Chapter 3: A Dream within a dream

Xuan was walking through a forest path, but it was not the same one he walked with Hon few hours ago. It was a totally different forest, and, actually, this Xuan was quite different too. 

It wasn’t the current Xuan, but him from 10 years ago. Although he was just a small child back then, he walked alone. There seemed to be no one anywhere close to him. 

He walked slowly and carefully watched every step. Suddenly, he stopped. 

He crouched down and picked something up. It was a beautiful green leaf, it’s edges perfectly cut, it looked like it was from a picture. 

Little Xuan smiled and, with this leaf in his hand, he started walking forward again. 

Although this leaf was beautiful, it wasn't rare to find it here. He was in the forest, of course there were many leaves. 

But this one landed in front of him, so he picked it up. There was no big deal about it, but he thought of it as something special that was just for him.

And so, he walked further and further, when he finally reached some village. It wasn’t the city from before, and its style was completely different from it. It was a village where Xuan used to live. 

He ran straight to the certain house without knocking and yelled:

„Mother! Brother got bitten by a snake!“ Although he was picking up leaves just some time ago, he looked worried now. 

A woman in an elegant white hanfu ran out of one of the rooms and rushed to Xuan. 

„Where is he now?“ She asked, calmly, and after Xuan pointed in the direction, she took him into her arms and ran to her other son. 

After a while of running, Xuan stopped her and pointed in another direction. Soon, they arrived to where a boy little older from Xuan was sitting. 

He was sitting under some big apple tree and held his right hand with the other, loudly gasping for air. 

Xuan’s mother put him down and came to the other boy. She started bandaging his swollen hand and talked to him:

„Ming, sweetie, what happened?“

„It’s all Xuan’s fault! I wanted to go for a walk with him, but his misfortune caused this!“ he cried. 

Xuan just stood there, stunned, holding his tears. 

„Don’t say that. He surely didn’t lure that snake here. Just calm down now, I’ll carry you home.“ Their mother said and picked Ming up. 

Ming suddenly screamed from pain, closed his eyes and landed his head on his mother’s shoulder. 

„Xuan, you’ll have to get home by yourself. I can’t carry both of you.“ She said and Xuan just nodded. 

And as his mother ran home, he tried to catch up, but with his legs being so small, he wasn’t able to. So, he started to slowly walk home, all alone again. 

One step, another, and the other didn’t land. He fell down, but there wasn’t the expected ground, only the deep sea of darkness. He was spinning in it for a while.

He soon landed on his feet, but this time he was dressed in all black and stood in front of a small coffin. 

He didn‘t realise what happened, but soon he remembered and fell down on his knees, tears falling down his face. 

He remembered that they couldn’t find a cure for that poison in time, and soon Ming’s entire body swollen and he let out his last breath, surrounded by everyone dear to him and Xuan. 

„I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It was my misfortune! It should’ve been me who was bitten!“ He said through tears. He tried to wipe them out but new ones kept falling down. 

„Why... Just why do bad things happen to my beloved and I’m okay? I don’t want to be like this! I hate this! I... I want to die if it means you’ll finally be happy!“

He cried even more. His older brother died. It was just him, his parents and his other two siblings - older brother and sister. 

Few days passed, but their household was never the same again. Everyone quietly minded their own things or prayed for their son’s and brother’s soul. 

They didn’t spare any look for Xuan. 

Before, even through all the misfortune he brought to his family, they were happy. Now, everyone closed themselves in their rooms and refused to see each other. 

After another few days, still with all the sadness, they finally sat down to have dinner together. But none of them let Xuan know. 

He heard some noises from the kitchen, so he looked at what was going on, but they were already finishing their meals, so, without interrupting, he went back to his room. 

Although he was only 7 years old, he wasn’t dumb. He knew they blamed him. They blamed him for everything now. 

He closed himself in a room, sat in the corner and silently cried for a few hours. 

After another few days, they packed all their stuff and moved to another place that wouldn’t remind them of the dead child. 

They moved to the city in the other country, to Xuan’s grandparents from his mother’s side. Or, better said, it was a mansion. 

Xuan’s parents weren‘t poor, neither rich, and he had no idea that he was from an actually wealthy family. They earned their wealth by selling various types of amulets and other spiritual devices that monks liked to use. Xuan’s grandfather knew, because he used to be a monk himself. Currently, their brand was so popular that monks from all around the country wanted a certain type of a talisman from them, and they got rich from its mass production.

He had never met his mother’s parents before and, for a long time, he felt bad for feeling happy after meeting them. 

They treated him so nicely, but they probably didn’t know about his curse. 

One day, when he closed himself in his room once again, he heard his grandparents and parents talking in a hallway in front of his room:

„He is so quiet... He must’ve loved Ming so much... What a shame we never got to meet him.“ Grandmother whispered. 

They were trying to speak quietly, but Xuan still understood everything. 

„Mother, father... I think you should know something about our youngest son.“ Xuan’s mother said. 

„And what is it?“ Grandfather asked, they weren’t even trying to keep their voices down anymore. 

„He is a jinx. He brings misfortune to everyone around him, while he himself stays unharmed. He might very well bring death to all of us.“ Mother continued, and a few drops of tears came out of Xuan’s eyes. 

While sitting in a corner, he hugged his knees tighter and looked down, trying to ignore their voices. 

„But.“ Mother added and Xuan looked up, hoping to hear something nice.

„He is our son, and we love him and can’t leave him behind. If you don’t want him here, we will find another place to live and move out.“

Xuan’s eyes shone and his mouth turned into a smile. They didn’t blame him after all and they still loved him. 

„I know... I already noticed his aura. He will surely bring death to us all one day, but he’s a family and destiny is a strong thing. If we shall die, then we will die anyway. I don’t see a reason for you to move out.“ Grandfather said, and that was the moment when Xuan stood up, opened the doors and with tears in his eyes rushed to his family to hug them. 

But that didn’t happen. He hugged air instead. He was caught in the darkness again and the only source of light was the red light from behind him. 

He refused to turn around. He was back in his current form and knew exactly what this scene was. 

It was a scene from a few days ago, after he had a fight with his sister about being a jinx again, he didn’t care anymore, but this certain quarrel angered him, his misfortune got probably stronger and this lured the demons to him. 

Before he even noticed, his sister was lying dead in front of him, he heard screams from all around the house and in a blink of an eye, everything caught on fire. 

Demons weren’t able to touch Xuan, since his aura protected him, but everyone in the house was instantly dead. 

He knew this moment would come one day, but he didn’t expect it to come so soon and he wasn’t prepared at all. 

He panicked and ran out of the burning mansion, he wasn’t hurt at all and people looked at him, which made him even more nervous. He grabbed his necklace and let tears fall down.

He fell down on his knees and screamed from all the mental pain, when something landed in front of him. The mysterious person in black robes glanced at him with his mask and then walked into the mansion with a long shining katana in his hand. 

Xuan surely knew this samurai! It was his new friend, Hon! But who was this Hon and why did he know him? 

He quickly stood up and ran into the direction of this person, reaching out a hand to touch him, but, before he did it, Hon turned around, his eyes shone red and as Xuan blinked, he was gone again. 

There was only the same darkness as before. He was starting to hate it. 

And as he stood there for a while, waiting for, perhaps, another scene, he heard a voice coming from far. It was Hon’s voice. 

He was calling for Xuan, who felt relieved after hearing his voice. 

Even though he was depressed, he saw some person who needed his help, so he naturally helped. And then this person helped him. 

Hon truly amazed him. They just met, but they were already so close, and did something for each other that no one else ever did before. 

Xuan was always considered a jinx, so nobody wanted to have anything to do with him. If he was going to unalive himself, they would walk past him. 

And Hon was probably in a similar situation, judging from his reactions. 

And then Xuan remembered who Hon is. His new friend whom he had met two days ago. He was real. But this place wasn’t.

A waterfall of black water suddenly appeared in front of him, Xuan walked closer to the edge, turned around and without hesitation fell down, still listening to Hon’s voice, which was leading him back into reality. 

He woke up. 

The first thing he saw was Hon’s worried face, facing his own. Then he felt that someone was shaking his body. And then he felt hot tears on his cheeks. 

„Xuan! H-hey, kid! Are you okay?!“ Hon yelled as he shook Xuan forcefully. 

Xuan opened his eyes properly and sat up. He touched his cheeks and wiped out the tears. 

„I’m sorry, it was just a... Bad dream...“ he said and smiled, still looking at Hon. 

Hon sighed. „You really scared me there...“

Hon gave Xuan a cup of tea he and Rika prepared earlier and they both sat in silence for a while.

Xuan sipped from his tea, but it was still too hot to drink. He looked at Hon for a while and then back at his tea. Hon was lost in thoughts and didn’t really notice that Xuan was staring at him. 

After some time, Xuan broke the silence and brought Hon back to reality. 

„I might still be dreaming but... There’s something I wanted to ask you for a while...“ 

„You are s-surely not dreaming anymore. What is it?“ Hon asked and gave him a slightly worried and nervous look. 

„I saw you using demonic magic, but I won’t ask about that now. What I really want to know is, you’re strong and you must’ve seen my aura already, so... Why are you staying around me? Aren’t you afraid that you might die?“

Hon giggled. „I don’t know... I’m just so lonely... It feels nice to have someone near me...“ It felt nice saying it out loud.

„I get that... I’m a loner myself... But why did you save me? Why didn‘t you just leave after knowing about my curse?“

„I- I think I just want to help you, since you were the first person in s-so many years that helped me...“ Hon said and this wasn’t really a lie, but it also wasn’t the truth. 

He didn’t need his help back then, but still got it. His life wasn’t in danger, but he was saved. And, after all, having a friend wasn’t that bad! 

And he has never before seen a person, who would risk their own life to save someone, in so long that he wanted him to live and, perhaps, manage to save someone who will actually need it later, just because he will be able to do so. 

The only thing blocking him was his misfortune. And even if Xuan wanted to help, it would end up with him surviving and this person dying or getting severly injured. 

But one thing that Xuan didn’t know about his aura was, that it had absolutely no effect on a demon king! 

And what was even better, Hon‘s aura was very similar to Xuan‘s for some reason and he naturally knew how to block it!

He understood Xuan better than anyone, because their souls were almost the same in the core. 

And, perhaps, Xuan might’ve been exactly the same as Hon used to be many years ago, and Hon didn’t want Xuan to end up walking the same path as him. Or, perhaps, that wasn’t true at all. Hon wished he could remember.

They kept staring at each other, silently, and then Xuan took a deep breath and said something else:

„Were you... Really trying to kill yourself back then?“

„If I tell you what really happened, you will not bel-believe me.“ Hon said and looked away for a moment, then turned back as Xuan continued:

„Please, tell me. I actually want to help you too, you know?“ Hon didn’t realise this before, but this is probably what friends do, he thought. 

„It’s a method of transport.“

„...“

„Very effective.“

„...“

They were still staring at each other, but Xuan’s expression was a mix of confusion, anger and disgust for some reason. 

He took in a deep breath and then yelled at Hon: „NO WAY IN HEAVENS. HOW EVEN DOES THAT WORK?! YOU COULD’VE DROWN! ARE YOU SERIOUS?“ 

Hon just laughed a bit and shook his head. „I did it before and nothing happened... I actually... Can’t drown-“

„Everyone can. You need to be more careful next time and value your own life!“ Xuan was still angry at him. 

The one thing Xuan didn’t know was that Hon was already dead, so he couldn’t drown, bleed out, get poisoned or anything else. Actually, he could, but that wouldn’t kill him directly, only his human body. 

And Xuan also wasn‘t realising just yet that his misfortune didn’t work on him at all. 

If it was anyone else, wouldn’t they be hanging off some cliff already? But Hon still had a bunch of his own misfortune, so when the two of them are close to each other, the misfortune doubles and it creates an insane amount of normality! Or, at least, Hon liked to think about it like that. Xuan’s misfortune was obviously some kind of curse and Hon was just simply unlucky in some things. 

But Hon couldn’t tell Xuan in which matters he was unlucky just yet. Xuan wasn’t dumb and he would immediately find out that something about Hon isn’t right. 

Hon knew how to manipulate his own aura, so, to anyone else, he looked like a normal guy, and to those who could read aura, he looked like a mighty cultivator. No one would suspect that he’s a demon, absolutely not that he could be a demon king. And if he actually wanted this certain individual to know, he had to go on him slowly so he wouldn't panic and do some utterly random and dangerous stuff out of fear. 

Hon nodded and smiled: „Do you... Have any more questions?“ 

„If you don’t mind... How old are you?“

This was, indeed, a very interesting question. Hon stopped counting his age after the first 100 years of ruling his kingdom in the demon realm, and he couldn’t say that he’s somewhere around 300 to a mortal. So he just thought about how old he was when he died. 

So, apparently, he was 21, but that was just one of the few things he remembered, aside from blowing up. 

He quickly rubbed it out, saying: „21.“

„You’re older than me... I kinda expected it. Well, I don’t know how old do I look to you, but, after all, I am just 17.“ Xuan said and smiled. 

Truth to be told, Hon thought he’s 14, so if Xuan expected Hon to think he’s older, there was no way. 

Hon slightly smiled too and stood up, wanting to leave Xuan alone for a while and go for a walk, because he just remembered some very unpleasant feelings, but not the actual memories, and he needed to be alone for a while to think about it. But Xuan spoke up:

„Wait. Haven’t I told you to stay here?“ 

Hon slowly turned around, surprised. Was this really the same person? And why was he suddenly ordering him around? The one with more authority and power here was certainly Hon, so he slightly hooded his eyes, the rest of his face not changing at all. 

But Xuan didn’t know he was actually a demon, or a king, so he couldn’t know who had more authority here. It also didn’t really matter since Xuan just tried joking around, which didn’t really work out, because of Hon’s overthinking, which was forcing him to change his whole opinion of Xuan into a spoiled rich brat again.

Xuan noticed that Hon couldn’t really understand his humour, so he panicked and covered his face. 

„ImsorryImsorryImsorry please forget I ever said something like this I just don’t want to be alone, that’s all, I swear, please, please don’t be angry and stay with me!“

Hon was very confused, but he actually didn’t know this boy’s personality very well yet, so nothing was impossible after all. He turned around and slightly opened the doors, saying: „I need to take a walk. You can come with me if... If you want.“

Xuan didn’t say a word and quickly stood up, following Hon.

As they walked out of the room, they searched for Rika, but couldn’t find her. She probably went for a walk too, or, left this place completely, returning to the demon realm to inform everyone that his highness will be coming back soon. 

Hon realised that the second option might be more probable and got nervous. He’ll have to either part with Xuan soon after somehow stealing his necklace, or, he could smuggle him into the demon realm as his pet.

Xuan also seemed as if he was clinging onto Hon as much as Hon was clinging onto Xuan. 

They held each other up, but they were also slowly, but surely, dragging the other one down.

And then Hon remembered that if he wanted to actually take him into the demon realm, he would have to tell him about it. And if he did, he would have to take him there, or, shut him up completely. 

He just said he didn’t want to kill him, didn’t he? He started wondering if he should actually tell him about all the stuff there. What if he reacts weirdly and then runs away? 

Well, nobody would probably take him seriously anyways and he would be considered a fool for the rest of his miserable life.

Why was making decisions concerning others so difficult??

They walked out of the house, Xuan was lively, no signs of pain anywhere and Hon was relieved. 

As they walked between all the bright green trees, Xuan was touching some of the branches, picking up leaves and he looked like he was trying to find a certain one. Hon didn’t mind and continued walking further into the woods. He wanted to find some quiet place to rest in this scenery for a moment, but couldn’t find anything that looked comfortable. 

He stopped for a moment, and just now realised that he took his katana with him. He didn’t want to, since it was just a walk, and he wanted to be away from anything sharp, but Xuan’s sudden joining surprised him and he forgot about his original intentions. 

He looked at Xuan just carelessly running around. Such a young boy, yet so unfortunate... It was nice seeing that he could still enjoy small things.

He didn’t want to hurt him. What if Xuan jumpscared him for fun, but he suddenly reached for his katana, cutting him in half? He wasn’t in a state of mind to tell a friend from a foe...

He changed the position of his katana, putting it from his left side to his right. 

Now, if he tried reaching for it, it would take him a moment to realise which side it is on.

They could both enjoy the walk equally now.

He looked up, admiring the beautiful trees, listening to the birds singing, he closed his eyes and remained in this position for a while. 

Suddenly, something blocked the sun shining into his face. It was Xuan. He climbed up a tree and sat on a thick branch directly above Hon, dangling his legs. 

„Hon, you should come up here! It’s really pretty! You can see the top of the trees from here!“ Xuan said and Hon let out a deep sigh. No one called him by this name for so long... He couldn’t even remember when was the last time... He didn’t think it would feel like this. 

He took a few breaths and decided to get up. 

Instead of climbing the tree, he jumped up and sat next to Xuan without a word. Xuan didn’t look surprised by that jump. 

They watched the forest for a while without saying a word, but Hon noticed how Xuan’s hand twitched from time to time. He couldn’t be surprised, after everything that happened to him in the past few days...

Xuan suddenly turned his head and smiled at Hon. This smile didn’t look like a smile at all. It looked like a smile of a predator realising it’s being a prey of another predator, and that was getting ready to fight for it’s life.

He quickly lowered his upper body without any words and laid his head into Hon’s lap. 

„...Xuan?“ Hon got worried. He could’ve been under some mental pressure, ready to commit something irrational. In other words, his intrusive thoughts were winning and Hon couldn’t do anything to stop whatever he was about to do.

„Hon... I know...“ he said slowly, and touched Hon’s inner thigh through the fabric of his kimono.

„Wh- what do you know?“ Hon panicked. His mind was full of memories from long ago and, suddenly, there was someone lying in his lap, saying that he knew something. He didn’t know what to think about it, and all the thoughts flew out of his head. He felt as powerless as ever.

Also, the way he touched him was so uncomfortable, mainly because he wasn’t expecting it, and also because he still wasn’t used to physical touch in other areas than hands. And inner thigh was a bit too much for a start.

„I know who you really are.“ Xuan said in a gentle voice, that didn’t really sound like him, and smiled. He didn’t get up.

„Wha- Who I really am? T-Then, w-who am I?“ Hon asked, hooding his eyes. 

Xuan probably already knew he wasn’t human. All this time, Hon believed in his naïvity and he ignored all the facts and signs. Xuan didn’t want to ask about that demonic magic, because he already knew that only demons and those possessed by them could use it. 

He knew it for so long, but still acted so friendly. And reducing Hon’s aura didn’t help at all! 

Xuan got up, looked Hon into his eyes, grabbed his shoulders and gently, but tightly pressed him against the tree. His face got closer to Hon’s, they were able to feel each other’s breaths, and, soon, he was basically laying his head on Hon‘s left shoulder. 

Then, he silently whispered into his ear:

„The devil came to finish me off personally, huh?“ 

Xuan lowered his left hand, slowly sliding through Hon’s chest and stomach, making Hon feel more uncomfortable than ever.

He suddenly lifted it and reached for the katana he had fixed on his belt. 

Hon was too confused and scared, he might be a demon king, but while he is in a weak human body, his reflexes aren‘t that strong and his power is reduced. 

He didn’t notice that Xuan did all of this just to steal his katana.

Before he even got a chance to think about it, he saw a flash of something, and then, something fell down from the tree. 

A massive pain flew throughout Hon‘s entire body. For him to feel a pain like that was... Incredible.

He moaned from pain and slowly looked at his right side. 

His right arm was missing. 

Xuan just casually cut it off. 

And with hesitation and sudden change of his facial expression, Xuan took out an pre-prepared ofuda paper and stuck it on Hon‘s face, covering his left eye. 

Hon expected that this would be the definite end of him, that he would get exorcised or something, but, instead of that, the pain was reduced and his arm stopped bleeding. 

He slowly turned to face Xuan, who was sitting with his legs pressed against Hon‘s, one of his hands held his left shoulder, and the other one shakingly held the bloody katana. He looked terrified, his face pale as if he was going to faint. 

„What- What did you just-“ Hon started but couldn’t continue. He wasn’t as strong as before anymore, and now, without his right arm, in which he used to hold katana, with his vision bad, since his left eye was covered with a piece of paper, he couldn’t feel much power anymore. 

If he left his katana at his left side, it would be the left arm flying off. That would be a bit more acceptable. He kind of regretted changing its position now.

Xuan laughed „I- I thought that the devil would be stronger...“ he kept on laughing, but tears also came out of his eyes. „I’m sorry.“ He said. „I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.“ He kept on repeating the same thing, then pressed his head against Hon’s chest. 

Hon really didn’t know how to react, he was just very confused. He hadn’t felt pain in such a long time, it felt kind of... Refreshing. He didn’t care about his missing arm or ofuda blocking his powers, the only thing he cared about was „Who in the world is this boy?!“ 

Why didn’t he kill him if he knew who he really is? Why would he let him live? Hon would understand if Xuan tried to kill him after finding out – after all, demons killed his family. He must’ve thought that it was, obviously, demon king’s, or, as he called him „the devil’s“ order. 

And that’s why Hon wanted to wait a little longer with telling him the truth, but he couldn’t wait anymore now.

Hon calmed down, sighed and gently pressed Xuan’s crying face closer to his chest. „What are you planning to do with me now?“ He asked, calmly. 

Xuan didn’t answer and continued to cry. Hon understood his state of mind right now. He felt like that before too. 

Xuan might’ve seemed like he already moved past losing his family, but, in reality, he has never moved on. He never forgive himself for being a jinx, but, more than himself, he blamed everyone else. 

He was smiling this entire time and pretended to be friendly and everything, but in reality, he just wanted to hide all the pain. He had to blow up sometime. This was only an expected reaction.

But, why didn’t he finish him off when he got the chance? Hon wouldn’t really die anyways, unless Xuan properly exorcised him and that wasn’t really possible in a case of a demon king. 

If he actually told that to Xuan, he would probably fall into even more despair...

„Xuan... Why are you keeping me alive?“

Hon asked, but Xuan, instead of an answer, threw the katana on the ground, embraced Hon, pressing their bodies closely together, and kept on crying. 

Hon felt very uncomfortable. There was no one who would act like this towards the demon king. First trying to kill him and then crying into his chest? This boy’s mind must be really messed up. 

„Xuan. You’re hurting me.“ 

Xuan quickly let go and looked at Hon’s face, but after he noticed what he looked like, his face was horrifyingly calm. Even after everything that just happened, he looked away, whispered „I’m sorry“ a few more times, jumped down from the tree and ran towards the house. 

Hon stayed sitting there, leaning against the tree, closely watching Xuan, unable to do anything. He closed his eyes and rested for a few hours.