Chapter 649: Satan's Request

Three months later. By the street.

Yu Lin sat on the plastic chair in front of the milk tea shop, holding a cup of iced milk tea, stirring the straw twice inside the cup, the ice cubes clinking against the cup wall with a crisp sound.

The summer sunlight was just right, shining brightly on the street, pedestrians dressed coolly in colorful dresses, shorts, and sandals, walking past him in waves.

But his attention was not on them.

He stared ahead, a figure walking toward him.

That guy had a head of blond hair, shining blindingly in the sunlight, his face extraordinarily handsome, with a hint of unrestrained smile at the corner of his mouth.

Wherever he went, people's gazes were drawn to him.

Along the short ten-odd meter stretch, three groups of people approached him to chat, men and women alike; some offered their phones to exchange contact info, others directly slipped notes into his hand.

He smiled and shook his head, his steps not stopping.

He walked up to Yu Lin, pulled out a chair and sat down, turning his head to the server and saying, "Trouble, bring me a cup the same as his," then turned back to look at Yu Lin.

"Long time no see, Yu Lin."

Yu Lin set down his milk tea.

"Satan, what do you want again?"

Satan leaned back, lifting his right leg to cross over his left, his right hand casually resting on the chair back, his whole body relaxed like a lump of cotton softened by the sun.

"You say that—can't I just come hang out if there's nothing going on? Am I the type who only comes to you when I need something?"

Yu Lin nodded.

"Yes."

Satan's smile froze for a moment.

"... What if I say it really isn't?"

"Then I'm leaving." Yu Lin said, about to get up.

Satan quickly reached out and grabbed his sleeve: "Hey, don't rush off, there's something, there's something."

He pulled Yu Lin back onto the chair, a slightly embarrassed expression appearing on his face, he leaned in and lowered his voice.

"If you ever get to see my Lord in the future, say a couple of good words for me."

Yu Lin raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth slowly curving up.

"What kind of good words?"

Satan gave a light cough, clearing his throat.

His fingers tapped twice on the tabletop, as if drafting in his mind.

"You see, Lucifer has more regal dignity than Michael, and more benevolent bearing than Gabriel, Uriel, and the like."

"Lucifer might not be unsuitable as a stand-in for the Lord of Heaven."

Having said that, he looked at Yu Lin expectantly: "How about it?"

"Oh." Yu Lin nodded slightly, then, under Satan's hopeful gaze, shook his head.

"That won't do; you're making things difficult for me."

"For things that are difficult, I usually don't do them."

The light in Satan's eyes dimmed for an instant.

He fell silent for a few seconds, tapped his fingers twice on the tabletop again, then lifted his head and changed his approach.

"Fine, then let's try another."

"Let me go to Heaven for a year, they go to Hell for a year, and we swap for a year."

"Okay?"

Yu Lin stroked his chin, his thumb rubbing back and forth twice on his jaw.

"Well… I can bring it up with God, but whether he agrees is up to him."

"That can't be blamed on me."

Satan slapped his thigh, making the chair jolt: "Fine! Thanks! I promise not to blame you—just pass along the message for me."

"If he refuses, then I won't go, and we'll still be friends!"

That was his intention.

People always seek a compromise.

Now it seems, quite successful.

Satan stood up, patted—"To repay you, I'll also give you a gift."

He turned and walked toward the trash bin nearby.

That trash bin was the common green plastic kind seen on the street, its lid half-open, stuffed full of milk tea cups and straw wrappers.

Satan plunged his hand into it, as if searching for something, his arm almost completely disappearing inside.

A passerby nearby glanced at him and quickened his pace away.

The next moment.

He jerked a person out of the trash bin!

That person was tightly bound with rope, a wad of something stuffed in his mouth, his hair a mess, his face bearing several bluish-purple marks.

Satan tossed him at Yu Lin's feet, like throwing away a bag of trash.

"Yo." Yu Lin lowered his head to look at the person on the ground.

Gai Yin!

"How did he end up in your hands?"

Satan shrugged.

"I just grabbed him when I ran into him—still okay, right?"

"Huh." Yu Lin waved his hand, and the rag in that person's mouth flew out.

The rag was gray, soggy, and bounced when it hit the ground.

Gai Yin gasped heavily, his chest heaving violently, like a fish thrown ashore.

"Yu Lin! Yu Lin!" his voice hoarse, "What I did earlier wasn't my intention; it was evil driving me!"

He knelt on the ground, his knees scraping the sidewalk tiles, and shuffled forward two steps.

Considering I also helped Loki in Northern Europe, spare me! Many of the things I did were also at Loki's behest, because I promised him I'd help him with three things—I can't be wholly blamed!

Yu Lin lowered his head to look at him, saying nothing.

The tears Gai Yin squeezed out streamed down his dirty face, carving two white lines in the dust.

"Indeed, that's how it is." Yu Lin spoke:

"Then I won't erase your thoughts."

"Hmm............"

He raised his hand, fingers spread: "Banish you for a thousand years."

Before Gai Yin could say anything else, the ground beneath his feet split open.

It wasn't the tiles cracking; space itself had torn.

Inside the rift was endless void, with no light, no sound, no up, down, left, or right.

Gai Yin fell in, mouth still open, eyes wide, his whole body swallowed by darkness.

The rift closed, the tiles returned to their original state, even the dust remained where it was.

Yu Lin lowered his hand and stood up:

"All right, someone's looking for me—I'll go ahead."

"Get in touch if anything comes up."

"All right."

Satan didn't rise with him, just watched him go away.

After gradually disappearing into the crowd, he then whispered:

"Maybe it's my turn to sit in the Lord of Heaven's position now?"

"Yu Lin, please!"