The two men had travelled to a town far beyond the mountains. They had booked an inn,the two men did not say a word to each other,as the reality of everything that had happen and would happen,crashed down on them .
Xiao Ling walked over to his room and quickly shut himself in. He did not leave the room for days. He wanted to be alone,he needed to be alone so he can process everything.
For two thousand years, he has been alone with nothing but his thoughts. His body was no longer his to control. It danced alone in mortal realms, not caring whether it was laughed at or beaten to a pulp; it just laughed while its eyes cried. No one could understand the turmoil inside his heart; no one saw his heart rip itself to pieces until it could no longer be grasped. Yet Xiao Ling would somehow find all the specs and put them all together, refusing to give in even after the process repeated second after second. A battle he had no choice but to fight,less he becomes a true lunatic.
He was now free of the curse that had dragged him through the cold hell. However, Xiao Ling was still in hell, thrown into flames that could not be distinguished, forever roaring and burning everything it touched. Always lonely.
Xiao Ling had longed to see Minghua for centuries; countless times, he had tried to chase him down in his nightmares, begging him to stay for just one more minute.
How many times had he imagined the figure clad in black talking to him? Walking beside him and comforting him after every humiliating act the lunatic performed?
He had imagined himself collapsing in his best friend's arms, crying his heart out about all the pain in his heart,wondering when they reunite again. Now finally they found each other after two thousand years, and Xiao Ling barely even felt relief.
Xiao Ling curled up on the bed, the bed creaked under his weight as he did so, his knuckles twisting in the bed sheets till they turned pale.
His lips parted and a choked sob escaped his lips. The cry was pitiful and weak, barely even audible . It did not sound one of a martial god but instead it was the cry of a beaten dog left by the roadside,not even capable of fending for itself.
Xiao ling wanted to disappear. Life was torture for him,every single second was pure agony. He felt as if he was being burned from the inside . Despite this,he had to force himself to live because some shitty people still cared for this worthless piece of shit,they never let him feel it,just let it be known.
They never showed him that care,or at least not enough care to save him from this misery. Just enough for Xiao ling to hold on to and not throw himself off a cloud.
Xiao Ling snapped his eyes open , fury blazing inside those once gentle eyes. His eyes had always been both gentle and sharp at the same time. Warm like the sun,but also as dangerous as the flames from that very star. However, now they were just cold like a dying star.
He grabbed a pillow and brought it to his face. He trembled as his chest felt as if it was being crushed under a mountain.
He screamed .The pillow was unable to muffle his cries and reached every ear.
Mortals hurdled together as they heard that terrifying blood curdling scream,their forms trembling. Some were convinced a demon had entered the Inn and too started to scream.
Those who had chosen to instead hurdle together and pray the demons won't find them felt as if they had been thrown into hell.
The scream was raw and sounded that off a man on the verge of death, crying his sorrow out at for the last time.
Gradually, the scream started to die out and eventually came to a complete stop.
The mortals also stopped screaming.
For a moment, there was complete silence. Nothing could be heard except the shuffling and creaking of beds as the other guests in the inn tried not to attract attention to themselves,tried so hard not to weep in despair and the occasional whisper from a father soothing their children and wives.
Xiao Ling lay still, eyes blank as he stared at the ceiling before his body violently jolted and he sat up right.
"Cough, cough." Xiao Ling lifted his arm up and touched his throat; it was aching and throbbing, making it hard to breathe. He tried to suck in some air, but all that happened was that he ended up sounding like a broken kettle.
He frowned and quickly poured himself a cup of water before chugging the cooling liquid down. He tossed the cup aside, not caring as it banged against the door, probably scaring some poor family before rolling on the ground.
He lifted his eyes up and spotted a fruit basket lying on the table. He reached out and felt around until he felt something sharp and thin. He lifted the object up, and his eyes gleamed as he saw what it was. As expected, it was a fruit knife.
He stared at it and shifted back into the bed, his back touching the bed frame. He folded his long, slender legs and relaxed.
He brought the knife closer until the cool blade was pressing against his thin wrist. He pressed it closer and lifted his eyes up just as he was about to make the cut.
He paused and felt his blood run cold.
His eyes fell on a small bundle of bananas. Yellow and fresh, with not a single brown spot on them.
He was suddenly brought back to the past.
...
A young girl, barely older than a baby, stood upon a table. Judging by her appearance, she could be no older than two years old. She was small for her age, she was chubby with pinkish, round cheeks, eyes big like peaches, and could overall be described as an adorable little plump.
Her eyes were glossy from trying to hold back her tears. Eyebrows formed into a small frown.
Her small, chubby hand reached out for a bundle of bananas lying out before her. She slowly grabbed one of the yellow fruits before turning her head to watch the redhead sitting a few feet away from her.
Xiao Ling sat on a chair, his Long dark robes touching the ground. He had one cheek resting on the back of his palm, while cold indifferent eyes stared at her.
"Do you want this badana?" The little girl asked, holding back a sob, as she lifted the fruit up.
Xiao Ling shook his head, "No, not that 'banana', the one right there!" He pretended to lose his patience and pointed at the bananas, not pointing at any in particular.
The little girl slapped her tiny forehead, as a defeated expression appeared on her face. She waved her arms in desperation. " For the last time. What difference? All same!"
Xiao Ling rolled his eyes in an attempt to hold back from breaking into a laughter "No not all the same, the one I want is the best"
She let out a strangled cry, before slowly turning back and trying to find the right banana.
The conversation that followed went like this.
"This badana?.."
"No"
"This one?"
"The one beside it"
"Oh, this?"
"No.."
"I..this one?.."
"That's a mango.."
"Why is it raw? Mango no cooked..it so green and hard"
"It tastes good with salt..no don't bite it, it's too sour for you"
"Eat mango, better than badana"
"Give me the badana..banana"
"This badana?"
"Not even close.."
"Mama!"
Just then Ming Hua walked over, clad in all black,tall and boyishly handsome. Ignoring that he was just called mama, he leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her head before straightening up.
"Will you knock it off? Messing with her day and night", he looked at Xiao Ling, not bothering to show courtesy to the emperor. He turned to look at the girl and quickly jolted.
"Hey, hey, stop!" Ming Hua quickly grabbed the girl's small hand as she started to hit her own head multiple times.
Finally, with a sigh, she grabbed the entire heavy basket of fruits and jumped off the high table, almost giving Ming Hua a heart attack as she did.
Xiao Ling, who was currently trying to pretend nonchalance as he tried to hide the fact that he, too, almost had a heart attack as he watched the girl carry the basket bigger than her, over to him.
"Grab badana.."
Xiao Ling stared at her before reaching out and grabbing a random banana.
Curious, the girl peered her head out wanting to see the source of her recent tension, only for her to be left completely speechless with her eyes wide open.
She had grabbed that banana at least four times throughout the whole ordeal.
"You mother .."
"What was that?" Xiao Ling looked down. He wanted to continue the jest with her. However when he looked down, the world stopped spinning around him,and his heart felt as if it was pierced by ice.
He could not move.
The girl stared at him with her peach eyes, blood dripping from her lips and her eyes now dull.
The memories shifted.
They were outside the palace, standing near the heavenly stairs which every god who ascended had to climb to reach heaven.
She lay on the very last of the ascending stairs,no longer a baby but a girl of twenty one. Clothes soaked in blood. The entirely off her back was covered by sharp daggers,some embedded deeper then others. She had many open wounds,some exposing the whites of her bones.
Her breathing was shallow but she was still conscious, her eyes never leaving Xiao Ling.
Ming Hua had pushed several high ranking gods to the ground as he tore through the crowd before falling beside her,bruising his knees but he paid it no mind as he reached out for the girl and took her into his arms,he knew it probably hurts her even more but what else could he do?
That day seemed unusually dark.
...
Xiao Ling blinked and found himself back inside the room,he felt a sharp pain and looked down at his wrist,only to find a red gash across his skin. The scarlet liquid traced down his slender wrist and painted the sheets underneath a deep red. Normally such a injury would be fatal to a mortal,but to him,it was merely an inconvenience.
Normally a mortal blade would not be able to pierce him,let alone a fruit knife but if Xiao Ling was too exert spiritual energy into it..
He sat up straight as he considered bandaging it but eventually decided against it and layed back down.
"Xiao Ling?" Ming Hua voice cut through the silence.
The door rustled as the man tried to slide it open,but soon came to a stop when he realized it was locked.
Xiao Ling heard a loud thud from outside and the sound of something sliding against the door.
"I dont know what to say.."
Warm tears started to form in Xiao Lings eyes
"I don't know either..I don't know anything.."
Two thousand years had passed. Both the men had found each other and been given a piece of their hearts back. However both the men were more lost then ever before and a part of them wished they had more time before reuniting.
Their goals were clear but they had no idea how to even bring up that topic let alone start working on them.
For a lack of better words. Their souls were tired. Both the men were over six thousand years old. They had already been through it all. The heros had faced their sorrows and hard ships. They grew as people,learned from their mistakes,and overcome their battles and arose victorious . They were scared and traumtised but it was supposed to be all over. Their story was supposed to be over and they should have been living their happily ever after. They were living their happily ever after,it was time for them to finally rest and live in peace.
But here they were. Their sorrows had just began. How could their damaged souls possibly accept that not only was it not over yet but it was just the beginning of a war they would most definitely lose? That more pain awaits them? That they had to do it all over again.
Small note
Earlier I forgot to add trigger warnings
The trigger warnings are as follow
Sa
Suicide
Self harm
Mutilation
Rape(I'm not comfortable with this so mentions will be none explicit and I will try my best to remain respectful)
Abuse
Second note
Due to my struggle with time I upload by parts and not chapters. So i apologize if the parts seem abtrupt or short as im still writing. Once I have more parts out ,i will combine them by chapters.
This is officially the beginning of chapter two.
Also I apologize for my grammar errors and sentence structures as I haven't had time to edit anything.
Also the next chapter will be uploaded after midterms🙏