Chapter 81 - The Ever Night Province

Li Ming looked at the scene with confused and shocked eyes. She took in every single detail of the gloomy place that laid in front of her.

They were currently standing on a high cliff from where the entire town that was build in the depth of the valley could be seen.

Ruoshan had brought her to an unknown place which reminded her of those underworld scenes from the modern movies.

The place was too dark for her liking. Everything was black whether it was the broken houses or the tattered clothes of the people who were fixing their homes. Their unkempt clothes and hair only added to the darkness and sorrow of the place.

This unknown place was the complete opposite of what she had seen in the Black market, Capital City, and Dongji village in the past six months.

The sky was covered in dark clouds but there was no indication of rain anytime soon. Only a few trees could be seen around the area, otherwise, the entire place lacked the greenery of nature. But even those few trees appeared to be dark in color and lifeless.

The only good thing was that she couldn't see any volcano erupting red hot lava and confirming her doubts about the place being the Hell.

Little children could be seen running here and there, trying to help their parents in fixing their homes.

Ruoshan pulled her forward and the next second she was walking on the pebbled street of the destructed town.

The people departed from their path to let her and Ruoshan walk through them. Both of them looked completely out of place in their high-quality clothes and jewelry.

Li Ming wasn't sure why Ruoshan had brought her there. But she was too shocked and confused that she just followed him without asking any questions.

The people were staring at them as she and Ruoshan passed by their broken homes.

Just as they were about to turn around a corner, Li Ming noticed a little boy of about 7-8 years old who was nibbling on something. It took her only a few seconds to realize that it was a scrap of iron.

"Hey! Don't eat that. Put it away.....!" Li Ming shouted in alarm and ran towards the boy, but at the last second, Ruoshan stopped her as he dragged her back in his embrace.

"What's wrong with you? Let me go! He's chewing on an iron scrap for goodness sake!" Li Ming shouted irritatingly at Ruoshan as she tried to get out of his tight hold.

Ruoshan didn't lose his hold but with a flick of his sleeve, the iron scrap vanished from the hands of the little boy, who hurriedly ran away and hid behind a woman.

Li Ming somehow succeeded in getting out of his hold. That was a first for her but unfortunately, she had no time to celebrate her little success. Moreover, she had a doubt that it was actually Ruoshan who let her go.

"Don't you want to know what is this place?" Ruoshan asked her before she could even open her mouth.

Li Ming frowned but slowly nodded her head. She noticed that they were actually surrounded by a large crowd. She didn't even notice them when they were coming closer.

But what shocked her the most was when all of them kneeled down and bowed. A very loud "Long Live His Excellency!" boomed through the previously quiet streets.

Li Ming was stupefied. She looked at Ruoshan with raised eyebrows. Her question was clear - 'What the heck is going on here?'

Ruoshan nodded once at the people kneeling around them and then looked at the girl.

"This is the Ever Night Province of the Demon Realm and these people are commonly known as Demons in the mainland." His cold icy tone was devoid of any emotion but at the same time, it held a warmth that was only there for his Xingan.

He was waiting for her reaction. To see how she would react after knowing that the people surrounding her were not human but demons. And most importantly he wanted to know how she would react after realizing that he was a Demon too.

The most common reaction of any sensible person who wasn't a part of the demon realm was either a look of horror or disgust. It mostly got accompanied by anger and bitterness.

Both Mortals and Immortals were not a big fan of the Demons.

Li Ming raised her eyebrows as she asked, "Demons?" Her tone sounded kind of confused.

Ruoshan wasn't sure what to think of her question but her next words sent him laughing his heart out. His Xingan was too cute and innocent.

(A|N: Bold of him to think that!)

"Aren't demons supposed to have horns or long teeth or...I don't know. They look too normal for a demon." She said while nodding towards the crowd.

She even imitated horn and teeth signs with her finger which only made her look more adorable.

Then her gaze landed on Ruoshan and she looked at him from head to toe and then asked while looking straight into his eyes, "Does that mean you are their king?" She more or less knew the answer from the way all the people.....err....demons had greeted him, but she still asked to confirm her doubt.

Ruoshan smiled a little while only blinking his eyes slowly to answer her.

"Are you kidding me? How can a demon be so handsome and beautiful? My whole life has been a lie!" Li Ming said in an alarm.

"So you think that I'm handsome and beautiful?" Ruoshan asked as he walked closer to her.

He wasn't expecting her reaction to being like this. Though his instinct told him that she would never judge him or anyone based on their race but still the doubt was there.

The fear of losing her was too much for his already cold heart.

Li Ming realized her mistake and cursed under her breath. "Did I say that? I can't remember."

Just as Ruoshan was a few inches away from her, she heard chuckles coming from around her. Her cheeks flushed red as she realized that the demons were staring at her and Ruoshan.

"You all can now return to your work," Ruoshan said to the demons surrounding them and the next second all of them disappeared back to their work.

"Let's go somewhere more private." He said as he offered his hand to her.

Li Ming held his lean and slightly cold hand with her warm and small one and once again both of them disappeared in purple smoke.

The demons had returned back to their work. Once again they were trying to fix their broken houses which would crumble down again if the sun refused to rise in their realm the coming morning, just like it had done for the last few years.

Next, they appeared at what looked like a bridge. The sound of running water under it was soothing and a clear contrast to the rest of the area.

"Why is everything so dark and gloomy here?" Li Ming asked as she surveyed the area with her keen eyes.

"If not dark and gloomy then how exactly is a demon realm supposed to look?" Ruoshan asked with a small twitch on his lips.

"I don't know. I mean according to my info the demons were not supposed to look so normal and.....even quite good looking. But it happened. That's why I'm just surprised to see this place in such a devastating state. Why the town looked like it had been ransacked by a Minotaur?" She said or more like muttered and shrugged her shoulder.

"A Min- what?" Ruoshan asked with raised eyebrows.

"Ah, it's just a demon." Li Ming told him in a lazy tone but the raised eyebrows of Immortal made her realize her mistake.

"Actually, not.....a demon....but kind of a demon at the same time too. Ah! It's just an enormous bull-like creature with very big, thick, and dangerous horns. And at the same time, he had a body of a human...." She noticed the look on Ruoshan's face and decided to stop before she said something more stupid.

"I just have heard about it in tales. It's kind of famous for this kind of destruction. So, that's why..." She more or less tried to explain.

Ruoshan nodded seeing her struggle. He wanted to laugh at her adorable actions but he knew that the consequences won't be good, so he just went with a little twitch on his lips.

"The Demon realm was not always like this," Ruoshan said in a soft tone.

"What's the story?" Li Ming asked as she looked around the area.

"It's a long one," Ruoshan said as he sat on the steps of the bridge, leaning on the solid railing and pulled her in his lap.

"What are you doing?" Li Ming asked but didn't try to move away.

"I told you it's a long story. Don't want to make you feel uncomfortable Xingan." Ruoshan said as he softly caressed her head.

"So, here's the story of the Demon Realm....."