As for An Hei, he woke up in a bed that was not his own. He furrowed his brows in confusion, unable to remember what had happened for a moment. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath to calm himself. Slowly, it all came back.

His face fell at the memory of the disaster that the emperor’s banquet had been to him and his people. The last thing he remembered was the strange meeting with that mortal girl though. Thinking of that, he was still at a bit of a loss. Just what had gone through her head at that moment?

He shook his own head, still unable to figure it out. Anyway, this was not what was important right now. He first had to figure out what had happened afterward. Just where was he? Could it be that the girl had come back later and found him passed out so she took him inside?

Looking around, this did not seem to be the case. In fact, he didn’t seem to still be in the mortal realm. An Hei was able to tell so at just one glance. While the style of the architecture and furniture was similar in the mortal realm thanks to the fact that a lot of knowledge had been handed down to the mortals by the god race, there were still some distinct differences between them.

For one, the immortal races used different materials that could only be found in their own lands because of the higher amount of spiritual energy. Then, there were the carvings. While the humans had some shallow knowledge of the history of the god race, it wasn’t very accurate after all this time, and they had also had their own past. Naturally, what they thought to know about the world and what they valued would have changed over time.

Thus, An Hei determined that he was somewhere in the immortal realms. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he continued to sit there for a moment, reaching up and touching his chest at the pain that shot through at the movement. Ah, his wounds seemed to have been taken care of but he still felt terrible. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to return home anytime soon.

He forced himself to bear the pain and instead looked up again, sizing up a vase that stood on a table on the other side of the room. The scene depicted on it showed one of the ancestors of the demon race and how he ruled over the underworld. Definitely not something that would be showcased in the lands of the gods.

An Hei looked down at his own chest and lightly smiled. "I guess it figures. If it was the gods that found me, they would have made sure I really died. It can only be somebody of my own race."

He still couldn’t help but wonder who had done him this favor though. Someone of his own tribe would have recognized him and brought him to his palace. And judging from the energy he could feel in this place, the snake king was positive that he could only be in the palace of one of the other kings of the demon tribe.

Before he could think any further, there was a slight knock on the door and then a servant came in. The person only noticed that he was up when he had already taken a few steps. He stopped in his tracks and stared at the snake king wide-eyed, unsure of how to proceed. Entering the room of a guest — especially one as distinguished as the snake king — without being asked inside really was overstepping his bounds. There had been no malicious behind his actions though. He had genuinely thought that An Hei would still be unconscious.

Seeing the servant in front of him, An Hei’s expression softened a little. He actually recognized the person. He had only seen him once or twice but at that time, he had served at the side of the demon king of Kishin. In other words … "His Majesty had me saved?"

It wasn’t too unexpected that the place he had ended up in was actually that of the demon king. It was in line with what An Hei had originally assumed and while it was true that the Emperor reigned over all of them, there was, in fact, a demon king that had sovereignty over all the kings of the different tribes but was not associated with the gods. Naturally, this person cared more about them than the emperor and would be willing to save one of them.

While this was something that the snake king knew, to hear that he was important enough in the demon king’s eyes to send somebody out and bring him here still made him feel touched. Despite what he might have thought when he was faced with Gang Jie’s taunting, he wasn’t completely alone. No, even if there hadn’t been anyone around in that specific moment to help him and his tribe, there will still people in other places that cared about them and their well-being. It really was nice to realize that.

Seeing that the snake king didn’t get angry at his overstepping of bounds and even wore a faint smile on his lips, the servant calmed down and nodded eagerly. "Yes! His Majesty will be pleased to hear that you’re awake. How do you feel?"

An Hei shook his head. "No need to worry. I’m already much better. May I ask what exactly has happened? I can’t remember seeing anyone there." Well, save for that mortal girl but she had run away after spending just a bit of time with him and it hadn’t seemed as if she intended to help him any further than she had. Not that he could expect that of a five-year-old. She probably hadn’t even been able to determine how badly wounded he was and that it would be better to call an adult instead of trying to 'treat' him on her own.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t bothered to tell him anything about herself or her family either despite insisting that he marry her. He sure hoped he would be able to recognize her when ten years had gone by. An Hei almost sighed when he realized that problem. Originally, he had wanted to hand her a token that she could use to identify herself when the time came but … well, things had turned out differently. He hadn’t thought of it immediately and then she had already run away. And when he finally took it out, he hadn’t been able to hold on until she returned and soon lost consciousness.

Speaking of which … He patted his robe and then opened his spatial ring but he couldn’t find the hairpin in either of those places. Realizing that, his brows furrowed slightly. He glanced up at the servant, his expression a little hesitant. "And, say, there wouldn’t have been a hairpin with me when I was found, right?"

That hairpin had been forged by himself many years ago when he had barely come of age. It had been intended as a token of affection for his future wife even then. In fact, that had been why he created it in the first place. He had wanted to find a wife that would be able to rule at his side from the day he ascended the throne of the snake tribe. Well, things hadn’t worked out and he was still alone many years after becoming the snake king.

Now, he had taken the hairpin out again in case the goddess Mei Huang would accept his proposal. She wasn’t the wife he had always imagined to have but he wanted to marry only one wife in his life so he felt that he would owe this piece of jewelry to her if she did agree. Now, he had the same sentiment about that mortal girl. To think that the hairpin might have been lost …

The servant was taken aback. "A hairpin? I … I don’t know. I can go and ask about it though. As for what happened, I do know something about that. Some people of the snake tribe came here and asked for an audience with His Majesty. I actually saw them myself. They seemed incredibly anxious. His Majesty asked them in immediately and they recounted what happened at the banquet of the emperor. While they didn’t know exactly how the fight went, they said that you had been likely gravely injured and might not even be able to survive without help. His Majesty immediately sent people out to search for you." The servant slightly shuddered when he thought back to how the demon king had looked at that moment. Normally, he was a mild person and he had always advocated for the gods and demons to try and get along but he did have another side. When it was about protecting the interests of his people, he could be quite frightening. Well, thankfully, they were on the same side.

The servant shook his head to push away those thoughts and focused on the snake king again. "Unfortunately, it took our people quite a while to find you. You must have been suffering."

An Hei didn’t mind at all. "It was more than early enough. Anyway, I’m just glad that my people made it out of there alive. They weren’t injured, were they?"

The servant shook his head again. "No, neither of them was. At least I didn’t see any injuries. They only seemed flustered because of what happened. One of them seemed like they about to break out in tears when they told us what kind of order you gave. His Majesty said that it was very brave of you to do so. Right, he said that he would like to talk to you when you feel better."

An Hei got to his feet before the servant could say anything else. "You should have said so sooner. Let’s go right away then. I wouldn’t want to let His Majesty wait."

The servant’s eyes widened and he hurriedly raised his hands and waved. "Snake king, you do not need to hurry. You can take some time to rest first. You were gravely injured. While your wounds were treated, that doesn’t mean that you’re back to full health yet. It would probably be best to give yourself a few days or at least a few hours if you really insist on seeing His Majesty as soon as possible. After saving you, he wouldn’t want to see you suffer."

An Hei lowered his head, thinking for a moment. He wanted to thank the demon king for saving him. On the other hand, it would be a pretty big disgrace if he went there only to collapse a moment later. "Well, I guess you do have a point." He sat back down and then rubbed his chest, hoping that he would heal soon. There was so much he needed to do: Talk with the demon king, return to his own tribe and make sure that they were prepared for in case the gods would actually attack them, and then, there was also the premise to that human girl. Speaking of which …

He looked back up at the servant, his expression slightly embarrassed. "You wouldn’t know how long I was unconscious, would you?" Normally, if she had been a demon living in their realm, he wouldn’t have been worried. But since she was in the mortal realm, things stood a little different.

Ten years over there weren’t the same as ten years in his own realm. If he slept for a few days in the immortal realm, then it might already be too late to keep his promise. Even though marrying a mortal girl wasn’t quite what he had intended to do, he had given his word. And he was a man of his word. He would not break his promise under any circumstances.

The servant was relieved that this time, the question was something he had anticipated again. That really was easier to answer. "The snake king doesn’t need to worry. You were only brought here last night. There also hasn’t been any news from the gods so far. It is quite likely that they haven’t tried to do anything further. But I guess that discussion should be left for your talk with His Majesty."

An Hei nodded, even though he was quite curious about that matter. Obviously, the emperor had intended to break off all ties between their races. He would definitely give the order to attack them in the future. As for when that happened … It was only a question of time.

The servant hesitated for a moment and then bowed. This kind of matter really wasn’t something he wanted to speak about. "Since the snake king is awake, let me go and ask for the physician to come over to examine you again. Also, I could imagine that you might be hungry. Let me bring some food over."

An Hei nodded again and then leaned back when the servant had left the room, closing his eyes. Even though he didn’t like to admit it, he was indeed badly hurt. It would be best if he rested for a while before he bothered about doing anything else. If he was lucky, things would not need much time. But that was only if he focused on healing and did not waste strength on anything else.

sunyagracebold

I'm very sorry for not posting last week. I had to do some additional work ('rona forced me to become a freelancer straight out of university QAQ) and then got sick this week. It didn't help that this chapter is a completely new one that wasn't in the original version so I needed a longer time to do it. Anyway, I'm better by now and finally finished today.

Speaking of new chapters: In the original version of the story, I only focused on the relationship part but when I finally decided to rewrite, it seemed a bit unsatisfactory because neither An Hei's fight in the beginning was explained nor did his identity as the snake king factor into the story very much. So I decided to add some parts in regard to that. So far, I personally like how it's turning out. Not sure what you think though. :D

Anyway, the next chapter will be another new one. I already started though so I should be able to finish it until tomorrow. I'll always try to update Sunday's so you know when to expect the chapters. :)