Chapter 3: Ruo Yin's Dilemma

Months have passed since they return to the Demon Clan from the annual reunion and You Xie had not requested Ruo Yin's presence since their return. It was as if the Demon Princess had returned to oblivion. 

Ruo Yin had returned to her daily routine of practicing her sword and fighting skills in the morning, talking about strategies and battle tactics with the retired generals of the Demon Clan in the afternoon, and reading some books at night.

Not only had she not heard about You Xie, but she also had not heard of the War Deity. "Was he regretting his deal with me?" Since You Xie had not pushed more about the wedding, maybe he did not really care so much if Ruo Yin married the War Deity or not. The more Ruo Yin thought about it the angrier she became, but not toward You Xie but toward the War Deity.

"That stupid, stupid, stupid Zhan Luo! Making such a ruckus in front of the whole Sky Clan and the other clans and now he doesn't even ask if I'm still alive!" Ruo Yin was angrily and confused sitting on her daybed cursing the War Deity. "I hope you end up being alone for the rest of your life! You liar! Do you think playing with me it's so funny?"

Why was she so angry toward a complete stranger? Was she falling in love with a complete stranger? "He was just doing you a favor. He doesn't owe you anything! He has all the right to not marry you at the last moment. Remember, Ruo Yin, even if you both get married, it's just marriage by name. Don't fall into this foolish idea of true love!" She thought. Yet, somewhere deep inside her, she wanted to know more about this immortal that everyone spoke highly of.

Maybe it was his promise of freedom for her, or maybe it was because he was spoken so highly of, but deep inside her, she really wanted to marry him.

Ruo Yin then called for a maid to prepare her a bath, because she really needed to cool down her thoughts. "Don't be silly, Ruo Yin. It's just marriage by name," She remembered herself again.

She knew that there would never be actual love between them. It did not matter what clothes she wore or how much You Xie tried to make her look like a member of the Sky Clan. She was still a member of the Demon Clan and that red tattooed mark on her neck was the sole proof of it.

Just as Ruo Yin was exiting her bath, a maid entered and said, "Miss, the Demon Lord has requested your presence."

"Okay, let me get dressed."

"Great, just what I needed, more problems to think about."

The Demon Lord had not requested her presence for months and now that she was about to have a mental breakdown, he requests her to go to see him.

Ruo Yin quickly dressed and headed to the main palace. You Xie had let her stay in her parents' house in the Outer Court, where most of the retired generals lived with their families. Ruo Yin learned from the other generals that went to the Mortal Realm, that mortals did not have cultivation power, therefore, teleporting, flying and other spells were nonexistent to them. Their only way of transportation depended on walking or carriages. She could not imagine how long was the walk from the Outer Court to the main palace. Immortals rarely walked all the distance. They preferred flying or teleporting till the entrance. Mostly teleporting though. The only rule was that they needed to know where they wanted to go. 

Ruo Yin never barged inside the room. She liked to appear in the front yard, and knock on the door. It creeped her out when members of the Demon Clan appeared out of nowhere in front of her.

Just as Ruo Yin was about to enter the Demon Lord's study chambers, she heard him speaking with someone.

"I don't care!" The Demon Lord shouted.

Ruo Yin heard that You Xie threw something that broke to the floor.

"Tell those old, retired generals which Ruo Yin always passes her time with that if a word of how Zhan Luo was involved in her parents' murder comes out, they are dead, I need this marriage to happen!" roared You Xie.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Ruo Yin quickly hid in the bush in the front yard and waited for the servant to come out. "Did the Demon Lord just said that Zhan Luo was somehow involved with her parents' murder? How could that be?"

Zhan Luo was old. He was already a High God when the incident happened, but the incident did not involve any high god or goddess. They were just random small immortals of the other clans who tried to kill the Demon Lord. And all of them were punished. "Or so the story goes..." Ruo Yin knew better than anyone that sometimes verbal stories were not a hundred percent true. She was realizing that there was something else missing. Things made little sense with the story that she had been told.

"Is You Xie hiding something from me?"

After a few minutes, she saw the servant coming out. Ruo Yin waited for a few more, cleaned her clothes from any leave or branch, and headed to the Demon Lord's study chambers.

"Your Majesty, a maid told me you wanted to see me," Ruo Yin said as she greeted the Demon Lord and entered his chambers hiding her desire to just ask him everything she just heard.

"Xiao Yin, please come and sit."

Ruo Yin was suspicious. You Xie never called her Xiao Yin, he displayed no kind of affection towards her. She really had an urge to ask him about what she heard.

"Was Zhan Luo really somehow involved in my parents' death?"

"Xiao Yin, I received the Sky Emperor's message today. You are going to wed Zhan Luo next week," said You Xie while still writing something on his desk.

"Did Zhan Luo have anything to do with my parents' deaths?" Ruo Yin spurted out.

"Where did you heard that?"

"From you! I heard what you said to that servant. What did Zhan Luo did? I cannot marry my parents' killer!" Ruo Yin did not care if You Xie was mad at her for eavesdropping. She needed answers.

"Please Xiao Yin, calm down. I didn't want you to know, but since you do. Here is the truth. Please follow me. It is a long story."