Hidden Lies

As the horrific flashbacks played in his mind, the merchant closed his eyes. The animal-like deep low-rumbling voice with green slit eyes along with muffled screams of girls whose mouths and hands were tied and stripped naked. One by one they came into his mind. All nine of them, getting horrifically raped by the demon while draining them out of their life force as it climaxed every time. The merchant remembered the first time he encountered it during his business visit to the Tianxia Empire. His first wife went into a difficult labor which ultimately drove her into a vegetative state and the child was stillborn. The merchant was distraught and suddenly he met this handsome young man at a tavern who to his shock knew everything about him and his desperation.

"How is your wife doing? Is she dead yet?", the man chuckled with a taunting voice.

"What kind of nonsense are you spewing right now? And where did you know all these from?" The merchant asked with fits of anger grabbing his collar.

The handsome man wickedly smiled and said that he had the solution to his wife's illness and if the merchant is willing he is ready to tell him the truth about how he came to know about him. And with that, he flashed his slit eyes shocking the merchant in disbelief.

"Since you are so scared with just my eyes, shall I show you my true form too? Then you can perhaps decide what to do about your beloved wife." the man said giving a menacing look.

With that, his appearance changed into a hairy being with fangs and eyes glowing bloodshot.

"A yaomo? You are a yaomo?" the merchant almost fell staggering backward.

"So you know about the demons of Tianxia. Then you must be aware of what we need to survive ahh?" the yaomo chuckled going back to the handsome look.

"We need the life force of young women to survive. But you know just surviving is not my thing anymore. Immortality is what I desire. Sadly the situation has become a little tricky here with the mysterious cosmic force weighing on the empire. I can feel the evilness of it though. I have a strong feeling that whatever is coming forth will not distinguish between humans or animals or us. Moreover, it's difficult for me to hide preying here on with the cultivators and mofarens (Tianxian auras) being extra alert these days."

The handsome man then offered him the ultimate proposal which sent a chill down the merchant's spine.

"Ten girls. You give me ten girls, seventeen years of age. I need the life force of ten girls to attain immortality and in exchange, I will cure your wife and even bestow you with children. What do you say? Deal?" he asked.

As difficult and sinful as the proposal was the merchant thought of his love and the fact that this might be the only chance to bring her back.

"How would I know that you will keep the end of the bargain? What if you abandon me after getting what you want? Why should I trust you?" asked the merchant.

"Well, there is a way to handle such trust issues." The yaomo smirked

"A blood deal should do", saying this yaomo cut his hand, and the merchant mixed their blood while vowing to restore his wife's health in exchange for ten seventeen-year-old girls. Failing to keep their respective end of the bargain will cause the deal breaker to die within three days with the soul crushed and lost in oblivion permanently.

The merchant's desperation was so intense even when there was a lot of room for suspicion whether this was all true or it was just the yoamo's trick. Either way, he was trapped so he reluctantly agreed. He took the yaomo back to his mansion where he secretly kept him in the outhouse along with his sick wife. The head maid and the family physician were the only ones who were aware of the whole secret but kept their mouth shut in exchange for hefty monetary payments as rewards from the merchant. Not just that they were both taken to visit the yaomo who threatened to kill their family if the word got out. Since then he married nine girls but never consummated the marriage with anyone until now.

"You are still standing here?"

The merchant snapped out of his thoughts with the touch of a hand on his shoulders. He turned round to see his wife smiling brightly.

"Ahhh was just looking outside. It's been years and I missed home." The merchant said.

"There is plenty of time to spend now. So please go and freshen up for the dinner it's been already prepared." Netri lovingly pushed him to go.

The next five days passed and the final day was approaching making his heart heavy with sadness and reluctance. He never in his wildest dreams thought that such a day would come when he would madly fall for another girl so much so that the thing he felt and did for his first wife started to feel meaningless. On the other, he was scared of losing Netri if the truth about the real motive of the marriage came out. No matter how much the truth holds that he genuinely loves and cares for her, Netri will be betrayed in the end. But as the days were approaching somehow he was growing determined that he would not let Netri face what the other nine girls had. He decided to tell her the truth. But it wasn't an easy task.

After dinner, they sat on the serenely lighted rooftop and a strange dilemma caught up the merchant. He wanted to tell her the real reason behind their marriage. But the happy and peaceful look on Netri's face made it very difficult for him to break the sinister truth to her. Soon the cool breeze started getting colder and stronger and the stars which lit up like a thousand fireflies in the sky started getting slowly enveloped under the thick approaching storm cloud. Suddenly lighting flashed across the sky like a white snake's tongue flowing with a low rumbling thundering sound. A storm has started.