A Trial of Love - Chapter 3

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

What had that trip to the mortal realm given me?

Twenty years spent digging wild vegetables.

And a knife in my belly.

I slit my wrist and fed a few drops of blood to the baby, who was nearly faint from crying, then glared at Chiyuan.

“How did the child come about? You have the nerve to ask?

“You make it sound as though you had nothing to do with it. Could I have made him by myself?”

I waved a hand and conjured a mirror in the air.

Chiyuan had tried to hold my humiliating devotion in the mortal world over my head, so I showed him those three days and nights instead.

A humble mortal cottage. Two entangled figures.

A fine rain whispered outside the window; thunder and fire raged within.

If this was a contest in shamelessness, who could surpass the Demon Race?

Chiyuan’s face reddened visibly. Through clenched teeth, he said, “Enough.”

I snorted and dismissed the image.

The baby in my arms had stopped crying. He suckled the blood at my wrist, his large eyes darting between Chiyuan and me.

Chiyuan swept a palm over his eyes and put him to sleep.

“Don’t talk about such nonsense in front of the child.”

I scoffed. “Hypocrite. You immortals are all sanctimonious frauds.”

Chiyuan did not argue. Divine power gathered at his fingertips as he stroked my wrist, healing the cut.

“Jiujiu cried so bitterly before. Since you bore him, I thought you would know what to do. That is why I troubled you.

“If I had known you would have to bleed, I would not have come.”

I gave him a sidelong look. “Spare me. I’m not falling for that.”

It was one thing when neither of us had possessed our memories in the mortal world. Now gods and demons were enemies. Why was he trying to cozy up to me?

I shoved the baby back into his arms.

“Anything else? If not, get out.

“Don’t think you can use our son to turn me. Demons recognize no family ties.”

Chiyuan’s expression shifted several times. Again and again he seemed ready to retort, only to swallow the words.

At last, face dark, he handed me a jade bottle.

“A restorative elixir. Let me heal you.”

I froze, heat rising to my face, then slapped it away. “Heal what? This sovereign is perfectly well.”

Chiyuan glanced at me. His hand flashed out and slipped beneath my loose robe, his palm pressing against the vicious scar across my abdomen.

I bit down hard on my lower lip, smothering a cry of pain.

The scar had been left by Jiujiu’s birth.

Defying the natural order always demanded a price. I simply had not realized how fragile mortals were. That single cut had traded one life for another.

The wound had struck deep into my very bones. Its damage had followed me back to my true body.

Chiyuan’s hand moved over the scar. He paused, then said quietly, “Whatever else may be true, I wronged you.”

I said nothing.

We had been entangled for decades in the mortal world, but to gods and demons it was only the snap of a finger. Through a thousand years, a high god and a demon sovereign had met only upon battlefields.

Being face-to-face with him like this while he healed me felt uncomfortably intimate.

But Chiyuan feared I would flee. One hand channeled divine power while the other held my vital point in an iron grip. I had no choice but to sit obediently and regulate my breathing. To ease the awkwardness, I searched for something to say.

“I looked through the record of your mortal fate. You were meant to live for decades after becoming the imperial son-in-law. Why did you come back so soon?”

Chiyuan answered at his leisure, “A trial of love is not measured by the length of a life. Understanding is enough.”

I teased him. “What, was the princess a tigress? One night of marriage and you renounced all worldly desires?”

“No.”

The God of War’s power was fierce and violent, yet its master had refined it into a gentle stream that flowed into me through his warm palm.

As the bone-deep wound slowly closed, Chiyuan spoke.

“I met someone who taught me what love was.

“Then he died, and I lost the ability again.

“None of the other mortals could teach me. There was no reason to waste more time.”

I closed my mouth, not daring to respond.

Long afterward, the healing ended, but Chiyuan did not remove his hand.

I turned to look at the child’s round, sleeping face. “Have you named him?”

“Yes. Jiuli.” Chiyuan looked at me. “The one who promised we would remain together for a long, long time left early because of him.”

I averted my eyes and pulled Chiyuan’s hand out from under my robes.

“It’s late. See yourself out.”

Chiyuan caught my wrist.

“I did not erase my memories before descending. I knew exactly who you were on every day we spent in the mortal world.

“Every promise I made still stands.”