When Xu Zhijian becomes a full-fledged demon hunter, he is given a talisman to summon his familiar. However, he ends up calling forth the sleeping 'Demoness' and finds himself bound to her without a choice.
Days go by and he begins to discover that...
A hushed silence fell over the hall as Xiaoyu's voice echoed across.
Zhijian reeled back in surprise, his shock pulsing through him from head to toe. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.
She could...speak?
He had always assumed she was born mute, seeing how she didn't utter a single word ever since they met. But come to think about it, she neither denied nor confirmed whenever he questioned her mutism.
If she could use her voice all along, why did she conceal her ability to speak in the first place?
He turned to Dukai and Suyan, expecting them to be huddling together in a discussion about the mysterious woman.
However, the state that he found them in was startling.
Their eyes were distant, their faces devoid of emotions. They sat still and relaxed, their hands loose at their sides and their attention fixed on the Demoness. It wasn't just them. Everybody else in the room was behaving in the same way and they all seemed to be under some sort of enchantment.
Their consciousness was robbed, except Zhijian's. He was the only one who was aware of what was going on. He tried his best to remain calm while his eyes searched around him, his mind was thoroughly confused.
Where was Jiang Yifeng? Where were the rest of his subordinates?
None of them were in sight. Without anyone knowing, they slipped out of the hall quietly. Did they know from the start that this was going to happen?
With a startling realisation, this was what Jiang Ziyi had warned him about. The true motive that Leader Jiang had harboured when he invited the clans for a training event, was about to be revealed.
As Zhijian was trying to comprehend the situation, Leader Jiang walked up to Xiaoyu. He didn't even try to whisper into her ear this time.
"Tell them to stand."
It must be the work of the Puppet Curse that he had placed on her, for Xiaoyu repeated his word immediately.
"Stand," she ordered the men.
Everyone rose to their feet, including Zhijian. If it wasn't for his quick thinking of mirroring their actions, he would have been discovered by Leader Jiang by now. If the man knew he retained his consciousness, Zhijian had a bad feeling that he might find himself facing death instead and his plan of saving Xiaoyu would fail.
Meanwhile, Leader Jiang was beaming at her with pride and awe. Becoming the spell caster of the Puppet Curse had granted him the immunity of not being influenced by her words.
"Remarkable," he marvelled. His bright eyes roamed across the rows of immobile men, his triumphant smile growing wider knowing that everyone was within his control. "Who knew that the voice of the Demoness would hold so much power over humans? It's incredible."
Leader Jiang approached her motionless body, pulling off her hood to reveal her blank face.
"This was what the Bai clan was hiding from us?" He started pacing around her. Even if she couldn't react to his cunning words, there was a chance she could hear them. "When they refused to hand you over, we didn't have any choice but to kill them. What was it like? Seeing your family die? Did it anger you so much that you killed my people?"
Unbeknownst to him, Zhijian was listening to every word he was spilling. His breath lodged in his throat as a shudder zinged through him. Everything was starting to make sense as bits of the puzzle fell into place.
His soulmate's lack of will to live.
Her constant nightmares.
The bloodbath in her dreams.
Zhijian finally understood the reason behind them. Her powers were truly capable of doing the impossible; she could command countless people and have the whole world at her feet.
But it was because of vile humans like the Jiang clan who wanted her powers so badly that she would have to suffer. She was shut away from the rest of the world so that nobody would discover her and get hurt because of her. She could never live a normal life that a girl deserved to have.
Zhijian clenched his fists tightly at his sides. His gaze went to her pale, beautiful face and his heart started to ache. He couldn't imagine the trauma she had gone through. After the demise of her clan, she must have been in so much pain.
Nobody knew her story. The entire world was against her and she had nobody to turn to.
He was ashamed of himself too. When he first met her, he was just like everybody else who loathed her.
But now, it was different. His feelings for her had changed completely. She deserved to be loved and cared for just like everybody else.
And he was going to make it happen.
Leader Jiang's intention for controlling them was still unclear. He paused in his steps with a thoughtful look.
"Tell them to head back to their rooms and reassemble here tomorrow morning."
Xiaoyu repeated his command and every hypnotised person started filing out of the hall. Behaving just like puppets, the clans moved silently and returned to their quarters for the night.
As much as Zhijian hated leaving her alone with Leader Jiang, he didn't want to expose himself at this moment. He trailed after Dukai and Suyan, while his mind was contemplating what he should do next and how he should save Xiaoyu.
Without warning, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into another dark hallway. Before he could utter a word of surprise, a finger was placed against his lips to silence him.
Jiang Ziyi stared back at him with a warning look. "Stay quiet."
She cast a few glances left and right to make sure that nobody had seen them. "Come on," she started running with light but hurried footsteps. "We have to go. There's no time to waste."
Zhijian followed her. He gripped his sword tightly, his eyebrows knitted into a hard frown.
"Where are we going?"
It was a question with an obvious answer, but he had to ask nonetheless. He wanted to hear from her clearly that she was going to uphold her promise. That she was on their side.
As they snuck out of the palace through one of the hidden exits, Jiang Ziyi turned back and flashed him a strained smile.
"Where else?" she replied. "To save your lover, of course. Before everything's too late."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A/N: Did you guys expect Xiaoyu to be able to speak and have this kind of ability? Or did I get you guys for good?
I have been planning this scene ever since the first chapter of this book and it feels so good to finally let it out. 😂
