'Returning Fate, reoccurring Life
Repeating Cycle, recycled Moral
Does 'All' a subject to Karma?
Or does Karma exist due to all?
For there is no reason for an 'End'
If the 'Beginning' never exist'
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The two princes, Wu Chen and Wu Nanming, are sitting in disgrace, scolded by Lady Hwang
"…"
She looks at both with quiet yet heavy looks, disappointed is an understatement
"You two…"
She said those words in the same gentle voice, yet the pressure it gives off is unbearably tight and heavy, both princes were shuddering at mere words of their mother
"I apologize to Lady Hwang for not taking the rule seriously"
Nanming was the first to apologize.
Chen quickly acted the same way and uttered the same word
"I too, apologize to mother to dare and defy the rule of her manor"
But Lady Hwang just sighed, rubbing her temple as she looked at them with a worried face.
She then closed in and hugged both.
The smell of fragrance she uses hit their nose in a pleasant and calming scent
"I'm not angry because you broke the law, I'm angry because you both had just face great danger without any care"
She said with great care
"I don't care if you are strong enough or mighty enough. First and foremost, I am your mother. And as your mother…"
Suddenly, the hug intensifies to the point that it was suffocating
"I forbid both of you to face great danger until you finish the Seven Bird Descend Trial"
Lady Hwang said, both can only nod, in which the Lady responds by smiling warmly
Feeling dejected, Chen could only lower his head and accept punishment, Nanming who doesn't know anything, follow Chen's lead and copy his movement
"Yes mother…"
Chen mutters
Both were then told to sleep even though it was already morning.
They can't do anything to refuse it though, so they comply and try their hardest to sleep
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About 3 hours later, a knock on the window leading outside from Nanming room.
Nanming was instantly awakened, he grabbed his sword and rushed over to see.
It was Chen, hanging by the edge of the manor.
"Phew, I thought you were still asleep"
Chen said as he climbed inside, Nanming soon put his sword back down.
"Well, I am asleep until you came just now…"
Nanming sat on a chair nearby and decided to prepare tea to sleep.
"Woah, you can make tea too?"
Chen said.
Nanming ignores him and continues to do what he did and then pour a cup of tea.
The smell is but ordinary hot water
"Let me try it"
Chen immediately snatches the cup away from him
"Wait—"
Nanming tried to warn him that the tea was still hot
Chen immediately draws away from the cup; his mouth is swelling hot.
He lolled his tongue out to cool it down
"…Idiot"
Nanming said, but there is no real weight behind those words
He then took one cup for himself and poured tea.
Unlike Chen, he takes his time cooling it down before taking a sip
"…"
Nanming carefully taste the tea, letting it linger in his mouth before gulping it down.
It tastes like water that has been soaked in someone's sandal
"…Its bad"
He said, in an uninterested look as he pours the tea down from the window
"How did his lordship manage to make it so delightful"
Nanming observed the tea leaves, carefully looking at them, licking them and even biting into them.
Only tasting bitterness, he soon stops his pointless action
"Never mind that, you should return Chen"
Nanming regards Chen
Chen, still lolling his tongue out, said
"Im bored, I can't sleep"
Chen said, changing his posture to be more regal
"We are a Demonic Prince, since when do rules shackled us?"
Chen said with confident words
"…Rule don't bound us, mother did. Are you saying you want to defy mother?"
Nanming said as he returned to his bed. Leaving Chen alone
"Hmph, you're a coward brother, you are clearly powerful and smart. Why would you stay put with all that might?"
Chen said, his back turned to Nanming
"Chen… Sometimes, you need to retreat before advancing. Even wave's roll back"
Nanming said before he falls asleep almost instantly
"Brother?"
Chen calls out, only to be ignored.
Realizing that he was asleep, Chen let him be
"…"
He ponders the words Nanming mutters. Never had he heard such a profound quote.
'Retreat to advance' Those words repeat in his head.
He then got out of the window, closing it and returned to his room.
Unknowingly, outside Nanming room.
Are the Demon King and Lady Hwang, silently eavesdropping their conversation
"Since when did Little Chen become so brave? 'No rules bound us' spoken like a true Demon King"
The Demon King smirked; this time he didn't wear his mask.
"…"
Lady Hwang looks concerned, as if she was sure that Chen will receive another punishment
"What will you do Ra? I think he should face another discipline"
Lady Hwang said.
The Demon King then turned his face towards the Lady, admiring her beauty.
He then cups her face with his callused hand
"I overlook this, besides. 'Retreat before Advancing'? You continue to surprise me with that little smart brain of yours"
The Demon King smiles with satisfaction, while Lady Hwang looks angrily at him, how dare he ignore her advice.
Lady Hwang then crossed her arm and walked away
"Hwang?"
The Demon King said, realizing that Lady Hwang is moving away from him, he jumps up chasing her down but soon stops.
He then sighed.
"Haaaah, well. It's time to get to work..."
He said as if his face darkens with malice
"Elder Nang, right? I'll make sure you wish for death…"
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Crimson Palace Outer Court, The Midnight Manor. 5 hours earlier
A figure, wearing a black veil.
Walks down the candle lit wall, the inside of the manor is eerily similar to Lady Hwang Manor.
The way she walks, the way she acts. All in accordance with how Lady Hwang does.
Then, the figure walks inside a room, inside is an elderly man with aging hair and beard yet his complexion is of someone of incredible youth with fair skin and lively eyes.
"Long time no see, Lady Myung…"
The man said, the figure. Lady Myung proceeds to take of her veil, revealing a jade-like beauty that could bring a nation to its downfall
"Elder Nang, how have you've been?"
Lady Myung asks
Elder Nang is one of the Demonic Sect Twelve Elder who guides the Sect and advice the Demon King, their influence is not to be trifled with.
"…Terrible, my plan to raise a Ghost Army was thwarted by some white-haired brat…"
Elder Nang eyes then glow bright red as his face contorts into contempt.
"Not only that, but my Cultivation was also brought down to the Mortal Realm… If not for the elixir you provided, I might not resuscitate my Cultivation"
Elder Nang said, tapping his forehead as he tried to calm his nerve down
"Well, I'm glad to be of help…"
Lady Myung said.
But the mention of a 'white haired brat' instantly picked her intrigue.
"And about that brat, does he use a red sword?"
She asks, Elder Nang immediately jumps from his seat
"YES! THAT IS HIM! Have you met him?"
Elder Nang wished to inquire further.
Lady Myung smiles even brighter.
"Then you should exchange good news with another good news"
She said, in which Elder Nang could only grumble
"I forgot that you are a Prime Fiend…" He sits back down.
In the Demonic Sect, there are two distinctions between each of its members.
The one who joins the Demonic Sect and was later planted with a Blood Parasite is called simply as Thrall Fiend, while those who were born in the Demonic Sect by a Fiend Parent is called the Prime Fiend.
Lady Myung is a Prime Fiend, and as such she can control and even produce Demonic Energy without training, at the cost of them straying further into the path of Sins.
"I've successfully enticed Va Tua to send me a Pseudo-Spirit of her creation, given that it was created by a Xiantian, the quality is top-notch"
Elder Nang explained.
"Not only that, but I also managed to contract several Divine Spirits to… mess around during this year Academy trial in hope of killing either Wu Chen or Wu Yuen"
Elder Nang explanation was cut off by Lady Myung.
"I don't care about your little plan for the Academy; I wanted to know if that Pseudo-Spirit thingamajig has been sent to that Bitch Hwang manor…"
She interjects, drawing some well-hidden sigh from Elder Nang who cannot stand her over-the-top Envy for Lady Hwang.
"…Yes, it should be a matter of time before she was maimed"
He said with a cruel grin.
Lady Myung was even more delighted at this news
"Excellent! This way, if it were caught, the Spirit King Sect will take the blame"
She said with an unending smile
"But can you guarantee it? That it will kill Ugly Hwang?"
"But of course, the hair that you've send has been of great help. I bind my souls to that thing. It won't be free until It kills Lady Hwang"
Elder Nang explained
"Hahahaha! Delightful. In the past, I could only dream seeing that wretched bitch face in pain. Now it's almost reality!"
She said as she made a dramatic gesture.
'Fool! That spirit was caught by a Ghost some time ago, but there is no need to tell her that'
Elder Nang thought
'It's all just a part of my plan to get back on this accursed Sect! Mi'an, one day… One day, I would make all who burns you suffer a fate worse than you!'
Elder Nang endlessly cursed the Demonic Sect. Recalling the face of her dear daughter who is a victim of this Sect accursed 'Exhumed Rose' tradition.
"Now, about that child"
Elder Nang is getting impatient as he shakes his leg
"Ah, forgive me. That child is here in the Demonic Sect"
She spoke.
"…Ha…hahahahahaha"
Elder Nang instantly imagines the 1000 things he could do to make him suffer for wasting 30 years of his life creating the Ghost Army
"Where is he?"
But he calmed his anger, he cannot afford to be reckless in the Demonic Sect, here, he was just a mere Elder.
Though his influence is great, it doesn't mean that he can do whatever he wishes to do.
"In Lady Hwang manor, as the Demon King adoptive son that is"
Lady Myung words cause an echo of loud voice as Elder Nang smashes the table
"…The Demon King… Adoptive son?"
He said in disbelief, now all his plan was thrown out of the window.
"So that's the source of all the commotion, to think he would adopt another child…"
Elder Nang frowned, now it's impossible to get him.
If there is one thing the Demon King, Wu Hailang Raijoo is famous for, is that he is fiercely protective of his children, even when he… 'Hated' them.
"Relax Elder Nang, I have a way…"
Lady Myung said, Elder Nang face immediately lights up
"Oh? And what is it?"
He asks
"Its…."
Lady Myung whispered into Elder Nang ear, he instantly makes a delighted face
"OHO, I AGREE, I ABSOLUTELY AGREE! WHAT A GENIUS YOU ARE LADY MYUNG!"
Elder Nang praise Lady Myung to the sky
'See that husband? I am much smarter than that bitch Hwang'
Lady Myung makes a satisfied smile, proud of her own scheme.
"So, in order to do that I must—"
Elder Nang collapsed to the ground, vomiting dark blood that smells horrid.
A Plasmatic Spirit Blood.
"Elder Nang? What—mmgh"
Lady Myung instantly closes her nose in order not to let the foul stench hit her
"Cough cough cough"
Elder Nang coughing got worse; he clutches his heart as his eyes seems that it was about to burst out of his eyes
'Shit, the spirit dies. But there is no way it could damage me this much if it was merely devoured by the Ghost. Someone killed it, but there is no way im telling her about that'
Elder Nang tries his hardest not to pass out
Lady Myung face turns grim "
You failed, aren't you?"
Elder Nang face drops
'Shit, she knows!'
he said as he closes his mouth with his hand
"Husband, why must you get in my way this soon?"
She said as she bites her nail
"Elder Nang, it's not your fault. The Demon King calls the Netherstride Sect to deal with the Spirit and the Ghost"
Lady Myung said as she soon covered her face with the sleeves of her robe, only her contemptuous gaze is visible through it.
'Wait, she knows about the Ghost?'
Elder Nang thought.
Then, Lady Myung inches closer towards Elder Nang.
"I hope that you won't lie to me again next time, I have eyes and ears everywhere…"
She said with a low voice, to which Elder Nang could only nod
"Excellent, I will be taking my leave. You should wait in your manor; I will deliver a letter under the name Latang"
she said as she exits the room, leaving Elder Nang to be completely alone
"…"
Elder Nang slowly rises and wipes the viscous black liquid out of his mouth
"Hmph, I was careless and thick-skulled. To think that she would predict this… I should've taken the First Prince advice in earnest"
He clutches his heart again
"Yet Sect Leader Va Tua failed to predict this? She said that the Ghost will just devour the Spirit. Someone else must've been interfering…"
Elder Nang thought, he never wanted to kill Lady Hwang in the first place, all he wanted to do was to cause enough commotion that his misdeed of kidnapping 20 children for the Divine Spirit offering was overlooked.
The same goes for Va Tua, who insists on letting the Spirit be devoured by a Ghost.
"Could it be that white-haired boy? Or the folks from the Netherstride?"
He gazes back at the door where Lady Myung just left
He then shifted his focus to the impending dawn and the subtle orange the rising sun gives off on the horizon.
Terrified yet oddly curious about what the future might hold
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'It's cold, It's damp, it's dark…. It's scary.'
A though rang out but never spoke. Mere sentence destined to once again fall
He saw a deep crimson color in snow; a figure was lying. Something is coming out of her…. her?
And before he realized it, a figure approached.
Himself.
Of Wrath.
Look how they killed her…
"Who is she?"
…Your mother
"…What?"
Yes
"No"
Why would I lie?
"….No…."
It is all their fault
"…NO"
All their fault!
"NO! Get out!!!"
KILL THEM!
"Get Out!"
The boy stabs his own heart with a wooden stick.
He stabs and stabs and stabs and stabs and stabs and stabs and stabs and stabs and stabs and stabs and stabs.
The bloodied snow turns redder and blacker
Then his ribs opened, he pushed away his lungs.
Unbothered by the pain, he digs deeper until he could feel a wriggly mass of flesh beating.
He grabbed it and he instantly vomited blood
Suddenly, countless corpses spawn.
The carpenter, the sweet seller, the medicine broker, the baker lady, the woodsmen, the hunter…. The little girl all is but a corpse.
Don't worry me, they deserve this!
"Get Out!"
Look at what they made you do… You have no choice but to kill them…
"No! I don't want this!"
Stop denying me, you need to kill them as well!
"NO!"
KILL THEM!
KILL THEM ALL!
BURN THEM DOWN TO MERE SOOT!
Be Wrathful!
He grabbed his heart even tighter, pulling it out.
'GET OUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT'
'Be Wrathful!'
He started pulling, again and again and again. Each time he was in pain, but it was muffled by his grief
'I SAID GETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT OUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT'
Burn them!
And with final pull, he ripped it out. The gushing of blood is like rain of blood
The boy screams, in a wet, guttural sound as if his inside was poured with hot oil.
Kill…. Every….one! You a….re...a........
The boy stops, in his hand. A beating heart. In his chest, a hole, empty. As it should be
He never wants this, he never wished for this, why does it have to be him?
Out of Fucking. Million. Other?
Why should it be him?
Why does it have to be me?
Why is it that this hand can only take?
Why is it that I cannot save?
Why is it that I could only kill?
Why am I Wrathful?
Why?
"Why me?"
Is it my sin to wish?
If this is my fate, I better off never exist in the first place
A thought was ringing in his head, like a scream that only he could hear, this is insanity, why does it have to be him?
And so it will be, this young boy, blind by fate is lucky to be the strongest, but he didn't choose this, he didn't wish for this, he didn't ask for this
All he wanted was to live a peaceful life, happy and with the one he cares for, and he took them all
With his own hand
He burned them all
He killed the lady who makes that delicious moon cake
He killed the old man who always makes him toy
He killed the girl who always plays with him, eat her hearts and pulled her eyes
He burns them all
Perforates their visage until nothing but Soot is left.
He is the only one alive, simply because he kills everyone
Rotten to the core, he is a Demon
Demon
He even killed his own Mother
And her face, contorts garishly as a word rings out. DIE.
…
Nanming wakes up from a terrible dream. His body was covered in sweat. His face is paler than even ghost. Yet not a word leaves his mouth. Only unspoken terror, and a name he forgot
"…I will not become Wrath…"