.
Ignoring the youth's dark expression, the young girl chuckled to herself.
On horseback, his face grew even gloomier.
That evening, they found a household to stay with. Su Su had to wipe the blood from his body and clean the traces of the Xuanbing needles stuck in his eyes.She soaked the cloth in hot water and wiped away the bloodstains on his face. Tantai Jin’s dark eyes watched her intently as the girl’s fingers brushed across his cheek.
Tantai Jin instinctively wanted to turn his head away but forced himself to hold still.
If his limbs had been intact, he would have coldly slapped her hand away.
But now, he could do nothing.
Su Su then tended to his wrists and ankles, cleaning away the blood and wrapping his wounds with clean bandages.
Tantai Minglang had struck with cruel precision, not only crippling Tantai Jin’s limbs but deliberately inflicting excruciating pain.
Knowing that Tantai Jin was likely suffering unbearably, Su Su handled him with extra care.
After all, she wasn’t a sadist who took pleasure in tormenting others, and she had no intention of adding to his misery.
Wringing out the bloodstained white cloth, she asked, “Where else are you injured?”
Tantai Jin pressed his lips together and ignored her.
Her gaze drifted downward, noticing a darker patch on his clothing. The young man wore black, a color that easily concealed wounds.
The spot was right over his abdomen.
Su Su hesitated for a moment, fearing he might bleed to death, and reached to undo his belt.
Tantai Jin, unable to move his limbs, stared coldly at her fingers. “What are you doing?” he demanded.
First, her scent reminded him of silk tree blossoms, and now she was undressing him.
Under the candlelight, the girl tilted her head and replied casually, “Admiring your beauty. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity, since you can’t move?”
A mischievous smile touched her lips as she leaned over him, bracing her arms on either side and looking down. “Tantai Jin, if you’re scared, just call for help. We’re not alone here—Xiao Ling and her grandparents are outside.”
Tantai Jin stared up at her delicate face.
Back then, he lacked the capacity to love, so Su Su’s teasing should have meant nothing to him.
But as her fingers parted his robe, perhaps due to the winter chill, a shiver ran across his skin.
Involuntarily, he felt an inexplicable tension.
Su Su glanced down but found no wound. She had misunderstood—the blood on his abdomen belonged to someone else.
Pausing briefly, she calmly dressed him again.
Just as she finished tying his robe, she met his stormy dark eyes.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, puzzled.
He let out a cold laugh, closed his eyes, and wore an expression of faint hatred and resentment toward her.
Su Su, not understanding his reaction, muttered, “How strange.”
There was only one bed in the room, occupied by Tantai Jin. That night, Su Su slept slumped over the table, uncomfortably and achingly.
She had no idea what the young man was thinking.
Because of this misunderstanding, Tantai Jin lay awake all night, watching the snow fall outside the window.
For the young demon god, who had no sense of self-worth, feelings of inferiority were foreign to him. Yet, Su Su’s brief glance at his body and her swift act of covering him again inexplicably reminded him of what Tantai Minglang had said on the boat two days prior.
Tantai Minglang had stepped on him and sneered, “I’ve heard your mother, Consort Rou, was once the most celebrated beauty of Huaizhou. Look at you—a weak, useless waste. You might as well have been born a princess and served others with your looks.”
A weak, useless waste.
The girl had lifted him onto the horse with such ease. Tonight, she had undressed him, taken one fleeting glance, and then hurriedly covered him again as if in disdain.The boy without a thread of affection in his heart began to feel something akin to hatred.
He didn’t know whether it was directed at the girl lying by the table or at his own body, incapable of martial training.
That year, he was pale, his skin carrying a sickly, cold pallor, as thin and frail as a bamboo stalk. In the Great Xia, where martial prowess was revered, most men possessed robust, muscular builds—but he did not.
His abdominal lines were even, with only a thin layer of muscle, fairer even than a woman’s skin.
Having endured hunger for years, he only fought desperately to survive, never once caring about this outer shell.
The young demon god’s sense of inferiority arrived late and faint, hidden beneath the night sky of the mortal village, where no one could glimpse it.
With the break of dawn, these newly sprouted frustrations and insecurities were buried deep within his heart.
Later, when he crawled out of the Ghost Weeping River, he was little more than a skeleton at first. But when he began to regenerate his flesh, for some reason, he recalled that night in the mortal village.
The girl had pulled open his collar, then swiftly and silently closed it again.
Tan Tai Jin sneered coldly, putting considerable effort into reshaping his physical form.
Yet, fate had other plans. The existence of a demon god had long transcended the laws of the mortal world.
Just as bear demons and lion spirits possessed human-like robustness, the demon god’s body leaned more toward a slender, elegant beauty.
He belonged to the demonic kind, his form possessing a bewitching allure, far removed from the likes of the Western Frontier Lord.
Even after all these years, Tan Tai Jin still believed that Su Su preferred, at the very least, the strong and muscular men of the mortal Xia Kingdom.
For the demon god Tan Tai Jin, he could naturally transform, even possess another’s body. But in the end, it wouldn’t be his true form, and he couldn’t bear to interact with Su Su using someone else’s body.
After witnessing this memory, Su Su opened her eyes and looked at the handsome demon lord before her, her feelings deeply complicated.
The corners of her lips twitched, wanting to curl upward, but she forcefully suppressed the urge.
Tan Tai Jin pursed his lips. "If you want to laugh, just laugh."
A thousand years later, hearing these familiar words, she seemed to see once more the boy in the snow—full of arrogance, deeply insecure, yet feigning nonchalance.
Without holding back, she leaned against his shoulder and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha..."
Tan Tai Jin’s expression darkened, his body stiffening.
Even though he had told her to laugh, now that she was, a vein throbbed on his forehead, and he felt a rare sense of shame and irritation.
"So, were you envious of a body like the Western Frontier Lord’s?" Su Su spread her arms, mimicking an exaggerated physique.
Tan Tai Jin remained silent.
Understanding dawning on her, Su Su stopped laughing and said seriously, "Let’s return to the bedchamber."
After they had walked a fair distance, Su Su heard the silent Tan Tai Jin suddenly speak with disdain, "A god’s body can transform into anything. What is the Western Frontier Lord compared to that?"
Pausing for a moment, he glanced at Su Su and calmly added, "If you like it, I can reshape my body tomorrow."
Su Su could no longer hold back. She threw herself into his arms, laughing as she said, "I want to tell that young demon god."
"I only wanted to check back then if he had any other injuries. It was only afterward that I felt a little embarrassed. How could he think I liked the Western Frontier Lord or the people of Great Xia?"
"Does he not know that a god’s body is the most beautiful existence in this world?"
All living beings have souls, but the one whose heart belongs to me is the most captivating.
Tan Tai Jin lowered his gaze and saw the brightness in Su Su’s eyes.After a long while, he curved his lips into a smile.
"Yes."
Both the young demon god and he knew it now.
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