Demon In A Painting

Chapter 8 - Revelation

Lifen! That was Senior Lin's demon!

Kai's heart beat wildly in excitement. He did it! He had found her! After all these years and fruitless searching, he had actually found her! Senior Lin's demon and his legendary painting!

Wait a minute, the demon was supposed to be beautiful. He looked doubtfully at the flour covered girl before him. Then he chuckled. She was a mess.

"The demon hunter who caught you ... was his name Lin?"

Lifen snapped her fingers. "That's it, Lin! That was his name! It was the Taoist Lin. How could I forget?" She studied him with renewed interest. "You know of him?"

"Yes. He's my revered senior."

"Revered? Why would you want to revere him? He's a hasty, self-righteous, pompous ...."

"Hey!" Kai shook his head, eyes widening in shock at her description of Senior Lin. He held up his hands to stop her blasphemous words. "No he's not!"

"He is too!"

"He's not!"

"Is too!"

"Ughh!" Kai breathed in and held his breath counting to ten. Then he exhaled slowly. He repeated this simple calming exercise until he felt less agitated. Forget about Senior Lin for now, he could always come back to the topic later. The important fact was that Lifen was Senior Lin's demon.

Lifen watched him silently. She could clearly see his irritation fade to be replaced by calmness and then elation. This demon hunter had more self control than the first one. But, what was he happy about? He was a strange one. She would never understand humans.

When she was yanked out from her painted home, she knew she was not dealing with an ordinary human. Playing dumb did not help, neither did diverting his attention. He may not now it but this human Kai was subtlety powerful and unusually focused. However, he was a softie. Unlike others who cursed or used her upon her manifestation, he simply wanted to ... talk?

"What are you thinking?" she asked when he stayed quiet. He was obviously wrestling with his thoughts, his face showed it all too clearly.

If she spoke to him civilly, maybe she could get him on her side and release her. Kai had claimed to be a demon hunter. Also, if he did know of the Taoist Lin who had captured her, he would also now the relevant spells to set her free!

"It's just that ..."

"What?"

"If you're Senior Lin's demon and this is his painting, why is there a house in this picture?" blurted the confused Kai. "Did someone find your lost painting, release you and seal you in another painting? If so, why did he not just bring you in for evaluation? You could have been cleared of all charges and set free! And it would have been recorded too!"

Lifen started in surprised realization. This human wanted to release her! Knowing this gave her encouragement. If she could just defend herself and clarify the events that happened all those long years ago, maybe the charges against her would be dropped. The truth would be recorded so that everyone would know what really happened. Only then would she be truly free.

"Demon hunter Kai?" she called softly.

He was still preoccupied, turning his head form her to the scroll and back to her again. Too many questions clouded his mind. But she knew if she made a false move, he would and could instantly banish her back without any qualms. Once inside, she would lose any opportunity to persuade him of her innocence until summoned again. That was part of the magic.