Venerable Demon King & The Doting Immortal (QT) novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39: New mother

He had grown accustomed to these hauntings. Even in death, the pair of them wouldn’t leave him be. They attached to him like blood-sucking leeches sucking out his soul. They were a part of his life now, a twisted reminder of his past deeds. He chuckled softly, lifting the cup of wine to his lips and taking a slow sip. "Don’t look at me like that. If you keep scowling you will have wrinkles," he said, his tone mocking. This was what his mother worried about most. She would sit in front of a bronze mirror gently pulling at her temples to get rid of the fine lines.

His mother, "???"

"Oh, by the way," he said excitedly sitting up straight, "I have been trying to capture your soul in the underworld so we can finally be reunited. Doesn’t that sound fun? Preventing your reincarnation is the least I can do. Just in case you know... in your next life you decide to screw up another of your children."

The wind howled through the room, carrying with it ghostly screams that made the candles flicker. His mother’s eyes burned with resentment. "I should have never birthed you you bastard," she hissed, her voice echoing with an ominous energy.

Xiang Yu laughed the sound cold and mirthless. "Tell me something new," he retorted, his eyes gleaming with malice. As if on cue, another figure materialised in the steam. His father, with a gaping hole in his chest and bloody gashes all over his body, stood on the other side of the bath. It seemed even in death they didn’t like each other. Xiang Yu’s amusement only grew. "Ah, it seems we have a full house tonight," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Is this an intervention or something?"

The ghostly figures remained silent, their eyes filled with resentment and rage. Xiang Yu leaned back, his twisted smile never faltering. "Well, if you are here to torment me, you will have to do better than this," he taunted, raising his cup in a mock toast his twisted smile reflecting in the rippling water. "To family reunions."

But before he could take a sip, something cold and clammy gripped his ankle, yanking him down with a force that took his breath away. Startled, he was submerged, the murky bathwater turning into a suffocating prison. He felt like he was drowning, an unseen weight pressing him deeper into the abyss. Yet, even as his chest burned and his vision darkened, he smiled, embracing the sensation.

Just when he thought he would succumb to the darkness, a familiar voice pierced through the haze, filled with anxiety. "Master! Master!... Master!" Mei’s voice called out, desperate and urgent. His spirit seemed to snap back into his body, and he found himself gasping for air, his eyes flying open.

He was never underwater. In fact, he was still lying in the bath, the steam swirling around him. Mei knelt beside him, her face pale with worry. "You fell asleep," she said, her voice trembling. "Your face was ashen. I shook you, but you wouldn’t... you wouldn’t wake up. I was so scared."

Xiang Yu took a deep breath his gaze staring into the space. This had happened before, these moments where he seemed to drift too far into the darkness, scaring the girls. He reached out, placing a reassuring hand on Mei’s shoulder. "I’m fine," he said, his voice steady. "it was just a bad dream."

Mei nodded, though her eyes remained filled with concern. "I placed your clean clothes behind the folding screen," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Thank you," Xiang Yu replied, his tone gentle. "You can go back now."