12 Chapter 11: Who Will Fall First? (2)

The walk to the waterfall was a silent one. Ruo Yin's heart was about to explode. The War Deity had promised to chase her till the end of the universe! She was not sure what to think about this revelation. "Ruo Yin focus on your mission, don't let pretty words stumble your vision," she repeated it like a mantra.

She was invaded by the same question again. Was he really that cruel as You Xie had told her? He did not look like it. She has passed less than a day with him, but with the way he has treated her so far, Ruo Yin was not sure that Zhan Luo was the same guy that You Xie had said he was. Yet, in various moments Ruo Yin has noted a slight hint of guilt in Zhan Luo's eyes. Maybe he was treating her well and helping her because he felt guilty for what he did five thousand years ago.

"Am I helping her because of what I did to her, or because I love her?" Zhan Luo was no longer sure if he had tried to help Ruo Yin because he felt responsible for her, or because he had other feelings for her. The genius War Deity had passed most of his life training and cultivating his powers. Love has never been in the picture for him. He hated company. Some deities were created from objects or other living things that have gathered enough cultivation to gain a human form. In his case, he was created from the mortals' desire for power and justice.

Zhan Luo does not even remember how many years have passed since his creation. He had seen clan leaders come and go. He has fought in so many wars and has seen many lives lost, deities and mortals in his thousand years of life.

Yet, nothing has picked his interest as the incident from five thousand years ago when he erased Ruo Yin's memories. He never thought they would meet again. He was just trying to do a favor to Ruo Yin's dying parents, by saving their daughter. Yet, no one told him to take Ruo Yin as his wife, and he still did it. "Why?"

Ruo Yin interrupted his train of thought when she said, "Hey, look! We already arrived! It is so pretty!"

Ruo Yin went running to the river where the waterfall descended. She started skipping on the rocks. Zhan Luo admired how carefree this princess could be.

"Hey, be careful! The rocks are slippery," Zhan Luo said to her.

"There's no need to worr...." Just as Ruo Yin was finishing her sentence, one of her feet slips. Her fall was imminent.

Zhan Luo quickly flies towards Ruo Yin and grabs her at the waist to balance her. As Zhan Luo tries to balance them out, they end up down the waterfall. The water falling on top of them. None of them moved. Ruo Yin's hands were on Zhan Luo's chest, and their faces were close to each other. There was only the sound of nature and their breaths surrounding them.

Zhan Luo moved one of his hands to adjust Ruo Yin's hair. That is when Ruo Yin felt a sharp pain in one of her ankles and she almost loses her balance if it were not for Zhan Luo still holding her by her waist.

"Sorry, I think I sprained my ankle," Ruo Yin said in a very small voice that was audible for the War Deity because of their closeness.

"Don't worry, I can carry you back," Zhan Luo said and before Ruo Yin could protest, he was already carrying her back to the living quarters, "If you want, rest a bit."

Ruo Yin laid her head on Zhan Luo's chest and closed her eyes. Trying to control her heartbeat that was going crazy fast.

"Stupid, Ruo Yin! Stupid! Stupid!" It was all that Ruo Yin could think. She was almost sure that Zhan Luo was about to kiss her below the waterfall if it were not for her ankle.

"Are you in so much pain?" Zhan Luo asked her.

"Huh?"

Zhan Luo then signaled with his eyes Ruo Yin's hands that were grabbing his clothes hems very tight.

"Sorry, I um..." Ruo Yin's face became bright red, her heart was about to leave her body.

"If it hurts so much then say so, there is no need for you to hide it. I should have warned you about the rocks before you got excited by the waterfall's view," Zhan Luo said to Ruo Yin.

"May we talk about anything, so I don't focus on the pain?" Ruo Yin asked him. She knew this was the best opportunity to learn the truth and trying to evade the fact that her heart was beating way too fast.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?" Zhan Luo replied to her.

"Um...why would you live on Kunlun Mountain all by yourself?" Ruo Yin asked. She knew that if she asked him directly about the past, he would suspect her, so she needed to be very subtle in her questions.

"I just don't like chattery people."

"Oh...So you don't have friends?" Ruo Yin asked him.

"Sadly, I do have one friend. Maybe you will meet him in the future. He can be very annoying though, more annoying than you," Zhan Luo laughed a bit.

"Hey!" Ruo Yin said hitting a bit Zhan Luo's chest. "I'm not annoying, I just don't adore you as the other deities do."

"So, did you have any friends at the Demon Clan, my dear wife?" Zhan Luo asked her.

"Not really. I was friends with the retired generals. But they just spoke with me sometimes because they were good friends of my mother and father," Ruo Yin said with a bit of sadness lingering in her sentence.

"Do you remember what happened to your parents?" Zhan Luo asked her.

"I miss them every day..." Ruo Yin wanted to say. Ruo Yin could hear that Zhan Luo was worried when he asked that question, but not the guilty-worried kind, but the kind of someone who cares for the other type. So she decided to answer him truthfully. For some reason, she has seen that it was easy to be herself when he was around. Yet, the more time she passed with Zhan Luo, the more she was forgetting her initial mission.

"The truth is..." Ruo Yin took a deep breath before continuing. "The truth is I don't have my memories of the revolt of five thousand years ago. I was just told what happened to my parents."

"Have you ever asked what happened?" Just as he asked her that, they arrived. Zhan Luo then used his powers to dry their hair and clothes. As he was inspecting and treating Ruo Yin's ankle, he asked again. "You haven't answered my question."

"No, and I don't want to know what happened," That is all that Ruo Yin could say because before she realized it she had already fallen in love with the War Deity. If what You Xie had said was true, then he was her enemy.

Zhan Luo had already finished bandaging Ruo Yin's ankle when she answered him. He knew there was a possibility that Ruo Yin would not want to know about the past, yet he hoped that if one day the truth came out, they could still maintain the same relationship they had today.

Ruo Yin noticed that her answer was not of Zhan Luo's liking. He looked a bit sad. Yet, there was no turning back. Ruo Yin could only live in this small dream till the day came where she would know what happened five thousand years ago, and if You Xie's words were true, then she was going to be the one killing the War Deity.

"But...for now...please..." Ruo Yin and Zhan Luo prayed in their thoughts, "let us be happy even if it's just for this short time." Both hoping that whoever heard their prayer could grant them this small wish.