Chapter 2: Villains are made not born.
Villains are made not born— unknown.
In this world, the strong are respected and the weak perish. More especially in the demon realm. Halflings were considered an abomination in the demon world. They were usually fragile and delicate because they were part human. For this, they were despised and bullied in all demon realms.
It wasn't any better in the mortal realm either. They were considered monsters and devils, an abomination that shouldn't exist they were rejected and feared. So how did Xiang Yu, a halfling become the northern Demon King? To understand it one had to go back to the time of his birth.
While other mothers proudly carried their pregnant bellies his mother had been tying her belly to hide it from the proprietress of the Spring Lights brothel. If the proprietress were to find out about this she would have been enraged and punished her severely for costing them money.
Like most women in the brothel, she drank the decoction to prevent any accidents after having several trysts with her clients. This time, however, it didn't work.
To make matters worse the devilishly handsome man that had gotten her pregnant had even told her that he would return to pick up his offspring when the time came. Soon enough the big belly became quite noticeable, especially through the thin clothes she wore in the brothel. Sure enough, the proprietress was angered by this. But before she could use other means to get rid of it the client brought eight pieces of gold as compensation.
Her face crinkled as she greedily looked at the riches in her hand. Thus Li Hua was forced to carry her pregnancy to full term.
The man soon revealed his true form as the Demon King appearing out of thin air in the backroom where she was screaming in agony giving birth. This was when she realised that the man she had carried a child for was a monster. Fear struck her but the excruciating labour pains overwhelmed her. Her body was drenched in sweat as she clutched the sheets hanging on the wooden beams of the back room.
Surprisingly when she gave birth there wasn't just one child but two, a boy and a girl. In the moonlit backroom, the Demon King's crimson eyes fixed on the two tiny bundles and when he laid eyes on his daughter he picked her up and cradled her in his arms. He placed a pouch filled with silver on the side table before turning to leave.
Li Hua's sunken eyes widened as she pointed at the other newborn. The innocent baby gazed up with curious eyes. As if sensing the rejection in his eyes he instinctively reached out his tiny hand towards his father, his innocent and plump face contorted into a hopeful smile deliberately acting cute.
Disdain curled his lips as he replied coldly, "Do as you please with it."
After saying that he swung the backroom doors open and with an air of indifference about him he disappeared into the cold abyss of the snowy night, leaving the innocent child behind.
Li Hua knew she couldn't keep this baby. It was inconvenient for a courtesan to have a child hanging around. It interfered with business.
The snowy night wrapped the brothel in a hushed stillness, broken only by the muffled cries of a newborn in the backroom. Li Hua, her heart as cold as the snowflakes that clung to her hair, cradled the swaddled infant in her arms. The child's shaky wails pierced the frigid air, but Li Hua's resolve remained unyielding.
Telling herself that she was doing this for the child's sake she snuck out of the town and deep into the forest, the snow crunching under her delicate shoes.
She found a clearing, the moonlight casting an ethereal glow on the untouched snow and laid the newborn down, wrapping him tightly in a thin blanket. His cries echoed through the forest, pleading for warmth, for love. But she turned away, her footsteps leaving no trace as she retreated.
When she returned to the brothel her life carried on like nothing happened. The proprietress generously gave her two months to recuperate before going back in rotation. After all her beauty was a great asset and the compensation had been made. Four days passed, and she dared to believe that the newborn had frozen to death or had been devoured by wolves. Not even an adult could survive four days in the freezing cold with a thin blanket let alone a newborn baby.
That was until the yamen knocked at the brothel doors his heavy cloak dusted with snow. In his hands, he had a carefully wrapped-up bundle.
He had searched door to door with his enforcement officers looking for pregnant women or those who had given birth already. For those who had given birth already, he would check for their newborns. His investigation landed him at the Spring Lights brothel.
His gaze bore into her, piercing through her lies. She claimed that there was a robbery four days ago and the thief grabbed an entire bundle off her bed taking her baby with them.
The yamen scoffed. He didn't believe any of her lies. Li Hua knelt, her knees sinking into the brothel's floorboards. "My lord," she whispered, her voice trembling, "the thief took the bundle from my bed, unaware that a child lay within."
He studied her, suspicion etched across his face. This child had survived three nights buried underneath a blanket of snow. He was barely alive when they found him and the side of his neck was an obsidian mark etched into his skin. The baby's porcelain skin was now tinged with blue his movements sluggish. After treating him the yamen went on the hunt for his mother.
Li Hua dared not meet his eyes. "It's truly a miracle. Thank you my lord for returning him safely to me." Her words seemed sincere but her body language was not that of a mother who had lost her child.
"If anything happens to this child I will find you first," he said before handing the child over back to his mother.
Those words were what saved Xiang Yu's life but whether he had a good life was another question.
Seeing how obedient the child was and how he barely cried the proprietress agreed for him to stay in one of the back rooms in the brothel with his mother.
But not a day would go by without him being scolded by the one person who was supposed to love him. She would berate him calling him the child of a devil, a monster that shouldn't have lived. If she wasn't scolding him, she would beat him so badly that the other courtesans would intervene.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Andru_9788
Andru_9788 Thank you so much Star_S, Stars_to_fall, PatchworkArtist, Evalynn, MsTempestNova, Pagalu, HaniiX94, Melite, Emma_k, Fitoria_01, FoxAsianHere and Monmot for the amazing gifts. I will continue to work hard
Chapter 3: You will not leave me...
As he grew up he tried to make his presence as little as possible and do things to please his mother to avoid triggering her anger. Everyone in the brothel said he was a lovely little boy and well-behaved. Everyone except for his mother.
He would run errands, clean rooms, wash the dishes and sometimes wash the bed sheets along with the other cleaning staff. His payment for getting the job done would be given to his mother but Xiang Yu never saw a penny of that.
He didn't mind that she took all his money. He was just happy that she scolded him less and the beatings drastically reduced especially the days she received payment.
Because his mother never showed him affection he would sneakily lie next to her for a little warmth on the nights she passed out drunk. He liked his mother like this. She didn't scold him or call him the son of a demon.
Xiang Yu thought they could live like this forever but one day something changed. When he was ten years old a very wealthy client took a fancy to his mother. He was allured by her graceful beauty and her mesmerising talent in playing the Guqin. Slowly her tendrils wrapped around his heart and the man became jealous of her seeing other clients.
That year on her birthday Xiang Yu skipped happily back to the brothel after running some errands. He had bought his mother a longevity peach and a jade pendant with a meticulously carved flower representing her name. As for how he could afford it, he had taken up extra work at Butcher Jong's shop for an entire year.
He was about to present his gifts to his mother when she suddenly hugged him excitedly. For once, she didn't look at him with disdain or dismiss him. Little Xiang Yu stood there, his heart pounding as if it were trying to break free from its icy cage.
Li Hua's embrace lingered a fragile warmth that thawed something deep within him. For the first time, he finally felt the so-called motherly affection that other children spoke of.
A mother was a person who was supposed to give you hugs and kisses. She would put medicine for you when you fall and blow on the wound for it to hurt less. She would sit on your bedside all night guarding you while you have a fever. At least this was what other children said but his mother was not like that. Today, however, he finally felt the warmth a mother should have from her.
Her eyes flickered with something resembling tenderness. She brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, her touch gentle yet fleeting. "Yu Yu," she called out. It was the first time she called him like this. It was always little beast or you, come here each time she called for him.
His chest tightened while calling out softly, "Mother."
She let out joyous laughter as she let him go. Li Hua walked towards the window and looked out at the stars her silk dress fluttering with the soft breeze.
Xiang Yu took out the things he brought for her to wish her a happy birthday only to hear her say, "I can finally leave this hell hole. Finally... I can regain my freedom."
Xiang Yu's fingers clenched around the jade pendant he had saved for, his mind refusing to accept that her affection was only because of this. "We are leaving?" he said, the words bitter on his tongue. He knew the answer already but he held on to a little hope.
She turned back to look at him and with a sarcastic smile she asked, "Who is we? You can't come with me... I am going to be a concubine to a wealthy man. I can't bring a rice weevil like you with me."
He wanted to scream, to shatter the illusion of warmth that had briefly enveloped him. His voice trembling he asked, "And what of me?"
She tilted her head, studying him as if he were a curiosity. "You can stay and continue working for the Madam or you can go wherever you want. Nothing is holding you here. Hahaha, we... that's funny. Come pour me some tea." Her expression was so casual like she hadn't just dropped a huge bomb on him.
His heart blackened his tiny body trembling. For once he didn't do as she told him. He ran out into the night. He didn't know where he was going neither did he care. As long as it wasn't at the brothel anywhere would be fine.
The forest loomed before him, its ancient trees swaying gently with the cool breeze. His breath came in ragged gasps, the chilling air searing his lungs.
The twigs and leaves crunched as he sprinted, desperate for answers. Why him? Why didn't she love him? Was he not good enough to be her son? He could change. He could change whatever it was that she disliked about him. He would change as long as she didn't leave him.
At the forest's edge, Xiang Yu's legs gave way. He leaned against a gnarled tree trunk, its bark rough against his back. He slid down, hugging his knees to his chest, the pain radiating from his core.
Endless questions continued echoing through his mind but no one could answer him. Why had she held him, if only to discard him like a broken doll?
Why had he dared to hope for warmth, for love, when all she ever offered was cruelty? He had endured her heartless scolding and beatings all for what? He did everything she asked and more just to please her but what did he get in return?
His fist unclenched, revealing the jade pendant that had left indents in his palm. Its cool surface mocked him. He had believed when she saw it she would finally smile at him but now, it felt like a curse.
His eyes burned, and he raised his head. They were no longer the soft brown of a lost child. They blazed a fierce, unnatural red.
A twisted smile stretched across his face, revealing sharp canines. His lips curved upward, but there was no warmth in the expression, only resentment. The moonlight caught the glint in his blood-red eyes, turning them into pools of malevolence. As he chuckled, the sound echoed through the silent forest, scaring any animals nearby into hiding.
"Mother," he whispered, the word dripping with venom. "You will not leave me."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Andru_9788
Andru_9788
Hello little angels. Buckle up, it's going to be an epic ride. Thank you so much for the lovely golden tickets. I appreciate it so so much
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