A lesson

The two entered the room one after the other. Qi Mo thoughtfully shut the door after coming in, then turned to see Lin Qingyang sitting in a chair drinking tea, his eyes lowered as he gently blew on the steam, not looking at him. Qi Mo paused, then stepped forward and knelt before him of his own accord, his attitude utterly different from when he had slammed the door and left a few days earlier.

Lin Qingyang did not look at him, continuing to drink his tea at an unhurried pace. His unusually cold attitude left Qi Mo somewhat uneasy. His expression faltered, then he lowered his head, undid the ties of his clothes, and took off his top, revealing his lean upper body. The earlier bite wound on his shoulder still bore a dark red mark.

Lin Qingyang frowned and finally looked at him. "Why are you taking your clothes off?"

"It'll be a hassle if my clothes get ruined," Qi Mo replied, looking at him. He had clearly taken Lin Qingyang's earlier threat to beat him seriously.

Lin Qingyang raised an eyebrow at him and gave a faint snort. "Trying to make me feel sorry for you?"

Qi Mo lowered his eyes and answered honestly, "No." Many people beat Demon Slaves after buying them to establish the rules. With everything he had done before, Lin Qingyang had no reason to let him off. Beatings were an everyday occurrence for him, but the thought that the person before him was Lin Qingyang made him feel a strange nervousness.

But Lin Qingyang merely snorted. "Forget it. If you bite me again, I won't even have anywhere to get vaccinated."

Qi Mo paused awkwardly, then said with some guilt, "I wouldn't dare."

"There's something you wouldn't dare do? Why did you bite Hua Jin just now?" Lin Qingyang asked. His indifferent tone somehow carried a sense of pressure.

Qi Mo was silent for a while. Seemingly thinking of Hua Jin, his eyes darkened and a trace of viciousness surfaced on his face. "I hate her!" he said bluntly.

"Then did you ever think about what would have happened to you if I hadn't arrived?" Lin Qingyang asked coldly.

Qi Mo pressed his lips together and said nothing. It certainly would not have ended well. Either he would have been beaten to death on the spot, or beaten half to death and taken back to the Jin Yao Workshop to be tortured slowly. Hua Jin had always had plenty of ways to torture Demon Slaves, but he had been so full of resentment and defiance at the time that he had not thought that far.

Lin Qingyang said nothing more either. His gaze merely grew colder as he watched him. He set down his teacup, its crisp clink jarringly loud in the quiet room, then slowly stood and walked over to him.

Qi Mo felt the shadow he cast over him, along with an invisible, heart-quailing pressure. Lin Qingyang did not tell him to rise. Instead, he crouched to meet his eyes, his gaze holding a coldness Qi Mo had never seen before. Qi Mo's heart tightened, and then a hand clamped around his throat. Suffocation swept over him instantly. Instinctively, he reached up and grabbed the other man's wrist, but his hands paused before slowly releasing it. He clenched them into fists at his sides, letting the other man keep his grip on his vulnerable throat.

"Didn't you tell me to kill you before? Well? Does this feel good?" Lin Qingyang's voice was icy, his grip slowly tightening.

"You've suffered so many times, and you still don't understand your situation! You keep foolishly risking your life just to indulge that useless temper. Do you think that makes you brave? Do you know how easy it is to kill a Demon Slave like you? Just like this-all it takes is a little more strength!" Lin Qingyang tightened his grip as he spoke.

Qi Mo's face flushed from suffocation, his nails digging deep into his palms as he restrained his instinct to fight back. His eyes remained fixed on Lin Qingyang's face, so close to his own. A burning pain began to spread through his lungs. His sharp teeth bit through his lip, filling his mouth with the taste of blood.

For an instant, he even thought Lin Qingyang truly meant to strangle him. Yet, in his daze, he also felt that dying at his hands like this would not be so bad. His vision began to blur, but his eyes grew ever gentler as he looked at Lin Qingyang. Just as he felt he was about to pass out, the hand around his throat finally released him.

Fresh air rushed in. Qi Mo bent over on the floor, coughing violently, his throat burning with pain.

Lin Qingyang stood and looked down at the man bent over on the floor, gasping for breath. "Remember, you're alive today because you met me, not because you're hard to kill! I didn't buy you to have you stir up trouble for me, either. I can let what happened before slide. But from today onward, if you dare do anything stupid while you're in my hands, I won't let you off!"

Still gasping, Qi Mo raised his head slightly. His gaze fell directly on the hand hanging at Lin Qingyang's side, its fingers long, pale, and well-defined, like fine white jade. It was the very hand that had just gripped his throat. His tongue unconsciously licked his bloodstained lips, and he answered hoarsely, "Yes, Master."

Hearing his reply, Lin Qingyang's tense expression eased a little. He turned and sat back down in his chair. "Put your clothes on."

Qi Mo picked up his clothes from the floor and put them on without getting up, remaining on his knees. His lowered eyes hid the darkness within them, making him look particularly well-behaved and obedient.

"Go bathe and eat something. Your room is still the same one. Without my permission, you are not to leave the Clear Wind Pavilion!" Lin Qingyang said coldly.

"Yes!" Qi Mo answered, only then rising to his feet. His gaze brushed almost imperceptibly over the slender, pale fingers holding the teacup, and he withdrew with his head lowered.

Only after the door softly closed did Lin Qingyang let out a long breath and shake out his slightly sore right hand. Acting fierce was tiring too.

The Windflower Sword floated out of the bedroom. "You two play some pretty twisted games!"

Lin Qingyang looked over, somewhat speechless. "I was teaching him a lesson. That brat is rebellious to the bone. If I don't straighten him out, who knows what trouble he'll cause later!"

"Are you sure what you just did can straighten him out?" Lin Yao asked doubtfully.

"Of course. Didn't you see how obedient he was afterward?" As he spoke, Lin Qingyang stretched and lay down comfortably on the couch.

"Speaking of which, are you really planning to keep him like this? He's the main villain! He's going to turn evil!" Lin Yao said, still worried.

"Since I can change Shi Ruobai's death, I can change Qi Mo's death too. As long as he doesn't die, he'll always be A-Qi, and he won't become the Demon King Cang Mo," Lin Qingyang explained.

Lin Yao hesitated. "Then won't the story have no villain?"

"Isn't that great? Without a villain, there won't be a war between humans and demons. The Nine Skies Sect won't be wiped out, A-Qi won't end up dying at the male lead's hands, and plenty of other people won't have to die either. World peace, and everyone's happy." Lin Qingyang shrugged as he spoke.

"I still feel like something's not quite right," Lin Yao muttered.

But Lin Qingyang was still immersed in his own naïve fantasy and paid no attention to Lin Yao's words. Back then, he had been utterly confident, believing he could change everyone's ending. Only in the end did he discover that he could change nothing...