'Look, I'm not going to punish you'
Heavy silence filled the space.
It only broke when Wu Mei huffed in annoyance, her glowing red orbs burned with frustration as she looked at the handsome man kneeling before her. His forehead bruised against the marbled floor.
"Master… I have failed you." Keeper Huan continued, his tone filled with regret. He remained motionless, his head lowered in shame.
Wu Mei had a lot to say but in this fox form, where does she even start from? She let out a whimper, plopping down on her butt in agitation. She hated seeing a man like him kneeling and bowing to her. That was like an old tradition in her old life.
Patting his head again on his head, he still didn't move.
'Get up dammit!' She lifted her paw and smacked his shoulder hard, her nails scratching into his skin. Only then did he slowly rise, his beautiful eyes filled with sorrow.
"Master! You must be wondering what happened to you." His voice trembled with rage as he clenched his fists. "The Wu Clan… those traitors poisoned you. They destroyed your meridians so you could never cultivate again. They wanted to strip you of your power and trap you in this form forever."
Wu Mei's body stiffened. 'So it was true?' she already knew that, shaking her head, she knew that was not what she was supposed to think about. The main question was: How was she going to take revenge like this?
Her enemies walked free in their human forms, while she was reduced to nothing more than a helpless demonic beast. The demon realm thrived on eating the weak and following the strong. How was she going to survive, or where would she even start?
A mournful cry escaped her throat as she licked her paws, trying to soothe the bitterness in her heart, but it helped to do nothing. How could she endorse such humiliation?
Seeing her despair, Keeper Huan's eyes softened. He knelt beside her again, his calloused hands hovering near her small body, making sure he wouldn't touch her. "Master, do not lose hope," He said gently. "I searched all over the Demon Realm, seeking a cure. Finally, I found a pill that can restore your demonic meridians… But."
Wu Mei perked up as she heard the last word. She quickly glanced at Keeper Huan's eyes with her own wide eyes, curiosity biting on her neck. She gave a deep sigh as if what he was going to say was difficult.
"It would fix your meridians, but will not fix your condition."
She tilted her head, confused. What condition? She was about to open her mouth and ask but then she suddenly gasped, realization knocking the air out of her lungs.
One of the reasons why the head of the Wu clan hated Wu Mei was because of her Heat condition, unlike all the ladies in the fur lineage, she, belonging to a top clan, couldn't control her heat.
Her heat was like a dam that could never be quenched. The only thing they could do was suppress it. Wu Mei was shocked that she missed that single detail in her memories. But now that she remembered it, her mind reeled back to the pill Huan mentioned.
A pill? Her heart leapt with excitement, she could definitely start there. If her meridians could be healed, then all hope was not lost to fix the others!
She could cultivate, regain her strength and make her enemies suffer.
She scrambled closer to Keeper Huan, her red eyes shining with desperation. 'Give it to me, quick!' she urged, sticking out her paws.
Keeper Huan chuckled. "You accept it so quickly without asking about the cost?" He sighed. "What are you going to do about the curse, the heat curse? This pill cannot remove it."
Wu Mei narrowed her eyes. Nothing was more important, be it a condition or a curse, she could easily take care of it later. Her power was more important now. Without hesitation, she nodded towards the pill. 'Give it to me!'
Keeper Huan smiled bitterly. As expected of his master, she never feared obstacles.
He pulled out a jade bottle from his robe and uncorked it. A strong medicinal fragrance filled the air, mixed with a strange demonic energy.
Wu Mei licked her lips, staring at it with stars in her eyes as if what Keep Huan just brought out was a chicken leg dripped with soy sauce.
Without hesitation, Wu Mei swallowed the pill as soon as it was dropped into her paws. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
A blinding pain exploded within her. Wu Mei curved into a ball, whimpering as beads of sweat covered her whole form and she began trembling.
Golden light burst from her body, shooting through the roof of the manor and into the sky. Wu mei let out a sharp cry, her body convulsing as a burning sensation spread through her veins, as if molten lava was flowing inside her.
'What was happening?!' She could barely think.
The pill dissolved, unleashing an overwhelming force that surged through her meridians, breaking through the damage like a floor bursting through a dam.
Wu Mei was not ready for this, or so she thought. She felt overwhelmed yet she couldn't stop it.
Keeper Huan who watched thought it was just a normal occurrence to clear her blocked meridians, but his eyes widened in surprise and he glared at her form with a hint of surprise and confusion in his eyes.
'It was impossible' He thought.
A crimson flower-shaped mark bloomed on her forehead, pulsating with an ancient power long forgotten. Keeper Huan felt this foreboding power shake his whole being and it felt like there was this huge palm pressing his whole body down.
Like a suffocating tower.
Outside the Wu Manor, the sky darkened, and a blood-red storm gathered above the Demon Realm. An occurrence that has never happened before.
Scarlet lightning crackled through the sky, casting an eerie red light over the land. A fierce wind howled, spreading an ominous aura throughout the realm. The Demon Realm spelled chaos but with the ominous aura it spelt destruction.
Everyone witnessing this, scrambled into their houses in fear.
Demons, elders, and demonic cultivators hidden in their secluded sects turned their heads toward the sky, stunned by this phenomenon.
"T-The Crimson Blood… Has returned?" One of the elders in another faction suddenly rose and dashed out of his room.
In the palace of the Demon Lord, an elder with white hair but with a dreamy look and a wolf mask on his face, unrolled an ancient scroll while still looking at the sky. His dainty fingers traced the blood-red ink.
He read a prophecy long buried in history.
—When the blood of the fallen star awakens, the heavens will cry, and the underworld will tremble. The balance of fate will shatter, and a path of blood shall be carved across the land…—
Back in the manor, Keep Huan watched in shock as Wu Mei writhed in pain, her body shifting and changing.
Then, the mark on her forehead flared with a blinding light. No longer a fox–she laid on the cold floor, in her human form. But something had changed, her long dark hair was now streaked with crimson, her skin glowed like moonlight, and her aura radiated a dangerous, seductive power.
Like a forbidden flower blooming in a battlefield. Keeper Huan suddenly had the urge to pounce on her but he closed his eyes, taking steady breaths of air.
Wu Mei gasped, her chest rising and falling as she took her first breath in her human form. Her fingers curled against the floor, feeling the power pulsing within her body but she was unable to open her eyes.
Keeper Huan's heart pounded wildly. He had only the meant to heal her meridians–not awaken a force capable of shaking the entire Demon Realm!
A single thought echoed in his mind. Master Mei…was no longer the same.