Chapter 28

"Lili…"

Entering the house, Jixue was already waiting for Lixue near the pool door with Lulu behind him. Lixue patted his head, "What is it?"

Jixue only shook his head before clenching Lixue pants. He looked towards Thirteen warily. Thirteen thought it was funny and waved to him, "Hello, I'll be living here with you from now on. You can call me Uncle Thirteen."

"Who said you can live here? Go back to your own hole." Lixue immediately refuted.

"Unfortunately, I'm poorer than a rabbit and don't have any hole to go back to," He walked to the stairs shamelessly, "So let me stay here, okay? Isn't it also more convenient and efficient this way?"

Before his feet reached the second step, he was yanked away from the stairs. He easily regained his balance and managed to not fall to the ground.

"For you, that is," Lixue walked to the kitchen, "You're staying on the first floor."

After dinner at night, Lulu cleaned the table while Thirteen was still savoring the food he just tasted. With that kind of attitude, he didn't expect the young man would also provide him a portion. It was the same earlier at lunch. He really couldn't tell what was going on inside that head. Though the taste wasn't as good as average cooks, it was still pleasant. And watching how the little boy ate with gusto, it also unconsciously raised his appetite.

Now that he thought about it, he still didn't know the young man's name.

He saw the young man walked away after dinner and searched for him. After their conversation at the pool, he was busy settling in that they hadn't talk again yet.

He opened every door on the corridor until he opened a door leading to a closed pure white room. The room was void of things without any window. There was only white floor, white walls, and white ceiling. The floor, walls, and ceiling themselves illuminated with white light, filling the room with surreal dream-like brightness.

At the center of the room, Lixue stood motionlessly. He was still wearing his garments from earlier, becoming the only colored spot inside the colorless box. Like a taint of ink on a pure white sheet. It flawed the flawless space, yet it gave people inside it a sense of relief.

Thirteen wanted to step inside but he was stopped by a transparent barrier on the door. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it, repelling him from coming inside.

"What is it?" Lixue glanced at him. His eyes were droopy and felt more listless than usual rather than his lazy or bored manner.

"I just remembered that I still don't know your name." Thirteen didn't force it and settled on leaning by the door frame.

"Oh…" Lixue looked away and continued watching the wall in front of him, "Huang Lixue."

Thirteen was surprised. Was that his real name? He gave it away just like that? He was prepared to be tossed some sarcastic words and rejection, but surprisingly that didn't happen.

He scrutinized Lixue's figure and the room before continuing, "Unfortunately, I don't have any other name than Thirteen."

"I know." Lixue replied shortly.

"What are you looking at?"

Lixue frowned, "If you don't have any other matter, then leave."

Thirteen held up his hands in surrender and backed away. The door closed and integrated into the wall. From the inside, it looked like there was no door at all. Nobody could tell where the north, east, west, or south was. It gave a different sense of loss compared to the fear of being trapped in darkness.

Lixue watched the wall in silence. He really wasn't compatible with light. In the nothingness, he could significantly feel the low temperature of his body, reminding him that he was no longer human. The pureness and cleanness he vied in his past now felt repulsive for him considering how it was god's favorite thing. Only just by standing here filled him with disgust.

"Then why are you still standing here, my child?"

His shoulder was suddenly grasped by wintry fingers. His hair stood on its end as the suppressing feeling crept from his back.

"My lord…" Lixue was about to kneel, but his body was frozen in place.

"No need to kneel. I came here to kill time," The Devil walked past him, "I've been watching you these past few days, I must say I am impressed. Only in a matter of 3 days, you have killed almost 2,000 humans. In peaceful times, it is not something easy to do."

"I still have a long way to go. I don't deserve such praise." Lixue cast his eyes down and humbly replied.

"The god hasn't noticed you yet. For him to not notice a new demon was born, he must've grown quite senile. It is also a clever move of you to give offering of sinned people to me, my child. Different from those fairy tales, I enjoy sinful people's souls. Their sin is the fuel for my power. And thanks to that, that god who didn't really care about sinful souls wouldn't care to notice if 100 or 1,000 of them gone."

Lixue kept his head bowed in silence.

"Tell me, my child, why are you isolating yourself in this room?" the Devil whispered next to his ear as his finger swept the trace of Lixue's face by barely touching it, "Do you still long for the light?"

"…No, my lord."

"You might say that, but your heart says otherwise. You are already in the point of no return. Your hands are already red while your heart is already black," Fire burst out from the devil, burning the room in an instant. The pure white room became a crackling black room with flaming red cracks tracing the surface, "Don't think, don't remember, and don't yearn. Drown yourself in sin and power and everything will be alright. The god doesn't deserve you. You can become a much more powerful being than him if you continue your path. Don't look back, don't regret…"

The Devil continued to whisper sweet nothings into Lixue's mind, enticing him like a lover, cajoling him like a mother, and embracing him like a god.

Lixue let himself being baptized by the Devil's words. His eyes gradually turned crimson as he resolved himself. He threw all insignificant thoughts and memories into the depth of his mind.

He looked at the wall where the 2 figures gradually faded into the darkness. Yes, they could only be in the light. Once he enveloped himself in the darkness, they wouldn't be able to invade his mind.

The Devil was satisfied with his new little follower. He opened his palm and with a burst of flame, a dark purple book appeared on his hand.

"A gift for you. Though because you're still just a mid-level demon, there isn't much that can be used, but I believe you will grow in a short amount of time. Learn it well. It is up to your capability whether you can utilize this or not."

"Thank you for your generosity, my lord." Lixue accepted the book with his two hands.

The Devil dissipated into a wisp of black and purple smoke as silent as his arrival. Lixue felt the pressure leaving his body and he could resume his movement. The book in his hands was very thick. He turned it around to see the cover.

It was written in an unknown language he had never seen before. But strangely, he could understand it perfectly.

'Grimoire of Eternal Fire'

Outside the room, after he backed away from the door, Thirteen leaned on the wall watching the moon outside the window in front of him. It was a quiet and peaceful night when suddenly he felt immense danger from his back. He jumped away in reflex when the wall behind him abruptly cracked and blackened in high speed.

It was washed with extreme heat that he could feel the heatwave from where he stood in front of the window. The cracks were glowing red from the fire's residue and some of the wall surface crumbled down into ash, blackening the floor.

"Did he do this…?" Thirteen mumbled.

Almost half an hour later, He saw Lixue came out from the room with a book in his hands. The door's system was obviously destroyed and Lixue just straightforwardly smashed open a new hole. Thirteen remembered not seeing any book when he looked inside earlier and Lixue wasn't wearing any space storage.

Where did that thick book come from?

Lixue noticed Thirteen in the hallway and raised an eyebrow, "You're still here?"

"Well…I wanted to ask if there's anything that needs to be prepared since our plan is kind of big. But you were having a temper earlier." Thirteen shrugged.

"Because you talked nonsense," Lixue rolled his eyes, "There are only minor things to prepare for now. Our next step will be entering First Military Academy."