There once was a boy of fate untold,

With the heavens watching his tale unfold.

Through storms and fires he shall fight,

To live, to see another night.

Chaotic inside he may be,

But cold and quiet as the eye can see.

He drowns his enemies in rivers of blood,

Flowing and flowing until it becomes a flood.

He lives for revenge, kills for vengeance,

All so that one day, he may reach transcendence.

Dark yet strong, hollow yet bold,

That is the power this boy holds.

Stars and shadows may block his path,

But they cannot withstand his vengeful wrath.

He lives by the shadows yet protects the light,

Forever remembered, his name: Xuan Kai.

*****

"Master. Master!"

Slowly, I blinked my eyes open, still feeling groggy and drowsy.

What was that weird dream I had just now… it was as if a prophecy was being told to me… about myself.

It was then that I realized Mei Gui's worried face as she sat on my body, shaking my head back and forth.

"M-Mei Gui…?"

Her eyes widened in joy. "Master! You're alive!"

"Y-Yeah, but not for long if you keep shaking me like that…"

At this, she froze and quickly let go of me. "I-I apologize, Master… when I saw you unconscious after using that spell, I… I could not hold back my emotions."

As she moved to get off of me, I grabbed her hand and stopped her, pulling her closer to me. Her eyes widened a bit as she fell against my chest, the only thing separating us a thin blanket.

I patted her head gently, embracing her as if she was the most important person in the world to me.

"It's fine, Mei Gui… it's okay to show your emotions. Even if you don't do it often… just you showing them in front of me is enough."

"Master…" a tear streaked out of her right eye, and I quickly wiped it off her beautiful face.

"How long was I out for?"

"A full day… I was on the verge of giving up… I did not know what I would do without you, Master…"

I smiled warmly as she continued.

"You gave me a name… you gave me purpose… you gave me life. Without you, I…"

"Stupid," I reprimanded harshly, finger-flicking her forehead.

"A-Ah!" she yelped cutely, which was rare. Her face was blushed as red as a tomato, and her eyes wet from crying.

Such a scene… I never thought I would see one from Mei Gui.

"Even if I die… you've still got to keep living," I whispered, gently kissing the spot where I had just flicked her. "You've got to finish what I set out to do — revenge. Until then… you're not allowed to die. That's an order."

"Master…" she sniffed her nose, looking into my eyes tearfully.

"Where's the usual 'understood, master'?"

"That's…"

"Promise me, Mei Gui." I stared into her eyes sternly. "Even if I die… you will live on."

"I…"

Faced with my serious expression, she had no choice but to comply.

"Understood, Master… I promise."

I grinned. "Good."

"After all… I cannot find ways to revive you if I am dead as well."

"That's the spirit," I chuckled. I had not be meaning for her to go that far, but if that serves as motivation for her, then by all means. It might actually be possible — Necromancy Magic was a thing.

"However!" she suddenly sat up, straddling me with a fierce expression on her face. "Master, you are forbidden from doing anything this dangerous ever again!"

"Uh… are you ordering me right now?" I laughed. "Who's the master here, really?"

"T-That's… y-you are, but…" her face turned red as she was at a loss of what to do. She wanted to tell me not to take such risks again, but couldn't say so directly without coming off as acting out of place.

"I get it, I get it…" I sighed, stroking her long silver hair. "I won't do anything this dangerous again, alright?"

Hearing my words, Mei Gui snuggled closer to me tightly, wrapping her arms around me to the best of her abilities. I smiled faintly.

"Where are the others?" I asked after she calmed down, looking around the room. We seemed to be… back in our inn?

"They are currently in a different room, Master. I refused to let anyone else enter this one…"

"I see," I murmured, thinking.

"Should I… call them over, Master? They are extremely worried as well… I was too selfish in keeping you to myself."

"Well, I'm sure you just told them to leave since they didn't even know why I was in this state. I fell unconscious as a result of the backlash from using Chaos… not like they would know anything about the plan we discussed, or help out either."

Mei Gui nodded. "But… I was not able to help either. However, Master, I have good news."

"Oh? Let's hear it," I said, sitting up in my bed with Mei Gui still straddling me.

"You have broken through to the Divine Chaos Stage. When I tried checking the Chaos in you for impurities, I discovered this."

"Sweet," I grinned. "So? What benefits did I gain?"

"For one, our normal spells are now amplified by 10 times of their original strength," Mei Gui replied. "In addition, you can now cast a variety of new Forbidden Magic spells that I remembered due to you breaking through. Whenever we have time, I can teach you, Master."

"10 times… that's equivalent to a spell of the next rank. And new Forbidden Magic too? I like the sound of that," I chuckled. "Anything else?"

After a short hesitance, Mei Gui spoke. "Yes… and it is related to that ring on your finger."

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at my left hand, where a ring was placed on my index finger. It was mainly silver, with a large red gemstone embedded on top.

"Song Qian Long gave me this…" I murmured quietly, remembering something I didn't want to remember.

"Just as expected, it has a connection with the Primordial Chaos. It has remained dormant until now due to Master's understanding of Chaos still being too low, but since you have now broken through to the Divine Chaos realm, it has activated."

"Huh… so what does it do?"

Mei Gui's expression turned serious. "Before that… I believe it would be wise to have Yu An Xue present here as well."

"An Xue? Why her in particular?"

"Because I believe she knows what I am speaking of."

"Interesting. Well, you said they were quite worried, right?" I grinned.

Mei Gui nodded. "Yes, Master."

"Then… who do you think was the least worried?" I asked childishly, an evil sneer on my face. All signs of sleepiness had gone away.

However, Mei Gui seemed to have taken my question seriously. She fell into deep thought, narrowing her eyes.

"Hm… according to my observations and various complex calculations, it has been determined that subject Xiang Peng cared the least."

I blinked. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yes. Subject Obsidia seemed to care the least on the surface, but after further analysis of her personality and mentality, I have determined she is of the more extreme 'tsundere' archetype as seen in various anime series."

"Woah, woah… since when did you get into anime?" I frowned. "It was Qing Yue, wasn't it? That damn girl…"

"Indeed. Speaking of her, I have concluded that she cared the most about your condition, Master. Excluding myself, of course, for I am obviously the one who cared the most."

"Yes, yes… you're number one, all that," I sighed and looked towards the door. "Qing Yue…"

"Can you call them over? My legs still feel weak… I don't think I can walk right now."

Mei Gui nodded and hopped off my bed, before exiting the room.

I sighed and glanced down at the ring on my finger. I could see it was pulsating faintly with energy, unlike before where it was completely just a ring for decorative purposes. Well, a ring that could turn my eyes red, but that was about the only use it had.

But now… although the energy signature was weak, I could feel some Chaos energy coming from this ring. The gemstone part of it, in particular.

However, my thoughts were quickly interrupted by the loud shouting from the other side of the wall in front of me.

"What? He's awake?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"

"Calm down-"

"Big Brother Xuan Kai!!!"

I froze, waiting for the door to my room to be kicked open. And indeed it did, by none other than my cute little sister Qing Yue herself.

Immediately, she leaped onto the bed as I caught her within my arms. She was quite light, so it didn't hurt or anything. The rest of the girls entered the room as well, all with tears in their eyes except Obsidia and Xiang Peng.

"Big Brother Xuan Kai… wahh…" she cried, rubbing her face against my chest. "You left me… you left me…!"

"I didn't… I'm here now, aren't I?"

"But… but… I thought you were never going to wake up again…!"

"Hey! You're too loud!" a voice shouted from the wall behind me, possibly from another guest at this inn.

"Shut up!" Feng Mian interrupted, tears in her eyes as she shouted back at the wall before I could even apologize.

"Huh?! The hell you just tell me to do?!" the man boomed from the other side. Seems like he was getting angry.

By this point, Mei Gui had a murderous gleam in her eyes as she silently moved away from the rest of the girls.

[Uh… you can do whatever you want, just don't kill him.] I said via our telepathic connection as I stroked Qing Yue's head.

[… No promises, Master.]

I gulped in fear for that man. Sure, he deserved it, but… the wrath of Mei Gui was not a light one.