An Hei took a deep breath and then took out his sword, glancing at the weapon with a difficult expression in his eyes. He had wanted to solve things differently. He had thought that by asking the goddess Mei Huang if she would consider marrying him he could turn things around. But he had been wrong. In fact, he had made things worse. This fight and the inevitable outcome … they were his way of repaying his people for his error in judgment. It was what he owed them.

Gang Jie smiled when he drew his own weapon. "Are you prepared to lose, snake king?"

An Hei just gave a faint smile. No, he was not. If it was only him, he would fight until his last breath, unable to stand the humiliation. But since it wasn’t he would hold back. Not winning this fight was not losing for he would be winning a chance for his people to live. Wasn’t that still winning in the end?

"The king of the bird tribe should talk less. If you have to talk, then talk with your weapon." He rushed at him, brandishing his weapon.

The two figures entangled in the air but the snake king seemed somewhere else with his thoughts, his gaze traveling to the people on the ground several times. Gang Jie became enraged when he saw this, his attacks growing more frenzied.

An Hei just gave a breezy smile in return. If this had been a normal fight, this would have been his opportunity to turn things around and win. But, unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Once again, he glanced over to where his people had stood. Realizing that they had indeed left since he last checked, he sighed lightly and then lightly turned his weapon, making Gang Jie’s pass by and hit his chest.

He doubled over and groaned, loosening the grip on his weapon. When he smiled, a faint sliver of blood reddened his lips but he didn’t even seem to notice.

Gang Jie’s eyes gleamed and he struck out again, hitting An Hei’s shoulder. Watching him fall, he laughed. "This is what you get for disrespecting me, snake king! You should know your place."

An Hei just continued to smile. Slightly shifting his body, he fell over the edge of the island where the emperor’s palace stood. "One day, you will regret it," he whispered. The wind swept the words away and it wasn’t sure whether he had meant Gang Jie or somebody else entirely.

The king of the bird tribe, for one, just turned away and did not bother about him, instead cupping his fists and bowing toward the emperor. "The person who dared to disturb the festivities has been taken care of, Your Majesty."

"You did very well, bird king. Then let’s commence." He turned and slightly nodded at the goddess Mei Huang who then went to thank Gang Jie for his help as well.

Nobody cared about the king of the snake tribe that fell toward the mortal world, dropping faster and faster and threatening to smash into the ground and die like that. He tried to take on his snake form but his injuries were too grave and he could not shift. With his last remaining strength, An Hei lifted his hand. His magic fought against gravity until he floated the last meters down to the earth.

His body came to rest at the foot of a magnolia tree. An Hei looked up at the rose-colored blossoms which swayed in the evening breeze while his consciousness faded slowly. Now, it was up to fate whether he would see the sun rise again the next day. He was just glad that his people would not find his body completely shattered when they came to look for him. If they did, who knew if they wouldn’t be stimulated from the grief and do something stupid? After doing this for them, he wanted to make sure that they stayed safe even after he was gone.

Just when the snake king was about to lose consciousness completely, the faint tinkling of a pair of jade bracelets could be heard from not far away.

It came from the arm of a small girl that was running out of the house. Just now, she hastened her steps, passed the pond, and stopped as if she was rooted to the ground. She could see the form of another person behind the magnolia tree in the middle of the garden. This was completely unexpected to her.

This small girl was none other than Ling Ling, the youngest daughter of the family living in this compound. Her whole life had been spent at this place and she couldn’t remember a single instance where she had seen somebody lie there.

Ling Ling tiptoed and craned her neck. She couldn’t see much but enough to know that that person wasn’t her older sister Jin Jin. She sneaked over, pressed herself against the trunk of the tree, and peeked around it to get a better look at the person.

Ling Ling recoiled when she saw An Hei’s figure and hid on the other side of the tree. The wind rustled in the treetop above her and some blossoms floated down. She raised her hand and caught one of them. There was still no reaction on the other side of the tree.

Ling Ling held onto the tree, bent back, and looked at the other side. An Hei had his legs stretched out and his left arm had fallen to the side. Blood ran out of his sleeve and down the snow-white skin of his hand. Ling Ling straightened up and pondered.

An unfamiliar man is lying in our garden, she assessed. Maybe I should get Jin Jin? Her sister was one year older than her and Ling Ling trusted that she would know exactly what to do. She wanted to go but paused with another glance at An Hei.

Slowly, taking one step after the other, she slipped closer to him. She came to a standstill beside him and examined his face. An Hei’s skin had lost all color, his eyes were closed and his brows drawn together because of the pain.

Ling Ling reached out her hand and nudged his shoulder. The stranger didn’t react. However, the blood dirtied her fingers. Ling Ling stared at them and pursed her lips. She remembered how she had found and taken home an injured kitten two years prior. With this thought as a guideline, Ling Ling leaped to her feet and set about gathering everything she needed to help the stranger.

If An Hei had known that a human girl had dared to compare him, the proud king of the snake tribe, with an injured kitten it might have inflicted even more pain on him than Gang Jie’s attack.

Ling Ling returned with a bucket of water in one hand and a medicine box in the other. She swayed under the weight and stumbled shortly before reaching An Hei. The medicine box tumbled to the ground. Ling Ling narrowly managed to hold onto the bucket but half of the water spilled and soaked An Hei. It was as cold as ice.

The snake king stirred. He clenched his fists, his eyelids fluttered, and he opened his eyes slightly. He saw a girl of maybe five or six years standing before him that looked as if it had been caught red-handed. Before he could ask who she was and what she was doing there, the girl bent down, picked up a tattered cloth, and pressed it onto An Hei’s face.

Before the snake king had time to be indignant, the girl already lifted the rag and pressed it onto his hair. An Hei suppressed a sigh and let her be. His gaze wandered to the branches of the magnolia tree and the streak of the dark sky which he could spot above them. Stars glittered up there and brought Gang Jie’s taunting gaze to mind. At least I’m conscious again, he thought and looked back at the girl that seemed quite content with her work even though An Hei’s clothes were still dripping wet.

Ling Ling put down the rag, grabbed An Hei’s sleeve, and pushed it up. One of the injuries from his fight appeared beneath, making her examine it curiously.

She turned to look at An Hei’s face after a moment and noticed that the stranger was already awake. "Did you go to war?" she asked and her eyes became so round that An Hei had to ask himself how they even fit in her small face.

"Something like that," he answered evasively.

The girl nodded eagerly, pulled the medicine box over, and produced a vial of salve. She smeared some of it on An Hei’s wounds and pursed her lips. She hesitated at first, but then she applied more of it and wrapped a bandage around it.

The corner of An Hei’s mouth lifted slightly. The injury to his forearm was by far not the worst but the seriousness with which the girl treated it pleased him. It was welcome after the derision he had been met with at the emperor’s celebration. "Thank you."

The girl looked up at him again and smiled brightly. "Mother said that father is at war too. If you’re already back, then he must be coming back soon too."

"Mn. It should be like that." An Hei breathed deeply, only to wince and cough at the pain that shot through his chest.

The eyes of the girl got wider again. She reached out and gripped An Hei’s shoulder but she only managed to add insult to injury: Blood oozed forth and moistened her hands.

An Hei clenched his teeth so as to not make a sound. "It’s alright." He reached out with his uninjured arm and patted her head. "It looks worse than it is." His gaze settled on the vial with the salve that the girl placed at her side. "Look, there’s still enough for the other injury. With a little bit of medicine, I’ll improve soon."

The girl nodded but the smile had vanished from her face. She helped An Hei take the sleeves of his outer and inner robes off, dabbed the wound below with the rag, and smeared the salve on it. She helped him dress the wound and remained quietly seated before him.

Her gaze roamed around An Hei’s bare shoulders and her cheeks slowly turned pink. At this moment, it finally occurred to her that she actually shouldn’t be alone with a man even if she was only five and he was injured. "You …" The girl folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them. She knew she shouldn’t ask, but she didn’t know what else to do. He doesn’t show any intention of assuming responsibility for his behavior, she thought, even though she had been the one to help him without being asked. "You aren’t married, are you?" she finally asked straightforwardly.

An Hei’s brows lifted. It was beyond him why a small human girl would pose such a question. Anyway, his plans of marriage had fallen through just mere hours ago. "No."

Ling Ling sighed and nodded, satisfied. Under no circumstances would she be content with being a second wife or — even worse! — becoming a concubine.

Silence spread between them while each was lost in their own thoughts.

Ling Ling looked up after quite a while. She was worried because while the stranger had indeed said that he wasn’t married yet. he hadn’t said if he intended to leave it that way. After a moment of contemplation, Ling Ling made up her mind that she had to guard against all eventualities. It would be a disgrace for her family if she only became a concubine! "You … What are you called?"

"An Hei."

Ling Ling nodded, sat up straight, and gazed at him as earnestly as she could with her round eyes. "Mister An, you have to swear you’ll always remember today."

"Sure, sure …" An Hei smiled but before he could put his promise forth, the girl threw him for a loop with her next words.

"And that you won’t take another for your wife before marrying me!"

"Eh?" An Hei stared blankly at her. He furrowed his brows and tried to ascertain what just happened. He was vaguely aware that this promise was associated with her previous question and that it was somehow tied to her helping him today.

The girl in front of him blushed at his missing reaction and leaped up, pointing a finger at his nose. "You can’t want to shirk responsibility for your behavior?!"

"I …"

Her facial expression crumbled even further when An Hei didn’t know what he should say. "You already promised another woman to take her as your first wife?" She pursed her lips.

An Hei concluded that every word he uttered in this situation was one too many. Apart from the fact that he wasn’t even human, this girl in front of him couldn’t be older than six years. An Hei didn’t feel that he behaved immorally.

One couldn’t resent him for that: While the humans of Kishin separated boys and girls from a young age, the demons gave no thought whatsoever to something like that. An Hei needed some time to remember this difference. But even then he said nothing, instead waiting to see what kind of conclusion she would reach.

Ling Ling wasn’t satisfied by no means at all. She puffed up her cheeks in indignation but still admitted defeat. "Fine then. One should honor a pledge. Then she’ll be your first wife but I’ll be your second! Nothing less!" She leaned towards An Hei.

The snake king raised his brows. "Is it that important to you?", he asked her.

Ling Ling nodded. "My father is General Yang. Under no circumstances can I become merely a concubine."

An Hei smiled. A human wife? He never would have thought that he would even consider this. But maybe it wasn’t that bad. He hadn’t wanted to marry originally and had only asked the goddess Mei Huang for the sake of his tribe. Now, that that faint hope had been shattered, he might as well give in and marry her. Anyway, how many years could it be? Humans were such feeble creatures, after all.

"Fine then. If you want to be my wife, then it’ll be like that. In ten years, when you’ve come of age, I’ll return and take you as my wife." He considered one moment, then bent forward and conspiratorially lowered his voice. "When the time comes and you’re able to pass a test, I’ll even take you as my first wife."

"Seriously?"

He nodded.

Ling Ling pondered and nodded too. "Well, I’ll definitely pass your test." She pursed her lips and watched him dubiously. "But what about that other woman?"

An Hei laughed and patted her head again. "Don’t you worry about that. You only have to wait and become a good wife for me."

The human girl smiled and nodded eagerly. If she had her way the ten years would have passed quickly. She accompanied the snake king for a while, then hurried back into the house. When she returned to the magnolia tree the next morning, nothing could be seen of the stranger. Only a golden hairpin inlaid with red stones lay in the grass.

Ling Ling looked around but she couldn’t discover An Hei anywhere. She picked the hairpin up and hugged it to her body. "We’ll see each other again ten years from now."

sunyagracebold

This was the second chapter and the main characters have finally met!

One thing I thought about when finishing up the chapter and wanted to mention since the explanation will likely not come up in the story itself: In last week's chapter, it was mentioned that the snake tribe is part of the demon race while it's insinuated that the bird tribe is instead part of the god race (since the emperor and the goddess Mei Huang treat them differently). In fact, there is virtually no difference between the two. The gods and demons are exactly the same. Instead, the distinction goes back to a conflict from several generations ago that made the original race split into two camps. Depending on who they sided with, they were deemed gods or demons from then on. And after such a long time of living like this, they have become stuck in their ways and won't question it any longer, even going so far that the current emperor is willing to shed all pretenses.

I hope this explains a bit more. This is only supposed to be a short novella (likely 10 or maybe 15 chapters at most) so I won't be able to put in too much backstory. If there's something you think is really interesting, I can do another story about that then or just explain in a comment if it's not too much. :)

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter as well. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!