The red moonlight seeped through the gaps in the window, casting an eerie glow across Xiang Yu’s room. Some nights he would toss and turn in his bed unable to fall asleep but when he did it would be a deep sleep riddled with one nightmare after another. But tonight was different. Tonight, there were no nightmares. Instead, there was a sensation, a prickling awareness that he was being watched. This feeling was not new to him. On nights when he felt a pair of eyes on him, the nightmares stayed at bay. The sensation was so intense that he could almost part his lips and ask who was there. His instincts, honed from years of hunting demons and absorbing their cores, were on high alert.
Suddenly, an oddly familiar voice pierced the silence, urging him to wake up. Even without the voice warning him Xiang Yu could sense someone had encroached on his space. His eyes snapped open, and in a fluid motion, his arm shot up, his hand closing around a throat. The figure struggled having lost their element of surprise. His grip tightened as he took in the sight before him. An assassin had slipped into his room, a blade glinting in the moonlight ready to strike.
With a powerful and intense force, Xiang Yu tossed the assassin across the room. She collided with the wall, the impact so severe that the sound of cracking bones echoed through the room. She staggered to her feet, but before she could fully regain her balance, a dark force pressed her against the wall. She cried out, blood pouring from her lips, her temples throbbing and veins protruding as she struggled against the invisible grip.
Gritting her teeth, she swallowed the pain, trying desperately to free herself. Xiang Yu found the sight comical. He rose from his bed with a casual air, as if the intrusion was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. He was acting like it was a regular Tuesday. He poured himself a cup of tea that had long grown cold. The candles in the room light up by themselves as though lit by an invisible force. He leaned against the table, his eyes glistening with a cold light.
"So, what’s your story?" he asked, his tone almost conversational. He had faced countless attempts on his life but he had long grown numb to it. He had even developed a habit of listening to each assassin’s sob story and their reasons for hating him. He found it interesting to hear them complain and curse at him.
Let me guess... Father, right? No wait, let me say... lover. I killed your lover and you, in an act of revenge came waltzing in while I was asleep to kill me, am I right?" he said the laughter in his voice mingled in with a biting chill that made her blood run cold. Her brows creased having realized that Xiang Yu was much crazier than what her brother said. Why was he acting so calm after an attempt on his life? He was even chatting her up like nothing happened. She just didn’t realise it was the calm before the storm.
Before she could respond, the door burst open. Lian and Mei rushed in, their eyes wide with alarm. They had sensed the intrusion and came to their Master’s aid, not that he needed their help. "Master, are you alright?" Lian asked, her voice tinged with concern.
Xiang Yu nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "I am fine. Just someone trying to kill me... again." He turned his attention back to the assassin, his expression hardening. "They must have been very important to you if you were willing to sacrifice your life for them." She didn’t respond to his question. It was not because she was stubbornly refusing to open her mouth but that she couldn’t speak. She was caught in this pathetic half-blood’s iron grip that she couldn’t open her mouth.
"Speak," said Xiang Yu his voice low but the threatening tone was hard to miss. His eyes burnt with a sinister light like he was about to end her life in an instant. Her eyes widened as she struggled to open her mouth. Having noticed the problem Mei covered half her mouth and called out in a whisper.
"Master... she can’t speak," she said while Lian was gently kicking the assassin’s leg. Her gaze linger like she was studying her. She was trying to figure out where to cut first. Her gaze made the assassin tremble involuntarily. She was a little girl but her gaze was petrifying.
"Oh, my apologies. Go on," he said having realized his mistake.
She gasped for air as Xiang Yu released his invisible grip. Her eyes, bloodshot and filled with rage, locked onto him. "You killed my brother," she spat, her voice trembling with rage. "You slaughtered him for doing something generations before us have been doing. Every other realm doesn’t prohibit what comes naturally to us, yet you mongrel murder us for it. You have no right to be our demon king. Do you think you will keep getting away with this? You will die a horrible death worse than that of the late king."
She cursed the words coming from the depths of her soul. She had been there standing in the crowd watching helplessly as her brother was disemboweled right in front of her. She watched her brother get torn to pieces by that beast and for what? For something that he had done in the mortal realm? What right did he have to punish someone for something they did outside his territory? She couldn’t even say goodbye before his body was incinerated. With nothing left to live for she did the unthinkable fully aware of the consequences.
Xiang Yu’s expression remained impassive as he took a sip of the fragrant tea. He had heard this story so many times that he didn’t even care to respond. But Mei stepped forward, her voice cold and unwavering. "And what about the families of the twelve girls your brother murdered? This is retribution." The assassin’s eyes blazed with hatred as she lunged at Mei, but an invisible force gripped her hair, slamming her to the ground with a sickening thud. Blood splattered across the floor, and she cried out in pain before lying there unmoving.
Xiang Yu watched the scene unfold with a detached interest. "Lian," he said calmly, "get rid of her." Lian’s grin was menacing as she approached the fallen assassin. She kicked her with the tip of her boot as though trying to determine if she was still alive.