"I don't listen, I don't listen!" Feng Fuling shook her head frantically, tears streaming down her face. "You're lying to me, you've fallen for someone else. You like Qiao Ci now, so you're throwing your old promises away like trash. I never want to talk to you again, sob sob..."
Zhong Han genuinely detested her and was considering simply killing her. Just as he was about to act,
Qiao Ci spoke, "Haven't you noticed the difference between the Demon Lord you spoke to before and the Demon Lord now?"
Although Feng Fuling hated Qiao Ci for stealing the Demon Lord's affection, she still followed Qiao Ci's lead and thought about it carefully.
The Demon Lord before looked at her with possessiveness and liked to tease her verbally. The Demon Lord now looked at her with disgust, as if even being associated with her made him sick.
Even though Feng Fuling sensed something was amiss, she still refused to believe it, just as she refused to admit that she was acting like a clown at the moment.
"No, impossible. He is clearly the Demon Lord, he truly is. You are all lying to me, you are all despicable."
Seeing her like this, Qiao Ci didn't get angry. Instead, she gestured to the outside of the hall, "Come in."
At this moment, an old demon man swaggered into the great hall, holding his head high. "Why have you summoned me? I will not yield. If I get a chance, I will possess you again. You cannot kill me!"
Zhong Han was a bit confused by Qiao Ci's action, but he didn't question it, adopting an attitude of complete submission to her disposal.
"Look, who is behind you." Qiao Ci pressed her forehead. Wasn't Feng Fuling the woman Chi Ming deeply loved? Yet here she was in the hall, and he didn't seem to see her at all.
Chi Ming instinctively looked behind him. His old, cloudy eyes couldn't help but gleam with lecherous intent. His voice immediately softened by eight degrees, "Fuling? Are you here to find me?"
Seeing his ugliness and hearing him call her that way, Feng Fuling's skin crawled. She quickly retreated defensively, "Who are you? Don't come any closer!!!"
"Woman, you don't recognize me? I am Chi Ming!" Chi Ming narrowed his eyes displeasurably. However, he was no longer domineering and charming, but rather indescribably vulgar and ugly.
"Impossible! You are not Chi Ming, he is!" She started to point at Zhong Han, but then remembering the pain of her severed finger, she quickly retracted her hand.
"He is Zhong Han, I am Chi Ming! Woman, you disappoint me greatly!" Chi Ming said with slight displeasure, continuing to walk towards Feng Fuling, seemingly intending to punish her.
Qiao Ci felt a wave of nausea watching this scene.
Zhong Han was also uncomfortable. He brought the matter to a close with a decisive statement, "Feng Fuling, didn't you want to be the Demon Empress of Chong Ming? Now that he is here, I, the Demon Lord, allow you to marry me, a demon, in your human form. You are not wrong to call yourself Empress, after all, Chi Ming is the previous Demon Lord, who merely used some clandestine methods to survive until now. However, it wasn't a wasted life, as you two love each other. I, the Demon Lord, will fulfill your wishes today!"
"Guards, prepare for them. They will wed today."
After Zhong Han finished speaking, he felt significantly lighter.
Despite Feng Fuling's unwillingness, she couldn't break free. She could still hear Chi Ming's aged and sincere thanks.
"Master, save me, Master!" She quickly activated the communication artifact with Chang Yan, screaming in alarm.
Seeing this, Chi Ming directly destroyed her communication artifact. "If I can't be the Demon Lord, it's fine to be with the woman I love! Zhong Han, I respect you as a man. From now on, it'll be wife, children, and a warm hearth. I won't covet positions that don't belong to me!"
The two were escorted to the slum where Chi Ming had been hiding. After the wedding ceremony was smoothly concluded, the responsible demon soldiers returned.
Meanwhile, Chang Yan, who had been searching everywhere for Feng Fuling, was extremely anxious upon receiving her plea for help.
"I have to go save her!" Seeing Feng Fuling crying like a fountain, Chang Yan's heart ached. He stood up, preparing to go to the demon realm.
"No! You've just undergone the lightning punishment, and your cultivation is unstable. Going to the demon realm now would be extremely dangerous!" The Elder of the Law Enforcement Hall was the first to object.
Because Feng Fuling had made Chang Yan, the most promising candidate for ascension in the Hengjian Sect, a laughingstock in the cultivation world, he was very reluctant for Chang Yan to save her.
"Chang Yan, you need to calm down. Perhaps this is just a trap set by the Demon Lord. It's not even certain that person is Feng Fuling. Don't rush..." Li Chunxiang also stepped forward to persuade him.
"That artifact was given to her by me personally, how could it be fake! You don't need to stop me anymore, I'm leaving now!" Chang Yan's inner guilt surged like a flood.
He had brought her back, only to abandon her. After she was captured by the demon realm, how desperate must she have been?
In the end, no one could stop him. Li Chunxiang felt this was her last chance and resolutely followed Chang Yan to the demon realm.
After Chi Ming and Feng Fuling were taken away, Qiao Ci also got up, preparing to leave.
Zhong Han subconsciously followed her. Seeing that it was getting late, he blurted out, "What do you want to eat tonight? I'll cook for you."
Qiao Ci: ???
Giving up the pretense?
Zhong Han's face turned from pale to green.
Oh no! He said it without thinking and forgot that he was supposed to be the Demon Lord now, not a cook!
He looked at Qiao Ci with trepidation, afraid she would be angry.
However, Qiao Ci remained silent. Zhong Han thought that whether he died late or early, he had to die sometime, so it was better to clear things up today.
With a look of desperation, he faced Qiao Ci and said, "I'm sorry for deceiving you all this time. Actually, the little cook Han Cong was me. I am the little cook..."
Qiao Ci, being considerate, put on an expression of surprise.
"Uh, don't be angry. I don't mean anything else, I just want to cook for you... no, I just want to stay by your side." After so much companionship, Zhong Han had finally seen his heart clearly. His feelings for Qiao Ci were not simply gratitude, but an irresistible attraction.
Qiao Ci possessed a fatal charm for him; he wanted to see her every day, wanted her to eat the food he cooked, and wanted her to be happy and joyful every day...
"Mhm." Qiao Ci met his eyes seriously. Amidst his anxious emotions, she reached out and stroked his hair, "Good boy, little Zhongzi."
Little Zhongzi?
Zhong Han was somewhat bewildered.
What did she mean by stroking his head?
Did she understand his hint?
Did she understand his confession?
Despite having countless questions in his mind, he couldn't stop his face from flushing red.
Fearing she hadn't understood his meaning, Zhong Han coughed lightly. "Did you understand what I meant... Well, I think I've fallen for you. Would you be willing to let me continue to stay by your side? I will treat you well, always and forever. Even if the whole world abandons you, I will be behind you, accompanying you."
"Why would the whole world abandon me? I have a decent reputation, don't worry, that day will never come." Qiao Ci looked at him with a confused gaze, as if she didn't understand this statement at all.