Xin Lan looked at the blood incredulously before raising his gaze to the person in front. The person was slim, his black hair barely reaching his waist. This was obviously a young god. Or rather … a young fallen god.
Xin Lan furrowed his brows. He had never thought about it before since nobody cared about the age of a fallen god but Xiang Yu couldn't have been very old when he fell. Never mind that an older god might not have been taken in by a demon because they could see matters more clearly, he also hadn't looked that way. And the way he had reacted to him mentioning the Mark of Wisdom … It was as if he had never heard of it. So most likely he had fallen in love on his first trial and then followed the demon immediately. Maybe even without telling anyone.
Xin Lan sighed. He didn't care too much about the gods or anyone besides his Master in general but he still had to admit that this was rather pitiful. Falling in love for the first time while still being naive … That demon should have used this until the very end. Who knew what he had suffered through?
Well, right now, this fallen god didn't look like he was suffering. He still had his back turned toward him but in his hand loosely hung a sword covered with blood. It ran down the blade and dripped onto the ground drop by drop, gathering into a red puddle. Xiang Yu didn't seem to notice. He stood there rigidly, his whole body tense but his grip on the weapon still awkward.
This person … had never held a sword before. That much was sure.
Xin Lan knew he should go even further back in time to see how it had come to this but he couldn't help but wonder just what Xiang Yu wanted to do with this sword. Judging from all the blood on the ground, he should have used it quite a bit already. But how? Who would lose against someone like him who didn't know what he was doing at all?
The fallen god finally moved. Up until now, they had been standing in a small chamber in the demon king's palace. A trail of blood led from the door to where the fallen god stood. It seemed he had killed his way here?
Xin Lan inclined his head in contemplation. Fallen gods weren't known for being normal. Killing people left and right wasn't unheard of but even though this specific fallen god could get violent if someone said the wrong thing, he was normally rather reserved. He wouldn't even utter a word if he didn't feel like it as if he didn't notice the people around him. Why would he go out of his way to kill?
The fallen god left the room and Xin Lan followed him. He knew these corridors. Nothing much had changed since that time just that the one they belonged to had changed once. But that wasn't such a strange thing in the demon realm. Disregarding Jin Ling who had relied on his help for a lot of things and Jian Heng who had had a belly full of schemes, most demon kings hadn't even enjoyed a thousand years on the throne.
The fallen god walked down the corridor until the end and then turned into the next one, once again walking until he reached a corner. It seemed as if he had no goal at all and just walked randomly. Finally, someone appeared in front of them.
The demon froze, his lips twitched and he retreated, not daring to confront a fallen god. The person in question didn't chase him though. He just stood there and his head turned slightly, his gaze obviously following the person that ran away. He didn't say anything and didn't move until the demon couldn't be seen anymore. Only then did he continue forward.
Xin Lan frowned. Just what was he doing? Obviously, he wasn't like the ones that had gone mad and killed everyone in sight but he had killed. So what was it? Did he have specific people in mind? But whom? Did he hold a grudge against someone?
He continued to follow him and saw the same thing repeat several times. This fallen god didn't seem like he wanted to kill anyone but he still left a trail of blood everywhere he went. Just who was he waiting for? It couldn't be his husband. After all, he had to have killed at least two people. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a trail of blood leading into that room and blood splashing onto the ground in front of his feet as well. This just didn't make sense! Xin Lan glared at the fallen god's back. Couldn't this guy hurry up? It wasn't like time would stop just because he immersed himself in somebody's memories.
Finally, the fallen god stopped in front of a door. He looked at it as if he was trying to decide what to do. He didn't reach out and open it, nor did he knock to draw the person inside over. He just … stood there and looked at it.
Xin Lan massaged his forehead. This guy! What was he doing?! If things went on like this, he would never get done whatever he wanted to do. Xin Lan was of half a mind to go over and open the door himself but then again, he was just watching this memory. It wasn't his own. Well, even if it was, there was no way to change it now that it was long past.
Finally, the door opened. A man stood in the room. His brows raised when he saw the person outside but after the initial surprise, his lips curled into a smile. "Brother-in-law, did you miss me?" He licked his lips and looked down in a manner that made Xin Lan frown but the fallen god did nothing.
The demon widened his eyes. "This … You … What did you do?!"
The fallen god raised his hand in response and plunged it into the demon's neck. The blade got stuck and he had to tug at it twice to get it back out, spraying the demon's blood onto the door in the process.
Xin Lan's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't hesitated at all and even though he couldn't see his face, this fallen god didn't seem to him as if he minded killing this person. Even though he didn't kill indiscriminately, it might still not be wrong to call him deranged. Well, this was long past. He should —
The fallen god whirled around and the sword accurately hit his chest, drilling into his flesh. Xin Lan reached up to stop it but it was already too late. He raised his gaze incredulously only to meet with a pair of dark eyes that definitely wasn't just something from a memory.
Xiang Yu opened his lips and his voice sounded even gloomier than normal. "You have no right to see my memories. If you wanted to know, you could have just asked." He pulled the sword out and vanished together with the corridor and the corpse of the demon. Xin Lan still managed to see the head he held in his arm and his eyes couldn't help but widen when he saw the face.