Six
“Looks like you did well.” Lĭn Xuĕyā said, smiling.
They were in a room in Xíng Hài’s house. Now she was facing him, who had visited her late at night, over a table.
“As you would expect from a demon necromancer. To summon the spirit of the woman Shūmíng drove to death long ago and to give her a body that looks like Luán Niángzĭ … Oh dear! How scary.”
Xíng Hài did not look happy about the compliment. She looked at Lĭn Xuĕyā’s face dismissively.
“It was an easy thing. …So, what became of Shūmíng?”
“He locked himself in his room and does not come out. He has completely fallen out of Luán Niángzĭ’s favour. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before he’s thrown out.”
“Pfft. Shūmíng, I was expecting him to be a bit more tough, but he was a man with little courage, wasn’t he? And what about you? Eh?”
“Also very good. I am being called to the bedroom more often. Probably it is because you got Shūmíng to drop out.”
“You haven’t touched Luán Niángzĭ yet?”
“The time is not yet right. One shouldn’t be hasty in the game of love.”
“Game of love, riiight.”
Xíng Hài made a disgusted expression.
“The love affairs between you humans are truly a mystery to me. If you feel desire, you will take the next best chance to satisfy it. Then you euphemistically refer to it as love. In some cases, it gets really troublesome.”
“Really? That’s why I think it is interesting. The more love and affection exists, the more pleasurable it is. I feel really sorry for the demons who don’t know anything about this.”
Xíng Hài burst into laughter when she heard this.
“How can humans, who only live a few decades, be so foolish? A relationship with love makes the sex better? From the point of view of us demons, those animalistic affairs or the like are nothing more than wishful thinking. I pity those humans who are able to lust after such poor skills and childish games!”
Saying it was a crazy thing, Xíng Hài laughed out loud, but Lĭn Xuĕyā looked as composed as ever. Rather, he was impressed.
“Ho. From the demon’s point of view, the human art of lovemaking is only make-believe?”
“Oh, yes, that’s right. From human’s sexual techniques and the like, we demons wouldn’t even feel ticklish. There would be no demon in the world who would get into the mood by a human’s hand.”
“Oho. That sounds interesting.”
Lĭn Xuĕyā nodded his head, seemingly in admiration and then said simply, “Then would you give it a try?”
Xíng Hài’s laughter stopped at that point.
“What?”
“I just asked if you would like to try. You and me. Maybe you might be surprised to find out that this animalistic lovemaking is not bad at all. I am also curious to see the extent of the sexual skills of the demon who would brag like this.”
The smile on Xíng Hài’s face changed from laughing to a sharp glare that she directed at Lĭn Xuĕyā. The latter continued smiling. The innocent look on his face revealed no bad intentions. Even while looking into the other’s eyes. Eventually she turned her head away.
“Hmpf. I don’t need to try out the human art of lovemaking. It’s not worth it. I’m not interested.”
“I see. What a shame.”
Lĭn Xuĕyā gave up easily. With an angry expression, Xíng Hài continued to look away.
This guy … Did he make fun of me? What a nasty one. He couldn’t be serious. To mingle with me, a demon. I have never met a human to try that, even in a playful way…
She found herself be more upset than she thought she would be at the words of a human and, in a particularly strong voice, trying to conceal her feelings, she said, “Well then. The next one.”
Lĭn Xuĕyā nodded.
“Ah. The next one. Who shall it be?”
“Lán Gānbăo. The man with the girly face.”
“Ho. What will you do this time?”
Xíng Hài twisted her lips into a venomous smile.
“Well, just watch,” she said.
***
Setsuna's Translation 