DLOBML CHAPTER 13

Chapter 13 — Infuriate the Demonic Master to Death (4) | Supporting Male Lead, Please Do Not Give Up on Life

The black market was not far from the Xiaoyao Sect. Down the mountain, a turn to the right at the bazaar, and there it was: a little shop with a black banner flapping brazenly in the wind.

That much open swagger said the power behind this “black market” was no small thing.

Veiled by a conical hat, Ye Zhenzhen followed Wei Yu inside. The storefront was only camouflage. The real market sprawled underground.

Confronted with so many rare curios, Ye Zhenzhen could hardly tear her eyes away. Wei Yu stayed patiently at her side, explaining functions and uses as they went. She learned quite a bit by the time they had circled back to a “red-goods” boutique marked with a jade emblem. Inside were ornaments and jewelry she had never seen, beautiful pieces that also doubled as attack or defense tools. For anyone with an eye for beauty, it was heaven.

Even after years by Li Jiutian’s side, where treasures were commonplace, Ye Zhenzhen found herself lingering over a man’s emerald thumb ring.

“My, the young lady has an excellent eye,” the shopkeeper said, warming to his pitch when he saw how well the pair matched. “This emerald ring is a master craftsman’s work. Just rub the surface a few times and it releases a fourth-tier wind barrier formation to keep your beloved safe.”

Ye Zhenzhen bit her lip and polished the glossy ring with her thumb, forcing her thoughts elsewhere yet still recalling that day she had waited outside Dan-Cloud Ravine and seen him again.

Wei Yu noticed her lowered gaze, and his heart grew more sour. He opened his mouth to speak, when a sharp crash cut him off.

“You, Huo Xiao, shameless!”

“If I cannot have it, no one can!”

Two boys were squaring off over a smashed piece of jade. A young shop maid stood to the side, on the verge of tears.

The shopkeeper’s smile snapped to ice. He waved other attendants to continue serving Ye Zhenzhen, then strode over to the troublemakers, face set.

“They are in for it,” Wei Yu said mildly. “Breaking the black market’s rules is not something you walk away from.” When Ye Zhenzhen looked over, puzzled, he explained, “If you deliberately fight over goods and end up damaging them, the black market charges ten times the price in compensation. If you cannot pay in spirit stones, they take hands and feet in punishment.”

Ye Zhenzhen drew a breath. “That is daylight robbery.” She turned back to the ring in her hand, the coolness of rebirth having tempered her nature. The next heartbeat, her spine went rigid.

“Let me go! What are you doing? My grandfather is Luo Geng!”

The shopkeeper glanced at the boy hoisted by two burly guards and let out a cold laugh. “I do not care who your grandfather or ancestors are. If you cannot pay, then the hands that caused trouble will do nicely.”

This would not end well. Ye Zhenzhen could not stand and watch Luo Geng’s kin be maimed. She set down the ring and stepped forward. Facing the youth, she asked softly, “You said your grandfather is Luo Geng? Luo of Fengming Town?”

Her voice was calm, and the veil hid her expression. The boy could not tell if she was here to help or to settle a score. He blinked, then answered carefully, “Does the lady have business with the Luo family of Fengming…”

Seeing how nervous he was to announce his name, Ye Zhenzhen could not help smiling. She turned to the shopkeeper. “Allow me to compensate on his behalf.”

Heads turned at once. Ye Zhenzhen ignored the looks, paid the damages, bought the ring she had chosen earlier, and then drew the stunned Wei Yu and the rescued boy out of the market. They found a private room in a nicely decorated restaurant to catch their breath.

The boy was lively by nature. On the way he played the obedient clown until Ye Zhenzhen could not stop smiling. Wei Yu, meanwhile, was heavy with thoughts and had a faint idea of her purpose.

When they sat, Ye Zhenzhen removed her hat. Brows like distant hills, lotus-petal cheeks, a face that made people forget to breathe.

“You are… really beautiful…”

Even Luo Xiaozhan, who had grown up surrounded by flirtatious aunties, turned red and stumbled over his words.

Oh man, this fairy was his number one goddess. Should he fold a flashy pink paper crane to pass her his contact talisman for future messages? Wait, would being that forward scare her off?

If only he had snuck out his father’s secret “Winning Her Heart” manual from under the bed. He would not be floundering like this.

Convinced he had fallen headfirst into love, Luo Xiaozhan fretted. How could he capture a fairy’s heart?

He puffed his cheeks like a steamed bun. Ye Zhenzhen laughed again, smoothed her watery sleeves as if it were nothing, and finally brought up the real question. “How is your grandfather?”

Huh? What kind of topic was that?

They were both young. Shouldn’t they start with something fun to bridge the distance?

The boy looked completely lost.

Wei Yu’s expression went the color of bad digestion.

Luo Xiaozhan, however, suspected nothing. He assumed she was Grandfather’s old friend. Why else would she have stepped in so generously?

He thought a moment. “Grandfather went traveling ten years ago, and he still has not returned.”

Ye Zhenzhen’s heart clenched. She knocked over the lotus-shaped teacup at her elbow.

“Traveling? Where did he go? Why did he not tell me? Why has he not come back? Is something wrong?”

The boy gaped, even more confused.

Wei Yu: →_→

So the rival he had imagined was this kid’s grandfather. Of course.

What even was his luck? The first girl he ever liked, and his romantic rival turned out to be a man in the grandpa generation. He could probably try his luck at the top gambling house now.

Luo Xiaozhan hesitated, then, seeing the sorrow and grievance on the girl’s face, could not help asking, “Lady, what is your relationship to my grandfather?”

Ye Zhenzhen did not hedge this time. Her eyes bloomed like sunset, and her smile could topple a city.

“My surname is Ye.”

Ten years had been enough to accept her new identity.

Ye?

There was no Ye branch in the Luo clan…

Wait, Luo’s Lady Ye?

Luo Xiaozhan: “!!!”

The poor boy turned to stone on the spot. He stammered, “Y-you… you are my grandfather’s eighteenth wife?”

Grandfather’s wife, which made her… his grandmother.

You people from the big cities certainly play wild games. Could you please consider the mental health of the baby here?

He was only seventeen. The first girl to ever make his heart flutter, and she turned out to be… his grandfather’s woman?

Luo Xiaozhan’s HP: minus one million.

Orz. Someone tell him this was not real.

He was just a kid. He could not survive lightning strikes like this.

Called out so directly, Ye Zhenzhen felt a little awkward. She twined a strand of hair around her finger without thinking and hummed an assent.

Crash.

The fragile, rippling heart of a teenage boy shattered across the floor.

Playing the part of spectator to a rival’s tragic collapse, Wei Yu looked on with rare sympathy.

He remembered his own reaction when he first learned the truth. What a “you have got to be kidding me” moment.

On second thought, this kid had it worse than he ever did. Wei Yu exhaled long and slow, and a mysterious smile crept onto his face.

From that moment, the gentle “big wet-chested scholar” grasped a life lesson:

A happy life begins with “find someone worse off.”

Whenever he hit a wall, Wei Yu would think back to today, to the Luo boy turning to stone in the wind and crumbling to dust. See, brother was not the most miserable. And suddenly, he found the courage to go on.

He gave himself a gold star for wisdom.

Supporting male lead status: unexpectedly adorable. No more medicine needed.

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