Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR PLAYS HARD TO GET

Yao Shen is taken to exactly the same place he visited the last time. To the same airy building overlooking a courtyard hidden from view of everyone walking in the street.

Being back in Youdu leaves him of two minds. On one hand, there's something about the city that feels familiar to him down to his bones. On the other hand, it's as if the towering wooden buildings are closing down on him with each step he takes deeper into the city's sinuous streets.

Inside the building, he finds the three Ghost Kings in much the same position as last time.

The woman in the floor-length red qipao is laying down on a chaise lounge, her long pipe held between her slender fingers.

"Shi Wang, so glad to see you," she says, her brilliant red lips curving into a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "We have been wondering how much progress you've made."

She wants to bait him. All four pairs of eyes are glued on him expectantly, waiting to see if like a fish he'll hang himself by the mouth.

"I was doing alright, until this one showed up," Yao Shen says, his tone breezy as he points at the ghoul. "Terrible timing."

He sees the fourth King, the one he hasn't met before, stand up a little straighter, his eyebrows knitting in confusion. He's tall, just like the other kings, and wears the king of flowy daoist robes that Yao Shen associates with cultivators in period dramas. Although handsome, when compared to the barefooted king with hair down to his hips, or the one wearing court official robes, he could almost be called plain.

Yao Shen returns his intense gaze, unsure of why it's him out of everyone else, who seems so suspicious of him.

The court official makes his way towards him, his hands clasped severely behind his back. "And what exactly were you doing?"

"I was seducing him," Yao Shen admits, his tone even.

His words are met with silence, at least until the woman in the qipao breaks it with her tinkling laugh.

"Is that the only thing you could come up with? Or do you just love crawling under him that much?"

Yao Shen holds still, refusing to let himself be affected by her words.

"By your own admission, it's the strategy I used in the past," Yao Shen says with a casual shrug. They already think he's dumb, he might as well lean into it. "Seemed like the easiest way to get close to him."

The barefooted man turns around on his chaise, hugging the back of it and pouting prettily. "Did you tell him who you are," he smiles, revealing a sharp canine, "or rather, who you used to be?"

Yao Shen shakes his head. "No."

The man shoots a look to the fourth king, who nods quickly, as if confirming the validity of Yao Shen's words.

But how would he know?

The woman takes a drag of her pipe, and blows out smoke in the shape of little carps, that float up the air as if it were water. "Good, keep it that way."

Yao Shen thinks he's about to be let go, when the fourth king makes his way towards him, his gaze unwavering.

"What are your feelings for Xin Hulei?" he asks, deadpan.

There's something about his voice that is oddly familiar, but Yao Shen can't quite place it.

"There are no feelings, I'm trying to do what you told me to and get close to him," Yao Shen says, meeting his gaze.

Yao Shen might not be the smartest guy, or the most talented actor, but he's fairly certain he can act well enough to fool this group of self-important ghosts.