Chapter 12: Princess Ruì |
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.”
“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 . . .”
His voice trailed off but Shěn Lí didn’t need him to continue. She was very clear on the method he found because it explained Xiǎo Hé’s existence. That method was to feed the soul of an evolved demon spirit into the one to be revived. It was essentially exchanging one life for another. In the meantime, the body needed to be kept in stasis with a formation like the one here. This explained why Yè Shī, his princess, couldn’t be moved.
Shěn Lí couldn’t keep the derision out of her voice when she spoke. “Not only were you unable to protect your wife, you let her die for you. Instead of accepting her death you chose to oppose Heaven and tie her soul to this array for the last three years for your own selfishness? Then you raised a demon spirit with the intentions of sacrificing it to wake her back up? You’re a real piece of work you shit bag.”
Silence filled the room before Prince Ruì asked defiantly, “So, what about it? I’ll do whatever it takes to wake her up.”
Shěn Lí narrowed her eyes at him. If it weren’t for the fact that she needed him to keep Xíng Yún safe she would have left right then and there. She sighed. “So how did Xiǎo Hé turn out like this?”
Prince Ruì shook his head. “I come here every night to sit with my wife. Tonight, out of nowhere, Xiǎo Hé appeared in front of me. I don’t know where she got her information from or even how much she knows, but whatever it is, it made her really angry.”
Of course Xiǎo Hé would be angry! “She gave her heart to you, but you gave your heart to another. Not only that, you want to sacrifice her for that other person.” Shěn Lí didn’t expect to have to explain this, but apparently she did. “Of course she’d have issues with it. There’d be something wrong with her head if she didn’t resent it. Not to mention . . .” Did Xiǎo Hé even have a chance? It was obvious the only person in his heart was his princess.
The ground trembled reminding everyone of their predicament. Shěn Lí thought about what to do, then said to Prince Ruì, “I don’t care how you do it but the situation today needs to be resolved. If you can’t do it then I’ll do it my way. I’m going to find Xiǎo Hé. If she refuses to cooperate then I’m going to kill her. Just know this: If Xiǎo Hé dies and your princess suffers for it, it is I, Shěn Lí, who is responsible. No one else.”
She was aware Xíng Yún had turned his head to look at her when she said this, so she turned her gaze away avoiding his eyes. “The passageway is blocked so the baby demons won’t be able to come in, however, air supply is limited. You,” Shěn Lí said as she nodded to Xíng Yún, “come out with me and take care of the baby demons. Take those alive out of the palace. Once the palace is empty, we can search for Xiǎo Hé.”
Xíng Yún nodded in agreement. Shěn Lí hadn’t been sure if he would agree, so she was relieved when he nodded his head. With that settled, she grabbed his hand and teleported them to the front of the residence. Faint beginnings of dawn were already lightening up the sky. The few wan strips of pale blue in the sky had a strong effect on the baby demons. They became lethargic and less dangerous but the damage was already done – ruined bodies littered the ground with eroded bones and skin peeking through acidified clothing, while nearly all the pavilions were damaged with blood and fluids dripping everywhere. It was a gruesome and disgusting sight to behold.
Shěn Lí was used to seeing dead bodies, but the sight still made her scalp tingle. She brought out her spear and used some qi to sweep a path for them. She said to Xíng Yún, “Use the rising power of the sun to suppress the rest of the demons. After that help those that are still alive get out of the palace.”
“You think making an array is a simple matter? I don’t know the layout of the palace. I can’t help.”
Shěn Lí turned on him. Clearly aggravated she said, “Why didn’t you say that earlier? If I knew you couldn’t help, I would have found Xiǎo Hé myself. Why would I have brought you out with me otherwise?”
Xíng Yún coughed twice before saying, “I didn’t hear everything you said earlier. I just agreed out of habit.”
Didn’t hear my ass! If this was a battlefield and he was under her command he would have been dragged and whipped for being useless and a hindrance. What a stupid soldier!
Originally, she’d planned on leaving Xíng Yún in the palace, but unexpected things kept happening and the whole ordeal kept dragging on. She ended up staying much longer than she should have. The longer she stayed, the higher the odds of being discovered by those sent to track her. The damage from such a battle would not be minor! At that moment it was as though her thoughts summoned them, for she smelled a faint magical scent on the wind. That it was a demonic scent made her stomach drop. She looked up in the direction and as it came closer her heart lightened. She was very familiar with this aura. There was only one person it could belong to.
“Mò Fāng!” It was one of her subordinates. A mass of black fog descended and landed in front of her. Mò Fāng’s figure gradually emerged. He knelt down on one knee and respectfully saluted her.
“Your Highness!”
Shěn Lí was grateful to him ever since he helped her escape. It wasn’t his fault that her escape caused her to go through the inhumane ordeal of being plucked and nearly stewed. She knew his loyalty was unquestionable. She patted him on the shoulder and told him to rise. However, Mò Fāng refused to get up and instead prostrated even further on the ground. “This subordinate wounded Your Highness several days ago. This subordinate deserves the death penalty!”
Seriously? Shěn Lí didn’t have time for this! “Get up! You know that what this king finds most insufferable are those that continually kneel and kowtow.”
Xíng Yún took a few steps back the moment Mò Fāng arrived and had been quietly watching. Shěn Lí noticed how alert he was so told him, “There’s no danger. He is my subordinate.”
Something big must have happened for Mò Fāng to come find her and reveal himself in front of Xíng Yún. It was dangerous for mortals to know about the ImMortal realms. Xíng Yún already had abilities and knowledge he shouldn’t have; knowing more would only be a burden to him. Heaven may even strike him down with lightning, so the less he knew the better.
Shěn Lí looked around, and after seeing that the baby demons were no longer an immediate threat told Xíng Yún to give her a moment with her subordinate. She handed him her spear, just in case. “Here take this. The spear has a strong demonic aura so the baby demons shouldn’t dare approach you.”
Before Xíng Yún could say anything she had already shoved the spear into his arms. He didn’t think he needed it since the baby demons were already immobilized by sunlight.
Mò Fāng glared at him with a look that seemed to say “How dare you hold the king’s spear! You bastard!”
This look made Xíng Yún change his mind and he gripped the spear to his chest. He walked away leisurely several paces before turning around and giving Mò Fāng a self-satisfied smirk over his shoulder. Ha!
Mò Fāng gripped his hands into a tight fist and stood up. As he did, so Shěn Lí slapped him on his arm. “Good job! If it weren’t for you injuring me back then I would have surely been caught!” Since Mò Fāng was taller than her she had to tilt her head up a little to look at him. She could clearly see the scar on his neck from the cut she dealt with her spear. It was inevitable that a scar would form, it was a wound from her silver spear after all. Although Mò Fāng came from a clan of magic practitioners with strong healing abilities, he couldn’t completely heal the wound.
Shěn Lí sighed. “After the marriage contract is abolished, I will return and make sure to compensate you appropriately.”
Mò Fāng immediately cried out, “I wouldn’t dare!” Then he stopped wasting time and went straight to the point. “Yes! Last night Your Highness used magic to cast several seals. Those above noticed. Even as we speak an army is on its way to apprehend Your Highness. Your Highness! Please leave! I’m afraid the longer Your Highness lingers here the more difficult it will be to escape.”
Shěn Lí understood this as well as he did but the current situation was beyond her control. If she left now and Prince Ruì died then there would be no one to stand against the crown prince, which meant Xíng Yún would have no backer for protection. She couldn’t leave . . .
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