THE LEGEND OF SHENLI

CHAPTER 12

     Shěn Lí and Xíng Yún's arrival surprised Xiǎo Hé. She turned to them with bloodshot eyes. “Dare to get in my way? You’re dead!” Qi rushed out of her mouth cutting with deadly intentions toward Shěn Lí and Xíng Yún.

Shěn Lí raised her hand and the force of the qi halted as though hitting an invisible wall. Although they were safe, the collision created a thick miasma in front of her. “I liked you better as the blushing shy maiden. Why don’t you change back? If you don’t, I’ll have to kill you.” It didn’t look like Xiǎo Hé was going to back down so she raised her hand and coalesced her spear intending to launch it in a killing strike. A cry interrupted her before she could.

“No! Don’t hurt her!” Prince Ruì interjected. Although his voice was extremely hoarse, his meaning was clear.

Shěn Lí began to wonder if he was Xiǎo Hé’s lover. Why else would he be so reluctant to hurt her given the situation at hand?

“Don’t hurt me?” Xiǎo Hé cried out. “Zhū Chéngjǐn  . . . Zhū Chéngjǐn! Are you being cruel or are you being merciful?” Her body trembled even more violently. “Fine! You can all just die together!”

The ground underneath shook and a loud crash came from outside. Shěn Lí guessed that the demon baby spirits must have overwhelmed the residence. The tremors caused rubble to dislodge and block their only exit out. This was good because it meant they would be safe from the babies, but it also meant they were effectively trapped inside. Eventually, they would run out of oxygen and suffocate, so they needed to get out.

“Since you want to guard her so much, you can just guard her forever then!” Xiǎo Hé’s figure began to fade as she said, “I’ll leave and destroy your entire palace.”

Shěn Lí knew the lesser demon spirits outside were affected by Xiǎo Hé’s mood fluctuations. If she killed Xiǎo Hé, then the rest of the palace would return to normal. Shěn Lí reached out to grab Xiǎo Hé, but forgot that Xíng Yún was still holding onto her hand. The extra weight hindered her and Xiǎo Hé disappeared before she could reach her. Shěn Lí turned to look at Xíng Yún in anger. It felt like he was pulling her arm back on purpose.

Xíng Yún smiled innocently. “You said to hold onto you tightly.”

She glared at him with fire in her eyes. She looked at Prince Ruì’s bleak expression and Xíng Yún’s stupid smiling one. “I’ll send you two out first. Come back later for the woman.”

“No.” The two men both spoke in unison. The surprised Prince Ruì looked over at Xíng Yún.

“There’s a soul anchoring array here. She’ll definitely die if you take her out.”

Hearing this made Shěn Lí really angry. She turned to Prince Ruì and demanded, “Speak! What are you really up to here?”

Prince Ruì struggled to sit upright. Despite her disrespectful tone he didn’t reprimand her, instead he stared at the woman on the bed. “This is my wife Princess Ruì. Three years ago, there was an assassination attempt on my life. I would have died had my wife not shielded me with her body. She used her last remaining strength to lead the assassins away; I managed to survive with just this scar on my face. When I went back to search for her, I found her at the end of a ravine. I brought her back here to wait for her to wake up.”

“If all you did was wait then why are there demon spirits in your residence. Explain Xiǎo Hé’s existence and her reason for turning on you.”

Prince Ruì was silent for several seconds before speaking. “Everyone said she was dead when I brought her back, that I just needed to grieve properly, but . . . Yè Shī  . . . a woman like her . . . can she really die so easily? I searched for a way to wake her up and finally found two methods . . .”