Chapter 24: No Kissing
Crash.
Gu Qing felt his brain shake, then laughed even more wildly, grabbing Ji Yueling’s shoulders, lowering his head, and ramming his forehead hard into hers again. Blood flowed from his mouth too, making his voice somewhat unclear: “Compared to your cold, sour face, I prefer how you look now.”
This mutually destructive move left both their ears ringing. Then Gu Qing began throwing punches first, still aiming for Ji Yueling’s face. Standing here, having any concept of being gentle with the fairer sex would be disrespectful to one’s opponent.
Thinking this, he threw punch after punch, even though he clearly sensed that several of his ribs were probably really broken, and his internal organs seemed somewhat damaged too, making breathing difficult. Yet he showed no restraint.
Neither did Ji Yueling.
Adrenaline secretion ultimately had limits. When the painkilling effect wore off, she soon sensed waves of pain throughout her body. Pain brought fear, and fear squeezed more strength from her bones. Through her blurred vision, she saw that Gu Qing was also covered in blood, also beaten into a pig’s head by her, and suddenly laughed.
She hadn’t laughed this happily in a very long time.
This fight lasted five minutes. After five minutes, both Ji Yueling and Gu Qing were nearly collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted, gasping heavily. Ji Yueling turned her face slightly to look at Gu Qing, whose cheeks were now swollen like a pig’s head, her voice hoarse: “Do you give up?”
Gu Qing struggled to lift his hand and—crash—another punch to her nose, making her nosebleed. No matter how beautiful her face had been, it was now a bloody mess. The sharp pain from her nose made Ji Yueling’s head spin. Seeing the next punch coming, she gritted her teeth and grabbed Gu Qing’s wrist, looking into his eyes.
Gu Qing’s voice was also unclear as he slowly said, “Do you give up?”
As he spoke, he struggled to get closer to Ji Yueling, spitting all the blood flowing from his mouth onto her face. Ji Yueling shuddered all over—she was a germaphobe, and now she was disgusted to the point of trembling. She raised her fist but had only the weakest strength left. This punch hit Gu Qing’s chest, and he spat another mouthful of blood onto her face.
“You’re so disgusting!” She finally couldn’t take it anymore, closing her eyes. “I give up.”
Gu Qing laughed loudly, then collapsed on the ground as if nearly dying.
…
Back at the bar.
Gu Qing and Ji Yueling sat at the counter again. The fighting club provided clean clothes and shower rooms. Generally speaking, when demons and extraordinary beings finished fighting and the restrictions were lifted, the energy in their bodies would gradually heal their injuries. Previously, Gu Qing had relied on Uncle Qin’s healing abilities to stay alive, but now with Ji Yueling, her abilities were more convenient.
Ji Yueling’s clothes were all stained with blood, so she first healed Gu Qing’s injuries, then went to wash and change into a light sweatshirt and pants before coming out. Gu Qing was already at the bar drinking his next glass.
Ji Yueling reached out and placed her hand on his head, checking his injuries, saying lightly, “There are still some injuries. The energy I left in your body will slowly heal you. You’ll be fine when you wake up tomorrow.”
“Good.” Gu Qing lifted his glass and took a big drink. Ji Yueling sat beside him, and Uncle Qin in front of them smiled as he pushed a black card toward Ji Yueling.
Ji Yueling was slightly stunned, taking the card to find her name already engraved on it.
“Welcome to the fighting club,” Uncle Qin said with a smile.
The bar suddenly became particularly quiet. Ji Yueling felt an inexplicable unease for a moment, but when she turned back, she found that every seat in the bar was now occupied, and everyone was smiling as they watched her. Seeing her turn around, everyone raised their glasses in a toasting gesture.
“This drink is on me,” Uncle Qin said, pushing a glass of brandy to Ji Yueling. She raised her glass to face everyone, and after a moment, said softly, “Thank you.”
Everyone drank, then returned to normal. Ji Yueling turned back to look at Gu Qing beside her, who was also smiling at her, though his expression seemed much gentler than before.
She hesitated for a moment, then suddenly moved closer to Gu Qing. Looking at his somewhat surprised expression, she reached out with her fingertip and gently lifted his chin.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” Gu Qing replied, but the next moment, Ji Yueling leaned closer and her soft lips lightly kissed the corner of his mouth.
Very light, and immediately withdrawn.
Before Gu Qing could feel the warm sensation on his lips, it was already gone. The bar suddenly erupted in catcalls, and Ji Yueling seemed to faintly hear someone laughing and saying “Little Gu, you have today too!” This noisy scene made her cheeks instinctively flush, though her eyes remained cold.
“Why did you kiss me?” Gu Qing asked with dissatisfaction.
“Perhaps this way of showing gratitude would be more acceptable to you?”
“Don’t I have any face to save?” Gu Qing spread his hands and disgustedly wiped his lips. “Don’t do that again.”
This left Ji Yueling’s originally playful and teasing expression nowhere to go, so she dissatisfiedly picked up her glass and took a big drink. But after a while, Gu Qing suddenly said, “You sit here for a bit. I’m going to chat with them.”
Gu Qing picked up his glass and walked from the bar to the scattered seating below. Ji Yueling turned her head and focused her gaze on him.
He seemed to know everyone here very well, and many people looking at him now had particularly playful expressions, as if they were somewhat gloating. Ji Yueling pricked up her ears, trying hard to listen to the conversations.
Unfortunately, the bar was quite noisy, and she couldn’t hear clearly. She only saw Gu Qing holding his empty glass, mooching a drink at each table he visited, chatting for a while before moving to the next table. Half an hour later, he swayed back, finally showing some signs of intoxication in his eyes.
Instinctively, Ji Yueling reached out and lightly touched his face—it was slightly warm.
“Your alcohol tolerance is really good,” she said softly with admiration.
“Of course.” Gu Qing burped and slumped onto the table. Uncle Qin poured him a glass of water with ice, still standing there quietly and elegantly, methodically serving drinks to each customer.
Gu Qing drooped his eyelids, seeming somewhat tired, not knowing if he had fallen asleep.
Ji Yueling quietly observed everything around her. She often went drinking alone, and this crowded tavern didn’t seem much different from the taverns she’d visited before. These demons looked no different from humans—if she hadn’t known in advance, she probably wouldn’t have guessed that these people were all demons.
The bar counter was relatively quiet when Uncle Qin’s voice suddenly reached her ears: “You’re with the Alliance. Joining the fighting club—you have your own purposes too, right?”
Ji Yueling came back to her senses and looked at Uncle Qin with his slightly graying hair. His gaze was gentle, and his tone didn’t sound like an interrogation, but rather like casual chat with a junior.
Ji Yueling knew that lying would be meaningless, so she answered, “Yes.”
“This is just a place for everyone to relax and have fun. We don’t participate in outside conflicts. No matter what your identity is outside, when you hold a membership card and step in here, we’re all friends.”
“But that’s only limited to here. Outside, we all have our respective identities and can’t give you the assistance you want. As Old Ji’s daughter, you should understand—if we wanted to interfere in the outside world, Old Ji probably wouldn’t have a single peaceful night’s sleep.”
“I understand. Gu Qing told me,” Ji Yueling replied softly.
Uncle Qin smiled lightly at her and silently wiped the glass in his hand. After hesitating for a moment, Ji Yueling said quietly, “I like this place. Can I still come here for activities in the future?”
“You’re already a club member now, so of course you can. The club’s doors are always open to you. It’s just that now everyone probably thinks you and little Gu have some kind of romantic relationship, so if you want to fight, those men probably won’t agree to fight you. As for those women… you’d better be careful. Some women treasure little Gu, so they might get jealous of you.”
After a moment, Uncle Qin seemed to think of something else and joked, “You don’t need to be jealous though. Some of those women are aunties my age—perhaps in their eyes, little Gu is like a child they treasure.”
“I didn’t know he was so popular here before coming.”
“Little Gu is very smart and adaptable. Many in the club are old bones like me. It’s rare to see such a spirited young person. He’s clever and helps connect people in the club, solving many troubles that demons don’t know how to handle in the human world. So everyone likes him. If not for him, we also wouldn’t…”
Uncle Qin’s voice suddenly paused, then he slowly continued, “We also wouldn’t have truly felt that humans and demons could really coexist peacefully.”
Due to excessive alcohol, Ji Yueling’s head was slightly fuzzy, but she was surprised that Gu Qing, being human, could receive such high praise from a group of demons. She glanced at Gu Qing beside her, who was now sleeping with his head on his arms, face turned to the side. Asleep, he actually looked like a real nineteen-year-old boy, his features peaceful with a hint of youthful innocence.
She suddenly became incredibly curious about Gu Qing, these curiosities like little cats scratching at her heart, making her want to ask countless questions. She looked up at Uncle Qin, but he seemed to guess her thoughts and only said softly, “Little Gu is very smart. If you’re thinking of using him to get something, from what I know of him, he won’t be easily fooled.”
“But little Gu is actually quite warm-hearted. If you’re genuinely good to him, he’ll be good to you.”
Ji Yueling said nothing, looking thoughtful.
“I’m not asleep, Uncle Qin!” Gu Qing suddenly raised his hand and sat up from the table, indignantly picking up the ice water and taking a big gulp, then saying resentfully, “I just ask that she bothers me less, and I’ll be grateful.”
But after speaking, the ice water irritated his stomach, which had been punished by the dozens of drinks he’d consumed. His digestive system finally began its revenge, and he started retching violently at the bar.
But this time, Ji Yueling, who had been sitting close to him, didn’t avoid him. Instead, she moved closer and gently patted his back