A Trial of Love - Chapter 4

A thin layer of callus covered Chiyuan’s palm. It tickled against my skin without scratching.

I looked up and met those brilliant, glass-clear eyes.

Suddenly I remembered the day we confessed our feelings in the mortal world. He had looked at me just like this.

He placed a pair of little wooden figures in my hand. As he ate a bowl of wontons, his expression was as ordinary as any other morning.

“Xuanyang, it would be rather nice to live like this together for a long, long time. Don’t you think?”

The early spring wind had been bitter, carrying the faintest fragrance of peach blossoms.

I toyed with the carvings and instantly saw the question in his eyes.

“Your Brother Xuanyang is the handsomest young man for ten villages around. Getting my whole life for one wooden carving is quite a bargain.”

Chiyuan smiled and took my wrist.

“Then I’ll add my entire life to the price. Wherever you go, I’ll go.

“Is that enough?”

Proud and pleased, the mortal Xuanyang clasped his hand in return and tapped his own lips by way of answer.

Now Chiyuan tried the same trick again. I peeled his fingers away one at a time.

“A promise you made to your childhood sweetheart has nothing to do with the Demon Sovereign.”

Chiyuan pressed his lips together.

“You had your memories in the mortal realm too. You recognized me, and you agreed.

“Why deny it now?”

I smiled contemptuously. “It was only a game of make-believe. Why take it seriously? Had I known you retained your memories too, I would never have bothered deceiving you.”

Chiyuan clenched his fist. “I wouldn’t mind if you kept deceiving me.”

My head began to ache. “Gods and demons are enemies, my friend. The two sides are about to go to war. Could you show a little loyalty to your own?”

Chiyuan rose and crowded me.

“Are you truly a demon?”

His lips curved in mockery. “A thousand years ago, you fought your way out of the Sea of Blood and seized the throne, yet even now not one demon knows your true name.

“You don’t even dare declare your name. How can you claim to be one of them?”

I met his eyes coldly. After a long moment, I gave a quiet laugh.

“Yet not a trace of divine power remains in me. I possess only the demonic energy that steeped into me in the Sea of Blood.”

I shrugged.

“If I am not a demon, what else could I be?”

Chiyuan stared at me.

“Do you truly intend to start a war between gods and demons? You know better than anyone what will happen if the monsters imprisoned in the depths of the Sea of Blood are released.”

Gods and demons often clashed, but only one conflict had ever deserved to be called the War of Gods and Demons.

It had taken place ten thousand years ago, in the age of chaos.

The primordial gods and demons, born together with heaven and earth, fought a terrible war. Nearly every innate deity fell. Their divine essences became the sun, moon, and stars, nourishing the immortal mountains and the mortal world.

The Demon Race was also nearly exterminated. Its defeated survivors sank into the Sea of Blood in the Demon Realm and disappeared beneath layer upon layer of seals.

But sleep was not death.

As the last innate deity’s power ran dry and he vanished from the world, the seals weakened and began to loosen.

The ascended gods who now ruled Heaven had long sought a chance to reinforce them, but they could never locate the Sea of Blood.

Once the ancient monsters awoke, even the Heavenly Emperor who had inherited a divine essence might be unable to withstand them. Unless an innate deity returned to life, the calamity would surely destroy heaven and earth.

Chiyuan’s expression grew grave as he tried to rouse my conscience.

“I know what you want. I also know who your true enemy is.

“But will you really abandon every living being beneath heaven for the sake of a private grievance?”

His voice softened.

“Weren’t they the ones you once gave your life to protect?”

I clasped my hands behind my back. Anxiety made a wooden edge appear against my palm.

Closing my fingers around it, I brushed a thumb over the carved features, then tossed the figure into Chiyuan’s arms.

The early spring wind seemed to cross time and touch my face once more.

At last, I smiled faintly. “The next time we meet will be on the battlefield. If you stand in my way, I will kill you.”

Chiyuan caught the little wooden figure carved in his likeness. His lips trembled.

Hoarsely, he said, “All right.”