You Must Have Forgotten All Your Promises

The plane he was on kept on swaying, like the water under it kept on rocking. Even if he opened his eyes, all he saw was black. It was a void without any light. He moved his fingers, closing and opening his fists just to make sure they weren't phantom limbs. However, without anything to see, it was too hard for him to ascertain it.

"Xu Rouguang..." A voice drifted in the wind. The man turned his head, but there was nothing to be seen. He wasn't even sure if he was floating in the water or was submerged in it. The voice came again. "Do you want to break out? This prison is too boring for you, isn't it?"

"Who are you?" Xu Rouguang flickered his eyes, but it made no difference. However, he could feel that the face he was making was not one of confusion and cluelessness—but of indifference.

"It doesn't matter. Would you like to do me a favor? I do you a favor, too."

Xu Rouguang went to reach out to touch his own head, but it seemed that he didn't feel any palms against his head—or any head against his palms. It felt like he couldn't even feel himself. The sudden and fleeting turmoil in his mind vanished as soon as it came. He didn't look around anymore as he straightened his body.

He responded again. "I'm nothing but a consciousness right now. What can I do exactly?"

The voice rang with laughter. "How intelligent. As expected from the champion of heaven..."

Suddenly, a tinge of light appeared from afar. The ball of light then turned into a white silhouette of a long-haired person in flowing clothes. Xu Rouguang would shield his eyes from the light if he had hands. The silhouette began getting filled with details—it was a young and beautiful woman. Her hair was left to flow freely and sprawl in the air. Her commoner's dress didn't fit her exquisite face that seemed to belong to a princess.

The woman floated before Xu Rouguang and smiled at him kindly. However, the man was filled with horror. Everything about her was beautiful and flawless as if she was a pearl kept by the commoners... but her eyes... her eyes didn't have whites. Her cornea was as dark as her tan pupils, making her image strangely unsettling.

"Do you recognize me, Xu Rouguang?" The woman spoke, but all Xu Rouguang thought was why the insides of her mouth were as black as the void. "Are you horrified to see me?"

"Who are you? Why are you... why do you look like that?" Xu Rouguang grew angry. His nonexistent fists felt like shaking and hurling around at the same time.

"Silence." The woman laughed out before turning to the side. Another ball of distant light showed up. "Help me out, Xu Rouguang. Relieve me of my horrors, and I shall relieve you of yours. If you follow the light, you will come to a place unknown to us. Eventually, you'll find out what I ask of you." She then turned to him. "As for you... I will be taking this woman away."

"You can't take her away. She's... she's not..."

"Make up your mind, Xu Rouguang. You were the one who wished for freedom, not me." The woman grabbed the consciousness and threw him towards the light.

Like he was shocked awake, Xu Rouguang tore his eyes open. He could vaguely remember the dream, but he could recall the features of the woman he had seen. She was all too familiar, but he couldn't tell where he had seen her before. Of course, she had normal eyes and mouth unlike what he just saw.

He moved in his spot and noticed that he had indeed slept on top of Lai Mingjie. The other was also sleeping soundly, notwithstanding the weight of the general. Then again, what weight? Didn't he make his body feel like a feather in fears of crushing his skin-and-bones lover?

Xu Rouguang moved and sat on the floor. He restored his weight and laid his head next to Lai Mingjie's tummy. His hand also came to rest in that area. A few strokes were all it took for the general to frown; Lai Mingjie was awfully thin for his liking. He had fed him so much in the past, but he still wouldn't put on more meat.

"Hey, that tickles." Lai Mingjie chuckled in his sleep, his hand swiping down to get rid of Xu Rouguang's hand. His mouth was left with a grin as he continued to dream. With that kind of face, Xu Rouguang wondered who he was dreaming about.

"...This is bad." The general sighed, and he crossed his legs and pressed his palms on his face. He was getting awfully jealous again like he was designed to get murderous at the thought of Lai Mingjie enjoying the company of a woman. Xu Rouguang then brought his knees to his chin and hugged his legs.

"Poison Flower..." Xu Rouguang murmured a name he had heard from Botangca before. She said he was deemed to loathe beautiful women because of what Poison Flower did. If only he had a face to associate with the name, he wouldn't have to think so hard. Was he cuckold by this woman? Wait, he loved Emodao; how would he be a cuckold?

A loud yawn came from Lai Mingjie as he began to wake up from the long nap. He suddenly felt hungry again and assumed it was more or less noontime. He rolled to his side and saw the human ball that used to be Xu Rouguang. His hand flew to the general's shoulder.

The general, who wallowed in despair, suddenly had his eyes twinkling in joy. He turned to Lai Mingjie and smiled skyward. However, he was greeted by a raised brow.

"What's up? Why are you curling up? Is that how you keep your hands to yourself?" Lai Mingjie moved to sit up before patting the space to make Xu Rouguang sit next to him. However, the princess only moved to hug his Jie's waist and rest his head on his Jie's thighs. The demon king only stared in confusion. "Oi, care to explain?"

"Jie, do you know anyone called Poison Flower? I just want to know." Xu Rouguang lifted his face, but his eyes didn't dare meet with his Jie's.

"Is she haunting you?" Lai Mingjie scratched his head. He stammered for a few seconds before sighing. "Yeah, of course, I know Poison Flower. That bitch sold her blood to me and poisoned me the night I, uh, well, I got killed. Not only that, but she's also very noisy and annoying. She kept on saying that she was the perfect and rightful Imperial Heavenly Princess, and she would be the envy of all women alive because she would be married to—" Lai Mingjie was cut off by his own anger.

He then shook his head and patted on Xu Rouguang's head heavily. "Can we not talk about her? She's not worth any second of my other lives."

Xu Rouguang shifted his gaze to look at Lai Mingjie's face intently. "Did you have anything going on with her?"

"Well, a blood debt. You see, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be killed." Lai Mingjie then twitched and murmured in a soft voice but loud enough for Xu Rouguang to hear, "To think about it. General Xu was so pissed that night; he didn't even open his mouth. Only around the last few minutes..."

'Do you love her?'

'Would it hurt you if I killed her?'

'Do you care so much about her that you're not fighting me properly?'

'You must have forgotten all of your promises. Well, I didn't forget mine.'

Lai Mingjie's eyes began to flicker. He then looked down at the inwardly seething Xu Rouguang. His hand came to cover the eyes that he hated. The demon king managed to remember the strange things Xu Rouguang ended up saying that fated night. However, he still didn't know why General Xu uttered those words to him.

"What promises did I forget?"