The atmosphere in the room calmed down after the conversation. Xue Mo released his hold on Lu Yao and inspected her. With a worried, filled gaze, he asked, "are you alright, Yao?"
She stretched a little before nodding, "ya, I sure am. But what happened back there?"
"That was Arch Deviation!" Xue Mo answered with a solemn voice. "It is a rare condition that only happens when someone's Arch energy circulates in the wrong order. It's so rare that I didn't need to mention it to you."
Understanding dawned upon Lu Yao, but the answer made her wonder even more, "why did it happen to me?"
"That," Xue Mo looked unsure but still replied, "I am not sure, but probably because your emotions went haywire and caused the Arch Energy inside you to reverse. That was very dangerous. You are lucky that nothing happened to you. Normally when this happens, Cultivators get injured or die even!"
Hearing the anxiousness in his voice, Lu Yao held his white as sheet hands, "it's alright. Nothing happened to me, and nothing will!" With the reassurance of Lu Yao, the nervousness in Xue Mo ceased a little.
"Yes, it will never happen again!" Xue Mo repeated with conviction, but it seemed the words were directed at himself and not Lu Yao.
Lu Yao saw how Xue Mo hadn't completely forgotten the subject, "when did you get so weak, Mo?" She provoked. "The Mo, I know, wouldn't keep thinking of useless stuff. As I said, I am alright now! Or do you perhaps not trust my words?"
"Wait, what?" Xue Mo hadn't completely grasped the situation like usual, "you know that's not… it. Huh, I didn't see that coming."
Finally, understanding what Lu Yao did, he sent her an appreciative look. Since Lu Yao wanted to change the subject, Xue Mo readily complied.
"You already told me about yourself," he told her. "Now, it's my turn. What do you want to know about me?"
Lu Yao was surprised but became quickly ecstatic. She knew how difficult it was for Xue Mo to reveal info about himself, even for her. With this chance in front of her, she wouldn't miss it, but she wanted to make sure, "are you really fine telling me?"
"Why wouldn't I? You already told me yours, and you also know my feelings. Do you really think I would tell this to someone else?"
"Then I won't ask again," she looked determined. "I want to know everything!"
"Everything, huh." He looked at her before sighing, "this will take a while," he mumbled. Though she heard him, she acted as if she hadn't.
"Where should I start?" He scratched his chin, "alright, I will start at the beginning."
"My name isn't Xue Mo," he said, surprising her. "Well, it is, but my full name is Lenos Xue Neco Mo!"
"Xue Mo is the name I took after killing my whole family and destroying their empire!"
Lu Yao widened her eyes before going deep in thought, 'wait, this is something he would do!' She nodded to herself.
"What did you think just now?" He asked after seeing her nod out of nowhere.
"Hmm," she looked at him and smirked, "I just thought that it was just like you."
Xue Mo shook his head while thinking, 'cute.' "Anyway," he continued, "it was a long time ago, and I didn't bother to remember, so my memory is a little foggy."
"Lies! Your new body gave you enhanced memory."
"Tch fine, I remember," he babbled a little to ease what he was going to say next.
"I was born in the Lenos family, one that put royalty and prestige above everything else. I was the only son and the crown prince, but that didn't give me a happy childhood. Since I lacked emotions, my parents and everyone around me thought of me as a defect."
"My mother hit me while my father poisoned me. They said, 'this is all for your own good. Once you start Cultivating what we do now will help make you stronger.' They abused in the name of help, and since I lacked emotions, I never cared, cried, or fought back. I just let them do what they want."
Lu Yao squeezed his hand, suddenly surprising him, "what?"
"I am sorry," she mumbled with a sad look. "You suffered greatly!"
"No, I didn't." He denied with a head shake, "I didn't have the emotions to feel suffering."
"That's even sadder," she mumbled, but he ignored her.
"As I was saying, growing up in that environment, it became the norm to hit me, poison me, and mistreat me. My parents allowed and ordered everyone to do that. They said, 'we need an heir, not a puppet.' They saw how I didn't feel any emotion and hated me for it, yet even after that, I didn't care."
"It was at the time that I started Cultivation that emotions emerged in me. Though few, they changed me. I was no longer a puppet, but someone with emotions. What I felt for the first time was the feeling of getting stronger! It was so intoxicating that I never wished for anything more."
Lu Yao saw how excited Xue Mo was when he remembered that his blackish gold sclera shined as if he felt that emotion again. "However, even when I started having emotions, my parents were as displeased as ever. Due to them being few, they wanted to find what emotions I had, which made them perform tests on me."
"They knew that Cultivation gave me drive and stopped me from it. This caused the second emotion in me to rise. Like a raging volcano, anger grew within, making me seem crazy. It was also at that time that I developed a warped and calculating personality that revolved around Cultivation."
"Once I could Cultivate again, I madly did. I rose in ranks and learned what I could, from pill concoction and forging to Arrays and talismans. Anything related to Cultivation I absorbed like a sponge using the resources of the people I was scheming against! My parents deprived me of Cultivation, and I paid them back."
Xue Mo resumed with a crazed and satisfied smile, "I climbed ranks and beat everyone in every field. I became famous as a Cultivation maniac and a genius, but unknown to everyone. I slowly skipped poison to my parents and everyone with an important position. The Lenos empire collapsed so suddenly that no one knew the reason."
"As soon as I destroyed the empire, I discarded my name and became Xue Mo. With my cold and bloodthirsty mindset towards Cultivation, I made many enemies. Yet, just like the Lenos empire, they got destroyed and became resources to further my rise to power."
He looked at Lu Yao to observe her reaction and only saw her staring at him with sparkling eyes. Since he got immersed in telling his story, he hadn't noticed her eyes swelling again as if she cried. With a worried tone, he held her hand, "what's wrong?"
"What would those people that you destroyed think if they saw you being so tender and sweet," she asked with a smile before shaking her head. "It's nothing. I just wished I were there to shred them to pieces," her voice raged as she clenched her paw that had dried blood from before. "How dare they do that to my Mo!!"
"Are you angry for me?" He asked with raised eyebrows. "It's… a bizarre feeling." He scratched his chin before tilting his head to the side, gazing at Lu Yao affectionately.
"Is it?" She hugged him just like before, "but I am sure you would have done the same if it were me."
"Definitely," was his immediate retort.
"Hahahaha," she wiped a tear from her eye, "that was a quick response."
"If anyone dares touch my Yao, I will do way worse than that," his smile was menacing, promising a fate worse than death.
"Continue, continue," she told him so she could stop laughing. 'My Mo is really adorable. Even with a cruel smile, he's handsome.'
"Fine, but stop with the weird thoughts. I can tell, even if I don't read your mind."
Tch
He heard her click her tongue and ignored her pouting face. "Where was I? Ah right, it was at that time that some stupid young masters from various families, sects, and other organizations started flocking towards me. Without even doing anything, they encountered me and died. Every time they die, their organizations sent people after me and got killed. After ignoring them enough, I started actively destroying them, and thanks to that, I accumulated more resources."
"Seeing how useful they were, I let myself become a target for them to make them the perpetrators." He had a cold smiled, "In the end, half of the organizations in the Divine Hell Universe got wiped out and I became famous. Many investigated me and found my identity, but so what!" He scoffed, "I never cared about such trivial things and continued to grow stronger. My only goal was the peak."
"It was at that time that another change happened to me. I saw a slave getting tortured, and it sparked something in me. There was a time in my childhood where I almost became a slave, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Seeing what was happening to the slave, I watched from the side. While watching the torture, I thought, 'wow, this is a beautiful art!'. It was weird, but torture looked like art to me for some reason."
"I saw how interested I was in that art and practiced it. When I had enemies, I practiced 'art' on them and grew proficient in it, and with it, I picked an excellent hobby, it was dissection. Through that hobby, I learned about various anatomies, and many living beings became experiments for me."
He looked at Lu Yao and asked, "am I creepy?"
"No, my Mo is just Mo. There is nothing creepy about you."
"Yao is indeed the best," he praised, making her happy. "Let's leave the lovey-dovey talk for later. I am getting to the good parts now."
"I spent years studying my 'art' and hobby, which gave me the moniker The Sage of Nightmares. Feared everywhere and by everyone, I reached the Peak of Cultivation. I was the envy of all, and everyone avoided me. I was living the life, but it wasn't one that I wanted."
"So, it was then that you died and became my Xue Mo." Lu Yao concluded and received a nod.
"Ya, I died, fused, and made a body. No need for me to continue since you know the rest."
"Your life was really hectic," Lu Yao commented. "But I am glad."
"Glad?"
"Yes, glad! Since thanks to that, I got to meet you," she held his hand, gazing into his eyes. "Xue Mo, you are the best thing that happened to me."
"Yao, I feel the same. I feel the same!"