yansusustories

This chapter will feature Xin Lan and OMF's most-beloved fallen god Xiang Yu.

Meanwhile, in a dimly lit chamber in the demon realm, a man in an inky black robe stood in front of the dressing table he had fetched from a certain demon king’s room. He gloomily stared at the bronze mirror leaning against a casket with jewelry.

Mn … What should he do? Attending a festival … he had never done that. Not like this, at least. Not in the capital of the Nine Heavens …

He touched the mark between his brows, searching for information on that festival. Apparently, it was celebrated every year and in a grand way too. It was … a festival for lovers?

Xiang Yu cocked his head. So they counted as lovers now? He lowered his hand and reached out to take a comb. If he had seen correctly, then everyone would strive to be pretty. If he accompanied him, then he should also try to be more pretty. How to be pretty?

He touched the mark again but everything stayed silent. Mn, it seemed he’d have to figure out how to be pretty by himself. He tried to remember if he had ever seen something that could make someone pretty. In the village where he had been born, the girls had always worn colorful robes to festivals and done their hair. But would that fit this festival too? And would his … lover like it? Had he ever seen him appreciate something like this?

He tilted his head and thought back to all those years they had known each other. Mn, there had indeed been something like that …

Back then … His gaze grew distant when he remembered how he had made his way through the demon king’s palace when he saw someone hurrying down the corridor. Back then, he had stopped and tilted his head, watching the person hurry toward the chambers furthest inside. Wasn’t that … the demon king? He had touched the spot between his brows and silently followed.

The demon king seemed to be in an especially good mood. The corners of his mouth twitched every now and then but it seemed as if he didn’t want to show it. Just what was up with him?

Xiang Yu followed him only to find him meet up with that fake dragon. He tilted his head in the other direction and listened in on their conversation. It seemed the demon king had killed someone? This wasn’t interesting. Didn’t demons kill people every other day? And if they didn’t kill them, they’d do some other vile thing to them. He already wanted to leave when the demon king took a strand of golden hair from the spatial gem embedded in his ear.

Xiang Yu blinked and stayed put, watching on. Seeing a demon carrying around hair was new even to him.

"You wouldn’t know anything more than me, would you?" The demon king smirked.

The fake dragon stared at the golden hair, his expression turning darker and darker. He furrowed his brows and his eyes narrowed and finally, he slapped the demon king across the face.

In response … the demon king could only glare and didn’t dare to strike back.

"I’m not the one at fault here! You actually …" The fake dragon glared right back, snatched the hair away from him and threw it into the brazier. "You actually dared to desecrate his body …"

The two of them raged some more, looking as if they were just half a step away from tearing each other’s throat out. Not that the demon king could win against the fake dragon.

Xiang Yu shook his head. Stupid. The demon king was a stupid idiot. Anyway, he remembered now. Even though the fake dragon had been angry about that hair, he had looked at it in a special way. Obviously … he thought it was very pretty.

Xiang Yu lifted a strand of his own black hair and stared at it. It wasn’t gold. Could he still count as pretty?

He tilted his head to the side and looked at the mirror. If his hair wasn’t pretty on its own, he had to do something with it. Since that fake dragon thought hair was pretty, he should what the girls from his village had done after all. He sat down at the dressing table, slowly combing his hair before he prettied it up for the first time in several millennia.

Half an hour later, Xin Lan arrived in front of his door and knocked. "Let’s go."

He didn’t get a response.

Xin Lan frowned and knocked again. "Xiang Yu, we need to go."

The door opened and Xiang Yu appeared. "I’m done."

Xin Lan’s expression derailed. His lips parted but he couldn’t get a single word out. This … What the fuck was this thing on his head?! His lips twitched again and he finally pressed one sentence out: "Why do you look like that?"

"I wanted to be pretty." Xiang Yu didn’t think anything was wrong with how he looked. He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. "Let’s go then."

"No!"

Xiang Yu stopped, his shoulders tensed. "Why not?"

"I won’t go with you to the festival if you’re looking like that."

Xiang Yu glanced at him over his shoulder. "Why? I’m pretty."

"You’re everything but pretty. You’re looking ridiculous!"

Xiang Yu blinked. "Ridiculous? How so?"

"You …" Xin Lan once again gave Xiang Yu’s look a once-over. His repulsion didn’t diminish. "You’re a fallen god! You have raven black hair, eyes as black as the night sky, a mark between your eyebrows that looks as if it was painted with ink, you’re even wearing a black robe! So why the fuck are you wearing pink hairpins?!"

Xiang Yu blinked again. "So you mean to say … I should have used the blue ones instead?"