Heaven Be Kind

4: Demons

‘’Divine?’’

Yu nodded and Sheng Meng was lost.

In the Four Realms, demons were grouped as earth and immortal demons. Immortal demons were either the Asuras that remained in the Brightless Valley or the ones that joined the Devil God in Fate Heaven to bring upon ruin and destruction in all the realms.

Usually, a demon born from the energy of the earth is mostly a lingering resentment from the death and unjust massacre of the First generation of humans that gained a physical body in this generation.

But a divine demon could most likely mean an earth demon with divine origin or history.

Not many slayers, humans, or mortal cultivators of the second generation know about the existence of this kind—in fact, no one should know because there were no records, documented stories, or legends about divine demons existing.

How Ruan Yu knew about their existence could be because she had lived in a time long ago when gods, immortals, and fairylords were punished, cursed or forced to go through different forms of divine tribulations as earth demons.

‘’Yes.’’

Sheng Meng and the others blinked, staring at her as if a ghost had appeared right behind her, leaning over her shoulder.

Ruan Yu was much older than any of them. She was once a great god of Fate Heaven who died but her memories of that life followed her onto the next life as a demon slayer. She vividly remembered how she used to have a best friend who cultivated along with her in valleys and ancient mountains that flowed with life and the purest energy. How they had accompanied each other on their journey toward Godhood.

Her fall, death and rebirth.

‘’Senior,’’ one slayer called behind her. ‘’What is a divine demon, and how did you know that they exist?’’ Sheng Meng blinked, eager to know what she meant by a demon that was also divine. As far as the laws of nature itself were studied and understood deeply by all known scholars of the Four Realms, it was simply impossible for something that was divine to be evil all at once.

Yu saw the doubt in their eyes and knew they wouldn’t be able to understand and accept that there were many things out there that went against what their minds had narrowed down as possible or impossible.

‘’Forget it,’’ Yu said. ‘’I just need you all to ensure that nothing enters or leaves the capital city tonight.’’

More fireworks lit the sky and the noise of celebration grew as the appointed time for the wedding drew close.

‘’Investigate anything or anyone that looks suspicious, even if they are animals or humans, demons or cultivators, rich or poor, royal or farmer.’’

‘’Spare no one.’’

‘’Yes!’’

She watched as they divided themselves into smaller groups and left to carry out her command. Sheng Meng paused and gave her one last look before leaving. Their absence suddenly made the roof she stood on appear darker, bigger and eerie. As if she was the only thing that existed on a very tall mountain covered in darkness.

It could only be a divine demon that was responsible for breaking down the barrier they had set up and let those demons roam about to plant those dead flowers and exist within the capital like a ghost.

Ruan Yu’s dark gaze narrowed down on the busy street.

But all the gods, immortals, and fairylords of Fate Heaven had died.

Shortly after the Divine Dispute that took place many years ago, the one that occurred before her death, legends say a Devil God was born with half of the ill-pool mark on him. He destroyed all the gods and sealed the Great Ieons of the divine realm in their invisible state forever.

He was the reason the immortal demons of the Brightless Valley turned against each other and picked sides. Ruan Yu knew little of what followed after her death but she was a hundred and one percent sure that the demon they were up against tonight was definitely a divine demon.

Whatever immortal or god still lived as a demon in the mortal realm years after the Divine Dispute only fueled her determination to hunt it down and give that demon a befitting ending.

‘’Maman.’’

Her disc-shaped weapon answered and immediately transformed into a woman with ginger–colored hair that appeared as lovely curls down her back. She was short, curvy and adorable for a living artifact that had claimed many lives to count.

Her master turned to her and told her immediately of her plans to catch that demon.

‘’Hmm,’’ Maman nodded slowly in agreement. ‘’I think it could work. But what is a divine demon even doing in the capital? Aren’t they afraid of being hunted down by a demon slayer? And aren’t most divine demons known to be peaceful until they are being provoked unlike the other kinds of demons?’’

Yu listened and nodded in agreement. That was another thing that bothered her greatly about this demon.

Most divine demons that had existed alongside gods and the first generation of humans many years ago were mostly peaceful, tortured demonic souls that hid underneath mountains and stayed very far away from life. Her living artifact knew about the divine demons when she told her a little bit about her past life and all that she remembered from it.

Maman’s silver gaze moved in thought before saying, ‘’And you are sure that the demon is inside the Silk Jade Court along with the other guests arriving for the wedding?’’

‘’No, I’m not.’’

Maman blinked, tilting her head to the side at her master’s words.

‘’But it’s the right place to start our search for the demon.’’

‘’Master, do you have any idea or means to fish out the demon if you come across it?’’

Ruan Yu nodded, and Maman stared at her in surprise.

‘’It’s a divine being behaving like a demon,’’ Ruan Yu shrugged, taking a step closer toward her adorable living artifact.

‘’How hard can it be for me to know a god when I have been one before?’’

☆☆☆

Ruan Yu spread her arms apart and stared down at the new dress Maman had made her wear with her magic. She told her if she wanted to look like a young rich lady attending a wedding she should dress more like one than appear there like a hired assassin with her slayer outfit.

But the problem was that Maman did too much and made her look as if she was the one getting married instead.

Yu dropped her hands and stared at her mischievous little artifact.

‘’What? Don’t blame me. That’s the only dress I could think of in such a short period of time.’’

‘’That was the dress I was secretly preparing for you whenever you decided to confess to Sheng Meng and get married to him,’’ she said with a huff.

Ruan Yu stared at her artifact in disbelief.

‘’Don’t even try to deny it, Master. I might be a little, clueless living artifact at times but I have eyes to see when two people are obviously in love with each other.’’

‘’Maman.’’

‘’I even feel like the reason a wedding hasn’t happened between the two of you yet is because of you, Master.’’

Ruan Yu parted her lips in shock, bringing her index finger close to her face.

‘’Me?’’

‘’Yes,’’ Maman said with a firm nod before moving to circle a confused-looking Ruan Yu. ‘’He buys you hot meals everyday, creating excuses for you both to take small walks under the moonlight by the Jian river. He defends you anytime you get in trouble with the higher ups and he even bought a land with your name.’’

‘’It wasn’t in my name. The name on the papers says; Ruan Yue not Ruan Yu.’’

Maman scoffed, turning her face toward the sky.

‘’Don’t believe it. It sounds the same to me. And besides, who names their child Ruan Yue anymore? It sounds more like he didn’t know the correct spelling of your name and made a mistake.’’

Ruan Yu sighed and gave Maman a ‘are you serious look’.

‘’When you both get married soon, he will probably learn how to spell your name correctly. And maybe one of your children can bear the name Ruan Yue to make things even more interesting between the both of you.’’

Ruan Yu shook her head. It was impossible trying to talk her out of her delusions at times. Besides, she and Sheng Meng had nothing in common.

He wants to take the royal exam and retire one day to become a government official. While her own path remained tied forever to the Red Tower of the demon slayers sect.

It was impossible for them to become anything other than close best friends that have each other's back at all times.

Besides, best friends were very hard to keep, love and trust fully with the whole of her heart. She had learned that the hard way in the past and she would hate to make the same mistake in this life as well.

Ruan Yu pulled out a golden plaque with her magic from thin air and Maman moved close enough to stare down with her at the wedding invitation.

It was a golden dragon that curled around the circular edges of the golden plaque to bite its tail.

‘’Woah, Master, you still kept the invitation with you.’’

‘’Of course,’’ Ruan Yu’s thumb moved over the coarse surface of the wedding plaque. She had been invited weeks before the wedding but declined going when she thought it was a waste of her time. And never regretted it when the alarm went off and they found out that the barrier they had set up earlier had been destroyed and a lot of demons were spotted roaming freely in different areas of the Capital city, planting dead flowers all around with no reasonable explanation for it yet.

‘’Maman, you are coming in with me.’’

'As if I would wait behind while you attend a fancy party with a divine demon as a guest waiting to be slayed.'

The girl nodded and spun on her heels, transforming into a blue hairpin on her master’s head. Ruan Yu adjusted the pin on her head and with the invitation in her hand, she adjusted her dress and moved down the lousy street toward the Silk Jade Court.