Redeeming The Sins Of Xu Rouguang [BL]

Thunk! Thunk!

The sound of knocking against metal woke up Lai Mingjie who fell asleep after Xu Anqi started playing. He did rediscover his fondness of listening to classical instruments, but he did care too little if Xu Anqi sang or not. If it was Xu Rouguang, it would have been very nice.

The demon king roused after a few seconds of a daze. He lifted his head and saw Sovereign Cosmos standing outside the cell with another maiden. The woman bore food, but her cold eyes seemed to wish she had come empty-handed. Sovereign Cosmos' mellow gaze didn't make Lai Mingjie happy. Not only was that fabricated, but it was also one that hid a lot of other emotions within.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up." Lai Mingjie snorted as Sovereign Cosmos continued to tap his fingers altogether against the cell door's lock pad. He sat up and tidied his clothes before locking gazes with the grand general. "What do you want?"

"Let's talk, Emodao." Sovereign Cosmos smiled as he unlocked the door and let himself and the woman in. After having the food served, the woman left with disdain welling up in her eyes. However, Sovereign Cosmos only stood as he closed the door. Once again, an illusion zone was activated. "Tell me everything that happened in the barn house. Who knows? It might save you."

"And I'm supposed to owe you?" Lai Mingjie laughed out. Aside from Xu Rouguang, he really wanted nothing from all these immortals. Even though he was rather civil with Chartreuse, it was because she was useful. As for the others, they could die in a ditch; and Lai Mingjie wouldn't still bother with them.

"Emodao, please. This is bigger than the two of us." Sovereign Cosmos was very amused, to be honest. Even if it was borderline insulting, he still wanted to see what part of this demon king did make Xu Rouguang rebel against them, against Nuwa. "Why were you meeting with your sentinels?"

Lai Mingjie scoffed and stared at the food served. Those were the only food available in heaven; celestial fruits and wines they wouldn't normally serve to prisoners. However, Lai Mingjie was in a human body; he hungered. They couldn't let a prisoner starve to death as for directives of the goddess. Even if his stomach growled, he refused to eat. One could have been poisoned.

Sovereign Cosmos turned to the food and picked a fruit. A golden light splashed through the celestial fruit, purifying it for any impurities like poison. What's more, it was being infused with heaven and earth energy. He then tossed it at Lai Mingjie... which made the other eat. "You sure choose your food well. Tell me, Emodao. What are your thoughts about Dunzhao's actions? The demon race's rebellion?"

"Pure calamity." Lai Mingjie bit into the fruit and savored the crunch, flesh, and juice; regardless of the mess he made on his face and his audience. "Dunzhao thought he could just rely on the Abyss to make him stronger than the goddess. Who sealed the Abyss again? Wasn't it Nuwa?"

"So you deny participation in the rebellion?"

"The only participation I get is cleaning up their mess." Lai Mingjie's eyes dimmed as he sighed, lowering the fruit from his mouth. "I don't want this more than you do. The endless struggle for every demon. Some of them learned to give up a senseless war against the goddess, but most were just waiting for someone to lead them.

"Whenever I see them, I could still feel that craving to do something. It's so easy to start a rebellion, so easy to raise arms and kill. Consume the blood of humans, kill every immortal... using those demonic-power-inducing drugs and the contracts with the Abyss... what's there to fear, right?" He chuckled as he bit into the apple again. "Tell me, Cosmos...

"Both of us knew how powerful and destructive Nuwa is, right? Let alone Crimson City—even the entire planet could be gone in just a minute of her rage." Lai Mingjie's cold eyes glared at Sovereign Cosmos's as if arrows penetrating a wooden door. "You're a Sacred Guardian of hers; you have gazed at the core of her powers. With something so massive, what can little demons like Dunzhao do? In the raging sea of her wrath, they're nothing but fish and dirt.

"I am a demon king, and I led them almost to victory in the old world. These demons are a part of me already. Most of them had died in Xu Rouguang's hands... and he's not even comparable to Nuwa's foot. Do you really think I'd willingly send them to their deaths?"

A hum came as an answer. Sovereign Cosmos picked up another fruit for Lai Mingjie, purified it, and tossed it to the demon king. "Only those who were drowning in her power could have the chance to gaze into the core of the goddess. How would you assume you have seen it?"

Lai Mingjie caught the fruit. "My die-at-thirty curse could easily be broken, you know? Find the talisman holding my demon powers and then smash it. You know why I'm still stuck in it? The cursed talisman is hidden inside the core of the goddess. No one could just get inside her body and smash it open, right?" He chuckled. "After losing my head, the next thing I know was that I was there with her. She cursed me and sent me to the mortal realm."

Sovereign Cosmos' eyes glittered lowly, but Lai Mingjie didn't even bother with it. The grand general then hummed again before chuckling. "You seemed to talk a lot about things unrelated to your trial..."

"Heh, why? You gonna stand as my lawyer?" Lai Mingjie sneered before waving his hand. "Fine, all the food should have been clean. You should leave; I have a feeling that you're purposely seeking me out so you wouldn't have to be the one investigating me covertly?"

"I don't want Rou'er to continue hating me."

"I have a feeling that at the end of the day, Rou is just going to hate himself the most."

Without another word, Sovereign Cosmos only moved to leave through the door. He went and locked the cell before dismissing the illusion zone. He stared at Lai Mingjie for a while before heading away. The demon king inside the cell only huffed as he continued snacking at the fruits and wine. He hated consuming the food of his enemies, but he needed food to survive... to come home.

His eyes flew to the concealed mark in his arm. Having Sovereign Cosmos visit him made him sure that the mark was practically invisible in their sensors. He had no idea if Xu Rouguang would notice, but he just hoped that rascal wouldn't do anything stupid once he discovered the mark.

"It's going to take a while, but I really hope this trial would end soon." He sighed before downing a jar of wine.

Before he knew it, Xu Anqi was standing at his cell door again. He only spared her a glance before waving his hand to let her in. The woman phased into the door and sat on the floor, seemingly waiting for something.

"Are you waiting for me to toss you some food like a dog? You can get one if you wanna eat." Lai Mingjie then proceeded to ignore her.

"Milord, this servant has things to let you know."

"...Fine. What is it?"

"The demons had started a rebellion in the mortal realm. They had not caused an attack on the humans or on the immortals just yet, but they were gathering their forces." Xu Anqi continued despite Lai Mingjie's pause. "A large number of former demons were breaking their curses and embracing the powers of the Abyss to regain their forms... if not have something stronger. The Imperial Army is well aware of their advances and is devising plans to suppress them."

Lai Mingjie forced himself to sneer. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I heard it would be used against you in the trial, milord. That the Court of Heaven saw your arrest as a distraction and as a cue for them to rise." Xu Anqi paused as she stared at the Lai Mingjie's angry face. "In two days, they might as well plan for your execution."