Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 304: One Day

Chapter 304: Chapter 304: One Day

Following Iyas, Yang Yu returned to the dormitory and learned about Bai Jin’s condition, then he and Iyas laid an ambush.

It was not until midnight that Bai Jin stealthily slipped into the dormitory, tiptoeing towards her room under the illumination of the magic lamps in the hallway.

Bai Jin’s normally messy hair had become even more chaotic due to neglect, and the dark circles under her eyes seemed to deepen as time passed without a sign of fading.

Her clothes, although changed daily, bore no distinctive smells, neither foul nor fragrant, only a faint odor of herbal medicine was detectable.

At least, she maintained some self-awareness as a girl.

Such appearance, her solitary demeanor, coupled with her mysterious attire, radiated a keep-away vibe from Bai Jin.

This aura naturally repelled those who wished to befriend her, allowing her more time to study but also enhancing her loneliness.

It wasn’t that Bai Jin didn’t want to dress up.

When she was alone before, she would make a slight effort to spruce herself up, at least to look not so wretched.

However, with the Library Congress happening the day after tomorrow and Yang Yu’s imminent return,

it wouldn’t be long before she had to leave the All Things Library and lose access to its superior magical education.

She wanted to improve her strength, even if just slightly.

Otherwise, she would not be able to keep up with the pace of Yang Yu and others and would drag them down.

Bai Jin had silently resolved not to become a burden on them any longer.

For that reason, she immersed herself in her studies, neglecting sleep and food, trying to master as many skills as possible to be of greater use.

After studying all day, Bai Jin was utterly exhausted. She planned to fall into bed and sleep immediately, intending to wake early the next day, as usual, to diligently continue her studies of magic.

But just as Bai Jin was about to use her Contribution Card to unlock the door, two dark figures quietly approached from behind, startling her so much that she fumbled and dropped her Contribution Card.

"Have you always been coming back at this time? Isn’t the library already closed by now? Where exactly have you been?"

The forceful Iyas confronted her, and Bai Jin hurriedly explained, "I was just practicing magic alone in the open space..."

As she was speaking, Bai Jin caught sight of Yang Yu in the distance and, suddenly conscious of her unkempt appearance, quickly shook her magic wand to keep Iyas and Yang Yu away from her. She then hurriedly pulled up the hood of her Mage Robe to cover her wan face.

"Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me!

At midnight, encountering a Curse Mage, even if that Curse Mage does nothing, just being seen by them can curse you.

I’m also a Curse Mage, so if you don’t want to be cursed, you’d better stay away from me. Whatever it is, we can talk about it tomorrow morning."

Saying so, Bai Jin hastily bent down to pick up the fallen Contribution Card, but found that her field of vision, which should have become narrower, remained unchanged.

She was so nervous that she completely forgot that He Meng was lying inside the hood.

He Meng’s soft body couldn’t make the hood drop completely.

Worse still, due to Bai Jin’s actions, He Meng woke up and reshaped her amorphous body into a round, bulging form, lifting the brim of Bai Jin’s hood and revealing Bai Jin’s haggard face right in front of Yang Yu.

Seeing Yang Yu, the first thing He Meng did was leap high and launch a Slime Charge against this man who had not fed her for several days, making her scrounge for food on her own.

Yang Yu caught He Meng as steadily as one would catch a basketball.

He Meng set down He Meng, then took out a flowerpot, placed it on the ground, and sowed a clover seed using "Clover Cultivation," cultivating a whole cartload of clovers for He Meng.

Seeing this, He Meng no longer bothered with Yang Yu and leaped onto the soft bed of clovers to feast his eyes.

Meanwhile, Yang Yu walked straight towards Bai Jin.

Bai Jin hurriedly adjusted her hood to cover her head, keeping Yang Yu from seeing her face.

Yang Yu reached out his hand towards Bai Jin’s head, but before his hand could touch her, he hesitated for a moment and instead chose to pat Bai Jin’s thin and trembling shoulders.

"You don’t have to push yourself so hard.

I know you want to learn a lot, but some things can’t be mastered overnight; they require gradual progress.

Even though I wasn’t here these past few days, I know about your efforts.

Don’t push yourself too hard; if you ruin your health, the loss will outweigh the gain.

The agony of being tormented by illness, you should remember it well; surely, you don’t want to experience that again."

Bai Jin’s tense shoulders slowly relaxed. Indeed, as Yang Yu said, if she really pushed herself too hard, her old illness might relapse.

Yang Yu probably had no more medicine that could cure her again.

If the worst came to pass, she would indeed be a burden to them both.

Slowly lifting the hood that covered her face, Bai Jin’s weary face showed a somewhat sheepish smile,

"I’m sorry for making you worry. But it’s fine now, I’ve fully realized my mistake, and I definitely won’t hold you back again. So, it’s just that..."

Before she could finish her sentence, possibly feeling completely reassured, a wave of drowsiness overcame Bai Jin, causing her to fall into Yang Yu’s arms nearby and drift into a deep sleep.

Yang Yu, with one arm around Bai Jin and the other hand tapping his own head in frustration, pondered,

Perhaps, allowing the Light of God Destruction to engulf them both and plunging them into despair had been a wrong decision.

Iyas probably foresaw a future where he couldn’t save his brother, but what exactly did Bai Jin see?

...

...

Meanwhile,

Devotees dressed in black attire stood in twelve rows, six on each side, gathered in a dark temple.

Midnight every day was their time for prayer.

In the center of the dark temple, two bright columns of fire stood, illuminating the object of their prayers.

However, the object of their prayers was not the widely recognized white-winged goddess but a ferocious demon with bat wings and a fanged, green face.

The words they mouthed in their prayers were hardly prayer-like, containing ample curses and insults directed at the goddess.

Every person here believed they had been abandoned by the goddess; it was precisely because they had been abandoned that they sought the demon’s protection and believed in the demon’s strength, trusting that one day the demon would return to the mortal world, claim their souls as a price, and fulfill their unaccomplished wishes.

One day.