His Demoness

36 ⚔️ The Jiang Clan

Zhijian was stowing his clothes and necessities into a small, wooden trunk when he felt a presence standing by the door in his room. With a side glance, he realised that it was his cousin, Liqing, who had come to pay him a visit again.

She gave him a sweet smile. "I made you some osmanthus cake."

His eyes darted to the tray of food and tea she was carrying. There were several occasions like this, where she would bring him some desserts that she had personally made with her own hands.

To him, he wasn't interested in sweets or the fact that she was trying to get on his good side. "You didn't have to concern yourself with doing this," he said.

"Don't you worry. I'm doing this because I want to," she beamed.

Setting the tray on the table, she watched him quietly as he worked. Disappointment worked its way into her features. "You're leaving again?"

He sealed his trunk and set it on the floor. "Yes, we're leaving before midday tomorrow. It's going to take us two to three days to reach the Jiang residence."

"You'll be back soon, right? Uncle Xu said it's going to take a week?"

Zhijian nodded. "While I'm away, can I trouble you to help check on my brother from time to time?"

"Of course! You know I'll do anything for you," she promised. "Especially when it's such a rare sight to see you ask me for favours."

He frowned. "You know I don't like to be indebted to someone."

"Yes, and that's why you're such a reliable and fine man in my eyes," Liqing grinned widely. "But I wish you would depend on me more."

He didn't respond to that remark and instead, focused his attention elsewhere. He pulled his sword out from the scabbard and started cleaning the blade. And this cold attitude towards Liqing didn't go unnoticed.

"Zhijian... " She hesitated, taking a few steps so that he could see her standing right in front of him. "Do you hate me?"

His hands went still. His eyes darted towards her face, his brows knitted in confusion. "What makes you think that way?"

"The times when you talk to me," she answered. A slight pout pulled at her lips. "You've stopped looking into my eyes."

Zhijian let out a heavy sigh. He slid his clean sword back into the scabbard. "If you notice this, then you must know what I want to ask you. What really happened that day?"

This question was stuck on his mind for the longest time. He still couldn't figure out what had really happened between the girls on that fateful day; how did Liqing get hurt? If Xiaoyu truly abducted her, how did she make it to the storage room on her own?

There was no way she would have wanted to murder somebody. Not after how he had witnessed her broken state when she was tormented by the deaths that had happened during the downfall of her clan.

However, whenever Zhijian questioned his cousin, things would always end up with her in tears. No matter how many times Liqing repeated her side of the story, he still found her answer lacking. The more she lied, the more distance she unknowingly put between them. His intuition was telling him that there was more to this than she was letting on.

The only person left who would truly know what happened that day was Xiaoyu.

But she was dead.

"You still don't believe me." Liqing's face crumpled as her eyes filled with hurt. "She hated me. She said that she wanted you and I was getting in her way. She took me from my room and planned to kill me. Even when I tell you all I know, you believe her instead. How could you? We grew up together for years."