Demon King/The Parting of the Orchid and Cang Chapter 2.1

Demon King Chapter 2 (really chapter 1, but whatever lol)

TN1: I named the Prologue Chapter 1, so the real start of the story is actually Chapter 2. Hope this isn’t too confusing. I also apologize for the choppy commas in advance; it’s how the sentences are broken down in the raws and I’ve kept to that format.

I consulted with the . We’re both going to provide separate translations for this series, so more to read for the readers out there! Chapters should be about 1 per week, more if I can manage it with my new job. ??

By the way, I’m thinking of picking up another cnovel or short story. Any suggestions out there for a romantic wuxia/xianxia with a memorable couple and a happy ending? I’ll also take fantasy. Please choose projects with free raws available online. ^_^

Chapter 2

Xiao LanHua sits in jail, looking outside to a woman sitting cross-legged, eyes closed in concentration, breathing so lightly it is inaudible.

It’s been how many days, Xiao LanHua props up her chin, shows a very worried expression. The guy outside, is he really breathing or not, if he just suffocates himself to death without anyone noticing like this, then how lucky would that be?

Because, that body is her real body!

But now she’s using this one……

Xiao LanHua keeps grabbing the silver hair hanging down below the waist, and holds her big hands and keeps feeling up her flat chest, then sighs: “How hard.”

A man’s charismatic deep voice spits out these two words, echoing in Haotian Tower many times before slowly disappearing.

These two words break the long-standing silence, the woman outside the jail finally breathed out, eyes closed: “Little flower demon, you dare to move your hands up and down ben’s body, then don’t blame ben if he decides not to be courteous and do the same thing to your body.

“Don’t quibble over something so small, so what if I just felt up your chest a little, such a big man like you shouldn’t be afraid of touching……” Xiao LanHua paused, her face suddenly flushed red, “Aiyo wei…… big demon leader, where do you think you’re touching me? I’m wrong! You really, I’m wrong!”

[TN: the characters used (‘??’) mean an adjective meaning ‘dirty,’ ‘narrow-minded,’ and ‘filthy,’ which sounds almost the same as the ones meaning ‘I’m wrong’ or wuochuo. So our little LanHua is probably actually cursing this guy though she doesn’t dare do it directly. XD]

The woman’s apricot eyes open, wearing an evil expression that doesn’t match her face, he smiled in ridicule: “A woman able to say such words, it doesn’t seem like you’re all that pure yourself.”

Xiao LanHua huffed, replied in turn: “Aren’t you the ancient Demon King? It’s said you’re only good at sneaky underhanded things……” DongFang QingCang’s brow raised, Xiao LanHua can’t help but swallow her saliva, “You… You’re so great, you must think of a way to get out……”

DongFang QingCang closed his eyes again: “If you want to get out, then don’t make a catastrophe for me.”

Xiao LanHua glared at him, furious: “Now the one stuck in a cage is me! How am I going to make a catastrophe for you, if you’re going to talk about a catastrophe, you are the grandmaster of giving others a catastrophe!”

If it wasn’t for him, how could she be shut up in Haotian Tower? And how could she have changed from a sprightly orchid girl into a wild and rough…… Though the demon lord’s body, seems to have fine and tender flesh, be in pretty good physical condition, have good hair, be pleasant to the five senses, have slender fingers……

Xiao LanHua shook her head: “…… If it wasn’t for a disastrous demon like you, I wouldn’t be in this situation!”

“Disastrous?” DongFang QingCang’s eyes became slits: “If you can call ben this, the things you’ve done really aren’t small.”

The eyes on the other side are really hers, but Xiao LanHua realizes that DongFang QingCang’s gaze is enough to scare her guts into spasms, even her kidney……

But because Xiao LanHua has some strong bars protecting her, she drums them and humphs coldly: “If you have the ability, come hit me!”

Hearing these words, DongFang QingCang grins, then with one hand grabs the hair hanging behind him, and before Xiao LanHua can react, with DongFang QingCang’s moving a single finger, cuts her long hair with a “shua,” cut it wholly short.

Xiao LangHua’s whole body stiffens.

Ha……Hair, her hair……

DongFang QingCang holds her cut hair in his hands for a moment: “Brain isn’t smart, but hair grows pretty well.” Once finished speaking, he carelessly throws away the handful of long hair, the s.h.i.+ning black hair as beautiful as a peac.o.c.k’s tail scattered all over the ground, DongFang QingCang sat down, pulls at the short black hair, pulling up two long legs, the corner of his mouth pulled into an obscene smirk: “What, you forgot, you’re now, still in my hands.”

Evil demon! Insane lunatic demon!

Xiao LanHua is almost kneeling, she sees her hair all over the floor, full of heartache for a moment at the sight, before remembering to fiercely take revenge! Once she raised her head the villainous DongFang QingCang, she shouts loudly, “I’m not done with you!”

Xiao LanHua reaches behind her and grabs with her hand, pulls at the full head of silvery long hair, copies DongFang QingCang’s gesture, in a breath her fingers move to cut……

Then she feels even more like crying.

Inside DongFang QingCang’s body, don’t know if it’s because he can’t use power or doesn’t have power at all, she completely can’t cast the spell……

DongFang QingCang thought there would be such a result, the corner of his mouth turned up increasingly in mirth: “You want to cut short ben’s hair, you’re eight years of cultivation too late.”

Xiao LanHua grits her teeth: “I just won’t believe it!” She says, curling two or three hairs, pulling fiercely, resulting in two hairs pulled out, so painful it feels like her whole body had water poured over it, sees DongFang QingCang’s body stiffen, and smiles a little. Xiao LanHua endured the pain, copies his demeanor, and also grins insidiously and viciously, “Today this girl will make you bald.”

DongFang QingCang sullenly: “Stay your hand.”

By the time his voice is heard, Xiao LanHua already pulled out another four to five hairs.

DongFang QingCang eyes turn into slits: “You dare to be so disrespectful, I’ll pull off your arm.”

Xiao LanHua heard him full of anger: “You dare to take off my arm then I’ll dare to cut your neck!”

“If you continue to talk, ben will cut off your tongue!”

“You dare to cut off! Then I’ll castrate you!”

Harsh words in such a situation, both people quiet down, staring each other down a good while, but at the end it’s Xiao LanHua whose eyes sour, dripping from her eyes to under her chin, then from the side saw the floor covered with her cut hair.

Her heart feels miserable and wronged, she just sits down on the floor, hugs her knees, red eyes pa da pa da pa de starting to fall tears.

Gone.

She won’t ever be able to make pretty braids, or put beautiful flowers on her head, lost because of the demon lord, ever after she will only be able to live in this jail, everything’s gone……

DongFang QingCang outside the bars watched his body inside curled up and hugging its knees, with a hoa.r.s.e but charismatic voice let out yi yi wu wu cries, there’s nothing more pitiful than this.

What he sees is simply like suffocating his heart.

“You’re not allowed to cry.” His voice grits out.

Xiao LanHua is very heartbroken, hearing his words, only cries wu wu all the more strongly.

The crying sound coming from DongFang QingCang’s own throat is like a ghost’s claw scratching into his brain, it’s even harder to endure through than the year when that red woman pierced into his vital meridians with an ice needle.

“Stand up!”

Xiao LanHua raises her head, with a gaze full of tears and snot: “You return my hair to me!”

Seeing his own face so messy, DongFang QingCang’s heart feels even more suffocated: “You get up first!”

“First return my hair to me!”

“Fine!” With a turn of DongFang QingCang’s palm, the cut hair on the ground flies up, hair by hair connecting with the cut ends again. In an instant, long hair like a waterfall drops down, perfectly as it was before, “Up!”

Xiao LanHua dumbly stares at her reattached hair, so astonished that she forgets her hatred of DongFang QingCang: “My body…… Since when was it able to do this kind of spell?”

DongFang QingCang shoots Xiao LanHua a disgusted glance: “Get your face, cleaned up for ben.”

Her hair restored, Xiao Lanhua is no longer heartbroken, diligently wiping the tears and snot from her face.

DongFang QingCang sits back down, says to her: “To blackmail ben, you are the first person to do so since ancient or current times.”

“Letting me cry as a man, you are also the first person to make me do this since ancient or current times.” Xiao LanHua dared to sneak a glance, angrily turning her head to look at him. “I don’t want to spend another moment with you! Talk! Is there a way out of this tower or not!”

“Of course there is.”

“What way?”

“Blow up this tower.”

DongFang QingCang said it so casually, as though he was going to swat a mosquito to death.

Xiao LanHua heard his speech with shock, then tragically dropped her head, sadly muttering: “Forgot, I won’t be able to see Master in this lifetime ever again.”

Who can blame Xiao LanHua for thinking this way, Haotian Tower is an ancient wonder, it’s easy to say you want to blow it up, but with their currently switched bodies, Xiao LanHua doesn’t understand even an iota of DongFang QingCang’s body’s powers, now that it’s been brought up, she also doesn’t know how to use demonic energy.

But DongFang QingCang……

Xiao LanHua can only laugh hehe. Even how many kilograms make up that body of hers over there she is only too clear of, even if DongFang QingCang can cut her hair all off, it can’t change the fact that her body only has several hundred years of celestial cultivation. Since her strength is so low it’s no wonder that it’s a problem, so blowing up Haotian Tower this time, he’ll need to cultivate at least another ten years, before having even a chance of trying.

Xiao LanHua’s nose feels a bit sour, meeting DongFang QingCang in that moment, she felt that moment in her life, is a debt owed to her curiosity at that time.

“How can you be so stupid, since you have my body, just let my body safely stay outside.” Xiao LanHua says naturally, “Then once I’m outside, the chance of escaping will be greater than right now.”

DongFang QingCang guffaws: “Being of Heaven doesn’t mean you are virtuous, can you be so self-sacrificing? You are saying this to escape yourself, not to give ben ‘inside help’? You are not afraid that ben after coming outside will harm the ma.s.ses, plunge the people into misery?” He glances at Xiao LanHua, “Where is your integrity?”

Xiao LanHua pouts: “I’ve considered all these things, what else are those Heavenly soldiers and Heavenly generals for? My master has said before, taking someone’s rice bowl is like killing someone’s mother, it shouldn’t be done.”

DongFang is silent for a moment, touches his chin. “Little flower demon, join me in the path of evil, you do have some little apt.i.tude for it.”

“I don’t want to, Master will feed me to pigs if I do that.” Stooping, Xiao LanHua sighed sentimentally for a long time, “Staying in here, Master is going to feed me to the pigs anyway, there’s nothing I can do… If you are outside, we can still reason about the right and wrong of helping out a villain, right now we are totally alone, there’s completely no way to get out……”

“Who told you that there’s no one to help you in there.” DongFang QingCang looks at Xiao LanHua quietly.

Xiao LanHua says bluntly: “Unless, there is still someone here?” She looked all around.

The ladder stretches along the walls of Haotian Tower, the middle is empty s.p.a.ce, in one glance can see the precious pearls in the center of the roof. Inside it’s like a great big nothing. If there’s anyone else here, then it would be easy to see them at once.

DongFang QingCang smiles, the corners of his lips rise freely, also making people feel it’s a little insulting. Someone entered her own body, really giving a huge difference in feeling from head to toe.

Xiao LanHua is in the middle of deep feelings, when she hears DongFang QingCang faintly whisper: “It’s about the right time.”

—End Chapter 2—

Master = forgot to say this in the Prologue, but LanHua’s ‘master’ is actually a ‘mistress.’ In Chinese, sometimes these t.i.tles take an all-gender-included form. I’m defaulting to using ‘master.’

Little flower demon = she’s not really a demon. The word used is ‘yao’ versus the ‘mo’ used for DongFang. Yao is kind of a general term for flora and fauna that have enough cultivation to attain human sentience and/or form.

Aiyo wei = an expression of shock, kind of like ‘oh my G.o.d’ or ‘oh my’ without any religious meaning.

Catastrophe = Original characters used ‘??,’ or ‘tianluan’ in pinyin.

Guts = Literally ‘?’ or gallbladder but it holds the same meaning as saying someone ‘has guts,’ AKA courage. So there’s a bit of exaggeration when LanHua says DongFang scares her so much that her gallbladder and even kidneys feel it. ??

Castrate = Original text was ‘???’ which translated weirdly? I’m a.s.suming it means castration anyway.

Eyes sour = a weird expression and one of those things that doesn’t translate well. Basically imagine your face s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up because you bit a lemon and crying because it’s so sour. Except in this case it’s not the citric acid making you cry, it’s something genuinely sad.

Taking someone’s rice bowl = taking someone’s role/occupation/job or their livelihood.

TN2: The choppy commas are getting to me. If you have time, please drop a comment on whether you’d prefer the original formatting (weird commas included) or for me to throw away commas and make it sound closer to an average English sentence.

Chapter 3