Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 134

The War of Gods and Demons – Part 2 (M)

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Warning: This chapter includes mention of rape

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Because of Ning Zhiyu's existence, Mo Zun had gone to the mortal world and kidnapped a cook to take care of his food. When Ning Zhiyu found out about this, he went on a hunger strike and refused to eat, so Mo Zun had no choice but to release the cook and sent his demon maid to a restaurant in Chang'an in the form of a mortal to learn how to cook.

The little dumpling soon brought in food again. Thinking that Ning Zhiyu did not want to eat noodles, he asked the cook to prepare three dishes and one soup, including Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, five flavoured steamed chicken, mushroom and broccoli, as well as a first-class beef tendon soup, which were arranged neatly on a light-coloured wooden tray, making it very appetising to look at.

Demons are born with the ability to heal themselves, and the more gifted they are, the faster they recover from their injuries. The little dumpling had the blood of the Demon Lord flowing in his body, and his abilities were not bad. When he entered the door, the burns on his face and hands had almost recovered, leaving him with a faint red discoloration. His soiled clothes had not been changed yet, and a few bits of pasta were hanging from his half-wet head, making him look quite ridiculous.

The little dumpling himself didn't feel anything, but carried the food towards Ning Zhiyu on the bed and asked his mother in a milky voice if he wanted to eat.

Apart from his blood-red pupils, he was actually no different from a human child; his snow-white face had a little baby fat on it, he was not noisy, and he listened to people well, so he should be very likeable.

If he were a child born to Ning Zhiyu and Yan Yuan, Ning Zhiyu would have loved him, spoken to him gently, taken good care of him, told him how to behave, and taught him to read and write.

Unfortunately, he was a demon.

He was the child that Ning Zhiyu was forced to give birth to after being raped by Mo Zun, a stain and shame on his life.

Since the birth of the little dumpling, Ning Zhiyu had not held him once, not even to take a good look at him, and he could not wait for this little bastard to disappear from before him forever.

Ning Zhiyu lay on the bed with his back to the little dumpling, his hands slightly clenched in front of him, as if he hadn't heard his words.

The little dumpling had to go up and gently place the tray on the edge of the bed, looking at his mother's back and whispering, "Then A'Lie will put the food here, Mother must remember to eat it."

Ning Zhiyu still ignored him.

The little dumpling knew that his mother was awake, and he could sense that he was not breathing evenly.

Maybe he just didn't want to pay attention to him.

As for why he was ignoring him, the little dumpling thought that it was probably because his mother was always locked inside his father's bedchamber and couldn't go anywhere, so he was in a bad mood.

His father said that if the chains were loosened, his mother would leave them.

He knew that his mother was in a bad mood, so no matter how he treated him, he would not be angry, only a little sad in his heart.

Before going out and closing the door, the little dumpling poked his head in and said to the man on the bed.

"Mother, A'Lie is going out first."

"... When A'Lie's magic is stronger, he will be able to unlock the demon chain on Mother's body, then A’Lie will secretly take Mother out to play, and Mother will not be unhappy."

Soon, the door was silently closed and silence returned to the hall. Ning Zhiyu sat up on his bed and stared at the food beside him in a trance.

The war between the gods and the demons began with three days and three nights of bloodshed, but the demon palace was enveloped by a boundary set up by the Demon Lord, so that the bloodshed and killings from outside did not penetrate into the palace, and everything was calm and quiet for Ning Zhiyu.

The difference was that Mo Zun had previously pestered him every night, but after that night, Mo Zun did not come again, and there was no one else in the palace except for the occasional attendant and A’Lie. It was a lot lighter on his ears

It was probably because his words were vicious enough that Mo Zun finally gave up his heart. Ning Zhiyu's heart was devoid of sorrow or joy, and there were no ripples.

In the first two years, in order to get his attention, Mo Zun pretended to flirt with a demon girl in front of him, hugging her and saying that he wanted to marry her as the queen. However, when Ning Zhiyu saw this, he did not react, and even calmly wished him and the new queen to have a son soon and grow old together, which made Mo Zun torment him that night, and he was in a coma for five days afterwards.

Later on, Mo Zun didn't dare to treat him that way again, but he had done many things that seemed foolish to Ning Zhiyu, and he didn't know what he was trying to do this time.

At night, when his mind was quiet, Ning Zhiyu would think of his past with Yan Yuan in the mortal world.

He had grown up alone and unloved, but Yan Yuan was the only one who treated him well, caring whether he was hot or cold, happy or sad, and would not force him to do things he did not like, like others did.

This is something that Mo Zun couldn't compete with. Just like how when he didn't like being locked up here, Mo Zun still wanted to lock him up, when he didn't like staying in the Demon Realm, Mo Zun wouldn't let him go, and even when he didn't want to stay alive, Mo Zun wouldn't grant him such a small wish.

In the first year of his captivity in the Demon Realm, Ning Zhiyu attempted to commit suicide no less than five times, banging his head against the wall, biting his tongue, and slitting his throat with a broken porcelain tile he had secretly hidden... Each time, he was found and saved just as it was about to happen, or shortly after it happened.

Before his sixth attempt at suicide, Mo Zun chained him up and cast some kind of spell on him so that he could not even bite his tongue to kill himself.

Now Ning Zhiyu is alive, but he is just a walking corpse.

The candle flame in the bedchamber flickered, extinguished for a moment as the door was pushed open, and then quickly reignited. Ning Zhiyu was lying on the bed with his back to the door, his eyes closed and unmoving, when the sound of slow, heavy footsteps came from behind him.

As Mo Zun approached, Ning Zhiyu smelt the strong, pungent smell of blood and could not help but wrinkle his eyebrows.

"Get out."

The footsteps paused and finally stopped at the edge of the bed

Mo Zun was wearing a basalt war robe with two large holes torn on his waist and chest, and the blood that gushed out was almost dried up. He aimed his palm at himself and cast a spell to remove his battle robe, which was soiled with dust and blood.

A short time later, Ning Zhiyu was embraced from behind by a sturdy arm and felt Mo Zun's body press up against him. He instantly struggled and slammed his elbow into Mo Zun's chest.

That blow must have cracked his wound, as blood instantly seeped through Ning Zhiyu's white sleeves and clung wetly to the skin of his elbow.

The breathing in his ears became ragged, but instead of letting go of him, Mo Zun held him tighter, as if that would ease the pain in his body.

Ning Zhiyu was not the least bit interested in the cause of Mo Zun's injury, and he hit the wound on his chest hard a few times before the strength of Mo Zun's embrace finally relaxed.

Ning Zhiyu took the opportunity to move his body forward and out of Mo Zun's embrace, pulling at the chains for a moment.

"Don't touch me, you stink."

The smell of blood was already bad, and a demon's blood smelled even a little heavier.

But the stench should not be that bad.

Perhaps because he was injured, Mo Zun didn't have the strength to touch him again. This was Mo Zun's territory, so Ning Zhiyu said that he should get out, but in his heart he knew that his will was useless, so he did not continue to waste his energy on useless things.

The two of them lay in peace with each other, and Mo Zun's low, muffled voice rang out from behind him:

"The gods and demons are at war."

With this, the reason for his injury was explained.

Ning Zhiyu didn't make a sound.

His heart was like stagnant water, he was not interested in this. No matter who won or lost, it did not matter, the person he cared about had died long ago.

Mo Zun came up from behind and put his arm around Ning Zhiyu's waist to hold his hand, saying in a low voice, "Don't be afraid, I will protect you."

Ning Zhiyu felt amused, "What am I afraid of?"

Was he afraid that he would be treated as a demon and be wiped out by the gods in one fell swoop?

If that was the case, it would be a good thing.

This time, no matter how hard Ning Zhiyu tried to resist Mo Zun's body, the latter held him tightly and didn't let go of him, and Ning Zhiyu felt his back was soaked with Mo Zun's blood.

This time, it was Yan Yuan himself who led the troops in the war. Yan Yuan most likely already knew about the demonic compulsion, he had recovered his memory and realised that he was framed for the death of his lover, so he would definitely want to take revenge. Ning Zhiyu, as one of the people involved in the incident, would have difficulty escaping from it.

If the demons lose, there will be no one left to protect Ning Zhiyu.

So he had to win.

For Ning Zhiyu's sake, for A'Lie's sake, and for the sake of the people of the Demon Clan.

"It's nothing, just remember that no matter what happens, I will protect you.” Mo Zun said firmly, word by word, phrase by phrase.“Pretentious." Ning Zhiyu snorted.

The next day, Mo Zun left before dawn. Before he got up to leave, he hugged Ning Zhiyu and said, "… A'Ning, if I win, teach me to write your name."

Ning Zhiyu closed his eyes and replied lightly, "You are not worthy of it even in your next life."

Mo Zun was silent for a few moments and did not press the issue any further.

After he left, Ning Zhiyu no longer felt like sleeping, and stared numbly upwards with his eyes open, motionless.

Before Mo Zun left, he had changed his clothes and the blood-soiled mattress, so the smell of blood in the air was so faint that it could barely be smelled.

There was a pile of books beside the pillow on the inner side of the bed, containing poems, songs, ancient stories and love stories, all kinds of books, which Mo Zun had asked his men to obtain from the mortal world, but now Ning Zhiyu did not even have the desire to open them.

After about half a stick of incense, the dark red boundary outside the demon palace shifted a little and the door to Ning Zhiyu's bedchamber was slowly pushed open. He thought it was a demon attendant and didn't bother.

"Long time no see."

When the calm, magnetic, familiar voice rang out, Ning Zhiyu thought he was hallucinating. He turned his head in a daze to look over and see the person he had been thinking about for so long.

Dragging his chains to sit up, he looked at the person without moving, opened his mouth, and with great effort, managed to make a bit of a laboured sound.

“A'Yuan......"

Yan Yuan saw him cry, and was not as anxious and worried as before, but only smiled lightly.

"From now on, don't call me A'Yuan, you know I already have a sweetheart, if he knows, he will misunderstand me."

"Call me Yan Yuan."

Ning Zhiyu's eyes were filled with tears, causing the figure in front of him to blur. He had many things he wanted to say to Yan Yuan, he wanted to ask him how he survived and why he came here, but when he heard Yan Yuan say that, he swallowed his words and pulled out a smile.

"... Okay."

In the past, Mo Zun had told him about the previous lives of the Heavenly Emperor and Xuan Long in the mortal world. When he calmed down a bit and thought about it, he knew that since Yan Yuan could break into the Demon Realm, he must not be a mortal anymore.

It seems that what Mo Zun said was true.

"I know about the demonic compulsion." Yan Yuan spoke indifferently.

Ning Zhiyu was stunned for a moment before returning to his senses and smiling, "Have you come to take revenge today?"

Yan Yuan shook his head: "I have come to save you."

"I will not hold a grudge against you, but I will not let Mo Zun and the Demon Clan go."

"Since the last war between the gods and the demons, the demon race has been greatly wounded. After killing the demon lord, the demon army has no leader, and it is inevitable that the momentum will disappear. I need you to help me."

"... Are you willing?"

What past life kindness, Ning Zhiyu has no memories before being a mortal, but he understood the latter words.

Mo Zun had forced him to have a child and imprisoned him here for four whole years. He hated Mo Zun, he had no reason to refuse.

But why was he hesitating?...

Perhaps it was because of cowardice, never having killed anyone before.

"......"

"If you don't want to, it doesn't matter, I will still take you out of here." Seeing Ning Zhiyu's limbs imprisoned in chains, Yan Yuan knew he was not doing well.

Ning Zhiyu shook his head and murmured, "No... I am willing."

There was no reason for him not to be willing.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: January 5, 2023