THE LEGEND OF SHENLI

CHAPTER 11

     The young man was about to speak when the guard next to him moved forward, “Be careful Lord Fú Shēng, this person . . .”

The crown prince was uneasy but his trusted aid, Fú Shēng, sneered at Shěn Lí. “The emperor only has seven sons. I know all the kings. How can you be a king, you demon?”

Shěn Lí’s smile was even colder than his. “I am a demon king!” She cut through the air with her silver spear. Those below felt a cool breeze as their belts fell down in unison. A slight panic ensued as they bent down to grab their pants. The only one not affected was the crown prince. His belt was different from the others, a strong and reinforced type. Shěn Lí was just enjoying herself and smiling when a pair of warm hands covered her eyes.

Xíng Yún said, “Don’t look. It’s inappropriate.”

Shěn Lí was momentarily stunned and didn’t think to pull his hand away. Despite the many things she’d done, he insisted on treating her like a regular person, like a woman whose eyes were innocent.

Everyone hurried to pick up their swords and pants before hurrying away. The belt around Fú Shēng’s waist seemed to be different than the others. Instead of being embarrassed, there was a thoughtful expression on his face as he looked at Shěn Lí. After looking at her for a moment, he turned and walked away from the burning courtyard. Shěn Lí retracted her spear but did not pry Xíng Yún’s hands away, she only said, “Come on I’ll bring you to Ruì palace.” After that, she would leave.

“Yeah OK,” Xíng Yún answered loudly, letting go of Shěn Lí as he did so. Glancing around he said, “But let’s wait for bit.”

Shěn Lí looked at Xíng Yún and saw the fire reflected in his eyes. Suddenly she remembered what he said yesterday at Ruì palace about wanting to stay in his little courtyard because it was his home. Now he had to watch as it all burned down. She could only imagine the sense of loss he felt.

Were it not for the fact she needed to conserve her energy in order to evade her pursuers, she would have settled the score with the crown prince once and for all. But recklessly using her energy in the situation would only complicate things and allow those chasing her to pinpoint her location. Her heart felt stifled as she looked at the small courtyard turning gray in places as the ashes settled down. She could not stay any longer.

“I don’t know how long the fire will burn for. I wonder if the fish in the pond will still be edible. It’s a shame after all the time I spent raising them.” Xíng Yún sighed thinking about his lost fish.

“You— that’s what you were thinking about?”

“Yeah. What else would I be thinking about?”

Shěn Lí glared at Xíng Yún before taking a deep breath and grabbing him roughly by the collar. In a silvery flash they reappeared in a quiet garden. Xíng Yún looked up at the moon and sighed. “Wow . . . a transporting spell sure is convenient. But why did you send us to this deserted garden?”

“You think I wanted to? I don’t know the exact location of Prince Ruì’s residence inside the palace.”

“Xíng Yún laughed. “Well we’re going to have to find it then.” He barely took two steps forward before Shěn Lí yanked at his wrist.

“Don’t move. Can’t you sense how strange it is here?”

“Strange? What's strange?” Xíng Yún couldn’t detect anything odd. The sounds and sights were all ordinary night time sounds found in any garden – the insects were chirping, the flowers were swaying in the breeze, the leaves were rustling. There was nothing strange here.

Shěn Lí waved her hand and grabbed at something in the air. “I didn’t see it before during the day, but this Prince Ruì, to raise so many unformed demon spirits . . .” She opened her palm to show some condensed light as tiny as fireflies.