WangXian Forever Book 8

Chapter 48 Demands

XiChen started moving towards the stairs.

"Wait!" Jiang Cheng stopped him with a hand on his arm.

XiChen looked up into a face full of concern.

"Who says you have to meet him now?" Jiang Cheng said.

"But he's already killed three people. People from our clan. People I am responsible for." XiChen said, bitterly.

"But...he can't get in...right?" Jiang Cheng looked at the others, an idea forming in his head.

"Right. So what do you think we should do?" XiChen stopped doing everything and gave himself space to think.

"Look, none of us has slept in nearly two days. Whatever decisions you make now might make things worse. Let's sleep, eat something and then decide." Jiang Cheng, sensing victory, grinned at his husband. "Doesn't the picture of our bed make you happier than going out there to meet some psycho?"

"But...that's not the way to do things..." XiChen looked uncertainly at Baoshan Sanren and then at Jiang Cheng.

"Why not?" The more Jiang Cheng thought about it, the more it made sense. "He's the one who wants something, why should we have to go there and do what he says? In fact, let's take our time and really wind him up. He'll be that much easier to deal with then."

"I could take him out." Hui Gai offered.

"Easily?" XiChen asked.

"I imagine so...I mean, what's so great about him?" Hui Gai thought of Zago and she appeared. "Do you know anything more about the Sleeping Sickness Demon?"

She shook her head.

"Other than what we learned at the brothel? No."

"He's at their door now." Hui Gai replied.

"Shall we kill him? Then that's the end of the problem, right?" Zago grinned, her teeth spectacularly white against red lips.

"But what if it isn't? We still don't know the full story, or what he wants. Why did he take A-Xian away? For what reason?" XiChen paced in agitation.

His eyes hurt and his whole body ached...

"But I cannot in good faith, ignore a threat. Not when it's right outside our front door." He went towards the stairs.

"Are you sure?" Baoshan Sanren stopped him with those three words.

XiChen felt like he was being torn in two. Pulled in two opposing directions, his head began to hurt with an oncoming migraine.

"No." He turned around to face her. "I am not sure. Of anything right now. But my confusion is no excuse to be a coward. I will go and meet him."

"Not by yourself, you won't." Jiang Cheng took his arm. "If you're so adamant on going, then I'm coming with you."

*************

Li XiWang hadn't been able to sleep for more than a few hours. When she woke up, she was careful not to jostle Rumi awake. Instead, she grabbed her pillow and nudged it into her place like she had seen her Father Zhan do on multiple occasions.

Tears came to her eyes when she thought of her parents.

Where were they now? Would they be alright?

And why wouldn't Baise De Hua come any more? Was it because she couldn't help in this situation?

She dashed away the tears.

Crying wouldn't help now...but what was she going to do now? She wanted her parents back and in her head, searching for a cure made the most sense.

Books always helped with that, and so the library was where she was going to go.

Cloud Recesses was a place of meditation and peaceful quiet in the mornings. And as Li XiWang walked towards the library, she found it so. But the sound of feet walking far too quickly for pensive meditation alerted her to the fact that she might get into trouble for being out of the Jingshi at such an early time. So she quickly hid behind a tree and watched.

The disciple fast walking past her hiding place looked panicked and frightened.

Not a good sign.

And his white robes were stained with....blood?

Now what was going on?

Out of curiosity, she followed at a distance until she realised he was also aiming for the library.

But she also knew that while her parents were not here, that meant she and Rumi were vulnerable to people's unkindness. While her parents were around, nobody would dare say anything to her or Rumi...but both of them weren't here, and now...if she got into trouble at all, there would be no one to save her.

And her protective instincts were going haywire towards Rumi. She knew that the fact he was a demon was not easily acceptable to the people of Cloud Recesses, and only because his parents were the Great Hanguang-Jun and the Yilling Patriarch stilled wagging tongues.

She had seen the wary looks of other children at him, ostracizing him from friend circles. Whenever she could, she would go and play with him or sit with him and cheer him up.

Her own experience of bullying in school made her particularly sympathetic to his pain and she had thought about telling her parents but the time had never come.

Now they were gone, and it was up to her to keep him safe from those who might think it was okay to say cruel words.

The door to the Forbidden room was ajar and she saw the disciple go down.

Li XiWang knew she was not allowed to follow, plus she found she could hear quite clearly what they were discussing.

"Who says you have to meet him now?" Her Uncle Cheng was saying.

"But he's already killed three people. People from our clan. People I am responsible for." Her Uncle XiChen told him.

There was a demon at their door and he wanted to meet her Uncle XiChen? Why? Li XiWang was no idiot, she paid attention when the grown-ups were talking, even if it looked like she was absorbed in playing.

She was so lost in her thoughts, that she forgot to listen to the rest of the conversation and it was only the sound of multiple feet on the stairs which propelled her into moving out of sight.

Were they really going to meet the Demon now?

Li XiWang decided to follow them and see what was going on.