'Did he just say... sworn brother?' Although inwardly she was feeling dreadful, yet her face stayed impassive. Only her right brow had twitched slightly which didn't escape Xiao Zhi Ren's eyes. His attention had been on her face from the time he spoke.
"Haha... That was a nice joke." Ru gave an awkward laugh trying to laugh this matter off.
But Xiao Zhi Ren's solemn face made her face stiffen. "You're not being playful, right?" She already knew the answer but she just couldn't believe it. Or rather, she didn't want to believe it... NOT AT ALL!
"You might have the worst sense of humor but I definitely don't." That comment was like an arrow shot straight to her ego. How could she take it lying down?
"Hei! How dare you? I haven't even accepted you as my sworn brother yet and you are already being a bully." This was the first time for Xiao Zhi Ren to see her actually showing emotion so brazenly. He had never heard her raise her voice at anyone in the past three months and yet, right now she was almost screaming at his face.
For some odd reason, Xiao Zhi Ren felt good to see her livid. It was almost as if she seemed more human. He smiled gently and lifted his big hand to pat her head like a pet. "As a sworn brother, it's my right to bully you since you are younger than me."
Ru was dumbfounded at him being so self-absorbed. She pointed her index finger straight to his face. "You!" Realizing how she had lost her rationality for a moment, Ru felt slightly uncomfortable. It had always been easier for her to hide her emotions whether it was her happiness or anger, both stayed within her. She never allowed her emotions to control her actions. But today, she actually let her emotions dictate her actions and words.
Curling her index finger back into the fist, she lowered her hand. A single deep breath seemed to have changed the aura around her as she seemed serene like her usual self.
"Why?"
Hearing her sudden question, Xiao Zhi Ren gave her an inquiring gaze. Her green eyes clashed again with his black ones, seemingly unafraid.
"I clearly offered you to ask for heaven and yet you asked to be a part of hell? Doesn't that make you the most foolish person?" As Ru stated her point, Xiao Zhi Ren was again amused by her words.
Xiao Zhi Ren didn't avert his eyes.
"In the hush of night,
there was a pair of green eyes;
sparkling,
dazzling,
and bright...
Yet,
there was a devil in sight;
It intrigued me,
Then it wrenched me,
Finally,
it just ensnared me."
As his mellow voice resounded, Ru was frozen at her place. 'This voice...' Her mind was going crazy. The voice in her memory and the voice she was listening to overlapped making her feel distraught. She immediately tried to stop him, "Wait! What are you-" but she was interrupted as Xiao Zhi Ren didn't listen to her.
"In the hush of night,
there was indeed a pair of green eyes;
Jaded,
Forlorn,
and
ready to put up a fight...
I did see a devil in sight;
it persuaded me,
it hauled me,
To see the confined demons,
trying to pick up a fight."
Clenching her fists tightly, Ru enunciated each word, "What do you think you are doing?" 'He's trying to tell you a story... Story of your fake eyes... Or maybe, you fake self...' At this moment, it was hard for her to know whom she wanted to kill more; Xiao Zhi Ren or her own conscience?
Giving a soft smile, Xiao Zhi Ren added, "I'm trying to convince you." Ru frowned at his reply. "Let your demons call it a night. It's time for you to come to light... I don't think there is any fun living in black and white."
Ru could only gape at him for being... so peculiar with his words?
But then again, she wasn't one to actually talk. After all, she was even more peculiar in her words.
"I asked you a very simple question, why do you want to become a part of this hell?" While saying the word 'hell' she even made a gesture at herself as if saying, 'Yours truly is no better than hell himself.'
"Didn't I just gave the answer?" Seeing her narrowing her eyes dangerously, Xiao Zhi Ren sighed. "Okay, so to answer your simple question... I'll use simple words now... I am choosing hell perhaps because I've come to admire the demon who rules this hell."
This was Ru's turn to be stumped for words. 'He called me a demon? Right?' She wondered to herself unpleasantly but heard a nagging voice in her mind. 'He also said he admired this demon! Focus on the things that matter.' Ru rolled her eyes inwardly before eyeing Xiao Zhi Ren from head to toe.
"Every relationship comes at a price in this world. And being a sworn brother comes with the price of responsibilities. One not only has to share the happiness but also the grief and also, sometimes, one has to pay the price with life. It's not any casual relationship." Ru stated sternly since she took such matters a lot seriously than other people because of the way she was cultivated from her young age. "I told you to think big if not wisely. Why are you being foolish?"
Xiao Zhi Ren didn't mind her words at all. He already had reckoned that the young 'man' wasn't going to give in so easily.
"I'm not being foolish at all." Ru snorted at his reply but he disregarded it as he went on, "I know for a fact that you are not one to shy away from paying the price of death. Especially if someone important to you is at stake... I agree that being sworn brothers is not a casual matter. It's indeed a very serious decision. But let me be honest with you, I am also not someone who would shy away from death."
Did she not trust his words? Of course, she believed each word that he said. She knew him as a very honest kind of person who would never say something that goes against his morals. Perhaps, that's why she was even more reluctant to accept his wish. She was shrouded in dark... Her whole life was a lie in itself. Even her gender was an illusion much less her identity!
In that case, how could she let herself get attached to a person like him? He was the epitome of righteous human being that she had ever come across in her life.
Light and darkness... They both were polar opposites... They could only co-exist in peace but being together was a far cry.