His Demoness

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When Jinlong finally woke up, he shot up with a frantic look.

After eliminating the wolves, the group had stopped at the riverbank for a short rest. He found himself tossed at the back of a wagon. Several pairs of curious eyes flickered to him, watching as he searched for a certain somebody to make sure that he wasn't imagining things earlier.

"Demoness!" he exclaimed when he spotted Xiaoyu sitting beside Zhijian. "You're alive!"

She broke into a smile. It was hard not to, especially at his ridiculously cheeky expression.

Disbelief spread across his face and he shook his head. "I knew you wouldn't be dead that easily! You've my respect! The Jiang clan is such a big, fat liar!"

Her cheeks turned red. At the same time, Jinlong's eyes flickered to Zhijian, shooting him a coy smile. "And you! You disappeared for a month because of a girl? Wow, I never thought I would see this day coming. I should have placed a bet earlier–"

The icy glare he received silenced him quickly. He averted his eyes, whistling to himself lightly and spouting nonsense like how great the weather was. As Xiaoyu chuckled at their exchange, she sensed a stare boring into the back of her head and snuck a quick glance behind her.

Chewing on a wheat blade, Dukai was leaning against a tree and watching her closely. Not cautious, but just curious.

"Hm..." he mused thoughtfully, his puzzled eyes flitting between her to Zhijian. "How could someone that was supposed to be dead, be walking about on her two feet? How many lies did the Jiang clan tell us?"

His questions earned murmurs of agreement. "I can explain," Zhijian answered on her behalf, "but first..."

He gestured towards the rest of the Eradicators from his clan, who were inching closer and trying to catch every word that he was saying. He didn't want them to hear what he was about to share next, especially when it was related to her powers.

Understanding his silent message, Dukai shot them a warning look and shooed them away. "Boys, "he addressed them loudly. "Any attempt at eavesdropping and you will have to run a hundred laps when we go back."

Oh, right.

Because of how laid-back he always seemed to be, everybody almost forgot that he was one of the Elders.

Disappointed, the nosy Eradicators shifted several feet away from them and whispered among themselves. Lanying and her son were crowded around the two children and consoling them. This left Dukai, Jinlong, Jiang Yuhan, Zhijian and her huddled in a circle for their discussion.

Zhijian cleared his throat. "Before I explain everything," he started, "can I ask what happened to you at the banquet? The night before you noticed I had disappeared?"

His question earned him a frown. "I was drunk," Dukai replied as he tried to recall that day. "I guess I dropped dead in the middle of drinking. When I woke up, it was already in the morning and I was back in my bed. I don't even remember what happened. And the strange thing was, everybody experienced the same thing as I did. Even Suyan couldn't remember much about that night. When we found out that you were missing, we went to search for you and forgot about everything else."

Xiaoyu shuddered involuntarily, recalling the time she was held captive by the treacherous clan.

Being placed under the puppet curse didn't mean she wasn't aware of her surroundings. When Leader Jiang commanded her to use her powers, she couldn't resist. No matter how much she screamed at her limbs to stop, they didn't.

The feeling of not having control over your own body was terrifying.

"But you were nowhere to be found," Dukai continued. "The Jiang clan said that you might have been drunk and wandered about their place. They think that you might have fallen into the waters and swept off their massive waterfalls. I guess they were wrong."