She lifted her hand and placed it on his head. Her palm pressed gentle, warm, and she began patting him slow.
Each stroke was soft, her fingers moving like the feather of a bird falling through the air, brushing hair as it slid down, then leaving nothing but calm behind.
Her eyes were wet, shining faint like water was sitting on them, her gaze full of sympathy as if she was sharing his pain.
Liu Yang's chest loosened. For a moment his mind went quiet, his body relaxed, almost forgetting where he was. But then the thought hit him hard.
"Mmm…" he muttered, his awkward smile twitching. "I have one question. Why… why did you pick me up and carry me here?"
His heart thumped hard as words left from his mouth, the sound of heart beating in his ears like a drum that kept hitting.
The memories flashed back to him, how he was fighting with Bill and his brothers with his new skill [Demonic Overdrive], and after the skill ended he fell to the ground, his whole body paralyzed, his mind turning unconscious.
How she lifted him in both arms, walking through the same forest step by step, until she reached the cave.
And now she was telling him the stories of creation of the world and the forbidden secrets.
He couldn't ignore it, but a doubt rose in his mind, why she helped him, why she told the forbidden secrets.
She lowered her head, her hands pressed flat on the cold stone. Her voice shook.
"Master… how could I ignore higher blood? To turn away would be blasphemy."
Her shoulders trembled as she leaned forward more, almost pressing her forehead to the ground.
"When you fought… when the ground itself felt heavy… my blood stirred."
She lifted her hand, pressing it against her chest as if holding her heart still.
"It trembled. It bent. It bowed. It wasn't me choosing, Master… it was my blood."
Her eyes rose a little, glowing faint, red and wet.
"My body knew it before I did. My heart… it already accepted you."
Her shoulders trembled and her lips pressed tight as her voice came low.
"Demons cannot ignore blood stronger than theirs. It is instinct. It is law. And your blood… it was not just strong. It carried something else. Something old. Something I cannot explain. It felt… like the ancients. Like the time of Cang Ming."
Liu Yang sat there and nodded slowly and steady and his face looked serious but inside his mind it was not calm at all. Inside his head he was pulling his hair and shouting.
"I only asked why she saved me… is this an essay question?"
His lips twitched once but he forced them flat again, holding the mask still.
Her eyes lifted, glowing faint red in the dark, and they carried a shine like pure devotion.
"Cang Ming wanted balance. His demons were part of that. His blood is not gone. I believe it now. In you. If it is you, then maybe… maybe our race will rise again. Maybe the glory of old will return."
Liu Yang tilted his chin down just a little more, nodding again, slow, like he was swallowing every word. Inside though his head was rolling.
"Okay, okay… calm face outside. Inside? I'm dying. Should I stop asking her questions? Every time I ask, she gives me three chapters back. At this rate she'll start drawing diagrams."
She bent lower, her knees touching the stone, her voice soft as she lowered her head.
"That is why I saved you. That is why I pledge myself to you. Not just because you saved me from those filthy humans. But because your blood tells me I must. My instinct tells me I must. And my heart tells me Cang Ming's will is not dead."
Liu Yang's eyes narrowed sharp and his jaw set tight, the perfect face of a noble demon master. He looked like he carried weight, like he deserved loyalty. But inside his head was breaking apart.
"Note to self. Next time… don't ask questions. Just nod. Nod and smile. My brain can't take another novel-length answer."
Suddenly there was silence like even the cave itself had stopped to watch them.
No leaves rustled outside, no drops of water fell from the roof, even the air felt stuck in place.
It dragged on, second after second, until it was too long, the kind of silence that pressed into your ears and made you hear your own heartbeat.
They just stared at each other.
Her eyes were glowing faint red in the dark. They were steady and they did not even blink once. They looked like two small fires burning and refusing to go out.
His eyes were open wide, not because he wanted to, but because he was forcing them to stay like that. He was trying so hard to look calm. He was trying so hard to look like a master who knew what he was doing.
But inside his chest was heavy. His breath was stuck. Every second stretched longer and longer. The staring felt like it would never end.