And that was the last of his flickering memories. He couldn’t remember what happened next, all he knew was that after he regained consciousness again, his parents were dead and he became an orphan.
“In that second, I only had one thought in mind, kill them all and save my mother’s life. Even in death, that’s all I wanted,” those fingers had inexplicably tightened into a ball, showing how much frustration the boy really had over his inability to change things.
Watching the changing emotions before her eyes, Ling Yue suddenly had the crazy impulse to hug the boy.
As the chief of the Phoenix Manor and all that’s under him, Feng Shen was carrying far too much burden over that shoulder. Perhaps, not even the boy himself realizes it, but he too was only just a teenager.
Taking a small step forward, the hand hesitated for a bit before finally wrapping itself around the man’s waist. Then letting her head lean in against the stoic chest, they are now one.
“The fault isn’t on you Feng Shen, you were still a child back then. What’s more, you are not alone either. You have Dao Nu, Mr. Mu and many friends now. Also, you have, me…..” When it came to the last part of her sentence, Ling Yue’s voice had devolved into a murmur like she’s too shy to say it aloud.
Like being greatly encouraged, Feng Shen answers the girl in kind with an embrace of his own. And as a complimentary service, he went ahead to peck down at her forehead with a kiss.
This instantly causes her to fall into a panic: “I can’t breathe Feng Shen, you are holding me too tightly. Also , since that Phoenix Edict is your mother’s momentum, I can’t accept it.”
She knew the item held great value, but not this type of memorial value as well! And according to the boy’s meaning, the Phoenix Edict should come in a pair and not just one piece.
“The Phoenix Edict is the heirloom of my family. Now that its been given I won’t take it back. Besides, I think my mother would’ve liked you very much if she was still alive.” All smiles in his handsome face, Feng Shen denies the request with no room for refusal, “It’s getting late, why don’t we call it a night and rest early.”
Sending the girl back to her room, he didn’t leave right away. Instead, the lad remained outside alone in the yard, staring quietly at the sky with a touch of frustration in his face.
In the end I failed to tell her….
He only told half the truth to that story. For the latter half, not even the king knew because he’s been keeping it a secret all these years.
It was right before he lost control. Rage, endless and destructive rage, that’s all he wanted for the evildoers who were slowly closing in on himself. Then what happened afterwards was nothing but a blank slate until he regained consciousness underneath that cliff.
All wet and alone, it wasn’t just him when the king’s men located his whereabouts. In fact, there were a lot of blood, pools of it even scattered across the rocks like a horror show. Yet, not a single body was ever located like they just vanished from thin air.
Against this level of savageness, not even the well-trained soldiers of the king could remain unfazed. They knew the battle must’ve been terrifying based on the traces left behind. So, what did that mean? There’s only one plausible explanation, someone had snatched away the corpses after dismembering them all!
While Feng Shen’s mother was never found after the tragic event, not even a corpse, the boy’s father did eventually return home to the capital though. However, this time around instead of being alive when he left, what came back was nothing more than a cold hard corpse, plus a thousand bodies of his loyal followers.
This was undoubtedly a direct provocation of the royal family: a princess has been killed, the Wargod of North Qing murdered upon his return, and the attempted murder of a prince.
In a fit of rage, the king immediately issued out one of the heaviest punishments ever to come across this great nation. Sentencing any involved party to death, including their closest kin, carnage was the only word that could be used to describe what occurred in the following month at the nation’s border.
Towards these events, Feng Shen never did manage to witness it firsthand because he had fallen into a coma after being brought back to the palace. Then when the critical period was over, that’s when he discovered the changes to his body, which was the birth of a “Demon” within his soul. Or to be more exact, it was a demon known as Wu Chong, the current Ghost Emperor that’s feared across the lands.
Sighing at his own life, Feng Shen finally turns away for the night.
Unbeknownst to the boy though, he wasn’t alone in standing there until now, Ling Yue too didn’t rest when the door closed between the pair.
She just had the strange notion that the boy’s different from the usual him. As to what’s different, the girl couldn’t quite tell. Perhaps its that unsolvable sadness in his eyes, or maybe….
Taking out the Phoenix Edict from inside her clothes, Ling Yue eyes it strangely, Should I really be accepting something like this? It represents the mistress of this household. If I do, then wouldn’t it mean I’m accepting his proposal?
It’s not like she hated the boy, rather its very positive even. Just that, to call this feeling love wasn’t quite right either. Or perhaps…. She’s just being a coward and was too afraid to love.
Ye Ling Yue, you can’t fall in love, you absolutely mustn’t…..
The night was going to be a long one tonight.
She was getting a nightmare about herself after falling asleep. Well, its her but not exactly her as well. It’s the same face, the same appearance, but the woman on the opposing end was much more enchanting and experienced in life.
However, there’s one major difference between them both, this second version was being cruelly tortured until that body could barely be recognized. And those eyes, they never wavered even once in light of all that pain.
“Xi Jiu Ye, if there is ever another life for me then I will make you pay for everything! Blood for blood, life for life!” The vow was directed at the two individuals further away.
It was a handsome man with his face blurred out from view, and sitting beside him on the throne was another woman of definite beauty. Though she couldn’t quite make out who these two individuals were, Ling Yue could still see the smug smiles on their faces. Its downright infuriating and she didn’t know why like cancer to the heart.
You mustn’t love, you mustn’t ever love.
Night Ling Yue, Ye Ling Yue…
The hoarse outcry of pain and screams continuously rang beside her ears until endless darkness drowned out her consciousness.
“!!” Jerking open those eyes, she’s awake again.
“Ling Yue, what happened, are you okay?” Carrying a bit of anxiousness in his voice, the picture of Feng Shen’s face soon appeared from the front after the door swung open.
Based on how the morning light was shining through, plus the boy still hasn’t gotten properly dressed yet, its obvious he too had only just gotten out of bed.
“I had a nightmare.” Touching her own forehead, Ling Yue frowns upon discovering how much sweat she was covered in.
She doesn’t know it either, but she’s been often haunted with the same dream over and over again.
“What did you dream? Your scream was very loud there just now.”
Because Feng Shen’s room was right next to the girl’s very own, it didn’t take much for him to be alarmed by that loud scream.
“I can’t remember, every time I wake up I would forget.” Deflated in her voice, she explains.
The only thing she does remember though was that there’s a woman constantly reminding her of not falling in love. It was so filled with hate and sadness that she didn’t know whether its her illusion or something true.
“It’s okay now, its all just a dream. Here, your bandages are wet because of how scared you were, let me change them for you.” Furrowing his brow, the boy grew rather suspicious over the necessity of those wraps on the head.