"Wh-Who are you?"
RuoMin lifted her hands trying to break free from the arms of the man with a confused look painted on her delicate face.
"LianHua... You came back. I thought you were dead, and our child... BeiYin! Where is BeiYin?"
"I- I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know who BeiYin is!"
The man looked up on her with tears on his face. RuoMin couldn't help but gulp saliva. She was too clueless about the situation and who this man is. XueCao stood up and wiped blood dripping from his mouth and knelt in front of Asuro.
"My Lord... You have awakened!"
"Who are you? Why did you bring me back?"
"My Lord, I am Lu XueCao. I spent hundreds of years trying to find a way to bring you back."
"Good enough. Do you have any wish in pretense of bringing me back?"
"No my Lord, I am here to fulfill your wish long ago..."
"Fulfill my-"
Asuro held his head. Memories of long ago came back once again. The betrayal, death and longing... And most of all, vengeance. He sat on the stone table looking far away falling deep unto his thoughts and spoke...
"The humans killed my LianHua and attempted to kill my unborn child... I must get vengeance!"
RuoMin saw his fists set ablaze. His demonic visage is returning once again.
'I must prevent him. Although I do not know who this man is, keeping him calm is a must right now.'
Placing her hands on his flaming fists, RuoMin courageously held his hands despite the pain of the flames. Asuro felt the gentle hands on his and saw RuoMin's face full of sweat. He quickly put off the flames in his hands.
"I'm sorry. LianHua... Are you hurt?"
"I—I'm fine." A forced smile curved up her lips clasping her hands on top of another to conceal the damage caused by the flames.
"Come... Let's have tea together."
"There is tea in the Dark Realm?"
"Of course! The tea here tastes rather good."
"Is it... Is it okay for half-immortals like me?"
"Yes of course. Come follow me."
"But I can't."
RuoMin looked at the chains bound on her hands and her feet. An angry expression blurted out from Asuro. His eyes are fixed at XueCao.
"This is no way to treat our guests here XueCao! Remove these infernal chains or I'll remove your head!"
"Y—Yes... Right away my Lord."
When the chains on her hands were removed, Asuro led her upstairs into a grand balcony with chairs and tables wonderfully decorated by dark rubies and black gold.
Asuro sat at the chair and beckoned RuoMin to sit beside him. He then flicked his hand and a demon servant came bringing a tray with red porcelain teapot and black-colored cups. He then poured tea unto the cups and gave RuoMin the crimson-colored tea.
Looking at the odd tea, RuoMin reached on her cup with her hands trembling. She's hesitant on drinking the tea. She's taking turns on looking at Asuro's face then back to the tea and then back at Asuro.
"What's the matter? Why aren't you drinking?"
"The tea... I'm not used to drinking odd tea like this."
"Isn't it enough for me to drink the tea and prove to you that it's safe?"
"How should I know that it's safe for me? You're the demon lord."
RuoMin pouted and Asuro turned red pepper corns. He averted his eyes from RuoMin and turned on the other direction. He noticed her staring at him and released an exasperated breath.
"Alright. I'll send my demons to abduct a mortal and send it here to taste the tea."
"SERIOUSLY? WHAT?!"
Raising his hand, he conjured a cloud of dark mist sending it unto a portal opening into the interior part of a village. RuoMin used her hands and covered her eyes as the demons dragged a man screaming inside the portal. As the portal closed up, the man knelt in front of them and begged.
"Please spare my life. I'm working in the fields for my family. My family will starve if I don't work."
"I am not going to kill you. Kind sir please taste this tea."
The man looked up Asuro and RuoMin. A smile flashed on his face as he saw RuoMin seating beside Asuro.
"L—Lunar Empress! Why are you here?"
"Lunar what?"
RuoMin gestured at the man to shut up putting her pointing finger on her mouth. The man gulped saliva and showed a fake smile at Asuro.
"Uh... Lord... If I may, I'd be glad to taste the tea."
"Yes. Go on."
Asuro gave the cup of tea to him and he sipped it. A sweat trailed at RuoMin's head seeing the man deliberately drank the tea. The man's eyes grew wide after he finished a cup and looked at Asuro with a confused expression and afterwards happily smiled at both of them.
"Lord, this tea tastes go—"
Before saying more words, Asuro conjured a portal directly into the village where he came from and threw him inside.
"Ah— why did you throw him?"
"His facial expression is annoying! I thought he would die drinking the tea I made but then he pretended to shock me like that before smiling like an idiot!"
"Calm down... Maybe he's just surprised at the unusual flavour."
Both of them argued like a couple and after Asuro calmed down, he let the matter pass by like leaves in the wind.
"So this is the Dark Realm huh. How did you get banished here in the first place?"
"Rejected High immortals who drew blood from the mortal realm will be banished automatically. Haven't anyone taught you that before you became an Empress of Light?"
"Empress of wha—? It's Lunar Empress though. I haven't been taught formal education from schools and also I attained this position by my own hard work."
"I see then. I admire your determination."
"A—Asuro... You're Asuro right? Can I make a request?"
"I'm listening."
RuoMin wanted to ask him to cancel his vengeance on Old Jianghu and let the mortals go. Everything had already changed after the war hundreds of years ago. Her arms shuddered as she opened her mouth...
"Uh... I... I want you to make peace with mortals."
Asuro's eyes darkened along with his thoughts. With a furious expression, he flipped the table and the teapot along with the cups broke on the floor. His evil visage is now showing it's true form and snarled baring his huge fangs at her along with his sharp and humongous claws.
"KILL... MORTALS."
Frightened, RuoMin scrammed into a nearby facade with panic painted on her face. Her hands were now trembling and it seems like she had been sunk into a pool of cold water. Her body froze in shock as the demonic monster came forth.
"You! I was willing to sacrifice my immortality for you humans once! But look what they did to my family! My daughter! My wife, LianHua... She was killed mercilessly with BeiYin in her womb!"
"No! All mortals are different from each other! What you had witnessed from 300 years ago was different from what we have now!"
"Don't you think you humans are such high and mighty beings! Well, let me show you all that you are nothing but just trifle beings worthy to be trampled upon!"
His hand raised up in the air preparing to claw RuoMin but then again, RuoMin realized something. The purpose why she had lived. For what purpose was she even living? She was an illegitimate child whose a product of a horrid thing called LUST. In the first place, she wasn't worthy even living at all... She thought to herself as she stood facing a dire creature in front of her.
'My life isn't even worthy of living anyway. Even though I had became a Lunar Empress for the benefit of the people of Old Jianghu, it wouldn't still change a thing about my dark past.'
Eyes closing, she wanted the claws to sink in her body and finally end her worthless life.
RuoMin held her hands and arms wide open. With a befuddled look, Asuro looked at her hands intently and gradually reverted back to his original form. RuoMin expected the claws would pierce her body at any moment but instead, a warm sensation filled her as Asuro held her injured hands unto his face.
"I— I am sorry for startling you..."
'W—What? I'm not dead yet? And what is this? Tears? Was he...'
*Pit pat*
Asuro's tears could not stop rolling from his eyes.
"LinHua... I am very sorry... You died because of me... I couldn't protect you from them. Even I, abandoned BeiYin... I am such a worthless being."
RuoMin did not understand what he meant but somehow, a thorn was placed in her heart seeing him like this. She trailed her hand unto her back and finally wrapped her arms around his neck. She let herself bury on his arms.
"It's going to be alright." She whispered under her breath. Her hands caressed Asuro which made him calm. For hundreds of years, he yearned for her and now...
'LinHua... I won't definitely let you go.'