The Confrontation —

Episode 2 —

The battlefield had gone silent.

Not because the war was over.

But because no one dared to move.

The Demon King stood several steps away from Shen Qing.

His sword was still in his hand.

Dark demonic energy curled around his body like smoke, twisting through the air and disappearing into his black robes.

Yet Shen Qing barely noticed it.

He was looking at his face.

Twenty-seven years old.

Cold.

Sharp.

Almost impossible to recognize.

But those eyes—

Shen Qing knew those eyes.

He had once seen them filled with fear.

He had once seen those eyes brighten whenever Shen Qing returned from training.

He remembered a little boy sitting quietly beneath a tree, pretending he wasn't waiting for him.

He remembered tiny fingers secretly holding onto his sleeve.

He remembered that small voice asking—

"Will you leave me too?"

And Shen Qing had smiled.

He had knelt before him and gently placed a hand on his head.

I won't.

I promise.

His chest suddenly tightened.

The person standing before him was that child.

But the child was gone.

The Demon King stared at him.

His lips slowly parted.

"Why?"

Shen Qing blinked.

"What?"

The Demon King's eyes didn't leave him.

"Why did you abandon me?"

The words struck harder than any sword.

Shen Qing's breathing stopped for a moment.

"Abandon...?"

He stared at him in disbelief.

Then he shook his head.

"No."

His voice was quiet.

"I didn't abandon you."

The Demon King's expression hardened.

"Then what do you call it?"

Shen Qing's lips parted.

Nothing came out.

The Demon King took one step forward.

"You disappeared."

Another step.

"You never returned."

Another.

"You never sent a message."

His voice became colder with every word.

"You never came looking for me."

Shen Qing's fingers slowly curled.

"I..."

He stopped.

There was something he wanted to say.

Something he had said countless times inside his own mind.

But standing here—

facing those eyes—

the words suddenly felt impossible.

"I had a reason."

The Demon King froze.

"A reason?"

Shen Qing looked away.

His expression tightened.

"Yes."

"What reason?"

Shen Qing remained silent.

The Demon King's eyes narrowed.

"What reason?"

"I can't tell you."

The words were barely audible.

The Demon King's expression changed.

"You can't tell me?"

Shen Qing looked back at him.

"I said I had a reason."

"Then tell me."

"I can't."

"Why?"

Shen Qing's gaze lowered.

"Because..."

He stopped again.

His fingers trembled slightly.

Because the truth was something he wasn't even certain he understood anymore.

He remembered leaving.

He remembered the circumstances.

He remembered believing that he would return.

But there was a blank space after that.

A space that should not have existed.

The Demon King watched his hesitation.

And something inside him broke again.

"So that's your answer?"

Shen Qing looked at him.

The Demon King laughed softly.

"You have a reason."

His smile was bitter.

"But you can't tell me."

Shen Qing swallowed.

"I..."

"Then why should I believe you?"

Shen Qing didn't answer.

The Demon King looked away.

His jaw tightened.

"For thirteen years..."

His voice became quieter.

"I asked myself that question."

Shen Qing's eyes lifted.

The Demon King continued.

"When you disappeared, I thought you would return."

His gaze became distant.

"I was twelve."

Shen Qing's heart clenched.

"I didn't understand why you were gone."

He looked down at his sword.

"I thought perhaps something had happened."

"I waited."

A pause.

"One day."

"Then another."

"Then another."

Shen Qing's eyes slowly became wet.

The Demon King continued as though he hadn't noticed.

"When you still didn't return, I asked them where you were."

"Who?"

"Everyone."

His voice carried a quiet bitterness.

"The people around me."

"The elders."

"The servants."

"Everyone who knew you."

He looked toward the righteous cultivators.

"They all gave me the same answer."

Shen Qing's expression tightened.

"What did they say?"

The Demon King looked at him.

"They said you abandoned me."

Shen Qing's face went pale.

"No."

"They said you had left because you didn't want to stay."

"No."

"They said you had chosen another path."

"That's not true."

"They said..."

His voice faltered for the first time.

"...you never intended to return."

Shen Qing shook his head.

"No."

His voice was firmer now.

"I didn't say that."

"I know."

The Demon King's eyes were cold.

"But they kept saying it."

He looked down.

"Again."

"And again."

"And again."

"Every time I asked about you."

His fingers tightened around his sword.

"At first, I refused to believe them."

A faint, painful smile appeared on his face.

"I told them they were wrong."

"I told them you promised me."

"I told them you would come back."

Shen Qing's throat tightened.

"But they laughed."

The Demon King continued.

"They told me children were foolish."

"They told me I was waiting for someone who had already forgotten me."

His voice became quieter.

"And eventually..."

He stopped.

Shen Qing stared at him.

The Demon King closed his eyes for a moment.

"Eventually, I stopped defending you."

Shen Qing's heart sank.

"I stopped saying your name."

"I stopped asking when you would return."

"I stopped going to the places where we used to sit."

His eyes opened.

"And I stopped waiting."

Shen Qing's voice trembled.

"You shouldn't have had to."

The Demon King looked at him.

"What?"

"You shouldn't have had to wait."

Shen Qing's eyes were red.

"I should have been there."

For the first time, the Demon King's expression wavered.

Shen Qing looked down at his hands.

"I should have come back."

His voice was barely a whisper.

"But I didn't abandon you."

The Demon King's eyes hardened again.

"Then where were you?"

Shen Qing froze.

The question came again.

But this time—

he couldn't answer.

"I don't know."

The Demon King's eyes widened slightly.

Shen Qing looked at him helplessly.

"I truly don't know."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"No."

Shen Qing shook his head.

"I don't expect anything from you."

His voice trembled.

"But I know what I remember."

"I remember leaving."

"I remember having a reason."

"I remember believing I would see you again."

He took a slow breath.

"But when I opened my eyes..."

His gaze moved over the battlefield.

"...thirteen years had passed."

The Demon King stared at him.

Shen Qing's eyes were filled with confusion.

"I don't understand it either."

"I don't know where those years went."

"I don't know what happened to you."

His voice cracked.

"And I didn't know..."

He looked at the Demon King.

"...that you were waiting for me."

The Demon King's eyes turned red.

"You didn't know?"

Shen Qing shook his head.

"No."

A long silence followed.

Then the Demon King whispered—

"I waited for you."

Shen Qing's eyes trembled.

"I know."

"No."

The Demon King's voice broke.

"You don't."

He looked directly at Shen Qing.

"You don't know what it was like."

Shen Qing couldn't speak.

"I waited until I hated myself for waiting."

His voice was shaking now.

"I hated you."

A pause.

"Then I hated myself for still missing you."

Shen Qing's eyes filled with tears.

"I never wanted that."

"I know."

The Demon King laughed bitterly.

"But wanting doesn't change anything."

He raised his sword.

Shen Qing instinctively tensed.

But the Demon King didn't attack.

He simply looked at him.

"You left me."

"I didn't."

"You left."

"I had a reason."

"Then tell me!"

His voice finally exploded across the battlefield.

The surrounding cultivators flinched.

Shen Qing stared at him.

The Demon King's eyes were red.

His breathing was uneven.

"Tell me!"

Shen Qing's lips trembled.

"I can't."

The Demon King stared at him in disbelief.

After a long moment, he lowered his sword.

"Fine."

His voice was cold again.

"If you won't tell me..."

He turned toward his demon generals.

"...I'll find the answer myself."

The generals immediately bowed.

"Your Majesty."

"Bring him."

Shen Qing's eyes widened.

The Demon King didn't look back.

"Don't hurt him."

One of the generals hesitated.

"Should we restrain—"

"Don't."

The Demon King's voice became dangerously cold.

"No one touches him unless I give the order."

The general immediately lowered his head.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Demon King finally looked back.

Their eyes met.

For a moment, the hatred disappeared.

Only pain remained.

A pain he had buried for thirteen years.

His eyes were red.

But his voice was steady.

"He's mine."

Shen Qing froze.

The Demon King turned away.

His black robes disappeared into the dark mist surrounding the battlefield.

He never looked back.

Shen Qing remained standing there.

Surrounded by demons.

Unable to move.

His mind was filled with the same sentence.

I didn't abandon you.

But another voice whispered inside him.

Then why did thirteen years disappear?

Why had everyone told him the same lie?

And most importantly—

who had made sure the child he promised to protect would grow into the Demon King?

to be continued......

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