Rise of the Demon Queen

Scarlet Dragon Kingdom.

At the dark and deep forest, the wind furiously howled like a wolf as if wanting to warn everyone to leave its path clear to hunt its prey.

Ran Ai Ning limped as she tried to get away from the villagers who wanted to kill her. She was hit with something hard on her head that made her stumbled to the ground. Fresh blood oozed from her head wound, one of her eyes was swollen from the beating she had received earlier.

Some of the hair matted on her forehead with sweat, her long wavy tresses unruly and tangled on her back. She laid on the ground hopeless and powerless. Her gaze cold, it was filled with anger and rage as she looked at the group of people with a familiar old man in the crowd.

The man sneered as he looked down at her as if she isn't his blood. His eyes filled with hatred, that made her heart ache and her whole body shudder with fear. Her own father wanted her dead and she wondered why.

"Father, why?" she asked.

"You are a disgrace to our family, " he replied without a remorse. "You shouldn't have born into this world. Unlike Meng Ren, you only bring shame to us, " he added.

The man turned his head to other men that followed him. They must take Ran Ai Ning or else the demon lord that is in need of virgin maiden will stop giving protection to their remote village.

She was born during the night of the blue moon years ago and there is a belief in their kingdom that any girl born on this day will either be a blessing or a curse to their nation.

Ran Ei Tai was deeply disappointed to have her as his firstborn daughter. She was born with a weak body and the right part of her face, starting from her temples to her upper cheeks was tainted with a dark red patch since birth. It made her look unappealing to everyone's eyes.

Although she was smart for her age, being an intelligent woman was not something to look for in their culture. It was some kind of miracle that her childhood friend, Ma Dan Fei whom she had secretly loved for years, had agreed to have a marriage arrangement between their families.

Ran Ai Ning looked around her with her good eye. She could feel the blood filling her mouth. Was she going to die soon? As she blinked her eyes landed on a man staring at her. Her face was drained of any color that remained in her. Man Dan Fei, the man she swore she would love for the rest of her life had betrayed her.

Her heart broke when she saw him standing there, watching her die. Another familiar person clung to his arm and Ai Ning stared at them with disbelief. Ran Meng Ren, her twin sister was in love with her betrothed?

"Why? Why did you do this to me?" Ai Ning cried. She didn't know if she was asking her betrothed or her younger sister. She had been good to them for years. How come she didn't know or didn't notice that they had a secret affair?

Meng Ren grinned at her sister. She was pathetic if Ai Ning thought she could get the man of her dreams. If only Ai Ning did not exist, she could be the eldest daughter who could marry Man Dan Fei. Everything that Ai Ning had should be hers. They were both born under the night of the blue moon yet Ai Ning was treated well and with respect by the elders of their clan just because she was born before her.

"Older Sister, I'm really sorry. Please don't blame brother Fei. It was me who wronged you. I fell in love with your man." Meng Ren said, her voice laced with sorrow but her eyes flashed with mischief. She would always be the perfect daughter for their father.

Meng Ren walked towards Ai Ning and knelt beside her. She looked at her elder sister and smirked. This would be the end of Ai Ning and she would finally get rid of her for good.

"You..." Ai Ning started trembling while her body lays rigid on the cold ground. "Stay away from me you bitch!!!" she seethed, her eyes glaring at her twin sister. If she had known earlier that Meng Ren wanted to frame her for stealing the sacred mirror from the shrine of the Scarlet Dragon, she wouldn't have agreed to accompany her.

This was all because of her scheming twin sister. Why would she do this to her? She was way prettier, way more popular than her. Her looks could easily attract the princes and emperors from other countries. Why would Meng Ren seduce her betrothed instead? Meng Ren knew how she deeply loved Ma Dan Fei since childhood.

"Ai Ning! You dare to hurt your own sister?" The man she fell in love appeared behind Meng Ren and stared down at her coldly.

Meng Ren stood up and pressed her body against Ma Dan Fei, trying to calm him down. "Brother Fei, it's okay. I was the one who wronged her. It's only natural that she will despise me."

"No. This is between the two of us, " he replied, his eyes softening to his lover before brushing off the strands of hair away from her face. He turned his attention and told her coldly, "It is Meng Ren that I have always wanted and loved. I only accepted the marriage arrangements because she begged me not to hurt you."

Ai Ning could only stare at him in disbelief as he spoke of how he fell in love with Meng Ren years ago and how he intended to marry her. But because Ai Ning was the first daughter, the tradition of marrying her off before Meng Ren had to be followed. Of course, Dan Fei told her how he intended to take Meng Ren as his second wife after her. He didn't have any intention to consummate their marriage because of her twin sister.

This shameless bastard, Ai Ning thought. She now realized how people around her treated her like a trash. She was ugly with the big red patch on her face. She couldn't cultivate like Meng Ren. Her father hated her because she was a good for nothing first born daughter, and her twin sister seduced her man. What kind of life was this?

Ai Ning tried to cover her face with one of her hands. Her right shoulder was dislocated and her body felt numb from all the injuries she received from the beatings of the villagers.

"I didn't take the sacred mirror from the shrine. I'm not the thief you're looking for!" she cried as her tears overflowed from her brown eyes.

"Lies! You were the only one who came inside the shrine when it disappeared. Where did you hide it? If you wouldn't tell where it is, we have no choice but to give you to the Demon Lord." the chief of the village insisted.

While their village was still a part of the Scarlet Dragon Kingdom, their wealth and protection came from the demon lord living on the highest mountain instead.

"I swear with my life, I didn't take it! Meng Ren! Tell them the truth, you were with me!" Ai Ning exclaimed.

"What foolishness are you talking about, sister? I don't know where you were. I was with brother Fei the whole time." Meng Ren claimed.

"That she was!" Dan Fei interjected. "Why do you keep dragging Meng Ren to your lies? Do you have no shame Ai Ning?" he asked her disappointingly.

"Enough of this! Ran Ai Ning you are guilty of the crime you committed against the Scarlet Dragon God. You have taken one of his sacred items. We have given you a chance to admit and atone for your sins but you resisted. Now, you should pay it with your life as we send you to the demon lord's castle tonight." One of the elders of the village council joined the conversation.

"Do any of you disagree with this decision?" The chief asked and no one raised a hand to save Ai Ning.

Ai Ning looked up to the dark sky with the full moon at its peak. Her lifeless dark orbs stare at the moon above her. She remembered her dear mother, her youngest brother and her best friend. The three people in the world who treated her nicely. She reminisced her joyful memories with them.

She slowly blinked and noticed that her eyesight was getting blurry. Her head felt heavy. In her attempt to keep awake, she could only see silhouettes of people hovering over her body as someone lifted her body from the ground like a rag doll. She closed her eyes and felt her own blood trickling down her face. There's no escaping as she the darkness consumed her.

When Ai Ning woke up, she could feel the pounding pain in her head. She groaned and tried to pull her arms from confinements but failed. She then noticed she was tied up. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for something that she could use to cut the ties from her hands.

"I see that you're awake, " Her father emerged from the shadows and Ai Ning felt shivers run up her spine. She was scared but she tried to hide it. Ai Ning wondered if her mother found out what her twin sister and her father did to her.

"Are you still planning to hide the sacred mirror instead of giving it to your sister?" Her father asked.

"That bitch isn't my sister!" Ai Ning spat out.

Just when she said that, a hard slap landed on her face.

Ai Ning's body fell on the ground, her good eye widened when she realized she's been hit by her own father. She forced herself to sit up as her eyes filled with tears.

"Why, Father? Am I not your daughter too? You let Meng Ren have an affair to brother Fei?"

"You insolent woman! How dare you talk down about your own sister? You? My daughter? Compare to Meng Ren's ability, you are nothing Ai Ning! If only you have given the sacred mirror to her, this will never happen to you! You don't deserve to bear the name of the Ran family!"

Realization dawned upon her, when he said that. So Meng Ren really intended to take away the sacred mirror from the shrine for her own good and agenda? And their father knew about it? What kind of shameless family she was born into?

Behind her father were her twin sister and her supposed betrothed. Until this moment, they both chose to torture her? She still has that sinister smile on her lips as she looked down at Ai Ning. Nobody noticed how her eyes flashed with ill intent against her eldest sister.

'Ai Ning, this is all your fault. If it wasn't for you, I would have enjoyed all the privilege as the gifted child born under the night of the blue moon. Blame it on yourself for being weak and soft. But thank you, as you're a trash who couldn't cultivate, you had helped me to secure the spot as the gifted child between the two of us. Too bad you will never find out that it is I who have been poisoning your body since childhood.'

Ran Ai Ning heart turned cold as she looked at her own father and own twin sister who betrayed her. She then realized that this might not be the first time that Meng Ren did something behind her back. Was she the reason she became useless?

Every time she tried to cultivate, her body screamed in pain as if she was burning inside out. So painful that she almost passed out in pain and break a cold sweat. Her pores would open and secrete her own blood from within. What had happened to her body? Why couldn't she cultivate like everyone else?

"Father, please stop. Maybe elder sister really doesn't know where it is." Meng Ren's angelic voice tried to calm her father. She looked like she was really worried about her elder twin sister even if she had just taken almost everything from Ai Ning.

"Ai Ning don't deserve your pity, dear Meng Ren." The old man said to his other daughter.

With Meng Ren's beauty, charm and abilities as a spirit cultivator, she would lead their family in higher status within the social circle of cultivators in the central city of Scarlet Dragon Kingdom. If only if Ai Ning was as talented as her twin sister, he wouldn't allow anyone to trample her. He was confident that Meng Ren was the blessed child between the twins.

"It is time. The demon lord is waiting." One of the villagers came and informed them that Ai Ning would be taken to the demon lord's castle anytime soon.

"Say goodbye to your sister then, Meng Ren. There's nothing else we can do for her now." Ran Ei Tai said before giving a last look to her eldest daughter.

Meng Ren looked down at her sister and bent down to her level and whisper something. She stood up then chuckled to Ai Ning before taking her lover's hand and followed their father leaving Ai Ning behind.

'Finally. The trash has been taken care of.' Meng Ren grinned inwardly.