After thinking things through, An Hei did indeed take the time to recover his strength and heal his wounds. The physician that had been sent didn’t discover any permanent damage so it was only a question of time until he would be back to full health and could return to his own kingdom.

Meanwhile, the demon king sent a message to the snake tribe to inform them that their king had woken up and could soon return. Then, he just returned to his own study as if he didn’t care about that guest of his at all.

His servant looked on with some confusion. "Your Majesty, aren’t you going over yourself? Even if he’s not in a state to have the discussion you want to, he’s still the snake king. Won’t he feel slighted if you don’t go and see him?"

The demon king, Yaarak as he was called, stopped in the middle of picking up the brush and raised his gaze to his servant. Those piercing black eyes bore into him, making the small demon flinch but the demon king’s lips soon curved up into a smile. "Do you really think the snake king has no other troubles?" Yaarak let go of the brush and got up instead, wandering over to the door of his study and looking out at the courtyard outside.

At that moment, it was raining, the raindrops hitting the plants and ground with a clear and calming sound. "He has done what he can but it was not enough. Being injured but still not achieving anything … He will need some time to accept that. And the person he wants to see right now is not me anyway. No, it’s better to give him some time."

The servant looked at the demon king with his face still showing confusion. He didn’t say anything though and just nodded, silently waiting behind him. If there was one person he trusted, then it was this man. If his king said that it was better to wait, he was positive that it was indeed better to wait.

The servant was not the only person trusting the demon king without second thoughts. Just a few hours after sending the message to the snake tribe, a group of people hurried over to the demon king’s palace, all their faces a mixture of anxiety and hope.

When one of the servants went to the demon king’s study and whispered a few words, Yaarak looked up and raised his brows.

"The snake tribe’s people? They came already?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Should we let them in or directly send them to the snake king?"

Yaarak pondered for a moment and then waved to have them sent in. He knew that they would want to see their own king as soon as possible but, in his eyes, it was still better to caution them first.

The four people that came in couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. The last time, they had been in a rush because they were sure that their king had been injured and that the only person they were sure would be able to help him and contend with the gods in case they tried to do something funny would be the demon king himself. That was why they had rushed over here to ask him for help.

At that moment, the demon king hadn’t hesitated either and sent somebody to search for their king and help him immediately. Now that they were back though, the people of the snake tribe couldn’t help but wonder if maybe they had overstepped some bounds and if maybe they hadn’t behaved appropriately the last time they had been here. Thus, they were nervous when looking at the person in front of them.

Yaarak merely looked at them, keeping quiet for a moment. It wasn’t that he was deliberately trying to scare them but that he was instead wondering how to go about this. What he had to say might have quite a bit of an impact on what was going to happen next. He couldn’t be careless with his words.

Hu Chen who was An Hei’s right-hand man and had grown up together with his king was the one who had the closest relationship with him. Whether it was the worry for his king or for his best friend, he just couldn’t help but speak up himself when the demon king did not say anything himself. "Your Majesty … Is something wrong with our king?

Yaarak was pulled out of his musings and faintly shook his head. "No, his condition is just as one would expect: He’s hurt but not that gravely. Given a few days or maybe weeks of rest, he will be back to full health. There shouldn’t be any lasting effects from this fight either."

The snake people heaved a sigh of relief and then exchanged a glance, still somewhat afraid of why the demon king had asked them over. "Then … should we go and see him now?"

Yaarak didn’t comment on their impatience and instead gave a hum. "You may go and do that in a moment. There’s just one thing I would like to mention first."

The four of them kept standing where they were but it was obvious that they would like nothing more than to rush over to where their own king was.

Yaarak smiled faintly and then spoke up so as to not let them wait any longer. "He will need some rest but I’m afraid that a fight might be in our near future. I suggest that you urge him to really take that rest. I will speak to him as well when he feels better but I reckon that if it is people from his own tribe saying it, he might have an easier time accepting it.

"Also, you should start making some preparations even before he returns. I don’t doubt that he will do his utmost to keep you safe even on short notice but do so just in case. It is never too early for that."

The four of them exchanged glances again, realizing that the situation was graver than they had thought. Originally, they had assumed that this was just about their king and maybe that insufferable king of the bird tribe but as it turned out, there was more to this. "Then our king …"

Yaarak got up and walked over to look out of the window once again, his gaze difficult. "Originally, he would not be in any more danger than the other tribes’ leaders. But he is hurt after all so he will be in a worse state than them. Also, it is likely that the bird tribe’s king Gang Jie might focus on him. So you should keep an eye on that." He turned back to them, his gaze lingering on each of their faces for a moment. "You have to take this seriously. The fight I’m talking about … If we do not use our full strength in it, then I’m afraid we may perish altogether. That is the kind of scale you have to imagine."

The people of the snake tribe gulped and exchanged another glance before nodding. "We will keep your words in mind, Your Majesty. Then, we should probably go and see our king."

Yaarak nodded and then motioned for a servant to bring them over. When they had left, he sighed and turned back to the window. "It’s been so long since I’ve ascended the throne. Who could have known back then that something like this would happen under my reign? I’m afraid that I might not be able to keep safe what our ancestors fought so bravely for.

"A pity that the gods have sunk so low. Well, I guess the times of Yu Ha are gone forever. There’s no going back to that peaceful state. Since the equilibrium is broken, let it be broken. We will see what happens in the end. Who prevails and who perishes … that still remains to be seen."

The demon king was not the only one looking at the future with worry. After being brought over to the door of the room where their own king was resting right now, the people of the snake tribe waited for the servant to leave and then exchanged glances.

Hu Chen looked in all directions to make sure that nobody else was around before he spoke up with his voice lowered. "What His Majesty just said … What do you think about it?" Personally, he couldn’t help but hope that the demon king would turn out to be wrong. Unfortunately, he didn’t believe that to be the case. After all, the demon king knew more about the overall situation between their two races than them. Would he really misread it to this degree?

Xu Fu, the only woman in the group, furrowed her brows. "Judging from what happened at the celebration, I do think that the demon king has a point. The gods obviously don’t want to play nice anymore. Since that is the case, why wouldn’t they attack?"

One of the others shook his head. "That isn’t news. I’m more worried about His Majesty. We know how he is. Will he really rest up? If he knew that a fight is coming up, wouldn’t he rather try and prepare everything as well as he can? I think that’s much more in line with his thinking."

The other three nodded, all feeling that that was indeed very much like their king. But what could they do to make sure he really rested? Thinking about that question, their expressions were all blank.

Thinking about his friend, Hu Chen could only come up with one idea: "We have to find something to distract him. If he has something else to worry about, then he won’t focus on the fight too much. It just has to be important enough."

"You say that. But what can we do? And it’s not like giving him more trouble would be helpful. How would he rest then?"

In the end, it was Xu Fu who spoke up again. "Well … He really doesn’t need something that’d be trouble but that doesn’t mean that we can’t divert his attention. What he did at the celebration was definitely for us but since he asked the goddess Mei Huang if she would marry him, that might mean he has thought about finding a wife.

"So how about doing so for real? Then he can spend his time with her and he would even have somebody else to support him. It might take some of the burdens off his shoulders."

The others exchanged a glance, feeling a bit incredulous at first.

Before they could start to complain, Xu Fu already shook her head though. "You guys are looking at this too simply. We want to distract His Majesty but not give him trouble. What better way could there be than to make him fall in love?"

Hu Chen smiled wryly. "Your idea isn’t bad but how long has our king been a bachelor now? Do you really think we would be able to magically find a woman he would like to marry just because we want to? I really can’t imagine that."

Unfortunately, they all had to agree that this really wouldn’t be easy. Even Xu Fu could only sigh when this problem was pointed out. She didn’t even know what his type was. Finding a wife that he would like … it really wouldn’t be easy.

"Well, maybe you’re right with that. Then let’s just go and see him first. Maybe the demon king is right and he will actually listen to us because he cares about us. It’s at least worth a try."

With that, the four demons turned to the door and knocked, waiting for An Hei to ask them to come in.

sunyagracebold

Yesterday was indeed enough to finish writing the chapter but I did need longer with the editing after all. Here it is though! :)

Let me use this time to add a bit of backstory again: I haven't said much about the world of this story yet but now, that we have a few more characters, I feel it's time to do that. You don't really need to know this but I just love to share my thoughts behind my stories. If you're not interested, you can just skip this. ;)

The world that this story is set in includes several realms. For this story, only two are really relevant which are the mortal realm where Ling Ling lives and the immortal realms which include both the kingdoms of the gods and the demons. Other than those, there are also Heaven, an ancient realm that has been sealed off and is the place the gods and demons originated from, the spirit world where one can find ghosts and, well, spirits, as well as the underworld where the souls of the dead will be brought.

The mortal, immortal, and spirit realm are further separated, very much like our world with its continents. And just like in our world, you can find different cultures and civilizations in each of them. For example, the demon king Yaarak you meet in this story is only the demon king of the continent Kishin while in the continent adjacent to it, Peraad, a king called Vanradam reigns.

I'll tell you a bit more about Kishin when we get back to Ling Ling's side of the story soon. I think it's another chapter until then though depending on how fast I can wrap up the talk between An Hei and his people.

Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter! :)