Chapter 25: Return of Emo [3]: Imagination or… Hallucination?

'Point my ass!' He exclaimed inwardly and then stared at the small girl, who didn't shy away. Instead, she came a step closer and extended her empty palm. "Mister, pay up! Give me another devil fruit!"

'Another devil fruit? I don't have any in my void realm. Haa, so troublesome.' Scratching his head, he bluntly said. "Little girl, unfortunately, I don't have any."

She frowned as she heard these words. Thinking for a long time, she opened her mouth and started speaking again, "How about this, you give Xai Huao something equivalent."

"Something of equal worth, eh? I might have something you like."

'Void realm.' Softly reciting these two words in his mind, he clasped both his palms. Then widening the distance between his palms, he revealed a flute.

Grabbing it with a sweet smile, he extended it towards the little girl. "Here, you can have this."

"..."

"What?" She rubbed her eyes and then looked at the ordinary-looking wooden flute again.

"And what am I supposed to do with it?"

"You don't know how to use it?" Xai Huao wanted to facepalm as she heard these words. The urge was irresistible.

Seeing that she did not respond, he continued. "Want me to teach you?"

She couldn't resist it anymore, as she ended up facepalming.

"No! I don't wanna learn that dumb trash Flute!"

"Dumb? Trash? Hey little girl, this flute was made by me, the great Emo!"

"Emo?"

"Yes, Emo Zuxian [1]. Feeling shocked, aren't you?"

"Emo Zuxian? Haha, if you're Emo Zuxian then I'm Quánnéng móshén!" [2]

Emo's eyes twitched slightly. At the end, he just stored the flute back to the void realm.

'Now that I think of it, she's somewhat similar to Emo Wan'er.' This little girl was similar to his second and most favorite daughter.

Shaking his head, he took out a dagger from the void realm.

"And what should I do with that? Poke the enemies?"

"Then what about this long sword?"

"My tongue is sharper than it."

"How about this axe? I slayed the strongest of the strongest enemies with this Axe."

"Well, good for you."

"Argh!" Emo Zuxian was slowly getting irritated. The bone sword couldn't help but laugh.

'Breaking news! Demon Ancestor was bullied by a small child.'

'Shut up!'

"Umm, well... That sword looks interesting." She suddenly said.

"This sword?" Seeing that at least something piqued her interest, he was somewhat relieved.

"Un."

"Here take it." As if it was some kind of debris, he tossed the bone sword.

'Hold on a damn minute!' The Bone Sword's voice boomed in his mind, as the sword froze midway. Spinning backward, it smacked Emo Zuxian's head.

"Wow!" Xai Huao's eyes started to shine as she looked at the bone sword.

"I want it! I want it!" Excitedly she said as she extended both her arms.

'We can't break the heart of the small girl, can we Bone Sword?'

'Shut up!'

Ignoring the grumbling of the Bone sword, he looked at Xai Huao.

"You want this, eh? Catch it!"

Swoosh!

"Woooaaahhhh!"

As if understanding what Emo Zuxian was trying to do, the sword shot straight into the sky. Xai Huao immediately chased after it.

'The way to a small girl's heart is by playing with her...'

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With her small steps, she ran at the max speed trying to catch the sword. Running in this manner, she looked very cute.

...

"Here, catch!" Emo Zuxian threw the white ball at her, restricting most of his strength. Her eyes glittered like the tiny stars in the sky as she caught the ball.

The two began playing, throwing the ball, and soon after, the merry laughter of a joyous little girl echoed in the forest.

Xai Huao did not even realize when she became so comfortable in Emo's presence, so much so that she even started playing with him.

"You're not that bad, Mister. But I still want you to pay," Xai Huao said as she looked at Emo Zuxian.

"Well, go and catch that sword. It'll be the compensation."

"Hmp, you despicable demon."

"Hahaha, enough of praising me now."

After another hour of playing with the little girl, she finally seemed to have run out of her stamina.

"Do you wanna rest?"

"I can still play. Huff Huff!"

"OK, how about this. I'll narrate a few stories for you. Surely, a kid like you would love stories, right?" As soon as she heard the word "stories," her eyes started shining brighter!

"Un!" she nodded vigorously, earning a small chuckle from Emo Zuxian.

He then sat beneath the beautiful tree that had produced a devil fruit. She followed his lead, sitting near him, and the bone sword also rested beside him.

'What a naive girl.' He couldn't help but think as his eyes fell on her face.

"A long time ago..."

An hour passed by; however, Xai Huao wasn't bored at all. Listening with all her attention on the story, she felt the excitement rushing within her body as she imagined the scenarios, being able to replace herself with the characters.

'She's a girl with good imagination.' The bone sword once again commented. And Emo Zuxian was in agreement with this statement.

"Mister, thank you... For playing with me today..."

"Hmm?"

"My brother... It's been two months since he joined the war, fighting those damned humans. My mother, father, uncle, no one plays with me. Villagers are nice to me, but don't have enough time to play with me, only some kids have the time... It's been so long since I was able to play with someone."

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Emo Zuxian could tell that these were some real authentic tears; she was genuinely saddened.

"Don't worry, I'm sure your brother will play with you when he comes back."

"Will he?"

"For sure!"

"Mister." She suddenly stood up and looked at him. "My mother will come to know I sneaked out! I forgot that and was playing with you here!" All the sadness on her face immediately disappeared; she looked like a child who had done something wrong.

'Sigh, children are just too naughty. Even my Wan'er was like this.'

"Well, kid, then go on."

"No, I can't!"

"Why not?"

"You still haven't paid me yet." She said as she once again jumped towards the Bone sword trying to catch it. But it was too quick, dodging immediately.

"You greedy little brat," He helplessly said as he looked at the little girl trying to catch the bone sword.

"How about this, I'll come to your village and drop you over there. Then we'll think how to pay you back, alright?"

"Wait, don't tell me..." Her eyes widened even further. "You're actually a homeless demon that was trying to awaken his bloodline. Sigh, I feel sad for you, but even I needed that fruit."

'Hahahah! Great Homeless Serpent Constellation!' It didn't even take a second for the bone sword to make another nickname.

'Shut up!' Smacking the hilt of the sword, he brought a forced smile on his face.

"You want me to pay or not?"

"Fine, fine,"

He then squatted on the ground, gesturing her to climb up.

In the night, a man could be seen running through the forest, carrying a little girl on his shoulder, with a sword tied around his waist.

As he controlled his speed, the girl on his shoulder exclaimed excitedly, "Woooaaaa!"

The moon was slowly disappearing from the sky, being replaced by a bright sun. As he looked at the disappearing moon, he couldn't help but think.

In joy and sorrow, gods and mortals share the same essence. Beneath the moon's gaze, a deity's smile mirrors a mortal's grace.

...

Demon Village...

"Grandpa Shen!" Xai Huao exclaimed excitedly as she looked at an old man. There was a horn on his forehead, and his eyes were pitch-black, but there was a kind expression on his face.

This demon village was very beautiful, with a lot of primitive hut-like structures.

"Grandpa Shen, don't you think that the smell has gotten even stronger? This weird smell..."

"Huao, it must be because of your exceptional smell. We have a young talent, don't we? Anyway, who's this person?"

"Well, he's a vagabond demon. He hopes to stay in the village."

"Is that so? Well, introduce him to your father; we might have use for a young and handsome demon like him."

"Un!"

With that, she grabbed Emo's hand and dragged him further.

"Auntie Lei Hei!"

"Young Xai Huao! How are you!" The village seemed to be extremely beautiful, especially at dawn.

"Hey kid..."

"Shhh! Don't utter any nonsense, or people might chop you."

"But..."

"No buts!" Exclaiming, she dragged him around the village. Only a few demons could be seen on the street since it was dawn, but slowly more and more demons were waking up. Worry slightly flashed through her eyes.

"Mother will beat me up!"

"Hey, listen kid..."

"Don't delay any longer! We have to run faster!" She couldn't help but exclaim once again. Emo Zuxian gave up and followed her lead.

'What's wrong with this kid?' The bone sword asked. Emo Zuxian just shook his head while following her.

Soon they went to the other side of the village. There was a house made of wood, luxurious compared to other houses.

She quickly entered the house after unlocking the sliding door.

The house was quite...

She entered it and then walked towards the bedroom, noticing that her mother and father were still asleep.

"Sigh! They were tired from yesterday's work. Thank the lord."

"Hey, Kid... Are... Are you okay?" Suddenly, Emo Zuxian asked as he looked at the bed. A disgusting stench assaulted his nose, but he was unfazed. Multiple human skulls were lying on the ground, but the true disgusting scene lay on the bed.

Corpses of demons that were decaying. Worms could be seen wriggling within the corpses of the dead bodies.

"What's the matter, Emo?" She asked with a confused voice. As Emo Zuxian turned his head, with his enhanced vision, he looked at the people of the village.

Corpses...

"What's the matter... Emo?" Her confused voice once again echoed in his ears. Turning around, he saw the innocent pure look of confusion on her face. But tears fell from the corner of her eyes.

‘Imagination… or maybe, hallucination?’

...

[1] Emo Zuxian translates to Demon Ancestor (Cough Cough, author's no professional translator and hence used Google translate. If it's wrong, sue google)

[2] Quánnéng móshén - Translates to Almighty Demon God!

…

Fun Block (Unrelated to story)

Grey Furred Monkey: You know what, you are quite insensitive.

Author (Annoyed): Yea? How so?

Grey Furred Monkey (wiping a drop of tear from his eyes): You just killed the little girl’s family! You murderer!

Author (Intense stare): Say that to the God of my world.

Grey Furred Monkey (Confused): Huh?

Author: Nvm that. Tell me this, when are you going to leave me?

Grey Furred Monkey (Ominous snicker): How about… Never! Kuhahahahaha!

Author: …

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