Chapter 31: The Riverside Shrine (1)

"Welcome, Your Majesty, miss Ai Lie.", Xiu Zhen greets them politely, along with her underling that stands behind her. Ai Lie still doesn't know her name yet.

"Ah!", Ai Lie immediately bows at them.

"Raised your head, and also you, Ai."

"This way, miss. Let me show you my small shrine."

'Small!? If this shrine is small, then what about my house!? Is my house just a warehouse for them!?', Silently Ai Lie feels insulted.

Four of them walking through the gate, up to the stairs reaching the opened front door. The shrine has two floors. At the first hall, there is a very large golden incense burner with two golden dragons ornaments as the holders, placed in the middle of the room. There are some incenses that are still being burnt, she could smell the unique scent those incenses produced.

There is an old painting of a man, wears a golden armor, standing bravely while holding a crimson crescent polearm, with a golden dragon flying surround him. The painting is hung on the wall, behind the incense burner. Ai Lie wonders who he was, and why they worship him. If only he is a god, she never saw his figure in her original world.

When she scans around there are two more doors inside the hall, one at the left and one at the right. Xiu Zhen's underling lead them to go to the right door. There is an empty large hall. Some bamboo poles are leaned againsts the walls, it seems this hall is used as training spot. At right corner of the end of the hall, there is a stair leading to the second floor.

After they arrived to the second floor, Ai Lie can see about 10 small doors, 5 on the right side of the hallway, and the other 5 is on the left side. Xiu Zhen and her underling moving near to one door that is in the middle of the right side, and opened it.

"This is your bedroom, miss.", Xiu Zhen underling raised her hands, asking Ai Lie to entered the room they have prepared.

"E-Excuse me.", Ai Lie enters the room, along with Xin Suan behind her.

"Hmm. Pretty small, huh?", Xin Suan scanning every corner.

"No. It's not small. It's beautiful."

This bedroom is way simpler than her bedroom in Xin Suan's manor. Not much ornaments, fully built with woods, from the floor, to walls and ceiling, exactly the same as this whole shrine. This represents the priests and priestesses that live in simplicity.

"Ah, Your Majesty, I have wrote down the eastern territory's financial reports. Do you wish to see them now?", Xiu Zhen follows them from behind.

"Bring them to me, I will take them to my manor. And you, Yi Fei, go help her. I need to talk with our new Sword Maiden for a while."

"Understood, Your Majesty.", Both of them bow at him. The two has gone from the room but they left the door opened a little.

"How is it? Do you like this room? It's way more plain than your original bedroom."

"Of course I like it, Ge Ge. By the way, when will you go back home?"

"After this. Why?"

".... Nothing.", Somehow Ai Lie feels a little disappointed to know he will go away soon, "Ge Ge, don't forget to feed our bunnies. Hehehe."

"Hmm, I will. Don't worry about it. You care for them more than me, huh?"

"T-That's not true! I care for you too!"

"Hahaha alright, alright. Well then, after this we can't see each other. Isn't that sad?", Xin Suan holds both of her small fists.

"Yeah... It's so sad, but in order to help people, I will throw that feeling away."

"You really are patriotic."

"But still... I will miss you so much, Ge Ge."

"Ah, me too. If you are talking to me like that, it will make me harder to let go of this little hands of yours."

"It's only a month. Hehehe. We have to be patient."

"Only a month, huh? Sounds very long to me. But I promise, after this one month of loneliness has passed, we will be together forever."

'Blush!', "F-Forever??", Ai Lie can't believe her ears.

"Yeah, forever. Now, before we parting our ways...."

Xin Suan smooches her pinkish lips softly. Deep down he is afraid of leaving her behind and someone will attack her, just like what the fire ghost did. But whether he wants it or not, his overprotectiveness towards this child has to be erased for the goods of people in this cursed realm. He keeps pressing his lips and fall into the sweetness of her mouth. In the end of this short lips battle, Ai Lie suddenly nibbles his lower lips gently.

"What was the meaning of that?", Xin Suan widened his eyes. He is surprised, this is the first time Ai Lie did that to him.

"I-I-I don't know. I-It was a reflex.", Ai Lie is flustered. Actually, Ai Lie just wanted to do it without any specific reason.

"Hmm... Doesn't seem to be that way."

"N-No, I-I-I'm being honest!"

Xin Suan lowers his head beside her right ear. He whispers, "I like the way you bite me. After this shitty ritual done, do that again. Let's have more intense kiss."

'Gasp!!', Ai Lie instantly blushing so hard until her head almost exploded, "Y-You are such a perv!"

"So what? I'm being a pervert only to you. I bought you with my money, so I may do anything I want to you as long as I don't cross the line, right?", His deep cold voice somehow makes Ai Lie's heart going to burst.

"... A-As you wish, then."

"Good girl.", Xin Suan lands his lips to hers once more, "Now, unpack your things. I want to go down."

"B-But... I want to see you off."

"I will only talk to Xiu Zhen for a while. After that, I'll call you. Let's meet again at the gate of the shrine.", Xin Suan strokes her head.

"O-Okay...", Ai Lie still blushing. She couldn't believe what she did to Xin Suan. Just by remembering it, she feels embarrassed.

'Drap Drap Drap!', Xiu Zhen is running to the direction to the stairs, rushingly walk down to the first floor. She took a paused after reaching the training hall, her heart is pounding fast. Her arms still locking some rolls of paper, the financial report documents that Xin Suan asked her.

"W-What was that?? What did I just saw!?", It seems Xiu Zhen accidentally peeped into Ai Lie's bedroom, and silently watched the improper scene the two just did.

"His Majesty?? Since when he....??"

'Gasp!', "Is that the reason that child has a stain on her body?"

"Yeah, it's because of me.", Xin Suan suddenly appears behind her. He leans his back to the wall and crosses his arms.

"Y-Your Majesty! Forgive me!", Xiu Zhen immediately bows to him.

'How can he said that confidently? How far has he put his stain on her? Does he already forgot the Sword Maiden should remain pure?', Xiu Zhen is confused. She couldn't understand what was happened for only five minutes after she left them alone in one room.

"Xiu Zhen.", Xin Suan walks closer to her, "Did Yin Ling already told you what was happened?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. General Yin asked me to watch over her."

"Good. Xiu Zhen.", Xin Suan puts his hand on her right shoulder, "You are the only comrade I could trust after Yin Ling. Make sure you did your task well."

"Understood, Your Majesty.", Xiu Zhen lowers her face.

"And one more thing...", His palm grips her shoulder stronger than before, "No one is allowed to lay a finger on her, unexceptionally you. If anything untowards ever happened to her, I won't be hesitated to erase you and your people from my face. Do you understand me?"

'Ugh! My shoulder!', Silently Xiu Zhen is in pain, so she raises her head to see his face. When their eyes meet, she could see his crimson serpent eyes are glowing, and he produces terrifying killing aura. In a second, her body froze like a statue, she couldn't even lift a finger. Feeling threatened, Xiu Zhen throws her sight to the floor once again.

"Understood, Your Majesty."

"Good. Now, I'll take these with me.", He pulls those documents away from her hand. His business with Xiu Zhen has done, it's time for him to go out from the shrine. He walks further from where Xiu Zhen stands.

"Permit me to ask, Your Majesty."

"Do tell.", Xin Suan pauses his feet.

"For what purpose you bought a human from the mortal world? Isn't that a breach of the peaceful contract?"

"As long as she is alive, I don't break any vow. Beside, I have locked her in this realm, so the heaven will never know about her presence. That's why, you as one of my loyal comrade, should cooperate with me by not having an ill will to harm her."

"But what if the situation doesn't cooperate with you?"

"What do you mean?", Xin Suan turns his head to Xiu Zhen that is far behind him.

"My deepest apologize for being presumptuous, Your Majesty.", Xiu Zhen turns her head to him. Their eyes meet each other once again, but in a distance.

"How can you guarantee her that you yourself do not have an ill will to eat her? We were all gluttony beasts, Your Majesty. A single drop of her blood might lose your control of mind."

"....", Xin Suan stares at her sharply with poker face, "... Ha. Someone unimportant has ever asked about this to me too. Not long ago."

"That's right. I, too, have a secret desire to devour her flesh. I am a demon after all, sometimes my greediness triggered just by sniffing her scent. And that's true, I can't guarantee her that I could keep my mind always straight. But I have my own way to hold back my bloodlust whenever I am near her."

"What kind of way do you have? Staining her lips?"

"You are being too straight forward, Xiu Zhen.", Xin Suan begin to lose his patience.

"Or that kind of way that you used to control your bloodlust is actually just an alibi to hide your true feelings towards her?"

"What do you mean true feelings?"

"A demon and a human fell in love is nothing new. There were so many people in the past who sacrificed themselves to marry the demons for their own advantages. Yet that kind of sacrificial is meaningless, Your Majesty. In the end, the humans will die in their demon partners hands."

"That's enough, Xiu Zhen. I and that girl don't have such useless relationship."

"I know not what kind of advantages she looks from you until she sacrificed her youth and chose to live in this realm, but I must remind you, Your Majesty, demons like us are far from fidelity. We might one day harm her, or even the worst, you are the one who will betray her first and not us. It's impossible for you to always stand beside her. For the good of that child and the creatures in this realm, I suggest you to put her back to her original world after we held the ritual."

"Watch your tongue. If you still wishing to live, then stop your nonsense right now. Putting her back to her world? The day I spend my gold to buy her soul, her whole life is already contracted to me. Bringing her back to her world is the same as I break the contract that I made, and that is ridiculous. In addition, I am still a greedy selfish person, I want her in my life, and I will get what I want. You are not allowed to oppose me just because I trusted you more than the others."

"Forgive me, Your Majesty.", Xiu Zhen bows at him politely.

"Whether I choose to devour her or keeping her by my side is none of your concern, Xiu Zhen. Also, you should remember you are NOT the only one who is master at controlling emotions. I may not be someone saint just like you, but still, meditating is nothing but a breakfast for me. And one more thing... I swear it with my own life this world will not be affected by her presence, and so does the peaceful contract."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

"....", Xin Suan stares at Xiu Zhen without a blink. His cold expression, although he didn't show any negative emotions, but it is clear that he feels irritated by her words. He is just trying to hold his wrath back.

In the other hand, Ai Lie is wandering inside her new temporary bedroom. The bedroom is very simple, there is one small wooden wardrobe beside her single bed, and a round mirror hanging on the wall. There is a small indoor bathroom in the corner of the room, but oddly the bathroom has no equipment for bathing. It doesn't have a bath tub too. Ai Lie wonders where she should bath, but she believes Xiu Zhen will deliver her to explore this shrine. After she unpacks her things, she sits on the bed, waiting for Xin Suan to call her. After a moment of silence, knocking sounds suddenly comes at the door.

"Miss, His Highness is waiting for you. Please, follow me.", It was Yi Fei, Xiu Zhen's underling. She is an asura too.

"O-Okay..."

Ai Lie secretly mesmerized by Yi Fei appearances. She is tall, beautiful, polite, calm, and elegant, just like her master. Both her and her master have icy expressions. Ai Lie never saw them smiling at all, as if they both have no feelings inside their hearts. Is that how priestesses should behave?

The two walking down to the stairs but they took the one that connects to the left side of the first floor. They reached a small hallway that lead them to a hall. This hall has a very large altar with 5 huge men sculptures dressed in full armor standing on it. The middle sculpture caughts Ai Lie's attention. His figure is exactly the same as the one that is on the painting.

With the smell of burnt incenses, fruits and buns placed on the table in front of the altar that used as the offerings, and some priests are meditating on the lower ground facing those sculpture, there is no mistaking it. This room is the hall of prayer, the place for priests and priestess worshipping their 'gods'. Ai Lie wonders who they were, but she is too awkward to ask someone she doesn't know, especially that someone is cold and quiet, doesn't even open her mouth. Ai Lie's afraid if she ask about their 'gods', Yi Fei will feel insulted.

After reaching many other rooms such as kitchen, dinning room, and else, finally they are back to where Ai Lie first came. The hall with a huge painting on the wall. Ai Lie can see Xiu Zhen and Xin Suan having conversation at the gate of the shrine. Xin Suan waves his hand, asking her to come near him. In an instant, Ai Lie's feet moving forward, rushingly approaching the man that hold special place in her heart.

"Ge- Err... Your Majesty!"

"Xiu Zhen, teach this little girl all about the dance. I have trained her a bit, but the rest is on your shoulder. One month of preparation is more than enough, so make sure you do your job well.", Xin Suan placed his cold palm on Ai Lie's head.

"Understood, Your Majesty."

"Very well, I'll take my leave. We will meet again a week before the ritual at my manor.", He strokes Ai Lie's head.

"Uh... Take care, Your Majesty!"

"May your journey be safe, Your Majesty.", Xiu Zhen and Yi Fei bows at him.

"Hmm.", Xin Suan doesn't even throws his eyes to the other women except Ai Lie. Eventhough his expression is flat, Ai Lie could noticed his sadness.

"Y-Your Majesty..."

"See you."

Ai Lie is watching the back of his black robe, further and further away from the point her feet stands, and disappear right after he entered his palanquin. A month without Xin Suan starts from this noon. Since the day she lived in this world, her personality drastically change. She used to be alone, but now, she is afraid of being lonely. She can't imagine to live in a place full of strangers for a whole month. It's her own fault for agreeing Xiu Zhen's request in order to be a heroine for this foreign realm, but there is no turning back now.

"Let us came back to the shrine, Miss."

"Okay..."