The Cruel Challenge

“Who are you?” The sword was positioned near to her neck, the chillness of the metal had her chuckled that put him in an apprehensive dilemma.

“That's how you treat your saviour?” Lixue clenched the sharp blade with her bare hands.

“It seriously rude, you know.” She twirled around faced the man eyes to eyes after able to get a grip of the blade in order to lose herself from that minor threat.

Inevitably, the white blade was stained with the deep scarlet blood sourced from her hands that clasped the blade. Feeling endless guilt, he placed the sword away from her wounded hand.

“Your hands...” He enunciated, was tight-lipped by such unthinkable self-harm move from her. He just realised what he had done.

“Anyway, aren't you going to repay me? This costs a lot, you know.” She reacted as her other hand were diligently bandaged and treated her bloodstained hands. Fortunate her, the wound wasn't that deep.

“How do I pay you?” He gradually regained his thoughts and was yet to move his eyes away from that blood. For the first time, he was tight-lipped out of remorse for someone.

“Gentleman, your body is quite gorgeous. What do you think?” Lixue kidded, attempted to suppress her laughter as she stroked his white face, smudged it with her residing blood.

“Did you swing that way?” He asked as Lixue was wearing a man wears at the very moment, she still hadn't replaced it as it was upright after her secret outing to the black market.

“What if I do?” She played along with her roles faultlessly, left no flaws loosened but her rival upheld a professional at this.

“Then, shouldn't you be careful?” He utilized the clueless countenance of her at the proper moment when she put her guard down.

“Careful of what?” She inquired, grasped his chin to gaze into his eyes that were totally enchanting

“This.” They swapped position, Lixue was on the bottom as he was on top of her, what an ingenious scheme to cornered someone skillfully.

“Hey... why are you in such a hurry? Don't tell me that you are really interested in man?” Lixue scrutinized as he surged to her white neck, affirmed the truth that there's no adam's apple on her elegant long neck.

“No. It's you I'm interested in.” His tongue tackled its quest on her smooth neck, tickled her in an unusual way.

“Hey!” She shrieked, was surprised by his abrupt motion but pronto eased herself to make the next move.

Her fingers rapidly sealed his acupoint quickly but accordingly, he slumped on her and she shoved him aside to completely bandaged his wounds that were about to bleed again.

“Can't you wait for a while until I finished bandaging you up?” She asked before finalised the bandages procedure that was unexpectedly delayed in abrupt because of his consciousness that awakened at the worst timing.

“Is it fun wearing man clothes?” His spectacular eyes gaped at her exposed bandaged-chest of which was utilized as a lid to her identity, obviously.

“Eeekk!” Her hands hurriedly shuffled the clothes appropriately and she feigned a cough, concealed her discomfiting track detailed.

*cough *

“So, you've found out?” She questioned but the silence gave her the responses to her suspicion.

“Aren't you going to chop my head off?” He diversified the leading of their conversation, reminisced her with another discomfiting stuff ever happened.

“I prefer to do that when you're in a perfect health condition.” Lixue steadily countered the bullet like a grown being contrasted to her inner self that was yelling and lamenting madly.

“You sure?” His deliberated question caused her brain in huge disarray of wanting to chop off his every limb into thousands of pieces.

“I am. Anyhow, you really don't treasure your things, do you?” She referred on the items he left behind after that dusk, she really was clustered with both anger and shames, especially from the perpetual stares from him.

“You can keep it. The finder, the keeper.” He shortly answered but that didn't ascertain her anything, additionally only made him ambiguous.

“Really? This looks valuable though.” He nodded displacing his utterances but the stranger it got. What about the token with his names, wasn't it precious...?

“Done.” She said, tidying up after finalising. He took her hands that were wrapped from the cut that he inflicted of unintentionally and landed on a gentle kiss.

“I'll compensate you later when we meet again, Liu Lixue.” It didn't take him long before leaping out from the opened window of her chamber with an unspecified destination.

“So you research on me, huh?” Liu Lixue giggled before a knock on her door corresponded. It's her maid, Tingting with the meal, what a precise timing.

“First Miss, this is your meal. Eh? Where did that man go?” Tingting appeared curious and quested about the man who was laid as if he was dying. Couldn't blame her, who wouldn't after discerning someone like that.

“Mealtime, finally. He already went away.” She stepped to the table and began munching on the pleasant meals served.

“Eh?“

***

“Liu Lixue!!! I dare you to come out this instant!” One of them shouted fitted to their newest nickname, the madman disguised as a barking doggie.

“Young Miss! First Miss! Please wake up!”

Tingting scurried to Lixue's side that was still deep in her slumber, wishing the night would never cease so that the day wouldn't come for her to wake up facing fools again.

“What a hideous scents of garbage ambushing early in the morning.” She commented, infuriated by the killing intent they exuded that tainted the locale's benign scents.

“Blaze! Keep them there or you'll be the dinner tonight!” She exclaimed at her devoted yet unwillingly Phoenix, simply letting him monopolize over the prevailing situation.

“I know that I chose the wrong master,” Blaze muttered as he left his comfort zones. He shapeshifted himself into a human figure to ameliorate his task.

“I can hear you, roasted chicken~” She said, still half-asleep and weary from the night before.

“I am a Phoenix, more of a bird rather than a chicken just so you know.” He retorted.

“KNEEL, YOU LOWLY HUMANS.”

Blaze who leapt of onto the front gate instructed and as he said, all of those who are bored enough to pay her a visit forcefully kneeled to the ground on their knees mercilessly.

A moment later,

“What are you here for, for real?” He muttered, deeming that their destiny was scarcely awful, confronted against his master that was going to turn the table around.

“You crazy woman! How dare you make us, the third prince people kneel like this!! You'll get the consequences of doing this!!”

He shouted out of resentment in front of the gate.

Meanwhile, Blaze was concerned about not securing their mouth before as his master was appearing there.

“I dare to and so what? Humans are imperfect and born with flaws, what will you be able to do?” Liu Lixue answered, ridiculing them that was leaping their hierarchy just because they were from the third prince. Absolutely ridiculous.

“Imprudent!! You're a human too and even dare to criticize us. You are just a cocky brat!” He countered with his every might that will be his end.

“What a joke. Humans...?” She sneered to their disgruntled face. What a sickly lullaby that was playing on her ears.

“Blaze, off to the third prince palace.” She instructed him as he jumped down from the gate he was standing on.

“What about these garbages, master?” Blaze pointed at the humans that had an assorted facial expression, its too effortless to guess the guts of a human being...

“Left them be.” She ordered, was worn out of fighting verbally when she could just set the end of their daily life cycles.

“Yes, master.”

He later on teleported together in his human form still to the very main door of the third prince palace that had people loitering eagerly for them. Hostile remarks never failed to spit out from their mouth.

“So? Where is your prince?” Liu Lixue asked the alarmed people that were presently badmouthing her.

“Liu Lixue! You will not get away with this! How dare you disable me like this! You'll pay for it!” The third prince wailed on his wooden wheelchair, looked like he was intensely suffering from the omission from the mouth of his.

“Excuse me? When did I? And how would you do that?” That previous words were exemplified too mischievously but it's safe to say that its a threat from her, a meeting gifts.

“I'm the third prince of this country! I'll tell father about this, so, get ready to be executed!” He proceeded with even rushing her with nonsenses but how would he react if the table was turned against him?

“Sister! Why did you have to do that? I know that you like the third prince but do you really have to make his suffer like this?” Another actress made her debut, again and again, far more vicious and unpleasant like her recollection catalogued of her immense tortures.

“I can't tell, sister. Who among us is the best as concocting?” Lixue replied that had her wordless and lagged anxious.

“You!!!”

“Anyways, let's settle this fairly and quickly, though that I know you won't. What about a fight? If you are able to win against me, I'll do anything just as you have said but if I win, I'll make you regret even facing me.” Liu Lixue challenged feat a taunting smile.

“Now, doesn't it sound interesting?”

A familiar voice appeared in front of the door, it's the second prince as he was on a wheelchair, unquestionably and bizarrely, he wore a face veil covering his face. Though, really, on what reason?

“Second royal brother! Why are you here?” The third prince's question was ignored brutally by him. They were siblings, or half-siblings in a more precision as they were born from different consorts.

“We greet the second royal prince. May the prince be in great health always.” They greeted with gracious bowings as they reckoned to.

“Second royal brother? What are you doing here?” He asked twice, first was ignored and he was irritated but somehow was able to withhold his emotions.

“I'm just trying to see my betrothed before we get wedded or is it wrong, third royal brother?” The second prince answered, and Lixue knew for the fact that he edged that one her.

“No, it isn't! But, how would your betrothal be here, in my palace, brother?” He was super nervous faced against his elder brother, even was sweating excessively. That's some amazing thing considering that he was afraid of his own brother.

“She is in front of you.” His words had people set their inexplicable eyes on me with mouth wide enough to welcome huge flies, becoming their next meal.

“Liu Lixue? Brother, you must be kidding? There's no way that my betrothal would be yours!” He uttered loudly that his voice bounced farther than it normally did.

“I'm not yours and will never be, to begin with. Or perhaps, you're not satisfied with only my little sister, third prince? Should I send someone to you?”

Lixue grinned, taunting was a pacifying chore except for what came after. You could even guess what came after challenging someone with a high level of egos.

“You dare to! Fine, let's settle this thing quickly! I'll accept your challenge and you can't back out anymore! If you lose, you have to disfigure yourself with both of your hands!”

Seriously, that one was a big deal she's betting on as woman valued their face super much around the centuries. Not a gentleman at all.

“Sure, as I said, prince, your leg is disabled, how could you fight? You can pick one of your people to came and fight me.”

Most conceded that she was playing with fire as the probability that he might hire someone that was the best at fighting was extremely high.

“Xiluo Courtyard, tomorrow. You better not regret your decision.” He already had a plan patched up as he was looking arrogant, super confident in gaining a victory.

“Well, let's see who would be the one to.” That's before boarding on Blaze that had returned to its original state, the Eternal Phoenix on which no one spotted except for him.

“Blaze, the market. I'm going on some shopping spree.” She smiled after challenging someone that people would seriously bet on her face ended up being disfigured.

“Yes, master.” They flew high up in the air, relishing the chilling breeze up there, the robust breeze actually.

“Second Prince, where should we go to?” The one that assisted the second prince requested his master.

“Follow her.” He muttered, not to let others heard of him.

“Yes, master.” He replied.

“Master, you're going to fight tomorrow? What about your face, you're going to get married the day after tomorrow.” Blaze simply chatted inner, inside as a thought as the two were linked resulted in each other could saw and knew what the others were saying even doing.

“It's fine. I'll chop whose hands that touch me even to the slightest.” She similarly conversed inside her mind, easy peasy.

“Master, why are we going to the market?” He was curious about her intention, of going somewhere she wasn't usually interested in.

“There's an item that I desperately need for our blade. The light blade won't be able to hold on the power any longer. It's too overwhelming.” She retorted and abnormally, both understood what they had been in search of eternal.

“What item? The incomplete piece of the immortal blade?” He guessed and hit it right on the first try.

“Yup. The time has come, I've sensed him after thousands of years in eternal sleep, this life might be a good start of our eternal war.” She explained the inciting yet neck-choking scents that one couldn't explain in complete detail.

”Where is he? Are you sure he's awake from his eternal sleep?”

“He is. That scents that only him exude, my only archenemy, the demon king, the emperor of the underworld clan.” She smiled thinking about him thousands of years ago when they were side by side, tryna hard enough to kill each other. The old day's memories...

“I can't really understand the need for the two of you to fight each other, honestly. Why don't just get along together?” The question that she herself had been asking a lot finally popped out.

“We were destined to be against each other no matter what.” The rules of their clans, never to be changed.

“You sure are confident saying about that after dying and falling into an eternal deep sleep, huh?” He taunted her, recalling her arduous yore before.

“Hehe... It's a destiny. Anyways, let's solve this humans problem first.” That referred to her revenge and also ways of achieving success in her life. That way, she could thank the past owner for lending her body.

“Whatever you say.” He abided by her rules.

“Turn yourself into a little birdie again, Blaze. You don't want to creep anyone out, right.”

“Again? This is horrible for real...”

“None can do except if you want to be any other thing.” That words others scared him, he was going nuts when he was forced to become a pet worm one day and she never failed to change that validity.

“There you go again...” They landed near the market that is was bustling with civilians that was either selling or buying things from each other.

Out of sudden, a light tap came on her shoulder and her, instinctively, almost slashed him with her swords before she realised who was it that easily called for her.

He was startled no wonder as that was too timely, being the valid certainty that she never deviated over the years. Though, a few strands his hairs were slashed by that swift moves.

“Oh, its mister burdensome. What do you want?” She sheathed back her swords into its scabbard, weirdly composed when she almost killed someone on the spot.

“Accompanying you shopping.” He smiled, naturally gifting her the feelings of annoyance.

“Burdensome just can't change its natures. Well, you can follow us if you are that bored.” She agreed as of he would leave if she directed him to. Knowing him, the possessive type.

“Ah, there it is. How much is this?” Liu Lixue picked one of the double-chained bubble-like jewels that possessed that mysterious aura on it.

“Oh, this piece? I'll give it to you for free, beautiful sister causes it doesn't really worth that much anyway.” The little guy said, he looked super young though.

“Really? Your inner core is quite potential... also some brains... how old are you, kiddo?” Lixue glanced at him that had caught her sights by his unusual aura.

“I'm twelve this year, big sister. Why is it you ask?” He replied innocently which looks cute.

“How come you're selling things alone? Where's your parent?”

“I'm an orphan.” He answered, a little sad.

“Is that so? Then, would you like to work for me? I think you would suit working somewhere more than this. What do you say?” She cheered him up, besides, there really was a suitable place for him.

“Can I? ” He asked, was hesitant to hold onto that hopes.

“Yea. I'll provide you with living in exchange, you help me with something.” She answered, already had some planned fixed for him.

“I will. Thank you, big sister!” This boy was remarkably innocent, how could he just accept anything from someone he doesn't even know but maybe he had another thing in mind?

“No big deal. Blaze, bring this boy to the mansion and prepare a room for him as well as foods. I'm going to stroll around a little.” Blaze that was in his human form just get going with her instructions.

“I'm going to buy a few more things so, you can go back first as I might be a little late. See you later, kiddo.” She waved, just let him take care of that kid first before giving any further instructions.

“Is this uncle your brother, sister?” That kid pointed at the man who stands beside me, how funny that he was called an uncle. He looked old!!!

“This, no? He's just a busy body. See you!” Lixue said, not even bluffing that fact as she hid her teasing smile of that pitiful uncle.

“See you, sister.”

“A busybody? Isn't that too exaggerating, hmm?” The man asked, irritation prescribed his mood well. He even got closer to her.

“Where are you touching me, you idiot!” She said, furious but...

“Aargh!”

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