Chapter 7 — Raising a Demon King as a Pet by Mistake

I hugged the kids tightly, not daring to turn around. Three seconds. Maybe just two seconds. After that, everything became quiet. Strangely quiet. The monster's aura disappeared. The smell of rot, the feeling of oppression, the giant shadow— It all disappeared, as if it had never existed. Broken glass doors covered the floor. The afternoon wind blows in from outside, carrying the scent of plants and trees. I slowly turned my head. The living room is chaotic. But the monster was gone. Instead, there was a half-meter long black streak on the floor, as if something had been vaporized by high temperature in an instant. The starting point of the fire streak— Tieu Ngan was lying on her back on the floor, her four legs were up in the air, her stomach was facing up, her eyes were closed tightly, motionless.

“Tieu Ngan!”

I rushed forward, knelt on the ground, tremblingly lifted it up with both hands.

"Tieu Ngan! What's wrong? Are you injured?"

It lay limply in my palm, its fur tangled, its four little legs hanging down helplessly. Then, its eyes slowly opened a slit. Amber color, sparkling water, carrying the look of "I am so weak and helpless". It weakly raised its front leg and placed it on my thumb.

“Ugh…”

An extremely weak, childish moan. Tears immediately welled up in my eyes.

"You scared me to death! You're so small, you can't run around!"

I pressed it against my chest, one hand protecting the small head, the other hand stroking its back.

“Was he scared? Was he hurt by a piece of glass? Let me see—”

He buried his face in the hollow of his collarbone, making intermittent "uh uh" sounds. I hugged him and stood up, his legs were so soft they were shaking.

"It's okay, it's okay."

I repeated over and over, not knowing if I was comforting it or comforting myself.

“I'm here. I'll protect you.”

Its tail slowly wrapped around my wrist. Wrap very, very tightly.

—

The truth is this: With less than three seconds left before the monster's claws touched Khuong Niem Niem's back, Dung Cuu Uyen took action. He forcibly burned the three hundred years of demon power stored in his body that had exhausted its spiritual energy, releasing all nine silver tails that were sleeping soundly in the blink of an eye. Nine silver tails glowed like unsheathed blades, each carrying the power to destroy heaven and earth. He didn't even return to his true body. He used the body of a juvenile to perform a Demon King level killer move. The black-scaled beast penetrated the barrier— A third-level demon general of the Northern Realm, a ferocious beast that had been cultivating for eight hundred years— As soon as it was touched by the silver light of the nine tails, before it could even let out a pitiful cry, it evaporated into a cloud of blue smoke. This attack consumed three parts of his spiritual energy that Dung Cuu Uyen had difficulty recovering. After finishing the attack, his body immediately lost control and fell hard to the ground. But he was not in a coma. One second before Khuong Niem Niem turned around, he made an extremely important decision— Retract the nine tails. Turn over. Show your belly. Close your eyes. Pretending to be weak. Eating. He needs her hug. That's all. When her palm was placed on his back, when her heartbeat transmitted through his chest to his ears, when she tearfully said "Auntie will protect you" - For the first time in her seventeen hundred years on earth, Dung Cuu Uyen admitted something: He had developed feelings for this person that he should not have.

“…Done.”

He buried his face into the warm crook of her neck, closing his eyes.

“The deity is truly done.”

—

Chapter 8 On the evening of the eleventh day, I made a video call with my roommate Chu Miao Miao. The kids were all asleep. I leaned against the headboard, lowering my voice.

“Mieu Mieu, you don't know, this Tieu Ngan is very strange.”

On the phone screen, Chu Mieu Mieu's hair was as messy as a bird's nest, eating a spicy stick and asking:

“How strange?”

"Listen to me. Every night he must sleep next to my pillow, and moreover, he must lie close to my neck. No matter which direction I turn, he will change direction, making sure the tip of his nose is always facing the location of his pulse."

“Yes.”

"It doesn't let other animals come close to it. As long as someone lies on top of it, it will use its tail to sweep that person away and then take the position for itself."

“Yeah yeah.”

"And more. Do you know what's the most outrageous thing? Yesterday I changed clothes but forgot to close the door. I glanced at him standing at the door."

"After that, it turned around again! A fox knows how to turn its back to me and even use its tail to cover its eyes!"

“…”

“I say, is it especially premonitioned? In animal behavior, this kind of phenomenon—”

“Khuong Niem Niem.”

Chu Mieu Mieu interrupted me.

“Huh?”

“The actions you just described…”

Chu Mieu Mieu slowly put down the spicy stick, her expression became serious.

“Sleep by sticking to you, don't let others get close to you, stay away when you change clothes, always pay attention to your position—”

“Yes, what's wrong?”

“Fuck, this is not pet behavior. This is boyfriend behavior.”

I was stunned. Then burst out laughing.

"Are you crazy? Ha ha ha! It's a fox! A fox as small as a hand!"

“Are you sure it's just a fox? That's a demon race! People can transform into human form!”

"Please, it's so small, it's clearly just a baby. Besides, Uncle Bach has already said, it's slow to develop, smaller than others of the same age. What does it understand?"

Chu Mieu Mieu looked at me, silent for three seconds.

“With your head…”

She took a bite of the spicy stick.

“If it is sold later, it will probably still help people count money.”

“Go away!”

I hung up the phone, laughing until I hiccuped. Then she bowed her head— Tieu Ngan didn't know when she woke up, sitting on the pillow, her amber eyes looking at me without blinking. Incorrect. It doesn't look at me. It is looking at the ended but not closed video call interface on the phone screen. The tips of its ears turned red.

"Tieu Ngan? Why are you awake?"

I reached out and patted its head. He bowed his head, burying his face in the pillow. The tail curls into an extremely tight circle, wrapping around the body.

“Having nightmares?”

I picked it up, placed it on my chest, and gently patted its back. It doesn't move. Just lie still like that, the tip of your nose resting on your collarbone. A long while later, I vaguely heard an extremely small sound. Not a moan. Not even a purr. Like… a sigh.

—

“Boyfriend behavior.”

The human woman's friend said so. Dung Cuu Uyen repeated this sentence in his head a hundred times.

“Boyfriend”—

The way people call their partners. It turns out that the things he does, in human perception, are also things that only a partner can do? But she laughed. She smiled and said:

“It's just a small fox the size of a hand.”

She smiled and said:

“What does it understand?”