Blood on the Altar (HuaLian TGCF)

Chapter 4

At Xie Lian's accusation the demon's eye widens in such obvious shock that it's impossible for the god to mistake it for anything else, but shock at what? Xie Lian's accusation? Or at getting caught?

"I'm not." When the demon speaks his voice is hoarse, as though he's fighting to keep it under his control. "I can understand why your highness would think that, but I'm not."

'Liar,' Xie Lian thinks because can it be anything but a lie? How else could the demon's followers know how to recreate... recreate....

But what can he do? If the demon wants to lie to him then he can lie to him and there's nothing Xie Lian can do. It's funny in a way, 800 years and he's still just as helpless as he was back then.

Something of his thoughts must show on his face because the demon closes his eye briefly and when it opens again there's something Xie Lian can't place hidden within its depths.

"You don't believe me."

Wordlessly Xie Lian shakes his head.

"You're right to be cautious." The demon says and then he rises abruptly and goes to the door.

At first Xie Lian thinks he's leaving but he only opens the door and reaches through it and when he turns back to Xie Lian he's holding a tray of tea and hot stew. The demon crosses back to Xie Lian and places the tray on the gods lap. Wordlessly Xie Lian looks first at the tray and then back up at the demon who nods encouragingly toward the food.

"If you'll eat, I'll try to explain."

Xie Lian's eyes drop back toward the food. Until that moment he had been too deep in pain and memory to notice but now that the stew is before him his body assails him with thoughts of how many days it's been since he last ate and how much blood he's lost in between. His instincts are telling him not to trust the demon, that this must be some sort of trap, ...but what would be the point of that? The demon doesn't need to drug him in order to overpower him. Xie Lian is already his prisoner, already at his mercy. There's nothing the god can do to change that and the demon must know it so why bother drugging him? With that thought in mind Xie Lian reaches for the spoon. The stew is rich and warm but not too hot, the broth surprisingly soothing against the new tenderness of his throat. It's the finest food he's eaten in years? Decades?

Once the demon sees that Xie Lian is eating he seems to relax a little and he begins to speak.

"I understand why your highness might think I was connected to White No Face because of my power and aura but the truth is the only connection there is that we get our power from the same source."

"The source?"

The demon nods. "Both he and I get our power from the fires of Mount Tonglu. Have you heard of it?"

Grudgingly Xie Lian inclines his head. "Only vague rumors."

"It's not a place many visit but every number of years it summons any ghosts or spirits with power to battle there and the one who emerges at the end gains its power and becomes a ghost king."

Xie Lian stills with his spoon half way to his mouth. Slowly he lowers it back down to his bowl then he looks up at the demon before him.

"You're a supreme."

He'd already known that, if the demon's mention of his ashes was a real memory and not a product of Xie Lian's fracturing mind, then he must be at least a wrath, with his power and the perfection of his form he could be nothing less. Xie Lian has never encountered a supreme before ....but no that isn't true. If the demon, if the ghost king, is to be believed, White No Face was also a supreme.

The ghost king nods, his shoulders stiffening as he makes the admission, but all he says is "Your highness should continue to eat."

Xie Lian frowns slightly at that. Why should the ghost king care if he eats or not? Is there something in the food after all? After a moment he shakes the thought away and does as he's told. It's not that there isn't a possibility of something being in the food, it's just that, helpless against the ghost king as he is, there seems little point in fighting.

The ghost is silent after that, just letting Xie Lian eat in peace. Once he's finished Xie Lian wonders a little at the feeling of it. Has he really forgotten what it feels like to be full? It's an oddly sleepy feeling, reminding his body of all the things it's been lacking and all of the healing it still needs to do. Xie Lian pushes the thought aside and looks back up at the ghost king beside him.

"That explains why you feel like him but not how you could know me."

Without answering the ghost king takes the tray from Xie Lian's lap and stands. His back to Xie Lian, he speaks. "That's a long story, your highness. You should rest more before you hear it." He strides to the door, opens it, then, still without looking back at Xie Lian, he continues. "I think you'll rest better without my presence so I'll leave you to rest." Then the door is closing behind him and he's gone.

Surprised by his sudden departure Xie Lian stares at the closed door. Briefly he considers going to it and trying it but no, if the ghost king has told him to rest, then he doubts it will open. Even with good food and a soft bed, he is still a prisoner, and he has no idea what his captor wants him for.

As for the man's words... Xie Lian considers them as best his weary mind can. The part about Lord Crimson Rain being a Supreme Ghost King who draws his power from the same source as White No Face is probably true. It's too much of an elaborate lie to tell to gain very little. But does it automatically mean that Lord Crimson Rain and White No Face aren't connected? A shudder goes down Xie Lian's spine. No, it does not.

He's not sure how long it takes him to return to sleep after that. Not long, certainly, not with how much he wore himself out on painful emotions and how much trauma his body is still trying to recover from. As he drifts off this time his last thought is one of resignation.

Because what's the point in fighting when he's only ever going to end up back on that altar?